Sat, Jan 01, 2011 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  MINERALS

  China rare earth quotas dip

  China’s first round of rare earth export quotas for this year were actually cut by about half from first round quotas for last year, the China Securities Journal reported, citing an unidentified official. The 16,304 tonne quota from last year doesn’t include exports by foreign companies, while the 14,446 tonne quota for this year does include shipments by foreign companies, according to the Beijing-based newspaper. It didn’t give figures showing a decline of about half in the first round rare earth quotas. China also may not publicly announce a second round of rare earth quotas, the newspaper cited the official as saying.

  COMMUNICATIONS

  Skype not banned in China

  Skype Technologies SA, the world’s largest carrier of international phone calls, said its services in China remain operational after the country said it’s cracking down on “illegal” Internet phone companies. “Skype is not banned,” Jennifer Caukin, a Palo Alto, California-based spokeswoman for the service provider, said in an e-mail. “Our users in China currently can access Skype via Tom Online, our majority joint venture partner.” China is working to fight “illegal Internet phone services,” the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a Dec. 10 posting on its Web site. The notice, which didn’t define “illegal” services or name any companies, was primarily to announce a consumer hotline for reporting any unauthorized services.

  TECHNOLOGY

  Nintendo issues warning

  Nintendo Co says 3D games on its highly anticipated new handheld console could harm the eyesight of children aged 6 or younger, warning of possible ill effects from a technology on which many companies are betting big. Nintendo said some specialists believe that “there is a possibility that 3D images, which send different images to the left and right eye, could affect the development of vision in small children.” The undated statement appeared on a section of the company’s Japanese Web site devoted to its upcoming 3DS handheld.

  RETAIL

  Borders delays payments

  Bookseller Borders Group Inc is delaying payments to some of its vendors, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday. The news came just weeks after the company said it was trying to obtain new financing to avoid violating the terms of its credit agreements early this year. “As part of this potential refinancing, Borders has determined that it is necessary to restructure its vendor financing arrangements and is delaying payments to certain of its vendors,” Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said by telephone. The company, however, said: “There can be no assurance that it will be successful in refinancing its senior credit facilities or restructuring its vendor financing arrangements.”

  TECHNOLOGY

  Virus most powerful yet

  A powerful virus targeting smartphones in China running Google Inc’s Android operating system may represent the most sophisticated bug to target mobile devices to date, security researchers said on Thursday. Anti-virus firm Lookout Mobile Security estimates that the number of phones that have been infected by the virus, dubbed Geinimi, ranges from the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Researchers said the virus has yet to wreak havoc and that they were unsure what its authors were seeking to accomplish.
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