MORE Magazine by more magazine

CONTENT Disclaimer: Where opinion is expressed it is that of the author’s and does not necessarily coincide with the editorial views of the publisher or MORE. All information in this magazine is verified to the best of author’s and publisher’s ability. However, MORE does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it.

{December 2010 | Volume 3 | Issue 5}

Cover story

PTA says it does not maintain the record of mobile phone subscribers. On the other hand Indian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority(TRAI) has just started to undo the mistakes of past, PTA and Government of Pakistan need to follow them in order to strengthen our own sector.

teChnology

Csr

fIrst WInDoWs7 Phone launcheD by mobIlInk

rural school buIlt by samsung In kasur

Powered by Microsoft’s latest Windows® Phone 7 platform, HTC HD7 is a cutting-edge solution offering a powerful range of innovative online services, keenly sought by high-end users

Samsung Electronics has built a modern school at Ladhayke Village in District Kasur, to serve a vast rural area and uplift the standard of education.

teleCom

hoW netWorks helP smartPhones Work faster for longer

Nokia Siemens Networks reveals that Apple’s latest iPhone software supports network features to reduce smartphone signalling and traffic congestion

review

samsung galaxy tab, a mInI Pc WIth sIm

Announced in September 2010, world's second famous tablet that has promised to make a mark is Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Tab is a marvelous piece of machine that is yet to be launched oﬃcially in Pakistan. The company has set its launch date to be the 3rd week of December 2010.

What’s your Plan?

There should be a proper plan to follow assertively and before that you should be determined by heart and soul that by the end of this forthcoming year, you’ll get rid of this habit.

Business

Is government of PakIstan agaInst foreIgn DIrect Investment?

The government’s vision is to transform these resources into a source of revenue for the province so that Balochistan would be self-suﬃcient with in coming years.

18 32

Nokia has been promoting C3 as a social device, much slower and less responsive than its big brother, E5 which can be called a better version of C3.

latest in teCh

26-30

month in FoCus

32-40

moBile Phones

42-43

Cameras

gadgets

45-46

MORE Magazine printed at Banquet Printing Press 28-A, Nisbat Road, Lahore and published by Mudassar Jehangir Mufti at 2nd Floor, Ali Mansion, 41-A, Lower Mall, Lahore Tel: 042 2106737 Email: info@apnatime.com

Cover story

Mudassar J Mufti

Pta says it does not maintain the record of mobile phone subscribers. on the other hand Indian telecommunication regulatory authority(traI) has just started to undo the mistakes of past, Pta and government of Pakistan need to learn from them in order to strengthen our own sector. n

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority

(PTA) has recently published the annual report for the year 2009-10 which says that Telecommunication sector in Pakistan has achieved a state of maturity and all

If actual number of SIMs are announced the value of operators will come down accordingly and this will be very diﬃcult for them in the 2011-2012 when most of the operators will be busy in consolidation because value of any operator is calculated by the number of active customers it has.

the indicators are turning favorable for the growth of Telecommunication sector in

and Nepal is struggling with 20.0 percent

Tahir in Daily Dawn last week, “Currently,

Pakistan. The report highly emphasizes on

mobile penetration rate at number 6 posi-

there are nearly 65 million active mobile-

the 100 million subscriber base milestone

tion in South East Asia.

phone subscribers in Pakistan. At this stage,

that PTA achieved in July 2010.

This report highlights various aspects of

it is diﬃcult to find out the correct number

According to report, Pakistan currently has

telecommunication sector of Pakistan. In

of active subscribers, for this purpose, PTA

60.4 percent mobile phone penetration

the 77 pages report, no where it is men-

or any other authority needs to maintain a

rate which is behind Malaysia which

tioned that how many subscribers are “Ac-

proper database of multi-SIMs holders”.

stands at 96.8 percent. India stands at

tive” out of 100 million total SIMs sold so

In response to the questions raised by

number 3 with 53.8 percent, SriLanka at

far in Pakistan.

Zulqernain, PTA spokesman said, “there

35.0 percent, Bangladesh at 35.0 percent

According to a news item by Zulqernain

are no international norms to record mul-

6 | more | December 2010

www.apnatime.com

Cover story Source:PTA

tiple SIMs being used by the users there-

lion of inflated subscriber base.

ing heavily to the national exchequer,

fore, the PTA records no such data. With

An oﬃcial from a Telecom Company told

generating employment and increasing

regard to “inactive subscriber data”, he

ApnaTime.com, “It has not happened over

productivity of almost every sector. There-

says it does not record any such data”.

night, it is a result of costly issuance of

fore, it is imperative that the taxation

This clearly shows that PTA does not have

more than required GSM licenses, imbal-

structure for the mobile industry is ration-

any mechanism to maintain the data of

ance tax structure, premature price war,

alized further”

mobilephone subscribers in Pakistan and

improper monitoring and craze to remain

2009-10 Telecom report explains the

it only relies on mobile phone operators

abreast of Indian Telecommunication sec-

whole story. Total investment in telecom

for all sort of statistics.

tor in order to boast early achievements”.

sector declined from US $ 1.64 Billion in

At this time of year when Pakistan has just

Lets match a statement of Jon Eddy Ab-

2008-09 to US $ 1.13 Billion in 2009-10.

started to calculate the after eﬀects of

dullah, CEO, Telenor Pakistan which he

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Telecom

massive floods which resulted in displace-

gave in July 2009 in an interview, “Pakistan

which was US $ 815 Million in the year

ment of more than 20 million people from

had the lowest call rates in the world and

2008-09 shrunk to mere US $ 374 Million.

their homes, when the entire world is sus-

a continuous reduction in charges, as seen

FDI reduced dramatically because there

pecting us and pushing us to “do more”

in the past, to attract customers was no

was no juice left in earnings. GSM sector

and eliminate the terrorists from our land,

more viable for the future as the industry

contributed PKR 6.6 Billion activation tax

when law and order situation is at worst,

had already hit rock bottom”.

in 2009-10 toward national exchequer al-

this kind of statement can only shake the

“This means that in the long term, having

most 53% less than 2008-09 when it was

confidence of every Pakistani who believe

five operators in a market with intense

PKR 14.1 Billion and this happened be-

that the watch dog is monitoring the

competition and low prices may not re-

cause the entire telecom sector could only

communication companies day and night.

main feasible anymore. This can result in

add 4.8 million subscribers in 2009-10

Apart from security reasons, this state-

anything from mergers and acquisitions

which was 6.3 million in 2008-09 and 24.8

ment is technically wrong by any means.

to dropping out of the market”, he further

million in 2007-08.

Today, it is much easier to maintain the

added.

Lack of interest from the operators is also

record at run time with the help of most

About investment he mentioned, “We also

visible in the expansion area where, all 5

advanced and strongest databases on

understand that when this industry flour-

GSM companies could only add 1,967 Cell

earth. It seems PTA tried to escape the sit-

ishes, it helps the economy by attracting

Sites in 2009-10. The total number of Cell

uation by issuing such statement just to

foreign direct investment (FDI), contribut-

Sites in Pakistan stands at 30,126 today

hold high its claim of 100 million subscriber mark and at the same time it does not want to oﬀend few of the operators who are really facing this menace of dead and inactive SIMs (Subscriber Identity Module). Daily Times recently published a telecom survey of June 2010 conducted by Lirneasia, a research centre of IT and Telecom which estimated that 22.8 percent of 99.18 million subscriber base is in active as people carry more than one SIM. Telecommunication analyst in Pakistan estimate this figure to be 35% of 100.7 milwww.apnatime.com

Source:PTA

December 2010 | more | 7

Cover story which stood at 28, 159 in 2008-09, 21,518

life to the dead SIMs which again go back

combined subscriber base to have

in 2007-08 and 13,725 in 2006-07. Mo-

to the deep pockets unless another oﬀer is

reached 687.7 million at the end of Sep-

bilink and Warid remained lowest in-

made. Such an oﬀer generates minimal

tember 2010. The multiple-SIM phenome-

vestors in this area during 2009-10.

revenue but increases the capital value of

non has also created unfeasible

Statistics reveal that it will not stop here,

an operator.

environment for the investors besides rais-

indicators will decline further in the fol-

According to PTA's definition for an active

ing the security threats in India.

lowing months. For the last 2 years, SIMs

subscriber, “A subscription would be

In order to save the entire sector Indian

are being sold at throw away prices just to

counted as `Active Subscription` if the

regulator TRAI has recalculated the entire

remain a head in number game and the

subscription that is registered in the inter-

subscriber base and found that 70 % of

cheapest possible rates are being oﬀered.

nal subscriber system of mobile service

the total claimed subscriber base is active.

It seems, at this time, operators are less

provider (i.e HLR) makes any revenue gen-

The actual customer has been recalcu-

concerned about expansion plans, they

erating activity including Outgoing (Voice

lated as 482 million active wireless sub-

want to sell more SIMs to those who are

Calls, SMS, MMS), Incoming (Voices calls)

scriber.

already carrying multiple SIMs.

and Others (Recharge activity, Roaming

This is the first time that TRAI has re-

Analysts say, If actual number of SIMs are

services, Data transmissions including

vealed the active number of subscriber

announced the value of operators will

GPRS/internet access, data transfers, re-

base using the Visitor Location Register

come down accordingly and this will be

ceipt sessions), during last 90 days”

(VLR). This system of calculating sub-

Source:PTA

very diﬃcult for them in the 2011-2012

despite of this definition, operators keep

scribers shows only those subscribers

when most of the operators will be busy

running advertisements to activate the SIMs

who make calls or send SMS regularly.

in consolidation because value of any op-

which are dead/inactive for past 90 days.

This is worth mentioning here that TRAI

erator is calculated by the number of ac-

Such oﬀers violates this very rule of PTA.

also consider the 90 days period for a

tive customers it has.

It has been observed that PTA is not paying

SIM to be assumed as active.

In Pakistan a subscriber with single CNIC

attention to this issue which has created

If PTA says, “there are no international

can purchase 10 SIMs of each operator.

havoc in the telecom sector. Due to very

norms to record multiple SIMs being

That means a single subscriber can easily

un-real total subscriber base, the ARPU

used by the users therefore the PTA

purchase 50 lawful SIMs in total. Practically

which stands in actual at more than PKR

records no such data. With regard to “in-

speaking no single subscriber can handle

360(if only active subscriber are consid-

active subscriber data”, it says it does

more than 5 SIMs but there are sub-

ered) comes down to mere PKR 200 (if 100

not record any such data” then it will

scribers who are having more than 20

Mn subscribers are considered) which has

have to reconsider its policy and prac-

SIMs in their name. These excessive SIM

proven unhealthy for the FDI in Pakistan.

tice what is in the interest of our coun-

cards remain in-active for the entire year

Authority will have to exercise its powers

try. PTA collect huge taxes and license

unless the respective operator run an

to create a balance the way Indian regula-

fee every year. It becomes the duty of

oﬀer/scheme for the unused SIMs and

tor TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of

the authority to maintain a level playing

give an incentive to the subscriber in

India) has done during the last few weeks.

field for everyone.

shape of free minutes, unlimited SMSes

Similar to the situation in Pakistan, Indian

There are bigger milestones to be

and prizes. This activity gives a temporary

telecom operators have been claiming the

achieved than a fake 100 million figure.

8 | more | December 2010

www.apnatime.com

saddads

www.apnatime.com

Cover story

December 2010 | more | 9

teChnology

At the price of Rs. 55,999 this mar-

velous gadget is available at selective Mobilink sale points. Mobilink is the first

ApnaTime.com

HD7 smartphone is bundled with FREE

to watch movie in style on a huge 4.3

GPRS for the first three months.

inch widescreen display with kickstand.

With the 1Ghz processor, the HTC HD7

mobile operator in Pakistan to launch

dows® Phone 7 platform, HTC HD7 is a

provides you with an exhilarating brows-

Windows® Phone 7 powered HTC HD7

cutting-edge solution oﬀering a power-

ing experience and access to your multi-

smartphone. The HTC HD7 smartphone

ful range of innovative online services,

media and social network. With the

features the latest Windows® Phone 7

keenly sought by high-end users, online

16GB built-in memory, users can store a

platform which includes cutting-edge

social-networking enthusiasts, bloggers

huge library of 720p HD videos, music

technologies and a series of unique ap-

and corporate professionals alike. The

and games.

plications that complements the Win-

Windows® Phone 7 also integrates with

dows® Phone 7 Hub and Tile experience.

many popular Microsoft services such as

tor to launch BlackBerry in Pakistan. Pro-

Launched under the umbrella of Mo-

Oﬃce in the smartphone.

viding BlackBerry Services and 360

Mobilink was the first cellular opera-

degree after sales support to thousands of indigo customers, it is also the only operator working directly with the manufacturers RIM (Research in Motion). Mobilink was also the first cellular operator to launch the android handset, Motorola Milestone in local market earlier this year. With the launch of HTC HD7, Mobilink yet again becomes the first cellular operator to introduce the first Windows® Phone 7 platform based smartphone, the latest technology for ultimate 360 degree connectivity in Pakistan. bilink’s brand the HTC Thefrom HTC Mobilink HD7 smartphone you Countrypost-paid Head, Brightex Pvtindigo, Ltd, Naeem Tabish, Ms Sadaf along withallows bloggers. 10 | more | December 2010

Mobilink organized a Blogger Meetwww.apnatime.com

teChnology up at Rendezvous, Islamabad to launch the new HTC HD7 smartphone especially in the blogging community. About 45 bloggers mainly from Islamabad but also from Karachi and Lahore attended the event. The meet-up was extremely interactive and had a lot of online activities to keep the blogging community active and give them chances to win prizes during the blogger meet-up. A brand new HTC HD7 smartphone was also given away by Mobilink to one of the bloggers through an online Facebook competition. All participants were asked to take write a message in an empty HTC HD7 phone frame on paper, take a photo and upload it on their Facebook pages with a caption to encourage their friends to help them win the free smartphone by Mobilink. Instantly, all bloggers started taking photos and uploading it on Facebook. The winner at the end of Meet-up was Redmond Pie from Karachi who managed to get over 300 ‘likes’ in just 25 minutes. As of today, the ‘likes’ to that photo have crossed 2,000 likes.

Ms Sadaf, PR Department Mobilink talking to bloggers at the event

how networks help smartphones work faster for longer nokia siemens networks reveals that apple’s latest iPhone software supports network features to reduce smartphone signalling and traﬃc congestion n

Tests by Nokia Siemens Networks have shown that the lat-

est iPhone software supports Network Controlled Fast Dormancy. With this feature, the network and the handset work together to create the best conditions for smartphones to work quickly, yet have a long battery life and minimize network congestion. Network Controlled Fast Dormancy is also supported by Nokia Siemens Networks’ recent mobile broadband network software release (RU20). Tests indicate that the two releases are compatible. Network Controlled Fast Dormancy goes a long way to help solve the network congestion challenge posed by smartphones.

Nokia Siemens Networks solves this problem with a diﬀerent approach. Instead of keeping handsets idle, it maintains them in another state called Cell_PCH. This uses no more battery power than Idle state and needs only between three and 12 signals to move to the Active state to send data.

