Sony launches PlayStation 3 in US
New York: Sony Corp has launched the latest version of its iconic game' PlayStation 3 amid much hype and expectations from consumers.

Sony has otherwise had a tough year recalling nearly 10m of its computer batteries, delays in the PS3 and a growing price war in the flat screen TV market.

Sony's PlayStation is expected to bring in Sony's much needed profits as each PlayStation will sell for $500 or $600 and 400,000 units of the PlayStation are expected to be available one week after an initial launch in Japan.

Sony is expected to lose money initially on each sale of the PS3, which in addition to playing games, can surf the Web, download video and music and play movies with its Blu-ray high-definition disc drive. The Blu-ray player and other components have run up production costs, dragging Sony's game unit into a loss for the year to March.

PS3 is expected to last 10 years and could go a long way toward helping Sony meet its goal of staying at the top of the $30bn gaming market, as well as make Blu-ray the standard for next-generation DVD.
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George Bush approves Alcatel takeover of Lucent
Washington: President George W. Bush has approved a deal in which French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel SA will acquire Lucent Technologies Inc. in an $11.8 billion deal, despite concerns about safeguards for classified work that Lucent's Bell Laboratories conducts for the U.S. government.

The companies have promised to create a separate unit run by Americans to handle sensitive U.S. contracts.

The combination of Alcatel and Lucent would create one of the world's biggest suppliers of network hardware and software for mobile and high-speed Internet communications, with $25 billion in annual revenue.
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Pfizer files case against Chinese co over Viagra
Beijing: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has filed a case against a Chinese pharmaceutical company over infringing its copyright for its erectile dysfunction drug Viagra according to reports in the Chinese media.

The legal action came after New York-based Pfizer won a court ruling upholding its China patent for Viagra in June. Pfizer had originally obtained a Chinese patent license for Viagra in 2001.

However the country's patent review board, the State Intellectual Property Office, revoked the license in July 2004 following complaints by 12 Chinese pharmaceutical companies. The patent review board claimed Pfizer was in breach of intellectual property law because it failed to accurately explain the uses of the pill's key ingredient, sildenafil citrate.

However the Beijing Intermediate court ruling in June reversed the review board's verdict.

The Chinese drug companies from various cities around the country claim to have invested over 100 million yuan (USD 12 million) in less expensive imitations of the little blue pill.
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Half of drugs sold online likely to be fake
New York: A United Nations-led task force has said 50 per cent of the drugs sold online may be counterfeit which could promote drug resistant strains of the disease, worsen medical conditions and even kill patients. The task force has also called for strengthening laws to deal with such online pharmacies to curb the multi-billion dollar market in fake drugs.

The United Nations World Health Organization along with more than 20 international partners inaugurated the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (IMPACT) in Bonn, Germany, to seek stricter law enforcement by various countries, stronger regulations and use of technology to rein in fake drug market which in some parts of the world account for 30 per cent of the total market.

Counterfeit medicines range from products containing no active ingredients to those with highly toxic substances. The legal systems of most countries do not consider the problem a more serious crime than counterfeiting luxury items such as handbags or watches, WHO said.

National laws are designed more to protect trademarks than people's health and in some industrialized countries, counterfeiting T-shirts receives a harsher punishment than counterfeiting medicines.
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