SYDNEY, Sept. 14--AsiaNet/InfoQuest DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT... HONG KONG: Arrow Asia Pac Ltd. Wednesday announced that it has signed a franchise distribution agreement with Microsoft Corporation to distribute Microsoft's Embedded software products including Windows XP Embedded and Windows CE. www.arrowasia.com NZ ELECTION... SYDNEY: Centrebet punters are backing Don Brash to replace Helen Clark as New Zealand prime minister. http://www.centrebet.com FREE TALK... MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & MUMBAI: PeerMe Inc., a peer-to-peer voice communication technology company, Wednesday announced the launch of its first beta product that provides free, unlimited voice communications over the Internet in India. http://www.PeerMe.com WALNUT RESEARCH... SACRAMENTO, Calif.: Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio has proven walnuts are a natural source of melatonin, a powerful antioxidant that fights diseases like cancer. http://www.walnuts.org GPS TECHNOLOGY... HEILBRONN & THALWIL: Atmel Corporation, a global leader in the development and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions, and u-blox AG, a leading maker of innovative GPS technology, Wednesday announced the availability of their latest GPS technology and product generation, ANTARIS 4, which sets new standards in GPS performance, system architecture and functionality. http://www.u-blox.com http://www.atmel.com/products/GPS PATENT RIGHTS... INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.: Mycogen Plant Seeds, Inc., an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences LLC, has been granted U.S. patent rights to Transgenic Bt in Plants, according to an announcement issued by the U.S. Patent Office on Tuesday. http://www.dowagro.com http://www.mycogen.com NEW APPOINTMENT... WICHITA, Kan.: Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. Tuesday announced that H. David Walker has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Sales/Marketing, reporting to Jeffrey Turner, President and CEO. SECTOR LEADER... DALLAS, Texas: Reflecting its commitment to creating sustainable growth and shareholder value, Kimberly-Clark has been selected as the sustainability leader in the Personal Products sector of the 2006 Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes. http://www.kimberly-clark.com http://www.kimberly-clark.com/aboutus/sustainability2004 CONCEPT CARS... FRANKFURT: At the International Motor Show (IAA) 2005 in Frankfurt, Mercedes-Benz will be unveiling the "DIRECT HYBRID" and the "BLUETEC HYBRID," two groundbreaking concept cars. AVR MICROCONTROLLER... SAN JOSE, Calif.: Atmel Corporation Tuesday said it is expanding AVR microcontroller support to AC and Brushless DC (BLDC) motor control applications, providing highly flexible and cost effective solutions. http://www.atmel.com AIRPORT SERVICES... MOSCOW: Moscow Domodedovo International Airport has embarked on improving the quality of services provided to passengers in a sweeping campaign aimed at satisfying the needs of its growing traffic. BTO CONTRACT... TOKYO: IBM Japan Ltd. has announced a five-year Business Transformation Outsourcing (BTO) contract with Japan Automobile Recycling Promotion Center to transform and deliver the processes associated with the refund of the motor vehicle recycling fee to the owners of used cars exported overseas. www.ibm.com/bcs HOSTING SERVICES... SINGAPORE: Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), Asia's leading communications company, is the only regional provider of Managed Hosting Services (MHS) that is BS 7799 certified. UWB ANTENNA... BARCELONA: Fractus, the pioneer developer of fractal antenna technology, has launched an Ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna for the short-range wireless market. www.fractus.com INDUSTRY FIRST... OSLO & BOSTON, Mass.: Nordic Semiconductor has launched the nRF24L01, an industry first single chip 2.4GHz 2Mbit/s Ultra-low Power and Ultra-low Cost MultiCeiver Solution with Embedded Link Layer Logic. http://www.nordicsemi.no RISING TRAFFIC... FRANKFURT: In August 2005 Frankfurt Airport (FRA) again served more than five million passengers, the second time in the airport's history that this level has been exceeded in a single month. http://www.fraport.de (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.)