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Oracle Partners Respond to Customer Demand for SOA-based IntegrationsMore than 60 New Integrations Validated through Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Partners Initiative Over the Past Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oracle OpenWorld --

News Facts -- In response to growing customer demand for validated integrations, Oracle today announced that more than 60 new integrations have completed testing through the Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Partners (http://tinyurl.com/3gdsgk) (AIAP) initiative. -- This initiative provides partners tools and best practices for integrating to Oracle's broad portfolio of applications. Over the past 18 months since the launch of Oracle Application Integration Architecture, Oracle has seen an increase in cross-application business process integration validation requests. These integrations utilize Oracle(R) SOA Suite (http://www.oracle.com/technologies/soa/index.html) and Oracle Application Integration Architecture as the integration platform. -- Oracle PartnerNetwork (http://www.oracle.com/partners/index.html) members who have recently validated their SOA-based integrations include: En-soft, Gesplan, Informatica, Softway-Softcomex, New Soft Intelligence, Nexo, Techware, Xactly and XRT. -- Oracle also formed the Oracle Application Integration Partner Strategy Council in November 2007. Council members contribute to the future direction of Oracle's partner initiatives and provide Oracle with a deeper understanding of the challenges ISVs face while gaining unique insight into Oracle's go-to-market strategy. This in turn helps ensure that partner products are aligned with Oracle product directions, while giving each partner's customers assurance that their needs are being represented. Charter members of this council include: 170 Systems, 3i Infotech, Acxiom, APPLIMATION, Cisco Systems, CRM IT Solutions, Data Systems International, Enigma, Development Dimensions International, Enwisen Inc, Genesys, HCR, IFS, InFact Group, MavenWire, Motorola, Nakisa Inc, New Soft Intelligence, Open Text, Trillium, Zebra Technologies. -- Based on feedback from council members, initial changes have been enacted, including additional educational webcasts, updates to integration best practices documentation, and easier web access to an increasing amount of integration related information. Benefits of AIAP-Validated Integrations

Integration validation provides customers with the confidence that the integration between products has been tested and validated as functionally and technically sound, that the product is integrated with Oracle Applications in a reliable, standards-based way, and that the integration operates and performs as documented.

Integration Validation offers partners a competitive advantage: -- Partners with validated integrations are able to provide customers with standards-based product integrations, reviewed, tested and validated by Oracle. -- Customers benefit from improved risk management and smoother upgrade capability, enabling a lower total cost of ownership and greater overall satisfaction. -- Integrating solutions with Oracle's industry-leading application products helps partners open new markets and discover new sales opportunities. -- Integration Validation helps ensure standards compliance. Validated integrations comply with standard integration technologies, such as Oracle Application Integration Architecture, Oracle Fusion Middleware, BPEL, Web Services, XML/EDI, integration adaptors, and other published and approved application program interfaces (APIs)

Membership in the Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Partners Initiative offers partners access to:

-- Application integration information for Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, JD Edwards World and Siebel applications -- Development guidance and design review for integrations based on Oracle SOA Suite or Oracle Application Integration Architecture -- Product specific "how-to" integration guides -- Best practices and integration design guides -- Integration training and education roadmaps -- Eligibility to apply to receive: -- Oracle Application Integration Architecture (http://tinyurl.com/5hhwqv) product software development licenses, including a set of pre-built business processes (http://tinyurl.com/3o9s3e), integration packs (http://tinyurl.com/4wnmxx), enterprise business objects and services, and enterprise services repository -- Oracle Application Integration Architecture solution design guidelines, integration best practices, training programs, and product roadmaps -- Eligibility to apply for Application Integration Validation (http://tinyurl.com/4dqweo) testing -- Integration validation testing available for native, point-to- point, SOA-based and AIA-based integrations Partners with Validated Integrations receive: -- Integration Validation Branding - exclusive "Integrated with Oracle" logo -- Integration Datasheet with Oracle and partner product logos -- Inclusion in select global or regional marketing efforts. For example, exhibiting Oracle OpenWorld partners this year were offered "Validated Integration" monitor buttons for easy identification by interested customers. -- Validated Integration listing on Oracle.com (http://www.oracle.com/partnerships/solutions.html) Supporting Quotes -- "Validation requests through our AIAP initiative continue to rise as partners are responding to the demand from customers requiring lower cost, lower risk implementations," said Tom Herrmann, vice president, ISV Management and Programs at Oracle. "These validations help our partners to offer the most functional and flexible solutions to their customers." -- "Validating our application integration under the AIA for Partners Initiative was part of our strategy this quarter. Oracle SOA Suite is now being used to leverage our integration with Oracle E-Business Suite R12. We'll be able to maintain and manage a single technology middleware platform helping to reduce its TCO and enhancing our customers' experience regarding future upgrades and manageability." Andre Barros, Business Manager, New Soft Intelligence Supporting Resources -- Oracle Applications Integration Architecture for Partners (http://tinyurl.com/3gdsgk) -- Oracle SOA (http://www.oracle.com/technologies/soa/index.html) -- Oracle PartnerNetwork (http://www.oracle.com/partners/index.html) -- Oracle Application Integration Architecture (http://tinyurl.com/5hhwqv) -- Application Integration Architecture for Partners Initiative (http://tinyurl.com/3gdsgk) -- Application Integration Validation (http://tinyurl.com/4dqweo) -- Validated Integration listing on Oracle.com (http://www.oracle.com/partnerships/solutions.html) -- Application Integration Partner Strategy Council members support (http://tinyurl.com/4gn8s2) About the Oracle PartnerNetwork

Oracle PartnerNetwork is a global business network of more than 20,000 companies who deliver innovative software solutions based on Oracle software. Through access to Oracle's premier products, education, technical services, marketing and sales support, the Oracle PartnerNetwork program provides partners with the resources they need to be successful in today's global economy. Oracle partners are able to offer their customers leading-edge solutions backed by Oracle's position as the world's largest enterprise software company. Partners who are able to demonstrate superior product knowledge, technical expertise and a commitment to doing business with Oracle qualify for the Certified Partner levels.

About Oracle

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com/.

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Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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CONTACT: Carol Sato of Oracle, +1-650-633-5551, carol.sato@oracle.com;
or Kristin Reeves of Blanc & Otus, +1-415-856-5145, kreeves@blancandotus.com,
for Oracle

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

Oracle(R) PartnerNetwork Honors Winners of 2008 North America Oracle Titan AwardsPartners in 17 Categories Recognized at Oracle OpenWorld for Excellence in Developing and Implementing Solutions Based on Oracle Technologies

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oracle OpenWorld --

News Facts -- Recognizing the innovative solutions and business achievements of its partners, Oracle today announced the recipients of the fifth annual Oracle PartnerNetwork (http://www.oracle.com/partners/index.html) North America Titan Awards. -- The awards acknowledged 14 leading partners across 17 categories for solutions and best practices developed or delivered in fiscal 2008. These awards recognize partner excellence in a number of categories, including sales, marketing, and solution development. -- Partners submitted a record number of nominations this year, with entrants competing in both solution and momentum categories. -- Honorees were selected by a panel of 66 judges including IDC analysts, Everything Channel media and Oracle sales, marketing, and development executives. -- The awards were presented at the closing ceremony of the Oracle PartnerNetwork Forum (http://tinyurl.com/45zbhq) of Oracle OpenWorld(R), held Sunday, September 21 at the Hilton San Francisco. 2008 North America Oracle Titan Partner Award Winners -- E-Business Suite Solution - Deloitte Consulting This ambitious solution involved transforming a manufacturing company and its production and business processes - positioning it for aggressive future growth. In addition to the full Oracle E-Business Suite, the ultimate solution includes Oracle Configurator, Demantra Demand Planning, Oracle Transportation Management, Oracle Identity Management, and SOA. The customer is positioned to save up to $140 million in operational costs over the next 10 years, while increasing their share, all on a single instance of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12. http://www.deloitte.com/us/oracle -- Edge Applications Solution - Hitachi Consulting Corp. Costs were increasing faster than sales when this media company selected Hitachi Consulting to lead the implementation of Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) as part of a larger planned migration to an Oracle IT infrastructure. Selected for its transportation industry expertise, experience, and knowledge of OTM, the winning Oracle partner, Hitachi Consulting, successfully completed the implementation on schedule. Their product knowledge technical skills and leadership exhibited throughout the initiative helped keep the project on track. The initiative has already delivered cost savings 65% greater than anticipated and showcased the flexibility and future potential, not only of OTM, but also of the larger-scale Oracle implementation to come. http://www.hitachiconsulting.com/ -- JD Edwards Solution - CSS International Inc. This solution fit right into the sweet spot of Oracle's JD Edwards' product capabilities: construction and engineering. When two firms in the industry merged, the winning integrator had to quickly convince the acquiring company to expand the JD Edwards implementation already in progress at the acquisition target, and then expand the scope of the project to include the newly merged company. The final implementation is scheduled to cover 30 operating units across North America, while pushing SQL Server out of the business in favor of the Oracle stack. On time, on budget, and with tremendous payback, this project exemplifies the strengths of Oracle technology and the expertise of this partner. http://www.cssus.com/ -- Applications Momentum - Deloitte Consulting This Global Partner doubled its Oracle license co-sell revenue FY08, driving 75 initiatives and marketing activities that resulted in Oracle leads in GRC, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Executive Compensation, among other areas. Deloitte Consulting helped generate more than 100 leads alone in Oracle's white spacing effort for applications, secured a leadership position in Oracle E-business Suite, Oracle Agile, OTM, Demantra and Oracle Hyperion space, participated in 1,100 Oracle training classes, was a key partner in Fusion development, and was an instrumental partner in go-to-market strategies during Fiscal 2008. http://www.deloitte.com/us/oracle -- PeopleSoft Solution - CherryRoad Technologies Inc. This county sheriff's department customer made the decision to implement a new ERP system. A key decision point in choosing a software and services vendor was the customer's need to move billing for officers' revenue-producing assignments from a manual, papers-in- triplicate system, to an automated one. The full suite of PeopleSoft applications, along with PeopleSoft Portal, went into this competitive win over SAP. CherryRoad Technologies worked with Oracle during the sales cycle to demonstrate how the customer's needs could be met around Payroll and Billing, and then delivered - all with a clear audit trail - to make this a successful implementation. http://www.cherryroad.com/ -- Enterprise Performance Management Solution - interRel Consulting This solution combines Oracle Essbase with Hyperion Web Analysis, Financial Reporting, Planning, and Enterprise, to deliver sales budgeting - down to the SKU - to a manufacturing customer with more than 60,000 products. The solution, built and deployed in the United States, serves more than 100 countries around the world. SKU-level calculations of entire gross margin statements happen in less than 15 seconds - more than twenty-five percent faster than the customer's target. The entire solution was delivered in less than six months, more than $100,000 under budget, and forms the front end of a larger and continuing Hyperion implementation. http://www.interrel.com/ -- CRM Solution - Deloitte Consulting A lack of standards and limited tracking around marketing campaigns drove this communications industry client to seek a better way to optimize their marketing spend. Oracle Siebel CRM and Oracle Business Intelligence were the focal points of this solution, but the partner was selected for industry knowledge, global delivery scope, ability to link marketing and sales, and their role as a trusted advisor at the customer. The project's first phase was delivered early, and resulted immediately in a 30 percent increase in marketing campaign response and conversion rate, while allowing the customer to reduce the number of external vendors for data collection by more than 30 percent. http://www.deloitte.com/us/oracle -- Midsize Business Applications Solution - SYSTIME This solution was a competitive win over SAP in the consumer packaged goods industry. The customer was running its business on eight different applications and needed rapid consolidation ahead of a planned sale of the company. The solution allows the customer to adapt its order fulfillment in real time, with a wide and changing variety of pricing mechanisms. SYSTIME delivered the full Oracle JD Edwards suite in 270 days and is currently working on the next phase of the project, which includes JD Edwards HR/Payroll, plus Demantra and Oracle Business Intelligence. http://www.systime.net/ -- Industry Solution - Deloitte Consulting Driven largely by rising service costs, the healthcare services industry is a major target for an IT overhaul. The customer, a major player in this industry, selected Oracle Siebel as part of a larger initiative to launch a new service offering for two of their business's while replacing an aging IT system, in a third business. The solution encompasses drug reimbursement, plus disease and medical therapy management, to provide enhanced service to patients and to help drive efficiencies in, and costs out, of the business. Six months after implementation, benefits include a 65 percent reduction in support costs, a 50 percent reduction in time to drug reimbursement, and lower call center costs. http://www.deloitte.com/us/oracle -- Financial Services Industry Solution - SmartDog Services LLC Consumer financial instruments are exploding and the customer for this solution is a primary provider of the plastic cards that transfer buying power to people without bank accounts. This customer needed an automated system to track distribution of its cards to replace the manual, labor-intensive process it was using. The solution found a way to treat distributors as internal sales people, implement a single new system with an interface that looked just like the old, all using Oracle Financials and Incentive Compensation. Commission payments are more accurate, cost savings come from automated systems, commissions are paid quicker, and the system is scalable for future growth. http://www.smartdogservices.com/ -- Manufacturing Industry Solution - Terillium Inc. SAP, Microsoft, and JD Edwards went toe-to-toe in this power transmission customer before JD Edwards EnterpriseOne was selected. Terillium Inc. worked closely with the Oracle sales team to make sure JDE was the final call to replace the customer's aging technology infrastructure. An Accelerate solution helped ensure the implementation would be done rapidly and with the smallest possible risk. The 600- script Accelerate solution went in on time, on budget, with immediate cost savings and a satisfied customer. http://www.terillium.com/ -- Business Intelligence Solution - Piocon Technologies Inc. This system integrator took this oil-and-gas industry engagement from a data warehouse to a full-scale BI solution that included Oracle Warehouse Builder, Application Server, Application Express, BI Publisher, Portal and Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. The solution allows the customer to provide reliability metrics and reporting on more than 100,000 pieces of equipment to hundreds of operations throughout a refinery with more than 120 plants. Prior to the implementation, the customer went an average of 35 days between unplanned equipment shutdowns at one of its key plants. At the time this nomination was submitted, they were at 200 days - and counting - with no shutdowns due to equipment failure. http://www.piocon.com/ -- Technology Momentum - Accenture In FY08, this company focused on developing differentiated Oracle technology solutions and made significant investments in Oracle's Application Integration Architecture, SOA, BI, and Security. They grew their Oracle Tech revenue significantly, partnered with Oracle on 75 RFPs, provided 360 customer references, and invested heavily in marketing, training, and joint solution development with Oracle. They continue to invest in their Innovation Centers at Oracle Headquarters in California and Reading, UK, both as a sales tool and joint solution development centers. Finally, their support of Oracle has extended to BEA, where they continue to make solution development investments and drive revenue in key accounts, both established and new. http://www.accenture.com/ or http://www.accenture.com/oracle -- Grid and RAC Solution - TUSC This company developed a solution that leveraged Oracle Grid and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) to help deliver all the right tangible benefits: scalability, high availability, ease of management, improved customer services, and better use of existing assets to deliver higher processing power. This award-winning Oracle Solutions Provider worked closely with the customer to deliver the foundation elements of Oracle's computing infrastructure: Database, RAC, Enterprise Manager, DataGuard, and Automated Storage Management, all in an environment that the customer can manage on their own going forward. http://www.tusc.com/ -- Integration and SOA Solution - CedarCrestone Inc. CedarCrestone's higher-education customer saw an opportunity to extend new government education financing to its population of more than 120,000 adult students, but lacked the systems to evaluate which students were eligible and determine how to extend this additional financing to them. The solution incorporated PeopleSoft, Oracle JDeveloper, and the core components of Oracle Fusion Middleware architecture, and was implemented in 4 months, to allow the customer to automate a massive, complex, and dynamic process. The result was the customer was able to provide its students with access to millions of dollars of government funding to help them further their education, all on a platform that will scale to meet extensive future needs. http://www.cedarcrestone.com/ -- Identity Management Solution - Entology Inc. This company developed a solution that leveraged Oracle Grid and RAC to deliver all the right tangible benefits: scalability, high availability, ease of management, improved customer services, and better use of existing assets to deliver higher processing power. This award-winning Oracle Solutions Provider worked closely with the customer to deliver the foundation elements of Oracle's computing infrastructure: Database, RAC, Enterprise Manager, DataGuard, and Automated Storage Management, all in an environment that the customer can manage on their own going forward. http://www.tusc.com/ -- Content Management Solution - LS Technologies LLC This retail customer relied on the winning SI to deliver the integration expertise they needed across their technology portfolio - not just content management, but a cohesive, integrated environment where the Content Management solution is leading to expansion of Oracle technology throughout the entire enterprise. The solution involved completely upgrading their content environment with Oracle, deployed on totally new hardware platforms and integrated with PeopleSoft. Delivered on time and on budget, this project has already resulted in cost savings of more than $20,000 a month in manpower alone, and is considered "an overwhelming success" by the customer. LSTechnolgies is an Oracle Certified Managed Partner for Oracle in the Application and Technology space. LSTechnologies has vertical expertise in the area's of Financial, Life Sciences and Distribution Markets. http://www.lstechnologies.com/ Supporting Quote -- "The record number of nominations we received this year demonstrates the value and expertise our partners have to create and deliver Oracle- based solutions and services to customers," said Ted Bereswill, senior vice president, North America Alliances & Channels, Oracle. "We were greatly impressed by the innovative business approaches and unique technologies exhibited by all of this year's nominees and will continue to work in tandem with our valued partners to deliver business-changing technologies and services to our growing customer base." Supporting Resources -- Oracle PartnerNetwork (http://www.oracle.com/partners/index.html) -- Oracle PartnerNetwork Forum (http://tinyurl.com/45zbhq) -- North America Oracle Titan Award 2007 Winners (http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2007_nov/titanawards.html) About Oracle PartnerNetwork

