INTERNET Thailand, a commercial Internet provider, has announced plans to increase the total bandwidth available to users from the current 512 Kbs (kilobits per second) to 2 Mbps by the end of this year.
According to National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC) Network Technology Laboratory Director Dr. Thaweesak Koanantakool, ThaiSarn, a non-commercial hub of NECTEC, was also in the process of connecting a 2 Mbps fibre-optic link to NACSIS in Tokyo which should be completed by October.
ThaiSarn now has a 64 Kbs direct satellite link to UUNET in Virginia, United States.
Dr. Thaweesak also noted that Internet Thailand was holding discussions with its counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia to open up direct links to their networks. These plans were expected to bear fruit next year.
He said that the increase in bandwidth capacity and the direct link to NACSIS in Tokyo would help to reduce the amount of access time needed by Internet Thailand and ThaiSarn users.
Now that there was a rapid increase in the number of users, it was necessary to expand bandwidth, he added. If NECTEC did not increase the current bandwidth, the network would become like Bangkok roads where everything moves very slowly, he said.
Dr. Thaweesak added that Internet Thailand now had some 1,000 personal account users. He expected the volume of Internet users in Thailand to double next year.
This year, Internet Thailand had invested some 50 million baht in the network and investment costs would continue to exceed income over the next 3-4 years, he noted.
Dr. Thaweesak added that currently 40 per cent of Internet Thailand users access the World Wide Web with 30 per cent doing file transfers and 30 per cent using only E-mail.
Internet Thailand was set up as a joint-venture between three government enterprises: the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT), Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC). It has registered capital of 16 million baht. TOT and CAT hold a 33 per cent stake each in the company while the remaining 34 per cent is owned by NECTEC.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Wednesday, 31 May 1995)
Asia multimedia future discussed
The Japanese Advanced Information Society Promotion Headquarters, state broadcasters NHK, and The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, organized a conference at Tokyo recently on the future of Asia's multimedia society. Speakers included members of the Governments of Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand, all of whom presented what their countries were doing and planning for in the coming "multimedia age".
In Japan, the Government, with guidance from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, has already laid plans for a comprehensive national infrastructure to support future multimedia services, Mr. Shun Oide, Minister of posts and telecommunications, explained. "The headquarters has set a goal of having a fibre network installed throughout the nation by the year 2010", he said. The plan calls for the network to extend into major urban areas 10 years earlier than the 2010 deadline.
In Singapore, the infrastructure is already being established, far ahead of most Asian countries, stated Mr. George Yeo, Minister for Information and the Arts.
"Singapore's telecommunications system will be totally digital within a few years. We are laying the information highway' to every household. By the end of the decade, every household in Singapore will be wired up via broadband coaxial cables linked to an optical fibre trunk network", he said.
This year is "IT (information technology) Year" in Thailand, and the Government took the opportunity to announce its National Telecommunications Development Master Plan (NTDMP).
While planning for the future, it is also still laying the basic building blocks for a future in the multimedia world, explained Mr. Mahidol Chantrangkurn, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Communications.
As a first step to launching future services, all of the Governments represented at the conference are involving government departments in pilot projects.
In the Republic of Korea, Mr. Kyong Sang-Hyon, Minister of Information and Telecommunications, explained that the Government is developing G-net, a high-speed government communications network. It will then encourage private enterprise to establish P-net, the public high-speed network.
Mr. Yeo noted that Singapore already has a "home page" on the Internet; it is called Singapore Info Map. He added that "all government departments are now more or less computerized. For example, Singapore Port has become entirely paperless". The general theme expressed by most conference speakers was summed up well by Mr. Oide of Japan, who said of his country's plan: "The basic stance of the guidelines is that the private sector will, within the context of fair and valid competition, ultimately lead developments, while the Government takes the role of providing infrastructure, supporting research and development, and establishing and improving administrative systems".
(Source: Bangkok Post, 7 June 1995)
2600 CD-ROM titles on Internet
Updata Publications Inc. of Los Angeles has made its entire catalog of CD-ROM titles available on the Internet.
Updata distributes the products of more than 530 producers. Its catalog is comprehensive, with each product listing showing subject, source, coverage, update frequency, full description, software and hardware needed to run each title, formats, networking information, and pricing for all versions. Titles can be searched for by subject, category, title, and alphabetic indexes.
Users can access the catalog on the Internet at gopher.updata.com.
For more information, please contact: Updata CD-ROM, 1736 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024, U.S.A.; Tel: (310) 474-5900; Fax: (310) 474-4095; e-mail: cdrom@updata.com.
(Source: CD-ROM Today, May 1995)
IAC unveils Health Reference Center GOLD: Complete health Information resource for
libraries, hospitals, HMOs, and business
Health Reference Center Gold is an enhanced version of Health Reference Center, a CD-ROM database first introduced in 1990. HRC Gold offers users all the benefits of the original Health Reference Center, which include: periodicals, pamphlets, reference books, topical overviews, and support and referral information.
