Google Inc, aiming to expand beyond advertising tied to Internet-search results, plans to start an online store that will sell business software developed by other companies, a person familiar with the matter said.
The store is likely to be unveiled within the next two months, said the person, who declined to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The business model for the store, which would revamp an existing retail offering, is still in flux, the person said.
In competition with Microsoft Corp’s Office programs, Google says its online word-processing, spreadsheet, e-mail and calendar software has attracted more than 2 million users.
The company now offers a Web site called the Google Solutions Marketplace, which has links to business applications from other companies. Customers make purchasers directly from the Web sites of those companies, rather than through Google.
Meanwhile, the Mountain View, California-based company continued working quietly on tablet computer software that could run rivals to Apple’s latest creation.
Pictures of what a Google tablet might look like were featured at a Chromium developers Web page on Tuesday along with talk of how touchscreen controls could work based on its Chrome computer operating system.
The images were posted online two days before the Jan. 27 event at which Apple unveiled an iPad tablet computer that will begin shipping worldwide next month.
Google made images and video of Google tablet gesture control capabilities available online for developers to consider.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
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SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ¥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since