JP\/Y\/ZATNI1<\/p>\n
IT in 2005: From the tsunami to germ-free handsets<\/p>\n
Zatni Arbi
\nContributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
We did not start 2005 on a high note.<\/p>\n
The tsunami that hit several Asian coastal areas including
\nNanggroe Aceh Darussalam left us in deep mourning. For many
\nmonths, we were wondering what Mother Nature was telling us
\nthrough this disaster.<\/p>\n
Sadly, however, as we have been witnessing throughout the
\nyear, fund misappropriations, structured extortion and political
\npower struggles have dominated the headlines of our newspapers.<\/p>\n
Lack of morality, sensitivity and compassion aside, it was the
\ntime when we were once again made to recognize the power of
\ninformation and communications technology. During the first 24
\nhours after the disaster not much news trickled in from the
\naffected areas. For most of us, news arrived from global TV
\nnetworks such as CNN and the BBC.<\/p>\n
The impact of nonexistent digital data and its offsite backup
\nshould have been clear. No amount of destruction is impossible,
\nas the tsunami has demonstrated. Only offsite backup could
\nprotect important data such as bank accounts, land ownership and
\npopulation data.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a lot of other rural areas in Indonesia
\ncould envy the Acehnese for the Pre WiMAX that has been put
\ntogether by Airputih, a group of highly dedicated volunteers.
\nToday, a lot of the areas in Aceh are covered under this wireless
\nbroadband network, making it possible for anyone with the right
\nequipment to access the Internet without waiting for the landline
\ninfrastructure to be rebuilt. Our Aceh friends have leapfrogged
\nto the wireless cyberworld. Once they are able to get back on
\ntheir feet, Acehnese schoolchildren will have the opportunity to
\nsee a wider horizon compared with their friends in other parts of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The building of WiMAX networks has been the highlight of this
\nyear. In Taiwan, the WiMAX network has been built in Taipei and
\nits surrounding areas. Soon the entire island will have WiMAX
\ncoverage. Amsterdam is another city that plans to have full WiMAX
\ncoverage.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, the WiMAX standard itself is still evolving.
\nThe fixed WiMAX standard, known as IEEE 802.16d, does not support
\nmobility. The latest revision, the IEEE 802.16e, which was
\nreleased just a couple of weeks ago, was an extension of the
\nfixed WiMAX that supports mobility. This means that with your
\nmobile device you can move from one point to another without
\ngetting disconnected from the network.<\/p>\n
Mobility's the buzzword<\/p>\n
By the way, the world's largest network of hotspots is
\ncurrently being built in the Republic of Macedonia, according to
\na report on hesse Online last month. This infrastructure, which
\ncan be upgraded later to WiMAX, will enable half of Macedonia's
\nentire population of two million to have access to the Internet.
\nThose who will benefit most will be the students of the
\nrepublic's 460 schools.<\/p>\n
Mobility was another important buzzword in 2005, as reflected
\nin the proliferation of mobile devices -- smartphones, PDAs, even
\nGSM-enabled notebooks such as the FlyBook. Besides the hardware,
\nthe software and application development for mobility has been
\nvery active in 2005.<\/p>\n
One of the most important results of the thrust in mobility is
\nthe push e-mail services such as the one offered by Blackberry
\nand, of late, Nokia Business Center. These services ensure that
\nyour e-mail will reach you wherever you go, and you can send your
\nreplies from anywhere as long as you have the cellular network
\ncoverage.<\/p>\n
Now, with wireless broadband becoming available through
\nWireless LAN (WLAN), Voice over IP (VoIP) technology has finally
\ngained momentum. The quality of voice has improved a lot compared
\nto when it was first launched in the 1990s, and the cost is
\nsupposed to be much lower as the voice communication goes back
\nand forth as data packets rather than through a circuit switch.<\/p>\n
Skype was one of the VoIP providers that enabled us to call a
\nlandline phone number at a very low cost. Today, Skype has taken
\nanother step forward in offering video-conferencing capability.<\/p>\n
Top VoIP vendors, such as Awaya and Cisco Systems, have even
\ncome up with solutions that allow you to receive calls with your
\nmobile devices -- including notebook computers -- as if you were
\nreceiving them through your desktop VoIP phones. Clearly, a
\nconventional telco company can no longer rely on traditional
\nvoice calls to stay in business.<\/p>\n
The fast growth of VoIP usage also drives the addition of WLAN
\nand soon WiMAX to the cellular devices. Theoretically, if you are
\nin an area with WLAN or WiMAX coverage, your cell phone will
\nswitch from the more costly GSM, CDMA or 3G network to the
\ncheaper Internet access.<\/p>\n
TV on the move<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, to address the insatiable hunger for music -- and
\npeople's apparent need to show off their gadgets -- we also saw
\nthe emergence of iPod and iPod-like cell phones. The new
\nmultimedia cell phones such as Motorola RokR, Sony-Ericsson
\nWalkman and Nokia N91 handsets can store hundreds of songs.
