Greenpeace Chides Dell, HP, Lenovo for Telling Toxic Lies

Vendors had pledged they would eliminate PVC and BFRs from their products by the end of last year

Greenpeace has slammed Dell, HP and Lenovo after the three PC manufacturers went back on their promise to phase out toxic chemicals during production by 2009.

The companies had previously told the environmental group they would eliminate vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of last year.

However, all three have said its unlikely they'll hit their targets. Lenovo has pushed the deadline back to 2010 but HP and Dell have yet to reveal a new deadline.

Greenpeace said that Apple was the only one of the world's five biggest computer makers to start reducing its use of toxic chemicals.

In its Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace also revealed that Philips had considerably reduced its e-waste, putting the company 4th in the list of the greenest tech companies, compared to its position of 15th last year.

The report also praised Samsung for publicly supporting a reduction in greenhouses gases and Dell and HP for cutting in emissions in their own operations.

Result of Internal Investigation into Improper Accounting Practices at Consolidated Subsidiary Companies (Final Report)

– TOKYO, Japan, March 31, 2009 –

Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") today announced further measures aimed at preventing a reoccurrence of improper accounting practices at consolidated subsidiary companies, and the actions to be taken against the staff responsible for the incidents. This announcement follows the February 25 news release entitled "Result of Internal Investigation into Improper Accounting Practices at Consolidated Subsidiary Companies (Interim Report)."

Epson will use these events as an opportunity to prevent a reoccurrence by reviewing and improving its management of subsidiary companies, and to further strive towards the implementation of trust-based management.

1. Measures to prevent reoccurrence

At the time of the previous announcement, Epson had yet to announce definite measures to prevent a reoccurrence. After a series of internal reviews that sought to investigate and analyze the causes of the incidents, the Company has now determined the measures it will take to prevent a reoccurrence, and is now implementing these where possible.

1. (1) Strengthen corporate control to supplement regional management

   While emphasizing regional management by the regional headquarters, Epson will ensure transparency of financial information and the IT environment of regional subsidiaries at a corporate level.

2. (2) Continuation and strengthening of J-SOX

   Epson will improve its risk assessments and persevere in its efforts to enhance internal control systems over financial reporting. In particular, it will concentrate its efforts on subsidiary companies where it is required by law to conduct management assessments and that are subject to internal control audits, and subsidiary companies where financial reporting may present a risk to internal control systems.

3. (3) Strengthen audits conducted by the internal Audit Office

   Epson will improve oversight of the American regional headquarters as the latter checks the audit situation at its Latin American subsidiaries, and will increase the frequency of audits at Latin American subsidiaries by Epson's internal Audit Office. The Company will also take note of the issues raised in the accounting processes relating to these incidents, and amend the items to be subject to future audits.

4. (4) Strengthen finance and accounting global network

   By registering finance and accounting organizational structures and personnel at a corporate level, Epson will gain a direct understanding of the current situation and will be able to increase opportunities for personnel exchanges among finance and accounting staff. Doing this will enable the Company to strengthen the global network among its finance and accounting function. Where necessary, Epson will also conduct a common education program as it seeks to improve and share among its finance and accounting staff an awareness of compliance issues and ethics, and related skills.

2. Actions towards related staff

Epson has dismissed those directly responsible for the improper accounting practices at its Brazilian and Mexican subsidiaries, and has implemented punitive measures against other related staff.

The Seiko Epson directors responsible for this incident have also decided on a voluntary refund of their monthly remuneration as detailed below. This has been done to establish management responsibility for the extraordinary loss resulting from the improper accounting practices and the consequent postponement of the submission of the quarterly report, and to express Epson's determination to avoid a reoccurrence.

• Reduction of monthly remuneration: Two representative directors and the director responsible for finance and accounting
• Amount: 5%
• Period: March 2009 (one month)

System's Ability to Reduce Radiation Dose Ideal for Pediatrics

ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IS FIRST PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL TO INSTALL TOSHIBA'S Aquilion ONE DYNAMIC VOLUME CT SYSTEM

TUSTIN, California — March 31, 2009 — Helping to provide safer imaging for children in a hospital setting, Arkansas Children's Hospital has installed Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.'s Aquilion® ONE 320-detector row CT system. As the world's first dynamic volume CT scanner, the Aquilion ONE can lower radiation dose, which is particularly important when imaging pediatric patients.

As the first pediatric facility to install the Aquilion ONE, Arkansas Children's Hospital selected dynamic volume CT for its ability to significantly lower patient radiation dose exposure and decrease the sedation needed for exams. Traditionally, when children are imaged using multi-detector CT, sedation is frequently required to keep the patient still long enough to obtain a clear diagnostic image. The Aquilion ONE's fast exam time, which captures up to 16 cm of an anatomical region in one rotation, means that less patient sedation is required.

The Aquilion ONE will be used to serve the facility's primarily pediatric patients in multiple settings, including cardiology, orthopedics and neurology. The facility also plans to use the Aquilion ONE in new dynamic studies focused on joint and respiratory issues and to develop new pediatric protocols to continue to increase pediatric safety in CT imaging.

"The ability to image pediatric patients with reduced radiation and no sedation will greatly benefit our patient community," said Dr. Bruce Greenberg, professor of radiology, Arkansas Children's Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. "Technology like the Aquilion ONE continues to help us deliver the best possible care to patients while keeping patient safety at the forefront."

