■ Computers
iPod nanos get cheaper
Apple Computer tightened its hold on the digital music player market on Tuesday by unveiling more affordable versions of its hot-selling iPod. Apple introduced a US$149 iPod nano with one gigabyte of memory, enough to hold an estimated 240 songs or 15,000 photographs. The prices of two iPod shuffle models, one with 512 megabytes of memory and another with one gigabyte will be cut to US$69 and US$99 respectively, according to the Cupertino, California, company. "Now everyone can afford an iPod nano," Greg Joswiak, vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing, said in a written release. "The iPod is the world's most popular digital music player with over 40 million sold, and now even more music lovers can experience the unrivaled combination of iPod and iTunes."
■ Retail
Wal-Mart plans more stores
Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to open more than 1,500 stores in the US in the coming years, on top of nearly 3,200 it already operates, the world's largest retailer said. John Menzer, the company's vice chairman and head of its domestic Wal-Mart stores division, said on Tuesday that Wal-Mart was on schedule to meet an announced target of between 335 and 370 new US store openings this year after 341 last year. Menzer did not refer to zoning and permit fights that have erupted in some places where Wal-Mart wants to expand, including big markets such as California where the company has fewer locations than in its traditional bases in the South and Midwest.
■ Internet
EU addresses snapped up
Hundreds of thousands of businesses raced on Tuesday to snap up ".eu" Internet domain names, with "sex.eu" taking the prize for the most sought-after address on the first day companies could apply. Two months after the .eu domain name was launched for public institutions and trademark holders, the tag was opened up to companies other than those seeking a site for a brand, as well as for art works and literature. Within the first hour, sex.eu domain had received 23 applications, followed by schumacher.eu with 15, realestate.eu with 12 and business.eu also with 12 applications, according to the European Registry of Internet Domain Names.
■ Automobiles
GM slashes salaries
General Motors Corp, bowing to pressure from shareholders led by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, cut its dividend in half, slashed pay for top executives and revised health and pension benefits after an US$8.55 billion loss last year. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner will reduce his salary by 50 percent, and his top three lieutenants will take 30 percent cuts. GM will freeze salaried workers' health benefits and trim its annual dividend to US$1, giving the automaker more leverage to get new cuts from union workers. The moves follow Tuesday's appointment of Jerome York, Kerkorian's chief adviser and a GM critic, to the automaker's board. In a January speech, York called for "equality of sacrifice" among investors, union members and GM executives and salaried employees to return the automaker to profitability. GM's announcement yesterday satisfies three of the demands York made: a US$565 million dividend cut and a reduction in top executive and director pay. York also asked for a pay cut for all employees, which wasn't part of GM's plan.
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
WHAT WAS ALL THAT FOR? Jaw Shaw-kong said that Cheng Li-wen had pushed for more drastic cuts and attacked him, just for the outcome to be nearly identical to his bill The legislature yesterday passed a supplementary budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of US military equipment, with the combined amount of spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.8 billion). The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their legislative majority to pass the bill, which runs until 2033 and has two main funding provisions. One was for NT$300 billion of arms sales already approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, the other was for NT$480 billion for another arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The bill, which fell short of the NT$1.25
A former television news host and six military personnel — active and retired — have been indicted on espionage charges, Kaohsiung prosecutors said yesterday. Lin Chen-you (林宸佑), a former CTi News host and YouTuber, last year allegedly made videos at the direction of a Chinese agent criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party’s recall campaign, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office told a news conference in Kaohsiung. He allegedly received 4,325 tether coins for the videos from an unidentified person surnamed Huang (黃), believed to be an agent of a hostile foreign power, they said. Lin, also known as Ma Te (馬德), has a show named
‘CRITICAL MOMENT’: Any delay in the passage of the remaining funds would weaken Taiwan’s security and play into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, the AIT said While welcoming the Legislative Yuan’s approval of a supplementary defense budget, the US Department of State said that further delays to Taiwan military spending are a “concession” to China. The remarks came after the legislature on Friday passed the budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of military equipment from the US, with total spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.82 billion). One package allocates NT$300 billion for arms sales approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, while the other sets aside NT$480 billion for an arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The
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