Apple Computer Inc yesterday released the latest version of its Macintosh operating system, OSX 10.4. The company described the software, dubbed "Tiger," as its most innovative product to date and the safest for local users.
"We have high expectations of Mac OSX Tiger, which we believe will alter user behavior with various new functions that simplify work processes," Kong Yuk-loong (
The operating system went on sale at 6pm yesterday, priced at NT$4,390 (US$140.3).
One official at Apple Taiwan, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Apple's Macintosh operating system has been adopted by 23 percent of computer users around the world, but its market share in Taiwan is still less than 10 percent.
Nonetheless, Apple's market share is increasing steadily, boosted by its best-selling iPod digital music player series, which has swept the local market, he said.
In addition to the popular iTunes and iPhoto software, Apple's new operating system boasts 200 new features, including Spotlight, a desktop search engine; Dashboard, which enables quick access to important information like weather forecasts, stock quotes, airline flight-schedule trackers, four-way videoconferencing and 10-way audio conferences; and Automator, a workflow application that lets users easily automate repetitive tasks without complex programming.
Tiger requires at least 256MB of physical RAM, a PowerPC G5, G4 or G3 processor and a built-in FireWire connecting device.
Meanwhile, Systemax Inc's online retail outlet Tiger Direct is suing Apple over the use of the name "Tiger," claiming it constitutes a trademark infringement. Tiger Direct, which sells computers and related products, has asked the court to prevent Apple from using the name and to award damages and legal fees.
The launch of Tiger puts pressure on Apple's main competitor, Microsoft Corp, which is developing a new version of its Windows operating system, dubbed Longhorn.
Longhorn is reported to have many of the same features as Tiger, but will not be available until next year.
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to