About Oracle

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com/.

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CONTACT: Carol Sato of Oracle, +1-650-633-5551, carol.sato@oracle.com; or
Jennifer M. Sricharoenchaikit of Blanc & Otus, +1-617-451-7355,
jennifers@blancandotus.com , for Oracle

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

Actor Victor Rivers, of NBC Series 'Life,' to Address National Domestic Violence Summit Sept. 26

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Victor Rivers, who plays Jack Reese on the NBC series "Life," will be the keynote speaker on Friday, Sept. 26, at Verizon's third annual National Domestic Violence Awareness Summit here. A domestic violence survivor, Rivers is an outspoken advocate for domestic violence prevention. He will share his personal story and call for men to take a more active role in addressing the issue.

WHO: Victor Rivers, of NBC series "Life" Eli Rivers, son of Victor Rivers Patrick Gaston, Verizon Foundation president Tim McCallion, Verizon West region president WHAT: National Domestic Violence Summit -- "Violence Prevention 3.0: Using Technology to Prevent Dating Violence and Domestic Violence" WHEN: 12:20 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, Victor Rivers keynote address (media asked to arrive by noon). 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. National Domestic Violence Summit. 10:10 a.m. - panel discussion: Lessons from the front line: what do teens want and need from friends, family and adult professionals? WHERE: Westin St. Francis 335 Powell St. San Francisco BACKGROUND: A key mission of the Verizon Foundation is to raise awareness of domestic violence and support programs that encourage prevention. Victor Rivers has worked to educate children and other fathers about the importance of healthy relationships and domestic violence prevention. Before he begins his speech, he will be introduced by his 13-year-old son, Eli.

Verizon

CONTACT: Brian Malina, +1-908-559-6434, Brian.c.malina@verizon.com

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

EMC Receives Top Grade for Carbon Disclosure

HOPKINTON, Mass., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- EMC Corporation , the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, announced today it has been commended by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which represents 385 institutional investors with $57 trillion in assets under management, for its thorough and transparent climate change disclosure.

"We're honored to be recognized by the CDP as the highest scoring technology, media and telecommunications company," said Kathrin Winkler, EMC's Senior Director, Corporate Sustainability. "At EMC, we recognize that for our business and for society to flourish we must consider the environmental impact of the business decisions we make, the products we produce and the services we offer our customers. We are committed to continually improving and communicating our environmental performance, and to delivering technologies and services that optimize business performance and reduce energy intensity for our customers."

For the second consecutive year, EMC has been included in CDP's "Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index." This index, a key component of CDP's annual Global 500 Report, highlights the constituent companies within the FTSE Global 500 Index which have displayed the most professional approach to corporate governance in respect of climate change disclosure practices.

The index, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of CDP, comprises 67 constituents of the Global 500 Index based on PwC's analysis of the responses to CDP's 2008 Questionnaire which focused on greenhouse gas emissions, emissions reduction targets and risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

The Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index, which provides an evaluation tool for institutional investors, is made up of the top 34 companies selected from non-carbon-intensive sectors (including the technology, media and telecommunications sector) and the top 33 companies selected from carbon-intensive sectors (such as electric utilities and diversified chemicals).

Paul Dickinson, Chief Executive of the Carbon Disclosure Project, said, "Good corporate governance in respect of climate change disclosure will inevitably reap its rewards. As carbon regulation increases, those companies that have implemented climate change related strategies are clearly going to be in a far better position to meet the challenge of higher carbon prices than companies that have procrastinated. Good disclosure practices are synonymous with good management."

As a leading global technology company, EMC has aggressively driven sustainability initiatives to improve energy efficiency in its products and throughout the company; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; further education in the community and inclusion in the company; and help organizations around the globe preserve their information heritage. To view EMC's sustainability brochure, please visit: http://www.emc.com/collateral/brochure/h4375-sustainability-bro.pdf.

The Global 500 Report including names of companies featured in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index can be found at http://www.cdproject.net/.

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/.

About CDP

The Carbon Disclosure Project, founded in 2000, represents some 385 global institutional investors with more than $57 trillion in assets under management. As an independent not-for-profit organization, CDP collects key climate change data from more than 1550 major corporations around the globe and has assembled the largest corporate greenhouse gas emissions database in the world. CDP also works with multinational organizations to facilitate the collection of climate change relevant data from their supply chains.

CDP makes its requests for information and the corporate responses to such requests publicly available for the benefit of all interested parties including policymakers and their advisors. For more information regarding CDP please go to http://www.cdproject.net/.

The Carbon Disclosure Project, a company limited by guarantee and registered in England (no. 05013650), is a Registered Charity (no. 1122330). CDP also enjoys 501(c)3 charitable status in the US as a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

EMC Corporation

CONTACT: Patrick Cooley of EMC Corporation, +1-508-293-6583,
cooley_patrick@emc.com

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

Curtain Raises on Oracle(R) OpenWorld San Francisco 200843,000-Plus Conference Attendees Expected

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oracle OpenWorld --

News Facts -- Oracle today welcomed more than 43,000 attendees to Oracle(R) OpenWorld San Francisco 2008, Oracle's global business and technology conference that runs from Sunday, September 21 through Thursday, September 25 at Moscone Center. -- This year's conference will feature: * 1,800-plus educational sessions; * 450-plus partner exhibits including the Intel-sponsored Inside Innovation; * 300-plus live Oracle product demos in the Oracle DEMOgrounds and * 200-plus industry sessions. -- Keynote addresses will feature industry leaders from HP, Intel, NetApp and Oracle. -- Customers and partners will have access to a wide range of specialized industry programming covering communications, financial services, health sciences, high tech, insurance, manufacturing, public sector/higher education, retail and utilities. -- Oracle OpenWorld will offer a broad array of activities and sessions to enable partners to better build, market and sell Oracle-based solutions and services. -- New this year, the OpenWorld Green Program will focus on sustainability and help customers and partners attending the show to "green" their businesses, address compliance and sustainability issues and showcase best business practices that help companies minimize their environmental impact. -- Oracle is hosting Oracle OpenWorld at its hometown venue -- Moscone Center. This year's event will encompass all of Moscone's facilities (North, South, West, Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts) in addition to the conference facilities of five hotels. Supporting Quote -- "This year's Oracle OpenWorld opens to another record-number of attendees and the widest range of programming and product, services and industry sessions to help conference attendees get the most return from their OpenWorld investment. Oracle OpenWorld 2008 will feature the customers and partners whose work with Oracle has enabled them to achieve better business results," said Tania Weidick, vice president of events marketing, Oracle. Supporting Resources Oracle OpenWorld (http://tinyurl.com/6ms7on) Oracle Mix (https://mix.oracle.com/groups/10562) Oracle OpenWorld Blog (http://blogs.oracle.com/oracleopenworld/)

Oracle OpenWorld Wiki (http://wiki.oracle.com/page/Oracle+OpenWorld+2008?t=anon)

Oracle OpenWorld Industries (http://tinyurl.com/3nhs64) About Oracle

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com/.

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Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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CONTACT: Caroline Yu, +1-650-506-8920, caroline.yu@oracle.com, or Katie
Barron, +1-703-364-2488, katie.barron@oracle.com, both of Oracle Corporation

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

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is the Value Leader According to Latest BenchmarksNew results rank Microsoft SQL Server 2008 No. 1 for price/performance, offering customers the lowest total cost of ownership for an enterprise-class database.

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New TPC-E performance benchmark results from the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC)(1) rank Microsoft SQL Server 2008 No. 1 for price/performance(2) on industry-leading hardware using Intel Corporation's new Dunnington x64 processor, and on another TPC-E release, SQL Server 2008 is No. 1 for performance(3) using the new IBM System x3950 M2 server. In China, OEM partner Inspur Group published the first Microsoft SQL Server TPC-E results in non-U.S. dollar currency.(4) These results show further evidence that Microsoft SQL Server 2008 remains a global value leader in the data platform space and is a top choice of customers who require high performance from their enterprise-class data management systems.

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"SQL Server is the only data management and business intelligence platform to be proven capable of delivering scalable results on TPC-E, the industry's newest and most challenging online transaction processing benchmark," said Fausto Ibarra, director of product management for SQL Server at Microsoft Corp. "These benchmark results show the type of performance benefits Microsoft customers can expect when they team the enhancements of SQL Server 2008 with the hardware advancements from industry partners."

With more than 18 TPC-E benchmarks to date, including seven new benchmark results since the release to manufacture of SQL Server 2008 in August, Microsoft is at the forefront of establishing the new standards for online transaction processing (OLTP) performance. TPC-E is the most modern and rigorous benchmark for measuring real-world transaction processing. In addition to leading price/performance results with hardware partners Dell Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers and IBM using the new Intel Dunnington central processing unit, Microsoft also published results using other industry processors including Intel Itanium and the four-socket Tigerton Xeon.

Microsoft is setting additional benchmark records with independent software vendor (ISV) solutions, including a world record on four-socket industry-standard blade servers in three-tier SAP AG Sales and Distribution Standard Application benchmark(5) and the largest benchmarks ever on Siemens Teamcenter digital product life cycle management solution, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics AX and Camstar Inc. Manufacturing Execution Systems solution.

The TPC-E standard was created by the TPC to provide organizations with performance results that most closely mirror real-world OLTP workloads. Microsoft was the first database vendor to test its performance against the new benchmarks and remains committed to using the most current standards to measure its performance results and provide value to its customers.

SQL Server 2008 was released to manufacture in August 2008 and is attracting a good deal of attention thanks to all the new functionality for data management and business intelligence platforms -- in fact, it has been downloaded more than 500,000 times.

SQL Server is a key component of the Microsoft Application Platform, a suite of products and technologies designed to help customers build, run and manage dynamic business applications. A comprehensive data management and business intelligence platform, SQL Server provides enterprise-class scalability, data warehousing, security, advanced analytics and reporting support for running business-critical applications. Already a recognized leader in data warehousing and business intelligence (BI), SQL Server is the only solution in the industry that includes comprehensive, tightly integrated functionality for data management and advanced BI out of the box. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/sqlserver and at http://www.moresqlserver.com/.

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

(1) TPC Results as of Sept. 18, 2008. Transaction Processing Performance Council (http://www.tpc.org/). (2) IBM System x3850 M2, 729 tpsE, 457 $/tpsE, available Oct. 10, 2008 (3) IBM System x3950 M2, 1250 tpsE, 1311 $/tpsE, available Aug. 30, 2008 (4) Inspur NFS20D2, 702 tpsE, 4771 CNY/tpsE, available Nov. 30, 2008 (5) SAP-SD 3-tier benchmark, HP ProLiant BL680c G5, 34000 users, certification No. 2008003

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

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

ICE Futures U.S. Completes Successful Transition of U.S. Russell Index Futures

ATLANTA, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IntercontinentalExchange , a leading operator of global futures exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced the successful transition of the U.S. Russell Index complex to ICE Futures U.S.(TM) In June 2007, ICE signed an exclusive license agreement with Russell Investments. This agreement gives ICE exclusive rights to offer futures and options contracts based on Russell's industry-leading U.S. equity indexes, including the Russell 1000(R) Index and Russell 2000(R) Index, as well as the related value and growth indexes offered by Russell. Since the beginning of September, over 2.7 million Russell futures and options contracts have traded on the ICE platform. As of Friday, September 19, open interest in mini equivalent Russell contracts stood at 590,868 compared with 141,111 on September 2.

"We've enhanced our business by diversifying into new markets and executing on our plans to successfully expand and compete in a wide range of markets," said Jeff Sprecher, ICE Chairman and CEO. "We are proud to have the U.S. Russell Index futures complex as the cornerstone of our long-term strategy within the equity index segment. With the Russell 2000 contracts transitioned to ICE, we look forward to marketing and growing other key products within the valuable Russell suite."

"The transition reflects the industry's reliance on the Russell indexes as key benchmarks. In a short time, ICE's marketplace and platform have proven to deliver value in the dynamic equity index markets," said Kelly Haughton, Strategic Director of the Russell Indexes. "ICE has already demonstrated its commitment to building the Russell complex and to bringing effective risk management processes and marketing resources to our indexes. We look forward to continuing our work with the ICE team in capitalizing on the increasing investor interest in the Russell Index futures and options markets."

In addition to its robust platform which offers round-trip futures trading in an average of 3 milliseconds, ICE has delivered a number of tools to better accommodate the Russell Index trading community:

-- Average price transactions (APT) allow trading firms to execute trades, including calendar rolls, at multiple prices, and allocate the trades across client accounts at a single price. -- Trade at Index Close (TIC) and block trades were also implemented, allowing a broad range of market participants to use various trading and risk management strategies in ICE's markets. -- ICE Clear U.S. signed a cross-margining agreement with the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) providing customers with risk-reduction capabilities and capital efficiencies across the equity index futures and equity index options markets.

For over 25 years, Russell's innovative index methodology has helped its indexes become the benchmarks most used by institutional investors. Today, institutional investment professionals responsible for over $4 trillion in assets use Russell indexes to guide their portfolios, which account for 63% of institutional benchmarked products. The Russell 2000 index consists of approximately 2,000 small-cap companies, and the Russell 1000 is a large-cap index representing the largest one-third of the U.S. broad market Russell 3000(R) Index components.

About IntercontinentalExchange

IntercontinentalExchange(R) operates regulated global futures exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets for agricultural, energy, equity index and currency contracts, as well as credit derivatives. ICE(R) offers these markets to participants around the world through its technology infrastructure and trading platform, together with clearing, market data and risk management services. ICE Futures Europe(TM) is ICE's regulated energy futures exchange. ICE's regulated North American exchanges, ICE Futures U.S.(TM) and ICE Futures Canada(TM), offer markets for agricultural and financial contracts. Creditex, a market leader in trade execution and processing for credit derivatives, is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICE. A member of the Russell 1000(R) and S&P 500 indices, ICE is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in New York, London, Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Houston and Singapore. http://www.theice.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and ICE's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, as filed with the SEC on February 13, 2008, and August 4, 2008, respectively.

IntercontinentalExchange

CONTACT: Investors: Kelly Loeffler, VP, Investor Relations & Corp.
Communications, +1-770-857-4726, kelly.loeffler@theice.com, or Sarah Stashak,
Director, Investor & Public Relations, +1-770-857-0340,
sarah.stashak@theice.com, both of IntercontinentalExchange; or Media: Ellen
Resnick, Crystal Clear Communications, +1-773-929-9292 (o), +1-312-399-9295
(c), eresnick@crystalclearPR.com

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

Aerospace Engineering Executive, Albert E. Smith, Elected to CDI Corp. Board of Directors

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CDI Corp. , a leading provider of engineering and information technology outsourcing solutions and professional staffing, has announced that Albert E. Smith has been elected to its Board of Directors and will serve on the Board's Finance Committee.

A former member of the Secretary of Defense's Defense Science Board, Mr. Smith most recently served as Chairman of Tetra Tech, Inc., an environmental management, consulting, and technical services group. Prior to that, he spent nearly 20 years at Lockheed Martin where he began as Director of Communications Systems Engineering and went on to hold several senior-level positions, including his most recent as Executive Vice President of the company and President of its Integrated Systems & Solutions division. Having served with the Central Intelligence Agency as a Chief Engineer and later as a Division Manager, Mr. Smith has also been Chairman of International Launch Services' Board of Directors, a Director of the Space Foundation, and a Trustee of the Aerospace Corporation.

"Al brings not only a first class engineering background to CDI, but also an extraordinary level of business acumen that has helped him to create shareholder value while leading organizations skilled in delivering complex engineering solutions," said Walter Garrison, Chairman of the CDI Corp. Board of Directors. "On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I am pleased to welcome Al to CDI."

Mr. Smith holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University and currently serves on the Boards of Curtis-Wright Corporation and Tetra Tech, Inc.

About CDI

Headquartered in Philadelphia, CDI Corp. is a leading provider of engineering and information technology outsourcing solutions and professional staffing. Its operating units include CDI Engineering Solutions, CDI IT Solutions, CDI AndersElite Limited and Management Recruiters International, Inc. Visit CDI at http://www.cdicorp.com/.

CDI Corp.

CONTACT: Vincent J. Webb, VP, Communications & Marketing,
+1-215-636-1240, vince.webb@cdicorp.com

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

Zebra Technologies Introduces Enterprise Connector Printing Solution to Deliver Fast and Simple ERP Label PrintingNew software solution allows direct printing from ERP systems, centrally-managed print transactions.

VERNON HILLS, Ill., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zebra Technologies Corporation , a global leader in specialty printing and automatic identification solutions, today announced the availability of the Enterprise Connector Solution for a more versatile, easier-managed central printing solution. This highly reliable and easy to implement thermal labeling software system allows customers to design and print labels directly from their ERP systems without complex middleware.

The Enterprise Connector Solution delivers a PC-based graphical user interface (GUI) used to create label designs that will be printed from ERP systems, such as those using Oracle(R) BI Publisher. The completed design is then converted into Zebra Programming Language (ZPL) commands and uploaded to the server-based Enterprise Connector Transformation Engine. As customers process ERP transactions that require label printing, XML data streams are quickly converted into efficient ZPL commands. The ZPL commands are then sent to the desired printer.

"Enabling customers to print labels directly from their existing ERP systems provides flexibility and delivers faster overall printing through enterprise-wide, geographically distributed but centrally managed transaction-based systems," said Paul Cullinane, director, global alliances, for Zebra. "The launch of the Enterprise Connector Solution is further evidence of Zebra's commitment to developing innovative solution offerings."

The Enterprise Connector Solution is comprised of ZebraDesigner for XML, the Enterprise Connector Transformation Engine and ZebraNet Bridge Enterprise -- Zebra's advanced printer management software that allows users to closely monitor printers to ensure maximum productivity. The Enterprise Connector Solution eliminates traditional middleware costs, such as per printer licensing fees, and delivers faster throughput than traditional middleware-based solutions by leveraging the native barcode, text and graphic printing capabilities of Zebra printers.

For more information about Zebra's Enterprise Connector Solution, please visit http://www.zebra.com/oracle, or contact the Enterprise Connector Service Group at Connector@zebra.com.

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corporation improves customers' business performance through products and solutions that identify, track and manage assets, transactions and people. In more than 100 countries around the world, more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use innovative and reliable Zebra printers, supplies, RFID products and software to increase productivity, improve quality, lower costs, and deliver better customer service. Information about Zebra and Zebra-brand products can be found at http://www.zebra.com/.

Oracle and BI Publisher are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

Contact Information: Zebra Technologies Corporation Media: Tim Dreyer +1 847-793-5677 tdreyer@zebra.

Zebra Technologies Corporation

CONTACT: Tim Dreyer of Zebra Technologies Corporation, +1-847-793-5677,
tdreyer@zebra.com

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

Huron Capital Launches DPO/TPO Platform in Partnership with Industry Executive Tom OlivaDOCetera Corp. will Acquire Business Process Outsourcing Companies

DETROIT, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Huron Capital Partners LLC announced today that it has formed DOCetera Corp. ("DOCetera") with industry executive Tom Oliva to execute a Buy & Build strategy in the Document Process Outsourcing/Total Process Outsourcing ("DPO/TPO") industry. The platform plans to acquire and build companies that provide corporate outsourced statement processing services for invoices, customer notices, compliance communications, and marketing mailings.

DOCetera will target companies that have at least $25 million in revenues, advanced front-end information technology customer interfaces, and robust back-end production capabilities to provide comprehensive data management, printing, electronic media, mailing, and fulfillment services. Its objective is to create a full-service DPO/TPO enterprise to fill the market need and enable small, regional players to dramatically improve their depth of offerings and growth opportunities.

The platform capitalizes on the continued trend of large corporations outsourcing non-core operations to third-party providers. As segment experts, these third-party providers can leverage their expertise and capabilities across a larger customer base and more fully utilize equipment capacity. Such providers can deliver superior service along with substantial bottom-line savings to their clients.