The problem lies in the huge amount of signalling that smartwww.apnatime.com

December 2010 | more | 11

teChnology tribute to an improved user experience and cost reduction for operators. Nokia Siemens Networks is the only vendor supporting Cell_PCH in live commercial networks. Nokia Siemens Networks also manages its Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), which manage data connections and mobility, in a very eﬃcient way, reducing the likelihood of network overload and poor end-user experience. To further enhance battery life, Nokia Siemens Networks also uses continuous packet connectivity (CPC) which shuts down the smartphone transmitter and receiver in idle phases to reduce its power consumption. In addition, the company’s technology enables end users to make concurrent voice and data calls even when using a GSM network. phones generate, up to eight times that of

uses no more battery power than Idle state

This avoids calls going straight to voice-

laptops using dongles. When smart-

and needs only between three and 12 sig-

mail if the data connection is active. Such

phones are left unused for a short while,

nals to move to the Active state to send

technologies are complemented by a

they go into an Idle state. It then takes

data. Fewer signals mean that delays for

wide range of other services and solutions

about 30 signalling exchanges with the

the user are cut to only half a second, net-

that help to make the smartphone experi-

network to wake them up when the user

work congestion is eliminated and smart-

ence simply better for users and reduce

wants to do something.

phone batteries last longer.

costs for operators.

All this signalling takes time, up to two seconds, so to avoid frustrating delays for the user, some networks keep the smartphone in the Active mode to cut response time. But this drains the battery, so handset manufacturers developed Fast Dormancy software that returns the smartphone to the battery-saving Idle

Many smartphone applications are set to connect to the network every few seconds, such as an email application checking for new messages. Signalling goes up as the smartphone frequently switches between states and this eats network capacity, sometimes blocking other phones from even making calls

state very quickly. The trouble is that many smartphone

Network Controlled Fast Dormancy

One Middle Eastern operator found

applications are set to connect to the net-

helps handsets use either Cell_PCH or Fast

that smartphones on a Nokia Siemens

work every few seconds, such as an email

Dormancy, depending on the network, to

Networks-supplied network had a battery

application checking for new messages.

maximize battery lifetime and minimize

life of 11 hours compared to six hours on a

Signalling goes up as the smartphone fre-

signalling. Nokia implemented a similar

competing network, while testing in

quently switches between states and this

feature in its smartphones in Q2 2010.

North America found that Nokia Siemens

eats network capacity, sometimes block-

Apple’s new software release heralds an-

Networks-supplied networks generate up

ing other phones from even making calls.

other major industry player working to re-

to 50 percent less signalling.

Nokia Siemens Networks solves this

duce signalling traﬃc across networks,

problem with a diﬀerent approach. Instead

which is good news for operators. Nokia

smartphones will be one of the key areas

of keeping handsets idle, it maintains

and Apple deliver half of all new smart-

addressed as part of Nokia Siemens Net-

them in another state called Cell_PCH. This

phones in the world, all of which now con-

works Smart Delivery theme in 2011. n

12 | more | December 2010

The subject of networks optimized for

www.apnatime.com

saddads

www.apnatime.com

Cover story

December 2010 | more | 13

review

More-In-House

hightlights • 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98mm, 380g in weight • Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support • Android OS v2.2 • 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird CPU , PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator • 512 MB of RAM , Huge 16GB internal storage, extra support of microSD slot • 3.2 MP autofocus camera with LED Flash • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n support • Awesome video player with DivX and XviD video codec support, equalizer with audio player • Standard 3.5 mm audio jack • Accelerometer, ambient-light and gyro sensor • Think Free Oﬃce, a good oﬃce document editor • Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support • Stereo speakers and good audio quality • Support for 2D and 3D games • 4000 mAh Li-Ion battery last long enough

14 | more | December 2010

Not long ago tablets were seen as strug-

gling machines, an unfit gadget right in the middle of cellphones and computers. Ease of handling and reliability were the biggest of questions for its manufacturers. Technology and operating system (OS) were really limited to fulfill the needs of a mobile user. Contrary to this, in 2010, the prospects, of such a machine which is much smaller than a computer and too much powerful than a cell phone, are very high. Apple plunged into this uncertain domain with its iPad and claimed 1 million iPads in less than one month from April to May 2010 and by mid of October, it had sold more than 4.19 million units worldwide. Announced in September 2010, world's second famous tablet that has promised to make www.apnatime.com

review a mark is Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Tab is a

tooth for the data sharing which was

home screen/Interface

marvelous piece of machine that is yet to

rather slow and painful for larger files. It

The Tab is equipped with Android's latest,

be launched oďŹ&#x192;cially in Pakistan. The com-

could only shifted our data at an average

2.2 Froyo. The home screen has the capac-

pany has set its launch date to be the 3rd

of 100 kb/s.

ity to oďŹ&#x20AC;er you 9 panes to populate with

week of December 2010. Luckily, we had a

The left side is all empty except for the mi-

widgets/short cuts to applications/folders.

chance to play with this gadget before it

crophone pinhole. On the top, 3.5 mm jack

You will hardly like to populate 3 to 4

hits the stores. As as I am writing this re-

is located which is pretty exposed without

panes as extra will never be required. Even

view, Samsung Galaxy Tab has proven to

any lid/cover

all 4 home screen panes are very rarely

be a perfect and unbeaten competitor of

Two stereo speakers along with the 30-pin

used on my Ubuntu 10.04 OS that I use on

Apple iPad. So far, Samsung has sold 1 mil-

connector are placed right at the bottom

my notebook.

lion Tabs world wide following the success

of the Tab. The Galaxy Tab does not charge

of Samsung Galaxy S which it claims to

over the USB cable, therefore, using a

have sold nearly 10 million units since its

charger into this 30-pin is the only way to

launch. After the success of Galaxy S, it was

pump in the life.

much easier for Samsung to work on

The front of Tab is TFT capacitive touch-

something like Tab. They only had to make

screen, 16M colors having display of 600

it bigger and stronger, both, physically and

x 1024 pixels measuring 7 inches. The

technically.

screen is Gorilla Glass Display. What is

We reviewed Samsung Galaxy S (I9000) in

this? From the definition, Gorilla Glass is

September 2010 and found it to be the

an un-scratchable, un-shatterable mate-

best of Samsung has ever produced.

rial used as a protective window for your

Whereas, Samsung Tab share almost

mobile phone, PMP, or laptop display.

everything Galaxy S had apart from the

This glass is fingerprint-prone, no matter

fact that manufacturer added 3 inches to

how frequently you clean it, fingerprints

its size and taken away 2 megapixels from

will never go away but don't worry,

the camera. Just like I9000 it is equipped

when screen is active, it appears quite

Notification Area

with 1GHz hummingbird processor and

clean.

There is something unique to this

powerVR SGX540 graphic accelerator,

Other than this, the front display is im-

gadget and that is 3 soft buttons beauti-

512MB RAM, a complete connectivity set

pressive, you can not compare it to Su-

fully placed at the bottom of the home

and 16GB internal storage. The operating

perAMOLED which Samsung uses in

screen which are Email, Web browser

system has been upgraded from Android

other cellphones, but still it works very

and the Home. It is the center one, Home

2.1 to its latest 2.2 Froryo.

well to win you heart.

which is used for alternating between

Though, Tab is larger than Galaxy S but de-

The sensitivity of the front glass is su-

your main menu and you homescreen.

sign wise both are slimmest in their own

perb a very slightest of touch of your

The Notification area resides at the top

categories. On this very large phone cum

bare finger will be registered, for sure.

of the screen holds easy access to Wi-Fi,

computer, you will find minimal hardware

There is video-call camera and the ambi-

Bluetooth, GPS, Sound Toggles and two

control. A Volume Rocker and

ent light sensor on the top of the display

interesting features, Auto-rotation

Power/Screen Lock Key on the right side

whereas, at the bottom, below the dis-

switch (which can enable and disable

similarly, SIM card tray and microUSB card

play, there are four capacitive buttons,

the accelerometer-based rotation) and

slot on the lower part of the right side.

