ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) have become an important component of smart cities in recent years. Huel-Sheng Tsay, Commissioner, Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government, noted that ITS productively integrate and utilize advanced information technologies, information/communication transfer, electronic sensors, artificial intelligence and computer processing in transportation and management systems, enhancing the efficiency of system resource usage and system security, and reducing consumption and environmental pollution.Characteristics of 3 major ITS fieldsITS can be further defined into APTS (Advanced Public Transportation Systems), ATIS (Advanced Traveler Information Systems), and ATMS (Advanced Transportation Management Systems). Tsay said that development in these three fields has thrived and exceeded original estimates, becoming a defining component of smart cities.In the development of urbanization and informatization, six characteristics consisting of smart economy, smart people, smart governance, smart mobility, smart environment and smart living need to be addressed as traditional cities migrate to smart cities, said Tsay. The sustainability, innovation and safety of transportation systems bring significant convenience to citizens in terms of smart mobility.Nevertheless, a single plan cannot be applied for every smart city. Tsay suggested that each smart city needs to optimize its expertise and identify features upon which to target enhancement. For instance, Yokohama in Japan has employed colors to represent traffic congestion on electronic maps, and even supports road images on GPS. This function could not be achieved five years ago, but it operates well today.In addition, the timetable of the Tokyo Monorail, which also supports multiple languages in a timely way, can be accessed at the Tokyo Haneda Airport. Highway conditions are also provided to help drivers to judge road conditions.Tsay believes that as an ITS reaches the end of its development, it is crucial that that system makes the public feel that information has been provided in a convenient way. For example, time to reach a destination can be provided at rest stops. Available and accurate information, which relies on comprehensive fundamental infrastructure in which backend systems provide necessary and accurate information, must be available. Thus if there is a car accident, systems are capable of showing the distance it will take to run into a traffic jam.Take safe driving support for example, ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) can be adopted to prevent cars from crashing head-on, but an alarm system which sets off in advance while sensing obstacles ahead should be included in transportation infrastructure so as to cooperate with crash prevention auxiliary braking systems, avoiding collisions one intersection ahead.The construction of fundamental infrastructure for displaying information in real-time, ranging from available seats on trains, rental bikes available, road conditions, etc., is never easy. In the example of digital signage on roads, in addition to displaying accurate information, the ability to endure harsh weather conditions should also be taken into consideration.Tsay gave an example of ITS in Taipei. The fundamental infrastructure involves roadside devices and ICT, and can be divided into a service-side and management-side. On the management-side, open data is adopted by systems that assist civilians; this includes apps, websites, voice services and roadside devices, such as the Taipei Good to Go and Taipei Good to Park apps, as well as numerous apps developed by the public.City public transportation systems are intimately connected.As for the development of public transportation infrastructure in the Taipei Metropolitan area, the Taipei Metro and shuttle buses form a road network with each performing its duty. The Taipei Metro acts as the bones of transportation, targeting large volumes and punctuality. Aside from coordinating with different shuttle buses, the first and last mile rely on walking, public bikes, community buses and taxis to form a complete and convenient public service.There is still plenty of room for improvement to make a better ITS, as noted by Tsay. For instance, computer signage systems have evolved from being controlled by mainframe computers to PCs. However, if systems show that parking space is still available but drivers cannot find a space, or if a bus does not arrive by its estimated time, consumers are not pleased. The design of ITS needs to be more subtle, and include not only a framework but also accurate information.In the future, more automated ATIS, including the installation of devices on all buses, increasing the amount of traffic control devices such as car detection devices, CCTV monitors and software, as well as real-time parking space monitoring services, will be offered in Taipei. Given that communication technologies will mature, mobile devices will become more prevalent. In the future, more convenient services will be offered to the public through the Taipei real-time ATIS and Taipei Good to Go app.In Tsay's opinion, Taipei still has a lot of opportunities for further enhancement compared to Japan. In February 2009, Taipei started accepting requests from organizations to interlink with its real-time ATIS database in order to provide diverse services. Currently, there are 105 interlinking organizations, 74 services and products, and peak monthly inquiries have exceeded 75.22 million.Concerning the application of ATMS, traffic control systems transfer related information to the traffic control center through roadside devices including cameras, car detection devices, changeable information boards and intersection signage boards, in order to implement traffic monitoring, sign management, as well as collect and analyze traffic information. The goal is to lower the impact of traffic accidents, enhance road transport efficiency, and further increase the quality of ATMS.As for the construction of the Taipei Metro, Tsay forecast that daily volume could peak at two million after the Songshan line enters service, delivering a great improvement on traffic and air pollution in Taipei. As a matter of fact, the management of the Taipei Metro has become an Asia paragon. As Tsay indicated, Taipei used to learn from Hong Kong and Singapore, but now the situation has reversed. The Taipei Metro's performance, especially in train intervals, has impressed Singapore a lot.Tsay emphasized that the development of ITS has had a dramatic change on convenience, safety and accessibility in people's daily life, as well as enabling more user-friendly infrastructure/devices, generating a lot of added value and increasing quality of life. For the future, development will look to ways of providing information regarding specific accidents in a timely way to reduce injuries and deaths.Huel-Sheng Tsay, Commissioner, Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government

