■ Electronis
Sony mulls land sale
Sony is considering selling part of the land from its Tokyo headquarters in continuing restructuring efforts, although details aren't finalized, spokesman Atsuo Omagari said yesterday. Sony officials went to the city ward office on Thursday to say the company was considering selling some of that Tokyo property, including buildings and land, but details of the sale, including land size, the buyer and value of the assets, aren't decided, Omagari said. Sony is constructing a new headquarters building in Tokyo, set to open later this year, he said. The company has already sold off ¥113 billion (US$980 million) of assets.
■ Automobiles
Toyota's net profits rise
Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday a 39.2 percent jump in net profit for the fiscal first quarter to a new record high as it won customers from struggling US rivals. The world's second largest automaker said its net profit reached ¥371.5 billion (US$3.23 billion) in the three months to June from a year earlier. "We posted substantial increases in both revenue and profits, achieving record levels," Toyota Motor senior managing director Takeshi Suzuki said. Operating profit increased by 26.5 percent to ¥512.4 billion, on revenue of ¥5.64 trillion, up 13.2 percent year-on-year. The profit surge was driven by a strong performance in North America where sales rose by 106,000 units to 747,000.
■ Software
Microsoft apologizes
Microsoft was trying to make amends on Thursday to bloggers irked by problems with a revamped social networking service the US computer software giant rolled out this week. Windows Live Spaces stumbled after being launched late on Tuesday, Microsoft wrote in a contrite Web log posting. "We know we disappointed a bunch of you," the Microsoft posting read. "We planned long and hard for this release and unfortunately it was one of those gotchas that only showed up once we were in production." Microsoft wrote that it scrambled this week to get Spaces Live "in much better shape," but there were still things in need of fixing.
■ IPR
Japan seeks beef patent
Japan plans to make its cattle intellectual property to protect its high-end beef industry by identifying pure Japanese animals against those of mixed origin, the agriculture ministry said yesterday. Japan will seek to patent the cattle's genes and put bar-codes on semen stocks in a bid to protect its beef, known as wagyu here and overseas often called Kobe beef. Kobe beef fetches high prices as it is marketed as being of elite quality. Ranchers sometimes massage the cows or feed them beer while they are being raised for slaughter.
■ Confectionary
M&Ms offers brand packs
The candy that "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" has a new message: this space for rent. As of next month M&Ms will be available for corporate logos and advertising under a plan called "My Branding" -- an escalation in a war with The Hershey Co and its "Kissables." Hershey's has encroached on M&M's turf with the kiss-shaped chocolates in a hard candy coating, packaged to be finished in one helping. Masterfoods USA, a unit of privately held Mars Inc and the maker of M&Ms, wants more people and companies to order M&Ms in bulk, for favors or corporate gifts.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from