HRC Gold's Info Tract interface is designed for novice users who want to know more about medical and health issues. Patrons can sit at a terminal and conduct personal research in privacy, without staff assistance. Further, the journal abstracts, topical overviews and pamphlets are written in lay language, making the database itself easy to use and its contents easy to understand.
For the hospital, HMO, or library that installs HRC Gold as a service to its patrons, the database presents a savings in cost and staff time. HRC Gold provides an extensive collection in a single source that would otherwise take enormous time in collecting, filing, and updating individually in print. With all of this information in one electronic format, the institution eliminates the problems of lost or stolen printed items.
In developing Health Reference Center Gold, Information Access Company retained the Health Strategy Group of New York to conduct major research into the health information market.
From their national survey sample of over 1,000 adults, 31 per cent can be described as "health information seekers", people who regularly seek out information to improve their health. While 47 per cent of respondents relied on health professional for their health information, 41 per cent used prints sources, books, magazines and newsletters for their information needs.
One major finding of the study involved the activity of health information seekers: 71 per cent of the health information seekers polled said they took specific action as a result of the information they sought. Over half of the health information seekers reported that they were able to forgo or delay medical care as a result of the information they obtained.
For more information, contact: IAC, 362 Lakeside Drive, Foster City, CA 94404, 800/227-8431, U.S.A.
(Source: CD-ROM Today, May 1995)
Tools for a new generation of interactive multimedia applications
Microsoft Corp. has outlined new tools to support independent content providers (ICPs) for the Microsoft Network, Microsoft's planned online service. The tools offer features that empower content providers to design, manage and deliver a new generation of interactive multimedia applications and services.
The tools include a sophisticated design environment for online applications, code-named Blackbird; tools designed to create, update, and manage forums; and a software development kit that contains direct application programming interfaces (APIs) to the Microsoft Network services.
Blackbird is a primary solution for easy creation of interactive multimedia titles. It is a one-button publishing environment in which the user can automatically manage dynamic content, and it features a customizable viewer that takes full advantage of the capabilities of the Windows 95 operating system. Using Blackbird, content providers can implement online publications, consumer-oriented applications, business-to-business services, interactive advertising, electronic-commerce applications, and even interactive games for the Microsoft Network.
Microsoft also is providing powerful forum-manager tools that allow content providers to fully control their online forums, including updating information, managing user access, handling transactions, and creating new forums such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, and file-download areas. The forum-manager tools include a Bulk Upload Tool and E-Forms.
The Software Development Kit provides access to chat, e-mail, and other APIs for the Microsoft Network. With these APIs, developers can create their own client-server applications or use their own multimedia development tools for the Microsoft Network platform. A client-server version of the Microsoft Media View multimedia development tool will also be available for ICPs. Blackbird delivers a new generation of interactive applications. Through progressive rendering, client-side caching, and Microsoft Windows 95 multitasking features, users experience responsive graphical, text and audio interaction. These applications will contain links to related services including other Blackbird titles and Internet serves. Blackbird takes advantage of Windows 95 shortcuts, making it easy for users to find the information they want, and allowing them to schedule automatic delivery of their favorite content, which can be fed directly to their desktop PCs at their own convenience.
Blackbird is primarily intended for designers with little or no programming experience. It uses a drag-and-drop metaphor to create sophisticated design layouts incorporating graphics, rich text and action controls. It also creates automatic links to other content and services defined by the designer. The content itself can be created using most popular text and graphics-authoring packages. Blackbird supports key publishing standards such as Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), and will also read standard HTML documents.
For more information, call: Microsoft in Redmond, Washington D.C., at (206) 882-8080.
(Source: Multimedia Today, May 1995)
USA Today debuts electronic news service
An electronic news service based on USA Today made its debut recently. "As USA Today made newspaper reader-friendly, the online service will set new standards for ease of use, timeliness of information and thoroughness of content", said Mr. Tom Curley, President and publisher of USA Today.
As it develops over the coming months, the USA Today online service will have many of the same qualities that distinguish the newspaper, Mr. Curley said. It will include deep sports coverage of professional, college, and high school teams; comprehensive news, business, and entertainment reports; dependable weather forecasts; meaningful graphics; compelling design; and ease of use. At launch, the service will give readers up-to-the-minute news and scores and the opportunity to interact with USA Today reporters and editors, newsmakers, and other readers through e-mail and electronic bulletin boards. It will offer a fantasy baseball package as an option for an additional charge.
The online service is the first product launched by the newly formed USA Today Information Network. It will use Internet technology supplied by CompuServe Network services (a division of CompuServe, Inc.).
USA Today will be a site on the World Wide Web, an increasingly popular part of the Internet notable for its graphical look and easy navigation. USA Today's Web site will be accessible only by using USA Today's software and the CompuServe Network connection.
Readers will subscribe directly to USA Today online and will be mailed a set of disks containing a customized version of CompuServe's Mosaic browser to load on their computers. They will connect to the service via modem and a local telephone number supplied by CompuServe.
USA Today recommends that subscribers use an IBM-compatible PC with a 486 or better processor and a 14,400 bps modem. Also required are Microsoft Windows, 3.1, 8 MB of RAM, at least 5 MB of available hard drive space, and a VGA colour monitor.
To subscribe, call (800) 872-4998 (outside the U.S., call (301) 622-7415)
(Source: Information Today, May 1995)
Ligature Software releases new OCR packages
Ligature Software, Inc. has released a ground-breaking optical character recognition (OCR) software package -- CharacterEyes for Windows release 2.5. CharacterEyes offers "one-button" simplicity and excellent recognition accuracy at less than half the price of competing products, according to Ligature.
CharacterEyes incorporates advanced neural network technology that allows users to capture text at up to 300 character/second with a very high level of recognition accuracy.
CharacterEyes reads documents that commonly give users trouble, such as faxes, small and large typefaces, dot-matrix text and degraded documents. CharacterEyes supports all Western European character sets, and it is the only OCR product on the market that supports Hebrew characters.
With CharacterEyes, a click on a mouse button scans in a document. The software then analyzes the page layout and recognizes the text. Users can export the text directly into their word processor, retaining all original text and page attributes such as point size, tabs, margins, and bold and italic formatting. CharacterEyes also allows direct scanning for Windows applications.
CharacterEyes supports all major scanners and image file formats, as well as the TWAIN industry scanning standard. The software also incorporates Hewlett-Packard Co.'s AccuPage scanning technology, which can scan from coloured or stained backgrounds and recognize small typefaces.
CharacterEyes requires less than 3 MB of hard disk space and 4 MB of RAM, so a 486 computer can accommodate the software without requiring additional memory. CharacterEyes runs in 32-bit mode, allowing users to capture text faster than with most traditional OCR packages.
For those users with more advanced OCR requirements, Ligature has also released CharacterEyes Pro for Windows, a full-featured, 32-bit stand-alone program. The professional version offers the functionality and ease-of-use of CharacterEyes, plus a collection of high-end features geared towards individuals who rely heavily on OCR and often have more specialized needs. These features include advanced de-skewing (up to 20o), batch processing capabilities, the ability to read all Western European character sets, sophisticated dictionaries for proofing documents, automatic image rotation, and a trainable mode that allows users to teach the software to read obscure typefaces, such as calligraphy, Greek letters, or Gothic fonts.
CharacterEyes Pro features a unique algorithm for Omnifont reading that is based on stochastic and neural network algorithms. This advanced OCR engine is designed to read 200, 300 and 400 dpi. CharacterEyes Pro is made up of several stand-alone modules that are integrated under one simple shell but which can also be operated as separate modules. This approach enables the user to repeat certain operations without having to re-scan the document.
Along with a high level of accuracy provided by Ligature's neural network engine, the new versions of CharacterEyes and CharacterEyes Pro offer an additional recognition layer. Utilizing sophisticated speller dictionaries that look at characters in the context of surrounding characters and words, this "second pass" essentially proofreads and corrects recognition errors made by the neural network. In bench-mark tests, it has been successful in improving recognition accuracy in some documents by as much as 25 per cent.
Both CharacterEyes and CharacterEyes Pro are available from Tech Data, as well as from major resellers. Ligature also offers a Software Development Kit (SDK) that integrates high-performance OCR into application software and is available to developers directly from Ligature.
For more information about these Ligature packages, please contact: Ligature Software, Burlington, MA, 617/238-6734.
(Source: Information Today, June 1995)
CDROM of CDROMs still going strong, 13 issues on
TFPL's well-known CD-ROM Directory, now in its thirteenth edition, holds information on CD-ROM and multimedia CD titles published worldwide.
In the Directory, Ms. Marianne Gazeau, Paris-based business consultant, and a member of EIRENE, looks at what the CD-ROM version has to offer users, and compares its merits to those of the traditional hard copy version.
TFPL Publishing is recognised worldwide in the CD-ROM business, and its established CD-ROM Directory is published both in print and on disc.
The CD-ROM version is updated every six months and is available for DOS, Windows and Macintosh platforms.
The Directory claims to be a complete guide to CD-ROM and multimedia CD titles. It is divided into the following sections:
This disc would be a useful tool for anybody interested in identifying CD-ROM titles or publishers or who is thinking of publishing a title.
For more information, please contact: TFPL: +44(0)171 251 5522
(Source: Information World Review, June 1995)