Qualcomm Inc, a mobile phone chipmaker, is considering forming strategic partnerships with local companies to deliver television programs on wireless devices in Taiwan next year, a company executive said yesterday in Taipei.
The San Diego-based chipmaker has been pushing its mobile broadcast technology -- MediaFLO -- by teaming up with telecom operators to compete with a more widely tried technology -- DVB-H -- that is supported by Nokia.
To facilitate uptake of its mobile broadcast technology, Qualcomm has formed joint ventures with Japanese telecom firms KDDI Corp and Softbank Mobile Corp.
In Taiwan, "Qualcomm may seek strategic partnerships with local companies [in offering mobile TV service]," said Jeffrey Brown, head of Qualcomm's global strategy and development, MediaFLO division, at a media briefing in Taipei.
Forming a joint venture could be one of several options, he said.
The high penetration rate of wireless devices and rising demand for paid TVs would give a strong foothold for the growth of mobile broadcasts, Brown said.
He expected Taiwan to auction its mobile TV spectrum next year, joining a long list of countries to launch commercial operations.
The mobile broadcast market is expected to increase to more than US$8 billion by 2011, with the Asia-Pacific region posting the strongest growth, market researcher Informa Telecom and Media forecast.
Qualcomm is teaming up with local firms China Network Systems Co (中嘉網路), Vibo Telecom Inc (威寶電信), Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) and Taiwan Television Enterprise (台視) in a one-year trial.
In March, US mobile operator Verizon Wireless started delivering TV programs on cellphones using Qualcomm's MediaFLO. Cingular Wireless is expected to launch a similar service by the end of the year, Qualcomm said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”