IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 1 October
01-10-2007
by Ciara O'Brien
Nokia in talks to buy Navteq | Tesco Mobile set to launch in Irish market
The Irish Times reports that Eircom's majority owner, Australian-listed fund Babcock & Brown Capital (BCM), said it should benefit from the global credit crunch as it looks for investment opportunities. It also reaffirmed its commitment to separating Eircom into a wholesale business -- comprising its networks -- and a retail arm selling telecom services directly to customers. The company is known to be keen to sell off the retail arm, which would include mobile operator Meteor.
The Irish Independent says that ONE51 boss Philip Lynch baled out John Nagle's card payment firm Alphyra, with a hugely expensive EUR10 million short-term loan earlier this year. Last week loss-making Alphyra announced details of its reverse takeover of British ATM firm Cardpoint. It has emerged that Lynch and his wife Eileen lent Alphyra EUR10 million as part of an unsecured unsubordinated loan in May 2007.
The Irish Examiner reports that online betting exchange Betfair has posted a 30 percent jump in annual revenues after it benefited from "significant" investment in technology and new products. The introduction of an online casino, relaunch of Betfair poker and improved marketing helped to attract record numbers of users to the company's site. Revenues of STG182 million resulted in a 26 percent rise in underlying earnings to STG48 million.
According to the Financial Times, companies are spending billions of dollars on IT every year but few boardrooms know the value of their hardware and software and the contribution they make to their businesses, a new study has found. The survey of 250 chief information officers and chief finance officers from companies in the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy by Micro Focus found that fewer than half had tried to value their IT assets and 60 percent did not know the worth of their software.
The paper also says that social networking site Facebook is working on translating its website into non-English languages as it prepares for an ambitious overseas expansion, according to sources. Although rival MySpace remains bigger in the US, Facebook has overtaken MySpace as the most popular social networking site in other English-speaking countries, including Canada and the UK. "Translation at some level is definitely on our radar. International growth is one of a few things that we are very focused on right now," said Facebook.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia is in talks to purchase navigation software maker Navteq, according to sources, in what would be one of its largest-ever corporate acquisitions. With a USD7.61 billion market capitalisation, Chicago-based Navteq is one of the world's leaders in electronic mapping, which enables in-vehicle navigation devices and a new generation of mobile-phone applications used for shopping, emergency services and advertising.
The Sunday Tribune writes that Google could be planning to double its workforce at its Dublin facility to almost 3,000 within 18 months. The company has already passed the 1,400 mark five months earlier than planned. If the workforce expands as predicted, it may require Google to take on a third building, adding to its two current leases at Barrow Street and Grand Canal Dock.
The same newspaper reports on Apple's recent upgrade to the iPhone, which rendered phones that had been unlocked from the network useless. The tech firm has done exclusive deals with certain networks in the US to resell the phones, although hackers have found a way to unlock the iPhone from the network and allow it to be used freely. Apple has hit back, however, and those who downloaded the upgrades have found their "iPhone" has become an "iBrick". Some Irish Apple fans have made the trip to the US to buy the iPhone, but are steering clear of the upgrades.
The Sunday Independent reports that a new satellite navigation device designed to keep track of children could prove a hit with parents in the wake of the Madeleine McCann case. The Buddi GPS device, nicknamed the "BratNav", is a matchbox-sized personalised locator that will allow parents or carers to trace a person carrying the device to within three metres, by contacting a call centre to get their location. The Buddi device is already on sale in the UK and will be available in Ireland in the coming months.
The Sunday Times says that the Netherlands is to abandon its e-voting machines because they are believed to be insecure. According to a report by a former Dutch minister, the 9,000 machines are not secure because they do not have a verifiable paper trail. This puts the future of Ireland's 7,500 voting machines, currently in storage, in doubt.
The paper also reports that Cardpoint chairman Bob Thian will get a payout of more than STG1.4 million for losses on share option grants due to its merger with Alphyra.
A row with mobile firm Three Ireland has held up Tesco Mobile's launch in the Irish market, the same newspaper reports. The new mobile service, which is hoping to hit the shelves before Christmas after missing a planned summer launch, is being delayed by issues between the two firms over number portability. However, the row is set to be resolved; Three Ireland sources have blamed a "technical hitch" for the problem.
But it's not all bad news for Tesco. The Sunday Times also reports that the supermarket is set to report a 25 percent increase in sales at its non-food store Tesco Direct. The retailer is also planning to add online shopping facilities for its clothing lines at Clothingattesco.com, and there are rumours that it will put Tesco Direct kiosks in the non-food Homeplus stores it is planning to launch in the UK.
The Sunday Business Post reports that new TV station Channel 6 is the fourth most watched channel on the digital TV trial. The newcomer came in behind RTE One, RTE Two and TV3, but the placing is said to be an unexpected boost for the station.
There was good news for IT Alliance, according to the same paper, with the report that revenue from the Irish outsourcing firm's British business will almost double over the next year. This is a huge jump from the expected EUR6 million to EUR7 million this year, to about EUR11 million. The company is also planning to open a new office in the Nordic region next year.
The same paper says that Irish web start-up Justroutes.com has been invited to exhibit at the Future of Web Apps in London. The site helps users find public transport routes to wherever they want to go. Although it is currently only covering Dublin routes, it plans to expand nationwide in the near future.
The paper also reports that Dublin-based internet TV firm Wildwave is to start showing American football on the firm's Sports Network, and has the rights to broadcast the Canadian Football League on TV portal Joost.
The same paper writes that avatars, such as those seen in the Sims and in Second Life, are now being used to help treat patients. The computer generated figures will be put to work in IBM's Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine, and will allow physicians to search medical records by clicking on the avatar's body parts. The company has compared it to Google Earth but "for the body".
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 