The roadmap to smart cities illustrates that intelligent networking infrastructures connected through the Internet of Things (IoT) can lead to the convergence of next-generation information and communications technologies (ICT), changing ways of life and the environment while creating convenience for residents. The implementation of smart city initiatives not only requires collaboration among the government, the ICT industry and individuals, but also relies on practical needs that people have to uncover smart city opportunities.In the future, services arising from smart city development will bring revolutionary changes to the environment, modes of working and social systems. Innovative services that use intelligent, automated technologies will be applied to all facets of urban life - transportation, public safety and emergency management, tourism and retail, smart buildings, production monitoring and healthcare - thereby enabling convenient and secure lives for residents. At the Digitimes Smart City Forum, business, government and academic representatives came together to exchange ideas and to provide their in-depth analyses of the latest developments and trends of smart city development.Digitimes Smart City Forum: A platform for business, government and academic representatives to share insights into smart city developmentThe Digitimes Smart City Forum was co-organized by the Taiwan Intelligent Aerotropolis Association, the Smart Network System Institute under the Institute for Information Industry, and DIGITIMES. The event's corporate partners were Chunghwa Telecom, Tatung, Advantech, NXP Semiconductors, ADLINK Technology, Axiomtek, Cisco Systems (Taiwan), Fortune Information Systems, HwaCom Systems, Merit LILIN Enterprise, Macronix International, NTT Taiwan, VIVOTEK, Taiwan Mobile and the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) . The event featured sessions from these leading global and local corporations discussing key technologies involved with smart city initiatives, the applications of such technologies, and how they could help smart cities move from vision to implementation.A key feature of a smart city is to leverage the latest ICT to connect electric grids, water supply, public transport, oil and gas, energy distribution and buildings through the IoT powered by a variety of embedded sensing components and intelligent devices. A connected infrastructure is then incorporated with intelligence service solutions, via various application platforms or the sharing and reuse of information, to develop and implement intelligent urban life models through a wide range of convenient and technology-enabled services.Collaboration between industries and government integral to smart city development with diverse industries InvolvedAccording to the roadmap, industries involved in smart city development span the fields of telecommunications, finance, transportation, public safety and emergency services, tourism and retail, smart buildings, production monitoring and healthcare, and others. A diverse range of technologies is utilized, including IoT, embedded computing, intelligent devices, wearable electronics, monitoring equipment and back-end networking equipment, at high levels of complexity.Moreover, the alignment of government policy support, inputs of industrial resources and service opportunities is crucial for intelligent, automated technology-enabled service models to deliver the kinds of smart services that really benefit people and create the experience of enhanced convenience and security.Taiwan's municipalities earn top spots in global smart city rankingsSmart city development is becoming a crucial element of national infrastructure projects and economic and industry development worldwide. Over the past few years, municipalities in Taiwan have earned top spots on the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Smart21 list in recognition of its outstanding performance in smart city initiatives by an international panel of experts.In Taiwan, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu City and Taichung City have made ICF's smart-city short list, highlighting these municipalities as benchmarks of achievements in smart city initiatives. Moreover, smart city development in association with the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project will commence soon, and 4G LTE services are expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2014 following auctions of 4G licenses in 2013. As these developments further enhance Taiwan's telecommunications networks, the evolvement of networking infrastructure and mobile data communications technologies play a critical role in determining whether smart services can be successfully applied to different areas of life. Meanwhile, the development of a wide range of facilities and infrastructures under way is laying the groundwork for future success in Taiwan's smart city initiatives.Smart city development offers opportunities for Taiwan's ICT industry to drive structural transformationAt the DIGITMES Smart City Forum, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications provided an in-depth analysis into the government's role in smart city development. DIGITMES also discussed examples of smart city leaders in North Europe, noting that Taiwan is well-positioned to become a laboratory for smart city development given its competitive edge of a concentration of IoT-related sectors and technology expertise.The event gathered telecom carriers, manufacturers of surveillance equipment and networking equipment, system integrators, sensing component designers and embedded system providers to discuss the latest development of and technological advancement in key industries involved with smart city initiatives. The companies also gave their views on the technological issues and the changing global dynamics of such initiatives.An overview of global smart city initiatives shows that the government's leadership role in shaping and implementing policies, and collaboration among residents, business leaders and city officials are critical factors for enabling smart city development and broadening the scope of smart applications. Against a backdrop of maturing smart services and applications, people are becoming more aware of the benefits provided by smart cities to make life more convenient. Increasing public awareness, coupled with government-led efforts to advance innovative applications and promote cooperation across industries, is accelerating the pace of smart city development in Taiwan. If successful, this may also help Taiwan's ICT industry make progress towards structural transformation.The Digitimes Smart City Forum is packed with participants. The forum, which took place April 16-17, 2014, was co-organized by the Taiwan Intelligent Aerotropolis Association, the Smart Network System Institute under the Institute for Information Industry, and Digitimes.

