Our GoMobile 2008 exhibition jointly organised by LTT Global Communications and Mobile World magazine received close to 58,000 visitors over its three days at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in November.

Many came to see what’s available in the Malaysian mobile world and to take advantages of the special offers on mobile phones and perhaps to be the lucky ones to get a prize of a free LG mobile available to every 1,000th visitor.

However, GoMobile wasn’t all about phones and accessories launches and special offers, though there were many of those. It also was a showcase of imported and locally developed content and applications for mobile phones which is what we will talk about here.

LTT Global Communications displayed several of its mobile and web learning products.

Its Mobile English which costs RM15 per month is available via the web on PCs and via SMS on phones, while its Positive Moments, Health Nuggets, Guide to Happy Marriage and Guide to Happy Children are available via SMS at RM10 per month each.

Its Communications & Business course comes in five topics at RM2.50 each and is accessible on a phone’s WAP browser.

Upcoming in early 2009 are Kids Cashier and myFirst Aid.

Kids Cashier is teaches children aged nine and below simple mathematics. It was developed by Universiti Teknologi Melaka (UTeM) students Mohamed Muaz Mohamed and Hazmin Wardi with the help of LTT Global to design and commercialise it.

It won second prize in the Mobile Content Challenge 2007, a joint initiative by Maxis Communications, the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to support the developer community and foster innovation on mobile phones.

myFirst Aid is a Flash Lite based application which teaches the application of first aid in cases of drug overdoes, dislocations, electric shock, drowning, eye injuries, convulsions, burns, bites, bleeding, stings, poisoning, fractures, fever, fainting and others.

It was developed by team Extraordinary Always Something Different as part of the Mobile Content Challenge with the advice of Iskandar Satria and the mentoring by LTT Global.

Zeemote control of mobile games

Unlike playing games on a PC, controlling a game on a cellular phone is usually achieved by pressing its left, right, up or down buttons but Java games developer, Mobizads develops games which work with the Zeemote JS1 handheld controller from Massachusetts-based Zeemote, Inc, http://zeemote.com, which enables a more intuitive mobile games playing experience.

The JS1 which interacts with newer Java-based phones using Bluetooth, has a joystick, a fire button and a grenade thrower button similar to game joysticks used with PCs.

It’s currently being bundled with the Nokia N85 in Germany, the Sony Ericsson W760i in the Netherlands and the Sony Ericsson K530i in Spain.

“Mobizads will help Zeemote coordinate the development of games for the JS1 and to attract mobile advertising. The games will be given away for free in return for the player watching advertisements on their phone before they start to play,” said Mobizads regional manager, Alan Chan.

Tune Hotels ad

The company Mobizads launched its Mobizads mobile advertising at GoMobile 2008 and places two graphic or text advertisements in its free games which players must view before playing their game.

Its advertisers currently include Tune Hotels, Pit Green, Mobile Wallet Magazine, BAK2U, the Travclass.com travel portal and others. The games can be downloaded to a PC from www.pokit.mobi or directly to a phone from http://wap.pokit.mobi.

“We have no hard figures about the return-on-investment from mobile advertising but with the current economic downturn, advertisers will be looking for other channels to complement print and TV advertisements,” said Chan.

Mobizads had two booths – one as winner of the MSC-IPC 2007 award and one under the Mobile Learning pavilion under the Maxis Developer Programme. Bak2u donated RM800 worth of its PhoneBAK phone anti-theft software for Mobizads lucky draw plus the time of two of its key staff.

It was developed under the MSC Malaysia Creative Multimedia Content Initiative with financial assistance from MDeC.

Mobile social networking

MNC Wireless promoted its free Mobby.me, http://mobby.me, mobile social networking community which is similar to Facebook and Friendster and lets users share videos, pictures, chat and send messages within the Mobby-me system. They can also play the Elven Legends multiplayer mobile online game and make new friends and they can sign-up for free.

MNC Wireless also came up with Malaysia’s first mobile education game, Dooodolls Fun With Shapes with a voice which teachers hand-eye coordination and pronunciation.

It has a learning mode for learning and a play mode for hand-eye coordination.

It’s available now and to obtain Fun With Shapes, just send and SMS with the word Shape to 36633 and its price of RM8 will be charged to the user’s cellular operator account.

Home monitoring and online marketing

Flexinno Solutions based in Multimedia University, which developed its Mobile Sock Exchange System especially showcased its web browser and phone-based FlexTALK, FlexMAPS and FlexSMS customer-service solutions, and its FlexHOME remote home automation and surveillance solution.

FlexHOME lets owners remotely control lights, air conditioning or any electrical appliance in their home from their phones and it also works with compatible IP-based cameras, so they can remotely monitor the inside of their home from their phone.