Tom Oliva commented, "DOCetera has the vision, value proposition, and strategy to become the industry leader in outsourced statement processing. Our partner companies will be in a premier position to capitalize on the overall business outsourcing trend and leverage the enterprise's diverse resources to transform them into full-service TPO providers. We are fortunate to be partnered with Huron Capital, whose strong track record of building industry leaders provides a key advantage in attracting the best growth companies for this platform."

According to Peter Mogk, a Partner at Huron, "This partnership represents another strategic market entry initiative for us, through which we can offer great resources to companies by leveraging Tom's industry expertise and contacts, assisting with business development, and accessing acquisitions to supplement internal growth."

About Huron Capital Partners LLC

Huron Capital is a leading private equity firm investing in lower middle-market companies. The firm typically invests between $10 million and $70 million in equity in well-positioned manufacturing and service companies having revenues up to $250 million. Through its operational approach, Huron's strategy is to partner with strong management teams to build successful companies through acquisitions and organic growth. Huron Capital manages over $600 million through three private equity funds. Visit http://www.huroncapital.com/ for more information.

About Thomas W. Oliva

Tom has more than 29 years of experience in the document process outsourcing and graphic arts industries. Most recently, Tom served as President of Cenveo Corporation, a $2.0 billion publicly traded printing enterprise, where he played an integral role in the company's acquisition, integration, and cost-savings strategies. Prior to Cenveo, Tom held senior executive positions at MooreWallace and Quebecor World.

Huron Capital Partners LLC

CONTACT: Peter E. Mogk, Huron Capital Partners LLC, +1-313-962-5803,
pmogk@huroncapital.com

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

Spirent(R) Communications Advances Certification of Assisted GPS Devices With Industry's First Fully Validated Test System

SUNNYVALE, California, September 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- Spirent ULTS First to Obtain Complete Validation for All A-GPS Test Standards

Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT), a global provider of performance analysis solutions, maintains its leadership in Assisted GPS (A-GPS) testing by becoming the first test system vendor to validate all the A-GPS test standards on its UMTS Location Test System (ULTS). Mobile device manufacturers, chipset vendors and mobile operators now have access to a single test platform that runs all the validated A-GPS test cases required by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and the PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB).

With all validated A-GPS test cases now available on a single automated test system, Spirent ULTS significantly improves device verification, certification and time-to-market cycles. Furthermore, it limits the need for test engineers to work with multiple test platforms or platform configurations, which can complicate and delay the testing process.

The mobile community relies on A-GPS test standards to certify that mobile devices conform to industry specifications prior to market deployment. With the recent validations of the 3GPP TS 51.010 GSM Signalling Test Cases, Spirent ULTS now supports validated WCDMA and GSM test cases from 3GPP Standards TS 34.171, TS34.123 and TS 51.010, as well as the OMA SUPL V1.0 ETS.

"Our global customer base relies on our expertise to successfully develop and deploy A-GPS solutions. This expertise led to Spirent's involvement in the writing of many of the test cases in the standards bodies," said Richard Catmur, Location Product Segment Manager at Spirent Communications. "Having all current A-GPS test standards validated in a single platform will significantly increase the pace at which our customers can certify their devices."

In addition to conformance testing, the Spirent ULTS also offers advanced A-GPS testing beyond the minimum requirements of the 3GPP and OMA test standards. The Spirent ULTS closes the gap between pure conformance and field testing in a controllable and flexible lab-based test environment. With the most powerful and flexible GPS simulation capabilities available, this test system offers users the possibility to test the A-GPS RF performance in challenging simulated environments, such as urban canyons and deep indoors. Furthermore, the ULTS offers advanced protocol testing under some of the most demanding yet common real-world scenarios.

Built upon the expertise gained from Spirent's Position Location Test System (PLTS), launched into the CDMA market in 2001, the ULTS was the first commercially-available UMTS A-GPS test system. Since then, most of the world's largest network operators, together with all the major mobile device and A-GPS chipset manufacturers, have relied on the Spirent ULTS to design, test and certify their LBS solutions.

For more information please visit www.spirent.com/go/ults

About Spirent Communications plc

Spirent Communications (www.spirentcom.com) is a global provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems that enable the development and deployment of next-generation networking technology such as Internet telephony, broadband services, 3G wireless, global navigation satellite systems, and network security equipment. Spirent Communications' solutions are used by more than 1,700 customers in 30 countries, including the world's largest equipment manufacturers, service providers, enterprises and governments. Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Spirent Communications has 1,500 employees worldwide.

Spirent Communications plc Ordinary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SPT). The Company operates a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt ("ADR") programme with each ADR representing four Spirent Communications plc Ordinary shares. The ADRs trade in the US over-the-counter ("OTC") market under the symbol SPMYY and the CUSIP number is 84856M209. Spirent Communications' sales to the United States government are made through Spirent Federal Systems Inc. www.spirentfederal.com

Spirent, Spirent Communications and the Spirent logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Spirent Communications plc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are held by their respective companies. All rights reserved.

Contact Sailaja Tennati Spirent Communications Direct Tel +1-770-432-3225 +1-240-291-6044 E-mail sailaja.tennati@spirent.com

This document may contain forward-looking statements which are made in good faith and are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. You can sometimes, but not always, identify these statements by the use of a date in the future or such words as "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "project", "intend", "plan", "should", "may", "assume" and other similar words. By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherently predictive and speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Web site: http://www.spirentcom.com http://www.spirent.com/go/ults

Spirent Communications plc

Sailaja Tennati of Spirent Communications, +1-770-432-3225 or +1-240-291-6044, sailaja.tennati@spirent.com

Synopsys Enters Mixed-Signal Implementation Market With Galaxy Custom Designer

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, September 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- Next-generation Solution Provides Open, Unified Environment for Custom Design

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design and manufacturing, today unveiled its Galaxy Custom Designer(TM) solution, the industry's first modern-era mixed-signal implementation solution. Architected for productivity, Galaxy Custom Designer leverages Synopsys' Galaxy(TM) Design Platform to provide a unified solution for custom and digital designs, thereby enhancing designer efficiency. Galaxy Custom Designer delivers a familiar user interface while integrating a common use model for simulation, analysis, parasitic extraction and physical verification. It is the first-ever implementation solution built natively on the OpenAccess database for legacy designs as well as a new componentized infrastructure offering unprecedented openness and interoperability with process design kits (PDKs) from leading foundries.

"Our customers have long requested a modern alternative to the custom design solutions currently on the market," said Aart de Geus, chairman and CEO of Synopsys. "By starting with a state-of-the-art, open architecture and tightly coupling it to the Galaxy Design Platform as well as our analog/mixed-signal verification and IP solutions, Synopsys aims to do for custom design what we have done for digital implementation."

"Galaxy Custom Designer has an open architecture that natively supports interoperable PDKs which are an integral part of our Open Innovation Platform(TM), helping designers innovate in analog and full-custom design," said Fu-Chieh Hsu, vice president of Design & Technology Platform at TSMC. "We are collaborating with Synopsys to develop the industry's first interoperable PDK in 65 nanometer, a single PDK that supports multiple environments, including the latest innovations such as Custom Designer. We continue to work with Synopsys and the Interoperable PDK Library (IPL) Alliance to accelerate the deployment and adoption of interoperable PDK across the industry."

In addition to facilitating innovation with the open architecture, Galaxy Custom Designer dramatically enhances productivity by seamlessly bridging the gap between the historically disparate worlds of digital and custom design. Galaxy Custom Designer enables complete data transparency with Synopsys' IC Compiler physical implementation solution, allowing the exchange of vital information during floorplanning, placement, routing and final chip editing to reduce time-consuming design iterations.

"Our customers expect timely delivery and the utmost reliability from our advanced authentication security products," said Jeff Berkman, chief technology officer at Priva Technologies. "The smooth conversion of our mixed-signal security IP to Custom Designer, its inherent ease-of-use, and its intuitive interface enabled us to significantly reduce design iteration time and thus increase quality. We expect using Custom Designer for our future designs to greatly enhance our design productivity."

"The introduction of Custom Designer as part of the Galaxy Design Platform provides a complete cell-based and custom design capability that we are currently deploying on our next-generation HDRC(R) sensor array design," said Wolfram Klingler, senior manager, IC Design Tools at IMS Chips. "Custom Designer was easy to adopt, and offers significant productivity improvements over other solutions."

Built from the ground up, Galaxy Custom Designer was architected for productivity. Key modules include a schematic editor featuring on-canvas editing and dynamic net highlighting. The simulation environment provides a common use model allowing access to Synopsys simulators, including HSPICE(R), HSIM(TM) XA, NanoSim(R) XA and WaveView Analyzer. The layout editor features a real-time preview of P-Cell parameter changes. In addition, the results from Hercules(TM) DRC/LVS and Star-RCXT(TM) parasitic extraction are dynamically available within Galaxy Custom Designer.

Galaxy Custom Designer is available now.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 60 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding the expected benefits and performance characteristics of Galaxy Custom Designer and interoperable PDKs. These statements are based on current expectations and beliefs. Actual results could differ materially from those described by these statements due to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, engineering difficulties, uncertainties attendant to any new product release, and other risks as identified in the section of Synopsys' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2007, and subsequent forms 10-Q, entitled "Risk Factors."

Synopsys, Galaxy, Galaxy Custom Designer, Hercules, HSIM, HSPICE, NanoSim and Star-RCXT are registered trademarks or trademarks of Synopsys, Inc. Any other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.

Editorial Contacts: Sheryl Gulizia Synopsys, Inc. +1-650-584-8635 sgulizia@synopsys.com Lisa Gillette-Martin MCA, Inc. +1-650-968-8900 ext. 115 lgmartin@mcapr.com

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

Synopsys, Inc.

Sheryl Gulizia of Synopsys, Inc., +1-650-584-8635, sgulizia@synopsys.com; or Lisa Gillette-Martin of MCA, Inc., +1-650-968-8900 ext. 115, lgmartin@mcapr.com, for Synopsys, Inc.

California Micro Devices Presents Display Electronic Solutions at SID Mobile Displays 2008

SAN DIEGO, September 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- High Speed Serial Display Controllers and Low Capacitance ESD Protection Devices to be Highlighted

CMD Booth # 1 -- California Micro Devices (Nasdaq: CAMD) will be showcasing its display controller solutions based on the Mobile Digital Display Interface (MDDI) and Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI(TM)) high speed serial interface display standards and its PicoGuard(TM) ultra-low capacitance ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection devices for mobile handset applications at SID Mobile Displays 2008 in San Diego on September 23rd and 24th. Kyle Baker, CMD's vice president of marketing, will deliver a presentation entitled "Serial Interface Display Design Challenges for Handsets with Multiple Displays" on Wednesday, September 24th at 11:25 AM.

Display Controllers for High Speed Serial Interfaces

CMD will be presenting a portfolio of serial interface display controllers designed for the MIPI and MDDI display interface standards. The CM5100 features a fully compliant, MDDI based serial client, an integrated display controller with embedded memory that supports primary thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with resolutions up to QVGA (320x240) and secondary displays.

CMD will be demonstrating a hardware platform that showcases its unique, new serial interface conversion solution. The new architecture, developed in collaboration with major handset and device manufacturers, will permit advanced handsets that utilize CPUs and application processors with on-chip MDDI compatible hosts to interface with LCD modules that feature either MDDI or MIPI based clients. CMD's architecture will allow handset makers that produce models utilizing both MDDI and MIPI based CPUs to satisfy all of their display requirements with modules based on the MIPI standard, resulting in higher volumes and lower module prices.

CMD will be featuring a hardware platform implementation of its new MIPI based client architecture. This innovative new serial interface display controller architecture utilizes a RAM-less MIPI Type 4 video mode interface and can support MIPI display module applications up to WXGA. CMD's upcoming display controllers will be used in advanced mobile handsets and in next generation Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs).

PicoGuard ESD Protection Arrays

The company will also be showing its ultra low capacitance, PicoGuard ESD protection arrays. PicoGuard solutions provide robust ESD protection with very low capacitance levels that are ideal for sensitive high speed serial interfaces in wireless handsets such as MDDI, MIPI or USB2.0 High-Speed.

About California Micro Devices Corporation

California Micro Devices Corporation is a leading supplier of application specific analog and mixed signal semiconductor products for the mobile handset, digital consumer electronics and personal computer markets. Key products include protection devices for mobile handsets, digital consumer electronics products such as digital TVs, and personal computers as well as analog and mixed signal ICs for mobile handset displays. Detailed corporate and product information may be accessed at http://www.cmd.com.

