Company Announcements Agilent announced the acquisition of the Blos bead nitrogen/phosphorous detector technology in March. In April, OI entered into an agreement with DANI Instruments SpA to sell DANI’s sample introduction and detector accessories. Sales began in May 2008. OI entered into a one-year value added resellers (VAR) agreement with Agilent Technologies effective June 1, under which the company will continue building custom systems by coupling its selective detector and sample introduction technologies to Agilent’s 7890 GC and 5975C MS systems. OI was previously a VAR supplier to Agilent from 1988 to 2001 before becoming an OEM supplier. DPS Instruments formed DPS Instruments Europe GmbH, located near Bonn, Germany, in May. In June, RM Investors terminated its Letter of Intent to acquire DPS Instruments (see IBO 11/15/07). In June, China’s Ministry of Commerce initiated an antidumping investigation against imported GC/MS systems from Japan. The investigation was prompted by a petition from East & West Analytical Instruments. Product Introductions Agilent introduced the J&W High-Efficiency Capillary GC columns for fast chromatography. Agilent released the Agilent Fiehn Metabolomics Retention Time Locked Library for GC/MS in June, calling it the first commercially available mass spectral library for the identification of metabolites found in metabolomic studies. DPS Instruments introduced the portable Companion GC, which features a choice of seven detectors. Markes International released ClearView Reprocessing Software, which reprocesses stored GC/MS data for improved spectral purity and peak integration. Thermo Fisher Scientific launched the Thermo Scientific GC IsoLink for isotope ratio monitoring. The system integrates the TRACE GC Ultra with the DELTA V or MAT 253 gas isotope ratio MS systems. Varian introduced the 400 GC Series, consisting of two systems and application-specific analysis solutions. The 450-GC features a broad array of inlets and detectors. The 430-GC offers the same performance as the 450, but in a compact, single-channel package. Varian launched the 200-MS Series of ion trap MS systems for GC/MS. The 240-MS and 220-MS are available with Varian’s 450-GC. The 240-GC features MS/MS scanning options and the 220-MS features chemical ionization and MS/MS options. The 200-MS is available with the 431-GC for an entry-level GC/MS system. Varian released the VF-5ht UltiMetal column for the analysis of samples up to 450º C. Phenomenex introduced the Zebron ZB-Bioethanol 30 m and 15 m columns for faster bioethanol analysis.