Monthly Archives: March 2012

Nokia feels out tattoos that vibrate with incoming calls

Mobile phone maker Nokia is seeking a US patent for tattoos that vibrate to let people know when they have calls on their mobile phones.

Mobile phone maker Nokia is seeking a US patent for tattoos that vibrate to let people know when they have calls on their mobile phones.

Technology laid out in a patent application available online Wednesday would enable tattoos to receive magnetic waves emitted by mobile phones.

Waves would trigger tattoos to generate “perceivable stimulus” to alert them to calls, messages, or batteries running low.

“The perceivable stimulus may comprise vibration, a vibration on the image on a user’s skin, for example,” according to the application filed with the US Patent Office late last year.

The application described an ink enhanced with magnetic compounds used to make visible or invisible images “attached to the skin.”

Sensations caused by tattoos, permanent or temporary, could be customized depending on the content, suggesting vibrations could vary in intensity and timing depending on who was calling or whether it was a text message.

“The magnetic field, when detected by the apparatus, will cause a different effect based on its characteristics,” the patent application read.

“For example, the magnetic field may cause vibration of one short pulse, multiple short pulses, few long pulses, mixture of short and long pulses, strong pulses, weak pulses, and so on.”

People would be able to recharge tattoos using strong magnets, according to the application.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/285486/nokia-feels-out-tattoos-that-vibrate-with-incoming-calls

News from the Bangkok Post

Angry Birds catapult into space – with Nasa’s help

Finnish game developer Rovio, which shot to pop culture stardom with the mobile game Angry Birds, launched Thursday a space-age sequel developed with the help of NASA.

Rovio Asia senior vice president Henri Holm with an Angry Birds doll during the official Facebook launch in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on February 14, 2012. Finnish game developer Rovio, which shot to pop culture stardom with the mobile game Angry Birds, on Thursday launched a space-age sequel developed with the help of NASA.

“We’ve been working with NASA for quite a while already and they’re very keen in cooperating with us,” Rovio senior account manager Tiina Mikkonen told AFP at the launch in a Helsinki shopping mall.

“We got this astronaut Don Pettit in space to cooperate around the launch … They’ve been helping us with all the physics-related questions around space and gravity.”

The original Angry Birds game involved using slingshots to launch little birds at fortresses built by green pigs — an absurdist, addictive game that quickly became the most successful mobile game in history, and which spawned an entire franchise of merchandise and media tie-ins.

The new game is based on the same premise, but places the battlefield in space, with the trajectory of the launched birds altered by the gravity of nearby planets.

In a viral YouTube video produced by Rovio, US astronaut Pettit used an Angry Birds stuffed toy and a green balloon to demonstrate the physics of the game in space.

Rovio held launch events in Helsinki, Seattle, and China on Thursday.

In Helsinki, the event was set up in a shopping mall, where passers-by were encouraged to try to hit a high score for a chance to win Rovio and Samsung merchandise.

“We are Angry Birds freaks. We’ve been waiting for this for a few weeks already,” said Ville Markkanen, speaking on behalf of himself and his two-year-old son Arto.

Feedback from the crowd was positive, although 32-year-old Pauliina Ilvespakka said this game would be tougher for her toddlers to play than the original version.

“The kids are playing for maybe half an hour a day, unfortunately,” she said, and admitted they were better at the game than she was.

Mikkonen said Rovio had put all of its eggs in one basket with Angry Birds Space, noting this was the only major game launch to be expected from the company this year, with more merchandise, tie-ins, and animated cartoons on the way.

Since its release in December 2009, Angry Birds has been downloaded 700 million times, and it is expected to exceed one billion downloads.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/285541/angry-birds-catapult-into-space-with-nasa-help

News from the Bangkok Post

IDC predicts 6 million smartphone sales in 2012

Thailand’s mobile handset market continued to post double-digit growth in 2011, recording 19% despite a sharp decline in sales in the fourth quarter, thanks to the sharp increase in smartphone sales.

Jarit Sidhu, associate market analyst for client devices research of IDC Thailand, said the local smartphone market is expected to continue growing, at more than 50% this year.

“We expect total smartphone sales of 6 million units this year,” he said.

Mr Jarit said the local mobile market in the fourth quarter last year saw a sharp decline in sales, growing only 6% because of the floods, compared to 20% in the same period in 2010.

However smartphone sales surged by 66% in the fourth quarter last year, representing a quarter of annual sales.

