i-Pixel wins Merit Award at APICTA 2009

i-Pixel wins Merit Award at APICTA 2009 for Best in Hospitality and Tourism Category.

The entry was for the webtv technology used by Tourism Ministry of Malaysia, called Trulyasia.tv

It is a user-friendly site that showcases all of Malaysia’s best destinations: how to get there and what to do once there; cultural tips; local food tutorials; public transport guides; and countless other useful clips.

Winners of the MSC Malaysia APICTA Awards represent Malaysia at the annual international APICTA Awards which would be held in Melbourne, Australia in December 2009.

MSC Malaysia APICTA 2009 is jointly organised by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), the driver of the MSC Malaysia initiative and the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (PIKOM).

The MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) 2009 dubbed as the Oscars of the ICT industry is a showcase of the latest, innovative ICT ideas and products.

The objective of the MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (MSC Malaysia APICTA) is to provide recognition to outstanding achievements of individuals, students, entrepreneurs, SMEs and organizations with operations in Malaysia who have contributed to the development of the MSC Malaysia initiatives or in building applications and services for the benefit of Malaysia. It recognises creativity, innovation, and excellence in Malaysian ICT.

This annual Awards programme also provides an opportunity and an ideal environment for individuals and companies to gain local, regional and international exposure through on-going promotional activities, and through participation at the international Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards (APICTA).

TRULYASIA.TV

The technology employed are:
·      SPEED, dedicated servers strategically located around the world providing excellent performance for Tourism Malaysia’s targeted regions.

·      PLATFORM INDEPENDENT, the WebTV is not dependant upon plug-ins on video players such as Quicktime™ or Mediaplayer™, as a result the videos are viewable by almost all platforms.

·      MOBILE TECHNOLOGY, Trulyasia.TV is available for all modern mobile devices - iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices and even Blackberrys.

·      CONTENT, content is ultimately what viewers will find useful and relevant. Video contents on Trulyasia.TV are highly informative and serve to benefit tourists by helping them decide on what they want to do while in Malaysia.

Trulyasia.TV markets Malaysia to potential tourists, so they can easily discover what Malaysia has to offer. As all videos are downloadable, tourists who have decided on their destinations can download all the relevant videos to their computers and/or mobile devices and carry it with them for tips and tutorials once they arrive. Tourists have an easier time getting around, seeing and doing more as a result.

To complete the tourist’s experience of Malaysia, they are also able to download a Mobile Travel Guide onto their mobile phones to carry with them while they travel around Malaysia.  The Mobile Travel Guide (MTG) is an application that serves as a Visitor Information Centre, Interactive Map and Travel Guide all rolled into one in their mobile phone.  With it, tourists can access information about interesting places around them, watch a short video about and even make a phone call to find out more information before embarking on the trip.