Electronic Passport
Monday, 19 April 2010 @ Monday, April 19, 2010
Traveling
Travel has been a leisure that most Bruneians have a pleasure to enjoy whenever they get a chance to do so. It is safe to say that traveling is one of the most famous ways to spend their holiday amongst the people of Brunei. That is why, we've come up with an innovative idea that combines the idea of the already popular Electronic Ticket and also the use of smart cards - likes ones that is used for subways and buses when going from one place to another - that has a chip in it. Such examples would be like the oyster card used widely in the UK. We call it the "Electronic Passport Card".
How it works?
In coming years, it is not impossible that there will be such a thing as ticketless traveling in which gives the card holders the convenience of simply presenting the card at the airport and deducting the amount of money the ticket costs. Chip can be read from a distance of about 1 feet away. It shows identification. It shows information like a passport of where we have been for the past 5-10 years. Its easier to bring anywhere and everywhere as it can be kept inside a wallet or card holder.
It contains the same identifying information as is printed in the passport-- name, passport number, birthday, and place of birth. The data will be encrypted and only with the right machine will it be able to be deciphered and used. lso include a digital picture for use with facial recognition technology
Why will it be a killer application?
People - when traveling, would tend to forget to bring their passports due to all the excitement and whirlwind of events, so they tend to leave their passports at home. However, with the electronic passport card, people are less likely to leave it at home since this it is in the shape of a small card - it's compact and can be stored easily in our wallets.
It is very convenient to go through immigration customs - it saves time, with just a swipe of the card on a machine that reads it, all the information that you need to check on would be so much easier to look into. The act of traveling would be so much more efficient.
• 09B4131 •
E-books for Education
Sunday, 18 April 2010 @ Sunday, April 18, 2010
EducationIt has become one of the most prominent necessities for any society to acquire some sort of education in order to move forward in life to be successful. Over the years, we can see that seeking knowledge is a never ending process. With the help of technology, we are provided with the equipment to aid us in the learning adventure. One of the many tools that have been introduced to us many years ago, which has become the basic technology used everywhere are books. Although traditionally books are printed, the advancements in technology has helped in the creation of electronic books or better known as e-books.
What are e-Books?
E-Book is short for electronic books, or better defined as a digital book. In simpler words, an e-book is an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a personal computer or hand-held device designed specifically for this purpose.
Why is this application a potential killer?
- E-Book applications are available anywhere, as long as there is internet connection. Users are able to access it from home, in school, even in cafes. The best part is about not having to leave our home to visit the library or book store to get a book. With more than 2 million free books available online, users are able to read leisurely or do research at the comfort of their own homes. On another note, users do not have to be online to read the books. After they complete their downloads, users may enjoy it whenever they like.
- E-books are portable and storage is almost unlimited. Users may download and save it through their hard drives or save them on disks. When compared to weight and the bulk you would have to carry, e-books are much more favourable. You carry less for more.
- Unlike paper-based books, e-books are more updated. Most websites would provide links to the latest versions of the books. At the same time, these links can lead users to books of similar genres, topics as well as other books written by the same author.
- E-books are also environmentally friendlier compared to printed books. Because e-books to not require paper or ink, environmentally conscious people would appreciate that e-books do not use up raw material such as trees and water.
- It values time. You can get a book instantly with a click of a button. Most e-books providers’ help you look for keywords through a finder which helps users to do research much easier.
Possible improvements can make e-books killer applications
At the moment, e-books are mainly available online and can only be opened through special software known as Adobe Acrobatic Reader. It is able to open PDF files that are compatible to both Windows and Mac operating systems. Right now, people are trying to make e-Books available on smart phones as well. With e-books being available in other places, users would not have to carry their laptops around and use their phones to read instead.
Nowadays one can find e-books about every possible subject, fiction and nonfiction, free and not free. However not all books are available online. Some of them only show samples of the books and expects readers to buy the printed version. These books should also be available in full for the users to read. Therefore, e-book sites could provide free memberships for adamant readers. This would also benefit students who are always looking for information to research on.
People are already spending a lot of time in front of their computers, so why not read an e-book, instead of doing something else?
