Scientists, environmentalists and business leaders have joined forces to address the waste headache caused by thousands of tonnes of batteries discarded by Australians each year.

US-based data recovery specialist, Ontrack Data Recovery, has launched what it claims is the first full service, 24/7 data recovery lab and cleanroom available in Australia. The Ontrack Data Recovery facility will be located in Brisbane.

Mobile messaging provider, Mobile 365, has appointed Jo Rich as director, business development for Australia. Rich has worked extensively in the online technology area, both in Australia and overseas. Prior to Mobile 365, she worked at News Interactive, the online arm of News Limited, as a senior account manager, where she sold and managed media and marketing solutions to some of News Interactive's largest agency clients, including Universal McCann, Initiative Media, and OMDi. She also forged long term partnerships with direct clients such as TAB Ltd, Match.com, and Flight Centre. Previously, she worked for AOL|7 with responsibility for the commercial viability of key online content channels including travel, sports, employment, automotive, and entertainment. Rich also spent three years in the UK working with digital marketing company Engage.

We have recently been criticised for not recognising the trends indicated by job ad surveys. Well, we have taken heed and can state unequivocally that the latest such survey indicates that demand for high-end IT jobs in Australia has plunged into the toilet bowl.

St.George Bank has announced a new relationship with Unisys to provide alternative cheque clearing services to the Australian banking sector, building on the two companies’ existing cheque processing relationship.

Research group IDC has recently released the preliminary results for the combined Australia (Desktop and Notebook) market for Q2 2005, with results showing a massive hike in growth contrary to historical trends for the period.

Telstra (ASX:TLS) shares closed down markedly on heavy trading after its 2005 full year results failed to convince the market that the carrier is able to compensate for its steadily eroding fixed line voice revenue base.

In-flight entertainment, voice and data links will be crucial battlegrounds for airlines in 2006—especially long-haul carriers like Qantas and Air New Zealand, according to analyst Frost & Sullivan.

David Webster has been appointed as managing director of storage vendor EMC Australia and New Zealand, effective September 12. Webster joins EMC from Curram Software where he has been vice president for Asia Pacific. Prior to Curram Software, he was vice president and managing director, Australia and New Zealand, for Peoplesoft.  He also held various senior management positions with Silicon Graphics, including in channel sales and working as marketing director for Australia, managing director for the ASEAN Region and Sales director for Australia and New Zealand.

Organisations can now tie printing to each user's building access card using software that was first developed in Australia to run inside Ernst & Young's multifunction devices. Canon Australia has released the Australian-developed software application that offers organisations secure network printing.

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) presented the first module of its inaugural Developing Business Skills for ICT Entrepreneurs Program in Sydney last week.

Communications networking group Allied Technologies (ASX:ATZ) has flagged its intention to sell its software services subsidiary Tusc Computer Systems, as it issued news of a loss blowout nearly 80% higher than its estimate in May.

Secure electronic transaction solutions provider Keycorp Limited (ASX: KYC) has agreed to acquire an interest in a new company being formed to drive the MULTOS scheme. The value of Keycorp’s investment will be US$2.4 million.

Wireless broadband provider, Unwired Australia (ASX:UNW) and VoIP technology provider, Freshtel Holdings (ASX:FRE) have announced a partnership to provide access to an internet phone service that offers subscribers competitively priced local, interstate and international call rates.

Australian PC vendor, Optima Technology Solutions (ASX:OPI), has won a $2.3 million contract to supply hardware and services to the NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS).

Datacom has won a managed IT services contract with Atlas Group Holding Limited’s Atlas Specialty Metals group. The two year deal sees Datacom assume full responsibility for Atlas Specialty Metals’ facilities management and Disaster Recovery planning services.

Victoria's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has selected a $900,000 data network from Nortel to support its critical health service applications, including a growing number of converged voice and data services.

New research into the Australian hosting market has revealed a competitive but fragmented market, particularly within shared hosting and the mid-market sectors, with market consolidation a strong probability in the longer term.

Australian security monitoring solutions and CCTV specialist, Swann Communications has launched a new operation in Hong Kong in a bid to capitalise on the burgeoning security market in China, the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the globe.

Business intelligence solutions provider, Business Objects, has launched the latest version of its software on Linux. Now BusinessObjects XI, including Crystal Reports Server XI, support both the Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE LINUX enterprise server platforms.