1. Five new RTÉ channels have been given the go ahead by Minister for Communications Pat Carey. They’re set to run on the Saorview free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) network, which will launch in May of this year.
http://tinyurl.com/68gjyrn
2. Loss making music streaming service, Spotify, has been valued at $1bn. The company, which plans to launch in the States, joins a number of companies recently given high valuations including Twitter ($10bn) and Groupon ($15m)
http://tinyurl.com/4vq84cf
3. Voters have up until 10pm tonight to get to polling stations. And if they don’t know where they’re going, Dublin-based start-up Hit The Road has created a public transport journey-planning app to help first-timers find their station. http://election.hittheroad.ie/
4. The convergence of wallet and smartphone will happen quicker than we think, according to Stephen Shurrock, CEO of O2 in Ireland who says that NFC (near field communications) could be rolled out in the next 12 months, in markets ready to receive it. http://tinyurl.com/6zldxax
5. Ireland hopes to become an important player in the games industry, where the market is predicted to reach $73 billion by 2013. Technology from Dublin-based company Havok is already used in 270 titles, including ‘Halo 3’
http://tinyurl.com/5uovgtt
6. Investors, who wanted Apple to disclose what the succession plan is once Steve Jobs steps down, were defeated after shareholders cast 400m votes against the proposal at the company’s AGM.
http://tinyurl.com/6le9bqd
7. Irish adults over the age of 15 spend an average of 18 hours and 7 minutes online each month, which apart from the Netherlands is 25 per cent more time online than the European average, with Google Sites the most visited property in December 2010 according to a new report from comScore.
http://tinyurl.com/6b8y2fp
8. ebook lending sites are springing up in the US and the latest, Lendle, launched last week. Not affiliated to Amazon, you don’t even need a Kindle to use it because you can access it through a Kindle app on other devices.
http://tinyurl.com/6kmmaw8
9. The Telegraph may be considering online charging from September, whereby users will have to pay if they want to access to more than a limited number of article.
http://tinyurl.com/4vsvyod
And finally…
10. New pop up restaurant in Temple Bar, Dublin, Crackbird, allows up to 36 people to eat free each day. Tweeters who follow @CrackBirdDublin and use the #tweetseats hashtag can eat for free at a six-seater booth if there’s a booking available. http://twitter.com/CrackBIRDdublin