Northern Europe can be seen as a pioneering region and offers the most successful example of the development of global smart cities. Local governments actively engage in construction projects including informatization, implementing mature unmanned stations, managing offshore construction and developing fjord tunnels. Taiwan, as the key hub for global ICT (information and communications technology) R&D and manufacturing, can elevate itself to become a shining example of an Asia smart city leader by using the experience of northern Europe's smart cities as an example to follow.Colley Hwang, president of Digitimes, noted that while Taiwan's media has mostly been focusing its coverage on the recent student protests, Hwang traveled to northern Europe to uncover insights into the region's success with the aim of sharing his observations with players from Taiwan industry. While industry leaders, government officials and university professors are proactively laying out strategies for the development of smart cities, the development of Taiwan's smart cities will also have northern Europe's successful experience as a reference.Talking about his experience regarding northern Europe, Hwang revealed that when he was working at the Institute for Information Industry (III) in Taiwan in 1985, one of his responsibilities was to look up export declaration data of Taiwan companies from customs every month, where he found that countries in northern Europe accounted for a significantly high portion of overseas shipments from major Taiwan PC vendors.Governments in northern Europe promote education, building a foundation for the development of smart citiesFrom Hwang's observations of the development of global informatization, he noted that northern European governments started devoting resources to IT education in the late 1980s. Although the tax burden in northern Europe is considerably higher than that in Taiwan with almost a 50% income tax imposed on citizens, the government has deployed all kinds of tax credits and incentives to promote IT education among citizens, boosting their motivation to enhance the quality and transition to an information-based economy.For instance, people in northern Europe could get tax credits for purchasing home computers, which helped cultivate a PC culture. Moreover, the implementation of numerous policies for improving informatization enabled a transition to an information economy early on, and helped drive investment in complementary Internet networks, which quickly developed to rank among the best in the world. Through the constant long-term development of informatization through 30 years of education, these governments paved a way for integrating various IT services and ICT applications, which are the core of smart cities, into the lives of their citizens.From unmanned stations to electronic payments, northern Europe incorporates smart services into lifeHwang offered his personal observations from his trip to northern Europe. He saw unmanned transport stations and industrial applications provide deliberate and comprehensive services that demonstrate informatization and make life easier. For example, a trip from Giethoorn to the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens in Netherlands requires taking a train and then transferring to a bus. All the travel tickets and checked luggage were purchased on websites and completed at unmanned counters. The connection between trains and buses during the trip were fully enabled by IT, enabling tourists to correctly complete transfers using different types of transportation, while free and high quality Wi-Fi was provided on trains.Hwang indicated that another amazing experience of smart cities is taking buses in northern Europe. From his experience, the most troublesome question concerning taking buses was that people could not accurately estimate the arrival time at stops, resulting in wasteful and meaningless time spent waiting for buses. From his experience changing buses during his trip, he learned that buses in north European countries kept to a set schedule to an extent that passengers could accurately estimate the arrival time of different buses and better utilize their own time.Northern Europe uses service incentives to attract the public to enjoy using services offered by smart citiesHwang noted that purchasing train tickets at a ticket window in a station in northern Europe is not the smart way to travel. Buying a train ticket on the Internet is rather convenient in northern Europe. Although ordering online and collecting tickets at the station is a very simple service and concept, the biggest issue for making this type of service successful is learning how to engage the public to use the smart service.Northern European countries try to optimize incentives for using smart services as much as possible in order to accelerate the process of integrating convenient services of smart cities into life. For instance, passengers purchasing train tickets at a ticket window in a station are required to pay a 0.5 Euro service charge. On the other hand, if you purchase the ticket online, there is no service charge. As a result, there is a financial incentive to use the most practical and efficient way of purchasing tickets, which in turn cultivates a habit of purchasing online and further optimizes the development and integration of smart services.Northern Europe utilize policies and tax incentives to speed up the penetration of smart and energy-saving applicationsAnother of Hwang's discoveries came from observing Norway. He noted that Norway has abundant oil in the North Sea, but electric cars represent a 12% share of the market, making it the country with the highest ratio of electric cars. Even an oil-producing country like Norway is dedicated to the development of electric car industry for environmental, smart and energy-saving reasons, providing an example of the nation's attitude toward life. In Norway numerous taxis utilize electric cars produced by Tesla Motors, a major American electric car vendor. Tesla electric cars are priced at around US$110,000. Expensive electric cars like Tesla can't be used as commercial cars without the government's support of tax credits and policies.Hwang discovered that the high market share of Tesla electric cars can be attributed to not only commercial cars like taxis, but also to the public. People who buy electric cars benefit from electric car charging stations being available everywhere, tax credits, toll discounts, and even preferred parking spaces. Local governments attract people to convert from traditional fuel vehicles to pollution-free and environmental electric vehicles by granting them the convenience of freely using disable parking spaces. Combining policies with a convenient social infrastructure to stimulate a high-penetration rate of electric cars is an example that should be noted by the Taiwan government.Taiwan has an opportunity to become a model in Asia with its ICT advantagesHwang also shared his deep feelings from his observations of Denmark. Upon alighting from his flight in Denmark, he saw a gigantic wall advertisement saying "Welcome to the world's happiest nation." He then discovered that this public service advertisement was a big billboard sponsored by the private sector company Carlsberg, which has been a long-time supporter of the