Week of Sun, 2007-11-04 00:00 to Sat, 2007-11-10 23:59

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has completed its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the FutureGen project, a near-zero emissions gasification power plant that, when operational in 2012, would be the first plant in the world to produce both electricity and commercial-grade hydrogen gas from coal, while capturing and sequestering greenhouse gas emissions.

The EIS evaluated four potential sites to host the project: Mattoon, IL; Tuscola, IL; Jewett, TX; and Odessa, TX and preliminarily found that these sites were acceptable locations for funding the FutureGen project. The EIS offers a comprehensive evaluation of potential environmental impacts of the project with respect to the design, construction, and operation of the FutureGen facility. DOE will issue a Record of Decision for this Final EIS no sooner than 30 days after the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of this Final EIS in the Federal Register.

Bolted atop a mobile launch platform, space shuttle Atlantis began its move early Saturday morning to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians and engineers at Kennedy spent the past week putting the finishing touches on the spacecraft, its fuel tank and booster rockets in preparation for the rollout before launch. Liftoff is targeted for Dec. 6 on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

The modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellite, launched from Cape Canaveral on Oct. 17, has been declared fully operational for military and civilian navigation users around the globe, following a successful on-orbit checkout by a combined U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] team.

The satellite, designated GPS IIR-17M, is the fourth in a series of eight Block IIR-M satellites that bring new capabilities to military and civilian users of the GPS system. Each GPS IIR-M satellite features a modernized antenna panel that provides increased signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal that will provide users with an open access signal on a different frequency.

Paul Barford has watched malicious traffic on the Internet evolve from childish pranks to a billion-dollar "shadow industry" in the last decade, and his profession has largely been one step behind the bad guys.

Viruses, phishing scams, worms and spyware are only the beginning, he says.

"Some of the most worrisome threats today are things called 'botnets' - computers that are taken over by an outside party and are beyond the user's control," says Barford, a computer scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "They can do all sorts of nasty things: steal passwords, credit card numbers and personal information, and use the infected machine to forward spam and attack other machines.

One year after signing a landmark agreement to build a bridge between open source and proprietary software, Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today unveiled continued strong momentum behind the agreement.

Having exceeded their original business targets, the companies continue to see strong demand for interoperability and intellectual property (IP) peace of mind. In addition, Novell and Microsoft announced an expansion of their technical collaboration to create a cross-platform accessibility model that links together the existing Windows and Linux frameworks used to build assistive technology products that enable people with disabilities to interact with computers.

The worldwide handheld device market posted its fifteenth consecutive quarter of decline in shipments, signaling either vendor intent to scale back production or exit from market entirely, or both. According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped 728,894 handheld devices in 3Q07, approximately 1.5% more than the previous quarter but 39.3% less from the same quarter a year ago.

Top Five Handheld Device Vendors

NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) has reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 ended October 28, 2007.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2008, revenue increased to a record $1.12 billion compared to $820.6 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2007, an increase of 36 percent. Net income computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 was a record $235.7 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, an increase of 121 percent compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2007. GAAP gross margin improved by 550 basis points from a year ago to a record 46.2 percent.

The MQ-9A Reaper demonstrated it's unique precision strike capability as a hunter-killer attack platform by dropping its first precision-guided bomb Nov. 7.

"The beauty of the MQ-9 Reaper is that we're able to synchronize and integrate unmanned aerial attack platforms over the skies of Afghanistan, allowing us to persistently and consistently track the enemy and ensure that we place the appropriate ordnance on target when required, and maintain that persistent presence after weapons release," said Lt. Gen. Gary North, U.S. Central Command Air Forces commander.

Daniel A. Reed will join Microsoft Research as director of Scalable and Multicore Computing, reporting to Senior Vice President of Research Rick Rashid. Reed is an expert in high-performance computing, multicore architectures and scientific applications, as well as a leader in U.S. information technology research policy.

Reed is the director of the Renaissance Computing Institute, a major collaborative venture of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, North Carolina State University and the state of North Carolina. He is also a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and is the current chair of the board of directors of the Computing Research Association, which represents the interests of the major academic computing departments and industrial research laboratories in North America.

United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that GILBERT VARTANIAN, 37, formerly of Sacramento, was sentenced to 24 months in prison. The sentencing follows his conviction by a jury on August 7, 2007, of committing fraud on eBay, a popular Internet auction house. The jury found the defendant guilty of nine counts of mail fraud for selling sporting tickets and Rolex watches, which he failed to deliver. The defendant was ordered to make restitution to the victims of the fraud. Prior to sentencing, the defendant liquidated his retirement account and deposited approximately $27,500 with the district court to pay restitution.

As this year’s holiday season approaches, your credit card transactions may be a little more secure thanks to standards adopted by the payment card industry. The latest incarnation of these standards include the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Version 2 that was coauthored this year by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Carnegie Mellon University in collaboration with 23 other organizations.

NASA will break ground for a new test launch pad at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M., at 8:30 a.m. CST, Wednesday, Nov. 14. The pad will be the site of a series of tests of a launch abort system that will help ensure the safety of astronauts aboard the new Orion spacecraft.

NASA's Constellation Program is developing Orion to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, the moon and beyond. Engineers will use the test results to help design Orion's launch abort system.

Two UC Davis geologists are taking part in the Iceland Deep Drilling Project, an international effort to learn more about the potential of geothermal energy, or extracting heat from rocks.

Professors Peter Schiffman and Robert Zierenberg are working with Wilfred Elders, professor emeritus at UC Riverside, Dennis Bird at Stanford University and Mark Reed at the University of Oregon to study the chemistry that occurs at high pressures and temperatures two miles below Iceland.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the AMD FireStream 9170 Stream Processor and an accompanying Software Development Kit (SDK) designed to harness the massive parallel processing power of the graphics processing unit (GPU). AMD leveraged its unique collective expertise in both GPUs and CPUs to deliver the first integrated hardware and software development solution that meets the needs of the demanding high-performance computing (HPC) market. AMD plans to deliver the FireStream 9170 and supporting SDK to market in the first quarter of 2008. With this launch AMD expects to achieve another important milestone on the path to Accelerated Computing by delivering the first in a series of next-generation heterogeneous compute architectures.

With a price of more than 1,000 Euros, automotive radar systems are still very expensive and remain an option in higher-end, luxury vehicles only. These systems are typically 10x20 cm taking up a large amount of space in a car’s fender area. Infineon Technologies (FSE/NYSE: IFX) has developed a new family of radar system ICs (RASIC™) which could bring long- and medium-range automotive radar to mid-range cars as soon as mid 2010.

Trend Micro, Incorporated (TSE: 4704) has a new total Web security service for PLAYSTATION®3 (hereinafter referred to as PS3™) released by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Trend Micro Web Security for PS3 is expected to be available on November 8, and will be free of charge until the end of April 2008. This service is the first globally supported Web security service for a home game system. The service provision starts on November 8 as part of PS3’s system software update version 2.00 for PS3s sold worldwide with the user interface in 16 languages*3.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) Global Business Services unveiled its new report, "The End of Advertising as We Know It," forecasting greater disruption for the advertising industry in the next five years than occurred in the previous 50.

To examine the factors influencing advertising and explore future scenarios, IBM surveyed more than 2,400 consumers and 80 advertising executives globally. The IBM report shows increasingly empowered consumers, more self-reliant advertisers and ever-evolving technologies are redefining how advertising is sold, created, consumed and tracked.

Daimler AG and Ford Motor Company are forming a new, privately-held company that will focus on automotive fuel cell technology and allow the two automakers to further expand their global leading position in fuel cell technology. With a share of 50.1 percent, Daimler AG will be the majority stakeholder in the new company, Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC). Ford Motor Company will hold a 30-percent stake and Ballard Power Systems the remaining stake of 19.9 percent in AFCC.

A federal judge today ruled on a preservation motion filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ordering that telecommunications companies must preserve any evidence of collaborating with the government in illegal spying on ordinary Americans.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ordered the telecommunications companies to halt any routine destruction of documents or to arrange for the preservation of accurate copies. On December 14, each party must provide the court with confirmation that the court's order has been carried out. The court order did not require the government or the carriers to reveal whether or not they had any relevant evidence.

A tiny sensor that can detect magnetic field changes as small as 70 femtoteslas—equivalent to the brain waves of a person daydreaming—has been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The sensor could be battery-operated and could reduce the costs of non-invasive biomagnetic measurements such as fetal heart monitoring. The device also may have applications such as homeland security screening for explosives.

