NEWS
The GSM telephone's built-in digital camera takes pictures of
documents, situations and people. The pictures and the text are sent as e-mail or fax. An
incoming fax or e-mail is shown directly on the telephone's screen, which has the number
of signs in breadth and graphics corresponding to the screen of a PC. The text is written
directly on the telephone via a patent pending touchpad system replacing pen as well as
keyboard. The telephone weighing only 190 grams can fetch info from the World Wide Web. It
is the Swedish company Spectronic that presents the third generation of mobile telephones,
the Multimedia Telephone, at the Cebit Fair in Hannover.
Pictures and information can be fetched from the Internet and
shown on the Multimedia Telephone. The user can lay up his favourite pages and get current
information from the World Wide Web. Per Siversson, Spectronic's CEO, describes the
development: "In the 1980's the global digital exchange of information was reserved
for universities and major institutions. In the early 90's the Internet made global
information exchange possible on every mans desktop via the PC at home or at the job. The
Multimedia Telephone will give us access to the Internet, fax, e-mail and a telephone in
the pocket, wherever we are."
The telephone has a built-in fax. When a new fax is to be
written the telephone's word processing program is used. Incoming faxes are received
automatically just as on an ordinary fax machine. The fax is shown on the telephone's
screen and the user can zoom, leaf through the pages and turn the fax.
The Multimedia Telephone's digital camera focuses
automatically between 40 cm and infinity. The pictures are shown on the telephone's screen
and can be saved in the telephone's memory or sent on as a fax or e-mail.
The telephone's front consists of a screen which is always
readable and ready to show incoming faxes and e-mail at once. The Multimedia Telephone's
screen has the number of signs in breadth and graphics corresponding to the screen of a
PC. The telephone has 70 hours' operating time with an active screen.
The Spectronic Multimedia Telephone has a built-in
loud-speaking hands-free function. At the same time as the user is working with his
telephone he can speak to one or more persons.
The Spectronic Multimedia Telephone is maneuvered with one
hand according to a new system replacing keyboard and pen as well as picking the screen.
With the patent pending side touch pad system the user, with small finger movements, can
quickly choose in the self-instructing menus or write several signs per second.
The Spectronic Multimedia Telephone will be available on the
market in the autumn of 1999.