2007'02.01.Thu
CIT Purchases Remaining Stake Of Joint Venture In China
April 07, 2006
Illustrates Company's Commitment to Expand in Asia Pacific Region
NEW YORK, April 7 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- CIT Group Inc.
(NYSE: CIT), a leading provider of commercial and consumer
finance solutions, announced today that its Vendor Finance
division has acquired the remaining 45% ownership stake in
its joint venture with two Chinese companies, which was
established in 1998.
"CIT is a leading vendor finance company in China,
where the leasing market is growing over 40% a year,"
said Tom Hallman, CIT's Vice Chairman for Specialty
Finance. "We have posted profitable growth over the
past five years and continue to see significant growth
opportunities. By bringing our China operations completely
under CIT's ownership, we will capitalize on the growing
demand for our global financing capabilities and further
extend CIT's leadership position in the region."
As the largest foreign-owned vendor finance company,
CIT has more vendor relationships than any other firm in
China. Its customers are among the world's largest
multinational companies and China's largest state-owned
entities. A pioneer in the Chinese leasing market, CIT
closed the first vendor finance transactions in healthcare
and printing. It currently focuses on serving the
technology, office equipment, healthcare, and printing
sectors.
CIT also has international aerospace and trade finance
businesses that do business in the country. CIT has nearly
$650 million in total assets in China.
About CIT Vendor Finance
CIT Vendor Finance is a global leader in financing
solutions that drive incremental revenues for
manufacturers, distributors, and other intermediaries.
With over $13 billion in assets, CIT Vendor Finance has
operations in more than 30 countries, supporting a wide
variety of industries, including health care, industrial
equipment, and technology. Vendor relationships include
Avaya, Dell, Snap-on, and Toshiba.
About CIT
CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading commercial and
consumer finance company, provides clients with financing
and leasing products and advisory services. Founded in
1908, CIT has over $60 billion in assets under management
and possesses the financial resources, industry expertise
and product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across
approximately 30 industries worldwide. CIT, a Fortune 500
company and a member of the S&P 500 Index, holds
leading positions in vendor financing, factoring, equipment
and transportation financing, Small Business Administration
loans, and asset-based lending. With its global
headquarters in New York City, CIT has approximately 6,000
employees in locations throughout North America, Europe,
Latin America, and the Pacific Rim. For more information,
visit http://www.cit.com .
For more information, please contact:
Media
Kelley J. Gipson
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Corporate
Communications
Tel: +1-973-422-3235
Investors
Valerie L. Gerard
Executive Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: +1-973-422-3284
SOURCE CIT Group Inc.
PR
2007'02.01.Thu
Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. Reports eps $0.10 for 2005, net Income & Revenues up Significantly
April 06, 2006
Successful Co-investment Project in Suzhou is a Major Contributor to Revenues and net Income in 2005
SHANGHAI, China, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. (OTC.BB: SRRE; Website: http://www.sunrise.sh) The first China based, primary real estate marketer to be quoted on the U.S. OTC Bulletin Board, today announced that it achieved record net income and revenues in 2005. The Company had a successful year both in agency sales and co-investment operations. The following are the key financial highlights for the Year Ended December 31, 2005, from the company's Form 10-KSB filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 31, 2006: 2005 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS -- Net revenues increased 41% to $10.9 million from $7.7 million in 2004. -- Net revenues from agency sales represent $6.5 million (or 60% of total), and co-investment operations represent $4.4 million (or 40% of total). -- Gross profit increased 111% to $7.5 million from $3.6 million in 2004. -- Net income increased to $2.1 million from $63,944 in 2004. -- Earnings per share increased to $0.10 per share from less than one cent in 2004. Kevin Lin, Chief Executive Officer of Sunrise, commented, "We are pleased with our 2005 financial results, and we are poised to benefit from the growing economy of China. We are especially excited about completing our first co-investment project successfully." 2005 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS -- Sunrise signed 16 new agency sales contracts in 2005. -- Sunrise agency operations have sold 100 thousand square meters of residential real estate property in 2005. -- The Company completed its first co-investment project with the Sovereign Building, a commercial and office space structure in Suzhou. 2006 OUTLOOK Commenting on the Company's outlook for 2006, Kevin Lin, CEO said, "Our co-investment model and the experience gained from the Suzhou Property will contribute significantly to our future growth. We intend to enter co-investment agreements, especially on residential projects in 2006." Senior Vice President, Robert Lin said, "The softening of the China real estate market helps our agency sales operation because developers rely more upon specialized marketing companies like Sunrise. We expect to see this trend continue in 2006." COMPANY BACKGROUND Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc is a publicly traded real estate marketing and co-investment company that operates exclusively in China. View Harbinger Research report about Sunrise and Standard & Poors Market Access coverage through links in the Company's website: http://www.sunrise.sh SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT The common stock of Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. is listed on the OTC Bulletin Board under the trading symbol "SRRE". This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 29A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forwarding-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performances and underlying assumption and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements and, accordingly, involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results, or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Company's expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed by the Company to have a reasonable basis, including without limitations, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company's records and other data available from third parties, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections will result, or be achieved, or accomplished. For more information, please contact: Vivian Zhang, Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. Tel: +86-21-6422-0505 x840 Email: ir@sunrise-sh.net Site: http://www.sunrise.sh SOURCE Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc
2007'02.01.Thu
Xinhua Far East China Ratings Downgrades the Issuer Rating of BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. to B£» Outlook Changed to Negative
April 06, 2006
HONG KONG, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua Far
East China Ratings (Xinhua Far East) today downgraded the
issuer credit rating of BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
("BOE" or "the Company", SZ A 000725,
SZ B 200725) to B from BB. The Company's rating outlook has
been changed to negative.
The downgrade reflects Xinhua Far East's view that it
will be challenging for BOE to sustain its development in
the highly risky TFT-LCD manufacturing sector in the
long-term. Meanwhile, BOE has a track record of tolerating
high debt levels and adopting aggressive expansion policies.
In addition, unfavorable market conditions, as well as the
Company's tremendous refinancing needs, challenges in cost
controls and difficulties in local sourcing, have made
BOE's credit profile highly vulnerable.
In Xinhua Far East's opinion, BOE is engaging in a
highly risky and cyclical sector, which is very capital-
and technology-intensive. BOE also faces heightened
competition from its large international peers, which have
completed more 6th and 7th generation production lines,
offsetting market demand, resulting in depressed product
prices overall in 2005.
Xinhua Far East believes that given the industry
nature, BOE has very limited flexibility in holding back
its capital expenditures. The Company must invest further,
or else all previous investments will evaporate. Xinhua Far
East anticipates it will be difficult for BOE to sustain its
development in the long run given its constraints in capital
and technology, operating experience and risk control
capability relative to its international peers.
The downgrade reflects BOE's track record of tolerating
high debt levels and adopting aggressive expansion. BOE
relies heavily on bank loans for expansion and capital
expenditures. The Company's gross debt to total capital
increased from 49.0% in 2002 to 74.2% by the end of 3Q05.
The downgrade also takes into account BOE's plans to build
higher generation production lines in the future.
The downgrade action factors in the heavy losses
stemming from BOE's core operations which can hardly turn
around amid an unfavourable market environment.
Compounding with its EBIT margin of negative 12.7% and net
operating cash flow of negative RMB773 million in 1-3Q05,
BOE said it expects to report a net loss of RMB1,600
million in full-year 2005 and continuing net loss of RMB500
million in the first quarter of 2006.
Nevertheless, Xinhua Far East acknowledges that BOE's
strategic investment in its associate company TPV
Technology Limited ("TPV", 903 HK) partially
secures its downstream market position. With BOE's
injection of OTPV and the involvement of Philips, TPV's
business will see significant benefits, which in turn will
benefit BOE. But despite being its largest shareholder,
BOE has limited control over TPV, leaving BOE itself to
shoulder the mounting debt and operating risks of the
TFT-LCD business.
Xinhua Far East also notes that BOE's plan for an H
shares offering to raise USD400 million will only slightly
alleviate its debt burdens. Even if BOE succeeds in the
share offering given its loss performance, the offering
will only reduce BOE's debt level by about 10% based on its
3Q05 financials.
Going forward, Xinhua Far East's rating action for BOE
will depend on its: 1) capital expenditure plan for higher
production lines and other investments; 2) operating
results and cost control ability; 3) cash generating
ability.
BOE is one of the largest display device manufacturers
in China. Its main products are TFT-LCD panels used for TV
sets and PC monitors. As of the end of February 2006, BOE
held a 22.26% stake in TPV Technology Limited. In 2004,
BOE's turnover reached RMB12.4 billion. OTPV was a joint
venture company invested by BOE and TPV to produce
displayers. It accounted for 35.3% of BOE's turnover in
2004.
BOE is a constituent of the Xinhua/ FTSE China 200 and
B35 Indices. As of market close on April 5, 2006, its
total A-share market capitalization and investable
capitalization were RMB3.3 billion and RMB670 million
respectively. Its B-share market cap totaled USD196
million, of which all is investable.
For the rating report summary, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinance.com/creditrating .
About Xinhua FTSE China 200 and B35 Indices
Xinhua FTSE China 200 Index is the large cap index in
the Xinhua FTSE China A Share Index Series and includes the
top 200 companies in China by market cap. It is designed as
a tradable index and is calculated in real-time every 15
seconds. Xinhua FTSE China B 35 Index is the large cap
tradable index in the FTSE Xinhua China B Index Series,
covering `B' shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen
stock exchanges. It provides international investors with
exposure to the mainland Chinese market. For daily data
and further information, see http://www.xinhuaftse.com .
About Xinhua Far East China Ratings
Xinhua Far East China Ratings (Xinhua Far East) is a
pioneering venture in China that aims to rank credit risks
among corporations in China. It is a strategic alliance
between Xinhua Finance (TSE Mothers: 9399), and Shanghai
Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. Shanghai Far East became a
Xinhua Finance partner company in 2003 and the first China
member of The Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia
in December 2003.
Capitalizing on the synergy between Xinhua Finance and
Shanghai Far East, Xinhua Far East's rating methodology and
process blend unique local market knowledge with
international rating standards. Xinhua Far East is
committed to provide investors with independent, objective,
timely and forward-looking credit opinions on Chinese
companies. It aims to help investors differentiate the
credit risks among the corporations in China, thereby,
cultivating their awareness and promoting information
disclosures and transparency in China market. For more
information, see http://www.xfn.com/creditrating .
About Xinhua Finance Limited
Xinhua Finance Limited is China's unchallenged leader
in financial information and media, and is listed on the
Mothers board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (symbol: 9399)
(OTC ADRs: XHFNY). Bridging China's financial markets and
the world, Xinhua Finance serves financial institutions,
corporations and re-distributors through four focused and
complementary service lines: Indices, Ratings, Financial
News and Investor Relations. Founded in November 1999, the
Company is headquartered in Shanghai with 21 news bureaus
and offices in 18 locations across Asia, Australia, North
America and Europe. For more information, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinance.com .
About Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd
Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. is the first
and leading professional credit rating company with
comprehensive business coverage in China. It is an
independent agency established by the Shanghai Academy of
Social Sciences with the mission to develop internationally
accepted standards for capital market in China. The company
is a pioneer in conducting bond-rating business in China.
For years, it has been authorized by the Shanghai branch of
the PBOC to undertake loan certificate credit rating.
Since establishment, it has rated over 1,000 corporate
long-term bonds and commercial papers, based on the
principles of objectivity, fairness and independence. The
company has also maintained over 50% market share in the
loan certificate-rating sector in Shanghai for three
consecutive years. With its strong local presence and
knowledge, it provides investors with unique and the most
insightful credit opinion. For more information, see
http://www.fareast-cr.com .
For more Information, please contact:
Hong Kong
Joy Tsang
Corporate & Investor Communications Director
Xinhua Finance
Tel: +852-3196-3983
+86-21-6113-5999
+852-9486-4364
Email: joy.tsang@xinhuafinance.com
US
David Leeney
Taylor Rafferty (IR/PR Contact in US)
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: david.Leeney@taylor-rafferty.com
SOURCE Xinhua Far East China Ratings
2007'02.01.Thu
Notice Relating to Acquisition of Stellar Mega Media Group
April 06, 2006
LOS ANGELES, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- This Notice
is published on April 6, 2006 reference to the
"Conditional Stock Purchase Agreement" dated
February 25, 2006 between Mr. Qin Hui of Strategic Media
International Limited (SMI) as "Seller" and
Starwin Media Holdings Inc. (OTC: SWMD) The
"Buyer" in a transaction which Starwin Media
Holdings Inc. acquired 70% of Strategic Media International
Limited, the single majority shareholder with controlling
interest of SMI International (HK. 0198), Stellar
Publishing (HK. 8010) and M Channel (HK. 8036), and to
further acquire 26.61% shares of Stellar Mega Union
(SZ. 000892), 88% shares of Stellar Mega Media Group,
60% shares of Stellar Digital, 60% shares of Feiteng
Production and 70% shares of Instec Tec., etc.
Under the terms and conditions in Section 1.4 of the
Agreement, Mr. Qin Hui has agreed to surrender the
management rights to Starwin Media Holdings Inc., and the
present directors of Stellar Mega Union and its
subsidiaries including the group of companies shall resign
and surrender office to Starwin Media Holdings Inc. with
board controlling interests.
Upon effective takeover of the management, and after
admission of majority nominated board members by Starwin
Media Holdings Inc, Starwin shall negotiate with creditor
banks (Creditors) on its outstanding loans owing the
creditor banks for an agreeable and acceptable settlement
agreement between Starwin Media Holdings Inc and the
creditor banks.
Creditor Banks or Creditors related to the above
companies, please immediately notify Starwin Media Holdings
Inc. by telephone, fax or email.
For more information, please contact:
Starwin Media Holdings Inc.
1000 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 401
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: +1-213-627-1280
Fax: +1-213-785-1113
Email: ir@starwinmedia.com
SOURCE Starwin Media Holdings Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
Industry's First Mobile Radio Triple Play with WLAN, Bluetooth(R) and FM Audio Integrated Solution from TI
April 06, 2006
WiLink(TM) 5.0 Platform Significantly Cuts Solution Size, Provides Seamless Connectivity Experience for Consumers
DALLAS, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced the industry's first solution that integrates mobile WLAN (mWLAN), Bluetooth(R) and FM stereo audio all in a space-saving platform for mobile phones. As the fifth generation of TI's mWLAN platform, the WiLink(TM) 5.0 solution provides a quick time to market for handset manufacturers and caters to evolving consumer tastes for rapid data access, mobile entertainment and seamless connectivity between the WLAN and cellular networks. (See http://www.ti.com/wilink_5 for more information.) "The market for mobile WLAN is maturing, and manufacturers need optimized solutions that address tighter synergy and system operation between WLAN and Bluetooth, as well as adequate support to keep up with the evolution of fixed mobile convergence," said Marc Cetto, general manager of TI's Mobile Connectivity Solutions Business. "With the WiLink 5.0 platform, TI addresses these requirements by leveraging its core product portfolio, proven experience and deployment in the cellular market, WLAN, Bluetooth and digital radio domains." TI brings seamless cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity to consumers with VoWLAN functionality, optimized on TI's OMAP-Vox(TM) and WiLink solutions, enabling UMA on the handset across multiple operating systems such as Symbian(TM), Microsoft(R) Windows Mobile(R), Linux(R) and low level operating systems. UMA provides consumers on-the-go voice access over WLAN or the cellular network using their mobile phones, and will transition to IMS as the fixed mobile convergence market matures. The WiLink 5.0 platform integrates TI's recently announced BlueLink (TM) 6.0 solution, which combines the industry's best performance Bluetooth with high fidelity FM stereo and mono performance on a single chip (see news release at http://www.ti.com/bluelink_6 ). The combination of mWLAN, Bluetooth and FM functionality allows users to perform a variety of simultaneous tasks, such as listening to the radio music on a Bluetooth headset while checking email via Wi-Fi. Manufactured in TI's innovative DRP(TM) technology at the 90 nanometer node, the WiLink 5.0 device cuts both solution size and power consumption by up to 20 percent over competitive solutions, in critical modes of operation. With three co-located radios, efficient management of RF is required for simultaneous operation of WLAN, Bluetooth and FM applications. The WiLink 5.0 platform takes advantage of TI's expertise from the company's four previous generations of mobile WLAN solutions, which are being shipped in more than 25 mobile handset devices and cellular convergence products today. The platform uses the second generation of TI's Bluetooth/WLAN hardware and software coexistence package, enabling re-use of existing systems, quick time to market and antenna sharing, reducing the bill of materials (BOM) for manufacturers. TI will demonstrate its Bluetooth/802.11 coexistence package for mobile devices this week at CTIA Wireless 2006, April 5-7, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, in Central Hall - Booth #1039. The coexistence demo runs a VoWLAN call routed to a Bluetooth headset over a shared antenna with no additional components, using TI's WiLink 4.0 mWLAN solution and BlueLink 5.0 Bluetooth single-chip solution, powered by an OMAP1710 applications processor. Availability TI is currently sampling WiLink 5.0 solutions to select customers. TI will provide multiple package options, including on-board and module solutions. Wide sample availability of WiLink 5.0 solutions are expected to be available in late 2006. Handsets using the WiLink 5.0 platform are expected to be on the market in early 2007. Texas Instruments -- Making Wireless TI is the leading manufacturer of wireless semiconductors, delivering the heart of today's wireless technology and building solutions for tomorrow. TI provides a breadth of silicon and software and 16 years of wireless systems expertise that spans handsets and base stations for all communications standards, wireless LAN, GPS, Digital TV, Bluetooth(R) and Ultra Wideband. TI offers custom to turn-key solutions, including complete chipsets and reference designs, OMAP(TM) application processors, as well as core digital signal processor and analog technologies built on advanced semiconductor processes. Please visit http://www.ti.com/wirelesspressroom for additional information. About Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries. Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com . Trademarks WiLink, BlueLink, DRP, OMAP and OMAP-Vox are trademarks of Texas Instruments. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Texas Instruments is under license. All trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. For more information, please contact: Tracy Wright Tel: +1-214-480-7487 Email: t-wright@ti.com Michelle Rudolph Tel: +1-972-341-2543 Email: mrudolph@golinharris.com SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated
2007'02.01.Thu
Freestar Technology's Rahaxi Processing oy. Names Paul Warren as European Sales Director
April 06, 2006
SHANGHAI, China, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
FreeStar Technology Corp. (OTCBB: FSRT), an international
card payments processor and technology company, today
announced that its Rahaxi Processing Oy. subsidiary has
named Paul Warren to be European Sales Director, a new
position.
As European Sales Director, Warren will be responsible
for marketing Rahaxi Processing's payment processing
software to European banks and merchants, such as retail
chains, in the Benelux and Nordic countries as well as
Germany, the UK, France and Italy. Based in Dublin, he
will report to FreeStar Technology president and CEO Paul
Egan.
Paul Egan said, "We are pleased that Paul Warren
is joining Rahaxi Processing to head up its Western
European sales effort. With more than 18 years of
experience in the payment software sector, superb
relationships with major banks, IBM and Hewlett Packard, he
has the perfect qualifications to communicate to prospective
customers the superior features of our payment
system."
Warren most recently held senior positions in two
companies in the electronic funds payments industry-Albany
Software, one of the UK's leading developers and suppliers
of eTransaction enabling software solutions, and eFunds, an
industry leader in electronic payments and risk management.
He was European Sales Manager at Albany for eight years and
then European New Business Sales Director at eFunds for
three years.
In addition, Warren specialized in payments marketing
software products of the global banking industry, focusing
on Europe, Canada, South Africa and the UK. He attended
Leeds University and resides in Yorkshire, England.
About Freestar Technology Corp.
FreeStar Technology Corp. is a payment processing
company. Its wholly owned subsidiary Rahaxi Processing
Oy., based in Helsinki, has a robust Northern European
BASE24 credit card processing platform. Rahaxi currently
processes in excess of 1.3 million card payments per month
for such companies as Finnair, Ikea and Stockman. The
company, based in Dublin, Ireland, maintains satellite
offices in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Helsinki and
Geneva. For more information, please visit
http://www.freestartech.com .
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release may contain
forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175
under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the
safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other
than statements of fact, included in this release,
including, without limitation, statements regarding
potential future plans and objectives of the companies, are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated
in such statements. Technical complications that may arise
could prevent the prompt implementation of any
strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The
companies caution that these forward-looking statements are
further qualified by other factors including, but not
limited to, those set forth in FreeStar's Form 10-KSB
filing and other filings with the U S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (available at http://www.sec.gov ).
FreeStar undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any statements in this release, whether as a result
of new information, future events, or otherwise.
For more information, please contact:
Investor Relations:
Arun Chakraborty
Stern & Co.
Tel: +1-212-888-0044
Email: achakrab@sternco.com
Paul Egan
FreeStar Technology Corporation
Tel: +1-809-368-2001
Email: pegan@freestartech.com
SOURCE FreeStar Technology Corp.
2007'02.01.Thu
Health-care Workers Must be Given a Fairer Deal - WHO
April 06, 2006
World Health Day, 7 April 2006
MANILA, Philippines, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The
World Health Organization (WHO) warned today that failure to
address problems confronting health workers may push some
health systems in Asia and the Pacific to the brink of
collapse.
(Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040610/CNTH001LOGO )
Decades of cost-cutting and under-investment in health
have resulted in poor working conditions for many health
workers. This has led to an exodus of health workers
overseas for higher pay, the deterioration of some health
services and erosion of public trust in health systems.
"It is high time health workers were paid decent
salaries, and provided with the right working conditions
and the right equipment to do the work they are trained to
do," said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for
the Western Pacific. He called on governments to act now
and implement a better deal for health workers.
In recognition of the vital contribution of health
workers to society and to raise awareness about their
plight, WHO has devoted this year's observance of World
Health Day, on 7 April, to the world's health workforce.
WHO has also published the World Health Report 2006,
which seeks the alliance of stakeholders-policy-makers,
international donors, politicians, health professionals,
civil society, faith-based organizations and the media-to
properly address the technical and political challenges of
health workforce development.
"Health workers are among the unsung heroes of our
time," said Dr Omi. "They work long hours in
difficult conditions, often with little reward and
sometimes at risk to their own health."
Traditional diseases, combined with modern-day
lifestyle illnesses and the additional burden of emerging
diseases and a growing ageing population, already are
causing unprecedented strain on health-care systems, Dr Omi
said.
While efforts are being made to deal with these health
concerns, Dr Omi warned that failure to act on
long-standing issues affecting health workers will affect
not only health systems, but the well-being of people and
of future generations. "Without the devotion of
health workers, public health services in Asia will be in
crisis and will not be able to cope with the ever-growing
burden of disease," Dr Omi said.
In a move to strengthen health workforces, WHO has
called on Member States to set up specific targets:
-- All countries and areas should have a strategic
national workforce
plan-several countries and areas in the next year
and all within five
years.
-- Investments in preparing the workforce through
strengthened education
and training should be dramatically increased.
-- Local and national innovations should be scaled up
such as health
insurance, remote area allowances and subsidized
mortgages.
World Health Day fact sheet:
http://www.wpro.who.int/sites/whd/main.htm
For more information, please contact:
Dr Soe Nyunt-U, Director,
Health Sector Development
Tel: +63-2-528-9951
Email: nyuntus@wpro.who.int
Mr Peter Cordingley,
Public Information Officer
Tel: +63-2-528-9991 (93)
Email: cordingleyp@wpro.who.int
Dr Ezekiel Nukuro,
Regional Adviser in Human Resources Development
Tel: +63-2-528-9815
Email: nukuroe@wpro.who.int
SOURCE World Health Organization
2007'02.01.Thu
Shanghai Jade Tech Releases Z228 Multimedia Application Processor
April 06, 2006
SHANGHAI, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -¨C Shanghai Jade
Technologies Co., Ltd. (Jade), a leading fabless
semiconductor company that designs and develops advanced
multimedia rich SoC chips and solutions, today released its
Z228 multimedia application processor, to target the rapidly
growing multimedia-concentric markets including Smart Phone,
PMP (MP4), video surveillance and video phone etc.
Z228 is a highly integrated, power effective and
multimedia rich SoC chip. It features mobile de-facto CPU
core ARM926EJ running up to 266MHz, state-of-the-art
MPEG-4/H.263 VGA full duplex codec and advanced VIP
(Video/Image Processor) engine. The full-duplex
MPEG-4/H.263 video at VGA@30fps offers incomparable
advantages for bi-directional video communication
application, e.g., video phones for wired or wireless
environment. With Jade's novel ACE (Audio Coding Engine)
technology, Z228 delivers high-quality MP3, AAC/AACplus,
WMA and CAT (Jade's proprietory audio codec: Compact Audio
Technology) audio. Z228 also supports other popular
features, such as up to 16M pixels still image camera, dual
independent LCD displays, convenient USB-OTG connectivity,
flexible SD/CF/PCMCIA memory card extension etc. Its rich
peripheral interfaces enable seamlessly connected with
other prevalent devices, greatly saving BOM cost and reduce
time-to-market. (See http://www.jadechip.com/z228.htm )
Z228 is manufactured in TSMC Taiwan with 130nm CMOS
technology.
"As multimedia penetrates into every corner of
people's life, the demand for multimedia SoC chips is
increasingly high. Z228 is our first commitment to the
market and industry," said Dr. Jack He Ouyang,
President & CEO of Jade. "With Jade's continuous
innovations in audio/video coding algorithm and sub-micron
VLSI SoC technology, along with our strong expertise in
system design and embedded software development, we believe
we could help our customers roll out new products and
service with differentiable features, first-class quality
and competitive cost."
Availability and Pricing
The Z228 is available today in volume. For pricing
information, please send email to sales@jadechip.com for
detailed information.
About Shanghai Jade Technologies Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Jade Technologies Co., Ltd. is a fabless
semiconductor company in the business of design, marketing
and sales of multimedia rich SoC chips and solutions to 3C
convergent market for OEM/ODMs and design houses worldwide.
Shanghai Jade Technology Co. Ltd. is headquartered in
Shanghai, China and has a subsidiary in Shenzhen, China.
For more information, visit http://www.jadechip.com .
For more information, please contact:
Lin Luo
Business Development Manager
Tel: +86-21-5131-4766 x3228
Fax: +86-21-5131-4792
Email: lluo@jadechip.com
SOURCE Shanghai Jade Technologies Co., Ltd.
2007'02.01.Thu
The Asian Technology Roundtable Exhibition
April 06, 2006
World Technology Leaders to Assemble in Beijing
BEIJING, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- ATRE, the Asian
Technology Roundtable Exhibition organized by Red Herring,
offers a unique opportunity to explore Asia's essential
role both as a global resource and marketplace. It is the
only forum in Asia that creates direct access to presidents
and CEOs of established companies. For the past fifteen
years, long before it became fashionable to shuttle between
Silicon Valley and Bangalore or Shanghai, ATRE spread its
reach and established a lasting bridge between the Western
and Asian technology worlds. This perennial event will
once again open its doors on April 24-26, 2006 in Beijing,
China.
300 CEOs will gather in Beijing to share insights and
ideas that will help the industry for years to come and
will lay the foundation for new ventures and the creation
of rewarding partnerships. ATRE is a good platform for
firms wishing to develop or consolidate their presence in
Asia and for Chinese companies aspiring to enter the global
marketplace. In addition, a large delegation from the
venture capital community will be present as well as top
journalists from leading magazines and newspapers.
At ATRE, exhibitors from companies who are transforming
the world will offer highlights of their latest products.
Attendees of the world's most exclusive forum will have a
chance to attend roundtable discussions.
Primary attendees of ATRE: Tomihisa Kamada, Co-founder
& CTO of Access Co., Ltd; Wang, Jing, Chairman of
Qualcomm China; Bhagwat, Shantanu, Partner of Amadeus
Capital Partners; Fan, Boyuan, Deputy Mayor of Beijing
Municipal Government; Li, Zhengmao, Vice President of China
Unicom; Ramanan, Ramanathan, Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of CMC Ltd; Pochi Wu, Managing Director
of Dragonbridge Capital; Semmoto, Sachio, CEO &
Chairman of eAccess; Hori, Yoshito, CEO & Chairman of
Globis Capital Partners; Wong, Connie, President of
Hutchison Whampoa; Ghaisas, Deepak, CEO of I-Flex; Chan,
Vincent, Managing Director of JAFCO; Yang, Ning, President
& CTO of Kongzhong; Nigel Burton, Greater China GM of
DPE from Microsoft; Ping Wu, Chairman & CEO of
Spreadtrum; Shi, Zhengrong, CEO of SunTech; Mei, Meng,
Chairman of Tsinghua Uniiversity VC; Dai, Wayne, CEO &
Chairman of Verisilicon; John Deng, Chairman of Vimicro;
Tan, Lip-Bu, Chairman of Walden International; Zhang,
David, Managing Director of WI Harper.
About Red Herring, Inc.
Red Herring, Inc., founded in 1993, is a media company
whose mission is to cover innovation, technology, financing
and entrepreneurial activity. The journalists, research
specialists and newsletter editors investigate on a global
basis and report how the world of innovation and
entrepreneurship are transforming business and how the
business of technology is transforming the world. Red
Herring provide a deep understanding of venture capital and
capital markets. Red Herring is dedicated to thorough
research, relevant metrics deep financial analysis,
in-depth reporting, crisp writing and thoughtful debate.
Red Herring, Inc. is headquartered in Belmont, California.
For more information about ATRE2006, please contact:
Ms. Amber Li
Tel: +86-10-6229-6898 x805
Fax: +86-10-6223-3656
Email: amberli@redherring.com
Web: htpp://www.atre2006.com
SOURCE Red Herring, Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
Praxair China Signs 15 Year Supply Deal With Lianzhong (Guangzhou) Stainless Steel
April 06, 2006
GUANGZHOU, China, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Praxair China, a leading industrial gases supplier in
China, has entered into a new long-term agreement with
Lianzhong (Guangzhou) Stainless Steel Corp. (Lianzhong) for
the supply of oxygen, nitrogen and argon to its stainless
steel works, which is under construction in the Guangzhou
Economic and Technology Development Zone (GETDD).
Praxair China will build, own and operate a
state-of-the-art air separation plant due for commissioning
in the 4th quarter of 2006 to supply high volumes of
pipeline oxygen, nitrogen and argon to Lianzhong. The
facility will provide a backup supply of merchant liquid
products to the local market.
Invested by Taiwan-based Yieh United Steel Corp.
(YUSCO), one of the largest integrated stainless steel
mills in Southeast Asia and the world's 7th largest
stainless steel producer, Lianzhong is China's first
overseas-invested integrated stainless steel company. It
will be the largest stainless producer in Southern China.
The first phase of the project currently produces 300,000
tons per year of cold rolled stainless steel coils. Phase
II, which will begin production in late 2006, will produce
800,000 tons of stainless steel slabs and hot rolled
coils.
Commenting on this new development, Praxair China
President David Chow said, "This agreement is of great
importance for the company. It reinforces our confidence in
the economic development of China. With six air separation
units in Guangdong Province, Praxair will be the largest
industrial gases operator in the region and will provide
unequalled reliability to our customers. The supply to
Lianzhong adds another leading industrial player to
Praxair's portfolio of customers. It strengthens Praxair's
position as the top supplier to the leaders of Chinese
industry."
About Praxair China
Praxair China, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., is the
leading global industrial gases supplier in China, serving
a diverse group of industries through the production, sale,
distribution and value-added application of industrial
gases. With over 1000 employees across the country,
Praxair China, headquartered in Shanghai, operates 13
wholly owned companies and 11 joint ventures. More
information on Praxair China is available on the Internet
at http://www.praxair.com.cn .
About Praxair
With 27,000 employees and operations in 40 countries,
Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) is a global, Fortune 500 company.
Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and
South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2005
sales of $7.7 billion. The company produces, sells and
distributes atmospheric and process gases, and
high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products,
services and technologies bring productivity and
environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries,
including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage,
electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and
others. More information on Praxair is available on the
Internet at http://www.praxair.com .
About Lianzhong (Guangzhou) Stainless Steel
Corporation
Invested by Taiwan-based Yieh United Steel Corp,
Lianzhong (Guangzhou) Stainless Steel Corporation (LISCO)
is a large scale, modern integrated stainless steel
production enterprise approved by the State Council.
Designed with the world's most advanced cutting edge
technology, LISCO will be the first and best-integrated
stainless steel manufacturer in the Southern China. The
plant will have melting shop, continuous slab caster, hot
strip mill and cold rolling mill. LISCO Project meets the
strong demand of economic growth in the area and will keep
clean production method to protect the environment. Its
design has been granted as one of the Key Engineering
Projects of Guangdong Province in 2005 and also been listed
as the Encouraging Projects of State.