The AirHook ™ chipset, developed by Radiospire Networks, is the industry's highest bandwidth wireless HD connectivity solution. The AirHook chipset allows display manufacturers to achieve uncompressed wireless HD at the lowest cost.

Radiospire is the first company to break the bandwidth barriers that have inhibited other wireless solutions from achieving the same high-quality HD video that A/V cables provide. The AirHook chipset utilizes the widest bandwidth (1.7 GHz of unlicensed spectrum) and delivers the highest throughput (1.6 Gbps) of any product on the market, allowing for the transmission of pure, uncompressed audio and video.

Range Fuels, Inc. broke ground on November 6th on one of the nation's first commercial cellulosic ethanol plants. Range Fuels is one of six companies selected by DOE for financial support in building commercial cellulosic ethanol plants and is the first to break ground. The plant will be located near the town of Soperton, Georgia, and will draw on gasification technology to convert wood and wood waste from Georgia's pine forests and mills into 20 million gallons of ethanol per year. Construction of the first phase is expected to be completed next year. DOE will provide $50 million in support of the first phase of construction and will provide another $26 million for the first expansion phase, which will increase its capacity to 30 million gallons of ethanol per year. The company plans to eventually expand the plant to an annual capacity of 100 million gallons of ethanol per year.

The RAF deployed a HERTI system, one of the world’s first fully autonomous unmanned air vehicles (UAV), in Afghanistan this summer as part of Project Morrigan, a joint initiative between the RAF Air Warfare Centre and BAE Systems. Launched in September 2006, it aims to integrate HERTI UAV systems into UK forces for a short period in order to develop potential Tactics, Techniques & Procedures for the integration of HERTI’s capabilities into existing joint manned/unmanned force structures.

Imagine paint that adheres to a surface but releases on command, or road signs that change their reflectivity with changing weather conditions. These are two potential uses of a novel, responsive material designed by researchers in the University of Massachusetts Amherst polymer science and engineering department. The research was published online this week in the journal Advanced Materials.

Inspired by the way a Venus flytrap captures its pray, Alfred Crosby and his doctoral candidate Douglas Holmes created a polymer surface covered with small holes capped by thin lenses of the same material. The lenses can snap between convex and concave when triggered.

Development of a 1-Gigabit DDR2 SDRAM based on new 65nm process technology has been completed by Elpida Memory, Inc. The 65nm process allows Elpida to create the world's smallest chip products.

In December 2006 Elpida started mass production of the industry's first DRAMs using 70nm process technology and has been realizing significant cost reductions. The 70nm process now applies to mass production at the Hiroshima Elpida E300 Fab and the Taiwan-based Rexchip Electronics Corporation joint venture.

Towering overhead and aligned one after the other in a seemingly endless row, the Army's next generation of combat vehicles have rolled into Iraq.

The new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle is currently being fielded here for the first time anywhere, and Soldiers are getting their first hands-on look at the latest development in troop protection.

Cisco® reported first quarter net sales of $9.6 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.2 billion or $0.35 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $2.5 billion or $0.40 per share. A tax benefit of $162 million or approximately $0.03 per share relating to a settlement of certain U.S. income tax matters was included in both the GAAP and non-GAAP results for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

Space shuttle Discovery descended to a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Pam Melroy and Pilot George Zamka at the controls, Discovery landed at 1:01:17 p.m. EST. The mission lasted 15 days, 2 hours, 24 minutes and 2 seconds.

At a brief ceremony deep under the French countryside today, CERN Director General Robert Aymar sealed the last interconnect in the world’s largest cryogenic system, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This is the latest milestone in commissioning the LHC, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator.

The LHC’s cryogenic system has the task of cooling some 36 800 tonnes of material to a temperature of just 1.9 degrees above absolute zero (–271.3°C), colder than outer space. To do this, over 10 000 tonnes of liquid nitrogen and 130 tonnes of liquid helium will be deployed through a cryogenic system including over 40 000 leak-tight welds. Today’s ceremony marks the end of a two year programme of work to connect all the main dipole and quadrupole magnets in the LHC. This complex task included both electrical and fluid connections.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion, Nov. 7, of a multiple simultaneous engagement involving two ballistic missile targets.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry 'Trey" Obering, director of MDA said that this was MDA's latest "hit to kill" intercept flight test conducted jointly with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Kauai.

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Don B. Saxon, Commissioner, Florida Department of Financial Regulation, announced today the filing of an Information charging defendants Gerald Milligan , 47, and Andrew Mariani , 31, both of Wellington, Florida with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, 3 years supervised release, and restitution. An initial appearance for Mariani is scheduled before United States Magistrate Judge Linnea R. Johnson on Wednesday, November 7, 2007, and for Milligan on Friday, November 9, 2007.

The first phase in a trial of an evolved version of today's mobile phone radio access technology designed to deliver much higher wireless data rates has proven a success.

The LTE/SAE (Long Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution) Trial Initiative (LSTI) launched in May this year has reported the successful delivery of the first in a series of test results aimed at proving the potential and benefits of LTE. LTE is being standardized by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a next generation mobile broadband technology.

AOL has entered into an agreement to acquire Quigo. When completed, the acquisition will let AOL offer contextual advertising that matches ads to the contents of a Web page. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000, Quigo provides innovative, performance marketing solutions for advertisers and premium publishers. The company has more than 500 premium publisher relationships, including a recently finalized deal with Time, Inc., and has a broad network of roughly 3,000 advertisers. Quigo's AdSonar technology lets advertisers purchase ads on Websites based on specific pages, sections, topics or keywords. Quigo offers many types of advertising and a variety of pricing options including text, display and video ads bought on a cost-per-click, cost per impression, or cost per time basis. In addition, it operates FeedPoint, a search engine marketing business that helps local and retail advertisers efficiently manage their marketing relationships with search engines and comparison shopping platforms.

Canadian researchers expect to accelerate the war on cancer by tapping into a global network of hundreds of thousands of people who volunteer their idle computer time to tackle some of the world’s most complex problems.

The research team, led by Dr. Igor Jurisica at the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), and scientists at Princess Margaret Hospital and University Health Network, are the first from Canada to use the World Community Grid, a network of PCs and laptops with the power equivalent to one of the globe’s top five fastest supercomputers.

Bertrand Piccard, who piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop, unveiled on November 5th the prototype design for the Solar Impulse, an aircraft meant to repeat that feat using only solar power. Called the HB-SIA, the prototype aircraft consists of wing covered with solar cells with a span of 200 feet. Despite that huge wing span, the craft will employ lightweight materials to tip the scales at only 3,300 pounds. That combination will allow the plane to fly at just 28 miles per hour, a speed that will keep energy consumption low, allowing the solar panels to not only power the craft during the day, but to also store up enough energy to keep it flying at night. Construction of the HB-SIA began in June and is expected to be complete by the summer of 2008.

Total silicon wafer area shipments were 2,174 million square inches during the most recent quarter, up around 5 percent year-over-year yet essentially flat sequentially according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry. In total, wafer shipments seem to remain on track to see around 8 percent growth for the year.

Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Saturday, Nov. 10, as preparations for the STS-122 mission move forward. Atlantis is targeted to lift off Dec. 6 on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

The first motion of the shuttle out of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 4 a.m. EST. The 3.4-mile journey to the launch pad is expected to take about six hours.

The Intel® Entry Storage System SS4200x is being distributed through Intel's channel partners in two models: the Intel® Entry Storage System SS4200-EHW, a hardware-only version, and the Intel® Entry Storage System SS4200-E, which comes complete with integrated software.

The 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron worked with Airmen from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., for a demonstration in October.

The event showcased how airborne video through the LITENING targeting pod from a B-52 Stratofortress can be uploaded to a communications network. During the demonstration, aircrews looked at the Silver Flag exercise site, a civil engineering runway used for damage repair at Tyndall AFB.

Astronomers have announced the discovery of a fifth planet circling 55 Cancri, a star beyond our solar system. The star now holds the record for number of confirmed extrasolar planets orbiting in a planetary system.

55 Cancri is located 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer and has nearly the same mass and age as our sun. It is easily visible with binoculars. Researchers discovered the fifth planet using the Doppler technique, in which a planet's gravitational tug is detected by the wobble it produces in the parent star. NASA and the National Science Foundation funded the research.

Innovative Silicon Inc. (ISi), the developer of ZRAM® ultra-dense memory intellectual property (IP), has announced that Wellington Partners Venture Capital has joined with all existing investors to lead a $25M Series C round of investment in the company. ISi will use the financing to expand its engineering and customer support initiatives worldwide.

ISi’s Z-RAM is the world’s lowest cost memory solution, offering higher density than today’s DRAM and SRAM technologies, and the manufacturing simplicity of a single-transistor cell. AMD and Hynix Semiconductor have recently licensed Z-RAM memory technology for future microprocessor and stand-alone DRAM products.

Nortel Networks Corporation [NYSE/TSX: NT] today announced results for the third quarter of 2007 prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in U.S. dollars. Results were again driven by solid operating and gross margin expansion, evidence of the continued traction of the Company's business transformation program.

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vontu, for $350 million, which will be paid in cash and assumed options. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth calendar quarter of 2007, subject to receiving regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Orion spacecraft now in development is America's first new manned spacecraft since development of the space shuttle 30 years ago.

It's the centerpiece of NASA's Constellation program, which aims to take the next generation of human explorers to the moon and beyond.

Orion's launch abort system, a "rocket on top of the rocket," is designed to ensure the safety of its astronaut crew by pulling the crew module away from it's booster rocket in the event of a booster malfunction, either while on the launch pad or during ascent to orbit.

comScore reported revenue of $22.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, an increase of 39 percent compared to the third quarter of 2006 and an increase of 8 percent over the second quarter of 2007. Third quarter 2007 GAAP net income was $3.8 million, up $2.2 million or 138 percent, compared to $1.6 million in the third quarter of 2006.

The latest Typhoon test aircraft IPA6 has made its maiden flight from BAE Systems flight test facility at Warton Aerodrome in Lancashire.

The aircraft flown by Typhoon Project Test Pilot, Mark Bowman was airborne for 54 minutes.

After the flight Mark commented on the aircraft’s performance:

The single seat aircraft, called IPA6, is the sixth Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) in the Eurofighter Development fleet. The purpose of the aircraft will be to prove the Tranche 2 system design, which features enhanced main mission computers and upgraded equipment to equip Typhoon with the capacity to deliver future air-to-ground and advanced air-to-air capability demands.

Important breakthroughs in key technologies for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), a promising, next-generation semiconductor memory device, have been made by Toshiba Corporation . The company has successfully fabricated a MRAM memory cell integrating the new technologies and verified its stable performance. Full details of the new technologies were presented at the 52nd Magnetism and Magnetic Materials Conference in Tampa, Florida, USA which is being held from November 5th to 9th.

The Dojo Foundation is proud to announce version 1.0 of Dojo, an Open Source JavaScript toolkit for Ajax development that can be used to build rich Web 2.0 applications..

Dojo provides easy-to-use, high-quality UI components and JavaScript infrastructure critical for building responsive Web applications without the need for proprietary plugins or single-vendor solutions. Only 25K in size, the base of Dojo delivers key support for Ajax, progressive enhancement, animations, and opens the door to a wealth of high-quality widgets and extension modules. Dojo supports the Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer and Opera browsers.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) reported results today for its fiscal first quarter, which ended September 30, 2007.

Revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 were $3.219 billion, an increase of approximately 1 percent as compared with $3.189 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2007. Total gross margin as a percent of revenues was 48.5, an increase of 5.0 percentage points, as compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2007.

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully conducted two Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) Unitary rocket Phase II Product Qualification Test flights recently at White Sands Missile Range, NM.

These “GPS2 jamming” tests demonstrated both GMLRS rocket performance while in a GPS jamming environment at long range, as well as the functionality of the warhead using the Point Detonating fuze within the jamming environment. All tests objectives were achieved.

LED Lighting Fixtures, Inc. (LLF), which develops and markets a viable light fixtures for general illumination from LED light sources, today announced that it has raised $16.5 million in an equity financing. LLF plans to use the proceeds to significantly expand its product line and accelerate research and development efforts.

According to Mike Rogers, LLF’s President, “We are thrilled by the market acceptance of our product and the strong demand that we are seeing. With the close of our financing round, we expect to launch new products early next year that will include a four-inch downlight as well as a recessed architectural lay-in fixture that will be suitable for commercial and office environments.”

A broad alliance of leading technology and wireless companies have joined forces to announce the development of Android, the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. Google Inc., T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others have collaborated on the development of Android through the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance of technology and mobile industry leaders.

