ENTERTAINMENT
True Love Harbor hosts show
The Greater Kaohsiung Government has invited the public to attend the Rainbow Bay Music Festival at the True Love Harbor, where more than 50 performers will take the stage from Saturday to Monday to celebrate the Double Ten National Day. The line-up features local singers, such as Bobby Chen (陳昇), Hebe Tien (田馥甄), Aboriginal rockers the Sun Eagles, singer-songwriter Deserts Chang (張懸), along with Tanya Chua (蔡健雅) of Singapore and Japanese rock band 9mm Parabellum Bullet. The 5 hectare venue includes four stages, a bazaar and a food section. To entice people from northern Taiwan to attend, Da Da Arts — one of the event organizers — has launched a ticket package in cooperation with the Taiwan High Speed Rail that includes a 20 percent discount for a round-trip ticket and entry to the festival.
TECHNOLOGY
‘Invisible key’ developed
Researchers have developed an “invisible key” technology that allows users to unlock their doors by means of simple hand gestures, the head of the team said on Monday. “In the future, you won’t have to worry about losing or forgetting your keys,” said Tsai Yao-pin (蔡耀斌) of the Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan. At the heart of the technology is a chip that can detect movement in 3D, as used in Nintendo’s Wii video game console, he said. The technology allows users to easily unlock their doors by repeating a gesture preset in the sensor, he said. The “invisible key” won him a gold medal at the four-day Taipei International Invention Show and Technomart, which ended on Sunday. He said several interested companies have approached him about producing the technology, but he estimated that it could take about six months for the technology to go commercial.
TRANSPORTATION
Volkswagen top auto seller
German automaker Volkswagen AG was the largest supplier of imported cars last month as the company recorded its highest-ever monthly sales in the country, Ministry of Transportation and Communications statistics released yesterday showed. Volkswagen sold 1,509 cars last month, up 100 percent over August and 40 percent from a year earlier. Mercedes-Benz took second place with sales totaling 1,175 units, up 20 percent from August and 58 percent from a year earlier. BMW came in third with 1,137 units last month, up 65 percent from August and 35 percent from a year earlier. Total sales of locally made cars and imported ones last month reached 32,600 units, up 40 percent from August and 14.9 percent from a year earlier. Market observers said last month’s sales growth showed that consumers resumed buying following Ghost Month, which fell mostly in August this year and is traditionally a slow period for big-ticket sales.
DIPLOMACY
Lien named APEC envoy
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has named former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) his special envoy to this year’s leaders’ summit at the APEC forum. Lien was designated as Ma’s APEC envoy for the fourth consecutive year. The forum will take place on Nov. 12 and 13 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Presidential Office said in a press release that Lien was an “ideal choice” to attend the summit on Ma’s behalf because of his rich political experience and “outstanding performance” in engaging with global leaders over the past three years. Lien has accepted the request and would spare no effort in fulfilling the task, Lien’s office spokesperson Ting Yuan-chao (丁遠超) said.
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