The system can send them an SMS to notify them of any problem and lets them talk to the robber through their phone.

FlexSMS is a marketing tool – namely a widget embedded on the company’s website, which visitors click to an SMS to a friend to tell him or her about the company’s product. The recipient simply clicks on a link in the SMS to launch the phone’s browser to view a picture and a description of the product.

Alternatively, visitors can also send an e-mail to their friends with the address of the company’s website. The FlexSMS widget can be embedded in any website and Flexinno undertakes to provide lifelong hosting of the services.

FlexMAPS primarily is web-based but can be made to work on the Apple i-Phone’s Safari browser as well.

It uses maps from Google Maps to show directions to the company’s offices with landmarks and road placement but is more dynamic and lets users scroll the map around and provides them with a pedometer tool to measure the distance to their destination.

FlexTALK works over the Internet to lets companies provide customer service through voice and text communication between customers and the company’s help desk. It also lets either side provide details via instant messaging, so there’s no confusion due to mis-hearing what’s said.

Voice conversation is through a web browser but instant messaging requires software installation.

Diary Muslim

CWorks Mobile showcased its Dairy Muslim mobile application which tracks what the user does or doesn’t do in a day. It helps users keep track of their prayers, provides them with the prayer times and is also a daily organiser.

Development of Dairy Muslim was funded through an MDeC grant and it can be purchased for RM15 from any Maxis centre and comes on an Ikhlas Maxis SD card from which users transfer it into and install on their phone.

CWorks Mobile’s mobility solutions also include OneSuara web-based SMS communication services messaging engine, XPressIt! colour SMS application, MOBCAT mobile catalogue, Personal Manager and Entertainment applications.

Its MWorks mobile maintenance tool is a mobile extension of CWorks CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) which lets users obtain retrieval and real-time updates of work orders, take pictures of work completed and to conduct work order reporting from their phone.

Rich media on phones

Kadena Technologies (formerly Mutiara Semananjung) provides a rich media platform which delivers videos, pictures and other  content to users via Flash Lite 2.0 and is compatible with Symbian and Windows Mobile phones.

It showcased three applications, namely X-Youth, M-Bazaar and LEAP.

X-Youth is used by the government to provide youth with information on speeches, activities, events and opportunities on their phone, while M-Bazaar lets tourists browse for information on hotels, tourist information and information on tourist spots and it also lets them book their hotel through their phone.

“We propose to embed it in mobile phone SIM cards which will be handed out to tourists as they arrive at the airport and we’d like to interest Tourism Malaysia in it,” said Nazrul Zaman bin Abdul Kadir, Kadena group chief executive officer and managing director.

Its LEAP application provides students in institutions of higher learning with examination tips, career advice and so on.

All three services are free to end users and they’re all based on Java-based back end applications, use server-side media compression, XML data feeds and have an SMS gateway.

Animated greetings

Billadam promoted its animated greeting card service currently available in partnership with Celcom. To subscriber, users simply send and SMS to 22600 or dial *118# to receive one card per week at RM1 each.

“We offer two types of cards, namely love quotes and greeting cards, which subscribers are free to forward to others, while we also provide MobiGreets cards to corporate clients,” said Billadam chief executive officer, Amir Mohamed.

MobiGreets is available in two packages. The first which costs RM2,000 per card plus 20sen per recipient is based on several templates into which are embedded a photo, name and so on, while the second type which costs RM5,000 plus 20sen per recipient  is customised for the client. Both types are available both in Malaysia and the United Kingdom where Billadam has its Europe office.

MobiGreets and its street finder application AZ Finder were launched in the UK in 2007.

Mags on mobile

VIBS or Vision Interactive Broadband Service, a part of Vision New Media developed a mobile magazine application based on a proprietary Java technology called Bando and was rolling out mobile versions of Seventeen, Remaja and Yezz! Print magazines.

When we spoke to VIBS at GoMobile, it had plans to launch that VibeMags in November or early December and for six months from then, Maxis would push them out free of charge and suppress data charges, since it’s based on the advertising model.

We accessed it at www.vibemags.mobi on our phone with a DiGi SIM and via WiFi. For further details visit http://vibs.com.my/web/solutions.html on your PC.

Vibs offered the very first issue if GoMobile Insider in conjunction with the inaugural GoMobile 2008 event.

Keeping parents informed

MyPresto Com showcased its web-based SMS Sekolah application provided to the Ministry of Education, where teachers just key in information about their pupil’s attendance, discipline, homework and activities through a web browser which sends it via SMS to their parents’ mobile phone and the parents can send their enquiries and comments to the teacher also via SMS.

Government services via SMS

Content and applications provider, Dapat Vista showcased the mySMS e-government application which it developed for the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation & Planning Unit (MAMPU) and it provides careline services to answer questions via SMS.

Launched on 31 July, 2008, mySMS currently lets member of the public obtain government services, currently from 54 government agencies, departments and local authorities by sending an SMS to a single 15888 shortcode.

“For example, they can request a soft copy of an application form be sent to them as a PDF document via e-mail, which arrives within a few seconds,” said Dapat Vista senior executive, Elina Ariffin.

“They can submit complains to relevant agencies or complains about agencies and each complaint will be monitored by MAMPU. They can also request information, check on the status of tenders, university applications or national service and last August, over 300,000 people checked their national service status with the system,” she added.

To register, users just send their name, Identity Card number, district and e-mail address to 15888 and since their district is known, mySMS will also send those alerts about natural disasters threatening their area and if necessary, direct them to go to centres where they can receive assistance and sanctuary.

In mid 2009, mySMS will include payment facilities which will allow users to pay summons, quit rent, assessment, for driving license renewal and so on, with deductions made from their bank account, provided it’s with local banks, most of which are participating.

mySMS will include 350 participating agencies in 2009 and 750 agencies in 2010.

P2P between phones

mBit, the Singapore based subsidiary of local company mTouche Technology showcased the mBit peer-to-peer (P2P), file sharing managed network service, which is the first of its kind for mobile phones.

Based on the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), mBit lets users share pictures, audio and video files with other phone or PC users through the mBit system, without the size limits of  MMS.

“Users elect to share a file and they decide with whom to share it, then define its title and key words, and the system generated the related metadata so others in the community can to select and download their desired content,” said Jennifer Yuen, mBit business development manager.

It’s currently available on Symbian S60 2nd and 3rd edition, Windows Mobile, Java-enables phones and on PCs works across operator’s networks worldwide.

mBit’s web portal at www.mbit.com lets users upload videos in various formats and download them in mobile formats so they can easily share it with their friends anytime they want. They can also create their own channel and operate it like a TV show.

It’s made it easy users to do video blogging, produce their own music videos or even advertise their items for sale and it’s also made it easy to search for files share by friends or other community members.
 

It’s also added a new beta service which makes video editing as easy. Users simply upload their photos, music or videos and choose a style they want their video to look like and visitors to your channels can access their videos directly and watch it full screen like Internet TV and they can also bookmark them.

It also supports subscription to RSS feeds and podcasts

Want to watch the videos on your phone anytime you want? The mobile site offers Mobile Search for you to find the content you want fast! You can also download the mobile client software suitable for your phone.

You can also access the mobile site customised for your phone browser at http://wap.mbit.tv.

To access the channel directly, you can also visit wap.mbit.tv/ in the same way you do on Web.

To watch videos on their phone, users can either download and install the client software or view them through http://wap.mbit.com WAP portal customised for their phone. They can also access a channel directly through http://was.mbit.com/, where is the name of its creator.

Phone security

TecProtec promoted its range of Mobisure mobile handset insurance packages against damage and/or theft, and which are underwritten by AIG General Insurance, with coverage while worldwide for up to 60 days.

If the phone is stolen, it will be replaced with a brand new one and if it’s accidentally damaged, it will be repaired for free and replaced if necessary.

It also provides Mobisure extended warranty programmes which provide a total of up to two years protection beyond the manufacturer’s standard warranty, inclusive of parts, with the warranty amount up to the purchase price of the phone.

“This helps operators retain customers and reduce churn, especially now with mobile number portability,” said  TecProtec managing director Mark Simmons. “It also helps operators differentiate themselves from their competition and also provides them with an additional revenue stream.”

Altogether, TecProtec has around 12,000 insurance and extended warranty customers today.

TecProtec’s Mobisure DataProtect phone anti-theft application users remotely prevent unauthorised access to key data on their phone and may also help them get it back.

It runs on devices with the popular Symbian S60 2nd and 3rd edition, Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC and Smartphone, Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 operating systems.

“If the phone is lost or stolen, the user can send it an SMS to lock it, rendering it useless to whoever has it and the device will sound an alarm and display a standard or personalized message indicating that it’s lost and to call the owner at the number provided,” said Simmons.

Should the SIM be changed, DataProtect will send an SMS with the new number to up to nine pre-configured numbers of friends and family members indicating that it’s lost or stolen and DataProtect can also be configured to automatically lock the phone.

The user can also send the phone an SMS to instruct DataProtect to erase all personal data on the phone.

DataProtect is available as scratch card with the serial key from TecProtec retailers at RM88 throughout the life of their phone, then download and install DataProtect, and activate it through its website at http://dataprotect.tecprotec.com.my or via SMS.