Back, Home, Context Menu and dedi-

Brightness Control knob. Underneath,

Tab does not have a standard microUSB,

cated Search key. All are large enough to

you see the entire status of the ma-

instead it has a 30-pin port which it uses

be used easily with comfort.

chine whether it is a missed call, SMS or

for the charger as well as the miniHDMI

Rare of the Tab is all white with only 3.2

an email.

port on the multimedia stand. Our test

megapixel camera and its LED flash. The

Galaxy Tab is the first Android phone to

piece was only accompanied by a charger

battery cover is not removable so if some-

have provided the option to change the

therefore, we could not connect it to our

thing happens to your battery, you will

saturation and contrast of your screen

PC for data sharing. We only used Blue-

need to visit Samsung's service centers.

from the setting menu.

www.apnatime.com

December 2010 | more | 15

review connectivity When you turn the Wi-Fi mode on, Galaxy Tab automatically scan and configure the available wireless networks and give you the choice to select the desired one. In the absence of Wi-Fi the phone automatically switches to the GPRS/EDGE mode which was also configured very swiftly on our machine. On a big 7 inches screen, you will like to see your browsing a little brisk to enjoy the actual impact of the screen size.

Browsing is considered to be the best on Android platforms and doing it on a mini PC like display is something to highlight. You get a complete browser window, even it get rid of address bar when you say it. The entire page loads in one go, touch zoom enables you see your text at a maximum possible level. You keep zooming and software will keep adjusting the page orientation to avoid unwanted scrolling whether you are having portrait or landscape position.

As far as Wi-Fi is concerned, you will get what you wish but GPRS/EDGE, in the ab-

Memory) being used by the active applica-

during a call. Since display is always in front

sence of 3G, will not fulfill your this desire.

tions so you could manage it accordingly

of your eyes during all sort of call, you have

We used Ufone, Mobilink and Warid to

depending upon your need.

the option to note down a number easily

check the browsing and downloading

We never felt to kill/end any application

or change other in-call options like confer-

speed. Only Warid's glow was able to load

just because it was consuming too much

ence call, mute, hold etc.

our web pages fast enough, Mobilink and

resources. We almost ran a dozen applica-

Ufone only created the irritation.

tions simultaneously and hats oﬀ to 1GHz

texting

hummingbird processor and 512 MB of

There are no folders to access for creating

task manager is informative and handy

RAM which never slowed down the per-

any SMS/MMS. A single click will open the

formance of machine.

SMS application. You can either go to it

The Task Manager can be activated from

One thing I should mention here, in the

from the menu or click on a contact to acti-

the “Application” menu or you can bring its

Task Manager, you will only notice 444MB

vate the module. Texting on large QWERTY

icon on the home screen. It shows all the

of available RAM out of 512 MB which

buttons is always easy. Attaching an

running/active application, let you end

Samsung claims the phone has, where the

image/video file is just one click away

them one by one or end them all, uninstall

rest of the memory has gone? I think, Sam-

which can be previewed at the same time.

any or all of them, clear your RAM so that

sung has reserved that remaining memory

Like Galaxy S, this device also support

you could save resources of your phone. It

to make sure it will have enough free oper-

threaded SMS or a messenger chat like dis-

becomes handy by telling you at any time

ating memory at all times for basic OS op-

play for those who are not familiar to it. You

the percentage of resources(CPU and

erations.

have the options of cut, copy and paste. There’s an application-specific search that

calling

Task Manager

16 | more | December 2010

lets you quickly find a given message

It all depends upon the user's choice to use

among all your stored SMS and MMS.

7 inches Galaxy Tab as the primary phone

Like a computer application, email client is

because you can only talk by loudspeaker

easy to configure. Galaxy Tab gives you a

or being more sensible you can use pair of

list of all your emails on the left and the

headphone or a bluetooth because this

right side pane shows the preview of any

device does not have standard earpiece,

selected email along with the regular op-

therefore, you can not put it next to your

tions of Reply, Forward, Delete etc.

ear as you do with other phones and will

It also supports batch processing, that

not like shouting at the device sitting

means, you can select/delete as many

among people. Also, the loudness of

emails in one go as you desire. There is no

speaker will not help you in the noisy

limit of creating email accounts whether its

areas.

a default Gmail or any other mail server.

Unlike other android-based touchscreen

The gadget also oﬀers a combined

phones, the screen also does not go black

Inbox for the ease of handling incoming www.apnatime.com

review emails from multiple accounts. And just

Galaxy Tab oﬀers preset equalizer as well

like MMS, attachment is not a problem,

as the option to customize your settings.

its a mini computer.

The sound quality is awesome with head-

movie/audio Player

Samsung also added the music hub app

phones or external speakers. Video player is the application which

here, which allows you to browse, pur-

amuses movie lovers the most. The movie

chase and listen to music from one place.

really run smooth on this mega display

The library is quite extensive so if you feel

which support dozens of format DivX and

like getting a track from here, chances are

XviD.

it will be available.

browsing Browsing is considered to be the best on Android platforms and doing it on a mini PC like display is something to highlight. You get a complete browser window, even

Spread Sheet editing mode

it get rid of address bar when you say it.

my oﬃcial requirement that I expect from

The entire page loads in one go, touch

a tablet while I am away from my PC. Of-

zoom enables you see your text at a maxi-

fice documents are well taken care of here.

mum possible level. You keep zooming

Pre installed Think Free Oﬃce let you read

and software will keep adjusting the page

and edit your document with number ed-

orientation to avoid unwanted scrolling

iting features.

whether you are having portrait or land-

Organizer can store all your important ap-

scape position.

pointments and if you bring this out on homescreen or desktop, I would call, it will

Music Player

keep mentioning your upcoming entries. For sure, the calender can be set as daily,

There is a feature called Mosaic which split

weekly, monthly basis.

the video into separate scenes thus mak-

final Words

ing it easier for you to choose where you want to start your movie from. If you don't

Web Browser

Too much has been written above, I still

have to go with the built-in movie player,

Like other applications, hitting the “menu

do not know the launching price of

Android market is full of movie software,

key” while a browser is opened bring to

Galaxy Tab but I hope it will be far lesser

you can download which ever you like.

the relevant commands for example book

than Apple's iPad. People will like to crit-

Subtitles loads swiftly but it does not sup-

mark, search on page etc. Yes, Tab supports

icize on the grounds that Tab lacks high

port other languages.

multiple browser windows which you can

resolution camera and earpiece feature.

We watched two consecutive movies and

manage easily.

No. this device is not a camera phone,

still we had plenty of battery charge left.

