ALKHOBAR, 17 March — Yesterday morning I opened my e-mail messages without opening any of their enclosed attachments. I just took casual notice of the names of the attachments. Then I went back and deleted all the e-mails that carried the patch.exe attachment. To be honest I hadn’t read the latest security updates and didn’t know till later in the morning that there were alerts out about this worm. I just figured that 6 different people sending me the same attachment in one morning was too much of a coincidence. While appropriate hardware and software are integral to effective IT security, using your head is even more important.
A couple of weeks ago I took a little trip to Dubai. It was educative as usual. First, I dropped by the 8th Middle East International Cable, Satellite, Broadcast and Telecommunications Exhibition (CABSAT 2002). There were more than 150 exhibitors representing 23 countries participating in the event. The UK had more than 30 exhibitors. South Korea had 15 companies showing their wares and Taiwan had 16. There was even a Pavilion from Bavaria with 9 exhibitors. Only one Saudi exhibitor was at the show — Transworld Publicity. They didn’t have any technology for sale. Transworld is the publisher of the Arabic weekly “Satellite Guide Magazine.”
Now, why is it that Bavaria with a population of about 12 million could put on a decent presentation at a technology event in the Middle East, but that Saudi Arabia with a population of 20 million couldn’t do anything at all? I always need to take tranquilizers after attending one of these events because I keep ranting for weeks about how this nation is falling behind in the development and transfer of technology.
There was a really amusing interlude at the show though. I ran into a fellow named Jason Abboud, business development representative, Bond Communications. Abboud showed me the most interesting broadband satellite system called, “DIRECWAY.” Abboud explained that DIRECWAY is a family of high-speed broadband solutions via satellite, made available by Hughes Network Systems and being targeted at both consumers and businesses. The DIRECWAY system communicates with geostationary satellites both downstream and upstream. In other words a home or office equipped with DIRECWAY has an “always on” link with the satellite and users can send or receive data at will without the use of a phone line or dial up connection. The equipment itself costs around $3,000 plus installation, which Abboud claims is very easy — as easy as installing a satellite TV dish. Monthly fees range from $200 to $400 depending on the amount of bandwidth needed.
In simple English, DIRECWAY allows subscribers to circumvent the Saudi Internet. The system can be used for general Internet functions and data exchange, or voice transmission or, when equipped with a dual-LNB, can receive Direct Broadcast Satellite TV. The system is definitely within the budget of middle-class Saudi families and small businesses. The monthly costs are cheaper than purchasing ADSL through a local ISP and no KACST proxy is involved. Abboud informed me that the DIRECWAY equipment is available in the Kingdom and it is being installed in locations from the warehouses of large enterprises to the living rooms of average villas.
I asked Abboud if he understood that DIRECWAY is illegal in the Kingdom He replied, “Molouk, it’s not illegal. Our equipment is just not legal when used in certain ways. It’s not our job to go around policing customers. I don’t feel that we should be investigating whether they have the required licenses or if they are going to install filtering software. That’s not within our mandate. All we do is sell the equipment.”
DIRECWAY will never be any more expensive than it is right now and monthly fees for its use are already cheaper than what local ISP’s are offering for the same bandwidth. As the system’s equipment costs drop — and they will, DIRECWAY will come within the reach of more and more households. How many Internet users will tolerate the poor, expensive service offered by the Saudi Network when something much better and cheaper is at hand? The motto of the Internet age is: compete or die. So, wake up KACST and STC. Can you hear Bond Communications ringing up sales all over the Kingdom? That’s actually your death knell sounding.
The visit to CABSAT was a detour in my schedule that sunny March 6 morning. The real reason I was in Dubai that day was to see a demo of iPIX technology.
iPIX is a patented technology that creates immersive images. These images are made by combining two 185° film or digital photographs taken with a fisheye lens into one 360° by 360° spherical image. iPIX software automatically compensates for any minor errors in camera placement and corrects the distortion inherent in these photographs. An iPIX image can be viewed in any direction — up-down, left-right, and horizon to horizon. A viewer can easily navigate the image by moving a cursor inside the image or using the iPIX navigation bar.
