| Prime News | | ![]() | ![]() | Former UMC Executives Found Innocent in HeJian Case in First Trial
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--After near two years of litigation, the Hsinchu district court handed an innocence verdict for the charge of betrayal of trust against three former executives of United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), the world's second largest IC foundry, in its link with Chinese foundry HeJian Technology, a slap on the face for the government's active management policy on investments by Taiwanese enterprises in China.
The district court cleared Robert Tsao, former UMC chairman, Hsuan Min-chih, former vice chairman, and Cheng Tun-chien, former chairman of an UMC-owned venture capital firm, of the charge due to lack of solid evidence on the part of the prosecutor, who requested penalties ranging two years to one year and two months of imprisonment for the alleged offense.
The presiding judge noted that there lacked solid evidence substantiating charge of the prosecutor alleging that UMC provided assistance to HeJian in its establishment and operation, in the aspects of land procurement, manpower, technology, and business strategy, damaging the interest of UMC shareholders.
The court denied existence of damage on UMC shareholders' interest, citing resolution of the company's shareholders meeting supporting the Chinese market strategy adopted by Tsao and agreement of HeJian to offer 15% of its stake to UMC in appreciation of the latter's assistance to its operation.
Upon hearing the verdict, Robert Tsao accused the prosecutor and the Investment Commission, under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), of their "ridiculous and reckless" manner in handling the case, urging the prosecutor not to appeal the case. The latter, though, vowed to appeal the case.
Tsai said that he is considering suing the Investment Commission for forging document and abusing its power in producing a report confirming investment of UMC in HeJian via a paper company on British Virgin Island.
Action against UMC took place in February 2005, when the Hsinchu prosecutor's office searched UMC offices for evidences concerning UMC's investment in HeJian. In the face of the backfire from the business community, the authorities apparently decided to downplay the case later on, with the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) only fining UMC NT$3 million in April 2005 for violation of full information disclosure, skipping the key question of whether UMC provided assistance of manpower and advanced technology to HeJian without government approval illegally. Tsao and the other two former UMC executives, however, were still charged in early 2006, shortly after proclamation by President Chen Shui-bian of the government's "active management" stance for investments by Taiwanese enterprises in China. Hsu Chien-hua, president of HeJian and a former UMC plant manager, was even detained for a while when he returned to Taiwan last year.
To avoid affecting UMC's operation, Tsao, also founder of the company, subsequently resigned the chairmanship but is apparently wielding strong clout on its operation behind the scene at present.
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| | ![]() | | | Value of Emerging Enterprise Market Breaks NT$1 Trillion Mark
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Riding on the bullish tide of the centralized and over-the-counter stock markets, plus encouragement measures of the management unit, aggregate market value of the Emerging Enterprise Market broke the NT$1 trillion mark, reaching NT$1.05 trillion, last Friday (Oct. 26), surging NT$439.3 billion over NT$610.2 billion at the end of last year.
In addition, daily trading volume on the market frequently tops NT$1 billion, with the record level reaching NT$3 billion, and the number of listed companies on the market has hit 254, compared with 107 companies and trading volume of NT$125 million on January 2, 2002, when the market was inaugurated.
In addition to the overall bullish-market effect, one major reason for the extraordinary performance of the Emerging Enterprise Market is encouragement measures of the GreTai Securities Market, whose business scope will be confined to management of the Emerging Enterprise Market should a proposal of incorporating the over-the-counter market and the futures market into domain of the Taiwan Stock Exchange be realized. Such encouragement measures include requirement of securities firms to enliven trading activities and relaxation of trading conditions.
At present, for instance, there is no limit on price swing of newly listed stocks on the Emerging Enterprise Market in the first five days, but the underwriters have to bolster the share prices should they drop under the IPO (initial public offering) price in the first month.
Market insiders noted that the Emerging Enterprise Market has attracted growing numbers of participants, both in terms of listed firms and traders, and expect it to continue developing at a vigorous pace, mainly in the director of niche and professional sectors.
