NeoMagic(R) Corporation and Innofidei Technology Announce Availability of Mobile TV Solution for China

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BEIJING, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NeoMagic Corporation , a pioneer in developing mobile multimedia solutions, and Innofidei, Inc., a leading IC supplier for the mobile TV market in China, today announced that they have successfully demonstrated a mobile TV solution based on the CMMB (China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting) standard.

The CMMB standard is supported by SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film and Television) and the broadcast infrastructure is currently being deployed. Live broadcast will be available in 37 cities during the Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008. It is expected that a population of 94 million people in China will be able to receive live television in 2009.

NeoMagic provides the multimedia processor that decodes the broadcast TV signal while Innofidei provides the IF101 demodulator/tuner chip. The total solution enables a high quality mobile TV experience with very low power consumption, making it ideal for portable applications. Multiple end products can benefit from this 2-chip solution: Mobile phones, Personal Multimedia Players, GPS navigation devices or stand-alone mobile TV players. NeoMagic can support all implementations with the NeoMobileTV co-processor (ideal for easy integration into a feature phone or a device with an existing host processor) or the MiMagic 8 application processor (ideal for smart phones and stand-alone mobile TVs). Both companies focus on delivering the best image and sound quality while optimizing power consumption at the chip and system level. This translates into an optimal mobile TV experience for the consumer that wants to watch TV on the go while not sacrificing battery life on their mobile device.

"I am pleased that our efforts with Innofidei over the past few months have created new opportunities for us in China," said Douglas Young, President and CEO of NeoMagic Corporation. "With the deployment of the mobile TV broadcast infrastructure, CMMB is poised to become a hot feature for portable devices and our joint implementation can help customers get to market faster."

"We are thrilled that our cooperation with NeoMagic led to the demonstration of a high quality mobile TV experience for the fast growing China market," stated Dr. Tom Zhang, Chairman, President and CEO of Innofidei, Inc. "With our products and solutions, various kinds of CMMB terminals will be launched faster to give customers a wider range of choices during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and beyond."

Availability: The MiMagic 8 from NeoMagic and the IF101 from Innofidei are available now in production quantities. Samples of the NeoMobileTV from NeoMagic are available now. The joint CMMB mobile TV solution, including reference design schematics and software, is available now for demonstration to customers.

About NeoMagic

NeoMagic Corporation delivers semiconductor chips and software that enable new multimedia features for handheld devices. These solutions offer low power consumption, small form-factor and high performance processing. The Company demonstrated one of the first solutions used for H.264 video decoding in a mobile digital TV phone, and is developing and delivering solutions for audio/video processing of the dominant mobile digital TV standards, including ISDB-T, T-DMB and DVB-H. For its complete system solution, NeoMagic delivers a suite of middleware and sample applications for imaging, video and audio functionality, and provides multiple operating system ports with customized drivers for the MiMagic product family. NeoMagic has a strong patent portfolio that covers NeoMagic's proprietary array processing and other technology. Information on the Company may be found at http://www.neomagic.com/.

NeoMagic and the NeoMagic circle logo are registered trademarks, and MiMagic and NeoMobileTV are trademarks, of NeoMagic Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. NeoMagic disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

About Innofidei

Founded in 2006 in Beijing with operations in Beijing, Shenzhen, Silicon Valley and Taipei, Innofidei dedicates itself to provide enabling IC and system solutions for the mobile TV broadcast market. Using proprietary design techniques and methodology, Innofidei products and solutions offer low power consumption, high performance and low cost advantages. So far the company has demonstrated the first and best demodulator chip IF101 for CMMB, and started mass production, which can meet the demand from large number of CMMB terminals before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. For its complete system solution, Innofidei offers advanced RF/Mixed Signal technologies and mobile TV broadcast transmitting systems. The unique and patent-pending technology enables Innofidei customers to leapfrog competition in terms of quality, functionality and performance, while maintaining the reliability and scalability to out-last competition.

Innofidei combines both a proven management team and a proven technical team. The two founders are both proven entrepreneurs and are on their second chip venture. The company has put together a very strong team bringing international experience to the domestic China market. Innofidei is well positioned to grow into a dominant and long-standing player in the mobile digital TV field. Information on the Company may be found at http://www.innofidei.com/.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020802/NMGCLOGO)

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020802/NMGCLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com NeoMagic Corporation

CONTACT: Pierre-Yves Couteau, Vice President of Marketing of NeoMagic
Corporation, +1-408-988-7020; or Stanley Wang, CTO, Vice President of
Innofidei Technology, +86-10-8215-8603

Web site: http://www.neomagic.com/
http://www.innofidei.com/

BusinessWeek Collaborates with Readers to Publish Special Issue on Workplace ChallengesBusinessWeek looks to its audience to generate content in print, online, and on TV

NEW YORK, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In an unprecedented collaboration with its audience, BusinessWeek announced that it will publish a special August double-issue focused on workplace challenges. This initiative, called "Business@Work," is designed to more deeply engage BusinessWeek's audience, bringing together the wisdom of readers and editors in an interactive, collaborative exchange.

This issue is the first of its kind for BusinessWeek, where readers will not only identify the topics covered, but will also submit case studies, personal vignettes, and videos about the challenges they face at work. BusinessWeek.com users have already selected the workplace issues they find most pressing. After 8,500 votes, the six topics are: work-life balance, staying entrepreneurial, toxic bosses, time-management, negotiating bureaucracy, and generational tension.

In the next phase, readers can upload essays, videos, photos, and comments via BusinessWeek.com, or through "Business@Work" pages on Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. Utilizing a new tool, LinkedIn users will also be able to participate in a poll on workplace issues and leave comments and essays. BusinessWeek writers and editors, working with experts and global gurus, will build upon these contributions to create the special double-issue. In addition, BusinessWeek.com will feature articles and videos, and BusinessWeek TV will air segments on workplace issues.

BusinessWeek Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said, "Business@Work takes the multi-platform model one step further by building an issue from ideas and content generated with our audience. We like to think of this as a joint project with readers, working shoulder-to-shoulder and sharing ideas to produce smart, useful journalism on a topic to which everyone can relate."

"Business@Work builds on BusinessWeek's digital growth and positions the company for continued success in the user-engagement arena, as well as serving marketers' needs," said BusinessWeek President Keith Fox.

Readers can visit the Web site at http://www.businessweek.com/business@work to join in the dialogue, contribute their ideas, and access the features on Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. The special August double-issue, "Business@Work," will hit newsstands on August 15th.

BusinessWeek is a global source of trusted content that informs and inspires business leaders to make smarter decisions in their professional and personal lives. Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek magazine is the market leader, with more than 4.9 million readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Israeli and Bahasa Indonesian. Launched in 1994, BusinessWeek.com is the preeminent provider of daily, essential business news, information, and services to business decision-makers. Reaching 85% of the nation's households, BusinessWeek TV delivers important business, consumer and financial news to television viewers every week.

BusinessWeek

CONTACT: Patti Straus
+1-212-512-2680
or
Heather Carpenter
+1-212-512-2854

Web site: http://www.businessweek.com/
http://www.businessweek.com/business@work

Solomon Names New Advisory Board Member

DANBURY, Conn., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Solomon Technologies, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: SOLM) today announced the addition of Patrick D. Coady to its corporate Advisory Board. Mr. Coady is past President of Applied Computer Technology, a microcomputer service and networking company and the retired Chief Technology Officer of Hudson Valley DataNet, the last venture he co-founded (and subsequently sold). He is also an avid sailor and long time Solomon investor.

Mr. Coady has over forty years experience working in diverse fields, including light and heavy construction, yacht and hovercraft building, micro-computer sales, service and networking. He has broad interest and experience in diesel electric propulsion and was previously a member of the US Naval Reserve, where he qualified as a submariner in diesel-electric boats. A life-long sailor, Mr. Coady is the owner of a sailboat powered by the Solomon electric drive system.

"I am pleased that Pat has agreed to join our Advisory Board," said Jim Dunn, Chairman of Solomon's Advisory Board. "Pat's entrepreneurial business experience, his marine propulsion engineering knowledge and his understanding of the unique characteristics of Solomon's technology adds an important dimension to our group. We now have a terrific breadth of knowledge in the advisory group encompassing all aspects of Solomon's technology and opportunities."

Mr. Coady commented, "I am pleased to be working with Jim Dunn and the other members of the Board in helping Solomon focus its efforts. Having been intimate with only a small portion of the Company's underlying technology, I am convinced there are tremendous possibilities on which we can capitalize. I am excited about working with the whole management team to achieve the Company's goals."

Peter DeVecchis, President of Solomon, commented, "I have known Pat Coady for some time as both an investor in Solomon and a customer for our products. His extensive knowledge of our technology and its marine applications, along with his great enthusiasm for our mission makes his addition to the Advisory Board very beneficial. We all look forward to working with him as we move aggressively to grow the Company both organically and through acquisition."

Information about Solomon Technologies, Inc.:

Solomon Technologies, Inc., through its Motive Power and Power Electronics divisions, develops, licenses, manufactures and sells precision electric power drive systems, including those utilizing its patented Electric Wheel(R) Electric Transaxle(TM) and hybrid and regenerative technologies as well as direct current power supplies and power supply systems requiring high levels of reliability and ruggedness for defense, aerospace, marine, commercial, automotive, hybrid electric and all electric vehicle applications.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Solomon Technologies, Inc. in this release that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," or "plans," or comparable terminology, are forward- looking statements based on current expectations about future events, which management has derived from the information currently available to it. It is possible that the assumptions made by management for purposes of such statements may not materialize. Actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied in any forward-looking statements. Important factors known to management that could cause forward-looking statements to turn out to be incorrect are identified and discussed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward- looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Solomon Technologies, Inc. Peter DeVecchis, 727-859-4447 http://www.solomontechnologies.com/ or Crescent Communications David Long, 203-226-5527

Solomon Technologies, Inc.

CONTACT: Peter DeVecchis, Solomon Technologies, Inc., +1-727-859-4447;
David Long, Crescent Communications, +1-203-226-5527, for Solomon
Technologies, Inc.

Web site: http://www.solomontechnologies.com/

Elbit Vision Systems Wins an Additional $1.5 Million in Orders for Inspection Products of Technical Fabrics

QADIMA, Israel, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Elbit Vision Systems (OTCBB: EVSNF) today announced that during the second quarter it has received a number of orders with total value of $1.5 million for automated surface inspection products, primarily for inspection of technical fabrics. The orders were received from a number of leading manufacturers.

David Gal, CEO and Chairman of the Board, "These orders were a mix between customers that have ordered from us in the past as well as some new customers. This represents both the value-add our products provide as well as the results of a long-term focus and the relationships we have cultivated with our customer base."

Mr. Gal added, "We see strong demand for surface inspection products, particularly for technical fabric inspection. This is driven by the continued increase in complexity and stringent requirements for composite materials with specific properties for mission critical applications, such as the aerospace industry. We expect this demand to only increase in the coming months and years, as composite materials become ever more pervasive."

About Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. (EVS): http://www.evs-sm.com/

EVS offers a broad portfolio of automatic State-of-the-Art Visual and Ultrasonic Inspection Systems for both in-line and off-line applications, and quality monitoring systems used to improve product quality, safety, and increase production efficiency.

EVS' systems are used by over 600 customers, many of which are leading global companies. The headquarters, manufacturing and R&D of EVS are all located in Israel.

A worldwide Sales and Service network supports markets as well as systems already installed, in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas.

Safe Harbor:

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as market acceptance of new products and our ability to execute production on orders, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the statements included in this press release. Although EVS believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. EVS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. EVS undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.

Investor Relations Contact Company Contact Ehud Helft / Kenny Green Yaron Menashe, CFO GK Investor Relations EVS Tel: (US) +1-866-704-6710 Tel: (Int'l) +972-9-8661-601 (Int'l) +972-3-607-4717 yaron@evs-sm.com info@gkir.com

Elbit Vision Systems Ltd

CONTACT: Investor Relations Contact: Ehud Helft / Kenny Green, GK
Investor Relations, Tel: (US) +1-866-704-6710, (Int'l) +972-3-607-4717,
info@gkir.com; Company Contact, Yaron Menashe, CFO, EVS, Tel: (Int'l)
+972-9-8661-601, yaron@evs-sm.com

Siemens Strengthens Position in Biomarker Production and ResearchNew Molecular Imaging Biomarker Production Centers Ensure More Patients, Increased Accessibility to Critical PET Technology

NEW ORLEANS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To help ensure that more healthcare facilities throughout the United States have access to the positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) technology that helps clinicians diagnose and treat disease earlier and more effectively, Siemens Healthcare (http://www.siemens.com/healthcare) has opened two new radiopharmacies in Las Vegas and Pittsburgh.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )

These two new facilities will produce imaging biomarkers that are a crucial component of PET-CT tests used to diagnose cancer and cardiac and neurological ailments.

PETNET Solutions, a fully owned subsidiary of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., operates the largest PET radiopharmacy network with 50 radiopharmacies and distribution centers in the U.S., Korea and the United Kingdom that produce and distribute PET radiopharmaceuticals to hospitals, clinics, and research facilities for PET imaging. The new facilities produce and supply the required radiopharmaceuticals to area hospitals that have PET-CT, which will help ease the burden of healthcare providers to produce their own radiopharmaceuticals.

The expansion into Las Vegas and Pittsburgh bolsters Siemens' goal to provide PETNET services to all U.S. hospitals and imaging centers.

"Molecular imaging is a formidable tool for practitioners to understand disease better, intervene sooner, apply more tailored treatment and, ultimately, improve patient care," says Michael Reitermann, chief executive officer, Molecular Imaging, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. "By expanding the PETNET network, Siemens is helping to improve access to PET technology, an increasingly essential component to oncological, cardiac and neurological treatments."

The Las Vegas facility, which opened in April 2008, will manufacture fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the imaging biomarker used to assist with diagnosis and staging of disease processes and to monitor cellular response to treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The new Pittsburgh facility uses a Siemens Eclipse HP Cyclotron to produce FDG.

About Siemens Healthcare

Siemens Healthcare is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care - from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. Additionally, Siemens is the global market leader in innovative hearing instruments. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of Euro 9.85 billion, orders of Euro 10.27 billion, and group profit of Euro 1.32 billion. Further information can be found by visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Siemens Healthcare

CONTACT: Tom Schaffner of Siemens AG, Corporate Communications, Media
Relations, +1-610-448-1477, thomas.schaffner@siemens.com

Web site: http://www.siemens.com/healthcare

MFG.com Selects Lionbridge as Localization Partner for Fast-Growing Online MarketplaceLionbridge Freeway Platform Will Connect with MFG.com's Dynamic, Real-Time Web Environment to Simplify Project Management and Streamline Localization Processes

WALTHAM, Mass., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lionbridge today announced that it has secured a relationship with MFG.com, the largest online marketplace serving the global manufacturing community. With the agreement, Lionbridge is localizing the MFG.com online marketplace into ten languages, enabling the rapidly growing marketplace to expand its global presence. Lionbridge will also support MFG.com's future global expansion to include Japan, India and Brazil.

