LOSING his mobile phone and its various uses was such a huge setback for chief executive officer of tenCube, Darius Cheung, that he and his friends decided that it was high-time to come up with a solution. Their brainchild, WaveSecure, is a security software that makes it possible to lock your mobile phone should you lose it, thereby disabling it and preventing anyone else from using it.
In addition, you can track the use of your phone and find out the number of any new subscriber identity module (SIM) card inserted.
Moreover, you can back up your data, restore data from the Web to your phone or even erase data to ensure data security.
Technology has always sparked the interest of National University of Singapore (NUS) alumni Mr Cheung and the other three founders of the mobile technology start-up - Varun Chatterji, Indradeep Biswas and Rishi Kumar.
'We feel the mobile is one of the things that will change our lives in the next five to 10 years. There have already been a lot of changes and I think only more are to come. We picked this industry because where there's change, there's opportunity,' explained Mr Cheung. The four NUS graduates set up their company in June 2005, with two to three years of working experience under their belts.
Obtaining the software, Mr Cheung says, is as straightforward as signing up for an e-mail account. By creating a user account on www.wavesecure.com, the file can be downloaded, transferred to your phone and activated. While he admitted that it may be a bit of a trial for anyone who isn't technologically savvy as it involves downloading information onto a mobile phone, anyone who has the patience to follow the automated procedure should be able to do it, he said.
Currently, the product is being offered on a free trial that will extend for up to three months. The only usage charges incurred stem from the telecommunications provider that you are using. However, tenCube, which has a 26-person team at present, is looking to launch the product commercially at the end of the year, for a subscription of less than $5 monthly.
At the moment, the software only supports 30-40 per cent of the mobile phones on the market and does not support some of the lower-end phones. A comprehensive list of phones is available on the website.
Mr Cheung reckons that the rapid release of new phones will prove to be beneficial, as the mobile industry is shifting from phones with a non-operating system to those with an operating system (OS). tenCube is planning to support as many of the new OS models as they possibly can as well as increase the range of features on their software to improve WaveSecure. The company makes it a practice of speaking directly with consumers in order to cater to customer demands.
According to Mr Cheung, one of the hardest parts about starting up was the financing. Starting with their own savings, they budgeted for a certain period of time, during which they created the prototype and simultaneously raised funds through investors. The company has raised nearly a million dollars in working capital through investors and a government grant.
'So far, it has surprised us that we haven't had too much trouble looking for investors or customers. I think we have at this point recognised we have built a pretty good product for a problem that is significant, that people are willing to pay for,' he added. tenCube has worked mainly with enterprises in the last two years, such as the Singapore Police Force and the Centre for Strategic Information Technology.
The biggest challenge to come, Mr Cheung reckons, is going to be tapping foreign markets and finding the right partners to help them do this. 'Getting out of Singapore requires a different set of skills - the ability to understand different cultures, an ability to navigate different types of markets, with different types of partnerships.'
tenCube is in the process of cementing key partnerships in Singapore to provide users with a better experience. On top of that, it is working with partners in the region and is planning to venture into 10 countries over 12 months. Among the 10 are Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Another daunting challenge is finding the right people for their team, as it is difficult to match the substantial remuneration that corporations can offer.
The market is a competitive one, Mr Cheung admitted, as companies such as Samsung and Nokia have produced similar aspects of the software in their phones recently. 'We started off as one of the earliest innovators, so we have come up with a number of important international patents (IPs). IP strategy is only one of the things we will do. There's no easy way to stay ahead, what we need to do is keep innovating to keep ahead of the curve.'