Smartphone shipments to Thailand in the fourth quarter of 2011 exceeded 1 million units for the first time. Growing demand for entry-level Android smartphones continued to perform strongly at the expense of high-end feature phones.

Mr Jarit attributed the strong smartphone growth to vendors’ greater variety of products and prices. This is likely to continue driven by wider network coverage of 3G services.

IDC forecast the feature-phone market has peaked, with a single-digit growth rate foreseen this year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/retail/285590/idc-predicts-6-million-smartphone-sales-in-2012

News from the Bangkok Post

Apps could fence in free-range Internet: US study

The free-ranging Internet is under assault by mobile applications that connect people exclusively to content kept in “walled gardens” online, according to a US study released Thursday.

This file photo shows an attendee of Macworld/iWorld looking at display for new apps, in January, in California. The free-ranging Internet is under assault by mobile applications that connect people exclusively to content kept in “walled gardens” online, according to a US study released on Thursday.

While 59 percent of the experts surveyed for the study felt that the Web would continue to thrive, they also thought “apps” for gadgets such as smartphones and tablets would power an “anti-Internet” used only to connect to services such as films or Facebook feeds instead of for open exploration.

“Instead of couch potatoes you’ll have app potatoes,” European Broadcasting Union head of institutional relations Giacomo Mazzone said in survey response.

“There will be again a digital divide. This one will be between those who will prefer to use ready-made applications and those who are building ways or searching on their own to find the needed solutions.”

The Internet could give way to a hybrid model that combines open-ended quests for information or content with the use of “apps” tailored to plug efficiently into offerings hosted on online servers, survey respondents said.

“Tech experts generally believe the mobile revolution, the popularity of targeted apps, the monetization of online products and services, and innovations in cloud computing will drive Web evolution,” the study said.

“Some survey respondents say while much may be gained, perhaps even more may be lost if the ‘appification’ of the Web comes to pass.”

Slightly more than a thousand experts were surveyed for the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project study that took a non-scientific look at how people will share and gather information online by the year 2020.

“Apps’ ability to meet specific needs becomes a double-edged sword; they simplify life and create ‘walled gardens’ and a lack of serendipity,” venture capitalist Richard Titus is quoted as saying in the survey.

“The Web is about discovery and serendipity, it’s about finding something you weren’t looking for… To lose that would be to take a step back in our progress as intellectual humans, the equivalent of burning a digital book.”

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/285658/apps-could-fence-in-free-range-internet-us-study

News from the Bangkok Post

Computers, social media and Thai law: Part II: Employer liability

In an article published last Wednesday in the Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/284253/computers-social-media-and-thai-law-part-i), we discussed the growing use of social media tools by businesses and with it the increased risk of computer-based offences being committed. Today we identify situations in which employers can be liable for communications sent by their employees.

The Civil and Commercial Code (CCC) makes employers jointly liable for the consequences of a wrongful act committed by employees in the course of employment. This would extend to defamation and lese majeste committed in the course of employment.

If an unemployed person without income or assets posts a defamatory comment on a website, then the person defamed by the comments may be successful in obtaining a court order for damages. However, the offender is unlikely to be able to pay.

However, if the person posting the comment was employed by a large company and published the defamatory post during office hours using computer systems owned and operated by the company, then the company would become an attractive litigation target. It would be able to pay substantial damages, and the defamed person could argue the employer is jointly liable for the acts of the employee. This could be difficult to defend if the employee’s comments were made on a blog or website operated by the employer.

The success of the litigation against an employer will depend on whether the employer published the defamatory comments in the course of business. The CCC does provide any clarification of what actions are regarded as coming within the course of employment, so a successful defence will require employers to establish a factual basis for asserting that the employee’s actions were beyond the scope of the terms of employment.

The Computer Crimes Act (CCA) also contains a section that has the potential to expose many employers to criminal liability for breaches of the CCA by employees. As identified in the first part of this article, the CCA imposes penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000 baht for entering or forwarding computer data that are:

spurious and likely to cause injury to individuals or the public;

false and likely to cause damage to national security or stir up public agitation;

an offence under the Penal Code in relation to security or terrorism; or

obscene.

However, the CCA also imposes the same penalties on a service provider who intentionally supports or gives consent to the commission of the above acts on a computer system under the service provider’s control. This provision is widely regarded as applying to commercial internet service providers and webmasters. However, the definition of the term “service providers” in the CCA is quite broad and applies to anyone who provides others with internet access or any other services that enable communication via a computer system regardless of whether the service is provided on that person’s behalf or for the benefit of others.

More companies use through their own servers and operate their own intranet systems to ease communications among employees, and it is conceivable an employer that provides employees with internet access or devices such as BlackBerries or smartphones could come within the definition of a service provider under the CCA. Companies that provide WiFi access to customers or to the public could also be caught, as could an iPhone user allowing others to connect to the internet via a personal hotspot.

Based on recent convictions and prosecutions under the CCA, the webmaster of an internet site can be exposed to penalties under the CCA as a service provider for failing to remove content that breaches the CCA immediately even if the webmaster was not involved in the preparation or dissemination of the content. It is therefore possible that if an employer becomes aware of content on the company’s computer system that contravenes the CCA, then the firm could be compelled to remove the content or face proceedings under the CCC.

The highest-risk scenarios will likely be social media applications that allow comments to be posted and viewed by large numbers of people. However, emails and SMSs and other instant messages are also capable of creating liability for employers if the messages are transmitted using the employer’s computer system.

Simply put, if an employer’s computer system is used to post defamatory comments or breach the CCA, then an employer can be exposed to civil and criminal proceedings. The employer’s ability to defend the proceedings will depend on its ability to establish the scope of the employment relationship and the extent to which employees were given consent to use the system.

The CCA also has extraterritorial applications and is not limited to offences taking place in Thailand. Proceedings can be started against Thai nationals who commit a breach of the CCA while abroad and against foreign nationals who commit a breach of the CCA abroad if the injured party is a Thai national or the Thai government. The CCA has already been enforced against a US national in relation to matters that occurred entirely outside Thailand.

Employers must consider how much exposure they have to the social media activities of their employees. In the next article, we will identify methods available to employers to reduce their social media liability under the CCC and the CCA.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/285275/computers-social-media-and-thai-law-part-ii-employer-liability

News from the Bangkok Post

Huawei rebooting for 3G

Thailand’s smartphone sales are expected to reach 4 million units this year, up from 3 million last year.

Of the total, 2 to 2.5 million handsets will be Android-based smartphones, up from 1.5 million last year.

Apple’s iPhone could see total sales of 800,000 units this year, fuelled by an anticipated launch of the iPhone 5.

Tim Cong, the manager of Huawei Technologies Thailand, said the company will expand marketing collaboration with mobile operators to bundle Huawei smartphones with their promotions.

The upcoming 3G licensing auction this year will likely drive migration service demand and push sales of 3G-enabled smartphones, he said.

Huawei plans to introduce its Ascend P1 S smartphone in May.

The 4.3-inch super active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) touchscreen phones feature a dual-core 1.5-gigahertz processor and are touted as the world’s slimmest smartphone.

The company also plans to roll out low-cost Android smartphones next month, priced 4,000 baht.

“We expect to sell 200,000 handsets from the two flagship Android smartphones this year,” said Mr Cong.

Huawei aims to become a top-three leader in the global Android smartphone market by 2015.

The company ranks fourth in the Android market now, behind Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson.

It also plans to introduce a series of affordable tablets, priced below 10,000 baht. “Our tablets will cost 6,900 to 7,999 baht and are geared to serve students,” said Mr Cong.

He said Huawei expects to see strong revenue from aircard sales this year including 2.5 million units in Thailand.

Last year, Thailand sold 800,000 2G aircards compared with 300,000 each in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Huawei recently appointed TTDG Co as its official distributor of mobile devices, aircards and tablets.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/gadget/286003/huawei-rebooting-for-3g

News from the Bangkok Post

True-CAT 3G deal found ‘tainted’

True Corp’s 3G network deal with state-owned CAT Telecom has been found to have been tainted with irregularities which could result in the 6 billion baht agreement being scrapped, the Information and Communication Technology Ministry says.

Anudith: Final decision in two days

But ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap refused to state clearly yesterday whether the contract would be terminated, saying only that a final decision would be made in two days.

The True-CAT deal, signed during the Abhisit administration, gives True the right to the network previously used by Hong Kong telecom giant’s Hutchison’s (Hutch) operations in Thailand.

True in recent months has been aggressively marketing its 3G high-speed wireless services using the Hutch network while its major competitors _ Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Total Access Communication (Dtac) _ are still awaiting a decision on whether there will be a 3G licence auction this year.

The ICT singled out five points in its investigation of the True-CAT contract that raised questions about the legality and legitimacy of the deal.

If Gp Capt Anudith decides the contract should be revoked, he will have to submit his findings to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which must then decide whether to petition the court for further action.

Gp Capt Anudith acknowledged that for now True can continue to operate 3G services under the deal until the court makes a final ruling, a process that could take years once all the appeals are exhausted.

True, meanwhile, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

Athueck Asvanund, the company’s vice-chairman, said the ICT report did not identify any specific points in the contract that violated the law.

“The issues raised are political,” Mr Athueck charged.

Gp Capt Anudith said the ICT’s investigative committee found five points indicating irregularities in the CAT-True deal.

First, he said, the panel found there had been an indirect political instruction on April 7, 2010 during the term of former ICT minister Ranongruk Suwunchwee in the Thaksin Shinawatra administration for CAT to buy Hutch’s network in 25 provinces in the Central region from Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, a joint venture between Hong Kong-based Hutchison and CAT Telecom, for 7.5 billion baht.

During the term of then ICT minister Juti Krairiksh under the Abhisit government, CAT had been instructed to reduce the price of the purchase to 4 billion baht with no details of how the figure had been calculated. This caused the CAT-Hutch deal to collapse. Hutch informed CAT on Nov 11, 2010 it would not sell the network to CAT.

The collapse of the CAT-Hutch deal enabled True and CAT to enter quickly into a deal under a new business model drawn up by True and the state firm.

CAT’s management rapidly signed six contracts with True on Jan 26, 2011, before receiving the green light from the CAT board.

The second irregularity found by the investigation committee was that CAT had bypassed the cabinet and the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) in terminating the CDMA mobile service in 25 central provinces with Hutch and its affiliate to enter into the new deal with True.

The ICT had instructed CAT on Nov 29, 2010 to consult the Council of State on the issue but CAT had made the change without going through the cabinet and the NESDB, the minister said.

Third, it was found CAT had violated the ICT Ministry’s work procedures in going ahead with the deal with True. It was clearly recorded in the ministry’s emails that documents had been prepared and signed in advance and the paperwork which was processed through ICT executives carried no accompanying views of the agencies concerned before reaching the ICT minister.

Fourthly, Gp Capt Anudith said CAT had been required to consult the NESDB and the Council of State after it received the go-ahead for its request to enter into a business deal with True on Dec 28, 2010. However, CAT failed to comply with this directive, the minister said.

Lastly, Gp Anudith said CAT on April 28, 2011 asked the ICT to scrap the state enterprise’s original CDMA investment plan, and it switched to a new rental equipment agreement with True worth 12 billion baht.

He said the ICT’s investigative panel agreed CAT had no authority to enter into the new agreement. It could also be a violation of the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act, which requires scrutiny of any public-private venture worth more than 1 billion baht.

“After over 120 days of investigation, we [our panel] can conclude the contract was intentionally made to avoid telecom-related laws,” Gp Capt Anudith said, adding the deal could affect the overall telecom industry structure and tarnish the state enterprise’s credibility.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/286128/true-cat-3g-deal-found-tainted

News from the Bangkok Post

CAT Telecom cries foul over ICT report

CAT Telecom is crying foul over what it calls “uncontrollable effects” from recent findings of the Information and Communication Technology Ministry on its 3G network deal with True Corp.

The board of the state telecom enterprise will raise the issue as an urgent item on its agenda next week to discuss measures that can be taken to ensure its business continuity, CAT chief executive Kittisak Sriprasert said.

The move came after ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap released its investigation into the True-CAT contract on Monday.

He indicated the deal has been tainted with irregularities which could result in the 6 billion baht agreement being scrapped.

Although Gp Capt Anudith did not state clearly whether the contract could be terminated, the ICT Ministry will be required to submit its findings to other agencies including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to decide whether to petition the court for further action.

“This is causing serious concern and needs urgent discussion,” said Mr Kittisak, who started as the new CEO last week succeeding Jirayuth Rungsrithong.

He said the discussion will focus on laws and regulations, the ICT Ministry’s policy and other commercial alternatives for its 3G services. “We need to handle these sensitive issues with care.”

Mr Kittisak said CAT needs to clear the issue as quickly as possible to ease the possible impact on the state enterprise’s 3G business.

Mr Kittisak declined to state clearly whether CAT will start negotiations with True soon or not, or whether the ministry’s findings will hurt its 3G network expansion plan.

Meanwhile, former ICT minister Juti Krairiksh yesterday defended his handling of True Corp’s 3G network deal with CAT Telecom.

Mr Juti said the True-CAT deal was carried out in the best interest of consumers with legal advice being sought from the Office of the Attorney-General to ensure legal compliance and transparency.

The Democrat MP focused on two points of alleged irregularities raised by the ICT Ministry’s probe team.

One involved the CAT’s decision to lower its offer to purchase Hutch’s network in 25 provinces in the Central region to 4 billion baht from 7.5 billion baht and the other concerned CAT’s termination of CDMA mobile service in 25 central provinces with Hutch and its affiliate.

Mr Juti said the offer of 7.5 billion baht was reviewed and revised following the Finance Ministry’s recommendation. The ministry suggested CAT should halve its offer to 3.7 billion baht.

He said the termination of the CDMA mobile service with Hutch, which led to a new deal with True, was to benefit the customers.

The True-CAT deal involves the 3G-High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) service, which is a new technology for improved mobile service.

Mr Juti said CAT was poised to lose 200 million baht a year had it not switched to HSPA.

Mr Juti said he was ready to face any probe by the National Anti-Corruption Commission and prove that the deal was straightforward and transparent.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/286284/cat-telecom-cries-foul-over-ict-report

News form Bangkok post

Retail IT sales likely to dip 15% in Q1

However, industry players are optimistic the government’s planned megaprojects and wider 3G network coverage will accelerate market demand in the second half.

Commart Thailand, which started yesterday, serves as an indicator for overall IT spending this year.

Thailand’s retail IT market is expected to grow by 15% to 110 billion baht this year.

The country’s overall IT spending should grow by 12% in a market estimated at 210 billion baht this year, fuelled mainly by sales of tablets and ultrabook computers.

Sales of notebook computers are expected to reach 2.8 million units this year, while tablets sales will top 1 million.

Boonchai Ngouvisitkul, associate director of Acer Computer (Thailand), said IT companies started to see a decline in their sales last month, particularly in notebooks.

Average quarterly notebook sales in Thailand total 550,000 units.

“Sales of notebooks shrunk by 15% to 1.4 billion baht,” he said.

Mr Boonchai said the introduction of new ultrabooks and the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system are expected to bring overall demand back, especially in the replacement market.

The market expects to see up to 75 models of second-generation ultrabooks from more than 10 vendors this year. Prices will dip to 25,000 baht from 28,000 baht last year.

Accharas Ouysinprasert, the managing director of Intel Microelectronics (Thailand), a US-based chip maker, agreed higher living costs would dampen local IT market sentiment.

But he hopes government spending will help stimulate domestic consumption growth.

Mr Accharas said 3G services would increase sales of personal computers by up to 200,000 units.

Pathom Indarodom, general manager of ARIP Plc, the organiser of Commart Thailand, said the event, which runs to Sunday, will be a good indicator of consumer confidence in IT spending. It aims for 3 billion baht in sales at the five-day event thanks to strong replacement demand.

Ultrabooks, tablets and smartphones are expected to be the three bestselling products.

More than 30 tablet models are offered at Commart, ranging from 4,000 to 20,000 baht. But tablets priced at 17,000 baht will be the bestseller, he said.

Mr Pathom said the country’s IT market is expected to grow by 12% this year, but if the industry’s supply chain problems caused by flooding are not fixed, then the industry will grow by only 9%.

In the first two months of this year, IT product prices increased by 15-20% due to the hard-disk drive supply chain disruption, he added.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/285576/retail-it-sales-likely-to-dip-15-in-q1

News from the Bangkok Post

Tablet sales may quadruple this year

The introduction of the third-generation Apple iPad and the One Tablet per Child scheme are heating up the local tablet computer market.

The global IT research firm IDC (Thailand) said it expects local tablet shipments to reach 1.5 million units this year, up from 400,000 last year, fuelled mainly by the government’s One Tablet per Child project.

The new iPad is scheduled to ship to the Thai market next month.

To clear stock for the new arrival and prime buyers for the new arrival, iStudio Thailand slashed the price of its iPad2 by 2,400 baht to 13,500 baht for all models, starting yesterday.

Pavich Vasanasomsomboon, the product marketing manager of Thai Samsung Electronics, acknowledged the new iPad will certainly have a strong impact on its rivals, especially in Google’s Android-based tablet segment.

Boonchai Ngouvisitkul, associate director at Acer Computer (Thailand), expects with the new iPad, Apple will dominate the local tablet market with at least a 70% share.

He added the arrival of the new iPad and the government’s One Tablet per Child project are likely to depress average tablet prices below 10,000 baht this year, a sharp decline from 16,000 baht last year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/283542/tablet-sales-may-quadruple-this-year

 

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