■ Semiconductors
Low-power chips unveiled
The Intel Corp announced on Tuesday a new process to make chips for cellphones and other mobile devices that use far less power, thus helping extend battery life. The company said the new process, which will run parallel to Intel's current manufacturing process, would produce chips that can reduce power "leakage," or battery life drain, to as little as one-thousandth of current levels. The new process could be used commercially by early 2007, the company said.
■ Electronics
Dell takes on iPod
Dell Inc, the world's largest direct computer seller, on Tuesday launched a new flash-memory digital music player designed to compete with the iPod Shuffle. Dell billed its DJ Ditty as a better value than the Shuffle. Both devices are US$99 and come equipped with 512mb of memory, but because the Ditty uses an audio format that compresses digital music files more efficiently, Dell asserts the Ditty can hold up to 220 songs while the same-sized Shuffle stores about 120. The biggest difference between the devices is the Ditty's 2.5cm LCD display screen, which helps users navigate their music lists.
■ Semiconductors
Infineon to sell chip division
Infineon, Europe's leading semiconductor maker, is to sell off its loss-making memory chips division before the end of the year, the business daily Handelsblatt reported yesterday. A supervisory board meeting on Nov. 17 would give the go-ahead to a spin-off of the division, the newspaper said, quoting sources close to the company. Infineon's new chairman, Wolfgang Ziebart, has been planning the move since he took over, Handelsblatt said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
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
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique