Via Technologies Inc (
The company, in partnership with a school of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, will focus on making a computer that can withstand erratic power supply and the heat and dust of India's rural hinterland, Via President Chen Wen-chi (
Via has already tested a design for such computers, which will have to cope with unreliable rural power supply.
"We have tested it to run up to 30 hours on a 12-volt car battery," Chen said.
About 56.5 percent of India's 138.3 million rural households don't get electricity, according to the Ministry of Power. India's peak power deficit, or the gap between supply and demand during evening hours, narrowed to 10 percent in the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2005, compared with an 11.7 percent gap in the full year ended March 31, 2005, according to the Ministry of Power's Web site.
Desktop computer sales in India, Asia's fourth-biggest economy, may rise 29 percent to 4.7 million units in the year to March 31, the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology, a group of computer makers, said in New Delhi on Jan. 5. India sold 3.63 million computers in the previous year.
While Via said it wants to make affordable computers, the company didn't give details. The cheapest branded computers in India, the world's second-most populous nation, sell for 10,000 rupees (US$226).
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀科技) plunged almost 9 percent after warning investors about a doubling in its share price over just a month, a record gain that helped fuel a US$1 trillion Chinese market rally. Cambricon triggered the selloff with a Thursday filing in which it dispelled talk about nonexistent products in the pipeline, reminded investors it labors under US sanctions, and stressed the difficulties of ascending the technology ladder. The Shanghai-listed company’s stock dived by the most since April in early yesterday trading, while the market stood largely unchanged. The litany of warnings underscores growing scrutiny of