Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Business in Asia Today - June 11, 2008

ASIA-PACIFIC FINANCIAL EXECS PLAN INVESTMENT, EXPANSION: SURVEY
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Despite the current economic uncertainty, senior financial executives across Asia and Australia are planning to invest in new production capacity and boost headcount, a business survey has found.
Companies in the region were less pessimistic about the economy and their business prospects than their global counterparts, the American Express/CFO Research Global Business & Spending Monitor found.
Eight out of 10 respondents from Asia and Australia expect their primary industry to grow and their company's revenue to increase over the next 12 months.
The study surveyed 370 senior financial executives from around the world.

SRI LANKA'S LOLC GROUP BOOKS 21 PCT JUMP IN NET PROFITS
Colombo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Sri Lanka's Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) group said net profits for the year ended March 2008 was up 21 per cent with revenue growing 50 per cent, although rising interest costs trimmed profits at company level.
Group net profits rose to 1.26 billion rupees (US$11.7 million) from 1.04 billion, while gross revenues rose to 6.2 billion rupees from 4.2 billion.
At the company level, revenues at the island's pioneer leasing company rose to 4.9 billion rupees from 3.2 billion, but net profits at 977.8 million rupees were down marginally from 986.5 million a year before.
Net interest costs rose a steep 91 per cent from 1.4 billion in 2007 to 2.7 billion rupees.

MALAYSIA STILL ATTRACTS INVESTMENT FOR MANUFACTURING SECTOR
Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Malaysia continued to attract a significant level of investment for the manufacturing sector during the January to April 2008 period.
A total of 261 manufacturing projects were approved for the first four months with investments amounting to RM23.9 billion (US$7.5 billion), International Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Tuesday.
Of these, foreign investment in manufacturing projects approved amounted to RM16.6 billion or 69.5 per cent while domestic investments totalled RM7.3 billion or 30.5 per cent, he said.

THREE JAPAN CHEMICAL MAJORS TO LIFT PRICES OF OIL-BASED PRODUCTS
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Japan's three leading chemical manufacturers each said Tuesday that they will raise prices on petrochemical products to offset the soaring cost of raw materials.
MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL CORP., MITSUI CHEMICALS INC. (TSE:4183) and ASAHI KASEI CORP. (TSE:3407) will charge more for synthetic resin and other mainstay products starting next month.
The increases are expected to cost their customers an additional 200 billion yen (US$1.9 billion) a year. But with other chemical makers almost certain to roll out their own hikes, customers may have no alternative but to swallow the higher prices.

CHINA'S AUTOMOBILE OUTPUT, SALES BOTH TO TOP 5 MLN UNITS IN H1
Beijing (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The output and sales of domestically-produced automobiles in China are both expected to exceed 5 million units in the first half of this year, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), adding that the figures also largely beat its prediction made at the beginning of the year.
Home-made automobile output and sales in China came to 4.355 million and 4.3371 million units respectively in the first five months, representing a year on year increase of 17.05 per cent and 18.91 per cent respectively, according to the latest CAAM statistics.
Of the total output were 3.045 million passenger vehicles and 1.309 million commercial vehicles, up 16.33 per cent and 18.75 per cent year on year respectively.

INDONESIA'S BANK MUAMALAT PLANS EXPANSION TO CENTRAL ASIA
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The country's first sharia bank, PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, is studying possible expansion abroad by establishing subsidiaries in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Bank Muamalat has already discussed the plan with National Bank of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Post respectively, to be a partner in the two countries.
The two predominantly Muslim Central Asian countries have had no sharia banks until now, Assistant Director of Bank Muamalat Avantiono Hadhiyanto told the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia yesterday.

TWO SOUTH KOREAN LED CONSORTIA BID FOR SSANGYONG ENGINEERING
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Two South Korean consortia led by Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. (KSE:005160) and Namyang Construction Co. submitted bids to buy creditor-owned Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., a state asset manager said Wednesday.
The two groups bid for 50.07 per cent of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction, which has been on the selling block since 2005, according to the Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO).
The agency said after reviewing their proposals, it will select a preferred bidder this month.
Industry sources estimate that the selling price would range from 350 billion won (US$341 million) to 500 billion won.

PAYMATE INDIA RAISES US$9 MLN IN SECOND-ROUND FUNDING
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Mobile payment solutions provider PayMate India on Tuesday said existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers and Sherpalo Ventures, along with private equity Mayfield Fund, have increased their investment in the company to US$9 million.
"The three blue-chip funds together are investing US$9 million as part of series B investment in the two year old company," the company said in a statement.
PayMate operates in the arena of electronic payment solutions to enable transactions on mobile phones and wireless devices for Indian and global markets.

NEC SOLUTIONS VIETNAM MERGES WITH VIETNAMESE SOFTWARE CO
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - NEC Solutions Vietnam Co merged with Sang Tao Corporation, the first merger between a Japanese company and a Vietnamese company in the IT sector.
The Japanese-invested software firm said the merger would help the two firms better utilise labour forces, improve business efficiency, eliminate duplication of administrative expenses and curb the leakage of technologies.
"As many as 50 per cent of the new company's operations will focus on overseas projects while the remaining 50 per cent will focus on providing IT solutions and on networking," said Masako Hirano, director of communications for NEC Asia, the parent firm of NEC Solutions Vietnam.

WESTFIELD GROUP GOES GREEN AT SYDNEY SHOPPING CENTRE
Sydney (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Global property giant Westfield Group Ltd (ASX:WDC) is pushing to become more environmentally friendly after allowing a shop at its flagship shopping centre at Bondi Junction in Sydney to install solar panels.
The installation of several solar panels on the roof of the Westfield centre will generate emissions free electricity running directly into the environmental store, Todae.
It will be the first Westfield property in the global portfolio of 118 shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and United Kingdom to use solar panels.
Todae opened last month and has been fitted out using a number of sustainable initiatives, to ensure the least environmental impact.

Source:
Business in Asia Today - JUNE 11, 2008
published by Asia Pulse

COPYRIGHT © 2008

High-Tech: Toshiba's New 1.8-Inch HDD Achieves 160GB, the Industry's Largest

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgieid=5706681

Tokyo (BUSINESS WIRE) - Toshiba Corporation today announced a new line-up of 1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDD) adopting a serial ATA interface, including the industry's first(1) drive of this type with a capacity of 160 gigabytes. The new 160GB drive, MK1617 GSG, and an 80GB drive, MK8017 GSG, will enter mass production in August.

Toshiba's new 1.8-inch HDDs boost interface speed to 1.5Gbps and offer a rotation speed of 5,400 rpm, faster than the current generation of Toshiba 1.8-inch HDD (MK1214 GAH, parallel ATA, 120GB). By realizing the industry's first 160GB 1.8-inch drive with a serial ATA interface, Toshiba assures that mobile PCs will be able to meet the most demanding user needs.

The new MK1617 GSG drive is more environmentally efficient than Toshiba's current MK1216 GSG (120GB) model, and raises energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.00281 W/GB, a 25% improvement. The drive improves the maximum internal data transfer rate by approximately 17%, and supports faster data access in reading and writing that enhances overall performance.

Alongside Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDD of 80GB and 120GB serial ATA interface drives already in the market, the new drives will provide product manufacturers with a broad line-up that supports diverse applications. The new drives will also contribute to achievement of environmentally conscious products in full compliance with the EU's RoHS directive(2).

Outline of New Models Model name Formatted Capacity Dimensions Weight MK1617 GSG 160GB 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0mm 62g MK8017 GSG 80GB 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0mm 60g Background Hard disk drives for mobile PCs must be small, light and able to withstand vibration and shock. While Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDD are more robust than 2.5-inch HDD, they have not matched the larger drives in data transfer rates. However, the company's new 1.8-inch HDD combine a serial ATA interface with a faster rotational speed to realize a high speed transfer rate. Building on the achievements of providing a 1.8- inch HDD that employs industry's largest capacity with a serial ATA interface, and expanding its product line-up, Toshiba will continue efforts to provide innovative products that meet market needs for HDD integrated mobile PCs.

Key Features of New Products

1. Industry's largest storage capacity:160GB (MK1617 GSG) The new MK 1617 GSG brings the
industry's largest capacity of 160GB to a 1.8-inch HDD with a serial ATA interface.

2. Improved energy consumption efficiency (MK1617 GSG) Compared to the MK1216 GSG (Serial ATA, 120GB, 1.8-inch HDD), the new MK1617 GSG raises energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.00281 W/GB, a 25% improvement.

3. Lighter weight (MK8017 GSG) The new 80GB drive weighs only 60g, 3% lighter than the MK8016 GSG (serial ATA, 80GB,1.8-inch HDD).

