WorldNet, the Dublin-based provider of secure online payment services to domestic and international eCommerce merchants, today announced the launch of Europe’s first iPhone ‘Virtual Terminal’ card payment facility.

The application allows businesses to accept secure card payment transactions through their iPhone.

John Clarke, Head of Product Innovation commented, “The iPhone Virtual Terminal is designed to process credit cards securely over the 3G or WiFi Network and is compatible with Apple’s iPhone 3G or iPod Touch technology. The product supports the secure processing of card transactions through major domestic and international payment processors such as Elavon Merchant Services, AIB Merchant Services and Barclaycard International and is available now for download from the Apple iPhone App Store.”

WorldNet Chief Executive, Will Byrne said “The launch of the first ‘Virtual Terminal’ application for the iPhone is another example of the success of our strategy to achieve market differentiation through product innovation. The iPhone application is perfect for any business which needs to accept card payment transactions ‘on the go’ – anytime, anywhere.”

With Vodafone due to join O2 as an iPhone service provider later this month, WorldNet will have access to over 500,000 potential business users for the iPhone Virtual Terminal application, in the Ireland and the UK.

Welcoming the announcement, Greg Treston, Head of High Potential Start Ups and Scaling at Enterprise Ireland, said: “WorldNet is exactly the type of innovative export-oriented company that Enterprise Ireland is keen to support. A key element of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy is to grow a strong base of innovative indigenous companies with the products, services and business development strategies that enable them to carve out their own place in global markets, driving jobs and export sales growth at home. Enterprise Ireland has worked closely with WorldNet and this announcement is one that we greatly welcome.”

CustomerMinds, the Irish based international marketing software specialist, based at the Media Cube, IADT has won the prestigious B2B Innovation Award at the 2010 Digital Media Awards.

This win follows winning the “Most International Potential” award at the 2009 Digital Media Awards and also, being a finalist for the Innovation Award at the 2009 Silicon Valley/ITLG awards in Stanford, California.

Despite the current environment CustomerMinds continues to grow rapidly internationally having doubled its client base in the last quarter alone.

Following opening a sales office in Manchester in early 2009 which resulted in a significant number of major account wins, CustomerMinds is also pleased to announce the opening of a new EMEA HQ office in Reading, UK.

The Company’s proprietary technology is targeted at marketing teams who need to drive revenue and reduce the length of sales cycles with minimal marketing spend. As well as building professional multichannel campaigns, including Email, SMS and personalised web pages, CustomerMinds’ technology enables users to track responses and gain clear insight into how further campaigns should be shaped and personalised.

Commenting on the award, Mike McMahon, CEO of CustomerMinds, said “We are delighted that the unrivalled returns achieved by our clients have been recognised for a second successive year by industry experts. This award is confirmation of the effect that tracking behaviour across digital channels has on sales revenue.”

About CustomerMinds:
The company was founded in Dublin in 2007 by Mike McMahon and Jonny Parkes, the Managing Director and Business Unit Manager of Electric Paper – one of the most successful Irish digital companies of the past decade.

Further information on the 8th Digital Media Awards is available at: www.digitalmedia.ie

Bgate Technology is co-owned by Simon Lunt and Tony Rhatigan.

Founded in 2004, Bgate was developed to tackle the communication gap between buyers and suppliers of goods and services who do business with each other on a regular basis.

Suppliers have spent a lot of money on expensive Logistics systems.
Buyers and buyer groups have similarly spent a lot of money on Accounts software. Unfortunately, buyers’ accounts software systems do not talk to suppliers’ logistics systems.

The result is that orders – placed over phone, fax and email – are keyed into the logistics system by suppliers’ telesales
operatives. Upon delivery, these orders are invoiced by email and physical post to the buyers who then have to re-type the
information into their Accounts software!

With Bgate…

Buyers log into Bgate.com and input their orders.

Suppliers log into Bgate and export all new orders straight to their logistics system.

Upon delivery, suppliers upload their invoices to Bgate.

Buyers then export the invoices straight to their accounts system.

Bgate studies have shown that supplier’ telesales operatives can spend between 7 and 30 minutes taking a single order over the phone and keying it into their logistics system. This leaves little time for actually talking to customers or win new business.

The total administration cost of processing an order from capture to invoice is estimated at up to €107 according to
international research. Bgate charges suppliers a transaction fee of €2.00 per order!

Bgate has been in operation since 2004 and has processed over 70,000 orders worth over €50MM without error.

Some of Bgate’s customers include: Allied Foods, Burger King, Johnson Mooney O’Brien, Eddie Rockets, Dawn Meats,
Haagen Dazs Cafes, Omniplex Cinemas, ISS Facilities Services.

Former product manager with CBT Systems, Simon left CBT in 1995 and co-founded Riverdeep which became Ireland’s
largest ever NASDAQ floatation with market cap high of $2bn. Simon is a bachelor of science graduate of Limerick
university and NCAD where he studied Industrial Design.

Tony Rhatigan has served as a director of a number of public companies listed in London, Vancouver and Toronto and
has extensive international experience. He has been chairman of listed property, mining, mineral exploration & production companies. Prior to holding these positions he had successfully developed his family business which was involved in stone quarrying, asphalt manufacturing, construction and property development in Ireland.

The theme of the Conference was: “ How Smart are We Really?” which examined the digital media sector in Ireland and the direction the digital and creative industries were likely to take and the technologies that were likely to succeed and fail both in Ireland and internationally.

Presentations were also given by Jean-Marc Soustre of Ericsson, Joan Mulvihill of the Irish Internet Association, Pat Byrne from Enterprise Ireland, Jag Rai of Eutelstat and Jeremy Biggerstaff of UTV New Media.

The event was sponsored by Microsoft Ireland, Intel Labs, Bank of Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, CREATE, the County Enterprise Board, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Chamber of Commerce and the IOTI.

The Winners of Media Cube’s Innovation Media ’09 Awards were also announced. The first prize was awarded to Snowluke Pictures, a film production company founded in 2006 by scriptwriters Mark Hodkinson and Richie Conroy. Snowluke has produced an award-winning Galway Film Centre/RTE short film ‘Up For Air’, and the ten-part mockumentary series ‘Fran’ for Setanta Sports / Broadcast Commision of Ireland which was has also been broadcast on TV3. Second prize was awarded to Atamia Ltd., a software development company that focuses on video games services.

Media Cube would like to thank the judges of Innovation Media ‘09 Competiton: Clare Dillon (MD, Microsoft Ireland), Sarah Newman (Dragons’ Den), Martin Curley (Intel Labs Europe) and Pat Byrne (Enterprise Ireland). We would also like to thank our panel of Speakers who provided interesting and stimulating presentations for discussion.

A special thank you must also be given to the staff at IADT and Anton Mannering who assisted in the organisation of the event.

Contact Details

Snowluke Pictures,
Media Cube,
Studio 110
Kill Avenue,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co. Dublin

Website: www.snowluke.com
Email: richie@snowluke.com
Phone: 087 830 73 53

Plumbers, plasterers, electricians, painters and decorators will all give up their time yesterday to help with coordinated repair work in the midlands.

Offers of help have come from not only the Athlone area but across the east coast, including Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, according to organisers onlinetradesmen.com

Ted Laverty, managing director, said he was delighted with the response and predicted the numbers could rise above 200.

“You talk to a lot of them and they’re genuinely enthusiastic about it,” Mr Laverty said. “They’ve all been affected by what they’ve seen. It’s like a national Hurricane Katrina. It’s been really heartening. I’m delighted with the response so far.”

The volunteering day of action was expected to take place last weekend but organisers were forced to postpone it for a week as water levels were still too high.

Ian O’Flynn, of the Athlone Flood Response Centre, said volunteers have been assessing what needs to be done to prepare the way for the tradesmen.

