Electronic commerce has failed to reduce costs in line with forecasts originally made by financial services organisations, a special report on the industry from Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. The report, now in its 10th year, concludes that the less than enthusiastic take-up of e-commerce opportunities in the banking sector is due to the fact that customers have failed to embrace the online experience.
As a result, expectations of cost reductions from electronic commerce initiatives have halved since last year, with 40 per cent of respondents in the Irish and UK banking sector citing the main reason for this being "a failure to migrate clients" and 40 per cent saying that "customer usage was lower than expected. Not only do banks appear to have over estimated customer use of the Internet, but also bad experiences online have made customers unwilling to use this mode of transaction," the report says. "People power has forced banks to rethink their strategy, as increased competition and diversity in the market is making customers more discerning," Pat Talbot, vice president of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young said.
Code cracking?: A British communications firm has unearthed coded messages sent over the Internet which, it claims, may be linked to Osama bin Laden. Glasgow-based Iomart has been helping US investigators since the terror atrocities on September 11th. The company has been using sophisticated software to search the Net for so-called steganography, the system of hiding messages inside electronic images and music files. The system of encrypting text on the Internet is thought to be used by bin Laden and his associates as a means of communication, according to Iomart. Using a vast database of information on the "DNA" or electronic make-up of millions of images - much of it pornography favoured by terrorists as a vehicle for hidden commands - experts can uncover encrypted text by breaking down the images.
Settling for less: Despite intense pressure from a judge to settle their antitrust case, Microsoft and the US government have made little headway in private talks and face the intervention of a mediator. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has told both sides she wants the case settled by November 2nd. The US Supreme Court last week rejected Microsoft's request to overturn an earlier ruling that the software giant violated US anti-trust laws. The court declined without any comment or dissent to review the June 28th ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which concluded that Microsoft had illegally maintained its monopoly over the market for PC operating systems.
Singing atoms: Three physicists who made atoms "sing" have won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for freezing matter into a new state that may help make microscopic computers and revolutionise aircraft guidance. Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman and Wolfgang Ketterle won the $1 million prize for creating a form of matter that is extremely pure and coherent - in the same way that lasers are a pure kind of light. They caused atoms to "sing in unison" - thus discovering a new state of matter, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. Their technology can create atom lasers that could draw microscopic computer circuits many times tinier than the smallest in use today, allowing fast, powerful and compact computers to be built.
Parthus platform: Parthus Technologies has announced its latest GPS (Global Positioning System) platform. The company claims the NavStream 3000 gives highly accurate position solutions and can pinpoint a location within 3.5 seconds. The new platform is aimed at delivering enhanced indoor and outdoor positioning accuracy across a range of devices including mobile phones and automobiles.
Email sackings: Staff at a high-tech company operating near Cambridge are furious after colleagues were sacked by email. One of the company's divisions was called to a meeting by their boss to be told of the 15 job losses. He then said if there was an email waiting for them when they returned to their desk, then they had lost their job.
Good times: Microsoft's MSN has claimed it is the top global search service provider, with more than 32 million unique users in the USalone. It also said it is the Number one provider on the Web for email, portal shopping, sports, news and automotive-buying services.
Gloomy times: Internet giant Yahoo! has reported a third-quarter loss and a decline in revenues and said it may have to cut more jobs this year as it grapples with an "unprecedented" economic downturn. It said it is reviewing its businesses and will announce a corporate realignment, which may include job cuts, on November 15th.
X-boxing clever: Microsoft has unveiled an extended alliance with Japanese game developer Sega ahead of the company's launch of its game console X-box later this year. The X-box represents Microsoft's push into the $20 billion video game industry now dominated by Sony and Nintendo.
Healthy option: The VHI has launched a new website designed to help people find open pharmacies in their area during emergencies. The site www.vhihealthe.com, features lists of late-night and 24 hour pharmacies throughout the Republic. It was set up to compliment the VHI existing "Find a Health Service" on their website, which lists GPs who operate outside normal hours.
Fine act: European antitrust enforcers may seek a massive fine from Microsoft and demand that it drop some features from its dominant Windows software, the Wall Street Journal has claimed, citing a confidential European Commission document outlining its case. According to the report, the commission also alleged that Microsoft misled investigators and sought to obstruct the case. Any fine would be higher than it would have been if Microsoft cooperated, the document states, according to the report.
Modem World www.oxfamireland.org
At least 14 million people in the developing world die every year from treatable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, with the high cost of medicines a key factor. World Trade Organisation patent rules are pushing up the prices of these medicines and Oxfam have set up a global online petition to urge WTO members change the global patent rules.
www.art.ie
As part of its 50th Anniversary celebrations, the Arts Council, in conjunction with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, has recently launched this site.
Diary
November 6th:
Seminar entitled Listing on Nasdaq - After the Correction on in Goodbody Stockbrokers' Head Office in Ballsbridge, Dublin. The half-day seminar brings together a mix of international and Irish experience to discuss why and how Irish companies should list on Nasdaq and what ongoing implications arise for management . More information - kathy.l.morgan@goodbody.ie
Text Bites
"Settling means no matter what the agreement, there will be immediate constraints on their behavior. Not settling means no constraints until at least next summer, and maybe over a year from now." - Howard University law professor Andy Gavil expressing doubts that Microsoft would settle their antitrust case.
"I'm not at all hopeful that the settlement route is going to work," - Bob Lande a professor at the University of Baltimore, agreeing that a settlement is unlikely.