IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 11 July
11-07-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Eircom to table new proposals to union | Dell considers ditching 'trialware'
The Irish Times reports that Caribbean mobile operator Digicel has posted annual revenues of USD1.13 billion. Profits before tax and finance costs came to USD220 million. Denis O'Brien took full control of Digicel last February, in a deal that netted him a profit of USD800 million.
The paper also says that Eircom management will table new proposals to unions on Wednesday in a bid to avert a strike at the telecoms firm. The Communications Workers' Union (CWU) decided in principle on Tuesday to serve seven days' strike notice on Eircom. However, the union's leadership said it would postpone serving the notice pending the outcome of a meeting with management on Wednesday. An Eircom statement said the company would table a "second proposal" at the meeting that it believed could be used as a basis for a settlement.
The Irish Independent reports that just 14 percent of adults in Ireland use online banking. Read the full story on ENN.
The paper also says that Irish internet broadcasting firm Servecast has been acquired by Level 3 Communications, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
According to the Financial Times, Microsoft expects growth of more than 40 percent for its Xbox Live online gaming service over the next year, to reach 10 million members. Peter Moore, head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment business, told the E3 annual video game convention in Santa Monica that the firm had outstripped expectations of reaching 6 million members by this year's show and had passed 7 million. In an interview with the newspaper, Moore said the online element of Halo 3 would add members when it was published in September, while exclusive online content for the Grand Theft Auto 4 game would give a further boost when introduced next spring.
The paper also says that Dell has become the first big PC maker to try to address customer frustration and anger over "trialware" -- the often superfluous and frequently unwanted software that comes pre-installed on most PCs. Michael Dell, chief executive, acknowledged that many Dell customers do not want the software loaded on to their new machines. "Customers really hated trialware," said Dell, citing a recent survey of 1,800 small business owners in 12 countries which revealed that "eliminating trialware, sample software and freeware" was the number one priority for most small business customers. Dell is considering giving consumers the choice of whether to buy PCs with or without trialware.
The same paper says that BSkyB added 90,000 net new customers in the fourth quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations. In a trading update, BSkyB said net additions rose by 17 percent year-on-year in the three months to 30 June, bringing its total customer base to 8.58 million. It was the company's best fourth quarter performance since 2003, and easily beat some analysts' predictions of 60,000 net new additions for the period.
The Wall Street Journal notes that Motorola has agreed to acquire closely held Leapstone Systems, a US communications software developer. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Leapstone's technology helps create, manage and deliver video, voice and data-service bundles across multiple networks and devices. Motorola said the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 