IBT Staff Reporter

The recent spectacular drop in oil prices has taken inflation expectations down with it, along with the returns on inflation hedges including TIPS, or Treasury inflation-protected securities

Sony Corp. introduced two single-layer Blu-ray Disc recorders with a single-layer, 25-Gbyte capacity at the Ceatec 2006 electronics show in Japan.

A recent survey conducted by semiconductor industry association SEMI found that silicon wafer production is expected to rise 18 percent in 2006, indicating strong growth for the semiconductor industry as a whole.

Shareholders approved the acquisition of hard disk manufacturer Maxtor to rival Seagate in May, giving a Seagate a 5 percent growth in market share. The sudden surge, however, has triggered a price war as rivals vie to cease lost market share.

Finnish-based Nokia introduced a new standard for wireless communication on Tuesday, unveiling a new technology focused on short-range communication and low power consumption.

Nokia, the world's largest cell-phone manufacturer, announced a new service on Tuesday allowing web-developers and content producers to multicast RSS (real simple streaming) data and user generated-content to mobile phones of any manufacurer.

The economic growth for this year is expected to grow steadily at a rate of 3.6 percent, but is expected to slow to 3 percent for 2007, according to UN estimates.

Nokia today announced the release of WidSets, a phone manufacturer independent Web 2.0 service. The service automatically multicasts preferred RSS feeds and user generated content.

According to research results announced by Hibernian Life & Pensions, the beginning of new school year in Ireland marks the beginning of a 13 year spending spree for parents of children in primary and secondary education.

John Lewis Partnership today announced the launch of Greenbee, a new direct services company, which will offer financial, travel and leisure services.

Today PartyGaming Plc announced that it’s Board had decided to cancel the company’s interim dividend that was due to be paid on 31st October 2006.

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE) announced that it had been notified of a dividend reinvestment on 27th September 2006 by Halifax, the PEP Manager

A number of major PC manufacturers have issued recalls on batteries manufactured by Sony Corp in recent months, citing the potential for failures leading to hazardous explosions. Despite the growing concern, HP, decided on Tuesday that its systems are safe and that the company will not issue any recalls.

Sony's anticipated Playstation game console has faced numerous delays in the past, citing problems with its new hardware design, however experts contend the company has started full-swing production, quelling fears of further delays.

News Corp. on Tuesday said it will launch a new service to offer full episodes of its television shows on MySpace.com and the Web sites of its local Fox TV stations after they have aired.

Canon and Toshiba said on Tuesday they would start mass production of ultra-thin flat-panel TVs in early 2008, entering a market dominated by makers such as Matsushita Electric Industrial and Samsung Eletronics.

The industrial producer price index rose by 0.1 percent from July to August in the euro area, and by 0.2 percent in countries belonging to the European Union.

Gap Inc. and Banana Republic are expanding their relationship with F J Benjamin Holdings Ltd. by opening new stores in Indonesia.

Consumers will still have to wait a few years before they can swap the batteries of their cell phones for more environment-friendly fuel cells, the world's top handset maker Nokia said on Tuesday.

Skyworks Solutions, Inc., a wireless semiconductor company said on Monday it will end its baseband operations and will instead sharpen the focus on its core business. The company also announced 10 percent cut in its worldwide workforce.

The two fastest growing sectors in the semiconductor industry are digital television (DTV) and portable media players reports released this year indicate.

The choice facing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is stark: sack the Hamas-led government and risk civil war or do nothing and watch poverty and unrest deepen in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Transport and warehouse firm Christian Salvesen said on Tuesday it had grown revenues by about 7 percent in the six months to September 30, but some of its markets remained tough.

Ceramic tile and wood flooring company Topps Tiles said on Tuesday it expected slightly lower underlying profit and sales for the year ended September

Energy network operator National Grid said on Tuesday it expected to deliver strong growth in first half pretax profit and earnings.

Britain on Tuesday was left with more gas than it knew what to do with as extra supplies pumped through a new pipeline from Norway flooded Europe's biggest market and wholesale prices fell below zero.

The European Central Bank's preference for making interest rate decisions by consensus rather than a majority vote by policymakers, like most central banks, has been criticized for being clumsy and slow.

Great Portland Estates said it was in talks to buy London Merchant Securities, which would form the country's sixth biggest listed property company with a speciality in office property.

Ireland's dominant telephone company, Eircom PLC, shut down services Tuesday to smaller rival Smart Telecom leaving 40,000 households and businesses unable to make calls in a row over unpaid bills.