New goodies unveiled at GPS Workshop (Malaysia)
The handheld enthusiasts group, PDACrafters.com’s GPS Workshop at Starbucks, Plaza Berjaya in Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur on 24 May was attended by about 20 people.
Suppliers conducted presentations, demonstrations and gave sneak previews of GPS devices, while attendees, some of whom came from outstation.
ASUSTeK Computer’s diminutive ASUS P320 PDA-phone which made its debut at CeBIT in Hannover, is scheduled to be media-launched in Malaysia early this month (June) at a price to be announced, its channel management specialist, Huai Pin Li told Mobile World at the PDACrafters.com’s GPS Workshop at Starbucks, Plaza Berjaya on 24 May.
The quadband GPRS & EDGE device includes the SiRF Star III GPS receiver, 201MHz TI OMAP 850 CPU, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS, 2.8″ 65K colours QVGA TFT touchscreen, 2 megapixels camera, 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM, MicroSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity.
Measuring 99 x 55 x 13 mm and weighing 105 g it easily slips into the short pocket.
Calvin Yeap, marketing manager with Mobitrak, the Malaysian subsidiary of Singapore-based navigation and location-based applications provider AGIS gave the workshop a preview of AGIS NAVFone and AGIS NAVDrive navigation and location software, while will be formally launched later.
It’s available for Microsoft Pocket PC 2003, Windows Mobile 5 and 6, Symbian OS9 S60 3rd Edition and Symbian OS9 UIQ devices and it’s also bundled with GPS-enabled Nokia N96 and 6110 Navigator, Samsung i780 and i550W smartphones, Sony Ericsson, MWg, Asus and Palm handsets
Registered customers can buy and download the software installer or just the maps from AGIS website at www.asiagis.com, or they can buy a scratch card containing the serial number which they enter into NAVFone, the first time they run it.
Prices range from US$28 for a map part of a country in South-East Asia, including Malaysia up to over US$100 for the software for Windows Mobile or Pocket PC 2003 plus a suite of maps.
A scratch card with the license for the software and maps for Peninsular Malaysia only costs RM250 from resellers such as The Gadgets Shop in Low Yat Plaza.
The license is tied to the phone’s IMEI number and is not transferable, except with permission for AGIS, should the phone’s motherboard been replaced.
NAVDrive runs on Windows CE platforms, so it’s not sold directly to end users but is bundled with devices at the factory.
Malaysia distributor of the BAK2u range of anti-theft software for mobile phone, PDA-phones, BlackBerry, Windows and MacOS notebook PCs explained it at the GPS workshop.
BAK2u PhoneBAK runs when the phone is turned on and if it detects the SIM has been changed, it asks for the password entered by the user and if the wrong password is entered, it sends an SMS with the new number and the phone’s IMEI number to two pre-configured mobile numbers, so they can call the new user to request he or she return the phone, which according to marketing manager, James Tai, they usually do, especially in countries where prepaid subscribers are required to register.
PhoneBAK runs on Symbian OS 6 through OS 9 phones, Java, Sony Ericsson, Windows Mobile 5 and 6 smartphones, while BAK2u Verey I runs on Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS and BAK2u GadgetTrak runs on removal devices such as MP3 players, USB drives, digital cameras and so on.
Prices range from RM58 for a phone up to RM98 for a notebook PC.
On notebook PCs it installs on and requests the password before booting up and the password is entered wrongly, at the earliest opportunity upon connecting to the Internet, it will send an e-mail containing information such as its IP address, the machine’s serial number, the IP address of the wireless network it’s on and the latitude and longitude (GadgetTrak USB) of its location to a pre-configured e-mail address
RCG Malaysia showed its RCG GS 961 GPS car navigation device and the smaller GS 710. Both have been available for about six months.
Both are powered by a Samsung S3C2440A-40 CPU, run the Windows CE OS and besides navigation, they play videos, music, display digital pictures and text documents like their many Windows CE-based competitors available today.
The GS 961 has the larger 4.3 in, 480 x 272 pixels, TFT touch-screen, Bluetooth 1.2, MapKing GPS maps of Malaysia and Singapore, and Malsing Maps of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah & Sarawak and of Singapore. It costs RM1,599 including a 2GB SD Card.
Priced at RM1,299, the GS 710 is smaller with a 3.5 in, 320 x 240 pixels TFT touch-screen. It has no Bluetooth and plays three video file types compared to its larger sibling which plays about 8 video formats.