■ 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.
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
RSS