MORE Magazine

MORE

April 2009

SAY Editor Note

Editor-in-Chief Mudassar Jehangir Mufti Group Editor Sumaira Mudassar Editor M. Atif

All information in the magazine is verified to the best of the authors’ and the publisher’s ability. However, MORE does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it.

DISCLAIMER: Where opinion is expressed it is that of the authors and does not necessarily coincide with the editorial views of the publisher or MORE.

Content Coordinator Zubair Rehman Advertising Manager Abdul Qayyum (Lahore) Ahmed Sher (Lahore) Bureau Chief (Faisalabad) Irfan Anjum Designer Assaad Chughtai

COVER STORY

08

Sales Executive Syed Faisal Ahmed Zain Zahid International Correspondents Ireland: Alina Amir Canada: Halima Quershi Contributors M. A. Farooq J. W. Mukherjee Usman Ali Khan Sana Rehan Ovais Quraishi Nosheen Iqbal Zubair Rehman Alina Qureshi Halima Qureshi Saba Asghar Ali Lee Bun Yeoul Faisal Ahmad Legal Advisor Abdul Fayyaz More Magazine Published by Mudassar Jehangir Mufti at 2nd Floor Ali Mansion, 41-A, Lower Mall, Lahore Registration No PCPB 286 Price:150 PKR

Is Sony Ericsson Breaking Apart?

With Sony Ericsson needing cash soon, Sony and Ericsson need to figure out fast whether to bring in the divorce lawyers or just to seek a good relationship counselor

TELECOM

10 12

Camera phones sales up amid slow down The contribution of camera phones to overall handset sales in India has increased from 34% to 38% over the last one year.

PTCL has a recipe for everyone PTCL’s EvDO offers wireless broadband (3G) internet access through PCMCIA adapters as well as through plug and play USB modems.

TECHNOLOGY

20 22

RinSpeed: An iPhone Controlled Car The car has no doors, but is accessed through its roof and many of the controls are operated by directly with an iPhone, including the locking systems and ignition

Haier Values its consumers CEO of Haier Pakistan Mr. Yujun Song talks to the media

Issue 11

Mudassar Jehangir Mufti Editor-in-Chief

Volume # 1

Contrary to other segments of economy, mobile phone calls and broadband charges are the only things in Pakistan which are going down with each passing day. Benefits are being enjoyed by the customers who otherwise keep becoming victims at the hands of other departments of government.

Recently PTCL and Link Dot Net revised their packages and doubled their broadband speeds on 23rd and 24th of March respectively. Now a home customer can enjoy a 4MB connection even. Few months back it was mere a dream. On the other hand, in the wireless domain we are enjoying the services of high-speed internet through WiMax and EvDO. Soon there will be 3G all around. After having so many different ways of communication, thing to find out is, what will be the utilization of this connectivity? Since the dialup era, mostly, our youth is busy in non productive activities on internet. We can really change our country, our destiny and our way of life. We will have to make use of all these technological advancements. We can really rule the world. Believe me!

IT

29 30 31 32 35 36 37 38

Foxit’s e-Slick challenges Kindle with PDF prowess First look at windows 7 beta Thinnest laptop: A claim by Dell Aluminum iMacs 2009 edition Laptop Class Warfare: Apple vs. Asus Hewlett Packard H470: A mobile Printer ATI Aims the high-end Market Software reviews

ENERGY

40 42

Getting green Plastic from carbon dioxide Shell’s new formula: A market gimmick or reality?

Latest in Technology

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24 26 27 28

Journey of a Wheel to Tweel

HEALTH

The Tweel is an experimental tire design currently in development that uses no air and therefore cannot burst or become flat

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Use of Stealthies in ruling skies

Month in Focus

Fifth generation fighter, fly at high speed (supersonic), jams enemy radars, hard to catch and has state of the art technologies that a pilot can imagine

Finding another Earth This telescope is designed to search 100,000 stars in the Milky Way of Earthsized rocky planets where water could flow and form streams, lakes and oceans.

Blue Earth a revolutionary Mobile Phone Blue Earth is made out of recycled plastic extracted from water bottles

50 52

Believe it Margarine is healthy

Ring Comes Forward for Motorola Nokia Supports health in Pakistan

Mobile Directory

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COVER STORY Mudassar J. Mufti

l Sony Ericsson’s first official shipment is expected in April since the company closed down its office in Pakistan in September last year. Pakistan wasn’t the only country where SE fired its staff, it did the same with thousands of employees across the world, took measures to reduce the operational expenses to save some US $350 million. During the same month, Sony’s global CEO Howard Stringer disclosed that the two companies (Sony and Ericsson) needed to reform their cooperation otherwise the joint venture would fail. The statement jeopardized the eight-year-old marriage between Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson. With sales tanking and losses soaring, rumors abound that one, if not both, of the companies may be pushing for a break-up.

The joint venture has already warned on March 20 that first-quarter mobilephone shipments would be down by nearly half from the previous quarter and the losses could be as high as $530 million but the two parents continued to affirm their commitment to the venture. "Sony and Ericsson are determined to work with Sony Ericsson's management team to turn the situation around and return the company to profitability," the companies vowed in a joint statement.

The current situation is a far cry from where Sony Ericsson was just two years 08

ago. After a rocky start, the company's hip brand image and products such as the Cybershot camera phones and Walkman range of handsets proved popular with consumers, helping to propel it to the No. 3 position among cell-phone makers for a brief period in 2008, it remained untouched during all these years in the absence of any real competition from the competitor brands in the middle range category.

But success did not last for long for it. Last year, as weakening economies started to affect the sales, the global handset market grew by just 3.6 percent and Sony Ericsson's volume fell by nearly seven percent. This year, "the global handset market is expected to shrink between 10 percent and 15 percent, and it's the midrange segment of the handset market, the area where Sony Ericsson has traditionally been the strongest, that will be hit the hardest.

It isn't enough these days just to offer imaging and music. See the success of the Apple’s iPhone, with its slick features and cool brand image. Touch screens, GPS, Internet browsing, and social networking are the hot areas of the handset business and Sony Ericsson has not made significant inroads into any of them. A big part of Sony Ericsson's current problem, analysts say, is that it has built the wrong portfolio of handsets. The mobile market has

“

Many in the industry believe that Sony would gain a lot by taking full control of the venture.

The Japanese company could exert more control over products and strategy, as well as offering a full portfolio of smartphones, laptops, and netbooks, under its own brand name

”

COVER STORY

The joint venture needs a lot of cash. Can Ericsson and Sony take care of their child?

“

Sony and Ericsson vowed to work with Sony Ericsson's management team to turn the situation around and return the company to profitability

”

become increasingly polarized around ultra-basic devices such as the Nokia 1200 and high-end smartphones like the BlackBerry, iPhone, or Nokia N-series. Yet Sony Ericsson has remained firmly in mid-market. The company has tried to move upscale, but with only limited success. Sony Ericsson says it has taken action to pare back the number of mid-priced models in its portfolio and to invest in higher-end devices. It aims to introduce a range of gizmos using a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Android of Google and the Symbian OS from Symbian.

A greater commitment to smartphones makes sense. The pocket-sized computerlike devices are expected to account for around 17 percent of all handsets shipped this year, according to a US-based analyst firm. Despite the global downturn and expected overall decline in cell phone sales this year, smartphone sales are expected to grow by an average of 21 percent a year through 2013, the firm adds.

It's a question that crops up increasingly often. Back when the venture was formed in 2001, keeping a stake in handsets made more sense for Ericsson as it always remained helpful for the company to design and implement the efficient networks with a prior knowledge of handset technology. As a result, Ericsson won more contracts. But now it is less relevant as Ericsson focuses on open network standards. It is no longer

mandatory to run a parallel mobile business. Besides, the mobile industry today is more focused on software and digital content than on hardware.

According to market experts, with Sony Ericsson facing losses and in need of cash, many in the industry believe it would be in Ericsson's interest to cut its losses. The problems with the venture mean Sony Ericsson is likely to continue to drag on Ericsson's earnings and cash flow for at least the next two years.

Ericsson has its own reasons for not selling.

A complicating factor is that Sony Ericsson relies on many of Ericsson's patents, providing the Swedish company with a high margin income stream.

“

With Sony Ericsson needing cash soon, Sony and Ericsson need to figure out fast whether to bring in the divorce lawyers or just to seek a good relationship counselor

”

Nevertheless, many in the industry believe that Sony would gain a lot by taking full control of the venture. The Japanese company could exert more control over products and strategy, as well as offering a full portfolio of smartphones, laptops, and netbooks, under its own brand name. Bringing mobiles in-house could also foster greater collaboration between the handset business and Sony's other electronics and content divisions, with the goal of improving the mobile user experience. Both Sony CEO Howard Stringer and Kazuo Hirai, the former Sony PlayStation head who was recently promoted to run Sony's new networked products and services unit, have emphasized mobile as a key strategic area for the company going forward.

With plenty of problems in its own business, some questions are whether Sony would be willing and then be able to finance a full takeover and recapitalization of the venture by itself. "The benefits of such a deal are likely to be some time away and go against the rationalization strategy in the rest of the Sony business. Considering that Sony has struggled for three years to make its television business profitable, investors are unlikely to applaud another troubled business depressing the company's earnings.

Yet with Sony Ericsson needing cash soon, Sony and Ericsson need to figure out fast whether to bring in the divorce lawyers or just to seek a good relationship counselor. l 09

TELECOM W. Mukherjee

Director of Samsung India Telecom, Sunil Dutt (C) poses with two models during the launch ceremony of Samsung Pixon Camera phone in New Delhi l At a time when growth in the Indian cell phone market has flattened out, handset vendors are seeing growing demand for mid-to-high end camera phones.

As a result, mobile phone vendors are finetuning business strategies by expanding their portfolio of high megapixel phones at lower prices, rolling out various imaging solutions and tying up with partners in the photography ecosystem.

According to latest ORG data, the contribution of camera phones to overall handset sales in India has increased from 34% to 38% over the last one year. Of this, the market for handsets with one to two megapixel cameras has grown from 48% to 58%. The market for handsets with two megapixel cameras and upwards has grown from 7% to 10%.

At the same time, the contribution of phones with one megapixel and below has reduced from 45% to 32%, reflecting a shift towards high-resolution phones. Industry sources added that average selling price (ASP) of 10

camera phones have dipped by 15-20% over the last one year fuelling demand.

"There is a clear shift in consumer preference towards higher resolution phones. In line with this, the focus will shift towards handsets with higher camera resolution and functionality akin to a digital camera. Samsung’s portfolio of models with five and eight megapixel cameras will also grow," Samsung Telecom country head Sunil Dutt told.

Samsung, the second largest vendor, has over 30 camera phone models. It recently launched ‘Pixon’, which is India’s first 8 megapixel phone with a touch screen. The phone has digital camera features like advanced shake reduction, blink detection, smile and face detection, and panoramic shot.

Nokia will also roll out its first eight megapixel handset ‘N86’ by June in India.

The company plans to tie up with various partners in the photography ecosystem and roll out an array of imaging solutions. "We are currently finalizing the go-to-market strategy for this phone which will centre around

the photography platform," a Nokia India spokeswoman said.

In fact, Nokia India claims the demand for models with higher camera resolution like 5800, N95 and N96 have been growing.

Motorola has recently launched a five megapixel handset along with Kodak and has plans to launch few more models.

"Multimedia features including the camera, its megapixel, along with complete user experience in a mobile phone is playing an important role in the consumer’s final purchase decision today," Motorola India head (mobile devices) Faisal Siddiqui said.

Digital camera vendors, however, claim higher resolution camera phones have not cannibalized their sales. "Our research shows that consumers who buy digital cameras already posses good camera phones.

Consumers still rely on digital cameras when they need to retain pictures for longer duration or professional use," Canon India senior VP Alok Bharadwaj said.

The writer works for “The Economic Times” l

TELECOM Usman Ali Khan

l PTCL Broadband has proven to be the largest and the fastest growing service amongst all high speed internet service providers in Pakistan. Within one and a half years of its Broadband launch, PTCL has acquired over 140,000 Broadband customers in 150 cities and towns across Pakistan.

The year 2008 was very significant for PTCL Broadband in that it achieved two unique distinctions of hitting ‘a hundred’ during last year; In October 2008, PTCL became the first ever company in Pakistan to spread its Broadband coverage to over 100 cities and then two months later it also became the first company ever again in Pakistan to acquire over 100,000 Broadband customers! It is significant to note that before PTCL’s entry into the Broadband market in 2007, Broadband was only available in 3 major cities of Pakistan. With its entry in the data segment, 12

PTCL opened up a broadband culture in Pakistan, whereas few years back there was a very little awareness in Pakistan about broadband & high speed internet services.

Broadband Since the launch of Broadband May 2007, PTCL made this technology affordable by lowering the prices, bringing the service within the reach of a common user across Pakistan and by continuous improvements in the customer services and complaint management. In just one and a half years of time PTCL’s number of subscribers crossed the accumulated numbers of subscribers matured by all the service providers during the last 5 years. PTCL now has its broadband services in almost 150 major cities and towns across Pakistan i.e. Karachi, Hyderabad, Mir-

purkhas, Hala, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Larkana, Multan, Bhaipheru, Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, Attock, GujarKhan, Jehlum, Peshawar, Quetta alongside other small towns and cities. Expansion of PTCL broadband network will continue providing more of its landline subscribers an opportunity to experience the latest in broadband and related technologies.

For Student The largest company in Pakistan also offers special packages for the student segment along with services such as free dial up service for its Broadband customers. “Free” access to movies, music, classical Pakistani dramas, cricket matches, on line gaming, educational and religious content for its

TELECOM

“

Broadband customers are available, branded under ‘PTCL BUZZ’, this complete web infotainment content portal is made exclusive only to PTCL Broadband subscribers.

PTCL also offers a free personalized e-mail account exclusively to each of its broadband user. In addition to the above, on Pakistan Day, March 23rd PTCL doubled its broadband speed for all of its existing and new customers at the same price. Now PTCL Broadband customers enjoy high speed internet and faster download access at amazingly affordable rates.

viewers over hundred live channels and a growing over 300 Movie titles ‘on Demand’.

Currently the service is available in the four cities Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi Islamabad and is being expanded to all the major cities in the year 2009.

pause live TV channels, the ability to block / unblock any TV channel for parental lock and the ability to search through video on demand content. Currently PTCL Smart TV offers its

very convenient to download heavy files and e-mail attachments and use real time applications such as online gaming and video conferencing. l

PTCL’s EvDO offers wireWireless Broadband less broadband (3G) inIn the area of wireless broadband, PTCL has ternet access through now made broadband high speed facility PCMCIA adapters as mobile by recently introducing Wireless Broadband service using its WLL network well as through plug based on world’s proven CDMA 2000 techand play USB modems. IPTV nology surpassing the speeds offered by GPRS and EDGE technologies. Now one It can provide internet PTCL using its Broadband network on 14th can access high speed internet while at speed up to 3000Kbps August 2008, also entered the media sector home or on the go being mobile. PTCL’s which makes it very con- by launching an interactive television service EvDO offers wireless broadband (3G) interfor the first time in Pakistan. Branded under net access through PCMCIA adapters as well venient to download ‘PTCL Smart Line’, the service includes Inter- as through plug and play USB modems that heavy files and e-mail active Television, Broadband and voice Te- can be connected directly to the laptops or lephony all at the same time on PTCL’s desktops systems. EvDO apart from having attachments and use telephone line. The most revolutionary section the convenience of being mobile provides inof this offering is the ability to rewind and ternet speed up to 3000Kbps which makes it real time applications

”

PTCL & Etisalat to support Pakistani cricket PTCL, in association with Etisalat, is planning to develop a lasting relationship with Pakistani cricket and results of this endeavor would soon become visible.

This was stated by President & CEO of PTCL Walid Irshaid during a meeting with Younis Khan at the PTCL headquarter.

During the meeting, Mr Walid said, “As a major IT and economic player in Pakistan, PTCL considers its corporate responsibility to help raise the spirit of the Pakistani people and provide full assistance to the Pakistani cricket team to ensure that the forthcoming Pakistan-Australia series in Dubai ends in a success for the Pakistani team and revives the spirit of the game in the country”.

Younis expressed gratitude to the management of PTCL and Etisalat for their well President & CEO of PTCL Walid Irshaid during a meeting with Younis Khan 13

TECHNOLOGY More Team

l SOFTEC 2009, 14th national and 5th international event on software technology, was held on April 4 and 5 at Fast Lahore campus, in which major software houses and professionals from hardware industry participated.

The event, with main theme of “Imagine, Explore, Express,” was held to encourage and support young brains to express their novel ideas through creating practical paradigms.

Dignitaries like Tanveer ul Haq (Zong CTO), 14

April 2009

Javaid Khan (Sony’s Sales and Marketing Head), Dr Zafar Iqbal (Prof and Head of FAST, NU) graced the occasion.

Netsol Technologies, Palmchip, CambridgeDocs, Five Rivers Tech, and Wateen set up their stalls.

NetSol showed the live demonstration of their state of the art Land Maintenance Software. A Netsol representative, during the demonstration, told More that their software was in Urdu and could help in digitalizing

land record, adding that it would greatly help Patwaris and government officials in keeping updated the land data and transfer of properties from one owner to another.

Zong CTO took great interest in this software and said, “This software is a very useful not only to government but also for cellular companies and it will greatly help us in buying property for our cell tower.”

Dr Zafar, talking to More, said, “Fast, NU is the best IT institute in Pakistan which provide

TECHNOLOGY

best IT professional. This event is aimed at bringing industry professionals and students close.”

On Sony stall, products from Sony were on the display. Sony was also giving huge discount on the purchase of their products.

Javaid Khan said, “Sony always endorses IT events and our presence here is to support the youth who are going to be the next IT professionals for the industry.”

This event was further supported by Wateen, they were giving their WiMax connection to the students with no extra charges and securities. Raffles gave gift hampers to the people visiting the event through a lucky draw.

Palm chip demonstrated their Wi-Fi PBX that could turn your WiFi capable PDA into a smart phone. This product is very useful for large enterprises where workers are always mobile within the office premises. Many students from other universities and colleges were also present on the occasion and all in all, this event was a huge success. l April 2009

15

TECHNOLOGY Sana Rehan

l Mobile phones aren’t the only ones that come with touch screens, now other things will also be unveiled along with touch screens. A new Rubik’s puzzle is going to hit stores very soon. It is an updated version of the classic Rubik’s Cube and does away with the manual turning of the cube’s sides in favor of utilizing the very latest in touch and motion technologies, so users swipe a finger across the surface to “turn” a side.

The new Rubik’s TouchCube comes with a touch sensor technology on all its six sides, it has a motion-detecting accelerometer, and colored lights in every square. When a finger is swiped across

16

April 2009

three squares, the lights will follow, “turning” a side of the Cube, while making an “L” shape turns the top face of the Cube a quarter turn. Rubik’s TouchCube’s motion-detecting accelerometer only recognizes moves made on the top side of the Cube, so that a player’s fingers won’t move the lights on other sides when holding it. An internal memory saves the current puzzle while players can also choose between modern or classic sound effects at varying volume levels.

The new Rubik TouchCube makes a nice desk ornament, with colors sliding and changing while it recharges in its display

stand. The updated TouchCube also features the ultimate cheat for frustrated players, a built-in solver shows how to solve the Cube step by step to enable to ask players for a hint or watch Rubik’s TouchCube solve itself.

The Rubik’s TouchCube developers, Techno Source, has had engineering teams on two continents working on the device for the last three years and displayed the fruits of their labors at the American International Toy Fair in New York City last month.

The Rubik’s TouchCube, will be available by fall of 2009 and with an expected retail price of around PKR 12,299. l

TECHNOLOGY Ovais Quraishi

Electric cars are still a long way from solving the motor giants' woes, but they are being presented as the ailing industry's great white hope.

Citroen GT Concept Car

Bugatti Bleu Centenaire

Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670- 4

l Recently introduced egg shaped car “I MiEV from Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi Motors' is subcompact and the company hopes it will ring in a new era in automobile manufacturing when it becomes available this summer.

The name is an abbreviation for "Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle." It runs on nothing but electricity, but the car's most salient feature is its speed. With a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph), a range of 160 kilometers (100 miles) on one battery charge and a 18

charging time of only 30 minutes when plugged into a high-voltage current outlet.

Is this what the great white hope of the auto industry looks like, and could this be a way out of the doldrums brought on by the current global economic heart attack?

Probably not. Electric cars were all the rage in March at the Geneva Auto Show, but automakers seemed to be at a loss for a real solution to their most pressing economic problems.

VW is introducing the fifth generation of its popular Polo model, Mercedes is placing its hopes on the new E-Class of luxury car and Ford is introducing a new high-powered version of the Focus RS. Developing a good electric motor is undoubtedly worthwhile. But it will still cost a lot more money than has already been spent and pretending that electric cars are ready for mass production today is not only misleading but counterproductive.

TECHNOLOGY Mitsubishi's contribution, which is undoubtedly spectacular, shows just how far the new crop of electric cars is from being seriously ready for mass production. It is one of the first vehicles of its kind to store electricity in lithium ion batteries, the most powerful available on the market today. The batteries are located in the floor of the car, underneath the seats, weigh just less than 200 kilograms (440 lbs.) and store 16 kilowatt hours of energy, roughly equal to the fuel value of two liters (.53 gallon) of gasoline.

However, not more than about two-thirds of this energy reserve is usable, because regularly draining the battery would mean that it would never last as long as the life of a car.

When driven at higher speeds, this type of car has a range of no more than 80 kilometers (50 miles). The range Mitsubishi specifies – which is twice as long – is based on the assumption that the car will be driven at slow .

Volkswagen also promises to introduce an electriccity car by about 2011. Just who would supply VW with the batteries remains unclear. A joint venture with Toshiba was recently announced as "one of several options," says Jens Hadler, in charge of battery development at VW. VW's choice of Toshiba came as a surprise to the automotive world. The Tokyo-based company is known for its extremely durable lithium-titanate batteries. But with an energy density of little more than 60 watt hours per kilogram, this type of battery would be too heavy for use in cars.

Toyota, the automaker still considered the world leader in electric motors, is also enthusiastic about the performance of Li-Tec's battery. Toyota uses Li-Tec batteries in Formula 1 racing, where the use of electric auxiliary motors was recently approved.

Japanese carmakers Honda and Toyota were well ahead of the curve when it came to mass production of hybrid power-trains

Carlsson Smart

Ford iosis Max

consisting of gasoline engines and electric motors. Today the two companies already have a full decade of experience under their belts, which may be the reason they seem hesitant to switch to completely electric motors.

"The batteries available today are not good enough," explains Honda research chief Masaaki Kato. The total electrification of the automobile, says Kato, is "not something we have to work on in a hurry."

“

A serial hybrid is only a good solution if the internal combustion engine is used very rarely, according to Saga. It is undisputed that in gasoline mode, a car with a direct mechanical transmission operates far more efficiently than one with an engine that merely generates electricity to drive the electric motor

”

Toyota has an enormous R&D center for electric power-trains at its Nagoya headquarters, where more than 2,000 employees are examining the potential for electric vehicles. Mercedes, by comparison, has 400 engineers working in the new field.

For the past six years, Toyota has produced its own lithium batteries and tested them in various environments, such as in the automatic start-stop systems in conventional cars.

The batteries at first were produced at a rate of 100 a month, but a new automated production line will increase production by a factor of 100.

The head of this one-of-a-kind research fa-

Audi S5

cility is Koei Saga, one of the key figures behind Toyota's hybrid success. He speaks slowly, with the serenity of someone who has no need to make promises he cannot keep.

He is more interested in the General Motors serial hybrid, an electric car with an auxiliary engine. "We put a lot of thought into that," says Saga, explaining why the principle was eventually discarded.

A serial hybrid is only a good solution if the internal combustion engine is used very rarely, according to Saga. It is undisputed that in gasoline mode, a car with a direct mechanical transmission operates far more efficiently than one with an engine that merely generates electricity to drive the electric motor. This concept, says Saga, can be feasible and marketable only with more powerful and less expensive batteries.

For now, Toyota will stick to a more modest concept and develop its existing Prius hybrid into a "plug-in hybrid," which still drives primarily on gasoline but, for shorter distances, relies on an electric motor that can be recharged in a standard electric outlet.

A lithium battery, charged with about five to eight times as much energy as a battery in the ordinary Prius hybrid, will let the plug-in Prius travel some 20 kilometers in city traffic on electricity alone. The internal combustion engine takes over after that.

Production of the plug-in Prius will begin this year, in small numbers that will step up gradually. Saga predicts world sales of the plugin Prius to reach about 15,000 in 2012.

This, he says, is the "biggest step possible" at the moment.

Toyota prefers to leave the production of show cars with no market prospects to other carmakers. BMW is launching a test in the United States of 500 electric Minis, it says, will have a range of more than 200 kilometers (125 miles). The batteries take up the entire trunk space and rear seat area, and they have also proven to be unexpectedly thirsty

Peugeot 3008S

Chevrolet Spark 19

TECHNOLOGY More Team

l It can send e-mails, play video, access the Web and snap pictures, but control a car? Swiss automobile design house Rinspeed unveiled a concept electric car controlled by an iPhone at Geneva Motor Show.

The iChange ditches car keys in favor of an iPhone, which clips into a holder on the dashboard to the right or left of the steering wheel. Once connected, a green "start" button appears on the display of the iPhone and one push brings the iChange automobile to life. When you're driving the car, the iPhone can also be used for other control functions, such as switching on and off the headlights.

But the car is about much more than just an iPhone. With it, Rinspeed is trying to revolutionize the way people think of cars.

20

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The car has no doors, but is accessed through its roof and many of the controls are operated by directly with an iPhone, including the locking systems and ignition, making keys unnecessary

TECHNOLOGY

” Most cars are designed to carry a fixed number of passengers in a fixed number of seats and the entire vehicle is based around this. Even if you usually travel alone, the vehicle's space never changes. The aerodynamics of the vehicle, and therefore its fuel consumption, are constantly tied to this fixed number of passengers.

But not the iChange. In its basic configuration the pod-shaped sports car is a single seated car but at the push of a button, the rear of the roof pops up to provide room for an extra two passengers.

The adaptive body concept is perhaps the biggest innovation in the car but there are others. It's an all-electric car powered by Lithium Ion batteries and there are two configurations: one with fewer batteries for less weight and shorter driving and another heavier configuration for longer distances. The 150 kilowatt Siemens-built electric motor provides enough power to take the car from zero to 100 kph (kilometers per hour) in 4.2 seconds, said Rinspeed.

Rinspeed’s concept vehicle weighs 1, 050 kilograms. The car is powered by an electric motor which the company claims produces 150kW, capable of propelling the car to a top speed of 135mph and accelerating from 0 to 62mph in just over four seconds. The iChange uses a sixspeed gearbox from the Subaru WRX. The “adaptive body” of the iChange transforms from a teardrop shape to an expanded rear end providing room for an additional two passengers. The car has no doors, but is accessed through its roof and many of the controls are operated by directly with an iPhone, including the locking systems and ignition, making keys unnecessary.

Last year, the Swiss company unveiled a submersible car, directly inspired by James Bond's Lotus in The Spy Who Loved Me. Named the sQuba, a vehicle which could dive to a depth of 10m (33ft).

The iChange was developed alongside Swiss engineering company Esoro, with whom Rinspeed have collaborated in the past on several outlandish concept vehicles, including 2004’s Rinspeed Splash, an amphibious car that transforms to become a hydrofoil on the water. l 21

TECHNOLOGY Nosheen Iqbal

CEO of Haier Pakistan Mr. Yujun Song talks to the media

l The CEO of Haier Pakistan Mr. Song while talking to the media said that Haier Group is a leading manufacturer of a wide range of world-class home appliances. Haier has grown to become a globally recognized brand name; Haier Pakistan takes ideas for its appliance from the consumers itself and believes in localizing the products.

