Taiwan News .   
Date: 2019/03/14 
By: George Liao,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 2019 Smart City Summit & Expo (SCSE), which includes four sub-expos, will take place at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from March 26 to March 29.

SCSE will gather 337 exhibitors from around the world this year, exhibiting a diversity of smart applications and solutions, according to the Taipei Computer Association (TCA), the event’s organizer.

The four professional sub-expos: Smart Healthcare Expo (SHE Taipei), Smart Education Expo, Intelligent Building Expo (IBE Taipei), and Intelligent Transportation Expo will respectively present smart solutions in healthcare, education, intelligent building, and transportation.

In addition, 276 city leaders and delegates from 42 countries and territories will gather in Taipei to exchange their experience in smart city development and brainstorm innovative applications and solutions, the association added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/14
By: Jeffrey Wu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Two e-commerce entities — PChome Online Inc. of Taiwan and

Rakuten Inc. of Japan — signed an agreement Thursday to strengthen exchanges between their members and provide joint services and content, with the aim of building customer loyalty.

Through the strategic alliance between the two e-commerce platforms, their members will be allowed to accumulate and exchange PChome’s P-coins and Rakuten points for online transactions in both countries, according to a statement issued Thursday by the two companies.

Under the deal, consumers in Taiwan will be able to shop for Rakuten products on PChome’s C2C marketplace ruten.com and have their purchases sent directly to them.

Meanwhile, special offers for Taiwan Rakuten Card holders will be promoted on PChome shopping sites, while PChome will sell Rakuten’s Kobo e-readers on its PChome 24h site, which guarantees a 24-hour delivery service.    [FULL  STORY]

The Rumbler is targeted at 18-30 year olds

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/13
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s fastest growing electric scooter start-up Gogoro announced the release of a new model scooter on Wednesday, March 13, the Gogoro 2 Rumbler.

The Rumbler’s new style, which is a variant of the Gogoro 2 model released in 2018, was designed to attract 18 to 30 year olds with a sleek, and more mature design compared to the original Gogoro 2 model.

The Rumbler model has tires designed for slightly more traction, and new design of seat cushion to maximize comfort and weight distribution of the rider.

The new model shares he same engine, SBS brake system, headlights, and smart dashboard and personal security features as the Gogoro 2.

According to Liberty Times, the Gogoro 2 Rumbler is priced at NT$86,000 (US$2,800) dollars and can be delivered from the factory in three to five days.    [FULL  STORY]  

The software giant should be suing Google instead: Gou

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/12 
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Foxconn Technology Group chief Terry Gou (郭台銘) on Tuesday

slammed Microsoft Inc., accusing it of wanting to prolong the personal computer era and of targeting suppliers instead of Google.

On Monday, the Seattle-based software giant sued Foxconn in California for unpaid patent royalties and for failing to file the appropriate paperwork. Under an agreement signed in 2013, Foxconn was supposed to file regular reports to Microsoft about the sales of any products covered by the agreement as well as pay relevant royalties, CNet reported.

On his Facebook page and later at a news conference, Gou said Microsoft was stuck in a dispute about patents with Google, but instead of suing the Internet giant, it was taking it out on subcontractors and brands, behaving like a bully, the Central News Agency reported.

Even though the world had entered the smartphone era, Microsoft was still behaving like a monopoly from the PC era and trying to extend its empire from the period of its founder Bill Gates, Gou said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/12
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huan 

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Three of Formosa Plastics Group’s major subsidiaries have decided to increase their investments in the U.S. state of Louisiana by US$150 million.

Led by Formosa Petrochemical Corp., they will build a naphtha cracking complex to produce a wide range of upstream petrochemical products such as ethylene, propylene and high density polyethylene.

Under the plan, Formosa Petrochemical will increase its investment in Louisiana by US$85.50 million to about US$211 million; Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. will put in another US$45 million to bring its outlay to US$111 million; and Nan Ya Plastics will raise its spending by US$15 million to about US$37 million.

The three FPG subsidiaries have set up an entity called FP Inc., which will manage their investments in Louisiana, pending approval of the plan by their boards on March 20.
[FULL  STORY]

The Otto Bike MCR II goes as far as 220 km

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/12 
By: Matthew Strong,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In addition to prominent brands Gogoro and Kymco, Taiwanese company Otto Bike Co., Ltd. exports electric off-road motorbikes to Europe.

The company, based in Taipei City’s Xizhi District, launched its electric products in 2014, the Liberty Times reported Tuesday.

Its latest model is the electric off-road bike known as the MCR II, which stands for Mini City Racer.

The bike’s batteries allow it a maximum radius of 220 kilometers with a maximum speed of 105 kilometers per hour, according to the Liberty Times.

In addition to sophisticated brakes, Google Maps and a keyless ignition, the bike also has cameras installed back and front, allowing live broadcasting of one’s ride, Otto Bike said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/12
By: Chung Jung-feng and Frances Huang

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Terry Gou (郭台銘), chairman of Taiwan’s manufacturing giant

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., said Tuesday that a decision by Microsoft Corp. to bring a lawsuit against his company over patent payments was misguided and an attempt at intimidation.

On his Facebook page, Gou said Microsoft announced the lawsuit even before Hon Hai received the official court document.

“Its intent is to knock on the mountain to scare the tiger, to intimidate (us) into paying the patent protection fees without going through the legal process,” Gou wrote.

Hon Hai did not manufacture the Android products mentioned in the lawsuit so there is no infringement, he said.    [FULL  STORY]