Danish royal family's Frederiksborg. Hwang noted that Norway and Denmark are not extravagant at all despite their wealth. The private sectors in these nations are willing to make contributions to society and governments invest money in long-term projects targeting smart cities and green energies.Taiwan's interaction with northern Europe extends beyond simply purchasing salmon, lumbar and traveling. The total invested amount of Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund in Taiwan has exceeded US$8 billion as of the end of the first quarter 2014. This seemingly enormous amount accounts for only 1.4% of Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund. There is still plenty of room for growth in cooperation between Taiwan and Norway.In the early stages, technology industries such as Acer and Copam gained profits from northern Europe. Assembled computers were shipped to northern European countries in large amounts. Nowadays most IPC firms customize host boards adopted by northern European countries are developed and manufactured in Taiwan. In terms of developing smart cities, Taiwan possesses superior ICT hardware technologies to help develop smart cities. If Taiwan can borrow from northern Europe's successful experiences in developing smart cities and even establish technical cooperation with northern European countries, it will stand a better chance of turning itself into a paragon of building smart cities in the East Asia region.Colley Hwang, President of DIGITIMES

BIOSTAR, maker of embedded/IPC solutions, graphics cards, and motherboards has introduced Intel's next generation Haswell based motherboard, the Hi-Fi Z97WE. It comes with many BIOSTAR in-house features such as "Hi-Fi" audio technology.The Hi-Fi Z97WE is an ATX form factor board that features Intel socket 1150 support. It has 4 memory slots for up to 32GB of RAM. The on-board LAN controller also supports 10/100/1000/2000 with "Teaming" mode. The on-board HDMI supports 4K and 2K resolutions.It includes the usual high-end motherboard features like USB 3.0, HDMI and PCI-E slots, as well as the newest PCIe development, the "M.2" form factor. The M.2 standard is the newest and smallest form factor implementation of the SATA Express interface (which provides support for PCI Express 3.0 and Serial ATA 3.0), with the addition of an internal USB 3.0 interface. It supports multiple functions for add-in cards, including the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, satellite navigation, near field communication (NFC), digital radio, Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), wireless WAN (WWAN), and solid-state drives (SSDs).But being a BIOSTAR board, there is a premium set of features including the company's unique "Hi-Fi" technology. All the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi series motherboards are equipped with isolate circuit design and high quality components to ensure the best possible audio quality consistency.The Hi-Fi Z97WE also features BIOSTAR's dual Gigabit LAN card functionality that takes networking and gaming to new levels. To achieve this, the Hi-Fi Z97WE has "dual Gigabit LAN" connections on the board that allow simultaneous LAN connections. The primary advantage is the doubling of bandwidth which allows the network bandwidth of 1G to become that of 2G. It also allows for Full-duplex transmission. Two network cards can be simultaneously transmitted to upload and download at the same time. In addition, there is zero packet delay with two high-speed gigabit networks, giving super high data transmission efficiency. Another major advantage is "Load Balancing" which allows users to attach both network adapters to a single network. It will therefore support the aggregation "teaming" function by merging the two connections to support multiple aggregation modes.In addition, with BIOSTAR's dual Gigabit LAN connections you get network insurance. These boards come with two Gigabit Ethernet lightning protection circuits, there are cross-efficient in reducing the probability of damage from lightning or other power surge. So if one connection is disabled the other connection will automatically kick in.Lastly, being based on the Intel Z97 chipset, the Hi-Fi Z97WE also comes with Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology), Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology), Intel Rapid Start Technology and Intel Smart Connect Technology all built into the system, ready to go.For more on the Hi-Fi Z97WE go to: http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=731BIOSTAR brings out Hi-Fi Z97WE mainboard

Cloud computing has become more and more matured in recent years. Various networking platforms, online application services, mobile hand-held devices and Data Centre are massively booming. Either enterprises or consumers are eagerly demanding for bandwidth of the internet and optical fiber set-up which has made fiber communication related equipment, products and prospective development in techniques more emphasized by the general public. Fiber communication measuring equipment is simply a part of fiber communication industry and is inevitably important.Radiantech was established in 1990 and headquartered at Hsinchu Science Park. OEM was the dominant part of the business along with its branding. Up until now, Radiantech MIT is promoting its own brand across the globe. Radiantech is the researching and developing manufacturer of OTDR in Taiwan with its own core technique and innovative modular OTDR as well as USB power supply patent.Radiantech team has devoted themselves in developing, innovating and simplifying product at all times in these years; meanwhile, improving testing speed, accuracy and the convenience is necessary and imperative, says the CEO of Radiantech. Therefore, Radiantech OT-9000 series has jumped one step ahead of others to be the first one applying OTDR to the Android Tablet/mobile phones/laptops and weighs only 190gs which is the lightest OTDR in the world. Apps can be easily downloaded and updated in a blink through Google Play platform. A perfect combination of the USB interface to connect portable plug-and-play devices and APP to the product has created a complete touch screen and efficiency of automatic analyzing. Intuitive operation is applied to provide FTTH, CATV and PON fiber network testing to accomplish the purpose of fast installations, maintenance, delivery and repair.Radiantech has proactively headed towards system integration field since 2005 and founded software development team together with being in control of key software/hardware and system techniques. Real-time fiber monitoring alarm system was created. FOMA (Fiber Optical Monitoring Alarm System) is invented by Radiantech its own development which has successfully provided customers premium real-time monitoring projects. The system is comprised of diversified controlling test units, central monitoring servers and related software interface. It is primarily the alarm system of remote control fiber (P2P) and PON fiber (P2MP). The ground-breaking "hot swap" modularized, centralized and customized design offers excellent convenience and saving cost in installations and maintenance. Radiantech FOMA system can be compared to the public health-check system. It has self-faulty temperature detection on a regular basis and at any time which diagnoses the abnormalities before activates OTDR to locate the faulty along with alarming mechanism to achieve automatic fiber monitoring management. It is an economical and efficient real-time fiber monitoring alarm system.Other products of Radiantech's including integrated/modular OTDR, optical power meters, light source, intelligence system and optical communication can be found on the official website (http://www.radiantech.com.tw/).Radiantech CTO William Chang(L), CEO Sharon Sung (M), T&M AVP Josh Kuo (R)