“A lot of people won’t be back in before Christmas, but the ones we’re able to work on we want at least to make them habitable, and not damp . . . that’s really what we’re trying to get the lads in to do,” Mr O’Flynn said.

“So many people around the country are saying these are my skills, this is what I can do.”

It is estimated that around 200 families have had their homes damaged by the floods in the Westmeath area, with around half remaining in temporary accommodation.

Martin Mansergh, junior minister with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, told a Dáil committee that some flood-hit homeowners in parts of the country may never return to their houses because of the scale of the damage.

Elsewhere, the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) today announced it has set aside a “substantial fund” to assist its members whose businesses have been affected by the recent flooding.

VFI members can apply for financial support through an agreed application and verification process.

Speaking today, Val Hanley, president of the VFI said; “Christmas is the busiest time of the year for our members. Devastating as they would have been at any stage, these floods could not have come at a worse time for publicans, many of whom are already struggling to keep their businesses alive during these difficult times.”

The ESB reported today water levels in Lough Derg have fallen a further 3cm overnight, with the discharge rate from Parteen Weir down overnight by a further 7 per cent below yesterday’s level .

Reservoir levels remain high at Poulaphouca reservoir and in the Liffey, however, and the ESB is continuing to discharge water from the reservoir.

Limerick City Council is continuing to monitor the level of Shannon River. It has put down sandbags at vulnerable points along the quays from Merchant’s Quay to the Shannon Bridge at Mallow Street and at Verdant Place as a precaution.

Additional reporting PA

Digital-marketing agency FuriousTribe.com is being launched today following the merger of Digital Ambition with Web Splash, an internet technology company.

According to managing director Patrick Leddy, FuriousTribe.com, in a nutshell, will help brands attract a new breed of internet consumer – a consumer that has become immune to traditional advertising and, as of late, banner advertising.

Merger marks milestone

The merger, he claimed, is a major milestone in the Irish digital sector, as it sparks the creation of a new hybrid agency that will help Irish businesses promote new revenue streams online on an international level covering every aspect of digital marketing.

“FuriousTribe.com is a ‘second-wave’ digital agency because it takes digital marketing to the next step, ie, to integrated digital conversations between brands and consumers to help brands get closer to customers through ‘real live’ feedback. We help companies and brands embrace digital to develop new customers and grow their businesses into new markets.

“Online communications can help position an Irish company marketing, into say, Japan, France, UK, Scandinavia or the US at a faster rate than traditional marketing methods and for a fraction of the cost.”

Foreign projects

FuriousTribe.com, which is already working on digital projects in the UK, France and US, will target the UK market immediately, and claims it will help Irish companies who need to market their businesses on an international level quickly.

“Internet advertising is weathering the global recession and the market in the UK is estimated at stg£82 million in 2009, where online advertising overtook TV for the first time.

“We are targeting the UK as it remains the world leader in terms of market share for online, with the medium now accounting for 23.5pc of all marketing budgets spent in the first half of 2009. Marketing budgets are now being restructured rapidly as advertisers follow their audiences online and look to the internet for more measurable results,” Leddy added.

FuriousTribe.com features a hand-picked team drawn from a pool of specialists covering both marketing and technology-driven disciplines.

Apple approved

Core competencies include online advertising, social-media marketing, branded entertainment content, strategic web development, user-experience design and content for mobile consumption. The company is a certified phone development company approved by Apple.

The management team includes Leddy and marketing director Mary McGovern.

“The focus at FuriousTribe.com will be to help brands engage with their customers on the customers’ own terms,” McGovern explained.

“The challenge now for Irish businesses, strapped of cash, is to find new ways to engage with a new generation of customers in an online environment.

“Our combined skills of traditional marketing blended with a new younger breed of digital strategists means we can work with clients at a strategic level, to help them understand the digital channel. There is an excellent cultural fit and business synergy within the new business.

“Our experience in online community building, search-engine marketing, web development, social-media marketing and brand partnership marketing equips us to cope with campaigns on a domestic and international level,” McGovern said.

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