New communication devices point to future of industry<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): No need to raise your hand. I know many of you
\nare already using Microsoft Office 97 today. Indeed, the latest
\nversion of this business applications suite offers plenty of
\nbenefits.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, it also causes a problem typical of
\nsoftware updates. As you might have anticipated, while files
\ncreated with Winword 6.0 or Winword 95 can be easily read by Word
\n97, the reverse is not true since the new version adds Internet-
\nspecific features to its files.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if you want to share files with colleagues who are
\nstill using Winword 6.0 or Winword 95, you may want to save your
\nwork in the older file format. Microsoft programmers have chosen
\nto name it the 'Word 6.0\/95' format, while the new one is
\nmisleadingly called 'Word Document'.<\/p>\n
To select the older file format is easy. In the 'Save As'
\ndialog box, select 'Word 6.0\/95' as the file type. However, if
\nyou want to make this file format the default (you can choose any
\nof the file formats that appear in the drop-down list as the
\ndefault) just click on the Option button. Then look for the 'Save
\nWord files as' box. Select the format that you want, and click on
\nOK. From now on your Microsoft Office files can be shared with
\nthe late adopters.<\/p>\n
Too bad making this option permanent is not possible in Excel
\n97. It's a bit strange that the programmers forgot to add it to
\nthe other Office programs besides Winword.<\/p>\n
One feature in Office 97 that I find very useful is the
\npossibility of disabling the macro facility in Winword and Excel
\n97 when under the threat of macro viruses, which are now another
\nfact of life. Unless you really work with macros in Excel and
\nWinword and swap diskettes with colleagues, just keep the built-
\nin virus macro protection activated. Click on Tools, Options, and
\nthen General. See whether the box next to this option is checked.<\/p>\n
Voice Dial<\/p>\n
Here in Jakarta, traffic quite often grinds to a halt because
\na certain driver is unable to complete a turn and has to back up
\nand repeat his maneuver. Upon close observation, you may see that
\nhe has only one hand on the steering wheel and the other on a
\ncellular phone to his ear. Despite the nimbleness of a car with
\npower steering, one hand is usually not enough to negotiate the
\nsharp turns in this city. Yet, many drivers still think that
\ndisrupting traffic is not as bad as interrupting their phone
\nconversations.<\/p>\n
Therefore, I truly hope that, like our neighbors in Singapore,
\nwe prohibit the use of cellular phones while driving. Until our
\ngovernment realizes the urgency of such a law, perhaps you should
\nlook for this new feature in your next cellular phone: Voice
\nDial.<\/p>\n
Voice Dial is not be an unusual feature for those who have a
\ncar kit that allows them to talk on their cellular phone and
\nvoice dial a pre-programmed number. Still, the car kit is an
\nadditional cost, and it gives thieves a greater incentive to
\nbreak into your car. Philips, the electronics giant that has
\nsuddenly woken up and surprised us with new advanced electronic
\ngadgets, has incorporated this capability into its tiny new
\ncellular phone, the Spark.<\/p>\n
As you can see in the accompanying picture, the cellular phone
\nbelongs to the GSM front, and it doesn't have too many confusing
\ncontrol buttons. You can program it to store 20 names and phone
\nnumbers. Then you can assign specific voice tags to the first ten
\nnames on the list. You have to train it in a quiet room to ensure
\na high recognition performance. Once the training is done, you
\ncan simply say \"Home\" and Spark will dial your home phone number,
\nor any other number attached to the voice tag \"Home\".<\/p>\n
Limitations<\/p>\n
There are some limitations, though. Other people may not be
\nable to use the voice dial facility of Spark unless they can
\nimitate the recorded voice sample, which means that only the
\nowner can instruct it to place a call. However, that may be a
\npositive point, as it prevents accidental commands from people
\nstanding close by.<\/p>\n
Other features of Spark includes a long battery life that
\nallows for more than two weeks of standby time and Duo SIMM
\ncompatibility. Furthermore, it is ultra slim and ultra light. I
\njust hope that more electronic gadgets are equipped with a voice
\nactivation feature similar to the one in this Rp 1.4 million
\n(all-in) Spark phone. For people like me who have limited
\neyesight and don't like reading LCD panels, this feature helps
\nsimplify life.<\/p>\n
Given the level of PC penetration in our lives today, it would
\nbe logical to have a PC in one's car as well. It shouldn't be
\nsurprising, then, that microprocessor giant Intel has been on the
\nfront line developing a PC for the car. They call it, well, what
\nelse? The Connected Car PC.<\/p>\n
And it may not be just another redundant piece of equipment.
\nIn today's luxury car, for example, a Global Positioning System,
\nor GPS, is becoming a standard tool. Even taxis in Singapore and
\nrental cars in the U.S. are equipped with this device, which
\noffers multiple benefits. When you enter an unfamiliar area, for
\nexample, you can avoid getting lost by programming the system and
\nentering your destination. The system will then guide you there
\nby telling you to turn left or right or make a U-turn.<\/p>\n
A car PC will be able to handle the positioning task very
\neasily. When needed, a PC in the car can function as a game
\nstation, such as the one shown in the accompanying pictures. With
\nFlash ROMs, universal serial bus, telephony and Internet
\nconnections, the use is almost unlimited. You can use the PC to
\nrun productivity tools while it monitors the performance of the
\ncar's engine.<\/p>\n
You can see two displays of the same car PC in the
\naccompanying picture. To minimize distraction, the screen on the
\ndashboard has a low resolution, monochrome LCD. However, the one
\non the rear is high-quality, full-color screen with video
\ncapability. Of course, the attractive display is intended to keep
\nthe children from getting grumpy after a long ride.<\/p>\n
Definitely, one of the most welcome features in the car PC
\nwill be voice command. The good news is, progress in computer
\nvoice recognition has been encouraging. IBM's VoiceType is just
\none of them.<\/p>\n
PC Videophone<\/p>\n
The video telephone, or video phone, is not a new concept. In
\nfact, back in late 1980s there were already some products on the
\nmarket. However, pumping so much audio and video data through the
\nlimited bandwidth of the plain old telephone system (POTS) has
\nbeen too challenging to overcome, and therefore the videophone
\nsystem never really caught on.<\/p>\n
With Internet becoming a daily menu, Internet
\nvideoconferencing tools became available. Intel is not the only
\none that provides Internet-based audio and video connection
\nbeyond Internet phone. According to PC Magazine's roundup, there
\nare at least four other different Internet videoconferencing
\npackages available from CineCom Corp., Connectix Corp., White
\nPine Software Inc., and VDOnet Corp.<\/p>\n
However, today, with the help of Intel's MMX technology, your
\nPC can be turned into a video phone system. In a recent press
\nouting, Intel gave a live demonstration of its Video Phone system
\nto IT journalists. Unlike Intel Internet Videophone, the new
\nsystem does not rely on the Net to zap the audio and video data
\nfrom one end to the other. Instead, it relies solely on the POTS.<\/p>\n
During the demonstration, Christopher Gozali, Intel's
\nNetworking Manager for Indonesia, dialed his colleague in
\nSingapore from the conference room of Carita Beach Resort in
\nCarita, West Java. Needless to say, the phone line there was far
\nbelow today's standards, although it is less than a three-hour
\ndrive from Jakarta. Amazingly, the connection was still
\nacceptable. Both parties were able to communicate fairly
\neffectively and the video quality was not so bad.<\/p>\n
The key to the new system is the ability of the PCs to
\ncompress and decompress a huge amount of audio and video data
\nefficiently. This is where MMX technology makes a crucial
\ncontribution. If you read my recent report on MMX capability,
\nyou'd know by now that a single instruction in the MMX-enabled
\nPentium handles eight bits of data instead of just one. This
\ntremendously helps increase the speed of the compression and
\ndecompression process. We can decrease the resolution to increase
\nframe rate so that the video looks more real life. We can do the
\nopposite to get better images but jerky video.<\/p>\n
The system, which Intel will shortly launch here in Jakarta,
\nconsists of software, a video capture board and an Intel video
\ncamera. You need an MMX Pentium system, though. In addition, you
\ncannot share files or conduct video conferencing with a third
\nparty. The link is nothing more than the 100-year-old point-to-
\npoint connection.<\/p>\n
It's still good news, nonetheless. Although ISDN appears to be
\na millennium away from your house, with your next PC you may be
\nable to communicate both in voice and in smiles on an outdated
\ntelephone line.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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