DataProtect will not be erased from the phone or de-activated by a software upgrade performed by service persons in phone shops.

TecProtect was rolling out DataProtect among its network of 500 retailers nationwide.

“We hope to add an additional feature to DataProtect in the first quarter of 2009, which will backup all data over-the-air on an ongoing basis and to roll out a version of DataProtect for BlackBerry in the second quarters,” Simmons added. The cost of these is to be announced.

The application underlying DataProtect was originally developed overseas for Singapore’s Ministry of Defense, Police, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and Certis Cisco. It’s also used commercially by Telenor in Pakistan, Nokia in India, Tata Communications, Mobilink, Zong, Mobix and Singtel over the past three years.

it’s won several awards such as Red Herring Asia 100, the Wall Street Journal Asia Innovation Award, from Frost & Sullivan and others and it’s marketed in Malaysia by TecProtec Sdn Bhd, which soft-launched DataProtect in Malaysia last month under its Mobisure brand name.

TecProtect specialises in the design, implementation and management of handset protection programmes provided in through technical partners and mobile operators.

Another company NSS MSC showcased its range of mobile security solutions, namely its Xecure Message Service (XMS) products Xecure Messaging Centre and m-Commerce, CellSniper, Xecure phone and Hyde.

NSS draws upon its background in security consultancy since 2000, began the development of security solutions in 2003 and from 2005 in its research and development lab in Penang.

XMS is NSS’ first product which provides military-grade encryption from end-to-end and its Xecure Messaging Centre lets governments and organisations broadcast secured SMS messages and notifications from a PC via a GSM modem to multiple mobile phones and for recipients to verify the authenticity of the message source, so they can avoid reacting to false SMS.

“Xecure Messaging Centre is used by embassies and high commissions around the world and uses 256-bits Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption,” said NSS chief operating officer, Rajendra Dave.

It was also launched as a value-added service by cellular operators in the United States, the Middle-East, India and China, and by NSS partners in Europe.

Another version called XMS m-Commerce uses a different user interface for mobile banking.

It lets users securely retrieve their bank balance, a mini statement, make payments, transfer funds and so on from their mobile phone, which also serves as a Maestro debit card and NSS provides the technology the secure transactions.

Its XMS J2ME applet on installed on phones enables secure mobile top-up in Nepal, micro payments made from phones and others.

Security is enabled by an encrypted secure SMS channel, with their phone number used as unique identification to establish a secure and trusted channel.  

NSS’ CellSniper is an anti-theft application  for Symbian OS 7, 8 & 9 phones which automatically locks the phone upon restart of its SIM card is changed and the handset can only be unlocked with a password known to its user and it can also be locked remotely by sending the CellSniper password in a particular format via SMS to the phone.

Also when the SIM is changed and CellSniper detects a new number it sends an SMS alert with the new number and its IMEI number to several numbers predefine by its owner.

CellSniper also erases all personal information on the phone’s internal and external memory upon receipt of an SMS with a preconfigured WIPE string from the owner.

NSS Xecure Voice implements 256-bits AES encryption of VoIP calls using GPRS, EDGE or 3G data. It requires only 5Kbps of bandwidth on the downlink and uplink which is little enough even for GPRS.

Xecure Voice, CellSnipper and XMS are bundled under a single Xecure Phone package.

NSS also showcased a beta version of HYDE, a hidden application which filters incoming calls and messages according to rules set by the user.

It can block all calls from numbers in a blacklist and keep a complete record of rejected calls. Alternatively it can only accept calls from numbers specific in a white list or in Profile mode it takes specific actions assigned to a particular HYDE contact.

It also intercepts SMS and MMS messages based on contact and can also hide them from normal view in the native inbox and they can only be read using the HYDE application. Hidden messages can be un-hidden and they’ll appear in the native inbox, while HYDE can also auto-delete received messages, with no logs of deleted messages. NSS expects to launch HYDE in January.

GPS

Go-Go Pal showcased its GoGoPal M38 GPS Navigator, MP3 music player, video player and digital photo viewer.

This card windscreen mounted device is powered by the SpeedNavi navigation engine from South Korea and comes with MAPIT maps of Malaysia, Singapore and of Brunei expectedly from the fourth quarter of 2008, with free updates available from www.gogopal.com.my.

It displays the maps in 2D and 3D; provides voice guidance in English, Malay, Chinese, Thai, Korean and Japanese’ smart 3D highway entrance guidance with pictures; quick search of addresses and places of interest; and coordinates input of latitude and longitude.

It costs RM1,299 and comes with a windscreen holder, charger, internal battery, a 2GB SD memory card and one year warranty.

GoMobile, Malaysia’s premier, happening and only mobile-related event returns next year with the best in mobile communications for you, so stay tuned.

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