Improving mobile data communication technology plays a key role in constructing a smart service network in smart cities. Currently, 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile data transfer technology is the most popular. In addition to countries such as South Korea, Japan, and Singapore that have been aggressive in building 4G commercial services, Taiwan began issuing 4G licenses in October 2013 and Taiwan-based telecommunication carriers will begin to provide 4G services by the end of 2014.In the blueprint of smart city planning, mobile telecommunication networks play a crucial role as machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) netoworks, and the need to stay connected using various smart devices all rely on the support from the mobile data transfer technology. Although the current 3G technology may still satisfy demand, it is inferior to the new generation 4G LTE and 5G technologies in terms of data transfer speeds. The new technologies are much better than 3G in overcoming transmission lags, and their transmission efficiency is 10-100 times better than 3G. The 4G and 5G technologies will be key ones in smart city developments.4G LTE technology showing great leap in data transfer efficiencyAccording to Kevin Wang, Senior Director, NTT TAIWAN, when talking about smart city developments, one has to mention the development of 4G mobile data transfer technology. The 3G High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) can achieve a transfer rate of 7.2Mb/s, but 4G is 10 times faster with the data volume three times as big. Even the transmission lag is only one-quarter of that in 3G.The 4G technology not only helps users and system integrators, consumers can download large volumes of digital content such as music and videos at faster speeds with less lags. This means consumers can have better user experience with different services while spending less time on downloading. For service providers and system integrators, 4G networks can increase service efficiency of base stations and achieve faster and smoother integrations of smart services.Taiwan telecom carriers can follow the path of Japan DoCoMoWang noted that Taiwan-based telecom carriers can follow the path of Japan-based telecom carrier NTT TAIWAN DoCoMo in developing 4G or even 5G mobile technologies. The 4G era picked up momentum in December 2011 when more than 50 telecom carriers around the world started making deployments for their 4G commercial services, with another 190 planning to follow suit. The total LTE users worldwide by December 2015 will likely reach 320 million. Japan NTT TAIWAN DoCoMo introduced LTE services in 2012 and has since been expanding them.Wang stated that while Taiwan did not start issuing 4G licenses till 2013, Japan's mobile telecommunication industries have already begun talking about 5G. For DoCoMo, 5G involves LTE Advance technology. A comparison of LTE Advance with the current 4G technology shows that the former has superior performance in improving delays and data transfer efficiency. Theoretically, LTE Advance technology can achieve data transfer speed 10 to 100 times faster than 4G technology, and hence it is a solution worth developing.4G service construction requires strong financial supportIn DoCoMo's planning, Japan's 4G wireless data transfer speed theoretically can reach 1Tb/s by March 2016, but LTE Advance technology is likely to offer 10 times faster speeds at 100Mb/s-10Tb/s. The reason LTE Advance can reach such high efficiency because it adopts C-RAM Architecture. This architecture categorizes users by data usage in each base station. For example, for base stations in crowded places, the technology can group high-usage users together and use Carrier Aggregation technology to enhance data services of that base station. It then uses Macro Cell and Add-on Cell technologies to improve user experience for high-usage consumers. This new structure makes sure users have optimal data transfer quality even in crowded places.Japan introduced LTE commercial services in 2010 while Taiwan just recently issued licenses. Taiwan-based telecom carriers can follow Japan's path. Wang noted that Japan DoCoMo invested US$350 million in LTE technology in 2010 and focused on metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. Japan DoCoMo constructed 1,000 base stations with 800 in Tokyo, 100 in Nagoya and 100 in Osaka. In 2010, LTE service coverage was only 7% of the total population. In 2011, DoCoMo invested JPY100 billion (US$1 billion) in LTE services, which is almost three times that in 2010. The investment was to build base stations in various towns, areas, and prefectures in Japan, expanding the number of its base stations to a total of 5,000 with LTE service covering 20% of the total population. In 2012, the firm invested US$1.7 billion to construct base stations all over the 9major cities in Japan. The total number of base stations reached 15,000 units with coverage increasing to 40%.Upgrading from 3G to 4G can help carriers expand the number of usersIn 2013-2014, Japan has more than 20 million users using LTE data services, ranking third in the world. Japan is not the only country gearing up development of LTE services; in fact, South Korea is the country that has invested the most into LTE commercial services. In 2013, South Korea's LTE coverage reached more than 62% of its total population, ranking number one, followed by Japan and Singapore in second and third places, respectively. LTE services are far more popular in Asia compared to countries in Europe or the US.Take Japan DoCoMo's LTE development for example. In 2014, the number of LTE base stations will reach 35,000 with coverage reaching 70%. DoCoMo plans to increase investments to JPY400 billion (US$4 billion) in 2014. Wang pointed out that currently, one-third of the users in Japan use 3G networks to stay connected, and hence DoCoMo hopes higher 4G coverage can push more users to adopt LTE services. The firm has set the goal of increasing the number of base stations to 100,000 by March 2015. If this target is reached, the coverage will increase to 98% and the number of LTE users may increase to 30 million, approximately one-quarter of the population in Japan.Taiwan has many 4G carriers and value-added services are key to successTaiwan recently completed the issuing of 4G licenses and service planning is the key for firms to expand the number of users. Wang stated the firms that have obtained the 4G licenses in Taiwan are three large-size firms and three small-size firms. The three large-size firms are Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), Far Eastone, and Taiwan Mobile. According to market analysts, CHT plans to begin LTE services in July 2014 and sets an initial target of 300,000 users. The firm hopes to achieve the goal of one million users by 2015. Far