The rugged landscape created by volcanic eruptions and tectonic plate shifts in east and south Africa millions of years ago may be what prompted our human ancestors to start walking on two legs, a study said Friday.

Taiwan has unveiled a newly developed breed of Oncidium orchid supposed to look like dancing dolls, a researcher said yesterday.

A manager at Microsoft Corp.'s German branch is to visit Taiwan to procure tablet computers, according to Taiwan's main trade promotion body.

Google has followed in the footsteps of Charles Darwin to gather images of the beauty and biological diversity of the Galapagos Islands for the Internet titan's online maps.

Daiwa Securities said Friday that the consolidated sales of MediaTek Inc., one of Taiwan's leading integrated circuit designers, are likely to fall 20 percent in May from the previous month because of inventory adjustments in China.

Online retail titan Amazon announced Thursday it is expanding sales of its Kindle tablet computers to “over 170 countries and territories around the world,” and its Appstore in nearly 200 countries.

Japan's number two carmaker Nissan said Thursday it would recall some 841,000 compact cars worldwide due to a steering wheel problem.

Polish doctors carried out the world's first life-saving face transplant, the center's spokeswoman said Wednesday, weeks after a 33-year-old man was disfigured by a machine in a workplace accident.

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.