Taiwan
This is where you will find all the pages tagged Taiwan.
15.4-inch MacBooks coming
Apple is planning to introduce 15.4-inch MacBooks in the second quarter of 2007, according to industry sources in Taiwan. The new model will fill the gap between the company's 13.3-inch MacBooks and the 15.4- and 17-inch MacBook Pros that form its current notebook line up, and is expected to boost shipments of Apple's Intel-powered MacBooks, the sources add.MacBook shipments are expected to reach 700,000 units in the first quarter of 2007, after enjoying substantial gains in the second half of 2006, say the PC makers. However, shipment growth for the whole of 2007 is likely to be even greater than that of the first-quarter following the introduction of the 15.4-inch model in the second quarter, the sources noted.
15.4-inch MacBooks to begin shipping in 2Q, say sources
Taiwan theme park drops plans to lift elephant with human hair
Taiwanese theme park has dropped a plan to use braids of 320,000 pieces of human hair to lift an elephant, abandoning its attempt to create a new Guinness World Record.A United Daily News report said the decision was made after criticism the act could scare the animal.
The Naughty Boy Theme Park had planned to tie the human hair into a sling device and attach it to a crane to lift a 6-ton elephant to mark the opening of a wildlife zoo, the paper said.
Irish Examiner> Breaking News> Sport
"Kiss and ride" signs stump Taiwan rail passengers
English-language "kiss and ride" signs at passenger drop-off areas along Taiwan's new high-speed rail line are confusing passengers in a society where sendoffs are normally not intimate.White-on-blue signs at the seven stations along the 345-kilometre (214-mile) Taiwan high speed railway use the colloquialism seen at some U.S. stations and airports which refers to an area where drivers can drop off their passengers, usually a spouse, in the morning and pick them up in the evening, often with an embrace.
"Kiss and ride" signs stump Taiwan rail passengers - Yahoo! News
Taiwan international bandwidth rose to near 150Gbps
Taiwan's direct Internet connection with 18 countries (including Hong Kong and Macao) reached a total bandwidth of 149.881Gbps as of the end of December 2006, increasing by over 1.4% from a quarter earlier and by around 38% on year, according to the government-sponsored Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC).
Taiwan international bandwidth rose to near 150Gbps at end of 2006
Internet to remain sluggish until mid-month
Residential internet users will continue to experience slow Web connections until at least the middle of January, telecommunications officials said yesterday.Internet service providers (ISPs) had reached 70 to 80 per cent of their international connection capacity by yesterday, according to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority, but businesses would be given priority over residential connections until submarine cables damaged in the Boxing Day earthquake could be repaired.
One ship remains in the Luzon Strait off Taiwan to repair six cables damaged in the quake, while a second ship, damaged on the way to the scene, was still undergoing repairs in Taiwan.
Ha Yung-kuen, acting director-general of telecommunications, said four other ships would arrive at the scene in the next week to help repair cables in a 300km-wide area.
He said the earthquake had caused huge damage to the seabed "turning mountains into valleys and valleys into mountains", but added: "If one of the six damaged cables can be brought back to service by the middle of this month, we expect the internet can resume normal service."
AsiaMedia :: Internet to remain sluggish until mid-month, says telecoms body
Taiwan earthquake damages communication lines
Four submarine cables used by Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) for international voice and data communications were damaged by a large earthquake off the coast of southern Taiwan on December 26, disrupting service to the US, Japan, China and Southeast Asian countries, according to CHT.The earthquake registered a magnitude 6.7 on the Ritcher scale in Taiwan and was followed by strong aftershocks.
The damaged lines caused voice transmission capacity to be reduced by 60% to the US, by 90% to Japan, by 85% to both China and Vietnam, and 98% or more to other countries in Southeast Asia, CHT indicated. The reduction in data communication capacity was less, averaging 70%, CHT added.
It will take two to three weeks to repair the four submarine cables, CHT said. For the time being, CHT plans to temporarily use other lines for service, including a satellite system that is jointly invested by CHT and Singapore Telecom, CHT pointed out.
