SYDNEY, Oct 1 -- AsiaNet SEMICONDUCTOR DESIGN... SAN DIEGO: Qualcomm Incorporated, pioneer and world leaderof Code Division Multiple Access digital wireless technology,today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquireSpike Technologies, Inc., a leading semiconductor designservices company, headquartered in Milpitas, California, with adesign center in Bangalore, India. http://www.qualcomm.com ADDITIONAL DIVIDEND... RIO DE JANIERO: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce informs that itsExecutive Committee will submit, on October 13, 2004, aproposal to the Company's Board of Directors to distribute, in2004, additional dividends to shareholders in the amount of US$250 million, equivalent to US$ 0.21 per common or preferredshare. On the same date, the second installment of the minimumdividend for 2004 will be paid, in the amount of US$ 275million, equivalent to US$ 0.24 per common or preferredshare. http://www.cvrd.com.br RESIDENTIAL DEPLOYMENTS... PARIS: NetCentrex, the leading enabler of convergedvoice-video-data networks and next-generation services,announced it has exceeded 1 million Class 5 end-to-end voiceover IP (VoIP) CPE-based lines. Leveraging worldwide hypergrowth in DSL and Fiber as well as the introduction of VoIPinto cable markets, NetCentrex customers are currentlyactivating over 3,000 lines per day. This figure includesFastweb, the largest residential triple play VoIP deploymentworldwide. http://www.netcentrex.net MEDICAL STUDY... SAN DIEGO: Results of a multi-center, prospective studyinvolving two leading drug-eluting stents were presented today,with data indicating that patients with long areas of vesselblockage (> 24mm) treated with the Cypher Sirolimus-elutingStent had less in-stent late loss (tissue growth inside thestent) and less in-stent restenosis (reblockage) than patientstreated with the Taxus Express 2 Stent or a bare metal stent. http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/467347.html NEW VICE-PRESIDENT... CLEVELAND: Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. announced todaythat Thomas A. Flohn has been elected Vice President andPresident, Lincoln Electric Asia Pacific, effective January 1,2005. He will succeed Michael J.F. Gillespie, who will becomeVice President and Special Assistant to the President, LincolnElectric Asia Pacific, until he retires at the end of the 2005first quarter. http://www.lincolnelectric.com INTERNET RECORD... OVERLAND PARK: Sprint and the Swedish National Research andEducation Network were today officially awarded the InternetLand Speed Record from Internet2 at their fall memberconference in Austin, Tex. The Sprint/SUNET engineering teamused readily available hardware and software to send bulk dataover the public Internet farther and faster than before,beating academic teams operating specialized private networksand topping its own current listing in the Guinness Book ofWorld Records. http://lsr.internet2.edu http://proj.sunet.se/LSR3 http://proj.sunet.se/LSR2 http://www.sunet.se http://www.sprint.com STRONG RESULT... PURCHASE: PepsiCo delivered another strong quarter, withearnings per share of $0.79 that included tax benefits of$0.13. Excluding the tax benefits, earnings per share were$0.66, up 14 per cent versus year ago. Top-line momentumcontinued, as revenues grew over 6 per cent in the thirdquarter. Year to date, revenues were up over 8 per cent andearnings per share were $1.86 including the tax benefits.Excluding the tax benefits, earnings per share year to datewere $1.73, up 13 per cent versus year ago. http://www.pepsico.com AGREEMENTS SIGNED: TOKYO: BBMF Corporation announced today that it has signedtwo definitive agreements with Atlus Co. Ltd., a leadingmanufacturer of gaming software for platforms such ascommercial arcade games and home gaming consoles. http://www.bbmf.net . http://www.atlus.co.jp http://www.takaratoys.co.jp http://www.sec.gov (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agenciesdistributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwideclients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.)--InfoQuest (PP)--