Instead of selling only the chip in each PC, Intel's platform strategy -- including Centrino, vPro and Viiv -- dictates an entire hardware bundle of processor, chipset, graphics card and sometimes wireless card.

The time is right to combine Centrino and vPro as business buyers continue to choose notebooks over desktops, said Mooly Eden, vice president of Intel's mobile products group, in a statement.

Intel launched vPro in September as a set of ingredients in desktop PCs sold by Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and other vendors. The system allows corporate IT managers to manage PC fleets remotely, fixing their software problems, monitoring security threats and even booting computers up without leaving their seats. That has made vPro-capable desktops popular with enterprise customers including 3M Corp., BMW AG, ING Groep NV, Johns Hopkins University and Verizon Communications Inc., Intel said.

Intel suffered a blow in February, when partner Nokia Corp. walked away from a deal to provide 3G HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) wireless modules on the Centrino platform, leaving it to rely solely on Wi-Fi technology to give mobile PC users wireless Internet access.

Still, Centrino Pro will improve on nearly every aspect of the original standard, holding the line on power consumption while upgrading the processor from single-core to Core 2 Duo, adding enough graphics processing power to handle Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista OS and offering the option of "Turbo Memory," which can cut boot times up to 20 percent by supplementing the PC's hard disk with flash memory.

Even without HSDPA, the wireless capability will improve. Intel said in January it would use the "Kedron" Next-Gen Wireless-N networking card for Centrino, using the IEEE 802.11n standard to allow users to share five times the data at twice the range of their current 802.11a/g cards. The extra bandwidth is critical to support activities like VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) telephony and downloading music files or high-definition video.

On Aug. 8, 2006, Forbes, along with nine other co-defendants, was charged in a 64-count superseding indictment related to the operation of a trafficking ring in Connecticut. Forbes was also charged, along with and two of his co-defendants, with sex trafficking minors and sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. Today, Forbes pleaded guilty to three counts of sex trafficking of minors; two counts of sex trafficking adult women through force, fraud or coercion; and conspiracy to use interstate facilities to promote prostitution. Forbes faces a maximum penalty of up to life in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million.

"This sex trafficking case, like many others, involved the repeated victimization of American citizens," said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "All too often, these crimes occur right in our own backyards. The Justice Department will remain dedicated to prosecuting this form of modern-day slavery."

"Women and girls being forced to commit sexual acts against their will and under the threat of violence is a brutal crime," said Kevin J. O'Connor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. "Federal law enforcement is committed to vigorously prosecuting those who engage in human trafficking, especially when minors are victimized."

Human trafficking prosecutions are a top priority of the President of the United States and the Department of Justice. In the last six fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with U.S. Attorneys' Offices, has increased by six-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court.  In fiscal year 2006, the Department obtained a record high number of defendants charged and defendants convicted in human trafficking prosecutions.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Hartford and Windsor Police Departments, and the Internal Revenue Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Genco and Special Litigation Counsel Andrew J. Kline of the Civil Rights Division's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

"After the press conference, they will be sent to the airport to take a flight to their own country," he added.

But Iran's official IRNA news agency later quoted "an informed source" as saying that the freed British naval personnel will leave Tehran on a flight Thursday morning.

Shortly after the press conference, Ahmadinejad participated in a "ceremony" for the 15 British sailors' release in his presidential compound, Iran's state television reported.

The television's footage showed Ahmadinejad was shaking hands with the British naval personnel and talking to them.

The Iranian forces seized the 15 British naval personnel on March 23 for "incursion" into its territorial waters. But Britain said its soldiers were in Iraqi territorial waters.

At the press conference on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said that no deal had been made with Britain on the issue and the release of the British naval personnel is "a gift" from the Iranian people.

Nevertheless, the British government had promised in a letter saying that it would not repeat the incident again, Ahmadinejad said.

Iran's state television reported that the 15 British sailors and marines were watching the live broadcast and applauded when they heard the announcement of their release.