Quake damages CHT communication lines
Taiwan handset makers betting on smartphones
With only a small chance of seeing major expansion in the worldwide market share, Taiwan's handset makers are looking upon smartphones to be their next major profit driver, according to industry sources.According to DigiTimes Research, Taiwan's handset shipments for 2006 will total about 146 million units, accounting for 15% of worldwide shipments, up from 10% in 2005.
However, the global handset market is quickly consolidating, with major vendors, such as Nokia, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics, having a high proportion of in-house production. The slow growth for outsourcing will be an obstacle to Taiwan makers' shipment growth, the sources noted.
Although Taiwan's share of worldwide handset shipments, according to DigiTimes Research, may increase to 15-21%, the makers will have a mountain to climb to achieve the 40% goal set for 2008 by the Industrial Development Bureau of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Competition has been growing strong from EMS suppliers, and increases in orders from major vendors can hardly be expected, the sources said.
But the makers are changing their strategy, developing smartphones as their next profit driver, the sources remarked.
Taiwan handset makers betting on smartphones
TWM launches BlackBerry service
Taiwan Mobile (TWM), one of the top three operators of mobile communication services in Taiwan, on December 20 announced the launch of BlackBerry services for a monthly fee ranging from NT$899 (US$28) to NT$1,799. The company will initially offer the BlackBerry 7290 and 8700g handsets for sale at NT$7,990 (US$245) and NT$12,990, respectively.For NT$899 a month, a subscriber of the service can transfer up to 2MB (megabytes) of data with additional data transfers charged NT$0.15 per KB (kilobyte), according to TWM. The NT$1,799 plan allows for unlimited data transfer, noted the company.
For overseas roaming, TWM's BlackBerry subscribers can enjoy the following discount rates: 40% off in the seven countries that are members of the Bridge Mobile Alliance, of which TWM is a member; 20% off in the US for T-Mobile users and 50% off for Cingular users; in China, NT$0.23 discounted per KB for users of China Mobile.
Since there are currently only 2,000-3,000 BlackBerry handsets available, businesses will have priority over individual users to subscribe to BlackBerry for the time being, TWM president Harvey Chang pointed out. TWM expects to have 10,000 BlackBerry subscribers in 1-1.5 years, Chang said.
Taiwan market: TWM launches BlackBerry service
Samsung to offer 30 new handsets in 2007
Samsung Electronics will launch 30 new handsets, half of which will support 3G or HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access, 3.5G), in Taiwan next year and expects to sell one million handsets for a market share of 10% in terms of sales volume and 15% in terms of sales value, according to Samsung Electronics Taiwan president Yong-sung Jeon.
Taiwan market: Samsung to offer 30 new handsets in 2007
Taiwan Cellular Corporation to introduce BlackBerry next week
After inking the partnership agreement with Research in Motion (RIM) in June this year, Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC) will introduce BlackBerry devices to the local market on December 19, according to a Chinese-language Cnyes.com report.The report cited sources as saying that service charge for TCC's BlackBerry service will be about NT$500. TCC will first introduce BlackBerry 8700g and 7290 devices to the local market, with the former priced at about NT$17,000.
Taiwan market: TCC to introduce BlackBerry next week
Taiwan 3G users to reach two million in 2007
Vibo Telecom, one of the five operators of 3G mobile communication services in Taiwan, projects the number of subscribers using 3G handsets in Taiwan to increase from 700,000-800,000 currently to two million by the end of 2007, said company general manager David Wang at yesterday's press conference.Correlating with the growth in number of 3G subscribers, 1.4 million 3G handsets are expected to be sold in Taiwan next year, accounting for 20% of total handset unit shipments in the market, Wang indicated. Early this year, the proportion was below 10%, and then, it grew to the current 15%, Wang added.
Vibo Telecom: Taiwan 3G users to reach two million in 2007
