All must push for 3G takeoff

PETALING JAYA: The adoption of 3G mobile services is being held back by several challenges that can only be overcome by the collective effort of the Government, media and service providers, said industry experts.

The experts also believe that 3G mobile service providers in the country could do more to encourage the adoption of the advanced mobile communication services.

Telcos will need to do this if they are to achieve the targets set by the Government's MyICMS 886 plan, said the experts.

The Government wants to have five million 3G cellphone subscribers in the country by 2010. This and other goals are listed in MyICMS 886 - a four-year plan aimed at boosting the growth of the local information and communications technology (ICT) industry, and to bolster its competitiveness globally.

Other goals of MyICMS 886 include: Ensuring at least one in four homes have broadband access; mobile TV for 90% of wireless services users; digital multimedia broadcasting to 95% of households; and migration to the faster IPv6-based networks.

Research firm Frost & Sullivan said the 3G adoption rate is expected to be slow in the first two years, given the limited availability of handsets and network coverage.

Sept Trial Programme for Digital TV

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will start its trial programme for digital television in September with an initial funding of RM75 million to pave the way for the national digitalisation drive in broadcasting.

The trial programme will be led by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).

Deputy Information Minister Datuk Donald Lim said the allocation would allow RTM to buy digital equipment for its transmission centre as well as the digital TV transmitter system.

With the installation of the digital transmission system, RTM would be able to provide digital TV broadcast for households in the Klang Valley, he told Bernama in an interview at Angkasapuri, here.

TM to provide broadband access to housing project

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) yesterday signed a collaboration agreement with TH Properties Sdn Bhd for the provision of smart township solutions to @enstek, an integrated development in Negri Sembilan.

TH Properties chief executive officer Syed Mohamed Ibrahim said the collaboration would commence when TH Properties launches its next project by the fourth quarter of next year.

The project will cover more than 200 acres of mixed residential development, he told reporters after signing the agreement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. TM Wholesale chief operating officer Datuk Baharum Salleh signed on behalf of the company. The signing was witnessed by TM group chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Wahid Omar and TH Properties chairman Datuk Azizan Abdul Rahman.

Both parties did not disclose the investment value of the collaboration.

''We have not identified the investment in great detail. We are just exploring what we can do at the moment.

''We are estimating that the telecommunication infrastructure cost for the smart township solution at not more than what we have spent in the past,'' Syed Mohamed said.

TM will provide the township with communication infrastructure of higher bandwidth capacity, including fixed and wireless connections to support unlimited broadband applications.

''The project represents an new opportunity to work with housing developers, allowing faster delivery of infrastructure and making telecommunication or information communication technology infrastructure such as broadband as ubiquitous as water and electricity,'' Baharum said.

With the infrastructure and applications, both residents and business tenants at @enstek can subscribe to a host of broadband services such as remote monitoring of their homes. The smart home solution enables homeowners to monitor their house from anywhere, such as controlling electrical appliances and also detecting unauthorised access inside the house.

So far, TM has invested more than RM1mil to provide the service to the existing homes at @enstek.

@enstek is a multi-billion ringgit integrated township on 5,116 acres in Negri Sembilan featuring industrial, commercial, residential and institutional properties.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2025 and has a gross development value (GDV) of about RM7bil.

Macedonia leads world with wi-fi

Macedonia is now on the brink of leading the world in what could be a template for other developing states, becoming the first wireless country.

A project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has brought broadband internet access to hundreds of such remote villages in Macedonia by putting the country's 460 primary and secondary schools online.

By using what is called mesh technology, the initiative is creating not wi-fi hot-spots, but hot-zones which stretch 15 kilometres over a city.

Machine Language Translation

With 20 official languages in use, the European Union headquarters is a magnet for translation technology. The organisation uses software from Systran (France) that relies more on statistical probabilities than grammar rules to translate legal boilerplate - often with no human proofreading.

Also in the Race: Esteam (Sweden), Trados (U.S.)

Global Market : $40B (2008)

Lucas animation studio launched in Singapore

The company of legendary US director George Lucas, creator of the 'Star Wars' saga, launched an animation studio in Singapore to produce television shows and feature films for the global market.

The Singapore operation is 75 percent owned by Lucasfilm Ltd., with the rest of the equity held by two Singapore partners -digital entertainment products maker Creative Technology Ltd. and EDB Investments.The latter is an arm of the Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore's foreign investment promotion agency.

Company officials refused to disclose how much money was invested to set up the 3,715-square-meter (40,000-square-foot) animation facility, which will initially have 35 staff but can host up to 300 employees

They said Singapore was chosen because of its strong protection of intellectual property rights, attractive lifestyle and potential for drawing digital animation talent from all over the world.

Wi-Fi for housing estates

KUCHING: Residents of two housing estates here will soon be able to enjoy wireless technology or Wi-Fi.

Residents living in 316 units of houses at Taman Sepakat Jaya are already enjoying the Wi-Fi service while those moving into the 800 flats in Matang Batu Lima will be able to enjoy internet connectivity by the end of this year.