Just as Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich opens the regular staff meetings before a dramatically reduced IDF2015 Shenzhen conference, it is a good time to review how government and enterprises don’t see eye to eye when it comes to strategic business.

China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer is world’s fastest supercomputer, at 33 PFLOPS demonstrated and 55 PFLOPS theoretical performance.

Remember the Tianhe-2 machine at Guangzhou Supercomputer Center, the current World’s number one according to Top 500 Supercomputer list? Unlike some other China supercomputers – Tianhe-2 is fully Intel based machine,  the world’s largest assembly of Intel Xeon CPUs and Xeon Phi accelerators.

Even after Intel ‘opened the kimono’ and gave a nearly 70%  discount on its processors and accelerators, it has given Intel, and therefore US technology sector a major foothold in China and Asian region as such. Over the course of past two years, we were involved in a lot of discussions with Intel staff who were not privy to see the financial impact of the deal — and even argued our undoubtedly solid information. We’re not here to report how things should be, or are in marketing and investor presentations to its numerous staff, but how things really are.

During 2015, the Tianhe-2 supercomputer was supposed to be doubled in its size, up to 110 PFLOPs peak, again using the very same Intel processors and accelerators. Since now these are mature products with lower real manufacturing cost for Intel, they could finally make some real money.

Well, it was not to be: our tweety bird from the window chirped to us that Uncle Sam has put this supercomputer centre, together with National University of Defense Technology in Changsha, the system’s creators, and Tianjin centre, among others, on so a so-called “Denial List”, which prevents any high technology from the USA to be sold to these sites. Our sources used even harsher words.

Knowing that these several sites alone are expected to order some 250+ PFLOPS of compute in the next few years (around 500,000 top-end Broadwell-EP Xeon E5v4 processors, or  approximately $1 billion high margin list price) and they were THE Intel friendly ones, this is quite a loss to Intel, thanks to Uncle Sam.

But, what’s worse strategic loss in time is that, based on this decision as an excuse, indigenous China high end processor architectures can now push the government to gradually remove any dependence on US. This means just one thing: an AMD or Intel x86 processor technology is increasingly becoming errata non grata. Should the Chinese government react in force, it will give the Chinese vendors the blank check support to go all the way a developing their Alpha, POWER and MIPS processors for both the government and the mainstream commercial use.

You may think they are not up to the mark, but remember how fast British ARM architecture became the dominant processing architecture in the world. And this group doesn’t need to worry about the antiquated x86 ISA, worry about satisfying the dumbed down shareholder masses, or overpaying their marketing and sales staff, as well as the fat check, golden parachute-protected CxOs.

They have taken the best that the USA has developed (some of key Alpha, GPGPU and MIPS architects left US over the course of past four years, a lot of them due to non-renewed visas) and discarded due to corporate shenanigans, and the continued developing it much farther than anyone expected both on hardware and software side.

Five years ago, ShenWei showed a CPU that performed faster than the fastest GPUs of the time. Now, fifth generation is approaching, slotting between Tesla and FirePro GPGPUs and next-gen Xeon Phi accelerators. However, this is not an accelerator or a GPGPU – this is a CPU.

So, thanks to Uncle Sam, China might not have a 110 PFLOPS Intel based supercomputer but it definitely will launch a 100 PFLOPS system based on upcoming 64-core, TFLOPS-class ShenWei Alpha, with true blue CPUs possibly faster per socket then even the next generation Xeon Phi or Volta/Pascal-based Teslas.  Next, of course 100 PFLOPS Chinese POWER8 or 9 — (thank you IBM) and then possibly even Loongson MIPS – -it may come back into the high end field with renewed government support because of this Uncle Sam move. All are clean, elegant, scalable high end RISC architectures.

So who are the winners and losers from this?

NUDT and Tianhe may be the losers for now, but only short term. They will simply speed up their HPC ARM plan.

Intel comes out the big loser from this and a lot: who will want to do a phased deployment large x86 machine in China now, and worry about future phases? Then comes Uncle Sam himself: they lost even that little bit of influence on the high end China HPC. How is that for “cutting your nose to spite your face?”.

VR WORLD’s  Analysis: US government moves accelerate the Chinese CPU roadmap while curtailing juiciest sales for Intel and other US vendors.

The post Uncle Sam Shocks Intel With a Ban on Xeon Supercomputers in China appeared first on VR World.

Two United States Navy F-18s made an emergency landing in Tainan, a city in south Taiwan, Wednesday afternoon after declaring an in-flight emergency due to a mechanical issue.

The two aircraft transmitted a 7700 “squawk” code which is recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization as meaning general emergency. The two aircraft landed safely at Tainan Air Force Base shortly after 1:00 pm.

An American diplomatic official is quoted by local media as saying the two aircraft were on a “routine” flight when they encountered a mechanical emergency and required to land. The official thanked Taiwan for its assistance in getting the planes safely to the ground.

As Taiwan’s Air Force does not have F-18s in its fleet, the aircraft and pilots will remain in Taiwan until technicians and spare parts can be sent in from the closest US base in Okinawa, Japan.

A sensitive landing

Landing two US military aircraft in Taiwan has the potential to create further complications due to the island’s unique relationship with China and most of the world.

Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, does not have formal diplomatic relations with most countries. Following the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Republic of China’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party retreated from China to Taiwan in 1949. That same year, Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China. Until the late 1970s most of the world considered the Republic of China (Taiwan) to be “China”. In 1979 that recognition shifted to China, with China taking the ROC’s former seat at the UN and the US and most countries of the world opening up full diplomatic relations.

Relations between most countries and Taiwan are conducted through non-official “Trade Institutes” that act as de-facto embassies without the official title.

To this day Taiwan and China see each other as the legitimate “China”, with the other being considered a rogue province. Relations between the two improved in 1992, when both ROC and PRC officials met to sign the 1992 Consensus which states that both sides agree there is “One China” but that definition is subject to interpretation. In 2005 the two sides agreed to have daily cross-strait flights.

While the United States does not have official relations with Taiwan, it provides defensive weapons to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act. The act does state that the US will come to the defense of Taiwan should the PRC attack it, provided that Taiwan does not declare independence first. While the US does not provide top-tier weapons to Taiwan for fear of angering China, it has provided the nation (under protest from China) with F-16s, Black Hawk helicopters, and Apache attack helicopters amongst other kit.

A ‘routine’ flight?

While diplomatic officials in Taiwan maintain that the flight was “routine”, it was likely anything but.

The area the jets flew through is heavily contested, and to get there they no doubt had to traverse through Chinese Air Defense Identification Zones.

In the last few years China has taken an aggressive posturing in the South China Sea, to the protest of neighbouring states. Many states in the area, such as the Philippines, have expressed concern about China’s expansion in the area. China has recently been carrying out military drills in the South China Sea’s Bashi Channel, near Philippines’ territorial waters, which is notable because of the distance from China’s coastlines.

It is likely that the US jets were in the region to shadow or monitor the drill to symbolize to China that the US has interests in the area as well. The emergency landing in Taiwan was no doubt noticed by China — but perhaps that was the point.

The post US F-18s Make Emergency Landing in Taiwan appeared first on VR World.

After recent delays, Sony (NYSE: SNE) has finally pinpointed a finalized release date for the launch of their next-gen console-and-handled combo for the Chinese market.

According to a recent press release from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia, Sony’s PlayStation 4 and PS Vita comes to China on March 20, 2015 for 2,899 RMB and 1,299 RMB respectively.

SCEJA has revealed two special edition “dragon” variants for each system to commemorate the Chinese launch, and both systems will be accompanied by the following day-one games:

PlayStation 4 Chinese Launch Titles

• DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
• King of Wushu: Free Early Access Edition
• Knack
• Mr.Pumpkin Adventure
• Rayman Legends
• Trials Fusion

PlayStation Vita Chinese Launch Titles

• DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
• Farming Simulator 14
• FINAL FANTASY X HD Remaster
• FINAL FANTASY X-2 HD Remaster
• One Tap Hero
• Rayman Legends
• TOUKIDEN-KIWAMI

While that current launch selection might seem lackluster, SCEJA plans to release a “steady stream” of titles to the region with the help of more than 70 third-party software development studios–26 of which are native Chinese developers.

Sony is committed to actively supporting Chinese developers to ensure the platform has a thriving and expansive library of games, so it looks like the PlayStation has a solid future within the region.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) got a head start over Sony by releasing the Xbox One last September following the Chinese government’s decision to lift the 14-year ban on consoles, and it’ll be interesting to see if Sony can assert their dominance to the new frontier that is the Chinese gaming market.

The Xbox One was first to launch in China, but can Sony win over this region as well?

But Sony’s biggest competitor won’t be Microsoft; it’ll be China’s black-market gaming sector that’s thrived over the last decade and a half thanks to the government’s tight gaming restrictions.

Although the red tape has been lifted and the PS4 and Xbox One are now legal, consumers may be hesitant to embrace the consolidated and limited entertainment options that the consoles offer and instead stick to the huge array of games available on the underground market.

Like Microsoft, Sony will also go against the mobile gaming sector, which has proven to be massively popular within the region.

Despite the hurdles, in the next few months we may see China’s gaming presence make a paradigm shift towards console gaming thanks to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as the People’s Republic of China represents a relatively new frontier for the console games market–and a new battleground for Microsoft and Sony.

The post Sony’s PS4 And PS Vita Come To China This Month appeared first on VR World.

A new report says that Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA)  will cut jobs in China.

The highly touted technology company that produces one of the world’s most popular electric cars is about to lose 180 employees in the Middle Kingdom. Tesla currently has 600 employees in China, where the stated number of jobs to be cut is a rather high 30% of the employee numbers posted in China overall.

According to various sources, Tesla Motors aims to restructure and tighten its position in that particular market with this move. The goal is to provide a boost in sales. But overall, the market will be the deciding factor in China for the American company. Tesla Motors makes nice sales in its respective niche overall. We can say that Tesla is the leader when it comes to electric car sales, but this may come to an end in the future years as well. Globally, they saw some other heavier competitors like BMW (ETR: BMW), Cadillac  (NYSE: GM) and others joining in the fight for electric vehicle supremacy. This is naturally providing the car maker with plenty to worry in the forthcoming months as well.

Earlier this year, Tesla China has already seen turnover in its leadership. First, its President Veronica Wu left in December, while its vice president of communications, June Jin, resigned last month. This would be worry some for some bigger companies, let alone a rather small one (by comparison to other big car makers). Tesla Motors is in a rather difficult day in age with sales numbers growing slow on certain markets, specially China as one of the biggest sources of income for several larger car manufacturers.

China is a difficult country for Tesla (and other car makers) overall. The local car production companies are subsidized by the government, there is no clear charging infrastructure set in place, and overall, the cars Tesla Motors imports to China cost more. This is all due to local import taxes, added and set to protect the domestic car industry.

One of the solutions would be to produce the car on site or in the country itself, providing Tesla Motors with the same leveled playing field as the other Chinese manufacturers. While the future seems bleak for Tesla in China for now, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the car maker over there. The overall effort the Chinese government is inputting in making the country pollution free and depending less on gasoline consumption and import, might well be the beacon of light for the car maker going forward in the future.

The post Tesla Motors Will Cut Jobs In China appeared first on VR World.

On March 8 Malaysia Airlines (KLSE: MAS) vanished from radar screens after a customary hand off from controller to controller. The flight then deviated from its planned course, its final destination unknown.

Despite an international search for the plane, involving, at its peak, a half-dozen nations, the fate of MH370 is a mystery that still eludes us. In the absence of an official — satisfying story — that ends with the wreckage being found, conspiracy theories have emerged with attempts to explain the fate of the aircraft and its crew.

It’s natural human tendency to try and explain-away something when the evidence isn’t available, or if things just don’t add up.

The conspiracy theories range from outlandish, to shockingly logical. Here’s a round-up of some of the most interesting:

Russian special forces hijacked MH370

A Russian takeover of the plane is the most recent theory to explain the disappearance, appearing in an article by technology writer and Popular Mechanics editor Jeff Wise published in New York magazine.

Wise hypothesizes that highly trained Russian operatives broke into the plane’s electronics bay — which is accessible from the first class cabin — and hacked the plane’s satellite transponder to feed to the receiving satellites false information to make it look like the plane was headed to the Indian Ocean. Then the operatives hijacked the plane, flying it north into Kazakhstan landing it at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

While this theory might seem compelling, especially since another Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down by Russian backed and trained rebels in Ukraine, the technical challenge of spoofing the plane’s location borders on impossible. The planes electronics system has its own safeguards to prevent things like this from happening, so the attackers would have had to have a very intimate — binary-level — knowledge of the system’s firmware and likely a mole inside the companies that designed the systems.

But such a sophisticated attack would need to have an endgame with a big payoff. What exactly would Russia want with a 777? Perhaps one of its passengers had secrets worth stealing?

US military shot down MH370

One of the other conspiracy theories in the unlikely folder is that MH370’s fate ended with the impact of a missile from the US military.

Within the area in the Indian Ocean where MH370 could have likely disappeared lies the island Diego Garcia and a US military base. This conspiracy theory holds that MH370 was hijacked and the hijackers planned for a Kamikazee-like mission to crash the plane into the base. However their mission failed when the US military shot the plane down.

The most obvious problem with this theory is the lack of wreckage. Shooting down an airplane would make a big mess and to this day wreckage has yet to be found. Even if military operatives managed to clean up most of the wreckage it would be a herculean task to get absolutely everything without anyone noticing.

A cockpit fire took down MH370

One of the most logical of the conspiracy theories is that an electrical fire in the cockpit caused the plane to crash. The crew would have been too distracted trying to fight the fire to radio for help. Eventually, the theory purports, the crew would have died of smoke inhalation causing the plane to crash into the ocean.

