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.

The earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011 in Japan triggered a subsequent tsunami as well as a nuclear power plant catastrophe. Typhoon Morakot, which struck Taiwan in 2009, passed through northern Taiwan but brought torrential rains to central and southern Taiwan. The major damage as well as loss of life caused by these compounded natural disasters clearly demonstrates the importance of the integration of disaster-prevention information at the national level. At the Smart City Forum organized by Digitimes, the National Science & Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) announced its latest progress, which includes integrating government resources through its internally-developed Disaster Response and Decision Support System (EOCDSS) as well as the Standardized Information Format for Disaster Alerts; quick communication of disaster-related information will be conducted via NCDR's "Public Disaster Alert Information Platform," and development of related hardware and software industries will be carried out in cooperation with the private sector.Current scenarios for the application of smart disaster prevention include natural disaster alerts, disaster response and relief, human safety and protection, community protection and safety, industrial area disaster prevention, as well as key facility protection, etc. Functions of the solutions must include remote environment monitoring, real-time transmission of information, disaster prevention alerts, damage analysis and evaluation, decision support, disaster relief as well as positioning and monitoring, scheduling and dispatching of personnel and resources, as well as integration of geographic information with cloud applications. While most people believe that disaster prevention can be performed by other institutions, the NCDR tends to focus on the alert and response processes for natural disasters. Based on developmental trends, smart disaster prevention services can be divided into data services and smart services.According to Wen-Ray Su, Associated Research Fellow, NCDR (National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction) during relief efforts for the Sept. 21, 1999 earthquake as well as during Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan was still in the data services phase, which means it focused on the establishment of infrastructural facilities as well as observation stations/networks, and transmitted data via dial-up network connections or manual transmissions. With the availability of broadband networks, disaster data can now be transmitted via the information services systems in real-time and converted into useful early-warning data. Currently, the situations in various locations can be viewed on a single map, and discussions regarding how to carry out disaster response operations can be conducted. Furthermore, with the widespread development and availability of wireless communications technologies, such as WiFi and 3G, the range of smart services has expanded, allowing people to use apps such as Twitter on their mobile phones to transmit messages. In the future, we may even be able to form an Internet of Things (IoT) connecting hardware and software and conduct Big Data analyses, thereby quickly grasping the on-site situation at disaster sites in order to respond and conduct rescue operations.Take earthquakes for example: although current technology does not allow us to predict earthquakes, if we are able to take advantage of real-time information through the smart disaster prevention network at the time an earthquake occurs as well as transmit this information to users and conduct automatic disaster prevention control (such as turning off the power and natural gas in our homes), we would be able to effectively reduce the number of casualties as well as damage to industries. Especially since Taiwan possesses mature network infrastructures and well-developed ICT industries, if we could develop various integrated disaster prevention control systems, we would be able to create "1+1>2" effects in terms of disaster prevention and response.From 2003 to 2007, Japan carried out its national emergency earthquake notification system program, and in 2007, the Japanese prime minister announced that emergency earthquake notifications to the general public had been fully implemented by government agencies and in various civilian applications. In the 2008 Iwate earthquake as well as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the notification system worked successfully, allowing Japanese citizens to obtain alert information through television, the Internet, mobile phone messages, and disaster-prevention radio broadcasts. Taiwan's emergency alert systems begin with schools. In addition to being able to issue alerts regarding regional earthquakes as well as provide on-site monitoring information within 20 seconds of an earthquake, it can also trigger school-wide alarms via wired or wireless transmissions, allowing schools with or without on-site observation stations to be able to immediately notify its students as well as faculty of the occurrence of an earthquake.Three problems that urgently need to be solved in terms of smart disaster prevention and response integrationHowever, Wen-Ray Su also admitted that the smart disaster prevention and response effort currently faces three major problems:1. From a legal perspective, since sources of data are becoming more diverse, the usage of collected data is subject to more rules and restrictions. People are very wary of how their information is handled and used, and any unauthorized use or publication of information is strictly prohibited. This is why we need a set of common data processing standards and regulations.2. From a technical perspective, Taiwan's electronics industry is good at providing single products and solutions, such as front-end sensor components or intermediate-level networking technologies, but it lacks the ability to produce integrated applications, which makes it difficult to demonstrate the value of certain products. Furthermore, disaster prevention network systems are mostly independently designed and lack interoperability and integration. Looking forward, cross-industry integration capabilities will need to be strengthened.3. In terms of applications, products must be able to operate under extreme conditions and in harsh environments, which is why backup solutions are required in order to ensure that messages can indeed be sent when needed. In addition, through the integrated platform, we will be able to provide information with additional value so that various types of safety and disaster prevention applications can be developed.Wen-Ray Su went on to stress the importance of Big Data, especially the ability to collect large amounts of information, absorb it, digest it, filter it, and then convey simplified information that can provide real value. Currently, government institutions already have the ability to collect information in a timely fashion and issue alerts during natural disasters. The next step will be to integrate that information through a unified platform, allowing the general public to quickly understand the situation.This is why the NCDR developed the CEOC support system in 2010, which can perform integration of disaster response information. Information that can be used in disaster response efforts is collected from various sources, consolidated, organized, and then presented in a manner that the central disaster response center can use to rapidly execute a response. Currently, monitored information from more than 20 central government agencies as well as nearly 120 items of Big Data are used in the system. The integrated typhoon local application module has been under development since 2011 in order to expand services to local areas, as well as to assist city and county governments and volunteer teams in disaster prevention operations. Furthermore, the NCDR's Public Disaster Alert Information Platform was established last year to allow information from various departments to be quickly consolidated and announced. Local government agencies, NGOs, and private corporations can develop apps to take advantage of these services.Unifying open information formats and working together to create industry valueIn addition, this year we will standardize disaster alert information formats to facilitate transmission through the public disaster alert platform, providing M2M services, establishing cooperative relationships between government and private sectors, building an information feedback mechanism, and working with corporations to create industry value. According to Wen-Ray Su, foreign standards such as the CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) were referenced in the writing of these standards, and their goal is to provide a simple and universal format, allowing information obtained from traditional sensor devices and alert technologies to be converted to international network alert formats, which will be beneficial to the exchange of emergency disaster alerts and public warnings in various networks, and help reduce the cost and complexity related to operations required for various media organizations to establish proprietary systems for receiving disaster alert messages.Furthermore, the system should be able to effectively collect and immediately forward disaster information as well as alerts to various areas and regions. It should also be able to issue national disaster alerts. The system should also automatically convert messages to be publicly announced and transmitted on various transmission media, such as television or radio. In 2004, the CAP1.0 version was accepted into the OASIS standard, and the latest version was announced in 2008. Then, the CAP-EAS was established for developing related disaster-prevention hardware industries and applications. Since last year, Taiwan's public and private sectors have been working together to develop the OASIS Common Alerting Protocol v1.2 standard and produce a Taiwan profile. It uses simple XML and portable structures, and supports various message formats to convert traditional alert messages into unified common formats.Wen-Ray Su, Associated Research Fellow, National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR)

The themes of the International Smart City Forum in 2014 included 4G, Internet of Things (IoT), and the aerotropolis. According to Ruey-Beei Wu, President, Institute for Information Industry (III), a total of 135MHz of bandwidth for 4G operations was auctioned in Taiwan in 2013, raising NT$110 billion. The government will invest more than NT$10 billion in projects that accelerate the availability of 4G applications, and 4G is indeed a key future trend.For the development of IoT, Wu said Morris Chang, chairman TSMC, also agrees that IoT is the next big thing and will generate demand for advanced packaging, smart sensor devices, and low-power-consumption components.As for the aerotropolis project, the government will make an investment of over NT$100 billion to establish the Free Economic Pilot Zone, which consists of six major seaports and one airport. The project will push Taiwan to the next stage in the development of smart cities.Smart city development must be planned through a top-down approach, with thorough arrangements in place to address different needs. For example, people's daily needs are the most important requirements for smart city development. Therefore, each city must be developed differently to achieve different goals such as the