Lenovo, IBM Announce Battery Recall

Lenovo and IBM in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission have voluntarily recalled approximately 526,000 lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony Corporation. In the interests of public safety, Lenovo will offer customers free-of-charge replacement batteries for all recalled batteries.

Although no make or model of battery is immune from some overheating or failure, Lenovo has confirmed that these Sony batteries may, in rare circumstances, be subject to extreme overheating and Lenovo is advising customers to check if they are using one of the affected batteries. The recalled batteries were sold with or sold separately to be used with some models of ThinkPad notebook PCs. The following ThinkPad notebook models are involved: T Series (T43, T43p, T60); X Series (X60, X60s) and R Series (R51e, R52, R60, R60e). Additionally, since these batteries work with any T4x Series or R5x Series system, customers who ordered an extra battery or received a replacement battery for any T4x or R5x Series notebook PC may also have a battery subject to recall.

IBM and Lenovo sold these Sony batteries with new notebook PCs or as replacement batteries between February 2005 and September 2006. Customers can continue to use their notebook PCs by turning off the system, removing the battery and plugging in the AC adapter and power cord to power the system. Customers should use only genuine ThinkPad batteries obtained from either Lenovo or an authorized reseller.

Following reports of an incident at Los Angeles airport, Lenovo has reacted swiftly, announcing this recall less than two weeks after the incident was first brought to the company attention. Lenovo estimates that between five and ten percent of ThinkPad notebooks sold during period of February 2005 to September 2006 are affected by the recall. Customers should contact Lenovo to determine if the battery used in their notebook PC is subject to this recall. Please visit www.lenovo.com/batteryprogram. International support telephone numbers are available at www.lenovo.com/support.

Nortel to Expand SMB Channels

As part of its ongoing strategy to grow its small and medium business (SMB) presence in the Middle East, Nortel is working closely with its value-added distributors to accelerate the recruitment and development of new qualified SMB resellers. The drive will initially begin in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Spain and will be extending across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) beginning in 2007.

Check Telephone Availability

Saudi Telecom Co. has called on citizens to ensure the existence of telecom services in new land plans. There are some real estate developers claiming in local newspaper advertisements and real estate channels to have telecom services for their land plans while they have not actually subscribed to the “Together Program” for the development of telecom infrastructure on their land.

According to STC, this practice has had negative effects on the credibility and image of the telecom company before its customers. The real estate developers blame STC for the lack of services, while in truth they are the ones putting out false information regarding telecom infrastructure. Individuals who wish to obtain plots of land in new developments can inquire about the existence of telecom services by calling 800-244-0000 to ensure that the land is covered by STC’s services.

Symbol Launches Solution Center

Symbol Technologies has launched a Solution Center in the UK for EMEA channel partners, including independent software vendors (ISV) and resellers, and customers to test and validate third-party applications with Symbol products. The Solutions Validation Program will help reduce development and test costs for channel partners who will be able to provide customers with fully tested solutions that are ready to use.

“Last year, we launched the first Solution Center at Symbol’s headquarters located in New York, and have seen tremendous success with partners validating their solutions,” said Jan Burton, vice president, Symbol EMEA. “To continue the success of this program, we are expanding this service to our partners and customers in EMEA so they have a Solution Center geographically closer to validate their applications and solutions with Symbol products — and to help solve the wireless and mobility needs of businesses in the region.”