Like a US military shootdown theory, the lack of wreckage means that such an event is unlikely.

Will we ever know what happened to MH370?

Without a doubt the fate of MH370 is the greatest aviation mystery of our time. Though conspiracy theories like those above are based in more fallacy than fact, there are so many things that don’t add up — and seem nearly impossible — that give those theories creedance.

Consider the fact that an independent report released on the anniversary of the crash said that the battery in the plane’s blackbox had expired almost a year before the plane disappeared. Things like this raise questions: was this the product of sloppy maintenance? Or part of an elaborate plan to keep the fate of MH370 sealed?

Photo credit: Jeff Kubina/Flickr

The post One Year Later There’s Still No Definite Answers on the Fate of MH370 appeared first on VR World.

Recently security consultancy Bluebox Labs reported on some major security flaws found in the latest Xiaomi Mi 4 phone. Xiaomi didn’t take this criticism lying down, and has prepared a lengthy rebuttal to Bluebox’s claims.

While Xiaomi had already called the report “inaccurate” in a statement to VR World, Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s VP International responded to Bluebox Labs by saying the phone purchased by the company in China had been tampered with. It’s important to note that Bluebox had already tested the device to make sure that it was authentic and not a knockoff.

“We are certain the device that Bluebox tested is not using a standard MIUI ROM, as our factory ROM and OTA ROM builds are never rooted and we don’t pre-install services such as YT Service, PhoneGuardService, AppStats etc,” Barra said in his statement. “Bluebox could have purchased a phone that has been tampered with, as they bought it via a physical retailer in China. Xiaomi does not sell phones via third-party retailers in China, only via our official online channels and selected carrier stores.”

If Barra’s claim holds true, this brings up the very worrying issue of supply chain security, as Bluebox points out. If these — authentic — phones are modified by the retailer, or someone else in the supply chain, that’s incredibly concerning for device security and brand reputation.

Barra says that customers should only purchase Xiaomi phones from the official online store to ensure authenticity and “reputable retailers”. But what makes a “reputable retailer”? If the one Bluebox purchased its phone from — and it went to great lengths to ensure authenticity — isn’t reputable than which ones are? After all, China is home to fake Xiaomi stores (and fake Apple as well as Samsung stores too).

If indeed what Barra says is true, this is largely a lesson in supply chain security. All vendors need to ensure that the China side of their supply chain isn’t compromised by a man-in-the-middle attack. Because clearly even local companies aren’t immune.

UPDATE: March 9 2015 11:00 AM China Standard Time

Xiaomi emailed VR World further statements to expand upon what it told Bluebox Labs. Here’s the statement in full.

There are glaring inaccuracies in the Bluebox blog post. Official Xiaomi devices do not come rooted and do not have malware pre-installed. Our investigation based on information received so far indicates that the phone Bluebox obtained is a counterfeit product purchased through an unofficial channel on the streets in China. We’re gathering more information to fully confirm this and should have a final answer in the next 24 hours.

With the large parallel street market for mobile phones in China, not only is it somewhat common for third parties to tamper with the software sold on smartphones, but there are counterfeit products which are almost indistinguishable from the original products on the outside. This happens across all brands, affecting both Chinese and foreign smartphone companies selling in China. 

Furthermore, “entrepreneurial” retailers may add malware and adware to these devices, and even go to the extent of pre-installing modified copies of popular benchmarking software such as CPU-Z and Antutu, which will run “tests” showing the hardware is legitimate — fooling even very discerning buyers.

Xiaomi takes all necessary measures to crack down on the manufacturers of fake devices or anyone who tampers with our software, supported by all levels of law enforcement agencies in China. However, for the safety of our users, Xiaomi and all smartphone brands always recommend buying phones through authorised channels. Xiaomi only sells via Mi.com, and a small number of Xiaomi trusted partners including mobile operators and select authorised retailers, such as Flipkart in India. 

In addition, contrary to what Bluebox has claimed, MIUI is true Android, which means MIUI follows exactly Android CDD, Google’s definition for compatible Android devices, and it passes all Android CTS tests, the process used by the industry to make sure a given device is fully Android compatible. All Xiaomi devices sold in China and international markets are fully Android compatible.

The post Updated: Xiaomi Hits Back Hard at Bluebox Labs’ Claims appeared first on VR World.

In a very special Xenoblade-themed Nintendo Direct, the Japanese gaming giant showcased a half-hour of straight gameplay footage for the upcoming Wii U exclusive JPRG Xenoblade Chronicles X.

The footage gives a delightful overview the RPG’s expansive battle system, which is a real-time action-based active system very much akin to the combat mechanics found in the original Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii.

Fighting sequences are pretty immersive, painting a distinct picture of being able to drop in and out of combat within the game’s wide-scaled environments. The UI is sleek and MMO-like, featuring a hotbar with various abilities balanced out by active cooldowns, as well as a dynamic party-based system for strategic and tactical battles.

Combat will be fluid and different characters will have “Arts” (as Gamingbolt notes these are very similar to Monado Arts featured in the first game) which are color-coded skillsets determined by various battle stances and techniques. There are four different kinds of arts: fighting, shooting, support and weakening.

Combos are an important part of combat, and you’ll be able to thread together attacks between various party members for spectacular high-damage finishing moves.

Plus every character has a sort of Limit Break-like Super Saiyan-esque boosted-damage status called an “Overclock”, which can raise damage output and unlock various other abilities.

Apart from combat sequences, the new 30 minute video gives us a decent glimpse at Xenoblade Chronicles X‘s class change system, and gamers can expect to see a multitude of different jobs and classes each with their own set of unique roles and abilities.

Nintendo still hasn’t revealed a release date for North America and Europe, and hopefully we’ll hear something on that account soon. I don’t know about you but I’m incredibly hyped for this game, and it looks to be a strong contender for 2015’s best RPG of the year.

Since were betting some of you don’t speak Japanese, Cheesemeister3k translated some of the more important facts from the video:

• Last time, we introduced Planet Mira. This time, we’ll explain the battle system. Tatsu can’t battle, so has to stay at home.

• You’d be in trouble without Tatsu. Need info? Ask him. You won’t get any info without him. He’ll keep things going smoothly.

• Now introducing beasts near NLA (New Los Angeles). Switch between sword and gun for simple attacks, activated by auto attack.

• More advanced techniques are called arts. They’re categorized into fighting, shooting, support, and weakening arts.

• Be careful when using arts: you have to wait a certain amount of time before you’re allowed to recast the same art.

• It’s important to balance usage of auto attack and arts. Soul Voice lets you communicate with your party to use specified arts.
• Soul Voice settings let you plan out strategies in advance of battle. The characters will use the ones you select
  Combos increase damage. Learn arts to generate combos. Doing a combo will let you deal 1.5x damage. Hit from behind.

• Shooting from above or below will increase your accuracy. You can target parts of an enemy to break defenses piece by piece.

