■ Computers
IBM ships first Wii chips
IBM Corp said it has shipped the first microprocessors that will be used to power Nintendo Co's upcoming Wii video game console. IBM earlier this year signed a multiyear agreement to supply Nintendo, with chips made at its East Fishkill, New York, plant. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wii will be competing against Sony Corp's PlayStation 3, set to go on sale in November, and Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360, which went on sale last year. Nintendo is hoping to sell 6 million Wii consoles during the fiscal year ending March next year.
■ Food
US beef import ban lifted
South Korea yesterday approved resuming imports of US beef after repeated delays in implementing an earlier decision to lift a 2003 ban imposed because of mad cow fears. The Agriculture Ministry said 36 US slaughterhouses designated to handle meat for export to South Korea met required safety measures, clearing the last hurdle to the resumption of imports. The country had previously been the third-largest market for US beef. South Korea will notify the slaughterhouses of the approval on Monday, and the beef can start to be sold in the South Korean market some 25 days later, the ministry said in a statement.
■ Video games
Simple Xbox to debut
Microsoft Corp is set to release a cheaper, bare-bones version of the Xbox 360 video game console in Japan to boost flagging sales ahead of the arrival of new machines from rivals later in the year. The Japanese unit of US-based Microsoft will launch a Xbox 360 console on Nov. 2 that comes without the 20-gigabyte hard drive and other accessories included with the standard version, according to Microsoft spokesman Jun Yoshihara. The low-end version, already sold as the Xbox 360 Core System in the US and Europe, will sell for ?29,800 (US$255) -- about ?10,000 less than its standard version, Yoshihara said.
■ Computers
HP spied on journalists
The California attorney general's investigation into the purloining of private phone records by agents of Hewlett-Packard has revealed that the monitoring effort began earlier than previously indicated and included journalists as targets. The targets included nine journalists who have covered Hewlett-Packard, including one from the New York Times, the company said. The company said this week that its board had hired private investigators to identify directors leaking information to the news media and that those investigators had posed as board members -- a technique known as pretexting -- to gain access to their personal phone records.
■ Telecoms
Alcatel, Lucent merger OK
Shareholders in French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel and US group Lucent on Thursday approved a merger of the two companies to create a giant valued at 21.5 billion euros (US$27 billion). The backing came during special general assemblies held by Lucent shareholders in Wilmington, Delaware and Alcatel shareholders in Paris. Lucent Technologies chairwoman and chief executive, Patricia Russo, who is to be chief executive in the combined entity, said the merger would create a strong global player. The merger creates a giant that will be second only to US-based Cisco Systems.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from