Mobile phone text-message abbreviations and simplifications are not ruining our spelling, but they do take much longer to read and understand than conventional English, a small Australian study has shown. University of Tasmania lecturer Nenagh Kemp asked 55 undergraduate students to compose, and then to read aloud, text messages in English and in "textese." While
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Fourteen of the world's largest mobile phone and chip makers, including Sony Ericsson, Vodafone Group Plc and ARM Holdings Plc, joined the Open Handset Alliance on Tuesday to support the Android mobile device platform developed by Google Inc. The new members' pledge to back the Android software is a significant feat for Google in the
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Shares in Sony Corp fell 1 percent on Wednesday after the company said it aims to cut $1.1 billion in costs in its struggling electronics operations through job cuts and other restructuring measures. Sony, the maker of Bravia flat TVs and PlayStation 3 videogame consoles, said on Tuesday it would slash 16,000 jobs, scale back
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Electronic Arts Inc warned its fiscal 2009 profit and revenue will fall short of already-low forecasts due to disappointing holiday sales of its video games in North America and Europe. The surprise announcement drove shares of the video game publisher down 10 percent in after-hours trading, on top of an 11.5 percent decline during the
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Factbox Greece's two largest union federations held a nationwide general strike on Wednesday in protest at the conservative government's policies, as anger at economic hardships fuelled the worst riots in decades. Here is a selection of implemented reforms and measures Greece's conservatives have taken: PENSIONS: Despite fierce union opposition, parliament approved in March an overhaul
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As the saying goes, when America sneezes, Britain catches a cold. What began as a local downturn in the US housing market has spread to the UK – and over the next year, analysts at Barclays Wealth think the British economy and the FTSE are likely to struggle more than their US counterparts. Why is
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Cyprus Airways flights to Greek destinations have been cancelled due to the 24 hour general strike across Greece on Wednesday. Spokesman for the national carrier, Kyriakos Kyriakou told CNA today that extra flights have been scheduled from midnight tonight to serve the passengers who were affected by today’s strike. A total of 12 flights to
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Cyprus' bid to be established as a financial services centre has gained a new momentum after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (ΜοU) between the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) and the Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia, CySec Chairman Giorgos Charalambous has said. The MoU was signed in Moscow by the Chairman
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Cypriot Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said he is cautiously confident about the prospects of the economy in 2009, as the global financial crisis continues. “The Cypriot economy, as an open economy, will inevitably be affected from the slowdown in the global economy but we remain cautiously confident that we will do much better than the
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Minister of Communications and Works Nikos Nikolaides welcomed the adoption of the third package of measures on maritime safety by the European Union Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council. The Cypriot Minister said that the third package strengthens the levels of vessel safety, as well as the protection of maritime environment and enhances the passengers’
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