IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 18 September
18-09-2007
by Deirdre McArdle
TVC Holdings shares jump 6pc on Havok sale | IBM launches free software pack to rival Microsoft Office
The Irish Times reports that Microsoft lost its appeal against a landmark antirust decision by the European Commission in 2004. Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper says that Iona Technologies is on course to record a net profit for the year despite reporting a loss of USD1.2 million (EUR864,437) in the first half of the year, according to chief executive Peter Zotto, who was speaking at a press briefing in Dublin on Monday.
The Irish Independent reports that Jurys Doyle Hotel Group has abolished charges to hotel guests for internet access, including Wi-Fi connectivity, as noted by ENN.
Shares in investment firm TVC Holdings jumped almost 6 percent on news of the sale of game software company Havok, in which it holds a 27.4pc stake, to Intel, according to the same paper. TVC is set to receive USD21 million (EUR15.1 million) from sale of the Dublin-based company, which is expected to be completed within five days. Read more about the Havok sale on ENN.
The Examiner reports that county councillors in South Tipperary on Monday voted to reject plans for a 3,500-home and technology park development outside Clonmel. New Vision Developments Ltd had submitted a proposal to the council for the EUR1.5 billion technology and residential campus, to be called the Powerstown Quarter, on 400 acres of agricultural land which would, according to the company, have created 3,500 jobs. The proposal was rejected by councillors by 13 votes to nine.
According to the Wall Street Journal IBM is to launch a software package featuring applications that pit it against Microsoft's Office suite. The pack, called Symphony, can be downloaded from the web free of charge. It features a word processor to rival Word, a spreadsheet to go up against Excel and business-presentation software as an alternative to PowerPoint.
The same paper says that social networking site Facebook is to launch a USD10 million fund to give grants to individuals and startups building applications on its platform. At the TechCrunch 40 technology conference in San Francisco on Monday Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the firm will give grants of between USD25,000 to USD250,000 to people making "innovative and disruptive" web-based services that interact with Facebook, using a set of tools that Facebook launched in May.
The Financial Times points out that Apple and Google top the list of US technology giants that could fall foul of European antitrust regulation as a result of a European court upholding the European Union's ruling against Microsoft, according to some industry analysts. They said the defeat for Microsoft could prompt European regulators to try to force other companies that control dominant technologies to open up more of their technology to rivals. Other commentators, though, suggest that Microsoft's position was unique and that the case's outcome was unlikely to affect other tech firms.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 