■COMPUTERS
Freescale to unveil tablet PC
Chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor Inc is staking its claim on the tablet computer market, an emerging product category that is set to generate plenty of interest this year. Although next-generation tablet PCs are scarcely evident on the market, the technology world is abuzz about their potential, as Apple Inc is expected to unveil its offering this year. Freescale’s announcement comes ahead of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where rival chipmakers are expected to show off new so-called smartbooks, which aim to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones. Privately held Freescale unveiled its reference design for a seven-inch, touchscreen tablet running on the company’s low-power ARM-based processor and priced at less than US$200. The company said such a device would be able to run either Google Inc’s Android mobile software or Linux, with Wi-Fi and 3G capability.
■PETROCHEMICALS
Reliance sells shares
Reliance Industries Ltd, the Indian company that is seeking to buy LyondellBasell Industries AF, raised 26.7 billion rupees (US$575 million) selling shares, two people familiar with the matter said. Reliance, India’s most valuable company, sold 25.8 million shares at an average price of 1,035 rupees apiece, the people said, declining to be identified before an official announcement. Life Insurance Corp of India bought 25 million shares, one of the people said. The sale, the second such transaction by Reliance in less than four months, was at a 5 percent discount to the stock’s closing price on Thursday. Reliance’s Petroleum Trust unit raised US$664 million selling shares to investors on Sept. 17. Shares of Reliance Industries, which has made a preliminary bid to buy bankrupt chemicals and fuels maker LyondellBasell in an all-cash deal, fell 1.6 percent to 1,072.95 rupees as of 11:09am in Mumbai trading yesterday. The stock rose 77 percent last year.
■CONFECTIONERY
Kraft may extend offer
Kraft Foods Inc may extend the deadline for Cadbury PLC’s shareholders to tender their shares by two weeks, when the US company may also increase its £10.3 billion (US$16.6 billion) bid for the UK confectioner, the Financial Times reported, without saying where it got the information. The UK Takeover Panel set an initial deadline of today for Cadbury’s shareholders and Kraft has until Jan. 19 to increase its offer, the FT said. Kraft is likely to wait until Cadbury’s trading update on Jan. 15 before making a final decision on whether to raise its offer, the newspaper reported.
■SOUTH KOREA
Government to spend swiftly
South Korea will spend about 70 percent of its budget in the first half of this year as part of efforts to accelerate the country’s economic recovery, officials said yesterday. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak directed his Cabinet to “effectively and swiftly” carry out budget spending, describing job creation as one of the country’s most important tasks, his office said. The government will spend 178 trillion won (US$154 billion), or 69.8 percent of the total, in the first six months, the finance ministry said after a Cabinet meeting chaired Lee. “The first and the utmost mission ... is to revive the economy and the core of that mission is to create jobs” during the first half of this year, Lee said in a New Year’s address. Government officials predicted the economy grew 0.2 percent last year and that it would grow 5 percent this year, higher than its earlier projections.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source