by Siti Nurbaiyah Nadzmi
MSC MALAYSIA (MSC), Multimedia Development Corporation (MDec) and British Telecom Multimedia Malaysia (BTMM) showcased five prototypes of broadband-based applications to prospective small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at Menara MSC Cyberport in Johor Baru recently.
Positioned as digital age lifestyle oriented products and services, these prototypes are offered to SMEs to develop into consumer and industrial end products.
BT Group head of Digital Home Research Programme Graham Seabrook said the five prototypes were researched in the UK and ready to be developed by Malaysian SMEs at no cost.
"We are offering this to Malaysian companies that have the resources and capabilities to develop these prototypes into commercial products," he said.
Seabrook said every prototype had potential to enhance the digital lifestyle from creating digital music jukeboxes at nightspots, uploading images from phones to digital frames at home to connectivity of electrical home appliances all via broadband.
The prototypes are Community Calendar (a calendar that allows the community to organise events), MyFrame (digital photo frame that provides information from traffic feeds to global positioning system), Zeta (interactive digital jukebox with short messaging system), Video Show 2.0 (upload, organise and show video content) and Smart Home (organise the entire household digital electrical appliances).
The programme, MSC Malaysia - BTMM Digital Lifestyle, was launched in July and since its introduction, the programme has inducted five SMEs - Kadena Media Sdn Bhd and Webonline Dot Com Sdn Bhd from Kuala Lumpur, Coraza Technologies Sdn Bhd, CEEDTeC Sdn Bhd and Increseo Media Sdn Bhd from Penang.
BTMM chief operating officer Dr Kamal Jit Singh said the programme was aimed to fast-track product development by Malaysian SMEs using the research undertaken by BT in United Kingdom.
"On the average, BT produces about three prototypes in a quarter, predicting trends and usage of the future."
