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Psion technology narrows the digital divide in Malaysia
Up to 8000 students and 1300 teachers to pilot Psion's netBook in local and
wide area wireless configurations.
Hard-copy textbooks
might become a distant memory in Malaysia if One-Ed Dot Com Sdn Bhd, a local
joint venture that has secured the Malaysian Government's approval to
implement the first phase of a nationwide 'e-school' project, is successful.
The project, the joint collaboration between Psion and One-Ed Dot Com is
pioneering in areas where access to the critical mass of students and
teachers is seen as a significant success factor. The joint initiative
between One-Ed Dot Com and Psion will initially cover about 4000 secondary
students and 650 teachers at 50 Malaysian schools from June this year. All
participants in the pilot programme will be using the Psion netBooks powered
by the Symbian OS. Students' textbooks and their educational syllabuses will
be made available by One-Ed Dot Com in digital form. The netBook will also
act as the teachers and student's personal gateway to the Education portal
and Internet whilst in the school or at home.
The Psion netBooks will be supplied by One-Ed Dot Com, with Ericsson as the
local technology partner. If the first phase of the project proves
successful, One-Ed Dot Com hope to replace school textbooks with `eBooks' in
all schools by 2004 making Malaysia the first country to implement digital
education nationwide for its student and teacher population of more than 5
million.
One-Ed Dot Com will be using the netBook as the core component of its
`eLearning' programme creating a new and truly mobile learning solution for
students and teachers. The netBooks will be equipped with both fixed and
wireless communication capabilities enabling the students to connect from
their homes, to roam the school and classroom wirelessly, whilst having high
speed access to the educational content and the curriculum itself.
Netbook Features
- Lightweight, robust, small form factor
- High-quality color display, keyboard, and pen navigation
- Easy to use, instant-on capability, customizable software
- Built-in memory, expansion slots and communication features
- 100%Java ™ platform, plus HTML, C/C++ and OPL development environments
- More than 8 hours battery life
More information available in this
Spec Sheet (PDF)
"The first phase of the project starts in June and ends in October,
involving students from Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Pulau Pinang, Selangor,
Wilayah Persekutuan, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor and Pahang," said Daniel
Tan C Y, a Director at One-Ed Dot Com. "A facilitator will be monitoring the
effectiveness of the project in each state and providing continuous feedback
so we can study the results of the project," he added.
"At Psion we are focused on providing our customers with solutions, and a
truly mobile, connected device like the Psion netBook is the perfect partner
to meet the needs of the Malaysian education system," said Claes Bergstedt,
Deputy Managing Director of Psion Teklogix. "We have been targeting the
education market and are winning business because we provide both a product
and platform that lends itself to the server-centric requirements of the
education market, enabling integration into existing content and systems,
reducing development time and costs."
"In the third Outline Perspective Plan 2001-2010 (OPP3), the Malaysian
Government stressed the need for increased use of information and
communication technology," added Daniel Tan C Y. "Since then Malaysia has
taken positive strides to build an economy based on information technology,
starting with the creation of a high-tech multimedia zone of industries,
research agencies and an `intelligent' cybercity about 50 kilometres South
of Kuala Lumpur. The introduction of the 'e-school' project will further
enable Malaysia to narrow the digital divide between rural and urban
society. It benefits Malaysia by empowering every pupil after completing
school to become a contributing member of the 'K' generation facing the
challenges of the K-Economy promoted by the Prime Minister," he said.
"Students have high demands when it comes to mobile devices. The devices
they use need to have excellent battery life so they can last the whole day,
instant-on access and shutdown, easy-to-use and reliable software and
wireless connectivity," said Mark Edwards, EVP, Marketing & Sales, Symbian.
"In a highly competitive market the netBook, powered by the Symbian OS, was
chosen as it was best able to fulfil these demands. This deal builds
significantly on the ongoing netBook education trials complementing our
focus on both organisations and consumers."
netBook is part of the new generation of Psion mobile devices for
enterprise-wide implementation. Weighing approximately 1.1 kilos, it is
battery-operated with a standby time of 8 hours. Lightweight, rugged and
reliable, it takes advantage of the Symbian OS and is powerful enough to run
a wide range of feature-enhancing software, including Java, Citrix ICA
Client giving MS Outlook and Office access, and IBM MQSeries Everyplace. The
sleek, sub-notebook-sized netBook features instant-on capability and
immediate access to applications, critical data and the Internet. High
performance Java technology provides rapid application deployment,
application re-use and compatibility across the enterprise from hand-held to
server.
About One-Ed Dot Com
One-Ed Dot Com is a Malaysian based joint venture between the Kedah State
Development Corporation, Ericsson, Widuri Canggih Sdn Bhd and Virtual
Applications Technology Sdn Bhd.
About Psion
Psion PLC is a world leader in mobile computing is structured into two
divisions: Psion Teklogix is the largest operating division created through
the merger of Psion's existing Psion Enterprise Computing division with the
newly-acquired Teklogix International Inc. The company's wireless systems
enable total mobility, freeing mobile workers from wired systems and
providing access to mission critical information and enterprise IT systems
whenever and wherever it's needed.
Psion Digital has been formed to focus on innovative product creation within
three distinct business units: Mobile Computing, InfoMedia and Connectivity.
Each business unit is responsible for creating highly differentiated, high
value-added products, leveraging Psion's traditional strengths in technology
foresight and deep understanding of the needs of the mobile data market.
About Symbian
Symbian owns, develops and licenses the Symbian OS for next generation
wireless information devises. Owned by Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic
and Psion, other licensees of the Symbian OS include Kenwood, Sanyo, Siemens
and Sony. Symbian's mission is create a mass market for next generation
wireless information devices by working closely with wireless networks,
content, services, messaging and enterprise wide solution providers. For
more information see www.symbian.com
Does your company have a new solution that WDN should know about? Send details to editors@wirelessdevnet.com
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