Global leader in cellular communications, Pantech, is all set to usher in a new wave of sophistication and style in this highly competitive mobile age with its fresh and innovative GSM handset, the PG-8000.

A phone with a digital camera, or the ‘dica’, PG-8000 has a 2-megapixel digital camera with a sizeable 260K TFT, 2.0’LCD screen. Presenting an MP3 player, AAC and the FM radio for music freaks, this phone makes an individual style statement with its refined look and innovative facilities.

Measuring 99.8×51.4×16.4 mm and weighing reasonably at 95g, the PG-8000 is adept for modern users with its support for both IrDA as well as Bluetooth wireless connectivity. This device additionally has the TTS operation, i.e. the text to speech function that puts the phone to its utmost use.

Moreover, the phone’s external memory card slot provides for added storage needs for music files. You will also notice a phonebook that capacitates effortless wireless transmission from mobile phones to computers. It has an ‘intenna’ or internal antenna along with a plethora of multimedia and entertainment functions, including messaging services like SMS, MMS and EMS. This new dica phone is expected to be available somewhere in the middle of September.

The Pantech group, which encompasses associates like Pantech Co., Ltd., Pantech & Curitel Communications Inc., Pantech C&I; Inc. and SKY Teletech, has won considerable acclaim for creating new “dica” mobile phones. For instance, Pantech & Curitel Communications, Inc. brought in a CDMA camera phone or the P1 handset in the previous year, which resembled a digital camera so strongly that it went on to win a “Good Design” prize awarded by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in Korea.

Pantech Co., Ltd. of the Pantech group that was created in 1991 as a pager production company managed to occupy a place in the Korean Stock Exchange list soon in 1997, after which it progressed to the manufacturing of CDMA and GSM mobile phones. Meanwhile, Pantech&Curitel; Communications, Inc., that enjoys public trading in the Korea Stock Exchange, also has an impressive record of turning out top Analog, CDMA, and GSM/GPRS items from 1980. It purchased a majority stake in mobile communication terminals specialist and handset producing branch of SK Telecom, viz. SK Teletech Co., Ltd., in May 2005.

Groundbreaking feats of its partners have led Pantech to carve a niche for itself in cellular technology, namely the group’s offering of the first ever fingerprint recognition camera phone to the world in 2004, besides its highly successful camcorders and phones with MP3. In total, Pantech boasts of 5,000 and more staff operating in 20 regional sales offices all across the world.

LONDON – The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced plans to telecast its programs on the web for the UK audience. The broadcaster plans to simulcast BBC One or BBC Two on the web so that viewers do not miss their favorite shows when they are away from their television sets.

BBC’s director of TV Jana Bennett revealed these plans and said that a decision to make video clips available on mobile phones was also on the anvil. The software to let viewers watch shows on the Internet is being developed. This player would allow viewers to view the show for upto one week after it has been broadcast on television. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Jana Bennett said that this plan was expected to take off within a year, “It’s a great way of getting public service content, which people have already paid for, out to people in a different way,” she said.

The BBC was rudely shocked in March when it was discovered that the first episode of the new Doctor Who series was leaked on to the Internet. That’s when the broadcasting giant woke up to the exciting possibilities of the web, she added.

Commenting on their decision to introduce a simulcast, a BBC spokesman said that it planned to make it permanent, but as of now, the simulcast is restricted to UK viewers only, “These plans are subject to the approval of the board of governors and the resolution of rights clearance issues on content like music and imported shows,” he said.

The corporation also announced plans to make some selected shows available online first before they are telecast on television on the lines of BBC Three comedy The Mighty Boosh. Some shows, which are slated to debut on the Internet, include Titty Bang Bang, sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Johnny Vegas’ show Ideal.

LONDON: Centrica Plc, the U.K.’s largest natural gas distributor, appears to be a takeover target for European operators and speculation over this led to the shares of the company leaping by as much as 4 per cent on the London Stock Exchange, the company’s biggest over the year.

Names of Royal Dutch Shell, Gaz de France and Norsk Hydro are being mentioned as prospective claimants for Windsor-based Centrica, but spokespersons for the company as well as for the European rivals declined to comment on the speculative information. Gaz de France’s spokesperson categorically said in Paris, his firm has no intention to acquire Centrica.

The company’s shares gained 9.25 per cent, closing at 252.75 pence, giving a cap for the company at 9.4 billion pounds. At one time during the trading the price went up as high as 8 per cent.

Centrica meets 63 per cent of gas requirements and 23 per cent of electricity requirements of Britain and has a customer base of 11.7 million. It had increased its tariff last year to take care of rising fuel prices and in the bargain lost some one million customers.

Analysts have been predicting consolidation in the utilities sector in Europe prior to the opening up of the power and gas industries to full competition planned for 2007. An instance of things that are going to happen is the offer by Europe’s fourth largest power company, Suez SA, to buy 50 per of the holding in Electrabel SA of Belgium, which it does not own now at 11.4 billion euros.

Earlier in April this year, there was similar speculation that Centrica is being acquired by Norsk Hydro. Apparently the move did not materialise as the Norwegian government, which owns 44 per cent of the 11-billion-pound Norsk Hydro, was against the deal. Norsk Hydro is an off-shore producer of oil and gas and is also the world’s third-largest integrated aluminium supplier.

Besides British Gas, Centrica operates telecom business One. Tel and home service Dyno. It has its own upstream gas production and power generation facilities.

LONDON: Basic bank accounts, introduced five years ago to help the poor in the U.K., have failed to accomplish the aim — of closing the gap between rich and poor, says a research report prepared by the National Consumer Council (NCC) and Policis, a research consultancy. The poorest consumers still face financial exclusion and their only resort is high-cost borrowing, says the report.

The study revealed that half of low-income consumers wanted to manage their money in cash as the accounts did not fulfill most of their needs. Those having the accounts have been found to have fallen behind with household bills payments than those without the accounts.

The monthly cycle followed by banks and the hurdles in even opening an account mean that the poor still have problems in accessing affordable financial products, the study said.

NCC’s deputy head of policy Claire Whyley said there is a mismatch between the needs of the poorest to keep close track of their income and spending and to avoid debt, and the existing basic bank account design, which does not help them achieve this.

NCC said the lack of flexibility in automated payments could lead to problems for those with unpredictable circumstances. Penalty charges levied by banks and building societies, when there are no funds in accounts, to meet a direct debit often lead to serious short-term financial pressures.

Several mainstream banks like HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide building society offer basis bank accounts and by end-2004, there were some 5.7 million account holders.

Nationwide said it offered the same facilities under the basic bank account as it had for a standard current account, except for overdraft facility and debit card. Customers, however, enjoyed a 30-pound overdraft “buffer”.

The study covered 1,520 people with low incomes.

NCC recommends that the basic bank accounts should be more flexible, like offering weekly direct debit facilities and small free overdrafts to fit in with low-income budgeting cycles and even payment holidays.

The study also revealed that some eight million low-income consumers have no access to mainstream credit, while many use high-cost lenders as the government’s safety-net interest-free loans scheme for the poorest is not working effectively. One application in every five for social fund loans is rejected and one in four of those refused approach high-cost doorstep lenders or even unlicensed loan providers.

NCC and Policis will work with the Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce and other such organisations to address the problem and find out a solution.

LONDON: Statistics can sometimes be disturbing. The British home office has been found to be paying as high an amount as 2,700 pounds a night to the police to keep an immigrant detainee in the police cells. This amount is higher by 2,300 pounds for a superior room in a starred hotel in London.

The rates, however, varied by police stations but the average has been calculated at 360 pounds a night. The immigration service does not have adequate facilities and often it has to rely on police cells. For the year 2003-2004, it paid 11.17 million pounds for the police cells.

These details have been brought out in a government report, Review of Resourcing and Management of Immigration Enforcement, compiled by civil servants. It reveals that at least two forces in England and Wales charged more than an average of 1,000 pounds for a 24-hour period.

The report said: “Not only is the variance in costs striking, but the average cost compared to that paid by HM Prison Service is also remarkable.” The Prison Service, under an agreement with the police, pay 110 pounds for 24 hours.

“Some police authorities do not charge at all but these represent a very small proportion of the overall police cell usage,” the report said.

If the immigration service is charged at the rates paid by the prison service, it would have saved 7.75 million pounds a year.

The report went through invoices raised by police cells between December 2002 and May 2003. It was found that Essex Police charged between an average minimum of 1,500 pounds to a maximum of 2,700 pounds, while Sussex Police charged 1,700 pounds and North Wales police charged 900 pounds.

The report urged provision of more temporary holding facilities for the immigration services, in order to reduce the reliance on the police cells.

