IBT Staff Reporter

Substantial hardware changes will be required for users to upgrade to the new Microsoft Windows Vista platform, experts say, paving way for greater sales in the hardware segment.

The Ministry of Finance of Japan issued a business improvement administrative order to Fukuoka Stock Exchange and Sapporo Stock Exchange on Friday, questioning the operation of their market monitoring systems to prevent illegal trading and the quality of troubleshooting aids.

Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau singled out Aiful Corp., a major consumer loan firm in Japan, for failure to declare taxes after it found false losses of 850 million yen in the firm's calculation for bad-debt loss during the fiscal year of 2005, major Japanese newspapers reported Friday.

Japan will embark on revision of labor system in an effort to encourage growth of the foreign labor force.

Sales at supermarkets in Japan were 1.1 percent lower than a year before at 1.18 trillion yen in August on a same-store basis for the eighth consecutive month, Japan Chain Stores Association said Friday.

AT&T said on Thursday it will be adding 2,000 of its previously outsourced technical support jobs to its payroll.

A California resident has been sentenced to 7 years and 3 months to a federal prison for pirating an upwards of $20 million in software from major software vendors.

Wal-Mart said on Friday it will launch a 5-year plan to reduce the amounts of natural resources it uses for packaging by 5 percent.

Electronic Arts has signed a deal to provide gaming content for in-flight entertainment systems to DTI Software's airline partners.

The US dollar continues to be the appropriate anchor for the Hong Kong dollar for the foreseeable future and no change is needed......

MTV Networks has acquired the development studio, Harmonix's Guitar Hero, for $175 million on Friday, adding to its recent purchases of companies across the gaming sector.

The California attorney general said on Friday there was no evidence yet linking Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Mark Hurd to any criminal wrongdoing, as scrutiny grew over his role in the PC maker's probe of a boardroom leak.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is all set to make a mega investment, running in thousands of crores, in developing an integrated port on India's western coast of Gujarat.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Friday said it was not trying to dissuade movie studios from working with other forms of distribution, such as Apple Computer Inc.'s download service.

Germany's MAN AG is planning a more attractive bid to win over resistant shareholders of Swedish truckmaker Scania, the Wall Street Journal on Friday quoted MAN Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson as saying.

Stiffer penalties, including enhanced fines and imprisonment, as a deterrent against violations by corporates and provisions ensuring greater transparency and accountability will form part of the comprehensive Companies Law Amendment Bill that is proposed to be tabled in Parliament in the winter session.

DaimlerChrysler will not make any management changes over last week's profit warning at U.S. arm Chrysler, which is not up for sale, Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told a German newspaper.

Basmati rice grown in Uttaranchal will now be exported to European countries and also to south Indian states, state Agriculture Minister, Mahendra Singh Mahra, has announced.

Smart Telecom Plc today confirmed the conclusion of its strategic review, which was announced at the companies AGM on 8th September.

Barry Stowe was today announced as the Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia. Stowe is currently the President for Accident & Health Worldwide for AIG Life Companies.

Industrial and Development Bank of India (IDBI) which has won the race for acquisition of ailing United Western Bank (UWB), held a board meeting on September 21 to discuss the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) draft scheme for amalgamation, even as global rating agency Standard & Poor's has warned that UWB's huge bad loans may affect the acquirer's financial profile negatively.

MTV said on Friday it will acquire Harmonix Music Systems, a music-orientated games creator, for $175 million in cash. The acquisition will offer MTV's website visitors a more diverse entertainment selection.

Strong hard-disk commoditization in Asian and Pacific countries will continue to drive down storage prices world-wide, according to latest research.

Hong Kong internet and telecoms tycoon Rechared Li, chairman of Pacific Century Group Holdings Ltd (PCG), attracted people's eyes......

Consumer groups are protesting government proposals to cut Medicaid health care funding by about $30 billion over the next ten.

Gridlocked cars. Noxious traffic fumes. Indonesia's capital is crying out for a new transport network, but stop-start plans for a monorail illustrate the country's chequered efforts to build badly needed infrastructure.

Building a much bigger plane was always a gamble for Airbus, but fresh delays are raising the stakes and could leave the planemaker a far smaller player in the global aerospace industry.

The OPEC crude basket price, a daily reference level based on the prices of 11 crudes - dropped to $55.99 on Thursday from $56.23 the previous day.

Global publishers, fearing that Web search engines such as Google Inc. are encroaching on their ability to generate revenue