European Tech Wire - May 20, 2005

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EUROPEAN TECH WIRE - May 20, 2005
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To Subscribe: http://www.techwiremedia.com/europe

o EU Approves Joint Venture between Belgacom and Swisscom
o Delta Closes 95-Million-Euro Tech Fund for Russia and Ukraine
o Report: 20% of Consumers Spend 50% of Leisure Time Gaming
o U.K. Unveils £100-Million Innovation Programme for N. Ireland
o Software Group Aveva Buys U.S.-Based Start-Up Realitywave
o Jupitermedia Acquires Goodshot for 7.8 Million Euro in Cash
o Briefly Noted: Orange-U.K. Mobile TV Service, Trinity
Convergence-Cambridge Business Park, Lextran-Gene Rubel-
U.S. Office, Vonage-U.K. Internet Telephony Service, Mythic
Entertainment-"Warhammer"-Games Workshop
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o EU Approves Joint Venture between Belgacom and Swisscom

Brussels -- The EU announced on Friday that it has approved the
proposed joint venture between telecommunications giants Belgacom
SA and Swisscom AG. EU regulators said the two companies would
now be able to combine their international wholesale businesses into a
single, Belgium-based venture, of which Belgacom and Swisscom will
own 72% and 28%, respectively. "The (European) Commission's
examination of the transaction showed that, despite Belgacom's strong
position in several Belgian telecommunications markets, the proposed
operation does not raise horizontal or vertical competition concerns,"
the EU said. "Any horizontal overlaps and vertical relationships are
limited." Once the deal is completed, the new venture will create the
world's seventh-largest wholesale telecommunications provider.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?K1DA21C1B
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o Delta Closes 95-Million-Euro Tech Fund for Russia and Ukraine

Moscow -- Delta Private Equity Partners, a Russia-based private equity
firm, announced that it has closed a 95-million-euro fund for Russia
and the Ukraine. About 90% of fund's resources will be earmarked for
investments in Russian projects and approximately 10% for the
Ukraine. The fund will invest in mid-market companies and focus on
the multimedia/telecommunications, consumer goods and financial
services sectors, the company said. "There are a lot of misconceptions
about Russia," said Delta Managing Director Kirill Dmitriev. "We
think that small and mid-market companies here are very similar to
small and mid-market companies elsewhere in Europe and the U.S."
Earlier this week, venture-capital firm the Carlyle Group abandoned its
Russian fund due to a lack of demand from investors.
http://www.deltacap.ru/eng/press/files/01000350.asp
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o Report: 20% of Consumers Spend 50% of Leisure Time Gaming

Seattle -- A recent survey of 13,000 consumers in 13 countries found
that more than 20% of respondents spend as much as half their leisure
time playing video games. Conducted by market research firm GMI,
the poll also found that 80% of those surveyed believe that people will
spend more time playing video games over the next 10 years.
"Relatively unexploited markets in Latin America and in Asia such as
India offer new growth to the video game industry," said analyst GMI
Billy Pidgeon. While 58% of consumers overall do not think games are
a good form of social activity, the thinking is reversed in India and
Mexico, where 49% and 64% of those surveyed, respectively, play
games to socialise -- compared with other nations like the Netherlands
and France, where the number is about a third of that size.
http://www.gmipoll.com 
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o U.K. Unveils £100-Million Innovation Programme for N. Ireland

Belfast, Northern Ireland -- The U.K. Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) announced that it is now calling for applications from
companies based in Northern Ireland for £100 million in grants to
support innovation in the region. The competition is part of the
Technology Programme, which aims to "turn ideas into commercial
success" and ensure that the U.K. "remains at the forefront of a
knowledge-based economy by exploiting emerging technologies". The
DTI said that a Technology Programme regional information day
would be held in Belfast at the Kings Hall on May 19. "There is a
special focus on the challenge of sustainability and continuing broad
support for a range of underlying technologies," said U.K. Technology
Strategy Board Chairman Graham Spittle. "This mixture represents the
first steps towards the development of a definitive long-term
technology strategy."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N51011B1B
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o Software Group Aveva Buys U.S.-Based Start-Up Realitywave

Cambridge, England -- Aveva Group Plc, a U.K.-based engineering
software and services company, announced that it has acquired
Realitywave Inc., a U.S.-based technology start-up, for approximately
£3.2 million. Although Aveva made the announced this week, the deal
was closed in March, the company said. Aveva said Realitywave's
patented technology would be "a critical component" of its VNET
portal, which allows staff to view information developed on its own
software and that of its rivals and other applications such as SAP and
Documentum -- without the need for additional software licences.
"VNET is an important opportunity for us to build on our success in
existing markets, and gives us a platform to penetrate a growing market
for data delivery in the maintenance and operations arena," said Aveva
CEO Richard Longdon.
http://www.aveva.com/newsroom/index.htm
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o Jupitermedia Acquires Goodshoot for 7.8 Million Euro in Cash

Darien, Connecticut -- JupiterImages, a provider of online images for
creative professionals and a subsidiary of U.S.-based Jupitermedia,
announced that it has acquired Goodshoot, a France-based provider of
free digital images for business users and creative professionals, for
approximately 7.8 million euro in cash. "Goodshoot's operations in
France complement our existing direct sales operations in the U.K. and
Germany, and will enable further expansion of our JupiterImages
business throughout Europe," said Jupitermedia Chairman and CEO
Alan Meckler. Philippe Bigard, founder of Goodshoot, will continue to
provide imagery for Goodshoot and JupiterImages, Meckler said.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050519/195338.html?.v=1
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o Briefly Noted:

(Paris) Orange, the mobile-phone subsidiary of French
telecommunications bellwether France Telecom, announced that it has
become the first provider in the U.K. to offer live TV for mobile
handsets. From May 23, Orange TV will use its 3G network to provide
nine channels -- including news from ITN and CNN, a fashion channel,
an extreme sports channel and the Cartoon Network -- for a monthly
fee of £10. Orange said that more channels would be available in the
near future. "This is truly a service where 3G comes into its own," said
Julian Diment, head of Orange's commercial and brand partnerships.
"We don't expect people to watch for hours at a time, but to dip in and
out."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J5BD26C1B 

(Cambridge, England) Trinity Convergence, a U.S.-based developer of
embedded communications software for Internet telephony (VoIP) and
video services (V2IP), announced that it is expanding its R&D centre in
Cambridge. "Our team is growing rapidly, and Cambridge offers a
talented pool of engineers from which to draw for our on-going product
development activities in advanced IP-based telephony technologies,"
Trinity CTO David Brown said. The company has moved to a new
facility in the Cambridge Business Park and expanded the team
developing technologies that will make services such as personal video-
conferencing on wireless devices available to Internet-telephony users
worldwide.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I28E32C1B

(Atlanta) Lextran Ltd., an Israel-based developer of advanced clean air
technology, announced that it has expanded into the U.S. with a new
office in Atlanta. "We are vigorously searching for the partner capable
of taking our innovative technology and applying it in the American
power generation industry," said Lextran Chairman and CEO Yehuda
Sarid. The office will be managed by Gene Rubel, director of business
development, who has extensive experience in managing business
development efforts for Israeli technology start-ups, Lextran said.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050519/clth066.html?.v=9

(London) Vonage, a U.S.-based Internet telephony firm, announced
that it has officially launched its voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)
service in the U.K. after wrapping up a "soft launch" that began in
January. Vonage said it would offer a flat-rate residential phone service
for £9.99 per month for unlimited local and national calls, as well as a
small-business offering for £18.99 that also includes a fax line. The
company said customer service staff would remain in New Jersey for
the time being, but that there was a chance of adding local support in
the U.K. and Europe as the company grew.
http://www.vonage.co.uk/

(Fairfax, Virginia) Mythic Entertainment, a U.S.-based online game
publisher, announced that it has secured the exclusive rights to develop
massively multiplayer online games set in the fantasy world of
"Warhammer," created by U.K.-based Games Workshop. To date,
game publisher THQ has released a series of titles based on
"Warhammer" for consoles and the PC. Virginia-based Mythic, which
also operates the online game "Dark Age of Camelot", said its first
online game based on the Warhammer license is scheduled for release
in 2007.
http://www.warhammeronline.com 
http://www.games-workshop.com 

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> 2nd Annual Popkomm Innovation in Music and Entertainment
Awards (IMEA)

Popkomm is one of Europe's leading Music & Entertainment - Industry
tradeshows and conferences. IMEA is chaired by Music Futurist Gerd
Leonhard (ThinkAndLink). IMEA's mission is to find, select and
present the best new business ideas, the brightest entrepreneurs and
startups in the music-, media - and entertainment-technology sectors,
worldwide, and provide a new platform for their discovery. Apply now
(it's free)
Contact: http://www.popkommawards.com  or gleonhard@gmail.com
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> IDEAlliance's XTech 2005 and The Gilbane Conference on Content
Mgmt.

Slated for 24-27 May in Amsterdam, XTech 2005 is the premier
European conference for developers and managers working with XML
and Web technologies, bringing together the worlds of web
development, open source, semantic web and open standards. The
Gilbane Conference is for IT managers, system architects, technical
business and project managers. Topics include: enterprise and web
content management, knowledge management, collaboration, enterprise
search, and document management. For more info visit
http://www.xtech.org  or http://www.lighthouseseminars.com
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