• Double recast, waiting for the recast meter to refill a second time after becoming available again, will boost arts strength.

• You can bring your fallen party members back by resuscitating them. You can use auto attack while waiting for double recast.

• Overclock Gear reduces recast waiting times. Using the same arts consecutively ups damage. Triple recast is stronger still.

• Enemy Icons display their level, other info. An eye indicates visual search. A bolt means seismic sensitivity (tread lightly).

• Enemies with a circle around the eye icon hunt in packs, and will call others when they see you.

• Equipment. Weapons come in melee and shooting varieties. Armor: helmets, body armor, left arm, right arm, and leg armor.

• As you use weapons and armor, the supplying company will develop new equipment products for you.

• Equipment slots allow you to customize your weapons and armor with stat-modifying items.

• Leveling up. Gain experience not just from battle, but by finding treasure, etc. Unlocked the arts in your class to open more.

• Choose which class and set of arts to unlock and change to.

• You can form teams of 4 characters. Here’s Ilina. Guin has youthful strength. Doug uses heavy equipment, and is kind.

• This is Lao. Many characters will surprise you with what they bring to battles.

• How are you supposed to fight this big robot? Use your battle skills to win. There’s another weapon at your disposal: dolls.

• Next presentation will be about Dolls

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X Gets New 30 Minute Combat Trailer appeared first on VR World.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is under fire for incorrectly listing the specs of the GTX 970, and while the manufacturer has announced that it will provide a way for users to return the card to those looking to do so, that does not seem to extend to a majority of Nvidia’s partners around the globe.

Major retailers such as Amazon and NewEgg are offering refunds to any user looking to return the GTX 970, but in countries like India, customers are left to fend for themselves as retailers are refusing to process returns.

The issue with the GTX 970 is that Nvidia implemented a new memory segmentation in the card, which meant that the 4GB available memory was sectioned into a 3.5GB segment and a 512MB segment. The memory controllers in the 3.5GB segment have direct access to the L2 cache, and deliver an advertised bandwidth of 196GB/s, but the last 512MB has to interface with another memory controller to access the cache, leading to a drastic reduction in bandwidth to 28GB/s.

The situation is more pronounced when a user has the two or more GTX 970 cards in SLI, with a noticeable decrease in framerates when gaming at higher resolutions. Indian hardware site HardwareBBQ posted a conversation between a user facing such issues with the GTX 970 in SLI, and his failed attempts to get a refund for the card. The conversation starts off with the user talking to an Nvidia engineer on the GeForce forums, after which he is redirected to talk to the card vendor directly to initiate the refund process (which in this case is Zotac India).

However, the e-mail communique results in the technical manager for Zotac India, Swarn Singh, refusing to provide a refund as the GTX 970 was delivered “as it is written on the box with all specification.” The user was redirected to contact Nvidia, with Singh stating that a refund would be entertained only if the card suffered from any warranty-related issues. A discussion with an Nvidia engineer based out of India by the name of Rajaram also fails to yield any results, with the engineer stating that it is not “possible to suffer lag (microstutters) when the FPS is high” on the GTX 970.

Zotac India’s stubbornness in acknowledging an issue exists with the GTX 970 is alarming, considering that the brand is one of several vendors processing returns on a global level. The situation is exacerbated when taken into account the fact that video cards often carry a markup of 30 to 35% in the country.

Furthermore, Nvidia claimed that it would assist users that were unable to claim a return for their GTX 970, but the conversations with retailers and discussions on message boards in India show that the chip manufacturer is not offering a solution to users who purchased the card in the country.

With card vendors like Zotac directing users back to Nvidia and the chip vendor not providing any recourse regarding the issue, Indian users are largely left in the cold when it comes to dealing with returns or refunds for the beleaguered GTX 970.

The post GTX 970 Owners In India Left To Fend For Themselves appeared first on VR World.

In the last few years the Asia-Pacific area has revealed itself to be fertile ground for two-wheeled electric vehicles, with almost 45 million units sold by 2012 and and an expected 50% increase by 2018.

Unlike in the two other world’s biggest markets of Western Europe and North America, where electric vehicles are most seen as an expensive way of life, in Asia electric powered vehicles are seen as a practical and cheap alternative for daily commuting. China alone became has been the world frontrunner since 1995 becoming the largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer and exporter, accounting for 92 % of the global market with four times more e-bikes than cars.

“Chinese people love bicycles and now they’ve become electric‏,” Shenta Tsai, Chief Technology Officer for Mobipus Technology, an electric powertrain company, said to VR World. “A few customers of mine in China, they produce from 1 to 4 million electric scooter per year   99% of electric scooter’s motor are made in China, about 95% of their controllers and ‏ 98% of the frames and plastic are also from there.”

However in neighboring Taiwan, a country with the highest scooter density in the world, adherence to the transition to electric transportation has been far from hasty. Though it has almost 15 million scooters for 23 million inhabitants, only 122,500 scooters are electric.

If there is a good place to check the feasibility of electric scooters that place is Taiwan as two-wheel vehicles are completely omnipresent and an essential part of daily life mostly petrol powered ones.

As with other Eastern Asian metropolis, the city of Taipei is in a basin which traps all the air pollution produced by high levels of petrol motorcycles emissions.  However, this high dependence on scooters can be an advantage and a disadvantage to the inclusion of environment-friendly solutions.

“The traditional gasoline scooter in Taiwan is one of cheapest forms of transportation in the world.” says Azizi Tucker, former region supplier development in Asia for Tesla Motors and currently VP of Engineering at LMD Racing and Owner of Sketch to SKU, an engineering consulting company. “Scooters are typically kept for 10 to 15 years and receive only the most minimal service. They use very little gas. As such electric scooters in many ways are very hard to market in Taiwan since the gas scooters are so cheap to the user”.

As an example, Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) implemented a program to support e-scooters in 1998, providing a subsidy of $1000 for each vehicle purchased. Although this reduced the price to be roughly on par with low-powered gasoline models, it failed to stimulate interest when battery-charging infrastructure and general e-scooter performance capabilities were still in their infancy.

For the duration of that particular program, which concluded in 2002, only about 26,000 e-scooters were purchased. New subsidies are in place, but rather than increasing the amount, they have decreased.

Although it managed to reduce the price of an electric motorcycle to that of a gasoline-powered model it didn’t really stimulate demand as not many people became interested in a product where battery-charging infrastructure and autonomy was still not good enough. For the duration of the EPA program, which concluded in 2002,  and only about 26,000 electric motorcycles were purchased.

Creating a fertile market

While some might believe that the industry would struggle after the cessation of the program, this is not the case with Gogoro, a small Taiwanese startup founded in 2011 by ex-HTC engineers (TPE: 2498) managed to raise $150 million in venture capital (a good portion came from HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang) and launched the Smartscooter, an innovative electric scooter.

“Gogoro’s vision was inspired by one of the greatest challenges of our time: How to distribute energy in a smarter way to have the greatest impact on our lives and the lives of future generations,” said a company spokesperson.

Tucker believes Taiwan can finally be at the forefront of the electric motion vanguard.

“Gogoro is a huge advancement for electric scooters. The quality of the design and the performance are a huge step forward compared to the electric scooters on the market now,” he says. “The battery swap is a smart solution to the charging problem. It is especially useful in cities where people do not own garages.”

In Tucker’s view the benefit of going with electric is not short-term, as it helps moving young riders toward electric vehicles as a transportation solution and it can significantly decrease tailpipe emissions.

He states that the gas scooter industry in Taiwan is very highly developed with amazing value for the money with good gas mileage and speed. Nowadays while $0.03 of gasoline keeps a small scooter going for between 1 and 1.5 km, the same amount in electricity allows an e-scooter to run for almost triple the distance.

“Also due to the long life of scooters there are many scooters on the street with older more polluting emissions,” he says. “The industry has been forced to raise prices to support better emissions but that has led to decreased sales. There is not much development since the vehicles are so refined. In short they are well adapted to their environment, but at the same time destructive of the environment.”

Government can help and hinder

However, while in China government regulations have helped stimulate the electric scooter industry, in Taiwan government intervention is still not sufficient or has been misguided.

“The most obvious step for more widespread adoption is government intervention in the form of tax credits, subsidies, or increased tax on gas scooters. It can and should offer subsidizes for electric scooters to allow new manufacturers to get through at least three generations of products,” he told VR World.

Mobipus’ Tsai has a more cynical view of the government’s intervention in the electric vehicle industry.

“Taiwan’s electric scooter market has been framed by the business leaders and cheated by ex-government officials,” he told VR World.‏ “The government subsidizes wrong products for the market and tries to kill the electric scooter by setting up unreasonable regulations and subsidize underpowered, unusable products that make the public feel that electric scooters are not good enough for everyday usage‏‏.”

So although Tsai thinks Gogoro’s idea for power stations is smart he believes it won’t work without government support for acquisition of land needed for battery exchange stations and better incentives for electric technology development startups.

“The Singapore government offered me five years of income tax break, and 10 years 300% R&D expense exemption, plus three years 1% interest start up loans, and offered to invest in my company if I moved the HQ and R&D to Singapore‏,” he claims. “While Taiwan’s government would rather subsidize electric scooter manufactured in China (like e-moving), but not give any help to local Taiwan manufacturers for high-end components for EV‏.”

In some cases it’s also a matter different government approaches, since the Chinese government executive powers are simply more powerful allowing it to simply ban gas scooters in some cities, while in Taiwan’s red tape can sometimes make the process harder.

“I think Taiwan’s electric scooter won’t take off anytime soon but the tip-over point is getting closer as people realize the advantages of EV‏.”

Photo credit: Daniel Spiller

The post Why Aren’t Electric Scooters Taking Off in Taiwan? appeared first on VR World.

Earlier this month Cheetah Mobile — a China-based mobile app company with a sizable presence in Taipei — announced that its CM Security suite hit the 100 million download mark in a year and a day, beating many well-known apps such as Line and Instagram. Not to be outdone by its rival, Qihoo announced Friday that its 360 Security App had also hit the 100 million milestone — but all from international users.

“We’re thrilled that 100 million users internationally are embracing 360 Security and supporting our mission to secure mobile live worldwide,” said Huang Yan, Head of Product at 360 Security Group, in a press release. “It’s clear that our rejuvenated focus on delivering critical features that quickly and easily keep 360 Security users’ Android smartphones in top shape is satisfying the market’s growing demand for optimization and security apps.”

According to data from App Annie, a mobile app analytics firm, 360 Security is the most downloaded Google Play app in five countries, and the top 10 most downloaded app in 34 countries globally.

However, 360 Security did not say how long it took for its app to reach the 100 million mark. It could be that Cheetah Mobile’s CM Security still has the record for growth.

The post Qihoo’s 360 Security Also Claims 100 Million Record appeared first on VR World.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Wizcorp, a Tokyo based company that specializes in mobile social games has gone gold with its Striker Arena game. This tactical-action soccer game will be available on the App Store for iPad and iPhone on February 24.

Originally planned as a freemium game Striker Arena has opted for premium game buisness model. Wizcorp came to conclusion that a free to play gameplay but one plagued with thousands of ads and “buy this” popups does not mesh well with their vision of the game. Basic purchase will cost $2.99 but all future updates and potential new teams will be free of charge.

Without the usual free to play item or team limitations the player will be able to choose from Vikings, Gladiators or Samurai and enjoy the game from the start.

On a distant planet, ancient tribes have settled their wars through an old brutal discipline, Soccer of the Gods. Once every ten years, tribes gather in the Striker Arena tournament to battle each other under the authority of their Emperor. Each tribe enlists the bravest and fiercest of their kin to fight for glory. These few are known as the Strikers. Their spilt blood and sweat in the arena feeds the Emperor’s ever growing lust for true transcendence.

Striker Arena is a 3D tactical action fantasy soccer game that pits the Vikings, Gladiators and Samurai against each other in the Soccer of the Gods.

Some of the features of this game are arenas with their own traps and surprises, two player Quick Match mode, 48 challenge Story Mode, 3 AI levels of difficulty and good old chiptune music.

The player controls a Striker team and his objective is to get the ball, pass it and shoot it into the arena vortex. On his way to victory he will be able to move players, intercept opponent passes and swipe the screen to make passes and shots. The only rule in the Soccer of the Gods is that there are no rules. Fighting and blasting away the enemy team members while being juiced up on special power ups is not only allowed but encouraged.

Soccer of the Gods starts in February, until then, the Emperor will be waiting.

The post Striker Arena, Soccer of the Gods Starts in February appeared first on VR World.

Namco Bandai’s Japanese channel has uploaded a fresh new gameplay trailer for Pokken Tournament, the fighter that seamlessly blends Pokemon and Tekken together for gloriously chaotic combat.

Although the traditional turn-based combat of the Pokemon handheld games is quite beloved to most every gamer, I think most of us have always wanted to see their favorite pocket monsters duel it out in no-holds-barred battles.

The Pokken Tournament arcade fighter is the purest manifestation of that desire, culminating in an invigorating and dazzling expose of what really happens when Pokemon showdown, bringing to mind epic fights on a DBZ scale.

The trailer was spotted in a recent Tweet from Katsuhiro Harada, the father of Tekken, who has been a major motivator for the game.

This new bit of footage showcases some incredibly delectable beat-em-up havoc that builds our hype to exponential proportions.

In short, it’s totally badass and looks to be one of the best fighting games I’ve seen in a long time.

Utilizing signature techniques and moves from the previous Pokemon games, the game will feature a number of different pocket monsters to choose from–Lucario, Machamp, Blaziken, Suicune, Gardevoir, and Pikachu.

Other extra “assist” Pokemon like Emolga, Fennekin, Snivy, Frogadier, Eevee and Lapras will help characters out with specific buffs along the way.