The Aquilion ONE features Toshiba's SUREExposure Pediatric software, which automatically measures the size and age of each patient and tailors radiation dose to achieve the best and safest image quality for each exam. The software uses protocols selected based upon the patient's age, size and type of exam to ensure patients receive only the radiation required to obtain a clear diagnostic image. SUREExposure Pediatric software comes standard on all Aquilion products.

"The Aquilion ONE's ability to reduce radiation and capture images with significantly less pediatric sedation makes it an ideal addition to this facility," said Doug Ryan, senior director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. "Arkansas Children's Hospital is the first U.S. pediatric hospital to use the Aquilion ONE with advanced dynamic volume CT protocols that will continue to make imaging safer for all patients — especially children."

Introduced in November 2007, this advanced system scans an entire organ in a single pass and produces 4D videos that show an organ's structure, its movement and blood flow. In comparison, a 64-slice, 128-slice or 256-slice CT scan can only capture a portion of an organ in a single pass, forcing physicians to "stitch together" multiple scans of an organ to get a full image. The new technology helps reduce multiple exposures to radiation and exam time.

Medianet Technologies Including New Cisco Set-Tops Transform Consumer Experiences for the Connected Life at Home

Comprehensive Line of IP-Enabled Set-Tops Supports Cable Service Providers' Vision to Deliver More Social, More Personal and More Interactive Consumer Experiences

WASHINGTON - The Cable Show 2009 - April 1, 2009 - Cisco today announced that it is partnering with cable service providers to deliver the Connected Life at Home, by transforming their networks into medianets. A medianet is a network optimized for rich-media. Medianets are end-point aware, media aware and network aware to ensure an optimal quality of the total experience while automating many aspects of configuration and optimization. A cable medianet infrastructure can now be extended into the home with Cisco's next-generation set-top boxes. These provide traditional cable services while enabling a new generation of services powered by Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. The Cisco Explorer® models, introduced at the Cable Show 2009, range from sophisticated high-definition DVRs providing whole-home video services to digital-only interactive set-top models.

Together with cable service providers, Cisco can now deliver the Connected Life at Home to consumers with whole-home media experiences, including the sharing of video and personal media inside and outside the home. The Connected Life at Home is the foundation for more social, more personal, more interactive consumer experiences and new service innovation.

Facts:

१.Cisco service provider customers, including Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications have confirmed plans to deploy Cisco's next-generation set-top box platform in select systems later this year।

२.The Cisco Explorer 8600HDC DVR Set-Top Series and IP Gateways extend medianet into the home, enabling the Connected Life at Home experiences such as:

• HD Whole-Home DVR Services: DVR or user-generated video content can be shared across multiple set-tops in the home.
• Personal Content Sharing across Internet & HDTV: Internet-based video can be rebroadcast on HDTV, while DVR content can be passed over the Internet to the PC, in and outside the home.
• Content Access on Mobile Devices: Content enjoyed within the home can be programmed to be viewed on mobile platforms.

३.New medianet technologies offered in Cisco's new next-generation set-top portfolio include MoCA, tru2way, DLNA and DTCP-IP. Cisco's IP Gateway supports both MoCA and DLNA.

Supporting Quote:

"Cisco is driving a new generation of Internet-based video and rich-media experiences enabled by medianet technologies, creating new revenue-generating opportunities for our service providers customers," said Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Service Provider Group. "The build-out of medianets evolve today's networks to become media aware, network aware and end-point aware to deal with the proliferation of video and other rich media services. Our next-generation set-top box platform is truly an extension of medianet, and represents the foundation for innovative new multimedia services as delivered by service providers in the home."

Dell Precision Workstations

Dell Precision workstations are Dell's highest performing and most scalable systems, specifically designed for graphics-intensive professionals in engineering, product design, animation and digital imaging.

Peace-of-Mind Through ISV Application Certification

As the world’s leading workstation vendor1, Dell partners with strategic Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to certify system and application compatibility so that your applications can run gracefully on Dell Precision workstations.

Dell PrecisionTM Tower Workstations

New Dell Precision T7500 : massively scalable workhorse with up to 1 billion possible configurations.

New Dell Precision T5500 : compact powerhouse offering dual-socket performance in a single-socket footprint.

New Dell Precision T3500 : solid balance of price, performance and scalability for workstation-class applications.

Laptop is a personal computer

A laptop (also known as a notebook) is a personal computer designed for mobile use small enough to sit on one's lap. A laptop includes most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a trackpad, or a pointing stick), speakers, as well as a battery, into a single small and light unit. The rechargeable battery required is charged from an AC/DC adapter (ie, a wall wart) and typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for several hours.

Laptops are usually shaped like a large notebook with thicknesses between 0.7–1.5 inches (18–38 mm) and dimensions ranging from 10x8 inches (27x22cm, 13" display) to 15x11 inches (39x28cm, 17" display) and up. Modern laptops weigh 3 to 12 pounds (1.4 to 5.4 kg); older laptops were usually heavier. Most laptops are designed in the flip form factor to protect the screen and the keyboard when closed. Modern 'tablet' laptops have a complex joint between the keyboard housing and the display, permitting the display panel to twist and then lay flat on the keyboard housing. They usually have a touchscreen display and some include handwriting recognition or graphics drawing capability.

Laptops were originally considered to be "a small niche market" and were thought suitable mostly for "specialized field applications" such as "the military, the Internal Revenue Service, accountants and sales representatives". Battery-powered portable computers had just 2% worldwide market share in 1986[4]. But today, there are already more laptops than desktops in businesses, and laptops are becoming obligatory for student use and more popular for general use. According to a forecast by Intel, more laptops than desktops will be sold in the general PC market as soon as 2009.