The Centre for Network Research of Songkhla University is expected to complete the development of the open-standard application for enabling mobile phone-based conferencing in November.
The project is funded by the Telecommunications Research and Industrial Development Istitute (Tridi) of the National Telecommunications Commission.
Assoc Professor Sinchai Kamolphiwong, director of the CNR, said yesterday that Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Move are interested in trying out the application, which was designed to run on the next generation network (NGN).
NGN supports combined voice, data and media service simultaneously and effectively.
Tridi had invited AIS, True Move, TOT and CAT Telecom to discuss with the CNR lab which kinds of specific NGN applications the telecom operators want the lab to focus its research and development (R&D) on.
The move will let the lab develop applications that fit well with telecom industry demand.
Tridi director Supot Tiarawut said that if the application proves successful and could be marketed commercially, it would benefit the country by promoting the use of locally-made telecom equipment.
That would help the country reduce imports of expensive telecom equipment and save on foreign exchange.
The move is in line with the Tridi's key role of collaborating with the public and private sectors in promoting telecom R&D through its funding.
The NTC set up the Tridi in 2000 to foster local telecom R&D and telecom humanresource development, with a focus on the next-generation network, broadband, optical communications and Voice over Internet Protocol service industries.
This year, Tridi granted Bt40 million to nine labs of leading educational institutions to further telecom R&D.
Of the total grants, CNR received Bt4.6 million. The university set up CNR in 2002. The centre currently has around 70 researchers.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
HARD TECHNOLOGY NEEDS SOFT TOUCH
Papon Ratanachaikanont, deputy group chief commercial officer at True, explains the "retailisation" movement being championed at Thailand's only fully integrated telecommunitations and media company to The Nation's Pichaya Changsorn.
About three years ago, when Papon Ratanachaikanont proposed to True's board of directors that the company set up coffee outlets, he was stunned by a question from one board member who asked bluntly: "Who are you?"
Having just left the local unit of auto-maker Mazda to joining the telecom conglomerate, Papon had yet to prove himself.
However, after some intense debate, the board approved Papon's plan, which he now admits was intended to be no more than a "marketing gimmick."
"That's how savvy our board was. They approved a budget of more than Bt100 million and ordered me to return the money within three years," he said.
The entrepreneurial task was a big challenge. Papon himself had not expected True to pursue the business. "We first approached Starbucks for a partnership, but they said they did not know us," he said.
Today, True Coffee has paid back the original investment and is a profitable enterprise, Papon said.
As a vote of confidence and part of the group's "convergence" business policy, the parent company in March assigned Papon to take care of all of the group's retailing units and customer service points, totalling nearly 400 outlets, and unit them. These include True Shops, handling fixed-line telephone and Internet business, the outlets of cellular-phone business True Move, customer-service points for cable-TV unit True Vision, True Coffee and 167 new iPhone kiosks established over the past 45 days under Papon's direction in big discount stores and retail complexes, such as Tesco Lotus.
The physical merger of True'e retail outlets is now complete, but there remains a lot of back-office work to be done, and one of the most challenging areas is people management. Papon, who was earlier responsible for True Coffee, with fewer than 40 outlets and a combined staff of 160, is now managing nearly 400 group outlets employing 2,500 people.
But why did he go for coffee in the first place?
Papon said he believed in the "retailisation" trend now seen around the world. Technology is a "hard side" of the business. People are unable actually to feel and touch it, so it needs an "aesthetic" feature like coffee to merge into it.
"I began with a stark contrast - coffee and technology - but people liked it. A 'soft touch' is important, because it gives an aesthetic dimension to people's communications with True," he said.
"In the previous environment, customers felt like they owed us, because they came in with the sole purpose of paying telecom bills. There was no way to improve customer touch points."
In terms of the company's bottom line, True shops are now no longer a pure cost, accepted in the interests of earining income. Coffee and bakery sales have softened this status.
A new True shop recently opened in Central Chon Buri, the first outlet to merge coffee and other services from day one. Up to 100 True shops will soon incorporate a full coffee-store format, while the rest might have self-service coffee sales or other 'soft-side' features, Papon said.
"It's a reverse psychology. Consumers would not be able to find us if we 'converged' without all of the physical presences," Papon said, referring to True's "convergence lifestyle" business philolophy of cross-selling and cross-marketing its Internet-access, cable-TV and wi wired and wireless telephone-network service.
A longer-term goal is to transform all of True's physical outlets into "third-generation destinations" and lifestyle centres for consumers, he said.
About three years ago, when Papon Ratanachaikanont proposed to True's board of directors that the company set up coffee outlets, he was stunned by a question from one board member who asked bluntly: "Who are you?"
Having just left the local unit of auto-maker Mazda to joining the telecom conglomerate, Papon had yet to prove himself.
However, after some intense debate, the board approved Papon's plan, which he now admits was intended to be no more than a "marketing gimmick."
"That's how savvy our board was. They approved a budget of more than Bt100 million and ordered me to return the money within three years," he said.
The entrepreneurial task was a big challenge. Papon himself had not expected True to pursue the business. "We first approached Starbucks for a partnership, but they said they did not know us," he said.
Today, True Coffee has paid back the original investment and is a profitable enterprise, Papon said.
As a vote of confidence and part of the group's "convergence" business policy, the parent company in March assigned Papon to take care of all of the group's retailing units and customer service points, totalling nearly 400 outlets, and unit them. These include True Shops, handling fixed-line telephone and Internet business, the outlets of cellular-phone business True Move, customer-service points for cable-TV unit True Vision, True Coffee and 167 new iPhone kiosks established over the past 45 days under Papon's direction in big discount stores and retail complexes, such as Tesco Lotus.
The physical merger of True'e retail outlets is now complete, but there remains a lot of back-office work to be done, and one of the most challenging areas is people management. Papon, who was earlier responsible for True Coffee, with fewer than 40 outlets and a combined staff of 160, is now managing nearly 400 group outlets employing 2,500 people.
But why did he go for coffee in the first place?
Papon said he believed in the "retailisation" trend now seen around the world. Technology is a "hard side" of the business. People are unable actually to feel and touch it, so it needs an "aesthetic" feature like coffee to merge into it.
"I began with a stark contrast - coffee and technology - but people liked it. A 'soft touch' is important, because it gives an aesthetic dimension to people's communications with True," he said.
"In the previous environment, customers felt like they owed us, because they came in with the sole purpose of paying telecom bills. There was no way to improve customer touch points."
In terms of the company's bottom line, True shops are now no longer a pure cost, accepted in the interests of earining income. Coffee and bakery sales have softened this status.
A new True shop recently opened in Central Chon Buri, the first outlet to merge coffee and other services from day one. Up to 100 True shops will soon incorporate a full coffee-store format, while the rest might have self-service coffee sales or other 'soft-side' features, Papon said.
"It's a reverse psychology. Consumers would not be able to find us if we 'converged' without all of the physical presences," Papon said, referring to True's "convergence lifestyle" business philolophy of cross-selling and cross-marketing its Internet-access, cable-TV and wi wired and wireless telephone-network service.
A longer-term goal is to transform all of True's physical outlets into "third-generation destinations" and lifestyle centres for consumers, he said.
Nokia makes own Money
The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia said on Wednesday it would launch a mobile financial service next year targeting consumers, mainly in emerging markets, with a phone but no banking account.
Nokia said its Nokia Money service was based on the mobile payment platform of Obopay, a privately-owned firm that Nokia invested in earlier this year,and it is now building up a network of agents.
Obopay, which uses text messaging and mobile internet access, charges users a fee to send money or to top up their accounts.
"Mobile-enabled financial services has tremendous growth opportunities," Nokia chief development officer Mary McDowell said, noting there are four billion mobile phone users globally but only 1.6 billion bank accounts and one billion credit cards.
"There is pretty significant gap between people, especially in emerging markets, who have a mobile device yet don't have a bank account," McDowell said.
The announcement is the latest push by Nokia to diversify its business as global handset sales have gone from slowing down over the past few years to contracting due to the recession. The firm also said this week that it would start to make laptops.
Mobile money is one of the hottest topics in the wireless world, but so far take-up of services hasbeen limited mostly to a few emerging markets, as in developed countries, the popularity of online banking has been a brake on mobile money.
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a US-based microfinance policy and research centre, has said the market for mobile financial services to poor people in emerging markets will surge from nothing to $5 billion in 2012.
The service began in early 2007 with a launch of Safaricom's M-PESA in Kenya,which has attracted 6.5 million customers, or one in six Kenyans. By the end of 2009, CGAP expects more than 120 mobile money implementations in developing markets.
Nokia did not announce any partnerships with operators or financial institutions, only saying that Nokia Money would be rolled out gradually to selected markets starting in early 2010.
Nokia said its Nokia Money service was based on the mobile payment platform of Obopay, a privately-owned firm that Nokia invested in earlier this year,and it is now building up a network of agents.
Obopay, which uses text messaging and mobile internet access, charges users a fee to send money or to top up their accounts.
"Mobile-enabled financial services has tremendous growth opportunities," Nokia chief development officer Mary McDowell said, noting there are four billion mobile phone users globally but only 1.6 billion bank accounts and one billion credit cards.
"There is pretty significant gap between people, especially in emerging markets, who have a mobile device yet don't have a bank account," McDowell said.
The announcement is the latest push by Nokia to diversify its business as global handset sales have gone from slowing down over the past few years to contracting due to the recession. The firm also said this week that it would start to make laptops.
Mobile money is one of the hottest topics in the wireless world, but so far take-up of services hasbeen limited mostly to a few emerging markets, as in developed countries, the popularity of online banking has been a brake on mobile money.
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a US-based microfinance policy and research centre, has said the market for mobile financial services to poor people in emerging markets will surge from nothing to $5 billion in 2012.
The service began in early 2007 with a launch of Safaricom's M-PESA in Kenya,which has attracted 6.5 million customers, or one in six Kenyans. By the end of 2009, CGAP expects more than 120 mobile money implementations in developing markets.
Nokia did not announce any partnerships with operators or financial institutions, only saying that Nokia Money would be rolled out gradually to selected markets starting in early 2010.
HTC sees big potential here
HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones, is gearing up to capitalise on the fast-growing smartphone handset market in Thailand, a market worth an estimated 8 billion baht this year.
Nattawat Woranopakul, country manager of HTC Thailand, said the local smartphone market had become highly competitive with lower prices now that the four major international brands Nokia, HTC, iPhone and BlackBerry were moving aggressively to promote their products.
While local mobile handset sales overall have been forecast to contract by 25-30% this year, Mr Nattawat said the touch-screen smartphone market was expected to grow 30%.
Sales of smartphone handsets are expected to reach 400,000 this year, up from 300,000 last year. The average smartphone price is around 20,000 baht a unit.
In contrast, he said, demand for con-ventional voice-based mobile phones was expected to plunge significantly with international brands losing ground to generally cheaper house-brand units that offered features such as slots for two SIM cards and mobile television.
Mr Nattawat said the surge in smartphones reflected increasing demand for data communications and growing popularity among young people.
Nokia is the market leader in the smartphone segment in Thailand with a 39% share, followed by HTC with 37%and iPhone and BlackBerry, he said."Thailand is our second largest marketplace in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore."
HTC yesterday introduced its new HTC Hero smartphone priced at 22,900 baht.
It runs on Google's Android software with customised content profiles and the HTC Sense application system. Other features include GPS and contextual search through Twitter,3.2-inch display,5-megapixel camera and a 2GB micro SD card.
Nattawat Woranopakul, country manager of HTC Thailand, said the local smartphone market had become highly competitive with lower prices now that the four major international brands Nokia, HTC, iPhone and BlackBerry were moving aggressively to promote their products.
While local mobile handset sales overall have been forecast to contract by 25-30% this year, Mr Nattawat said the touch-screen smartphone market was expected to grow 30%.
Sales of smartphone handsets are expected to reach 400,000 this year, up from 300,000 last year. The average smartphone price is around 20,000 baht a unit.
In contrast, he said, demand for con-ventional voice-based mobile phones was expected to plunge significantly with international brands losing ground to generally cheaper house-brand units that offered features such as slots for two SIM cards and mobile television.
Mr Nattawat said the surge in smartphones reflected increasing demand for data communications and growing popularity among young people.
Nokia is the market leader in the smartphone segment in Thailand with a 39% share, followed by HTC with 37%and iPhone and BlackBerry, he said."Thailand is our second largest marketplace in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore."
HTC yesterday introduced its new HTC Hero smartphone priced at 22,900 baht.
It runs on Google's Android software with customised content profiles and the HTC Sense application system. Other features include GPS and contextual search through Twitter,3.2-inch display,5-megapixel camera and a 2GB micro SD card.
Nokia plans to launch mobile banking
Nokia, the world's leading mobile-phone maker, will launch a service enabling people to make financial transactions with their cellphones, the Finnish telecoms giant said yesterday.
The Nokia Money service will make it possible "to send money to another person by using the person's mobile phone number, as well as to pay merchants for goods and services, pay their utility bills, or recharge their pre-paid SIM cards," the company of Nikia Money agents where consumers can deposit money or withdraw cash from their mobile accounts.
"We believe mobile financial services offer a market opportunity with long term growh potential," Nokia's chief development officer, Mary long term growth potential," Nokia's chief development officer, Mary McDowell, said in the statement. "In many countries, mobilephone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage," she said noting that there are more than four billion mobile-phone users worldwide compared to 1.6 billion bank accounts.
Nokia is racing to diversify its operations as its rivals Apple and Research in Motion experience raging successes with their respective "smartphones", the iPhone and the Blackberry.
The Nokia Money service will make it possible "to send money to another person by using the person's mobile phone number, as well as to pay merchants for goods and services, pay their utility bills, or recharge their pre-paid SIM cards," the company of Nikia Money agents where consumers can deposit money or withdraw cash from their mobile accounts.
"We believe mobile financial services offer a market opportunity with long term growh potential," Nokia's chief development officer, Mary long term growth potential," Nokia's chief development officer, Mary McDowell, said in the statement. "In many countries, mobilephone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage," she said noting that there are more than four billion mobile-phone users worldwide compared to 1.6 billion bank accounts.
Nokia is racing to diversify its operations as its rivals Apple and Research in Motion experience raging successes with their respective "smartphones", the iPhone and the Blackberry.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
NOT ENOUGH IPHONE 3GS PHONES SENT OVER TO MEET LOCAL DEMAND
Many customers who booked iPhone 3GS mobile phones will have to wait until the middle of next month because the first shipment from Apple was not enough to go around.
Papon Ratanachaikanont, assistant to the president and CEO of True Move as well as deputy group chief commercial officer of True Corp, said yesterday that more than 10,000 phones had been pre-ordered but Apple only supplied 3,500 of the latest models in the first lot.
The first batch will go to those who had specified tomorrow as the delivery date, though those expecting to pick their phones up from Saturday to next Thursday will have to wait for the next lot.
The new lot is expected to arrive some time next week and should be available from the second week of next month. However, Papon could not say how many 3GS phones would be delivered in the second lot.
Customers having to wait for the second lot will be receive a free iPhone leather case as a kind of consolation for the delayed delivery.
There some 3,500 customers waiting to pick up their phones tomorrow and most of them are in Bangkok.
True Move allowed people to reserve the devices from August 5-24 for a deposit of Bt2,000. The customers could set a date for pick up between August 28 and September 3. The 16-gigabyte 3GS phone costs Bt24,500, while the 32GB model goes for Bt28,500.
Papon said several other countries, such as Australia, Taiwan and Singapore, have also experienced the same shortage mainly due to the higher-than-expected demand for the 3GS model, which is a newer version of the iPhone 3G phone.
Those who want to cancel their order and take their Bt2,000 deposit back can do so at all True Move shops from Tuesday onward.
The supply for local consumers should stabilise next month, Papon said.
True Move should be able to make the phones available at all its shops nationwide on September 11.
