Firm claims immediate video net delivery

INDIAN FIRM Innomedia Technologies said it has developed an internet video protocol which guarantees immediate delivery of massive files across the Internet.

Mohan Tambe, managing director of the firm, owned by Reliance, demonstrated just a few aspects of technology which, if it takes off, would revolutionise communication across the world.

Innomedia's Tambe considers the concepts his firm are developing are as revolutionary for technology in the 21st century as the IBM PC was for personal computing in the 20th. The video internet protocol relies on near to zero latencies through a web of network PCs, servers, routers and gateways, all developed by Innomedia, and which reduce latency on a net by linking the CHOISpad to a variety of already available connects.

The CHOISpad connects by any and all means to provide a device which can provide VOiP, internet mail, browsing and other services through content software which intelligently uses the net to quickly connect, said Tambe. Here's a shot of that interface.

But, what's more interesting about this is that Mohan Tambe has developed a device to access the CHOISpad which offers the ability to access and input data in a huge number of different languages using one single remote control with two way capabilities. This remote control also removes the need for other remotes, whether you're watching TV, browsing the web, or transferring video files immediately on the peer-to-peer network. The remote also acts as a VOiP phone. We saw many examples of its use in the Innomedia labs. Here's what they look like - sorry this one came out a bit fuzzy.

This device is held through a strap at the back with the thumb being used to access the keypads, although it can also be used flat. The arrangement is triple - the top orange layer controls the TV on and off functions, the middle layer has VCR capabilities, while the lowest third includes alphanumeric and special functions.

We were shown a most interesting example of content search management to search for the terabytes of video held on the virtual network. Aishvarya Rai is a popular Bollywood princess and by searching on words in English, using the remote control, it produced several examples of films she'd appeared in, along with a menu which allowed you to flip between many Indian languages and scripts including Hindi, Gujarati, Assamese, Gurmukhi and others. At the bottom of the screen was a transliteration of the words of the film in the appropriate language, along with meanings of local words that audiences might not be familiar with.

That begged the question about digital rights and content management and we were in for a surprise here too. The firm has developed a Netway "citizen card" which uses triple encryption and can be used for payments and for voting. This, said Tambe, has a unique ID number, costs under one dollar, and, he claimed, is the most secure card on the earth. Every card would live with the individual who held it and, he said, goes beyond a lifetime because the unique ID can be used to associate the events in a person's life.

It will allow payments and other electronic transactions to be made. "The consumer finally gets his freedom," he said. Further, the creators of content can offer their artistic endeavours without the intervention of the middle men, and gauge exactly the payments and access their content is generating, with the software having worldwide accounting built into it. Entrenched and vested interests might oppose such ideas, but, said Tambe, the force of new tech would switch the emphasis from provider to consumer.

Said Tambe: "We are re-inventing the wheel for a new purpose." He demonstrated a schoolroom with the aid of employees which showed how people could interact using the handheld, potentially across the world, powered by a couple of Via machines, one running at 400MHz and the other at 800MHz. Tambe significantly contributed himself to the Unicode formats for Indian languages and the depth of his passion for his project in educational, financial, and human terms is obvious. We found him utterly charming and his ideas compelling.