Mobilink is currently the largest mobile phone network in Pakistan and they are offering a number of good devices too. They recently announced Nexus S in Pakistan and now they are planning to bring BlackBerry Playbook to Pakistan. The tablet is just launched in USA and Canada, and now Mobilink Pakistan is looking to grab it. The news came from Mobilink Twitter account, where they are saying that Mobilink Indigo exclusively launches Playbook in Pakistan. No words on the release date but I think it will be out next month. About the price, the tablet is available for Rs. 62,000.
If you are a Mobilink Indigo customer, then you can pre-order the tablet from nearby sale and service centers or you can contact your sale account manager if you are a club Indigo member. In case you don’t know about the specs of the tablet, then have a look:
-7" LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
-BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
-1 GHz dual-core processor
-1 GB RAM
-Memory: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions to be available
-5300mAh battery
-Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
-Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
-Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
-HDMI video output
-Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
-Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
-Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
-Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
-Ultra thin and portable:
-Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
-Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
-Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
So who’s getting the tablet in Pakistan, anyone? or you are happy with your Motorola XOOM or iPad2?
Telenor Pakistan, presumed to be o of the most sought after employer and so claimed by the company, has fired its whole Network Security and Maintenance Department, insiders said.
The decision of the management was sudden and without any prior notification, sources said adding that it appears that Telenor did not want its other employees to feel insecure about their jobs – who, as a matter of fact, should feel insecure – that’s why no internal memo was circulated.
When we asked Telenor the details about the incident, Aamir Izhar, a company spokesperson confirmed that company recently outsourced its network maintenance and security contract to a vendor.
“As part of the contract Telenor Pakistan’s network security team has been absorbed by the vendor to ensure the existing high standards of network security for Telenor Pakistan infrastructure”, added Mr. Izhar. This apparently means that whole Network Security and Maintenance Department was given away to Huawei, and employees will have to work under new employer and of course with new contracts, terms and maybe the pay scales.
This has happened amid the mist of recent vendor change. Telenor Pakistan’s contract with Nokia Siemens Networks ended this month and now its Huawei that will be looking after Telenor’s Network Maintenance and Security across the country.
Some of the terminated employees, including Babar Ghayoor Khan, Network Security manager, is not joining Huawei as a protest against sudden termination, said a report.
Even after repeated attempts, we could not establish a direct communication with Babar Ghayoor to know his viewpoint. This is not only unprofessional and unethical on Telenor’s part, but also bears a testimony to the unstable and uncertain culture perpetuating in the private sector too. One can concatenate this to the earlier incidents of the strike by PTCL’s employees, the outburst of KESC’s employees and later the bout of PIA’s workers. It is indeed a sad moment.
The number of migrated subscribers from one operator’ network to another has witnessed a substantial increase in the last year with more than a 100 percent growth, showing in a year to reach 10.642 million benchmark by March 2011 end.
Pakistan Telecommu-nication Authority (PTA) statistics showed an increased of 7.2 million subscribers who switched over their network from other with the facility of Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The number of subscribers migrated from one cellular companies’ network from other has been reported to reach 3.44 million in March 2010.
MNP is a system that facilitates mobile phone users to switch over their mobile phone network without changing personal number and code. The cellular phone users carried out change of network because of service quality, affordability of tariffs, choice of bundle packages and value-added services offered by different service provider.
The average number of subscribers, who shifted from old to new network have been recorded at 600,000 in the last 12 months period that showed a tremendous success of the system and its usage.
MNP is an important mechanism to enhance fair competition among different Cellular Mobile Operators (CMO), which improves quality of service offered by them.
Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to implement the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in March 2007 within a record time period of two years.
In Pakistan, MNP is regulated under provisions of “Number Portability Regulations” and “Porting Process Guidelines”. Normal porting time for both Pre-Paid and Post-Paid subscribers is 4-days after the subscriber settles his contractual obligations with concerned donor operator.
Pakistan Mobile Number Portability Database (Guarantee) Limited (PMD) was established by the six cellular mobile operators to act as a centralised clearinghouse for MNP.
“As it is becoming difficult to acquire new customers in the highly saturated market, cellular phone operators are engaged in intense wrestling of gaining each other’s subscribers on their networks by MNP,”.
The cellular phone operators are left with no option but to attract each other’s customers in the deeply saturated market of the country. Therefore, they are aggressively working to promote portability service through attractive packages to customers.
“Operators with comparatively small subscribers’ base are more actively engaged in offering attract packages to pluck the subscribers of each other’s network,”.
Mobile phone operators’ full-fledge advertisements and marketing campaigns have become fruitful for them for broadening of subscribers’ base. Also, the operators are now more cautious for improving their services and offering new packages in order to retain their subscribers.
The subscribers can migrate from their existing network to another with the same code and number more than one time with a gap of three months. The migration is completed within a couple of days by the operator against minimal charges.
By the end of December 2010, there were more than 102 million subscribers of the mobile phone operators. Mobilink is the market leader with highest number of subscribers at 31.7 million followed by Telenor with 24.69 million subscribers. Ufone and Warid’s users’ bases reached 20.27 million and 17.51 million respectively. While Zong subscribers are said to have touched 8.5 million mark.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Alcatel-Lucent in a joint press conference held on Friday announced the launch of VDSL2 Bonding technology for the first time in Pakistan pioneering the commercial use of this technology in the telecom industry globally.
PTCL will be the first service provider to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution, showing “our commitment to take the broadband service experience in Pakistan to the next level.”
PTCL will be using VDSL2 Bonding technology to provide existing digital subscriber line (DSL) customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps. The project leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s (Euro next Paris and NYSE: ALU) VDSL2 Bonding expertise and will be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2011.
VDSL2 Bonding takes two copper-based VDSL2 lines per subscriber and aggregates them—almost doubling the bandwidths available to existing customers, or expanding high-speed broadband access to areas that are underserved today. Using VDSL2 Bonding, service providers can extend the life of their existing copper infrastructure - supporting the delivery of bandwidth-intensive services such as triple-play voice, data and HDTV.
According to a recent study from market research firm IHS iSuppli, simultaneous access to applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing, online gaming, streaming audio, VoIP and IPTV will soon require bandwidths between 50 and 100Mbps. This fits exactly with VDSL2’s capabilities—especially when combined with innovations such as Bonding and Vectoring.
Commenting on this achievement, Walid Irshaid, President and CEO of PTCL stated “PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers. We are thus setting the trend in international telecom, and are taking the broadband experience in Pakistan to the next level. Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding technology and comprehensive services and network integration expertise is helping us to keep pace with the increasing bandwidth requirements of our customers, while capitalizing on the existing copper infrastructure. This will enable us to quickly deliver high-quality, high-speed and high-availability business and residential services – even in areas where it was not possible before.”
Alcatel-Lucent is providing PTCL with its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform – which is the first platform to commercially support VDSL2 Bonding. Alcatel-Lucent will also supply Bonding-ready customer premises equipment (CPE). Alcatel-Lucent serves as the project’s master network integrator, and is providing a range of professional services – including project management, installation and commissioning, integration and technical support.
“We understand that service providers need the right tools to bridge the gap until fiber deployments become ubiquitous. VDSL2 Bonding is an ideal approach: service providers like PTCL can almost double the speeds supported by their DSL infrastructure or expand their network’s reach. This makes it a fast and cost-effective approach to bridging the digital divide,” said Aadil Rauf CEO Alcatel-Lucent.
The tablet computer market will become the third largest consumer electronics sector, after televisions and personal computers and will grow to $ 49 billion business by 2015 worldwide.
Tablets are a high-value casual-computing segment that is creating huge growth opportunities for major brands and at the same time in Pakistan, said analysts.
The analysts at ABI Research which conducted the research said this year sales volumes of tablet PCs could reach four million units and by 2015 this figure will rise to 57 million units, registering remarkable rise from 2010.
The tablet era started in 2009 with Apple's iPad.
The tablet computer has already hit Pakistan as some major brands including a Chinese technology giant and one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world is engaged in introducing its products in Pakistan.
