■ Wyse to expand in Asia
California-based Wyse Technology Inc wants its Asia-Pacific and Japan operations to contribute 30 percent to gross global revenues over the next two years, a published report said yesterday. The region currently accounts for 12 percent. Wyse is setting up its Southeast Asia regional headquarters in Singapore next month, The Business Times reported. "We now have about half of our 350 employees in Asia, as compared to about 20 percent previously," San-Jose-based president John Kish was quoted as saying. "The reason for this is to have engineers closer to the market for rapid turnaround and customization." Wyse is aiming to increase global revenues from US$200 million to US$1 billion in the next five years.
■ Internet
Yahoo, BlackBerry in deal
Yahoo Inc, the second-most used Internet search engine, signed an agreement to distribute the company's instant messenger software with the BlackBerry e-mail pager made by Research In Motion Ltd. Yahoo's instant messaging software will be distributed with the BlackBerry in the next two months, said Doug Garland, senior vice president of Yahoo mobile. Yahoo's agreement with Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion is for "multiple years," he said. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. The agreement is Yahoo's first with a mobile device manufacturer and illustrates the growing links between the Web and mobile devices. "People are increasingly living on their mobile devices," said Garland. "We believe there's a lot of room for growth," in mobile services. Yahoo and Research In Motion plan to release a version of Yahoo's e-mail service for the BlackBerry in the future, Garland said.
■ Entertainment
Casino project planned
US casino operator Las Vegas Sands will team up with Hong Kong's Regal Hotels International on a hotel-casino project in the booming southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, the Hong Kong company said yesterday. The first phase of the project in Macau's Cotai area will offer at least 1,500 rooms, a casino and a showroom for large performances, Regal Hotels said in a statement posted on the Web site of Hong Kong's stock exchange. The statement said Regal Hotels International Ltd will build the complex and Las Vegas Sands Inc will lease and run the casino and showroom. It said construction of the hotel-casino's initial phase is scheduled for completion by late 2007. The hotel and casino portions of the project will be expanded later, it said.
■ Aviation
Lufthansa talks with Swiss
German carrier Lufthansa announced it was negotiating with Swiss International Air Lines about a possible takeover of the money-losing carrier. In a statement on Sunday, Lufthansa described the talks as "constructive" and said the two companies had come up with a business plan to integrate Swiss into its operations. It said "pillars" of any deal would be keeping Switzerland's air connections and the Swiss brand. "The business plan that has been developed by the two companies must still be approved by the Lufthansa board of directors, the board of Swiss and Swiss shareholders," the statement said. Should the plan meet with board approval, Lufthansa said it would make an offer to buy out smaller investors based on Swiss stock's average price in recent weeks.
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) listed the challenges of ensuring export control compliance by its customers, months after the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) silicon was found to have flowed to US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies Co (華為) via intermediaries. “TSMC’s role in the semiconductor supply chain inherently limits its visibility and information available to it regarding the downstream use or user of final products that incorporate semiconductors manufactured by it,” the Hsinchu-based company said in its latest annual report released on Friday. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said the constraint impedes its ability to prevent unintended end-uses of its semiconductors, as well
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects steady growth this year despite global economic uncertainty due to continued momentum from tech trends such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. In the company’s annual shareholders’ report released on Thursday, TSMC chairman and CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said the company is well-positioned to meet market demand with its differentiated technology platforms. The company’s 2-nanometer process is on track for volume production in the second half of this year, while its next-generation nanosheet-based A16 process, aimed at HPC applications, is scheduled for mass production late next year, Wei said. Advanced technologies —