■ Computers
Toshiba unveils fuel cell
Japan's Toshiba Corp yesterday unveiled the world's first prototype of a fuel cell to be directly attached to laptop computers, enabling users to operate for five hours with a single cartridge. The product, using concentrated methanol as fuel, could end the current reliance on lithium-ion batteries which need to be recharged, the company said. The new fuel cell can operate for at least five hours with a single, replaceable cartridge of methanol fuel, which produces electricity in a chemical reaction with water. The fuel cell system measures 275mm by 75mm and weighs 900g. It includes a 72g cartridge containing 50cc of fuel. Toshiba said the product would become smaller before being commercialized next year.
■ Computers
IBM recalling monitors
IBM agreed to voluntarily recall and repair 56,000 computer monitors that could overheat and smoke, posing a fire risk, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday. IBM has received five reports of monitors overheating and smoking, including one incident which resulted in minor property damage, the commission said. The recall includes G51 CRT and G51t Touch Screen monitors which were manufactured between June and September 1997 in China and Malaysia. The monitors were sold at retail stores across the US from June 1997 to December 1998. Consumers were advised to stop using the monitors immediately and to contact IBM to arrange repair.
■ Telecoms
France Telecom posts loss
France Telecom SA, Europe's second-biggest phone company, reported a record loss of 20.7 billion euros (US$23 billion) for last year after writing down the value of assets purchased during the height of the stock market boom. The net loss ballooned from a loss of 8.3 billion euros in 2001, the company said in a statement distributed at a press conference. Last year's figure includes 18.3 billion euros of write-offs on the value of assets including German cellular company MobilCom AG and business communications unit Equant NV. Chief executive officer Thierry Breton is reducing costs and preparing to sell 15 billion euros worth of new shares to cut debt amassed under his predecessor. Since taking over in October, Breton has refinanced about a fifth of the company's 70 billion euros of debt to keep from facing a cash shortfall this year. Debt stood at 68 billion euros at the end of last year, France Telecom said, down from 70 billion at the end of the first half.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Viagra Singapore's top pill
Viagra was the best selling drug in Singapore last year as sales of pills to treat male impotence increased by 15 percent to S$10 million (US$5.75 million), the Straits Times reported yesterday. Demand for the anti-impotency drug is high in the city-state where half of the men aged 40 and above suffer from some form of erectile dysfunction, according to Pfizer Inc, the maker of Viagra. Trailing closely behind Viagra was slimming pill Xenical, the report said. Sales of Xenical fell 10 percent from 2001. The decline was likely due to increased public concerns over the safety of slimming drugs after a local television personality nearly died after taking a Chinese-made drug to lose weight, the report said. Viagra is sold for S$30 (US$17) a pill.
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