■ Electronics
Sony wants new chips
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, and rival Elpida Memory Inc plan to start selling semicon-ductors for a new Sony Corp game machine by the end of next year. Elpida is a venture between Hitachi Ltd and NEC Corp. The chips will work with the Cell processor Sony is developing for the successor to its PlayStation 2 game console and other communication and consu-mer electronics products, David Mooring, president of the chip's designer Rambus Inc, said in an interview at an event in Taipei. The semiconductors use Rambus' so-called extreme data rate, or XDR, design and are eight times faster than the most advanced computer memory chips currently available, Mooring said.
■ Business law
17-year-old CEO a problem
An Indian company lost a business deal with a firm in Singapore because its 17-year-old chief executive was too young to sign a memorandum of understanding under his homeland's law, it was reported on Thursday. Suhas Gopinath, chief executive of Bangalore-based online solutions provider Globals Inc, was seeking a contract with SingT Inc, a business process outsourcing company, according to the daily newspaper Streats. With 120 customers from countries including Germany, the UK and India, the deal for six contracts to set up websites with e-library capabilities would have been worth S$38,269 (US$22,000). Suhas told Streats from Bangalore he was very disappointed the deal could not go through because Indian law requires the signatory to be at least 18.
■ Internet
Japan, China go bilingual
Japan and China plan to set up an optic fiber network with a built-in real-time translation system, enabling Japanese firms to explore Chinese databases in their own language, an official said Thursday. "China is becoming a big market for Japanese companies and this project is expected to help companies planning to advance into China obtain detailed corporate information there," the government official said. The network will also enable researchers of both countries to chat or debate online by overcoming the language barrier, said the official at the international cooperation division of the telecommunications ministry. The network is being built using leased optic fiber cables and server computers are equipped with translation systems between Chinese and Japanese languages, she said. This is the world's first network linking two countries with built-in automatic translation, she said.
■ Airlines
Singapore air rehiring
Singapore Airlines, which laid off 600 staff earlier this year due to losses following the SARS outbreak, has started recruiting pilots and cabin crew as demand for air travel rebounds, the company and local media said yesterday. Singapore Airlines said in a statement that it has hired 20 cadet pilots over the past six months. The air carrier has also begun re-hiring cabin crew, starting with former trainees who were laid off earlier this year, The Straits Times newspaper cited airline spokesman Innes Willox as saying. Singapore Airlines fired almost 600 staff in July after reporting its first-ever loss of S$312 million (US$181 million) in the April to June quarter due to plunging demand for air travel. It also gave special retirement packages to another 145.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source