The tech biz week: DNM Analytics to expand, BoxFish raises US$7m


24 Mar 2014

A digest of the top business technology news stories from the past week, beginning with the news that Dublin firm DNM Analytics is to invest US$1.8m in an international expansion.

Dublin software firm DNM to invest US$1.8m in North American expansion

Dublin-headquartered DNM Analytics is to invest US$1.8m in an international expansion, beginning with its first North American office in Toronto.

DNM Analytics is a consultancy services company delivering enterprise data solutions in business intelligence, business analytics and data services across the globe.

The company’s CEO David Quirke said Toronto was chosen for its competitive cost advantages, access to Canada’s talented workforce, and for its strategic location as a global business hub.

Irishman’s TV app start-up raises US$7m

Eoin Dowling’s Silicon Valley and Dublin-based start-up BoxFish has raised US$7m in venture capital from Atlantic Bridge Capital and consumer electronics giant Samsung.

BoxFish is a TV app that processes every word spoken on 1,000 channels in real-time in order to deliver to consumers TV content that is relevant to them.

The technology is available as an iPad and an Android app.

Dropbox takes aim at Microsoft’s Yammer market with Zulip acquisition

Dropbox is entering the workplace chat market with the acquisition of Zulip, a desktop and mobile app that allows users to share public and private messages with their co-workers.

The move brings Dropbox on a competitive parallel with Microsoft, which acquired enterprise social network Yammer in 2012 for US$1.2bn in cash.

It is also a space occupied by Salesforce.com, which is pumping considerable resources into the enterprise social network with its Chatter technology.

Viacom and Google reach settlement over YouTube copyright claims

Media giant Viacom and Google have reached a settlement regarding their long-standing copyright dispute over the search engine’s video-sharing website, YouTube.

Viacom first brought the case to court in 2007 over what it saw as a challenge to its copyrighted content that YouTube users were posting to the site.

While details of the settlement have not been released (though it is reportedly not a financial settlement) Viacom had initially demanded US$1bn in damages from Google over the whole affair.

Mobile ad revenue soars 105pc in 2013

Mobile advertising can now firmly place itself as the dominant advertising medium after a recent report shows that ad spend on the mobile format jumped 105pc in 2013.

In the report by eMarketer, this 105pc jump accounted for a total spend of US$17.6bn last year. The report estimates this year’s spend to nearly double, at an estimated US$31.45bn.

Two companies dominate the market. The combined ad revenue of internet giant Google and social network Facebook last year totalled US$6.92bn, claiming 75.2pc of the additional US$9.2bn that went toward mobile in 2013.

Symantec fires second CEO in less than two years

Computer security company Symantec has fired its second CEO in less than two years, with the dismissal of Steve Bennett in the wake of drooping revenue and falling shares.

Bennett replaced Enrique Salem as CEO in July 2012, with the goal of positioning Symantec to compete with a new generation of security companies, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Symantec’s revenue sank 4.8pc to US$1.7bn in the period ended 27 December. Last Thursday, the company said revenue in the current quarter would amount to US$1.62bn to US$1.66bn, down from US$1.75bn a year earlier. Also last Thursday, shares fell nearly 7pc in after-hours trading, after Symantec announced Bennett’s dismissal. Previously, the company’s shares were down nearly 15pc over the past 12 months.

Financial results this week

Smartphone maker BlackBerry is to release its year-end and fourth-quarter fiscal 2014 results on Friday, 28 March.

Dropbox and Microsoft are Silicon Republic Featured Employers, comprised of top tech companies that are hiring now

Toronto image via Shutterstock

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