development of smart transport for traffic jam problems and flood control solutions for areas prone to flooding.To achieve further progress in the development of smart cities, economic growth must be transformed into support for people's needs. Wu also emphasized the importance of universal value such as environmental protection, health, education, and human rights.With an increasing number of people moving to cities, urbanization has intensified. Therefore, the development of smart cities must be able to address demand from a huge population. Wu thinks ICT technologies such as cloud computing, big data, wireless broadband, social networks, and information security will play a key role in solving the abovementioned problems.In recent years, foreign countries have seen the development of smart city-related ICT technologies which have bred many business opportunities. In June 2013, Google acquired Waze for nearly US$1 billion to help its integration of social networks and e-map. Through the information from social networks, drivers can access more real-time information such as road safety, traffic routes, and suggested gas stations. These efforts have brought about the era of smart transportation.In early 2014, Google acquired smart home appliance company Nest for US$3.2 billion. Nest's main products include temperature control systems and smoke detectors widely used in American homes. Purchasing the company with IoT technologies at such a high price not only serves as a solid indication that Google is eying the smart home market but also indicates business opportunities brought about by mobile phone apps, wireless applications, social networks, and cloud computing for smart cities.Taiwan has achieved significant results in smart city development, said Wu. New Taipei City and Hsinchu City have been selected as the candidates of seven global leading smart cities by International Smart City Forum. Taipei City, Taoyuan City, and Taichung City have all won the award before, indicating the strong potential of Taiwan's urban infrastructure.With the support of the government's Free Economic Pilot Zone initiative, Taiwan's ICT industry will enjoy great advantages in the sensor market, stated Wu. The government-led platform will provide vendors with an outstanding environment to test and promote a variety of applications.The Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport handles 30 million travelers a year. Smart technologies can thus be integrated with various applications such as transport, sight-seeing, shopping, and logistics, allowing foreign visitors to access information in need or providing more secure consumption services for them as soon as they get off the plane. These advanced business applications are all worth to be developed.When shopping in a duty-free store in the airport, consumers can claim for a VAT refund using their mobile phone apps. They can also have the products delivered to designated locations using smart logistics services. As soon as they return home, the products will have arrived at their destinations.The Institute for Information Industry has spent a lot of efforts establishing a demonstration zone in areas near Taoyuan Aerotropolis. According to Wu, Taiwan's high-quality, affordable medical treatment, friendly services, good public safety, and adequate privacy protection has made it the best place to develop smart healthcare in the Asia Pacific region. The combination of advanced virtual medical care and the cooperation with overseas research institutions in talent training will enable Taiwan to expand to the education market.Cloud IDC also posts great opportunities for Taiwan's future development. With the integration of the abovementioned technologies and platforms, the smart aerotropolis project will serve as a tangible example of smart cities. Wu hopes smart city development will encourage people to pursue a happy life characterized by high living quality, morality, and good taste, while achieving the goals of environmental protection, sustained development, and public welfare.Ruey-Beei Wu, President, Institute for Information Industry (III)

The Hsinchu-based Food Industry Research and Development Institute on April 28, 2014 released its lab test report on Fortrend Liquid Diamond's anti-germ capability, showing the product's performance is incredibly high.The test involved a process of planting Escherichia coli BCRC germ per 10,300 CFU/cm2 onto a specimen of Fortrend Liquid Diamond-coated glass and there was a control group of bare glass. They were both put under general household fluorescent lamp light. After 24 hours, the test found only 80.6 germs per cm2 on average remaining on the Fortrend Liquid Diamond-coasted glass. But the bare glass in the control group had a density of germs as high as 7,310 per cm2 on average. The Fortrend Liquid Diamond has an anti-germ performance as high as 98.9%.The comparion of the two pieces of glass shows that Fortrend Liquid Diamond has incredible anti-germ performance that could be used on various household items and appliances. Applied to tableware, bowls, pans, cups and other cooking and eating utensils, it can restrain germ growth, and even germs that have not been gotten rid of during washing cannot grow on Liquid Diamond. It can also be applied to the interior of refrigerators, bathroom racks, or even moist environments to prevent germ growth. Fortrend Liquid Diamond-coated glass is also ideal for architectural purposes: for both building facades and the interior. Apart from the anti-germ function, it can also reduce UV/electronic waves, elimate odors, make cleaning easy, and even enable self- cleaning, etc. It is a product of multi-function.Food Industry Research and Development Institute's lab report on Fortrend Liquid Diamond's anti-germ performance