Eye On Taiwan

MediaTek officially unveils the Helio G85 chipset Posted: 05 May 2020 01:35 PM PDT GSM Arena Date: 05 May 2020 Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 9 last week with a chipset called Helio G85 by Mediatek. Today the Taiwanese chip manufacturer has finally detailed the SoC itself – it comes with slightly faster GPU than the Helio G80, but keeps the same CPU. The Helio G85 comes with two Cortex-A75 cores running at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A55 units at 1.8GHz. The Mali-G52 GPU now is clocked at 1GHz, unlike the Helio G80 that was doing 950MHz. The chip has all of the features from the Helio G80 like VoW (voice on wakeup) and enhanced HyperEngine Game technology. Promo image with all the neat features of the Helio G85 chipset MediaTek promises intelligent prediction of Wi-Fi and LTE concurrency and the chip can switch between networks in just 13 ms – enough to provide a lag-free connection. It will also bring faster response between cell towers and the cell phone and will defer calls while in-game without dropping the data connection – an issue that even flagships are struggling with. Mediatek is already shipping the SoC to manufacturers, so we expect more smartphones in the $200 price range to arrive with the Helio G85.    [FULL  STORY]

CECC mulls 1,000 fans at pro baseball league games Posted: 05 May 2020 01:31 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/05/2020 By: Chang Ming-hsuan, Hsieh Ching-wen and Joseph Yeh CTBC Brothers players after winning a guest game in Taoyuan May 1. Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Taiwan's professional baseball league, in which teams are currently playing behind closed-doors due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, has received approval for 200 fans per game but is urging the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to approve 1,000 fans per game, the league's head said Tuesday. Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) made the comment after teleconferencing with team representatives over the matter in response to an earlier announcement from the CECC that it would allow fan attendance at CPBL games. According to Wu, the league originally asked for a maximum 500 people to attend each game. Deducting players, coaches, cheerleaders of both teams as well as CPBL staffers, referees, media members and broadcasting crew, who are already allowed to attend, Wu said the league first asked for 200 fans to be able to buy tickets to watch CPBL games.    [FULL  STORY]

Aveska happy to be back in ‘special’ Taiwan Posted: 05 May 2020 01:26 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: May 05, 2020 By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter Aveska happy to be back in ‘special’ Taiwan By Jason Pan / Staff reporter Former Haiti international Judelin Aveska on Sunday scored the only goal of the match as Hang Yuan edged Ming Chuan University 1-0, while Taipower and Tatung scored big wins over bottom-of-the-table teams, and Taichung Futuro shut out Taiwan Steel for a surprise 1-0 victory in the Hua Nan Bank Taiwan Football Premier League. At Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City, Hang Yuan midfielder Lin Ming-wei almost gave the home side the lead in the 20th minute when the former Taiwan youth team captain collected a long pass in the penalty area and hit a bicycle-kick with his back to the goal, only for the ball to hit the crossbar. However, Hang Yuan were rewarded for their domination of possession just before halftime when the Ming Chuan University defenders attempted to clear a corner, but the ball fell to Aveska, whose header flew past goalkeeper Lee Ming-wei for the all-important goal. Hang Yuan’s Judelin Aveska, center, celebrates after scoring against Ming Chuan University in their Taiwan Football Premier League match at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City on Sunday. Photo courtesy of the CTFA Former Haiti international Judelin Aveska on Sunday scored the only goal of the match as Hang Yuan edged Ming Chuan University 1-0, while Taipower and Tatung scored big wins over bottom-of-the-table teams, and Taichung Futuro shut out Taiwan Steel for a surprise 1-0 victory in the Hua Nan Bank Taiwan Football Premier League. At Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City, Hang Yuan midfielder Lin Ming-wei almost gave the home side the lead in the 20th minute when the former Taiwan youth team captain collected a long pass in the penalty area and hit a bicycle-kick with his back to the goal, only for the ball to hit the crossbar. However, Hang Yuan were rewarded for their domination of possession just before halftime when the Ming Chuan University defenders attempted to clear a corner, but the ball fell to Aveska, whose header flew past goalkeeper Lee Ming-wei for the all-important goal. Having played with Hang Yuan in 2018, Aveska signed to play in Chile before returning this season.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical gas stations hit by malware attack Posted: 05 May 2020 01:21 PM PDT CPC Corp., Taiwan gas stations were the target on Monday May 4 Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/05 By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer A Formosa Petrochemical gas station  (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A day after top oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan became the target of a malware attack, its privately held competitor, Formosa Petrochemical Corp., suffered a similar ordeal, reports said Tuesday (May 5). The company said it had shut down its computer system, but its refining and petrochemical activities had not been affected, CNA reported. Its gas stations would be unable to compute their income for the day, but otherwise, the stations were operating normally and serving customers. While technical experts were working on restoring the system to normal, it was impossible to tell when the task would be completed, Formosa Petrochemical said. In Monday’s (May 4) ransomware attack on CPC, payment by VIP cards or electronic transaction apps had become impossible, though cash and credit cards were still acceptable. The oil company named identity theft as the likely target of the malware attack on its systems. [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s forex reserves rank 4th-largest worldwide Posted: 05 May 2020 01:17 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/05/2020 By: Su Ssu-yun and Frances Huang Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves continued their rise to a new high at the end of April, despite the economic impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, taking the country to the fourth spot in forex reserves holdings in the world, the central bank said Tuesday. Taiwan surpassed Saudi Arabia, moving up one notch to fourth place in April, with forex reserves as of April up US$1.397 billion from a month earlier to US$481.78 billion, according to data compiled by the central bank. According to the bank, China remained in the top spot in the rankings after reporting US$3.06 trillion in forex reserves as of the end of March, down US$46.1 billion from a month earlier. Japan came in second, after reporting US$1.296 trillion in forex reserves at the end of March, up US$7.5 billion from a month earlier, ahead of Switzerland, which owned US$791.2 billion in forex reserves as of the end of March, down US$4 billion from a month earlier.   [FULL  STORY]

Virus Outbreak: Virus dampens home-buying interest Posted: 05 May 2020 01:14 PM PDT NEGATIVE SENTIMENT: Although the number of infections is low in Taiwan, people still refrained from making large purchases on concerns that the virus might persist Taipei Times Date: May 06, 2020 By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter Virus Outbreak: Virus dampens home-buying interest NEGATIVE SENTIMENT: Although the number of infections is low in Taiwan, people still refrained from making large purchases on concerns that the virus might persist By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter Housing transactions last month totaled 17,603 units in the six special municipalities, down 11.2 percent from one month earlier, as the coronavirus pandemic weighed on buying interest, analysts said. “Prospective buyers turned conservative as the virus outbreak wreaked havoc on major economies around the world, with the US’ GDP shrinking 4.8 percent last quarter,” the worst since the global financial crisis, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) spokesman Jay Hsieh (謝志傑) said. Although the number of infections is low in Taiwan, consumers have refrained from purchases of durable goods for fear the disease might persist and weaken household incomes, Hsieh said. Taipei 101, center, and other high-rise buildings are pictured in Taipei on Jan. 21. Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times Housing transactions last month totaled 17,603 units in the six special municipalities, down 11.2 percent from one month earlier, as the coronavirus pandemic weighed on buying interest, analysts said. “Prospective buyers turned conservative as the virus outbreak wreaked havoc on major economies around the world, with the US’ GDP shrinking 4.8 percent last quarter,” the worst since the global financial crisis, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) spokesman Jay Hsieh (謝志傑) said. Although the number of infections is low in Taiwan, consumers have refrained from purchases of durable goods for fear the disease might persist and weaken household incomes, Hsieh said. Taichung reported the steepest monthly decline of 21.4 percent to 3,314 units, while Kaohsiung posted a 13.1 percent retreat to 2,684 deals, the broker said, citing data from respective local governments.    [FULL  STORY]

