The Gadget Guru The Gadget Guru: A fitness sensor range, an ice-cream maker and a gaming device get the once-over Eva Short joins Emmet Ryan to review this week’s top gadgets
Expansion Siemens to create 25 jobs at new R&D hub in ShannonThe semiconductor giant will invest €7 million to open its first ever cloud computing research centre
data centres Data centres attract €1bn investment into Ireland annually, industry report saysReport commissioned by tech giant funded Ibec group Cloud Infrastructure Ireland claims that data centres, which account for 14 per cent of all metered electricity consumption in Ireland, ‘drive decarbonisation’ in Ireland
Banking Bank of Ireland raises tracker mortgage and deposit rates following ECB interest rate increaseAll tracker mortgage rates will increase by 0.5 per cent, in line with rate hikes confirmed by the European Central Bank, while negative interest rates applied to customer accounts will end
Media Ireland’s entertainment and media industry set to be worth €6bn by 2026Nation’s lower-than-average growth in video gaming, internet advertising and e-sports will be offset by major growth in domestic cinema
Banking Majority of Ulster Bank and KBC customers yet to switch accountsConsumer watchdog warned of negative consequences to delayed current account switching, such as loan repayment arrears, security risks and a negative personal credit rating
Media Irish households spent €211m on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ in 2020Video streaming services was the largest category of spending within the €896 million spent on digital services that year
Business Risk Geopolitical tension and talent war among top business risks, global leaders sayPwC’s Risk Survey asked more than 3,500 business leaders, including Irish leaders, about their primary concerns for their businesses and how they plan to mitigate them
Out of office US aims to end reliance on China; Irish business confidence drops to almost two-year lowYour essential round up of the latest business news
Solar Power Greencoat Renewables to acquire Meath solar farm from StatkraftThe 80.5 MWp solar farm is currently under construction and is expected to be operational by late 2023
business Exports from Enterprise Ireland funded-companies grow 12%Value of exports from companies backed by the state agency reached record €27.29bn last year
Companies Ladbrokes suffered €4.5m in losses during Covid-19 pandemicIrish betting agent’s parent company Entain recently warned that consumer slowdown could negatively impact growth in near future
Out of office Billion-dollar crypto lender files for bankruptcy; France moves to nationalise energy utility EDFYour essential round-up of the latest business news
Housing crisis One-third of people aged 35-44 will not own a home by the time they retire, new research saysOnly half of those aged 25-34 will ever own a home in the future, according to research published by the ESRI
Jobs Tata Consultancy Services to hire 200 people in LetterkennyHires will be across the areas of cybersecurity, cloud computing, data analytics and more
Out of office Out of Office: Budget 2023 brought forward by two weeks; Recession ‘inevitable’ as euro zone investor morale declinesYour essential round-up of the latest business news
Out of office Out of Office: Novartis slash 8,000 roles; Donohoe rules out emergency budgetYour essential round-up of the latest business news
Permanent TSB Permanent TSB to raise fees for business customersThe changes will result in some fees being more than doubled for business current account holders
investment Irish meat alternative producer Thank Plants receives €400,000 Redesdale investmentRose Hynes, director of Dole plc, will also join the board of the plant-based start-up
Connected How TikTok is helping businesses to take offThink the platform is just for entertainment? Irish companies like Gym + Coffee are finding TikTok can also help turbocharge sales