Temenos, a provider of integrated core banking systems, and software solutions provider Microsoft have announced an alliance for delivering core banking solutions with TEMENOS T24 and Microsoft SQL Server to increase operational efficiencies of large-scale banks worldwide.

Earlier, the two companies worked with North Shore Credit Union (NSCU), a financial institution in Canada, to deliver a new core banking solution with a data management platform based on TEMENOS T24 and Microsoft SQL Server.

Microsoft believes the new agreement will see both parties collaborate more closely and commit technical, marketing and sales resources to bringing a flexible core banking solution to market, which optimises the use of the Microsoft platform with T24.

In a Finnish 4G frequency auction, Sonera was awarded frequencies with which it can build a next generation ‘super-fast mobile broadband network’ in Finland.

Teliasonera has informed that the company will start building the network immediately, and aims to open the network for the first pilot customer during the first quarter of 2010.

The company also informed that the frequencies now received will enable Sonera to build a mobile network that is expected to be more than 10 times faster than current networks.

The licence is valid for 20 years. The price for five 2 x 5 MHz frequency band pairs in the 2.6 GHz band is E819,000, the company added.

Eastman Kodak Company has informed that its board of directors has elected Susan Tousi as a Vice President of the company, effective immediately.

Tousi, 40, is General Manager of Consumer Inkjet Systems, a position she has held since 2007, when Kodak launched its line of inkjet printers.

Tousi previously served as R&D manager for Kodak’s consumer inkjet development programme from 2003 to 2007, leading a group of technologists in San Diego, Rochester and Singapore.

Prior to joining Kodak, Tousi was an R&D programme manager for Phogenix Imaging, a joint venture start-up of Hewlett-Packard and Kodak. She previously spent ten years with Hewlett-Packard in technical and product commercialisation roles.

Alcatel-Lucent has announced that Bouygues Telecom has selected its end-to-end Long Term Evolution (LTE) solution for a trial of mobile broadband services. The trial is intended to evaluate the performance of LTE services in the 1800 MHz spectrum band.

Alca-Lu will serve as the sole supplier and network integrator for Bouygues Telecom’s field trials program, which is scheduled to begin in 2010 at a number of sites in the western France. The company believes the LTE trials programme will enable Bouygues Telecom to evaluate opportunities to introduce a variety of new multimedia applications and services.

For the deployment Alca-Lu will supply its end-to-end LTE solution, which comprises base stations (eNodeBs), Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and its associated management system. The company will also provide Bouygues Telecom with a full range of professional services including project management and planning, as well as installation, commissioning, integration and test plan execution services.

Qualcomm, a developer of wireless technologies, products and services, is sampling a new smartphone chipset family.

The MSM7x30 family lays emphasis on multimedia performance, supporting high-definition video recording and playback, improved graphics with dedicated 2D and 3D cores, and an overall chip design optimised for a responsive Web experience.

The company claims that its MSM7x30 family, which includes the MSM7230 solution for HSPA+ networks and MSM7630 solution with multi-mode HSPA+/EV-DO Rev. B and SV-DO support, is designed around “optimal data throughput and powerful multimedia functionality”.

The 7×30 has the same Scorpion CPU as previously commercialised in the Snapdragon QSD8x50 chipset. The 7×30 uses an 800 MHz to 1 GHz custom superscalar CPU based on the ARM v7 instruction set, delivering high-end processing at low power to support features that include:

- 720p high-definition video encode/decode at 30 frames per second
-Integrated 2D and 3D graphics GPUs with support for OpenGL ES 2.0, and OpenVG 1.1 industry standard APIs
- Dedicated low-power audio subsystem supporting 5.1 surround
- 12-megapixel camera support
- Integrated GPS for location-based services

The first devices based on the flagship MSM7x30 family of chipsets are expected to launch commercially before the end of 2010.

The new family of chipsets is supported by the PM8058 power management integrated circuit and the QTR8600 RF subsystem with integrated Bluetooth and FM radio. MSM7x30 chipsets will directly interface with Qualcomm’s WCN1312 WLAN solution for 802.11 b/g/n, the company informed.

ITC DeltaCom, a provider of integrated communications services to customers in the southeastern United States, has named Mike DeGraw as Senior Vice President of Wholesale Sales.

DeGraw was previously president and co-owner of Huntington Telecom, an international wholesale voice operator.

DeGraw brings over seventeen years of sales strategy, business development and corporate leadership experience in the telecommunications industry.

DeltaCom has a fibre optic network, and offers a suite of voice and data communications services, including local, long distance, broadband data, internet connectivity, wireless voice and data services, and customer premise equipment.

Ericsson has informed that it is enabling Sweden’s cable television operator, Com Hem, to deliver advanced entertainment services to its consumers via an interactive TV platform.

The on-demand TV platform supports a range of advanced services, such as video-on-demand, catch-up and start-over TV programmes and music on-demand, and also includes a flexible interactive portal for Com Hem’s new Landlord-Tenant service. The rollout of the new services has started.

As prime integrator, Ericsson is designing, integrating and delivering the TV platform, which includes hardware and software solutions from Tandberg Television, part of the Ericsson group. The platform includes the OpenStream Digital Services Platform, Xport Producer and EQ8096, as well as products from a number of third-party vendors.

Sanyo, a manufacturer of projectors, has formed a distribution partnership with Synnex, a business process services company, in an effort to expand its reach into the IT market. Synnex is expected to provide Sanyo a base of customers within the Retail, PC Resellers, and VAR distribution channels.

Synnex serves resellers, retailers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in multiple regions around the world. The company provides services in IT distribution, contract assembly and global business services (GBS). Synnex distributes technology products from IT OEM suppliers to more than 15,000 resellers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Sanyo manufacturers a full line of projectors from entry-level models with full feature sets, to high-end models for large installations in addition to rental and staging use.

Australia Japan Cable (AJC), operator of the AJC cable system between Japan and Australia, and Pacific Crossing (PCL), the operator of the ‘lowest latency network’ across the Pacific, PC-1, have announced the launch of their Gigabit Ethernet Service for carrier, enterprise, and ISP customers looking for scalable, flexible connectivity options between Australia and North America.

Both companies had announced Gigabit Ethernet offerings on their own networks earlier in the year.

Testing of the Gigabit service on the AJC and PC1 networks confirmed transmission performance up to the full rate and for frames up to a jumbo size of 9224 bytes, AJC said.

Alcatel-Lucent has signed two contracts with Vietnam Telecom National (VTN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vietnam Posts & Telecommunications Corporation Group (VNPT), to help the operator transform its network.

Alca-Lu said that it will provide its IP/MPLS solutions, including the 7750 Service Router(SR) and the 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM). the company believes its flexible IP/MPLS infrastructure will provide VTN with scalability, bandwidth on demand as well as increased service level guarantees.

Leveraging its packet optical transport and Zero Touch Photonics offering, Alcatel-Lucent will also supply its 1850 Transport Service Switch (1850 TSS) and 1830 Photonic Service Switch (1830 PSS). Operating at 40 Gbps, the solution is expected to allow VTN to respond to end-user needs faster.