-- Peter Sayer, IDG News Service

-- Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. have agreed to jointly build a $2 billion facility in Tangjeong, South Korea, for manufacturing LCD panels. The deal expands S-LCD Corp., a joint venture between Sony and Samsung that operates an LCD production line.

-- Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

-- Comverse Inc. in Wakefield, Mass., has agreed to acquire Netcentrex SA , a vendor of voice-over-IP software in Paris. Comverse will pay about $164 million, plus another $16 million if Netcentrex meets certain financial performance goals. Netcentrex generated about $50 million in revenue last year, said Comverse, which sells software that supports network-based communication and billing services.

-- Grant Gross, IDG News Service