Thirty-two Taiwanese start-ups plan to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month and the nation’s booth at the trade exhibition is to be the third-largest after those of France and the Netherlands, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) told a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday.
The CES, which is to take place from Jan. 9 to Jan. 12, is the world’s biggest annual consumer electronics show, where technology giants and start-ups demonstrate their cutting-edge developments, Chen said, adding that this is the first time the ministry has convened a delegation to join the show.
The start-up teams are to present technologies that connect to five trends: artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, “smart” wearables, “smart” biotechnology and medicine applications, and virtual reality and augmented reality applications, he said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Ministry officials are to host a “Taiwan night” networking event with foreign guests, including delegates from the Royal House of the Netherlands and the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hsu Yu-chin (許有進) said.
The ministry expects a commercial value of about NT$300 million (US$10.1 million) from the teams’ participation in the convention, Hsu added.
Robotelf Technologies Co has been awarded the Robotics and Drones Innovation Award for its home security robot.
Equipped with face recognition and “big data” collection technology, the robot can enhance long-term care services, children’s education and security monitoring, and analyze consumer behavior, the company’s overseas sales representative David Luo (駱威郡) said while demonstrating a beta version on Tuesday.
The robot costs about NT$20,000, less than similar models, which sell for NT$40,000 to NT$100,000 or more, Luo said.
The company is refining its robotics and autonomous systems while expanding its applications, he added.
In related news, a three-day “Future Tech” exhibition organized by the ministry and the Taipei Computer Association opened yesterday and is to run through tomorrow at Taipei World Trade Center Hall 3.
The show features 109 new technologies related to “smart” applications, biotechnology, medicine, electronics and chemical engineering, the ministry said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
RSS