New NEC image-conversion software to make debut

DECEMBER 23--NEC Tokyo (Japan) has begun marketing "MM GATE," a software tool that converts image data to formats supported by a wide variety of mobile devices, including cell phones, car-navigation systems, and PDAs. Ideally suited for use by mobile content providers, the new software automatically identifies the types of mobile terminal to which an image should be sent and adjusts the format, size, and resolution of the picture, enabling content providers to transmit the optimized image of a single picture to various types of devices.

It supports GIF, PNG, BMP, and JPEG formats. The company aims to sell a total of 100 systems over the next three years. MM GATE and its hardware system are priced from 5,600,000 yen ($52,336). System-integration and maintenance fees are not included.