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The information management sector of the IT industry is experiencing buoyancy, according to a research project sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study, carried out across Ireland by iTx, found that spending in the sector is set to increase significantly in 2002. Fifty-eight percent of the organisations surveyed said they had set aside budgets in excess of EUR80,000, while 19 percent had budgets in excess of EUR800,000. Improving efficiency and customer service are key motivations behind the majority of investments. The areas most likely to be addressed are information capture, document control, records management, workflow and content management.
ChangingWorlds and University College Dublin have won two research awards at international conferences this summer for joint research and development work. The work concerned the development of sophisticated personalisation techniques for mobile operators that allow mobile portals to automatically adapt to the changing preferences of individual users. The resulting ClixSmart Navigator product was recently licensed by Vodafone to power its mobile portal offering. The two awards were received at the 15th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Lyon, France and at the 2nd International Conference on Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-based Systems in Malaga, Spain.
The Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation is to add two extra digits to local numbers in the 04, 05, 07 and 09 areas. Area codes in some areas will also change. The existing number and new number will operate in tandem for 12 months, after which time the new number will replace the existing number and a recorded message will inform callers of the new number. There will be no charge for the initial call to the old number. Existing numbers are listed in the current 2003 phonebook, and the new numbers will be published in the 2004 phonebooks.
BT is launching an expanded directory service aimed at competing with Yell, the directory business it sold last year to help reduce its debt. BT announced that customers will be able to access both directory enquiries and classified listings, as well as weather forecasts, sports results and cinema listings through a single telephone number. The company's move to transform its directories operation follows Oftel's decision to deregulate the 192 service and BT's recent acquisition of Scoot.
Collaborating engineers from IBM, Sony and Toshiba are wrapping up the design for a new chip called "Cell," according to CNET News.com. IBM says the multimedia processor, described as a "supercomputer on a chip," is nearing completion. The chip could end up inside the PlayStation 3, and elements of its design will be seen in future server chips from IBM. Although details remain vague, Cell will differ from existing microprocessors in that it will not only perform the heavy computational tasks required for graphics but it will also contain circuitry to handle high-bandwidth communication and to run multiple devices.
Adobe Systems is bringing its Acrobat Reader to mobile phones. Network publisher Adobe has announced the public beta availability of Acrobat Reader for Symbian OS, a software application that enables Adobe PDF files to be viewed on data-enabled mobile phones. The product is available free of charge from the Adobe Web site.
Five Israeli minors have reportedly been charged with creating the Goner virus. The Goner worm, which spread rapidly in December 2001 by e-mail, shut down antivirus and firewall protection on infected PCs once activated. According to Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, the five have been charged with wilfully causing damage to computers belonging to companies and private individuals, both in Israel and abroad, by writing and disseminating computer viruses over the Internet.
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