The adoption of the Common Interface standard through the purchase of Nokia digital decoders for digital television by the new broadcasting company, Vía Digital, in Spain pushes forward trend towards digital TV in Europe.

Investors dealing in risk capital can now meet over the Internet and exchange insider tips about share placements in innovative companies. Additionally, interested parties can, via ‘Live Hearings’, pose questions to company management and receive replies directly on screen. 

Emotron AB, the Swedish electric motor technology company, has acquired the Dutch company P.I.V. Eldutronik B.V. and the German sales company P.I.V. Eldutronik GmbH. This strengthens the company's position in the German and Dutch markets, while more than doubling turnover to about SEK 140 million.Emotron expects the acquisition to give it access to new sales channels and to enable it to increase investment in the development of advanced new control and drive systems for electric motors. The vendor is the German P.I.V. Antrieb Werner Reimers GmbH & Co KG.

The Finnish company, Ensto Control haslaunched a new range of plasticenclosures, called Ensto Cubo O. Being the latest member of the company's wide range of plastic and metal enclosures, the series is said to be the world's first to comply to all important standards and safety regulations, including the latest Cenelec regulations.

Demand for brass radiator strip is increasing strongly in South-East Asia, notably in Thailand. Outokumpu Copper Strip is therefore introducing continuous vertical casting of brass radiator strip at its Zutphen plant in the Netherlands. Annual production there will increase to 50,000 tonnes. The method is already in use for the manufacture of copper strip in the company's factory at Finspång, Sweden. ‘We are the only ones in the world with this technology', claims Staffan Anger, Managing Director of Outokumpu Copper Strip, which has its head office in Västerås, Sweden.

Direct transmission of digital TV via satellite from Danish trotting and racecourses is reported as being very successful. The organisation pioneering it, DanToto, reports a turnover increase of more than 25% since Racing Live, as the system is called, started a year ago. The satellite system, supplied by the Swedish firm Wahlberg & Selin AB, is now installed in several European countries.

Compliance with ISO 9000 and other quality programs increasingly requires manufacturers and researchers to verify the accuracy of infrared temperature sensors and systems. To meet this need, the Mikron Instrument Company Inc. has developed a comprehensive range of radiometric calibration standards.  The M300 series includes 24 models covering a broad selection of temperature ranges and aperture sizes. Models also incorporate practical features such as portability and remote, computer operation, which facilitates use over long path lengths or in difficult or hazardous locations.

Acotec Grande, the first automatedprefabrication line for both non-reinforced partition walls and statically reinforced concrete walls and slabs, is now ready for market introduction. In Finland, the first complete production line is already under installation. According to the manufacturer,Finnish company Acotec Ltd. based in Lahti, the new machinery significantlylowers the noise and vibration problems of traditional prefabrication lines.