InShort

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

NI company sells €31m drug licence

Diabetica, a Northern Irish company set up to commercialise diabetes- related discoveries made at the University of Ulster, has signed a licensing agreement with Californian group Amylin Pharmaceuticals that could be worth as much as $41 million (€31 million).

Amylin will have exclusive rights to Diabetica's intellectual property for the development of insulin-stimulating molecules. Diabetica will receive an upfront payment as well as future fees relating to regulatory approval and the achievement of certain revenue-based milestones.

Microsoft unveils 'Origami' PC

Microsoft yesterday unveiled its "Origami" project, a paperback-book sized portable computer which is a hybrid between a laptop PC and a host of mobile devices.

Lighter than two pounds with a seven-inch touch-screen, the new ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) use microprocessors from Intel and run a modified version of Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC edition. Samsung Electronics, Asustek Computer and the Founder Group are expected to release the first three UMPCs. Samsung's product goes on sale in April.

Domain registry cuts prices in half

EU Internet, the Irish company that has been appointed to manage .eu domain name registrations, has cut the cost of registering a domain name from €25 to €12.50.

The measure is designed to encourage more businesses to sign up for the names. Applications at this new price will be validated from April 7th on a first come, first served basis.

Since the release of the .eu domain name, more than 300,000 applications have been made.

MinuteBuyer wins school contract

Irish telecoms firm MinuteBuyer has won a €300,000 three-year contract to provide a telecommunications solution for Dublin Business School. Under the terms of the contract, MinuteBuyer will manage all fixed and mobile services as well as data traffic for the four- campus network in Dublin.

Number working from home rises

Almost one in three Irish owner-managers and senior executives work from home at least one day a month, according to new research from O2 Ireland. This compares with one in four last year.

One in 10 works from home more than four days a month, it found. It also showed that there has been a slight improvement in access to broadband at home, with one third saying they have broadband, up from 23 per cent last year. However, half of those questioned said broadband was not available.

Tech upgrade for volunteers

Volunteer Centres Ireland has introduced a customer relationship management (CRM) service to help volunteer centres manage information. Salesforce.com will provide the system.