■ semiconductors
Chip breakthrough reported
Intel Corp and university researchers announced a breakthrough on Monday that could lead to a laser-producing chip that could vastly improve computing power at a low cost. Intel said the researchers for the company and the University of California at Santa Barbara developed a process that could allow the production of hybrid silicon-laser chips to use laser beams instead of wires to transfer data. The use of photonics, or optical data transfer, could vastly increase the speed of computers while keeping costs down, the researchers said. The use of lasers could allow communication between chips within a system, bypassing many of the bottlenecks on existing computer chips.
■ Entertainment
Sharp goes with Blu-ray
Sharp Corp said it will start selling recorders that use Blu-ray high-definition disks early next year. The Blu-ray format, developed by Sony, can store between five and 10 times as much data as a conventional DVD, and is competing with Toshiba Corp's HD DVD to become the standard for recording and playing high-definition movies and other content. Mikio Katayama, executive director in charge of Sharp's LCD panel and TV business said the company would start selling Blu-ray recorders. Samsung Electronics, Apple Computer and Dell also support the Blu-ray format, while the HD DVD standard is backed by NEC, Intel aand Microsoft.
■ Steel
Mittal has hopes for China
Lakshmi Mittal, president of steel giant Arcelor-Mittal, hopes that China may allow foreign ownership of its steel interests by 2008, according to an interview with the Financial Times published yesterday. "I'd hope some day the Chinese government would allow this [foreign ownership] to happen, perhaps in the next two years," he said. Arcelor-Mittal, by far the world's biggest steelmaker after a recent takeover of the European group Arcelor by Mittal Steel, has cited Asia and the Middle East as key areas of expansion. Arcelor-Mittal has three joint ventures with operators in China, which accounts for almost one-third of global steel production and consumption.
■ Internet
Microsoft inks China deal
Microsoft Corp will provide China Telecom Corp, China's biggest Internet service provider, with a Web search to try raise the carrier's share of the Chinese Web market. Microsoft will provide its Live Search service to 25 million China Telecom customers, the two firms said a briefing in Beijing yesterday. Microsoft is working with China Telecom to raise its share of the nation's Internet market, whose users may double in five years, according to researcher IResearch Inc. The world's biggest software maker has invested hundreds of millions of dollars on its search engine to lure customers away from Google Inc.
■ Automobiles
Tokyo seeks more luxury
Toyota Motor Corp, which failed to meet its domestic sales target for the Lexus brand last year, will introduce its Lexus LS sedan in Japan to raise its share of the luxury segment in the world's second-largest auto market. Toyota expects to sell 1,300 units of LS sedans a month, it said in a statement yesterday. Toyota expects total global sales for the Lexus brand to reach 470,000 this year and surpass 500,000 vehicles next year.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
Taiwanese prosecutors charged Tokyo Electron Ltd for failing to prevent staff from allegedly stealing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets, escalating a dispute involving two Asian linchpins of a chip industry increasingly vital to national and economic security. Prosecutors indicted the Japanese company on four counts of contravening the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法), they said in a statement yesterday. They’re asking a local court to rule in favor of their request for Tokyo Electron pay a fine of up to NT$120 million (US$3.8 million) for failing in its duty to prevent the alleged
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