NEC Electronics today announced the availability of six new microcontrollers (MCUs) for inverter control systems, designed for advanced motor control applications in products such as air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines. The new devices feature high performance with advanced control functions for more precise motor control, as well as integration of formerly discrete components to help lower costs. The new offering includes four 100-pin V850E/IG3 MCUs and two 80-pin V850E/IF3 MCUs.

Internet access revenue for cable and other program distribution increased 18 percent, from $9.4 billion in 2004 to $11.1 billion in 2005, while access revenue for Internet service providers decreased 13 percent, from $14.1 billion in 2004 to $12.2 billion in 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

Mitsubishi Electric Automotive India Private Limited (MEAI) has selected the Oracle(R) E- Business Suite to help the company make better, more informed decisions. MEAI also expects to improve online and real-time accounting processes through close integration with its existing Oracle systems at MEAI's parent company in Japan. MEAI will use the Oracle E-Business Suite for original equipment parts ordering, financial accounting, generating real-time reports and analysis and managing quarter-end and year-end accounting processes.

At the daratechPLANT 2007 conference for the process manufacturing and power generation industries, Autodesk, Inc. today introduced AutoCAD P&ID 2007 software, a key application in a forthcoming suite of products that marks Autodesk's official entry into the plant design market.

Another alarm bell rang for information and communications technology (ICT) companies last week when the Chinese government released statistics showing the number of Internet users in China would surpass the number of users in the United States within two years. However, with half of the Chinese users accessing the Internet via shared-use PCs in Internet cafes, ICT companies targeting that market should tailor products for this usage model.

In the past three years, Microsoft Corp has provided technology access and skills training to more than 8 million Europeans, through a broad range of programmes, curriculum development, internships and partnerships, providing the region's citizens with the skills necessary to compete in today's economy. Today, ahead of the Government Leaders Forum Europe (GLF) 2007 in Edinburgh, Microsoft and partners announced two new programmes to support IT skills training and help build pathways from training to jobs. In addition, new research from IDC highlights the increasing importance of being able to use information and communication technology (ICT) across all sectors and in nearly all functions.

Zenoss, Inc. today announced a new version of its open source Zenoss Core enterprise network and systems monitoring software that adds automatic configuration change tracking, automated remediation of IT infrastructure problems, and other features that are critical for effective IT management. Zenoss Core is the most complete IT management solution available as a free downloadable open source product, providing powerful, integrated and easily deployed inventory, availability, performance and event monitoring capabilities.

More and more Eastern Europeans are finding that they don't need to emigrate to the UK in order to enjoy incomes that exceed local salaries. In return for a decent internet connection and some serious gaming attitude, savvy Eastern Europeans are making money at games like backgammon and gin rummy. So-called 'skill games' differ from the popular casino, sports and bingo sites in that a person's skill and mental stamina, rather than chance, are the key to success.