To manage the MFG.com localization process, MFG.com is using Freeway(TM), the Lionbridge web-based translation management platform. Using a simple Web Services connection, MFG.com will be able to automatically push its content directly from its content system to Lionbridge project managers for translation. Once translated, the content is automatically reinserted into the MFG.com environment. As a result the company will be able to speed its update cycles using a touch-free translation management process, and can focus on the core task of providing a global marketplace for the manufacturing community.

"By working with Lionbridge, we are able to achieve our mission to provide a central online environment for the global manufacturing community to come together and bring products to market faster, less expensively and more efficiently," said Sherwin Krug, SVP Global Business Development, MFG.com. "We chose Lionbridge as our localization partner based on Lionbridge's market-leading technology, knowledgeable program management team and ability to work with our dynamic, real-time web content environment. As a result, our team will be able to reduce the time and effort associated with localization while effectively servicing our customers worldwide with the highest levels of quality."

MFG.com's proprietary on-demand platform facilitates the complex process of sourcing and selling manufacturing services. The technology intelligently connects Buyers with Suppliers of manufacturing services while directing the collaboration, quoting, due diligence and analysis processes. The site serves as an online supplier relationship management tool that helps determine market pricing. The platform saves Buyers time by helping them source smarter by becoming more efficient at creating, delivering and tracking the RFQ process.

"We are excited to work with MFG.com to accelerate their global growth," said Rory Cowan, CEO, Lionbridge. "The hosted model and web architecture of our Freeway platform gives MFG.com a simple way to manage their translation process and add value to their partners and subscribers without having to purchase, deploy and manage technology systems internally. This provides their teams with more flexibility while speeding global content delivery."

About Lionbridge

Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of globalization, development and testing services. Lionbridge combines global onshore, near shore and offshore resources with proven program management methodologies to serve as an outsource partner throughout a client's product and content lifecycle -- from development to globalization, testing and maintenance. Global organizations in all industries rely on Lionbridge services to increase international market share, speed adoption of global products and content, and enhance their return on enterprise applications and IT system investments. Based in Waltham, Mass., Lionbridge maintains solution centers in 26 countries and provides services under the Lionbridge(R) and VeriTest(R) brands. To learn more, visit http://www.lionbridge.com/.

About MFG.com

MFG.com is the largest global online marketplace for the manufacturing industry. MFG.com instantly and intelligently matches sourcing professionals and engineers with suppliers who have the right expertise and capacity to manufacture parts and tooling on demand in accordance with their engineering drawings and CAD files. MFG.com's on-demand service is consolidating the once- fragmented world of manufacturing into an efficient marketplace, enabling products to be sourced and built more easily, quickly, inexpensively, and at higher quality levels. For more information, please visit http://www.mfg.com/.

Lionbridge and Freeway are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and throughout the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contact: Jason King Lois Paul & Partners (781) 782-5793 jason_king@lpp.com

Lionbridge

Contact: Jason King of Lois Paul & Partners for Lionbridge,
+1-781-782-5793, jason_king@lpp.com

Web site: http://www.lionbridge.com/
http://www.mfg.com/

Australian Rail Track Corporation Awards Lockheed Martin A$74.8 Million for Advanced Train Management System

ADELAIDE, South Australia, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin has received a A$74.8 million (US$72 million) contract from the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), Ltd. for the "Proof of Concept" phase of the Advanced Train Management System (ATMS), a new communications- based train management technology for Australia's national interstate freight rail network. During this phase, Lockheed Martin will design, develop, construct and test an ATMS prototype on a 120 kilometre section of the interstate rail network in South Australia.

"ATMS potentially ushers in a new era for freight transport in Australia," said ARTC CEO David Marchant. "It will provide the ARTC with enhanced visibility into its rail network operations, reduce its life cycle cost of maintaining trackside signaling systems, and increase the ARTC's capacity to move freight across its network."

This contract award follows Lockheed Martin's successful completion of the ATMS Design Study Phase in April 2006, which produced a blueprint for development and rollout of ATMS.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will provide all elements of the ATMS, including components installed in ARTC facilities; locomotive onboard processors; displays to provide warning to train operators and authorities; and automated switching devices alongside tracks to safely route trains along dispatched routes. The ATMS communications capability will be enabled by the ongoing ARTC upgrade carried out by leading Australian telecommunications and information services company, Telstra, using its Next G(TM) network. This upgrade was started in April 2007. The system is expected to be fully operational by 2011.

"We are committed to working with ARTC and providing this innovative train control system," said Denise Saiki, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Manassas, VA-based business. "This state-of-the-art system will safely improve the performance and capacity of ARTC's rail network and continue Australia's leadership in advanced railway technologies."

Lockheed Martin has subcontracted Ansaldo STS Pty Ltd. of Brisbane, Queensland to provide the dispatch and trackside controls for the ATMS and will leverage more than 100 employees at its Melbourne, Victoria subsidiary in key roles for in-country installation, test and acceptance. The company also anticipates sourcing services and products from Australia's information technology and railroad supply chains.

ARTC is a company under the Australia Corporations Act whose shares are owned by the Commonwealth and overseen by the Minister for Transport and Regional Services and Minister for Finance and Administration on behalf of the Commonwealth. ARTC currently has responsibility for the management of over 10,000 kilometres of standard gauge interstate track in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, and New South Wales. ARTC also manages the Hunter Valley Coal Rail network in New South Wales and other regional rail links in New South Wales.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

For additional information on Lockheed Martin Corporation, visit: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

Lockheed Martin

CONTACT: Joy Kochis, Lockheed Martin, +1-703-367-3119,
joy.kochis@lmco.com; or Brad Emory, ARTC, +62 419 297 004, bemery@artc.com.au

Web site: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/534163.html

EMC Helps Oracle Customers Drive Cost Efficiency and Simplify DeploymentEMC Announces New Multi-Protocol Storage Solutions for Oracle OLTP and Reference Configurations for Oracle Data Warehouse

HOPKINTON, Mass., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- EMC Corporation , the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today announced new EMC Proven Solutions and reference configurations that help customers more efficiently and cost effectively deploy an EMC information infrastructure in Oracle transaction processing and data warehousing environments. Customers can more easily map the most appropriate storage platform to the Oracle use case at the lowest cost by taking advantage of EMC's tiered storage. The combination of industry-leading EMC and Oracle technologies, joint testing and new customer-focused technical documentation speeds and simplifies deployments of Oracle on EMC network storage.

For Oracle OLTP environments, new solutions based on EMC Symmetrix(R) provide additional high performance, scalable infrastructure options for enterprise Oracle(R) Database deployments. New solutions based on EMC Celerra(R) NS Series multi-protocol storage platform unify production and development/test environments with disaster recovery for consolidated Oracle midsize enterprise environments. These new solutions complement the existing Oracle OLTP solutions based on EMC CLARiiON(R) and expand EMC's portfolio of Proven Solutions for Oracle OLTP.

Detailed best practices and reference architectures for Oracle OLTP solutions enable customers to take advantage of the optimized use of EMC's broad portfolio of information infrastructure, including:

-- Combined use of FC, NFS, and iSCSI protocols together with tiered storage within the platform optimize storage infrastructure for different classes of Oracle data files, recovery logs and flashback data. -- EMC writeable snapshots leveraged with EMC Celerra to speed Oracle Database development, test and migration as well as backup/recovery. -- EMC RecoverPoint provides heterogeneous remote data replication for all business-critical information as well as data compression for advanced, cost-effective disaster recovery.

For Oracle data warehouse environments, EMC has partnered with Oracle to expand upon efforts within the Oracle Optimized Warehouse Initiative. Complementing previously released optimized configurations with Dell, EMC and Oracle have developed new configurations based on Intel dual core and servers and EMC CLARiiON CX3 networked storage systems. Through using optimized configurations, costumers can leverage pre-installed, pre-configured solutions to help reduce the purchase cycle and streamline data warehouse deployments.

EMC and Oracle have also documented a series of flexible configurations based on Symmetrix and CLARiiON for Oracle data warehousing deployments, helping customers balance cost with performance and growth at any scale of Oracle data warehouse deployments. This includes support for Oracle deployments in both "scale-up" SMP computing models or "scale-out" Oracle low -cost Grid Computing models on Linux. Joint EMC and Oracle efforts provide customers different sized configurations for a stated workload requirement based on IBM, HP, Sun or Intel-based server environments.

"EMC and Oracle have a longstanding partnership with deep engineering alignment. Development of solutions that optimize EMC information infrastructure and Oracle technology enables our joint customers to easily and rapidly deploy EMC solutions to accelerate the time to experience ROI benefits," said EMC's Ritu Jyoti, Senior Director, Technology Alliances. "The new EMC solutions specifically tailored for Oracle OLTP environments drive efficiencies around unified tiered storage, backup and recovery, advanced data protection."

"Many customers rely on Oracle and EMC technologies for scalable, high performance data warehouse infrastructure," said Stephen Boyle, vice president, Global Platform Alliances at Oracle. "Through our various efforts with EMC, together we can offer our joint customers a full complement of solutions suited for different profiles. Customers can select the one that best suits their business and price, performance requirements."

EMC's level of investment to supporting Oracle includes on-site dedicated engineers and validation and documentation of EMC Proven Solutions that provide customers predictable, repeatable results. EMC actively supports Oracle's Global Technology Centers which showcase EMC and Oracle solutions. Through these investments, EMC and Oracle can provide customized assessment and design assistance for various workloads and configurations. Today, more than 55,000 customers rely on EMC and Oracle for best of breed products, deep knowledge and expertise to optimize their information infrastructure.

About EMC

EMC Corporation is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at http://www.emc.com/.

EMC, Celerra, CLARiiON and Symmetrix are registered trademarks of EMC Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

EMC Corporation

CONTACT: Jennifer Dreyer of EMC Corporation, +1-508-293-7238,
Dreyer_jennifer@emc.com

Web site: http://www.emc.com/

Video: TI introduces industry's first eight-channel, digital-input serializerHighly integrated inputs save up to 60 percent of board space in a broad range of industrial applications

DALLAS, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (TI) today introduced the industry's most highly integrated digital-input serializer, which incorporates eight channels and flexible features to provide high-density signal conditioning in a single, compact device. The new serializer converts eight digital inputs, ranging from 0 V to 34 V, into a single data stream on SPI interface, which simplifies the design and saves overall board space for industrial automation and test and measurement equipment. (See http://www.ti.com/sn65hvs882-pr)

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/texasinstruments/33357/

"Customers are being challenged to design higher-density industrial automation systems that fit in smaller spaces," said Art George, senior vice president of TI's High-Performance Analog business unit. "The SN65HVS882's innovative architecture makes it easier for designers to solve both problems by providing a high-performance, compact solution for signal conditioning in high-density systems."

Industry's most compact serializer solution for industrial applications

The SN65HVS882 integrates several key functions, which typically must be performed by external components. The high channel density and feature integration allow engineers to reduce overall board space up to 60 percent compared to competing solutions. Several SN65HVS882 eight-channel serializers can be cascaded through an integrated SPI port, reducing both the isolation channels and controller pins required for high channel-count input modules. In addition, the internal programmable de-bounce feature filters out spurious pulses up to 3 ms on noisy switch inputs, eliminating the need for external components or software. These capabilities help provide a more cost-efficient, high-density input system.

Integrated features ease design

The SN65HVS882 includes an array of features to reduce the complexity of high-density systems and speed time to market. The built-in voltage regulator converts the industrial 10-V to 34-V field voltage to a 5-V level, suitable to power the system's isolation device or logic controller. The new serializer operates over a wide temperature range of -40 C to 125 C, enabling applications such as process control systems, factory automation, or test and measurement equipment. Additionally, the serializer provides individual outputs that can be connected to LEDs, allowing the designer to easily observe the input status.

The device's adjustable input current limit allows the use of a single resistor to set the maximum input current in the range of 200 uA to 5 mA, which reduces system-level power dissipation by more than 50 percent in typical industrial applications. For example, power savings is 275 mW per channel for 24-V applications with a 5-V and 3-mA turn-on point. Low system-level power dissipation is critical for applications like elevators or programmable logic controllers.

Support tools and signal chain solutions reduce design time

Easy-to-use evaluation modules and prompt sample delivery from TI help customers speed up the design process. To further simplify design, TI offers devices such as the ISO7241 quad-channel digital isolator, the DCR022405 isolated DC/DC converter and 32-bit TMS320F28x digital signal controllers to provide a complete signal chain solution for high-performance, high-density systems.

The SN65HVS882 contributes to TI's broad interface product offering, including families of products for USB, RS-232, 1394, LVDS, RS-485, CAN and UART standards. Please see the Interface Selection Guide for more information.

Pricing and availability

The SN65HVS882 is available now from TI and its authorized distributors in a 28-pin HTSSOP package. Suggested resale pricing is $3.00 in 1,000-piece quantities.

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, go to http://www.ti.com/.

Please refer all reader inquiries to: Texas Instruments Incorporated Semiconductor Group, SC-08064 Literature Response Center 14950 FAA Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76155 1-800-477-8924 Trademarks

All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com Video: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/texasinstruments/33357 Texas Instruments Incorporated

CONTACT: Tiffany Pang of Texas Instruments, +1-214-567-0324,
tiffany.pang@ti.com

Web site: http://www.ti.com/

Demand Climbs for Wireless Voice, Multimedia and Internet Access in Southern CaliforniaVerizon Wireless adds thirteen new cell sites in Los Angeles County to stay ahead of the growth

IRVINE, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Wireless users in more southern California locations are now experiencing expanded voice and data coverage thanks to the addition of new cell sites from Verizon Wireless, the carrier with the highest customer loyalty.

The new sites improve overall coverage and call capacity for customers in and around:

-- Baldwin Park -- Near the intersection of Freeway 605 and Valley Boulevard and surrounding area; including a portion of Freeway 10 and the commercial area between Redstone and Baldwin Park -- Calabasas -- Along Mulholland Highway near Las Virgenes Road -- Downey -- Along Firestone Boulevard to Imperial Highway and from Garfield to Downey Avenue -- Irwindale -- Along Olive Street to just past Maine Street in Baldwin Park. -- Los Angeles -- Near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Nichols Canyon Road and the surrounding area. Along Hollywood Boulevard between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, including service along Nichols Canyon Road, north of Hollywood Boulevard. -- Rancho Palos Verdes -- Along Hawthorne Boulevard and surrounding residential community -- San Fernando -- Around Laurel Canyon Boulevard and San Fernando Mission Boulevard as well as the I-5 Freeway near the busy I-5/I-405/I-118 interchange -- San Marino -- Huntington Library and surrounding residential area -- Santa Fe Springs -- Within a nearly one-mile radius of the intersection of Interstate 5 and Alondra Boulevard. -- Torrance -- Around the Storm Business Park at the corner of Normandie Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard, as well as a new housing development, "Las Ventanas," and coverage along the 110 freeway. -- West Hills -- Business district; north of the Fallbrook/Roscoe intersection. -- Whittier -- Along Interstate 605 to Sorensen Avenue and from Washington to Whittier Boulevard

The recent expansion adds to Verizon Wireless' $4.6 billion dollar investment in California since 2000. Nationwide the company has invested nearly $45 billion since it was formed -- $5.5 billion on average every year -- to increase the coverage and capacity of its national wireless network and to add services like BroadbandAccess, V CAST, VZ Navigator(SM) and many more.

"This consistent investment is a key reason Verizon Wireless has ranked first in customer loyalty in the industry in each of the last 14 quarters,*" said John Palmer, regional president of Verizon Wireless

Other examples of company leadership include being first to offer nationwide plans with unlimited calling and the only provider to offer a 30-day network "Test Drive" pledge that pays for calls if a customer isn't satisfied and switches to another carrier.

Verizon Wireless' reputation as the nation's most reliable wireless network is supported by industry-leading redundancy and maintenance measures. This has proven particularly valuable during natural disasters and other emergencies across the country. Standard Verizon Wireless network-reliability features include battery back-up power at all facilities as well as generators installed at all switching facilities and many cell site locations.

For more information about the company's network coverage, Test Drive from Verizon Wireless or any of our products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to http://www.verizonwireless.com/.

* Loyalty claims based upon publicly available churn (customer turnover) figures.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 67.2 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 69,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, go to: http://www.verizonwireless.com/. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Verizon Wireless

CONTACT: Ken Muche of Verizon Wireless, +1-949-286-8193,
ken.muche@verizonwireless.com

Web site: http://www.verizonwireless.com/

Sohu.com Awarded Rights to Offer Live Webcasts and Video-On-Demand of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

BEIJING, June 16 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sohu.com Inc. , China's leading online media, communications, search, online games and mobile value-added services company, announced today that it had signed an agreement with its strategic partner CCTV.com, China's Official Internet/Mobile Broadcaster of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and will be awarded the new media rights to internet broadcasting for the Olympics. As an authorized internet portal, Sohu will offer live webcasts and video-on-demand of the competitions together with the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Sohu.com said: ''CCTV.com is the most prestigious news website based on the country's national television network, and Sohu is China's leading internet portal. The partnership between Sohu and CCTV.com has become another important milestone between the official Internet Content Sponsor for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the official Olympic Internet/Mobile Broadcaster. This in-depth cooperation with CCTV.com, together with our proprietary peer-to-peer video steaming technology, will further enhance Sohu's competitive strength surrounding Olympic reporting and further positioned us as ''the Portal of Choice'' of Olympic Games for both users and advertisers.''

About Sohu.com

Sohu.com Inc. is China's premier online brand and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese, providing a network of web properties and community based/web 2.0 products which offer the vast Sohu user community a broad array of choices regarding information, entertainment and communication. Sohu has built one of the most comprehensive matrices of Chinese language web properties and proprietary search engines, consisting of the mass portal and leading online media destination http://www.sohu.com/ ; interactive search engine http://www.sogou.com/ ; #1 online alumni club http://www.chinaren.com/ ; #1 games information portal http://www.17173.com/; the top real estate website http://www.focus.cn/ ; wireless value-added services provider http://www.goodfeel.com.cn/ ; and leading online mapping service provider http://www.go2map.com/ .

Sohu corporate services consist of brand advertising on its matrix of websites as well as paid listing and bid listing on its in-house developed search directory and engines. Sohu also offers two types of consumer services. The company operates two massive multi-player online role-playing games, namely Tian Long Ba Bu and Blade Online, and a casual game platform. Sohu also offers wireless value-added services such as news, information, music, ringtone and picture content sent over mobile phones. Sohu.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China's Internet pioneers, is in its twelfth year of operation.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. It is currently expected the Business Outlook will not be updated until release of Sohu's next quarterly earnings announcement; however, Sohu reserves right to update its Business Outlook at any time for any reason. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that 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, the uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in Sohu's quarterly operating results, Sohu's historical and possible future losses and limited operating history, and the company's reliance on online advertising sales, online games and wireless services (most wireless revenues are collected from a few mobile network operators) for its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Sohu's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sohu.com Contact Information Erin Sheng Manager Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Tel: +86-10-6272-6596 Email: ir@contact.sohu.com http://corp.sohu.com/

Sohu.com Inc.

CONTACT: Erin Sheng, Manager, Investor Relations and Corporate
Communications of Sohu.com, +86-10-6272-6596, or ir@contact.sohu.com

Web Site: http://corp.sohu.com/

Global Payments and United Merchant Services, Inc. Extend Agreement for Payment Processing Services

ATLANTA, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Payments Inc. , a world leader in electronic transaction processing services, announced today that United Merchant Services, Inc. (UMSI) located in Hackensack, NJ, an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) and leading merchant services company, serving the U.S. Asian market place, has renewed a multi- year agreement.

Global Payments will continue to provide UMSI with a comprehensive line of payment card authorization and settlement services, as well as merchant support services.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010221/ATW031LOGO )

"Global Payments has provided the vehicle for our growth over the last eight years. Global's executives and staff have listened to our needs and have consistently provided UMSI with a program that fits our unique market and situation," said President and CEO of United Merchant Services, Jay Yoon.

"We are very pleased with United Merchant Services' decision to continue to trust Global Payments to meet their unique needs for innovative products, continuous reliability and outstanding service," said Senior Vice President of Third Party Sales, Global Payments Inc., Tony Abruzzio.

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Hackensack, NJ, United Merchant Services, Inc. has been providing comprehensive bankcard, loyalty, and gift card, as well as a full line of POS programs and support services for merchants nationwide for over a decade. While continuing to introduce a wide range of innovative products and services to merchants, helping them to make efficient use of valuable resources in a cost-effective way, UMSI also specializes in providing merchant processing services to foreign speaking merchants.

Global Payments Inc. is a leading provider of electronic transaction processing services for consumers, merchants, Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), financial institutions, government agencies, gaming establishments, and multi-national corporations located throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of processing solutions for credit and debit cards, business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electronic check conversion and check guarantee, verification and recovery including electronic check services, as well as terminal management. The company also provides consumer money transfer services from the U.S. and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco, and the Philippines. For more information about the company and its services, visit http://www.globalpaymentsinc.com/.

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such as product demand, market and customer acceptance, the effect of economic conditions, competition, pricing, development difficulties, foreign currency risks, costs of capital, continued certification by credit card associations, the ability to consummate and integrate acquisitions, and other risks detailed in the Company's SEC filings, including the most recently filed Form 10-Q or Form 10K, as applicable. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect future circumstances or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Phyllis McNeill +1-770-829-8245 phyllis.mcneill@globalpay.com

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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Global Payments Inc.

CONTACT: Phyllis McNeill, Global Payments Inc., +1-770-829-8245,
phyllis.mcneill@globalpay.com

Web site: http://www.globalpaymentsinc.com/

Harris Corporation Announces Compliance of NetVX(TM) Standard-Definition Video Encoders for Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV PlatformCollaboration Helps Service Providers Cost-Effectively Deploy High-Quality Connected TV Services to Their Customers

CINCINNATI, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris Corporation , an international communications and information technology company, today announced that the Harris(R) NetVX(TM) range of H.264/MPEG-4 standard-definition (SD) video networking encoders has successfully completed encoder conformance testing for use with the award-winning Microsoft(R) Mediaroom(TM) Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and multimedia software platform. The test was administered by Microsoft Corporation as part of the Microsoft Mediaroom Interoperability and Qualification Lab program, which is intended to enable the ongoing interoperability and compliance of encoders used in Microsoft Mediaroom deployments.

NetVX(TM) SD video encoding lets service providers offer a high quality and cost-effective platform for their IPTV deployments. It also allows IPTV service providers using this encoding at the head-end to seamlessly communicate with the set-top receiving device for the delivery of IPTV multimedia services to the consumer.

"Harris Corporation's investment in interoperability testing extends across the entire broadcast community and into the growing IPTV space, enabling our products and technologies to be reliable and efficient for virtually any application requiring the delivery of high-quality video," said Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications. "We are pleased to announce compliance of our NetVX encoding products for Microsoft Mediaroom and Microsoft recognition of our commitment to provide interoperable solutions for the IPTV market."

"The Harris(R) NetVX SD video encoding solution gives our service provider customers another way to help reduce costs and improve the overall performance of their Microsoft Mediaroom-based TV services," said Joe Seidel, director of global partner ecosystems for Microsoft Mediaroom. "We are looking forward to our ongoing collaboration with Harris to help service providers offer their customers the very best in connected TV services."

The Microsoft Mediaroom platform, which reached 1 million subscriber homes in the first quarter of 2008, is now powering connected TV services on more than 2 million TV sets worldwide - it took Mediaroom 18 months to reach its first million TVs and only five months, more than three times faster, to reach its second million TVs.

NetVX(TM) video networking encoders are among the wide range of Harris solutions that optimize the networking and infrastructure workflows of today's broadcast and IPTV operations.

Harris Broadcast Communications provides products, systems, and services that deliver interoperable workflow solutions that span the entire broadcast delivery chain. The Harris ONE(TM) approach brings together highly integrated and cost-effective products that are ideal for emerging media business models and for customers upgrading media operations to digital and high-definition services.

About Microsoft Mediaroom

The award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform is driving the future of television by enabling broadband service providers to deliver new connected TV and entertainment experiences to consumers worldwide. Microsoft Mediaroom provides new ways for consumers to experience TV as part of their connected, digital lifestyle, while also creating new business opportunities for broadband service providers, hardware manufacturers, content creators, advertisers and application developers. Over 20 of the world's leading service providers across four continents have selected the Microsoft Mediaroom platform to drive their digital TV services. More information on Microsoft Mediaroom and the opportunity to deliver the best in TV plus all your media in one place is available at http://www.microsoft.com/tv and http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of more than $5 billion and 16,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications(R) products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at http://www.harris.com/.

Harris Corporation

CONTACT: David Glidden, Vice President, Marketing Operations of Harris
Broadcast Communications, +1-513-459-3639, david.glidden@harris.com; Robin
Hoffman of Pipeline Communications, +1-973-746-6970,
robinhoffman@pipecomm.com; Media Relations for Microsoft Mediaroom, Weber
Shandwick, +1-425-452-5400, mstv@webershandwick.com

Web site: http://www.harris.com/
http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com/

Microsoft Adds Agilent and IneoQuest Quality of Service Assurance Solutions to Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV EcosystemGrowing ecosystem reinforces quality of service for Microsoft Mediaroom-powered offerings.

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that Agilent Technologies Inc. and IneoQuest Technologies Inc. have joined the Microsoft Mediaroom ecosystem as Internet Protocol television (IPTV) quality of service (QoS) solution providers. The Agilent and IneoQuest solutions help service providers ensure the highest QoS for their deployments of the award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia software platform without compromising security or network performance.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

With the help of Agilent and IneoQuest, consumer interest and adoption of Microsoft Mediaroom services will continue to accelerate. The platform, which reached 1 million subscriber homes in the first quarter of 2008, is now powering connected TV services on more than 2 million TV sets worldwide. Microsoft Mediaroom took 18 months to reach its first million TVs, and only five months to reach its second million, a rate of more than three times faster.

A key component of the Microsoft Mediaroom ecosystem, service assurance solutions enable up-to-the-minute monitoring and analyzing of Microsoft Mediaroom-powered services. With the Agilent and IneoQuest solutions, service providers have a more effective way to quickly detect and resolve QoS issues, which can ultimately help reduce operating costs. Specific measurement and performance indicators Agilent and IneoQuest's solutions will provide the following:

-- Effective packet loss, taking into account Microsoft Mediaroom's unique error-correction methods that enable high resilience to network performance degradation -- Analysis of audiovisual bit rates -- Ongoing assessment of instant channel-changing effectiveness -- Continual observation of round-trip latency between Microsoft Mediaroom servers and clients

"As world-class leaders in QoS solutions, Agilent and IneoQuest bring exceptional service assurance solutions to the Microsoft Mediaroom ecosystem," said Joe Seidel, director of global partner ecosystems for Microsoft Mediaroom. "Through these collaborations, Mediaroom service providers will be able to more easily prevent, identify and troubleshoot issues and help ensure the seamless delivery of next-generation TV offerings."

Agilent's service assurance solution for Microsoft Mediaroom is its J6900A Triple Play Analyzer. This solution is a complete test solution for network equipment manufacturers and communication service providers that develop, install, maintain, troubleshoot and monitor IP-based voice, video and data systems. It is an ideal tool for detecting and resolving signaling, transport, platform and general quality of experience problems before customers can be affected. It also provides the essential measurements and key performance indicators that enable engineers and technicians to quickly and proactively identify customer issues before they become problems, resulting in faster and higher-quality IPTV network deployments.

IneoQuest's IQPinPoint(TM) is a video quality and service assurance solution, integrating the award-winning IneoQuest iVMS(TM) video management system with the multi-interface Cricket(TM) family, the 1 GigE and 10 GigE Singulus(TM) family, and 1 GigE and 10 GigE Geminus(TM) family of intelligent hardware probes. iVMS, with strategically placed hardware probes throughout the network, provides true end-to-end quality monitoring from video source to subscriber. Its patented multidimensional quality assurance technology ensures the highest possible quality of video experience for Microsoft Mediaroom customers. The intelligent IQPinPoint solution provides revenue assurance through essential real-time monitoring, analysis, troubleshooting and auditing of thousands of simultaneous video flows for critical network parameters including IP packet loss, video bit rates, channel change parameters and round-trip server latency.

About Microsoft Mediaroom

The award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform is driving the future of television by enabling broadband service providers to deliver new connected TV and entertainment experiences to consumers worldwide. Microsoft Mediaroom provides new ways for consumers to experience TV as part of their connected, digital lifestyle while also creating new business opportunities for broadband service providers, hardware manufacturers, content creators, advertisers and application developers. Over 20 of the world's leading service providers across four continents have selected the Microsoft Mediaroom platform to drive their digital TV services. More information on Microsoft Mediaroom and the opportunity to deliver the best in TV plus all your media in one place is available at http://www.microsoft.com/tv and http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Weber Shandwick, +1-425-452-5400, mstv@webershandwick.com, for
Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com/

AT&T Teams With Boys & Girls Clubs of America to Create Successful Career Path for YouthJob Training Made Easy, Exciting and Fun through Hands-on Experience

ATLANTA, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Underscoring the company's commitment to youth, AT&T today announced the national sponsorship of Boys & Girls Clubs of America's (BCGA) Junior Staff program, to foster career and leadership skills and provide professional experience for teens. AT&T will underwrite and help implement the Junior Staff program at Boys & Girls Clubs around the country, while several AT&T retail locations welcome select Club members as summer "apprentices."

"AT&T has a longstanding commitment to foster youth development," said Steve Sitton, president, Southeast Region for AT&T's wireless unit and a BGCA National Trustee. "With approximately 3,000 Clubs throughout the country serving teens, BGCA offers us a unique opportunity to reach millions of young people. Through the Junior Staff program, AT&T can help teens build a solid foundation for success, be that in their education endeavors or in their future careers."

Promising teens will be identified from local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country to participate in Junior Staff, a small-group program that assists Club teens in exploring a career in youth development and other human services. Eleven teens will be selected to participate in a first-ever, six- week apprenticeship at their local AT&T store where they will gain experience in many facets of the company's retail operations.

In addition to practical work experience as apprentices at AT&T stores this summer and as "Junior Staffers" at Boys & Girls Clubs, teens will explore their individual strengths, weaknesses and interests through team building exercises and community service projects. The Junior Staff program will also teach teens how to build a resume and conduct a job interview.

In conjunction with the Junior Staff program and apprenticeship, AT&T will support local Boys & Girls Clubs through continued wireless education and other events. The company will also encourage its employees to work with local Clubs in a variety of ways.

"Building the career skills of Boys & Girls Clubs members is essential to their future success," said Judith J. Pickens, senior vice president of program & youth development services for BGCA. "We're extremely grateful AT&T has joined us to support the development of these skills in our members. Through the Junior Staff program, we hope our young people will be encouraged to pursue careers in youth services, sparking the next generation of Boys & Girls Club leaders."

For more information on BGCA's Junior Staff program, or to find a Club near you, visit http://www.bgca.org/.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/.

(C) 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. For more information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (http://www.bgca.org/) has been changing and saving young lives, providing hope and opportunity for kids who need them most. Today, some 4,300 Clubs serve some 4.8 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Known as The Positive Place for Kids, Boys & Girls Clubs can be found all across the country and on U.S. military bases throughout the world. Clubs provide young people 6-18 years old with guidance-oriented character development programs conducted by trained, professional staff. In communities large and small, Clubs positively impact lives and help young people reach their full potential as productive, caring citizens. Key Boys & Girls Club programs emphasize leadership development; education and career exploration; community service; financial literacy; health and life skills; the arts; sports, fitness and recreation; and family outreach. In a recent Harris Survey of Club alumni, 57 percent said the Club saved their life. National headquarters is located in Atlanta.

AT&T Inc.

CONTACT: Kelleigh Beal of AT&T Inc., +1-404-236-6322, ks1601@att.com; or
Brian E. Hill of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, +1-404-487-5978,
bhill@bgca.org

Web site: http://www.att.com/
http://www.bgca.org/

Video: Graphics Evolves Beyond Gaming With New NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 GPUsRevolutionary Processor Does Double Duty as the Most Advanced GPU Ever Built and a Second-Generation CUDA General Purpose Parallel Processor

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Imagine instead of taking over five hours to convert a video for your iPod, it only takes 35 minutes(i). Imagine using your PC to simulate protein folding to help find a cure for debilitating diseases. Imagine that your PC can dramatically accelerate everyday tasks, and deliver an exciting visual experience in the process. Today that imagination becomes a reality now that the leader in visual computing technologies, NVIDIA , has introduced its new family of GeForce(R) GTX 200 graphics processors (GPUs)-which includes the GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 GPUs-taking graphics beyond gaming and gaming beyond anything that's ever been possible before on a consumer computing platform.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080616/AQM092) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020613/NVDALOGO)

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/nvidia/33669/

"The advances NVIDIA continues to make in visual computing are simply incredible, and we are excited to be one of the first companies in the world to offer the technology in the new Exhilaration Edition of the award-winning HP Blackbird 002," said Rahul Sood, chief technology officer, HP Voodoo Business Unit. "Exceptional graphics quality and performance is important to our customers, and now the GeForce GTX 200 GPUs are bringing something else into the mix. By using the GPU to enhance everyday applications such as video encoding and manipulating photos, HP Blackbird 002 is one of the most cutting- edge PC platforms ever designed."

Graphics Beyond Gaming

One of the most powerful processors in the PC is the GPU. Rendering 3D images in real-time is just about the most mathematically intensive task your PC will ever undertake, but it's not the only one. As PC applications become increasingly visual, many ordinary tasks will benefit from the graphics horsepower provided by the GPU, including encoding and playing high-definition videos, editing photos, getting driving directions off the Internet, or simply running a new operating system like Windows Vista.

"Millions of users around the world know how time consuming it is to convert their home videos for use on video sharing sites such as YouTube or for downloading to popular media players such as the iPod," said Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies. "Elemental has developed the BadaBOOM(TM) Media Converter, a consumer video application scheduled for release in August. By taking advantage of the massively parallel, general-purpose computing architecture of a GeForce GPU, we are able to transcode high-quality video 18 times faster than with CPU-only implementations. This unprecedented performance scaling is the reason why we have made sure that our RapiHD(TM) Video Platform takes advantage of NVIDIA GPUs."

By recognizing that the value of a GPU transcends gaming, an increasing number of applications are also being written that use the GPU for straight, non-graphical computational tasks. For example, Stanford University's distributed computing computational program Folding@Home, combines the computing horsepower of millions of consumer GPUs to simulate protein folding to help find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. With the computing processing power of the GeForce GTX family, applications such as Folding@Home and others can run upwards of 140 times faster on an NVIDIA general-purpose parallel processor than on some of today's traditional CPUs.

"GeForce GPUs will soon deliver the biggest boost in processing power we've seen in the history of Folding@Home," said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University. "The GeForce GTX 280 GPU runs Folding@Home 45 times faster than the latest 3GHz Core2 Quad CPU. If just one percent of the world's GeForce 8- and 9-Series GPUs ran Folding@Home, we would have 70 petaflops of processing power to help find cures for disease. That's 10 times more processing power than the world's top 100 supercomputers combined."

Gaming That's Beyond

The CUDA general-purpose parallel processing mode will usher in a new generation of ultra realistic games. Developers can use the supercomputing power of the "CUDA Computing" mode to simulate realistic, physically accurate effects then render beautiful images using the "GeForce GPU" mode. NVIDIA GPUs are also the only ones to support PhysX(TM) technology, the world's most pervasive physics engine that is already delivering dynamic 3D realism to more than 140 games across multiple platforms, and is being used by more than 25,000 developers worldwide. With PhysX, developers can incorporate effects such as rigid body dynamics, collision detection, and cloth simulation that dramatically change the way the games are played and how the on-screen stories unfold, and then accelerate those effects using the processing power of the GPU.

"I haven't been this excited about a new gaming technology in years," said Chris Taylor, CEO and founder of Gas Powered Games. "We're focusing all of our physics efforts on PhysX, and it already delivers the kinds of advanced effects in Space Siege that takes the whole experience to the next level. And in the near-future, you're going to see real-time, Hollywood cinematic-level environmental effects on GPUs like the GeForce GTX 280. We're talking about some wicked-cool technology here!"

Additional features of the GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 GPUs include:

-- 2nd Generation NVIDIA Unified Architecture: Delivers 50% more gaming performance over the Company's previous NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU through 240 enhanced processor cores that provide incredible shading horsepower at resolutions as high as 2560 x 1600.(ii) -- 3-way NVIDIA SLI(R) Technology(iii): Industry leading 3-way NVIDIA SLI technology offers amazing performance scaling by implementing 3-way alternate frame rendering (AFR) for the world's fastest gaming solution under Windows Vista. -- NVIDIA PureVideo(R) HD Technology(iv): The combination of HD video decode acceleration and post-processing delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for movies and video. -- NVIDIA CUDA Technology: With the power of NVIDIA CUDA(TM) technology and the new CUDA runtime for Windows Vista, programmers can now offload the most intensive processing tasks from the CPU to the NVIDIA GPUs, putting the power of up to 240 multi-threaded processor cores to work.(v)

Graphics cards featuring GeForce GTX 280 GPUs will be available starting tomorrow from global leading add-in card manufacturers, such as: ASUS, BFG, Emtek, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision, Leadtek, MSI, Palit, PC Partner/Zotac, PNY, Point of View, Unika, Unitek, and XFX. Graphics cards featuring GeForce GTX 260 GPUs will be available starting on Thursday, June 26, 2008. Suggested retail pricing for the GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 GPUs are $649 and $399, respectively.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA is the world leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the GPU, a high-performance processor which generates breathtaking, interactive graphics on workstations, personal computers, game consoles, and mobile devices. NVIDIA serves the entertainment and consumer market with its GeForce graphics products, the professional design and visualization market with its Quadro(R) graphics products, and the high- performance computing market with its Tesla(TM) computing solutions products. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit http://www.nvidia.com/.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, features, uses, performance, and capabilities of graphics processing units, NVIDIA GPUs, PhysX technology, NVIDIA SLI technology, NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology and NVIDIA CUDA technology; advances in visual computing; future of graphics and gaming; pricing and availability of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 family of products; future PC applications; and applications for the GPU are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: delays in ramping new products into production; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble and test our products; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; development of faster or more efficient GPUs or CPU technology; the impact of technological development and competition; changes in consumer preferences and demands; customer adoption of competitors' products; design, manufacturing or software defects as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the period ended April 27, 2008. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on our website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

Copyright(R) 2008 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, NVIDIA SLI, PureVideo, CUDA, and PhysX are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

(i) Testing for video encoding done using iTunes running on an Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme 3GHz CPU, and Elemental on a GeForce GTX 280 GPU. Results based on an extrapolation of 1 min 50 sec 1280x720 HD movie clip.

(ii) The number of processor cores varies by model. GeForce GTX 280 has 240 processor cores. GeForce GTX 260 has 192 processor cores. Weighted average performance improvement based on a comparison between the GeForce GTX 280 and the GeForce 8800 Ultra in a variety of benchmarks and resolutions.

(iii) NVIDIA SLI certified versions of GeForce PCI Express GPUs only. A GeForce GTX 280 GPU must be paired with another GeForce GTX 280 GPU (graphics card manufacturer can be different). SLI requires sufficient system cooling and a compatible power supply. Visit http://www.slizone.com/ for more information and a listing of SLI-Certified components.

(iv) Feature requires supported video software. Features may vary by product.

(v) Requires application support for CUDA technology.

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CONTACT: Bryan Del Rizzo of NVIDIA Corporation, +1-408-486-2772,
bdelrizzo@nvidia.com

Web site: http://www.nvidia.com/

Service Providers Experience Telco 2.0 With MicrosoftMicrosoft highlights its platforms and services for the telecommunications industry, announces new partners and shows momentum for its services initiatives.

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- This week at NXTcomm08, Microsoft Corp. will showcase its platforms and services that enable the transition to Telco 2.0, a new era of communications in which service providers will deliver hundreds, if not thousands, of new services. Through its portfolio of screens, services and service delivery infrastructure offerings, Microsoft will demonstrate how it helps service providers increase efficiency, rapidly create and deliver innovative new services, and improve the customer experience.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

"Our vision for service providers is to deliver the converged lifestyle to their customers, where they can access any content, over any network on any screen," said Martha Bejar, corporate vice president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "By providing the three critical components -- screens, services and service delivery -- we are helping meet the needs of the industry that is driving toward Telco 2.0. We believe that this combination of software plus services will offer the best business case to operators and deliver the best choice to consumers and businesses."

Screens

Microsoft will highlight the operating platforms that deliver a common experience across all screens -- including those on a PC, TV or mobile device -- in a user's life. At NXTcomm08, Microsoft will showcase Windows Mobile, a smartphone platform with phones available from 160 mobile operators in 55 countries. Windows Mobile works with 50 device-maker partners and has more than 140 phone designs shipping worldwide, giving end users and organizations a wide choice of devices and services to fit their individual needs and preferences.

In addition, Microsoft announced it has added several world-class partners to its Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform ecosystem, further supporting the platform's progress in helping service providers deliver new connected TV services worldwide:

-- System integrators -- HP, Tech Mahindra and 180Squared. The addition of these system integrators means service providers around the world will have various high-quality vendors to assist with deployments of Microsoft Mediaroom-powered service offerings. -- Quality of Service (QoS) assurance companies -- Agilent Technologies and IneoQuest. These companies' solutions help service providers ensure the highest QoS for deployments of Microsoft Mediaroom without compromising security or network performance. -- Encoder supplier -- Harris. Harris' NetVX SD video encoding lets service providers deploying Microsoft Mediaroom-powered services offer a high-quality and cost-effective platform for IPTV deployments.

Microsoft Mediaroom is now powering connected TV services on more than 2 million televisions worldwide. It took Microsoft Mediaroom 18 months to reach its first million TVs and only five months -- more than three times faster -- to reach its second million TVs.

Services

Microsoft will demonstrate a range of business and consumer services that can provide up-sell opportunities for operators across broadband/wireless networks. With the availability of the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Version 4.5 (HMC 4.5) announced today, Microsoft offers service providers a robust platform to integrate into their networks and deliver streamlined communications services to businesses of all sizes.

Telefonica and Microsoft also announced today a strategic alliance to deliver convergent services for large enterprises in Spain, which will incorporate Microsoft's unified communications and collaboration solutions into Telefonica's Corporate IP service. Based on HMC 4.5 and Telefonica Corporate IP, the offering will allow users to easily access services such as directories, calendars, instant messaging, e-mail, presence and multi- conferencing, thereby helping boost their productivity. The alliance includes a schedule for making the new services available throughout 2009.

"The Telefonica and Microsoft joint unified communications services will allow corporations to respond better to critical situations, improve collaboration among professionals and work groups, and help reduce costs and simplify tasks," said Javier Aguilera, general manager for Large Enterprises at Telefonica Espana.

Nortel is the first partner who has completed integration of HMC 4.5, and a number of additional partners are working to enhance the platform, including BroadSoft Inc., Ensim Corp., ExtendASP, implement.com Corp., Parallels, Planet Technologies and Sylantro Systems Corp. These partners have built extended solutions, which range from delivering advanced voice capabilities to empowering end customers with hosting automation tools, as well as developing consulting practices for deployments, upgrades and further customization.

At NXTcomm08, Microsoft will showcase business services including unified communications powered by Microsoft and Nortel based on the HMC 4.5 and Nortel CS 2000, an Internet Protocol multimedia softswitch. This demonstration also incorporates Microsoft RoundTable and Microsoft Office Live Meeting, which provide the ability to communicate virtually anytime, anywhere and on any device. Consumer services include Comverse Visual Voicemail integrated with Microsoft Mediaroom, which enables customers to use the remote control to access voicemails through the TV.

Also announced today, Concentric and Microsoft launched new hosted e-mail service offerings for SMBs. Concentric, a large-scale e-mail service provider, is deploying Microsoft Hosted Exchange to expand its product offering by combining the productivity benefits of Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook with its easy-to-use Web hosting services.

Service Delivery

At NXTcomm08, Microsoft will also highlight its service delivery platform, Microsoft Connected Services Framework, and its customer care offerings including Microsoft Customer Care Framework and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which, combined, allow service providers to quickly and cost-effectively develop, deploy and manage new services. Additional demonstrations will showcase Microsoft's architecture for services syndication, and Microsoft Visual Studio with its suite of development tools for the creation of new types of services, including managed network mash-ups that combine traditional telecommunications services with Web services.

Microsoft's exhibit will also feature its development environment, Connected Services Sandbox, including a number of partners that have created new services in the Sandbox, including Artilium Plc, Schakra Inc. and Tech Mahindra. To further promote innovation in service creation for telecommunications providers, Microsoft recently announced the Connected Services Accelerator Program, a series of projects that uses the Sandbox to incubate, and ultimately commercialize, new types of consumer, business and mobile services through collaboration with independent software vendors, developers and partners. Microsoft will collaborate with SingTel on the program's first project, the Mobile Connected Services Accelerator, to develop a new, cutting-edge mobile application for a vertical industry.

Microsoft continues to build a thriving partner ecosystem, providing new levels of guidance, resources and support for the Sandbox. Nearly 30 premium partners have joined the Sandbox since February, including industry leaders such as Avanade, Logica, MetraTech Corp., SingTel and Wipro Ltd., which bring functionality ranging from location services and network management to billing. When combined with third-party services that also have been added to the Sandbox, such as Geocoder, ClearForest Sematic Web, Urban Dictionary, Microsoft MapPoint or LyricWiki, the partner portfolio now offers unparalleled potential for innovative new services.

Microsoft Participation at NXTcomm08

Microsoft executives will participate in the following educational sessions at the conference:

Tuesday, June 17 -- 1 p.m. -- ATIS TechThink 2008 conference, "Full-Scale Convergence: What Does It Look Like and How Do We Get There," Steve Zimba, managing director for Microsoft's Global Telecom Business -- 1 p.m. -- ATIS TechThink 2008 conference, "IPTV Implemented and Deployed - Now What," Edwin Lau, group product manager for Microsoft Mediaroom -- 4 p.m. -- IEC Communications Forums, "An SDP for the Telco 2.0 World," Steve Zimba, managing director for Microsoft's Global Telecom Business Wednesday, June 18, 2008 -- 10:55 a.m. -- NXTcomm Programming, "Connected TV - Why TV Is Joining the Internet Revolution," Christine Heckart, general manager of marketing for Microsoft Mediaroom -- 1 p.m. -- IEC Communications Forums, "Converged TV: Delivering Rich TV and Video Experiences on a Converged Platform," Edwin Lau, group product manager for Microsoft Mediaroom -- 2:30 p.m. -- IEC Communications Forums, "New Service Launches: Service Provider Lessons Learned," Derek Turner, senior product manager for Microsoft Mediaroom

Attendees who want additional information can visit Microsoft in booths SL5916 and SL5923 at NXTcomm08.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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CONTACT: United States: Heather Schwenk, +1-425-452-5472,
hschwenk@webershandwick.com; Europe, the Middle East and Africa: Robin Clark,
+44 20 7067 0522, rclark@webershandwick.com; Asia Pacific: Marie Loh,
+65 6825 8026, mloh@webershandwick.com, all of Weber Shandwick for Microsoft
Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/

Microsoft and Nortel Make Unified Communications Available to Businesses EverywhereNortel delivers first integration with Microsoft's carrier-hosted HMC 4.5 unified communications solution.

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at NXTcomm08, Microsoft Corp. and Nortel announced a fully hosted carrier solution that delivers a unified communications experience to small and midsize businesses (SMBs), extending benefits previously available only to large enterprises. The hosted solution is based on the Nortel Communications Server 2000 (CS 2000), an Internet Protocol multimedia softswitch, and the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Version 4.5 (HMC 4.5), which comprises hosted versions of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Nortel is delivering the first integration with HMC 4.5 to help manage real-time communications and deliver a unified messaging experience. In addition, to help carriers simplify and accelerate deployment, Nortel's Global Services portfolio provides a comprehensive suite of integration and end-user services to complete the end-to-end solution.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

By combining the carrier-grade CS 2000 with HMC 4.5, service providers can offer SMBs new, powerful unified communications that combine real-time communications, such as voice, with Microsoft's collaboration services, such as click-to-call, click-to-conference, missed call e-mail messages, mobility and telephony presence. These features all work seamlessly with the Microsoft Office portfolio and the Microsoft Office Communicator client to bring a unique experience to the end user. This new solution also allows SMBs to benefit from unified communications without having to purchase, install, manage and maintain additional network infrastructure and complex in-house systems, enabling them to save operational costs and increase productivity.

"Unified communications is a strategic purchase that, up until today, has been leveraged primarily by the large enterprise," said Ruchi Prasad, vice president and general manager of the Innovative Communications Alliance at Nortel. "This enhanced joint Microsoft and Nortel solution makes unified communications accessible to businesses of all sizes. For service providers, this solution offers new revenue opportunities and the ability to expand their addressable market and deliver higher-value application and service bundles to their customers."

"We are currently seeing strong interest in the hosted unified communications solution among our service provider customers," said Steve Zimba, managing director, Global Telecom Business, Microsoft. "The fully hosted unified communications solution provides opportunities for increased revenue and helps service providers deliver the connected work style to SMBs, providing the ability to communicate virtually anytime, anywhere and on any device."

At NXTcomm08, Microsoft and Nortel will showcase the hosted unified communications solution and demonstrate its value in enhancing business agility. NXTcomm08 attendees can obtain additional information by visiting the Microsoft booths SL5916 and SL5923 and the Nortel booth SL3516. Additional information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/nxtcomm08.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at http://www.nortel.com/. For the latest Nortel news, visit http://www.nortel.com/news.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Miranda MacDonald of Nortel, +1-905-863-1098,
mirandam@nortel.com; or United States: Heather Schwenk, +1-425-452-5472,
hschwenk@webershandwick.com, Europe, the Middle East and Africa:
Robin Clark, +44 20 7067 0522, rclark@webershandwick.com, Asia Pacific:
Marie Loh, +65 6825 8026, mloh@webershandwick.com, all of Weber Shandwick for
Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.nortel.com/

Microsoft to Showcase Innovative Solutions for Health Plans at AHIP Institute 2008Microsoft demonstrates new technology for health plans aimed at increasing customer satisfaction and driving new business opportunities.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

What: At America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Institute 2008, Microsoft Corp. will showcase new solutions designed for the health plans industry, such as the following: o Driving business performance with Microsoft Office Business Applications (OBAs) -- Health plans are challenged with costly paper and manual processes when responding to proposals. Microsoft will highlight a demo titled Automating the Request for Proposal (RFP) Process, an OBA designed to eliminate "people as middleware" between productivity and line-of-business applications. o Improving customer experience with Microsoft unified communications -- Microsoft's unified communications suite enables health plans to offer chat-based conversations with their members, conducted virtually or with a live agent, allowing consumers to communicate using their own words. Microsoft will demonstrate how this can help improve first call resolution rates and shorten average call and hold times, resulting in a quick return on investment. o Accelerate innovation and process improvement with Microsoft Office Visio -- Health plan business managers can significantly accelerate innovation by reducing the complexity and cost of analyzing and improving business and care processes. This demonstration will feature a simple, Office Visio-based tool that empowers everyday business managers to easily and quickly make informed decisions to help improve the processes most likely to improve quality and the bottom line. When: June 18-20, 2008 Where: Moscone Center West Microsoft Booth No. 525 747 Howard St. San Francisco Who: o Paul Mattes, managing director, Microsoft U.S. Health and Life Sciences o Dennis Schmuland, U.S. health plans industry solutions director, Microsoft U.S. Health and Life Sciences o Hector Rodriguez, U.S. health plans industry technology strategist, Microsoft U.S. Health and Life Sciences Other Info: o "Process Innovation to Improve Your Bottom Line" -- This breakout session will explain how Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield was able to standardize processes across its fragmented ecosystem, resulting in significant cost savings and improved customer satisfaction and employee morale. Learn how the 2007 Microsoft Office system helped Highmark realize immediate cost savings of 10 percent within its disability claims division and an additional savings opportunity of 40 percent. -- Thursday, June 19, 4:45-5:45 p.m. PDT Moscone Center West, third floor, Room 3006 More Info: Additional information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/healthplans. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

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PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Ted Ladd of Microsoft Corp., +1-646-225-4722,
tedladd@microsoft.com; or Caitlin McCabe of Ruder Finn, +1-646-220-2261,
mccabec@ruderfinn.com, for Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/

McClatchy Reports May 2008 Revenues

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The McClatchy Company today reported that consolidated revenues in May 2008 decreased 15.1% and advertising revenues were down 16.6% compared to revenues in May 2007. The Company noted that the declines in print advertising were partially offset by a 12.9% gain in online advertising revenues in May 2008 compared to May 2007. For the first five months of the year, total revenues declined 14.2% and advertising revenues declined 15.4%. Online advertising grew 11.9% in the first five months of 2008.

Advertising revenue performance at the company's newspapers is summarized in McClatchy's statistical report that follows.

About McClatchy

The McClatchy Company is the third largest newspaper company in the United States, with 30 daily newspapers, approximately 50 non-dailies, and direct marketing and direct mail operations. McClatchy also operates leading local websites in each of its markets which extend its audience reach. The websites offer users comprehensive news and information, advertising, e-commerce and other services. Together with its newspapers and direct marketing products, these interactive operations make McClatchy the leading local media company in each of its premium high growth markets. McClatchy-owned newspapers include The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer.

McClatchy also owns a portfolio of premium digital assets, including 14.4% of CareerBuilder, the nation's largest online job site, and 25.6% of Classified Ventures, a newspaper industry partnership that offers two of the nation's premier classified websites: the auto website, cars.com, and the rental site, apartments.com. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.

Additional Information:

Statements in this press release regarding future financial and operating results, including revenues, operating expenses, cash flows, debt levels, as well as future opportunities for the company and any other statements about management's future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," estimates and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: the duration and depth of an economic recession in markets where McClatchy operates its newspapers may reduce its income and cash flow greater than expected; McClatchy may not consummate contemplated transactions which may enable debt reduction on anticipated terms or at all; McClatchy may not achieve its expense reduction targets or may do harm to its operations in attempting to achieve such targets; McClatchy's operations have been, and will likely continue to be, adversely affected by competition, including competition from internet publishing and advertising platforms; McClatchy's expense and income levels could be adversely affected by changes in the cost of newsprint and McClatchy's operations could be negatively affected by any deterioration in its labor relations, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's publicly filed documents, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2007, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. McClatchy disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this release.

***The McClatchy Company*** Consolidated Statistical Report (In thousands, except for preprints) May Combined Revenues - Net: 2008 2007 % Change Advertising Retail $61,200 $67,047 -8.7% National 11,914 14,287 -16.6% Classified Total 41,867 57,644 -27.4% Automotive 11,868 14,017 -15.3% Real Estate 10,127 16,398 -38.2% Employment 12,379 20,211 -38.8% Other 7,493 7,018 6.8% Direct Marketing 12,509 13,846 -9.7% Other Advertising 113 170 -33.5% Total Advertising $127,603 $152,994 -16.6% Circulation 20,376 21,460 -5.1% Other 5,090 5,840 -12.8% Total Revenues $153,069 $180,294 -15.1% Advertising Revenues by Market: California $22,292 $29,146 -23.5% Florida 19,733 23,680 -16.7% Texas 13,597 15,922 -14.6% Southeast 37,274 43,711 -14.7% Midwest 19,711 21,958 -10.2% Northwest 14,856 18,311 -18.9% Other 140 266 -47.4% Total Advertising $127,603 $152,994 -16.6% May Print Only Revenues - Net: 2008 2007 % Change Advertising Retail $57,540 $64,800 -11.2% National 10,446 13,653 -23.5% Classified Total 31,548 46,844 -32.7% Automotive 9,060 12,026 -24.7% Real Estate 8,711 15,165 -42.6% Employment 7,012 13,172 -46.8% Other 6,765 6,481 4.4% Direct Marketing 12,509 13,846 -9.7% Other Advertising 113 170 -33.5% Total Advertising $112,156 $139,313 -19.5% Advertising Revenues by Market: California $19,856 $27,055 -26.6% Florida 17,604 22,094 -20.3% Texas 12,273 14,631 -16.1% Southeast 32,269 38,946 -17.1% Midwest 16,965 19,816 -14.4% Northwest 13,189 16,386 -19.5% Other 0 385 -100.0% Total Advertising $112,156 $139,313 -19.5% Advertising Statistics for Dailies: Full Run ROP Linage 2,236.9 2,659.0 -15.9% Millions of Preprints Distributed 471.6 527.1 -10.5% Average Paid Circulation:* Daily 2,651.9 2,751.0 -3.6% Sunday 3,224.0 3,340.0 -3.5% * Reflects average paid circulation based upon number of days in period. Does not reflect ABC reported figures. May Online Only Revenues - Net: 2008 2007 % Change Advertising Retail $3,660 $2,247 62.9% National 1,468 634 131.5% Classified Total 10,319 10,800 -4.5% Automotive 2,808 1,991 41.0% Real Estate 1,416 1,233 14.8% Employment 5,367 7,039 -23.8% Other 728 537 35.6% Direct Marketing Other Advertising Total Advertising $15,447 $13,681 12.9% Advertising Revenues by Market: California $2,436 $2,093 16.4% Florida 2,129 1,584 34.4% Texas 1,324 1,291 2.6% Southeast 5,005 4,765 5.0% Midwest 2,746 2,142 28.2% Northwest 1,667 1,925 -13.4% Other 140 (119) -217.6% Total Advertising $15,447 $13,681 12.9% ***The McClatchy Company*** Consolidated Statistical Report (In thousands, except for preprints) May Year-to-Date Combined Revenues - Net: 2008 2007 % Change Advertising Retail $330,539 $354,095 -6.7% National 64,054 76,580 -16.4% Classified Total 234,999 319,378 -26.4% Automotive 60,434 72,202 -16.3% Real Estate 59,631 93,274 -36.1% Employment 75,032 116,445 -35.6% Other 39,902 37,457 6.5% Direct Marketing 61,073 66,723 -8.5% Other Advertising 692 780 -11.3% Total Advertising $691,357 $817,556 -15.4% Circulation 114,107 120,475 -5.3% Other 28,119 33,963 -17.2% Total Revenues $833,583 $971,994 -14.2% Advertising Revenues by Market: California $121,636 $157,253 -22.6% Florida 104,349 134,202 -22.2% Texas 76,294 83,862 -9.0% Southeast 202,722 229,983 -11.9% Midwest 106,065 116,726 -9.1% Northwest 79,639 92,993 -14.4% Other 652 2,537 -74.3% Total Advertising $691,357 $817,556 -15.4% May Year-to-Date Print Only Revenues - Net: 2008 2007 % Change Advertising Retail $312,624 $343,870 -9.1% National 57,421 74,056 -22.5% Classified Total 180,999 261,903 -30.9% Automotive 47,026 62,499 -24.8% Real Estate 52,562 86,989 -39.6% Employment 45,304 77,619 -41.6% Other 36,107 34,796 3.8% Direct Marketing 61,073 66,723 -8.5% Other Advertising 692 780 -11.3% Total Advertising $612,809 $747,332 -18.0% Advertising Revenues by Market: California $109,310 $146,254 -25.3% Florida 93,618 124,876 -25.0% Texas 69,456 78,133 -11.1% Southeast 177,224 206,488 -14.2% Midwest 92,889 105,782 -12.2% Northwest 70,312 83,683 -16.0% Other 0 2,116 -100.0% Total Advertising $612,809 $747,332 -18.0% Advertising Statistics for Dailies: Full Run ROP Linage 11,959.8 13,874.8 -13.8% Millions of Preprints Distributed 2,609.4 2,824.1 -7.6% Average Paid Circulation:* Daily 2,701.5 2,806.1 -3.7% Sunday 3,304.2 3,441.1 -4.0% * Reflects average paid circulation based upon number of days in period. Does not reflect ABC reported figures. May Year-to-Date Online Only Revenues - Net: 2008 2007 % Change Advertising Retail $17,915 $10,225 75.2% National 6,633 2,524 162.8% Classified Total 54,000 57,475 -6.0% Automotive 13,408 9,703 38.2% Real Estate 7,069 6,285 12.5% Employment 29,728 38,826 -23.4% Other 3,795 2,661 42.6% Direct Marketing Other Advertising Total Advertising $78,548 $70,224 11.9% Advertising Revenues by Market: California $12,326 $10,999 12.1% Florida 10,731 9,326 15.1% Texas 6,838 5,729 19.4% Southeast 25,498 23,495 8.5% Midwest 13,176 10,944 20.4% Northwest 9,327 9,310 0.2% Other 652 421 54.9% Total Advertising $78,548 $70,224 11.9%