PicoGuard is a trademark of California Micro Devices Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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

California Micro Devices Corporation

Richard Haas of California Micro Devices, +1-408-934-3108, richardh@cmd.com

No Contract Required - New Month-to-Month Agreement Gives Verizon Wireless Customers Even More Freedom

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning today, Verizon Wireless customers who want to enjoy the best customer experience in wireless, but don't want to sign a one- or two-year customer agreement have a month-to-month option. The new Month-to-Month agreement is an extension of the company's overall commitment to delivering its customers quality products and services over the nation's most reliable wireless network, while providing the industry's best customer service.

Verizon Wireless' new Month-to-Month agreement gives customers the freedom to purchase new devices at full-retail price, or use their own CDMA devices without the commitment of a one- or two-year contract. Additionally customers can terminate their agreement at the end of any month without paying an Early Termination Fee.

The company's Month-to-Month agreement is now available on all Nationwide Voice and Data plans for both new and current contract customers. Current contract customers must fulfill the terms of their current contract before moving to a Month-to-Month agreement.

Customers who want to sign up for a Verizon Wireless Month-to-Month plan can visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, go online at http://www.verizonwireless.com/ or call 1-800-2 JOIN IN.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 68.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 70,000 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: Brenda Boyd Raney, Verizon Wireless, +1-908-559-7518,
Brenda.Raney@verizonwireless.com

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

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

Shipping Group Unicom Selects KVH TracVision M9 to Improve Crew Welfare in its FleetTracVision M9 satellite TV system installations are underway for long-term project that will benefit crew members on 60 vessels at completion

KOKKEDAL, Denmark, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- KVH Industries, Inc., today announced that it is working with Unicom, a member of Sovcomflot, Russia's largest shipping company, to equip the Unicom fleet with entertainment at sea via KVH's TracVision(R) M9 satellite TV antennas. A total of 60 antennas will be installed over the duration of the project, representing the largest single maritime TracVision order in KVH's history. Installations, which are being managed by KVH's Russian distributor, Navicom, are well underway and the project is expected to reach completion within one year. KVH's 82 cm TracVision M9 is a powerful, HDTV-ready satellite TV system that offers outstanding entertainment for large commercial vessels while maintaining a streamlined appearance.

"The TracVision M9 was purchased for crew entertainment purposes and to improve crew welfare onboard our vessels," says Sergey Minakov, Unicom's electrical engineer superintendent. "The equipment was easy for our vessels' electrical engineers to install. Now, the TracVision M9 allows our crew to watch the latest news. Having live TV onboard clearly increases the morale of our people."

Powered by KVH's exclusive RingFire(TM) antenna technology, integrated GPS, automatic, and fully stabilised skew adjustment, the TracVision M9 offers passengers and crew access to high-quality satellite TV entertainment from regional services around the globe. It delivers outstanding performance, even in the grueling conditions that are often a part of commercial maritime operations. This powerful system is manufactured in compliance with the rigorous ISO 9001:2000 standard for quality and is subjected to the most stringent performance evaluations in the industry, making it the most rugged and reliable option for offshore commercial vessels.

"We are excited that the TracVision M9 is proving itself as a valuable part of the crew recruitment and retention strategy for a large, respected company like Unicom," says Svend Lykke Larsen, director of sales for KVH Europe A/S. "This project is an important example of our comprehensive suite of products that connect commercial operators and crew around the globe to satellite TV entertainment and broadband communications."

For more information about KVH's award-winning TracVision satellite TV antennas, visit http://www.kvh.com/MarineSat.

About KVH Industries

Middletown, RI-based KVH Industries, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary, KVH Europe A/S, are leading providers of in-motion satellite TV and communications systems, having designed, manufactured, and sold more than 150,000 mobile satellite antennas for applications on vessels, vehicles, and aircraft. KVH's mission is to connect mobile customers around the globe with the same digital television entertainment, communications, and Internet services that they enjoy in their homes and offices.

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, for example, the functionality, characteristics, quality and performance of KVH's products and technology; anticipated innovation and product development; and customer preferences, requirements and expectations. The actual results could differ materially. Factors that may cause such differences include, among others, those discussed in KVH's most recent Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. KVH assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect new information or developments.

KVH Industries, Inc.

CONTACT: Jens Gegner Andreasen, Marketing Coordinator of KVH Europe A-S,
+45-45-160-180, jga@kvh.dk

Web site: http://www.kvh.com/
http://www.kvh.com/MarineSat

Harris Stratex Networks Participates in Largest Ever Public Carrier Ethernet Interoperability Test at Carrier Ethernet World Congress

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris Stratex Networks, Inc. , the leading supplier of advanced wireless transmission solutions for IP mobile backhaul network evolution, today announced its participation in the largest ever public multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet interoperability showcase. The event will be held at the upcoming Carrier Ethernet World Congress (CEWC) in Berlin, 23-26 September at the MARITIM ProArte Hotel.

Harris Stratex continues to demonstrate its leadership in Carrier Ethernet over Wireless transport, having participated in this event for all four years since its inception in 2005. Harris Stratex is also a founding member and co-chair of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Mobile Backhaul Marketing Working Group, which is seeking to promote and define the use of Carrier Ethernet services for mobile/cellular backhaul networks and their evolution.

This year, the showcase includes a live network of more than 100 devices from 28 vendors, ranging from the network core to access domains. The testing provides a proof-of-concept for operators planning to migrate their networks to all-IP utilizing next-generation Carrier Ethernet services. In a massive hot staging effort at EANTC in August 2008, multi-vendor, real-world test combinations have been verified that highlight the promise of Carrier Ethernet networks and end-to-end services. A number of critical test areas, including resiliency mechanisms as well as operations and maintenance, mobile backhaul and triple-play services, were verified during the hot staging and are being showcased at CEWC.

Harris Stratex demonstrated interoperability in the MPLS, T-MPLS and PBB-TE segments of the test network using the MEF Certified Eclipse(TM) Carrier Ethernet over Wireless platform, which supports resilient, high-speed GigE connections up to 1.5 Gbit/s. Test participation included services as defined by the MEF, such as E-LINE (Point-to-Point Ethernet Virtual Circuits, or EVC), E-TREE (Rooted-Multipoint EVC) services running an IPTV application, and E-LAN (Multipoint-to-multipoint EVC) service running a gaming demonstration. Harris Stratex also demonstrated wireless features relevant to Carrier Ethernet transport such as Adaptive Modulation and Link State Propagation (LSP).

"We are thrilled to be part of this event," said Harald Braun, Harris Stratex Networks President and CEO. "This year's theme, 'Carrier Ethernet Services - The Future' is fitting for us since Harris Stratex has been able to lead the market in wireless transport systems for large-scale, multiservice Ethernet networks, including next-generation IP mobile and WiMAX networks. We have taken a leadership role within the MEF, and believe we are well positioned to address this emerging market and make it a significant part of our future company growth."

Visit Harris Stratex at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress in booth #23. About Harris Stratex Networks, Inc.

Harris Stratex Networks, Inc. is the world's leading independent supplier of turnkey wireless transmission solutions. The company offers reliable, flexible and scalable wireless network solutions, backed by comprehensive professional services and support. Harris Stratex Networks serves all global markets, including mobile network operators, public safety agencies, private network operators, utility and transportation companies, government agencies and broadcasters. Customers in more than 135 countries depend on Harris Stratex Networks to build, expand and upgrade their voice, data and video solutions. Harris Stratex Networks is recognized around the world for innovative, best-in-class wireless networking solutions and services. For more information, visit http://www.harrisstratex.com/ .

About EANTC

The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) offers vendor-neutral consultancy and test facilities for network equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprise customers. Primary business areas include interoperability, conformance, and performance testing for IP/MPLS, Carrier Ethernet and Triple Play technologies and applications. For more information contact Carsten Rossenhovel, Managing Director, at +49.30.3180595-0 or via e-mail at cross@eantc.com .

Harris Stratex Networks, Inc.

CONTACT: Tom Cheesewright or James Delves, Noiseworks, +44 1628 628 080,
hsx@noiseworks.com; or Tonya Loggains, Harris Stratex Networks,
+1-919-767-3278, tonya.loggains@hstx.com

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

California Micro Devices Presents Display Electronic Solutions at SID Mobile Displays 2008High Speed Serial Display Controllers and Low Capacitance ESD Protection Devices to be Highlighted

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CMD Booth # 1 -- California Micro Devices will be showcasing its display controller solutions based on the Mobile Digital Display Interface (MDDI) and Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI(TM)) high speed serial interface display standards and its PicoGuard(TM) ultra-low capacitance ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection devices for mobile handset applications at SID Mobile Displays 2008 in San Diego on September 23rd and 24th. Kyle Baker, CMD's vice president of marketing, will deliver a presentation entitled "Serial Interface Display Design Challenges for Handsets with Multiple Displays" on Wednesday, September 24th at 11:25 AM.

Display Controllers for High Speed Serial Interfaces

PicoGuard ESD Protection Arrays

About California Micro Devices Corporation

PicoGuard is a trademark of California Micro Devices Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

California Micro Devices Corporation

CONTACT: Richard Haas of California Micro Devices, +1-408-934-3108,
richardh@cmd.com

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

The Quantum Group Announces Filings of Additional Provisional PatentsA total of 18 provisional patents bring the PWeR(TM) system to the forefront of the healthcare industry

WELLINGTON, Fla., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Quantum Group, Inc. (http://www.quantummd.com/), a Wellington, Florida based healthcare organization, announced that it has increased the Company portfolio of provisional patents with five additional filings all related to PWeR(TM), (Personal Wellness electronic Record). PWeR is a web-based healthcare information system designed to fill a gap in the healthcare industry's ability to communicate, share information, and make more informed treatment decisions. As a patient-centric Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, PWeR integrates data and processes of an organization into one single system.

The five new provisional patents enhance the capabilities of PWeR by allowing it to recreate past episodic health events and portray probable future outcomes of lifestyle management in a statistically valid way. Further, these provisional patents enhance the patient-centric focus of the system by visually demonstrating for the patient the impact that lifestyle choices have on future wellness. Additionally, the technology behind these new provisional patents provides for more immediate access for medical response personnel to view vital patient information in an emergency situation.

Pete Martinez, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology & Innovations Officer of The Quantum Group announced, "The electronic record will be the nucleus for transformation of healthcare industry. The Quantum Group is focused on enhancing the management of clinical claims and financial information to provide new levels of efficiency, quality and cost reductions. Our innovative PWeR system also provides a new level of understanding about the workings of the human body and the services that support it."

The U.S. Government has adopted legislation regarding healthcare providers to implement electronic records by the year 2014. Martinez went on to say, "Adoption of electronic records should not only be done because of a government mandate. We have seen the impressive cost reductions, improvements in quality and effectiveness in all other industries that have undergone the transformation from paper-based processes to electronic ones. Through these provisional patents we are facilitating and challenging the adoption of technology to propel healthcare into the 21st century."

About The Quantum Group, Inc.

The Quantum Group provides business process solutions, service chain management, strategic consulting and leading edge technology innovations to the healthcare industry.

Through our dynamic patient-centric architecture, we empower the communication that is critical for the coordination of care and take aim at the $600 billion inefficiency gap in the United States healthcare industry. We are guided by a mission to develop efficiencies, improve the quality of patient care and achieve cost reductions for the nation's largest and fastest growing industry.

We have developed leading-edge technology with the creation and deployment of a series of innovative patent-pending initiatives. Through approximately 2,000 healthcare providers and multiple insurance company relationships under management, we are positioned to be a catalyst for change to the Florida healthcare industry.

Certain statements contained in this news release, which are not based on historical facts, are forward-looking statements as the term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are subject to substantial uncertainties and risks in part detailed in the respective company's Securities and Exchange Commission 10-KSB, 10-QSB, S-8 and 8-K filings (and amendments thereto) that may cause actual results to materially differ from projections. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "plans," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates" and other words of similar meaning. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, without limitation, the ability of the Company to properly execute its business model, to raise substantial and immediate additional capital to implement its business model, to attract and retain executive, management and operational personnel, to continue growing its patient base, to negotiate favorable current debt and future capital raises, to negotiate favorable agreements with a diversified provider base and to continue to supply the services needed by its HMO clients as well as physician clients. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the provisional patents discussed in this press release will be granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, or, if they are granted, they will not be challenged by third parties, or if not that we will be able to effectively use or commercialize such patents and/or we may not have the resources to deploy such technology. As a result, investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: PR Financial Marketing Jim Blackman: 713-256-0369 jim@prfmonline.com or The Quantum Group, Inc. Danielle Amodio: 561.798.9800 damodio@quantummd.com

The Quantum Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Jim Blackman of PR Financial Marketing, +1-713-256-0369,
jim@prfmonline.com, or Danielle Amodio of The Quantum Group, Inc.,
+1-561-798-9800, damodio@quantummd.com

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

Charming Shoppes, Inc. Appoints Jay Levitt President, Fashion Bug

BENSALEM, Pa., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Charming Shoppes, Inc. today announced that Jay H. Levitt, the former President and CEO of May Merchandising and May Department Stores International, has been appointed President of the Company's Fashion Bug brand, effective immediately.