One of the main strengths that Galaxy Tab

what ever capacity of camera it has, is

Besides movies, audio is also far more

has is the presence of Adobe Flash 10.1, in-

enough for its operations as far as the

improved and user friendly. Just like the

stead of Flash Lite, which we normally use

earpiece thing is concerned, good hand

contact list or email client, music player

on our PCs. This also makes Youtube like

free and bluetooth devices are available

also gives you two panes. Left one

operations easy on it.

in the market. We have no idea if Samsung will make available the physical

shows you the main categories/groups (artist/album/genre etc) and the right one shows the associated music files. So

oﬃce Documents and organizer

keyboard with it that docks on the HDMI interface through its 30-pin port, never-

it is pretty simple to select your desired

We bet that you are holding a mini PC in

theless, this 380 grams of machine is

audio file.

your hand. Personally speaking it fulfills all

worth buying.

www.apnatime.com

December 2010 | more | 17

review

More-In-House

Pros • QWERTY Keyboard • Quad-band GSM/EDGE • 600MHz processor, 256MB RAM; 250MB user-accessible storage • 5 megapixel fixed-focus camera, LED flash • Wi-Fi b/g; DLNA and UPnP support • Stereo FM radio with RDS, Internet radio • Bluetooth (with A2DP) • Standard microUSB port (charging) • microSD card slot (32GB supported, 2GB included) • Email and social networking support • Oﬃce document editor; PDF viewer; ZIP file support

few words about e5 and c3 Nokia has been promoting C3 as a social device, much slower and less responsive than its big brother, E5 which can be called a better version of C3. Yes, apparently this device will attract you as if you are holding some expensive smartphone. Probably, Nokia has planned this way, to assemble the low cost ingredients into better looking outer cover that will give an impression of holding an expensive device unless you operate it for a while. But unlike C3 which we reviewed last month, this phone is more suitable to be called as a budget social phone mainly for youth as a target customer. But Nokia launched this phone in Pakistan at Rs. 20,000 plus, a price

cons • Under performance of 5MP Camera • Poor video recording • Video player is bad • Low-res screen • Volume control key is annoying sometimes

18 | more | December 2010

range still considered to be expensive for young people. Nokia may have planned to sell C3 to young audience and oﬀered E5 to some serious user or oﬃce going people who always want to hold a smartphone in their hands. Lets see which category of people find it more feasible for them. www.apnatime.com

review outer body The outer part of the phone meas-

home screen/Interface

count, Yahoo Mail or any other oﬃce mail

The Nokia E5 is runnign Symbian 9.3

server within seconds. Later you can al-

ures as 115 x 58.9 x 12.8 mm and weighs

and runs on the S60 3rd edition user in-

ways change the settings for each mail

almost 126g. The box contains the

terface with Feature Pack 2. It oﬀers vari-

account. In a simple way, it has a support

phone, a charger, USB data cable to be

ous Home Screen patterns under the

for attachments, signatures and all the

used with your PC, low quality head-

mode “Business” and “Personal” which you

basic things you can think of to do with

phones and a 2GB microSD card that

can select from Menu>Ctrl. Panel>Set-

your email application.

was missing in C3. Nokia could have put

tings>General>Personalization>Standby

a decent quality headphones but I think

mode>Mode Settings.

The default Business theme of E5 shows the email accounts on your home

they have started to ignore this aspect

screen and keep updating you with every

and expect the user to use their own

email received.

better quality stuﬀ instead. This way,

SMS and MMS is simple and give you

Nokia has tried to keep the cost down

the ease to attach images, docs etc in just

but still we would like to ask Nokia to

one click.

start including better quality accessories

Under the “Internet” menu, Nokia E5

as most of the Chinese phones of un-

has all the famous social applications pre-

known brand come with quality head-

installed to remain connected with your

phones. This isn't a heavy phone. The front side prominently shows the 4-rows

loved ones including facebook, My Space, Home Screen

You can also assign short cuts to the

Twitter, Hi5, Friendster, Gtalk, Yahoo and Ovi Messenger.

compact QWERTY keyboard. The upper

Left and Right selection from the very

part is 2.36 inches of display screen

same menu. You can assign to bring up to

easy to use and with a QWERTY key pad,

which is low in resolution and does not

15 applications on the home screen. It

you will be pleased to chat as fast as you

impress while browsing a website or

also oﬀers 6 themes for the Home Screen

can. The built-in facebook client can only

playing a game. Sunlight legibility is also

which can also be selected from here.

let you play with your wall messages and

not good and it would be a little diﬃcult

Similarly, screen light intensity, Light

Gtalk, Yahoo and Ovi messengers are

commenting. It does not allow you to chat

time-out etc can also be managed from

with your friends unless you open the

here. If you want to change the color

facebook site in full mode through Opera

cept for the metallic battery cover. The

theme of your entire phone, then

Mobile 10 (download it from Ovi store for

phone has minimal hardware controls

“Themes” option should be looked into

free). There is another application (Face-

on either sides. The left side is just bare

under the Personalization menu.

book Chat) available at Ovi which will let

to view your screen. Front and back of E5 is all plastic ex-

apart from the key to remove the battery cover which is also present on the

you chat with your facebook friends the

social applications

way you normally do it on your PC.

The real power of this handset lies in

Another interesting application that

volume control key which is a little low

the social applications it houses. To start

we enjoyed was “Skype”. You can always

on quality side. Occasionally you will

with, we can praise the email module. You

make and receive calls on your phone for

find it a little rough while increasing or

can configure your personal Gmail ac-

free using your internet connection, not

right side. The right side also houses the

to mention, operator will charge the inter-

decreasing the volume level.

net usage.

Charger plug, 3.5mm audio jack and the microUSB port which is hidden

contacts and calling

under the flap are located on the top of

Adding contacts is easy on Symbian

the phone. On the rear, it has 5mega pixel camera, LED flash and the loud-

and you can store practically unlimited

speaker grill. An interesting feature of

contacts in E5. You can sort them by first

LED flash light is that you can lit it by

name or the last one. You can put the fa-

pushing the space bar key sseven if the

vorite contacts on the home screen along

key pad is locked. www.apnatime.com

Social Applications

with their pictures. December 2010 | more | 19

review Personal ringtones and videos can also be assigned to a contact. If you prefer

movie/audio Player Music player is simple and can han-

On the other hand, videos recording at 15 fps is very much poor. We will re-

you may group your contacts and give

dle MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA formats

peat our statement here, just like video

each group a specific ringtone. Calling is

quite well. Sound quality is excellent,

player, video recording is also not the

easy, loud and crisp, we found no prob-

not the loudest but we experience a

domain of Nokia E5.

lem with that.

clean sound with and without headphones. Of course, headphones that

Internet connectivity/browsing Internet connectivity is handled well

Nokia provides in the box are real low in quality so you have to rely on your own. Music player is also accompanied by

in this phone. You can set the option to

preset equalizer and sound settings

fix your connection type or you can set

which you can edit anytime.

it to ask you every time it tries to con-

Oﬃce is full of supportive applications including Mobile Oﬃce (Word,

Music files can be sorted by artist,

nect the internet. In a Wi-Fi area, it auto-

album, genre. Composer is automatic

matically scans and connects the access

and searching tracks by gradual typing

point.

of the desired name is also available.

Due to limited screen size and low reso-

oﬃce and number of applications

Video player is not the domain of

lution, you will probably not enjoy brows-

Nokia E5. On this very small low res

ing the websites having rich content.

screen it will not give you any kind of treat. We could only play movies which

Oﬃce Application

we downloaded from the Ovi store. The

Excel, Power point) and Adobe Acrobat

player never accepted our own .mp4

for PDF. Editing feature is also good

movies despite of many tries. DivX/XviD

while working with Microsoft oﬃce files.

support is out of question unless you

Zip manager, multiple alarm, converter,

download a separate application for that.

organizer and various other oﬃce applications are available to help do basic of-

fm radio/Internet radio

fice functions when you are moving.