In his comments, Huawei's Regional President for Middle East said the company believes this is the perfect time to enter the smartphone and tablet market in Pakistan, because the market is relatively new in the region and majority of the products are targeted towards the high end price point.
He said there is a huge market that is eager to enjoy the added value of an innovative smartphone at an affordable price.
The official said Huawei is focusing on the price factor and to some extent that's true as well. Huawei will take full advantage of what it predicts is a rapid growth of the smartphone market in Pakistan.
According to survey, Pakistan and Middle East markets will grow to 39 percent by 2014.
The company has already launched its marquee product and other devices including the Tablet computer.
He said the company's strategy for Pakistan is similar to the one it has in the other regions creating affordable, high quality and innovative smartphones that capitalize on the gap in the market.
Meanwhile, Analysts predicted that 80% of the value of the tablet market worldwide in 2015 will reside in both high-tier and entry-tier models, as tablets address the opportunities in both developed and emerging markets.
The research said Apple's iPad will dominate the market for years with Samsung Electronics a distant second.
“People are continuing to look for solutions that suit both their work and personal life; in business circles this is known as the ‘consumerization’ of IT. The Nokia E7 gives people the confidence to bring their own smartphones to the workplace to connect securely to corporate messaging servers,” said Haseeb Ihtisham, Head of Marketing, Nokia Pakistan & Afghanistan. “On the other hand, whether you are an artist, entrepreneur, university student or aspiring world traveller, the Nokia E7 is the only smartphone you will need to get the world’s best mobile navigation and mapping application, thousands of apps, millions of music, and a rich messaging experience.”For business users, Nokia E7 provides direct, secure and real-time access to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and the corporate directory through Microsoft Exchange servers, as well as Office Communicator Mobile, developed by Microsoft for Nokia smartphones, which brings presence and corporate instant messaging.
Additionally, a wide range of entertainment and social services available on the Nokia E7 make it the perfect off-duty companion, and the Ovi Store offers a wealth of apps such as Bloomberg, Angry Birds and Sports Tracker.
The new arrival offers drive or walk navigation in 80 countries. The latest commercial version of Ovi Maps, available immediately via Ovi Store or Ovi Suite, adds visibility to subways, trams and trains, real-time traffic, safety alerts, visibility to parking and petrol stations, speed limit warnings, and improved search and location sharing capabilities.
The Nokia E7 is heralded as the all-in-one business smartphone because it allows the user easy access to private and business email, create, edit and share office documents and view PDF files with Adobe Reader, fast, secure intranet access with the built-in VPN, high-resolution photos and HD video with the 8 megapixel camera and dual LED flash, HDMI connectivity to project files, videos and images onto large screens and 16 gigabytes of on-board flash memory and USB-On-The-Go, enabling easy file sharing by connecting a USB stick to the smartphone.
Runs Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb and is compatible with a Mobile Docking Station
Asus Eee Pad Transformer tablet has 10.1-inch IPS panel-based Corning Gorilla Glass capacitive touchscreen that supports 1280x800 pixel resolution. Its big touchscreen is capable of full 1080p HD playback and also has Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support (one can update with Flash Player 10.2 once product is made available officially). The most important feature of the Transformer tablet is that it houses 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 1GB RAM that will not only power the tablet but will also ensure smooth full HD playback.
At the back panel lies a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and a 1.2 megapixel at the front usable for the video chat. Other features of the Transformer tablet include Wireless-N and Bluetooth support for wireless connectivity. For physical connectivity, the tablet offers USB port, built-in card reader and HDMI out port. Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb running Transformer features Asus MyWave UI layered on top of it and has WaveShare network media sharing system along with other features.
Transformer also includes Gravity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, E-Compass, Gyroscope and GPS for location based services.
Asus offers an optional Mobile Docking Station which is basically a full QWERTY keyboard to be connected with the tablet. The QWERTY keyboard has Android function keys. Apparently, this mobile docking station is claimed of extending the battery life of the tablet to up to 16 hours. Otherwise, the standalone tablet offers up to 9.5 hours of battery life which is as much as that of the recent Eee PC netbooks.
Long battery life is an important feature and the Apple iPad 2 offers 10 hours of battery life. But what the tablet does with mobile docking station is exceptional - access and control the PC as well as Mac systems using MyCloud feature.
The new Asus Eee Pad Transformer joins the league of Android tablets - Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Motorola XOOM. Quite interesting. Now, we'll have wait to see whether Asus makes this tablet available globally soon.
The real time targeted ads algorithm will mean that the system will display the ads depending upon the ongoing conversation and status updates. For example if someone from Facebook users posts “I am thinking of a pizza dinner”, almost immediately he will see on his screen the ads displaying pizza restaurants, for example Domino’s Pizza.
So the next time you will have to think twice what you post or chat with your friends as the words in your text could be used to target your ‘pocket’ by making you buy the products related to what you say.
This is not the first time that the internet companies are using the targeted ads as in the case of already existing Facebook ads and Google’s Gmail, but the real time ads system has never been tried before that is quite capable of drifting the users’ attention during ongoing conversations.
As reported by marketing news site Advertising Age, this trial is already being conducted on about six million users, without mentioning the criteria for selection of subjects.
Experts believe that such an innovation is a good opportunity for advertisers to target the potential customers, but on the other hand – Facebook will have to monitor the number of such advertisements, so as not to alienate their own users.
U.S. doctors have warned of the "Facebook depression" risks among troubled teenagers who are addicted to social networking online.
Although it is not confirmed whether the depression is directly linked with the usage of social media sites like Facebook, the doctors note Facebook has unique aspects that troubles young people already dealing with poor self-esteem.
They say kids with poor self-esteem are very likely to feel down if they think they don't measure up to their friends' tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people.
"It's like a big popularity contest -- who can get the most friend requests or get the most pictures tagged," said Abby Abolt, 16, a Chicago high school sophomore and frequent Facebook user.
Snotty or judgmental messages from some teens on Facebook walls have also created a new form of bully or "profound psychosocial outcomes". It is widely reported a 15-year-old Massachusetts girl who had been bullied and harassed in person and on Facebook committed suicide last year.
The doctors encourage parents to talk with their children about online use and to be aware of the risks of "Facebook depression."
However, specialists who have studied online social networking among college students point that not all kids are subject to "Facebook deoression."
Facebook can enhance feelings of social connectedness among well-adjusted kids, and have the opposite effect only on those prone to depression.
Facebook Studio embodies the idea of social advertising in which consumers are targeted via their social network and invited to participate in advertising campaigns. It will provide a platform for advertising creatives to share, like and comment upon published work.
The campaign kicked off following the invitation of a group of leading UK advertisers to meet Facebook’s top executives at an “influencer’s summit” in the firm Palo Alto HQ. This get together highlighted the word of mouth power of Facebook twinned with conversational language to connect with consumers.
Brands such as Oreo cookies have taken to posting questions to their fans such as “What’s your favourite part of an Oreo – the cookie or the crème?” This elicited 10,000 responses which subsequently spread exponentially through friends news feeds.
Jennifer Kattula, the company’s recently hired manager of agency marketing, told the Financial Times: “One of the biggest challenges that people talk to us about is that Facebook is not a place to be creative because the ad unit size is so small, and there’s no sight, sound and motion,”. “The idea is that social is creative. It’s more than just ads.”
An FIR has been launched against Facebook at a police station in Meerut. Social activist Nutan Thakur has filed the FIR under section 66 A of the Information Technology Act 2000 against the social networking site Facebook and its users for abusing Hindu Gods. The profile, which sites 3 Hindu Gods on a poster of the film "3 idiots", is one amongst many which pokes fun at Islam and Hinduism as a part of an online war between the two religions.
This isn't the first time a complaint has been registered against Facebook. Earlier, Thakur had launched a complaint against a Facebook group called "We Hate Gandhi" after which the ID was blocked.
Freedom of speech has truly been misused and a lot of vulgar slack has been posted on the profile against both the religions.
Disco, in this case, refers to the service created by Google's in-house startup Slide, which the company acquired for $182 million this past August. Slide has been allowed to operate as an independent entity within Google proper, which perhaps sheds a little more light on why the mass-texting service has made its debut as an iPhone app instead of a piece of software for Google's Android OS.
