ICT empowering citizens of Malaysia Development with Destiny

              Malaysia, an upper-middle economic state in SouthEast Asia, found its connectivity with the world with the installation of the first telephone line in 1874. The country developed its first computer system in 1966 and since then several initiatives to facilitate the integration of ICT in different areas have been introduced. The privatisation of the telecom sector in 1987, and the formation of the NTP (National Telecom policy) in 1994, led to the full liberalisation of the market. The enactment of the Communi-cations and Multimedia act in 1998 established the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (regulator) in support of national policy objectives. The regulator provides for economic, technical, consumer and social regulation ensuring competitiveness, licensing, frequency allocation, affordability and availability of ICT technologies and services. Framework for development (FID) is a five year rolling plan for ICT development. The country now faces the dilemma of ensuring global competitiveness as well as access to all.

e-Readiness of Malaysia
With a population of 25.58 million (2004) over an area of 330,000 sq. kms., Malaysia had an average population density of 74 people per square km., though it is unevenly spread across the country with the bulk of the population residing in the west half of the country. The economy of the country has been robust even in the wake of the economic setbacks in the Southeast Asian economies in 2000 and a SARS outbreak in 2003. The GDP of the country was reported as RM394 billion (2003) (RM 3.8= US $1), with a growth of 5.2 percent over 2002.
ICT has grown substantially in Malaysia contributing a (gross) revenue of RM19 billion to the economy. The total telephone penetration rates have reached a combined telephone penetration of 61.99 telephones per 100 people (2003).

The tele-density (fixed) has climbed to 20, with the mobile phone connections overtaking fixed lines. Deployments for 3G and EDGE mobile networks have also started.  Malaysia's performance with respect to other ASEAN countries has also been good, as shown in the graph.

           The country's Internet development started in 1988 and by the end of 2003 the total dial-up penetration rate was 11.4 percent. Broadband Internet services started in 2001 and are still in their infancy. The absence of regulatory mechanisms allowing for local loop unbundling, the slow paces of the incumbent, and issues with last-mile connectivity have resulted in wireless broadband being preferred by operators. The broadband as well as the mobile segments though have been deployed around cities and urban areas.
Malaysia has embarked upon various measures to ensure the ICTs play an important role in the society. For ICT development the MSC - Multimedia Super Corridor (for global competitiveness) has been developed.

        The government has invested highly in its infrastructure. The MSC contains a high-speed 10Gb/s network connecting MSC to Japan, ASEAN, EU and the US. It supports public administration, education and business applications. Malaysia was ranked 26th in the world for e-Readiness. The telephone penetration rates rose by 7 percent while for the rural sector there was a rise of 6 percent (2000).

BY  Upasna Kakroo

 http://www.i4donline.net/articles/current-article.asp?articleid=987&typ=Features

ALL THING MICE

MICROSOFT is ushering Chinese New Year 2012 by reworking the exterior of a couple of mice, the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Year of the Dragon and the Arc Touch Mouse Year of the Dragon editions.

            The former will feature an intricate dragon design created by premier artist Nod Young, who was inspired by the famous Nine-Dragon Wall in Beihai Park, China, as well as the popular Dragon Ball cartoon series. The dragon mouse comes with the award-winning BlueTrack Technology as well as a snap-in Nano transceiver, enabling it to work just about anytime, anywhere on most surfaces. As for the Arc Touch Mouse Year Of The Dragon, it has a sleek crouching dragon design which matches the special Arc Touch Mouse form factor, letting you bend, snap and stow to accommodate the ultimate road warrior.
             The Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Year Of The Dragon, in traditional red and gold colours, is expected to sell at US$34.95 (RM111) while the Arc Touch Mouse Year of the Dragon is going for US$69.95. Details at www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/

DUAL-CORE MONSTER
             Meizu used to make the headlines simply because it supposedly had an iPhone killer in the works back in 2007, but it seems that the effort fizzled out over the years, with Samsung and HTC coming close with their range of Android-powered handsets instead. However, Meizu is back with its latest effort — the Meizu MX. This device runs on a dual-core 1.4GHz processor, aided by 1GB RAM, an eight-megapixel back-illuminated camera and LED flash, accompanied by a gyroscope and a plethora of other sensors. Sporting a clean, intuitive and minimalistic design, the Meizu MX is also equipped with a gorgeous 10.16cm high resolution (292 PPI) AVS display with the ideal 3:2 aspect ratio. Not only that but its custom-designed user interface based on the Android operating system, known as Flyme OS, is said to be a snap to use, although it seems that the Meizu MX is only destined for the China market, at the moment.
           The 16GB Meizu MX is expected to arrive in China from Jan 1. Hopefully someone will run a parallel import to Malaysia as it does look like a sleek looking handset to own and use. Details at www.meizu.com.hk.

             So you reach home after a long, hard day at work, and decide that some heavy metal music is what’s needed to help you vent the day’s frustrations, only to realise that the puny iPod dock that you own in the living room is not able to express your emotions across the audio spectrum.
You check online for a heavy hitter, and chances are you won’t be able to peel your eyes away from the Behringer iNuke Boom, touted to be the loudest iPad, iPhone and iPod dock in the world, or at least, when it is presented at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) next year.
              Retailing for a monster US$2,999.99 to go along with its behemoth-like speaker system performance and dimensions, the iNuke Boom measures 8ft (2.44m) wide by 4ft in height and tips the scales at more than 300kg. It is capable of bringing the house down (and the police knocking on your front door!) at over 10,000 watts of power.
I can just imagine blasting all those classic rock and metal tracks with the iNuke Boom. You won’t be winning your neighbours over, but at least it helps you vent the day’s stress away. Details at www.behringer.com.

ALL THE RIGHT CURVES
              HTC has just unveiled its latest smartphone here. The HTC Explorer targets the mid-range market, coming in a curved and compact design with a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display, a three-megapixel shooter located at the back, as well as the custom HTC Sense 3.5 user interface that certainly makes it a whole lot easier to use compared to the stock Android user interface. The new lock screen allows for quick and easy access to the camera with a mere swipe, and there is also a new  Smart Dialer which displays a one-touch menu for quick, easy dialing of contacts.
             While Adobe may have killed off future developments for mobile Flash, that does not mean Flash is dead on the mobile platform right now. No. The HTC Explorer supports Flash in its browser for a rich Internet experience, while smart URL prediction makes it easier for you to access the top 100 websites.
            Running on a 600MHz processor, the HTC Explorer also features 512MB RAM, 90MB of internal memory that can be augmented by a microSD memory card slot, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi connectivity, and GPS support.

By EDWIN KEE
 http://www.nst.com.my/life-times/tech/all-things-mice-1.21232