With RDS support FM radio plays alOpera Mobile Browser with multi-tab support

most all the channels in town, similarly, internet radio is an extra bonus and

final Words With the strength of social applica-

gives you plenty of choices to select

tions and basic oﬃce work support this

sor and a mini-map help scrolling the

your music from provided you are con-

phone is very much feasible for oﬃce

large sites. If you scroll longer, the mini-

nected through Wi-Fi as it will keep

going people. The phone will not stuck

map gets activated automatically and

buﬀering on GPRS/EDGE.

or crash no matter how many applica-

While navigating, virtual mouse cur-

tions you are running except for little

let you use it as an overview. Browsing on the default browser is not really enjoyable unless you install

camera Though Nokia E5 is equipped with

jerky attitude when memory usage exceeds defined limit. Still camera is not impressive on E5

Opera Mobile 10 from the Ovi Store

much desired 5 MP camera but in order

which also gives the option to start as

to keep the cost down Nokia has used

but video playing and video recording

many tabs as you can manage easily.

the fixed-focus lens which does not ful-

are one of the worsts we camera across

The default browser of Symbian also re-

fill the expectations. Despite of LED

on any Symbian mobile recently. The

mained ineﬃcient to manage all the

flash, 2592 x 1944 pixels of resolution

price of E5 is dropping regularly, so if

flash based content which is an old

and several camera settings pictures are

you people are considering to buy C3,

problem of Symbian based browser.

not noise free. The lens is also not pro-

we would suggest to save a little more

tected therefore, finger smudges and

cash and go for E5 if you can trade oﬀ

dedicated application takes care of

scratches can easily distort your pre-

between bad video experience and

videos in a better way.

cious moments.

good social application performance.

As far as Youtube is concerned, its

20 | more | December 2010

www.apnatime.com

More Report

Csr

Samsung Electronics has built a mod-

ern school at Ladhayke Village in District Kasur, to serve a vast rural area and uplift the standard of education. This school, constructed in collaboration with SOS Rural Support Programme (SOS RSP), was inaugurated by the Samsung Pakistan’s Senior Manager, Mr. In Jae Lee. “Samsung Grammar School” for girls, has been built and furnished with generous funds provided by Samsung. It will be operated by the SOS RSP to provide a high standard of education to the region. The opening ceremony was a colourful event, graced by In Jae Lee, who shared the joy of creating this educational opportunity for the rural population. Students gave an

Mr. In Jae Lee Senior Manager Samsung, Ms. Rabiya Siddiqui PR Manager Samsung inaugurating the Samsung Grammar School in District Kasur. Also seen in the picture Ms. Zarish Zafar and Samsung's team

Samsung Pakistan’s Managing Direc-

Surrounding villages that will benefit

interesting performance and a large num-

tor, Mr. Heeh Chang Yee said, “Samsung

from this institution include: Rohewala,

ber of media representatives were also

has an elaborate Social-development and

Lohgarh Jhugian, Ladheke, Sheikh Pura

present.

CSR commitment, whereby, we are mak-

Nauand Basti Ladheke, UC Sehjra Tehsil

ing eﬀorts to foster modern education in

and District Kasur. Over 13,500 people in

underdeveloped regions. We support well

these rural communities do not have any

established welfare organizations like “SOS

premium quality educational institutions.

Villages” to provide quality education, thus

The nearest Government Girls High

accelerating the social, educational and fi-

School was 4.5 Kilometres away so the

nancial progress of the whole region”.

girls faced problems in reaching there, but

Rabiya Siddiqui, PR Manager Samsung said; “It is a pleasure to see that a great brand of electronics - Samsung is

Children performing at the event

www.apnatime.com

now Samsung School has solved this problem. Other recreational, cultural and train-

playing a big role in developing schools

ing opportunities will also be provided by

in the rural areas. The talented students

experienced and qualified teachers. The

of Kasur region will now study in a mod-

school structure comprises of class rooms,

ern environment and be ready to face

library, science labs, computer labs, sports

the challenges of life. The Samsung

and transportation facilities etc. SOS will

Grammar high School is ready to serve

also establish a community health centre

the students living in many villages

in collaboration with SAMSUNG in the

around this area. Free education will be

school building to fulfill the basic needs of

provided to the deserving students.

the poor community.

December 2010 | more | 21

teleCom

While checking my to-do-list at

work, something interesting caught my eye. It was the first of December - the moment of realization of the fact that I have entered into the beginning of the end of this year. Oh yes! Another year is moving towards its conclusion and, in this fast paced life, this is the ideal time to slow down, take a break and look back at the prior eleven months before moving ahead and making new plans. During this month, a common practice followed by more than half of the world each year is, to develop a resolu-

I have noticed people listing numerous goals for themselves at the end of the year and the amusing part is that, they believe they can fix all the loopholes and will succeed with flying colors without ado. This, I think, can only be true if the superman was among your forefathers

tion plan for New Year. Be it a plan of 22 | more | December 2010

www.apnatime.com

teleCom some business, a plan of the govern-

Therefore, the focus should be on what

think of all the positives reasons about

ment bodies or a plan designed by a

are the most important tasks that must

why do you want to loose weight and

student - large number of people or

be completed in the upcoming year to

be aﬃrmative about it. Then, create a

groups of people, from all divisions of

bring a positive change in your life.

diet plan to pursue and go on diet. Hey

life; produce their yearly plans to

To exemplify, making a resolution to

wait! Don’t die of hunger please. I sin-

achieve their set targets. Though many

quit smoking may not be useful if you’ll

cerely want you to stay alive to create

of us do follow this act, the question

not be practically trying to give up. And

another resolution plan next year (kid-

arises here is that how many of us actu-

honestly, your sudden breakup with cig-

ding!). Here, dieting doesn’t denote star-

ally tag along with the decided plan.

arettes is not the right solution. As you

vation; this means that your diet plan

Even before that, does anyone actually

are habitual of smoking regularly, you’ll

should contain such food items which

glance over the past plan which was

be provoked by the temptation of hav-

are healthy to eat. Avoid junk food and

manufactured last year to be followed

ing one or two and then three or more

exercise regularly. Repeat your motive

this year? On individual basis, are we

cigarettes and next, you’ll be back to

each day to yourself and re-examine

bothered to do some groundwork to

zero level. Hence, the best way out is to

your agenda frequently. May be, one of your old resolutions

To exemplify, making a resolution to quit smoking may not be useful if you’ll not be practically trying to give up. And honestly, your sudden breakup with cigarettes is not the right solution

was to help poor and needy people. Did you do that? In fact, did you actually think of how you could change someone’s life by helping them? Giving a penny to a beggar is not the achievement. The achievement is in helping this particular community to quit begging and being dependent on their own by persuading them to work and earn. Donating a huge sum of money is valuable only if that’s what your resolution was; it’s actually not worthy enough to bring betterment in the life of those who look towards you for your support.

count our achievements and our losses

quit smoking gradually. There should be

The pride is when you’ll think of tak-

and the reasons behind those victories

a proper plan to follow assertively and

ing an action far better than just con-

or failures? I think very few people

before that you should be determined

tributing cash. You may use that cash for

nudge their mind to go through this ex-

by heart and soul that by the end of this

doing some constructive work for the

ercise.

forthcoming year, you’ll get rid of this

needy which would benefit them for

habit. If you are taking ten cigarettes per

longer time period.

