IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 22 June
22-06-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
EU widens data protection probe | Business.com is up for sale
The Irish Times reports that broadband has overtaken dial-up internet subscriptions for the first time in Ireland, according to a new ComReg report. Read the full story on ENN.
The paper also says that Pigsback.com is to launch a version of its site in Canada this autumn, as noted by ENN on Thursday.
The same paper reports that Irish software firm Iona Technologies is to launch a number of new open source products next week. Its latest range of software -- under the FUSE brand -- aims to help companies incorporate open source technology into service oriented architecture (SOA) deployments.
According to the same paper, Jivo Technology, which was founded last August, has received an investment of EUR1 million from sister company TNS Distribution. The funding will be used to expand in Europe. Jivo provides more than 29 products in the 'digital lifestyle' market, including the Jivo VoIP phone and Juicy Tunes mobile phone portable speakers.
The Irish Independent says that a hacker claims to have discovered what happens at the end of the next Harry Potter book, as noted by ENN.
According to the Financial Times, Sony plans to more than triple the number of game titles for its PlayStation 3 console by the end of March 2008, in an effort to boost lacklustre sales and bring its struggling games unit back into the black. Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai, the new chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, said 200 software titles and 180 download-only titles would be released in the current fiscal year, compared with a total of 110 titles available now.
The Wall Street Journal says that Business.com, a search engine used by businesses to find products and services, is up for sale and could fetch anywhere between USD300 million and USD400 million, according to sources. Entrepreneurs Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton were widely mocked for lavishing USD7.5 million on the domain name back in 1999. Now the company behind the domain is expected to attract a host of interest from the likes of media companies such as Dow Jones and New York Times.
The paper also says that an EU probe triggered by concerns over how long Google stores user information has widened to include all internet search engines. The EU's panel of national data protection officers said it's now concerned over the retention of the data that these companies use to deliver more relevant search results and advertising. Some fear the data could be targeted by hackers and governments. "The Working Party will deal with search engines in general and scrutinise their activities from a data protection point of view, because this issue affects an ever-growing number of users," the EU panel said.
The paper also notes that videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software has said it is temporarily suspending the release of violent videogame "Manhunt 2" because of a ratings controversy in the US and a ban in Britain and Ireland. The company said it needed to review the situation but would "continue to stand behind this extraordinary game."
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 