IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 15 August
15-08-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
VMware shares surge on first day of trading | Global Voice is back in black
The Irish Times reports that Global Voice, the Irish-run but Singapore-listed operator of fibre-optic networks, has announced revenues of EUR10.4 million and a pre-tax profit of EUR1.4 million for the six months to the end of June 2007. The firm, which trades as EuNetworks in Europe, said 34 new customers and 113 separate new lease agreements had enabled a "strong return to profitability".
The paper also says that UPC Ireland has launched a digital video recorder (DVR). Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper says that users of Nokia mobile phones have been warned that they could be in possession of faulty phone batteries, as reported on ENN on Tuesday.
According to the Financial Times, shares in virtualisation software firm VMware soared 76 percent on their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. VMware shares rose well above their USD29-a-share offer price, briefly trading as high as USD55 a share before falling back to end the day at USD51. The gains meant the company delivered the biggest opening-day gain for an IPO this year. Read more on the VMware IPO on ENN.
The Wall Street Journal reports that chipmaker Applied Materials' net income fell 7.5 percent, as the firm suffered from weak profits in the memory sector. Although demand for memory chips -- used in digital cameras, mobile phones and music players -- is surging, chip suppliers have been beset by sharp price declines, hurting their profits. Applied predicted that orders in the current quarter would be flat to down 5 percent from the third fiscal period, which ended in July. It said revenue would decline 5 percent to 10 percent over the same period.
The paper also notes that YouTube has requested that comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert be deposed as part of a copyright dispute with Viacom. According to court filings, the video-sharing site lists Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart', and Stephen Colbert, host of 'The Colbert Report', among 32 people it wants to interview before trial. Comedy Central is a Viacom brand. Viacom filed a USD1 billion lawsuit against YouTube in March after discussions failed on licensing Viacom content for use on YouTube.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 