\nWherever you go, you will never be out of music.<\/p>\n
Talking of entertainment, in Malaysia, where 3G services are
\nalready available, subscribers can watch TV on their mobile
\nphones. A journalist friend demonstrated the service to me in
\nKuala Lumpur recently, and it was using the High Definition
\nstandard. Our neighbors over there have already started to enjoy
\nTriple Play.<\/p>\n
If no 3G service is available yet, we will need a separate
\nnetwork to broadcast the TV programs based on the DVB-H standard.
\nNokia is the leading proponent to this solution in bringing TV
\nprograms to our cell phones. In fact, Nokia N92 has been designed
\nspecially for TV viewing and other video display (see photo).<\/p>\n
As for Indonesia, we still need to appoint a DVB-H operator to
\nmake this happen. It will not be high definition, though, it will
\nprobably give us VHS-quality TV display.<\/p>\n
What about the LCD itself? LCDs have finally come to the
\nmainstream in the desktop computer arena as well as TV. However,
\nthere is one important thing that you will have to check if you
\nare thinking of buying a new LCD TV.<\/p>\n
Because of the motion of the video, it is important to have an
\nLCD screen with very low response time. A high response time will
\ngive blurred images on the screen. Samsung is advertising its new
\nLCD monitor four mili-second response time, while in its press
\nrelease BenQ announced in October its two ms response time TFT
\nscreen.<\/p>\n
The company claimed that it was the world's fastest LCD
\nmonitor in terms of response time, which is said to be comparable
\nto a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).<\/p>\n
Finally, with misinformation about bird flu, dengue and
\nHIV\/AIDS causing the paranoid among society to seek out a
\nsanitized environment, Motorola's i870 clamshell handset provided
\na \"solution\". This cell phone has an antimicrobial coating from
\nAgION. The coating, which is used in pens, medical equipment,
\netc., helps kill germs.<\/p>\n
Upcoming gadgets<\/p>\n
What will we see in the future? For starters, PC-based Media
\nCenters, with expensive features such as extra-large LCD screens,
\nvery fast Intel Pentium processors, very-large-capacity hard
\ndisks, DVD burners and lots of wireless capability will become
\nmore popular.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, notebooks will continue to bite into the market
\nshare of the desktop PCs, as people are getting more and more
\naccustomed to computing anywhere -- in the park, in a waiting
\nroom and in other public places.<\/p>\n
Entry-level cell phones will become cheaper, as companies such
\nas Motorola and Philips have pledged to provide sub-US$30 and
\nsub-$20 handsets. Meanwhile, high-end smartphone makers will have
\nto compete with each other to grab consumers' attention.<\/p>\n
As High Speed Downlink Packet Access -- also known as the 3.5G
\nbecomes more and more pervasive, we will also see notebooks, PDAs
\nand other mobile devices manufactured to support this
\nhigh-speed mobile broadband. This will certainly drive mobility
\neven further and faster.<\/p>\n
Today, around one quarter of the world's population have a
\ncell phone. For sure, that figure will surge in 2006. We can only
\nhope that the price of making calls will also drop, although
\nvalue-added services may still be lacking and remain cost
\nprohibitive. Roaming from one country to another will remain
\nexpensive, unfortunately.<\/p>\n
In general, I believe that telecommunications will continue to
\ndominate the technology landscape in 2006. That is not to say
\nthat stagnation will be experienced in computer gadgets.<\/p>\n
In short, we look forward to a more exciting year, technology-
\nwise.<\/p>",
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