■ Software
Adobe to buy Macromedia
Software company Adobe Systems Incorporated announced yesterday an agreement to buy Macromedia with shares for about US$3.4 billion. Under the terms of the deal, which has been approved by both boards of directors, Macromedia stockholders will receive 0.69 shares of Adobe common stock for every share of Macromedia common stock in a tax-free exchange. Based on Adobe's and Macromedia's closing prices on Friday, this represents a price of US$41.86 per share of Macromedia common stock. When the deal has been completed, Macromedia stockholders will own about 18 percent of the combined company, the announcement said.
■ Banking
New notes harder to copy
South Korea will introduce new banknotes next year that are more difficult to copy in a campaign against counterfeiting, the central bank said yesterday. Counterfeiting cases have risen sharply recently, increasing by 50 percent a year from 1998 to last year, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. In the first quarter of this year alone, the bank said there were 3,153 cases -- more than quadruple the number in the first three months of last year. New 5,000 won (US$4.89) bills will be introduced in the first half of next year, with other notes to follow in 2007. The banknotes will be smaller in size to conform with currencies in other countries, and will also incorporate anti-forgery technology such as holograms and color-shifting ink.
■ Electronics
Toshiba to launch new TVs
Toshiba Corp targets increasing its share of Japan's market for liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions to 15 percent this business year by introducing new models, said Satoshi Niikura, an executive at the Tokyo-based company's digital media network unit. Toshiba yesterday unveiled its first LCD television with a built-in hard-disk drive, which can store programs, movies and other content. Companies such as Hitachi Ltd already have similar products. Toshiba has a venture with Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co to make LCD panels used in televisions, and a separate venture with Canon Inc to make flat-panel televisions using SED technology, which can offer clearer pictures and lower energy consumption than LCD and plasma display televisions.
■ Airlines
Northwest plans China route
US-based Northwest Airlines will reopen its non-stop Shanghai-Detroit route "in the near future," and hopes to add other direct flights between Chinese cities and the US, state press said yesterday. According to Philip Haan, Northwest Airlines vice president, more direct routes between China and the US should increase the company's competitiveness in the Chinese market, Xinhua news agency said. Northwest once flew direct flights from Beijing and Shanghai to Detroit, but the two flights were canceled two years ago, company employees said. Northwest currently flies from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to the US via Tokyo. Last July, civil aviation authorities in China and the US agreed to increase the number of flights between the two countries from 54 flights a week to 249 flights a week within six years.
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
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
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