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Siemens cuts 7,000 workers in its industrial solutions unit | Forty percent of AOL users are dissatisfied
German electronics and engineering group Siemens said it will cut 7,000 jobs in its industrial solutions unit in a bid to boost profitability. Siemens industrial solutions and services employs about 30,000 staff. In Ireland, Siemens employs 1,100, but the company said that the changes would have no impact on Irish workers.
Declan Treacy of Studentalive.com Entertainment was awarded the top prize at the Shell LiveWIRE Young Business Start-Up Awards 2002 in Northern Ireland. Treacy, who launched his on-line information and entertainment guide for students in 2001, was awarded a cheque for STG2,000 and will go on to represent Northern Ireland in the UK final. LiveWIRE (NI) was established in 1989 to raise awareness of youth enterprise in Northern Ireland and to help young people explore the option of starting their own business through the provision of advice, support and guidance.
Datalex announced that it has signed a deal with South African Airways (SAA) to enable the airline to sell products and services through a network of independent travel portals using Datalex booking technology. M-Web, the largest consumer portal in South Africa, is the first site to partner with SAA on this venture, providing M-Web users with access to all SAA worldwide services and special on-line fares.
Cape Clear Software, a provider of Web services technology, announced that its software is available free for university students and faculty staff. Eligible users can now download and use Cape Clear's CapeStudio and CapeConnect products free of charge for non-commercial use.
The European Commission has cleared the way for an on-line travel agency between Amadeus and French department store Galeries Lafayette. The Commission has granted regulatory clearance to a deal whereby Laser, a subsidiary of Galeries Lafayette, and Amadeus will acquire joint control of a joint venture that will operate as an on-line travel agency in France. The travel-oriented Web site will provide news, reports, destination information and on-line purchase facilities for travel and travel-related products.
More than 40 percent of AOL users dislike the service and more than half of its subscribers are looking for a faster alternative, according to a new survey. Among the AOL users surveyed, 41 percent disliked the service and 58 percent said they would be seeking broadband service. ChangeWave Investment Research said that the AOL service, which is the largest on-line subscription service in the world, "is facing a potential disaster in its core subscriber base."
Sun Microsystems has launched its biggest software upgrade in years. Sun is trying to integrate the new version of its flagship Solaris operating system with Linux. Sun has incorporated security and management features that are usually separate programs into the operating system, in an attempt to simplify networks choked by multiple layers of software. Solaris version 9 has about 300 new features that should help networks run with less intervention from administrators.
Sony kicked off the game industry's biggest trade show by rubbishing rivals Microsoft and Nintendo. Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, used the company's press conference before the Electronic Entertainment Expo to boast of the PlayStation2's huge sales lead over Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube. The PS2 has sold 30 million units worldwide, compared with about 4 million for each for its rivals.
Newnham women's college in Cambridge has banned Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express because it is tired of cleaning up after virus attacks. The college, which has around 700 users, took the decision after the latest Klez virus outbreak. The university mail servers blocked around 200,000 copies of the mail, but the college had a number of infections that caused a huge amount of disruption.
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