IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 23 July
23-07-2007
by Jonathan Farrelly
Microsoft and Ask seek better user protection | BT linked with rumoured Eircom retail deal
The Irish Independent reports that Ireland's legal profession can now undertake part of their Compulsory Professional Development learning activities (CPD) from any location, with the launch of the country's first commercially available online CPD service. FirstCPD.com is a joint venture by legal publishers First Law and e-learning provider PrimeLearning.
The paper also says that all mobile phones will have to be registered as part of a government plan to improve surveillance on drug dealers. Currently, any person can buy a pay-as-you-go mobile phone anonymously, which makes it harder for the Gardai to track those involved in the drugs trade. In an interview, new drugs minister Pat Carey said registry would help to tackle the "rampant use" of mobile phones in prisons, as well as the problem of small-time drug dealers.
The Financial Times says that US venture capitalists invested more in the second quarter of this year than in any three-month period since 2001, thanks to the continuing boom in Web 2.0 start-ups and a wave of investment in new medical device technology. Total investment in information services companies -- which includes IT-based services such as database design as well as Web 2.0 internet companies -- reached nearly USD1 billion in the period, according to the Ernst & Young report.
According to the same paper, Microsoft and Ask.com will on Monday call for the search engine industry to develop better safeguards for protecting their users' search histories and other personal information. "It is time for companies to come together and it is time for companies to become more forthright," said Peter Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist. Cullen said the move was driven in part by increased scrutiny in Europe, where the Article 29 Working Party, a group that advises the EU on privacy issues, has called for an investigation into how long search engines store the personal information of their customers.
The Wall Street Journal says that Google is prepared to spend at least USD4.6 billion on wireless licences if the US Federal Communications Commission adopts auction rules that allow open access for users and wireless re-sellers. The company said it would participate in the auction if the FCC requires whoever wins a large chunk of the spectrum to let consumers use any compatible wireless devices and software and open the network to re-sellers and other service providers. Draft FCC rules for the auction include the requirement for openness to different devices and software and services, although Google remains concerned they're not enforceable or specific enough. The spectrum, in the 700 megahertz band, is being freed up as television broadcasters shift to digital signals.
In other news of Google, the Sunday Business Post reports that an energy-saving version of its website has been launched called Blackle.com. It's claimed the site could save as much as 750,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every year.
The same paper acknowledges that the Government is planning to set up an online application service for the affordable housing scheme in the greater Dublin area. The tender, to develop a website to improve the operation of affordable housing schemes by local authorities, is expected to be awarded by September.
The paper also says that online retail transactions and the numbers of businesses providing online payment services has increased considerably, according to online payment processor Realex. Since December 2006, the value of online transactions processed monthly by Realex has increased by 33 percent to EUR320 million.
The same paper reveals that Smart Yuroe Broadband, which acquired the assets and liabilities of Smart Telecom last year, has appointed two former Smart directors to its board. Smart Yuroe Broadband said in a Companies Office filing that Fergal and Alan Murtagh became directors of the company earlier this year.
The paper also says that Dublin-based Curach Consulting plans to hire 15 to 20 new staff before March. Curach Technologies was established in 2001 and later became known as Curach Consulting, as it shifted its focus and added a consulting division to its Oracle business.
The same paper states that Cork-based Selatra has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Siminn, one of the main providers of wireless telecommunications services in Iceland. Siminn has selected Selatra to provide an enhanced Java games service for its customers, which the Icelandic company hopes will increase its mobile games revenue. The company has a 70 percent share of the GSM market in Iceland.
The same paper reports that Dublin-based software company Eventznet has received a development grant of EUR25,000 to investigate the training needs of the events industry in Ireland.
The Sunday Times reveals that the activist group seeking to push through radical changes at mobile phone giant Vodafone has won the backing of a string of leading fund managers, including Jupiter and Invesco Perpetual. The support of two of the UK's most respected fund managers will heap pressure on Vodafone and chief executive Arun Sarin ahead of the company's AGM on Tuesday. Efficient Capital Structure has asked Vodafone to return STG38 billion (EUR56 billion) to investors, gear up its balance sheets with new bonds and spin off its 45 percent stake in US mobile phone company Verizon Wireless.
The same paper describes how Microsoft has helped to set up a charity that plans to send thousands of PCs discarded by British firms to African schools. Digital Pipeline, which is supported by a number of technology companies, will be kickstarted this week with the gift of 30,000 surplus PCs from EDS, the American IT services giant.
The paper also reports that online casino and poker company 888 Holdings is in detailed talks to partner Rank Group, the gaming company, with a view to launching a new sports-betting service. Gibraltar-based 888 has been looking to move into sports betting for some time to complement its poker and casino games.
The Sunday Independent says that British telecoms giant BT is understood to have been in contact with Eircom owners Babcock & Brown about the possibility of buying Eircom's EUR1.8 billion retail and mobile business. Industry sources told the newspaper that BT was approached in recent weeks about its interest. No formal talks have yet been launched.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Tribune says that a private equity buyer might find it difficult to raise the funding necessary to purchase a stripped-down Eircom retail business, if media speculation that Babcock & Brown is planning to sell a chunk of the telco proves accurate.
The same paper also reports that Vodafone has emphasised its growing reliance on emerging markets, with figures showing that sales grew by 18.2 percent in non-Western businesses during the first quarter of the telecom giant's financial year, compared with just 1.4 percent in Western Europe. Vodafone said that strong growth in India and Turkey had boosted the group's performance.
Finally, the same paper says that Top Security has invested EUR15 million in what it claims is the world's first secure webmail service provided by a physical security company. Rather than rebranding an existing email security product, the Topmail service is based on anti-spam, anti-virus and content filtering technology designed in-house and called Blockmail. The company said software engineers spent 18 months working on its first webmail offering.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 