By Kris Hundley, St. Petersburg Times, Fla. Nov. 11--The Tampa Bay area's big push for distinction in the tech field is getting a European boost. A Swedish software company, Appear Networks, has chosen a low-budget, Clearwater strip center as the launch site for its U.S.

Appear Networks announced today that the MIDAS (Middleware Platform for Developing and Deploying Advanced Mobile Services) Consortium had been ranked first out of 99 project proposals and granted EU financing to start research on the next generation of middleware for wireless networks.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept.