Vision - September/October 2007 - (Page 40) gOing glObal Bob Stefko/Getty Images news around the world ] • [ by carolyn slater Starfish server via the Internet. Users simply log on to track and locate their vehicle. There are two versions of Starfish, one with a car alarm and the other with telemetry options for commercial vehicles. Most tracking systems require a call center to monitor location whereas Starfish allows the owner to do their own monitoring at anytime. Even if a vehicle is dismantled, its last known location will be revealed via Starfish. The first customer for Starfish was Kuala Lumpur’s “Hop-on Hop-Off ” city tour bus service, but the device now is being marketed to individual consumers as well. India’s Fab City Construction began in June on India’s first semiconductor fabrication plant or “Fab”. SemIndia, a consortium of international tech entrepreneurs together with their technology partner AMD, is building a $3 billion facility near the new Hyderabad International airport slated for completion in early 2008, and expected to attract high tech industries. Two other semiconductor companies, Nano Tech and Cypress Semiconductor, are eyeing the 1,200 acre site at Hyderabad known as Fab City. The Indian government is offering incentives to prospective companies such as exempting 20 to 25 percent of factory projects from taxes. The chips produced in Fab City will serve primarily the nation’s own burgeoning technology needs. High Def Down Under High-definition electronics are being snapped up by Australians at record rates. A study by GfK marketing group reveals that Australians spent 67.5 percent of their total home entertainment dollars on HD hardware during the first quarter of this year. In Q4 of 2006, HD products accounted for 52 percent of total sales. The London Leads Wi-Fi Race GfK report’s author, Dennis Butler, believes A recent survey by RSA reveals that Lonthat price is not really a barrier to purchase don currently enjoys the fastest growth in and that now “people are willing to pay the number of wireless access points of three cash and get the HD technology.” financial centers studied: London, Widescreen TVs lead in popularity New York and Paris. This was with an 88 percent share of total the sixth annual survey by RSA HD purchases. Recent events in to monitor the number of Wi-Fi Australia that may help boost HD access points in each city, as well as adoption include the official Bluthe security of those points. Since ray DVD format launch, the local last year’s report, London’s access launch of the Sony PlayStation 3 grew by 160 percent. The percentCarolyn Slater game console (with a built-in Bluage of “vulnerable” access points in ray player), and the release of Microsoft’s the city fell, with 76 percent of them proHD-DVD format player for its Xbox 360 tected against casual attack, many using game console. a new advanced Wi-Fi encryption system. London’s access points were primarily Made in Malaysia— (94 percent) inside businesses, while the Vehicle Tracking System remaining six percent were found in Wi-Fi ATMIC WORLD (M) SDN BHD recently hot spots like cafes and libraries. New York launched “Starfish”, an advanced vehicle has 6,371 access points of which 15 percent tracking system that was designed com- were available for public use, while Paris pletely in Malaysia. It combines GPS with a trailed with 827 access points and 11 perGSM link to transfer information back to the cent public availability. Corporate Blogging to Reach Consumers Bringing a new marketing tactic into their arsenal, Sony launched a corporate blog at www.sony.com/electronicsblog to engage consumers in a two-way dialog. The blog has insights on innovative products and new technologies, clarifies misperceptions, debates hot topics and talks about industry trends. Topics have included the Blu-ray vs HD DVD format war, Sony’s environmental efforts and the companies’ DSLR strategy. Taiwanese Touch Screen Phone Fighting Cellular Crime A Singapore start-up company, Bak2u, has developed software called PhoneBAK to help consumers who have had their cell phone or PDA stolen and have lost the information stored on the device. When a thief tries to replace the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to use the phone, PhoneBAK automatically sends a text message to the owner with the thief ’s data which then can be provided to the police. Bak2U reports healthy sales to customers in Asia, Europe, the U.S. and Africa of around 7,500 software copies per month. • www.ce.org Taiwan’s High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) plans to launch its own branded touch-screen smart phone, the TouchFLO, in the U.S. by year-end. HTC’s iPhone rival device, which incorporates the features of a smart phone, a cell phone and a PDA, was released in the U.K. and Germany earlier this year. Reviews from Europe have been positive and, unlike the iPhone, the TouchFLO comes with a back-up stylus which is preferred by some users. Until now, HTC has only sold mobile phones under its own brand but has sold smart phones under brands such as Dell and NTT DoCoMo. 40 September/October 2007 http://www.sony.com/electronicsblog http://www.ce.org
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