■ Video Games
Big Xbox debut predicted
Microsoft Corp expects to sell up to 3 million of its new Xbox video-game consoles within 90 days of the product's launch, an executive said on Tuesday. Bryan Lee, chief financial officer with Microsoft's Home and Entertainment unit, told investors and analysts at the Harris Nesbitt Media and Entertainment Conference in New York that Microsoft aims to sell 2.75 million to 3 million consoles worldwide within 90 days of its debut in North America. The North American debut on Nov. 22 will be followed by a Dec. 2 launch in Europe and a Dec. 10 launch in Japan. Lee also said he expects consumers to spend US$1.5 billion in the first 90 days after the Xbox 360's launch on the console and peripherals such as games and subscriptions to its Xbox Live online gameplay service. In North America, the company will charge US$399.99 for the Xbox 360, and US$299.99 for a scaled-back version.
■ Airline industry
Airbus placates customers
Airbus will reassure customers such as Singapore Airlines (SIA) that are concerned with delivery delays of the world's biggest long-haul jet, a top executive said in a report published yesterday. Noel Forgeard, chief executive officer of the European aerospace and defense giant EADS, told the Business Times he is in the city-state to reassure SIA of a "total company commitment" to deliver the first A380 super jet in November next year. SIA was due to receive the first A380 in July next year. It will now get its first aircraft in November and another in December next year as part of a US$8.6 billion order for 10 planes. EADS hit snags in making the A380 and will be unable to meet original delivery deadlines, causing customers to seek compensation. A test flight, initially scheduled to touch down in Singapore on Tuesday, is now set to arrive tomorrow. It was delayed because the aircraft's engines had to be replaced.
■ Automakers
Toyota taps into Fuji Heavy
Japan's largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corp, plans to outsource the redevelopment of one of its existing models to its new partner Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, a report said yesterday. Toyota will tap the development capacity of Fuji Heavy -- of which Toyota became top shareholder last month when it purchased a stake from General Motors Corp -- to cover personnel shortages caused by its business expansion, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing its sources. The report did not say which model was to be redesigned, but said it would hit the market in two to three years and was likely to be a sporty subcompact -- an area where Fuji Heavy has development expertise.
■ Airline industry
Boeing plans record flight
Boeing Co plans to break the record for the longest nonstop flight by a commercial jet -- a 20,300km trip that is to begin in Hong Kong, fly over North America and land in London, the company said yesterday. "We plan to smash the current record," said Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, one of four pilots who is flying the Boeing 777-200LR. The flight, which was to take off later yesterday, will take about 23 hours, a Boeing statement said. The plane will have 35 passengers, including Boeing representatives, journalists and customers. The jet plans to fly farther than a Boeing 747-400 that flew 17,039km from London to Sydney in 1989, the company said.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS