IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 2 February
02-02-2011
by Sylvia Leatham
Dublin to get 100 poker-related jobs | Ireland ranked 'average' for innovation
The Irish Times reports that TV, phone and broadband provider UPC has been reprimanded for failing to properly inform its customers of a price increase it rolled out in early January. Under the terms and conditions of a code of conduct, the company must inform its customers individually in writing of increases and substantial changes to the terms and conditions of their contracts. Telecoms regulator ComReg found UPC had failed to properly notify customers of the increases. UPC now has a month to respond to the charges and if it fails to adequately address them, it could face High Court action. UPC said it was not in breach of the code.
The paper also says that Google aims to bring the world's great art galleries into the home with a new website that offers virtual tours using Street View technology, the ability to build private collections and ultra-high resolution images. "It could be the game changer," said Julian Raby of the Freer Gallery of Art, part of the Smithsonian in Washington DC, which is one of 17 galleries taking part in the project. Nelson Mattos, vice president of engineering at Google, said Googleartproject.com would allow children from Latin America, India and Africa, who were unlikely to see the originals, to come close to the experience on the internet.
The same paper says that a Dublin-based subsidiary of the world's second-largest online poker room, Full Tilt Poker, has confirmed the creation of a further 100 jobs. The recruitment drive will bring to 800 the numbers employed at Pocket Kings Ltd's operations at the Cherrywood Science and Technology Park. Pocket Kings acts as a service provider to Full Tilt Poker; it was established in Dublin in 2006.
The paper also notes that Ireland remains a follower rather than a leader when it comes to innovation, according to a new study from the European Commission. The Innovation Union Scoreboard, which assesses the performances of EU member states, has lumped Ireland in with nine other countries as being close to the EU average when it comes to innovation. According to the study, Ireland's relative strengths are in human resources and open, excellent and attractive research systems and outputs. However, it shows weakness in a number of areas including finance and support, linkages and entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and innovators.
The Irish Examiner says that heart-device maker Boston Scientific has posted a fourth-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates, on higher-than-expected sales. Net income was USD236 million, or USD0.15 a share, compared with a loss of USD1.08 billion, or USD0.71, a year ago after one-time legal costs. Earnings excluding some items were USD0.20 per share, topping the average analyst estimate of USD0.10.
According to the Financial Times, Google has accused Microsoft of plagiarising its internet search results. Microsoft did not deny the claims directly, but said that Google's allegations were based on "a few outlier examples". It also claimed that using data about what internet users did on Google to help refine its Bing service reflected general practice on the web, where internet services learn from wider online behaviour. Matt Cutts, head of search quality at Google, called the Microsoft practice "crazy" and challenged the company to reveal how much data it had collected from Google users and how this was being used to determine results on its own Bing search service.
The paper also says that Gerard Kleisterlee, chief executive of Philips, will become Vodafone's new chairman when Sir John Bond's five-year term ends in July. Vodafone's board chose Kleisterlee for his experience running an international company and dealing with emerging markets, the mobile operator said. He will leave Philips next month and join Vodafone's board in April.
The Wall Street Journal reports that videogame maker Electronic Arts' net loss widened during the last quarter due to a boost in deferred revenue. However, the company made progress in shifting its business toward more profitable, faster-growing digital sales of games. EA said its net loss for the period jumped to USD322 million, or USD0.97 a share, from USD82 million, or USD0.25 a share, in the same period a year earlier. The company said the loss reflected a big increase in deferred revenue stemming from online sales associated with its games, which EA recognises over a period of six months.
Free! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 