A Home Office spokesperson admitted the figures are correct and said talks are going on between the police and immigration service for a possible understanding on a uniform rate.

The report also found that immigration officer teams from the removals and enforcement directorate were not being efficiently used. An average of 7.2 officers were involved in detection work on a Sunday yet only an average of 1.5 illegal immigrants were found, compared with an average of five officers on Monday when an average of 2.5 illegal immigrants were discovered.

ATLANTA: Whirlpool Corporation is buying out rival appliance maker Maytag Corporation in a $1.7 billion cash and stock deal. Once completed, the unified entity will be the world’s largest appliance maker.

Maytag was under an earlier buyout agreement with equity firm Ripplewood Holdings and it paid $40 million as break-up fee to end the $1.1 billion deal. Whirlpool has reimbursed this amount to Maytag, the companies announced in a statement.

Maytag’s share has been priced at $21and the deal also involves Whirlpool assuming $977 million of the former’s debt. The acquisition is subject to shareholders’ and the regulator’s approval and could close in early 2006. There could be intense antitrust scrutiny as Benton Harbour, Michigan-based Whirlpool is the No 1 in its domain and Maytag the third largest.

The ailing Maytag has been on the block for months and Ripplewood had offered $14 a share. Whirlpool had made an initial offer of $17 per share and raised the price three times. Apart from the two, Chinese appliance maker Haier too had eyed Maytag, but withdrew subsequently.

Based on 2004 results, the deal will create a powerhouse with sales of $17.9 billion. Whirlpool, known for its brands like KitchenAir, Roper and Inglis has an estimated 35 per cent domestic market share while Maytag with its Hoover vacuums and Jenn-Air and Amana appliances holds about 15 per cent. The acquisition will see Whirlpool ahead of Sweden’s Electrolux as the No 1 in the world.

Whirlpool’s chief executive officer Jeff Fettig was confident that the Whirlpool-Maytag combination will secure regulatory approval. He said the the unified company will create substantial benefits for consumers, trade customers and shareholders.

LONDON – Scottish brewer Belhaven is all set to be acquired by Suffolk-based Greene King in a deal worth £187 million (€275.5 million). Dunbar-based Belhaven has recommended that its shareholders accept the offer.

However, the deal was concluded in the looming shadow of the smoking ban that is to come into effect in Scotland early next year. In fact the company released a statement acknowledging that it was aware of the ban, “Greene King has concluded that the Scottish smoking ban due in 2006 may result in a significant reduction in Belhaven’s short-term profitability.” This deal will now add 300 Belhaven pubs to Greene King’s existing ones taking the total up to 2,334. This number means that Greene King is now Britain’s third-biggest pub owner.

The 625 pence-per-share agreement also allows Belhaven to retain its brand name as well as East Lothian brewery. “It is a unique opportunity for us to gain immediate scale in the important Scottish market,” said Rooney Anand, Greene King Chief Executive. “Belhaven will retain everything at the heart of its success, including its name, its brands, and its brewery, but will also benefit from being part of a larger group opening up new markets for its products,” he added.
Founded in 1719 by John Johnstone at Dunbar, Belhaven was the oldest independent brewery in Scotland. The company makes Belhaven Best, St Andrew’s Ale and Belhaven 80 Shilling and distributes Tennent’s and Stella Artois. Commenting on the cash offer from Greene King, Belhaven chief executive Stuart Ross said, “Today’s cash offer reflects the quality of our business and our board unanimously recommends that it is in the best interests of our shareholders.

In Scotland, we can look forward positively to the future and we are confident that our assets, including our people, will make a meaningful contribution to the future growth and prosperity of the enlarged group.”

LONDON: Home buyers in the U.K. have been advised not to postpone their decisions on mortgage deals in the hope of getting cheaper fixed rate deals. It is possible that the rates may in fact go up in view of a surprise disclosure by Bank of England that core inflation in the country was at its highest for a decade.

Some of the lenders have already raised rates on their best buys while some have withdrawn them in the light of the central bank’s announcement, which almost made it clear there will not be any more rate cuts in the immediate future. The bank had brought the base rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent.

Banks have said swap rates (rates banks charge to lend money to each other) have risen in recent weeks, which affected the price of some fixed rate deals. Swap rates had come down before the interest rate cut, but in the light of concerns over inflation, these have climbed again. Lenders are therefore forced to revise their best deals.