About Yieh United Steel Corporation (YUSCO)
Yieh United Steel Corporation (YUSCO) was founded in
December 1988. With about 1,500 employees and the total
investment exceeds 40 billion N.T. Dollars, YUSCO is the
largest integrated stainless steel mill in Southeast Asia
and the world 7th largest stainless steel producer. The
plant is located in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan.
For more information, please contact:
Juno Chen, Praxair Asia, Media
Tel: +86-21-2894-7018
Email: juno_chen@praxair.com
SOURCE Praxair China
2007'02.01.Thu
PreCash Expands Internationally With Joint Venture in China
April 06, 2006
China eCash Provides Unmatched Opportunity for Growth in World's Leading Mobile Communications Market
HOUSTON, April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- PreCash Inc.,
operator of one of the leading cash payment networks in the
U.S., announced it has signed an agreement to form China
eCash. The joint venture will operate in China and will
provide prepaid replenishment to markets including the
Chinese mobile communications market, which in the last two
years reached numbers that exceed the entire population of
the United States.
China eCash will enjoy an edge in the marketplace from
the start. National contracts are already in place with
the country's two leading mobile service providers, China
Mobile and China Unicom. China eCash also has an existing
retail network of 55,000 locations and an established
customer base in five provinces, secured through the
partners in the joint venture, Richard Wang and David Ding,
principals of a Chinese holding company.
PreCash will offer new technology, financial support
and management expertise in the payment industry to China
eCash. The move brings the number of PreCash retailers
worldwide to 85,000. PreCash expects to process
approximately 125 million payments worldwide in 2006, for a
total of nearly $3 billion in transactions on their system
for the year.
"This venture will allow us to tap into one of the
world's fastest-growing markets, where cell phone users
already significantly outnumber landline customers,"
said PreCash CEO John Chaney.
Since its inception in 1998, Houston-based PreCash has
built a comprehensive network for prepaid refill,
electronic bill payment and stored value products. All
products are designed to offer mainstream financial
services to cash-paying consumers, of which there are
approximately 65 million in the U.S., while meeting the
needs of both retailers and service providers.
The company has set the standard in the U.S. for bill
pay. It recently more than doubled its prepaid offerings
and is focusing significant attention on the growth of its
stored value product line. Now, PreCash will bring its
expertise to the rapidly expanding electronic payment
market in China, where the vast majority of the country's
400 million-plus wireless subscribers opt for prepaid
accounts.
"Consumers in China tend to view a prepaid plan as
the rule, rather than the exception, due to the flexibility
and value that the prepaid option offers," said David
Ding, chief executive officer of China eCash.
"PreCash is providing critical new technology and
industry insight to a market that is looking for solutions
and is growing by millions of users each month," said
Ding.
Though the company initially will concentrate on
expanding its current market presence in mobile phone
replenishment and growing geographically into more
provinces, it will also leverage its experience to explore
bill pay and stored value products, a central part of the
PreCash offerings in the U.S.
In addition, China eCash plans to expand into the
prepaid utility and transportation market to serve the
large segment of Chinese consumers who prepay for basic
utility services. An expanded product line would allow
Chinese customers to enjoy the convenience of using one
payment provider for the majority of their day-to-day
financial transactions.
The new company will be headquartered in Beijing.
About PreCash(R)
PreCash has built the industry's leading network that
transforms cash into electronic payments for consumers who
do not have a credit card or bank account. In the U.S.,
the company offers bill pay, prepaid wireless and stored
value products in addition to facilitating security
deposits, allowing its retail partners to utilize one
simple system for all of their cash-based transaction
needs. PreCash also offers a line of branded Vision
Prepaid MasterCard products that can be used wherever
MasterCard is accepted. Through joint venture China eCash,
the company provides prepaid refill in China, the world's
largest mobile communications market. PreCash offers its
services at 85,000 retail locations worldwide, including
Wal-Mart, RadioShack, Ace Cash Express, 7-Eleven and more
than 70,000 independent retailers. Founded in 1998,
PreCash is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional
offices in Portland, Oregon, Atlanta, Georgia and Beijing,
China. For more information, visit http://www.precash.com
.
All brands or products mentioned are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders and
should be treated as such. All rights reserved.
For more information, please contact:
Jami Mabile of Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations,
Tel: +1-713-224-9115
SOURCE PreCash Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
CSC to Provide Help Desk and Desktop Services to Air Products In Asia
April 06, 2006
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) announced today
that it has signed an agreement with Air Products and
Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) of Allentown, Pa., to provide
selected information technology (IT) services.
Under the agreement, CSC will provide help desk and
desktop services, as well as the company's SupportSoft user
self-service solution, to Air Products personnel in China,
Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South
Korea and Taiwan. CSC will also supply Air Products
employees around the globe with SupportSoft and with
off-hours English-language help desk support from CSC's
facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"Air Products' selection of CSC demonstrates our
leadership in managed infrastructure services," said
Nick Wilkinson, vice president of CSC's global chemical and
energy accounts. "We will apply our extensive
experience in the global chemical and energy sector to
deliver significant results that meet Air Products'
business needs."
"Air Products is pleased to be leveraging CSC's
deep chemical industry IT experience to provide these
services to our Asia Region," said Glenn Beck, Air
Products vice president and chief information officer.
"By teaming up with CSC for selected IT services, our
Asia Region IT organization will be able to focus on
additional IT priorities in the region."
CSC's help desk and managed desktop offerings comprise
a full suite of services that allow for comprehensive
end-to-end management of the client.
end-user computing environment. The suite includes CSC's
SupportSoft user self-service functionality, which drives
further efficiency by providing "help-desk-type"
services through "one click" fixes and ready
access to a broad array of help topics via the Web.
About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE: APD) serves customers in
technology, energy, healthcare and industrial markets
worldwide with a unique portfolio of products, services and
solutions, providing atmospheric gases, process and
specialty gases, performance materials and chemical
intermediates. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built
leading positions in key growth markets such as
semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare
services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings
and adhesives. The company is recognized for its
innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment
to safety and the environment and is listed in the Dow
Jones Sustainability and FTSE4Good Indices. The company
has annual revenues of $8.1 billion, operations in over 30
countries, and over 20,000 employees around the globe. For
more information, visit http://www.airproducts.com .
About CSC
Founded in 1959, Computer Sciences Corporation is a
leading global IT services company. CSC's mission is to
provide customers in industry and government with solutions
crafted to meet their specific challenges and enable them to
profit from the advanced use of technology.
With approximately 80,000 employees, CSC provides
innovative solutions for customers around the world by
applying leading technologies and CSC's own advanced
capabilities. These include systems design and
integration; IT and business process outsourcing;
applications software development; Web and application
hosting; and management consulting. Headquartered in El
Segundo, Calif., CSC reported revenue of $14.6 billion for
the 12 months ended Dec. 30, 2005.
For more information, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.csc.com .
For more information, please contact:
Mike Dickerson,
Director, Media Relations, Corporate
Tel: +1-310-615-1647
Email: mdickers@csc.com
Janet Herin,
Manager, Media Relations, Corporate
Tel: +1-310-615-1693
Email: jherin@csc.com
Bill Lackey,
Director, Investor Relations, Corporate
Tel: +1-310-615-1700
Email: blackey3@csc.com
SOURCE Computer Sciences Corporation
2007'02.01.Thu
Paradigm to Join Chevron, Shell, and Schlumberger as an Investor in OpenSpirit Corporation
April 05, 2006
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Paradigm(TM), the leading geoscience software and services
provider to the oil and gas industry for Rock and Fluid
Interpretation(TM), today announced that they have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding to invest in OpenSpirit
Corporation, an independent software company focused on
providing integration solutions for upstream applications
and data.
Paradigm shares the vision and common goals for
vendor-neutral infinite data and application integration
practiced at OpenSpirit and will participate on the
OpenSpirit Board of Directors. The addition of Paradigm
contributes to the delivery of rapid geological,
geophysical, and petrophysical (G&P) data model access
among the industry's leading data repositories
(Schlumberger GeoFrame and Finder, Landmark OpenWorks, and
Paradigm Epos) and provides best-of-breed application
interoperability.
"Oil and gas explorationists and producers need
cooperation of the leading geoscience application and data
system providers to achieve the goal of finding quality
prospects to replace oil and gas reserves and increase
daily production. Paradigm is making a very definite
choice to 'play well with others' by sharing in the
business vision and objectives of OpenSpirit," stated
the Paradigm Executive Chairman and CEO, John W. Gibson,
Jr.
"Paradigm's planned investment in OpenSpirit
validates our standing as the market's only
platform-independent, standards-based, and vendor-neutral
integration solution for upstream data," says Dan
Piette, President and CEO of OpenSpirit. "We are
pleased to extend our application and data integration
capabilities to Paradigm clients to help them reduce their
E&P cycle time and lower risks by making sure they have
the right data at the right time. We look forward to
working with John Gibson and his global team."
"We are pleased to welcome Paradigm to OpenSpirit
Corporation. Our longstanding commitment to openness is
now shared by another key industry player. Paradigm's
decision to join OpenSpirit strengthens the industry's
ability to rapidly adopt new technologies to better meet
current challenges," said Olivier Le Peuch, president
of Schlumberger Information Solutions and OpenSpirit Board
Director.
About OpenSpirit
The OpenSpirit Corporation, based in Sugar Land, Texas,
began operations in July 2000 as an independent software
company focused on providing integration solutions for
upstream applications and data. The OpenSpirit application
integration framework allows interoperability between
multiple vendors' applications and data. To date, more
than 30 software vendors have licensed the OpenSpirit
developer's kit. Additionally, there are now more than
1500 oil company end users in more than 50 countries taking
advantage of the framework to speed up critical work flows
and enhance analysis in the geotechnical space, with more
adopting the solution every day. Additional information on
OpenSpirit is available at http://www.openspirit.com , or
via e-mail at info@openspirit.com .
About Paradigm
Paradigm helps global oil and gas companies safely
replace reserves and increase daily well production in
complex geological areas. The Paradigm geophysics and
petrophysics (G&P) advanced technologies suite includes
Seismic Data Processing and Imaging, Prospect Interpretation
and Modeling, Reservoir Characterization, Petrophysics,
Time-to-Depth Conversion, Well Planning, and Drilling.
Committed to open standards, Paradigm extends integration
to exploration and production data and third-party
applications with the Paradigm Epos(TM) Data Sharing and
Application Interoperability Framework. The company has a
global network of sales, services and user support, serving
all major oil and gas producing regions in the world. For
additional information visit Paradigm's website at
http://www.paradigmgeo.com .