Charter flight from India unites and separates transnational families Posted: 05 May 2020 01:09 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 05 May, 2020 By: John Van Trieste Indian businessman Prabhat Ranjan (right) has decided to send his Taiwanese wife and his son back to Taiwan on a charter flight to limit their risk of getting COVID-19 while he stays in India to continue running his business. Indian businessman Prabhat Ranjan (right) has decided to send his Taiwanese wife and his son back to Taiwan on a charter flight to limit their risk of getting COVID-19 while he stays in India to continue running his business. A charter flight bringing Taiwanese citizens and some foreigners back from New Delhi on Tuesday has left some transnational families with difficult choices. The flight was the latest effort by the foreign ministry to repatriate those who wish to return to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as travel has become difficult.    [FULL  STORY]

Three charged with Taiwanese visa scam Posted: 05 May 2020 12:38 PM PDT The Nation Newspaper Date: May 5, 2020 By: Robert Egbe Three men, who allegedly presented forged documents to the Taiwanese Embassy in Lagos for visa processing, were on Tuesday brought before the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos. Joseph Otisi, 29, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Folashade Botoku in a charge marked B/19/2020, while Chukwu Ezedinachi and Nosiru Oladimeji were jointly charged before Magistrate T.B Are. Police Counsel Wewe Adegbayi, an Assistant Superintendent (ASP), prosecuted both cases. He alleged that the defendants committed the offences last March at the Taiwanese Embassy on No. 23A Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan provides bone marrow to Singaporean leukemia patient amid pandemic Posted: 05 May 2020 12:06 PM PDT Taiwan’s Tzu Chi Hospital successfully transfers donated bone marrow to Singapore medical staff at Hualien Airport Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/05 By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Tzu Chi Hospital staff completes difficult task of transporting bone marrow to Singaporean medical team. (Tzu Chi Hospital photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Medical staff from Taiwan's Tzu Chi Hospital in April were able to complete an extremely difficult task of delivering donated bone marrow to a leukemia patient from Singapore at the Hualien Airport in the eastern part of the country. According to the Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, a Singaporean patient in her 40s was urgently in need of a bone marrow transplant after having been diagnosed with acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage at the end of last year. Since the Singaporean hospitals were unable to locate a match for the patient, they decided to reach out to the Tzu Chi Stem Cells Center and were informed that a perfect donor had been found. However, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has continued to escalate, both Taiwan and Singapore have imposed strict border controls as well as cancelled most non-essential flights, resulting in the delivery of the bone marrow donation being postponed. Luckily, with the arrangement from the Hualien Airport, the medical professionals from both countries were able to carry out the difficult transporting process in less than an hour while adhering to the pandemic prevention guidelines set by Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). The airport director Wu Fu-Ho (吳富和) said this was also the first time in Taiwanese history that a bone marrow donation was transferred to overseas medical workers without them needing to pass immigration.    [FULL  STORY]

Kaohsiung mayor defends himself against recall vote Posted: 05 May 2020 11:22 AM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/05/2020 By: Wen Juei-hsiang, Ku Chuan and Frances Huang Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu / CNA file photo Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) defended himself against a recall vote, scheduled to take place in early June. In a written defense released by the Central Election Commission (CEC) Tuesday, Han listed 15 achievements since he took office in December 2018, including how his administration pushed for investment to increase new jobs for the city, saying that "he will brave the storms and move ahead." In his 5,600 word defense, Han said that through the efforts of his administration to boost the tourism industry in the city, a business group from the United States submitted an application in January to team up with Kaohsiung to develop a "Love Ferris Wheel" project in the city. During his mayoral campaign, Han had promoted the "Love Ferris Wheel," which is planned to be built by the city's Love River side, as a landmark and attraction for tourists to Kaohsiung.    [FULL  STORY]