Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the world’s top switching power supplies maker, is set to join hands with China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) to debut its first e-reader in December, sources from the supply chain said yesterday.
The 8.2-inch reader will come in colored panel instead of the monochrome models that are now available. It will bundle with features such as 3G and Wi-Fi.
The model will carry the “Vivitek” brand. Vivitek Corp (麗訊), a maker of e-paper and projectors, is a strategic partner and brand client of Delta.
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, will subsidize the e-reader and further partnership will depend on how well the market receives the first product, sources said.
“There are some bugs still to be ironed out for the product to make it on time for the December launch,” a source said.
“Delta is very aggressive with the e-reader segment, because it has the capability to control the whole manufacturing process, from e--paper and components to the end products. The e-paper could be applied to a wider range of products and e-readers are only one example,” the source added.
Delta’s move means it is set to compete head-to-head with China’s largest player, Hanvon Technology Co (漢王).
Hanvon has a slew of monochrome readers on offer, but will only unveil its first colored model in Japan in November, with mass release of colored models to follow early next year.
Meanwhile, despite Acer Inc (宏碁) keeping mum on the exact launch dates of its tablet and e-readers, sources said the PC maker is gearing up for the release of its first tablet PCs in Europe and the US next month.
The tablet will use Linux or Android operating systems, sources said.
Acer’s local telecom partner Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) told the Taipei Times last month that it plans to release Acer’s tablet in the fourth quarter in Taiwan.
Far EasTone is testing tablet prototypes and would bundle tablets from three different partners with its monthly plans by year’s end.
Tablet models from Taiwanese players, including one that Micro-Star International Inc (微星) will debut in the second quarter next year, will mostly come in 7 inches, 9 inches and 13 inches, according to sources from the supply chain.
A 22-inch tablet is also already in the pipeline, showing Taiwanese PC makers’ eagerness to launch various models in an effort to grab some of the iPad’s market share.
Asustek will also launch its first e-reader model in Taiwan “pretty soon,” the supply chain sources said.
The model will be in monochrome and the initial price has been set at about NT$8,000 (US$256).
The timing is in line with Asustek’s original timeline. CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來) said last month its e-readers would be commercially available in Taiwan, the US and China in late October as the first debut markets.
Asustek’s e-reader is 8.9 inches and runs on ARM architecture, Marvell chips and the Linux operating system.
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
TRADE WAR: Tariffs should also apply to any goods that pass through the new Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, an adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump said A veteran adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump is proposing that the 60 percent tariffs that Trump vowed to impose on Chinese goods also apply to goods from any country that pass through a new port that Beijing has built in Peru. The duties should apply to goods from China or countries in South America that pass through the new deep-water port Chancay, a town 60km north of Lima, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an adviser to the Trump transition team who served as senior director for the western hemisphere on the White House National Security Council in his first administration. “Any product going
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
CARBON REDUCTION: ‘As a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, we recognize our mission in environmental protection,’ TSMC executive Y.P. Chyn said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday launched its first zero-waste center in Taichung to repurpose major manufacturing waste, which translates into savings of NT$1.5 billion (US$46 million) in environmental costs a year. The environmental cost savings include a carbon reduction benefit of 40,000 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon offset of over 110 Daan Forest Parks, the chipmaker said. The Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center is part of the chipmaker’s greater efforts to reach its net zero emissions goal in 2050, aligning with the UN’s 12th Sustainable Development Goal. The center could reduce TSMC’s outsourced waste processing
RSS