4. Higher rotational speed (MK1617 GSG and MK8017 GSG) The serial ATA interface supports an interface speed of 1.5Gbps, surpassing the performance of drives with a parallel ATA interface. The drives also operate at a maximum rotation speed of 5,400 rpm, 29% faster than Toshiba's current MK1214 GAH (parallel ATA, 120GB, 1.8-inch HDD), supporting much faster data transfers. The disk's higher areal density improves the maximum internal data transfer rate by approximately 17%, and supports faster data access in reading and writing that enhances overall performance.

5. High vibration and shock resistance (MK1617 GSG and MK8017 GSG) Compared to current 2.5-inch HDD (MK1652 GSX), the new drives offer the higher levels of vibration and shock resistance needed in mobile PCs.

6. Environmentally conscious products offering efficient power consumption (MK1617 GSG and MK8017 GSG) Alongside capacity improvement, Toshiba has also achieved a power consumption efficiency of 0.00281 W/GB for the MK1617 GSG, and 0.00563 W/GB for MK8017 GSG, as defined in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Energy Conservation Law, assuring a more environmentally friendly design. The new drives also comply with the EU's RoHS directive.

(1) The industry's largest commercially available capacity in a serial ATA interface 1.8-inch hard disk drive, as of June 11, 2008 (source: Toshiba) (2) The RoHS Directive, which came into effect in July 2006, is a European Union directive that eliminates the use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

Toshiba Group, a Corporate Citizen of the Planet Earth, is committed to realizing a better environment. Guided by Toshiba Group Environmental Vision 2050 Toshiba Group is implementing measures to boost environmental efficiency by 10 times in FY2050, against the benchmark of FY2000. Toshiba Group is seeking to reduce CO2 emissions by a total equivalent to 57.6 million tons by FY2025, through the development and sales of high efficiency power supply equipment and systems, and the manufacture of environmentally conscious home appliances and office equipment. By working to mitigate global warming, make efficient use of resources and control management of chemicals, Toshiba creates value for people and promotes lifestyles in harmony with earth.

Main Specifications Model name MK1617 GSG MK8017 GSG Formatted capacity 160GB 80GB Number of platters 2 1 Number of heads 4 2 Average seek time 15msec Rotational speed 5,400rpm Interface Serial-ATA Interface speed 1.5Gbps Dimensions (W x D x H, mm) 54.0 (W) x 78.5 (D) x 8.0 (H) Weight 62g (max) 60g (max) Energy consumption efficiency 0.00281 W/GB 0.00563 W/GB Shock resistance Operating: 4,900 m/s2 (500G, 2msec) Non-operating: 14,700 m/s2 (1,500G, 1msec) Note: Hard disk capacity is calculated on the basis of 1MB = 1-million bytes, and 1GB = 1-billion bytes.

Toshiba Corporation Yuko Sugahara,+81-3-3457-2105 Corporate Communications Office http://www.toshiba.co.jp/contact
media.htm

Business: Quality Hotel Cambridge in Sydney, Australia wins Int'l award

Sydney - PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ - The Quality Hotel Cambridge of Sydney, Australia has been named the International Hotel of the Year by worldwide lodging franchisor Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), franchisor of the Quality brand.

The award was given to Cambridge Management, owner of the hotel, and Steven Gargano, general manager, at the company's 54th annual convention last month in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"As the winner of the International Hotel of the Year award for the Quality brand, the Quality Hotel Cambridge has performed exceptionally, standing out among its peers for operational excellence," said Bruce Haase, executive vice president, global brand operations.

Choice Hotels annually presents the International Hotel of the Year Award to hotels that demonstrate lodging excellence.
For the international awards, the best of each brand is selected by reviewing Quality Assurance Review scores, which cover a variety of categories including maintenance, cleanliness and branding. Winning hotels must have been a part of the Choice system for more than a year.

"We are honored to be recognized as one of the best of the best by Choice Hotels," said Gargano. "We work very hard to ensure that all of the guests at our hotel have a truly memorable experience -- an experience that keeps them coming back again and again."

The 170-room Quality Hotel Cambridge, which joined the Choice Hotels system in 1999, is located at 212 Riley St., close to many nearby Sydney attractions including the University of Sydney, the famous Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, Telstra Stadium, the Sydney International Airport, and many popular local beaches such as Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, Palm Beach and Cronulla Beach.

The hotel offers an indoor heated pool and whirlpool/hot tub, sauna, on-site restaurant and cocktail lounge serving a full menu including Sunday brunch, exercise room, meeting and banquet facilities, babysitting services, hotel safe, microwave rental, video camera rental, on-site news stand, bellmen and VIP/concierge services.

All guestrooms feature free in-room coffee and room service while select rooms also offer free weekday newspapers and irons and iron boards. For reservations, call the Choice Hotels toll-free reservation line at 132400 or visit choicehotels.com.au

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International franchises more than 5,600 hotels, representing more than 455,000 rooms, in the United States and 38 countries and territories.

As of March 31, 2008, 986 hotels are under development in the United States, representing 79,276 rooms, and an additional 96 hotels, representing 8,321 rooms, are under development in more than 20 countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide.

Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels Web site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com

Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International.

SOURCE: Choice Hotels International
CONTACT: Quality Hotel Cambridge: Steven Gargano, +61-02-9212-1111 steven@cambridgehotel.com.au;
or Choice Corporate: Rocco Loverro, +1-301-592-6719, rocco_loverro@choicehotels.com
Web site: http://www.choicehotels.com.au
http://www.choicehotels.com

Insurance: A.M. Best assigns ratings to Ansvar Insurance Limited

Oldwick, New Jersey (BUSINESS WIRE) - A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of A-(Excellent) and an issuer credit rating of "a-" to Ansvar Insurance Limited (Ansvar) (Australia). The outlook assigned to both ratings is stable.

The ratings reflect Ansvar's adequate stand-alone risk-adjusted capitalization and conservative investment philosophy. The ratings also recognize the company's niche focus in the faith, education, care and charity sectors, as well as its unique distribution strategy.

Ansvar's risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is commensurate with its assigned rating, although the BCAR has weakened over the past financial year. The company's net premium leverage strengthened slightly due to profitable operating earnings contributing to net surplus and to the decline in net premiums written in 2007.

The company's conservative investment portfolio of predominantly cash and bonds has contributed to a stronger BCAR. New investments in equities (3.1 per cent of invested assets) and the increase in reserves caused the moderate deterioration of Ansvar's BCAR; however, A.M. Best anticipates strengthening in the company's risk-adjusted capitalization.

Good business persistency, especially in the commercial property line, can be attributed to Ansvar's close relationship with clients, whereby Ansvar maintains a direct relationship, but clients continue to place their insurance through brokers.

Offsetting rating factors include the impact of softening premium rates in Ansvar's major business lines, its moderate market position and uncertain liability exposure.

Although Ansvar has remained profitable throughout the five years under review, the trend of operating profits has exhibited negative growth.

Market competition has seen continued softening of premium rates, especially in commercial lines, which could challenge the company's ongoing underwriting profitability. A.M. Best expects that Ansvar's underwriting performance will remain profitable in the near term, albeit at a more modest level.

Ansvar's overall reserving policy is considered prudent. Nonetheless, higher than normal uncertainty exists on the ultimate exposure from special issues risk.

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers.
For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

A.M. Best Co. Analysts Philip Chung, CFA, +852-2827-3409
philip.chung@ambest.com
or Terrence Wong, +852-2827-3403 terrence.wong@ambest.com
or Public Relations Jim Peavy,+(1) 908-439-2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com
or Rachelle Morrow,+(1) 908-439-2200, ext. 5378
rachelle.morrow@ambest.com

Health/Medical: New Studies Reveal Burden of Pneumococcal Disease is High

Among Indonesian Children Younger than Five

JAKARTA, June 10 (ANTARA/Medianet International-AsiaNet) --

-- Vaccine Intervention Saves Lives --

New studies, presented this week at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD) investigates the burden of pneumococcal disease (PD) among Indonesian children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PD is the leading cause of vaccine preventable death in children younger than five years of age worldwide, however, specific data on the incidence of PD in Indonesia has previously not been available.

Two studies, conducted by the International Vaccine Institute, assessed clinical cases of PD including meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia in Surabaya and Denpasar. Data from the Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar and Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya were retrospectively collected for the period of January to December 2006.[1],[2]

In Denpasar, researchers evaluated the 448 hospitalisations due to invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children less than five years. The highest incidence of disease was found in Denpasar city, Bagung and Gianyar districts. Pneumonia was the most common clinical presentation of PD, accounting for 82% of patients.

The second study, based out of Surabaya, evaluated the 680 hospitalisations due to IPD reported in children younger than five years. Pneumonia again was the most common presentation of pneumococcal disease during the study period, accounting for 77% of patients. Among the 680 hospitalisations, 118 children died.

The studies confirm infants in Indonesia are at significant risk of severe infection and even death due to PD. As the main clinical presentation of PD is pneumonia, the studies indicate the need for prevention strategies for respiratory disease.

