A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

Apple launches faster laptops

Apple has released its new line-up of Macbook Pro notebook computers, which will run twice as fast as the previous generation and feature a high-definition video camera and improved graphics. The Macbook Pro features a faster, compact input/output technology called Thunderbolt from Intel, which supports high-resolution displays and devices through a single port. – (Reuters)

Cisco in R&D link with NUI Galway

Networking giant Cisco has announced that it is investing nearly €500,000 with the Digital Enterprise Research Institute at NUI Galway.

The primary research will enable Cisco to make further developments to its social networking and collaboration platform for large businesses, Cisco Quad.