■ Electronics
Toshiba makes tiny fuel cell
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp said yesterday it has developed the world's smallest direct methanol fuel cell to be used in mobile communications tools such as cellphones and personal digital assistants. The full cell, which carries 25cc of high-concentration methanol, is able to run roughly six times longer than a lithium battery. The prototype of the methanol fuel cell, weighing 130g, can produce one watt of electricity for roughly 20 hours, Toshiba said. The use of fuel cells is environment-ally sound as it does not produce any toxic emissions as a byproduct of power generation, a spokesman said.
■ Semiconductors
Merrill Lynch blasts Sun
Struggling tech giant Sun Microsystems took a hit Thursday from Merrill Lynch in the form of an analysts' note that said the company could become "irrelevant" if it continues its current course. In an open letter to Sun Microsystems chief executive Scott McNealy and board members, computer hardware analyst Steven Milunovich called on the company to make thousands of job cuts and eliminate certain product lines. "Sun faces a crisis," the analyst wrote. "Sun must become profitable quickly, so headcount reductions are unavoidable; 5,000-7,000 seems a ballpark number," Milunovich said. The analyst added that Sun should sharpen its focus. "We think there is a place for Sun as a mission-critical computing vendor adding value in operating software as well as in systems architecture and management," he said.
■ Electronics
Firms to draft protocol
Some 100 Japanese and foreign firms will team up to draft a wireless communications protocol to enable the operation of multiple digital home appliances, such as television sets and DVD players, with a single remote control, a report said yesterday. The project would use high-speed wireless Internet technology aiming to bring to market in fiscal 2005 appliances that meet this new standard, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Corporate participants include Japanese electronics giants Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Sharp Corp, NEC Corp and Sanyo Electric Co as well as foreign-affiliated firms like Microsoft Co and IBM Japan Ltd, the report said. The Telecommunications Ministry will allocate frequencies for Internet-enabled appliances based on the trial results. These common frequencies would make it possible to operate appliances made by different manufacturers via the same remote control.
■ Aviation
Boeing says it is on track
Boeing Co delivered 65 commercial airplanes in the third quarter, off 9 percent from a year ago but roughly on pace to meet its latest full-year projection, the aerospace manufacturer said Thursday. Boeing said the deliveries pushed its total for the first nine months of the year to 210. The company has said it anticipates delivering 275 to 290 planes for the year, a significant drop from 381 last year and 527 in 2001 when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sent the airline industry into a crippling slump. Chicago-based Boeing is expected to be displaced by Airbus as the world's largest commercial jet manufacturer when full-year figures are in. Airbus' defense and space unit is on a pace to easily surpass the Seattle-based airplane division as the company's No. 1 revenue-generating unit this year.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the