Following recommendation from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization, the World Health Organization considers that the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine should be a priority for inclusion in national childhood immunisation programs.[3]

Not only do immunizations provide protection to children and infants, it also can protect adults as well. Known as "herd protection"; it is an important indirect benefit extended to adults following the routine vaccination of children, and is an important consideration in economic evaluations.

Further population-based data on pneumococcal disease incidence will be critical to inform vaccine policy in Indonesia.

###

[1] Nyambat B, Dijanto I, Kilgore P, et al. The Epidemiology of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease-Associated Syndromes Among Children in Surabaya, Indonesia. Abstract presented at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD).
[2] Nyambat B, Purinit PS, Kim SW, et al. Invasive Pneumococcal Disease-Associated Syndromes in Denpasar, Indonesia, 2006. Abstract presented at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD).
[3] World Health Organization. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for childhood immunization, March 2007-WHO position paper. Wkly Epidemiol Record 2007;12:93-104.

Media Contact:
Wendy Qin
+61 2 8424 8539
+61 404 101 742

SOURCE: Wyeth Asia Pacific

Health/Medical: Dramatic Research Findings Reveal the Pneumococcal Disease Burden

is Staggering in Asia Pacific Countries

JAKARTA, June 10 (ANTARA/Medianet International-AsiaNet) --

-- Data highlights the potential of vaccine-preventable public health intervention to reduce childhood deaths --

Pneumococcal disease (PD) is the leading cause of death among children five years and younger, particularly in the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region and until now, data on pneumococcal disease from Asia Pacific countries have been limited.

A study presented overnight at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD) in Reykjavik, Iceland indicates that routine childhood vaccination with the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) could prevent a considerable proportion of this disease in vaccinated children, as well as unvaccinated adults.[1]

Furthermore, presentations at the conference confirm that PCV7 is a highly costeffective public health intervention, based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.[2]

"While there is a compelling body of evidence demonstrating the public health and economic impact of routine childhood vaccination with PCV7 in a number of countries, we now have data from Asia that convincingly support these benefits regionally," says Kenneth K.C. Lee, Ph.D., professor and associate director of External Affairs, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China.

Not only does immunisation provide protection to children and infants, it also can protect adults as well. Known as "herd protection"; it is an important indirect benefit extended to adults following the routine vaccination of children, and is an important consideration in economic evaluations.

"By routinely vaccinating our children against pneumococcal disease, we have the ability to help protect the broader community – unvaccinated children, parents and grandparents – and, with evidence that routine vaccination represents a sound economic investment, there is no reason to delay action to help save lives now," says Dr Lee.

One study of pneumococcal disease burden across Asian countries reported incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) among children younger than five years of age ranging from 30.9 cases per 100,000 in Japan to 276 cases per 100,000 in Bangladesh.[1]

Importantly, the data also highlight that PCV7 could help prevent between 57% and 91% of IPD cases in children younger than two years of age in Asia.[1]Importantly, the data highlights that in South East Asia, up to 28 million cases of clinical pneumonia may be prevented annually by widespread use of PCV7. In the Western Pacific Region, up to 15.8 million cases of clinical pneumonia may be prevented annually.[1]

Inclusion of PCV7 to a national immunisation program in Indonesia may play a vital role as the statistics from Indonesia show total number of pneumonia cases as high as 6 million and total number of under-five deaths due to pneumonia around 25,000 (2004 data). [3]

The health model for a universal vaccine intervention has proven to be successful in other societies. In the US, since the introduction of PCV7, pneumonia hospitalizations declined by 39%. [1]

PCV7, the only licensed pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, is part of the routine national childhood immunization schedule in only approximately 20 countries around the globe.[4]

The evidence presented overnight at ISSPD forms a compelling case to government for the inclusion of PCV7 in national immunisation programs across Asia Pacific.

References:
[1] Kim Soonae, Nyambat B, Kilgore P, et al. Assessment of Vaccine-Preventable Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Burden Among Children aged <5 years in the Asia-Pacific Region. Abstract presented at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD).
[2] World Health Organization. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for childhood immunization, March 2007- WHO position paper. Wkly Epidemiol Record 2007;12: 93-104.
[3] Pneumonia: The forgotten killer of children, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/World Health Organization (WHO), 2006.
[4] Data on file, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.


Media Contact:
Wendy Qin
+61 2 8424 8539
+61 404 101 742

SOURCE: Wyeth Asia Pacific

Energy: HKE obtains approval for wind farm project in inner Mongolia

Hong Kong, (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall-AsiaNet) - Progressing at Quick Pace to Enter into Alternative Energy Sector Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Limited (HKEx: 987)("HKE (HOLDINGS)" or the "Company"; formerly known as J.I.C. Technology Company Limited), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HKC (Holdings) Limited ("HKC (HOLDINGS) or the "Group") (HKEx: 190), is pleased to announce that approval has been obtained from the Development and Reform Commission of Siziwang Qi for the rights to build and operate a 50MW wind power project in the region subsequent to the application made on 21 April 2008.

The total investment will amount to approximately RMB 480.5 million (HK$540.2 million) which will be funded by the Company's internal resources and/or bank borrowings.

For the purpose of constructing the wind farm, the Company has entered into 2 contracts of purchasing 33 sets of wind turbine and turbine tower with an aggregate value of approximately RMB349.8 million (approximately HK$393.2 million). It is expected further contracts will be entered for acquisition of other wind power generation equipments for the project.

Mr Eric Oei, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HKE (HOLDINGS) said, "It is encouraging to see the first project being approved so smoothly and quickly following the formal establishment of HKE (HOLDINGS) in May 2008, reflecting HKE (HOLDINGS)'s ability to execute projects undertaken. We are confident that the development of our alternative energy business will be on track with our planned schedule and HKE (HOLDINGS) will continue to act as a strategic and effective platform for HKC (HOLDINGS) to execute its alternative energy projects in the years to come."

"HKC (HOLDINGS) has previously obtained the preferential right to develop a wind power project in Siziwang Qi. This further approval obtained by HKE (HOLDINGS) in the same area is sure to bring synergy for developing its alternative energy business, and also kick starts many opportunities, leading to the increased revenue and income growth for the Company ahead." Mr Oei continued.

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is one of the regions in the PRC with abundant wind energy resources, particularly in the Siziwang Qi region. There the average annual wind speed reaches over 8.0m/second at a height of 60-70 metres and its average annual full-loaded equivalent operation hours exceeds 2,500, indicating a grade I wind farm according to a wind resources survey report.

About Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Limited (stock code: 987)

Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HKC (Holdings) Limited (stock code: 190), acting as HKC (HOLDINGS)'s alternative energy business arm. Investment in three alternative energy projects have been initiated in April 2008 at the Lunaobao Wind Farm in Hebei, the Siziwang Qi Wind Farm in Inner Mongolia, and a pilot cellulosic ethanol project. One of the projects, the Siziwang Qi Wind Farm project, has already obtained formal approval from relevant PRC authorities in June 2008.

For more information, please visit the Group's website: http://www.hkenergy.com.hk About HKC (Holdings) Limited (stock code: 190) HKC (Holdings) Limited is principally engaged in property development and investment activities with a primary focus in the PRC. It is also one of the leading providers of alternative energy in the PRC. In October 2007, Cerberus Asia Capital Management, LLC has become the Group's second largest shareholder.

In March 2008, the Group acquired 74.99 per cent interest in J.I.C. Technology Company Limited (SEHK: 987), and renamed it to Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Limited, all new investments in the alternative energy business will be conducted through HKE (HOLDINGS).

For more information, please visit the Group's website: http://www.hkcholdings.com.

For media enquiries: Strategic Financial Relations Limited
Esther Chan
Tel: (852) 2864 4825
email: esther.chan@sprg.com.hk
Vicky Lee
Tel: (852) 2864 4834
email: vicky.lee@sprg.com.hk
Shirley Lo
Tel: (852) 2864 4847
email: shirley.lo@sprg.com.hk
Doris Chan
Tel: (852) 2114 4950
email: doris.chan@sprg.com.hk
SOURCE: Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Limited

Technology: Endeavors and TCB Technologies sign distribution agreement

Irvine, Calif. and London, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Endeavors Technologies, the pioneer in application streaming and virtualization technology, and its parent company, Tadpole Technology plc, today announced a distribution agreement with TCB Technologies. Under the agreement, TCB will serve as a primary enterprise distribution partner for Endeavors in Japan and will also translate Application Jukebox for the Japanese market.

"We look forward to the new opportunities created by offering the leading application virtualization and streaming solution," said Takumi Nishimura, CEO at TCB Technologies. "The strong license management capabilities combined with centralized application management and deployment functionality of Application Jukebox enables us to strengthen our product portfolio and offer customers a flexible and powerful solution for on-demand application delivery."

