SERVICES
Netflix splits video services
Netflix is separating its DVD rental service from its online streaming unit and apologizing for the handling of a price hike that upset many subscribers to the popular video service. Chief executive Reed Hastings made no change to the new pricing scheme, which resulted in a whopping increase for many customers, but apologized for the communications surrounding the move. Netflix announced in July that online streaming and DVD-by-mail service that previously cost subscribers US$10 per month will jump to US$16.
JEWELRY
Botswana, De Beers ink pact
Botswana and De Beers signed a 10-year deal that will see the world’s leading producer of diamonds moving its rough stone sorting and trading division from London to Gaborone, an official said on Monday. “Under the new 10-year sales agreement, De Beers has agreed to move its sorting and trading of the gems to Botswana by the end of 2013, thus ending its long-standing arrangement for such sales to take place in London,” government spokesman Jeff Ramsay said.
ENERGY
Fund to clean up Bohai spill
ConocoPhillips plans a new fund to address environmental problems in China’s Bohai Bay, following harsh criticism from marine authorities and environmentalists over oil spills in the heavily polluted sea. The Houston-based company’s announcement of the fund did not include any details regarding its size or specific uses. The company earlier said it would set up a separate fund to pay compensation for damage from the spills, which began in June in Penglai 19-3, China’s largest oil field.
MINING
Russia, Iran to mine zinc
Russia and Iran are creating a US$1.2 billion joint venture between state company Russian Technologies and Tehran state Bank Saderat to tap into Iran’s colossal zinc deposits, Kommersant daily reported yesterday. The joint venture will build a mining complex and develop the Mehdiabad mine, according to a Sept. 11 protocol from the Russian-Iranian trade commission meeting. A source close to the negotiations told Kommersant that the project is worth up to US$1.2 billion, with most funds expected to come from Iran.
CONSTRUCTION
SK, US firm to build plant
South Korea’s SK Engineering and Construction yesterday said it had teamed up with a US engineering firm to build a US$3.5 billion petrochemical plant in Egypt. The deal was signed in South Korea by executives of SK, its US partner Shaw Group and Egyptian firm Carbon Holdings, the company said in a statement. The plant capable of producing 1.35 million tonnes of ethylene a year will be built in the Ain Sokhna industrial complex 120km east of Cairo, it said. The construction will be completed in 2016.
FASHION
Prada net income up 74%
Italian luxury fashion house Prada said first-half profit surged on strong sales of leather goods such as bags and wallets to Chinese and other Asian customers. Prada said net income jumped 74 percent to 179.5 million euros (US$244 million) in the six months to July 31. Revenue rose 21 percent to 1.13 billion euros. It was Prada’s first earnings report since the company listed on Hong Kong’s stock exchange in June. The company said Asia-Pacific sales grew an “outstanding” 35.4 percent in the first half, with the Greater China region making the biggest contribution.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to
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