■ Electronics
Sony to release new Aibo
PHOTO: AFP
Sony Marketing Japan Inc. said yesterday it will release an improved version of its popular robot entertainment dog Aibo in November. The new robot dog will have improved image-recognition functions and will be able to make smoother body movements than its previous models, Sony Marketing said. The toy pet, which vaguely resembles a beagle with floppy ears, weighs 1.6kg (?3.6), and has 20 joints and 64 megabytes worth of SDRAM memory that allow it to make moves similar to real dogs, Sony Marketing said. It can also pick up the Aibone toy bone in its mouth and play with it, the company said, adding that owners can also program the robot dog's movements. Sony will accept orders for the new Aibo units from Japanese buyers from Sept. 27. The robot will sell for ?185,000 (US$1,581) a piece. Sony has so far sold 130,000 units of AIBO robot dogs since its original edition was launched in 1999.
■ Beverage-Makers
Diageo's profits rise
British drinks giant Diageo reported Thursday a 6-percent rise in pre-tax profit to ?2.16 billion (US$3.38 billion) in the year to June and pointed to tentative signs of a recovery in its markets. But accounting charges linked to the sale of the company's loss-making fast-food chain Burger King caused a sharp fall in its net profit, down by 95 percent to ?76 million. Diageo, which owns brands such as Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness stout, has been selling off assets in recent years to concentrate on its alcoholic beverages business.
■ Trademarks
MacTea upsets McDonald's
Fastfood giant McDonald's Corp is trying to stop a Singapore company from labeling its instant beverages and food products MacTea, MacChocolate and MacNoodles, a local newspaper reported yesterday. Since registering the names in 1995, former computer vendor Future Enterprises has been using them on the instant tea, cocoa mixes and instant noodles sold in countries such as Russia and Vietnam, the Straits Times said. The McDonald's complaint was dismissed by Singapore's Principal Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks in April and its appeal is being heard in the city-state's High Court.
■ Food Safety
HK shop has cholera in tank
The Hong Kong government said yesterday it will prosecute a supermarket chain owned by the territory's richest man, Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), after finding cholera in a fish tank at one of its stores. Park-n-Shop will be charged with violating a food business regulation requiring shops to keep their fish tanks free of bacteria that lead to human illness, said Food and Environmental Hygiene Department spokeswoman Iris Au. The charge carries a maximum penalty of HK$10,000 (US$1,282) and one month imprisonment, Au said. The cholera was found in a sample from a tank at a ParknShop store in residential Pok Fu Lam district on Aug 26. ParknShop spokeswoman Teresa Pang said the company has not been informed of any charges.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
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