Lilia Guan

iPods are expected to be big hits this holiday season. However not all of those sold will be new.

The Golden Chain Motel Group has appointed NetComm as its preferred technology supplier.

Golden Chain is an Australian motel chain with more than 300 locations around the country. Members had investigated the installation of a broadband network to provide Internet access for their customers but the available technologies were cost prohibitive and would have entailed running wires throughout the properties. 

 John Priestley, Chairman of the Golden Chain Motel Group said “HotSpot has been operating in our two motels – the Horsham Mid City Motel and the Lamplighter Motel in Oakleigh – for six months. The price is right, it’s reliable, and it works.  This experience meant we had no hesitation in endorsing NetComm as our preferred technology supplier to the Golden Chain Motel Group.”

Commenting on the appointment, David Stewart, Managing Director of NetComm, said: “NetComm Wireless HotSpot is a simple and cost-effective way of selling casual Internet access to motel patrons with a wireless-enabled notebook or PDA.  For a small outlay, businesses such as motels, cafes, restaurants, or even a carwash, can provide access for their customers to surf the net, send e-mails or access corporate networks – and earn income at the same time.”

The Wireless Hotspots are also a new source of revenue for the motels, and they free up the properties’ telephone lines. This avoids the issue of guests using dial-up connections via the motel PABX to access the Internet, and interfering with the property’s ability to make and receive business voice calls.  

To connect, the customer simply launches their web browser on their wireless notebook or PDA and enters their unique username and password in the login screen. Once online, users can enjoy the benefits of high-speed wireless Internet access for browsing, e-mail or Virtual Private Networking (VPN) access where a user can securely connect to their corporate network from a remote location.

Samsung has launched an upgrade to its existing Miniket models with the new Sports Miniket VP-X110L.

This combined camcorder, digital camera and MP3 player has been developed with an external camera attachment, splash proof covering and higher memory capacity to record all adrenaline charged pursuits.

 The Sports Miniket combines a weather resistant and shock absorbent body with an external camera module that provides hands-free shooting capability. The digitally converged device incorporates all the features consumers expect from a Samsung quality camcorder. The sleek camcorder combines innovative design and video capture capabilities with Samsung’s latest usability enhancements. The external camera module can be mounted on a helmet or any stable surface for extreme sports recording. Active Australian adventures can be shared by using Samsung’s generous 1GB built-in storage capacity featuring a 10X Optical Zoom with 800K Movie Optimised CCD lens for superior colour precision and image detail. The Samsung Sports Miniket comes with MPEG4 movie quality (720×576/25 fps), offering the additional advantage of sharing files quickly via e-mail.

Combining all the user benefits of Samsung’s original Miniket, a unique file transfer option means you can record on the built-in memory, then transfer to a removable Memory Stick for easy download.

Samsung’s Miniket connects to any PC using a high speed USB 2.0 connector and also comes with a power cradle for easy re-charge. It supports MPEG4 format and comes with a cradle for easy connection and re-charging. The Samsung Sports Miniket, priced at $1,299.

The next generation in the distribution of multimedia content has been given the green light.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance’s specification for HomePlug AV, a global power line communications technology for creating an instant connected home ecosystem, has been finalised and approved unanimously by the Board of Directors of the Alliance.

HomePlug AV delivers a standards-based connectivity solution enabling simultaneous HD and SD video distribution, whole-house audio, VoIP traffic management and data networking. The technology has capabilities designed into consumer products (such as TVs, audio equipment, computers, and networking gear), a high-definition television show or movie from a PC, PVR or set top box can be viewed on any television in a home – all without running new wiring. The product uses the power lines already installed in a home as a path to transmit digital data between devices. HomePlug AV will be an important enabling technology for IPTV and triple play applications.

“This is a remarkable achievement for the Alliance,” said Pete Griffin, chairman of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance and Radio Shack’s director of corporate technology. “This is a breakthrough technology eagerly anticipated by the consumer marketplace. HomePlug AV will change the face of the digitally connected home. It is the first multi-media distribution technology that makes multimedia home networking as easy as plugging an appliance in a power outlet.”

 HomePlug AV technology was built with contributions from companies worldwide that worked as part of the alliance’s specification working group (SWG). The SWG further developed a baseline technology that was based on contributions submitted by Arkados, Conexant, Intellon and Sharp.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has revealed which printer manufacturers have complied with the US Secret Service to encode pages with identifying information. It will also take the next step to finding out what spying printers are revealing.

Last week the EFF announced it would able to break a code hidden in tiny tracking dots that some colour laser printers secrete in every document they print. The US Secret Service admitted to having struck a deal with some laser printer manufacturers to add tracking information to the printed matter. The “spooks” claiming it’s a means of identifying counterfeiters.

However, the nature of the private information encoded in each document was not previously known.

The manufacturer with some printer models identified with spy dots include; Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson Aculaser, Konika/Minolta, Kyocera, Lanier, Ricoh, Savin, Tektronix and Xerox. A comprehensive list detailing the model number can be found at the EFF site.

However there are no laws to stop the Secret Service from using printer codes to secretly trace the origin of non-currency documents; only the privacy policy of a printer manufacturer currently protects users. No law regulates what sort of documents the Secret Service or any other domestic or foreign government agency is permitted to request for identification, not to mention how such a forensics tool could be developed and implemented in printers in the first place.

Although the American Civil Liberties recently issued a report revealing what the FBI has amassed against organisations, as well as documenting non-violent groups including Greenpeace and United for Peace and Justice. The EFT is also gathering information about what printers are revealing and how. It has also filed a ‘Freedom of Information Act Request.

BenQ has released its 13″ widescreen Joybook S52 with all the glory of the highly successful Joybook 7000.

The S52 hosts a stack of exciting extras packaged in a sophisticated display unit. The product includes luxuries such as a DVD burner, extended 3.5 hours battery life and a complete range of BenQ multimedia software.

The Joybook S52 also features a high gloss screen and appeals to professionals as well as students. The lightweight 2.3kg S52 includes an in-built antenna, optional port replicator and a unique full desktop size keyboard.

Together with its 200 nits high brightness LCD display, the S52 showcases an exclusive blend of features incorporated to meet consumer’s desires and needs.

BenQ Managing Director, Phil Newton says “the S52 is the perfect, ultra portable business and study tool packed with all the enjoyment for which BenQ Joybooks are renowned. This little pocket rocket packs plenty of punch, utilising Intel’s new Sonoma processing technology, giving users greater system performance and security in its top end offerings – integrated graphics and wireless capability”.

The S52 is the ideal companion for consumers who want the works and pricing for the Joybook S52 starts at $1999.

Being mobile is often an important factor for a small-to-medium business. Fortunately, with improving communications and better software, integrating mobile software into a company’s back-end can now be achieved seamlessly.

On the back of a nine-month collaboration, mobile business software provider Dexterra and Australian field service management software provider Proware launched TSM Remote an integrated software solution for small and medium sized service repair and maintenance companies.

TSM Remote is a wireless Pocket PC add-on to Proware’s flagship product The Service Manager (TSM). It embeds Dexterra’s mobile technology within Proware’s field service management application and is suitable for businesses doing installation, repair, maintenance and contract type jobs. Mobile TSM provides these businesses with an end-to-end solution to manage the service workflow from taking the call, issuing it to technicians, logging the completed information and invoicing the customer. TSM also manages the dispatch operation, purchasing, stock control, maintenance contracts and time sheets.

According to David Younger, Proware’s Founder and Director, small to medium businesses (SMBs) have historically struggled at managing large amounts of documentation and invoicing customers in a timely manner due to the number of projects occurring and small staff strength to manage all the documentation of these tasks.