Eastone plans to introduce LTE services in the third quarter of 2014 with a target of 700,000-800,000 users. Taiwan Mobile also plans to begin LTE services in the third quarter of 2014 with a user target of 400,000-500,000. The three small-size firms that have obtained the 4G licenses are Asia Pacific Telecom, Ting Hsin International Group, and Ambit Microsystems, a subsidiary of Foxconn. Asia Pacific Telecom plans to begin LTE services in the third quarter of 2014 while Ting Hsin and Ambit Microsystems plan to introduce the LTE services in fourth-quarter 2014 and the beginning of 2015, respectively.Wang noted that LTE services are useful in expanding customer bases and improve user experience due to high data transfer speeds and low delays. LTE's higher quality data transfer technology may sound attractive, but the market challenge is still quite substantial. The 4G LTE technology has the same problems as those facing the previous technology, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). LTE services have a complicated division of frequencies in different areas and hence roaming might be a problem. This problem can be solved if handset makers and telecom carriers work together. In addition, although 4G LTE shows a great leap in efficiency, if telecom carriers do not provide killer apps for their LTE services, it would be harder for them to reap profits from this new technology.Kevin Wang, Senior Director, NTT Taiwan

Consumer payments have developed from using paper, to magnetic stripe cards, to integrated circuit (IC) cards, and eventually, to chip cards. The evolution from magnetic stripe cards to chip cards is a response by the card issuing agencies to growing consumer concerns about payment safety. Furthermore, moving from chip cards to Near Field Communications (NFC) or even to Online to Offline (O2O), a type of value-added payment method that integrates marketing, will bring more potential benefits to the consumer market as part of the emerging smart city ecosystem.Telecom carriers and banks to develop popular mobile payment applicationsAccording to Jason Kuo, Advisor, APSCA, Taiwan-based telecommunications carriers and credit card-issuing banks have been eager to develop the mobile payment market. With the Taiwan government issuing 4G licenses, some 4G telecommunications carriers plan to develop mobile payment solutions using 4G technology to create a more convenient way to pay, in the hope of gaining market share.The rising popularity of the Internet and Internet transactions make e-commerce payment applications more favorable especially as 3G/4G wireless data services begin to expand. The rising demand for mobile Internet applications and smartphone devices has contributed to the increasing popularity of e-commerce. New business models can be created by having smartphones support O2O and indoor positioning systems (IPS) in order to integrate various marketing applications.Mobile payment applications challenge traditional payment methodsThe process of purchase and payment has been upgraded from the traditional cashier to smart point of sale (POS) systems. Furthermore, payments can be completed using personal computers, tablets, and smartphones. Payment methods that use smart devices are faster, can achieve a higher level of safety, and can reach the goal of "every device is a shopping device".In the past, consumers needed to see TV advertisements or direct marketing materials (DMs) to obtain product information, but now with smartphones, consumers can obtain product information from the Internet which is faster and more abundant. Hence, consumers no longer have to go into department stores to compare products and can use smartphones and mobile networks to obtain information such as user comments. In addition, the online-sharing of user experiences, product reviews, purchase location, payment methods, and bids can all be done through smartphones and mobile networks. This simplification shortens the time between desire and purchase. This also means retail stores will face many opportunities and challenges.Integrating digital payments with network technologies to increase the smartness of the shopping processThe next stage of digital payment technology integration should not only consider the technological aspects, but also business opportunities from providing value-added services to meet consumer demand. For example, when using e-commerce platforms, users often need to input delivery addresses and personal information into the different checkout platforms, and it is quite difficult to type on mobile devices. Hence, some firms have introduced cloud services that allow users to store their personal information or payment methods so they can be automatically entered into forms when needed. This allows e-commerce to be more seamless and quick, while users do not have to memorize multiple account names and passwords or use low safety accounts to make transactions.Payment is only one step in the purchasing process, as user recommendations depend on the entire experience. Smartphones, which can provide users with price comparison and product information before making purchases, are key to driving consistent consumption behavior. In addition, the next generation of mobile payment smart services with O2O value-added applications could create consumption experiences that are superior and more complete. Other than digitalizing payment tools, adding smart features to conventional consumption methods as consumers purchase things in stores, using store credit, credit cards or through O2O, will be key to improving the shopping experience.As for the value-add of mobile payments, telecommunications carriers have the advantage in developing applications, such as using Location Based Services (LBS) to direct product information to a consumer's smartphone. Telecommunications carriers can also use text messages to guide users to product information. Regardless of technology, using the combination of text messages with services can help to build a more comprehensive and smart shopping experience and provide consumers with payment details to control expenses. Applications could also provide consumers with shopping lists or price comparison services. This is close to the ideology of zero-retail. Comparatively, traditional credit cards or store credit cannot effectively connect with smart services, hence these payment methods cannot have the same effect as O2O marketing shopping guides.Mobile wallet is core to mobile payment developmentHandsets have become an important identification tool for each person in the mobile network environment because it can be used as a wallet that contains personal identification, personal discounts obtained through the Internet (such as coupons, membership cards, and tickets), or confidential information and cards (such as credit and debit cards) that are stored securely on the handset. Users can conduct remote transactions or use NFC, scanned QR codes, barcodes, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to interact with different stores.To bring users tangible benefits from mobile payments, the first stage in the development of mobile wallet platforms is to attract users to use the service daily by introducing products such as single-payment cards with discounts. The second stage is to expand the number of users and attract more companies to join to increase the convenience of mobile payments. The third stage is to expand to firms in different industries with services such as electronic receipts and point-collection services to create a mutually beneficial relationship between consumers, banks, and firms.Jason Kuo, Advisor, Asia Pacific Smart Card Association (APSCA)

