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[Trade Shows] Integration Theme at CommunicAsia 2002
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Held June 18-21 at the Singapore Expo, CommunicAsia 2002 showcased 1,400 exhibiting companies from 41 countries and regions. The show's overall upbeat atmosphere was fuelled by the many newly integrated lifestyle products and new technologies on display, all aimed at enhancing today's consumer lifestyles.
Camera-Equipped Mobiles
One integrated product with many variations at CommunicAsia 2002 was the camera-equipped mobile phone. NTT DoCoMo unveiled its SH25li mobile phones, featuring built-in digital cameras, at the show. Digital photos (JPEG files up to 30 Kbytes in size) taken with the phone can be sent as e-mail attachments and transmitted via an "i-shot center" which assigns a URL to the message for easy access. Photos can be edited prior to transmission, with the user paying only the transmission charges and no additional subscription charges.
Sony Ericsson also launched its color-screen T300 phone and CommuniCam MCA-25 snap-on digital camera (See Fig). Available from the fourth quarter of 2002, the MCA-25 boasts digital zoom capabilities, allowing pictures to be saved in sizes ranging from 80 x 60 to 640 x 480 pixels. Sophisticated gaming is also made available with a range of downloadable Atari games and the gaming developer's kit, which encourages development of more sophisticated gaming experiences for T300 users.
Speech Recognition
Another technology enabling more sophisticated mobile lifestyles is speech recognition. Several speech-enabled applications have been implemented by SpeechWorks through its Asia partners, like Singapore-based computer telephony integrator Unified Communications. The Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) implementation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in its flight information system, for instance, integrates its existing dual tone modulating frequency (DTMF) flight information telephony enquiry system with a voice recognition system. This enables fully automated, digitized voice responses to enquiries concerning current flight information, and is the first English language voice recognition system deployed in an airport in Asia. SingPost, Singapore's Postal service, has also implemented a SpeechWorks speech recognition system to service public enquiries on the local 6-digit postal/zip code.
Voice Security
With increasing sophistication in mobile communication, more business negotiations are now made using mobile phones rather than land lines. As such, ensuring that sensitive mobile phone conversations are secure is becoming increasingly important.
Singapore's DigiSAFE launched its DigiSAFE MobileCrypt, a GSM voice encryptor for Nokia handsets models 8210, 8250 and 8310. Operating over 9.6kbps GSM data channel, it uses either the 168-bit 3DES or 128-bit SAFER-SK128 encryption algorithm, operating with another MobileCrypt for GSM-GSM conversation or with DigiSAFE PhoneCrypt for GSM-PSTN communication. Fully automatic Diffie-Hellman public key management technology ensures a unique session key for each new call between a pair of DigiSAFE MobileCrypts that are preconfigured with a common group parameter. IrDA ports eliminate the need for cabling, and toll-quality voice is ensured with the AMBE-based vocoder, even with suboptimal connections and noisy backgrounds. Support for other manufacturers, for example, Ericsson and Samsung, is currently being developed.
Content is King
Service operators are enhancing their offerings with MMS, the next messaging standard after SMS. While MMS is designed to exploit the content potential of 3G wireless networks with high bandwidth, it can also be used over enhanced 2G networks.
Mobileway announced Asia's first three mobile operators with the ability to deliver MSN Hotmail via SMS at CommunicAsia2002: CSL Ltd of Hong Kong; SingTel of Singapore; and Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan. These mobile operators will be able to extend this optional service to their subscribers, allowing them to receive and send e-mails by SMS using their MSN Hotmail accounts on their mobile phones.
by Ng Hooi Ming
(September 2002 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia)
Camera-Equipped Mobiles
One integrated product with many variations at CommunicAsia 2002 was the camera-equipped mobile phone. NTT DoCoMo unveiled its SH25li mobile phones, featuring built-in digital cameras, at the show. Digital photos (JPEG files up to 30 Kbytes in size) taken with the phone can be sent as e-mail attachments and transmitted via an "i-shot center" which assigns a URL to the message for easy access. Photos can be edited prior to transmission, with the user paying only the transmission charges and no additional subscription charges.
Sony Ericsson also launched its color-screen T300 phone and CommuniCam MCA-25 snap-on digital camera (See Fig). Available from the fourth quarter of 2002, the MCA-25 boasts digital zoom capabilities, allowing pictures to be saved in sizes ranging from 80 x 60 to 640 x 480 pixels. Sophisticated gaming is also made available with a range of downloadable Atari games and the gaming developer's kit, which encourages development of more sophisticated gaming experiences for T300 users.
Speech Recognition
Another technology enabling more sophisticated mobile lifestyles is speech recognition. Several speech-enabled applications have been implemented by SpeechWorks through its Asia partners, like Singapore-based computer telephony integrator Unified Communications. The Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) implementation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in its flight information system, for instance, integrates its existing dual tone modulating frequency (DTMF) flight information telephony enquiry system with a voice recognition system. This enables fully automated, digitized voice responses to enquiries concerning current flight information, and is the first English language voice recognition system deployed in an airport in Asia. SingPost, Singapore's Postal service, has also implemented a SpeechWorks speech recognition system to service public enquiries on the local 6-digit postal/zip code.
Voice Security
With increasing sophistication in mobile communication, more business negotiations are now made using mobile phones rather than land lines. As such, ensuring that sensitive mobile phone conversations are secure is becoming increasingly important.
Singapore's DigiSAFE launched its DigiSAFE MobileCrypt, a GSM voice encryptor for Nokia handsets models 8210, 8250 and 8310. Operating over 9.6kbps GSM data channel, it uses either the 168-bit 3DES or 128-bit SAFER-SK128 encryption algorithm, operating with another MobileCrypt for GSM-GSM conversation or with DigiSAFE PhoneCrypt for GSM-PSTN communication. Fully automatic Diffie-Hellman public key management technology ensures a unique session key for each new call between a pair of DigiSAFE MobileCrypts that are preconfigured with a common group parameter. IrDA ports eliminate the need for cabling, and toll-quality voice is ensured with the AMBE-based vocoder, even with suboptimal connections and noisy backgrounds. Support for other manufacturers, for example, Ericsson and Samsung, is currently being developed.
Content is King
Service operators are enhancing their offerings with MMS, the next messaging standard after SMS. While MMS is designed to exploit the content potential of 3G wireless networks with high bandwidth, it can also be used over enhanced 2G networks.
Mobileway announced Asia's first three mobile operators with the ability to deliver MSN Hotmail via SMS at CommunicAsia2002: CSL Ltd of Hong Kong; SingTel of Singapore; and Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan. These mobile operators will be able to extend this optional service to their subscribers, allowing them to receive and send e-mails by SMS using their MSN Hotmail accounts on their mobile phones.
by Ng Hooi Ming
(September 2002 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia)
