■ Casinos
Harrah's and SMG team up
Las Vegas gaming heavyweight Harrah's Entertainment Inc upped the stakes in its bid to build one of Singapore's two casinos by announcing it has teamed up with Philadelphia-based SMG, the world's largest operator of convention centers. Singapore has said it requires an "integrated resort" for its casino complexes, due by 2009, that will be suitable for family entertainment, conventions and exhibitions. The casinos are part of a government initiative to boost tourism. Harrah's is the world's second-largest gaming company while SMG manages 55 convention centers and 69 arenas globally.
■ Computers
Intel addresses local needs
Intel Corp is increasing research to develop computers tailored to faster growing markets such as China and India. "We have 60 million households in China that indicate they would love to have a PC if we can just address some of their unique cultural needs," said Justin Rattner, the director of Intel's technology group. Taking a step in that direction, he said that Santa Clara, California-based Intel developed a computer that helps children learn Chinese characters. For the Indian market, Intel has developed a machine that has cooling-fan dust filters and can cope with power outages.
■ Automakers
Lexus selling like hotcakes
Toyota Motor Corp received almost four times the orders it expected for its Lexus-brand vehicles in the first month they were on sale in Japan. The company received 4,600 orders in the first month compared with the 1,200 orders it expected, the carmaker said in a statement. Toyota brought Lexus, which was developed in 1989 for the US market, to compete in Japan with brands including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. The Lexus brand was the most popular luxury brand in the US for the fifth consecutive year last year.
■ Used computers
Demand soars across Asia
Demand for used personal computers is outstripping supplies across Asia with a third of all second-hand PCs ending up in the emerging markets of ASEAN, a research house said yesterday. "The demand for secondary PCs continues to exceed supply, providing potentially lucrative opportunities for specialized intermediaries and resellers or vendors looking to resell used PCs," Gartner Inc said. One in 12 PCs in use worldwide is currently second-hand. "For every two new PCs shipped to mature markets this year, one secondary-market PC will be resold," analyst Meike Escherich said in a statement.
■ Cameras
Kodak goes wireless
After a summer-long delay, Eastman Kodak Co has begun shipping the first digital camera with Wi-Fi wireless technology to e-mail photos directly to friends and family without a computer. Users of the new EasyShare-One, priced at US$599, can send photos directly through a Wi-Fi transmitter at home or work, or pay US$4.99 per month to connect the camera with any of T-Mobile USA's 6,000 hot spots at stores, airports, hotels and other establishments. The new Kodak camera boasts 4 megapixels of resolution, 3x optical zoom, storage room for up to 1,500 photos and a 7.6cm touch screen -- big enough for the camera to double as a portable album.
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
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
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