SAN JOSE -- The Semiconductor Industry Association today applauded congressional action to provide a significant increase in federal funding for the National Science Foundation in 2006.

Congress appropriated $5.65 billion for the NSF, an increase of 3.3% over last year.

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PALO ALTO, CA -- IPCore Technologies Corp., China's largest design service company, has selected the Agilent Technologies 93000 SOC series for testing digital, mixed-signal and RF devices.

Agilent is also collaborating with IPCore on test-program and load-board design.

"[We] found that the Agilent 93000 system offered a scalable platform with the flexibility, accuracy and speed we require," said Randy Cao, senior director of turnkey operations, IPCore. "Agilent has demonstrated its strong commitment and support capability to the high-end SOC test market in China."

Agilent has installed more than 1,000 9300 systems worldwide.

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SHANGHAI -- Third quarter handset sales in China reached 20.97 million units, a record, according to a media report today.

The shipments were valued at 31.8 billion yuan (RMB8.2:US$1), according to a report from Chinese Sina.com, quoting sources at China-based CCID Consulting.

Handset shipments are forecast to top 88 million units this year, CCID predicted, up 20.5% over last year.

Nokia was the top vendor, with a 19.3% share, followed by Motorola (12%), Samsung Electronics (9.5%), Ningbo Bird (8%), and Lenovo (5.1%).

Foreign OEMs are pushing out domestic brands: Chinese phone makers reported a 41.3% share for the quarter, the lowest mark of the year, the report said.

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