The moves are explosive and entertaining beyond measure, and the game will also feature mega-evolutions and power-up specials to dish out some serious colorful pain.

It looks like the new trailer is a demo/intro video for the Japanese version, which is going to be released as an arcade fighter with special controllers.

The game is planned for a release in Japan this summer, and Bandai Namco also plans for an overseas release across Europe and North America as a possible Nintendo exclusive.

Invariably the best part about the footage is at the very end where Pikachu delivers some serious hurt on Lucario. Ouch doesn’t even come close to the pain that the little yellow electromancer dishes out…and we should be able to expect all Pokken fighters to have finishing moves like these.

The post New Pokken Tournament Trailer Delivers Explosive Hype appeared first on VR World.

UPDATE: Square Enix has revealed that the Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae demo will be playable on the same day of Type-0‘s release.

The code for Episode Duscae will last for a full year after the game’s launch, and there is no gameplay or trial period limit on the demo: you’ll be able to play it as much as you like provided it stays on your HDD.

Original story as follows.

Some new info on Final Fantasy 15‘s upcoming demo has been spotted, revealing a few basics on how the gameplay will work in Episode Duscae.

Siliconera reports that the demo will feature a number of interesting tidbits like being able to cook (and subsequently eat cooked food for small buffs), highlighting major features of the Duscae region’s rolling plains and towering mountains, and that players can actually fight the Behemoth–but it takes some tracking and hunting.

The following details were originally found in a Gamestalk article, and were directly sourced from Famitsu.

• The Duscae region has a number of different areas to explore, including mountains, lush forests, and rolling plains. Cave systems are also included, and will sometimes hold treasures guarded by high-level monsters.

• Experienced earned in every battle is “pooled” together and then awarded to characters back at the camp.

• The camp is a safe zone where players can initiate banter as well as eat Ignis’ “home cooking”, as well as make their own dishes and meals to raise their “cooking skill”.

• Eating food will grant minor character buffs.

• Ingredients can be found from defeated monsters and can also be purchased in the city.

• The Behemoth can be fought as a boss, but players will have to search throughout the region for clues and hunt him down. The fight itself is noted to be quite challenging and party wipes will be frequent.

• K.O.’ed characters can be revived by fellow companions.

Square own Enix’s Hajime Tabata is scheduled to host a special FF15-centric Active Time Report live stream on Feb. 20 that will showcase various features of the demo, including controls and other gameplay mechanics.

On top of the new info we also have a gallery of new gorgeous screenshots to hold you over in the meantime.

And in case you haven’t seen the Final Fantasy Type-0 HD trailer, we have it embedded above. It includes a look at both the upcoming HD remastered as well as a brief look at the FF15 demo.

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD releases on March 17, 2015 in North America, and Day One editions will get exclusive access to the Final Fantasy 15: Episode Duscae demo.

The post New Final Fantasy XV Screens And Demo Activities Revealed appeared first on VR World.

Fincon, a Korean game development team from South Korea has released a trailer for its new apocalyptic fantasy RPG Angel  Stone.

Founded by Chung-gil Yu, a gaming industry veteran this team consists of people that worked on games like Ninth Seal, Archlord and Reign of Revolution. Following the success of their first title Hello Hero that has more than 14 milion registered users Fincon is ready for a new game.

“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again.”

Matthew 24:21

According to the prophecy in the end of days a great destruction would fall upon mankind. The chosen would be saved from this dark torment by a host of heaven’s angels.

As usual with these inprecise things no one took the thought of who would protect the angels. One by one the angels fell prey to the demonspawn armies of Hell. Now instead of prayers to the Guardian Angels all that humanity has left are the screams of the tortured and the gnashing of the teeth.

In this darkest hour one hope emerges. The last angel Archangel Michael and the last of remaining humans join forces to drive off this evil. Using the Angel Stones to accumulate the power of the fallen angels these allies empower themselves with the divine essence, giving them power to fight the darkness.

This trailer shows one of these angel divine essence empowered humans, a Xena warrior princess-like geek fantasy that single handedly takes on a huge demon brute straight from the pits of hell. The trailer was done in collaboration with Blur, an award-winning American-based production studio known for its beautiful cinematic work on Avatar, League of Legends, Elder Scrolls Online, BioShock, Halo and more.

The game will be available on App Store, Google Play Store, and Facebook Canvas mid-2015.

The post Angel Stone Trailer Released appeared first on VR World.

Monolith Soft has released a hefty amount of new Xenoblade Chronicles X info on the game’s official Japanese website, revealing a bunch of new pictures of New Los Angeles, the planet Mira, characters, quest arcs…and much more.

As Xenoblade Chronicles X is one of the most anticipated games of the year, any little scrap of info is enough to send nerds like myself into a hype-fueled flurry of excitement.

But once again Japan has one-upped the Western world’s style of teasers by unleashing a volley of new tantalizing images and info on the game, painting a clearer picture of Monolith Soft’s new magnum opus.

First off let’s take a look at character creation options.

Character Creation & Customization

Monolith Soft affirms that players will have the chance to create their own specific “Avatars” by customizing various staple features like eye color, skin color, height, hair color/style and more.

Players will also be able to customize their Avatar’s voice, and the website has a nice little preview of audio voice samples across both male and female heroes.

The character page has also been updated with in-depth dossiers on Xenoblade Chronicles X‘s in-game cast, which we have listed below.

Note that the descriptions are based on loose Japanese-to-English translations, and this probably isn’t the full list of characters.

• Elma – BLADE leader, known for her calm and insightful judgement while in and out of battle.

• Lynlee – As a genius engineer, Lynlee serves as an invaluable mechanic for the BLADE outfit.

• Tatsu – Appears to be a quirky alien indigenous to the planet Mira, very cheerful and has an innocent demeanor.

• Van Damme – BLADE commander who served as a chief engineer for the interstellar immigrant ship Moby Dick and leads the expedition forces on the planet Mira.

• Irina – Dedicated blade operative, known for her skills in the previous Doll Corps outfit.

• Guin – Young devout fighter who served in the Doll Corps alongside Elma and Irina.

• Nagi – Served as the captain of the crash-landed Moby Dick interstellar ship, currently serves as a high-ranking military executive on New Los Angeles.

• Maurice – Appears to be the president or administrative politician on New Los Angeles, acting as a chief member of the bureaucracy for the new frontier.

• Player Character (Avatar)

Planet Mira

Now let’s take a look at the game’s major fantasy world, Planet Mira. The planet is separated into five distinct major continental zones: the Forgotten Canyon, White Tree Continent, the Luminous Forest, the Black Steel Continent, and finally the Primal Wilderness.

In an effort to colonize offworld zones, Earth sent off the interstellar transport ship called the Moby Dick to look for prime life-sustaining planets.

The Moby Dick soon crash landed upon one such planet, Mira, and after two months, formed New Los Angeles (NLA) which served as the bastion of humanity in the foreign world.

Throughout their journey, players will explore Mira’s five regions in full open-world style, coming across a number of fantastic and sci-fi creatures along the way.

