Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) showed off new products and research tailored to the market in India, including a writing tablet that makes it easier to enter characters from two of India's national languages into a computer.
HP is also aiming the technologies at China and Russia in an attempt to adapt its products to countries with languages, economies and cultures that differ from HP's strongholds in the US and Western Europe.
"If you're in the high technology business, you need to look ahead. The ball keeps moving," Dick Lampman, HP's senior vice president of research, said on Thursday.
He spoke at a demonstration at HP Labs headquarters that featured technologies designed at HP Labs India, which was established in 2002.
The square tablet, which HP dubbed the Gesture Keyboard, allows a computer user to use a penlike stylus to enter characters in Indic and Kannada -- two of India's 14 national languages. The 15cm-by-15cm device was introduced in India two weeks ago and costs about US$50. HP plans to offer updates so it will eventually serve speakers of additional languages.
The other research the company demonstrated included software that prints out charts, graphics and literature to accompany TV broadcasts. The product, which is still being tested, is aimed at serving schools and community centers in countries where Internet access still lags far behind the availability of TV broadcasts.
It also showcased a system that uses a barcode to electronically confirm the authenticity of printed documents. HP hopes government agencies will use it to deliver land records and other official documents to cyber cafes in remote areas so farmers do not have to travel to a central office.
In addition, it demonstrated an electronic tablet that electronically stores information entered into forms. It would allow census takers and people doing market surveys to fill out forms with pen and paper, and then digitally transmit the contents to a computer.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled