Hangzhou Motorola Cellular Equipment, a joint venture between Motorola and Hangzhou Eastern Communications, will cease cell phone production by the first quarter of 2009, underlining the extended woes of the US communications giant's troubled mobile phone business. The mobile phone production line will switch to producing TV set-top boxes in the future, said Chen Lei, a spokersperson of Motorola China.

First Solar has agreed to acquire the solar-project pipeline of US peer OptiSolar for US$400 million in stock, a deal that will give the solar-panel maker a bigger foothold in the US utility segment.

Programmable chipmaker Altera said on Monday first-quarter sales would decline by a more moderate percentage than it previously expected thanks to demand for next-generation wireless equipment in China.

The company that was at one time the world's principal provider of NOR flash memory -- the more non-volatile variety -- had its own plans to go "asset light," to use a now familiar phrase, and to concentrate on licensing its intellectual property to companies with the muscle to do the heavy lifting. It sounds like a plan AMD just executed last month. As it turns out, Spansion had also been planning to license others to produce its designs.

Philips has unveiled its 2009 LCD TV range with an emphasis on high-end models boasting internet access, new EPG and menu systems, and power-saving LED technology.

LG Electronics plans to keep spending to develop new products despite a "tough" 2009, unveiling a partnership with YouTube and a dozen new TVs in the midst of the severe economic downturn.

Sony's new 20x super-zoom camera uses a more powerful processor so it can eliminate noise, capture 10 frames per second, record 1080p HD video, and merge pictures for panoramic shots just by whipping the camera around.

Japan-based electronics titan Hitachi is likely to scale back its TV business in Mainland China in a planned business reorganization, disclosed sources familiar with the matter on March 2.

Lord Malloch-Brown, the foreign office minister, said the emerging economies were more important than ever in tackling the world's problems. "[Asian countries] want to know that we are not just going to ask Asia to help with the recovery then go back to our bad old transatlantic ways."