■ Videogames
New consoles coming
Makers of video-game consoles, including Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp, are rolling-out new hand-held players and games based on Hollywood movies in an attempt to boost lagging sales, the Wall Street Journal said. Both com-panies will each introduce new hand-held systems next year as they vie for control of a worldwide market worth about US$3.7 billion, the paper said. At next week's E3 trade show in Los Angeles, video-game makers will debut games based on movies like Spider-Man as well as some sequels to big-sellers, the newspaper reported. Video-game industry sales fell 1 percent during the first quarter of this year as the sale of consoles slowed, the Journal reported. This may be because Sony and Microsoft will soon replace their machines with newer, more powerful versions, it said.
■ Aviation
Airbus on schedule
Airbus foresees deliveries this year of slightly more than 300 planes this year, chairman Noel Forgeard said in an interview to appear yesterday in the newspaper La Tribune. "At the start of the year we had planned to deliver fewer than 300 planes but we are today looking at slightly more than 300, as in 2003," he said. "If current trends are confirmed, I do not rule out the possibility of step-ping up the pace in 2005." Airbus currently accounts for 57 percent of worldwide civilian aircraft orders, Forgeard said, adding that Airbus and US rival Boeing should deliver around 590 planes this year, as they did last year. He said Airbus had received 129 firm orders for its wide-bodied A380 jumbo jet, adding that "we are in discussions with with four companies, including some in China."
■ Automobiles
Schrempp affirms strategy
DaimlerChrysler boss Juergen Schrempp insisted in an interview released on Wednesday that his com-pany's Asian strategy is "on the right track" despite its decision to cut funding to troubled partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. That decision raised questions about the future of Schrempp's stra-tegy of turning Daimler-Chrysler into a global auto powerhouse and specu-lation about the chief executive's future. But Schrempp told the Stutt-garter Zeitung daily that he remains committed to seeing through his contract, which will keep him at the German-US automaker until 2008. He renewed assur-ances that DaimlerChrysler will keep its 37 percent stake in Mitsubishi -- although that could be diluted if Mitsubishi's other shareholders go ahead with a capital increase.
■ Automobiles
Mitsubishi ex-officials nabbed
Mitsubishi Motors Corp faced a new scandal yesterday after police arrested seven former executives on suspicion they falsified a report over a fatal accident in which a wheel flew off one of its trucks. Police raided the Tokyo headquarters of Mitsubishi's truck-making affiliate, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp yester-day in connection with the case. The Tokyo-based automaker has been strug-gling to restore confidence in its brand name since it was hit by a scandal four years ago after concealing thousands of owner com-plaints to avoid having to order a recall. Media reports said those arrested include the former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso and a man who was a Mitsubishi Motors vice president when the accident occurred.
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