IBT Staff Reporter

The World Bank said on Monday it has issued a $6.8 million grant to the Central African Republic to restore and manage basic services in the country.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being urged to be more competitive by continuing to support the European legislation for free trade, the European Commission said during its World Standards Day 2006 conference on Monday.

The European Investment Bank agreed to lend $15.7 million (€12.5 million) to the Republic of Albania to support the country's education system during the first phase of its new system from 2007-2010.

A new report suggests that plasma and LCD televisions will lead the way in terms of revenue for home spending, however devices featuring internet-protocol connectivity will be the next important trend for digital consumers.

Consumer electronics are expected to comprise $21 billion this holiday season, one industry observer said on Monday, representing a 21 percent growth over the $17 billion garnered in 2005.

Nokia completed the acquisition of Loudeye Corp., a digital media distribution services company, the mobile giant said on Monday.

Apple Computer is moving closer to releasing its rumored mobile phone, analysts revealed on Monday, moving the company into areas of the consumer electronic industry previously untouched.

Consumers have long feared that LCD (liquid crystal display) based television will incur dead pixels, or that their plasma TV sets would leak the plasma gas, however new research indicates that they are nothing more than urban myths.

Rambus Inc. a technology licensing company specializing in semiconductor interfaces, announced on Friday the appointment of Mr. David Shrigley as an independent director to its board of directors.

Share holders of ATI Technologies approved the proposed acquisition by Advanced Micro Devices on Friday, moving the transaction one step closer to completion

Video game creator Konami Digital Entertainment, maker of the Contra and Metal Gear Solid franchises, announced that it is taking its American Idol game to malls around the country in search for a virtual American Idol winner.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced details of its annual Electronic Entertainment Expo on Friday, promising a toned down event more focused on business than fanfare.

President George Bush signed a new border protections bill into law on Friday which will establish a $400 million security grant program and regulate products entering and leaving the US. An unrelated provision also strengthens laws that in effect ban most types of online gambling.

The Xerox Corporation will unveil a new parallel printing architecture which utilizes two printing elements for increased speed and efficiency, the company said on Friday.

The Romanian IT services market is expanding at a rapid pace, with experts expecting growth of 18.8% for 2006, just slightly lower than growth of 2005.

The CEO of Canada's national Stock exchange, the TSX Group Inc will be traveling to Brazil this week to meet issuers who want to issue their shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange.

As consumers and businesses anticipate Microsoft's next generation office software, one research group is contending that back-end infrastructure upgrades may cost organizations over $50 billion.

Embattled biotechnology firm ImClone Systems Inc., urged its shareholders once again on Friday to reject a proposal by billionaire financier, Carl Icahn, who wants to remove four board members following the resignation of two others earlier this week.

A subsidiary of Florida-based NeoMedia Technologies Inc. said on Friday it will strengthen its existing partnership with Omniprime, a Philippine mobile marketing company by finalizing a licensing contract.

The U.S. government awarded engineering and development firm The Louis Berger Group a five-year contract with a $700 million limit, to improve infrastructure in southern Sudan.

Apple Computer unveiled a special edition iPod nano on Friday, dedicating a portion of the proceeds to fight against AIDS in Africa.

Microsoft, the world's largest software vendor, said on Friday that its Windows vista operating system is on track for general release in January, confirming analyst speculation that the software would not incur delays.

The world's largest cell-phone manufacturer said on Thursday that it is adding more resources for its Mobile Search service, allowing users to find more of what they are looking for, despite location.

China's electronic industry growth is slowing, one market research firm said on Thursday, leading to a reduced demand for semiconductors.

PDA and Smartphone maker Palm Inc. announced a new version of its Palm Treo branded smartphones on Thursday, aiming to market the phone to professional consumers as well as business users.

IBM, provider of information technology services and products, announced on Thursday that it will relocate its global procurement headquarters to Shenzhen, China, expanding on the company's initiative to become more efficient.

America's largest video game retailer said on Thursday that will begin accepting pre-orders for Nintendo's anticipated Wii video game console in October 13.

Computer graphics developer Nvidia Corporation announced on Thursday that it is teaming up with Dell Computer to deliver the worlds fastest graphics processor to Dell's enthusiast line of notebook computers.

Memory manufacturer SanDisk Corp. announced on Thursday that it will begin selling microSD memory cards at capacities up to 2-gigabytes, the highest amount of storage offered in microSD format to date.