Unfazed by rival Microsoft winning a race to partner with online phenomenon Facebook, Google wooed analysts on Wednesday with plans to wring even more riches from the Internet.
"There are plenty of companies using the notion of social community," Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said during an annual briefing day for analysts at the Internet giant's headquarters in Mountain View, California.
"It is pretty obvious people will be members of multiple networks; which is why our world won't collapse with any one network," he said.
Schmidt declined to discuss Microsoft's deal with Facebook or rampant rumors about Google planning to release an advertising-supported mobile "G-phone."
"I'm using the iPhone," quipped Schmidt, who is on the board of iPhone-maker Apple Inc.
Schmidt confirmed that Google is likely to bid for the 700 megahertz broadcast spectrum to be auctioned off by the US Federal Communications Commission.
"It is perfectly possible the best strategy will be to bid with one or several partners," he said.
Schmidt, Google co-founder Serge Brin at his side, vowed that Google wouldn't buy a broadcast spectrum, build a telephone network and take to selling an array of mobile devices.
"We are not planning on getting into the telephony business," Schmidt said. "The auction is a tactic to an outcome and the outcome is end user choice."
Schmidt said Google has no plans for a stock split, which would double the number of shares but halve the price.
"We'd rather have investors who do the arithmetic than those who are buying just on price," Brin said of Google stock, which was US$675.30 a share in after hours trading.
Schmidt is optimistic that US and EU regulators will clear Google's purchase of online ad-targeting firm DoubleClick, which it made a deal to buy after winning a bidding war against Microsoft.
Brin also said that restrictions placed on Internet content and traffic makes doing business in China difficult.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
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