A round-up of other technology stories in brief...
MiCandidate expanding into Europe
Technology start-up miCandidate has announced that it will create 10-15 new jobs over the next three months as it expands into Europe.
MiCandidate, which currently employs 10 staff, provides information on election candidates, such as policies, experience and background, to third party websites. Sky, RTÉ, the Telegraph and TV3 are some of the media organisations who have signed up to use the service to enhance their coverage of the upcoming European elections.
“Just like daft.ie we are not only making it easier and quicker to learn about all the local and European candidates in your constituency, we are making it easier to draw comparisons,” said founder Paddy Cosgrave.
PTools completes Axa claims system
Content management specialists pTools has completed an online claims processing system for Axa Insurance which is being used internally and by the 500 solicitors that the company deals with. Called Axa Atlas the system uses pTools software to automate claims management processes and procedures as well as cost calculations.
Since integrating pTools, “claims processing times have [decreased] substantially, standardisation of documentation has increased productivity and administration costs in the claims department have been substantially reduced”, said Pádraic Mills of Axa Ireland.
Irish firms head for Web 2.0 Expo
A number of Irish start-ups will be heading to San Francisco next week to take part in the annual Web 2.0 Expo which draws the great and the good of the internet industry. Business collaboration tool maker coClarity and Compliance Risks, a provider of web-based compliance knowledge management, have been selected to attend as part of WebMission09, the initiative to showcase 20 British and Irish tech start-ups to Silicon Valley. The Irish firms were selected out of over 100 applicants.
Internet marketing conference
The Search Marketing World 2009 conference takes place next Wednesday in the Crowne Plaza, Northwood, Dublin. Speakers are drawn from the worlds of advertising and the internet. The focus of this year’s event is how online marketing helps beat the recession. www.searchmarketingworld2009.com.
Nintendo console on sale next week
Games and console retailer GameStop has announced that Nintendo’s new hand-held console, the DSi, will be available from its 57 shops from next Friday for as a little as €80 if buyers trade in their current DS Lite.
Available in black or white the DSi is the thinnest and lightest Nintendo DS yet. New features include two motion-detecting cameras, enhanced sound, game downloads and memory to allow customisation.
The cameras can detect players’ facial features and movements allowing new ways of interacting with games. Over 1,000 DS games are available for the console with additional DSi-Ware titles available for download.
Digiweb introduces satellite broadband
Digiweb has partnered with Skylogic to introduce a satellite broadband service across Ireland. According to Digiweb the new service uses adaptive modulation and coding techniques which address the issue of “rain fade” and ensure high availability under differing weather conditions, previously not available in Ireland. The service will support speeds of up to 2MB/sec with monthly fees starting at €29. Equipment costs €395 including satellite dish and modem. Additional installation fees of €220 apply.
