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Picsel Viewer Zooms, Scrolls in IA
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Picsel Technologies Ltd of the UK is developing interactive file viewer software, called ePAGE, designed for post-PC devices. It enables the user to view the display screen at larger or smaller sizes through pen operation. With horizontal movement of the pen, the image can be scrolled right or left (Fig 1).
The interactive file viewer can be installed on Internet appliances (IA), including personal digital assistants (PDA), cellular phones, digital stills cameras, digital video cameras and other digital appliances.
The software enables the user to view documents on a large screen with sharp letters, thanks to anti-alias processing. It also handles PostScript processing for graphics files.
ePAGE can superimpose the face of a talking person, taken in a motion and sound environment, onto a static document or graphic file (Fig 2), enabling video conferencing using PDAs. It also handles the enlargement of motion pictures, and displays multiple images on a screen.
With applications for electronic books, publishers can provide a full book or magazine with graphics or photos.
PC-Independent Devices
Today's peripheral devices, including printers and digital cameras, are becoming less dependent on a host PC. Printers can print images without being connected to a host PC if a memory card has been inserted into the printer. "In the near future, a printer may address the Internet and access information through the net," said Ali Adnan, representative director of Picsel Technologies KK in Japan, the AsiaPacific regional headquarters for the UK company.
The company is aiming at the market for PC-independent peripherals or smart peripherals, which may be installed with the software. Using ePAGE with a printer, its small liquid crystal display (LCD) screen can be used to view data or graphics at larger sizes. With TCP/IP protocols, the printer can address the Internet and send data to other printers to be printed out at remote locations.
The interactive file viewer or super-browser has three distinct features: the content can be addressed with any device; the programming size of the software is very small -- only 500 Kbytes or larger; and the graphic processing is done by the software only, independent of microprocessor capability and power.
It does not matter which file format is available for the software. ePAGE supports Word documents, PDF, PostScript and a lot of image files, including JPEG, GIF, TIFF, MPEG-2/4, RealPlayer and Flash Player.
Currently, PDAs cannot handle Flash Player or other video players, but PCs can, and the user can plug the PDA into his/her PC. The file viewer displays video and still images without the need to plug in.
Operating systems (OS) that support ePAGE include WindowsCE, Symbian EPOC, Linux, PalmOS and micronITRON. Recommended microprocessors are those within the ARM and StrongARM families.
Carriers, IA Makers
The firm provides the software as a pre-installed base, not as media. If customers want RealPlayer motion picture viewer, the firm can embed a Codec for the player into ePAGE.
ePAGE should be placed onto a client side, the firm believes. In the case of mobile phone services, carriers should place ePAGE onto their server side to charge fees.
With ePAGE placed only on a server, however, users would be unable to view data with their client devices. To solve this problem, the firm can place part of the ePAGE technology onto a server, including Document Agent, Core Document Engine and Streaming Components, and convert the file format with Streaming eFIF. The converted data is sent to a client device which reads the Streaming eFIF data, and users can then handle ePAGE functions with their PDAs or other client devices in which the Streaming eFIF converter is embedded.
ePAGE handles all popular screen sizes, including 1,600 x 1,200 pixles or larger, and HDTV screen sizes. According to the firm, there is no limit to the maximum number of pixels on a screen supported by ePAGE.
by Kenji Tsuda
(April 2002 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia)
The interactive file viewer can be installed on Internet appliances (IA), including personal digital assistants (PDA), cellular phones, digital stills cameras, digital video cameras and other digital appliances.
The software enables the user to view documents on a large screen with sharp letters, thanks to anti-alias processing. It also handles PostScript processing for graphics files.
ePAGE can superimpose the face of a talking person, taken in a motion and sound environment, onto a static document or graphic file (Fig 2), enabling video conferencing using PDAs. It also handles the enlargement of motion pictures, and displays multiple images on a screen.
With applications for electronic books, publishers can provide a full book or magazine with graphics or photos.
PC-Independent Devices
Today's peripheral devices, including printers and digital cameras, are becoming less dependent on a host PC. Printers can print images without being connected to a host PC if a memory card has been inserted into the printer. "In the near future, a printer may address the Internet and access information through the net," said Ali Adnan, representative director of Picsel Technologies KK in Japan, the AsiaPacific regional headquarters for the UK company.
The company is aiming at the market for PC-independent peripherals or smart peripherals, which may be installed with the software. Using ePAGE with a printer, its small liquid crystal display (LCD) screen can be used to view data or graphics at larger sizes. With TCP/IP protocols, the printer can address the Internet and send data to other printers to be printed out at remote locations.
The interactive file viewer or super-browser has three distinct features: the content can be addressed with any device; the programming size of the software is very small -- only 500 Kbytes or larger; and the graphic processing is done by the software only, independent of microprocessor capability and power.
It does not matter which file format is available for the software. ePAGE supports Word documents, PDF, PostScript and a lot of image files, including JPEG, GIF, TIFF, MPEG-2/4, RealPlayer and Flash Player.
Currently, PDAs cannot handle Flash Player or other video players, but PCs can, and the user can plug the PDA into his/her PC. The file viewer displays video and still images without the need to plug in.
Operating systems (OS) that support ePAGE include WindowsCE, Symbian EPOC, Linux, PalmOS and micronITRON. Recommended microprocessors are those within the ARM and StrongARM families.
Carriers, IA Makers
The firm provides the software as a pre-installed base, not as media. If customers want RealPlayer motion picture viewer, the firm can embed a Codec for the player into ePAGE.
ePAGE should be placed onto a client side, the firm believes. In the case of mobile phone services, carriers should place ePAGE onto their server side to charge fees.
With ePAGE placed only on a server, however, users would be unable to view data with their client devices. To solve this problem, the firm can place part of the ePAGE technology onto a server, including Document Agent, Core Document Engine and Streaming Components, and convert the file format with Streaming eFIF. The converted data is sent to a client device which reads the Streaming eFIF data, and users can then handle ePAGE functions with their PDAs or other client devices in which the Streaming eFIF converter is embedded.
ePAGE handles all popular screen sizes, including 1,600 x 1,200 pixles or larger, and HDTV screen sizes. According to the firm, there is no limit to the maximum number of pixels on a screen supported by ePAGE.
by Kenji Tsuda
(April 2002 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia)
