IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 27 July
27-07-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Ballmer defends Microsoft's growth strategy | Facebook ruling delayed
The Irish Times says that ComReg is to impose a one-year price freeze on line rental for Eircom customers, as noted by ENN on Thursday.
The paper also reports that a US federal judge has delayed ruling on whether to throw out a lawsuit filed against the founder of Facebook, saying he needed more information about allegations that Mark Zuckerberg stole his ideas from the creators of a rival social networking website. Judge Douglas Woodlock has given ConnectU founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra until 8 August to flesh out their allegations against Zuckerberg, which include fraud, copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets.
The same paper says that Dublin has emerged as the most likely venue for the first international version of the Wall Street Journal's conference, D: All Things Digital, which is headed up by influential technology reviewer Walt Mossberg. Mossberg and conference co-organiser Kara Swisher visited Dublin this week to look at possible venues to host an event in September 2008. Mossberg said he and Swisher were keen to hold their first event outside the US, and that Dublin was the "leading candidate", citing the strong technology sector, the booming economy and the "charm" of the city as attractive features.
The paper also says that Irish systems integrator Kainos is to open an office in Gdansk, Poland, as noted by ENN.
The same paper notes that Irish software firm MobileAware has deployed a mobile betting site for bookmakers William Hill. The site provides a range of services, including sports results, live betting, bet-in-running, commentary, an arcade and a My Account facility.
According to the same paper, Microsoft has announced an advanced privacy policy for its Live Search service and other online advertising offerings. In common with Google, Microsoft will now make users' search queries anonymous after 18 months by "permanently removing cookie IDs, the entire IP address and other identifiers from search terms". Microsoft said it will also give customers more control over what information is used to personalise Live Search and later this year will join industry group the Network Advertising Initiative.
The Irish Independent reports that Digicel, Denis O'Brien's Caribbean mobile operator, has obtained a court injunction preventing the Papua New Guinea communications authority from revoking its operator's licence there. Pangtel revoked Digicel's licence just four days after the company launched retail services, declaring that due to changes in its communications policy the licence was null and void.
The paper also says that Apple has posted a higher quarterly profit that zoomed past expectations on strong Macintosh sales. Read the full story on ENN.
The Irish Examiner says that the TICo group has bought a majority stake in NewAddress.ie, as noted by ENN.
The Financial Times says that Microsoft has entered a new growth phase, although its long-term bets on new businesses like online advertising and consumer electronics may be beyond the patience of many investors, according to Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer. Speaking at the company's annual financial analyst meeting, the Microsoft boss delivered a characteristically blunt defence of the company's push into consumer internet and device markets in the face of continuing big losses and what he conceded were doubts on the part of some shareholders. Online advertising and consumer electronics will eventually grow to rival desktop and server software as Microsoft's biggest businesses, he said.
According to the same paper, South Korea's Hynix posted a 35.5 percent drop in quarterly profit as memory chip prices plunged, but the result beat market forecasts and the company expects a recovery in the second half. Hynix posted KRW209 billion in net profit in the quarter to 30 June, well above a KRW29.2 billion profit forecast by analysts surveyed by Reuters. "We think the second quarter was the bottom and prices will turn up... for both DRAM and NAND going into the second half and beyond," said O.C. Kwon, senior vice president of strategic planning at Hynix.
The Wall Street Journal reports that wireless telecoms provider Sprint Nextel has said it would include a range of Google's web and communications applications on its forthcoming WiMax mobile devices. Sprint recently announced it is teaming up with Clearwire to build a nationwide WiMax network. The companies plan a rollout that will reach 100 million people by the end of 2008.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 