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World Business Quick Take

■ Companies
Whitman quits Disney race
EBay Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman has withdrawn as a candidate to replace Michael Eisner as Walt Disney Co's chief executive, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the search. Whitman met with the board earlier this week, and has decided to stay at the largest Internet auctioneer because Disney had taken longer than promised to make a choice of the new chief executive, the newspaper said today, citing the person. She telephoned an unidentified Disney board member last night to take her name out of consideration, the newspaper said. She was the only external candidate being considered by the board, the Journal said.

■ Cellphones
Motorola to release A1000
Cellphone giant Motorola will release its long-awaited update of the Motorola A925 this month. The Motorola A1000, as it will be called, is a 3G smartphone targeted at business users who need access to e-mail, Web sites, documents and contacts while on the road. The cellphone includes a program that allows users to work with documents from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files. The stylish unit sports a high-resolution TFT display that can display 65,000 colors. The A1000 also boasts a touchscreen that supports handwriting recognition for the use of a "virtual keyboard." As if that's not enough, the A1000 also has a built-in digital camera capable of taking 1.2 megapixel images, an MP3 player, as well as a GPS positioning system. Pricing is expected to be under US$1,000.

■ Economics
S Koreans spend on credit
South Korean credit card spending rose for a second consecutive month last month, official data showed yesterday, amid signs of an economic recovery backed by improving consumer sentiment. The spending jumped 8.5 percent year-on-year to 13.5 trillion won (US$13.5 billion) last month, according to Finance and Economy Ministry figures. In January, it was up 15 percent. In the first two months of this year, the overall credit card usage increased 11.7 percent year-on-year to 28.2 trillion won, the data showed. South Korea's central bank said last week the country's economic recovery was proceeding faster than expected with consumer sentiment improving markedly after a protracted slump. Bank of Korea governor Park Seung said on Thursday that the economy already "entered a gradual recovery phase from the first quarter," a quarter earlier than previously expected.

■ Aero industry
Malaysia Airlines gets flak
Malaysia Airlines has come under fire for its policies on hiring women after a former stewardess who was sacked for falling pregnant lost a long-running legal battle to win her job back. The national carrier sacked Beatrice Fernandez in 1991 after she refused to comply with company rules by resigning after becoming pregnant. After a nearly 14-year legal battle, Malaysia's highest court rejected her petition to review the airline's working conditions, which have been amended to say stewardesses can have only two children and must resign at 45, the Sunday Star newspaper said. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil urged the airline to review its "archaic" policies as soon as possible.

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