Due to the energy crisis in Pakistan there has been a 40% decrease in purchase of home appliances. With the power shortage situation in the country the company has introduced energy-saving products in the market. Mr. Song said that the objective is to facilitate the consumers with the high quality products and solutions for their queries. Creating a work environment that inspires every lifestyle by offering the most authentic product experience to the end cosumers.

Talking about himself Mr. Song said that after getting his degree in Industrial Automation from the Shandong University of Technology he started working in the refrigeration department of 22

Haier China in July 1998. From there he went to America as Assistant Production Manager but was called back to China as Director for the refrigerator workshop. In 2000 he was assigned as the Marketing Manager in Europe but was again sent to America to overlook Production Facility Development. As the Chief Operating Officer for over-seas Business Division he trained a team of qualified Operating Managers and added the management procedure to the entire network and made it a success. In July 2007 he was made the CEO of Haier Pakistan.

Haier Pakistan has entered the local market with a commitment to help its consumers reap the benefits of modern lifestyle and to provide them world-class innovative products. Pakistan is No. 1 in producing home appliances with modern technology. Mr. Song said that Chinese brands have taken over sixty to seventy percent of the Pakistani market and very soon Haier products in Pakistan will be exported to Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.

In Pakistan Haier started working in 2002 from Lahore. Mr. Song while talking about the Pakistani economy said that even with a 170 million population the political situation in Pakistan is not stable and it affects the economy and also the international companies working in Pakistan. However, in China there is no such problem, the opportunity and security to international companies is provided for work.

Mr. Song said people in Pakistan believe in us because we inspire them and help them raise their standard of living. He added that other companies do not pay much attention on consumer preferences but Haier takes special care of consumer and because of this in the last 7 years Haier has the leading growth rate in Pakistani market. l

TECHNOLOGY Zubair Rehman

The first practical wheel was made by John Boyd Dunlop for his son's bicycle in an attempt to prevent the headaches his son had while riding on rough roads

l If Tweel is able to claim its spot in market, it will change the way we travel and help reduce environment pollution coming from the stacks of discarded old rubber tires. Even military testing has indicated that Tweel deflects mine blasts away from the vehicle better than standard tires, and remains mobile even with some of the spokes damaged or missing, providing safety for military vehicles.

Motion is a major part of our life and we see lots of destinations in our lives but due consideration is not paid to the major component that makes our traveling faster and efficient. Guess, can you guess what is that component? No? Ok, don’t give much stress to your nerves, that component is a “wheel”.

Let’s see what a wheel is and what it is capable of?

A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Common examples are found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle overcomes friction by facilitating motion by rolling.

The invention of the wheel has also been im24

April 2009

portant for technology in general, important applications include the ship's wheel, steering wheel, flywheel, water wheel, cogwheel, spinning wheel, and the astrolabe. More modern descendants of the wheel include the propeller, the jet engine and the turbine.

Most authorities regard wheel as one of the oldest and most important inventions, which originated in ancient Mesopotamia in the 5th millennium BC, originally in the function of potter's wheels.

In old times, the usage of the wheel was less frequent for transportation because roads were needed for good usage of wheeled carriages. Roads were so poor in condition that a person preferred to carry goods on his back instead of traveling through a carriage.

Let’s take a look at how the wheel has traveled and improved itself throughout all these years.

Spoked wheel Spoked wheel invented more recently and allowed the construction of swifter and

lighter vehicles. The earliest known examples are in the context of the Andronovo culture, dating to 2000 BC. A spoked wheel is the one which has number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface. Spokes can be made of wood, metal, or synthetic fiber depending on whether they will be in tension or compression.

After 1870’s major advancements in wheel industry were seen with the introduction of pneumatic wheels. Robert William Thomson invented the first pneumatic wheel and was granted patent in France in 1846. But the first practical pneumatic wheel was made by the Scot, John Boyd Dunlop, in 1887 for his son's bicycle, in an effort to prevent the headaches his son had while riding on rough roads.

A pneumatic wheel consists of a hollow belt of rubber inflated with air so that the wheels form a flexible cushion between the vehicle and the road, which smoothes out

TECHNOLOGY shock and makes for a comfortable ride.

Wire Wheels Wire Wheels, invented by Sir George Cayley, are an example of pneumatic tires. The rims of wire wheels are connected to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are generally stiffer than a typical wire rope, they function mechanically the same as tensioned flexible wires, keeping the rim true while supporting applied loads. Sports and racing cars often had wire wheels but after 1960’s aluminum alloy wheels took the place of wire wheels. But wire wheels are still used.

“

The Tweel is an experimental tire design currently in development that uses no air and therefore cannot burst or become flat.

If this technology is able to claim its spot in the market in coming years, then it will be able to change the way we travel

”

Airless tires Airless tires (non-pneumatic) are not supported by air pressure and are used on some small vehicles such as riding lawn mowers and motorized golf carts. Tires composed of closed-cell polyurethane foam are also made for bicycles and wheelchairs. The main advantage of airless tires is that they cannot go flat, but they are far less common than pneumatic tires.

Airless tires generally have higher rolling friction and provide much less suspension than similarly shaped and sized pneumatic tires.

Other problems that have plagued airless tires include dissipating the heat buildup that occurs when they are driven. Airless tires are often filled with compressed polymers (plastic), rather than air.

Crocodile tires Crocodile tires are a new type of airless (solid) tire designed specifically for industrial machines such as skid steer loaders, drill rigs and shotcrete machines. Crocodile tires provide an excellent cushioned ride and provide a considerable weight saving.

Run-flat tire A run-flat tire is a pneumatic vehicle tire that is designed to resist the effects of deflation when punctured, and to enable the vehicle to continue to be driven at reduced speeds (up to 90 km/h or 55 mph), and for limited distances of up to 100 miles (160.9 km), or even 200 miles (321.8 km) depending on the type of tire. First patented in 1892, run-flat tires were re-developed in 1978 and offered as an option in the 1990s mainly for two-seat

sports cars with little room for spare tires and jacks. They have grown in popularity for other vehicles, such as high-end luxury cars, because of their safety and conveniences, costing only double the price of sports tires.

Tweel Tire industry was very much satisfied with their inventions until Michelin, World’s second largest tire manufacturer; spoke of a breakthrough in tire technology known as “Tweel”.

The Tweel is an experimental tire design currently in development that uses no air and therefore cannot burst or become flat. The Tweel consists of a cable-reinforced band of conventional "tire" rubber with molded tread, a shear band just below the tread that creates a compliant contact patch, and a series of energy-absorbing polyurethane spokes.

The rectangular spokes can be designed to have a range of stiffness, so engineers can control how the Tweel handles loads. The inner hub contains a matrix of deformable plastic structures that flex under load and return to their original shape. By varying the thickness and size of the spokes, Michelin can generate a wide array of ride and handling qualities. The tread can be as specialized as any of today's tires and is replaceable when worn.

The Tweel prototype first demonstrated on an Audi A4, is within five percent of both the rolling resistance and mass levels of current pneumatic tires which means the fuel economy should be within one percent of the OE fitment. Additionally, the test tire on the demonstration Audi has lateral stiffness five times that of the OE tire, providing exceptionally responsive handling.

Above 50 mph, the Tweel vibrates considerably which is a big problem, that’s why the first commercial applications will be in lowerspeed, lower-weight vehicles such as wheelchairs, scooters, and other such devices.

If this technology is able to claim its spot in the market in the coming years, then it will be able to change the way we travel and will also help reduce environment pollution coming from the stacks of discarded old rubber tires. Military testing has indicated that the Tweel deflects mine blasts away from the vehicle better than standard tires, and that Tweel remains mobile even with some of the spokes damaged or missing, so it will provide safety for military vehicles. l April 2009

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TECHNOLOGY More Team

Fifth generation fighter, fly at high speed (supersonic), jams enemy radars, hard to catch and has state of the art technologies that a pilot can imagine l Since the beginning of time, man has fought and sacrificed lives for his country and the pride of his nation. Brave warrior is not only respected and acclaimed by his friends but also by his foes. Armies always try to hit their enemies hard while trying to save as many of their trained men as possible during a combat. This can greatly be done by making oneself invisible in front of the enemy. That is when the idea of stealth came into existence.

Countries have fought and won with superior military weaponry. And to save one’s own skies, one has to equip one’s air force with much advanced weapons and aircrafts. Keeping this in mind, several advancements in aeronautics were made in the past. And the current era is definitely said to be the era of “Stealth”.

A stealth aircraft makes use of stealth technology that makes it harder to be detected by radar and other means than a conventional aircraft by employing a combination of features to reduce visibility in the visual, audio, infrared and radio frequency (RF) spectrum.

The advancement in stealth aircraft was made possible using a mathematical model by a Russian Scientist, Petr Ufimtsev. Using this model, a computer program Echo 1 was developed.

Using this echo1 program in 1975, scientists at Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Program found that an aircraft made with faceted surfaces could have a very low radar signature because the surfaces would radiate almost all of the radar energy away from the receiver.

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April 2009

The first stealth aircraft Horten Ho 229 was made by Germans at the end of World War II. But the first successful stealth aircraft, which showed its real power in the battle, was F-117 Night Hawk. The first combat use of stealth aircraft was in December 1989 during “Operation Just Cause” where two USAF F-117s bombed a Panamanian defense Force Barracks in Rio Hato in Panama. It has done many successful operations since it gained commission in US Air force in 1983 and retired in 2008. The stealthies to replace it are F22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning-II that are much faster and are able to engage an enemy in a dog fight as well as they are capable of ground attacks and go supersonic with and without afterburners.

A stealth aircraft is made with focus on minimal Radar Cross Section (RCS) which made its design very unstable aerodynamically in both wings and nose axes, during the flight computer performs calculations on both wing tips and nose section to keep it stable. This computer system is known as fly-by-wire. Recently, stealth aircrafts comes with afterburners that leave minute infrared heat signals, which makes it difficult for a heat seeking missile to locate and destroy it.

Early stealth aircrafts were made for ground attacks only but the recent aircrafts can engage the enemy in a dog fight as well. A lot of electronic equipment, placed inside a stealth aircraft, makes it vulnerable to the passive de-

tection. Counter stealth radars such as Tamara and Kolchuga are able to detect an aircraft very easily. Not only this, stealth aircrafts are highly detectable before, during and after the use of their weapons. A fully stealth aircraft carries weapons internally and when the weapon bay is opened, an old radar can easily detect it, this problem is tackled in F-22 Raptor which drops weapons on target and comes to its base in seconds.

Stealth aircrafts are made with Radar Absorbent Skins (RAS) that make it undetectable by enemy radar. RAS are very sensitive to extreme heat, rain and moisture. If detected, a single bullet from enemy plane can destroy a plane worth of billions.

CONCLUSION: The heat is on between the super powers of the world to gain the crown of best stealth jet.

The United States with its F22 Raptor, UK with Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia with Sukhoi PAK FA52, Japan with Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin and China with Shenyang J-XX project claim to master the skies with their self claimed superior technology used in their stealthies. Let’s wait and see who will come out as a winner in this race of superior weaponry.

Reference: http://www.ireference.ca/search/stealth%20 aircraft/ l

TECHNOLOGY Alina

l The hype in searching new planets like Earth has been on the rise since the launch of the first shuttle into space as man believes that the universe around us may contain planets where extraterrestrial life can exist. Now, the planets, which could not even be seen, can be discovered with the most advanced and sophisticated space technology for truths.

The long-standing dream of discovering universe would be realized with NASA’s $600 million Kepler telescope, which has recently been sent in the universe. This telescope will help unveil the mystery of universe.

The telescope is named after Johannes Kepler, a 17th-century German astronomer who studied planetary motion. This telescope is designed to search 100,000 stars in the Milky Way of Earth-sized rocky planets where water could flow and form streams, lakes and oceans.

Astronomers at NASA believe that the spacecraft could eventually find about 50 Earth-like planets.

William Borucki, Leader of Kepler Science Team at NASA’s Ames Research Center said, “If we find that many, it will certainly mean life may well be common throughout our galaxy.”

He observed, “On the other hand, if we don’t find any, that is still a profound discovery, it will mean that Earth must be very rare. We may be the only life in our universe.”

This quest is not as fanciful as it seems to be.

In 1994, astronomers at NASA first discovered a planet outside our solar system and up till now, they have identified about 340 more of them.

Even, Hubble Space Telescope with its sophisticated technology is not able to detect something as small as Earth at great distances.

The discoveries made with telescopes have detected small wobbles in the movement of stars, which astronomers attribute to the grav-

itational tug of unseen planets.

Most of the planets discovered are so large in size that Jupiter looks tiny in front of them and even some of them are three to four time larger than Jupiter while some are circling their stars so closely that their surface temperatures are predicted much higher for life.

A new planet Exo-7b was discovered by French scientists that is the second planet circling the Exo-7 star; and is about 390 light years away from Earth.

Although Exo-7b is two times larger than our home planet yet it is very similar to Earth. But Exo-7b orbits so close to its sun that the planet’s surface temperatures are predicted around 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists believe that Exo-7b is covered in molten lava or is a steamy world that is half rock, half water vapor.

Exo-7b was discovered by the Corot, an Earth-orbiting telescope that France launched six years ago. But, NASA’s larger Kepler spacecraft promises to do better.

Kepler telescope has a field of view 20 times larger than Corot’s, and it is designed to circle around the sun on a course that trails the Earth.

The path permits the telescope to aim at the constellations Cygnus and Lyra, a field of view that will not be blocked by our sun or moon.

Measuring light Kepler is designed as a large light meter that does not photograph stars. It detects small variations in the brightness of a distant stars when a planet as small as Neptune makes a crossing, or transit.

Kepler Telescope is highly-sensitive to light variations. It has the power of detecting a dip in illumination as slight as caused when a mosquito buzzes in front of a car’s headlight.

The spacecraft’s field of view is large enough to view 100,000 stars, astronomers can calculate the masses of planets and the frequency of their passage, factors that indicate how closely they resemble the Earth by measuring the changes in illumination of the stars, ranging from 30 to 10,000 light years away, “Kepler,” said Jon Morse, NASA’s top astrophysicist, “will push back the boundaries of the unknown in our patch of the Milky Way galaxy. And its findings may fundamentally alter humanity’s view of itself.”

LOOKING FOR LIFE The Kepler space telescope is designed to search for Earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy. Its main features include; Length: 15 feet Weight: 2,300 pounds Science team: 35 astronomers Control Center: University of Colorado Developed by: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California Cost: $600 million Length of mission: At least 3½ years April 2009

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TECHNOLOGY More Team

Blue Earth is made out of recycled plastic extracted from water bottles l The need of the hour is to save the environment. Everyone should contribute in some way to protect the earth. Many people around us are unaware of the term global warming and its effect on the planet earth.

But those who know its effects are trying to contribute their share to help sustaining the environment. Samsung in this regard has stepped forward and introduced Blue Earth, an eco-friendly mobile phone.

Samsung Blue Earth Eco Touchscreen Smartphone is one such product and it is a solarpowered full touch-screen handset. Shaped like a round shiny pebble, this mobile phone has a solar panel fitted at the back of the phone. This smart phone is made out of recycled plastic that is extracted from water bottles, thereby reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions during the manufacturing process.

On the back of the Samsung Blue Earth, you’ll find a solar panel designed to harness the sun’s energy and pump it into the battery.

The Samsung Blue Earth features an “eco” mode which adjusts screen brightness, there’s easy access to controls for screen brightness and backlight duration, as well as an energy-efficient Bluetooth mode, so that you can save power. It even features an ‘eco walk’ function that uses a built-in pedometer to show you by how much walking, instead of driving, reduces CO2 emissions.

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To add more to its eco-friendly resume, this smart phone and its charger, both are fabricated from substances like Brominated Flame Retardents, Phthalate and Beryllium, all of which are free from harmful substances.

Samsung is also keen to point out that the Samsung Blue Earth’s packaging is made from recycled paper and the charger uses less than 0.03W in standby mode. This all sounds great and I just can’t wait to see it in the market soon. l

IT More Team

The Sony Digital Book Reader will handle PDFs, but offers only two font sizes small and medium. The eSlick comes with menu options to change the font of a PDF to a size of 12, 18, 24, 30 or 36 pixels l Foxit Software is challenging Amazon.com and Sony by developing an e-book reader that quickly and accurately renders widely-used PDF files.

Foxit eSlick device was displayed last month at the Cebit trade show. This is Foxit's first venture into hardware industry. Foxit is known for its Fast PDF Reader/Technology that is lightweight and fast. It is used for viewing PDF (Portable Document Format) files on PC and mobile, a format created by Adobe Systems and adopted as an international standard in July 2008.

The previous work in software technology gives Foxit an edge on its competitors, since some users have complained about how Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Digital Book Reader handle PDFs. The eSlick's software is based on the company's desktop and mobile applications, which Foxit President Eugene Y Xiong said had been developed with an emphasis on a small, high-performing code base.

Xiong said, “Emphasizing PDF performance has other advantages, as it's an easy way for publishers to get their content on an e-reader. For a lot of publishers, PDF is a standard format if they want to print books, magazines or newspapers. Printers only accept a PDF version. It's kind of natural for them to publish an ebook."

A user of Kindle 2 has to email a PDF as well as other file types such as Microsoft Word “.txt” to Amazon inorder to view them on their Kindle 2. Amazon also warns that complex PDFs may still not render right on the Kindle 2, their latest version.

"PDF is the richest kind of format," Xiong said, adding, "If you convert a PDF to some other kind of document, you are going to lose some information."

The Sony Digital Book Reader will handle PDFs, but offers only two font size small and medium. The eSlick comes with menu options to change the font of a PDF to size 12, 18, 24, 30 or 36 pixels.

Aside from PDF performance, the eSlick is far behind its competitors in many ways, and Xiong admits that the hardware even

in the latest version is "very limited." It has no Wi-Fi or other connectivity and no keyboard. But it does have an MP3 player.

Foxit sold out 1,000 devices through its website in January, mostly to customers in the US, Xiong said. Foxit is taking preorders on its website with a US$15 deposit, for another 1,000 eSlick.

But Xiong said Foxit would add wireless connectivity to the eSlick; adding that the wireless chip was easy, but the software had to be developed to run it. Also, a wireless chip should not add too much to the eSlick's price, currently $259.99.

“Foxit is also working with hardware manufacturers to come up with different eSlick models, which could in the future include a trackball for navigation as well as a keyboard, Xiong said. A new device will likely come out before the end of the year,” he maintained.

The problem right now is the eSlick's grayscale screen, which shows text by reflecting light. There's no backlight. Since only E Ink makes the screen, there's a four to six-week lead time to get more screens, which has held up production, Xiong said, adding, “Foxit is out of stock now; Amazon was held up by similar delays.”

An update has been made to the eSlick's software by Foxit. The device will now hibernate after a page is displayed, which extends battery life. Xiong further stated that the battery would last for about 7,000 page turns. The eSlick uses an embedded Linux operating system and a Samsung S3C2440 400 Mhz processor designed by Arm. The eSlick has 128MB of internal memory. PDF as well as text documents can be loaded on it via 2GB SD (Secure Digital) card, which is included with the device. It also has a USB 2.0 port.

As Foxit develops the eSlick further, Xiong foresees giving Amazon and others a run for their money, providing an alternate way for publishers to sell their content directly to consumers.

"We've already been contacted by a number of independent content providers, not only e-book sellers but also publishers and magazines," Xiong said. l 29

IT Halima Qureshi

Windows 7 Beta installs much faster than Windows Vista and the time taken by Windows installation was not more than 20 minutes, compared to the 45 minutes installation time of Vista

l Recently, Microsoft made its Windows 7 Beta available to public, online. Been a Microsoft fan and windows user for a decade, it was uncontrollable for me not to download it and use it. So, I installed this freshly-baked Windows on my Macbook and the results were remarkable.

The installation process has also been streamlined into five steps. But for Windows 7 Key, I had to spend some time on the web and in the end, I was able to get a key.

During its first run after installation, I found it very delighting that Windows 7 is much faster than Windows Vista in several ways.

It has faster boot timings, more memoryefficient and the result is a very smooth experience. Microsoft even claims that Windows 7 even supports netbooks.

Any user seeing Windows 7 for the first time will not notice many enhancements, which are mostly under the hood. The most obvious difference is the change in cosmetics from its previous generation; a 30

newly-designed task bar is introduced. This taskbar may be confusing for some users.

The new taskbar works somewhat like the Dock in Apple Mac OS X. Applications can be launched through shortcuts that you drag onto the taskbar, which now also includes icons of running applications. In Vista, you only get the preview of running application by placing your mouse over it but now, you can get even the preview of those applications that are not running.

A new feature Jump Lists is introduced in Windows 7. What it does is to embed some functionality of an application within the app launcher. For Windows Live Messenger, for example, you can set your online status with the Jump List by right-clicking on its icon on the taskbar. In Internet Explorer 8, you’ll get a list of previously visited websites.

Application developers have to develop applications that support Jump Lists, otherwise you’ll only get a default list of tasks: open an app or close it. You can also

bring up a Jump List by holding on to the left mouse button and dragging the mouse cursor upwards over an icon on the taskbar.

In Windows 7, if you click on the icon of an app that’s already running, the running application window will be minimized instead of throwing a warning that “Another Instance of this Application is Already Running”. If you want to launch another new window, you need to use the Jump List, which is not exactly the most intuitive thing to do.

Microsoft has also redesigned the Windows notifications tray to make it look less cluttered especially if you run many applications in the background. You have three options with regards to notifications: show icon and notifications, hide icon and notifications, or only show notifications. That means power users would now have to do manually-enabled items in the notification tray to see what’s consuming their system resources.

IT

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After Windows 7 Beta, Microsoft seems to have addressed the performance and system resource allocation issues that were found in windows previous versions.

Windows 7 Beta appears to be more stable and smoother than Vista

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“Aero Peek” vertical bar is placed on the right edge of the notification tray that displays an outline of open windows and gadgets on your desktop once you place your mouse over it. Not sure how useful this will be to people who don’t run gadgets. But if you click on the bar, the desktop shows up, thus acting like the Show Desktop icons in previous versions of Windows.

Connecting to a network is also improved in Windows 7 which is seeing the debut of Homegroups. Now you can assign a password to your Homegroup, and other PCs can simply join the network using the same password to access shared documents, but the basic flaw which I came across in this was that all PCs need to run Windows 7, leaving older Windows machines out of the party.

Now annoying popup windows (introduced in Vista) can be controlled with User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7.

Now you will not be bugged every second by popup window asking you for administrative permissions. But, Microsoft doesn’t recommend doing that lest you have rogue programs lurking around in your PC that you’re unaware of.

After Windows 7 Beta, Microsoft seems to have addressed the performance and system resource allocation issues that were found in windows previous versions. Win-

dows 7 Beta appears to be more stable and smoother than Vista, maybe some people will not like the new taskbar.

Taskbar doesn’t necessarily reduce the number of mouse clicks to switch to a running application.

In Windows Live Messenger, you have to drag mouse over the Messenger icon to switch to an open chat window. Before the use of icons, you could simply switch to the open chat window right away from the taskbar.

How to Get Your Windows 7 Beta Product Key Simply follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/betadownload.aspx l Login with your Hotmail id. l Select a key for 32 bit or 64 bit version.

(I recommend that you use 64 bit key as it is for both 32 and 64 bit versions.) l After filling out the form, a verification email will be sent to you on your email address. l Follow the verification link sent to you on your email and you will be redirected to the page on which the activation key will be given to u. l The activation key will look something l

l

The Adamo by Dell has arrived. In what Dell has hyped as the world’s thinnest laptop, the Adamo kicks off a new “Adamo by Dell” brand, intended for style-minded people and to disrupt “perceptions of what personal computing is today,” the company said in a statement. Unsaid was that it seeks to unseat the Apple MacBook Air as the pinnacle of design, sophistication—and thinness.

The Adamo is milled from a single piece of aluminum and features a scalloped backlit keyboard and a glass high-definition edge-to-edge display, measuring 13.4 inches by 16.9 inches. Connectivity is available via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and optional integrated mobile broadband. Users can choose between Onyx or Pearl, as well as a 250GB or 500GB external hard drive; an external DVD+/-RW or Blu-ray disk drive. Adamo offers 5-plus hours of battery life, and pricing begins at (Rs. 160,719) $1,999 and rises to (Rs. 216,999) $2,699, with the inclusion of mobile broadband and a 1.4GHz Intel Core Duo processor over a 1.2GHz processor and 4GB of 800MHz DDR3 dual-channel memory.

Adamo weighs 4 pounds, is 0.65 inches thick and measures 13.03 by 9.5 inches.

By comparison, the Apple MacBook Air, with a 13.3-inch diagonal display, weighs 3 pounds and measures .76 by 8.94 by 12.8 inches. It was introduced in January of 2008.

Similarly, the Lenovo ThinkPad x301, released in August 2008, has a 13.3-inch display, weighs 3.9 pounds with its adapter and measures 0.7 by 9.1 by 12.5 inches. Statements about Adamo from Dell nod to the ideas of creating a design that’s timeless and evokes emotion—and that Adamo will be a flagship product, drawing buyers to the brand. Derived from Latin, Adamo means “to fall in love”— a very ancient name for a device Dell is betting its future on. l

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IT Saba Asghar Ali

It may sound old to say that new iMacs are better in speed and performance than its predecessors. But there are significant speed gains in this new generation. Let’s start with the fastest iMac, the 3.06GHz 24-inch iMac l Apple is known for the tradition of introducing its iMac updates once per calendar year. The new iMacs replace models that were released 10 months ago, which is an eternity in technology. And before that, there was an 8-month gap between iMac updates. Fortunately, the new iMacs feature significant changes that result in a performance boost.

Changes inside The third generation of the aluminum iMac’s design is not that much changed since its arrival in 2007. The old features like, grey bezel, black Apple logos on front and back, the aluminum stand, the matte black plastic rear, are all there with the big glossy screen—much to the sorrow of anti-glare proponents. And there’s no anti-glare option avail32

IT

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The brain of System is also improved with a Core 2 Duo processor.

The processor’s speeds started at 2.66GHz, and included 2.93GHz and 3.06GHz. Previously, iMac processor’s speeds started at 2.4GHz, and included 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, and a built-to-order 3.06GHz

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able.

Apple offers three 24-inch models and only one 20-inch iMac. The iMacs come with TFT active-matrix LCDs. The 20-inch LCD resolution is 1,680 by 1,050 pixels, and comes with a 6-bit color display mode that achieves millions of colors by dithering, like the previous 20-inch iMac display. The new 20-inch iMac, when viewed at an angle, shows color and contrast shifts, like the previous display. But the current display is much brighter than the old 20-inch iMac display. The 24-inch LCD has resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels and has 8-bit color display mode that looks good at an angle.

The brain of System is also improved with a Core 2 Duo processor. The processor’s speeds started at 2.66GHz, and included 2.93GHz and 3.06GHz. Previously, iMac processor’s speeds started at 2.4GHz, and included 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, and a built-to-order 3.06GHz. The Front Side Bus, used in communications between the processor and system memory is just like old 1,066MHz, but with DDR3 RAM not like DDR2 RAM in the previous iMac versions. This will greatly increase the performance of current MACs than its predecessor.

2GB DDR3 RAM is introduced in the 20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz, and 4GB DDR3 RAM is introduced in the other three 24-inch models.

Hard Disk Drive capacity is also increased from 250GB to 320GB drives in the entry-level iMac. The high-end iMac has a 1TB drive, and the two models in between have 640GB drives.

The iMacs now use Nvidia chipset instead of ATI for graphics. The two 2.66GHz-based iMacs use Nvidia’s GeForce 9400M, which share 256MB of memory with the CPU. The 2.93GHz iMac uses Nvidia’s GeForce GT 120 and the 3.06GHz iMac uses Nvidia’s GeForce GT 130; these two iMacs have 256MB and 512MB of dedicated video memory respectively. For artists and designers, and of course gamers, that means better performance for their graphics-intensive apps.

Apple has made two major changes to the rear ports and one to the keyboard. Firstly, it has replaced FireWire 400 port with an additional USB 2.0 port, increasing the total number of USB ports on back to four. The FireWire 800 port is still there, so you can use a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 adapter cable to connect your FireWire 400-based peripherals. The second change is that the mini-DVI port for connecting an external display has been replaced by a Mini Display Port. You can connect a DVI-equipped display by using—you guessed it—an adapter, like Apple’s Mini Display Port to DVI ($29).

The third final major change is with the keyboard. The standard configurations now come with a compact wired keyboard that doesn’t have a numeric keypad, or the home/end/page up/page down/delete group of buttons. The full-sized keyboard is also available as a customization option at no additional cost.

Performance It may sound old to say that new iMacs are better in speed and performance than its predecessors. But there are significant speed gains in this new generation. Let’s start with the fastest iMac, the 3.06GHz 24-inch iMac; it posted an overall speed mark score that was 24 points that was eight percent higher than the previous 24-inch iMac with the same 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo processor. The new entry-level iMac, a 2.66GHz 20-inch model, had a speed mark score that was 26 points higher 11 percent than the previous entrylevel model, a 2.4GHz 20-inch iMac. The new 2.66GHz 24-inch iMac doesn’t simply offer a bigger screen, more RAM than its predecessor and a larger hard drive of 640GB than the entry-level 2.66GHz 20-inch iMac, which has 320HDD and has the same processor speed. The 2.66GHz 24-inch iMac posted a speed mark score that was 14 points (five percent) higher than the 2.66GHz 20-inch model.

There’s not a big price difference between the high-end 3.06GHz iMac and the 2.93GHz iMac. Looking at the speed mark score, there’s only an 11-point difference between the two iMacs. But the key difference between the two is the graphics card; the 3.06GHz iMac has a 512MB Nvidia GeForce GT 130, while the 2.93GHz iMac has a 256MB Nvidia GeForce GT 120. The 3.06GHz iMac posted seven more frames per second (11 33

IT Zain Zahid

New iPod shuffle, left, in comparison to older iPod shuffle on right.

l

Recent advancement in flash memory increased storage capacity and small size has made it possible for the makers of MP3 players to introduce much smaller versions every season.

Apple has introduced the new iPod shuffle. Slightly larger than the AAA size batteries and half the size of its predecessor, it is one of the smallest to hit the market.

Its skin is made of anodized aluminum with a stainless steel clip at the back. The new iPod Shuffle looks like a tiny USB drive and clips on easily to your clothes or bag.

The colors currently available are silver or black that easily match to most clothing styles, situations and events. iPod Shuffle is designed for everyday rugged use but it is not waterproof. Make sure it is not washed with your 34

clothes in the laundry.

The shuffle comes with an amazing storage of up to 1000 songs with its 4GB of memory. To better navigate the tunes you have stored in Shuffle Apple has now enabled the new iPod Shuffle to speak to you.

By pressing and holding the centre button on the iPod Shuffle's earphone controls, a user can hear the MP3 player and read the name of the song they are playing, and the artiste performing it.

To get the iPod Shuffle up and running, you will have to download iTunes 8.1, Apple's latest update for the software. With the voice over function, this little piece now enables users to upload more than one playlist and one can scroll through the playlists quite easily with the controllers on the earphones.

All controls are executed through the earphone's controllers. Controls are very easy to understand and execute. For example, clicking twice will bring you to the next song, while clicking thrice will play the previous song.

One big problem with iPod Shuffle is the dependence on the earphone controls though, is that it will lose all of its functions except for Shuffle, Loop and Off should one use their own earphones instead of ones made by Apple.

Apple always brings the most innovative and tiniest gadgets that a user can imagine. Until later release by Apple, it is the sleekest and performance-oriented gadget yet. l

IT Awais Waheed

l Race for luxury laptops are at the peak these days. Every company is introducing new laptops with so many latest features to make their competitors staying behind. Little more than a year after the launch of the MacBook Air, Dell introduced its new laptop.

This calls for another look at the notebook versus netbook argument, the computer equivalent of bourgeoisie versus proletariat.

In this case, let’s consider Air versus Asus.

Lightweight luxury laptops have been around for a while but Apple changed this concept with introduction of its 13-inch light-andwide MacBook Air Lightweight luxury laptop.

This is definitely the age of head-turning, ultra-thin designs. Some of the sleekest designs of this age are HP Voodoo Envy 133, and the ThinkPad X300.

Now the Dell has embraced the ultra-thin age with the introduction of its Dell Adamo.

The Adamo soars along with Apple's Air in the rarefied pricing altitudes of Rs. 144,729 to Rs. 217,134.

While Asus and Acer offer portability for a lot less with its working class laptops. Though both companies offer expensive laptops too but they are known for their inexpensive netbooks: the Eee PC and Aspire One, respectively. These typically fall into the sub-Rs. 40,225range.

Dell's entry into the luxury laptop market was replete with all the trappings of a high-end product rollout, including a lavish, overdone Adamo Web site. While viewing the site, this question comes to mind: Is the Adamo meant more as a Dell showcase item or meant for sale.

Juxtapose this with what's happening in the netbook space: inconspicuous but slow-andsteady creep into a higher-performance bracket. This trend is being driven by better Intel graphics (the GN40 is now capable of 720p HD video), with some netbook designers entertaining the idea of adding even higher-performance Nvidia graphics. Reports also claim that the Atom processor will be ratcheted up to 2.0GHz. Will one design philosophy eventually prevail? Gravitating to a sweet-spot somewhere in the middle?

Let's do a little comparison shopping.

Dell Adamo l l l l l l l l l

$1,999 (Dell Web site) 4 pounds 13.4-inch screen 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo Intel GS45 Integrated Graphics Internal optical drive: no Wi-Fi 802.11n wireless 128GB solid-state drive One-year warranty

Asus Eee PC (1002HA) l $430 (PC Connection) l 2.6 pounds l 10.2-inch screen

1.6GHz Atom processor Intel 945GSE-based graphics Internal optical drive: no Wi-Fi 802.11n wireless 160GB hard disk drive One-year warranty And no price comparison would be complete without the MacBook Air. l l l l l l

Apple MacBook Air $1,799 (Apple Web site) 3 pounds 13.3-inch screen 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics Internal optical drive: no Wi-Fi 802.11n wireless 120GB hard disk drive One-year warranty My take: The Apple MBA and Dell Adamo are compelling designs with larger screens, faster processors, better graphics, and more advanced storage options than Asus and Acer.

But they are not the best netbooks in some important respects: First and foremost, portability--netbooks win here--plus, wireless options are essentially identical; battery life is a toss-up; higher-capacity storage is available on netbooks; and running everyday applications are not necessarily that much faster on luxury laptops. l l l l l l l l l l

35

IT M. A. Farooq J.

Print Speed (BLACK) ) Print Speed(COLOR ck Print Resolution, bla lor Print Resolution Co Monthly Duty Cycle Connectivity

Processor speed Memory g Compatible Operatin Systems

l

Up to 22 ppm Up to 18 ppm Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi computer rendered d dpi Up to 4800 optimize i dp 00 color and 12 Upto 500 pages (1.0), 1 USB (2.0), 1 USB ry 1 PictBridge, 2 Memo oth, HP eto Blu 1 ts, slo d car 802.11 b/g Wireless 274A Printer Adapter Q6 192 MHz 32 MB Standard Windows 2000; sional Windows XP Profes R); x64; Windows Vista( c OS Ma 9; .3.

10 v X Mac OS lm Pa r; he X v 10.4 or hig e for OS; Windows Mobil Pocket PC

Hewlett-Packard recently released its Officejet H470wbt Mobile Series Printer, an update to its line of portable inkjet printers.

Based on a similar technology to HPs dedicated photo printers, but with a separate black cartridge as well as the tri-color one, the OfficeJet H470 can run from mains or battery and through USB, Bluetooth or WiFi. The Officejet H470wbt is compact and only slightly smaller than a normal desktop printer in matte black finish, measuring 3.25 inches in height, 13.4 inches in width, and 6.45 inches in depth. Aesthetically, a

36

user really enjoys the design of the H470wbt. The corners are contoured and the flaps all neatly folded into the body. At 4.5 pounds, it's portable enough to fit into a carry-on bag or a briefcase. There are a total of three models available in this series and the most expensive model in the series also includes a protective sleeve made of vinyl with cutouts for the various ports, but there's no handle or a place to store the cables. HP has removed an IrDA port from the H470s, but if you want to travel without wires, you can also purchase an 802.11 b/g adapter from HP (not in-

cluded in the series). To accommodate this option, HP built a network switch onto the back of the unit that's useful for people who constantly travel between their home, office, and remote networks. The printer has all the necessary ports, like PictBridge USB, standard USB, and a SD/miniSD/MMC slot.

The H470wbt's top cover pops open to reveal the paper input. The feeder can only hold 50 sheets of paper. The H470wbt uses two ink cartridges, one of black ink and another that is tri-color cartridge. HP offers one compatible black inkjet cartridge

IT More Team

l ATI has always been clear about its strategy regarding the HD 4800-series – it initially launched its single GPU HD 4850 and HD 4870 cards and then released its dual-GPU ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 card to address the ultra-high performance end of the market.

We got a chance to test this graphics card, the first thing which we noted is that HD 4870 X2 card has a phenomenal 2GB of GDDR5 memory on board, both of its GPUs are clocked at 1.8GHz separately. The GPUs of the HD 4870 X2 are pretty much the same as that of HD 4870. Both chips on the new X2 have 800 stream processors and the GPUs run at 750MHz. We selected two games for testing on HD 4870 X2 card: l Crysis was played at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 with 4 x AA the HD 4870 X2 maintained a 26fps minimum frame rate and an average frame rate of 36fps on our test rig. A single HD 4870 can only manage a minimum frame rate of 11fps that is far less than half than that of the HD 4870 X2.

l Armed Assault was played at a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 with a minimum frame rate increasing to 27fps. A single HD 4870 can only manage a 20fps minimum at this resolution while two HD 4870s in CrossFire only produce a 23fps minimum at 1,680 x 1,050.

During these tests, we found that HD 4870 X2 drew 521W so ATI's claims that the new card draws less voltage are true. We should also point out that the card creates a prodigious amount of heat as the air around the test PC was noticeably hotter. The metal plates on the rear of the HD 4870 X2 were painfully hot to touch even after relatively short periods of gaming.

There's no denying that ATI has really pulled out the stops to make the HD 4870 X2 competitive on performance though, which is a refreshing to change to the negativity surrounding the HD 3870 X2.

The card is blisteringly fast in most of our test games, Crysis and Armed assault performed well with it.l 37

IT More Team

Sweet Home 3D 1.7 Sweet Home 3D is an interior design Java application that helps you design your interior quickly and easily: draw the walls of your home upon the image of an existing plan, change the color or the texture of each room, and drag and drop furniture onto the plan from a catalog organized by categories (windows, doors, living room, kitchen), in which you can import 3D models created by yourself or downloaded from various websites. All the changes made in the 2D plan are simultaneously reflected in a 3D view, and you can navigate in it either from an aerial view point, or from a virtual visitor view point. Finally, you can improve your home plan by adding dimensions and texts to it, print it along with the 3D view, and export to OBJ format the objects of the 3D view to import them in other 3D software. Sweet Home 3D is available in English, and many other languages. To download its latest version visit: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sweethome3d/download

DVDStyler 1.7.2 SDVDStyler is a cross-platform free DVD authoring application that makes possible for video enthusiasts to create professional-looking DVDs. It comes with a user-friendly drag and drop interface. Using this software, you can now create and burn a DVD video with interactive menus. It supports AVI, MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, Xvid, MP2, MP3, AC-3 and other audio and video formats. It allows you to create flexible menu creation. Now placement of buttons, text, images and other graphic objects can be done anywhere on the menu screen. To download this free software, visit this link: http://www.dvdstyler.de/index.php?option=com_content&vie w=article&id=50&Itemid=57&lang=en

Folder Access Pro 2 Folder Access Pro is a new security tool that lets you lock your files and folders with your personal password. Now nobody but you can access your most sensitive information. Locking folders and files also effectively protects you from malicious programs such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. All you have to do is drag the file or folder you want to lock to the Folder Access Pro window. Visit http://www.brothersoft.com/folder-access-pro-68371.html to download this software.

doPDF 6.2 PDF file Converter doPDF is a free software to convert your documents into PDF files. Using this software, you can very easily convert documents to searchable PDF files from any Windows application. It installs as a printer driver and helps you generate the PDF files by simply selecting the "print" command from any application. Using this you can convert your Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, AutoCad drawings, company's reports, contracts, workflows, agreements, marketing plans, forms, products list, price list, charts and emails or web pages. The resulted PDF files can be viewed on any computer with a PDF reader installed. doPDF has features that allows you to modify the paper size, modify the resolution , change page orientation from portrait to landscape and vice versa, change the quality settings and lots more stuff. To download this software visit this link: http://download.cnet.com/doPDF-Free-PDF-Converter/300010743_4-10648880.html 38

ENERGY Lee Bun Yeoul

l Great efforts are being put by major advanced countries to introduce plastic products that are easily “bio-degradable” to help reduce environmental pollution.

Korean government has introduced its "green growth" strategy to promote a green economy.

These days, most of the metal items are now made with plastic, instead of iron. The major benefits of using plastic include its lightness, easier processing, and other superior properties. Most of the plastics melt at a lower temperature than metals, enabling the construction of a variety of goods such as films and molded articles. About 200 million tons of plastics are produced globally on annual basis. The annual sales of polymers amount worldwide to several hundred billion dollars.

All of the plastics are produced using fossilfuel feedstock. About 2.5 billion tons (approx) of fossil-derived carbon is removed from surface and sub-surface sources each year. About 54 percent of this carbon is used to generate energy and 35 percent is used in vehicle fuel. The chemicals industry uses 12 percent of carbon. Six percent carbon is used as raw materials for syntheses and the other six percent is used to generate processing energy. As many as 90 percent carbon is converted to polymers that are extracted from fossil feedstock.

The countless of polymers that has been commercialized is essential to our daily life.

Plastics are classified by a recycling code: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low density polyethylene (LDPE), 40

ATP’s 4GB USB flash d of corn a t the world rive next to an ear ’s fair, the C eBIT in Ha biggest high tech nover. The the drive is made o casing of f bio-recy manufactu c led plastic red from c orn

polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and many others. Thousand kinds of plastics are produced every year and are sorted carefully before recycling because one type of plastic cannot be mixed with a different type when they are melted.

In plastic industry, a popular phrase nowadays is "sustainable development". Sustainable development means to develop that product which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Principle 1 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which was adopted by more than 170 governments in June 1992 proclaims: "Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable devel-

opment. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature." The main focus of interest these days is on the conservation and management of resources, to which the scientists will have to make a considerable contribution. To balance economic, environmental and societal responsibilities, sustainable development has been increasingly accepted as a prudent business strategy. Important aspects of environmental responsibility are the use of natural resources and the disposal of waste. So we must be careful to select a polymer, choose one which gives less energy loss and produces less waste which is an inherent property of a polymer. High density polythene, low density polythene, polypropylene, and polystyrene

ENERGY

“

One suspicious plastic in this regard is polycarbonate, which is used for a variety of products including compact discs, containers for water, other beverages and food, and even nursing bottles

�

deserve to be called "green" because they are produced energy-efficiently with a very low waste generation. On the other hand, the production of PVC requires a lot of energy and produces relatively a high amount of inorganic waste.

PVC products should not be considered as "green."

An important point to consider is in choosing plastics, their toxicity to humans and other species. Plastics in themselves do not act as endocrine disruptors (hormonally active agents), but some plastics are thought to release them under some critical conditions. One suspicious plastic in this regard is polycarbonate, a transparent plastic whose desirable mechanical properties has made it the base material for a variety of products including compact discs, containers for water, other beverages and food, and even nursing bottles. Polycarbonate is made from bisphenol-A which is suspected as being an endocrine disruptor.

Then choosing a plastic that is disposable is very important. Many kinds are not degradable in landfills naturally, and so they become a major role player in environment pollution. Instead of land-filling plastic waste, incineration is a better method of disposal. Most plastics can be used as an energy source in incineration. However, the situation is not that simple, for plastics may yield highly toxic dioxins during the incineration process. Chlorine atoms make up 57 percent by weight of PVC, and PVC is a main contributor to dioxin generation. The other polymers, such as polythene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and PET, whose chlorine content is lesser or negligible, can be disposed of by incineration without significant problems.

Still, their disposal requires a dedicated incinerator because they generate tar and other toxic materials during burning. Incineration via an open fire, for example, is very dangerous; the toxic materials given off would kill bystanders in a closed

space within a few minutes.

All the polymers are derived from oil.

Modern life depends heavily on petroleum, which is a non-renewable resource. At some point, the world's petroleum resources will be exhausted. Predictions are that the recovery of petroleum will begin to decline within this century. It is undeniable that the human beings will need to learn to live without fossil fuel.

Taking all these factors in mind polymer industry should produce biodegradable polymers with renewable resources such as oil, protein, and carbohydrates which can be disposed of by composting. A biodegradable and very useful material is polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which is produced by bacteria by the fermentation of glucose. Under suitable conditions, bacteria are able to accumulate PHB in their cytoplasm in amounts up to 90 percent by weight of total dry mass. Exploiting bacteria as a means to generate PHB on an industrial scale may be a way to produce an unending supply of polymer. PHB shows similar properties to polypropylene. To date, in an era of relatively cheap oil, the high expense of PHB production - more than 10 times that of polypropylene production - has limited its serious consideration as a polymer. Glucose, a relatively costly raw material, is converted to PHB with a fairly low yield. Current annual production amounts to several tons per year. It seems a matter of time and research effort before the obstacles to PHB supply and use are overcome.

Polylatic acid is another polymer that has enjoyed success. Latic acid can be obtained by fermentation of corn, which is polymerized to give a polymer that is bio-degradable.

Polylatic acid can be used to manufacture products such as food containers and clothes. The rise in corn prices and the diversion of corn from use as food to use as a source of plastics are other concerns. Our Government needs to act and formulate the laws which aim to safeguard the nature. l 41

ENERGY Sumaira Mudassar

l A new kind of nitrogen enriched fuel series is introduced by Shell. "It contains, more than five times the minimum amount of cleaning agents required by the US government standards," according to Shell. New fuel will stop the formation of gunk in your engine.

Shell conducted lab tests with split engine and using different types of fuel. The results proved that nitrogen enriched fuels are more effective at preventing carbon build up than other lower quality fuel. The new mixture of nitrogen and fuel has twice the amount of detergent levels required to meet "Top Tier Detergent Fuel Standard" set by Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen. It is the best formulation of carbon build up prevention and elimination out of all fuel available today.

Shell's new nitrogen enriched fuel is said to help engine performance by fighting slime build up. This fuel is tested for 500,000 miles on several types and sizes of engines (carborated, fuel injected, modern forced induction, and hybrid engines).

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How does nitrogenenriched fuel work?

Nitrogen is an inert gas that extends the life of a detergent (cleaning agent) by making it more stable at higher temperatures in your car engine. Under heavy loads nitrogen additive in the detergent prevents the mixture from thermal breakdown, which could reduce the effects of the cleaning agent. Shell states that the nitrogen enriched fuel uses a “fluid medium� that "acts like water", creating a protection barrier while washing away the detergent and gunk into the cylinder where it is destroyed during combustion. Nitrogen mixture has been approved for usage in high performance vehicles. Now this fuel is used and liked by many. Now it is used in rallys, Formula1 racing across the globe. Those who loved their cars and engine performance definitely will go for nitrogen-enriched fuel. It extends the life of your engine by reducing and fighting buildup of carbon. Fouled spark plugs are an example of how carbon buildup affects your engine. Other areas affected are

pistons, piston rings, cylinder walls, valves, and your fuel system. Fuel system contains fuel pump, lines, injectors, and filter. All of these and more will last longer with use of nitrogen enriched fuels because it fights carbon build up.

History Since 1994, four auto manufacturers BMW, General Motors, Honda and Toyota set out to fix the dirty gas problem by introducing higher detergent levels in fuel. The problem was that the EPA had not been setting an appropriate standard of detergent levels in fuel to help fight against carbon build up, pollution, gas mileage and more. The lack of standards forced manufacturers to modify engines for the additional amount of carbon build up. This resulted in reduced engine power, fuel efficiency, rough idle, higher amounts of pollution, and decreased acceleration. So the auto manufacturers decided to develop a "Top Tier Detergent Fuel" standard in efforts to fight dirty fuel.

ENERGY Future

The Good

The future engines performance will increase as there will be less accumulation of carbon in the engines when higher detergent level is used in fuel. For performance minded enthusiasts who constantly fight with carbon buildup, this fuel is good news for them.

Fuel with higher detergent level will greatly benefit forced induction engines that are typically tuned from factory to run rich mixtures in order to stay cool. Seafoam with nitrogen-enriched fuel is a fabulous combination to fix engines suffering from signs of carbon build up.

Increased detergent will greatly benefit the old vintage engines with high millage. Reduced amount of petroleum is consumed when it is mixed with detergent. It will make engines run clean for longer periods of time, also resulting in less pollution and strain on the environment. When engines get clogged with carbon and gunk, they tend to run extremely rich reducing the efficiency detrimentally while simultaneously creating more pollution.

The Science Recently, I got information from a science forum (http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7700024078 31/m/760003857931) that this fuel additive may be an amide of a free fatty acid which is made from increased recent agriculture developments. Amides of a free fatty acid are less powerful bases that are pretty stable and are great lubricants.

In bio diesel, Amide's are found as the lubricating ingredient, and there is a chance that this nitrogen-enriched fuel contains the same formula in bio diesel gas. Being similar in nature to bio diesel additives, the formula acts similar and, under warm temperatures, yields fungi growth and can clog your fuel system. This formula may also be bad for paint and can eat through several plastic compositions as well. The burning affect is also said to release "NxOy", estimated to be 200 times worse than CO2 and will return to earth as acid rain.

A general sour opinion of this fuel is summarized by assuming the marketing attempt is a way to sell less eco friendly gas and generate more profit by the most additive and least fuel as possible.

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When engines get clogged with carbon and gunk, they tend to run extremely rich reducing the efficiency detrimentally while simultaneously creating more pollution

The Bad The sports car community is concerned that nitrogen enriched fuels will harm your forced induction vehicle if is tuned to run 90-100 percent injector cycle. Some say that the minimum octane rating will still be the same, therefore no ECU adjustment will occur and it is perfectly okay to use this fuel. If the majority is correct, this fuel could cause lean conditions and your ECU will want to increase injector duty cycle to make up for non-flammable gas. If you are already running your maximum injector cycle and don't have enough to compensate for the change, a lean condition could possibly occur. Make sure you have plenty of injector duty left and keep an eye on your AFR's while running this fuel until further evidence is released confirming the science behind this new fuel.

Shell's lack of in-depth press release is creating negative buzz on the forums. Journalists agree that this is just another marketing ploy to help boost sales. Some folks are against it and say that this stuff has negative effects on your car and the environment. While proponents of this campaign say that it is just wonderful. l

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April 2009

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LATEST IN TECH

Oricom is set to roll out a mobile phone designed for the elderly. This new phone comes with a large screen, big buttons, and features a one-touch emergency call function. l Oriscom is set to introduce its new mobile phone ezy100, that targets elderly people. this phone comes with a large, high-contrast backlit screen that displays large text size, a large backlit keypad make the numbers easy to see and use and is ideal for people with low vision. In addition, the unit is hearing aid compatible and has up to 25dB of earpiece volume boost, loud ringer and vibration alert to assist users with hearing loss with or without a hearing aid.

Oricom's Managing Director, Kevin McDonnell told that the company's decision to develop an easy to use mobile phone was in response to feedback from seniors and others in the community suffering with hearing loss and or low vision.

"This growing group of user's needs from a mobile phone are vastly different to those of younger mobile phone users. Our new 44

ezy100 GSM mobile phone makes the simple act of communicating a whole lot easier – something so many of us take for granted," says Mr McDonnell.

The ezy100 includes essential features lik a handy speakerphone, 3 quick dial buttons, phonebook and can send and receive SMS text messages. It also has builtin emergency call function for added security. In case of emergency, simply slide the emergency switch and it will activate the speakerphone and dial up to 5 numbers that have been programmed.

The ezy100's integrated emergency call function will help to get assistance quickly in the event of an emergency and provide peace of mind to users and their carers, knowing that their friends and loved ones can communicate more easily. l

LATEST IN TECH

“Innovative fuel cell packaging demonstrates green performance potential” l The search for green energy is very much on the rise in these days. In the world of motor, the race of introducing the most energy-efficient and environment-friendly car seems to be never ending until one gets a chance to introduce a supercar that is fast

but produces zero emissions.

Recently, Honda surprised the motoring world with the release of the radical and futuristic Honda FC Sport car, a three-seat Hydrogen-powered design study that hints at the future of Honda’s sports cars to come.

Equipped with the Honda V Flow fuel cell setup, already found in the Honda FCX Clarity, the FC Sport is the supercar to the FCX's stately sedan. Its stunning design is meant to invoke the concept of a high-performance, low-weight hydrogen sports car. l

“Great ideas often begin on a napkin” l Technology changes at dynamic pace these days. Recently, major advancement in nano-technology has made it possible to convert ideas into reality. Avery Holleman has developed a PC design that can turn out to be a very useful tool on your conference tables. Named as Napkin PC, it is a multi-user, multi-interface, modular computer designed for creative professionals to collaborate and bring their ideas to life. The design resembles a napkin holder, which combines multiple touch screen devices within a collaborative network. The digital pens, which are a part of the device, allow the users to draw on the touch screens what they would do with a pen on a napkin. As per the designer, the reason for creating the concept was to enable users to interact with any number of interfaces connected in the same network. Of course, this is one napkin wherein one won’t feel embarrassed keeping notes. l

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LATEST IN TECH

“Listen to Melody” l Sourdine is a WiFi speaker with intuitive technology. Its body is composed of a technical elastic fabric, its thickness mutes and softens the noise, while this fabric envelope can be stretched to enhance the volume. It expresses visually the noise level and produces expressive shapes. Sourdine has a WiFi connection to the different music players. l

“Enjoy the lightness of technology” l For movie lovers who just want to watch a movie on the go, this portable DVD player

by Eno Setiwan is the best choice. This product functions as a traveling pack entertainer.

It is equipped with a DVD player slots mechanism, wide touch screen, touch button on

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the left and right, lithium battery, built-in speaker, and self stand. This product has several accessories such as extended speaker, earphone, USB cable charger and data transfer from computer and charger adaptor. It can be recharged in two ways; first, by

using charger adaptor and second, by using USB charger cable. It can also be used as a mini-hard disk. To make this product more functional, it can also be utilized as a home DVD player by connecting it to the home theatre (TV, speaker etc). l

LATEST IN TECH

“Traveling with luggage not tiring now with a flying courier” l

Traveling with luggage is a huge problem and causes more troubles when you are having pain in the back. Well, don’t worry as Cargonaut is here to help you with your luggage.

Designed by Matthias Schmiedbauer, Cargonaut is a concept robot that is created from merging old technology with new one in a very exciting and beneficial way. It is flying robotic servants that will courier everything; from letters to luggage and groceries, across the town for you to help lighten your load.

The Cargonaut concept is designed for a revolution in urban transit

that with an aim to relieving people from the burdens of their loads during traveling. With the day by day technological development in miniaturization, the portable devices will become easy to carry in future. But since the city travelers are mostly loaded with heavy luggage, shopping bags and groceries, that are not compressible, an alternative may require to serve this purpose. Cargonaut is a humanoid flight robot that will deliver your luggage exactly at your chosen destination within minutes and according to the concept, these sky boxes will be available in a certain publicly place. l

“Always stay in touch with your loved ones” l

Motorola Nest is a mobile phone designed by Kelly Bremer that is unique and equipped with multiple features. It’s a phone through which you can stay in touch with your loved ones as it has a built-in application which is specially designed for those who want to stay in touch with their family members. It acts like a virtual scrapbook for the user through which, the user can always interact with the people in his network. The user, first of all, has to create a group of people. Then he/she can use this phone by adding these people in the Motorola nest network. l

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HEALTH Dr. Muzna Ebrahim

l “Life is short, so why shouldn’t we make the most of it? Why should we not indulge in anything and everything our taste buds desire? Why deny ourselves the pleasure of food?” I‘m afraid that is hardly a mature argument for neglecting one’s health! And that too one put up by one too many people – young and old giving an impression that healthy food cannot taste good.

Other statements often heard include…

“I stopped eating margarine and switched to butter as it’s more natural, therefore much healthier!"

“I don’t look for healthy options because healthy foods can’t be tasty!”

“I know a healthy diet means I should cut down my fat intake!

How do I know which ones are ok and which ones to avoid? I am confused by all the different kinds of fats in food.”

I have heard these statements for too long now…..be it on the job or off the job, from patients or friends and family! Everyone’s ignorance sometimes surprises me and takes me aback and when I think of the number of people who have similar ideas about fat and margarine, I can only sympathize with them.

Many people have the opinion that margarine has no nutritional value, whilst some feverously argue that it is in fact superior to butter! This was the realization that in fact convinced me to address this topic and has forced me to attempt to tell everyone the whole truth about margarine and highlight 48

the differences between butter and margarine, Why is it so that people always draw conclusions based on what they “perceive” to be the truth than what “really” is? What they should and should not be eating. Why can’t people get their facts straight before jumping to conclusions? - A word of advice - confirm what you hear before taking a stance on anything. Doing so, will help you make better choices, draw more informed and intelligent conclusions and aid you to have a healthy debate with friends and family and enable you to be the source of right messages.

Getting back to the debate: Is margarine healthy or not? Well, my patients have an opinion alright, but unfortunately are equipped with nothing even remotely substantial to back their claim.

As a first step towards enlightening all of you, I would like to highlight the fact that margarine is a ‘good fat’ made from vegetable oils mainly from soyabean, sunflower seed, linseed and rape seed.

Butter on the other hand, is made from milk and hence has an animal origin due to which it provides much more of the ‘bad fats’ (saturated fats) as compared to margarine which contains more of the ‘good fats’ (unsaturated fats). Furthermore, contrary to common belief soft margarine is virtually free of Trans fats whereas butter contains more than 3g Trans fat per 100g.

Furthermore margarine is an important source of vitamins and essential fats, which are vital for healthy growth and development.

Additionally, soft margarines provide essential fatty acids (EFAs), which are critical to good health and need to be a part of our daily diet as our bodies cannot produce these EFAs themselves. These essential fatty acids are known to be beneficial to heart health and also play a role in growth and development.

Moreover, there is evidence that, replacing butter with soft margarine decreases bad cholesterol (LDL) levels, a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

Soft margarines are also fortified with a variety of vitamins which may include vitamins D, E, B1, B2 and / or B6. When compared to most butter we see that the vitamin D and E content of margarine is much higher, whilst the vitamin A level (necessary for good eyesight, healthy skin & proper functioning of immune system) is similar to that of butter.

Vitamin D is necessary for strong bones and teeth and helps to take up calcium from the diet, while Vitamin E is necessary for the protection of unsaturated fats in cell membranes.

Another important fact worth mentioning here is that in addition to the above, soft margarine contains no cholesterol, owing to the fact that it is made from vegetable sources and is virtually Trans fat free. Nutritionally therefore it is preferred to use soft margarine.

Over the years people have also fallen prey to the misconception that margarine is high in

HEALTH calories. Well, these people are in for a surprise because a calorie count reveals that the amount of calories delivered by margarine is modest and accounts for less than 5% of the recommended daily calorie intake of an average adult (based on 20g per day of a 60% fat spread and a total energy intake of 2400 kcal/day). This modest amount of the spread also contributes to the intake of essential nutrients (i.e. > 15% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for essential fats and vitamin A, D and E).

If you need to cut down on your calorie intake, do it the right way. It is just not the amount of fat in your diet, the quantity and quality of fat matters. It is better, not to mention wiser, to cut down on bad fats present in foods such as in biscuits, chips and chocolate, pastries, processed meats, fatty meat, butter, full fat dairy products, cheese, cakes, pastries, pies made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, rather than cutting down on the fats that are good for you. Another helpful way to reduce your fat (bad fat) intake including saturated and Trans fats is to add a variety of cereal grains, fruits and vegetables to your diet. Cutting down on fried foods and the use of a non-stick fry pan is also useful for greater health. You can include soft margarine spreads instead of butter, hard margarine or shortening and trimming or draining fat from meat and removing

the skin from the chicken before cooking.

Another thing I would love to share with you all is the latest and the most ridiculous misconception regarding margarine that has been floating. People say that ‘Margarine is a molecule away from plastic’. This is completely UNTRUE! Margarine’s major ingredients are fat and water, just like butter and the process of its production is also similar to that of butter and therefore bears no similarity to anything even close to plastic!

Additionally, chemical plastics have a completely different molecular structure. Just about any organic compound can be argued to be one molecule away from something toxic or disagreeable. Did you know that salt is one molecule away from chlorine gas? And that Water is one molecule away from hydrogen peroxide? Even Carbon is one molecule away from being toxic i.e. carbon monoxide. Does that mean water is unhealthy? Of course not, and the same goes for margarine. Butter and margarine are very similar in the type of molecules they contain, except that, compared to butter, the molecules in margarine contain much more double bonds which actually make them healthier.

Soft margarine is a nutritious and safe product and has been part of a healthy diet for years. International health organizations such as the World Heart Federation, American

Heart Association, and the Dutch Health Council, recommend soft margarine as part of healthy diet as it is a source of good fats.

Even for heart health, leading health groups recommend soft margarine over butter because it has less total fat, saturated and Trans fat and delivers lesser calories. Also soft margarines are high in polyunsaturated fats (Omega 3 and Omega 6) beneficial for good health and contain no cholesterol and far less fat than butter. It is for these reasons that experts agree that using soft margarine daily is better than using butter or even not spreading at all. These organizations also stress that consumers despite heightened awareness on the subject are still eating way too much saturated fat, which in fact should be the primary focus of any diet designed to reduce heart disease risk.

Enough said! I would like to end with a piece of advice: please know your facts because facts allow you to make informed choices, i.e. provided the source is reliable, else you may end up making an unwise or wrong decision.

So please don’t believe in half baked stories and follow your facts!!

And remember, leading a happy and healthy life is not a difficult task at all; all it takes is a few minor but sustainable changes in your diet and lifestyle. After all ‘Health is Wealth’, as clichéd as that may sound, it is a fact one

l She may not be in the same class as Kate Moss or Claudia Schiffer, but HRP-4C the walking, talking robot has made her debut on the catwalk.

The new "cybernetic human" from Japan strutted her stuff at the start of Tokyo Fashion Week, almost a week after her official presentation to the international media. HRP-4C trimmed down to 95 pounds for the appearance, but hadn't yet cleared the safety standards required to share the catwalk with actual human models.

So for now, the 62.2 inch tall black-haired robot, whose predecessor weighed 128 pounds, simply helped open the show. The robot was developed at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, a government-backed organization.

Her designers say HRP-4C wasn't built to help with daily chores or work side by side with people - as many hope robots will be able to do in the future. Instead, she will most likely be used in amusement parks or to perform simulations of human movement, as an exercise instructor for example.

HRP-4C has been designed to look like an average Japanese woman - albeit with a futuristic silver-and-black body. l 49

MONTH IN FOCUS Ring comes forward for Motorola After a long silence, Motorola Pakistan has started to come close to its mobile lovers again. Official distributor for the Motorola mobile phones, Ring Telecom, is conducting various activities all over the country in order to educate people what Motorola offers. On the selected places in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad Ring was seen making new friends in shape of customers.

Based on the mobile phones, Ring categorized the promotional activities for its different products in the following manner.

W series (A mass phone series of W 156 basic phone, W 270 a FM radio music phone, W 388 a Camera, Blue tooth enabled Music phone) these activities were staged in heart of mobile phone market in big cities of Pakistan where customer enjoyed the live demos of all W series models and on buying of phones they got A customer buying Motorola U9 at Metro, DHA. Ring offered Rs. 1,000 discount along with a free 512MB memory card on every sale free gifts like T shirts, Mugs and Sun shades.

EM series (Em 325 , A stylish Mega pixel camera music phone, EM 30 A slim ROKR series 2 Mega pixel Camera music phone) , these outdoor activities are in process and we have targeted high end mobile phone markets and in Hyper stores for them.

Consumers love to visit our stalls and enjoy the music. Different small contest over songs, best sms, and Best ring tone competition are being held.

U9 Play fully pink / Power fully purple ( U9 color of pink / purple has categorized itself as ladies phone but with the introduction of Gold color has complete the stylish portfolio. In Lahore, Ring offered Rs. 18,000 worth of Moto U9 in Pink and Silver colors for Rs. 16,999 only along with a 512MB SDcard loaded with games and songs. Not to mention, free chocolates were also available to the visitors.

Marketing & Business Development Manager Ring Telecom, Rizwan Younas while speaking to MORE said, “Customer’s satisfaction is key for the success of any brand today and this is what we are doing. We are getting closer to

Marketing Head Ring Telecom, Mr. Rizwan Younas (On Right) at the Motorola U9 stall at Metro, DHA

Ring Telecom and Motorola’s promotional activity in Karachi

50

our customers in order to know what they like. We are focusing on quality product and excellent after sales services and I can happily tell you that response is very good.” He further told that Ring Pakistan was in a process of further strengthening itself as well as Motorola brand in Pakistan. We are a growing organization and such activity would make a positive impact on Pakistan cellular market growth.

MONTH IN FOCUS

PTA TO EXTEND COOPERATION TO AFGHAN TELECOM

Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority(PTA) Dr. Yaseen briefing the delegation of Afghan Telecom at PTA Headquarters

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) have agreed to enhance mutual cooperation in the field of telecommunication while PTA will extend help to ATRA for the furtherance of telecom services in Afghanistan. This was decided in a meeting of both the Authorities at PTA Headquarters. This high level delegation of Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority headed by Chairman, ATRA, Mr. Zakaria Hassan visited Pakistan in March.

On this occasion, Chairman PTA, Dr.Mohammed Yaseen briefed the delegation on Pakistan telecom sector development. He said that Pakistan has made unprecedented progress in mobile and fixed telephone sectors and internet services. The Chairman said that the operators from Pakistan are willing to extend fiber optic links to Afghanistan after which Pakistan will be connected to Central Asian Countries, Central States and Afghanistan could

also be linked to the International Sea Cable System through Pakistan. He proposed a joint working group to expedite this process and to enhance mutual cooperation.

Chairman, ATRA Mr. Zakaria Hassan said that Afghanistan opened up its telecom sector in 2003 and since then it has made rapid progress. He said that we want to get benefit of Pakistan experience in telecommunication areas such as interconnect costing models and tariff regulations also showed interest in the training from Pakistan During the meeting issues pertaining to cross border flow of telecom signals were also discussed. It was decided that a joint committee will formulate guidelines in this regard. It was decided that Memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed to enhance mutual cooperation in training, sea cables system and interference. On this occasion representatives of Afghan telecom and senior PTA officials were also present.

Mobilink revenue up 12pc in 2008

Ufone launches another sales promotion for new customers

Mobilink registered a growth of 12 percent in revenue in terms of local currency reaching PKR 86 billion while EBITDA reached PKR 29.5 billion, up 2.5 percent over 2007.

Mobilink, which earned Rs 76.9 billion in 2007, has managed to register double digit growth in 2008 despite the stressful economic environment. Moreover, the Full Year 2008 results issued by Orascom Telecom stated that during 2008, Mobilink invested US$ 537 million in its infrastructure, as compared to USD 520 million in 2007. This investment was primarily targeted to enhance the capacity, network quality and coverage. During the year, Mobilink added 1,487 new cell sites to its network, taking the total number of the cell sites to 7,915.

As a new sales promotion for new subscribers, Ufone is now offering free 50 on-net minutes and 5000 SMS on using a balance of Rs 150 and Rs 250 respectively within 30 days of activation.

According to the promotion, when the new subscriber uses additional balance of Rs 50 along with free Rs 100 balance in the first 30 days after subscription, he/she gets 50 free onnet minutes. Moreover, when the subscriber uses another Rs 100 in the same period, he/she also gets 5000 free SMS. On the launch of the offer at Karachi, Asher Yaqub Khan, chief marketing officer of Ufone said, “At Ufone, our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible services to our customers and we do this by introducing innovative offers that add value to their lives.�

51

MONTH IN FOCUS

URock Brand Ambassadors Training program

URock Brand Ambassadors attended the Brand Ambassador Training Programme at Ufone Office, Karachi.

Zong launches Emotive music video To mark its first year in business, that saw meteoric growth, ZONG has launched an emotive music video that promises to appeal to all age groups. Directed by the renowned director Saqib Malik and performed by the music icon, Shafqat Amanat Ali, the music video is based on the brand’s core philosophy of promoting a healthy communication in society which joins hearts and erodes misunderstandings.

“A clear and uninhibited channel of communication is at the root of any healthy relationship and this video shows how ZONG as a brand builds a bond of love and understanding by removing all barriers which might exist in communication,” explained Salman Wassay, Head of Marketing of ZONG. The soul lifting music video aims to promote the brand idea of sab keh do and projects the softer side of this brand idea.

The video effectively shows how satisfying it can be if one does not hold back the deep feelings in one’s heart or the thoughts in one’s mind, but comes out with these to create harmony and understanding.

ZONG was established in April 2008 and has kept growing ever since. ZONG - the first international brand of China Mobile - has grown tremendously in just one year since its launch. There are over 6 million ZONG customers today and its coverage extends to over 3500 locations throughout the 4 provinces, the Northern Areas (including Karakoram Highway) and Azad Kashmir.