• 09B4116 •
Environmentally-friendly Phone
Saturday, 17 April 2010 @ Saturday, April 17, 2010
EnvironmentEnvironment is currently a very talked-about issue in today's environmentally-conscious society. People are more aware of such issues; there have been recurring talks where they take into consideration the consequences of global warming, the green house effect and people are continuously trying to find means of conserving the environment. This is why we came up with the idea that an environmentally-friendly application would make a big impact with the people as it goes well with the trend and on-growing fad -- especially amongst the younger generations.
Solar powered phone with panoramic camera and projectorAt this day and age, the phone is easy to get restructured with modern function and many companies have lunched new cell phones with its unique and feature. Phones are designed to attract the phone consumer. Some consumers found that it is difficult to decide which phone is actually good for them. Since a lot of phones are efficiently made with combination of various functions and better graphics. Therefore phone is always been a killer application that really attracts the phone consumer to buy the latest one at least once a year because phones are improving in functions and getting more entertaining
What are the features of solar powered phone?
Solar powered phone is environmental-friendly phone. This phone’s case is made from recycled plastic. The solar panel at the phone’s back allowing it to recharge by just using a solar energy (sunlight). This panel can provide energy anytime the user need until the user keep it under the sunlight. It has 360 degree panoramic camera. The camera has larger pixel than any other phone of the same brand. It also comes with projector with lighting control.
Why it can be a killer application?
Solar poweredIt can be a killer application because it is solar powered that can be recharge anywhere the sun is shining. The users don’t have to go home just to recharge the phone whenever they are far from home or even outside the house and lazy to go inside. It also can be recharge with candlelight when there is no electricity at night.
360 degree panoramic camera
The panoramic camera can take a 360 degree view of a picture therefore the picture taken can be viewed whether from the upper view, lower view or sides view. Since it has a larger pixel it shouldn’t be a problem in viewing the picture instead it will be a way clearer than any other phone
Integrated projector
Projector phone had been a dream phone for the presenters and professional in which this is kind of portable than any other ordinary projector. Its not just attract the professional and presenter to buy it but also other people who want to experience a larger picture to watch video or images from the mobile phone as if they are watching at the cinema.
Who will be using this application?It will be useful for the outdoorsy type of person: campers, hunters, joggers, fishermen and sports men whoever that loves being outside the house. This is because they can charge the phone anywhere they want and can still keep in contact with the outside world when their phone is running out of battery. It will also be useful for Student and business man for presentations and video conferencing.
• 09B4124 •
Google Docs in "Office applications"
Friday, 16 April 2010 @ Friday, April 16, 2010
Office Applications
Office work is inevitable whether you are a university student, a person working under a company, a civil servant under the government, or even as an entrepreneur of you own business. Reports, presentations, spreadsheets and assignments are such examples of such type of work. Office applications are tools which make these works exist. They are like the canvas for the painter; where they act as a medium where information can be input and edited into paperwork. For years, office applications have been dominated by the Microsoft office tools, however there are other organizations that plan to break such a monopoly by introducing their own variant of office applications.
“Google”, surely almost everybody, if not everybody who have access to the internet has heard about this giant corporation. Especially in recent years they have been continuously inventing new applications which are successful and are widely used through out the community. In this context, they have come up with an application called “Google Docs” which we believe will be able to earn a lot of users in the near future due to its superior functions. Why it can kill? One of the things about Google Docs which makes it distinct and advantageous from other office documents is that it makes use of the internet to do wonderful things.Easy collaborationFirstly, it is obvious that Google made this application with the thought of people who do collaborative work as most office work as mentioned above such as presentations need collaborative team work. Google Docs is very convenient and offers less hassle when creating documents that requires group work. 
Group members can just simply log into Google Docs through their Google accounts and make a sort of wiki document page which is only accessed to those involved in the project.
Group members can edit and post comments on the document at their own time to show changes and this is very convenient for group members who are not physically available during discussion meetings, such as those who are abroad or live far away. No longer is there any need to meet up to discuss, or the tedious step of sending each other work attached emails, which are less efficient, takes longer and clogs the in-box. Personally, I am also a recent user of Google docs and found it to be very useful and save a lot of time with group works.