The following are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Paradigm Geotechnology B.V. or any of its affiliates
(collectively, "Paradigm"): Paradigm(TM),
Paradigm logo and/or other Paradigm products referenced
herein. OpenSpirit is a registered trademark of OpenSpirit
Corporation. All other trademarks are owned by their
respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Paradigm Media Contact
Susan Allen Farrell
Tel: +1-832-567-3747
Email: sfarrell@paradigmgeo.com
OpenSpirit Media Contact
Kathy Ashmore
Tel: +1-281-295-1420
Email: kathy.ashmore@openspirit.com
SOURCE Paradigm
2007'02.01.Thu
Raza Microelectronics, Inc. Secures $20 Million in Strategic Venture Funding
April 05, 2006
Company Building upon Significant Customer Success in Security, Wireless and Networking Markets
CUPERTINO, Calif., April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Raza
Microelectronics, Inc. (RMI(R)), a worldwide leader in
advanced silicon solutions for the next generation
Information Infrastructure, today announced the completion
of a $20 million round of financing led by Advanced
Equities Financial Corp. This funding will accelerate RMI's
marketing and sales expansion in both North America and Asia
and build on the significant customer momentum the company
has enjoyed over the last year.
Joining lead investor Advanced Equities Financial Corp.
in this round of funding are existing RMI investors, Warburg
Pincus, Benchmark Capital, Duff Ackerman & Goodrich and
Kodiak Venture Partners.
"RMI has created a position of market leadership
in a short period of time and we are thrilled to be a
shareholder in such a technically advanced, rapidly growing
semiconductor company," said Keith Daubenspeck,
Chairman and Co-founder of Advanced Equities Financial
Corp. "The impressive depth and breadth of their
worldwide customer base and technology uniqueness confirms
that RMI is extremely well positioned to further its lead
in the next-generation Security, Wireless and Networking
markets."
Commenting on the new financing, Beau Vrolyk, a Warburg
Pincus managing director, said: "This round of funding
will help drive the company's expansion with strategic
customers and we look forward to RMI's continued success in
the market."
Bruce Dunlevie, general partner of Benchmark Capital,
added, "We are pleased to welcome Advanced Equities as
an investor in RMI, and Advanced Equities' track record of
identifying and supporting pre-public market leaders as
another important endorsement of RMI's past success and
strong future prospects."
"This financing reinforces RMI's position in the
industry, and confirms to our customers that their choice
of RMI as a supplier has been validated yet again by the
capital markets," said S. Atiq Raza, chief executive
officer, Raza Microelectronics, Inc. "As the leader in
silicon solutions for the next generation Information
Infrastructure, we continue to invest in technical
advancements, expand our market coverage, and deliver
exceptional customer support, growing our market position
and ensuring our customers' success."
RMI's products push the edge of processor technology in
performance and integration and are used by system and
original equipment manufacturers to quickly respond to
changing market needs. The company's XLR(TM) and Orion(TM)
processor families are complex, highly integrated designs
incorporating hundreds of millions of transistors and built
on leading-edge TSMC silicon process technologies.
About Raza Microelectronics, Inc. (RMI)
RMI(R) is a fabless semiconductor company with more
than 150 employees dedicated to the design, development and
sale of its semiconductor products. The company offers a
rich portfolio of solutions, led by the XLR(TM) Processor
family -- a power efficient solution optimized for embedded
communications and networking applications -- and solutions
for the next generation Information Infrastructure. The
company is headquartered in Cupertino, CA with subsidiaries
in Beijing and Shenzhen, China and in Bangalore, India. More
information about Raza Microelectronics, Inc. can be found
on the Company's website at
http://www.razamicroelectronics.com .
About Advanced Equities
Advanced Equities Financial Corp. is a progressive
full-service broker-dealer and venture capital investment
bank. Advanced Equities' Financial Services Group is one of
the 20 largest independent brokerage firms in the U.S., with
approximately 600 financial advisors providing retail
brokerage services from over 200 domestic branch locations
and over $14 billion in client assets. Advanced Equities'
Capital Markets Group is a leading provider of late stage
private equity financing and other investment banking
services to emerging technology companies.
About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus has been a leading private equity
investor since 1971. Throughout its 40-year history in
private equity, Warburg Pincus has invested at all stages
of a company's life cycle, from founding start-ups and
providing growth capital to leading restructurings,
recapitalizations and buy-outs. The firm currently has
approximately $12 billion under management and invests in a
range of sectors including information and communication
technology, financial services, healthcare, LBOs and
special situations, media and business services, energy and
real estate. Warburg Pincus has raised 11 private equity
investment funds which have invested more than $22 billion
in approximately 525 companies in 30 countries. Currently
the firm is investing from an $8 billion fund which closed
in August 2005. An experienced partner to entrepreneurs
seeking to create and build durable companies with
sustainable value, Warburg Pincus has offices in North
America, Europe and Asia and an active portfolio of more
than 100 companies. Warburg Pincus has invested
approximately $5 billion in more than 140 technology
companies, including BEA Systems; VERITAS Software [now
Symantec]; Zilog; Datang Microelectronics; Level One
Communications and RMI. For more information please visit
http://www.warburgpincus.com .
About Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital was founded in 1995 with the mission
of helping talented entrepreneurs build major technology
enterprises focused on long-term growth. Benchmark takes a
labor-intensive, team-oriented approach to venture
investing in order to deliver a superior level of service
to its portfolio companies. Benchmark's portfolio includes
franchise companies such as Ariba, eBay, Palm, Inc.,
Juniper Networks and Red Hat.
NOTE: Raza Microelectronics, RMI, the RMI logo, XLR,
Orion and the other trademarks named on the RMI website are
trademarks of Raza Microelectronics, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Kaye McKenzie,
Quatrain PR
Tel: +1-415-927-7365
D. Christopher Keil, Sr. Director,
Corporate Marketing of Raza Microelectronics, Inc.
Tel: +1-408-434-5700
SOURCE Raza Microelectronics, Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
Open Mobile Alliance Digital Rights Management (DRM) 2.0
April 05, 2006
Interoperable DRM for Mobile, IT and Consumer Electronics Industries
LAS VEGAS, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The Open
Mobile Alliance, an international specifications setting
body, announces the public availability of its DRM Version
2.0 Service Enabler as an Approved Enabler Release. Open
Mobile Alliance's Board of Directors recently accepted the
new standard after ten months of thorough interoperability
testing across the mobile, consumer electronics (CE) and IT
industries. DRM 2.0's arrival demonstrates Open Mobile
Alliance's commitment to develop and test a trusted
standard for the interoperable distribution of premium
content.
Open Mobile Alliance DRM 1.0 became available as an
Approved Enabler Release in September 2004 and is already
deployed in over 400 handset types world wide. For Open
Mobile Alliance DRM 2.0, 66 of the Open Mobile Alliance's
nearly 400 member companies contributed to the
specification. One of the significant capabilities of Open
Mobile Alliance's new and improved DRM will be to extend
the specification to both IT and CE products and devices.
As an example, Open Mobile Alliance DRM 2.0 will allow
mobile operators to extend billing capabilities beyond the
mobile phone.
"Open Mobile Alliance has established its crucial
role in the interoperability of products and services in
the wireless world, in spite of industry and media focus on
IPR issues associated with digital rights and other
technologies," says Jari Alvinen, Chairman of the
Board of the Open Mobile Alliance. "Now, consumers are
demanding premium content wherever they are and however they
are connected. Open Mobile Alliance DRM 2.0 offers content
providers, IT and consumer electronics vendors, mobile
operators and vendors a DRM solution that allows secure
content exchange in an interoperable manner. This
interoperability is the key to drive the successful
convergence of the mobile, CE and IT industries. Open
Mobile Alliance's DRM 2.0 provides a truly dynamic solution
for exchanging high quality content to any device on any
network."
Open Mobile Alliance DRM 2.0 has been tested over the
course of five Open Mobile Alliance TestFests beginning in
May of last year in Helsinki, Finland. 92 product
implementations, including 64 clients and 28 servers,
covering more than 200 inter-company combinations have been
tested. More than 10,000 Interoperability Tests have been
successfully completed.
Originally, Open Mobile Alliance DRM 1.0 was designed
to meet interoperability requirements for light media
content. DRM 2.0's premium content specification offers
more trust and security; supports non-mobile protocols such
as HTTP; and will enable new business models such as
sharing, streaming, subscriptions and gifting.
"High bandwidth wireless networks and mobile
devices with removable media and larger color screens have
enabled users to access premium content," says Willms
Buhse, vice chair of Open Mobile Alliance's DRM Working
Group. "These innovations have allowed mobile users to
access the rich content commonly available on the Internet.
Because we developed Open Mobile Alliance's DRM 2.0 with
the specific goal of interoperability between mobile, IT
and CE devices, Open Mobile Alliance is eliminating some of
the proprietary solution barriers that have hindered the
success of content based business models such as super
distribution or storage and back up for multiple
devices."
Open Mobile Alliance Approved Enabler Release DRM
2.0/Features
Consumers
-- Greater security and trust management
-- Advanced content management to move, remove and
restore both content
and rights among multiple devices and storage
solutions
-- Sharing between multiple users in a single domain
-- Transfer to disconnected devices such as music and
video players
Content Providers
-- Enhanced security for individually encrypted rights
and integrity
protection for both content and rights
-- Explicit trust mechanisms for mutual authentication
between device
and rights issuer, including device revocation
-- Secure and protected multicast and unicast streaming
for progressive
download
-- Support for new business models provided by features
such as metered
time and usage constraints, content bundling and
subscription
rights, and gifting
-- Support for P2P super distribution and messaging for
viral marketing
and reward mechanisms
About the Open Mobile Alliance Release Program
To date, Open Mobile Alliance has published 44 Enabler
Releases. The Open Mobile Alliance continuously operates an
interoperability program to validate Enabler specifications,
as well as the implementations of member products and
services. Using a clear working process, the Enabler
Release Program is designed to deliver two key milestones
for each enabler:
-- A Candidate Enabler Release delivers an approved set
of open
technical specifications that can be implemented in
products and
solutions, and then tested for interoperability.
-- An Approved Enabler Release represents Candidate
Enabler Releases
that have gone through the Interoperability Program
(IOP) of Open
Mobile Alliance. The IOP tests interoperability
between different
member company's implementations -- either within
the Open Mobile
Alliance or through co-operation with an outside
organisation.
For more information, visit
http://www.openmobilealliance.org/release_program/index.html
.
About the Open Mobile Alliance
The Open Mobile Alliance delivers open specifications
for creating interoperable services that work across
countries, operators, fixed and mobile terminals. Driven by
users' needs and the expanding market for data services, the
member companies of the Open Mobile Alliance stimulate the
adoption of new and enhanced information, communication and
entertainment services. The Open Mobile Alliance includes
contributors from all key elements of the wireless value
chain, and contributes to the timely and efficient
introduction of services and applications.
NOTE: The Open Mobile Alliance name and logo are
trademarks of Open Mobile Alliance Ltd. Other product and
company names mentioned herein may be trademarks or trade
names of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Stephen Jones
Open Mobile Alliance Communications
Tel: +1-415-265-7204
Email: sjones@omaorg.org
Alexis Braden
Ketchum Public Relations
Tel: +1-415-984-6164
Email: Alexis.braden@ketchum.com
SOURCE The Open Mobile Alliance
2007'02.01.Thu
Xinhua Far East China Ratings Downgrades the Issuer Rating of Ningbo Bird to BB-
April 05, 2006
HONG KONG, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua Far
East China Ratings (Xinhua Far East) today downgraded the
issuer credit rating of Ningbo Bird Co., Ltd. (`Bird' or
`the Company', SH A 600130) from BB+ to BB-. Its rating
outlook remains negative.