Newcastle building society this week withdrew its market leading two-year fix at 4.22 per cent, while Abbey replaced its two fixes with deals that were 0.1 to 0.15 percentage points higher. Among other firms, Northern Rock and West Bromwich building societies notified that the deals based on fixed rates can be withdrawn and Portman raised its five-year fix from 4.45 per cent to 4.59 per cent.

The changes may appear inconsequential, but experts pointed out over two years the repayments on a 200,000-pound loan at 4.59 per cent could become more expensive by 1,000 pounds than those on a 4.22 per cent deal.

Savills Private Finance’s director Simon Jones told prospective home buyers: “If you want a cheap two-year fix, buy it now. If you wait a few weeks, it could be more expensive.”

As of now the cheapest two-year deal on the market comes from West Bromwich Building Society, with a rate of 4.15 per cent. However, there is a 599- pound arrangement fee that goes with it and a stipulation that homeowners must buy buildings insurance for two years.

The minutes of the last meeting of the MPC reveal that the governor of the central bank had voted against the rate cut along with Mervyn King, Rachel Lomax, Sir Andrew Large and Paul Tucker. The minutes also indicate that there will not be any further cuts in the near future. The minutes said: “The Committee’s latest projections did not support the current market view that a sequence of interest rate cuts was likely to be needed to meet the [government’s] inflation target in the
medium term.”

The central bank said consumer price inflation rose 2.3 per cent in July from a year ago, the highest annual growth rate since the data series began in 1997. This is the first time that inflation had exceeded the Bank’s 2 per cent target since it adopted the consumer price index as its main inflation measure in December 2003.

150 .uk domain names added every hour, says Nominet

Published : Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:05
By : Andrew Stead
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LONDON: As many as 150 domain names with .uk extensions are created every hour, indicating that the domain name business in the country is thriving, a study by Nominet, which manages the .uk domain
registrations, says.

The study also indicated that nearly half the web users queried said they were more confident in dealing online with companies which have a U.K. presence.

There is a total of four million .uk web addresses, with 110,000 added every month.

Nominet’s chief executive Lesley Cowley said the U.K. internet industry is experiencing substantial growth and the combination of greater broadband take-up and the established popularity of .uk domain
names demonstrates that the U.K. internet industry is more buoyant than ever.

There is, however, no let-up in the popularity of .com extension, which constitutes majority of web addresses. Verisign, which manages the .com domain registration, said .com constituted 47 per cent of all registered domain names.

It said the total number of .com and .net domain names grew to 44.2 million by the end of the second quarter of 2005. Collectively, country-specific extensions like .de, .uk and .br accounted for 35 per cent of all domain names. As much as 75 per cent of all domain names were registered by businesses and 22 per cent by individuals.

According to a study by the Office of National Statistics, 52 per cent of British homes had access to the internet from home by the end of 2004. Nearly 30 per cent of all net users — about 8.1 million — had broadband connectivity.

MELBOURNE: Australia’s Multiplex Ltd., which is redeveloping Wembley stadium in London, posted a less-than projected profit of A$148.1 million before inter-group accounting transfers for the year ending 30 June up from A$119.8 million for the corresponding previous year.

Profit after the distributions on its SITES hybrid securities was A$132.7 million, against analysts’ projection of $140.7 million.

The company cut its 2006 forecast by 8.5 per cent and made a provision of A$8.6 million on its A$1.2 billion stadium project for fear of running into delays or cost hikes.

Describing the Wembley project as its only remaining loss-making construction project, the company’s chief executive Andrew Roberts said the result is very disappointing and the main cause has been the losses at Wembley. He said: “We had never had an experience where we’ve seen a cost movement like we’ve seen in relation to this project, and we’ve been in the business for 40 years.”

Roberts said despite the losses, the project is very much on track and the company would complete the stadium in time for the March 2006 FA Cup final. The company said it incurred a total loss of A$50 million after tax on Wembley while the development and construction unit had a net loss of A$17 million.

The company had reinforced its bottomline spending A$2.3 billion in November last year to buy office building owner Ronin Property Group and some assets of U.K. property company Chelsfied. This increased its rental income and helped it to offset the losses in the construction unit.

Multiplex said the problem at Wembley has been mainly on account of delays and cost overruns. It needed an extra A$8.6 million to complete the project on time. The project has already cost the company its founder and executive chairman John Roberts, who resigned earlier this year.