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World Business Quick Take

■ Mobile Phones
LG develops TV handset
South Korea's LG Electronics Inc announced yesterday that it has developed the world's first mobile handset capable of receiving terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasts (DMB). The group said it had resolved problems surrounding the bulky terminal size and power consumption of previous terrestrial DMB terminals, which lacked mobile phone functions. "This terrestrial DMB phone has opened up a new world where people can watch terrestrial DMB TV and simultaneously speak via a mobile phone," said Woo Paik, chief technology officer of LG Electronics. LG Electronics built a standard home TV antenna function into the new phone to receive broadband DMB.

■ Computers
Dell sees growth in Asia
Dell Inc, the world's biggest manufacturer of personal computers, expects its PC sales in Asia to continue to grow at about 25 percent as consumers replace desktop models and the market expands in China. "We feel like there's momentum going forward," said Bill Amelio, a senior vice president who oversees the Asia Pacific region for Dell. "We see corporate demand going extremely well. Across the region we haven't seen any real soft spots." Dell ranked fourth in PC shipments in the Asia Pacific outside Japan -- following Lenovo Group Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Co and International Business Machines Corp -- in the third quarter this year compared with a year earlier, according to a report published by market researcher IDC Corp.

■ Credit Cards
American Express sues
American Express on Monday presented a multi-billion suit against credit card giants Visa and Mastercard whom it accused of colluding to prevent banks from offering its famous green charge card. The suit stems from the US Supreme Court's decision upholding the government's antitrust lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard for limiting competition in the US credit card market. The suit filed in US District Court in Manhattan alleges Visa and MasterCard blocked development of new products that had ultimately hurt consumers and kept American Express from building a network among banks for eight years. American Express also named several banks in the suit that had executives sitting on the boards of Visa or MasterCard during the period in question. The banks include JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, US Bancorp, Wells Fargo, and Providian National Bank.

■ Aerospace
Boeing to offer 777 freighter
Boeing Co, responding to what it sees as improving world economic conditions, will offer a cargo version of its long-range, twin-engine 777 airplane beginning in late 2008. The Chicago-based aerospace company said Monday that it already had interest from several customers for the freighter version of the 777, but it declined to name those customers. Executives at Boeing said on Monday that the firm sees growing strength in the world economy and demand for cargo transport. Tom Crabtree, Boeing's regional cargo marketing director, said that he expects demand to be particularly strong in Asia. The announcement comes 14 years after the launch of the passenger version of the 777. The freighter version will be based on the 777-200LR, a longer range version of the 777.

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