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| | ![]() | | | Home-appliance Firms Set Sights on Boosting Exports
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Taiwan's leading manufacturers of home appliances, including Tatung Co., Taiwan Kolin Co., Teco Electric & Machinery Co., and Sampo Corporation, are turning up efforts to expand export sales as they believe the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will generate a tidal wave of shopping to replace old appliances.
An industry insider predicted the world demand for LCD TVs (liquid crystal display) to reach over 100 million units in 2008. Kolin president T.J. Lee said his company would export two million units of LCD TVs in 2008, 80% of which will be going to the North American marketplace.
Tatung said it would see exports of LCD TVs grow to over one million units next year from this year's projected 800,000 units.
A Tatung executive said his company in May invested US$20 million in Proview Technology (Hong Kong) Co. through the affiliated San Chih Asset Management Co. Although the investment deal was just completed, Proview has begun releasing OEM (original equipment manufacturer) orders for LCD TVs and displays to Tatung's Wujiang plant in mainland China. In the meantime, Proview has also begun procuring flat panels for LCD TVs and displays from Tatung's subsidiary—Chunghwa Picture Tube Co.
Thanks to the strong support of Proview, Tatung predicted its shipments of LCD TVs will reach 800,000 units this year, more than an earlier projection of 600,000 units, and the annual shipment will increase to over one million units next year.
Teco chairman C.K. Liu said his company has positioned its Xiamen plant in the mainland as a global OEM production base for LCD TVs of various brands, with an annual production capacity of one million units.
Compared with the ambitious attitudes taken by peers, Sampo is approaching expanding exports with a more conservative attitude as its chairman S.C. Chen has instructed subordinates not to vie for export orders at the cost of profitability. The company sets a goal of exporting 150,000 units of LCD and PDP (plasma display panel) TVs this year, and said it would see exports grow at least 10% year-on-year next year.
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| | ![]() | | | Inventec Besta Begins Public Trading on TSE
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Inventec Besta Co., Taiwan's largest manufacturer of electronic dictionaries, today becomes officially listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) at an initial public offering price of NT$68 (US$2.09 at US$1:NT$32.5) per share.
Inventec Besta enjoyed a 21% growth in sales and earnings in 2006. The company's after-tax earnings reached NT$4.42 (US$0.13) per share last year.
Thanks to its efforts to develop innovative products, expand distribution channels and brand value, Inventec Besta currently has a 55% market share in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Thailand. Its market share in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is 60%. In the Middle East, the company has an 80% market share. Over the past two years, the company has seen fast growth in South Korea, where its market share reaches 23%.
Inventec Besta Co., a subsidiary of the Inventec Group, was founded in Taipei in 1989. The company is responsible for the Inventec Group's own brand of "Besta" and focuses on the e-learning as its core competency. Innovative new products of high quality and reliability have established Besta as a top brand in the e-learning field. Besta products have long targeted the global Chinese community as its main market.
In 1999, in line with corporate group enterprise re-engineering, Inventec Besta merged with Inventec Group's reference system division and Inventec (Xi'an) Co. The combined entity incorporated R&D, production, and marketing resources and brought Inventec Besta into a new era of the business. In 2000, the company acquired Golden Atom Holdings Ltd. in order to aggressively expand operations in the Hong Kong and mainland China markets. These investments further laid the groundwork for an eventual sales and support network linking Chinese communities worldwide.
Inventec Besta focuses on the hardware and software of electronics dictionaries for the learning and translation of English, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Malay, Arabic, and Indonesia.
Besta products have won numerous prizes, including the National Award of Excellence and National Invention & Creation Award presented by the government. The "Besta" brand of electronic dictionaries has focused on sales to Chinese-speaking territories around the world.
Inventec Besta has successfully positioned its product as the leading brand of electronic dictionary on the Chinese-community market. In the years to come, the company will continue to develop innovative mobile electronic dictionaries, electronic entertainment products, and Interne-related language learning platforms and products.
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| | ![]() | | | MediaTek, IBM Team Up to Develop Wireless Chip Technology
Taipei, Oct.29, 2007 (CENS)--MediaTek Inc. recently announced it will work with International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. on millimeter-wave chip technology, which is 100 times speedier than WiFi technology in terms of data transmission.
MediaTek executives pointed out that the alliance will unveil achievements in three to five years. They reported millimeter-wave technology is better than WiMAX technology and this project will help lay solid foundation for their company to run ahead of rivals in wireless-technology competition.
MediaTek executives compared millimeter-wave technology with Wi-Fi technology and said wireless environment with the former technology needs only five seconds to download a file, which will take 10 minutes in Wi-Fi environment to complete.
Industry watchers pointed out that MediaTek has launched a succession of acquisitions and mergers in recent years, with multimedia and wireless technologies being the centerpieces.
MediaTek has declined to disclose investment capital in this case.
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| | ![]() | | | Chunghwa Telecom Acquires Stake in Taiwan's No.1 Music Site
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. recently announced its acquisition of a 30% stake in KKBOX, currently Taiwan's No.1 on-line music provider, through a KKBOX's capital-increase project.
Industry watchers estimated the deal cost around NT$6-70 million (US$1.8-2.1 million at US$1:NT$33).
KKBOX's parent company is Skysoft of Cayman Island and its chairman, M.Y. Jien, is a grand son of FPG Chairman Y.C. Wang. Skysoft's primary shareholders include China Development Industrial Bank of Taiwan, ORIX Group of Japan and U.S. software developer Adobe Systems.
Chunghwa's executives noted that KKBOX is the most successful legalized music website in the Greater China region and managements of the two companies share the common vision, a major reason behind Chunghwa's investment in the music site.
Chunghwa will hold a seat at KKBOX's director board and get a boost in its plan to develop strong presence in the digital music sector.
KKBOX has signed up 200,000 charged members and has set up the biggest music bank in the Greater China region by licensing from 140 record labels for 1.5 million songs. Besides, the company is well experienced in running digital-music platform.
KKBOX's executives pointed out that the latest cooperation deal will further strengthen the two companies' business tie given that their company has already partnered with Chunghwa's Internet service business HiNet.
Statistics show that the on-line music market has grown at average pace of 40% over the past few years and the provision has emerged as an important value-added content in various Internet services including downloads on mobile phones and Internet protocol TVs.
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| | ![]() | | | Chin Chung in Taiwan Said to Assemble Buses for China's Golden Dragon
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Chin Chung Motor Co., a commercial vehicle maker under Taiwan's Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd., reportedly plans to locally assemble passenger buses developed by Xiamen Golden Dragon Van Co. Ltd., one of the largest bus manufacturers in mainland China, but Chin Chung refused to comment on the report.
Industry insiders said that if the project goes as planned Chin Chung is expected to begin local production of Higher Bus' bus models on the island in one to two years, making it the first local maker of China-developed buses.
The sale of new buses in Taiwan has been stagnant for a long period, but many tourism companies are optimistic about a take-off of local tourism after the Taiwan's presidential election in March 2008, as general bans on Taiwan-bound mainland tourists are expected to be lifted.
Xiamen Gold Dragon was founded in 1992 as a joint venture between the Xiamen Automobile Co. Ltd and foreign investors and currently the firm owns the highest share of China's coach market. In late 2004, Sanyang acquired a 25% stake in Xiamen Gold Dragon, which contributed net profits of about NT$112 million (US$3.4 million at US$1: NT$33) to Sanyang last year. Currently, Sanyang's president Huang Kuan-wu is also the vice chairman of Xiamen Gold Dragon.
Sanyang reportedly has sent a group of engineers to the affiliated bus maker. Some industry insiders pointed out that Chin Chung might plan to import some key bus parts from Xiamen Gold Dragon via a third nation, adopting such parts in the bus chassis when making the bus body on the island.
