By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net
WATCHING your favorite TV series is fun, especially if you can watch it all ove
r again. Thanks to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), you will soon be watchi
ng youâre favorite TV series on-demand on any device.
Due to increasing demand for personalization, interactivity, communication and
high- definition television experience, telecommunications giant Ericsson has f
or years worked on its own innovations on IPTV. Some perceive that IPTV is tele
visionâs future.
IPTV â a standard that delivers digital television over a networked infrastruct
ure, preferably using a broadband Internet connection -- allows users to rewind
a newscast or a favorite scene in TV series episode while it is being broadcas
t.
With IPTV, you wonât need to need to rush home from work to watch your awaited
basketball game. It will also allow personalization, meaning parents can, for i
nstance, control what content their children can watch.
Since IPTV works on a networked infrastructure, Ericsson has shown a
pplications that merge text messaging (SMS) technology and content delivery. A
text message can, for one, flag parents if their children are about to watch an
on-demand movie.
In terms of mobility, IPTV also makes it possible for users to watch movies or
streaming video content through their mobile devices.
There are many possibilities. But just imagine what IPTV can do to transform ou
r viewing behavior.
Currently, there are pockets of IPTV deployments in the Philippines. Ericsson,
however, says IPTV is not yet commercially available in the Philippines. But th
e company expects this technology to arrive in the country soon.
Recently in APC battery pack Category
AFTER successfully launching the first underwater
unmanned vehicle, research and development firm Roboteknik is developing the co
untry's first commercially available unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which can b
e used for industrial and military purposes.
The Custos (Latin for guardian) is a remote controlled aircraft almost two mete
rs in length and is similar to some UAVs used in the US, particularly the RQ se
ries made by AAI Corporation and Israel Aircraft Industries.
The Custos is only about 1.5 meters in length and is powered by a single electr
ic jet propulsion engine. The UAV can be outfitted with high resolution close c
ircuit television camera for still and video shots, a global positioning system
receiver, infrared sensors, among others.
The Custos can fly for two hours at a maximum height of 5,000 feet.
It can fly within a 10-kilometer range and can be controlled from the ground th
rough a mobile command station.
The Custos won third prize in last year's Department of Science and Technology
âs National Inventors Week Awards.
Roboteknik President Michael Poblete said that the company is building an upgra
ded version of the original Custos.
He said it would be ready by February 2009.
Poblete declined to reveal details of the upgraded version but said it would be
for an "immediate client."
The new UAV, however, will also be used by the military, local government units
, law enforcement and agriculture.
Poblete said the first UAV model would cost around P90,000 though it might not
be used commercially for some time.
The price of the upgraded version is yet to be announced.
SOLAR technology in clothes, "talking" to the Internet and personal "digital sh
opping assistants:" these innovations will take place in five years or less, IB
M said.
Now on its third year, IBM's annual Next Five in Five lis
ts down innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live
and play over the next five years.
IBM says its list is based on market and societal trends expected to transform
our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM's Labs around the world th
at can make these innovations possible.
"These technologies are in different stages of development right now, and the w
ork done in IBM labs all over the world contributes to making these trends into
reality," said Lope Doromal, chief technologist for IBM Philippines.
Here are IBM's top five innovations forecasted to shape the world -- and human
life-- within the next five years:
Energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, p
aint and windows. In the next five years, solar energy will be an affo
rdable option for you and your neighbors. Until now, the materials and the proc
ess of producing solar cells to convert into solar energy have been too costly
for widespread adoption. But now this is changing with the creation of "thin-fi
lm" solar cells, a new type of cost-efficient solar cell that can be 100 times
thinner than silicon-wafer cells and produced at a lower cost. These new thin-f
ilm solar cells can be "printed" and arranged on a flexible backing, suitable f
or not only the tops, but also the sides of buildings, tinted windows, cell pho
nes, notebook computers, cars and even clothing.
You will have a crystal ball for your health. In the next five
years, your doctor will be able to provide you with a genetic map that tells y
ou what health risks you are likely to face in your lifetime and the specific t
hings you can do to prevent them, based on your specific DNA -- all for less th
an $200.
Ever since scientists discovered how to map the entire human genome, it has ope
ned new doors in helping to unlock the secrets our genes hold to predicting hea
lth traits and conditions we may be predisposed to. Doctors can use this inform
ation to recommend lifestyle changes and treatments. Pharmaceutical companies w
ill also be able to engineer new, more effective medications that are targeted
for each of us as individual patients. Genetic mapping will radically transform
healthcare over the next five years and allow you to take better care of yours
elf.
You will talk to the Web. . .and the Web will talk back. In th
e future, you will be able to surf the Internet, hands-free, by using your voic
e -- therefore eliminating the need for visuals or keypads. New technology will
change how people create, build and interact with information and e-commerce w
ebsites -- using speech instead of text.
In places like India, where the spoken word is more prominent than the written
word in education, government and culture, "talking" to the Web is leapfrogging
all other interfaces, and the mobile phone is outpacing the PC. In the future,
through the use of "voice sites," people without access to a personal computer
and Internet, or who are unable to read or write, will be able to take advanta
ge of all the benefits and conveniences the Web has to offer.
You will have your own digital shopping assistants. A combinat
ion of new technology and the next wave of mobile devices will give the in-stor
e shopping experience a significant boost. Fitting rooms soon will be outfitted
with digital shopping assistants -- touch screen and voice activated kiosks th
at will allow you to choose clothing items and accessories to complement, or re
place, what you already selected. Once you make your selections, a sales associ
ate is notified and will gather the items and bring them directly to you.
You'll also be able to snap photos of yourself in different combinations and em
ail or SMS them to your friends and family for the thumbs upâ¦or the thumbs dow
n. Shoppers can access product ratings and reviews from fellow consumers and wi
ll even be able to download money-saving coupons and instantly apply them to th
eir purchases.
Forgetting will become a distant memory. In the next five year
s, it will become much easier to remember what to buy at the grocery store, whi
ch errands need to be run, who you spoke with at a conference, where and when y
ou agreed to meet a friend, or what product you saw advertised at the airport.
That's because such details of everyday life will be recorded, stored, analyzed
, and provided at the appropriate time and place by both portable and stationar
y smart appliances. To help make this possible, microphones and video cameras w
ill record conversations and activities. The information collected will be auto
matically stored and analyzed on a personal computer. People can then be prompt
ed to "remember" what discussions they had, for example, with their daughter or
doctor by telephone.
Based on such conversations, smart phones equipped with global-positioning tech
nology might also remind them to pick up groceries or prescriptions if they pas
s a particular store at a particular time. It's not hard to imagine that TVs, r
emote controls, or even coffee table tops, can one day be the familiar mediums
through which we tap into our digitally stored information.
