European Tech Wire - July 12, 2005

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EUROPEAN TECH WIRE - July 12, 2005
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Attention: Date Change for Networking Event
http://www.techwiremedia.com/londonevent.html

o European Officials Raid Intel Offices as Part of Ongoing Probe
o ICANN Approves ".mobi" Suffix for Mobile-Phone Websites
o European Commission to Take Action on Roaming Charges
o Denmark-Based Wireless Firm Zensys Raises 13 Million Euro
o More than Half of Teens in U.K. Shop Online, Survey Says
o U.K.-Based Screen Technology to Float on AIM in August
> Attention: Date Change for Tech Wire Networking Event
o Briefly Noted: Department of Trade & Industry-Small and
Medium Enterprise Development Fund, Moscow CableCom-
Andrew O'Shea, Blackwell Publishing-Atypon Systems,
Better Energy Solutions-Solar Powered Battery Charger
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o European Officials Raid Intel Offices as Part of Ongoing Probe

Brussels -- According to news reports, EU antitrust officials have
raided the offices of Intel and a number of other large computer makers
as part of an ongoing antitrust investigation of the world's largest
computer chipmaker. "I can confirm that (European) Commission
officials, accompanied by officials from national competition
authorities, have conducted on-site investigations at several premises of
Intel Corporation in Europe, as well as a number of IT firms
manufacturing or selling computers," Commission spokesman Jonathan
Todd said. More than four months ago, the Commission announced that
it launched a joint investigation with Japanese authorities of Intel's
business practices. Japan's Fair Trade Commission recently ruled that
Intel violated antitrust laws by offering rebates to Hitachi, Sony, NEC,
Fujitsu and Toshiba for agreeing either not to buy or to limit purchases
of chips made by AMD or other rivals.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V58B21A6B
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y29B32A6B
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o ICANN Approves ".mobi" Suffix for Mobile-Phone Websites

Paris -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) announced that it has approved the new ".mobi" suffix,
which will be specially designed for mobile-phone websites. mTLD
Top Level Domain -- a joint venture comprising Hutchison 3, the GSM
Association, Ericsson, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Syniverse
Technologies, TIM, Telefonica Moviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone --
will handle the registration of names on the ".mobi" domain, ICANN
said. The mTLD joint venture, which hopes that consumers will be
more likely to upgrade mobile phones if more websites are optimised
specifically for handheld devices, lobbied heavily for the new suffix.
"As .mobi will encourage the usage of advanced functionalities in
mobile devices, the market potential for those devices will increase,"
mTLD said. ICANN said the first websites for mobile devices would be
ready by next year.
https://www.mtldinfo.com/news.aspx
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o European Commission to Take Action on Roaming Charges

Brussels -- The European Commission announced that it is taking
measures to reduce international roaming rates -- the fees charged by
mobile-phone operators when customers use mobile phones abroad.
The Commission said it plans to launch a website this fall that will
provide details of all the tariffs in the EU in order to encourage
operators to offer "better and fairer" prices. Roaming prices among EU
members states currently vary between at little as 58 euro cents per
minute to as much as 5 euro per minute. "Using your mobile phone
while on holiday abroad can still lead to very unpleasant surprises,"
said EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane
Reding. "We need to get to a stage where consumers can benefit from
better deals than they are currently getting."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U2A821A6B
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o Denmark-Based Wireless Firm Zensys Raises 13 Million Euro

Copenhagen -- Zensys A/S, a Denmark-based wireless mesh
networking specialist, announced that it has raised a further 13 million
euro in first-round venture-capital financing. Bessemer Venture
Partners led the round, with existing investors Palamon Capital Partners
and Vaekstfonden also participating. Zensys said it would use the funds
to further develop devices for the Z-Wave 900MHz wireless
technology that the company is pushing as an alternative to Zigbee for
lighting and home automation. Zensys said the new investment would
also help increase consumer awareness for Z-Wave interoperability and
allow it to acquire new partners.
http://www.zen-sys.com/index.php?page=327
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o More than Half of Teens in U.K. Shop Online, Survey Says

