Asustek to launch Eee Note
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world’s No. 5 PC brand, is set to roll out Eee Note, an electronic note-scribbling pad, in Taiwan this week.
“This will be Amazon’s Kindle in the Mandarin-speaking world,” said Asustek CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來) at a product launch yesterday.
The Eee Note is a device that transcends the e-reader, allowing readers to turn to the next page in 0.4 seconds, compared with an average speed of 1 second per page for e-readers, he said.
Eee Note also comes with a recording function and sports a 2-megapixel camera. That means executives could use it to record meetings or take pictures of powerpoint presentations, he said.
ECFA committee to be set up
An economic cooperation committee that will formally handle issues related to a Taiwan-China trade pact signed earlier this year could be established before the next round of top-level talks between the two sides next month, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) said.
The committee will monitor, interpret and settle disputes related to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed by Taiwan and China in June.
ASE to buy back shares
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光) plans to buy back 37 million shares at between NT$25 and NT$41 each, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. The chip packaging company plans to buy back the shares between Nov. 30 and Jan. 28, according to the statement.
Solar products deal signed
Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美晶) and Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電) signed an agreement yesterday with Hsin Tung Invest Co (欣東投資) to form a venture to make solar-powered products, according to separate statements to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Chinese bank opens office
China’s Bank of Communications Co (交通銀行) opened a representative office in Taipei yesterday, according to an e-mailed statement.
TSMC splurges on equipment
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest custom manufacturer of chips, bought NT$3.5 billion of equipment and facilities from Applied Materials South East Asia Pacific Ltd and three other suppliers, the Hsinchu-based company said in four statements to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The company purchased NT$794 million of equipment from Applied Materials, NT$536 million of equipment from Agilent Technologies Singapore, NT$1.7 billion of facility and engineering equipment from Da Cin Construction Co and NT$516 million of facility and engineering equipment from Organo Technology Co, the chipmaker said.
UMC buys new equipment
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) bought NT$539 million of equipment from Lam Research International Sarl from Oct. 8 to Nov. 29, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Central Bank issues CDCs
The central bank issued NT$292 billion in certificates of deposit yesterday, less than the NT$338.35 billion that matured, the monetary authority said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The central bank sold 30-day certificates at 0.69 percent, 91-day certificates at 0.73 percent and 182-day certificates at 0.83 percent, according to thel bank’s statement.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained