A whole bunch of companies involved in the use of LEDs and laser diodes in mobile phones, high-def players, and data storage devices are currently facing an investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission on charges of patent infringement. More in the full article.

Big Taiwanese consumer electronics company Hon Hai Precision (otherwise known as Foxconn in the PC hardware market) has reportedly sealed a deal with Sony to manufacture low-priced PlayStation 3 consoles. This move by Sony is similar to the pact it has with ASUSTeK in an aggressive plan to compete with rivals Nintendo and Microsoft.

According to website EMSNow, the alliance between Sony and Hon Hai will result in the cheaper manufacture of SKUs which will be introduced in the market some time soon.

This contract is a synergy to Sony's bid to ship a target number of 10 million PS3s worldwide in the next few months. This will also supposedly bring down prices for the high-end console. Pricing is a key seen by many analysts to boost slow sales of the product in order to make it more competitive against Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Hon Hai is one of Taiwan's biggest and most respected players in the electronics industry, setting revenue records almost on a yearly basis in the island. Not many may know it, but Hon Hai caters even to giants such as Apple, Dell, Cisco, and Nokia. Recently, it has added Sony to that list.

The PlayStation 3 has had a US$ 100 price cut prior to this year's E3 show in the United States, and new cuts are expected by industry insiders on the road to 2008, Sony's earmarked year when its PS3 will come of age. The Hon Hai deal could be an indication that analysts may be right with their predictions.

Slipping back to our business suits, we've gotten word that U.S. market research firm Parks Associates has discovered that online gaming still outweighs video streaming or social networking over the Internet. The report entitled "Casual Gaming Market Update" claimed that at least 34% of adult Internet users play online games on a weekly basis. Games they play include casual games, confirming the rise in popularity of the casual gaming sector.

 

In contrast, 29% of those surveyed watch short online videos, and a smaller 19% visit social networking sites at least once a week. Additionally, online gaming is also experiencing a major surge in the North American region. Parks Associates observed a 79% year-on-year rise in online gamers, compared to the 46% climb of social networking users.

Still, video streaming users are ascending at a steep 123%, and the online gaming sector would do well to challenge that rate in the following years. The online gaming sector is becoming a ripe source of income, and Parks Associates still recommends the tried-and-tested Western business models for the region.

In the Eastern front, the online gaming sector is becoming a blossoming playground for the Asian gaming industry, as Taiwan, Korea, and China have experienced phenomenally market booms in the previous year. Market predictions are also off-the-roof for the Far East, and it may have already grown leaps and bounds in the first half of 2007.

Because people WoW and click Flash more than they Facebook or Youtube, we'll be monitoring for more developments as they come clicking by.

The train simulation video game Railfan came and went without reaching other markets outside Japan. In case you didn't know, it was already released back in December 2006. It was created by development studio Ongakukan and featured real tracks such as Chuo Main Line, Keihan Main Line, and even the Chicago Brown Line.

It came to our attention that a sequel to the title is currently in development and will be released in Japan on July 12, 2007. The new game will be known as Railfan: Taiwan High Speed Rail and will feature the track that runs from Nangang to Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

If you want to get a glimpse of how Ongakukan developed that title, the trailer video below will show you exactly that. There is still no word if Sony has plans of making video games such as these for other markets.

Maybe most of you are not aware of it but there's an expo currently happening at the Taipei World Trade Center in Taiwan known as Computex 2007. Generally, the show is for displaying new computer hardware and peripherals but time and again, we find something of interest or of value to the video game community.

Like this one for example: company SINOX introduced this rather sleek and interesting security device for game controllers. Despite that being said, we believe that the product is only compatible with PlayStation 2's controller and with PS3's SIXAXIS. This thing is attached at the controllers' analog sticks and is protected by a three-digit number combination.

To be quite frank though, it's kind of amusing whenever companies come up with this kind of devices. Does this mean there's a need to lock controllers? I mean, I have my saved games deleted or tinkered with by my sister every now and then but still... Oh well, as they say, whatever floats your boat.

 

 

A report coming in from Chinese local newspaper Economic Daily News has pinned the mainstream motherboard manufacturer ASUSTek with a mediocre 2007 revenue performance due to reduced PlayStation 3 shipping. ASUSTeK is one of the favorite and trusted motherboard brands for tech-savvy PC enthusiasts, while also a major contractor for manufacturing quality PlayStation 3 motherboards in Asia.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. is expecting an all-time low in revenues this coming May, after the Taiwan-based company reported a change in the motherboard profit season and the decreased shipments of the PlayStation 3 from Asia. However, other competing motherboard companies such as Gigabyte Technology and Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) have noted a possible increase in May shipments during the summer season, according to local paper Apple Daily.

Despite feeds coming in from Asia that the PlayStation 3 production is indeed slowing down, it appears that ASUSTeK has prepped themselves for a quick recovery, right after Intel starts shipping their new Centrino platforms for laptop computers, codenamed Santa Rosa, for the month succeeding May.

Analysts agree that the Taiwan computer manufacturing giant will be able to return to standard shipping levels by June, allowing the company to benefit from a steady revenue stream for the rest of 2007. Thanks to DigiTimes for the heads up!

This is probably borderline gaming news to you folks out there, but anything attached to STAR Sports Asia's Drinie Aguilar is way too good to pass up by our standards. "GAME" is a thirty-minute dive into the world of gaming, from consoles to computers and handhelds, and thanks to Electronic Arts and ESPN's STAR Sports, this show is specially catered to the Asian and Pacific Rim regions.

You've probably already caught a few previews of the show on STAR Sports Asia, as it has already debuted since April 18, 2007. But as announced in the official press release, ESPN has also expanded its reach to as far as STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan and ESPN for the Pacific Rim (yes, that means you Aussies and Kiwis).

Starring the sassy and equally bubbly Drinie Aguilar of STAR Sports' fame, "GAME" will be tackling the latest and hottest news and trends in the world of gaming, including extensive game reviews, news event reports from all over the world and sneak-peek previews of incoming titles for your favorite gaming platform.

But tagging along with the entire theme of the sports channel, the show will also bring in the world of sports and the world of gaming together, sporting the most popular and famous athletes and their take on gaming. Always wanted to know what games your favorite star player is currently sweating over? Aguilar will let you in on the secret.

    

Also some of the biggest events in sports history will be simulated by Electronic Arts' own EA Sports titles in order to give a rough rundown of what could happen at the night of the big game. Jon Niermann, President of EA Asia Publishing, said, "We are very enthused about the launch of this new program. We are delighted to be able to extend our partnership with EA into new markets after our successful collaboration in the US."

Electronic Arts seems to be reaching out to a larger part of the gaming community, by touting its line up of EA Sports titles to the Asia and Pacific region. If you're from one of the seven Pan-Asian regions STAR Sports and ESPN is currently broadcasting to, be sure to catch Drinie Aguilar and her showcase of gaming in your sports channel.

  

It's definitely not the real thing, but don't deny that you wish you could build something this magnificent. Engadget reports that some folks in Jiayi, Taiwan made a life-sized version of the original RX-78 Gundam for their annual Lantern Festival.

This 1:1 scale model of the Gundam was put up as part of their annual festival to celebrate the coming of a new lunar year. In this case, while lanterns for their parade would normally have been made of animals, a competition was held this year. As you can see, the Gundam won out, though we definitely agree that it deserves the spotlight, so to speak, at least this one time.

For those who don't know what life-sized means in this context, Amuro Ray's RX-78-2 Gundam is approximately 18 meters tall. In other words, what you're looking at is one of the biggest lanterns ever created, and definitely one of the biggest Gundams ever recreated from reel to real.

In order to improve profitability in its chip division and hit their target operating margin of 5 percent, Sony announced that it will cut back on future chip spending. This according to Reuters. The same report also suggests that the company may not continue in-house production of its Cell microchips.

According to Reuters, Sony Executive Deputy President Yutaka Nakagawa told reporters that investment in chips would come down significantly from the 460 billion yen ($3.8 billion) allocated over the three business years since April 2004.

The climbing cost of increasingly heavy initial investments as costs for chip-making equipment is one of the reasons for the company's decision.

"When we first offered the PS2, there were no semiconductor companies that were able to make chips for the machine, so we did it ourselves. But now, there are companies that specialize in chip production," Nakagawa said.

Talking about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corp. - the world's largest and second-largest contract chip makers - Nakagawa said, "They are aggressively investing in cutting-edge technology. Our basic understanding is that we probably won't need to do everything by ourselves for next-generation chips."

This year's Consumer Electronics Show somewhat served as the battle arena for the on-going war between disc formats Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. It would be remembered that it was in that show where chip manufacturer Broadcom revealed decoder chip capable of decoding both Blu-ray and HD DVD video. As next year's show in Last Vegas draws near, rumors about a hybrid player resurface.

Interestingly, the said war has been an exciting thing to behold. According to industry players, the winner will be decided in two years when two formats finally gain ground. Taiwan doesn't approve of creating hybrid players but there have been hushed talks about companies Toshiba and Samsung combining technology to create one. All this while, small company VidaBox quietly introduced the LUX and MAX Systems.

Now, where is this war heading? Will there be an eventual victor or are we going to see a fusion of technology. If we are going to take the road that leads to merging of technology, there can actually be two scenarios:

• One media player with a single drive, capable of playing both formats
• One media player with both a Blu-ray and HD DVD drive installed

Regardless, these forms will definitely cost consumers more money as compared to just a dedicated player. When you really think about it, this has always been the case anyway. It's the next logical step in technology. And until the day any or both Blu Ray and HD DVD become the standard format, these things will always mean a fortune.