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Today's other technology stories

Nintendo's operating profit up 36%

Japan's Nintendo posted a 36 per cent gain in quarterly operating profit on brisk sales of its Wii game equipment, but the video-game maker trimmed its outlook amid a global economic slowdown and a surge in the yen.

However, the new full-year forecast still exceeds market expectations, and Nintendo raised its sales target for the Wii, saying demand remained robust despite the deepening financial crisis.

Both the Wii and handheld DS consoles have outsold rival machines from Sony and Microsoft, helped by innovative games and user-friendly hardware design.

Nintendo cut its operating profit forecast by 3 per cent to 630 billion yen (€4.94 billion) for the year to March as it changed its dollar/yen assumption to 100 yen from 105 yen for the second half and its euro/yen outlook to 140 yen from 160 yen.

Sony this week posted a 90 per cent drop in quarterly profit and has predicted its annual profit will fall 58 per cent as demand slows for its digital cameras and flatscreen televisions.

VC funding falls in third quarter

Irish companies raised €70.8 million in the third quarter from venture capitalists, down from €75.4 million in the same period last year, according to the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA).

To date this year, the total raised in venture capital is 23 per cent ahead of last year at €174.3 million, the association said.

"VC funding has held up well despite a shortage of liquidity across the financial sector," said IVCA director general Regina Breheny.

New online TV licence service

Householders can now renew their television licence online using a new service developed by An Post in conjunction with Dublin software company Grapevine Solutions.

The new online system - www.tvlicence.ie - allows customers to renew their licence, purchase a new licence or change their postal address details.

The system will store 1.5 million television licence records. The service is accessed by a unique 17-digit reference number and five-digit customer security code. For added security, a new code will be generated for each customer each year.