Seems really complicated, but it’s not, and that’s the beauty of this technology. It only takes half a day’s training to learn how to handle the process. The training is being offered at Dubai’s IT Academy. If a person is technically minded, there is a training CD available that can be used anywhere to teach the required techniques.
I actually watched as an iPIX image was created. A technician mounted a still camera equipped with fisheye lens on a tripod. Then he took one photo of the left side of the room and then a second photo of the right side of the room. The digital photos were transferred to a computer. The iPIX software did its magic and joined them together. Five minutes later, there it was — a photo of the room, which could be manipulated to view all 360° by 360° of interior space. The iPIX image could be combined with other digital media such as audio or animation to serve many different purposes. iPIX works not only with still images but can be used with video cameras equipped with fisheye lenses to produce 360° by 360° movies.
Outside Saudi Arabia, iPIX is already exploding in popularity. After the Sept. 11 tragedies in the USA, the White House was closed for public tours. The Bush family was very unhappy about this, especially at the holiday season. So an iPIX virtual tour was created in which the White House’s public rooms, decorated in all their holiday finery, could be viewed online.
Closer to home, Jumeirah International in Dubai has created iPIX tours of all its properties. Now, before guests come to stay at Burj Al Arab, Emirates Towers or the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, among others, they can take a virtual tour of the hotels and decide which property best suits their needs. In the virtual tour everything about the hotels from their lobbies to restaurants and guest rooms can be viewed 360° by 360°.
iPIX technology is being used in many businesses. Automobile manufacturers are shooting iPIX images of their vehicles so that potential car buyers can investigate the features of the vehicles without having to physically go to a dealer’s showroom. Colleges are putting virtual tours of their facilities online so that students in distant places can see the campuses. The technology is ideal for real estate where iPIX images can show potential buyers everything about a home from the roses in the back garden to the size of the closets.
For e-commerce, iPIX opens up incredible possibilities. One shopping mall in Dubai has created an iPIX experience. Consumers can travel virtually down the corridors of the mall and enter shops that interest them. For example a shopper could pop into a boutique selling clothes. By moving the mouse the shopper can browse the clothes racks in the shop. One click on a clothing item brings up the particulars of that shirt or trouser — sizes available, colors, fabric, etc. If the shop takes credit cards online, the purchase could be concluded immediately. If not, at least the customer would know what is available before she even considers going out to the mall.
Another area ripe for an iPIX revolution is safety and security. iPIX technology can be used to shoot the interiors of factories and plants so that firefighters can learn the quickest access routes and practice disaster containment and management. When used for security, an iPIX video feed allows 360° by 360° real-time views of any scene. The image can be zoomed in on or played back. Just imagine how much better the Haj rituals could be managed if iPIX enabled cameras were installed at strategic points. Take for example the stoning at the Jamrat. Mounted cameras coupled with iPIX technology could give security officials in a control room a complete view of the scene and total control over the view. Those security personnel could direct colleagues on the ground in effective crowd management.
The possibilities for the use of iPIX technology appear endless especially because the technology is affordable. The various cameras and lenses needed start from about $2,000. Video cameras are as low as $3,000.
“We are going to make the software available in the Middle East under several different licensing plans,” said Wadi Ahmed, group marketing director, Emirates Venture Group. “We don’t want to be too rigid because everyone’s needs are different. Some organizations are going to be looking at full service, total solutions, and other groups are going to want more individual control. We can accommodate both.”
This is truly an impressive technology that really must be experienced to be completely understood. Try it for yourself at ipixme.com. You’ll need to download the iPIX plug-in at the site, which can take 10-15 minutes if the Internet is slow. It’s worth the wait though and there are lots of amusing iPIX images, tours, etc. to try at the site. iPIX will definitely change our view of cyberspace.