So here's how it works: When you sign up for the service via Disco.com (which Google purchased for a cool $255,000 last year), you create an account based on your mobile phone number. The service verifies that you're the owner of the number by shooting you a text message to your device and, if you're good to go, it invites you to set up your first group for mass-texting.
Google Disco
Each group can be named whatever you want, and adding friends is as easy as typing in their mobile digits. The caveat, however, is that these numbers are instantly notified that you've placed them in a mass-texting group along with whatever name you've assigned to it—probably something to keep in mind if you're looking to create a "those jerks I work with" group chat.
Once you have your group list set up, Disco's Web interface makes correspondence look like an instant message chat. Anything you type into the chat window will be sent out to anyone in your group, and anything they respond with will near-instantly pop up in the site's chat window. If you don't have access to Disco's Web site, you can also start up (or reply to) a group conversation by texting the phone number that Disco assigns to each group you create.
The associated iPhone app basically allows you to perform the same administrative activities that you'd otherwise find on Disco's Web site. However, you can also use a Facebook integration to pull in numbers from your friends on that service. Although Google and Facebook don't get along, the fact that Slide—Disco's creator—serves as its own app shop within Google seems to make the pairing OK between both parties.
Or, at least, perhaps until Facebook launches a group-texting service of its very own, which is rumored to be in the works thanks to the company's recent acquisition of group-texting startup Beluga. Is group texting shaping up to be the next big battleground between the Web's social (or search) superstars?
Google, MasterCard and Citigroup have come together for the mobile payment system that also involves credit-card reader maker - VeriFone Systems. So the deal is like this - Google's NFC chip based smartphones would be usable for Citigroup issued debit/credit cards. VeriFone will introduce Contact-less readers that will let the Citigroup card holders to make purchases by waving or tapping their Android smartphones in front of those readers.
The special contact-less credit/debit card readers will incorporate near-field communication technology - a short range wireless technology and will let the client device (Android Smartphones) behave like a contact-less electronic card. Though it is a contact-less system of mobile payment, it's more sophisticated and far more difficult for hackers to crack the code for stealing user's account information as the NFC technology isn't that easily vulnerable. More details are expected to be out in a couple of weeks.
Apart from Google, Apple and BlackBerry too are expected to join the NFC-based mobile payment bandwagon. The next Apple iPhone 5 is heavily anticipated to carry the NFC chip. While the upcoming RIM's touch handsets will majorly feature NFC chip as reported in the leaked roadmap for this year.
Next major thing in mobile commerce is the contact-less mobile payment based on NFC technology.
Microsoft is rolling out its first major software update to its Windows Phone 7 operating system.
Microsoft had planned the Windows Phone 7 update for the first two weeks of March. The delay is due to technical problems with a minor update to the operating system (OS) in February, which resulted in Microsoft pulling the Windows Phone 7 update on Samsung devices.
The update includes copy and paste features as well as improved Marketplace search. It will be made available in several batches, to ensure the process is as problem-free as possible, said Microsoft.
In a blog post, Eric Hautala, general manager of customer experience engineering at Microsoft, says the update will be available for "open market" [devices without a specific mobile operator] Windows Phones first, before being rolled out to all users.
"In next phase of the rollout process, we'll start making the update available to a broader range of customers. When the update is available for your phone, you'll get a message on the device letting you know,".
Microsoft's "Where's my phone update?" website helps users work out when devices are likely to be updated.
"Much like when you buy a PC online, you'll be able to see when the update is being tested and packaged, when it's about to ship, and when it has left the warehouse. We'll update the site once a week with the latest status changes,".
Some new Windows Phone devices already have the update installed.
The Hotmail logon site was one of those targeted by the hacker
An Iranian hacker has claimed that he acted alone in stealing digital security certificates used for online transactions by some of the web's largest sites, including Google, Microsoft, Skype and Yahoo.
He said that the act had been a form of retribution for the joint authorship by the US and Israel of the Stuxnet worm, which was allegedly designed by government-sponsored teams to target Iran's nuclear reprocessing facilities.
The claim follows suspicions last week that the hack was sponsored by the Iranian government and was an attempt to destabilise online transactions and erode trust in online security. The "SSL" certificates are used to confirm the identity of a site to the user – typically by displaying a padlock icon in the browser bar (on addresses beginning with https:).
The hacker posted detailed information, including names, accounts and passwords, about how he broke into the systems of InstantSSL.it, an Italian company that resold certificates supplied by a US-based company called Comodo.
He also insisted, in a posting on Pastebin.com – a code-sharing site which is frequently used by hackers and the Anonymous group to send messages to the world – that "we have no relation to Iranian Cyber Army ... we just hack and own ... I'm a single hacker with [the] experience of 1,000 hackers."
He said that he began by trying to hack the SSL protocol and then discovered a weakness in InstantSSL.it, and exploited it.
Mikko Hypponen, a security expert at F-Secure, said that the hacker's postings on Pastebin "look convincing" but added "whether they were posted by a 21-year-old lone gunman or the Iranian government PR department, I don't know".
Comodo had acknowledged the attack on 23 March, and said that eight days earlier an unknown hacker or hackers had acquired nine fake certicates for logon sites for Hotmail, Gmail, the internet phone service Skype and for Yahoo Mail. The hack also acquired a certificate for the add-on site for Mozilla's Firefox browser.
Acquiring those certificates would mean that the hacker could set up other fake websites and would be able to persuade a browser that they were in fact one of those sites, which could be disastrous for security of those using them.
Microsoft confirmed the theft last Wednesday.
Comodo's chief executive Melih Abdulhayoglu said last week that "circumstantial evidence" pointed to a state-backed attack by Iranian hackers: "We believe these are politically motivated, state driven/funded attacks," he said. He suggested that the Iranian government planned to create fake sites that would fool activists inside the country into thinking they were on a secure site which could not be tapped, but instead would collect their details.
The hacker denies this emphatically, insisting his actions were to point up what he called duplicitous behaviour by companies such as Microsoft in allowing the security holes exploited by Stuxnet to remain open for so long, to the advantage of the US and Israeli governments.
"Anyone inside Iran with problems, from fake green movement to all MKO members and two-faced terrorists, should afraid of me personally. I won't let anyone inside Iran harm people of Iran, harm my country's Nuclear Scientists, harm my Leader (which nobody can), harm my President, as I live, you won't be able to do so. as I live, you don't have privacy in internet, you don't have security in digital world, just wait and see ... By the way, you already have seen it or you are blind, is there any larger target than a CA [Certificate Authority] in internet?"
Hypponen pointed out that it was odd for a lone hacker apparently acting at random to have created fake certificates for nine principal sites or systems used for communication – hinting that it would be very convenient for the Iranian government to have those faked certificates available if it wanted to monitor dissidents inside its borders.
Microsoft Corporation on Monday announced the appointment of ex-Oracle chief Bhaskar Pramanik as the chairman for Microsoft India. Mr Pramanik will report to Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International .
As Chairman, Pramanik will oversee Microsoft's sales, marketing and services subsidiary, provide overall leadership on all Microsoft assets in India. ET was the first one to report Mr Pramanik's consideration for MS chief post after he put in his papers last month at Oracle.
"Bhaskar comes to Microsoft with a strong reputation as a business leader and organization builder. His deep experience and understanding of the Indian IT industry will be critical to continuing to build our leadership in India," said Courtois. "I am confident that under his leadership, Microsoft India will continue to thrive and serve as a strong partner in India's growth story."
Mr Pramanik most recently served as Managing Director for Oracle India and prior to that, he worked for Sun Microsystems for 13 years as Managing Director in India. He was responsible for growing Sun Microsystems' business in India from under $20 million to over $200 million in six years and expanding Sun's presence in India from 24 people to more than 1200.
Mr Pramanik, who begins his assignment with Microsoft today, said, "These are indeed very exciting times for the IT industry, as well as for India. And I am excited to be part of a company that has such a wide play across industries, segments, products and services."
Microsoft in India has more than 5300 employees housed in two campuses and thirteen offices across the country. It is the largest employee base outside of the US for Microsoft, and its six business units including research, product development, consulting services, sales and marketing services, Microsoft IT, and global technical support services represent the complete Microsoft product lifecycle.
Every summer for the last four years while Apple Inc. shipped a new iPhone, Nokia Oyj managers vacationed at their lake cottages in Finland.
“In mid-July, Nokia House is a ghost town,” said Adam Greenfield, managing director of Urbanscale, a design consulting firm in New York, who worked for Nokia from 2008 to 2010. “If you need a decision and the key person’s at the summer cottage? Forget it. You’ll resolve that issue in September. It’s something that hampers their agility.”
Speeding up Nokia’s product development is at the top of Chief Executive Stephen Elop’s agenda as he tries to meld the Finnish company’s handsets with Microsoft Corp. software to narrow the widening gap to Apple and Google Inc. Nokia has delayed most of its top-end smartphones in the last two years, resulting in sliding profit and market-share losses. Its shares have dropped 25 percent since the Microsoft deal was announced.
Elop, a former Microsoft executive brought in as CEO in September to turn the company around, is relinquishing Nokia’s homegrown platforms Symbian and MeeGo for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7. Nokia may provide a peek at its first Windows phone this year, though it’s promising volume shipments only in 2012.
“It’s risky even to wait that long,” said Rob Sanfilippo, a consultant with Kirkland, Washington-based consulting firm Directions on Microsoft. “It would be great if they had them out by the middle of the year, June or summer, even if it’s one device to show that there’s real progress happening quickly.”
‘First Proof’
Elop needs to narrow Nokia’s productivity gap to boost margins. Apple squeezes three times more revenue per employee than Nokia, while Taiwan’s HTC Corp. gets twice as much, Bloomberg data show. Microsoft’s revenue per employee is 1.5 times Nokia’s.
Both Nokia and Microsoft need the collaboration to work. Nokia’s smartphone market share has tumbled to 30.8 percent from 50.8 percent when Apple started shipping the iPhone in June 2007. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, with about 3.4 percent of the smartphone market, is piggybacking the world’s largest mobile-phone maker to dent the emerging dominance of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android software.
An early test for the partnership will come as Nokia folds its services into Microsoft’s world: Office, Exchange corporate e-mail, Xbox games, Zune music products and Bing search.
“The first proof points will come when they start to put maps into Microsoft services and integrate them with Nokia services,” said Martin Garner, a London-based analyst at CCS Insight. “It’s in those announcements over the coming six to nine months that we’ll see how well it’s working before the phones start to arrive.”
‘No. 1 Issue’
Nokia’s record isn’t encouraging. A less-ambitious 2009 partnership between the companies still hasn’t produced an Office suite on Symbian. Nokia has delayed almost every top-end smartphone based on its own platforms since the N97 was shipped on time with buggy software in June 2009. It postponed the N900 in the fall of 2009, the N8 in the summer of 2010 and the E7 in winter 2010. The first MeeGo device was delayed to this year from 2010.
Mobile industry product cycles are down to six or seven months, said Bert Nordberg, the CEO of Android-based phone maker Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd. in January. In past years, Nokia probably spent between 18 months and two years developing hardware products, said Horace Dediu, the managing director of Helsinki-based Asymco, an independent research firm.
Elop, 47, said at a media summit in Abu Dhabi this month that speed and accountability are “by far the No. 1 issue” employees talk to him about. Nokia is changing on those fronts, he said.
‘Unparalleled Speed’
“We’re moving at a speed that is unparalleled for our company and I would argue is on par with anyone else in the industry,” Elop said. “The number of examples of difficult processes, of committees and boards and agencies and commissions, all these people who are spending time contemplating instead of aggressively moving forward is something that we’re already fundamentally changing.”
Investors remain skeptical. The drop since the Microsoft venture was announced have extended Nokia’s share decline to 70 percent since the iPhone was introduced, wiping out about 60 billion euros ($84 billion) in market value. Nokia rose as much as 3 percent to 6.15 euros in Helsinki today.
Nokia’s adoption of a new platform and the restructuring planned as a result means Elop may face clashes next month with unions, which over the years won Finland’s sun-starved workers four weeks of summer holidays. The talks will deal with pruning a 16,000-strong global development team in the shift to Windows. Elop said Feb. 11 there will be “substantial” job cuts.
‘Internal Fight’
“They cannot afford to lose time on internal fights when they have to win against competitors who are faster,” said Francisco Jeronimo, a London-based analyst with IDC. Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s No. 2 mobile-phone maker, can move engineering teams from one project to another in weeks, he said.
The Microsoft accord is also forcing a new mindset on Nokia.
Symbian, unlike Microsoft software, is “open source.” So is MeeGo, which Nokia has developed with Intel Corp. Open source permits outside developers to take the code and modify it, and write any kind of programs to work with it. Google’s Android has also been open source. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, like Apple’s systems, is closed.
“The Finnish engineers I know are religiously committed to open source, and I could hardly think of a more implacable opponent to that philosophy than Redmond,” said Urbanscale’s Greenfield. “They are likely to lose a lot of talent that won’t want to work with Microsoft.”
Open vs Closed
In a speech in 2009, Anssi Vanjoki, a former Nokia executive vice president, who resigned shortly after Elop was appointed, likened closed systems to Stalinism.
Closed systems “are just like that experimental societal system led by a dictator who thinks control is best,” he said.
Before the rise of Nokia, Finland’s best known high-tech achievement was Linux, the open source system written by Linus Torvalds in the 1990s. MeeGo and Android are Linux-based.
Microsoft on the other hand jealously guards its software. It was investigated by authorities in the U.S. and in Europe for blocking third-party software like the Netscape browser, and made to open its interfaces and pay fines. Rich Green, a Sun Microsystems Inc. manager who’s now Nokia’s chief technology officer, was among people to testify against Microsoft.
With current makers of phones based on its software, Microsoft keeps a tight hold on product variation, specifying screen resolution, buttons, and electronics. The standards are expected to be relaxed for Nokia as part of their accord.
Loss of Control
“Nokia cannot be treated as a normal licensee,” said Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner Inc. analyst in Egham, U.K. “I don’t think it would be beneficial for Microsoft to continue to work with that mindset that ‘we know best and you take what we give you.’”
Microsoft spokesman John Hipsher declined to comment.
Nokia’s loss of control over software hasn’t gone over well with everyone. On Feb. 24, Valtteri Halla, a MeeGo manager representing Nokia in talks with partner Intel, quit, becoming among the higher-profile casualties of Elop’s shift.
“The things I’ve worked for don’t seem to be continuing in a way that would make it good for me to work here anymore,” Halla said in an interview with business website Taloussanomat.
Most employees are hunkering down to see what Elop’s changes will bring.
“There’s broad terror because people don’t yet know who is going to be laid off and who isn’t,” said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst at Greenwich, Connecticut-based MKM Partners. “Uncertainty and fear have been maximized, just when the company needs everyone to focus on development work.”
Nokia can’t afford that.
“The mid-tier iPhone may be announced this year, and if Microsoft and Nokia are not quick enough to compete, they will have to buy market share,” IDC’s Jeronimo said. “That’s always a lot more expensive.”
Today Intel added Atom Z670 microprocessor to official price-list,which, we presume, means that the processor and Oak Trail platformwill be officially launched on Monday or later next week. Firstreports of upcoming tablet-oriented Atom Z670 CPUs emerged as early aslast November, and one of the first Oak Trail-based products, SamsungSliding PC 7 Series tablet, was announced at Consumer Electronics Show inLas Vegas in January 2011. The Samsung 2.2lb tablet has 10.1″ display,2 GB of RAM, up to 64GB SSD drive, and is powered by Windows 7 HomePremium operating system. More tablets with Intel Z670 were announcedin the recent month, including Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q550 and ECS ElitePadV07-I.
Apple
What has become interesting in the PC CPU marketplace is the emergence of Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad, and the seeming hundreds of brands of clone tablets made by others. Here is another critical note from the IHS iSuppli paper: “The year 2010 was marked by the rise of a new platform: the media tablet, led by Apple’s iPad, which employed a [chip] at its heart designed by Apple.”There are a couple of interesting parts about that statement. The first is that the CPU in the iPad is made by neither Intel or AMD. It is made by Apple.New features include Intel? Quick Sync Video, and a new version of the company?s award-winning Intel? WiDi, which now adds 1080p HD and content protection for those wishing to beam premium HD content from their laptop screen to their TV. ?The new 2nd Generation Intel? Core? processors represent the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any other previous generation,? said Naveed Siraj, Country Manager, Intel Pakistan. ?The built-in visual capabilities enabled by these new processors are stunning. This, combined with improved adaptive performance, will revolutionise the PC experience in a way that is obvious for every user to see and appreciate – visibly smarter performance.?
Oracle
Here’s what’s going on behind the PR wall and, more important, what to expect. Oracle isn’t moving as much Sun hardware as it needs to in order to justify the billions of dollars it paid for those assets. That’s not just my opinion. Oracle on Thursday released its fiscal third-quarter earnings, which showed that new hardware sales, which came in at about $1 billion, missed earlier guidance from the company by $100 million.
With more than one million computers selling each day, Intel Corporation introduced its game-changing 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processor family recently.
Intel highlighted several surprising new features, services and partnerships that combine to deliver an entirely new visual experience with processor graphics built in. More than 500 desktop and laptop PC designs are expected from all major OEMs worldwide throughout the next year.
New features include Intel® Quick Sync Video, and a new version of the company’s award-winning Intel® WiDi, which now adds 1080p HD and content protection for those wishing to beam premium HD content from their laptop screen to their TV. “The new 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processors represent the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any other previous generation,” said Naveed Siraj, Country Manager, Intel Pakistan. “The built-in visual capabilities enabled by these new processors are stunning. This, combined with improved adaptive performance, will revolutionise the PC experience in a way that is obvious for every user to see and appreciate - visibly smarter performance.”
New processor graphics technology will focus on the areas where most people are computing today: high-definition (HD) video, photos, mainstream gaming, multi-tasking and online socialising and multimedia. Enhanced visual technologies such as next-generation Intel® HD graphics are built into every 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processor. For consumers, this means a dramatically improved PC experience, with better overall power management, greater efficiency and great battery life.
Another unique element of the visual experience built into the 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processor family is Intel® Quick Sync Video. This built-in hardware acceleration takes the wait out of editing and sharing videos with astonishing performance that completes in minutes what used to take hours. Now faster than ever, consumers can edit, convert and share videos with friends and family. Intel estimated that a 4-minute HD video that used to take 4 minutes to convert to play on an iPod* would now take just 16 seconds.
The Intel® Core™ i5 and i7 processors also include the enhanced Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0. This feature automatically reallocates processor core and processor graphics resources to accelerate performance, giving users an immediate performance boost when and where it’s needed.
Seeing the electronic media and mobile communication outburst in the recent years, different segments of these industries are adopting new competitive means and ways to reach the population of one hundred and eighty million across Pakistan. Observing this success of Electronic media channels and Mobile communication spanning over the last ten years, there exists an immense need for the amalgamation of these two mediums to serve the conventional purpose of approaching viewers and users but in a different manner. This 2 in 1 approach can be used not only to enhance the viewership but also to look for a greater and lucrative market share, outperforming others in the race, if any. Mobile TV initiative is an opportunity of gearing both of the industries into a new and better direction.
Mobile TV can play a huge role to approach the viewers with a new mode whilst bettering its market share. More viewership means penetration into a bigger market with the lower Advertising cost i.e. Cost permille (CPM) or the cost ‰ and cost per thousand (CPT). Benefits of using of Mobile TV are twofold; it keeps the viewers attached to your channel 24, 7 which in turn will grab more business by more and more clients turning towards your channel for buying time for their advertisement. Secondly, this value added services’ is substantially low cost.
In a recent survey shows 90 million mobile users in Pakistan, exposing to such level of consumer numbers is tiresome and requires a handful amount of resources i.e. Financial, Human and Equipments. Companies specializing in satellite communication, content management or aggregators can tap on MVNOs model to win such a magnanimous opportunity. With the smartphone penetration data unavailable relaying on experts view is useful. “Yes, we have certainly seen big demand for smartphones in the higher end of the market” Manager in Telenor, Pakistan.
Regulatory authority, PEMRA, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is welcoming and instrumental in launching any new ideas within electronic media. The huge success of the electronic media goes to PEMRA’s pocket. PEMRA, with few exceptions, has provided easy entry to MVNOs, Cable operators, Satellite operators and Broadcasters in this market.
With all this; easy entry, low cost, no competitors, any company initiating to this venture will make huge success.
Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today launched its IDEOS™ X5 smartphone in Pakistan.
The IDEOS™ X5 is a high performance, ultra slim, touch-screen smartphone with advanced browsing and high definition video capabilities based on Android™ 2.2 operating system. Huawei has introduced the availability of its IDEOS™, U8300 and U8500 smartphones in the region, as well as its IDEOS™ S7 Slim Tablet.
The launch of this suite of smart devices positions Huawei to take full advantage of the rapid growth of the smartphone market in the Pakistan and the Middle East which is predicted to grow 39% by 2015 (IDC).
Dai Shengwei, President of Huawei Terminal Middle East, said: ‘Our smart device development is underpinned by a philosophy of “Smart Device, Simple world”.
This means we focus on ensuring our technology enhances and make peoples’ lives easier through intuitive design and easy access to feature rich applications.’ ‘We are excited about launching our suite of smart devices in the Pakistan market which is experiencing such rapid growth. Huawei devices provide users with an enhanced mobile experience at an affordable price. We are delighted to be amongst the first to meet that demand,’ he added. The IDEOS range will provide consumers with a choice of smart mobile devices tailored to their individual needs.
The battle against the jailbreakers has always seemed to be an uphill one for Apple; it takes hackers just days to break into the latest iOS releases, and last year federal regulators said that it was no longer illegal to hack or jailbreak an iPhone. However, there is one thing Apple can but a definite stop to, and that’s accessing Cydia using its Wi-Fi networks in Apple retail stores.
If you try accessing Cydia on a device connected to one of Apple’s Wi-Fi hotspots, you’ll be surprised to see Apple’s website load instead.
Although this isn’t going to deter jailbreaking one slight little bit, it’s still rather funny.
Internet services in Pakistan have been chaotic in the past one week with operators struggling with congestion on the network due to a sudden drop in backend capacities available to them.
Internet service providers encountered problems as there were outright blackouts at least four times in the past seven days because of a problem in the major submarine cable system – Southeast Asia, Middle East and Western Europe-4 (SEMEWE4) – which is the main communications artery for westbound data and voice traffic going out of Pakistan.
Owing to this, internet connectivity offered by two submarine cable system providers – Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) with ITI and Transworld Associates Private Limited (TWA) with TW-1 – were severely affected for a short time in each of the incidences.
“Cable cuts occurred in Egypt in a narrow terrestrial corridor known in the communications world as the Egyptian crossing,” said Transworld’s Commercial Director Zulfiqar Qazilbash. The outages usually occur when cables are damaged as a result of fishing trawlers dropping anchors and nets.
The first outage occurred on March 17 from 1:57am to 11:13am, the second outage on March 20 from 4:29pm to 12:46am, the third on March 23 from 8:57pm to 10:40pm and the fourth on March 24 from 4:24pm to 4:56pm.
However, both TWA and PTCL were successfully able to prevent a prolonged outage by shifting customers to alternative routes and cable systems, but since SEMEWE4 is a major artery and a choke point, some congestion and service degradation problems were unavoidable for both companies.
“Cable cuts are a way of life and we have adequate processes to deal with such emergencies to avoid outsourcing companies losing revenue generated through calls and in the longer run, a negative reputation of Pakistan,” said Qazilbash.
Qazilbash informed that service degradation was also a problem, since it affected quality, but added it was much better than total outages which were avoided.
“The quality of international connectivity available to Pakistan’s internet service providers (ISPs) has improved significantly over the last few years,” he said. He explained that the primary reason for improved quality was the growth in the telecom sector over the last decade and increased consumption of bandwidth by the telecom and broadband operators and large governmental and corporate entities.
Another major reason for this quality of service is healthy competition, following privatisation of PTCL and issuance of a licence to Orascom Telecom to set up TWA and provide service to the telecom industry, said analysts.
According to Qazilbash, the cable system TW1 connects Pakistan to almost every major cable that spans the globe and has dramatically improved the communication landscape, which till a few years ago, was solely serviced by a government’s company.
As a result of this healthy competition, both vendors have, over the years, made significant improvements in their networks, including establishment of service level agreements (SLA) with customers, guaranteeing international quality and restoration in case of adversity, such as cable cuts.
PTCL has introduced a new cable system, the IMEWE, to alleviate problems. However, this does not mean that TWA is dependent on the existing infrastructure. TWA connects TW1 to multiple international cables, including IMEWE, and has purchased capacity on alternate cables and routes to avoid complete outages.
It is highly likely that the infrastructure will be improved further so companies are better equipped to deal with such situations. It is expected that newer cables will also be laid to take the pressure off the main choke point.
A list of 13 telecom and mobile companies defaulting by Rs40 billion has been presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC while expressing concern over the accumulation of huge defaulting amount asked the government to take urgent steps for recovery of the said amount from the defaulting companies.
The Committee was of the view that there would be no need to levy taxes on the poor people if Rs40 billion were deposited in the national exchequer. The PAC’s implementation and surveillance committee, which met here on Thursday with Yasmeen Rehman in the chair, forwarded the case to the main PAC with a suggestion to formulate a special PAC for recovery of the said amount.
Chairman PTA told the meeting that the number of subscribers of mobile phones in the country had exceeded the figure of one hundred million. He said Rs21 billion were outstanding against the Instaphone alone. PTA chairman Dr Yasin said Wapda, Pakistan Railways, Special Communication Organisation, Sui Northern Gas Company, and the state-run TV channel and several other government institutions were PTA’s defaulters. A sum of Rs500 million is due to be received from government institutions. The audit reveals 363 cases relating to telecom and telephone companies that are pending with courts. In the pending cases, Rs15 billion are to be received from 1,173 mobile telephone operators. A sum of Rs40 billion is to be received from 13 telecom and telephone companies including Dancom, Multinet and Dancard.
Member of the Committee Haider Abbas Rizvi said recently three ordinances had been issued to recover Rs51 billion. “There was a huge hue and cry over the ordinances while the PTA has to recover Rs40 billion. If this huge amount is received, burden on shoulders of the people would be removed,” he added.
The PTA chairman said a campaign had been launched to collect outstanding sums from telecom and mobile phone companies by selling their assets and properties. A sum of Rs12 billion has been recovered in six months. The chairman said Rs56 million from Mobilink, Rs40 million from Telenor, and as much amount had been recovered from Warid. He said a meeting held under Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the chair had decided that strict measures would be taken to recover outstanding amounts from telecom and mobile phone companies.
The attorney general said he would get cases disposed of by pursuing them forcefully in the courts. He said it has been decided to restore the licence of Instaphone, which was cancelled earlier, for recovery of Rs21 billion. The assets of Instaphone have been frozen in Pakistan and its sale has been banned.
The PTA chairman told PAC that 12.5 million SIMs issued by the cell phone companies have been blocked due to wrong use. He said the government has decided that no SIM could be issued now without the verification of Nadra. He said 2.8 SIMs were blocked because these were not verified by Nadra. According to the law, he said, one person can utilise 10 SIMs of a cell phone company.
The PAC also discussed in detail the harmful effects of cell phone companies towers in populated areas on human health due to emission of waves. The Committee directed the PTA to do legislation in this regard. PAC member Haider Abbas Rizvi said according to a research the residents of houses situated near the cell phone towers suffer from cancer in five years time. He urged the PTA to run an awareness campaign in this regard. The meeting was also attended by Hamid Yar Hiraj, Mian Riaz Husain Pirzada and Asia Nasir.
Mobilink, Pakistan’s market leader in cellular services and part of Orascom Telecom Holding, has expanded its In-flight GPRS/BlackBerry Roaming services to over 260 flights.
With a view to ensure convenience and provision of seamless services to its customers, whether at home or abroad, Mobilink indigo, Pakistan’s largest post-paid family, has joined hands with Emirates and Malaysia Airlines through AeroMobile to expand coverage of its In-flight GPRS/BlackBerry Roaming. Through this partnership, Mobilink In-flight GPRS/BlackBerry Roaming will now be available on Emirates Airlines on more than 268 flights including 122 international flight routes across 52 countries including popular destinations such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Switzerland, Turkey, Singapore, China, Thailand and Bangladesh. The service is also available on selective Emirates in-country flights between Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
The service which enables indigo customers to stay connected and surf the web, access their emails and send & receive MMS through their BlackBerry and GPRS connection at cruise altitude is also available on major international flight routes of Air France through partner network OnAir. Mobilink plans to aggressively widen the sphere of their in-flight services to other airlines in the near future, further enhancing and facilitating their indigo customer’s connectivity options.
Samsung, a global leader in innovative electronics has now introduced the new D8000 and D7000 series of Televisions.
Key technology influencers have high praise for the 2011 ultra-thin bezels, stunning 3D and HD picture quality, easy connectivity and intuitive new Smart Hub platform—which opens consumers to a wealth of personalized content that is unmatched in the industry.
Samsung has been leading the global Home-entertainment market since 2006.
The D8000 series recently won five-star ratings from United Kingdom outlets CNET and What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision, while another U.K. publication, Trusted Reviews, gave it the perfect scores on both design and features and near-perfect scores for 2D and 3D picture quality and sound quality.
Home Cinema Choice, stated “It dazzles on first viewing, from its ultra-chic looks and nifty Smart Hub to its improved 3D and HD picture quality.”
The D7000 series was awarded CNET UK’s coveted Editors’ Choice designation, with its “stunning picture quality,” “jaw-dropping design” and “excellent Internet features.” This 46-inch, 1080p TV has a stunning LED-illuminated LCD panel with 3D capability and unmatched features.
The rave reviews about these TVs validate the company’s continued innovation, providing consumers with rich new features and more ways to access the content they want, whenever they want it.
Samsung’s new “Smart Hub” platform is available on both the D8000 and D7000 series TVs which provides users with an easy way to search and access content on the TV, across devices and across the Internet, making it the first genuinely ‘smart’ TV.”
The interface, with its striking, high-resolution graphics, clean presentation and careful categorisation/organisation of different multimedia features, is much more inviting and useful than any TV multimedia interface seen before, TechRadar continued.
Samsung’s newest products have super-narrow, almost invisible bezels, which provide a more immersive viewing experience and increase viewing area without increasing the footprint of the TV. Samsung has created “a poster boy for a new generation of TVs” that “sets a bar dizzyingly high for others to follow.”
Qubee launched a reward program for its users, giving them the opportunity to avail a 20 percent discount on their monthly bill for 3 months. We at Qubee believe in promotions and features that add value to daily Qubee experience, chief marketing officer Hashim Sheikh said. To avail this discount all a customer has to do is refer a friend to Qubee with his or her given Qubee account number and they will automatically be entitled to the mentioned discount. Sheikh also mentioned the promotion is due to conclude on the April 18, 2011.
With more than 1 million computers selling each day, Intel Pakistan introduced its game-changing second Generation Intel Core processor family Thursday. Intel highlighted several surprising new features, services and partnerships that combine to deliver an entirely new visual experience with processor graphics built it. More than 500 desktop and laptop PC designs are expected from all major OEMs worldwide throughout the next year. Naveed Sirag country manager said.
Nvidia have just launched their dual GPU monstrosity, the GTX 590 which they claim to be world s fastest graphics card. The card will go on sale from various board partners starting at $699 (Rs.31.400) so by the time it lands on our shores, expect the price to be inflated to HD 6990 levels.
Like all dual GPU cards, the GTX 590 has twin GTX 580 cores running in SLI on a single PCB. This means there s double of everything right from shaders, ROPs, transistors, memory and memory bandwidth. The card measures massive 11-inches in length with a huge vapor chamber cooler to keep temperatures in check. The central fan is quite large thereby allowing it to disperse the hot air more effectively and run quitter at the same time. In fact, the GTX 590 s cooler measures only 48dB of noise under full load which is a lot quieter than AMD s HD 6990. The graphics card will also have native support for 3DVision surround since it packs in two GPUs.
I guess the million dollar question is, does it beat the competition? Well according to early reports floating around the web, it's not faster than Antilles which means the performance crown for the fastest card in the world stays with AMD. We all know for sure though once we get our review unit in.
As Apple prepares to launch the iPad 2 in the UK, its biggest competitors are mostly tweaking their first generation tablets.
A lot has changed since the iPad launched a year ago. First, Apple’s competitors have gone from dismissing tablet computers to rushing to put out their own versions. As Apple prepares to launch the iPad 2 in the UK - a thinner, lighter and faster version of its predecessor - most of its competitors are still refining their first generation tablets.
The iPad 2 launched in the US on March 11 and analysts estimate that around half a million of them were sold over the first weekend, leaving shortages in many areas. It goes on sale in the UK at 5pm tomorrow, starting at £399 - a price that’s lower than the launch price of the first generation iPad, and the competition is still some way behind.
However, the tablets that are expected to give Apple a run for its money have not yet been released in the UK and, in some cases, have only the vaguest of release dates.
The Motorola Xoom is due in “the first week of April” and, at £499, costs £100 more than the cheapest iPad 2 (though you do get 32GB of memory in the basic Xoom - the same capacity iPad 2 costs £499); the BlackBerry PlayBook will be released some time between now and June and no UK price has been confirmed, though the US version matches the prices for the iPad 2; and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is not due for release until the summer and, once again, prices have not been confirmed.
Another thing that’s changed since the launch of the original iPad is that fewer people are asking what a tablet computer is for. This is partly because of Apple’s ‘iPad is’ advertising campaign, which focused on the various tasks that the iPad could be used for and showed them in action, rather than trying to explain the gadget verbally. This is standard Apple procedure: they seldom talk about the technical specifications of their gadgets and prefer instead to focus on what they can do.
That’s another problem for the competition: while they point to better specs, Apple points to a greater number of apps, to a tried-and-tested operating system and to four years of experience working on portable touchscreen devices.
People are beginning to understand that tablets can be ideal for web browsing and work well as ebook readers besides offering a surprisingly high quality gaming experience and all kinds of imaginative tools thanks to a growing range of apps.
That’s not to say that tablet computers are for everyone. There will be those who snort ‘I can do everything I need to on my netbook and it only cost £200 so why would I want one of these’. The iPad 2 is not for those people. They’re like the people who, faced with a new Mercedes, say that it’s just a car and they’re perfectly happy in their Nissan Micras. There’s nothing wrong with that attitude; some people want the cheapest tool for the job but Apple has never been interested in that market.
Then there are the hobbyists, the kind of people who would dismiss a new Mercedes because they prefer the car that they built themselves over many painstaking hours. These people don’t trust any device that they can’t open up and poke around in and upgrade. The idea that you can’t even change the battery on an iPad appalls them. The iPad is not for them either.
Watch a child use an iPad, however, and you’ll see just how natural and useful touchscreens can be. Touch is a more natural way of interacting with most things and those who have never learned to use a mouse have nothing to unlearn. Can you remember how cumbersome and bizarre a mouse appeared when you first used one?
Tablets aren’t for everyone but for most of us they are the future. And, for now at least, nobody comes close to Apple.
" Firefox 4 is catching on in a big way with Web users. And it’s clear why. The updated browser has a number of features that make it better than Internet Explorer 9."
Didn’t take long for Mozilla’s Firefox 4 to gain immense popularity. Millions of people have downloaded the new browser and by the look of things, its appeal to Web users has yet to slow down. By all measure, Firefox 4 seems to be on top of its game, and its ready to take on its many competitors in the browser market.
But now that Firefox 4 is out to compete against Internet Explorer 9 some people are undoubtedly wondering which browser they should go with. On one hand, Firefox 4 seems to deliver some neat new features and much faster speeds. But Internet Explorer 9 is vastly improved over its predecessor. In other words, at first glance, it’s not an easy choice.
However, as people dig more into the differences between Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Mozilla’s option is better.
Read on to find out why:
1. A better design
One of the major improvements to both Internet Explorer and Firefox has been better designs. Both browsers feature a slimmed-down interface that will likely appeal to more users. But Firefox 4’s design is a little bit better. It looks somewhat similar to Opera 11 and delivers much better menu designs. A change to how tabs are displayed—on top by default—is also a welcome addition. One can easily go on about all the changes made to Firefox 4, but suffice it to say that its interface tops Internet Explorer 9 in usability and aesthetic appeal.
2. Stability
Microsoft has said time and again that Internet Explorer 9 is the most stable browser it has released yet. And that’s certainly the case. But so far, Firefox 4 seems to be a tad more stable. One of the key reasons for that is the browser’s ability to continue working, even though plug-ins, like Flash, QuickTime, or Microsoft’s Silverlight fail. Does that mean Firefox will never crash? Of course not, but in my testing to this point, it has proven more stable than Internet Explorer 9.
3. Multi-platform support
Considering there is a growing number of Mac OS X users out there, those folks should know that Firefox 4, unlike Internet Explorer 9, supports their favored operating system. Mozilla’s browser also works with Linux. Perhaps most importantly, Firefox works with Windows XP. Internet Explorer 9, on the other hand, only works with Windows Vista and Windows 7. That’s a huge issue for Microsoft, considering XP still is used by the majority of PC users—about 55 percent—around the world. And it’s another win for Firefox 4.
4. Microsoft’s brand problems
One of the biggest issues Microsoft faces right now is that it’s trying to overcome its failures in past versions of Internet Explorer. There are still millions of people around the globe that don’t trust that Microsoft’s browser can be secure and stable. Mozilla, on the other hand, doesn’t face that identity crisis. Thus it doesn’t necessarily need to worry about its brand affecting its decisions when it comes to adding or removing features. If users don’t trust Microsoft’s ability to keep its browser secure and they’re looking for other options, they should go with Firefox 4.
5. There’s no speed advantage
When Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 9, the company was touting the speed of its browser. Now just about everyone who tries it would agree that the new software loads Web pages extremely quickly. But so does Firefox 4. In most cases, the two browsers were evenly matched, in my testing. In other cases, one bested the other, depending on the site. Overall, though, Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4 seem to be in a practical dead heat when it comes to page-loading times. And considering all the other advantages Firefox 4 offers, a tie shouldn’t be enough for someone to opt for Internet Explorer 9.
6. Security is a going concern
Microsoft did an outstanding job bolstering the security of Internet Explorer 9. It did so by protecting users against “socially engineered attacks,” browser-focused malware attacks, and flaws on Web sites. But Internet Explorer 9 has only been in use for a limited amount of time. And so far, not enough people have downloaded it to truly determine how secure it really is. Does that mean it will be proven insecure? Not a chance. It might be one of the more secure browsers ever launched. But given Microsoft’s history with security problems, and considering the browser has yet to be fully tested by malicious hackers in the wild, waiting to see how well Microsoft secured Internet Explorer 9 might be a good idea.
7. Add-ons have always been Firefox’s strong suit
According to Mozilla, Firefox 4 supports more than 200,000 add-ons. And as old-time Firefox users know quite well, add-ons have always been one of the main reasons to use the browser. In Firefox 4, the browser supports restartless add-ons, which means users don’t have to restart their browser after installing an add-on utility. Considering the sheer number of useful add-ons and the fact that Firefox 4 makes it even easier to use them, it’s easy to see why Mozilla’s latest browser is a worthy download.
8. Sync works beautifully
Mozilla has added the ability for users to sync Bookmarks, Preferences, History, Passwords, and Tabs with other versions of Firefox 4 running on a person’s computers and Android devices. It’s an outstanding feature that is yet another good reason for people with multiple browser installations to use Firefox 4. It’s convenient and it works extremely well.
9. Standard support is a plus
Mozilla realized that support for integral Web standards was an absolute necessity in Firefox 4 and the organization delivered in a big way. Among other features, browser has ample support for HTML5, including WebM high-definition video. As Mozilla itself points out, Firefox comes with support for “3D graphics, offline data storage, professional typography, touch screen interfaces, and the Mozilla Audio API to help create visual experiences for sound and more.” Combine all that and one will find an outstanding browsing experience in Firefox 4.
10. Future-proofing
When evaluating browsers, it’s always important for Web users to determine which platform will do the best job of adapting to the constantly changing Web world. For now, it seems that Firefox 4 is that winner. Aside from the fact that it supports important Web standards and it comes with new features, Mozilla updates its browser often. That means that Firefox 4’s launch was just a starting point. And over the next several months, expect many more worthwhile updates to the platform.
UK networks to launch 'NoDo', which adds cut and paste, faster app launching, better Facebook integration and other features
Windows Phone 7 owners in the UK will have to wait until next week to update their handsets with Microsoft's "NoDo" (no doughnuts) software version which adds cut and paste and other features.
UK networks have told that they will be rolling out the update to contract customers over the next 10 days, though the precise timing varies between them.
The update, which will be available through Microsoft's site and require owners to connect their phone to their computer to carry it out, is the first major upgrade since Windows Phone 7 was released in the UK at the end of October, and is being rolled out through carriers around the world.
Some users of SIM-free phones will already have the update notification, UK networks told.
The delay to the update has partly been caused by the networks' requirement – imposed on all handset manufacturers – to test the update thoroughly to ensure that it will work with their individual systems.
Among the features the Windows Phone update will introduce are:
• cut and paste functionality;
• faster app launching;
• improved Marketplace search and stability;
• Wi-Fi improvements, including display of the phone's MAC address in Settings, which is sometimes needed to join networks that use MAC address filtering, and removal of limits on Wi-Fi profiles;
• improvements when you receive an MMS if you have a PIN-locked SIM;
• better Facebook integration;
• more stability when switching between still and video on camera settings; and
• improvements to Outlook for viewing photo attachments from Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo mail accounts when using Exchange Server.
UK carriers have been testing the update to ensure that it will work with the handsets that they are selling, and are rolling it out cautiously, after an earlier update rendered some Samsung handsets inoperable.
"The updates for the HTC 7 Trophy and LG Optimus 7 (the WP7 devices that Vodafone offers) have been approved by Vodafone and will be distributed in due course – MS have begun to gradually roll out the update, starting small with customers with open market phones this week. Update will be via PC suite," said a Vodafone spokeswoman.
A spokesperson for O2 said: "We're working with Microsoft to bring the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update to our HTC HD7 customers as soon as possible. We currently expect it to launch in early April."
Everything Everywhere – which combines Orange and T-Mobile – said: "Our current plan is for Microsoft to roll out our approved version next week in line with other operators."
The update does not however bring full multitasking support for third-party apps. That will have to wait for a more major update, codenamed "Mango", which is expected about October. Nokia, which recently announced a strategic alliance with Microsoft to put Windows Phone onto its future smartphones, will wait for "Mango" – and possibly later – before releasing any Windows Phone devices.
The "NoDo" update had been expected initially to arrive in early February, after a phone using it was used in Steve Ballmer's keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show at the start of January. That date then shifted to 8 March, which passed. The "pre-update" that affected the Samsung phones was intended to make future software updates simpler, but its effect on those phones is understood to have delayed the update for about a fortnight.
Every software update to any carrier-sold phone, including the iPhone, is tested by each carrier before it is sent out, and can only be rolled out when all of them agree to its use.
The number of different phone models that run an operating system therefore complicates the update process. There are five different Windows Phone 7 handsets available in the UK, and new ones being prepared, each of which has slightly different firmware and so which has to be checked against the software update. That does raise the question of how the update that bricked the Samsung phones passed the approval process – but has meant that the networks are more cautious than ever about rolling out Windows Phone updates.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) gives high priority to customer care and is constantly endeavoring to extend relationship with customers by giving them various easy and ubiquitous options for bill payment. The company is bringing in latest and state-of-the-art competence in this regard by making investment in introducing latest technologies towards services and customer facilitation. Public cash/card Payment Machines (PCPM) is the innovative step in this regard, which will enhance customers’ bill payment experience. PCPM machines are self payment collecting kiosks which accept cash from the customers against the services provided by PTCL and provide receipt/SMS confirmation to their selected mobile numbers against the cash input. By using these machines, the customers will be able to pay their PTCL invoices by visiting PTCL business offices themselves without involving any PTCL staff. Customers can pay while shopping at malls. Now they do not have to undergo hassle and time wastage standing in queues for paying their bills. Machines are customer oriented easy handling touch screen mode feature having the dialect both in Urdu and English. PTCL customers can use this facility for the payment of telephone, broadband, IPTV and EVO bills. They can also recharge of WLL and other prepaid services as well. These machines update the customer account immediately. Advance and partial payments are also accepted. The machines will generate receipts for customer in confirmation for the payment. Suspended lines will be restored automatically on payment. Under first phase PTCL has installed machines at Metro and Dolmen Mall, Tariq Road, Karachi. Abdullah Yousef Abdullah, Senior Executive Vice President Business Zone South while inaugurating PCPM at Metro said “The new service will save the time and effort of the customers; it will facilitate customers when paying their monthly bills while shopping at malls in very easy way.
You can now get a chance to have a dinner with none other than prince of pop, Ali Zafar, just by answering a simple question on “Jhoom Golden Ticket” which has been brought to you by Mobilink. If your luck doesn’t exactly work out for the dinner, you can still get a chance to win 20 signed CDs of Jhoom (give it a try even if you’re not interested. You can may be sell the CDs? heh).
What do you have to do? Nothing really! You have to spot a “golden ticket” (this is how it looks) in one of the given images in the app.
Anti-trust watchdog passed an order against DHA and Wateen Telecom after it established that the agreement prohibited competition for provision of media and telecommunication services in the vicinity of DHA. It also imposed a fine of Rs 5 million on the telecom company.
The CCP bench comprising chairperson Rahat Kaunain and member Vadiyya Khalil passed the order.
“DHA has in writing admitted that the agreement violated the Act and showed its willingness to modify the agreement in accordance with the law,” said Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) chairperson Rahat Kaunain while announcing the verdict.
The CCP has reprimanded that continued breach of the Act would entail serious consequences, said Kaunain adding that the parties will have to pay a maximum penalty of Rs1 million every day if the violation continues.
However, the telecom service provider argued that the arrangement between the company and DHA did not have the effect of restricting other service providers within the DHA area, informed Kaunain.
The watchdog body initiated proceedings following complaints from residents of DHA, regarding lack of choice of service providers for provision of telecommunication and media services and unsatisfactory quality of such services.
During the course of the hearings, CCP identified two broad categories within telecommunication and media services markets under the agreement. One being telecommunication and media services provider through HFC fixed line network while the other being those provided through wireless technology.
It concluded that due to the inherent nature of the services provided by using wireless technology, no service provider could be excluded from DHA region. However, exclusivity granted restricted other service providers to provide telecommunication and media services through fixed line.
Responding to a question, the CCP chairperson said the Jute Mills Association has paid Rs 16 million fines out of Rs23 million slapped for making a cartel. Rahat said the anti-trust watchdog has been relying on the government to run its affairs, which is hampering its affairs and undermining autonomy.
She urged other regulators to pay three per cent of their penalties and fees to the CCP, as the law requires. Regulators like Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan have been unlawfully withholding payments for the last four years.
Inquiry against state-owned channel
The anti-trust watchdog has also initiated an internal inquiry against the state-owned Pakistan Television Network for charging Rs35 per month television fee from the electricity consumers through monthly utility bills.
The chargers are irrespective of the fact that a person is using a cable TV service or exclusively relying on Pakistan Television setup. The inquiry is at the stage of determining the legality of the charges. If the CCP finds that PTV management is violating consumers’ rights, it will issue a show cause notice. The network has been charging the fee since 2004 and earning billions of rupees every year.
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