Over the next few years, the GPS chipset market will be driven by integration into mobile devices, including personal navigation devices (PNDs), cellular handsets, mobile PCs, and a variety of portable consumer electronics (CE) devices, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). The most promising portable CE categories include ultra mobile devices (UMDs), handheld games, portable media players, and digital cameras, the high-tech market research firm says.

Dell has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EqualLogic, a leading provider of high-performance iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions uniquely optimized for virtualization. The acquisition will strengthen Dell’s product and channel leadership in simplifying and virtualizing IT for customers globally. iSCSI SAN technology represents the fastest growing part of the storage business.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) are going to close their deal, announced on August 8th, to deepen their collaboration on the licensing and supply of integrated circuit designs and modem technologies for 3G and its evolution.

The closing of the multifaceted agreement transfers a core part of Nokia's Integrated Circuit (IC) operations to STMicroelectronics and positions ST to design and manufacture 3G chipsets based on Nokia's modem technologies, energy management and RF (radio frequency) technology and to deliver complete solutions to Nokia and the open market. The agreement includes the transfer of approximately 185 highly-skilled engineers and other Nokia personnel in Finland and UK to STMicroelectronics. The transfer has been subject to a personnel consultation process required by local regulations

Once plastics have been built into a car, they are rarely recycled. Compressed into granulate material, the shredded plastic parts are usually too indiscriminately mixed to permit any further use. Researchers have now found a way of separating the different types of plastic.

Every end-of-life car is a source of raw materials – in theory anyway. In practice, however, these resources are still used far too seldom – particularly where plastics are concerned. During the recycling process, the polymers land in the non-metallic shredder residue along with dust, slivers of metal and textile fluff, and are made into granulate using the SiCon process. This mixes the plastics so indiscriminately that it has never yet been possible to separate them into the individual types again. They are normally used as reducers in blast furnaces.

A new mathematical program developed in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Haifa will enable computers to "know" if the artwork you are looking at is a Leonardo da Vinci original, as the seller claims, or by another less well known artist. "The field of computer vision is very complex and multifaceted. We hope that our new development is another step forward in this field," said Prof. Daniel Keren who developed the program.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) has completed end-to-end testing of its 3G femtocell solution and has begun trialing its solution with a major European operator, the company announced today.

Femtocells enable operators to provide higher-quality and higher-performance wireless voice and real-time data services to their customers inside their homes. In addition, they enable a significantly lower cost of delivery for wireless traffic, in comparison to the macrocell network. For consumers, the benefits of femtocells include a seamless communication experience as they roam from inside to outside their homes, reduced “in-home” call charges, improved indoor coverage and consolidated billing, all from their existing 3G handsets.

Discovery undocked from the International Space Station at 5:32 a.m. EST as they flew over the South Pacific.

STS-120 Pilot George Zamka backed the orbiter about 400 feet from the station and performed a fly-around to allow crew members to collect video and imagery of the station in its new configuration. He completed the final separation engine burn at 7:15 a.m.

Tartan Racing’s “Boss” of Pittsburgh, Penn., turned in the top performance in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge and won the $2 million cash prize as the competition’s first-place winner. Stanford Racing’s “Junior” of Stanford, Calif., won the $1 million second place prize, while Victor Tango’s “Odin” of Blacksburg, Va., received $500,000 for finishing third.

Cisco® to acquire Securent, Inc., a leading provider of policy management software for enterprises. Securent's scalable, distributed policy platform allows enterprises to administer, enforce, and audit access to data, communications, and applications in heterogeneous IT application environments. Securent is privately held and based in Mountain View, Calif.

RFID chips have been in use for some time to label products for logistical purposes. Researchers have now equipped these RFID tags with sensors that allow the goods to be continuously monitored during transport.

The volume of goods transported worldwide is enormous. Every day, millions of tons of vehicle parts, flat screens, fresh fruit and all kinds of other products are carried around the world by sea, air or road – and the volume is growing. But the journey does not always run smoothly. Car components are sometimes rusty when they arrive at the factory, and refrigerated medicines may be spoiled by the time they reach the wholesaler. In many cases, it is impossible to find the culprit or the error in the transport chain, as the goods pass through too many hands on their way around the globe.