The 2004 Medal of Technology recognizes breakthroughs by Armonk-based-IBM that have improved the performance and versatility of today's microprocessors.

IBM said that innovations in microprocessors and semi-conductors have been the engines for much of America's economic growth over the past 40 years.

Specifically, IBM was cited for the development of the multi-core processor integration, DRAM (dynamic random access memory), the use of copper-on-chip wiring, silicon-on-insulator technology and high-speed silicon germanium chips. IBM said that silicon germanium, in particular, has in large part led to the widespread proliferation of today's mobile wireless devices.

The U.S. Commerce Department makes recommendations to the president about who should receive the award and the president makes the final selection.

"IBM's many innovations and inventions in semiconductors have contributed significantly to improving our standard of living, growing our economy, enriching our lives and ensuring our national security," said George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group.

This is the second Medal of Technology that IBM Corp. has won. The first was in 2000 for its innovations in the technology of hard disk drives and information storage products. In addition, the medal was awarded six times between 1985 and 1995 to individuals working at IBM.

IBM has led changes in the semiconductor industry, said Bernard Meyerson, IBM's chief technologist and vice president of strategic alliances, adding that today the Hudson Valley from New York City to Albany is called "Technology Valley."

But costs to build these factories have escalated, and today they can run between $2.5 billion and $5 billion to construct. As a result, many companies have been pooling their finances to build them.

But IBM, he said, took partnerships one step further to also pool intellectual capital and bring together some of the smartest engineers in the world from companies such as SONY, Toshiba and Samsung, among others. As a result, he said, several hundred individuals from these companies are integrated into the IBM team to develop semiconductor technology.

Such diversity, Meyerson said, is mutually beneficial because the diversity of knowledge enhances their work. He added that the financial results of these collaborations are not proprietary to IBM but to its partners as well.

"Digital cameras also use semiconductor technology, and any relative you have with a pacemaker owes their continued quality of life to that piece of electricity in their chest to ensure their heartbeat is regular and at the correct speed.

Irvington-based Prestige Brand Holdings Inc., yesterday announced earnings of $7.37 million or 15 cents per share for its second fiscal quarter which ended Sept. 30. This compares to net income of $6.08 million, or 25 cents per share for the year-ago period. Revenues for the quarter were $73.3 million, down 8.3 percent from $80 million in the previous year. The company attributed the decline to lower sales and an increase of just over 20 percent in advertising and promotion expenditures over the prior year. Prestige Brands markets and distributes brand-name, over-the-counter drug, personal care and household cleaning products. Major brands include the Compound W wart remover, Murine and Spic and Span.

EVCI Career Colleges Holding Corp. yesterday announced unaudited preliminary results for the third quarter of 2005. Its net loss was $1.5 million, or 12 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.2 million, or 10 cents per share in the third quarter of 2004. Total third-quarter revenue was $10.1 million versus $6.5 million in the comparable quarter last year. Yonkers-based EVCI, which operates colleges, also said yesterday that it will delay filing its quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the third quarter. The reason for the delay, it said, is to await the conclusions of the previously announced investigation being conducted by EVCI's board of directors into allegations by the New York State Education Department of irregularities in the admission process at Interboro Institute in Yonkers.

Because of overwhelming demand for the first issue of its Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, which debuted on Oct. 25, the Reader's Digest Association Inc. said yesterday that it will print an additional 135,000 copies of the food and lifestyle publication to bring the total print run to more than 1 million copies. The Chappaqua publisher said that earlier this week Barnes & Noble Inc. said that the magazine set a new sales record at its locations, selling more than 20,000 copies in the first two weeks — the strongest introduction of any food magazine. A companion Web site for the magazine has been created (www.rachaelraymag.com ). Ray is the star of several programs on cable's Food Network channel.

Because of popular demand, Snapple Beverage Group is again rolling out its Snapple Apple Pie beverage and introducing its Snapple Berry Mix and Mingle, and they will only be available this month and December. Snapple Apple Pie, which was introduced in 2003, is a blend of cranberries and raspberries with a touch of holiday spice. Snapple is based in Rye Brook, and is a leading brand of Plano, Texas-based Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes.

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