■ Electronics
MS plans RFID software
Microsoft Corp, the world's biggest software maker, plans to create software that can handle radio-frequency identification data for small and medium-sized businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unidentified company official. RFID is being adopted by companies such as Metro AG and Wal-Mart Stores Inc to create wireless inventory tracking systems that may eventually replace bar codes, the paper said. International Business Machines Corp and Royal Philips Electronics NV are also planning a partnership to promote sales of chips using the new technology, the WSJ said. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, aims to release the software in 2005 and estimates that it will cost around 60,000 euros (US$75,426) for 15 users, the Journal said.
■ Investing
Soros bets on weak dollar
George Soros, who once made a billion dollars betting on a drop in the British pound, said the US dollar may extend its decline this year even as stocks rise. When currencies drop they "tend to actually pick up speed," Soros said in a televised interview with Bloomberg News at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "Since the decline of the dollar in the short term is beneficial for the US economy, the authorities actually like it." The dollar has dropped 14 percent against the 12-nation European common currency in the past 12 months and 9 percent against the Japanese yen, buoying US exports while posing a threat to the economic recovery in Europe and Japan. Even with the dollar's decline, the 73-year-old Soros expects investors to keep putting money into US stock markets.
■ Electronics
Outsourcing upsets unions
Business and government leaders are concerned that as companies contract-out low-paid operations in the service sector to developing countries, higher-paid jobs are not being created instead, the Wall Street Journal reported citing participants in the World Economic Forum in Davos. Companies such as International Business Machines Corp, and Hewlett-Packard Co are taking advantage of the lower costs in employing workers in countries such as India and China, the paper said. Globalization advocates are also worried that the trend may cause a loss of support for free trade globally, the WSJ said. According to Brendan Barber, secretary-general of Trade Union Congress, a British labor confederation, around 2 million service industry jobs may be contracted out from wealthy countries in the next 5 years, the Journal said.
■ Automobiles
GM buys Daewoo plant
General Motors Corp bought an engine plant in China from Daewoo Motor Co to be used for cars the US company plans to make there, Yonhap News said, citing an unidentified Daewoo Motor official. The two companies last month signed an agreement on the sale of the engine plant in the northeastern port of Yantai and may receive approval from the Chinese government by the end of next month, the report said. The sale may be worth between US$60 million and US$70 million, it said. General Motors is planning to use the engines from the plant for its cars manufactured in China as well as those from General its Korean unit, GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co, the report said.
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