"TCB is a market leader offering enterprises an alternative to Citrix and we are pleased to enter into this agreement," said Peter Bondar, CEO at Endeavors Technologies. "We are confident that their proven experience launching and supporting application management solutions in this market will open many doors and are optimistic for the opportunities it will create. This relationship will allow Endeavors to extend our existing reach in the Japanese gaming/consumer market to also encompass enterprise organizations."

About Application Jukebox

The Application Jukebox family of products contains three key components. Application Jukebox Player sits on the client to create the virtual application environment and provides user authentication and application license enforcement. Application Jukebox Server controls and delivers applications, provides usage monitoring and logging, plus group, user and application level administration. Application Jukebox Studio allows ISVs and IT administrators to create a streamable, virtualized "appset" from standard, Windows-based applications that is then published to the server.

Three versions of Application Jukebox are available today. Application Jukebox SaaS Edition features usage metering and a kiosk mode to support a pay-as-you-go model for application rental, plus portals that provide an easy-to-use environment for service providers and ISVs to create a custom application landing site. Application Jukebox Enterprise Edition supports Active Directory and offers user and group monitoring, as well as extensive tracking and support for cost-effective license management. Application Jukebox Lite Edition is a fully functional trial version of the product that can is available as a free download at http://tryitnow.endeavors.com

About Endeavors Technologies

Endeavors Technologies creates, develops and markets innovative application virtualization and streaming technologies that allow servers to stream pc-based applications to client computers where they are subsequently executed. These "next stage" technologies replace thin client computing paradigms. Application virtualization and streaming enables organizations to reduce the total cost of ownership while improving service levels, simplifying the management of computers and improving security and reliability. This innovative application distribution methodology provides companies with new revenue opportunities while reducing IT costs and increasing user productivity. Endeavors Technologies is a pioneer and thought leader with eight patents granted and 25 pending, including the first patents granted for streaming applications. Endeavors Technologies provides its solutions through licensing, royalty and technology transfer models. Visit http://www.endeavors.com for more details.

About Tadpole Technology plc

Tadpole Technology plc (LSE: TAD) is a company in transition. The company was formed in 1983 as a developer and manufacturer of high performance portable workstations. In 2003, Tadpole transitioned to a software group focused on two sectors; geospatial solutions and system level software technologies. In mid 2007, Tadpole made a strategic decision to focus exclusively on the application streaming and virtualization marketplace and in November 2007 announced the sale of its geospatial interests. The company established Endeavors Technologies Ltd. as its European trading arm, complementing the existing Endeavors Technologies Inc. in the US. Subject to shareholder approval, Tadpole Technology plc intends to rebrand itself under the Endeavors' name to reflect its focus on a single brand and product set. For information on Tadpole Technology plc, visit http://www.tadpoletechnology.com

About TCB Technologies

TCB Technologies, formerly TOMEN Cyber-business Solutions, Inc., is an affiliate of Daiwabo Information System (DIS), a major technology distributor and leading technology sales, marketing and logistic company with 87 sales offices and 14 logistic centers in Japan. In addition to DIS, TCB's major shareholders include JMAM Value Driver Investment Association, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Credit Suisse, Tomen Electronics Corporation and NJK Corporation.

For more information, visit http://www.tcbtech.co.jp/english/

SOURCE Endeavors Technologies
CONTACT: Jan Tarzia,
+1-949-296-3998,
jtarzia@endeavors.com,
or Peter Bondar,
+44 1845501202,
pbondar@endeavors.com,
both of Endeavors Technologies
Web site: http://www.endeavors.com
http://www.tadpoletechnology.com
http://www.tcbtech.co.jp/english

Energy: Oil search successfully tests pipeline leak detection system

Oil search limited deploys and successfully tests pipeline leak detection system from Energy Solutions PipelineManager accurately detects and locates leaks in controlled tests

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgieid=5705825

Houston (BUSINESS WIRE) - Energy Solutions International, Inc., a world-leading supplier of software solutions that optimize operational and commercial performance of oil and gas pipelines, announced it has successfully deployed and tested its PipelineManager software at Oil Search Limited, Papua New Guinea's largest oil and gas producer.

In two tests, Oil Search received a leak warning within seconds of the pipeline valve being opened; a full alert was received within minutes. A precise location was determined within 10 minutes, to within 0.44 km for the slightly larger leak test and 0.67 km for the smaller leak test.

"We have determined that the PipelineManager leak detection functionality provided the sensitivity, robustness, reliability and accuracy sought after by Oil Search," said Lara Kayess, Project Manager at Oil Search. "We are very pleased with the implementation and initial testing of the system. PipelineManager provides significant improvements over our previous rupture detection system."

"Oil Search was experiencing an unacceptably high rate of false alarms with its custom-built system, and looked to us for a field-proven, commercial-off-the-shelf solution," said Dr. Jo Webber, CEO of EnergySolutions. "PipelineManager meets their requirements for determining the severity and location of pipeline leaks without false alarms."

A case study on the Oil Search implementation and leak detection testing is available for download.

About Oil Search Limited Oil Search is an oil and gas exploration and development company that has been operating in Papua New Guinea since 1929. It is PNG's largest oil and gas producer and operates all of PNG's producing oil and gas fields. For more information, visit www.oilsearch.com.

About EnergySolutions Energy Solutions International, Inc. provides oil and gas pipeline management software that drives excellence in operational efficiency, throughput management, pipeline safety and transaction management.

Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, EnergySolutions serves more than 250 clients in 45 countries through its offices in the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, India, China and Canada. For more information, visit www.energy-solutions.com.

Energy Solutions International, Inc.Clive Seaton, +44 1642
677755 (Office)Mobile: +44 791 751 7696
Cseaton@energy-solutions.com or Kathleen Beaulieu, +1
508-528-9004 (Office)Kbeau5@verizon.net

Energy: Alcoa of Australia declares force majeure

New York (BUSINESS WIRE) - As a result of an explosion at Apache Energy's Varanus Island facility, and the disruption of gas supply to its Western Australia facilities, Alcoa of Australia today notified its customers that it was declaring force majeure under its alumina supply contracts. The extent of impacts upon its customers is yet to be determined. Alcoa of Australia is part of Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) which is 60-percent owned by Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA), and 40-percent owned by Alumina Limited.

On June 3rd at 13:45 Apache reported a pipeline rupture and fire at its Varanus Island gas processing and transportation hub offshore Western Australia. The incident resulted in complete shutdown of Apache's gas production operations at Varanus Island and a declaration of force majeure by Apache to all customers.

Alcoa of Australia is still receiving gas from its other supplier - North West Shelf Gas. Given the supply disruption, the full extent to which alumina production will be affected is uncertain, but Alcoa is making efforts to minimize the impact on production and its customers.

The financial impact to Alcoa Inc.'s second quarter 2008 is expected to be between $0.02 to $0.03 per share. An additional
update on the situation will be made on Alcoa Inc.'s conference call following the reporting of its second quarter 2008 results on July 8, 2008.

Forward Looking Statement
Certain statements in this release relate to future events and expectations and as such constitute forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results of Alcoa to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Alcoa disclaims any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: (a) Alcoa's inability to minimize the impact of the disruption of gas supply to its Western Australia facilities on production and its customers; (b) material adverse changes in economic or aluminum industry conditions generally, including global supply and demand conditions and fluctuations in London Metal Exchange-based prices for primary aluminum and other products; (c) material adverse changes in the markets served by Alcoa, including the transportation, building and construction, distribution, packaging, industrial gas turbine and other markets; (c) Alcoa's inability to mitigate impacts from unfavorable currency fluctuations or from increased energy, transportation and raw materials costs or other cost inflation; and (d) the other risk factors summarized in Alcoa's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Alcoa Inc. Investor ContactGreg T. Aschman, 212-836-2674 or
Media ContactKevin G. Lowery, 412-553-1424 Mobile
724-422-7844

Technology: NTT Electronics completes test transmission Beijing marathon

NTT Electronics successfully completed the test transmission of broadcasting of the Beijing pre-olympic marathon using its MPEG-2 HD encoders and decoders
The excellent portability of NTT Electronics encoders and decoders enables broadcast transmission of HDTV video from OB vans, helicopters, and motorcycles

Tokyo (BUSINESS WIRE) - NTT Electronics Corporation (hereafter, NTT Electronics; Tomoyuki Toshima, President, headquartered in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward), a supplier of high-quality video codec devices for broadcasting markets worldwide, is pleased to announce that its H5000 Series MPEG-2 HD Encoders/Decoders were used in the test transmission of broadcasting of the Pre-Olympic Marathon "Good Luck Beijing," held on April 20, 2008, and achieved successful broadcast transmission over long periods and distances. The Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (hereafter, BOB; headquartered in Beijing, China)(1) employed the H5000 Series for thebroadcasting test, transmitting HDTV video using FPUs(2) mounted on OB vans, helicopters, and motorcycles, taking advantage of the excellent portability of the 1U half-rack size units running on DC 12 V.

The Beijing Olympics will be a memorable event for the broadcasting industry, as it is the first Olympic Games for which all international video signals will be generated and distributed in HDTV. NTT Electronics encoders and decoders will be employed for international broadcasting of the opening and closing ceremonies, the marathons, cycling, race walking, and other events at the Beijing Olympics.

"The Beijing Olympics, where full-scale HDTV global broadcasting starts, will be a special and impressive Olympics for NTT Electronics, as we provide high quality video codec devices to broadcasting markets all over the world, and focus on the promotion of HDTV broadcasting. Our video codec devices will be used by the IBC(3) and many other broadcasting stations for broadcast transmission of the Olympic Games, as well as by BOB. We are pleased and proud that our high quality video images will contribute to sharing the drama of games played in earnest by the best athletes in the world at this festival of sports with international audiences," said Hisashi Kasahara, General Manager of Multimedia Systems Division at NTT Electronics.

[Overview of H5000 Series] The HD/SD dual-supporting H5000 Series high video quality MPEG-2 encoder and decoder support 1080-24p, 1080 i, 720p, 576i, 480i, and a maximum of two audio systems, for a total of eight-channel encoding. Taking advantage of the compact and light-weight 1U half-rack size units running on DC 12 V, it is easy to mount these encoders and decoders on mobile units, such as OB vans, helicopters, and motorcycles. The H5000 Series encoder and decoder are the ideal video codec devices for broadcast transmission of sports events such as the Pre-Olympic Marathon mentioned above.

[Terminology] (1) Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co. Ltd.

The international video production department for the Beijing Olympics (2) FPU Abbreviation of Field Pickup Unit, a radio broadcast transmitter (3) IBC Abbreviation of the International Broadcast Center, the international broadcast center set up when an international event is held, such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup, in order to provide international video images to broadcasting stations worldwide.

NTT Electronics Corporation NTT Electronics is an industry leader for video compression technologies.Our HD solutions are highly rated in markets from Japan to the world at large. Our advanced technologies enable the transmission, editing and broadcasting of high-quality videos.For more on NTT Electronics, please visit http://www.nel-world.com/productsvideo/index.html.

NTT Electronics CorporationMihoko Usui, +81-45-453-3685
Multimedia Systems Divisionmm_i@yoko.nel.co.jp

Business: U.S. investment newsletter publishes special issue for Indian investors

Salem, Mass. (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Top U.S. investment advisory Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report today published a Special Issue dedicated entirely to Indian stocks traded on the Bombay or National Stock Exchange of India. Indian investors looking for award-winning editor Paul Goodwin's best Indian stock picks can now find them in this new Special Issue, entitled "Six High-Potential Stocks for Indian Investors."

According to publisher Timothy Lutts, Cabot decided to publish this Special Issue after receiving numerous requests over the past year for advice about investing in stocks trading on Indian exchanges.

Lutts explained, "The Special Issue applies the same stock selection system that editor Paul Goodwin uses in Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report -- that's the system behind its rating by Hulbert Financial Digest as top investment newsletter over the past three years." Goodwin's advice brought his readers a gain of 78.6% in 2006, a gain of 74.1% in 2007 and over the 12 months ended 31 May 2008 his readers gained 108.7%.

The Special Issue is co-edited by Kaustav Roy, a native of Kolkata. Roy sees great demand for the expert, independent investing advice in the Special Issue. "This will be a great guide to new investors as well as experienced investors seeking to improve their profits," said Roy.

The Special Issue features large-company stocks intended to provide stability to an investment portfolio, mid-cap stocks of established but fast-growing companies, and high potential but also higher risk small-cap stocks.

Editor Goodwin summed it up, "We applied the 37-years proven Cabot growth investing stock system to Indian stocks -- we are confident that the resulting Special Issue contains a selection of Indian stocks that investors can use to build a solid, diversified portfolio and earn big profits."

About Cabot investment advisories

Cabot was founded in 1970 to provide independent, high-quality research and investment advice to individual investors and investment professionals. Today, Cabot publishes eight investment advisories to more than 110,000 readers worldwide. To order the Special Report, go to https://secure.netatlantic.com/cabotchina/indian.html

Contact:
Maura Lockwood
+1-978-745-5532
maura@cabot.net
SOURCE: Cabot
CONTACT: Maura Lockwood of Cabot,
+1-978-745-5532,
maura@cabot.net
Web site: http://www.cabot.net

Technology: Convergys and Cellular South Renew Contract for Relationship Management Solution

(Cincinnati; June 9, 2008) - - Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in relationship management, announced today that it will continue to provide Cellular South with an end-to-end business support solution for the provisioning, usage mediation, billing, and associated customer support of its wireless telecommunications services. Cellular South is one of the largest privately held wireless providers in the United States and is licensed to provide wireless service to a population of more than five million people in the southeast United States. The company has been using the Convergys solution for the past five years.

Under terms of a new 2-year licensing agreement, Cellular South will continue to operate the Convergys solution in Cellular South’s data center. Convergys will provide system maintenance and support services, as well as application monitoring services and professional and consulting services. The Convergys solution is a major part of Cellular South’s component-based architecture, and is integrated with Cellular South’s wireless network and several systems within its BSS/OSS environment.

“We are very satisfied with the Convergys solution, which provides us with a highly reliable, scalable, and flexible platform to support our subscribers and business customers with top notch provisioning, invoicing, and customer service support,” said Greg Latour, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development at Cellular South.

"We are delighted to continue our association with Cellular South, supporting its growing business needs with our software solutions, while also providing consulting and professional services to support its data center and system environment initiatives,” said Jim Boyce, president of Convergys, North America.

Convergys combines its innovative business support system (BSS) software and unique operational expertise in relationship management to provide solutions that enable its clients in the global communications industry to drive greater value from their customer relationships.

About Cellular South

Cellular South is a diversified mobile communications company passionately committed to helping customers get the most out of their wireless devices and services. The company accomplishes this goal by providing the most reliable and advanced nationwide wireless voice and data network, offering a full range of industry-leading unlimited flat rate plans and through the world's first integrated, interactive online and in-store experience that gives customers easy, simple, and convenient anytime, anywhere solutions to all of their wireless lifestyle needs. For more information, visit www.cellularsouth.com

About Convergys

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers and employees. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.

For 25 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to clients that now span more than 70 countries and 35 languages.

Convergys is a member of the S&P 500 and has been voted a Fortune Most Admired Company for eight consecutive years. We have approximately 75,000 employees in 85 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit
www.convergys.com (Convergys and the Convergys logo are registered trademarks of Convergys Corporation.)

To receive Convergys news releases by email, click on http://www.convergys.com/news_email.html

Contacts:
Buiness Media - John Pratt, Convergys, +1 513 723 3333 or
john.pratt@convergys.com
Trade Media - Jeff Hazel, Convergys, +1 513 723 7153 or
jeff.hazel@convergys.com
Jim Richmond, Cellular South, +1 601 974 7504, jrichmond@cellularsouth.com
##
--
"NOTICE: The information contained in this electronic mail transmission is
intended by Convergys Corporation for the use of the named individual or
entity to which it is directed and may contain information that is
privileged or otherwise confidential. If you have received this electronic
mail transmission in error, please delete it from your system without
copying or forwarding it, and notify the sender of the error by reply email
or by telephone (collect), so that the sender's address records can be
corrected."

Business: Shanghai Synergy Group will lead China into the New Media Era

London (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - 50 Chinese delegates, lead by the China Department of Audio & Video and Internet Publication, attend the 4th London Calling, June 19-20, 2008. Mr. Bill Zang, the Vice President of Shanghai Synergy Culture & Entertainment Group (SSCEG), the largest music and media group in China, will present Synergy's plans for bringing China into the New Media Era. He will also sign several label and consulting deals.

Synergy will officially form a new joint venture with the U.S.-based media and entertainment company, a-Peer Management Group, LLC, in June 2008. This joint venture will launch the Label Management System. This innovative system utilizes leading-edge digital media and Internet information technologies that will spearhead the Chinese music business into the New Media Era.

Mr. Peter Jenner, President of Sincere Management, legendary UK manager, widely known as the original and only Pink Floyd manager amongst many others and a long-time Chinese music industry advisor, signs an international consultancy with SSCEG. Mr. Jenner will advise on developing cultural exchanges of international and Chinese music between China and the traditional music industry countries. He will also advise on the development of the music industry in China and in particular viable artist management and training programs.

Unlimited Media GMBH, the prominent German classical music and technology company, and Roasting House AB, Sweden's largest studio, production, management & record company, will sign License In and License Out label deals with SSCEG at London Calling. Unlimited Media will also sign a patented "water-mark" technology deal with SSCEG at the same time.

At the Chinese press conference at London Calling, Bill Zang, will introduce the Label Management System (LMS), a ground-breaking new e-business and e-commerce system which provides transparent royalty accounting, advanced market trend analysis and leading-edge knowledge management and business intelligence applications along with interactive programs for creating, editing and distributing content to industry clients.

The LMS's unique mix of business and technology applications provides international music industries with a secure business environment for successfully entering and conducting business in the complex Chinese music market.

Web address: http://labels.a-peer.com/ssceg

SOURCE: CMPi
CONTACT: Ms. Jean Hsiao Wernheim,
+46-70-5615257,
jean@a-peer.com;
For a free press pass, please contact:
Helen Beckett on +44-207-955-3987, hbeckett@cmpi.biz

Health/Medical: Burden of pneumococcal disease high among Indonesian children

Jakarta - /Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - Vaccine Intervention Saves Lives -- New studies, presented this week at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD) investigates the burden of pneumococcal disease (PD) among Indonesian children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PD is the leading cause of vaccinepreventable death in children younger than five years of age worldwide, however, specific data on the incidence of PD in Indonesia has previously not been available.

Two studies, conducted by the International Vaccine Institute, assessed clinical cases of PD including meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia in Surabaya and Denpasar. Data from the Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar and Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya were retrospectively collected for the period of January to December 2006.[1],[2] In Denpasar, researchers evaluated the 448 hospitalisations due to invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children less than five years. The highest incidence of disease was found in Denpasar city, Bagung and Gianyar districts.

Pneumonia was the most common clinical presentation of PD, accounting for 82% of patients.

The second study, based out of Surabaya, evaluated the 680 hospitalisations due to IPD reported in children younger than five years. Pneumonia again was the most common presentation of pneumococcal disease during the study period, accounting for 77% of patients. Among the 680 hospitalisations, 118 children died.

The studies confirm infants in Indonesia are at significant risk of severe infection and even death due to PD. As the main clinical presentation of PD is pneumonia, the studies indicate the need for prevention strategies for respiratory disease.

Following recommendation from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization, the World Health Organization considers that the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine should be a priority for inclusion in national childhood immunisation programs.[3] Not only do immunizations provide protection to children and infants, it also can protect adults as well. Known as "herd protection"; it is an important indirect benefit extended to adults following the routine vaccination of children, and is an important consideration in economic evaluations.

Further population-based data on pneumococcal disease incidence will be critical to inform vaccine policy in Indonesia.

###
[1] Nyambat B, Dijanto I, Kilgore P, et al. The Epidemiology of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease-Associated Syndromes Among Children in Surabaya, Indonesia. Abstract presented at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD).

[2] Nyambat B, Purinit PS, Kim SW, et al. Invasive Pneumococcal Disease-Associated Syndromes in Denpasar, Indonesia, 2006. Abstract presented at the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD).

[3] World Health Organization. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for childhood immunization, March 2007-WHO position paper. Wkly Epidemiol Record 2007;12:93-104.

Media Contact:
Wendy Qin
+61 2 8424 8539
+61 404 101 742
SOURCE: Wyeth Asia Pacific

Business in Asia Today - June 10, 2008

TOYOTA TO MAKE HYBRID CARS IN AUSTRALIA
Nagoya (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Toyota (TSE: 7203) will begin building a hybrid Camry sedan at its Altona plant in Melbourne within 18 months, the car giant announced today.
Toyota hopes to make 10,000 ofthe fuel-efficient cars each year in Australia and the Australian government had offered the company a A$35 million (US$33.2 million) subsidy from its Green Car Fund.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was present at Toyota's Japanese headquarters in Nagoya for the announcement, said it was an important moment for the Australian car industry.
The petrol-electric hybrid used one-third less petrol than a conventional car and would save the average motorist A$1,000 (US$948) a year in fuel costs.
Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said Australia had joined Japan and the United States as part of Toyota's hybrid family.

FOSTER'S CEO RESIGNS AS CO DOWNGRADES EARNINGS
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Foster's Group Ltd (ASX:FGL) chief executive Trevor O'Hoy has resigned, as the global beverages company downgraded its earnings and flagged writedowns of up to A$700 million (US$663.95 million) on the value of its underperforming wine assets.
Mr O'Hoy has taken responsibility for the poor performance of the wine business, which was mostly created from the A$2.6 billion acquisition of Beringer in the US in 2000 and the A$3.2 billion acquisition of Southcorp in Australia in 2005.
Foster's admitted today it had paid too much to acquire wine assets and that it was reviewing the operation, which could lead to asset sales. Mr O'Hoy, who was appointed in March 2004, has agreed to help the company through its transition to a new boss.

INDONESIAN COAL MINER BAYAN TO LAUNCH IPO TO RAISE US$400 MLN
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Coal producing company PT Bayan Resources plans to launch initial public offering (IPO) in July 2008 hoping to raise US$400 million in fresh funds.
Bayan resources has named PT Trimegah Securities and PT Merrill Lynch Indonesia as the lead underwriters for the IPO, the newspaper Investor Daily reported today.
Trimegah President Avi Dwipayana said Bayan plans to sell 30 per cent of its shares and for which the subsidiary of the Gunung Bayan Group and the underwriters plan road shows to the United States, Australia and Hong Kong. PT Bayan has three coal mines in East Kalimantan with a total production capacity of 7 million tons a year.

ADIDAS TO OPEN UP TO 160 NEW STORES IN INDIA IN 2008
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - German sportswear and apparel major Adidas is going for a major expansion across India in 2008, which will involve setting up of around 160 new stores and setting footprints in 140 cities.
Adidas India managing director Andreas Glenner said the company was identifying properties in various cities and will set up 150-160 stores this year.
By the end of 2008, Adidas will have 450 franchise stores in India, he said.
When the planned expansion is completed, Adidas will have presence in 140 cities as against 119 cities currently, he added.

KOREA'S ROTEM WINS US$230 MLN OMANI ORDER FOR WASTEWATER PLANT
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Rotem Co., an affiliate of South Korea's leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. (KSE:005380), said today it has won a US$230 million contract to build a wastewater disposal plant in Oman.
The deal with Oman Wastewater Service Co. calls on Rotem to complete the plant by June 2011, according to the Korean company. The plant in the Middle Eastern country's capital Muscat is expected to treat 80,000 tons of wastewater on a daily basis.

BLACKSTONE INVESTS US$159 MLN IN SHANGHAI COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
Shanghai (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Global asset management giant Blackstone Group recently spent 1.1 billion yuan (US$158.9 million) on a commercial project in Shanghai, the first investment launched by Blackstone on China's property market.
The commercial project was purchased by VXL Capital Limited in 2006 with 585 million yuan.
After only two years, VXL Capital Limited will gain 600 million yuan by selling 90 per cent of the equities of the project. The deal was conducted overseas as the buyer and the seller are all foreign enterprises.

MITSUBISHI CORP IN TALKS ON FLOATING LNG PLANT OFF NIGERIA
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Mitsubishi Corp. (TSE:8058) said Monday that it has reached a tentative agreement to jointly develop a liquefied natural gas facility off the Nigerian coast with two foreign firms.
Peak Petroleum Industries Nigeria Ltd., one of the parties in the agreement, holds 100 per cent of the concession at the drilling site.
The extraction, liquefaction and storage would be accomplished using a specially designed tanker produced by Flex LNG Ltd., the other partner in the discussions. Annual output is expected to reach 1.5 million tons in a few years.

HOLCIM LANKA MAKES BID TO INVEST IN JAFFNA CEMENT PLANT
Colombo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Holcim Lanka, the Sri Lankan unit of the Swiss cement multinational, said it has made an investment proposal to Lanka Cement to revive production at its defunct plant in the northern Jaffna peninsula or build a new one.
Holcim Lanka chairman Manilal Fernando said his firm is prepared to invest in a profit sharing joint venture if the government does not want to sell the plant in Kankesanturai, in Jaffna.
He said the government must give a chance to all parties interested in the plant, sitting on a rich limestone deposit, which is also eyed by India's Birla group.
State-run Lanka Cement, which is listed on the Colombo stock exchange, has a plant with a 250,000 tonnes-a-year capacity kiln that has been defunct for more than a decade owing to fighting between government forces and Tamil Tigers.

TAIWAN RECORDS 2ND HIGHEST MONTHLY EXPORT VALUE IN MAY
Taipei (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Taiwan's exports totaled US$21.38 billion (NT$650 billion) in May, the second highest monthly amount ever recorded, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Monday.
The US$21.38 billion in exports, paced by booming exports to other Asian markets, lagged only behind the US$24.25 billion in exports recorded in March, MOF statistics indicated.
The country's May exports to China (including Hong Kong), India, South Korea, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) all increased by more than 23 per cent compared with May 2007, Hsu said.

