IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 23 October
23-10-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
NBC removes clips from YouTube | HP opens experimental data centre
The Irish Times reports that Microsoft has finally agreed to a European Commission ruling to share its software secrets with competitors, as reported by ENN on Monday.
The paper also says that US software group Cadence Design Systems has posted a pretax loss of USD11.39 million (EUR8.04 million) for 2006 at its main Irish holding company, reversing profits of USD364.76 million in the previous year. The holding company in question -- Castlewilder -- paid out dividends of USD451 million to its Californian parent in 2005 to take advantage of a once-off tax break for US groups on profits repatriated from their foreign subsidiaries. The company's accounts indicate that it did not pay any Irish corporation tax in 2005 or 2006.
The same paper says search giant Google has offered to preserve some business practices at DoubleClick in a bid to win European antitrust approval for its proposed USD3.1 billion purchase of the company. The European Commission has extended its review of the acquisition because of the offer, a spokeswoman said.
The paper also notes that Irish internet users are flocking to social networking website Facebook. Read the full story on ENN.
The Irish Independent says that Bank of Ireland has upgraded its online banking service following a EUR10 million investment, as reported by ENN on Monday.
According to the Financial Times, Hewlett-Packard is unveiling an experimental data centre in Bangalore that boasts a 20 percent reduction in power and cooling costs. The data centre uses thousands of heat sensors scattered throughout to direct cool air to where it is needed. HP said that, once optimised, its new data centre could cut power and cooling costs by up to 40 percent.
The paper also reports that NBC Universal has removed its video clips from YouTube and closed a promotional channel on the video-sharing site in advance of the expected launch next week of its own rival service, Hulu. An NBC spokesperson confirmed the move and said it was intended to provide a boost to Hulu, which is a joint venture with News Corp's Fox division. "Our relationship with NBC was a YouTube success story, so we hope NBC decides to post more original content and stay engaged with our users," a YouTube spokesperson said.
The Wall Street Journal reports that chipmaker Texas Instruments has posted an 11 percent jump in third-quarter profit, although it gave a disappointing revenue outlook. Chief Financial Officer Kevin March said the company's fourth-quarter revenue from wireless chips will likely be flat with the third quarter, blaming an anticipated slowdown in orders for mobile chips toward the end of the quarter.
The paper also says that Alibaba.com is seeking to raise as much as USD1.49 billion in an initial public offering after raising the price range to HKD12 to HKD13.50 a share, sources said. The Chinese website is selling 858.9 million shares, or 17 percent of its enlarged share capital, in the biggest internet-related IPO by a Chinese firm in terms of the amount to be raised. It previously set an indicative range of HKD10 to HKD12 a share to raise as much as USD1.33 billion.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 