Japan and Korea show the way forward, writes Sasiwimon Boonruang in Singapore
NTT DoCoMo was showing a terrestrial digital TV broadcasting service for mobile devices at CommunicAsia 2008 in Singapore last week as part of its i-mode service that allows users to watch TV while on the move. |
The number of mobile handset makers at CommunicAsia 2008 was down this year, with only two giant South Korean manufacturers, LG and Samsung, at the show, each occupying a huge area exhibiting their latest handsets and communications technologies.
However, visitors were able to witness cutting-edge technology and a wide variety of mobile applications.
All manner of content - music, photos, games, video and television - is converging on the mobile phone, with Japan and South Korea leading in the deployment of mobile phone applications.
Technology to replace wallets with mobile phones is a fashionable service available in Asia. Many handsets sold in Japan now integrate NFC (near-field communications) chips that allow commuters to wave their phones in front of a sensor and take public transport without the need to purchase a ticket with cash. Users can open and close apartment doors, buy drinks at vending machines or items at shops and restaurants, pay for taxi rides and rent lockers at Tokyo railway stations using their mobile handsets.
Passengers flying from Seoul's Incheon airport on international flights with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines can reserve, purchase air tickets and check-in with their mobile phones.
At CommunicAsia, NTT DoCoMo was showing its i-mode mobile Internet service that encompasses Internet access, music and video channels, GPS, TV broadcasts and electronic wallet services. The i-mode services run on 2G, 3G and 3.5G networks and there are now more than 48 million subscribers in Japan. The company has signed a MoU with StarHub to pilot a mobile wallet service, known as Osaifu-Keitai (Wallet Phone), in Singapore, the first market outside Japan. Osaifu-Keitai refers to mobile phones equipped with contactless IC cards. With this capability, mobile phones can be utilised as electronic money, credit cards, electronic tickets, membership cards, airline tickets and much more.
Self-service photo printing is another application that is getting popular in Singapore. Consumers on the road can choose to print photos from their thumb drives, cards, CDs or mobile phones via Bluetooth. They just insert the drive, card, or choose the hand phone from a list of manufacturers displayed on the kiosk screen. The service charge is automatically calculated and shown on the screen by which users can pay via mobile phone or cash.
Several companies at the event, such as Singtel, were showing location-based applications for a future where more useful map content will be easily transferable to mobile devices, and more widely used to facilitate local searches.
Google, meanwhile, showed-off its Android mobile operating system, which it plans to roll out in the coming months. The open source Android would encourage more innovation to the benefit of over three billion mobile handset subscribers.
According to Google's senior director of mobile platforms Andy Rubin, Android offers several advantages including multi-tasking and customisation features, while most outstanding was its architecture which allowed different applications to be combined.
Another significant feature were the number of GPS-based applications available, he said.
"Mobile phones running on Android will be around 20 per cent cheaper because of savings on software costs," said Rubin.
Currently, over 1,700 applications for Android have been written as part of the Android Developer Challenge, which is backed by $10 million in funds.
Samsung, the world's second largest handset manufacturer, launched its Omnia model at the show.
Intended to challenge the iPhone, the handset is an HSDPA device with Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 Professional, push email, GPS for navigation and geo-tagging, along with PC-like business tools such as Microsoft Office Suite View and Edit, a full browser with portrait and landscape views and a five megapixel camera.
With a large 3.2in. LCD touch screen, and 16GB of memory, enough for over 6,000 songs and more than 18 DVD-quality films, Samsung claims the Omnia is the ideal platform for non-stop entertainment.
A newcomer - but a veteran in the GPS field - Garmin, launched a touch screen smart phone called the nuvifone, and this is expected to hit the market within the next few months.
The phone features a 3.5in. screen, satellite tracking and navigation aids that allow users to find the nearest points of interest, such as petrol stations, restaurants or shopping centres.
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