In short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

Smartphone owned by 600,000

More than 600,000 Irish people now own a smartphone, according to new research by Behaviour Attitudes, undertaken for mobile and digital agency Return2Sender. The research shows 7 per cent of the population, or 256,000 people, own an iPhone, which will grow to 17 per cent over the next six months.

Android devices have a growing share, with 220,000 expected to be sold by the second quarter of 2011.

Irish IT industry to grow 3-4%, says OECD

A new report from the OECD suggests the information technology industry globally is set to grow by 3-4 per cent this year, having declined by 6 per cent in 2009. Growth will exceed 4 per cent in 2011 but a return to pre-crisis levels of growth remains unlikely, according to the report.

Domestic consumption in emerging markets is driving demand and making up for weaknesses in government and business spending.

Apple updates operating system 

Apple has released a significant update to iOS, the operating system that runs on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. iOS 4.2 is the first version of the fourth-generation operating system to be available on the iPad and includes features such as multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, Game Centre, AirPlay and AirPrint, not previously available on the tablet computer.

AirPlay allows music, video and photos to be wirelessly streamed to an Apple TV while AirPrint allows wireless printing to certain HP printers. iPhone users can also now avail of the Find My iPhone feature for free.