'Bugs' delay the launch of the third generation mobile<\/p>\n
By Mila Day<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Think of the word \"bugs\" and any number of
\nimages comes to mind: termites, cockroaches, Bugs Bunny, and the
\ncoding error in computers.<\/p>\n
NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile phone group recently
\ndelayed the launch of their third generation (3G) mobile
\ntelecommunications until October, thanks to bugs.<\/p>\n
The 3G technology allows cell-phone users to communicate with
\ncolors and more lifelike images, not just the 2G's text-based
\nfeatures. Claiming to be the worldwide leader in 3G services,
\nDoCoMo, a spinoff of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, which now
\naccounts for more than 50 percent of Japan's mobile telephone
\nmarket, has spent $15.5 billion investing in overseas companies
\nlike AT&T Wireless.<\/p>\n
Before announcing the delay last month, DoCoMo talked about
\nreleasing 4G much sooner than 2010. Thanks to 3G software \"bugs\",
\nthe fourth generation, which includes facilities for fast-
\nloading, high-quality, streaming media, is bound to be popular
\nand successful.<\/p>\n
The first and second generations<\/p>\n
The 1G mobile services offered basic connections to others
\nwhile on the move. The 1G period started in the late 1970s and
\nended in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Using analog voice signaling, the networks during this era
\nwere slightly more sophisticated than repeater networks used by
\namateur radio operators.<\/p>\n
Thus, 2G offered more features than 1G. Beginning in the
\n1990s, 2G featured digital voice encoding. Today we use 2.5G with
\na wider bandwidth, packet routing, and a small amount of
\nmultimedia.<\/p>\n
The 3G is equipped with greater speed and bandwidth, enhanced
\nmultimedia, routing flexibility, and connections to all popular
\ntelecommunication modes (e-mail, pager, fax, web browser, etc.).<\/p>\n
Incorporating the latest technology, 3G has proven elusive for
\nthe world's big mobile telecom groups, which have paid tens of
\nbillions of dollars to governments for licenses for the airwaves.
\nThe telcos (telecommunication companies) are selling text-
\nmessaging, phone-shopping and other highly evolved wireless
\nservices with 3G advancement.<\/p>\n
The price of payload<\/p>\n
Recently, the three cellular telephone operators, Satelindo,
\nTelkomsel, and Excelcomindo, have allowed the sending of SMSs
\n(short message service) between their subscribers, a service that
\nwas once barred due to a shortfall in technology. The SMS fee is
\ncharged based on the messages sent, not received.<\/p>\n
Soon we will only pay for information sent or received. Telcos
\nin many countries, Indonesia excluded, have implemented a flat
\nrate for local fees per month. We pay a sum of money for all
\ncalls that are made during the month, be it a 24-hour
\nconversation during the day or a one-minute greeting to a friend.<\/p>\n
Up until now we have had to pay for the connection time when
\nwe make calls. Yet, this is about to change in the near future.
\nWe will soon only have to pay for the bandwidth we use, like an
\nSMS sent via a mobile phone. How can that be possible?<\/p>\n
Well, the reason is that a call is an audible form of data,
\nless sophisticated than a moving image. Audio, sound within the
\nacoustic range available to humans, can be accessed by computers
\neasily nowadays. Sound itself is a sequence of analog signals
\nthat are converted to digital signals by an audio card. An audio
\ncard is a processor and memory for processing audio files and
\nsending them to speakers.<\/p>\n
Audio files are usually compressed for storage or faster
\ntransmission. A wave file is a Microsoft standard, compressed
\naudio file. Download the entire audio file, save it in a
\ndirectory, then you can listen to it as many times as you like.<\/p>\n
You can also open the file as streaming sound if you want to
\nlisten to the latest Janet Jackson hit sample direct from the
\ninternet. Streaming sound is sound that is played as it arrives.
\nYou need a plug-in player such as Progressive Networks' RealAudio
\nand Macromedia's Shockwave for Director. This arrangement is also
\nvalid for streaming video with sound, the 4G's flagship.<\/p>\n
Less is not necessarily more<\/p>\n
Today, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptop computers
\ncan be linked to local area networks (LAN), or directly to a
\nmobile, infrared-enabled phone. With internet access, will PDAs
\nand laptops become more appealing than a mobile phone with 3G
\ntechnology?<\/p>\n
PDAs and laptops have bigger screens than a mobile phone.
\nCompaq's iPaq H3630 is the prima donna of today's range of pocket
\ncomputers. It has colors and a Windows operating system, along
\nwith Microsoft Pocket applications such as Internet Explorer,
\nOutlook, Word and Excel. It possesses many of the features that a
\ndesktop has, yet the iPaq provides all these with a pencil-like
\npointer.<\/p>\n
Cell-phones, though, have other advantages. They are so small
\nthat they can fit into your shirt pocket. It only needs your
\nfingertips to type. Siemens' SL45 delivers near CD-quality audio.
\nThe latest technology also allows it to display color too.<\/p>\n
While more and more features are added to the audio-based
\ncellular phone, some analysts have warned that technology
\nglitches may delay worldwide 3G offerings for three years.<\/p>\n
The 2.5G to 3G services still allow a cell-phone to be the
\nmost preferred mobile device. When the next generation finally
\narrives -- 4G that is -- PDAs, laptops and cell-phones will be
\navailable in a converged physical form. Will it be a PDA with
\nhidden microphone and camera? Or the other way round, a three-
\nfolded cell-phone with LCD screen that can be stretched out
\nwithout a divider?<\/p>",
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