IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 10 June
10-06-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Bing makes early gains in US | SAP to outline SaaS moves
The Irish Times reports that Comreg has told the Oireachtas Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs that it has agreed a new deal with mobile network operators that will see them cut the rates that they charge each other by more than half. The communications regulator expects the deal will lead to consumers and businesses saving up to EUR100 million on their mobile phone bills.
The same paper says that shares in Dublin-based software company Norkom rose sharply on Tuesday after it reported a 17 percent increase in revenues to EUR48 million for the year ended 31 March. Read more on ENN.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft's new search engine Bing has made early gains in the US search market. A study by research firm comScore shows that Microsoft gained about two percentage points in two measures of the US internet-search market share since Bing was launched at the end of May. Microsoft's share of search results pages rose to 11 percent between 2 June and 6 June, from 9.1 percent between 26 May and 30 May. Microsoft also reached more searchers on the internet during that time period, seeing its share of search penetration rise to 15.5 percent from 13.8 percent, according to comScore.
The paper also reports that Chinese internet users have criticised a government plan to require PC makers to ship internet-filtering software with all new PCs. The notice sent to PC makers was posted online in China on Monday and publicised in state media Tuesday. As word of the plan reached Chinese users, some contributors to online forums described it as a noble effort, but many voiced other concerns. Some wondered who would be deciding which websites are "bad", while others worried the program could be used to collect private user data.
The Financial Times says Google has confirmed it is facing scrutiny by both the Department of Justice and a number of state attorneys general over a proposed deal with book publishers to put millions of books online. A draft settlement of a class action lawsuit from publishers was agreed late last year and it spells out terms for Google to carry out-of-print, copyrighted books. However, a federal judge has yet to rule on the proposed settlement, and the signs of growing regulatory scrutiny indicate the deal may at least have to be amended if it is to be passed.
The same paper writes that German software giant SAP is to outline a new strategy on Wednesday for delivering software over the internet. SAP's new approach will be to integrate its online services far more closely with its traditional business software, in a hybrid model that tries to take advantage of the big installed base of SAP's business applications. The early pace in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market has been set by newcomers such as Salesforce.com and SAP has struggled to respond to the market. "It's absolutely essential for SAP -- if they don't make a viable play in the on-demand world, they will be completely overwhelmed by it," said Josh Greenbaum, an analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 