■ Semiconductors
Intel ready to ship new chip
Intel Corp plans to begin shipping microprocessors that have four computing engines on a single chip -- products that analysts say will help it win back market share from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The first chip, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor, will be available in November. Intel says it will deliver a 70 percent performance improvement over Intel's current chips, which have one or two computing cores. For general consumers, Intel will ship a quad-core chip starting in the first quarter of next year. For businesses, Intel will begin shipping four-core server chips later this year. A low-energy, quad chip for servers will be launched early next year, the company said on Tuesday.
■ Beverages
Thirsty? Dial a Coke
US soft-drink giant Coca-Cola said yesterday that it will equip all its vending machines in Japan to accept payment through mobile telephones. Coca-Cola Japan said that all of its 200,000 machines by the end of 2008 will accept Felicia, the contactless credit cards on mobile phones developed by cellular industry leader NTT DoCoMo and Sony. The system will make it possible to buy any soft drink, coffee, tea or fruit drink in Coca-Cola machines in Japan by holding up a mobile to the machine, with the cost of the refreshment going on a monthly phone bill. At the end of last year there were 2.77 million vending machines across Japan, nearly half of them run by Coca-Cola Japan.
■ Automobile
Acura launched in China
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co launched sales of the Acura in China yesterday, targeting China's growing upper class in its first expansion of the model outside North America. Honda opened its first Acura dealership in Shenzhen. Its wholly owned subsidiary Honda Motor (China) Investment Co, plans to have 10 Acura dealerships within a year. The imported Acura RL flagship sedans are priced at 680,000 yuan (US$86,000), while Acura TLs will sell for 430,000 yuan, Honda said in a statement.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Merck wins lawsuit
US giant Merck said late on Tuesday that it had won a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky man who claimed four months of using the painkiller Vioxx had caused a heart attack. "The jury's decision confirms that Merck acted responsibly and that Vioxx was not the cause of [Robert Gary] Smith's heart attack," said Philip Beck, Merck's lead lawyer in the case, which was tried in federal court in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was the 10th Vioxx case that has gone to trial out of no fewer than 14,000 lawsuits filed against Merck over its drug. To date, the company has won five and lost four cases. The tenth case has been sent to retrial.
■ Entertainment
Universal eyes Singapore
Singapore will become host to a Universal Studios theme park with 20 attractions if Malaysian gaming company Genting International Ltd wins the bid for a second casino resort, the Straits Times reported yesterday. In an announcement made Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, Genting and Universal said at least 16 of the 20 rides and shows would be original or redesigned specifically for the Sentosa Island resort, the newspaper reported. Universal Parks and Resorts, which will be Genting's non-equity partner, estimates its theme park would draw more than 5 million visitors a year, the report said.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
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