■ Computers
Toshiba pushing DVD drive
Toshiba Corp said yesterday it is aiming to sell laptop computers loaded with its next generation DVD drive by next year. Toshiba's next generation standard, called HD DVD, is in competition with the Sony-led Blu-ray disc to become the domi-nant next generation DVD. Toshiba plans to make laptops with the HD DVD drive under its Qosmio brand in the range of ?200,000 to ?300,000 (US$1,850 to US$2,750), company spokeswoman Midori Suzuki said. Toshiba said the HD DVD's strength against dust and damage means it will not require a permanent disc cover, allowing the thin disc to fit snugly inside a laptop.
■ Software
Microsoft tests new service
Microsoft Corp on Tuesday said it is launching a desk-top application that aims to seamlessly integrate e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, traditional phone service and Internet-based calling. Microsoft plans to debut the product, code-named "Istanbul," sometime in the first half of next year to compete with efforts by rivals to link different channels of com-munications onto a single platform accessible from a computer. Microsoft is testing Istanbul with cor-porate clients, and expects to run similar tests with consumers in the next few months before bringing the product to market, said Anoop Gupta, vice president of Microsoft's real-time collaboration efforts.
■ Beverages
US firm seeks Jinxing stake
US-based Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewer and the maker of Budwei-ser, may pay up to US$1 billion for a stake in Henan Jinxing Beer Group, an official with the Chinese brewer said yesterday. While the US beer producer denied any discussions were under way, an official at Jinxing Beer said talks had indeed been held although no final accord is on the table. If a deal of this magnitude were to go ahead, it could nearly double Anheuser-Busch's investments in China, which it considers the most impor-tant market outside the US.
■ Internet
French ISPs must fund fund
Internet service providers (ISP) in France will be required to contribute to an industry fund that helps provide phone service to consumers, the French telecoms watchdog said on Tuesday. The fund for so-called "universal service" subsidizes phone booths and connections in unprof-itable, isolated areas or provides grants to house-holds that are unable to afford such communica-tions. Until now, only voice service operators were required to pay into the fund, with state-backed France Telecom bearing the largest part. The contribu-tion must be paid by all ISPs that were active in 2002.
■ Automobiles
Porsche seeks job cuts
Porsche wants to extend working hours and cut jobs, its chairman said in a news-paper interview yesterday at a time when other car makers in Germany are also drastically reducing their workforce in an attempt to drive down costs. "In our production facilities, those jobs that become free are not being replaced since we have been able to sharply increase output per worker," Porsche chairman Wendelin Wiedeking told the Financial Times Deutschland without providing any figures. As of August last year, when Porsche employed a workforce of just over 10,000.
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