■ Semiconductors
Samsung introduces PRAM
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday unveiled a new type of memory chip that it said would allow digital devices to work faster by saving new data more quickly. Phase-change random access memory, or PRAM, is nonvolatile, meaning it will retain data even when an electronic device is turned off, and is about 30 times faster than conventional flash memory, according to Samsung. It is expected to be available in 2008, it added. A 512-megabit prototype PRAM device was introduced yesterday at a news conference in Seoul. Samsung said the PRAM chips use vertical diodes and a three-dimensional transistor structure to create a small cell size. Samsung also unveiled yesterday a 32-gigabit NAND flash memory chip based on finer 40-nanometer process technology.
■ Telecoms
Yahoo adds conference call
Vapps Internet telephone conference calling systems firm announced yesterday that it would be adding the feature to Yahoo's free online message service. The approximately 80 million Yahoo Messenger with Voice users worldwide would be able to make conference calls using online telefony referred to as Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), according to US-based Vapps. An application referred to as "ConFreeCall" would be added to the software "plug-ins" available for Yahoo users, Vapps CEO Ben Lilienthal said in a release. "We used to look at the conference call as merely a business solution, with the introduction of services such as ConFreeCall, the landscape has changed to be a tool for online communities as well," Lilienthal said.
■ Telecoms
Vodafone offers broadband
Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest mobile phone company, will offer high-speed broadband services to consumers by the end of the year using BT Group Plc's phone lines. Vodafone customers will be able to buy combined packages of mobile and broadband services, Newbury, England-based Vodafone said in a statement yesterday. CEO Arun Sarin faces increasing competition as other European telecom firms bundle services to attract customers. UK cable operator NTL Inc bought Virgin Mobile Plc this year to offer wireless services, while pay-TV broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc last month began offering broadband Internet services.
■ Computers
Dell delays filing Q2 report
Dell Inc said yesterday it would delay filing its fiscal second-quarter report and has suspended its share repurchase program because of previously disclosed accounting probes. Dell, the world's biggest PC maker, also said that the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York has subpoenaed documents related to its financial reporting from 2002 to the present. Dell said it could not file the second-quarter financial report because of "questions raised" in connection with an informal Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into accounting issues and a subsequent internal probe. The investigations have shown that Dell may have misstated prior financial reports, including issues relating to accruals, reserves and other balance sheet items, which may affect previously reported financial results, the company said in its statement. Dell also said it has postponed an analysts' meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
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