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Round Rock, Texas — Dec 21, `07 — Dell and Tesco today announced the availability of Dell notebook and desktop computers in Tesco, a premier international retailer with operations in Europe and Asia.

Beginning next month, customers will be able to purchase Dell XPS and Inspiron products in Tesco stores, primarily in the UK, with sales also in Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Dell products will soon be available in more than 10,000 stores and on-line around the globe.

In the past several months Dell has announced relationships with Best Buy in the US, DSG International and Carrefour in Europe, Staples in the US, Courts stores in Singapore, Gome stores in China, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Mexico. More at Dell.

ROUND ROCK, Texas –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 13, ‘07 — Dell and DSG international plc (DSGi), one of Europe’s leading consumer electronics retailers, announced the availability of Dell notebook and desktop computers in DSGi stores.

Beginning in January 2008, DSGi and Dell customers will be able to buy a range of Dell notebooks and desktops through PC World, Currys and Currys.digital stores in the UK, as well as Dixons.co.uk online.

Customers will also be able to buy Dell products through the European network of DSGi store brands such as Electro World, PC City, and Elkjop. Customers can buy products in stores from Norway to Greece, and from Spain to Finland.

Dell also plans to sell systems through DSGi stores in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.

DSGi’s unique TechGuys services in the UK will be extended across the new Dell products, providing full IT customer service availability including telephone support, installation and set-up. DSG operates similar support services across its European operations.

With this agreement, Dell products will soon be available in more than 10,000 stores and on-line around the globe.

In the past several months Dell has announced relationships with Best Buy in the US, Carrefour in Europe, Staples in the US, Courts stores in Singapore, Gome stores in China, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Wal-Mart in the US, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.

The DSGi and Dell agreement will cover stores in UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

BERKELEY, Calif — In the middle of the South Pacific, about 12 miles west of Tahiti, is a tropical island that soon will emerge as a model ecosystem, thanks to the efforts of a U.S.-French research team led by University of California, Berkeley, biologists.

Moorea, home of the UC Berkeley Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station and France’s Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE), will be the site of an ambitious project to create a comprehensive inventory of all non-microbial life on the island. Supported by a new $5.2 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Moorea Biocode Project over the next three years will send researchers climbing up jagged peaks, trekking through lush forests and diving down to coral reefs to sample the French Polynesian island’s animal and plant life.

“This is the first effort to catalog and barcode an entire tropical ecosystem, from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the mountains,” said George Roderick, UC Berkeley professor of environmental science, policy and management, curator of the campus’s Essig Museum of Entomology and co-principal investigator of the project.

“We’re constructing a library of genetic markers and physical identifiers for every species of plant, animal and fungi on the island, then making that database publicly available as a resource for ecologists and evolutionary biologists around the world,” he said. Roderick is a former director of the Gump Station, where the National Science Foundation has established one of its 26 Long Term Ecological Research sites (the Moorea Coral Reef LTER).

The work will expand upon a 2005 pilot biocode project at Moorea, also funded by the Moore Foundation, which tested the feasibility of such a large undertaking. That project was limited to genetic barcoding of the fishes, geckos and selected insects.

In the spirit of leaving no stone unturned, larvae and contents of animals’ guts will be fair game in the full project. “We’ll check the gut contents of a gecko, spider or fish to find out what it’s eating,” said Chris Meyer, who managed the pilot project while he was a researcher at UC Berkeley.

There are an estimated 5,000 plant, animal and fungal species on Moorea, although that number may change as cryptic communities and organisms are sampled and genetic markers reveal novel species. “I’d be disappointed if we don’t hit at least 10,000 species,” said Meyer.

The number of species on the 51-square-mile island of Moorea is small compared with that on larger islands and continents. In California, for example, the number of insect species alone tops 30,000. Yet, the researchers say Moorea provides the right balance of being small enough to be studied manageably while being sufficiently complex to reliably serve as a microcosm of the challenges faced in larger ecosystems.

At the end of the three-year project, the Moorea Biocode Project will have sequenced a whole tropical ecosystem. “Like the Human Genome Project, however, this unprecedented accomplishment is, in some ways, merely a necessary first step,” said Davies. “Its goal is to accelerate progress on the larger questions: how to maintain a healthy ecosystem and what to do when things go wrong.” More at UC Berkeley, Berkeley.edu/Biocode. Photo Credits: UC Berkeley.

Cataloging an ecosystem
UC Berkeley biologist George Roderick talks about working on the South Pacific island of Moorea and an ambitious project to create a genetic inventory of all non-microbial life in the island’s ecosystem. (2:06 min. Flash video)

Dec 05, ‘07 — Mobile phone company Orange has said 20% of customers who have bought iPhones from it in France have opted for unlocked ones, NOT the half, as earlier reported, BBC News correcting the story now.

Orange sold the popular Apple product for €399 euros ($585) with a two-year contract, or €749 euros without one. Elsewhere, mobile companies only sell iPhones to customers who take out network contracts with them.

Orange sold 30,000 iPhones in the first five days, 20% of which were unlocked so they could be used on any network. Orange says that 48% of people buying the phones were new customers for the network. More at BBC News.

Dec 05, ‘07 — Orange has said half of customers who have bought iPhones from it in France have opted for unlocked ones, BBC reports.

Orange sold the popular Apple product for €399 euros ($585) with a two-year contract, or €749 euros without one. Elsewhere, mobile companies only sell iPhones to customers who take out network contracts with them.

Orange sold 30,000 iPhones in the first five days, 52% of which were unlocked so they could be used on any network.

On Tuesday, a German court overturned an injunction that had forced T-Mobile to sell unlocked phones. In the two weeks that the injunction was in place, T-Mobile sold unlocked iPhones for €999 euros, compared with €399 euros for a phone with a two-year contract.

More at BBCNews.

Paris, France — Dec 05, 07 — Just 5 days after the full commercial launch, Orange has already sold 30,000 iPhones, thus confirming the strong appeal of this new type of mobile, available since 29 November in 680 Orange points of sale in France.

* 48% of iPhone sales lead to a new Orange line subscription
* 80% of customers sign up for a dedicated “Orange for iPhone” plan at the same time

“This is a very good score, especially as one in two iPhone purchases is accompanied by a new Orange line subscription”, said Louis-Pierre Wenes, Executive Director in charge of France operations. “This confirms that the iPhone will make an active contribution to the acquisition of new customers”, he added. More at FranceTelecom.

Paris, France — Dec 02, ‘07 — The French and US companies behind the hugely popular video games “World of Warcraft” and “Call of Duty” announced Sunday that they are merging in an 18.9 billion dollar deal, which could shake up the global video games industry.

Vivendi, the French media and entertainment conglomerate, said Sunday that it planned to acquire a controlling stake in the US video game publisher Activision in a deal aimed at taking advantage of booming video game markets like South Korea and China.

Under the agreement, which values Activision at $18.9 billion, Vivendi would combine its game division with Activision, creating the largest video game company in the world that is not owned by a maker of game consoles.

Vivendi and Activision executives said that by combining the two game businesses, they could help Activision, which has developed popular games for consoles like the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, move more strongly into online “massively multiplayer” games, which have legions of devoted fans in Asia and elsewhere.

Vivendi has specialized in multiplayer games like “World of Warcraft,” which has more than nine million players worldwide, including millions of paying subscribers in China and South Korea, making them some of the only successful Western entertainment exports in a region ravaged by piracy.

Blizzard is the biggest player in online gaming and Warcraft is the global market leader of what are known as massively multi-player online role-playing games, or MMORPGs.

It is currently owned by the French media group Vivendi. As part of the merger plan, Blizzard will invest $2bn in the new company, while Activision is putting up $1bn.

The merged business will be called Activision Blizzard and its chief executive will be Activision’s current CEO Bobby Kotick. Vivendi will be the biggest shareholder in the group.

Jean-Bernard Levy, Vivendi chief executive, said: “This alliance is a major strategic step for Vivendi and is another illustration of our drive to extend our presence in the entertainment sector. “By combining Vivendi’s games business with Activision, we are creating a worldwide leader in a high-growth industry.”

Meanwhile, as news of the merger reached the ears of videogamers Sunday morning, many of them began to wonder if they should be getting ready to play a merged game called “World of Guitarcraft.”

More at Vivendi. (in pdf)

Paris — Nov 28, ‘07 — Apple’s much-hyped iPhone went on sale in France on Wednesday at 12 select stores here, including mobile carrier Orange’s new boutique on Paris’ most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysees.

