IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 29 July
29-07-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Micro-hoo deal gets closer | Apple mutes Google Voice
The Irish Times reports that Wicklow County Council has started to exam its 300 computers for references to the Whitestown illegal landfill, in order to comply with a request from the High Court. A computer belonging to the council's environmental consultant, Sean O Laoire, has already been examined by a computer expert. The computer searches were initiated after O Laoire revealed that the council, for whom he is an expert witness, had not included his documents in its discovery of files on the Whitestown dump.
The paper also says that French call centre group Teleperformance is to create up to 200 new jobs at its Newry facility, thanks to a major new contract. The group, which currently employs 2,000 people in the North, has won a further contract with British supermarket giant Sainsbury's, an existing client. Teleperformance will provide a helpline and customer service facilities to support the launch of a new non-food merchandise section on Sainsbury's website.
The Irish Independent says that GPS tracking devices, which can allow Gardai to pinpoint the location of an ATM if a machine is ripped from a wall, are among several new security measures being considered to stop hole-in-the-wall gangs. Security devices will also be fitted to cash machines around the country, and Gardai are examining the use of dye, which would destroy the notes inside the cash machine if it is opened illegally.
The paper also reports that software firm SuccessFactors is to create 40 new jobs in Dublin, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The paper also notes that billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates's EUR29 million grant to an Irish overseas aid agency will fund a search for solutions to healthcare issues in Africa and Asia. The grant to Concern Worldwide from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will fund a five-year scheme aimed at coming up with innovative solutions to deal with the lack of basic healthcare for mothers, infants and children in India, Malawi and Sierre Leone.
The same paper reports on an Apple iPhone application called Offender Locator, which alerts iPod Touch and iPhone owners in the US to the location of nearby sex offenders. The application was developed by ThinAir Wireless, which used a database of registered sex offenders to build the software.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo and Microsoft are close to sealing an internet search partnership, according to sources. The deal, which could be made public on Wednesday, includes Yahoo agreeing to use Microsoft's Bing search engine technology on its own sites. A source said the Bing brand is expected to be used by Yahoo. Yahoo would continue to handle sales of text ads that appear next to the search results for its own sites, as well as some Microsoft sites. The deal would reportedly involve revenue-sharing from advertising sales.
The paper also says that Apple is refusing to allow Google to distribute its internet telephony software to iPhones through Apple's App Store. A Google spokeswoman said she could not say why Apple had rejected the mobile version of Google Voice. Apple has previously turned away internet telephony programs because they repeated key iPhone functions. Google said it is exploring other ways of reaching iPhones.
According to the Financial Times, business software giant SAP's crackdown on costs helped it raise second-quarter income. Net income in the quarter of EUR423 million beat analysts' expectations and was up on the EUR408 million of the same period last year. Total group revenues fell 10 percent, however. The German group gave no indication of substantially better times for the rest of 2009. However CEO Leo Apotheker said SAP at least now was beginning to "have improved visibility into the second half of the year". Apotheker said he expected economic recovery next year.
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