Jay Levitt has served in various retail-industry leadership and merchandising positions over the past three decades. From 2001 through 2005, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of May Merchandising and May Department Stores International, based in St. Louis. Previously, he had held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Robinsons May, following his responsibilities as the General Merchandise Manager for a number of May divisions over several years. Before joining May, he was a divisional merchandise manager at J.W. Robinsons and The Broadway.

Alan Rosskamm, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Charming Shoppes, Inc. commented, "Today's announcement signals our continuing progress in recruiting brand leaders with a high level of executive merchandising experience, and we are very pleased to welcome Jay to Charming Shoppes. He has earned a strong reputation as a talented merchant with an impressive track record in our industry, and we look forward to his leadership of our Fashion Bug brand."

Levitt added, "I look forward to joining Charming Shoppes and assuming leadership responsibility for the Fashion Bug brand. I welcome the opportunity to work with the Fashion Bug team and embrace the challenge of rejuvenating this enduring brand and providing a great selection of fashion and styles at exceptional value."

At August 2, 2008, Charming Shoppes, Inc. operated 2,359 retail stores in 48 states under the names LANE BRYANT(R), FASHION BUG(R), FASHION BUG PLUS(R), CATHERINES PLUS SIZES(R), LANE BRYANT OUTLET(R), and PETITE SOPHISTICATE OUTLET(R). Additionally, the Company operates the following direct-to-consumer titles: Lane Bryant Woman(TM), Figi's(R) and shoetrader.com. Please visit http://www.charmingshoppes.com/ for additional information about Charming Shoppes, Inc.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning appointments of executives, the Company's operations, performance, and financial condition. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Such risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to: the failure to effectively implement our planned consolidation, cost and capital budget reduction plans, the failure to implement the Company's business plan for increased profitability and growth in the Company's retail stores and direct-to-consumer segments, adverse changes in costs, changes in or miscalculation of fashion trends, extreme or unseasonable weather conditions, economic downturns, competitive pressures, and the adverse effects of natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or threats of either, or other armed conflict, on the United States and international economies. These, and other risks and uncertainties, are detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2008, the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Charming Shoppes assumes no duty to update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized.

Charming Shoppes, Inc.

CONTACT: Gayle M. Coolick, Vice President, Investor Relations of
Charming Shoppes, Inc., +1-215-638-6955

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

Griffon Corporation Announces Successful Conclusion of Rights OfferingCompany Will Receive Approximately $250 Million in Gross Proceeds

JERICHO, N.Y., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Griffon Corporation announced today that, based on preliminary information from its transfer agent, Griffon will receive approximately $250 million of gross proceeds from its rights offering and the related investment by Goldman Sachs' private equity affiliate, GS Direct, LLC.

Approximately 18,900,000 shares were subscribed at $8.50 per share through the exercise of rights, more than 94% of the shares offered to rights holders. GS Direct will, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to its investment agreement with Griffon, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to its investment agreement with Griffon, purchase an aggregate of 10,000,000 shares for $8.50 per share, representing its agreement to purchase any unsubscribed shares and its minimum purchase commitment. Ronald J. Kramer, Griffon's Chief Executive Officer, will purchase an additional approximately 590,000 shares at $8.50 per share as part of the agreement with GS Direct.

The transaction is expected to close by September 30, 2008.

"We are pleased that Griffon was able to substantially strengthen its equity base, even in this time of historic market turbulence," said Ron Kramer. "With the substantial increase in our equity and cash position, we believe that Griffon will be extremely well positioned to take advantage of opportunities to grow and build value for our shareholders."

"Under our agreement with GS Direct, Mr. Gerry Cardinale and Mr. Brad Gross, Managing Directors of Goldman Sachs, will be joining our Board," said Harvey R. Blau, Griffon's Chairman of the Board. "We look forward to working with them and with Goldman Sachs to grow our company."

Lazard Capital Markets LLC acted as dealer manager for the rights offering. Lazard Freres & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor and Dechert LLP is acting as legal advisor for Griffon.

About Griffon Corporation

Griffon Corporation, headquartered in Jericho, New York, is a diversified holding company consisting of three distinct business segments: Electronic Information and Communication Systems, through Telephonics Corporation; Garage Doors, through Clopay Building Products Company; and Specialty Plastic Films, through Clopay Plastic Products Company. Telephonics Corporation's high-technology engineering and manufacturing capabilities provide integrated information, communication and sensor system solutions to military and commercial markets worldwide. Telephonics specializes in aircraft intercommunication systems, wireless communication systems, radars, identification friend or foe products, integrated security systems, air traffic management systems, aerospace electronics, and the performance of threat and radar system analyses. Clopay Building Products Company is a leading manufacturer and marketer of residential garage doors to professional installing dealers and major home center retail chains. Clopay Plastic Products is an international leader in the development and production of embossed, laminated and printed specialty plastic films used in a variety of hygienic, health-care and industrial markets. For more information on the company and its operating subsidiaries, please see the company's website at http://www.griffoncorp.com/ .

Forward-looking Statements

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including without limitation statements regarding the company's financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of the company's management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this release, words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", and similar expressions, as they relate to the company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the company's management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the company's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to, business, financial market and economic conditions, including, but not limited to, the credit market, the housing market, results of integrating acquired businesses into existing operations, the results of the company's restructuring and disposal efforts, competitive factors and pricing pressures for resin and steel, capacity and supply constraints and the ability to consummate the rights offering. Such statements reflect the views of the company with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity of the company as previously disclosed in the company's SEC filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contact: Patrick L. Alesia Chief Financial Officer (516) 938-5544

Griffon Corporation

CONTACT: Patrick L. Alesia, Chief Financial Officer, of Griffon
Corporation, +1-516-938-5544

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

Robert Namias Joins Publicis Groupe

PARIS, September 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Robert Namias joins Publicis Groupe as Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe's Management Board, as well as Vice President of Publicis Consultants I France. This appointment is with effect from October 1, 2008. Publicis Groupe, and particularly Publicis Consultants I France, the corporate strategy and communications network headed by CEO Eric Giuily, will benefit from Robert Namias' vast experience in the communication and information fields.

Robert Namias comes to Publicis Groupe from TV broadcaster TF1, where he's been employed since 1986. Editor in chief of the main evening news from 1987 to 1992, he went on to become editorial manager and finally Head of News in 1996. Robert Namias began his career with radio station RTL in 1968, then switched to Europe 1 (1969-1982), first as a political reporter and later as chief editor for the society department. From 1983 to 1987, he founded and served as chief executive of local free radio station 95.2. Robert Namias has also served as President of the French national road safety council, the Conseil national de la securite routiere (CNSR), since 2003.

About Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577) is the world's fourth largest communications group. In addition, it is ranked as the world's second largest media counsel and buying group, and is a global leader in digital and healthcare communications. With activities spanning 104 countries on five continents, the Groupe employs approximately 44,000 professionals. The Groupe offers local and international clients a complete range of communication services, from advertising through three autonomous global advertising networks, Leo Burnett, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi and two multi-hub networks, Fallon and 49%-owned Bartle Bogle Hegarty; to media consultancy and buying, through two worldwide networks, Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia; interactive and digital marketing led by Digitas; Specialized Agencies and Marketing Services offering healthcare communications, corporate and financial communications, sustainability communications, shopper marketing, public relations, CRM and direct marketing, event and sports marketing, and multicultural communications.

Web Site: http://www.publicisgroupe.com/ About Publicis Consultants I France

Expressing the sense of your difference. Publicis Consultants -, the leading corporate communications agency in France, provides companies, institutions and brands with all the tools needed to build their identity, image and reputation and forge quality relations with their various audiences. The network in France, with a staff of over 420 employees, is organized into six agencies: Publicis Consultants - Paris for corporate and institutional communications, investor relations and financial communications, government and public affairs and corporate public relations; Publicis Consultants - RH for human relations and internal communications; Pietri - Publicis Consultants specializing in luxury, fashion and consumer public relations; Publicis Consultants - Net Intelligenz, a unique alliance of corporate and Internet expertise; Verbe for online and offline publishing and Carre Noir for corporate identity and brand design. The Publicis Consultants - network is headed by CEO Eric Giuily. Publicis Consultants - Worldwide employs 830 staff in its 46 agencies. Through its 8 strategic partners, the network covers 24 countries around the world, deploying 1,250 consultants and creatives.

Web site: http://www.publicis-consultants.fr/ CONTACTS Publicis Groupe, Peggy Nahmany, Corporate Communications +33(0)1-44-43-72-83, Martine Hue, Investor Relations +33(0)1-44-43-65-00; Publicis Consultants - France, Lydie Le Ninivin +33(0)1-44-43-66-13

Publicis Groupe Services

CONTACT: CONTACTS: Publicis Groupe, Peggy Nahmany, Corporate
Communications +33(0)1-44-43-72-83, Martine Hue, Investor Relations
+33(0)1-44-43-65-00; Publicis Consultants - France, Lydie Le Ninivin
+33(0)1-44-43-66-13

PayStream Advisors Study Cites Open Text Leadership in Accounts PayableNew Imaging and Workflow Automation Study Evaluates Open Text AP Offerings for Use With Solutions from Oracle and SAP

CHICAGO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Open Text(TM) Corporation , a global leader in enterprise content management (ECM), today announced that an imaging and workflow automation study by PayStream Advisors concludes that Open Text has emerged as a clear market leader in accounts payable (AP) content management solutions for use with solutions from Oracle and SAP AG. According to the report, Open Text's AP solutions help customers significantly lower cost-per-invoice processing, reduce invoice processing time, and slash invoice resolution time, thus freeing finance department personnel to pursue more strategic activities.

PayStream Advisors is a specialized consultancy that provides third-party research, technology vendor consultation and corporate consultation, covering areas such as risk assessment, and solutions options implementation preparation.

For this report, PayStream Advisors analyzed Open Text's Livelink ECM - Accounts Payable Extensions for Oracle and Livelink ECM - Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) for use with SAP(R) solutions. The report states: "Each of the Livelink solutions feature advanced ECM functionality, and, as integrated modules or as individual stand-alone platforms, deliver best-of-breed document management, collaboration, records management, archiving, imaging, report management, digital asset management, advanced workflow, business process management, information retrieval, and web content management."

On the Livelink ECM - Accounts Payable Extensions for Oracle, the report states: "The AP Extension platform vastly improves upon Oracle's user interface, reporting tools, and core business processing, while incorporating next-generation technologies such as XML data modulation, BPEL, and three-way match. The end-result is increased business-intelligence, top-to-bottom visibility, and the transformation of AP as strategic for working capital optimization."

On the VIM solution, PayStream Advisors found that "using VIM, AP personnel can focus on value-added activities. Open Text's Vendor Invoice Management tool goes far beyond the 'proverbial tip of the iceberg' of AP automation, i.e. reducing headcount, offering a suite of functionality that drives strategic working-capital decisions. Rapid rollout and high acceptance rates, in addition to the solution's service oriented architecture, create rapid ROI and facilitate spend and cash visibility, thus enabling further improvements, customizations, and optimizations. Adopters see reduced duplicate and late payments, while improving vendor relations, opportunities for outsourcing, and strategic working capital."

As a final impression, the report concludes: "Open Text is a strong player in the Enterprise Content Management marketplace, and clearly sees product innovation as the key to maintaining its position. As Oracle's Fusion continues to evolve, Open Text and its customers will clearly reap the benefits of integrating and adapting to the new architecture. Both solutions readily demonstrate Open Text's expertise in content management. Given the strength of its solutions for SAP and Oracle ERP applications, Open Text has emerged as a market leader in AP."

"Given the current economic conditions and increased competitive pressures from globalization and other factors, it behooves companies to look for every opportunity to lower costs and improve operations," said Kirk Roberts, President, Integrated ECM Operating Group at Open Text. "Getting a handle on all the unstructured content surrounding an Oracle or SAP solution-based AP system and automating AP workflows, as PayStream Advisors' research suggests, offers rapid payback on investment and long-term efficiencies for the enterprise."