Cloud storageSecondly, Google Docs makes use of this new term called “Cloud storage” which means that the document is saved online. This is also a very useful thing as it means that it can be accessed anywhere, by any computer as long as the person has access to internet and has an account. It eliminates clutter and saves space in personal computers and eliminates the risk of loosing the document in case when something goes wrong with the computer where the document is saved in. Recently Google allows any type of file to be quickly uploaded to Google docs in its original format and is accessible anytime. Google Docs allows an adequate amount of 1 gigabyte of space for uploading unconverted files and allows purchase of additional space at a cheap rate of US $0.25 per gigabyte. Simple, easily adaptable and functionalAnother reason why we believe that Google Docs would easily gain popularity in upcoming years is that it has a simple interface which is similar to the current most usable office application which is Microsoft office. Google Docs has the ability to do presentation or power point slides, and spread sheets (equivalent to Microsoft Excel). By making the interface similar while offering better functions, people would have no problem with converting to Google Docs. Furthermore, as said before, Google Docs also provides a lot of other functions and advantages such as being able to translate words into 40 different languages, more confidentiality as you need to be a part of the group and the works are password protected. Lastly Google Docs is free, without the need to tediously install or buy any CD. However.....In justifying the Application, we find that Google Docs although a great potential, may also have drawbacks. For one, its strength may also be its weakness, as you need to have access to the internet to access the documents. For certain countries where the digital divide is huge and internet access is not so available, Google Docs may not be so practical.
• 09B4045 •
WhatsApp.
Saturday, 3 April 2010 @ Saturday, April 03, 2010
BB 1403: CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
So, an approach that we've taken is to focus on coming with applications that goes with the needs of today's world; the constant need to connect to others, whether it is globally or within our country itself. Which is done through networking. Naturally, we've decided that one of the potential killer applications we expect that would and should gain popularity, is an application that allows individuals to connect with each other.
NETWORKING
Networking is one of the most useful and fast-gaining applications that goes well with both today's generations and Era of Globalization. We feel that the idea that people sharing and relaying information with each other would continue to grow. Thus, WhatsApp goes well with such current trends.
What is WhatsApp.?
WhatsApp is a smartphone-to-smartphone messenger/chat application. This application allows you to connect to other WhatsApp users; conversations can be carried out in real time and your bills on SMS would considerably get lower. WhatsApp Messenger is currently available for iPhone and BlackBerry and they can message each other using their mobile devices.
However, in the future - the WhatsApp will be available for other phones i.e. Android and Nokia Symbian users. In addition to the chat function - iPhone users can also enjoy unlimited MMS features that let you share images, video and audio media.
Why it has the potential to be a killer application:
People are close to having an addiction when it comes to instant messaging. Nowadays, texting is the most common form of communicating. Why is that so? Well to be honest: it's convenient, messages can be relayed instantly and stored for future references or until it is deleted. Considering Brunei's high charges on SMS rates, this will be a hit for locals.
Moreover, WhatsApp has a lot of impressive features to offer its' users. Just to name a couple of such features would be:
- Having the application means you can send countless of messages - everything is free of charge, so there's no monthly cost. WhatsApp uses 3G, EDGE and Wi-Fi
- International SMS-ing is possible; it's free so there's no need to worry over international SMS costs.
- Connected 24/7! There's no need to log in or out so it saves the hassle of signing in and out and remembering pin numbers or usernames.
- With the Push Notification functionality at it's disposal - users are able to get their messages even when they aren't running the application at that exact moment.
- Conveniently, WhatsApp automatically adds other users who also have WhatsApp from your Address book to the contact list of your WhatsApp messenger.
- Interestingly enough, it also provides an accurate time stamp - which fixes the mystery of not knowing when the IMs were sent despite which country you're from.
- Status updates is also available which serves as a purpose to keep people updated with the current news about your life - it is similar to other network applications such as twitter.
To say the least, these features have the potential to appeal to a lot of smartphone users. In the future, WhatsApp will soon be available for two other popular mobile platforms: Android and Nokia Symbian.
This notable fact; that more and more mobile platform is embracing WhatsApp messenger application for their users shows that in the future more and more people would have access to the usage of this application - giving it a high probability of being a big hit amongst many people all around the world.
All in all, it's evident that there are many benefits for people who use this application. It both provides as a means of communication and networking in a much more simpler sense.
Despite it's many advantages, it should be duly noted that there are flaws in this application. Still, there are some ways to overcome these problems:
- Only smartphone users have this application available to them, so there might be a form of unfairness to those who can't afford a smartphone.
- The fact that the application automatically adds other WhatsApp users from your Address book without the choice not to do so might create problems for those who wishes to have their privacy
• 09B4125 •