The downgrade was prompted by Bird's poor performance
in 2005 and its limited financial flexibility in what is an
increasingly challenging operating environment. Xinhua Far
East anticipates it will be difficult for Bird to improve
its performance and enjoy upside potential in the medium
term given the tough market environment.
The conditions in China's handset sector worsened in
2005, with intensifying competition as a result of stagnant
growth in domestic sales, heavy inventories, the release of
new brands, and the inflow of Original Design Manufacture
(ODM) products in the sector. Heavy price cutting is the
main tool used to promote sales, while manufacturing costs
are rising as a result of consumer demand for more
sophisticated mobile handsets functions. R&D and
promotional costs have also risen as a result of reduced
fashion cycle for cellular phones.
The operating conditions are even more challenging for
domestic cellular phone makers. International brands
continue to take market share in China and, in 2005, they
held 59.4% of the market, according to Ministry of
Information Industry figures. As a result of localized
product designs, competitive pricing, and stronger
technology, international brands have not only consolidated
their share of the high-end segment, but have also broken
into the mass/medium-end market.
The downgrade action also reflects Bird's poor
operating results and its limited ability to withstand a
market downturn. Although Bird remains in a leading
position, when compared to its domestic peers, its turnover
fell 5.3% yoy in 1-3Q05, while its EBIT margin declined to
negative 4.0% for 1-3Q05 from 2.7% in 2004. Meanwhile, the
Company also announced huge loss estimation for full-year
2005.
The downgrade for Bird also reflected deteriorated
financial flexibility. Although Bird reduced its inventory
in 2005, the effect has had little overall effect given its
mounting inventory, which has accumulated over the years.
Moreover, with handset fashion changing quickly, the market
value of the remaining inventory is questionable. When
excluding inventory (which accounted for 41.4% of current
assets by September 2005), Bird's current asset to current
liability ratio was just 0.78 at that time.
In addition, Xinhua Far East expects the upside
potential for Bird is limited in the foreseeable future.
While exports increased to 43.9% of Bird's turnover in
1H05, the generally lower profit margin in overseas markets
will only reduce the Company's overall profitability. The
Company is facing stronger international brands, which have
superior distribution channels internationally. The
approaching 3G era is unlikely to bring Bird much benefit,
given its limited investment exposure, low market demand in
the initial stages, and the fact there are different
distribution channels for 3G handsets.
About Xinhua Far East China Ratings
Xinhua Far East China Ratings (Xinhua Far East) is a
pioneering venture in China that aims to rank credit risks
among corporations in China. It is a strategic alliance
between Xinhua Finance (TSE Mothers: 9399), and Shanghai
Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. Shanghai Far East became a
Xinhua Finance partner company in 2003 and the first China
member of The Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia
in December 2003.
Capitalizing on the synergy between Xinhua Finance and
Shanghai Far East, Xinhua Far East's rating methodology and
process blend unique local market knowledge with
international rating standards. Xinhua Far East is
committed to provide investors with independent, objective,
timely and forward-looking credit opinions on Chinese
companies. It aims to help investors differentiate the
credit risks among the corporations in China, thereby,
cultivating their awareness and promoting information
disclosures and transparency in China market. For more
information, see www.xfn.com/creditrating.
About Xinhua Finance Limited
Xinhua Finance Limited is China's unchallenged leader
in financial information and media, and is listed on the
Mothers board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (symbol: 9399)
(OTC ADRs: XHFNY). Bridging China's financial markets and
the world, Xinhua Finance serves financial institutions,
corporations and re-distributors through four focused and
complementary service lines: Indices, Ratings, Financial
News and Investor Relations. Founded in November 1999, the
Company is headquartered in Shanghai with 21 news bureaus
and offices in 18 locations across Asia, Australia, North
America and Europe. For more information, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinance.com.
About Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd
Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. is the first
and leading professional credit rating company with
comprehensive business coverage in China. It is an
independent agency established by the Shanghai Academy of
Social Sciences with the mission to develop internationally
accepted standards for capital market in China. The company
is a pioneer in conducting bond-rating business in China.
For years, it has been authorized by the Shanghai branch of
the PBOC to undertake loan certificate credit rating.
Since establishment, it has rated over 1,000 corporate
long-term bonds and commercial papers, based on the
principles of objectivity, fairness and independence. The
company has also maintained over 50% market share in the
loan certificate-rating sector in Shanghai for three
consecutive years. With its strong local presence and
knowledge, it provides investors with unique and the most
insightful credit opinion. For more information, see
http://www.fareast-cr.com.
About Ningbo Bird Co., Ltd.
Ningbo Bird Co., Ltd. is principally engaged in
cellular phone manufacturing. Its largest shareholder is
Ningbo Electronic Information Group Co., Ltd. which holds a
28.125% stake in the Company. In 2004, Bird's turnover was
RMB10.246 billion, while shipments were reported as 13.657
million, of which 3.377 million were exported.
For the rating report summary, please visit
www.xinhuafinance.com/creditrating.
For more Information, please contact:
Joy Tsang
Corporate & Investor Communications Director
Xinhua Finance
Tel: +852-3196-3983
+8621-6113-5999
+852-9486-4364
Email: joy.tsang@xinhuafinance.com
David Leeney
Taylor Rafferty (IR/PR Contact in US)
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: david.Leeney@taylor-rafferty.com
SOURCE Xinhua Far East China Ratings
2007'02.01.Thu
iSuppli Names Texas Instruments Number One Worldwide DSL CPE Supplier
April 05, 2006
TI's DSL Leadership Continues with Success of Integrated AR7 Solution
DALLAS, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Texas
Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) is the top
supplier of DSL (digital subscriber line) customer premises
equipment (CPE) worldwide with 32 percent market share in
2005, according to iSuppli Corporation's "Broadband
and Digital Home Practice, Market Tracker Analysis Q1"
report published March 2006.
Key to TI's success in the DSL CPE market has been the
popularity of the AR7 family of products, an open platform
that combines key technologies from TI's broad portfolio
including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and wireless
LAN (WLAN). TI has had tremendous success with the AR7
family and has shipped more than 45 million AR7 ports since
it launched the product in 2003.
"TI has experienced consistently increasing demand
for its AR7 CPE products throughout 2005, resulting in an
impressive lead of more than 5.2 million ports above its
closest competitor," said Steve Rago, principal
analyst with iSuppli. "The winner in the telco market
continues to be ADSL, which in 2005 accounted for 90 percent
of the new telco subscribers. Based on the strong demand we
have continued to see in the first half of this year, we
expect this momentum for leading ADSL/VDSL products to
continue this year and well into the next decade."
"Our market share leadership in DSL CPE is the
result of helping to make our customers successful with
operators," said Kurt Eckles, director of Marketing
and Customer Support for TI's Residential Gateway and
Embedded Systems business. "We see this growth
continuing as service providers deploy faster CPUs and
richer LAN interfaces to enable new, innovative services
over ADSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL standards."
Building on the success of the AR7 platform, TI
recently unveiled its next-generation UR8 architecture,
which enables manufacturers to deliver an open service
delivery platform with exceptional voice capabilities and
advanced video services over all DSL standards.
"Superior voice capabilities will quickly
distinguish the leaders among the next generation of
residential gateways as they become the nucleus for voice
services in the home," said Rago. "The
next-generation residential gateway must enable telcos to
migrate their circuit-switched subscribers over to their IP
networks without any degradation in quality, ultimately
lowering the cost of voice while enabling them to migrate
to an all-IP network."
Texas Instruments Broadband SolutionsFor OEMs
developing broadband communications solutions, TI's
advanced signal processing-based silicon and software
platforms deliver the optimal performance, lower power
consumption, and system-level integration required to
rapidly deploy differentiated next-generation products for
cable modems, digital subscriber line (xDSL) modems,
integrated access devices (IADs), VoIP gateways, carrier
infrastructure, and home and office wireless networking.
See http://www.ti.com/broadband .
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP
and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world
signal processing requirements. In addition to
Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors
& Controls, and Educational & Productivity
Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has
manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25
countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located
on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com .
Trademarks
All trademarks and registered trademarks are property
of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Penni Chaloux
Texas Instruments
Tel: +1-214-567-6967
Email: pchaloux@ti.com
Ramona Layne
GolinHarris
Tel: +1-972-308-2532
Email: rlayne@golinharris.com
SOURCE Texas Instruments
2007'02.01.Thu
Paipai Issue the First Podcast CDs in China
April 05, 2006
Over 100,000 Outstanding Podcasters Getting Together on Paipai in 2006
BEIJING, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Paipai, one of
the leading pod cast platforms in China, has finally
released the first multi-media CD in China, after more than
100 days of research and development. The CD contains
fascinating original video and audio footage from more than
100,000 podcasters and its release has created an air of
excitement in China's podcast market. In May 2005, the
first podcast CD was launched containing footage from the
100,000 strong Chinese podcasting community. The
multimedia CDs are packed full of information such as the
introduction of podcasting, demonstrations on how to create
podcasts, podcasting worldwide, and these CDs can be
successfully broadcast using CD, VCD and DVD players, as
well as computers. Alongside the information on the CDs,
the high quality design and packaging and the latest hype
of podcasting all add to the value of the product.
Paipai, established in 2005, has worked hard to develop
a new platform where podcasters can upload and share audio
and video footage as well as ideas and comments leading to
the formation of a new 100,000 members community.
Paipai cooperated with China's entertainment website
http://mop.com , who have a channel called Cat Eye, where
they added Paipai's podcasts in order to increase the
publicity of the more popular and high quality podcasts.
With the adoption of P2P and some other advanced
techniques, Cat Eye allows over ten million customers to
enjoy the podcasts, increasing the popularity of Paipai.
Paipai are sponsored by some leading enterprises and
are currently cooperating with strong network game
corporations. In order to motivate podcasters to continue
the production of footage and also reward them for their
efforts, Paipai have been holding monthly podcast contests
since October 2005. Paipai are also cooperating with a
strong network game corporation of Shenzhen to hold a match
this March to select an original theme song of China II.
This match will not only have a large cash prize but will
also create an opportunity for podcasters to gain
recognition as media interest on this competition will be
high.
The rapid development of podcasting in China in 2005
and the continual development in 2006 will mean that Paipai
will have to work hard to continue their success in the
Chinese market.
According to an estimate by the American eMarketer's,
the total number of podcast customers in the United States
will increase to 10,000,000 in 2006, among which 3,000,000
are active; 50,000,000 in 2010, 15,000,000 active.
According to China's estimate of top-grade podcasting
platforms including Paipai, China's podcasting will show
rapid development. Within the next few years, the number
of podcasters in China will reach 10,000,000 and podcast
websites may become Chinese public's mainstream platforms
for entertainment.
