■ GAMING
Microsoft cuts Xbox price
Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 video game console was US$50 cheaper in the US yesterday, confirming fuzzy snapshots of leaked advertisements posted by bloggers late last month. The company said its most popular console, which comes with a 20 gigabyte hard drive, will cost US$349. Microsoft has been dodging questions about a console price cut since competitor Sony Corp slashed the price of its 60 gigabyte PlayStation 3 to US$499, from US$599, early last month. Nintendo Corp's Wii, the least expensive of the so-called next-generation consoles, costs US$250.
■ COMPUTERS
Apple updates the iMac
Apple Inc updated its iMac computers on Tuesday with a slimmer design, faster chips and glossy screens, hoping to further propel sales that already outpace the rest of the PC industry. The all-in-one desktop computers now have aluminum casings, replacing the white plastic facade that has defined the computer lineup for years. The new iMacs will come in only 50cm and 60cm versions. In the company's fiscal third quarter that ended in June, Apple shipped a record 1.76 million Macs, up 33 percent from the year-ago period, accounting for US$2.5 billion, or more than 60 percent, of the quarter's revenues.
■ FOOD
Bull-Dog bid revamped
The US investment fund Steel Partners announced yesterday a revamped buyout bid for Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce, pushing ahead with its controversial offer despite a string of legal defeats. Steel Partners said it will lower its tender offer price for Bull-Dog Sauce to ?425 (US$3.60) per share from ?1,700 a day after Japan's top court upheld the condiment maker's right to use a "poison pill" takeover defense. The tender offer, which had been due to expire on Friday, was also extended until Aug. 22 to give investors time to respond to the revised offer, as required by law, a spokeswoman for Steel Partners said.
■ ENERGY
PetroChina mulls IPO
PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣), China's largest oil company, could raise 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) via a share sale that would be the largest initial public offer (IPO) of the year, state press said yesterday. The Beijing-based group will issue four billion shares in Shanghai at approximately 10 yuan each, accounting for about 2 percent of its enlarged share capital, the China Daily said, citing an unnamed executive at the firm. The newspaper report followed an official announcement in June that the Hong Kong-listed group would seek to sell shares in its home markets as part of plans to ramp up its expansion.
■ ECONOMY
India moves to curb inflows
India has placed curbs on overseas borrowing to cut massive foreign currency flows into the economy that led the rupee to strengthen sharply against the dollar this year, officials said yesterday. The finance ministry said firms that borrow more than US$20 million from overseas must now seek central bank approval. "Henceforth external commercial borrowing [of] more than US$20 million per borrowing company would be permitted only for foreign currency expenditure for permissible end-uses," it said. "Such funds would continued to be parked overseas until actual requirement."
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
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA