IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 30 March
30-03-2011
by Deirdre McArdle
LinkedIn to create 100 new Irish jobs | Datalex narrows losses, predicts growth
The Irish Times reports that Nokia has filed another complaint with the US trade panel (ITC) alleging that rival Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its products. Last Friday Apple won a round in its patent fight with Nokia as the ITC judge ruled that the US company did not violate any of five Nokia patents. Nokia's new case relates to seven patents in areas of multi-tasking operating systems, data synchronisation, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories.
The Irish Independent reports that Anglo Irish Bank is putting a contract out to tender for a "disaster recovery solution", which allows banks to carry out money transfers between each other. The bank is also going to award another contract for the supply of support services for its credit management system. Finance Minister Michael Noonan confirmed that the nationalised bank was putting new IT contracts out to tender -- but denied the contracts were for new IT systems. He said Anglo was looking for systems to maintain its business and provide essential computer maintenance services. Anglo hasn't commented on the contracts or their value.
The paper also says that Eircom is understood to have reached an agreement with a former director of its eMobile arm, Conor Carmody, that will enable him to take up a new role within Vodafone in May. Eircom recently initiated High Court proceedings against Carmody to enforce a clause in his contract that would have prevented him beginning work at Vodafone until September. He will join Vodafone Ireland as the company's head of consumer marketing.
The paper also reports that mobile operator O2 said that over 15,000 people have signed up for its prepay money card since its launch last month.
The Irish Examiner reports that professional networking site LinkedIn is to create 100 new jobs in Dublin. The new jobs will include roles in sales, business development, marketing and operations, and will be created over the next 12 months. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said the jobs announcement is "an excellent addition to the thriving digital media industry operating from Ireland".
The paper also reports that travel software firm Datalex reported a pre-tax loss of USD2.1 million for 2010, compared to the USD4.5 million loss generated in 2009. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the year went from USD100,000 to USD3.1 million, while total revenue dipped by 1 percent to USD26.8 million. In light of the narrowing pre-tax losses, management at Datalex is predicting net growth at the firm this year.
The same paper reports that mobile services provider Zamano has posted a pre-tax loss of EUR13.3 million for 2010 while overall revenue fell from EUR25.1 million in 2009 to EUR15.8 million last year, mainly on the back of dwindling sales in the company’s core geographical markets of Ireland and Britain. EBITDA dropped from EUR4.3 million to EUR900,000. Despite the results management has said stability has been returned to the business ahead of an expected overhaul of its business model.
According to the Financial Times, opposition to AT&T's proposed USD39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA grew as New York's attorney-general, Eric Schneiderman, launched a review of the deal, citing its "potentially anticompetitive impact". The New York attorney-general could block the deal, according to Rich Brosnick, an antitrust legal expert with the firm of Butzel Long, as the states and federal government both have authority over antitrust matters.
The paper also reports that Russian investment group DST has joined a group of investors committing hundreds of millions of dollars to 360buy.com, China's largest online retailer. This latest round of funding, the Chinese company's third, includes investment from several other companies, such as Walmart, and is likely to pave the way for a stock market listing in the next few years.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 