NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 3 July
03-07-2007
by Stephen Errity
US broadband adoption continues to rise | Cork team wins at Student Enterprise Awards
Over half of all US households now have a high-speed internet connection. That's according to a new survey from the Leichtman Research Group entitled 'Broadband Access and Service in the Home 2007.' The survey also revealed that the rate of broadband adoption is linked to the level of household income, with a greater proportion of higher-income homes being connected. Thirty-three million American users still make do with dial-up. The survey's authors say they expect broadband penetration to reach 70 percent by 2012.
Team MuseTech, representing University College Cork's Business Information Systems (BIS) course have scooped the 'Best Postgraduate' award at this year's Student Enterprise Awards. The team's business proposal, MuseTech Solutions, aimed to provide high-quality wireless temperature measurement devices and software to companies in the pharmaceutical sector. The MuseTech team members were Pat O'Leary, Ciara McSweeney, Sun He, Barry Long, Tricia Doyle and Yvonne Aherne.
Dublin-based Xiam Technologies and BT spin-off company iO Global have announced a new partnership that will see Xiam's 'My Personal Offers' content recommendation system appear on iO's Mobile Experience platform. Xiam's software will be used to provide personalised content to mobile, web and interactive TV platforms. Xian CEO Colm Healy commented that "We are delighted to be part of iO Global's vision to proactively bring meaningful content and mobile services to consumers to allow for engaging experiences."
There has been a 50 percent increase in the use of IT contractors by financial institutions to assist in the delivery of short to medium term IT projects in the past year. That's according to a new survey conducted by IT consultancy IT Force. The company's Managed Resources division found that six out of ten of its clients came from the financial services sector, with the remainder being SMEs and government departments. This is in contrast to the same time last year, when the majority of its clients came from the public sector. The report also highlights what the company claims are the many benefits of using IT contractors in favour of full-time IT staff.
The Nintendo Wii is outselling Sony's PlayStation 3 in Japan by a factor of six to one. It's also beating Microsoft's Xbox 360 by an even greater margin. According to figures from Japanese market watcher and publisher Enterbrain, some 270,974 Wii consoles were sold in the four weeks to 24 June. This compares to just 41,628 PS3s and just 17,616 Xbox 360s, during the same period. Analysts are blaming the PS3's poor performance on its high price tag and limited selection of game titles.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 