■ Computers
Dell to hire 500 engineers
Dell Inc plans to hire another 500 engineers to work in its central Texas product development operations, founder and chairman Michael Dell announced on Monday. Dell joined Texas Governor Rick Perry at the Texas Capitol to announce the company would immediately begin hiring new electrical, software and mechanical engineers and program managers. Dell has 18,000 employees at its Round Rock headquarters and other Austin-area locations. The company has been battered recently by a recall of 4.1 million potentially flammable notebook batteries made by Sony Corp and by disappointing earnings.
■ Advertising
US Web revenues soar
Internet advertising revenues in the US grew 37 percent in the first half of this year, reaching a new high of US$7.9 billion. Keyword ads displayed alongside search results remained the most lucrative format, accounting for 40 percent of revenues from January to June, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said on Monday. Banner display ads made up 21 percent and classified ads 20 percent. Online ad revenues reached US$12.5 billion last year. Despite the growth, Internet advertising accounts for only about 5 percent of all US advertising revenues.
■ Software
Motorola buys Vertasent
Motorola Inc said on Monday it paid an undisclosed sum to acquire Vertasent LLC, which develops software to ease the potential traffic jam on cable TV networks as operators try to introduce new multimedia services. Vertasent makes software that helps cable providers free up bandwidth, which in turn allows companies to provide more services at a faster speed. Motorola said that using Vertasent's software, it will be able to provide cable operators with the tools to stream video programming to any device. The purchase comes less than a month after the telecommunications equipment maker acquired privately held Broadbus Technologies Inc, which provides technology for video on demand.
■ Telecoms
Softbank to issue bonds
Japanese Internet firm Softbank said yesterday that it planned a major issue of new bonds backed by Vodafone KK assets to cover a short-term loan it took out to buy the cellphone operator. According to the Nihon Keizai business daily, Softbank aims to raise an unprecedented ?1.45 trillion (US$12.46 billion) with the securitization deal. Softbank, which owns search engine Yahoo Japan and in April completed a deal to buy Vodafone Japan for US$15 billion, said in a statement that the talks with the banks were in "the final stage and would reach an agreement on an outline deal soon."
■ Oil
Hyundai Heavy wins UAE bid
South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, said yesterday it had won a US$1.6 billion order to build oil and gas rigs for an United Arab Emirates company. The contract -- to supply Abu Dhabi Marine Operating with three fixed platforms, pipelines and bridges by 2010 -- is the world's biggest project of its type, Hyundai said. The facilities would produce 300,000 barrels of crude oil and 1 billion cubic feet (30 million cubic meters) of natural gas per day, it said. The firm said it would carry out the project on a turnkey basis from engineering, procurement and installation to commissioning work.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a