To obtain the full report, go to: http://opentext.com/2/landing-leadership-accounts-payable.htm?WT.mc_id=NA41480 858. For more information on Open Text AP solutions go to: http://www.opentext.com/2/sol-business/sol-bus-finance/sol-bus-finance-account s-payable.htm

Open Text at Oracle OpenWorld 2008

Open Text will be showing its ECM solutions for Oracle at Oracle OpenWorld 2008 this week in San Francisco in booth #3424, West Exhibit Hall. For more information, go to: http://www.opentext.com/2/ex_event.html?evtype=events&id=70120000000ANvAAAW

About Open Text

Open Text, an enterprise software company and leader in enterprise content management, helps organizations manage and gain the true value of their business content. Open Text brings two decades of expertise supporting 46,000 customers and millions of users in 114 countries. Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading Content Experts(TM) to help organizations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness. For more information, visit http://www.opentext.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the success of any of the Company's strategic initiatives, the Company's growth and profitability prospects, the benefits of the Company's products to be realized by customers, the Company's position in the market and future opportunities therein, the deployment of Livelink and our other products by customers, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements may also include, without limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, the failure to develop new products, risks involved in fluctuations in currency exchange rates, delays in purchasing decisions of customers, the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the Company's customers, demand for the Company's products and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2008. You should not place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's beliefs or opinions change.

Copyright (C) 2008 by Open Text Corporation. LIVELINK ECM and OPEN TEXT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of Open Text Corporation or other respective owners.

Open Text Corporation

CONTACT: Richard Maganini, Open Text Corporation, (847) 267-9330
ext.4266, rmaganin@opentext.com; Stephanie Dodge, Open Text Corporation, (519)
888-7111, x2429, sdodge@opentext.com; Brian Edwards, McKenzie Worldwide, (503)
577-4583, briane@mckenzieworldwide.com

Alcatel-Lucent Introduces Optical Monitoring and Connectivity Features in its Market-Leading Fiber To The Home (FTTH) System

PARIS, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has added three new features to its 7342 ISAM Fiber-to-the-User (FTTU) system, covering optical monitoring, metro Ethernet connectivity and remote synchronization capabilities that will further strengthen the company's FTTH solution.

The inclusion of new optical monitoring features enables critical parameters to be measured and recorded for analysis over time. This allows early detection of degradation of optical components and optical fiber in the outside plant, often before service-affecting failures arise and customer satisfaction is impacted.

In addition to optical performance monitoring, the Alcatel-Lucent FTTU platform is now able to connect with metro Ethernet networks by providing a robust set of options for virtual private networking and Ethernet connectivity. This enables service providers to generate new revenue from Ethernet services using fiber to the home and business connectivity.

The third feature added relates to IEEE 1588 timing. This feature provides the necessary synchronization for remote placement of gigabit passive optical network (GPON) systems in outside plant and connectivity of DS1 services. Typically, DS1 connections are used for business termination and mobile backhaul. The addition of a robust set of business services options now enables providers to terminate business and residential subscribers over the same passive optical network.

"The new 7342 ISAM FTTU system capabilities, such as Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) optical test and measurement enhancements, support of emerging Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF)-based services, and IEEE 1588 timing for remote GPON OLT synchronization applications, demonstrate that Alcatel- Lucent continues to effectively meet the evolving challenges of operators in the highly competitive FTTx equipment market segment", said Ron Westfall, Research Director, Current Analysis. "Moreover, the new capabilities reinforce and sustain Alcatel-Lucent's proven ability to competitively differentiate its 7342 ISAM FTTU against rival offerings."

Alcatel-Lucent will be highlighting these capabilities and demonstrating the ability to transfer data at near gigabit rates during the North America FTTH Council's annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee, September 22-24 (Booth 907). This demonstration will illustrate GPON's capability to transfer a full-length HDTV DVD in approximately 2 minutes.

Alcatel-Lucent is engaged in more than 85 FTTx projects around the world, over 65 of which are with GPON. Leading service providers have adopted Alcatel-Lucent's GPON solution, including Verizon, France Telecom, Neuf Cegetel, Hanaro Telecom and Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited. Alcatel- Lucent is the uncontested market leader in broadband access with more than 173 million DSL lines shipped to date, a 39% market share according to industry analyst firm Dell'Oro, and ISAM deployments with more than 190 customers worldwide.

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 Contacts, Regine Coqueran,
+ 33 (0)1 40 76 49 24, regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com, Denise Panyik-Dale,
+1-908-582-4897, dpanyikdale@alcatel-lucent.com, Alcatel-Lucent Investor
Relations, Remi Thomas, + 33 (0)1 40 76 50 61, remi.thomas@alcatel-lucent.com,
Tom Bevilacqua, +1-908-582-7998, bevilacqua@alcatel-lucent.com, Tony Lucido,
+ 33 (0)1 40 76 49 80, alucido@alcatel-lucent.com, Don Sweeney,
+1-908-582-6153, dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com

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

SGI and Oracle Expand Reach of Oracle(R) Optimized Warehouse Initiative to More EnterprisesSGI Unveils New Oracle(R) Optimized Data Warehouse

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SGI and Oracle today announced a new Oracle Optimized Warehouse based on SGI(R) servers, supercomputers and storage solutions optimized for the world's most popular database.

SGI and Oracle are broadening the Oracle Optimized Warehouse Initiative by introducing a uniquely scalable Oracle Optimized Warehouse. The new offering falls under the SGI(R) Adaptive Data Warehouse Solutions Program and has been validated to 5 Terabytes (TB). Customers looking for superior system performance, reduced deployment time, and scalable building blocks can take advantage of this new offering to achieve a superior customer experience with their data warehouse.

At Oracle OpenWorld(R) 2008 this week in San Francisco, SGI will demonstrate the new solution in Booth 3418 of the Moscone Center's West Hall.

The new offering consists of a 1.25 TB building block that scales to 5TB and takes advantage of Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL). The pre-configured and pre-built SGI(R) Adaptive Data Warehouse Solution integrates Oracle Database software, SGI(R) Altix(R) servers and SGI(R) Infinite Storage systems. The new SGI solution has been validated and tested to deliver optimal performance, is supported as a single product with a single support contact, and allows organizations to conduct highly complex, ad-hoc queries on massive amounts of data.

The SGI(R) Altix(R) platform allows customers to scale their I/O bandwidth to accommodate the very largest data repositories -- without having to add unnecessary components. By leveraging the SGI platform's unique ability to independently scale I/O, CPUs and memory, customers can create a data warehouse that expands efficiently and economically as their requirements demand. SGI also is the first to introduce supercomputing capabilities to the Oracle Optimized Warehouse Initiative.

"Rapidly mining insights from data warehouses can help companies compete more effectively in a marketplace where even mid-sized companies face global contenders," said Don Whitehead, data warehouse marketing, SGI. "That's why SGI has collaborated with Oracle on an Oracle Optimized Warehouse that offers unique and lasting benefits to organizations struggling to gain the greatest value from data that is growing faster today than ever before. This solution builds on more than 25 years of experience delivering proven, high-performance computing and data management systems. Through the SGI Adaptive Data Warehousing Solution, that experience can now benefit enterprises that rely on Oracle Data Warehouses and advanced BI applications."

Linux Leadership, Leading Scalability

SGI is one of the most prolific contributors to open source Linux(R) -- in areas such as scalability, memory usage and I/O -- and has aligned with Oracle to incorporate the benefits of Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) in a reliable platform backed by world-class support, including Oracle Unbreakable Linux Support program.

"We welcome SGI to the Oracle Optimized Warehouse initiative," said George Lumpkin Senior Director of Product Management for Data Warehousing at Oracle. "This new solution from SGI offers customers another powerful and scalable option. We look forward to working with SGI to expand and reinforce the power of Oracle Unbreakable Linux in the enterprise for data warehousing systems."

The SGI Adaptive Data Warehouse Solution is available in multiple entry points and growth paths to accommodate a wide range of expansion and architecture strategies.

For more information on the SGI Adaptive Data Warehouse Solution, visit http://www.sgi.com/industries/data_warehouse/.

About Oracle

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com/.

SGI | Innovation for Results(TM)

SGI is a leader in high-performance computing. SGI delivers a broad range of high-performance server, storage and visualization solutions along with industry-leading professional services and support that enable its customers to overcome the challenges of complex data-intensive workflows and accelerate breakthrough discoveries, innovation and information transformation. SGI helps customers solve significant challenges whether it's enhancing the quality of life through drug research, designing and manufacturing safer and more efficient cars and airplanes, studying global climate change, providing technologies for homeland security and defense, or helping enterprises manage large data. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and can be found on the Web at sgi.com.

SGI, the SGI cube, Altix and the SGI logo are registered trademarks of SGI in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

MEDIA CONTACT Marla Robinson marlar@sgi.com 256.773.2371 SGI PR HOTLINE 650.933.7777 SGI PR FACSIMILE 650.933.0714

SGI

CONTACT: Marla Robinson of SGI, +1-256-773-2371, marlar@sgi.com or SGI
PR HOTLINE, +1-650-933-7777, or SGI PR FACSIMILE, +1-650-933-0714

Web site: http://www.sgi.com/
http://www.oracle.com/

CNET Announces Call for Entries for 'Best of CES' AwardsAnnual Awards to Honor the Hottest Products at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegashttp://www.cnet.com/best-of-ces

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- CNET (http://www.cnet.com/), where people go to discover the latest tech and consumer electronics, and a property of CBS Interactive, today announced it is now accepting entries for the "Best of CES" Awards at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Each year, CNET editors receive hundreds of entries from companies hoping to have their products selected as one of the hottest at the show.

The winners of the Best of CES awards are selected by CNET editors, who are looking for the most innovative product that will set the standard from which all other products are measured in the coming year. Submission is free and can be accessed through an online form at http://www.cnet.com/best-of-ces. The deadline to submit is December 8, 2008. Awards are given in 10 categories, including Best of Show and the People's Voice, which is chosen by CNET's online audience.

'We were delighted that the MOTOROKR E8 won the CNET 'Best of CES' Award for the cell phones and smartphones category, as well as the People's Voice award in 2008. The product was a true innovation and showed how converged devices can simplify our lives," stated Jeremy Dale, corporate vice president, mobile devices marketing, Motorola, Inc. "The CNET Award was a testimony to our focus on consumer experiences and a very public acknowledgement that we delivered on this goal. Receiving this top honor from a widely respected platform helped drive awareness and anticipation for ROKR E8 from its global launch to regional availability."

"Every year at CES, hundreds of companies launch products that dictate the industry trends for the coming year and beyond," said Scott Ard, vice president of content at CNET. "CNET editors begin working with large and small companies several weeks before the show opens to get the inside scoop on what those products and services will be. Once the show starts, our experts also scour the show floor to determine the top technologies that will steal the show, and present them with our coveted 'Best of CES' award."

Companies have the choice of submitting their product(s) for one of the following award categories: Digital photo and video; car tech; cell phones and smartphones; computers and hardware; gaming; GPS; home audio; home video; MP3 and portable video players; and televisions.

Product will be judged by its potential to: -- Pioneer a new category, establish an emerging category, or take an existing category to a new level. -- Excite people with its style, innovation, usefulness, ease of use, and/or capability to entertain. -- Endow its owners with a certain cachet, the "cool" factor. -- Make its way into everyday life.

CNET editors will select three finalists in each of the ten categories. Additionally, the editorial team will choose one product for the Best of Show award, which recognizes the top product among the ten winners of the Best of CES 2009 Awards. Consumers at home that are actively following CNET's in-depth coverage of the show can participate by voting online or via mobile for their favorite product to win the People's Voice award.

Finalists will be announced on Friday, January 9, 2009 at 10 a.m. PST live on the CNET Stage in the South Hall lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center, second floor. Winners will be announced on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 2 p.m. PST also live on the CNET stage.

For a complete list of the award criteria and to submit a product, please visit the website: http://www.cnet.com/best-of-ces

About CNET

CNET (http://www.cnet.com/) is where people go to discover the latest in tech and consumer electronics. Driven by a trusted voice and a passionate community, CNET creates an open environment for people to find and use the best products to fit their lifestyle. The powerful combination of CNET's award-winning news, lab-tested product reviews, safe and spyware-free downloads, and user-generated content give people information and inspiration to live and thrive in today's digital world.

About CBS Interactive

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the best online content network for information and entertainment. Its portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, and Last.fm span popular categories like technology, entertainment, sports, news, and business. With more than 150 million people visiting its properties each month, CBS Interactive is a top 10 web property globally.