The McClatchy Company

CONTACT: Elaine Lintecum of The McClatchy Company, +1-916-321-1846,
elintecum@mcclatchy.com

Web site: http://www.mcclatchy.com/

Bull acquiert CSB Consulting, société de services belgo luxembourgeoise et renforce sa dynamique de croissance dans les services informatiques

BRUXELLES, June 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Bull confirme son ambition de leader européen des technologies de l'information

- Bull accroît sa présence en Belgique et au Luxembourg et auprès des Institutions européennes

Bull annonce l'acquisition de CSB Consulting, société de services informatiques présente en Belgique et au Luxembourg, spécialisée dans les offres de services informatiques à valeur ajoutée (consultance, gestion d'infrastructures, gestion de projets).

Confortant la croissance de Bull dans les services informatiques, cette acquisition reflète l'ambition du Groupe, et celle de sa filiale belge, à asseoir sa position de fournisseur de services informatiques auprès des Institutions européennes et des secteurs public et bancaire en Belgique comme au Luxembourg.

Créée en 1999, CSB Consulting compte un effectif de 150 personnes et a réalisé un chiffre d'affaires de 10,4 millions d'Euros au cours de l'exercice 2007.

Pour William Van Malderen, Directeur Général de Bull Belgique et Luxembourg : " L'acquisition de CSB Consulting marque une étape très importante pour notre développement. Elle nous donne une taille significative tant en Belgique qu'au Luxembourg avec pas moins de 300 collaborateurs et experts, garantie de notre capacité à développer les plus grands projets. Nous travaillons de longue date avec CSB Consulting et notre très bonne collaboration est un gage supplémentaire de cette capacité. >>

Renforçant son activité dans les services informatiques, Bull Belgique et CSB Consulting conjuguent également leurs talents dans les domaines de :

- la gestion de grands projets (Intégration de Systèmes),

- les solutions Open Source,

- la sécurité,

- les services professionnels.

Par ses compétences, CSB Consulting ouvre de nouveaux marchés à Bull en particulier dans les domaines de la gestion des réseaux, des infrastructures, des bases de données et du développement tant en Belgique qu'au Luxembourg.

Ilias Casabalis et Manuel Pallage, respectivement Administrateur Délégué et Directeur Général de CSB Consulting, confirment cet enthousiasme : "Nous sommes très satisfaits par ce rapprochement car il est porteur de synergies et de complémentarités qui vont nous permettre d'accélérer notre croissance. Nous nous réjouissons de rejoindre un Groupe dont la stratégie est en ligne avec nos expertises."

A propos de Bull, architecte d'un monde ouvert

Expert des systèmes d'information ouverts, flexibles et sécurisés, Bull est l'un des premiers acteurs informatiques européens. Le Groupe accompagne les grandes entreprises et les administrations dans la transformation de leur système d'information en leur apportant son expérience et son savoir-faire dans trois domaines fondamentaux :

- serveurs ouverts, robustes et performants basés sur des technologies standard, bénéficiant de son savoir-faire historique dans le domaine des grands serveurs d'entreprise ;

- infrastructures applicatives flexibles et communicantes, grâce à ses alliances avec les principaux éditeurs et son engagement de longue date dans les logiciels libres ;

- sécurité de bout en bout des échanges et des données pour préserver la souveraineté de ses clients.

Bull est particulièrement présent dans le secteur public, la santé, la finance, les télécommunications, l'industrie et la défense. Son réseau de distribution et de partenaires s'étend sur plus de 60 pays.

Pour plus d'informations : http://www.bull.fr

Contacts presse :

Bull - Anne Marie Jourdain - Tel : +33-(0)1-30-80-32-52 - anne-marie.jourdain@bull.net

Financial Dynamics - Elodie Marchand / Tiphaine Bannelier - Tel. +33-(0)1-47-03-68-10 - elodie.marchand@fd.com / tiphaine.bannelier@fd.com

Bull

Contacts presse : Bull - Anne Marie Jourdain - Tel : +33-(0)1-30-80-32-52 - anne-marie.jourdain@bull.net. Financial Dynamics - Elodie Marchand / Tiphaine Bannelier - Tel. +33-(0)1-47-03-68-10 - elodie.marchand@fd.com / tiphaine.bannelier@fd.com

Harris Corporation's Falcon Watch Remote Surveillance System Chosen for Royal Netherlands Air Force Program; Contract Awarded by Netherlands Defence Materiel OrganizationWireless Sensors, Remote Imagers and Live Video Provide Force Protection and Perimeter Security for Air Force Bases in Afghanistan

PARIS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (Eurosatory Booth H200a) -- Harris Corporation , an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a contract to supply the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) with Falcon Watch(R) Remote Surveillance Systems to provide force protection and perimeter security for forward operating bases in Afghanistan. The acquisition is part of the RNLAF's Transportable Intrusion Detection Systems (TIDS) program.

Under terms of the contract, Harris will provide networked systems consisting of the Falcon Watch RF-5400V-SR Falcon II(R) Ground Sensor and the Falcon Watch RF-5408-RI Remote Imager. The systems are designed to provide sensor alarms along with related imagery and video feeds to enable real-time response to intrusions or other threats. Information and imagery are transmitted to commanders and deployed forces through the system's Falcon II tactical radio communication backbone.

Two types of imaging capability are included with the RNLAF system. Remotely deployable thermal and visible light cameras, cued by sensors, provide visibility into terrain features such as washes or ridge lines. These terrain features can provide cover for possible attackers on operating bases. Thermal and visible light cameras with pan-tilt-zoom capability are mounted within operating bases to focus on a particular area based on information received from the ground sensors. The system includes NightStalkIR(TM) live video surveillance camera systems provided by Harris partner IEC Infrared of Cleveland, Ohio.

Utilizing low power consumption to maximize operational life, the Falcon Watch networked sensors are easily adjusted after deployment via the Falcon Watch RF-5410 Sensor Management Application. The sensors provide a flexible interface for seismic, infrared and acoustic detection devices, fence monitoring devices and other sensor inputs. Military grade encryption is provided to secure the sensor and imager communication.

"The Falcon Watch Remote Surveillance System is a flexible and quickly deployable system that offers an integrated solution of intelligent sensors, fixed and deployable imagers, robust communications and advanced reporting protocols, which enable sensor data to feed directly into military radio networks in real time," said Ed Lockwood, vice president of sales, Harris International Government Systems. "The system will provide the RNLAF with state-of-the-art force protection and security for forward positions in difficult terrain. Falcon Watch will make the area around forward operating bases safer and more secure."

Harris RF Communications Division is the leading supplier of secure voice and data communications products, systems and networks to military, government and commercial organizations worldwide.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of more than $5 billion and 16,000 employees -- including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications(R) products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at http://www.harris.com/ .

Harris Corporation

CONTACT: Kevin Aman, RF Communications, +1-585-241-8186,
Kevin.Aman@harris.com, or Jim Burke, Corporate Headquarters, +1-321-727-9131,
Jim.Burke@harris.com, both of Harris Corporation

Web site: http://www.harris.com/

Novell Delivers Optimized SUSE Linux Enterprise Performance for VMware EnvironmentsSUSE Linux Enterprise kernel now available with support for the VMware Virtual Machine Interface (VMI)

WALTHAM, Mass., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Novell(R) announced today it is collaborating with VMware to improve Linux performance in VMware environments by incorporating support for the VMware Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) into the SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise kernel. Demonstrating their commitment to provide open interoperability and optimization for virtualized environments, the companies have worked together to optimize SUSE Linux Enterprise for the VMware platform.

"Customers are looking to interchangeably deploy their server operating systems and their related workloads on both physical and virtual servers," said Al Gillen, research vice president, System Software at IDC. "The goal of any hypervisor is to deliver the flexibility of virtualization accompanied by the performance delivered by a physical deployment. This joint effort directly addresses those requirements for SUSE Linux Enterprise customers."

Announced at VMworld in September 2007, the enhancements have been in development for the past nine months, and the code was released as part of SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2 in May 2008.

Improved Performance

As part of this collaboration, Novell has modified the SUSE Linux Enterprise kernel to support the VMware Virtual Machine Interface (VMI), a communication mechanism between the guest operating system and hypervisor that simplifies the task of virtualization. Adding VMI patches to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server improves its efficiency as a virtualized operating system when running on VMI-compliant infrastructure and offers better interoperability by allowing the same kernel to run on physical machines. This simplifies virtualization and makes SUSE Linux Enterprise Server a more efficient guest operating system when running on VMI-compliant hypervisors.

"VMware is pleased to be working with Novell to further increase the benefits of running SUSE Linux Enterprise on VMware Infrastructure," said Parag Patel, vice president, Alliances at VMware. "Performance is an important attribute for customers when virtualizing their Linux systems. Working with Novell brings the benefits of virtualization such as reduced costs, improved operational efficiencies and faster performance, to customers running SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2."

Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager for Open Platform Solutions at Novell, said, "Our collaboration with VMware deepens the business relationship between our companies, ensuring customers have the choice to run SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with optimal performance in physical or virtual environments. This is an important step forward in Novell's continued commitment to deliver the best engineered and most interoperable Linux platform for mission-critical computing from the desktop to the data center."

For more information about Linux virtualization with Novell, or to download the VMI-enabled SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 software, visit http://www.novell.com/linux.

About Novell

Novell, Inc. delivers the best engineered, most interoperable Linux* platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management software that helps customers around the world reduce cost, complexity and risk. With our infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell harmoniously integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technology to work as one. For more information, visit http://www.novell.com/.

Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Novell

CONTACT: Charlotte Betterley of Novell, +1-781-464-8253,
cbetterley@novell.com; or Rebecca Paquette of SHIFT Communications,
+1-617-779-1825, rpaquette@shiftcomm.com

Web site: http://www.novell.com/

Microsoft Introduces First Embedded Operating System Optimized Specifically for Portable Navigation Device (PND) ManufacturersWindows Embedded NavReady 2009 provides a platform enabling original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to quickly build next-generation connected PNDs.

REDMOND, Wash., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of Windows Embedded NavReady 2009, Microsoft's first embedded operating system designed specifically for OEMs building handheld portable navigation devices (PNDs). Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 delivers innovative technologies to help developers and OEMs quickly bring to market smart, connected, service-oriented PNDs that easily connect to online services, mobile phones using Bluetooth, Windows-based PCs and the Internet. Based on Windows Embedded CE, Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 builds upon a decade of experience and success that the Windows Embedded Business has achieved by helping developers and OEMs simplify the development, user experience and maintenance of their PND designs.

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"As demand for personal navigation devices continues to increase, and existing owners look to upgrade from their original devices, original equipment manufacturers must continue to innovate and enhance their products with features that will attract a variety of users," said Chris Jones, Canalys vice president and principal analyst. "Personal navigation solutions will increasingly become connected, which will open up new opportunities to add value through the delivery of dynamic information and location-based services. But this is a highly competitive market and it is important that businesses like Windows Embedded help OEMs and others bring these rich devices to market quickly and efficiently."

Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 Key Features

This release also provides a number of benefits that can help developers and OEMs quickly bring to market new scenarios in which the PND connects to other devices and online services. Features include the following:

* Live Search delivers OEMs and partners key elements enabling Internet- based Live Search on devices to find up-to-date points of interest similar to the ones provided by the Live Search Maps service. * Bluetooth technologies enable OEMs to provide rich, hands-free scenarios to users with the following profiles: Hands Free, Pairing Service, Phone Book Access, Advanced Audio Distribution, Audio and Video Remote Control, Dial Up Networking and Bluetooth Connection Manager. Users will be able to use their PND device as a hands-free device to make phone calls or data connections when the device is paired with a compatible phone enabled with Bluetooth. * MSN Direct enables OEMs to incorporate MSN Direct technologies. These technologies can reduce users' commute time while enhancing the travel experience by providing up-to-date information such as traffic alerts and fuel prices. * Windows SideShow functionality helps enable the PND as a secondary display screen for many Windows Vista-based PCs*, allowing Windows SideShow gadgets to interact and exchange information with the PND and providing a rich user experience at home or work.

