Taiwan's central bank has said its easy monetary policy is over after it left key rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive quarter to support the island's still-fragile economic recovery.

China has overtaken the US for the first time in the race to invest in wind, solar and other sources of clean energy.

Qualcomm has updated its financial guidance for the second fiscal quarter ending March 28, 2010. Revenues are estimated at US$2.55-2.65 billion compared to its prior guidance range of US$2.40-2.60 billion. Diluted EPS is now expected to be US$0.56-0.58 compared to its prior guidance range of US$0.49-0.53.

In recent years, many top universities in Taiwan have seen lecturers leave for China, attracted by the vibrant development there and more attractive packages. And Hong Kong universities are eyeing not just Taiwanese students, but also lecturers.

Mobile analytics firm Flurry has attempted to measure Apple's influence on the portable gaming market, and its analysis concludes that iPhone games now account for about one-fifth of all revenues for portable game software in the US.

Flextronics has entered into an agreement to produce solar modules for Q-Cells. Flextronics said the deal positions it as the leading EMS player in the clean tech market.

Samsung Electronics expects global smartphone sales to double to 393 million units by 2013, according to the head of the company's mobile communications business.

Hwang Chang-gyu, former president of Samsung Electronics, was named to a government committee to oversee national research and development projects, officials said yesterday.

China Unicom doesn't use Google search boxes on its phones and only works with companies that abide by Chinese law, according to Lu Yimin, president of the telecom company.

Taiwan's high court has warned the former head of United Microelectronics Corp. he risks being arrested after shouting at the judges and walking out of his trial for illegal investment.

IDC analysts have said the global chip industry will grow in 2010 but offered one of the least optimistic industry revenue forecasts so far this year, saying the global recession remains a problem.

The largest semiconductor companies will need to shoulder much of the burden for the expensive R&D projects facing the chip industry, including the development of 450mm equipment and the inspection tools needed for EUV masks, said Dan Armbrust, the new CEO at Sematech.

Japan's exports in February jumped 45.3% from a year earlier, fueled by robust global demand for cars and electronics, according to the finance ministry.

The former boss of Samsung Electronics, who was convicted of tax evasion and later given a presidential pardon, has returned to head the company. Analysts see Lee's return as good news for the electronics giant.

TerraPower and Toshiba are investigating technology for mini-reactors, which are more cost-efficient than conventional units. Bill Gates is the principal owner of TerraPower, which investigates ways to improve emission-free energy supplies using small nuclear reactors.

While Microsoft has shifted their focus to the consumer-centric Windows Phone 7, it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 still has a future in business. Motorola has announced the MC75A, an enterprise digital assistant running on Windows Mobile 6.5.

Palm faces a fight for survival as intensifying competition and a series of management missteps have sent its market share and share price tumbling, leading some analysts to question the company's future.

HTC has announced the launch of its e-commerce site. Consumers can now browse and purchase from a range of HTC phones and accessories, as well as activate their new handset by selecting a rate plan from one of the four nationwide US operators.

IBM has launched a new predictive analytics software lab in Xi'an China. The lab will help IBM's clients see patterns in vast amounts of data and forecast trends before they occur for improved decision making and competitive advantage.

"Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks," said a government official.

China's Alibaba is in talks with one of its investors, Japan's Softbank, to form a tie-up to help merchants from their online marketplaces sell into each others' markets, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Intersil and Techwell have entered into a definitive agreement for Intersil to acquire Techwell through a cash tender offer at US$18.50 per share. "The addition of Techwell's mixed signal video products will help our customers build solutions that improve performance, reduce overall cost and shorten time-to-market," said Dave Bell, Intersil's president and CEO.

Samsung Electronics, Asia's biggest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones, has said it aims to post higher operating profit this year than in 2009.