Leading US computer maker Hewlett-Packard said on Tuesday it was studying the possibility of building machines based on Google-backed Android operating systems.
Google’s open-source operating software only recently debuted in mobile telephones with Internet capabilities.
“We are the world’s leading computer company and it is only natural for us to want to understand its applications for our competitors’ products or ours,” HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said of research into Android.
“Regarding how or when HP might introduce any Android-enabled platforms, we decline to talk about products that may be underway,” she said.
An Open Handset Alliance of technology firms backing “Google phones” based on Android platforms has been steadily gaining members.
Recent inductees include UK mobile network giant Vodaphone; Japanese electronics titan Toshiba Corp and Sony Ericsson, a joint venture involving Japan-based Sony and Sweden-based Ericsson.
Alliance recruits will make Android-based mobile telephones, lend programming expertise to the Android source code project, or offer products or services for the handheld devices.
The handset alliance was established in 2007 by Google and 33 other firms, among them Intel, HTC (宏達電), China Mobile (中國移動), Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Telefonica, LG and eBay.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening. Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said. Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
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