Committed to providing solutions for customer viewing needs, LILIN has been active in the handheld, cloud, and digital home product spaces for the past couple of years. In 2014, LILIN 's product R&D strategy will be aimed at developing 4K IP cameras as well as 120fps IP cameras, which are both related to various smart city applications.Steve Hu, Product Manager, LILIN , points out that 60fps cameras already produce video that is just as smooth as analog cameras, whereas 120fps IP cameras, with their ultra-high shutter speeds of up to 1/20,000 seconds, are suitable for cash-counting centers, casinos, high-speed production lines, as well as high-speed vehicle license plate recognition. This type of technology has the ability to provide significant benefits to the financial sector, the entertainment industry, as well as smart transportation applications.In reality, digital video technologies have advanced rapidly in recent years, and most cameras have already reached "Blu-ray levels" (1920 by 1080 pixels). In the future, it can be anticipated that cameras will trend toward the 4K2K (3840 by 2106 pixels) television standard. However, as Steve Hu points out, it is difficult for high-resolution cameras to focus. If manual focusing is used, costs are higher in regions where labor costs are high, which would result in additional difficulty in the promotion of digital imaging. Using automatic focusing results in a 40% saving in installation time, which in turn reduces installation costs.Another important type of digital imaging technology is compression. The key is to be able to use the minimum amount of bandwidth for the same level of high resolution, says Steve Hu. With good compression technology, we are also able to save hard-disk space. For example, 3Mbps cameras save about 50-60% of space compared to 8-12 Mbps cameras.In addition, low-light color capturing technologies that do not require infrared (IR) will also play a critical role, says Steve Hu. In general, low-light color capture technologies that use IR consume between 10W to 20W of power (based on the distance between the IR camera and the object it needs to record). If we were able to still see color without the use of IR, power consumption would drop to 2-5W and a significant amount of the cost for electricity could be saved.Steve Hu further points out that many small-to-medium-sized corporations choose to use PCs as network video recorders (NVRs). Using a dual-core 350W PC as an example, since graphics cards and decompression are required, electricity costs can be at least NT$10,000 (US$329) per year. When environmentally friendly embedded NVRs are used, even with high-resolutions, power consumption is only between 48W and 120W, delivering an effective reduction in electricity costs.Environmentally friendly, energy-saving solutions are particularly important to retail stores, says Steve Hu, since retailers tend to install 200 to 300 NVRs at various locations. These types of vendors not only require energy-saving solutions, but also want systems that are fast and easy to install. Furthermore, they also want to be able to connect with external equipment for advanced data analysis.With respect to the NVR requirements of chain stores, Steve Hu thinks that chains that have many stores and also require simultaneous recording at their headquarters need low-bandwidth solutions. Also worth noting is that there have been many robbery cases in which the perpetrators destroyed on-site NVRs to avoid leaving evidence. This is why IP cameras, SD-card recording, NVR recording, and synchronous off-site recording have become mainstream in the market. NVR solutions for chain stores should also include remote playback and backup.The success of smart cities closely relies on smart transportation, and for smart transportation to be effective, on-vehicle video management as well as mobile video management are crucial. Steve Hu uses the monorail in Daegu, Korea as an example, over 400 IP cameras are installed, and remote vehicle video management is achieved through wireless networks.According to Steve Hu, many corporations currently still use PC-based solutions for their high-resolution needs. However, what they should be using are decoders to replace PCs, which would not only reduce power consumption, but also allow them to display multi-matrix screens, enlarge single screens, use multi-touch controls, and connect dedicated keyboards.As for the banking sector, in order to ensure continuous uninterrupted recording, Steve Hu believes that RAID support must be incorporated. When one disk fails, the system immediately switches to another disk and executes rapid data recovery. Other required functions include long-duration recording, support for over 100 cameras, as well as SD-card video synchronization when a camera loses connectivity.There have already been many successful deployments of digital video surveillance applications in aerotropolis-related industries, such as the video management system at the DHL warehouse and shipment center in Germany, the LCCT airport video management system in Malaysia, and the data center video management system in the Philippines.Video management system solutions for large-scale aerotropolis shopping malls and hotels must, as pointed out by Steve Hu, be able to manage more than 10,000 cameras. They must also be able to perform multi-channel video format conversion and backup, as well as have failover capabilities so that in the case of a network outage or during equipment maintenance, failover kicks in and system recording is not interrupted.Furthermore, digital video management systems must also have integrated alarm input/output management functions. In particular, in the case of an abnormality, such as cash registers abnormally opening, video surveillance should immediately be triggered. Many shopping malls and hotels have already successfully deployed video surveillance solutions, including the Westfield Shopping Mall in Australia, the Ramada Hotel in Saudi Arabia, a gold jewelry chain in Malaysia, as well as the Alegra Shopping Mall & Outlet in Spain.As for urban transportation and video management, Steve Hu points out that in the past, megapixel cameras were not sensitive enough and did not work well under low-light conditions. These issues, however, have all been solved. Now, license plate recognition can still be conducted even on vehicles traveling at 120km/h at nighttime in the absence any light sources. For parking lot management applications, gates could be controlled or monitored through the control of camera directions and bidirectional voice communication, thereby effectively avoiding vehicles being blocked outside parking lot gates, which could result in stalls in the operation of parking lots.Digital video management can also be integrated with lights, curtains, air conditioning, background music, home theaters, real-time video, as well as electrical appliance control systems in commercial spaces and digital home applications. When used in commercial spaces or digital homes, Steve Hu points out, digital video vendors must work with control application vendors in order to allow customers to control NVRs using a single remote control or smartphone, making digital video monitoring even more convenient.Steve Hu believes that the future of digital video applications is the cloud, which is why LILIN Technologies is committed to developing cross-platform (Mac OS, iOS, Android, and Windows) video management solutions as well as establishing cloud-based systems in which IP settings and dynamic port forwarding will no longer be necessary. Furthermore, integration with smart TVs may also be possible. 3G/Wi-Fi will also be gradually added, creating even more possibilities, such as digital video rental applications or examination room applications, making the value of digital video applications in smart cities even more significant.Steve Hu, Product Manager, LILIN