According to the brief introduction, players will be able to “seamlessly” traverse the world of Mira, hopping from continent to continent as they progress through the storyline.

The areas themselves are so incredibly bizarre and truly bring a sense of pure sci-fi mastery, melding wonder, splendor and curiosity together to breathe life into yet another world that’s rife with amazing style.

The sheer scope and “otherworldliness” of the planet says volumes about the game itself, and remains one of my most anticipated desires: I can’t wait to roam and carouse the regions, basking in their titanic strangeness and take in their weird alien vistas complimented with towering tentacled monstrosities and other alien flora and fauna.

New Los Angeles – The Hub of Humanity

New Los Angeles (NLA) is a city-state that acts as the major hub for human life on Mira, and is the headquarters for the BLADE military operation that protects the colony from on-world dangers.

NLW is actually the residential area from the first Moby Dick ship transplanted into the world itself, making it quite symbolic, and the city spearheads all efforts to cultivate the alien planet to make it a “second Earth”.

The techno-industrial futuristic city is sectioned off into four different areas: the BLADE area, industrial area, commercial area and residential area.

But NLA isn’t just about high-tech machines, ships and military outfits: it has a stylish side with tropical palm trees and sun-lit squares that emulate the upscale city on Earth, making it quite appealing. NLA also features beautiful gardens and parks that are perfect for evening strolls, designed to make colonists feel right at home.

Players will be able to visit these areas at their leisure, and possibly do some shopping here and there on their days off.

BLADE and the Eight Factions

BLADE is the primary military faction in Xenoblade Chronicles X that’s charged with protecting the citizens of New Los Angeles and spearheading the frontier efforts for the planet.

BLADE operatives are thrust into the most dangerous and hazardous missions in order to secure zones as well as explore and scout out various regions of Mira’s five continents. Military officials are charged with taking on hostile alien forces in direct combat encounters, while collecting information and key supplies along the way.

Members of the elite military task force also have to search Mira for “life points”, a sort of ethereal life force/essence, which might be the key in resurrecting or sustaining part of New Los Angeles’ populace that remains “asleep”.

The translations are a bit iffy, but it looks like a portion of the Moby Dick’s immigrants have been placed in a type of suspended slumber (possibly a sort of death state) and can only be brought back with “life points”.

BLADE has eight distinct Unions (or departments, sort of like guilds) that players can affiliate themselves with throughout the game.

Every Union has its own unique line of quests and missions, and completing them earns players a “Union point” which can be spent in ranking up their standing in the particular faction.

One of the main benefits of choosing a Union is that you get “Union support”, which could possibly be various upgrades like weapons and armor, or perhaps a specific skill increase.

Additionally you’ll be able to change your Union affiliation within the game, and you’re free to choose any Union you like.

Quests

Xenoblade Chronicles X will feature a number of different quest arcs similar to any open-world RPG, including main story quests and side quests.

The Japanese site also mentions something called “Kizuna Quests”, which the translations roughly say are “made in the wake of new encounter”. These could be found peppered across Mira, outside of the fortress-city of New Los Angeles.

Additionally the site shows off the in-game mini-map which looks pretty amazingly dynamic. And if you ever get lost in the game, you can call upon a magical “navigation ball” that points you in the right direction, leading you to items and quest locations.

Last but not least, we have a new batch of Xenoblade Chronicles X artwork for you to feast your eyes on. Check below for some glorious sci-fi paintings!

And if you can’t get enough Xenoblade, check out 25 minutes of in-game footage that showcases off Monolith Soft’s RPG mastery in action. Even if you’ve already seen it, it’s good for another view (or another twenty).

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X World Areas, Customizations And More Revealed appeared first on VR World.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Taiwan’s economy industrialized rapidly, by the 1990s becoming a high-income mature economy with a purchasing power parity (PPP) comparable to many first world economies.

Taiwan was able to do this partially because it was in the right place at the right time, but also because it built innovative companies. Taiwanese companies, with the advantage of speaking the same language, were the first into China as it opened up to the world, building with the help of Hong Kong capital, now-famous ODM/OEM firms like Foxconn (TPE: 2354) in Shenzhen, China, and at home in Taiwan the modern PC components industry with giants such as Gigabyte (TPE: 2376), Asus (TPE: 2357) and TSMC (TPE: 2330). These companies are the epitome of innovation; their respective markets didn’t really exist in the years before they were founded.

So it’s troubling when an executive from a Chinese company says that Taiwan must be more innovative and import Chinese thinking if it wants to remain competitive. During a recent Cheetah Mobile — a Chinese mobile app company with a significant presence in Taiwan —  press event in Taipei one of the company’s executives mused on stage that while Taiwan was a very important player during the PC era it lost a lot of opportunities during the mobile era because of the failure of its companies to adapt.

The CEO of Cheetah Mobile made similar comments at an event in Taipei in January, admonishing young Taiwanese for their lack of entrepreneurial drive and innovation in the workplace.

“If you go to any cafe in Zhonggguancun in Beijing, or CBD in Shenzhen, you’ll immediately hear people discussing startups and investments and dreams. In a cafe in Taipei, you’ll rarely hear this,” he is quoted as saying on stage. “Taipei lacks this energy and investment environment. So even if Taiwanese youth have dreams, how can they be fearless? There needs to be a base for fearlessness.”

This is slightly ironic, since a large part of Taiwan’s economic advantage is based on defining itself against China: Taiwanese companies are innovative, contract law is generally respected and the legal system is predictable, there’s a large educated work force to draw from.

But it’s also not incorrect, as even ministers from Taiwan’s government admit that the country is losing its edge. During a November speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, Taiwan’s Chang San-cheng, then the Minister of Science and Technology, called on young Taiwanese to become more innovative pointing out that the hyper-popular local message board PTT (analogous to Reddit in popularity) does not have a business model and relies on the support of a non-profit society.

Taiwan needs to revamp its industry to become more innovative and competitive. This begins at the top with changing the managerial culture to reward productivity, not working the longest, while figuring out how to give the bottom a fighting spirit to make it less complacent. At its best, Taiwan is more than capable of this. While the US Military Industrial Complex is prone to inefficiencies and delays, Taiwanese industry developed a domestic fighter aircraft for a reasonable cost that’s comparable to an F-16.

If Taiwan doesn’t regain its fighting competitive edge the results would be disastrous, pushing the island to economic irrelevance in fields it once dominated it. Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to this.

The post When China Lectures Taiwan on Innovation, Something is Wrong appeared first on VR World.

Cheetah Mobile’s (NYSE: CMCM) suite of mobile utility apps — anchored by the CM Security Suite — is not a household name for many outside of China but it should be considering the popularity of its app suite. China’s Cheetah Mobile had an impressive period of growth during the last year, opening an office in Taipei and launching the CM Security Suite — which has beaten better known apps to the 100 million mark in record time.