Didier Lombard, head of Orange parent France Telecom, said he hopes to sell as many as 100,000 of the handset by the end of the year, despite its high price tag. It goes on sale nationwide on Thursday.

Europe has presented two challenges to Apple’s strategy of offering iPhones through a single mobile operator for each region.

French consumer law requires Orange to sell handsets that are “unlocked” and able to work on any carrier, which Orange will do. And Germany’s Deutsche Telekom is selling an unlocked phone via its T-Mobile unit after a Hamburg court ordered it to, in response to a challenge from rival Vodafone Group PLC.

Orange will offer the unlocked iPhone for €649 euros ($956) to which the user will have to add €100 euros if another operator is used, the head of Orange France told Le Figaro newspaper.

In Germany where the iPhone was launched three weeks ago T-Mobile offers the device without a contract for €999 euros.

Orange confirmed it had agreed to share revenue from iPhone subscriptions with Apple in return for its exclusivity agreement but declined to comment on analysts estimates that Apple’s cut could be around 25 percent.

AT&T sells the 8-gigabyte iPhone for $399 in the United States, having slashed the price by a third about 10 weeks after its debut. Consumers in Britain, where the iPhone is sold by exclusively by O2 — pay about $556.

Paris, France — November 27, 2007 –Dell today announced that Carrefour Group will become the first mass merchandiser in Europe to sell Dell notebook and desktop computers.

Dell and Carrefour intend for consumers to be able to purchase Dell products in 365 Carrefour Group stores in France, Belgium and Spain beginning in January. Plans also call for additional stores in more countries later in the year. Carrefour is one of the largest retailers worldwide.

Dell’s relationship with Carrefour is the latest in a series of retail agreements aimed at reaching more consumers globally.

With this agreement, Dell products will be available in nearly 10,000 stores around the globe.

Dell recently announced relationships with Staples in the US, Courts stores in Singapore, Gome stores in China, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Carphone Warehouse in the U.K. and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Mexico. More at Dell.

PARIS — Nov 26, ‘07 — Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer said on Monday it had licensed its name to French customized design manufacturer Modelabs for a series of luxury mobile phones. Reports Reuters.

“”The launch of the first TAG Heuer mobile telephone is foreseen for the second half of 2008,” the companies said in a joint statement.

Luxury goods companies, which realized long ago their brands could be extended to more than clothes and bags, have been rushing to embrace the mobile this year.

Prada and Armani have both recently launched phones made by, respectively, LG and Samsung.

TAG CEO Christophe Babin said in the statement the launch of its eyewear line in 2002 convinced it of the wider potential of the brand, popularized in its adverts by Formula 1 drivers like Kimi Raikkonen, actor Brad Pitt and golfer Tiger Woods.” More at Reuters.

Beijing, China — Nov 26, ‘07 — French industrialists visiting China with President Nicolas Sarkozy say they have finalised trade deals worth almost $30 billion (€20bn).

These include a delivery of 160 Airbus passenger planes to the value of about $15 billion (€10bn euros). And state-owned French energy firm Areva said it had signed a contract to build two nuclear reactors in China.

The Airbus deal to supply 110 of the firm’s single aisle A320 jet and 50 of the slightly bigger A330 plane will be welcome news to the European planemaker, which has struggled in the face of delays to new models and the weakening dollar.

The announcements came as Mr Sarkozy held a second meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.

The reactors will be built in six years’ time in the south of the country and will start generating power in 2014.

They will be operated by a new company set up by Areva and its Chinese partner, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp, until 2026.

China is increasingly looking to nuclear energy to meet its growing demand for power and France is keen to make sure that it is involved in this process.

Airbus and its American archrival Boeing Co. predict China will become the world’s second-biggest aircraft market after the United States, with airlines buying 1,900 to 2,600 planes over the next two decades.

Airbus’ final assembly line in the Chinese city of Tianjian is due to deliver its first aircraft in early 2009. The plant is expected to be able to produce four A320s a month by 2011 and a total of about 300 A320 planes by 2016.

Following the signing of these deals, President Sarkozy will carry on with his official visit, his first to Asia since his election in May.

According to critics, the French President should be doing more during the trip to pressure China over its human rights record and use of the death penalty.

Some observers are calling on China to take a harder line with Iran over its nuclear programme. Mr Sarkozy has warned that it would be unacceptable if Tehran acquired nuclear weapons. Photo Credit: The AP.

