INTERNET
Facebook delays IPO
Facebook, the world’s largest social network, plans to wait until late next year before going public, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing people close to the company, said Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg “wants to wait until next September or later in order to keep employees focused on product developments rather than a pay-out.” CNBC business news network reported earlier this year that Facebook was likely to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in the first quarter of next year.
COMMUNICATIONS
Jha may receive US$66m
Cellphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc on Wednesday said that CEO Sanjay Jha stood to get US$66 million if the deal to sell his company to Google Inc goes through. A regulatory filing by Motorola shows that Jha will get US$13.2 million in cash and US$52.4 million for his stock options and shares if the US$12.5 billion acquisition is completed. The deal was announced a month ago. The companies expect it to close by the end of the year or early next year, after getting antitrust approval.
INTERNET
YouTube to allow editing
YouTube on Wednesday added an editing tool that lets creators of videos make changes to snippets after they have been uploaded to the popular Web site. An “Edit Video” button allows changes such as adding effects, swapping soundtracks, or trimming clips right at YouTube, YouTube software engineer John Gregg said in San Francisco. Video makers have lamented that strings of online comments and view count tallies are lost when works are removed for editing and then uploaded anew to YouTube.
INTERNET
Google allows search veto
Google on Wednesday expanded the ability of users to veto search results that are not useful. An option launched early this year allowing people to block unwanted results served up at Google’s main search page was expanded to most of the Internet giant’s online venues, search quality engineer Johannes Henkel said in San Francisco. The option managed from a dashboard lets people block results so that links from that online domain will not be provided in response to future queries.
COMPUTERS
Sharp to retire Galapagos
Sharp Corp says it is ending most sales of its “Galapagos” tablet computers less than a year after launch. It will stop selling the 10.8-inch and 5.5-inch models in Japan on Sept. 30. The decision does not affect a recently launched 7-inch version sold through Internet provider eAccess Ltd. Sharp unveiled the retiring tablets in December and hoped to sell 1 million units. However, analysts suspect the gadgets fared poorly against rivals like Apple Inc’s iPad. Sharp declined to release sales figures.
INTERNET
Big three team up
AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo are proposing to offer space on each other’s sites to advertisers in a bid to take on Google, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday. The report said the system would launch later this year or early next year and would allow advertisers to buy display ads on AOL, Microsoft or Yahoo sites that the Internet companies do not sell directly to marketers. The Journal said the firms had discussed the new ad system in recent weeks with executives from Omnicom Group, WPP and Publicis Groupe.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
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