While Line — a popular instant messaging app in Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia — took a year-and-a-half to hit the 100 million mark, and Instagram took just over a year, Cheetah Mobile’s CM Suite his that critical mark in only 357 days and maintains a rating of 4.7 on Google Play. The growth in user data backs this up: according to Fu the company’s user base has grown by 900% since 2013. As of Q3 2014, the company has 340 million active users with 70% from outside China (and a big presence in the US and EU). On Google Play, the CM Security Suite is holding steady at number 3, behind Facebook. Revenue, says Fu, has grown by 140% per year, three years in a row.

At a press event in Taipei, Cheetah Mobile CEO Sheng Fu credited the success of CM Suite to the company’s policy of being hyper-reactive to the needs of customers. He pointed to the frequent updates his company pushes out for CM Security — three per-week — as proof.

While Cheetah Mobile has had success with impressive growth in its user base and revenue, like many Internet companies with a mobile focus sustaining profitability continues to be a concern. Its Q3 2014 earnings came in flat, and analysts were bearish about continued growth prospects in light of increased competition from the likes of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU). That being said, the stock has been on something of a rally throughout February.

Cheetah Mobile and its CM Security Suite is an impressive achievement in the up and coming market for mobile security apps, as well as cross-strait cooperation in software development. Getting to 100 million downloads so quickly is a testament to the quality of its products. However, China’s internet industry is not immune to the bubbles that have frequently popped in the US meaning that Cheetah Mobile will have to work hard to sustain such impressive growth in the future.

Photo caption: Executives from Cheetah Mobile’s Beijing and Taipei offices at a press event in Taipei’s Beitou suburb. 

The post Cheetah Mobile Hits 100 Million Downloads With CM Security Suite appeared first on VR World.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC)(TPE: 2330) said on Feb. 10 that the total volume of its sales in January hit a record high, due to the growth of the demand for the high-end 28-nm and 20-nm processors.

TSMC posted US$2.77 billion sales for January, up 25.3% from a month earlier and a massive 69.4% from a year earlier. The figure also beat the previous month-high of US$2.6 billion, which was recorded in October last year.

While the conventional wisdom always said that the first quarter of the year would always be a slow season for global semiconductor sector, TSMC’s latest performances in terms of its sales did not reflect that saying at all. Integrated circuit designers, indeed, are suffering from a slow season but they continued to place their orders to foundry operators to secure chip supply for the future. TSMC, meanwhile, is one of the benefited suppliers.

In January, TSMC forecast that its consolidated sales would range between US$7.13 billion and US$7.23 billion during first quarter. The prediction beat an earlier market forecast of a 3% to 5% drop caused by slow season effects.

TSMC said that the company will be confident of the rest of this year whether it is slow seasons. But, TSMC said that a month-on-month decline for February can be expected anyway, due to a reduced number of working days because of the Lunar New Year.

Meanwhile, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC)(TPE: 2303), TSMC’s rival, reported that its consolidated sales for January rose 5.6% from a month earlier to US$415 million on the back of solid demand for its 28nm process, fending off slow season impact. The figure for UMC’s sales in January was also up 28% from a year earlier.

The post TSMC’s Sales Hit Record High in January appeared first on VR World.

The intense blood-feud between the revenge-fueled, devil-possessed Kazuya and his father Heihachi Mishima has burned with the fire of a thousand suns, culminating in the ultimate rivalry for the Tekken franchise.

Tekken 7, the new release in the landmark arcade fighter, will give the father and son duo the chance to settle the score once and for all in an explosive showdown of epic proportions.

In the newly released Tekken 7 cinematic trailer, Bandai Namco Games has given us a quick look at what that battle will look like.

So what’s new in the CG cinematic footage?

First off it shows a full-on depiction of Kazumi, Kazuya’s mother (and Jin’s grandmother).But the most interesting revelation comes when Kazuya uses his devil powers without actually transforming. 

The fearsome Kazuya harnesses his demonic powers without fully transforming–could this mean his moveset will incorporate Devil techniques?

The demon-addled martial arts master taps into his otherworldly bestial might while in human form, sporting the distinct demonic “third eye”, and unleashes the trademark devil beam at his father. Heihachi, who stares in disbelief, is struck with the devastating blow that rips apart the volcano with its strength.

And if Kazuya can do it, chances are Jin will be able to as well.

It’s a bit alarming to imagine Kazuya being able to use his Devil moveset as well as his traditional combos. He already does such incredible damage–just one power uppcut can basically reduce you to half health–and adding moves like the Devil Beam will undoubtedly make facing him much more challenging.

Kazumi, Kazuya’s mother and apparent matron of the Devil gene, is shown off briefly in the trailer.

In other Tekken 7 news, Bandai Namco also launched the game’s official Japanese website which reveals some tidbits here and there.

The site also has a loose roster of 20 characters which can be found below, but we’re very confident it’ll be updated with a ton of your favorite fighters. Tekken Tag Tournament 2, for example, had just about every character from the franchise to choose from.

The Tekken 7 is pretty threadbare, but Katsuhiro Harada affirms the team will add more characters as time goes by.

When will it be out, though?

Tekken Game Director Katsuhiro Harada says “it’s a secret“, but it’s been revealed that the fighter will be available in select Japanese arcades starting Feb. 15. Tekken 7 will also be playable at EVO 2015 from July 17-19 in Los Vegas.

For console? It's secret but Stay tuned!!! RT @shockvolt67 I'm so hype for tekken 7 when can we expect it to be released

— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) February 7, 2015

Tekken 7 is currently in development for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, and doesn’t have a finalized release date–although it’s believed to release sometime this year.

The post Kazuya And Heihachi Square Off In The New Tekken 7 Trailer appeared first on VR World.

Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ: QCOM) legal battle with China’s National Development and Reform Commission came to an end Monday with the US semiconductor giant being hit with a $975 million fine and having new patent licensing rules imposed upon it.

In addition to a $975 million fine, Qualcomm agreed to offer new terms for standards essential patents related to its 3G and 4G technology. Qualcomm also agreed to change its royalty schedule to only receive 65% of the net selling price rather than the full selling price. Qualcomm also agreed to remove elements in its licensing contracts that Chinese authorities

Chinese authorities began investigating Qualcomm over allegations that the company was using its library of patents in China in a monopolistic fashion, and refusing to come to fair licensing agreements with local companies. The investigation began in late November 2013 and heated up late 2014.

While Qualcomm executives said they were “disappointed” with the sheer size of the fine, they also said that they were glad to have put any uncertainties behind them with regards to the company’s ability to conduct business in China. Analysts quoted in media reports say this agreement opens doors for further and new cooperation between Qualcomm and major handset players in China.

All-in-all this move by Chinese authorities was merely a play to extract money from Qualcomm in order to make its position in the market slightly less competitive when compared to local companies in the same business. This has become a common tactic in China in order to give local firms an edge (read more about that here). But Qualcomm paid the price, and it appears to be smooth sailing for the company now.

The post Qualcomm Gets Hit With $975 Million Fine in China appeared first on VR World.