Energized by the strong uptake of smartphones and tablet PCs, Taiwan's number two contract chip-maker UMC has spent US$110 million in Singapore to spearhead the company's R&D and manufacturing for advanced specialty process technologies.

Shares of Hermes Microvision Inc., one of Taiwan's leading semiconductor inspection tool and equipment suppliers, extended their gains Wednesday morning as they played catch-up with shares of Largan Precision Co., dealers said.

Microsoft on Tuesday staked a claim to the Internet Age living room with an eagerly awaited new generation Xbox One console touted as a home entertainment hub that goes far beyond games.

Bayer Material Science, a unit of the Bayer Group, said Taiwan's well-established electronics industry has provided much inspiration that the polymer company needs to develop materials that enhance the efficiency of consumer electronics.

Facebook Inc. is planning to incorporate more Taiwanese suppliers into its Open Compute Project as part of its efforts to set up open standards for data centers through a collaborative dialogue.

French engineering company Schneider Electronic SA expressed optimism Wednesday about the outlook for Taiwan's data center sector thanks to rising demand for cloud computing-based applications.

The output value of mobile devices and telecommunications equipment dropped in the first quarter due to product launch delays, but the trend is expected to turn around in the second quarter, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Local and foreign heavyweights from the information and communications technology (ICT) industry are expected to give lectures at the annual Computex Taipei, Asia's largest computer trade show, according to the organizers.

Taiwan's HTC Corp. yesterday launched a new version of its flagship HTC One smartphone specifically for the Japanese market, in cooperation with a major mobile telecommunications carrier there.

The value of the displays produced by Taiwan's flat panel sector is expected to grow in the second quarter because of the growing popularity of smartphones, a government report said yesterday.