(Telecompaper) Japan's NTT plans to offer fibre-optic services with speeds of up to 200 Mbps, double the company's current speed. The new service will be offered as an upgrade to NTT's Flet's Hikari service, The Nikkei writes. Customers can apply for the service from 1 October and services will launch from end-November. NTT East will begin offering the services, followed by NTT West in 2010. The 200 Mbps service will be offered for the same price as the existing 100 Mbps service, between JPY 3,570 (condominiums) to JPY 5,460 (single family homes). However, customers will have to pay an installation fee of between JPY 2,100 to JPY 28,455.

(Telecompaper) The European Commission has approved Panasonic's tender offer for Sanyo Electric with conditions. The commission's investigation identified competition concerns in a number of battery markets where the merged entity would have a significant market share. These are the markets for primary cylindrical lithium batteries, portable rechargeable nickel-metal hydride batteries and rechargeable coin-shape batteries based on lithium. The latter are used principally as back-up power for real time clocks in mobile phones and digital cameras as well as in certain other applications such as watches, laptops and keyless entry systems for cars. The companies agreed to sell a production plant producing both cylindrical lithium and rechargeable coin-shape batteries. They also agreed to divest one of their portable nickel-metal hydride businesses to eliminate any increase in market share in this product market. In the consumer electronics market, the commission found that in many instance

MACQUARIE University has appointed Marc Bailey to the newly created role of chief information officer.

THE government is putting the final touches on the grant guidelines that will determine who will oversee its $100 million smart grid.

A GROUP of entertainment companies conducting a landmark copyright claim against iiNet has withdrawn part of its case against the ISP.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digital Ally, Inc. (Nasdaq: DGLY), which develops, manufactures and markets advanced video surveillance products for law enforcement, homeland security and commercial security applications, today announced that the Company will highlight a number of its new products and product features at the 116th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and Exposition, which will be held October 3-7, 2009 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The Company will be exhibiting at Booth #1012.

CLEVELAND, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DATATRAK International, Inc. (OTCQX: DATA), a technology and services company focused on global eClinical solutions for the clinical trials industry, today announced that its Vice President of Research and Development, Chris Wilke, has accepted an invitation to be a featured speaker at the 2009 Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM) Annual Conference which will be held on October 4-6 in Seattle, Washington.

CARLSBAD, Calif. and LONDON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: HILL), a world-class supplier of entry-level and midrange storage solutions for OEMs and solution providers, today launched a new, multi-tiered, formalized channel partner program focused on the open storage provider market that arms authorized value added resellers (VARs) with a wide range of tools and benefits to successfully market Dot Hill storage solutions to end users.

NEW YORK, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Consumers League [NCL], a private, nonprofit advocacy group working to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad, is the newest member of the Alliance Against Bait & Click [AABC], an organization dedicated to safeguarding search and protecting internet users from deceptive online ads, also known as SCADS or scam ads. Comprised of leading e-commerce marketers and academic experts, the AABC raises awareness of "bait & click", when consumers are lured to potentially dangerous sites by unauthorized and unaffiliated brand names.

BILLERICA, Mass., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertica continues to share tangible proof points of its rising leadership in the data warehouse market by announcing today the signing of its 100(th) customer. This achievement firmly establishes Vertica as the fastest growing company in the data warehouse market.