Sony has confirmed an extra 12,000 unit's of PlayStation2 are to be shipped to Ireland to cater for the Christmas market. On Friday, 8,000 units of the company's latest games console sold out in hours leaving thousands of shoppers disappointed. In the Virgin Megastore in Dublin, 65 units were sold in one hour, according to a spokesman. He said £30,000 passed through the tills in that period, adding: "It is the fastest selling product I have seen in quite a while".
One hundred and thirty people queued outside the shop on Aston Quay from 3 p.m. on Thursday. Two thirds of these people, willing to pay the £380 required, were turned away. The spokesman added the shop would stay open until midnight to sell any new shipment of the games consoles. Meanwhile the launch of PlayStation2 in Paris caused a stampede in the Virgin Megastore on the Champs Elysees on Friday. Several hundred people literally threw themselves on the consoles in the shop where about 100 units went on sale as the clock struck midnight on Thursday.
Netday: Netdays Europe, the world's largest initiative aimed at bringing more people online, comes to an end today after a weekend which saw the Central Library in Dublin's Ilac Centre act as a focal point for introducing email to Net novices. The organisers of the event have expressed their hope the open days can become a more regular feature of the ????????librarie's activities, although how frequently the events take place depends on the level of Governmental support.
WAP a flop: WAP phones have been a flop in France, a survey has revealed. Only 15 per cent of regular Internet users said they intend to acquire a WAP phone. Around 4,000 people were questioned last July at the time the WAP phone was first launched in France.
Smart law: New laws have been introduced to combat counterfeit smart cards which allow users access to satellite television. The Minsister for Public Enterprise Mary O'Rourke signed the European Regualtions into Irish law last week.
No can yahoo!: Yahoo! has said a French court ruling banning people in France accessing websites which auction Nazi paraphenalia is impossible to enforce. The judge, confirming a May ruling, gave Yahoo! three months to comply with the order or face fines of approximately £12,000 per day. But Yahoo's legal team said it would be up to US courts to enforce the ruling, which was "not likely" because of American free-speech laws.
11m sign on: An Web-based protest against greenhouse gases has gathered 11 million messages in what is believed to be the biggest ever such campaign, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said last week. The campaign, staged on the website www.climatevoice.org, was organised by the WWF and a coalition of other organisations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, a US environment group. It coincided with a ministerial-level summit to discuss the world's environment.
Merc's percs: German car maker Mercedes Benz is to introduce cars with information fueling stations that would enable the uploading of data while passing high-speed, short-range transmission networks located along motorways. The company is also planning a doppler radar-based cruise control; a system that will not only control the speed of a vehicle but also control the distance between it and the car in front of it.
Sour note: A music retailer on the Web has taken steps to end free music swapping on the Web. EMusic.com is to use a new technology, "acoustic fingerprinting", to monitor its songs which are being shared on Napster, allegedly infringing the rights of Emusic's label partners and artists.
Boxt in: A 26-year-old Japanese man discovered his own stolen Porsche car for sale on the Web. The man trawled through Tokyo used car dealers' websites after his 1997 Porsche Boxter was stolen from his home in a wealthy area of Tokyo in September. Police suspect organised crime may have been behind the theft.
Correction: In last week's article entitled Raging Against the Machine by Rory Kelleher reference was made to research conducted by Professor James Wickham of the sociology department at University College Dublin. Professor Wickham is, in fact, based in Trinity College Dublin which is where the research cited was conducted.
In brief... Ericsson has launched a new smart phone which incorporates a mobile phone, personal organiser and Internet access via a touch-sensitive screen. . . Women are the fastest growing sector of German Internet users, a survey has revealed. . . Shares in Amstrad plunged to a year low last week after it said its new low-cost mobile phone would not be ready to hit the shelves in time for Christmas. . . Eircell has teamed up with FolloWAP to produce "E-merge Messenger" - an instant messaging service. . .