CBS Interactive

CONTACT: Media Inquiries: Jenifer Concepcion, CBS Interactive,
+1-415-344-2441, Jenifer.concepcion@cbs.com; Regarding Best of CES
submissions: Liz Darby, CBS Interactive, +1-415-344-2485, liz.darby@cbs.com

Web Site: http://http//www.cnet.com/best-of-ces
http://www.cnet.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/965075.html

Spare Backup, Inc. Appoints Robert Binkele as a New Board Member

PALM DESERT, Calif., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spare Backup, Inc., (BULLETIN BOARD: SPBU) an industry leading provider of automated, online backup applications for home users and small businesses, today announced the selection of Mr. Robert Binkele as a new board member to replace Mr. Richard Galterio who is resigning from the board to focus on other business obligations.

Mr. Binkele is the founder and CEO of The Estate Planning Team, Inc., a company that has grown to service over 2200 securities advisors, CPA's, attorneys and other professionals nationwide with tax strategies, estate and pension planning. Mr. Binkele is the Indian Wells, CA wealth manager for J.P. Turner & Company, LLC. a national full service registered broker dealer. Robert has participated in many public offerings, and has become very knowledgeable in high tech and medical companies and is well versed in the financial needs of small emerging growth companies and the means to satisfy them.

Prior to joining Atlanta based J.P. Turner & Company, Mr. Binkele was a wealth manager with Brook Street Securities and Raymond James Financial Services Inc., a highly regarded national brokerage based in St. Petersburg, FL. Prior to Raymond James Financial Services, Mr. Binkele was an Academic All American football player for the University of Utah where he majored in finance. Mr. Binkele continued his football career as a professional football player for the San Francisco Forty-Niners during 1985 and 1986.

Robert Binkele stated, "I am excited to be a part of a company that can show dramatic growth. Spare Backup has established productive relationships with recognized leaders in retailing and technology such as DSGi International and Sony, and has continued to gain market recognition in the backup storage market. Through my experience and background in assisting companies such as Spare Backup, I hope to be a catalyst in providing the necessary access to 'Wall Street', which will help in the future."

Cery Perle, CEO of Spare Backup: "We welcome the addition of Robert Binkele to our board. His experience in understanding and funding high tech companies is invaluable for a company such as Spare Backup; Robert has many contacts within the investment community and years of experience. As Spare continues to grow and expand we will rely on his expertise to help take Spare Backup to the next level."

"We also wish to thank Rich Galterio for his thoughtful and helpful contribution to our board and wish him success in his various business ventures."

About Spare Backup, Inc.

Spare Backup, Inc. specializes in helping consumers, small office/home office users, and small to mid-sized businesses protect their computer data quickly, automatically and cost-effectively. The company's flagship Spare Backup product is the first totally automated online backup service that intelligently selects, secures and stores files without any user intervention, automatically backing up documents, email, music, photos and other PC files on a continual basis.

Safe Harbor Statement:

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking information made on the company's behalf. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address the company's expectations of sources of capital or which express the company's expectation for the future with respect to financial performance or operating strategies can be identified as forward-looking statements. Such statements made by the company are based on knowledge of the environment in which it operates, but because of the possibility of unknown factors, as well as other factors beyond the control of the company, actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement. An investment in our common stock involves a significant degree of risk. You should not invest in our common stock unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. You should consider carefully all risk factors and other information in our annual report and quarterly filings before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the following risks and uncertainties develops into actual events, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected and you could lose your entire investment in our company.

Spare Backup, Inc.

CONTACT: Robert Schatz of Wolfe Axelrod Weinberger Assoc. LLC,
+1-212-370-4500, fax, +1-212-370-4505, rob@wolfeaxelrod.com, for Spare Backup,
Inc.

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

TI introduces industry's fastest 16-bit analog-to-digital converter at 200 MSPSSpeed and resolution combine for superior performance in wide-bandwidth, high-sensitivity applications

DALLAS, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today introduced the market's first 16-bit, single-channel, 200 mega samples per second (MSPS) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to provide faster speeds previously only available with lower resolution ADCs. The new data converters enable new levels of performance in communications, test and measurement, and defense applications. Evaluation modules (EVMs) simplify design and enable rapid evaluations of these complex systems (see http://www.ti.com/ads5485-pr).

"High-speed converter growth is being fueled by faster speed and resolution requirements in medical, wireless communications and broadband infrastructure. In fact, ADCs with sample rates of 50 MSPS or greater are expected to grow at a rate of 17 percent from 2008 to 2013," said Susie Inouye, principal analyst with Databeans. "TI is delivering converters to address high speed and resolution requirements, allowing customers to enable new applications like 4G communications."

The ADS5485 delivers speed, resolution and ultra-low noise to optimize performance in these applications. For instance, the ADC can achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 75 dBFS and a spurious-free dynamic range of 87 dBc for a 70-MHz input frequency (IF). The ADS5485 eases analog front end design by incorporating a fully differential input buffer. Developed in TI's BiCom3 high-speed process technology, this buffer provides constant input impedance over input frequency and eliminates kickback from the ADC's track-and-hold structure to ensure consistent linearity of the signal.

The performance of the ADS5485 increases design flexibility and offers a number of system-level benefits in communications, test and measurement and defense applications, such as the following:

-- Enables 16-bit resolution with up to 100-MHz bandwidth for high-speed digitizers, spectrum analyzers, test and measurement equipment, and general data acquisition systems

-- Improves transmit power amplifier linearization and efficiency combined with a digital pre-distortion algorithm, lowering total system cost

-- Enables sampling of larger bandwidths in radar systems, resulting in enhanced tracking resolution and object discrimination

-- Allows software-defined radios to implement a greater number of standards such as WiMAX, LTE and CDMA

"TI continues to push the performance envelope with high-speed ADCs. The ADS5485 was a clear choice for our new Model 7150 Quad A/D Software Radio Module. The higher sample rate means that users will be able to directly digitize nearly 100 MHz of bandwidth, which is invaluable for our customers working on wideband radar and wideband communication systems," said Robert Sgandurra, senior product manager with Pentek.

Availability and packaging

The ADS5485 expands TI's ADS548x family of high-speed, ultra-low-noise ADCs. The devices are available in a space-saving 9 x 9 mm, 64-pin QFN package and suggested resale pricing for each is listed below in 1000-piece quantities.

Part Speed Resolution SNR SFDR SINAD Price Number (MSPS) (bits) (dBFS) (dBc) (dBc) ADS5485 200 16 75 87 73.7 98.95 ADS5484 170 16 75.5 87 74.3 78.95 ADS5483 135 16 79 97 77.8 65.00 ADS5482 105 16 80.5 98 79.3 56.65 ADS5481 80 16 80.6 98 79.5 48.33 SNR, SFDR, SINAD numbers listed reflect 70 MHz IF. Tools and signal chain solutions

Samples of all five members of the ADS548x family are available today. In addition, TI offers a number of tools to simplify design. For instance, the ADS5485 and the CDCE72010 low-jitter clock are available on the same evaluation module (EVM) to facilitate fast evaluations of complex systems. Customers can leverage TI's TSW1200 digital capture tool for rapid evaluation of ADCs of up to 16-bit resolution and 500-MSPS sample rates. Samples, EVMs and the TSW1200 capture card are available now from http://www.ti.com/ads548x

To further ease design and speed time-to-market, TI offers a complete signal chain, including digital-to-analog converters, amplifiers, clocks, RF solutions and digital signal processors. To download the latest Amplifier and Data Converter Selection Guide, visit the Analog eLab(TM) Design Center at http://www.ti.com/analogelab.

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-08108 Literature Response Center 14950 FAA Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76155 1-800-477-8924 Trademarks

Analog eLab is a trademark of Texas Instruments. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement

NOTE: This communication contains some forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from predictions. These "forward-looking statements," including descriptions of TI's expectations, plans, intentions or goals, are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please refer to TI's most recent Form 10-K for more information on the risks and uncertainties that could materially affect future results of operations. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010105/NEF016LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Texas Instruments Incorporated

CONTACT: Sarah Martin of Texas Instruments, +1-214-480-5035,
smartin@ti.com; or Kim LaFleur of GolinHarris, +1-972-341-2516,
klafleur@golinharris.com, for Texas Instruments. (Please do not publish these
numbers or email addresses.)

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

Wireless Phone Users in Benton and Tippecanoe Counties, Ind., Now Experience Even Clearer Reception and Fewer Dropped CallsVerizon Wireless Activates Three New Cell Sites

LAFAYETTE, Ind., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless has activated three new cell sites in Benton and Tippecanoe counties that expand network coverage, enabling more customers to use their wireless phones concurrently to make voice calls; send and receive email and text, picture and video messages; access the Internet; view high-quality videos; and download music, games and ringtones, while enjoying clearer reception and fewer dropped calls.

The new cell sites improve Verizon Wireless' voice and data network coverage in Otterbein, Romney and Templeton as well as along the following major roads:

-- U.S. Route 52 between Otterbein and Templeton -- State Road 26 in eastern Tippecanoe County, specifically between Interstate 65 and the Tippecanoe/Clinton County line -- U.S. Route 231 in southern Tippecanoe County -- State Road 28 in southern Tippecanoe County

"Our customers choose Verizon Wireless and stay with us because we deliver on our commitment to provide the most reliable network," said Greg Haller, president-Indiana/Kentucky/Michigan Region, Verizon Wireless. "We'll continue investing in our network here in Indiana as well as across the nation so that our customers can rely on their wireless phones everywhere they go."

These new cell sites are part of Verizon Wireless' continual effort to expand coverage, increase capacity and enhance the quality of its wireless voice and data network in Indiana and throughout the country. Verizon Wireless has invested more than $45 billion since it was formed -- $5.5 billion on average every year -- to increase the coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new services. More than $931 million of this investment has been spent in Indiana since 2000. In 2007, the company invested more than $136 million in Indiana network improvements.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 68.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 70,000 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: Michelle Gilbert of Verizon Wireless, +1-248-915-3680,
michelle.gilbert@verizonwireless.com; or Kyle Niederpruem for Verizon
Wireless, +1-317-509-7334, kyle@kylecommunications.com

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

Microsoft and CNBC Team Up on Mobile AdvertisingExtension of advertising syndication alliance helps advertisers such as Ford Motor Co. reach growing mobile audience.

REDMOND, Wash., and ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and CNBC Inc. today announced that Microsoft will be the exclusive third-party provider of mobile WAP site display advertising to CNBC.com's U.S. mobile audience of 1.1 million unique monthly visitors. This alliance represents Microsoft's first mobile ad syndication deal in the U.S. and is an extension of the companies' online advertising collaboration announced last December.

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

"This expanded alliance with CNBC is a great example of how Microsoft delivers further opportunities for advertisers to connect and engage consumers across multiple platforms and devices," said Brian Arbogast, corporate vice president of Mobile Services at Microsoft. "CNBC brings premium financial ad inventory that enhances our existing offering, allowing us to attract and grow mobile advertising opportunities for advertisers."

"With real-time quotes and breaking news alerts, CNBC has one of the fastest-growing business and financial mobile WAP sites with over 10 million page views in the last 30 days," said Elisabeth Sami, senior vice president for business development of CNBC. "We are excited to extend our advertising alliance to include mobile and offer our advertisers further flexibility and a new level of customization."

The expansion of the Microsoft and CNBC.com alliance will provide advertisers with further opportunities to extend audience reach and engage with their audience in more relevant ways at home, at work and on the go across multiple platforms, devices and geographies. Advertisers will also be able to take advantage of two premium mobile ad placements that conform to the Mobile Marketing Association's global standards and deliver a consistent and engaging experience for consumers. Ford Motor Co. is one of the first companies to launch a CNBC mobile advertising campaign in which Microsoft will serve mobile display ads.

Microsoft Mobile advertising is available in 11 markets across the globe: Australia, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Beginning today CNBC mobile consumers will see mobile display ad placements provided by Microsoft's advanced mobile ad serving technologies on http://www.m.cnbc.com/.

About CNBC

CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 400 million homes worldwide, including more than 95 million households in the United States and Canada. The network's Business Day programming (weekdays from 5:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and also includes reports from CNBC news bureaus worldwide. Additionally, CNBC viewers can manage their individual investment portfolios and gain additional in-depth information from on-air reports by accessing http://www.cnbc.com/.

About Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising provides world-class advertising tools and solutions for digital advertisers and publishers to drive brand and consumer engagement. The portfolio includes all of Microsoft's digital advertising businesses: its global media network that includes MSN, Windows Live, Office Live, Xbox LIVE, Live Search, Facebook and more, and its global technology platforms and tools that include Atlas, AdECN, adCenter, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic, which together create engaging digital advertising experiences for their consumers. Microsoft Advertising helps make buying and selling media simple, smart and cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond, which spans 42 markets globally and 21 languages. Visit http://advertising.microsoft.com/ for more information.

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: Red Consultancy, +1-212-529-8472, aps@redconsultancy.com, for
Microsoft Corp.

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

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