Papon is not concerned that the supply shortage would have people to rushing to purchase smuggled 3GS phones.
He said pre-bookings for the 3GS model was three times that of the 3G iPhones early this year.
True Move is the exclusive authorised cellular service provider for 3G iPhones here and expects sales of the 3GS iPhone model to exceed 50,000 units this year.
Papon Ratanachaikanont, assistant to the president and CEO of True Move as well as deputy group chief commercial officer of True Corp, said yesterday that more than 10,000 phones had been pre-ordered but Apple only supplied 3,500 of the latest models in the first lot.
The first batch will go to those who had specified tomorrow as the delivery date, though those expecting to pick their phones up from Saturday to next Thursday will have to wait for the next lot.
The new lot is expected to arrive some time next week and should be available from the second week of next month. However, Papon could not say how many 3GS phones would be delivered in the second lot.
Customers having to wait for the second lot will be receive a free iPhone leather case as a kind of consolation for the delayed delivery.
There some 3,500 customers waiting to pick up their phones tomorrow and most of them are in Bangkok.
True Move allowed people to reserve the devices from August 5-24 for a deposit of Bt2,000. The customers could set a date for pick up between August 28 and September 3. The 16-gigabyte 3GS phone costs Bt24,500, while the 32GB model goes for Bt28,500.
Papon said several other countries, such as Australia, Taiwan and Singapore, have also experienced the same shortage mainly due to the higher-than-expected demand for the 3GS model, which is a newer version of the iPhone 3G phone.
Those who want to cancel their order and take their Bt2,000 deposit back can do so at all True Move shops from Tuesday onward.
The supply for local consumers should stabilise next month, Papon said.
True Move should be able to make the phones available at all its shops nationwide on September 11.
Papon is not concerned that the supply shortage would have people to rushing to purchase smuggled 3GS phones.
He said pre-bookings for the 3GS model was three times that of the 3G iPhones early this year.
True Move is the exclusive authorised cellular service provider for 3G iPhones here and expects sales of the 3GS iPhone model to exceed 50,000 units this year.
European iPhones "explode"
A French security guard said yesterday his face was struck with shattered glass when the screen of his iPhone exploded, the second such reported incident in France.
Yassine Bouhadi, a 26-year-old supermarket watchman from the southeastern town of Villevieille, said he "was typing a text message ... when the screen exploded". Mr Bouhadi, who says he was hit in the eye with a glass shard,said he was "very angry" and planned to consult a doctor and file a lawsuit seeking damages.
"I want an explanation about this damned telephone," said Mr Bouhadi,who bought the hugely-popular smartphone device for 600 euros (28,900 baht)three months ago. Now he wants his money back.
A French teenager suffered an eye injury in a similar iPhone incident earlier this month, a few weeks after a brouhaha in Britain over an exploding iPod music player owned by an 11-year-old girl.
A US television station also reported last month that an "alarming number"of iPods had burst into flames, although without causing serious injuries, a problem apparently caused by overheated lithium ion batteries.
The US technology giant Apple, which makes the iPhone and iPod, assured the European Union earlier this month that the cases reported so far were "isolated incidents".
Yassine Bouhadi, a 26-year-old supermarket watchman from the southeastern town of Villevieille, said he "was typing a text message ... when the screen exploded". Mr Bouhadi, who says he was hit in the eye with a glass shard,said he was "very angry" and planned to consult a doctor and file a lawsuit seeking damages.
"I want an explanation about this damned telephone," said Mr Bouhadi,who bought the hugely-popular smartphone device for 600 euros (28,900 baht)three months ago. Now he wants his money back.
A French teenager suffered an eye injury in a similar iPhone incident earlier this month, a few weeks after a brouhaha in Britain over an exploding iPod music player owned by an 11-year-old girl.
A US television station also reported last month that an "alarming number"of iPods had burst into flames, although without causing serious injuries, a problem apparently caused by overheated lithium ion batteries.
The US technology giant Apple, which makes the iPhone and iPod, assured the European Union earlier this month that the cases reported so far were "isolated incidents".
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