From Mobile 8's contents to MING Smartphone

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 09/25/2006 9:23 AM | Life

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, Jakarta

Telkomsel has just launched its 3G service, which is the first in Indonesia. Bakrie Telecom has brought the 3G equivalent EV-DO to Bandung and it promises to soon make it available in Jakarta as well. Mobile 8 has -- it turns out -- demonstrated that its CDMA 2000 1x infrastructure already has the capability to provide richer content, including mobile TV programs.

Courtesy of Mobile 8, I was able to play around with a very compact Nokia 6235 and test the mobile TV service that it has made available in Jakarta. It was an interesting experience, and I was glad I could show it to my students, too.

Mobile 8 calls its mobile cellular service Fren. Like Bakrie Telecom, Telkom Flexi and Indosat StarOne, Mobile 8 uses CDMA 2000 1x technology to offer wireless services to subscribers. However, unlike the others, Mobile 8 is the only true mobile cellular operator.

This means that a subscriber can simply take his handset and use it anywhere in Indonesia as long as Mobile 8's service is available.

""At the moment, Fren is available throughout 90 percent of Java and Madura,"" Dodie Iswandi, the operator's public relations officer, said in an e-mail. He added that a company has plans to expand its services to other islands.

Now, how does the mobile TV service that the company calls TV Mobi fare? The short answer is ""Not bad"". The screen on the Nokia 6235 is a bit too small, but, fortunately, the displayed image is sharp enough to comfortably enjoy the TV programs.

The handset is a no-frills device. At first I did not have any idea how to get to the mobile contents. I was then told to use the menu to go to Mobile Web, which would take me to Mobile 8's WAP portal.

There I could choose TV Mobi, download ringtones, check mail, read breaking news, play games or check traffic at some of Jakarta's traffic hot spots.

Live TV broadcasts are streamed straight to the handset. We can at the moment watch programs from O Channel, Global TV, RCTI, TPI, BBC World, Bloomberg and Fashion TV.

Video on Demand (VoD) services include the morning newsreels from RCTI, a dangdut singing contest from TPI and certain programs from Fashion TV. The VoD clips are repacked to suit the tiny screen of the mobile device.

Mobile 8 is partnering with Nokia in providing the right handsets for the mobile TV services. Five models -- Nokia 3155, 6235, 6255, 6155 and 6265 -- are currently available bundled with a Fren number that will allow us to watch TV Mobi. The prepaid rate for mobile TV is Rp 5 per KB, while the postpaid rate is Rp 2 per KB.

For those who travel a lot in the city, the traffic monitoring feature could be a tremendous help. Unfortunately, the streamed video images of the traffic hot spots, such as the Kebon Jeruk turnpike and Gajah Mada in West Jakarta, are not yet sharp enough to provide us with enough information. The content provider still needs to improve the service to make it really useful.

Nevertheless, the content that is currently available on Mobile 8 demonstrates what services we can expect to enjoy in the near future.

MING, the sexy smartphone

I first had a look at MING during this year's CommunicAsia event in Singapore. It was love at first sight, so to speak, so when Motorola recently offered to let me borrow a demo unit I immediately jumped at it.

Running on Linux, MING is another accomplishment in design and craftsmanship. It does not have a numeric keypad, instead it is operated with a stylus. Its sturdy clear cover does not only protect the screen but also houses the tiny speaker.

Close the cover and the other side of the speaker shows the stylized ""M"" logo. If you look closely at the transparent cover, you will see two very thin wires at its edges that connect the speaker to the rest of the device. The cover hinge looks like it belongs to the door of a Chevy truck.

The demo unit I received was a black one. I like the red version more, and MING also comes in white. There are only a few mechanical buttons on the housing, and they allow you to scroll through the choice of alert styles, activate the voice command mode and operate the camera.

If you use a wired headset, it connects to MING via an RCA jack on the left side. The jack and the USB port on the right side are covered with a gray rubbery plug. I do not really like these plugs, as they usually get torn quite quickly. At any rate, they interfere when you insert the accessory plugs.

What nifty new features are available? You can assign a photo ID and ringtone to individual entries in the phonebook. The Bluetooth supports profiling, and you can use stereo headsets as well.

More importantly is perhaps the 2-MP camera. This allows Motorola's engineers to add a business card scanning function to the device, a feature that is emerging on high-end products.

Also, as the impression that you get from the name will tell you, this smartphone PDA is intended for users who need to scribble in Chinese characters. It is said that MING is targeted at Hong Kong consumers. Character recognition is another important feature of MING. Other standard productivity tools are also available, of course. The operating system reads Office files with no problem.

Powered by an Intel PXA270 processor, the Linux operating system runs smoothly without any coughing. What shortcomings did I discover? Only one. Because of its size, the position of the camera lens and the shutter release button, you should be careful not to cover the lens with your finger when taking pictures.

Talking about entertainment, MING supports RealPlayer. It can play back various formats of music files, and it can even show full-screen video on the device's 2.4-inch, 262K color display. Like the majority of Motorola's cellphones, MING also comes with an FM receiver.

MING is another seductive smartphone. If you are looking for a PDA with good GSM functionality, take a close look at this one even if you do not write Chinese characters.

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