Earlier at the same press conference, Ahmadinejad awarded a medal to the commander who led the mission to arrest "trespassers."

"Here I want to thank with a medal of third-rank bravery to the commander of the forces who defended Iran's borders and arrested the trespassers," Ahmadinejad told the reporters.

The Iranian president presented the medal to Abulghasem Amanghah, Islamic Revolutionary Guards naval commander.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the release of the15 sailors and marines who had been held in Iran for nearly two weeks, saying that Britain respects Iran's "proud and dignified history."

"I'm glad that our 15 service personnel have been released and I know their release will come as a relief not just to them but to their families that have endured such stress and anxiety," he said in a statement.

The 13-day crisis came to an end Wednesday after both Iran and Britain had softened their rhetoric and stepped up contacts over the recent days.

Blair said on Tuesday that the next two days would be "fairly critical" in the bid to secure the release of the 15 captured British sailors.

"The next 48 hours will be fairly critical," Blair told the Real Radio based in Glasgow, southwest Scotland.

On Tuesday, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told Iranian state television that Britain had started talks with Tehran on resolving the standoff over the capture of 15 British sailors.

It is "only at the beginning," he said. "Things can change and we could go towards an end of this issue if they continue on this path."

Larijani on Monday said Iran's priority was to resolve the problem through proper diplomatic channels, and "there's no need to have a trial on the detained sailors."

"We have always been passionate about making great entertainment accessible to everyone, and the new price for PSP, as well as the continued growth of the "Greatest Hits" library, reflect our ongoing commitment to supporting and expanding the PSP community," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America.

The PSP is in its third year of production, and lately has been outshone by the popular DS.

"The PSP needed a price cut to reinvigorate the market. Wal-Mart sold the PSP for 169 dollars for five hours on Black Friday -- a time in which we believe the company was able to sell over 100,000 pieces of hardware," BMO Capital Markets analyst Edward Williams said in a client note.

Williams said main beneficiaries of the price cut should be video-game retailer GameStop, and to a lesser extent Take-Two Interactive Software, which has a healthy line-up of games for the paperback book-sized device.

"In general, though, all publishers should benefit," Williams said.

In 2006, PSP shipments rose to nearly 25 million units worldwide, with more than one million new PSP systems sold in North America in December alone. In addition, software shipments increased to more than 90 million units last year, according to Sony's figures.

The PSP platform is also slated for further market penetration this year with new game releases. The 2007 game releases lineup includes "God of War," "Ratchet & lank," "SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs," "Daxter," and "Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror."

Sony Computer Entertainment America is a division of global electronics maker Sony.

A representative for Sony in Japan said there would not be an immediate price cut on the PSP in that market.

The models are marketed under the product names "Free," "Free Zen & Now," "Free Trainer," and "Free Trail," Reebok said.

Nike Inc., the world's largest sports apparel company, issued a statement saying the company was "evaluating the claims related to this very recently issued U.S. patent and any potential limited application to the successful Nike Free product."

A similarly offensive video involving the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk prompted a Turkish court last month to order Turkish telecom providers to block access to YouTube. The court lifted the ban just two days later for unspecified reasons.

China will not follow the U.S. energy consumption model because energy resources are limited, said Xu Dingming, vice director of the Office of the National Energy Leading Group.

Xu made the remark at an MIT Energy Forum in Shanghai on Tuesday. He said if Chinese people consumed energy like their U.S. counterparts, China would need 4.5 billion tons of oil per year. However, the annual global oil supply is just four billion tons with only 1.6 billion tons in commercial circulation.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Chinese citizens owned nearly 30 million private cars at the end of last year.

With annual oil consumption of two tons per vehicle and a 20 percent growth in car numbers per year, the transportation sector could become a large energy consumer in the future, warned the official.

Xu pointed out that westerners account for only 15 percent of the world's population but used the lion's share of the world's energy to power their industrial processes.

Reproducible energies are strongly recommended by experts and conservationists. China plans to raise the proportion of reproducible energies in its total energy consumption to 16 percent by 2020.