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With revenues of $631.9 million in 2005, the global markets for fiber optic test equipment (FOTE) saw an increase of about 3.0 percent over the previous year, primarily due to the emergence of new technologies such as reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM).

The worldwide handheld device market slumped further at the close of 2006, despite several notable vendors posting seasonal increases in shipments. According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped 5.5 million units in 2006, down 28.5% from the 7.6 million units shipped in 2005.

One of the major trends in the retort packaging market is the retort pouch that is taking convenience to a whole new level and becoming increasingly popular among food product manufacturers. A growing number of companies are entering this expanding market, posing a strong challenge to manufacturers of other package types.

A major new drive to fundamentally overhaul core EU consumer rules – including guarantees, refunds, cooling off periods - to adapt them to the challenges of a fast changing digital world has been launched today with the adoption of a European Commission Green Paper reviewing the existing rules.

The new edition of European business - Facts and figures, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, gives a comprehensive picture of the structure, development and characteristics of European business and its different activities: from energy and the extractive industries to communications, information services and media. It presents the latest available statistics from a wide selection of statistical sources describing, for each activity, production and employment, country specialisation and regional distribution, cost structures, productivity and profitability, the importance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), external trade etc.

E-commerce seems to be the key to further opening the retail internal market, as 57% of retailers say they now sell via the internet. But more than two thirds of them sell exclusively domestically. And of the 29% who do sell cross-border most do to only or two other Member States. More would like to sell cross-border (48% of EU retailers are prepared to do so).

Mortgage rates dropped for the first time in two months, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate falling to 6.31 percent. This more than reverses the previous week's increase. According to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders, the 30- year fixed rate mortgages had an average of 0.31 discount and origination points.

IT spending by the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry expected to grow to US$300 million by 2010; IT vendors who offer industry-specific technology solutions to M&E will outpace the competition.

China has now developed to be the world largest country for copper consumption, processing & manufacture and even for copper primary products export. The year of 2005 witnessed a growth of world copper ore and refined copper in output, reaching 14.98 million tons and 16.34 million tons respectively, both up 3.1%.

The European Commission today agreed upon a comprehensive strategy for the European car industry, to keep the manufacturing of motorcars viable on a long term basis, at prices affordable to consumers. The strategy encompasses a variety of areas, such as reduction of administrative burdens, environmental sustainability, road safety, trade and overseas markets and research.