■ Cell phones
TV-on-phone launches
South Korea's satellite-based "TV-on-your-palm" service went into commercial operation yesterday after a four-month trial run, its operator TU Media Corp said. The service, which allows cell phones to be tuned to TV programming or other digital content via satellites, began with seven video and 20 audio channels available, TU Media said. South Korea in January became the world's second country to launch the satellite-based DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting), although it was on a test run. Japan has been offering the services since last year using its own satellite-based DMB technology. TU Media, affiliated with South Korea's largest mobile carrier SK Telecom, plans to expand the service to some 40 channels. By the year 2012, the global market for DMB phones alone is expected to be US$3 billion, according to the institute.
■ Semiconductors
New Intel CPUs to ship soon
Intel's first dual core processors are expected on the market by next month. The new CPUs with two processor cores will be called Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition, reports the Munich-based computer magazine PC Professionell. The chips will offer 2.8 to 3.2 gigahertz of processing speed. The upcoming processors represent Intel's shift to a new technology that will allow several operating systems to exist simultaneously on virtually divided machines, the magazine claims. The systems would then be able to work completely separately from one another. Intel competitor AMD is working on a similar technology, under the working title Pacifica.
■ Energy
Beijing sets up task force
China has confirmed its intention to set up a special task force to deal with its two-year-old energy crisis, state media reported yesterday. The task force, or "leading group," will be in charge of creating a uniform plan for the country's energy policies, but will try to avoid interfering in the business of the nation's oil companies, the Xinhua news agency reported. The new leading group will be based on an existing energy bureau at the commission, according to Xinhua, which did not indicate when the group would be formally set up. Reflecting the importance attached to energy issues, the task force will be headed by Ma Kai (馬凱), the minister in charge of the commission. Economic growth in China reached an eight-year high of 9.5 percent last year, with the unwelcome side effect that two thirds of the country's provinces reported energy shortages.
■ Automobiles
Hyundai shares could fall
Shares of Hyundai Motor Co. may fall as the Korean automaker suffers from rising raw material costs, a rising Korean won and "short-term labor trouble," Barron's reported. A gain in the won against the US dollar and the euro made Korean exports, including autos from Hyundai, less competitive, which cut the value of Hyundai's overseas profit in its most recent quarter, Barron's said. A turnaround in Korea's domestic auto market, which accounts for a third of the company's total sales, shows no sign of materializing, the weekly newspaper reported. Hyundai is also "entering a season of labor disputes," Barron's said. Still, those weaknesses may present a buying opportunity, Barron's said, citing Wendy Trevisani, a money manager at Thornburg Investment Management.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2