■ 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 HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government