Silicon Republic - News

€799.99 iPhone app removed from App Store

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:31:00 +0100

UPDATED: It seems even Apple was offended by the 'I Am Rich' application, which was on sale in the App Store for the princely sum of €799.99.The app has since disappeared and dilligent searching for it on the store has proved fruitless.

Blu-ray: who cares?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:04:00 +0100

Not consumers apparently. According to US research firm ABI Research, Blu-ray may have won the high-definition format war against HD DVD as the media format to replace the DVD, but not many are rushing out to invest.

How crowd wisdom is changing the Sat Nav landscape

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

If you have ever been told by your Sat Nav device that it was okay to drive up a one-way street, or perhaps you've come across a newly sectioned-off route and wished there was some way you could tell others, then you'll be one of the drivers eager to join in crowdsourcing.

Samsung Tocco Review

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:36:00 +0100

I am tired of every touch phone that comes on the market being compared with the iPhone and touted as the next possible iPhone killer - how is an innocent phone to get a start in this world if it is ruthlessly pitched against what is seen as state-of-the-art mobile innovation? I'm outraged.

Will Facebook stock push value beyond US$4bn?

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:15:00 +0100

When Microsoft bought a stake in Facebook last November for US$240m, the social networking site was valued at a staggering US$15bn - unheard of for a company so young and strange given its recent formal valuation, which now puts it at a considerably more modest US$4bn.

Non-toxic cables for electronic devices to be introduced in Europe

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:38:00 +0100

A Korean company has developed the world's first high-retardancy, non-toxic cables for electronic devices using nanotechnology and is introducing the innovation into Europe.

ISPs and self regulation - not a black and white issue

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:01:00 +0100

Recent coverage of the ISPAI (Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland) has focused on the fact that Irish ISPs who have not joined this voluntary organisation are also by inference choosing not to support the ISPAI's Hotline.ie service, which monitors and reports child porn on the web, but the issue is not so cut and dried according to Michele Neylon, MD of Carlow-based Black Night.

Re-using technology to liberate and educate

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Former investment banker Cormac Lynch (pictured) believes education is key to solving Africa's problem and has persuaded Irish businesses to donate 7,000 computers for schools and colleges on the troubled continent

Are the odds stacked against start-ups in the search engine space?

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Last week's launch of brand new search engine Cuil.com, co-founded by Louth man Tom Costello, brought about mixed reactions from web users and the industry alike.

Faster services and lower prices herald mobile broadband arms race

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Does 3G technology offer a viable alternative to fixed-line broadband?

Blog Digest

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Dodgy travel agents named and shamed and weddings in space from 2011 onwards, all on the blogosphere this week.

Fighting spam and thinking robots - bio-inspired AI

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:00:00 +0100

Can anti-spam software learn to distinguish between harmful and harmless email? Will robots ever be able to win in a spontaneous dance-off? These questions and their answers are inextricably linked to modelling artificial intelligence on bio systems found in nature.

UPC CEO upbeat about second-quarter results

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:05:00 +0100

UPC Ireland has reported a 28pc increase in revenues to $95.6m for the three months to 30 June, higher than the increase of 23.1pc recorded by the total UPC Broadband Division for the same period.

Microsoft deal to bring Havok tech to more games

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:08:00 +0100

A new licensing agreement between Microsoft Games Studios and Havok will see the Irish games firm's leading edge graphics and physics modelling technology used by Microsoft's development partners.

Major hacking ring exposed in US - 40 million cards stolen

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:15:00 +0100

In what's believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice in the US, 11 people from five countries have been charged with stealing over 40 million credit and debit card numbers.

IBM plans to 'unlock the desktop' from Microsoft monopoly

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:02:00 +0100

Technology companies IBM, Novell, Canonical and Red Hat, which offer an alternative to the Microsoft PC, have spotted what they see as its Achilles heel: the current Vista operating system.

Irish Dixons stores rebrand as Currys

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:41:00 +0100

All Dixons outlets around the country will be now be renamed as Currys in a rebranding exercise by DSG Retail Ireland, which will be focusing on Currys as the consumer electronics division and introducing over 3,000 new products to the stores.

Technology shares forgotten accounts of Irish history

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Have you ever wondered what happened to all the old archived material collected by town councils, hospitals and parish centres on life in Ireland when the poorhouse was the destination of the starving and the sick or when dancehalls were the centre of our social life?

Sony's home cinema sound in palm of your hand

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:37:00 +0100

With tiny speakers that are literally the size of a golf ball, Sony is pushing the 'home cinema in a box' experience with its new Bravia Theatre systems.

Abiomed pumps life into the Midlands with manufacturing announcement

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:46:00 +0100

Specialist heart assist technologies company Abiomed is setting up a global manufacturing facility in Athlone, Co Westmeath, which will lead to the creation of 250 jobs over five years.

Lenovo takes on Eee PC market

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:31:00 +0100

The selection of netbooks, or low-cost sub-notebooks designed with internet access and web applications in mind, are growing with the latest additions from Lenovo - the IdeaPad S9 and S10.

DVR moves forward with US court ruling

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:09:00 +0100

As was the case back in the early Eighties, when US television companies were afraid the VCR would kill revenue with consumers' ability to record TV shows and then fast forward through advertisements, the same issues reared their heads when the DVR (digital video recorder) came on the market. However, a recent court ruling may further the spread of this technology.

'Paying by mobile' for digital downloads predicted to explode

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:40:00 +0100

Research released today predicts that 2.1 billion mobile subscribers around the world will 'pay by mobile' for digital goods downloaded to their mobile phones by 2013.

Mobile awards not independent, says mobile web standards expert

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:01:00 +0100

A founding sponsor of the W3C MWI (Worldwide Web Consortium Mobile Web Initiative), Paul Walsh, has lashed out at what he says are unfair and narrow practices in relation to the upcoming industry event Mobile Web Europe 2008 where sole sponsor dotMobi is concerned.

Businesses not ruffled by Eircom increase

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Eircom customers' phone bills are going to go up by an average of 3.8pc from 2 September, thanks to changes in its pricing system announced today.

Autumn 2009 launch date for digital television switchover

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:39:00 +0100

Following the end of digital terrestrial television (DTT) trials by the Irish Government today, Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan said national rollout will begin in a little over a year - August 2009.

Can the public sector be trusted with our data, asks security firm

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:35:00 +0100

Another security breach in relation to lost/stolen government laptops has occurred as a laptop from the Comptroller and Auditor General's office containing personal information regarding staff at a certain government department was left behind at a bus stop by an employee.

TCD team starts trials of new low-cost mobile phone system

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:48:00 +0100

A project team based at the department of computer science at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has developed new software which it says could lead to consumers being able to make low-cost mobile phone calls from anywhere in the world.

Moviestar.ie entrepreneurs feel a million dollars after reaching milestone

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Online rental site Moviestar.ie reached a milestone today, posting out its one millionth DVD, two years after it opened for business.

Bluetooth breathes life into Oxegen

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0100

Over 49,000 unique Bluetooth users were detected at Oxegen this summer and 14,000 festival attendees downloaded and used the service over the weekend. Oxegen promoters MCD offered the service to all 80,000 attendees, and it was sponsored by O2.