Sharp develops file reader for mobiles

Sharp has developed a way for mobile phones to display business documents and graphics.

The technology allows users to view Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on the tiny LCD screens used by mobiles. In order to read the text, the technology allows the user to zoom in onto the files.

Sharp said it worked with Canadian company BitFlash to develop the Electronic Document Display System which consists of a Mobile Phone Graphics Rendering Technology and an Electronic Document Conversion Server that converts and trims the size of document files.

The ability to zoom in and out of documents is based on an international XML standard called Scalable Vector Graphics-Tiny (SVG-T). While many display technologies rely on using dots to make up an image, SVG-T composes images by specifying a series of lines and shapes -vectors.

This approach enables smooth rendering regardless of the size or resolution of the LCD screen.

The rendering software will be embedded in the new Vodafone V601SH Mobile Phone by Sharp sold in Japan.

Staff writers, CNET Asia