Paris — Nov 23, ‘07 — French web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline.

Those illegally sharing files will face the loss of their net access thanks to a newly-created anti-piracy body granted the wide-ranging powers. The anti-piracy body comes out of a deal agreed by France’s music and movie makers and its net firms.

The group who brokered the deal said the measures were intended to curb casual piracy rather than tackle large scale pirate groups.

In a landmark speech Nicolas Sarkozy said: “The rights of authors, the preservation of creativity, the recognition of the rights of each artist, of each performer… was an important commitment of my presidential campaign. “The deal was a decisive moment for the future of a civilised internet” he further added.

Net firms will monitor what their customers are doing and pass on information about persistent pirates to the new independent body. Those identified will get a warning and then be threatened with either being cut off or suspended if they do not stop illegal file-sharing.

The agreement between net firms, record companies, film-makers and government was drawn up by a special committee created to look at the problem of the net and cultural protection.

Denis Olivennes, head of the French chain store FNAC, who chaired the committee said current penalties for piracy - large fines and years in jail - were “totally disproportionate” for those young people who do file-share illegally.

In return for agreeing to monitor net use, film-makers agreed to speed up the transfer of movies to DVD and music firms pledged to support DRM-free tracks on music stores.

The deal was hailed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the global interests of the music business.”This is the single most important initiative to help win the war on online piracy that we have seen so far,” it said in a statement.

French consumer group UFC Que Choisir was more cautious.It said the agreement was “very tough, potentially destructive of freedom, anti-economic and against digital history”

France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy abruptly ended a “60 Minutes” interview aimed at introducing him to U.S. audiences, dubbing it “stupid” and a “big mistake” and refusing to answer questions about his wife 

Before the CBS news show interview in Paris even began, Sarkozy called his press secretary “an imbecile” for arranging the session on a busy day.  Mr Sarkozy, who announced his divorce on 18 October, has always refused to talk about his private life in public. 

he grew frustrated when asked about his wife, Cecilia. “If I had to say something about Cecilia, I would certainly not do so here,” Sarkozy replied. He declared the interview over and said: “Bon courage.” Two weeks later, the Sarkozys’ divorce was announced. 

Before he broke off the interview, Sarkozy was asked about what he would like the American people to know about him. “I want the Americans to know that they can count on us. But at the same time, we want to be free to disagree,” he said.

LesEchos of France reports on possibility of Orange considering this Christmas without the iPhone of Apple. Here is the part of Google translated article of Les Echos dated October 06, ‘07

“Will there be iPhone with Christmas? In France, the threats on the marketing of the telephone to to do everything of Apple seem real, so much the relations between the mark with Apple and Orange was tightened these last days. The hacking of the iPhone displeases with French, and the hexagonal obligation to sell the telephones alone, without fixed price, is not taste of American. During a board of directors last week, Didier Lombard, the chairman of France Telecom, gave a progress report on difficult discussions. And, in the tread, it dispatched its number two, Louis-Pierre Wenes, in Cupertino, the head office of Apple. Without result. At Orange, if one insists on the fact that the contract was indeed signed, one now considers Christmas without the iPhone, the more so as one made forever in Applemania. “The risk which one evaluates this week, it is that Apple makes a cross on France, releases a source at Orange. We have a plan B. There is still a chance that we have the iPhone, but we are very close to the limit where the company is endangered. ””

And here is the last two lines of Chapter II of French Law regarding “Telecommunications and the Radio Regulations”:

“The operator has the obligation to communicate consistently and free to the subscriber deactivation procedure of this mechanism at the end of a period proportionate to the risk involved, in no case to exceed six months from the date the contract concluded subscription.

Dans le cas où l’opérateur souhaite mettre en place un tel mécanisme, il en informe au préalable, au moins un mois avant sa mise en oeuvre effective, l’Autorité de régulation des télécommunications. Where the operator wants to set up such a mechanism, it shall inform in advance, at least a month before its effective implementation, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.”

All these might delay the launch of iPhone in France but I’m sure NO MATTER WHAT, apple’s dictatorial Steve Jobs will use ALL their “Money & Muscle” to block the French’s ability to have their iPhones un-locked officially within or after 6 months.

More at Google translated LesEchos.FR / French Telecommunications & the Radio Regulations…