German exports rose 7% in June, the fastest pace in nearly three years, in the latest sign of recovery in Europe's biggest economy, official figures show.

Toshiba has said it aimed to expand its energy, healthcare and environment-related businesses as it targets a strong recovery in earnings within the next three years.

Toshiba has begun volume shipments of solid-state drives ranging up to 512GB in size. The drives are built on a 43nm manufacturing process using multi-level cell (MLC) technology.

Insolvent German chipmaker Qimonda's deal to sell its GDDR technology to Japan's Elpida Memory is valued in the low double-digit million euro range, a person close to one of the companies said.

Microsoft's newest operating system for PCs will launch in late October, but it won't boost PC sales enough to help the global DRAM memory chip market until the second quarter of 2010.

LG Chem has consolidated its position as a global power in car batteries, in a deal with carmaker General Motors for its eco-friendly vehicle, Volt. Samsung SDI is following up with its own major deal with BMW, a German premier carmaker. But Japanese battery makers currently capture 95% of the nickel-metal hybrid batteries market.

China is on its way to becoming a solar power - with financial incentives coming from every corner of the country - but a lack of experienced project developers and equipment installers may cast a shadow over the growing industry.

Elpida Memory may sign up today (August 7) with the Development Bank of Japan, becoming eligible for about 30 billion yen (US$314 million) in government aid, Nikkei English News said.

Canadian Solar, a Chinese manufacturer of solar power modules, jumped in early New York trading after reporting a profit that exceeded analyst estimates. "They blew away expectations and seem to have gained a lot of market share," said Colin Rusch, an analyst at ThinkEquity LLC.

The Central Weather Bureau forecast the storm to make landfall in northeastern Taiwan ton the evening of August 7.