About Paipai
Paipai, China's leading podcast service provider, offer
audio, video, RSS feed of podcast in its vast space
community. At present, paipai has over 100,000 registered
podcasters, and extensive cooperation with some well-known
gaming corporations and SP service traders. Paipai aims at
providing a leading, fast podcast platform for worldwide
internet users, and works hard to create a homestead where
podcast users can access and share materials and
information.
For more information, please contact:
Media email:
Tel: +86-21-5103-5163
Email: market@e-paipai.com
Work collection:
Tel: +86-21-5103-5163
Email: podcast@e-paipai.com
SOURCE Paipai
2007'02.01.Thu
Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. Information to be Available Through S&P Market Access Program
April 05, 2006
SHANGHAI, China, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SRRE) announced today that its company information will be made available via Standard & Poor's Market Access Program, an information distribution service that enables subscribing publicly traded companies to have their company information disseminated to users of Standard & Poor's Advisor Insight. The company information to be made available through this program includes share price, volume, dividends, shares outstanding, company financial position, and earnings. Standard & Poor's Advisor Insight is an Internet-based research engine used by more than 100,000 investment advisors. A public version of the site is available at http://www.advisorinsight.com . In addition, information about companies in Standard & Poor's Market Access Program will be available via S&P's Stock Guide database, which is distributed electronically to virtually all major quote vendors. As part of the program, a full description of Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. will also be published in the Daily News section of Standard Corporation Records, a recognized securities manual for secondary trading in approximately 37 states under the Blue Sky Laws. About Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. operates exclusively in China. It is a primary marketer residential and commercial real estate. The Company also co-invests with developers in some projects, where it assumes exclusive marketing rights. Company information distributed through the Market Access Program is based upon information that Standard & Poor's considers to be reliable, but neither Standard & Poor's nor its affiliates warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Forward Looking Statements The common stock of Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. is listed on the OTC Bulletin Board under the trading symbol "SRRE." This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 29A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forwarding-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performances and underlying assumption and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements and, accordingly, involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results, or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Company's expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed by the Company to have a reasonable basis, including without limitations, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company's records and other data available from third parties, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections will result, or be achieved, or accomplished. For more information, please contact: Vivian Zhang, Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc. Tel: +86-21-6422-0505 x840 Email: ir@sunrise-sh.net Web: http://www.sunrise.sh Standard & Poor's Contact: Maria Cruz Tel: +1-212-438-3671 SOURCE Sunrise Real Estate Development Group, Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
The9 Obtains Exclusive License to Operate Guild Wars(R) in Mainland China
April 05, 2006
SHANGHAI, China, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The9
Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY), a leading online game operator in
China, announced that it has entered into an agreement with
NCsoft Corporation, a world leading developer and publisher
of online games, for an exclusive license to operate the
Guild Wars(R) game, a Competitive Online Role-Playing Game
("CORPG"), in mainland China.¡¡ The term of the
license is three years from the date of commercial launch
of Guild Wars(R) in mainland China.
Guild Wars(R) is a competitive online role-playing game
that rewards player skills. Players explore a rich fantasy
game world, acquire skills, build personalized characters
and compete in head-to-head guild battles with friends
around the world. Guild Wars(R) is a very popular game
worldwide. More than one million units of the game have
been sold in less than five months since it was launched in
late April 2005, according to NCsoft's company data. The
new chapter of the Guild Wars(R) franchise, Guild Wars:
Factions(TM), is expected to be launched in late April
2006. Currently, Guild Wars(R) is available in Korea,
North America, Europe, Japan and Taiwan.
Mr. Jun Zhu, The9's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, commented: "We are very pleased that NCsoft
licensed its No.1 selling online role-playing game Guild
Wars(R) to The9 for its operation in mainland China. This
once again proves that The9 is the partner of choice in
China for renowned overseas developers. The9 continues to
focus on its strategy of offering best quality games to
Chinese gamers. Guild Wars(R), a world class game with
numerous unique features that appeals to players all over
the world, is obviously another strong addition to our
unparalleled game portfolio. The9 will further demonstrate
its excellent operating ability and will work closely with
NCsoft to offer Chinese players top-notch online game
experience."
"The9 is the most outstanding online game operator
in China and we are very confident in its operational
capabilities," commented Tack Jin Kim, CEO of NCsoft
Corporation. "We believe the cooperation with The9
will greatly enhance the attraction and value of Guild
Wars(R) in China's online game market. We are very
satisfied with the cooperation and we look forward to
working with The9 to bring Guild Wars(R)' unique game
experience to Chinese game players in addition to our
players elsewhere around the world. "
About The9 Limited
The9 Limited is a leading online game operator in
China. The9's business is primarily focused on operating
and developing MMORPGs for the Chinese online game players
market. The9 directly or through affiliates operates
licensed MMORPGs, consisting of WoW, MU and Mystina Online,
in China. It has also obtained exclusive licenses to
operate additional MMORPGs in China, including Granado
Espada and Soul of The Ultimate Nation(TM). In addition,
The9 has developed its first proprietary MMORPG titled
"Joyful Journey West", which entered all-access
public open beta testing in August 2005.
About NCsoft Corporation
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, NCsoft Corporation
is the world's leading developer and publisher of online
games. Founded in 1997, NCsoft is home to Lineage(R), the
world's most successful online role playing game and also
to Lineage 2, City of Heroes(R), City of Villains(TM) and
Guild Wars(R). In coming months, NCsoft is poised to launch
other massively multiplayer titles including Auto Assault(R)
and Guild Wars Factions(TM) in addition to various casual
games via its game portal, PlayNC(TM). NCsoft has offices
in North America, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, China
and Thailand. In fiscal year 2005, NCsoft posted revenues
of KRW 338 billion or approximately US$346 million. For
more information about NCsoft visit http://www.ncsoft.com
or http://www.PlayNC.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements.
These statements are made under the "safe harbor"
provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be
identified by terminology such as "will,"
"expects," "anticipates,"
"future," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "estimates" and similar
statements. Among other things, the business outlook and
quotations from management in this press release contain
forward-looking statements. The9 may also make written or
oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 20-F
and 6-K, etc., in its annual report to shareholders, in
press releases and other written materials and in oral
statements made by its officers, directors or employees to
third parties. Statements that are not historical facts,
including statements about The9's beliefs and expectations,
are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of
important factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, The9's limited operating history as an
online game operator, political and economic policies of
the Chinese government, the laws and regulations governing
the online game industry and information disseminated over
the Internet in China, intensified government regulation of
Internet cafes, The9's ability to retain existing players
and attract new players, license, develop or acquire
additional online games that are appealing to users,
anticipate and adapt to changing consumer preferences and
respond to competitive market conditions, and other risks
and uncertainties outlined in The9's filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its
registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, and annual
report on Form 20-F. The9 does not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except
as required under applicable law.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Dahlia Wei, Senior Manager,
Investor Relations,
The9 Limited
Tel: +86-21-5172-9990
Email: IR@corp.the9.com
Web: http://www.corp.the9.com
SOURCE The9 Limited
2007'02.01.Thu
Save the Children Launches New Report on the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Asian Children
April 05, 2006
BANGKOK, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- A new Save the
Children report released today shows the extent to which a
generation of Asian children are growing up with little
hope or happiness due to the impact of HIV/AIDS.
The report, Small Also Have Something to Say,
highlights the plight of the growing number of children in
the region who are infected by HIV/AIDS, have lost one or
both parents to the disease or are caring for sick family
members.
Children in all six countries studied told how they had
to drop out of school to work or care for sick family
members and how they experience discrimination and serious
poverty as a result of HIV/AIDS. The report also shows how
the epidemic places children at increased risks of substance
abuse, becoming street children, trafficking and other forms
of exploitation.
Elaine Ireland, Regional HIV/AIDS Adviser for Southeast
and East Asia, said: "This report shows that the
HIV/AIDS epidemic is a swiftly escalating disaster for
children in Asia, resulting in extreme poverty,
exploitation and emotional turmoil. Communities, donors,
governments, non-government organisations and UN
organisations must increase their funding and do more to
help children affected by HIV/AIDS."
Recommendations from the report include:
-- Improving access to care and support services
-- Improving awareness of prevention and risk by making
HIV information
and education programmes more widely available and
child friendly
-- Increasing the availability and accessibility of
prevention of mother
to child transmission (PMTCT) services,
anti-retroviral therapy (ART)
and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT)
-- Improving health care services in poor and remote
areas
-- Implementing appropriate fostering systems for
orphaned children
Notes to editors:
-- The report, Small Also Have Something to Say, is
based on interviews with nearly 1,600 children and over 600
adults in China, Myanmar, Lao DPR, Vietnam, Cambodia and
Thailand.
-- HIV/AIDS Affected children's voices will be
presented by
-- Dr. Soe Naing, Myanmar HIV programme Manager; Pa
Pa Win Htin,
Myanmar research coordinator; and one project
staff member from the
field
-- Chen Qiang, China research coordinator
-- Nancy Sunarno, Indonesia research coordinator
-- Napat Phisanbut, Thailand coordinator for
research in tsunami
affected areas
-- Leigh Vickery, Laos Country Programme Director
and Keophoutane, Laos
research coordinator
-- Lyn Mason Cambodia Deputy Director and Ly Yasak,
Cambodia research
officer.
-- Save the Children fights for vulnerable children in
the UK and around the World who suffer from poverty,
disease, injustice and violence, working with them to find
lifelong answers to the problems they face.
-- For more information about Save the Children, please
visit the website: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk .
For more information, please contact:
Save the Children
South-East and East Asia Regional Office
Tel: +66-2-684-1286 x88
Elaine Ireland, Regional HIV/AIDS Adviser
Tel: +66-9-815-2990
Email: Elaine@savethechildren.or.th
Kullwadee Sumalnop, Regional Communication Officer
Tel: +66-9-250-2100
Email: Kullwadee@savethechildren.or.th
SOURCE Save the Children
2007'02.01.Thu
European Capital Invests Euro 20 Million in Onduline, Leading Global
April 05, 2006
Supplier Of Corrugated Bitumen Sheets to the Roofing Market
PARIS, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- European Capital,
S.A. SICAR announced today it has arranged the euro 20
million ($24 million) mezzanine facility of Onduline, a
leading global supplier of corrugated bitumen sheets to the
roofing market. European Capital's investment takes the
form of mezzanine bonds and supports ABN AMRO Capital
France and Astorg Partners' acquisition of Onduline.
"We are pleased that ABN AMRO Capital and Astorg
Partners, two excellent European private equity sponsors,
came to us for financing in their acquisition of
Onduline," said Ira Wagner, President of European
Capital Financial Services Limited ("European Capital
Services"), the sub-investment manager of European
Capital. "Onduline's leadership in a niche market,
attractive sales growth in both emerging and industrialized
markets and strong cash flow generation make it a great
addition to our growing portfolio of investments."
European Capital has invested euro 390 million ($472
million) in 17 companies since its formation in August of
2005. For more information about European Capital's
portfolio, go to
http://www.europeancapital.com/our_portfolio/our_portfolio.cfm
.
"Onduline is the worldwide leader in the overlay
and underlay bitumen sheets markets, offering competitive
products that are easy to install and provide excellent
thermal, waterproofing and weather insulation," said
Jean Eichenlaub, European Capital Managing Director.