EXPERTS SAY VIETNAM'S COAL RESERVES MAY BE DEPLETED BY 2015
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Local experts have warned that Vietnam's coal reserves could be exhausted by 2015, creating a dependency on expensive imported coal.
As the country is currently selling coal at a cheaper export price than import, Vietnam may end up buying back some of its coal at a higher price if national reserves are exhausted, they said.
At the current rate of exploitation and export, supplies may run dry even earlier than 2015, the experts warned.
Vietnam exported 32.5 million tonnes of coal last year, bringing in just over US$1 billion.

Source:
Business in Asia Today - JUNE 10, 2008
published by Asia Pulse

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Technology: NanoGram gets Award from US Energy Department for Photovoltaic Technology

Milpitas, Calif. (PRIME NEWSWIRE) - NanoGram Corporation, a leading developer and licensor of core advanced materials process technology, tools and solutions for optical, electronic and energy applications, today announced that it has been awarded an Energy Innovator Award from the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The award recognizes businesses, individuals and governmental agencies that have successfully developed or deployed energy efficiency and/or renewable energy technologies, services or policies.

"We are happy to recognize NanoGram's work with the Energy Innovator Award," said Paul Dickerson, chief operating officer at the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. "Moving energy innovations from the lab to the market is a key way to increase our energy security and mitigate climate change."

NanoGram is developing a breakthrough crystalline silicon-based solar module manufacturing process that dramatically reduces module cost to the level of thin film photovoltaics while delivering high efficiency. The process leverages NanoGram's proprietary laser reactive deposition (LRD(tm)) technique, which drives down PV module costs by reducing silicon consumption to less than 25 percent compared to typical wafer-based approaches. Significant cost reductions generated using this approach are expected to bring module costs well below $1.00/Wp when high volume manufacturing production levels are reached in 2012.

An R&D pilot plant is currently under construction at NanoGram's headquarter facilities in Milpitas, CA, and is expected to generate approximately 25 new high-tech jobs.

"I congratulate NanoGram on receiving the Department of Energy's Energy Innovator Award," stated US Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA). "I have long been a supporter of solar energy, and NanoGram's work on photovoltaic technology will help to expand the use of solar energy in the United States. The company's approach addresses both the supply and demand issues that face solar energy -- their technology will increase the manufacturing throughput of factories, increasing supply, and it will decrease the cost to make panels, thus making solar more attractive to a greater number of consumers. Work like this is essential to bringing solar energy into widespread use, and I am proud that it is being done in Silicon Valley, in California's 15th Congressional District."

"On behalf of NanoGram, I would like to thank the Department of Energy for this award and Congressman Mike Honda for his leadership on renewable energy issues," said NanoGram President and CEO Dr. Kieran Drain. "Working together, the private sector and the government can provide our nation with affordable home-grown renewable energy."

NanoGram's photovoltaic innovations are part of the company's growing intellectual property assets for Cleantech applications that include solar, flat panel and flexible displays, solid state lighting, lithium-ion batteries, and printed electronics.

About NanoGram

NanoGram Corporation (Milpitas, CA, USA) develops and licenses core materials process technology, tools, and solutions that enable the manufacture of unique nanoscale compositions for optical, electronic and energy products. The company has developed an extensive intellectual property portfolio that is expanding the boundaries of nanomaterials technologies and enabling the development and manufacture of new generations of materials, devices, components and applications across a broad range of industries. The NanoGram KK office in Shinjuku, Tokyo supports its growing presence in Japan, while the NanoGram Korea office in Seoul serves local customers in that country. NanoGram has established a strategic development and manufacturing supply relationship with Nagase & Co., Ltd. / Nagase ChemteX Corporation. Additional information about NanoGram is available at www.nanogram.com.

The NanoGram Corporation logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5129

Notes:
Mr. Paul Dickerson can be contacted at Paul.Dickerson@ee.doe.gov US Department of Energy 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585 202-586-9220.
Congressman Mike Honda's Communication Director, Mr. Jose Parra, can be contacted at Jose.Parra@mail.house.gov 1713 Legislative House Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2631

-0- CONTACT: Missy Bindseil PR
US Contact:
Missy Bindseil
+1 (830) 237-9527
mbindseil@nanogram.com
NanoGram Corporation
Japan Contact:
Koichi Miyamoto
+81 3 5366 2431
kmiyamoto@nanogram.com
Korea Contact:
Pete Han
+82 2 548 4760
phan@nanogram.com

Education: Int`l School of Management sets the standard in management education

Paris, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The International School of Management (ISM), an American organization with headquarters in Paris, France and programs in New York, Tokyo and Shanghai, is proud to announce the 10 year, unconditional reaffirmation of accreditation of its business programs -- the MBA, IEMBA, DBA, and Ph.D. -- by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

Founded in 1988, ACBSP recognizes best practices in business education, and accredits qualified business programs. As the leading specialized accreditation association for business education, the ACBSP is recognized for its strong contribution to management education by the US government's Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

"In this ever changing business environment we are constantly reassessing ourselves in relation to our stated Mission and purpose, which requires rigorous critical analysis and strategic planning in order to maintain our high standing in the academic community," commented Executive Director Matthew Werner in a recent interview. "We are increasingly recognized in the international academic community for delivering high quality, effective, graduate and post graduate management education programs. Our doctoral programs, in particular have received heralded praise as a result of the works produced by graduates in both academic and business."

In addition, Professor Simon Peter Horn, Ph.D., LL.M., Dean of ISM, has been appointed to the Board of Commissioners of ACBSP to help other business schools attain the same high standards that have been achieved by ISM's business programs.

Professor Jack Forget, Ph.D., President of ISM, confirmed that, "This is indeed an honor for our institution to have Dean Horn appointed to the ACBSP Board of Commissioners and is seen as confirmation of the 'Five Star' rating of the quality of our academic programs. Professor Forget went on to say that, This increased international recognition of ISM as a leading international business school is a true testament to the quality of the school's academic program offerings, its expert international faculty -- many of whom commit personal time to serve on various internal academic committees -- sound administrative protocols, dedicated management and staff, and, of course an extremely well-qualified student body. ISM program candidates are truly world leaders in business, politics and education and are one of the schools most cherished assets."

For more information about the International School of Management, please contact Mr. Matthew Werner, Executive Director at: mwerner@ism.edu or visit www.ism.edu

SOURCE: International School of Management
CONTACT: Matthew Werner,
Executive Director of International School of Management,
+33 (0)1 45 51 09 09,
mwerner@ism.edu
Web site: http://www.ism.edu

Fund/Bank: Paul Capital expands presence in emerging markets

New York, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Paul Capital, an innovative leader in the private equity secondary market, today announced it has expanded its presence in emerging markets by opening offices in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo and making three senior appointments to its secondaries team to support this expansion and its growing sourcing agent network.

Duncan Littlejohn, who has served as a consultant to Paul Capital since 2007, joined the Paul Capital Secondaries team as a Managing Director. Mr. Littlejohn is responsible for managing the firm's Sao Paulo office, the first dedicated private equity secondaries office in Latin America, as well as leading transactions across Latin America. Mr. Littlejohn, who has resided in Brazil since 1989, was previously a partner at Brazilian private equity firm BPE Investimentos and its predecessor, Brasilpar.

Lucian Wu joined the Paul Capital Secondaries team in April 2008 as Managing Director to head the firm's Asian office. Mr. Wu is responsible for leading Paul Capital's secondary investment activities across Asia. He has more than ten years of direct private equity investment experience in Asia and was previously a partner at Henderson Private Capital in Asia and a founding member of Electra Partners Asia.

Jason Sambanju joined the Paul Capital Secondaries team in August 2007 as a Director and opened the firm's Hong Kong office. Mr. Sambanju is responsible for the sourcing and execution of secondary transactions within the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, he provides due diligence in support of transactions outside the region which have significant Asian market relevance. Mr. Sambanju previously spent seven years with Symphony Capital Partners in their Hong Kong office.

"Paul Capital has more experience in emerging markets than any other secondaries firm in the world," said David de Weese, General Partner, Paul Capital. "We are excited to have such talented professionals join our firm. It is very important to have a strong local team in emerging markets to source and execute transactions as well as conduct due diligence on secondary opportunities."

Ms. Ann Watson, who originally joined the firm as a consultant in 2001 and became a Principal in 2004 has transitioned to a new role as a sourcing agent focusing on Canada. She will continue to maintain the firm's Toronto office. Paul Capital's global sourcing agent network includes a dozen agents in local markets around the world, including Central and Eastern Europe, Japan, Taiwan, the Middle East, North America and Western Europe.

A pioneer of the secondary market, Paul Capital has leveraged its global reach, creative deal structuring, and reputation for fairness and discretion since 1991 to provide unique liquidity solutions to limited partners around the world.

About Paul Capital

Founded in 1991, Paul Capital manages US $6.6 billion in capital commitments for its three investment platforms that include private equity secondaries, healthcare royalty and revenue interests, and venture capital fund of funds. The firm has offices in Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Toronto. The Paul Secondary funds have completed more than 150 secondary market acquisitions of limited partnership interests and portfolios of direct private equity investments. Through its secondary fund program, Paul Capital is now a limited partner in over 300 partnerships and 500 funds. The secondary team provides customized liquidity solutions for sellers of private equity and has become a trusted partner of sellers from around the world seeking fair value, confidentiality and timely transactions.