“Teaming up with Dexterra was a natural fit for us,” said Younger. “We reviewed several vendors but Dexterra’s mobile software was one of the most sophisticated on the market, plus it met all our needs. Dexterra has a stable platform and goes through Visual Studio, which was a main requirement of ours. It was also easy to develop applications for Pocket PC with Dexterra’s solution. We were able to write our own TSM adapter, which gave us greater control over the product. Very coincidentally when we contacted, Dexterra they contacted us as well. It was a natural fit and now Dexterra is our plumbing under TSM. We did a year long development with Dexterra however not in the SMB space, so we had a number of challenges but we overcame. After ironing out all of those challenges, we now work well with 5-100 users.”

With products which give field service companies mobility, they can overcome problems and save time with the ability to log and dispatch jobs electronically to the field and invoice customers all on the same day, thereby decreasing paperwork and speeding up the cash flow for the business, a very important aspect for any SMB.

Drew Mitchell, Vice President for Asia Pacific, Dexterra said, “I think relatively small companies have about the same ratio as a corporate company – 50 percent working on the inside, 50 per cent working outside. The ROI is the same. Savings, efficiency and the desperately-needed competitive edge can be a huge benefit to small business owners.

“Wireless products have evolved, we’ve moved from voice forward to support text. Now, with broadband, companies can take advantage of the broadband wireless data services available to become more efficient as they can move paperwork, which will mobilise them,” he says.

Having just completed the beta testing phase for TSM Remote, Younger added that feedback has been positive from customers, with several commenting that they have found the product become quickly ‘indispensable’.

He said: “This sort of product is going to have significant workflow advantages, and our existing clients need to be eased into it. We don’t just sell the software we also offer the services, after all this affects every part of their service business, and it’s effectively reengineering their back office.”

Younger explained he uses TSM Remote with Symbol PDAs instead of consumer type PDA devices because end-users see it as a more professional product. “When we showed it with a consumer PDA it was thought of as “toy” software,” he says. “Symbol has a great rugged device that can handle getting wet, dusty, or even being dropped in the toilet as one user did. The devices can’t go on the blink. They rely on them.”

TSM Remote retails from $50 per user per month and is available immediately through Proware. The product has two parts to its security defence one is Dexterra’s encryption.

“Users in the field log in securely. Put into context, the security is good but significant for the market we are covering. After all we don’t want to burden users with unneeded overheads, when we aren’t dealing with bank like transactions,” said Younger.

Younger believes the product is not just good for clients. Resellers that partner with Proware are required to practice what they preach by using TSM in-house.

“We have three ways of channel partnership; one is through associates who give us the lead for a sale the get a commission. Second are sales people who only do sales and the third are full solution providers which do sales as well as services. These guys are a typical IT company so they must use TSM and these dealers benefit from TSM themselves,” he said.

We agree, in today’s competitive marketplace SmartOffice Resellers need to look at the technology they are trying sell to their customers and see how it can make their own businesses more efficient and successful.

Months ago SmartOffice Reseller’s prediction that LCD monitor prices have been falling at least all year, has been confirmed and now prices are set to go up.

DigiTimes reported LCD monitors vendors CMV, Acer and BenQ will raise their prices for 17-inch and 15-inch LCD monitors, starting from the second half of August, according to the companies. Quotes for 17-inch models from CMV have increased NT$200 (US$6) since the middle of August while prices for its 19-inch LCD monitors remained unchanged.

Acer lowered its 19-inch model prices NT$100-200 (US$3-6) earlier this month, however the company increased prices for its 17-inch LCD monitors NT$100-150 (US$3-5) and it will also raise prices for its 15-inch models NT$150 (US$5) in the second half of August. The company also stated it plans to further raise prices for its 17-inch and 15-inch LCD monitors in September.

BenQ has raised prices for 17-inch and 19-inch segments NT$200 (US$6) and NT$100 (US$3), respectively, early this month. Due to the upward trend of 17-inch LCD monitor panel pricing, the company stated it also expects prices for the 17-inch segment to rise next month.

The average selling price for 15-inch and 17-inch LCD monitors panels picked up to US$142 and US$170 in the first half of August, up from US$122 and US$160 in the first half of April, respectively, according to WitsView Technology.

Finnish security software firm, F-Secure has created a security program for mobile handsets.