NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 14 June
14-06-2007
by Charlie Taylor
Middle East to reach 150m mobile connections this year | IBM downsizes blades for SMEs
Microsoft and Eircom took top honours in the Leadership and Retention & Wellbeing categories respectively at the O2 Ability Awards on Wednesday. The awards, now in their third year, acknowledge organisations that recognise the contribution that people with disabilities make to business. The number of organisations to enter the awards this year rose by 10 percent overall with a marked increase in SME entrants.
Mamut, a European provider of integrated software solutions and internet services for SMEs has been selected as a finalist in the ISV/Software Solutions Partner of the Year category at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards 2007, which is due to be held in Denver next month. The company was chosen from a total of 1,800 entries and it will be up against two US-based companies, Iconics and Workshare, for the award.
The Middle East is expected to reach the milestone of 150 million mobile connections before the end of the second quarter. That's according to Wireless Intelligence, a joint venture between Ovum and the GSM Association. The research firm claims that the region has a 50 percent mobile penetration rate. Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia represent almost 70 percent of the total connections in the Middle East. And as if proof were needed that war is always good for business, the figures indicate that Afghanistan was the fastest growing mobile market in 2006 followed by Iraq. GSM connections currently account for 97 percent of the total connections for the region. However, high speed networks are being launched by operators, with eight WCDMA networks currently in service, five in deployment and two more planned.
Dublin-based Ossidian, a provider of specialist e-learning for the wireless telecommunications industry, has announced that mobile operator O2 has renewed its corporate licence to the Ossidian digital content library. The library will be hosted by E2Train, a provider of learning and performance technologies for O2 employees in the UK.
IBM has previewed its new BladeCenter S offering which is designed to help smaller firms simplify the management of technology -- from servers, to phone systems and antivirus applications -- in a single system. Designed to integrate applications most commonly used for business functions -- such as antivirus/firewall, voice over IP, e-mail, collaboration, back-up and recovery and file and print applications -- the new system is intended to run in a typical office environment.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 