Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-08
By: CNA

Taiwan’s HTC sent out media invitations in Taiwan on Thursday for a launch

event of the bigger variant of its flagship One M9 phone in an attempt to boost sluggish sales with its “dual-flagship” strategy.

The press event will be held on May 14 in Taipei, where HTC North Asia president Jack Tong is expected to reveal local pricing and availability for the One M9+.

HTC took the wraps off the One M9+ in Beijing in early April–a slightly larger phone with a nearly identical metal unibody design–just weeks after the One M9 made its debut at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona on March 1.

The major enhancements of the M9+ include a 5.2-inch 2K display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, a MediaTek MT6795T octa-core 2.2GHz mobile processor, a fingerprint scanner built into a home button on the front, the new-and-improved Duo Camera and support for up to 2TB of micro-SD external storage.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/08
By: Wei Shu and Scully Hsiao

Taipei, May 8 (CNA) Taiwan’s exports and imports took their steepest monthly fall in five years in April because of cheaper oil and fuel prices and slower global economic growth, official data showed Friday.

The value of the country’s exports fell 11.7 percent in April year-on-year to US$23.49 billion in goods last month, while imports tumbled 22.1 percent to US$18.73 billion, according to Ministry of Finance data.

Yeh Maan-tzwu, the head of the ministry’s Department of Statistics, attributed the steep declines to slower global economic growth, cheaper oil and agricultural and industrial materials, and reduced production during the Tomb Sweeping holiday in early April.

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-07
By: CNA

Dubai-based airline Emirates said Wednesday it will expand capacity on its

Taipei-Dubai route by 20% starting Dec. 1 to meet increasing demand from Taiwan’s market.

The carrier said it will use a two-class Boeing 777-300ER instead of a three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the flight, increasing capacity to 428 passengers or 74 more than at present.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/07
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Taiwan’s Acer Inc. (宏碁), the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, reported a higher-than-expected net profit for the first quarter on Thursday, buoyed by effective expense control and inventory management.

Although consolidated revenue dropped 11.4 percent year-on-year to NT$67.95 billion (US$2.16 billion) in the three months ending in March, gross profits increased 4.5 percent to NT$6.66 billion and operating income surged 139 percent to NT$304 million.

First-quarter net income was NT$173 million, or NT$0.06 per share, compared with net income of NT$1 million, or NT$0.0004 per share, in the same period of last year.     [FULL STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-07
By: Staff Reporter

In cooperation with the Xiamen city government, Amazon China has kicked off

the “Taiwan pavilion” on its website, offering over 5,000 kinds of Taiwanese goods. Products like pineapple cakes, masks, and various electronics can be delivered to Chinese customers within two to three days of placing the order.

The new service is part of the city’s e-commerce push within the Fujian Free Trade Zone, which also aims to bring Chinese goods to overseas markets.

Amazon China has selected Xiamen its physical site for overseas e-trade, capitalizing on the city’s advantageous position with Taiwan and the its status as a key port of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The collaboration between the city and Amazon China will guarantee the US company convenient customs clearance, rapid inspection of goods, cross-border payment, tax rebates, and logistics services for its overseas e-commerce.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/05
By: Kuo Chu-chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) A farmer in Pingtung County, in collaboration with a Japanese expert, has successfully developed a starch made from green bananas that can facilitate weight loss and has hit the Japanese market, a farmer’s cooperative in the southernmost county said Tuesday.

The starch, a type of starch that is not digested in the stomach or small intestine, reaching the colon intact and touted as a miracle weight-loss cure, will also be made available on the Taiwan market later this month, Pingtung Yunghsin Fruit and Vegetable Distribution Cooperative Chairman Chiu Yung-feng (邱永豐) said at a press conference.

Chiu and Katsuaki Hayashibara, the head of Japan’s Vantec Corp., have jointly produced starch from green bananas, according to Chiu.     [FULL  STORY]