London -- According to a survey by Scottish bank Halifax, more than
half of seven- to 16-year-olds in the U.K. have made a purchase online.
Overall, about 53% of U.K. teens shop online, up from the 43%
reported last year. Teenage boys are particularly avid online shoppers,
with more than 60% of respondents having made a purchase on the
Internet, compared to teen girls (46%). More than half of the survey's
respondents (61%) said they preferred online shopping to shopping on
the High Street, up considerably from the 52% reported last year.
Online teen shoppers chiefly spend their money on CDs (45%),
computer games and equipment (45%) and DVDs and videos (43%),
Halifax said.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T58626A6B
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o U.K.-Based Screen Technology to Float on AIM in August

Cambridge, England -- Screen Technology Ltd., a Cambridge-based
technology firm that develops area display screens, announced that it is
planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock
Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) within the next few
weeks. Screen Technology said it expects to raise as much as £10
million with the IPO, valuing the company at approximately £25
million. Over the past decade, Screen Technology has raised about £9
million from venture-capital firms MTI, Thomas Swan & Co, TTP
Ventures and Qinteiq. The company already has more than a dozen
patents either granted or pending.
http://www.screentechnology.com/news.shtml
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Dear readers,

Thank you for your responses to our request for feedback regarding the
event originally scheduled for tomorrow evening (Wednesday, July
13).

Unfortunately, many readers are still experiencing problems travelling
in London, and so it seems appropriate to postpone the Thames Tech
Wire and European Tech Wire networking event for a couple of weeks.
We have therefore re-scheduled the event to take place on Wednesday,
July 27 -- same time, same place (6pm to 9pm at The Samuel Pepys
pub, Blackriars). We sincerely regret any inconvenience this
rescheduling may have caused.

We will send a reminder shortly before the event. Meanwhile, if you
are planning to attend on the 27th, please reply to confirm.

Many thanks,

Jim Robinson

For full details and directions, visit
http://www.techwiremedia.com/londonevent.html

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o Briefly Noted:

(London) The U.K. Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) announced
that applications for the fifth round of the Small and Medium
Enterprise Development Fund would be open until Aug. 31. The DTI
said that all non-profit-distributing support organisations, trade and
industrial organisations, professional bodies and research institutes
were invited to submit funding proposals to help improve the
competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). What's
more, each applicant may submit as many as four applications in the
current round. Approved projects will receive a maximum of £1.1
million, or 90% of the project's cost, whichever is less, the DTI said.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?K1FD4286B 

(New York) Moscow CableCom, the New York-based parent company
of a Russia-based company of same name that provides access to pay-
TV and Internet services, announced that it has named Andrew O'Shea
as its new chief financial officer. O'Shea joined Moscow CableCom in
1995 as the CFO of the J. M. Ney Company, the company's former
operating subsidiary. O'Shea served as CFO from 1999 to January 2005
and has since been active with the company in an advisory role.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050711/nym169.html?.v=16

(Santa Clara, California) U.K.-based Blackwell Publishing announced
that it has signed a new three-year deal with Santa Clara-based Atypon
Systems to renew its license of Atypon's e-publishing software
platform, as well as the hosting service that currently powers
Blackwell's Synergy journals platform. Blackwell said the new deal
would allow room for the potential growth of Synergy. Blackwell
Synergy is a journals platform for researchers, students, professors,
librarians and practitioners across a broad range of subject areas.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050711/115620.html?.v=1

(Los Angeles) Better Energy Solutions, a U.K.-based eco-friendly
technology firm, announced that it has developed a solar-powered
battery charger for portable devices like Apple's iPod and mobile
phones. The £57 Solio captures solar power to charge the iPod battery
and plugs into a wall outlet when no sunlight is available. British rock
band Coldplay recently offered a limited edition of 200 branded Solio
devices on its website.
http://www.solio.com

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_____________________________________________

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