For more information, please visit http://www.paulcap.com

SOURCE: Paul Capital
CONTACT: Zach Siegel of Cohn & Wolfe for Paul Capital,
+1-212-798-9859,
Zach_Siegel@CohnWolfe.com; or
Anne Pearce of Paul Capital Partners,
+1-646-264-1107,
APearce@PaulCap.com
WEB SITE: http://www.paulcap.com

Marketing: Jingwei Int'l selected by Best Buy China for direct marketing contract

- Jingwei to provide direct marketing services throughout China -

Shenzhen, China (BUSINESS WIRE) - Jingwei International Limited (OTC Bulletin Board: JNGW.OB) ("Jingwei" or the "Company"), one of China's leading direct marketing Companies, today announced that it has been selected by Best Buy China.

(Best Buy Co. Inc NYSE: BBY), an industry-leading global consumer electronics retailer, to create, manage and execute direct marketing campaigns throughout China. The contract includes marketing through direct mail and mobile advertising.
Jingwei has initiated the campaign for Best Buy in Shanghai and will roll out the campaign throughout China during the term of the contract.

Regis Kwong, CEO of Jingwei, stated, "We are very proud to have been selected by Best Buy China after competing with the leading international direct marketing firms. This agreement is expected to add significant revenues to the Company and is a major milestone in our ongoing efforts to secure additional multinational accounts. We expect to add other international brands to the several that we already service in the near term".

"This contract also validates the investment we made in advanced technology and executive resources over the last year.
We believe that our leading position in the multi channel marketing industry in China will enable us to service more global brands that are looking for a national exposure in China."

About Jingwei International

Jingwei International Limited ("Jingwei") is a leading direct marketing company in the fast growing Chinese market.
The Company is one of the leading providers of data mining and customer relationship marketing services in China. With a customer database of over 300 million Chinese consumers, Jingwei enables leading Chinese companies to reach their target audience. The Company's services include market segmentation, customer trend and churn analysis, fraud detection and direct marketing services such as telemarketing and WVAS. The Company also operates a software services business, which provides a broad range of billing systems, provisioning solutions, decision support and customer relationship management systems for China's leading mobile telecommunication carriers. The software services business strengthens sales opportunities for Jingwei's higher margin data mining platform, and allows the Company to enhance its customer database. Jingwei plans to evolve into an integrated marketing platform with targeted outbound sales campaigns via mobile phone advertising, and customer service/order fulfillment at call centers throughout the country.

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain of the statements made in the press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "project," "plan," "seek," "intend," or "anticipate" or the negative thereof or comparable terminology. Such statements typically involve risks and uncertainties and may include financial projections or information regarding our future plans, objectives or performance. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions in The People's Republic of China, variations in cash flow, reliance on collaborative retail partners and on new product development, variations in new product development, risks associated with rapid technological change, and the potential of introduced or undetected flaws and defects in products, and other risk factors detailed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

Strategic Growth International
Miri Segal, 212-838-1444 msegal@sgi-ir.com
or
Richard Cooper, 212-838-1444 rcooper@sgi-ir.com

Technology: Italy's PosteMobile selects Gemalto Solution

Italy's PosteMobile selects Gemalto Solution integrating post office services into the mobile phone With this solution, subscribers can pay their bills, send a telegram or transfer money from their mobile phone, anytime, anywhere MVNOs Industry Summit

Barcelona, Spain (BUSINESS WIRE) - Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announces it has provided PosteMobile, the first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in Italy, with a software solution that allows BancoPosta customers to securely carry out payment transactions with their mobile phone. Both PosteMobile and BancoPosta are part of the Poste Italiane Group. They take advantage of their unique position in the convergent mobile and banking worlds.

Gemalto's MVNO portal management solution makes everyday life easier for PosteMobile suscribers, as users simply send a command from their mobile phone to pay their bills, send a telegram or a fax, top up their account and wire money from their BancoPosta account and from PostePay, BancoPosta prepaid credit card.

PosteMobile was launched in November 2007 and immediately started to deploy mobile-banking services to their customers.
The project has proven very successful, with over 200,000 BancoPosta customers using these services in just six months, among the over 250,000 PosteMobile customers. PosteMobile is now pursuing its innovation strategy by rolling out m-payment and M-Commerce services.

"We appreciate the high level of support Gemalto provided,"commented Roberto Giacchi, PosteMobile CEO. "Today, we are placing our trust in their service management solution again, to bring increased simplicity and convenience to our subscribers. Our goal is to transform the mobile phone into a real e-wallet, easy to use, anytime, anywhere.""Gemalto and PosteMobile share a common dedication to innovation in products and services," added Philippe Valle, Executive Vice President, Telecommunications Business Unit at Gemalto. "With this solution, we are effectively puttingsecure digital credentials into the hands of PosteMobile subscribers that will give them the freedom to pay quickly and safely."About Gemalto Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the leader in digital security with pro forma 2007 annual revenues of over 1.6 billion Euro, more than 85 offices in 40 countries and about 10,000 employees including 1,300 R&D engineers.

In a world where the digital revolution is increasingly transforming our lives, Gemalto's solutions are designed to make personal digital interactions more convenient, secure and enjoyable.

Gemalto provides end-to-end solutions for digital security, from the development of software applications, through the design and production of secure personal devices such as smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, and tokens to the deployment of managed services for its customers.

More than a billion people worldwide use the company's products and services for telecommunications, financial services, e-government, identity and access management, multimedia content, digital rights management, IT security, mass transit and many other applications.

As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by the combination of Axalto and Gemplus.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com
Gemalto
Remi Calvet, +33 (0) 1 55 01 64 10M.: +33 (0) 6 22 7281 58
remi.calvet@gemalto.com
Aline Borne, +33 (0)1 55 01 51 05M.: +33 (0)6 16 29 87 04
aline.borne@gemalto.com
or TBWA Corporate
Sophie Mazoyer, +33 (0) 1 49 09 26 87M.: +33 (0) 6 07 21 0877
sophie.mazoyer@tbwa-corporate.com

Technology: Video compression tech for sale at Ocean Tomo Live IP auction

Breakthrough video compression technology to be offerred for sale at Ocean Tomo Live IP Auction in Amsterdam on June 26

Westford, Mass. (BUSINESS WIRE) - ADC2 Technologies today announced that Lot #8 that includes US Patent #7317840, "Methods for Real Time Software Video/Audio Compression, Transmission, Decompression and Display", will be offered at the Ocean Tomo 2008 Live IP Auction at The NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam, Holland on June 26.

This is breakthrough technology that can compress video several times better than MPEG-4, specially for High Definition video, with high quality of decompression that can be displayed in large screen digital monitors as well as HDTV sets. It does not require fiber-optics connections to the Internet since its bandwidth requirements for real time reception can be easily met by standard DSL and Cable modems. In addition, it can improve the video compression performance of any MPEG-based codec or any other codec by 60% to 70% without any change to the codec itself by simple plug-ins to the codec input and output. This reduction in video storage and transmission costs to between 30% to 40% of the current costs is a breakthrough improvement over current algorithms and this can be done with practically no disruption of existing practices. In other words, this is an enabling technology not a disrupting technology. Finally, the patent applications that are also part of this lot and that are expected to be granted in the near future refer to the crucially important and related field of content protection. This unbreakable scheme can be tested by visiting www.adc2video.com.

For more information on Lot #8 or to register to bid at the Ocean Tomo 2008 Live IP Auction, please call +1.312.377.4851, email: auctions@oceantomo.com or visit www.oceantomoauctions.com.

About ADC2 Technologies Corporation

The company was established in March 2008 with the purpose of developing products and services based on the technology of US Patent #7317840 granted on January 8, 2008, and on continuing research on even more powerful technologies for 2-D and 3-D video.

Anybody interested in learning more about the company's current capabilities can visit the following Websites: Plug-ins for MPEG and any other video codecs. This package to enhance the video compression capability of any MPEG-based video codec by a factor of between 2 and 4 without loss of decompressed video quality can be downloaded from www.ADC2MPEG4.comVideo Player. This real time video decompress and display package with unbreakable content protection can be downloaded and installed automatically from www.ADC2Video.com.

ImageLab.

This image processing package for image expansion of over 1000 X with no pixelization as well as image enhancement, unbreakable encryption, and high perceptually lossless compression can be downloaded from www.ADC2.net.

VideoLab.
This video compression package can be downloaded from www.ADC2VideoLab.net.

ADC2 Technologies
Dr. A. DeCegama, 978-392-7849
decegama@comcast.netorOcean

Tomo
Wendy Chou, 718-812-6707
wchou@oceantomo.com