"The Company has been especially successful in
leveraging its significant barriers to entry, including its
leading market share in a niche market, large capacity
manufacturing abilities, economies of scale and proprietary
mono-layer technology."
"Onduline's committed management team has
tremendous experience in the roofing industry and a solid
track record of growing the business, driving both sales
growth and EBITDA margins," said Stephane Legrand,
European Capital Vice President. "We are confident in
their leadership and believe they will continue to drive
Onduline's growth and capitalize on opportunities."
Headquartered in Paris, Onduline was the first company
to introduce single-layer corrugated bitumen sheets as an
economical lightweight solution for thermal and acoustic
insulation on pitched roofs for residential construction,
agricultural warehousing and lightweight industrial
applications. The Company now designs, produces and
markets overlay and underlay bitumen sheets, bitumen
membranes and complementary roofing products. Overlay
bitumen sheets are used as the external layer on pitched
roofs or as wall-cladding material on non-residential
buildings and housing. Underlay bitumen sheets are used as
waterproofing and insulation shields designed to fit under
roof tiles on non-residential buildings and housing.
Bitumen membranes are used for weatherproofing and
insulation on flat roofs for industrial buildings and
warehouses. The Company has approximately 1,000 employees
and operates 10 production plants in Italy, Portugal,
France, Belgium, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine, Brazil and
Malaysia and also has 23 sales offices worldwide. The
Company's products are sold through more than 15,000
construction materials merchants. In 2005, Onduline
recorded annual sales of approximately euro 264 million.
"This is our first time working with European
Capital and we were impressed with their responsiveness,
determination and financing abilities, all which
contributed to the smooth closing of this
transaction," said Pascal Noguera, Senior Director of
Astorg Partners.
"We are delighted to work with European Capital in
this investment," said Patrice Verrier, Managing
Partner of ABN AMRO Capital France. "Their team's
experience in the middle market and mezzanine financing
enabled them to quickly address and resolve issues that
arose throughout the transaction process."
About European Capital
European Capital is a buyout and mezzanine fund with
capital resources of euro 1.1 billion ($1.3 billion).
European Capital invests in and sponsors management and
employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and
provides capital directly to private and mid-sized public
companies. European Capital invests from euro 5 million to
euro 125 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt
and senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and
recapitalizations.
Companies interested in learning more about European
Capital's flexible financing should contact Jean Eichenlaub
at + 33 (0)1 40 68 06 66 in Paris, or Nathalie Faure
Beaulieu or Simon Henderson at + 44 (0)20 7539 7000 in
London, or visit the website at
http://www.EuropeanCapital.com .
About American Capital
American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), an
affiliate of European Capital, is a publicly traded buyout
and mezzanine fund with capital resources of approximately
$7 billion. American Capital invests in and sponsors
management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity
buyouts, provides capital directly to early stage and
mature private and small public companies and through its
asset management business is a manager of debt and equity
investments in private companies and commercial loan
obligations. American Capital provides senior debt,
mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions,
recapitalizations and securitizations. American Capital
invests up to $300 million per company.
About ABN AMRO Capital
ABN AMRO Capital is the global private equity business
of ABN AMRO, with teams operating in seven countries
worldwide including the Netherlands, UK, France, Spain,
Italy, Sweden and Australia. Total funds under management
by ABN AMRO Capital are euro 2.7 billion, of which euro 250
million of capital are provided by international investors
in ABN AMRO Capital managed funds in the UK and France. In
2005, ABN AMRO Capital led 13 buyouts for a global value of
euro 2.6 billion (euro 634 million in equity investments) as
well as 12 exits.
In France in the last 12 months, the team has completed
3 transactions: Bel'm, a doors manufacturer; Bonna
Sabla-Consolis, a manufacturer of pre-fabricated concrete
products; and Nutrition & Sante, a manufacturer dietary
food products. Moreover, ABN AMRO Capital France has
actively supported its portfolio companies in build-ups,
such as Score Groupe's, a provider of outsourced canteen
management services, acquisition of Amphytrion and GM
Restauration.
About Astorg Partners
Astorg Partners is an independent fund management
company, owned by its four founding partners, which
specializes in French mid-market buyouts. It currently
manages approximately euro 500 million of capital. Astorg
Partners seeks to partner with successful and
entrepreneurial management teams and acquire businesses
with attractive growth prospects, which Astorg will support
through experienced advice and adequate capital. Astorg
Partners focuses its investment strategy on small to
mid-cap enterprises, investing between €15 million and euro
90 million per transaction in companies with revenues
generally between euro 30 million and euro 300 million.
Although clearly a multi-sector investor, Astorg Partners
has particular industry expertise in retail, healthcare and
professional services. Astorg Partners closed 48
transactions over the last fifteen years.
This press release contains forward-looking statements.
The statements regarding expected results of American
Capital Strategies are subject to various factors and
uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with
the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest
rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional,
national or international economic conditions, or changes
in the conditions of the industries in which American
Capital has made investments.
For more information, please contact:
Jean Eichenlaub, Managing Director,
European Capital Services
Tel: +33-0-1-40-68-06-66
Stephane Legrand, Vice President,
European Capital Services
Tel: +33-0-1-40-68-06-66
Brian Maney, Director, Corporate Communications,
American Capital Strategies Ltd.
Tel: +1-301-951-6122
SOURCE European Capital, S.A.
2007'02.01.Thu
Valeo Disposes of its Logistic Subsidiary in Japan
April 05, 2006
PARIS, April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- As part of its
strategy of divesting non-core activities, Valeo announces
that Valeo Thermal Systems Japan Corporation has signed an
agreement with Vantec Corporation to dispose of Zexel
Logitec Company and its subsidiaries, the Japanese
logistics group which was acquired in 2000 as part of the
Zexel transaction.
Zexel Logitec Company generated for 2005 consolidated
sales of Euro 73 million and employs 345 people.
The deal is expected to close before June 30, 2006.
Valeo is an independent industrial group fully focused
on the design, production and sale of components,
integrated systems and modules for cars and trucks. Valeo
ranks among the world's top automotive suppliers. The
Group has 134 plants, 68 R&D centers, 9 distribution
centers and employs 70,400 people in 26 countries
worldwide.
For more information, please contact:
Bruno-Roland Bernard, Group Communications Director,
Valeo
Tel: +33-1-40-55-37-86
Remy Dumoulin, Investor Relations Director,
Valeo
Tel: +33-1-40-55-29-30
SOURCE Valeo
2007'02.01.Thu
Valeo's StARS Micro-Hybrid System Wins 2006 PACE Award
April 05, 2006
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Valeo announced that its micro-hybrid Starter-Alternator
Reversible System (StARS) won the 2006 PACE Award in the
European Products category. The award, which is
co-sponsored by Automotive News, Microsoft, SAP and the
Transportation Research Center, was presented to Valeo at a
ceremony held in conjunction with the Society of Automotive
Engineers World Congress in Detroit.
"It is an honor to receive the PACE Award and have
our micro-hybrid system recognized as one of the most
innovative automotive products of the year," said
Thierry Morin, Valeo Chairman and CEO. "As consumers
and automakers continue to look for affordable ways to
improve the fuel-economy of their vehicles, we are
confident that they will find our micro-hybrid system just
as interesting as the PACE Award judges did."
The StARS system features the capacity to stop and then
restart the engine immediately and silently. This technology
therefore saves fuel and avoids pollution when the vehicle
stops at a red light or in a traffic jam. The vehicle
starts up again quietly and automatically as soon as it is
put in gear or when the foot releases the brake. This
innovation, which reduces pollution (both sound and
atmospheric), improves cabin comfort and reduces fuel
consumption by 12% on average. This micro-hybrid system is
currently available on the Citroen C2 and C3
Stop&Start.
The PACE Awards, now in their 12th year, honor
"superior innovation through technological advancement
and business performance among automotive suppliers."
This award for Valeo marks its fifth PACE recognition.
Valeo's LaneVue(TM) Lane Departure Warning System won a
PACE Award in 2005.
Valeo continues to invest more than 6% of its sales in
R&D every year in order to bring innovative solutions
to the market in the Domains of Powertrain Efficiency,
Driving Assistance and Comfort Enhancement.
Valeo is an independent industrial group fully focused
on the design, production and sale of components,
integrated systems and modules for cars and trucks. Valeo
ranks among the world's top automotive suppliers. The
Group has 134 plants, 68 R&D centers, 9 distribution
centers and employs 70,400 people in 26 countries
worldwide.
For more information, please contact:
Alexandre Telinge, Group Media Relations & PR
Manager
Tel: +33-1-40-55-20-74
Michele Cox, Communications, North America
Tel: +1-248-340-8437
SOURCE Valeo
2007'02.01.Thu
ChinaSense Receives Market Recognition for its Ability to Create Easier-to-plan, More Lastingly Meaningful and Enjoyable University Trips to China
April 04, 2006
BEIJING, April 4 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -
China-international Business Collaborative (CBC) announced
its ChinaSense program -- a turnkey China study tour
service for universities -- has gained significant market
recognition for the value it brings Western universities in
their quest to better understand China's role in world
markets.
Jennifer Pan, CBC's managing director, says,
"Unlike a couple years ago, people are no longer
asking `why go to China?' Instead, people now ask `what's
the best way to come?' After all, China has a 1/6 of the
world's population and consumes 40% of the world's concrete
and 25% of the world's steel." Ms. Pan continues,
"During the past 20 years and for many years to come,
what happens in China will profoundly affect the rest of
world. International business schools are not only
realizing the importance of educating their students about
China but are also doing something about it. Presently, our
company is being showered with requests to help Western
universities plan their upcoming trips to China."
With a strong belief in advanced planning, ChinaSense's
study tours include business lectures, company visits,
meals, entertainment, domestic travel, and lodging.
Students and faculty not only gain first-hand experience in
understanding China's enormous market potential but also
have the chance to visualize their niche within all this
excitement. Ms. Pan further explains, "We are
education facilitators and not a travel agency. We'll
assure students that they'll have an intimate view of China
and a better understanding of their own opportunities. We
want this trip to be the beginning of their China
experience, not just an isolated event."
Typically lasting one to two weeks, ChinaSense study
tours visit up to three key cities. In each city, students
will visit local companies key to your course of study,
participate in sessions with China's top lecturers, visit
famous local attractions, and best of all, establish long
lasting connections with local students, professors and
business leaders.
About China-international Business Collaborative
China-international Business Collaborative (CBC) is a
membership based business "community of interest"
headquartered in Beijing, China. CBC brings value to its
domestic and international members by serving as a landing
platform for international companies entering Chinese
markets and a "launch" platform that educates and
promotes promising Chinese companies in their quest to go
global.
For more information, please contact:
Edward Snow,
Marketing Director,
China-international Business Collaborative
Tel: +86-10-8282-5358 (China) or +1-415-244-3382
(U.S.)
Email: es@cbcassociation.com
Web: http://www.cbcassociation.com/ChinaSense.html
SOURCE China-international Business Collaborative
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