"As a leading designer and manufacturer of portable navigation devices we have relied on Windows Embedded CE as a proven real-time operating system for our Mio product line," said Samuel Wang, president of Mio Technology Corp. "With the launch of Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 and the introduction of features including Live Search, MSN Direct and Bluetooth capabilities, we are looking forward to bringing our next-generation PNDs to market with a richer end-user experience and in a reduced timeframe."

"Windows Embedded powers many of the portable navigation devices in the marketplace," said Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows Embedded Business at Microsoft. "Our commitment to this segment has always been about providing the platform and tools that give our OEM partners the most innovative technologies while reducing the complexity of development. We firmly believe the release of Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 helps us fulfill this promise by taking the PND experience to the next level. Adopting Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 today will allow device-makers and solution providers to focus on innovation while bringing smart, connected, service-oriented portable navigation devices to market in time for the 2008 holiday retail season and beyond."

With the addition of the Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 solution, Windows Embedded now presents two device category-specific offerings: Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady. Windows Embedded POSReady, the next generation of Windows Embedded for Point of Service, is scheduled to ship in 2009.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Works with Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate.

To download the Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 technologies: http://www.windowsembedded.com/NavReady

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Rebecca Beyer of Weber Shandwick, +1-212-445-8463,
rbeyer@webershandwick.com, for Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/

Concentric and Microsoft Launch Hosted E-Mail Service for SMEsConcentric expands its product offerings with Microsoft Hosted Exchange.

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at NXTcomm08, Microsoft Corp. and Concentric announced new hosted e-mail service offerings for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Concentric, a large-scale e-mail service provider, is deploying Microsoft Hosted Exchange to combine the productivity benefits of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook with its enterprise-class applications hosting platform.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

Concentric will market the new services to its existing customers as an additional e-mail option as well as to new customers as a stand-alone or packaged Exchange solution. Concentric's business customers will be able to add Hosted Exchange mailboxes to their Concentric account and easily manage all Hosted Exchange services and add-ons via a single convenient online control panel and have access to Concentric Customer Support and Professional Services.

Many SMEs have not yet been able to benefit from the productivity gains offered through Microsoft Exchange and Outlook because of high startup costs for purchasing hardware and software, as well as the need to hire technical staff to manage and operate e-mail servers. Concentric's Hosted Exchange service enables productivity gains, platform reliability and security features, and support at affordable prices with no startup costs. With Outlook Web Access also available, the solution fits closely with Concentric's target market of online, mobile businesses. In addition, access to e-mail via Windows Mobile-based devices using built-in Microsoft ActiveSync makes this service a rich enhancement to Concentric's product suite.

"Our long history of providing security-enhanced and reliable e-mail solutions enables us to deliver Microsoft's industry-leading messaging and collaboration software on one of the most secure and reliable applications hosting platforms available today," said Barbara Branaman, president at Concentric. "SMEs can now enjoy the same level of functionality that large enterprises have, with the added productivity gains from the robust collaboration tools in Hosted Exchange. And if an SME needs additional assistance, our Professional Services team serves as a 'pay-as-you-go' IT department."

"There are more than 30 million SMEs in the U.S., according to the U.S. Small Business Administration and Internal Revenue Service," said Martha Bejar, corporate vice president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "The SME market is moving toward hosted IT solutions to decrease costs and increase security, reliability and employee productivity. With more than 10 years as a reliable provider of e-mail and Web hosting services, the addition of Microsoft Hosted Exchange is a natural fit for Concentric as it helps round out the company's offerings for SMEs."

Concentric is offering four Hosted Exchange mailbox types, and customers can mix and match mailbox types depending on their specific requirements.

-- Web Exchange. Web Exchange is an affordable offering that provides Microsoft Exchange features via the browser-based Outlook Web Access for $7.95 per user, per month. Other features include global address list, group calendars, tasks and task delegation, public folders, junk e-mail and virus filtering, and e-mail aliases. -- Exchange Value. Exchange Value includes all the features listed above plus a full Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) Exchange mailbox with Microsoft Outlook integration and offline address book for $9.95 per user, per month. -- Exchange Professional. Exchange Professional includes all the features in Exchange Value with 1 GB of mail storage space per user for $13.95 per user, per month. -- Exchange Executive. Exchange Executive includes all the features in Exchange Professional plus free premium junk e-mail filter and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access, and 2 GB of mail storage space per user for $19.95 per user, per month (a savings of $2.95 per month).

The Concentric Hosted Exchange e-mail packages will be available starting July 15, 2008. More information can be found at http://www.concentric.com/hosted_exchange.php.

About Concentric

Concentric, founded in 1997, is a business unit of XO Communications. Concentric provides enterprise-class hosted applications, including Web site hosting, business email, corporate domain management and perimeter email protection. Concentric delivers superior performance, reliability, and security and is the only Web hosting service to hold a patent for its Clustered Hosting architecture. Concentric accounts are backed by a three month Satisfaction Guarantee, 24x7 customer support, and a 99.9% SLA. For more information, visit http://www.concentric.com/ or call (866) 500-9696.

About XO Communications

XO Communications, a subsidiary of XO Holdings, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: XOHO) , is a leading provider of 21st century communications services for businesses and communications services providers, including 50 percent of the Fortune 500 and leading cable companies, carriers, content providers, and mobile operators. Utilizing its unique and powerful nationwide IP network and extensive local metro networks and broadband wireless facilities, XO offers customers a broad range of managed voice, data and IP services in 75 metropolitan markets across the United States. For more information, visit http://www.xo.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Donna Michaels of Loughlin Michaels Group, +1-408-370-5225,
donna@lmgpr.com, for Concentric; or United States, Heather Schwenk,
+1-425-452-5472, hschwenk@webershandwick.com, or Europe, the Middle East and
Africa, Robin Clark , +44 20 7067 0522, rclark@webershandwick.com, or Asia
Pacific, Marie Loh, +65 6825 8026, mloh@webershandwick.com, all of Weber
Shandwick, for Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.concentric.com/
http://www.xo.com/

Updated Microsoft Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Solution Gives Service Providers Expanded Business Communication Services to Attract SMBsLatest version adds voice and webconferencing capabilities; partners broaden solution with unified communications services and hosting automation tools.

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at NXTcomm08, Microsoft Corp. announced the general availability of Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration (HMC) Version 4.5, offering service providers a robust platform to deliver integrated, streamlined communications services to small and midsize businesses (SMBs). The latest version adds new services enabled by Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, providing enhanced collaboration and presence functionality by integrating contact information with the various ways people communicate. In addition, Microsoft partners, including network equipment providers, independent software vendors and systems integrators, have built solutions extending the HMC 4.5 platform. These range from delivering advanced voice capabilities to empowering end customers with hosting automation tools, as well as developing consulting practices for solution deployments, upgrades and further customization.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

With support for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, HMC 4.5 facilitates real-time communications and delivers a unified messaging experience. In addition to the integration of e-mail, fax and telephony into the PC desktop, mobile devices and Web access, HMC 4.5 also enables new voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) capabilities, including PC-to-PC calling and webconferencing. As companies are increasingly relying on mobile and remote workers, these new services offer workers the same voice and data communications they would have if they were in the office.

In addition, HMC 4.5 takes advantage of the recently launched Windows Server 2008 operating system with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) to provide new virtualization capabilities and security enhancements. With these capabilities, service providers can realize improved resource utilization and have a reliable platform for an optimized datacenter deployment.

"Service providers today need a robust platform that they can reliably scale to deliver new services, support customers and manage costs," said Steve Zimba, managing director of the Global Telecom Business at Microsoft. "Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Version 4.5 addresses these requirements and allows service providers to differentiate their offerings by creating service bundles, offering private-label solutions for the broader IT channel, and creating targeted, customized solutions."

Partners Extend Opportunities with HMC 4.5

A number of partners are currently working to build additional applications on the HMC 4.5 platform, including Nortel, BroadSoft Inc. and Sylantro Systems Corp. Nortel has combined HMC 4.5 with its Communications Server 2000 Internet Protocol multimedia softswitch to deliver a new, powerful unified communications solution offering real-time communications, such as PC- to-PSTN calling, with Microsoft's collaboration services, such as click-to- call, click-to-conference, missed-call e-mail messages, mobility and telephony presence. BroadSoft and Sylantro plan to launch similar offerings in late 2008.

In addition, Microsoft partners ExtendASP, Ensim Corp. and Parallels have extended HMC 4.5 to offer management software designed to empower customers and simplify administration tasks with delegated administration, automated provisioning, and device and client configuration.

"At Ensim, our mission is to create software for service providers that allows them to focus on promoting and selling their hosted services rather than operations and development," said Francois Depayras, vice president of marketing and alliances at Ensim. "With HMC 4.5 and its support for Microsoft Office Communications Server, we are excited to further support a broad range of applications that will provide end customers an extensive selection to choose from."

Microsoft has also partnered with consulting companies, such as implement.com Corp. and Planet Technologies, to develop consulting practices to support HMC 4.5. These practices are designed to assist service providers with installation and solution upgrades, and to provide training and documentation services to ensure best practices are followed.

"As a consulting company that specializes in Microsoft technologies, implement.com is ready to work with service providers to roll out HMC 4.5 and help customize it according to their specific functionality requirements," said Steve Schwartz, chief executive officer of implement.com.

NXTcomm08 attendees can obtain additional information by visiting Microsoft booths SL5916 and SL5923. Further details on HMC 4.5 are available at http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/solutions/hostedmessaging.mspx.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: United States, Heather Schwenk, +1-425-452-5472,
hschwenk@webershandwick.com, or Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Robin
Clark, +44 20 7067 0522, rclark@webershandwick.com, or Asia Pacific, Marie
Loh, +65 6825 8026, mloh@webershandwick.com, all of Weber Shandwick, for
Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Announces 2008 Partner of the Year Awards Finalists and WinnersAwards recognize partners' innovative use of Microsoft technology to exceed customer expectations and solve business problems.

REDMOND, Wash., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Recognizing partners that delivered exemplary solutions to customers, Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners and finalists of its 2008 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The awards honor Microsoft Registered, Microsoft Certified and Microsoft Gold Certified partners that delivered exemplary solutions for their customers during the past year. Award winners and finalists were chosen from among nominations from around the world. Winners and finalists will be recognized at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2008, the company's premier annual event for industry partners, being held July 7-10 in Houston.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

More than 2,000 entries were submitted by partners worldwide. The award finalists and winners were selected from a group of nominations based on their dedicated use of Microsoft technologies to provide solutions for their customers' needs.

"The Partner of the Year Awards recognize the incredible innovation and value that Microsoft partners are delivering to our customers," said Allison L. Watson, corporate vice president of the Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft. "The winners and finalists announced today have helped raise the standard for delivery of customer solutions and support. It is a privilege to recognize their work in designing and deploying exemplary customer solutions built on Microsoft technologies."

Categories, winners and finalists appear below. A complete list including category descriptions is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/wwpc/docs/POTY08FS.doc.

Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Active Directory Partner of the Year -- Winner: Oxford Computer Group, United Kingdom -- Finalist: NetPro Computing, United States -- Finalist: Quest Software, United States Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Exchange Migration and Deployment Partner of the Year -- Winner: Compugen, Canada -- Finalist: BrightPlanIT, United States -- Finalist: Janalent, United States Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Hosting Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: groupSPARK, United States -- Finalist: WebCentral, Australia -- Finalist: 7global, United Kingdom Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Storage Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: Compellent Technologies, United States -- Finalist: HP, United States -- Finalist: NetApp, United States Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Systems Management Partner of the Year -- Winner: Dimension Data, Australia -- Finalist: CDW, United States -- Finalist: Getronics, United States Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Windows Desktop Deployment Partner of the Year -- Winner: Getronics, Netherlands -- Finalist: Sogeti, France -- Finalist: 1E, United Kingdom Business Process and Integration Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: EMC, United States -- Finalist: Frends Technology, Finland -- Finalist: Solidsoft, United Kingdom Citizenship Partner of the Year -- Winner: Citrix Systems, United States -- Finalist: Travi@ta, Belgium -- Finalist: PointBridge, United States Custom Development Solutions, Application Infrastructure Development Partner of the Year -- Winner: imason, Canada -- Finalist: T-Systems Enterprise Services, Germany -- Finalist: AVIcode, United States Custom Development Solutions, Smart Client Development Partner of the Year -- Winner: InterKnowlogy, United States -- Finalist: Charteris, United Kingdom -- Finalist: SourceCode -- K2.net Workflow, United States Custom Development Solutions, Web Development Partner of the Year -- Winner: Vertigo Software, United States -- Finalist: TI-M Monterrey, Mexico -- Finalist: Infusion Development, United States Data Management Solutions, Business Intelligence Partner of the Year -- Winner: Information Management Group (IM Group) Ltd., United Kingdom -- Finalist: evidanza, Germany -- Finalist: Satyam Computer Services, India Data Management Solutions, Database Management Partner of the Year -- Winner: Integrated Services, United States -- Finalist: Orion Technology, Canada -- Finalist: Idera (BBS Technologies), United States Distribution Partner of the Year -- Winner: Tech Data Brasil, Brazil -- Finalist: Express Data, Australia -- Finalist: Ingram Micro, United States Enterprise Alliance Partner of the Year -- Winner: Accenture and Avanade, United States -- Finalist: EDS, United States -- Finalist: HP, United States Global ISV Consumer Partner of the Year Special Recognition Award -- Winner: Sonic Solutions, United States -- Finalist: Cewe Color, Germany -- Finalist: Pinnacle Systems, United States Global ISV Infrastructure Partner of the Year Special Recognition Award -- Winner: Citrix Systems, United States -- Finalist: CA Inc., United States -- Finalist: Quest Software, United States Global ISV Line of Business Partner of the Year Special Recognition Award -- Winner: Fiserv Inc., United States -- Finalist: Epicor Software Corp., United States -- Finalist: Open Text, Canada Global ISV Technology Innovation Partner of the Year Special Recognition Award -- Winner: Dassault Systemes, France -- Finalist: Epicor Software Corp., United States -- Finalist: Pitney Bowes Inc., United States Information Worker Solutions, Data Visualization Partner of the Year -- Winner: Idea Integration, United States -- Finalist: Sogeti USA, United States -- Finalist: Visimation, United States Information Worker Solutions, Enterprise Content Management and Forms Partner of the Year -- Winner: LegendCorp, Canada -- Finalist: Dataract, Australia -- Finalist: Concept Interactive, Canada Information Worker Solutions, Enterprise Project Management Partner of the Year -- Winner: EPM Live, United States -- Finalist: AccTech Systems, South Africa -- Finalist: LMR Solutions, United States Information Worker Solutions, Office Deployment Partner of the Year -- Winner: Dimension Data, Australia -- Finalist: Atos Origin, Netherlands -- Finalist: Citrix Systems, United States Information Worker Solutions, Office Solutions Development Partner of the Year -- Winner: Goodsen Technology, South Korea -- Finalist: Fujitsu Consulting, Canada & Navantis, Canada -- Finalist: triomis, Germany Information Worker Solutions, Performance Management Partner of the Year -- Winner: Mariner, United States -- Finalist: TGO Consulting, Canada -- Finalist: Information Systems Partners, South Africa Information Worker Solutions, Portals and Collaboration Partner of the Year -- Winner: Ascentium, United States -- Finalist: Datatel, United States -- Finalist: IMPACT Management, United States Information Worker Solutions, Search Partner of the Year -- Winner: Tam Tam, Netherlands -- Finalist: Beyond IT, Argentina -- Finalist: Getronics (Australia), Australia Information Worker Solutions, Unified Communications Partner of the Year -- Winner: MTS Allstream, Canada -- Finalist: Ensyst, Australia -- Finalist: Siemens IT Solutions and Services International, United States ISV/Software Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: ICONICS, United States -- Finalist: Integrated Solutions, Hong Kong -- Finalist: Mimosa Systems, United States ISV/Software Solutions, Innovation Partner of the Year -- Winner: Verdiem Corp., United States -- Finalist: ImageTag, United States -- Finalist: NewsGator Technologies, United States Learning Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: iSolve Business Solutions, South Africa -- Finalist: Koenig Solutions, India -- Finalist: QuickStart Intelligence (Irvine), United States Licensing Solutions, License Delivery Partner of the Year -- Winner: Bytes Technology Group, United Kingdom -- Finalist: DAQUAS, Czech Republic -- Finalist: Softcat, United Kingdom Licensing Solutions, Software Asset Management Partner of the Year -- Winner: DATALOG Software, Germany -- Finalist: Specialist Computer Centres, United Kingdom -- Finalist: Dell, United States Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner of the Year -- Winner: Fullscope, United States -- Finalist: XAPT Hungary, Hungary -- Finalist: Hitachi Consulting, United States Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner of the Year -- Winner: i5, South Africa -- Finalist: Ascentium, United States -- Finalist: Sonoma Partners, United States Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner of the Year -- Winner: InterDyn -- Socius, United States -- Finalist: BDO Dunwoody, Canada -- Finalist: Touchstone Group, United Kingdom Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partner of the Year -- Winner: Eclipse Computing Australia, Australia -- Finalist: Tectura, Germany -- Finalist: tegos, Germany Microsoft Dynamics Point of Sale Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: Elypsis, United States -- Finalist: Davidson-Richards, United Kingdom -- Finalist: POSitive Technology, United States Microsoft Dynamics SL Partner of the Year -- Winner: Synergy Business Solutions, United States -- Finalist: Strategic Information Solutions, United States -- Finalist: Tribridge, United States Mobility Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: CDC, Russia -- Finalist: Tibco Mobile, France -- Finalist: Trust Digital, United States Networking Infrastructure Solutions Partner of the Year -- Winner: Quadrasystems.net, India -- Finalist: IT Matters, Canada -- Finalist: LPI Level Platforms, Canada OEM Hardware Solutions, Device Manufacturing Partner of the Year -- Winner: Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Germany -- Finalist: GN Netcom, United States -- Finalist: Quintum Technologies, United States OEM Hardware Solutions, System Building Partner of the Year -- Winner: Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Germany -- Finalist: THIRD WAVE, Japan -- Finalist: UNIT.COM, Japan Security Solutions, Identity and Secure Access Partner of the Year -- Winner: Omada, Denmark -- Finalist: Oxford Computer Group, United Kingdom -- Finalist: Certified Security Solutions, United States Security Solutions, Infrastructure Security Partner of the Year -- Winner: Eurodata Systems, United Kingdom -- Finalist: Sentry Metrics, Canada -- Finalist: Quadrasystems.net, India Small Business Specialist Partner of the Year -- Winner: Quadrasystems.net, India -- Finalist: ITnorth.ca Network & Consulting Service, Canada -- Finalist: Kinetics Group Ltd., New Zealand International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners Partner of the Year -- Winner: Tech Data Brasil, Brazil About the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference provides Microsoft's partner community with access to key marketing and business strategies, leadership and information regarding specific customer solutions designed to help partners succeed in the marketplace. Along with informative learning opportunities covering sales, marketing, services and technology, the Worldwide Partner Conference is an ideal setting for partners to garner valuable knowledge from their peers and from Microsoft. More information can be found at https://partner.microsoft.com/US/trainingevents/wwpartnerconference and on the Partner Program home page at https://partner.microsoft.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide,
+1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, for Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/

Novellus and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Announce a Long-Term Partnership and Venue Sponsorship AgreementTheater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to be Named Novellus Theater

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novellus Systems and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco today announced a long-term venue sponsorship to mark the 10th anniversary of their relationship. During the past decade, Novellus has been a regular donor to YBCA, in addition to using the venue for product launches and investor meetings during the semiconductor equipment industry's annual exhibition. Included in the sponsorship agreement are the naming rights to the YBCA's 750-seat Theater, which will be re-named the Novellus Theater. Funding from Novellus will be used to enhance visual art exhibitions, performing arts, film programs and community engagement events at YBCA.

"For 15 years, YBCA has been a leader in presenting dynamic and innovative contemporary art," said Ken Foster, executive director of YBCA. "The partnership with Novellus Systems, which is part of a larger naming campaign at YBCA, allows us to expand and diversify our programming in ways that we would not otherwise be able to."

"The partnership between Novellus Systems and YBCA is grounded in a shared value -- the willingness to take a different approach. For Novellus, that means meeting customer challenges with innovative and perhaps unconventional solutions. For YBCA, it means bringing unique and cutting-edge programming to the community it serves," said Richard S. Hill, chairman and CEO of Novellus Systems. "We believe that supporting the efforts and mission of YBCA is a great way to give back to the community."

About YBCA:

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is the Bay Area's premier venue for contemporary visual art, performance and film/video. Located in the heart of downtown San Francisco, YBCA celebrates our area's cultural diversity with dynamic arts programs presented in world-class venues.

Local, national and international dance, theater and music performances are scheduled year-round in the Forum and the Theater as part of our YBCA performance series. Overlapping contemporary art exhibitions are scheduled year-round in our galleries and evening film/video screenings are programmed throughout the year in our Screening Room. Public Programs explore YBCA's exciting range of exhibitions, performances and film/video programs. For tickets and information, call 415.978.ARTS (2787) or visit http://www.ybca.org/.

About Novellus:

Novellus Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of advanced process equipment for the global semiconductor industry. The company's products deliver value to customers by providing innovative technology backed by trusted productivity. An S&P 500 company, Novellus is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. with subsidiary offices across the globe. For more information, please visit http://www.novellus.com/.

Novellus Systems; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

CONTACT: Kimberly Kuni Harding of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts,
+1-415-321-1307, kharding@ybca.org; or Pushpita Prasad of Novellus Systems,
Inc., +1-408-943-9700, pushpita.prasad@novellus.com

Web site: http://www.novellus.com/
http://www.ybca.org/

EMBARQ Selects Alcatel-Lucent's IP/MPLS Solution for Network Upgrade

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NXTcomm -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that its industry-leading IP routing solution has been selected by EMBARQ as a basis for the service provider's ongoing network upgrade.

Alcatel-Lucent's IP solution will enable EMBARQ, which offers a comprehensive range of communications services in 18 states across the country, to deliver advanced premium communications services to its business and residential customers via a single network infrastructure.

"We're seeing a growing appetite for higher bandwidth services from our customers," said Jim Hansen, senior vice president of Network Services at EMBARQ. "Giving our customers the best possible communications experience means we must prudently work to upgrade our network where it makes sense. Alcatel-Lucent's premium IP solution and experience gives us the technology and expertise necessary to reach our goal of meeting the communications needs of our customers well into the future."

"Our advanced IP/MPLS solution provides a flexible and service-rich foundation that will help EMBARQ deliver high-speed, high-bandwidth and highly scalable IP/MPLS-based services," said Charles Marsh, vice president of sales for Alcatel-Lucent. "Using a single, flexible Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS infrastructure will help EMBARQ reduce network complexity and increase revenues as it evolves and expands."

The solution is based on the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router, which ensures non-stop service delivery with the quality of service (QoS) necessary to offer differentiated services to customers. Also included are the Alcatel- Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller, a flexible, modular and pre- integrated subscriber and policy manager, and the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware Manager, a single management platform offering element, network and service management. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide network integration services including project management, consulting, network design, installation, deployment, integration, testing and maintenance.

Over 200 service providers in more than 90 countries around the world have selected the Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS portfolio as key elements of their IP transformation. According to Ovum RHK, Alcatel-Lucent holds the #2 position in the IP/MPLS Edge market segment.

About EMBARQ

EMBARQ Corporation , headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, offers a complete suite of communications services. The company has approximately 18,000 employees and operates in 18 states. EMBARQ is included in the S&P 500 and is in the Fortune 500(R) list of America's largest corporations.

For consumers, EMBARQ offers an innovative portfolio of services that includes reliable local and long distance home phone service, high-speed Internet, wireless, and satellite TV from DISH Network(R) -- all on one monthly bill.

For businesses, EMBARQ has a comprehensive range of flexible and integrated services designed to help businesses of all sizes be more productive and communicate with their customers. This service portfolio includes local voice and data services, long distance, Business Class High Speed Internet, wireless, satellite TV from DIRECTV(R), enhanced data network services, voice and data communication equipment and managed network services.

For more information, visit http://www.embarq.com/. About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprise and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 17.8 billion in 2007 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel- Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/

Alcatel-Lucent

CONTACT: Charles Fleckenstein of EMBARQ Corporation, +1-913-345-6545,
charles.m.fleckenstein@embarq.com; Media, Mary Ward, +1-908-582-7658,
maryward@alcatel-lucent.com, Denise Panyik-Dale,
+1-908-582-4897, dpanyikdale@alcatel-lucent.com; Investors, Remi Thomas,
+ 33 1 40 76 50 61, remi.thomas@alcatel-lucent.com, John DeBono,
+1-908-582-7793, debono@alcatel-lucent.com, Tony Lucido,
+ 33 1 40 76 49 80, alucido@alcatel-lucent.com, Don Sweeney,
+1-908-582-6153, dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com, all of Alcatel-Lucent

Web site: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/

Alcatel-Lucent Launches Its Second 'Breaking the Barriers' Publication at NXTcommReference work examines current state of fixed broadband access and its future

LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NXTcomm -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced the public availability of its reference work on the transformation of fixed broadband access - "Breaking the Barriers: Transformation to the Digital Life". The first copies of this new, expanded perspective on the evolution of broadband will exclusively be distributed at the Alcatel-Lucent booth at NXTcomm.

Containing more than 40 articles, "Breaking the Barriers" bundles the expertise and insights of some of the most recognized and innovative players in the telecoms industry and is, as such, company-agnostic. Industry analysts, executive operator representatives, government officials and technology experts talk about how they view today's and tomorrow's broadband access market, including the threats and opportunities ahead. Building on real-world case studies and quantifiable data, the book offers a comprehensive view of how broadband is to evolve - in a very concrete way, without engaging in mere speculation.

In the 18 months since Alcatel-Lucent published the first volume of "Breaking the Barriers", the broadband market has changed dramatically. A year and a half ago, for example, operators were still looking at options for evolving their broadband access networks and had only just begun to offer IPTV packages. Since then, IPTV has reached mass-market momentum and many operators have started to implement concrete "fiber access" strategies. An updated and re-evaluated vision on operators' broadband access strategies had thus become a requirement.

Cesar Bachelet, Senior Analyst, ABI Research commented: "Breaking the Barriers contains an interesting, varied range of articles on broadband networks and some of the services delivered over this infrastructure, such as VoIP and IPTV, encompassing opinion pieces and case studies from various perspectives. A useful reference, with concise, inter-related, yet self- contained articles enabling you to dip in and out of the various topics."

Lynn Hutcheson, VP Communication Components, Ovum, added: "Broadband is becoming ubiquitous and a necessary tool for both the workplace and our personal lives. Breaking the Barriers is an excellent reference book to get a look at what this thing called 'broadband' is all about. It's an easy read for anyone interested in learning more about, and becoming better acquainted with, broadband networks, applications and capabilities."

"In Breaking the Barriers, broadband is examined in all its aspects: as a driver of social and economic change; as a focal point of innovation; as a business opportunity in a continuously changing marketplace. This reference work on the current state of broadband provides an industry-wide perspective from those 'in the know' both inside and outside Alcatel-Lucent," said Luis Martinez Amago, President of Alcatel-Lucent's fixed access activities.

Alcatel-Lucent is the world leader in fixed broadband access, and a trusted partner guiding its customers along the path of access network transformation. Alcatel-Lucent provides innovative access solutions to the top-20 global operators, supporting the largest mass deployments of video, voice and data services.

Alcatel-Lucent brings its customers the strongest product portfolio in all fixed broadband access segments, thought leadership demonstrated by consultative marketing programs, substantial and ongoing investment in innovation and technology, and the experience of a market leader that is accustomed to supporting very large, complex end-to-end deployments.

Pick up your free copy of "Breaking the Barriers - Transformation to the Digital Life" at the Alcatel-Lucent booth at NXTcomm (# 3116). For more info on the "Breaking the Barriers" initiative, and for online orders, please consult the following webpage -- http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/breakingthebarriers.

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 17.8 billion in 2007 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/

Alcatel-Lucent

CONTACT: Alcatel-Lucent Press: Regine Coqueran, + 33 1 40 76 49 24,
regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com, or Mark Burnworth, + 33 1 40 76 50 84,
mark.burnworth@alcatel-lucent.com, or Mary Ward, +1-908-582-7658,
mary.ward@alcatel-lucent.com, Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations: Scott Ashby,
+ 33 1 40 76 29 90, scott.ashby@alcatel-lucent.com, or John DeBono,
+1-908-582-7793, debono@alcatel-lucent.com, or Tony Lucido,
+ 33 1 40 76 49 80, alucido@alcatel-lucent.com, or Don Sweeney,
+1-908 582 6153, dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com

Web site: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/

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News archive of November 2009
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