Also

* Intel Corp. reduced by as much as 38% prices of many microprocessors used in laptops as the world’s biggest chip maker prepared to sell new chips based on wireless technology.

* Dell Computer Corp. said it will sell retail store systems, including cash registers based on personal computers, under alliances with four software vendors. The vendors are Retek Inc., AutoGas, GERS Retail Systems and MSS Global.

* GlaxoSmithKline won’t face a class-action trial over claims that the drug maker’s advertisements for the antidepressant Paxil misleadingly said the drug was not habit forming. U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles ruled that the Paxil users “failed to define a manageable class.”

* Gillette Co.’s Duracell unit said it will cut prices on its AA- and AAA-sized batteries by 13% as it looked to narrow the gap with lower-priced and private-label battery makers.