MSI Beat IT since 2010, a global e-Sports tournament hosted by the leading gaming brand MSI, is kicking off. Registrations for the regional qualifier tournaments in Europe will be active on May 8th, other regions will be announced later on MSI's official website. The grand finals will be held in November in Taipei, where the best gamers from seven regions will fight over the course of two days for a grand prize total of over US$110,000.StarCraft II and DOTA2 will be this year's premier titles for world's best players to show their skills. With tremendous streaming capabilities, powered by XSplit Gamecaster, MSI is ready to serve the expected 500,000 online viewers from over 100 countries with the smoothest gaming streams.During the grand finals in Taipei, MSI will showcase its cutting-edge GAMING products powered by partners Intel, NVIDIA and Kingston, including the latest graphics cards, notebooks, motherboards, All-in-One PCs and gaming peripherals, that let the attendees experience the top players' top choice.To be part of the next best thing in gaming, register at http://beatit.msi.com/ and join MSI Beat IT 2014 for tickets for the world champion in Taipei. During 5/8 to 5/20, fans who visit the MSI Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MSIHQFANCLUB, give a Like, share event video and leave "MSI Leading the Game" on the wall will have chance to get the exclusive MSI W8 GAMING mouses.Massive $110,000 up for grabs during MSI Beat IT 2014 Global

Demand for creating a paperless environment through document digitization has surged. However, Maggie Shu, Sales Manager, Document Imaging, Kodak Alaris Taiwan Ltd., has pointed out that for many documents such as contracts, consent to operation, proof of payment, delivery receipts, insurance contracts, compensation documents, and birth certificates, the original still needs to be kept due to legislation or management requirements. How to maintain hardcopies has become a challenge for many enterprises.Our lives are connected to all sorts of documents. From the day we are born until we die, lots of information must be presented on paper. Despite the growing availability of information technology, paper still plays an important role in our lives, and so effective integration of hardcopies with digital systems has become an irresistible trend.According to Shu, enterprises need to manage a huge amount of information. While different methods of data processing may be adopted by each enterprise, all data is centrally managed in the end. Depending on the user, data inquiry and storage locations can vary, leading to many management challenges such as finding documents, ensuring versions are up-to-date, consolidating different versions of a document, ensuring hardware/software security, and deleting documents or removing mistakes.To maintain hardcopy information, documents must be scanned to digital files. In the past, it was difficult to file and classify scanned materials. Nowadays, data can be entered rapidly using barcodes and page coding. These data entry methods also improve accuracy as well as storage and management efficiency.Shu pointed out that different scanners should be used due to differences in paper texture and the number of pages. This helps ensure a consistent level of quality for the scanned images whether they are from onion skin paper with high durability, anti-copy paper, hardboard paper (for national health insurance cards or ID cards), or documents with pencil or ball-point pen marks.For example, the Fiscal Information Agency of the Ministry of Finance has to process over 580,000 pieces of tax data every month, equivalent to the need to digitize over 24,000 pieces of data every day (tax slips). Apart from scanning the materials, the agency must build a database of the scanned results in order to allow effective data inquiry and management.Shu said efficiency at the scanning stage is important for streamlining, digitizing, and mobilizing a huge amount of information, and imaging software is the key to enhanced scanning capabilities. For instance, high-speed scanning is not just about speed but also about automatic gradient calibration and noise reduction. With these features, the scanned document can look exactly the same as the original hardcopy.Another key issue is how to share scanned documents efficiently. With the help of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software, scanned content can generate index information such as barcodes, account numbers, company names, and addresses automatically during scanning. In addition, OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) technology can be used to process survey tables and other check tables. OMR can accurately recognize marks in a specific area and populate data in corresponding index fields.Shu also mentioned the problem of information overload. As global clients, partners, and co-workers need to access the same documents, the cost of distribution and collaboration has stepped up. Complicated and dynamic networks also bring severe challenges to enterprises when sharing and managing data.Through scanning and imaging solutions, enterprise needs can be met. For example, users can configure scanning profiles easily using KIAS (Kodak Info Activate). Simply pressing a button allows a document to be scanned and saved as images. Users can also customize the workflow to import, search, and access the most important documents, thereby reducing business workloads.Kodak Info Activate provides image enhancement technology which optimizes readability, along with OCR-assisted manual indexing that is accurate and fast. For example, the auto-focus OCR function enables words to be populated in a corresponding index field simply by tapping on a word.The operation of Kodak Info Activate is easy, and its intuitive user interface shortens the learning curve. All you need to do is put the document in place and wait for the work to be done. Kodak Info Activate also allows you to capture documents, create an index, and submit image data on Android or iOS smartphones. The mobile version of Kodak Info Activate can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.With the Kodak Alaris document imaging solution, customers can access, process, and consolidate information from digital and paper sources easily and quickly, significantly improving information utilization and value.Maggie Shu, Sales Manager, Document Imaging, Kodak Alaris Taiwan Ltd.