Smart introduces the Mobile Eye

Wanna have a third eye? Smart Communications can give you one through its new service called Mobile Eye. It is a portable 3G camera device that will allow Smart subscribers to remotely see their offices and workers, their homes and families and even the pets by making video calls to it using 3G handsets.

The Mobile Eye will serve its chief purpose as a security camera anywhere there is a 3G network service. Using a Smart Buddy SIM card, the Mobile Eye essentially has roaming capabilities, too. However, video calls to the Mobile Eye — local or international — will only work if the caller is authorized by the administrator or its owner.

Made in China, the wireless Mobile Eye device looks cute — like a miniature headgear of a NASA astronaut. Setting it up is as easy as readying a handset for first-time use. Just slide in the SIM card, charge it and it will be ready to give the user a view of anything in its vicinity. It’s important though for the owner to be the first to dial the Mobile Eye successfully to be its administrator.

The Mobile Eye can be remotely controlled by the administrator by sending SMS commands from a Smart 3G phone. He or she can set its parameters by sending an SMS command to, for example, modify user PIN code, modify administrator and add/delete a user, and to adjust time, volume and alert settings, among others.

The Mobile Eye has a security function that prompts the callers for a PIN which may be set by the owner. It can be accessed by a maximum of 20 authorized users. As an added security, Smart requires each Mobile Eye to be registered to a specific individual for traceability.

The innovative camera can be tilted or panned 45 degrees to the left, right, up or down. It also has zoom-in and zoom-out functions, as well as day and nighttime mode (infrared) and brightness adjustments. It has a built-in microphone and speaker for one- or two-way communications. Using an optional memory card, the Mobile Eye can also record videos. Standby time runs for 300 hours.

The only thing that might be an issue to some users is the camera’s VGA resolution. Smart executives say they opted for a low-grade yet acceptable image quality to keep the costs of the service and the unit low.

"Webcams can be expensive and they need to be always connected to a PC with broadband connection. Webcams are also not portable like the Mobile Eye," says Jerome Almirante, head of Smart’s 3G Business.

A Mobile Eye camera with Smart SIM card, charger and cradle will be sold to all Smart subscribers for P9,595. The service is free to Smart Gold subscribers.

The person calling the Mobile Eye will be charged per minute based on standard SMS or video call rate of P6.50 for prepaid and about P4 for postpaid. Almirante also says the camera’s prepaid load must be topped up regularly for continued service.

Currently, the handsets compatible to Mobile Eye are the following:

• Nokia: N70, N70 ME, N73, N73 ME, N71, E61, E65, E70, N80, N91, N91 ME, N92, N93, N93i, N95, 6233, 6680,6630, and 6288;

• Sony Ericsson: K6001, K608i, K610i, K800i, W850i, W880i, W900i, Z610i, and Z800i;

• Motorola: V3X, E770, E1070, V3XX, and maxx V6;

• Samsung: Z540 and Z560; and

• Dopod: 838 Pro and D810.

Smart believes Mobile Eye is a service that the market would be willing to pay for because of its practical applications.

"We want to introduce (only) innovations that are relevant to the market… services that are even more important than the platform they would run on," says Ramon Isberto, head of Smart’s Public Affairs Group.

"The Mobile Eye service is an example of what can be relevant to many people and one that can really open doors to many things," he adds.

In other words, Smart is saying let’s not turn a blind eye to Mobile Eye.