taiwan

Apple apparently is receiving some scrutiny in Taiwan over iPhone pricing.

The country's Fair Trade Commission said today that it plans to investigate allegations that Apple has been interfering in how Taiwan's telecom operators are setting iPhone prices, according to a report from Taiwan's Central News Agency.

The question of whether the U.S. tech giant has violated fair trade rules depends on whether the Taiwanese carriers are seen "as distributors of iPhones or consignment-based sellers," the report said. If Apple were to be found guilty, the maximum fine reportedly would be NT$25 million (… Read more

Apple and its manufacturing partner are readying the next-generation processor expected to land in future iPhones and iPads.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, is expected to tape out -- one of the final steps before manufacturing -- Apple's A7 chip this month, according to a report in Digitimes.

That will set the stage for pilot production by TSMC this summer and commercial production by the first quarter of 2014.

The A7 will use TSMC's future 20-nanometer manufacturing process -- which isn't expected to be ready until 2014.

Apple, in fact, is designing products now based on … Read more

Taiwanese animator Next Media Animation is taking yesterday's Sony PlayStation 4 event to task.

Sony announced its next-generation video game console at a press event in New York, but the PS4 itself was a no-show.

Sony says the PS4 features a PC-like body architecture, x86 CPU, enhanced PS GPU, 8GB of unified memory, a local storage hard drive, and an updated DualShock 4 controller.

The animation group created a video mocking the PS4 at yesterday's press event. Sony treated members of the press to experience what using the next-generation console might feel like with live demonstrations, but did … Read more

The Apple Maps team can't seem to catch a break. The glitches with the new Maps app that Cupertino home-brewed for iOS 6 have been serious enough that even Mad Magazine is having a laugh about the fiasco.

More serious is the grumpy face Taiwan's Defense Ministry made when it saw a satellite image of one of its top-secret long-range radar bases that had been accessed with an iPhone 5.… Read more

The dating Web site eHarmony got hit by the same group that released a list of LinkedIn member passwords yesterday, so be sure to change your passwords for both if you have accounts.

Buzzfeed also parsed through the list of leaked passwords to reveal some pretty depressing sentiments from employees. While many accounts used overly simplistic passwords like "LinkedIn" or "password1," some of the more disturbing pass phrases include things like "suicide," "solonely," "iwishiwasdead," and "divorce." They're still not very strong in terms of security, so be sure to add a special character or a number during the bleak changeover.… Read more

Google's upcoming data center in Taiwan will join those already being built in Hong Kong and Singapore as a sign of increased demand in Asia for the company's online services.

Costing a total of $700 million, the three data centers are being geared to provide users "with the fastest and most reliable access possible to all of Google's services," according to the company.

"More new Internet users are coming online everyday here in Asia than anywhere else in the world," Google said on its Web page for the new data center. "They … Read more

Beware! Future robot overlords could have dual-purpose appendages.

Well, that might be an exaggeration, but this leg-wheel hybrid mobile robot is definitely a front-runner to star in my recurring robot domination nightmares. Meet Quattroped, a remote-controlled walking and wheeling robot that can function in "flat or rough environments," according to the Bio-Inspired Robotic Laboratory team of mechanical engineers at National Taiwan University. … Read more

iPhone maker Foxconn aims to manufacture its own robots and automation equipment at a new production and R&D facility at the Central Taiwan Science Park to replace some of its human laborers.

Chairman Terry Gou has signed a letter of intent with Taichung Mayor Jason Hu outlining the company's plan to build an "intelligent robotics kingdom" in the park over the next few years, according to the Focus Taiwan news agency.

The robotics and automation facilities may generate some $4 billion in production value in the next three to five years and create about 2,000 jobs, Gou was quoted as saying.

Gou also attended a ground-breaking ceremony for a robot research facility and inaugurated a plant for automation equipment maker Foxnum Technology, part of the Foxconn group.

Earlier this year, Gou said Foxconn wants to replace some human workers with more than 1 million robots to fight surging labor costs. They will perform tasks such as spraying, welding, and assembly. … Read more

Apple and Samsung may be battling each other in the courts over patent claims but the two companies are reportedly still working with each other on the technology for the next iPhone.

Samsung will supply the A6 processor slated to appear in the iPhone 5, or whatever Apple dubs its next phone, says The Korea Times. Citing industry sources, the publication reports that Samsung has boosted the production of Apple-designed A6 chips at its plant in Austin, Texas.

"Apple has been in talks with Samsung over shipment of its A6 quad-core mobile processor (AP) chips to be used in … Read more