52

Telenor employees complete CPBM from LUMS To award certificates to the employees of Telenor Pakistan who have completed their 18-month Certificate Program for Business Management (CPBM) from Lahore University of Management Sciences, an event was organized in Lahore.

Telenor Pakistan's CEO John Eddy Abdullah, Vice President of Telenor Pakistan’s Human Capital Development Division Nayyab Baig and LUMS Dean Dr Shaukat were present to grace the occasion. Other officials of Telenor Pakistan and LUMS were also present to make the ceremony memorable.

John Eddy, during the certificate distribution ceremony, said, "At Telenor, we believe that a very energetic environment should be provided to the employees along with training to raise their level of professional expertise. We believe in finding out talented youth and then training them in such a way which may raise them to meet the needs of our fast-growing telecom needs.” He also thanked LUMS for training their employees.

Nokia supports health in Pakistan The Indus Hospital Research Center and Nokia Pakistan has announced that the successful implementation of Interactive Alerts, an electronic surveillance system for Pneumonia, in Karachi at a press conference The Indus Hospital Representative showing RFI tags and Nokia phone to the media held at the hospital. The Interactive Alerts system was designed by Interactive Research and Development (IRD), in collaboration with the Next Billion Network program at the MIT Media Lab. The system has been specifically developed to use the Nokia 6131 NFC phone for childhood pneumonia surveillance and referral in low-resource settings, although it can be easily extended to other diseases.

At the time of the 6-week vaccination visit, children are given a radio frequency ID (RFID) tag in the form of a traditional bracelet which provides a unique ID to the child, and parents are advised and encouraged to take sick children to participating general practitioner clinics or general hospitals in the program. At each encounter, the Nokia 6131 NFC phone is used to scan the child’s tag. Pertinent immunization, clinical and laboratory data is collected and posted to the server via GPRS in real-time, and can be viewed over a secure website.

MONTH IN FOCUS

Samsung Country Manager Pakistan Mr. Steve Han, Head of Mobile Division Mr. Zeshan Qureshi, Asst. Manager Marketing Miss. Maryam Afzal and others are seen with Samsung “Ultra touch” Mobile

Dimension 4 launches LG headset for ladies Dimension 4 has launched LG bluetooth Headset HBM-530 for ladies, which is silver in color with purple outlines.

Bluetooth is available for Rs 5400 and is specifically designed by keeping the impact of an earring in mind. This silver color bluetooth looks like an earring and women are bound to love it.

Kingston releases HyperX SO DIMMS for Netbooks Kingston announced the release of a high-performance 2GB HyperX SODIMM specifically targeted to owners of netbook computing devices using the Intel Atom processor. Shipping immediately, the new SO-DIMM is designed to increase system performance by using faster latency timings in netbook computers that support DDR2-533MHz bus specifications.

“A netbook or mobile internet device will automatically recognize the preset low latency value of the HyperX memory module and properly boot the mobile device to provide higher performance than standard memory,” said Ann Bai, Product Manager of Memory Module, Kingston.

ZRG represents Pakistan in EBanking ’09, Bangladesh ZRG International recently participated in e-Banking '09 Conference & Exhibition at Sheraton Hotel, Dhaka.

The conference was attended by corporate executives where renowned speakers from South Asia and other regions spoke on the evolution of banking industry in Bangladesh and shared their experience about the role of technology in growth of banking industry and in enhancing customer services.

53

MOBILE PHONE

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm, 83 cc 109 g TFT touchscreen, 16M colors 360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches MicroSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB, 8GB included Class 32 Class 32 HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Up to 8 h 45 min

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

Rs. 28,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

107.9 x 54.6 x 13.8 mm 121 g TFT, 256K colors 240 x 400 pixels, 3.2 inches MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots) Class 10, 236.8 kbps HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 3 h 40 min

Rs. 40,000

108 x 46 x 15 mm, 67 cc 90g TFT, 16M colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 32 Class 32 HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, LED flash Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 3 h 30 min (2G) / 2 h 30 min (3G)

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

Rs. 16,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

104.8 x 49.4 x 13.9 mm 110g TFT, 16M colors 240 x 320 pixels MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots) Class 10, 236.8 kbps HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 7 h

Rs. 20,000

98 x 48.4 x 15 mm, 73.9 cc 103.5 g TFT, 65K colors 240 x 320 pixels No Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots) Class 10, 236.8 kbps No 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels Yes Up to 3 h 30 min

Rs. 9,400

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

105.9 x 49.5 x 12.9 112 g TFT, 16M colors 240 x 320 pixels MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots) Class 10, 236.8 kbps HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps 5 MP, 2560 x 1920 pixels Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 6 h 25 min

Rs. 29,000

Note: Above prices serve as a refrence only, they may be different in actual.

54

April 2009

MOBILE PHONE

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

115 x 53 x 10.6 mm 100 g TFT, 256K colors 320 x 240 pixels MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 12 Class 12 No 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 6 h

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

Rs. 13,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

104.5 x 49.5 x 10.9 mm 91 g TFT, 256K colors 240 x 320 pixels MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 10 , 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps No 3.15 MP, Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 4 h

Rs. 14,000

101 x 46 x 13.9 mm 90 g TFT, 65K colors 128 x 160 pixels MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 10, 32 - 48 kbps No No 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 8 h 10 min

Dimensions: 90 x 48.6 x 16.4 mm, 57 cc 87.5 g Weight: Display: TFT, 256K colors Size: 1240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches MicroSD (TransFlash), 25MB Card slot: internal memory GPRS: Class 12 EDGE: Class 12, 236.8 kbps 3G: No Camera: 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, Talk time: Up to 7 h

Rs. 8,500

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

101.2 x 50.7 x 14.1 mm 107 g TFT, 256K colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches MicroSD (TransFlash) Class 10 , 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps No 3.15 MP Yes, v2.0 Up to 4 h

Rs. 17,000

Rs. 17,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Bluethooth: Talk Time:

108 x 49 x 10.5 mm 107 g TFT, 256k colors 240 x 320 pixels Memory Stick Micro (M2) Class 10 ,32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps 5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Up to 9 h

Rs. 34,500

Note: Above prices serve as a refrence only, they may be different in actual.

April 2009

55

DIRECTORY

l For our valued readers, we are giving the genuine facts about the cheapest packages which are being claimed by various companies this month. We are doing it by drawing a comparison table so that you may find it more convenient while selecting a prepaid package offered by all cellular network operators in Pakistan that suits your needs the most.

We have selected Zem 60 Paisa Package of Warid, Ufone’s 3 Minute Package, Mobilink’s Jazz Budget Package, Telenor’s Talkshawk 30 Seconds Package and Zong’s 65 Paisa Package for comparison. Using this table, we shall find out the best package for you.

Mobile Connection Comparison Table Mobile Company Name

Package Selected

Package Type

Call Rates (without taxes)

Call Rates (with GST 21%)

SMS Rates (without taxes)

SMS Rates (with GST 21%)

Onnet Rates

Offnet Rates

Onnet Rates

Offnet Rates

9 am to 9 am to 9 am to 9 am to 5 5 pm: 5 pm 5 pm: pm Rs. 1.45/30 Rs. 1.45/30 Rs. 1.2/30 Rs. 1.2/30 sec sec sec sec 5 pm to 5 pm to 5pm to 5 pm to 9 am: 9 am: 9am: 9 am: Rs.1.5/ 30 Rs. 1.7/30 Rs.1.81/ 30 Rs. 2.0/30 sec sec sec sec

0.50

1.00

0.60

1.21

Rs. 3.20/3 Rs. 2.42/3 Rs. 3.87/3 min min min

0.50

1.00

0.60

1.21

Onnet Rates

Offnet Rates

Onnet Rates

Offnet Rates

Warid

ZEM 60 paisa

Prepaid

Ufone

3 minute package

Prepaid

Rs. 2/3 min

Mobilink

Jazz Budget

Prepaid

Rs. 0.68 / 30 sec

Rs. 0.68 / 30 sec

Rs. 0.82 / 30 sec

Rs. 0.82 / 30 sec

1.00

1.00

1.21

1.21

Telenor

Talkshawk 30 sec

Prepaid

Rs. 0.75/30 sec

Rs. 0.75/30 sec

Rs. 0.90/30 sec

Rs. 0.90/30 sec

1.00

1.00

1.21

1.21

ZONG

ZONG 65

Prepaid

Rs. 0.65 paisa/30 sec

Rs. 0.65 paisa/30 sec

Rs. 0.78 paisa/30 sec

Rs. 0.78 paisa/30 sec

1.00

1.00

1.21

1.21

From the table, we can see that Ufone’s 3 Minute Package is the best for those who like to make long conversations, but for those, who like to talk for seconds, it may turn out to be a very costly one. For short conservationists, this month recommenda56

tion is Zong’s 65 Paisa Package, which only charges you 0.78 paisas per 30 second. Since Ufone cuts its 3 minutes charges at the start of the call without paying any heed whatsoever how long the caller is going to talk, the caller may not

talk for more than 30 minutes, so here the package becomes a total loss of money for a consumer, and paves way for Zong to be called as the lowest call rates charger.

For SMS enthusiasts, we can see that Warid and Ufone end up in a draw. l

DIRECTORY Mobile Phone

Dimension

Memory

Camera

Battery

Price

Nokia 3120

102 x 43 x 20 mm 67 cc

Phonebook: 256 x 4 fields Call records: 10 dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls Card slot: No

No

Stand-by Up to 410 h Talk time Up to 6 h

Rs. 11,000/-

Nokia 7070 Prism

87.5 x 44 x 15.8 mm 52 cc

Phonebook: 1000 entries, Call records: 20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls Card slot: No 11 MB internal user memory

No

Stand-by Up to 410 h Talk time Up to 6 h

Rs. 49,00/-

Samsung U600

103.5 x 49.3 x 10.9 mm

Phonebook: 1000 entries, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Stand-by: Up to 250 h Call records:30 dialed, autofocus, video(CIF) Talk time: Up to 3 h 30 received, 30 missed calls LED flash 30 min Card slot:microSD (TransFlash), buy memory,60 MB embedded memory

Rs. 14,750/-

Samsung U700

102.5 x 50 x 12.1 mm

Phonebook: 1000 entries, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Stand-by: Up to 270 h Call records: 30 dialed, autofocus, video(QCIF), Talk time: Up to 5 h 30 received, 30 missed calls LED flash; secondary VGA Card slot: microSD (Transvideocall camera Flash), buy memory, 20/40 MB embedded memory

Rs. 17,000/-

Sony Ericsson T650

104 x 46 x 12.5 mm

Phonebook: 1000 contacts, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Stand-by: Up to 300 h Call records: 30 received, autofocus, video(QCIF ), Talk time: Up to 7 h dialed and missed calls LED flash; secondary VGA Card slot: Memory Stick videocall camera Micro (M2), 256 MB card included, 16 MB shared memory

Rs. 17,500/-

iMate 8150

118.5 x 60.5 x 15.5 mm

microSD (TransFlash),buy memory, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM

2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, autofocus, video; secondary VGA video call camera

-------

Rs. 47,500/-

iMate 9502

116 x 60 x 17.8 mm

microSD (TransFlash),buy memory, 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM

3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video, LED flash, secondary VGA videocall camera

Stand-by Up to 180 h Talk time Up to 4 h 20 min

Rs. 53,000/-

microSD (TransFlash), up 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, to 4GB, buy memory, 12 Schneider-Kreuznach MB user available memory optics, autofocus, LED flash, image stabilizer, video (720x480 pixels)

Stand-by Up to 450 h Talk time up to 6 h

Rs. 20,500/-

LG KC 550

96.9 x 51.4 x 14.9 mm

Note: Above prices serve as a refrence only, they may be different in actual.

57

CAMERA Sony Black Cyber-shot® T500/B 10.1 megapixel 3.5" wide touch screen 5X Optical Zoom Face Detection

Sanyo VPC E875 8.1 MP Resolution 3X Optical Zoom 5X Digital Zoom 2.5" LCD Screen

Cannon A470 Power Shot 7.1 MP resolution 2.5 inch LCD 3.4X optical Zoom 4.0X Digital Zoom

Cannon A1000IS 10.0 MP Resolution 4x Optical Zoom 2.5" LCD display 16:9 Wide screen

Cannon FS10 2.7 INCH WIDE SCREEN 1/6 INCH CCD 37X OPTICAL ZOOM 2000X Digital Zoom

Cannon FS11 Cannon FS11 2.7 INCH WIDE SCREEN 1/6 INCH CCD 37X OPTICAL ZOOM

Cannon IXUS 85IS 10.0 Megapixel image sensor 3x optical zoom lens Face Detection Technology DIGIC III with Noise Reduction Technology

58

Price Rs. 30,800

Price Rs. 9,000

Price Rs. 8,200

Price Rs. 15,000

Price Rs. 42,000

Price Rs. 46,000

Price Rs. 16,000

Cannon IXUS 90IS 10 MP Resolution 3x optical zoom lens Large 3 inch LCD screen A 32MB SD card

Nikon S210 8.0 MP Resolution 3x Optical Zoom 2.5" LCD display Sd card slot

Cannon A480 Power Shot 10.0 MP Resolution 3.3x Optical Zoom 2.5" LCD display Face Detection Technology

Cannon S5-IS 12x optical zoom lens with Ultrasonic Motor (USM) and UD lens Optical Image Stabilizer 8.0 Megapixel CCD 2.5” high-resolution vari-angle LCD

Cannon G10 14.7 MP Resolution 5x Optical Zoom Motion Detection Technology 3.0 inch LCD

Olympus Stylus U1040 10.0 MP Resolution 2.7" LCD Screen 3X Optical Zoom Easy Mode Option

Olympus FE20 8.0 MP Resolution 3x Optical Zoom 2.5" LCD display Digital Image stabilization

Price Rs. 17,500

Price Rs. 14,900

Price Rs. 11,000

Price Rs. 25,000

Price Rs. 39,000

Price Rs. 14,000

Price Rs. 9,900