As cellphones have become a virtual necessity for most people, their functions and applications have constantly expanded. Mobile phones have gone from providing basic real-time communication and text message capability to allowing digital photography, music functions and Internet surfing. In the latest development, mobile phones can even replace your house keys.
The Farglory Group (遠雄企業團), a leading property developer in Taiwan, announced last week that the residents of its four new complexes in Taipei County will be the first in the world to open their doors with their cellphones.
"Instead of flipping through a big bundle of clinking keys, our residents just have to flash their mobile phones in front of a sensor to enter their homes," Farglory chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) said.
PHOTO: JESSIE HO, TAIPEI TIMES
The constructor will allot two BenQ T80 handsets -- the first near field communication (NFC)-enabled phone made by a Taiwanese maker -- to each of the 5,990 apartments, which are expected to be completed next year.
Family members who do not have one of the two cellphones can enter the houses using a fingerprint identification system.
The handset security access control system will be applied to all of Farglory's future housing projects as well, Chao said.
"As cellphones are a must-carry accessory nowadays, we want to make them as useful as possible and make daily life convenient," Chao said.
Chao, 63, started his career as a construction worker and strove to rise in the construction industry. Farglory's business later extended into insurance, recreation parks, hotels and logistics.
In the meantime, Farglory has become a trustworthy constructor in terms of reliability and comfort. Properties developed by the company are sold soon after hitting the market.
Inspired by Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates' house, which incorporates technology in new ways, Farglory became a pioneering constructor in integrating technology into housing in Taiwan.
Residents of Farglory apartment will also be able to use their mobile phones as an EasyCard to take the MRT system and buses and to pay for parking fees. It can also be used as a credit card.
Chao's envisions "second-generation" and "future" homes with cellphones as a remote control for home electronics, lighting and curtains when residents are away.
In addition, Farglory residents can receive community announcements and reserve entertainment facilities and conference rooms with their phones.
To meet the growing demand for high-speed Internet access, the apartments will include much faster fiber optics.
Chao's vision of the ideal home does not stop there.
As conserving energy becomes more important, Chao plans to build environmentally friendly housing complexes.
The "green" buildings would use solar cells on the roof for electricity and incorporate wastewater recycling, Chao said.
"In this way we would be able to contribute to environmental protection while adding value to the homes," Chao said.
Although the environmentally friendly features would cost more, Chao believes that homebuyers are willing to pay for these options as part of their lifestyles.
The trend is growing rapidly in Japan, South Korea and the US, and will soon hit Taiwan, he said.
Farglory will make its debut on the Taiwan Stock Exchange from the over-the-counter GRETAI Securities Market today. The shift to a bigger capital market means greater challenges ahead for the company, Chao said.
"We hope to compete not only with local rivals, but also with international developers to improve our competitiveness," Chao said.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is