After the termination of partnership with Volkswagen (VW) of Germany a few years ago (local production of the VW T4 commercial van), Chin Chung has been actively trying to find room to survive in the extremely competitive domestic automobile market.
Chin Chung once contract-supplied the locally made Hyundai XG sedan models to parent Sanyang and now it locally assembles the Hyundai Porter 2.7-ton light truck. Over the past two years, Chin Chung has been contracted by Sanyang to locally assemble military trucks for the government, whereby the related facilities can be reutilized to produce other heavy-duty products, including the buses.
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| | ![]() | | | Samsung, LG's Mutual-procurement May Impact Taiwanese TFT-LCD Suppliers
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Under South Korean government's encouragement, two leading electronics conglomerates Samsung Electronics and LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd. (LPL) have begun some cooperation and interchanges that might affect their thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel procurements from Taiwan, according to Peter Kwon, CEO of Displaybank, a Korea-based display market research institute.
Kwon made the statement at the recent "1st FPD Conference of Displaybank and IEK in Taiwan" co-organized by the Korean research firm and domestic Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a global industrial economics research & consulting institute.
According to Kwon, with the fierce competition among nations in the global display panel industry, a cooperation platform between panel makers in South Korea has been established to enhance R&D, mutual cooperation, and cross-procurement. Next year, he added, Samsung and LG are expected to begin mutual-procurements.
For the panel market in the first quarter of 2008, Kwon said, there would be a balanced supply-vs-demand condition as the notebook PC, monitor, and public display sectors continue to generate strong demands that would digest the production capacity to maintain global demand-supply balance.
During the period between 2005 and 2015, he forecasted, the panel demand is expected to maintain a growth trend, in which the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of large-sized panel shipments is expected to reach 262%, and the global shipment volume is expected to top 748 million units.
Such competition among makers has also showed national patterns based on degree of official involvement, DisplayBank said. Taiwan is expected to maintain its No. 1 position in terms of global share of 48.8% this year, with South Korea staying at No. 2 with a 40.1% share. Mainland China would rank as No. 3 production nation with a 5.6% global share, a little higher than the No. 4 Japan's 5.5%.
Kwon pointed out that price competitiveness has become the core advantage of global panel suppliers. Over the past two years, the retail prices of 32-inch LCD TV panels have dropped by 56% (while the quotes declined by 47%). The ability to integrate the supply chain would be the deciding factor in panel suppliers' profitability, Kwon said, and different national governments have been involved in enhancing the supply chain development of the TFT-LCD line.
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| | ![]() | | | Taiwan's Export Orders Hit Record Monthly High of US$30.92 B. in September
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--Export orders received by Taiwan's manufacturers and traders hit a new monthly high of US$30.92 billion in September, for an annual rise of 16.1%, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Huang Chi-shih, director general at the Statistics Department of MOEA, predicted that the export order value might hit a record of over US$340 billion for the full year since the fourth quarter is traditionally the hot season in the demand for electronic products. He further foresaw that the ballooning demand for LCD panels is very likely to extend to next June.
In September alone, orders for information technology (IT) products, electronic devices and precision apparatuses posted high growth. In terms of region, Hong Kong and China placed the highest order value of US$8.46 billion with Taiwanese manufacturers, which shot up by 20.27% from a year earlier. Today the said region has replaced the United States as Taiwan's largest export outlet.
In the same month, Europe boasted the corresponding value of US$5.74 billion for an annual rise of 28.63%, the highest growth rate among Taiwan's trade partners; and Japan placed orders worth of US$1.93 billion with Taiwan's suppliers, soaring by 14.46% from a year earlier.
In the first nine months, orders from Europe and Hong Kong & China posted double-digit growth with 26.04% and 20.05%, respectively, both far higher than the corresponding percentage of 5.81% recorded by the U.S.
Orders for IT and telecommunication products experienced the highest annual rise of US$1.51 billion or 28.51%, due mainly to the booming demand for notebook personal computers. In the same period, orders for precision machinery boasted an annual growth of US$800 million or 40.39%.
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| | ![]() | | | Citibank to Officially Merge With Bank of Overseas Chinese, Dec. 1, 2007
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--The Cabinet-level Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) recently approved the application filed by Citibank Taiwan for its merger with the Bank of Overseas Chinese (BOC), and the merger will become effective on Dec. 1, 2007.
Morris Li, president of Citibank Taiwan, is reportedly to serve as chairman of the merged bank and Kuan Kuo-lin, chief executive of Citibank's consumer banking business in Taiwan, as president.
Currently Citibank Taiwan has a total of 11 branches on the island and only one of them will retain the status as branch while the remaining 10 will be combined with BOC's 55 branches; and the expanded bank will be transformed into Citibank's subsidiary in Taiwan. After the merger, the assets of Citibank here will expand to around US$2.3 billion.
After acquiring BOC, Citibank will follow the double-track system that Standard Chartered Bank adopted when acquiring Hsinchu International Bank, which means that the bank will keep operating in Taiwan by establishing a subsidiary while retaining a branch here.
The reason for Citibank to keep a branch in Taiwan is that its ranch here can have the same credit rating as its headquarters receives, which is believed to be helpful for the branch to get lower-cost capital and remain more flexible in financial deals. However, the credit rating of its subsidiary on the island could not exceed the ceiling of Taiwan's sovereign rating.
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| | ![]() | | | Huawei Leads Global Market for 3G Data Cards
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--The China-based Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., a world-class supplier of telecommunication network devices, leads the global market for 3-generation data cards, according to industry sources.
It is reported that Huawei has sold more than five million units of 3G data cards worldwide, commanding a share of 35% as the largest global supplier of such products. Also, the company supplies 3G phones for the world's largest telecom company Vodafone, which has sold 800,000 units since its launch in September 2007.
Huawei noted that it developed V710 series 3G phone, a budget-price model, for the world's leading telecom company Vodafone in September of last year and will further supply two new models, V810 and V720, for the latter again in the fourth quarter of this year.
Vodafone has registered over 13 million users of 3G communications since early this year, with the company profiting considerably from the sharply increasing demand for 3G phones. This also enables Huawei to supply its three low-price 3G models sold under Vodafone to 21 countries around the world. Huawei noted that shipment of its 3G phones, which are developed in accordance with Vodafone's need, has amounted to 800,000 units over the past year.
Besides, Huawei has successfully exploited benefits from another, more popular 3G communication application, namely 3G data card for notebook PCs. At the moment, Taiwan's major telecom companies, including Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., adopt Huawei's 3G data cards. The firm indicated that it has provided the products to over 156 telecom companies in 92 countries in the world.
As a result, Huawei has seen its sales of 3G data cards sharply increase to more than five million units worldwide, commanding the largest share of 35% in the global market. With 3.5G communications boasting speedy download bandwidth, the company has already debuted its 3.5G data card, which can operate at a more rapid download speed of 7.2Mbps relative to 3.6Mbps.
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| | ![]() | | | Universal Scientific Unveils WiMAX Products for Sale in 2008
Taipei, Oct. 29, 2007 (CENS)--The Taiwan-based Universal Scientific Industry Co., which started with motherboard production, has been heavily engaged in production of network devices, and recently launched a series of products based on worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) technology for sale next year, according to company sources.
Universal noted that as Gartner, a market survey institute, projects an annual compound growth rate in production value of WiMAX-based products to move up to 140% in 2010, it expects to achieve shipment of 500,000 WiMAX products by then. This will help the company to boost overall sales by its wireless communication business division, which is expected to account for about 20% of its total sales in the fourth quarter of this year, by 50% and contribute 30% to total turnover next year.
Universal attended the WiMAX Forum Taipei Showcase & Conference, held Oct. 22-23, and showcased a series of customer premise equipment (CPE) and related modules. The company said that it has worked with quite a few telecom companies and system suppliers on the development of WiMAX-based products, and has won orders in the third quarter of this year.
The company is scheduled to ship 802.16d-based devices mainly to the Indian market in the fourth quarter of this year. Besides, it will also start delivery of the products to Africa and emerging countries in South America next year, projecting shipment of its WiMAX products to reach 500,000 units in 2008.
Universal noted that it originally aimed to tap the business potential of 802.16e-based product, which is compatible with mobile WiMAX communications; however, due partly to uncertainty about launch of the 16e standard, and partly to a huge gap between prices of 16d and 16e-based products, the company has seen an influx of orders for the 16d for the fourth quarter of the year.
But, with Intel's introduction of WiMAX functions in mobile internet devices (MIDs) and notebook PCs next year to trigger demand for the 16e-based products, Universal still prefers to focus on developing both 16d and 16e standards for sale next year, or even on dual-mode products.
So far, Universal has still denied the news that it has effectively joined Intel's supply chain of WiMAX-16e modules for platforms, such as Menlow and Motevina, and only commented that it plans to complete all testing of its 16e modules and be certified by WiMAX Forum Wave 2 Profiles by the first quarter of next year.
At the moment, Universal runs its WiMAX business by adopting the U.S.-based Freescale's solutions in its central processing units and chip sets, and WiMAX chips from Intel and Fujitsu.
In addition to WiMAX products, Universal is also optimistic about shipment of its wireless fidelity (WiFi) modules, which are mainly used in high-end mobile phones at present.
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| | ![]() | | | FarEastone Introduces New All-function OBU for Taiwan Drivers
The Far Eastone Telecommunications Co., a major Taiwanese mobile telecom carrier, recently announced its expansion into the driving-information application market by introducing its "Far Eastone GPS Information GO service" and G5 multi-function on-board unit (OBU). The company claims that the latter product is the first OBU in the world to integrate GPS navigation, cellphone, mobile TV, and multimedia entertainment functions in a single portable device.
To boost its new service, Far Eastone has tied up with the Evergreen International Storage and Transportation Corp. and will soon bring real-time information services such as highway traffic information, flight status information, and mobile Internet access to passengers on Evergreen's airport buses.
Far Eastone president Jan Nilson says that the company's goal is to integrate the different telecom devices that people use in different places every day. He wants not only to provide more and more diverse service choices, but also to expand mobile services from personal and enterprise communications into the family space and mobile vehicle space.
Far Eastone explains that "GPS Information GO" is a mobile information service, designed especially for drivers, that provides real-time traffic information, travel information, and other information useful to drivers. The service is supposed to accommodate what is claimed to be the world's first GPS navigation-, mobile TV-, multimedia-, and cellphone-enabled OBU, the G5, which features a 5-inch, 16:9 wide-format screen with user-friendly operating interfaces.
The "GPS Information GO" service provides navigation (a 3D moving map and four-language voice navigation control), 15 mobile TV channels, MP3 music files, and digital video programs. The G5 can serve as a fashionable digital photo frame as well as a full-function cellphone.
Far Eastone plans to complete the constriction of WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) base stations all along the route from Taipei to the Taoyuan International Airport by the end of December this year. It will adopt the latest IEEE 802.16e WiMAX technology to provide high-speed download and high mobility.
Shen Jong-chin, deputy director of the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, says that as part of the M-Taiwan project which the government initiated to solve "last mile" subscriber connectivity problems and transform Taiwan from an "e-island" into an "M-island" (mobile island). This will accelerate Taiwan's advancement toward the final goal of becoming a "technology island."
In addition to forging partnerships with international WiMAX technology providers, Far Eastone says that it has also brought many IC design, terminal equipment supply, and application service companies into the M-Taiwan project. (QL, Oct. 2007)
Captions:
1.Jan Nilson, president of FarEastone, talked to the media about its new "GPS Information GO" service.
2.Far Eastone's G5 multi-function OBU | |
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