I have noticed people listing numerous goals for themselves at the end of

day, be assured that you’ll be decreasing

the year and the amusing part is that,

the number of cigarettes each month

ning and your New Year Resolution plan

they believe they can fix all the loop-

and then strictly follow the decided

must be the beginning towards a posi-

With every end comes a new begin-

holes and will succeed with flying colors

timelines. Every time when you yearn

tive change. So, think positively, be kind

without ado. This, I think, can only be

for a cigarette, remind yourself of all the

to yourself and to others, identify your

true if the superman was among your

worst scenarios that you could be facing

goals and set your targets, aim to

forefathers. Sounds realistic? No? Great!

due to this habit. It may look diﬃcult

achieve but don’t fear the failure and

That’s my point. No one is perfect on

but it’s not impossible. All that you need

keep calculating your progress. I am

this planet earth and keeping this per-

is the will power.

going to go through the process of self-

spective, we should try to be specific

Similarly, just listing a mission of

evaluation and to list down my resolu-

with our goals. You can achieve several

loosing weight will not turn you into a

tions for the approaching year. What’s

targets but not all of them at once.

sensational, slim and stylish star. First,

your plan?

www.apnatime.com

December 2010 | more | 23

Business

Minerals can play vital role in coun-

if one looks beyond media hype and ex-

cial government under the Balochistan

try’s economy. Balochistan is a region of

amine the regulatory structure of min-

Mineral rules, none of the licenses have

abundant resources but unfortunately

ing industry in Pakistan, the nature of

government’s participation except in

the resources not have yet been utilized

the global mining business and the

the case of Reko Diq project. So when

in a best way. The government’s vision is

terms of agreement between TCC and

this project goes into production, gov-

to transform these resources into a

the provincial government of Balochis-

ernment will earn 25% of profit in addi-

source of revenue for the province so

tan , it will be revealed that the Reko Diq

tion to royalties and taxes. While the

that Balochistan would be self-suﬃcient

project is, in fact favorable deal for Pak-

other projects if they go into production

with in coming years. The security situa-

istan and Balochistan.

will generate only royalties and taxes. So

tion in the country has been a big rea-

TCC, a joint venture of Canadian Bar-

it seems that this very important advan-

son to hamper international investment.

rick Gold and Chillian Antofagasta has

tage is being over shadowed in faulty

While governments, both federal and

completed the exploration of the de-

and inadequate analyses of mining in-

provincial invite the foreign investors to

posit in Reko Diq and submitted de-

dustry practices.

come invest, it is important that con-

tailed feasibility report to government

ducive environment is created so that

of Balochistan in August. Reko Diq is sit-

the first foreign investment will prove as

FDI can flow in.

uated 500 KM from Quetta in north-west

an engine for foreign investment in the

Meanwhile when not a lot is hap-

TCC’s investment in Reko Diq project

of Balochistan and 70 KM west of

region and will motivate more foreign

pening in Pakistan and especially

Naukundi town of Chaghi district, bor-

investors to come forward. That will not

Balochistan in terms of big investments,

der Afghanistan and Iran. The company

only benefit Balochistan but also Pak-

Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) can kick

was named after the name of Tethyan

istan.

oﬀ the first ever large scale Copper-Gold

belt, a well-known geological formation

project at Reko Diq having 5.9 billion

known for copper deposits that runs

lion pounds of copper and 13 million

tones of mineral resource within four to

across central and southeast Europe,

ounces of gold in form of payable metal

five years with an initial investment of

Turkey, Iran, Pakistan through Hi-

over 56 years of mine life will need huge

3.3 billion US dollars.

malayan region into Burma, Malaysia, In-

investment in infrastructure and a com-

donesia and Papua New Guinea.

bination of expertise and technology to

There has been an uproar in the media recently about the project saying that it is ‘ripping-oﬀ’ Pakistan. However 24 | more | December 2010

When compared with all other Exploration Licenses issued by the provin-

The estimated production of 22 bil-

realize . Assuming the development of the project with international standards www.apnatime.com

Business and FDI is successful, the project is

ment of Balochistan, both Federal and

This copper and gold will be sold at in-

bound to serve as a catalyst for attract-

Balochistan governments will have 52%

ternational market prices quoted at Lon-

ing other investors to be followed explo-

of the free cash flows in the form of roy-

don Metal Exchange. This will also

ration and mining development.

alty, taxes and share .

activate the Gwadar port which till now

TCC has overwhelming support of

The total expected investment was

is underutilized.

the local communities as more than

about 3.3 billion US$ to be spent for de-

80% of its employees are from Balochis-

veloping the supporting infrastructure

company, local residents of Balochistan

tan. A detailed feasibility report has al-

to make the project functional. The

would be given preference in skilled

About the recruitment policy of the

ready been submitted to government of

company would spend 300 to 400 mil-

employment. When the operations

Balochistan in August last and hopefully,

lion US$ annually on procurement of

begin , 2500 persons would be em-

the provincial government would prefer

goods and services of which 45-50%

ployed permanently while almost the

exploration company (TCC) for mining.

would be spent locally.

same number of people would be

As TCC had made risk investment of

About transportation of production,

em[ployed indirectly as suppliers and

more than 220 million US$ on explo-

the annual production of concentrate

contractors. TCC has also been involved

ration of the deposit and it is not only

would be 600,000 tones that would be

in social service for the development of

common practice world over that that

pumped through 682 KM long pipeline

the area with the active participation of

the company which made risk invest-

from the site to Gwadar port for further

community. The company had spent

ment in exploration is given lease for

shipment to international markets via

over 1 million US $ on a number of com-

mining but also under the Balochistan

sea. The estimated annual production

munity investments initiatives in educa-

Mineral Rules. Under the agreement

from the reko Diq mine is 200,000 tons

tion, health, skilled development etc.

reached between company and govern-

of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold.

Recently a local organization called “voice of Chagai” held a demonstration

The estimated production of 22 billion pounds of copper and 13 million ounces of gold in form of payable metal over 56 years of mine life will need huge investment in infrastructure and a combination of expertise and technology to realize

in Dalbaldin, raising concern over the recent controversies stirred up about the managing company of TCC, saying that the way Reko Diq project is being developed by TCC, it will usher an era of prosperity for the local people. Reko Diq project can literally ‘make or break’ the future of large scale mining in Balochistan and flow of FDI in Pakistan

www.apnatime.com

December 2010 | more | 25

latest in teCh

taiwan to build 390-meter tower with floating observatory blimps

It might look like something out of imagination, but it is going to be possible. "Floating Observatories" is Stefan Dorin's winning entry in the recent Taiwan Tower Conceptual International Competition – and in return for his US$130,000 first prize, now he has to actually build the thing. The new tower, standing more than 300 meters tall with its helium-filled observatory "leaves", will be the crown jewel of Taechung, the third largest city in Taiwan. Architect Dorin Stefan has had a lot of success in his home town of Bucharest – even snagging the job of designing Ro-

mania's pavilions at two world Expos in 1993 and 2005. But his latest design, soon to be built on the mid-west coast of Taiwan, could be the most outrageous of them all. Standing somewhere around 390 meters tall, Stefan's "Floating Observatories" features geothermal heating and water heating in the basement, natural ventilation through the "chimney" effect, solar cells and axially mounted wind turbines around the building's core for power, fiber optic lighting for its basements, and a rainwater collection and purification system. But what's really going to get people excited is the blimp-like floating elevator observatory decks moored to tracks on the sides of the building. Self-supporting through the use of helium balloons, built from lightweight materials from the aerospace industry and covered with a transparent polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) membrane, each observatory carries as many as 72 people as it moves up and down its tracks from the bottom to the top of the building, providing spectacular views both of the Taiwan strait to the west, and the city of Taechung below. Access to each platform is via extending, enclosed bridges at "deck" floors spaced throughout the building. Each of the building's eight observatories is diﬀerently shaped, providing a diﬀerent experience

to visitors in terms of travel speed, internal architecture and of course the view. The floating platforms would probably be quite a pleasant place to be during one of Taiwan's frequent earthquakes – but you'd probably want to bring them down to earth and get them firmly secured when a typhoon comes through. The tower is equal parts museum, oﬃce space and observatory platform, and is expected to become a focal point both for Taechung's locals and for tourists. It's certainly a remarkable design – and

a remarkably risky and optimistic selection from the judging panel. The real challenge begins now, as Stefan puts the tower through the process of structural design and feasibility studies. Construction is expected to begin in 2012. We look forward to seeing the results!

acer's 7-inch and 10.1-inch android tablets Acer's getting into the tablet game, too.The flagship 10.1-incher looks quite interesting, boasting a dual-core 1GHz processor, an HDMI output and a native 1280x800 (!) screen resolution. You'll also get a 5 megapixel rear camera, an "HD" front-facing camera for video calling and full multitouch support. Hard to say how many clams it'll cost ya, but at least there's an April 2011 ship date to mark down. Moving on, the 7-inch tablet (also unnamed as of now) packs the same screen resolution, a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU and the same Flash 10.1 support -- so far as we can tell, the "Android Tablet OS" Acer speaks of is Froyo, or Android 2.2. That one's also coming in April of next year

26 | more | December 2010

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blackberry Playbook will challenge iPad on price

The BlackBerry PlayBook will sell for under $500, according to RIM exec Jim Balsillie, which would put the forthcoming PlayBook in direct competition with the Apple iPad. Balsillie dropped the news in an interview with Bloomberg, promptly setting oﬀ a frenzy of speculation in the tech blogosphere – and causing RIM shares to surge 7.53 percent in afternoon trading.

The PlayBook is expected to hit shelves early next year. The device won't include 3G or 4G support, although RIM says it "intends" to oﬀer that functionality down the line. Instead, PlayBook users will connect to the Web via a Wi-Fi antenna or by tethering the tablet – via Bluetooth – with a BlackBerry handset. Among the other features on the PlayBook: a 1 GHz dual-core processor, front- and rearfacing cameras (both HD), and Flash support. Of course, the PlayBook will face stiﬀ competition on the tablet market. Besides the iPad, there is also the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the HP Slate 500, a tablet computer designed to appeal to business consumers. HP has described the Slate 500 as the "ideal PC for professionals who don’t usually work at a traditional desk, yet need to stay productive in a secure, familiar Windows environment." The Slate 500 sells for $799.

high current Pro 80Plus gold-rated Psus Announced back in June, Antec's High Current Pro line of 80Plus Gold-certified modular power supplies are finally making their way into retail stores and are set to become available as of this month. Coming in 750W, 850W, 1000W and 1200W versions, the HCP units have an eﬃciency of up to 92%, active PFC (Power Factor Correction), a double-layer printed circuit board design, gold-plated high-current terminals, a 135mm double ball bearing PWM fan (the 1.2kW model packs an 80mm rear fan), a MTBF of 100,000 hours, and multiple 12V rails - eight on the 1200W PSU, four rails on the rest. "Antec's High Current Pro series is the optimal choice for users seeking a first-class solution to power demanding system builds," said Scott Richards, senior vice president of Antec. "With all models achieving 80 PLUS Gold certification, providing unequaled eﬃciency and output, on all levels, and using top-notch components, the HCP series once again demonstrates Antec's leadership in power supply design and innovation." The HCP power supplies are backed by a five-year warranty.

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mercedes-benz active night view puts pedestrians in the spotlight Since 2009, Mercedes-Benz's luxury class models have included an Active Night View Assist Plus feature that detects pedestrians on the road and highlights them on the display on the instrument cluster using infra-red light projectors. The company has now taken the assistance system a step further with a new spotlight function that specifically directs light on people on or near the road so that both the driver and the pedestrian are alerted to the presence of the approaching vehicle.

When the car's infra-red night vision camera detects people on or near the road, the system automatically flashes a spotlight on them using one of the main headlamps. The camera can detect pedestrians within a range of 80 m (262 ft) with the image displayed on a display in the instrument cluster. While

Mercedes says studies have shown that pedestrians are alerted to the approaching vehicle, the spotlight function doesn't dazzle other road users as illumination doesn't occur if other road users happen to be traveling in front of the car or approaching in the opposite direction are located near the pedestrian.

sub Zero liquid cooling system

In spite of huge advances in computer system performance in recent years, for demanding gamers and dedicated overclockers they're simply not enough. Persuading processors to oďŹ&#x20AC;er more performance and power does come with a heat cost though. Digital Storm's new Sub-Zero Liquid Chilled System manages to idle an Intel i7 processor below freezing point while unlocking

28 | more | December 2010

overclocking performance gains at the same time. Digital Storm has designed and tested a new Sub-Zero Liquid Chilled System which benefits from no moving parts and marries a series of TEC peltier coolers with specialized compression fittings, German-engineered water blocks and an integrated reservoir pump system to reduce a computer's thermal signature to virtually nothing. The network of artery-like tubes delivering its icy payload allows users to unlock overclocks of Intel's i7-980X processor right up to 4.6GHz, while idling it below 0 deg C. The company's new cooling system has been installed into its HailStorm gaming computer and is available now from the online store. Prices start at US$3,899 for a PC featuring an Intel i7 950 processor, 6GB DDR3 memory and NVIDIA GTX 460

graphics. The Intel i7 980X system also features a couple of NVIDIA GTX 580 cards with 1.5GB of onboard memory and a 1200W power supply. This highend gaming beast will cost you US$6,304.

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eurocopter’s x3 hybrid helicopter reaches 180 knot milestone Eurocopter is reporting a new breakthrough in the test flight program for its X3 high-speed, long-range Hybrid Helicopter demonstrator. The aircraft is equipped with two turboshaft engines that power a five-blade main rotor system and two propellers installed on short-span fixed wings, combining the vertical takeoﬀ and landing (VTOL) capabilities and full hover flight capabilities of a helicopter with the fast cruise speeds of a turboprop-powered aircraft. On November 29, the X3 reached the program’s Step 1 speed objective by attaining a true airspeed of 180 knots (333 km/h or 207 mph) in level

flight at a reduced engine power level. “This helicopter is really built for speed, and our test team looks forward to taking the X3 to the next steps of its flight regime.” The X3 is built around a Eurocopter Dauphin helicopter frame and is designed to suit a wide range of applications, including long-distance search and rescue (SAR) missions, coast guard duties, border patrol missions, passenger transportation and inter-city shuttle services. Eurocopter says it could also be well-tailored for military missions in Special Force’s operations, troop transportation, combat SAR and medical evacuation.

fujitsu converts heat and light into electricity with a single device

Fujitsu Laboratories has announced a two-in-one energy harvesting device that can convert both light and heat into electricity. With no electrical wiring or batteries to replace, Fujitsu says that this sort of device can be manufactured from organic materials keeping costs to a minimum. Devices that use photovoltaic cells to convert light to electricity or temperature diﬀerentials to harness heat are not new, but by combining the two on a single hybrid device, Fujitsu says it can double the energy-capture potential. Fujitsu's diagram shows how such a device, which contains both N-type and P-type semiconductor materials, can operate in both photovoltaic mode (left) and thermoelectric mode (right). The company points out the great potential for such technology in medical fields where it could be used in sensors to monitor certain bio-signals. In addition, because the technology can generate power without electric wires or the need for battery replacement, it could also be of use in remote areas (or even in space, presumably) where it isn't convenient to send humans to maintain the device. www.apnatime.com

msI cx620 3D laptop launched

MSI introduces the CX620 3D, a new 15.6" 3D laptop that includes a pair of polarized glasses. The system features the Intel Core i3-370M processor, Intel HM55 chipset, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, Blu-ray, HDMI, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, 4-in-1 memory card reader, 7.1 audio, 1.3MP webcam, 6-cell battery and Windows 7 Home Premium. The CX620 3D measures 374mm x 247mm x 34.5mm and weighs 2.48kg. This notebook packs the all-new 3D display technology to bring content to life in real 3D. Starting from the latest 3D Games to 3D photos and 3D Blu-Ray movies. Enjoy the 3D experience by 3D photo viewing, playing 3D games, watching 3D movies and other December 2010 | more | 29

latest in teCh current and upcoming 3D possibilities. MSI CX620 3D makes all this reality by its built-in Blu-ray drive and its bundled circular polarized glasses. It oﬀers realistic three-dimensional visual eﬀects, converts 2D images and photos to 3D, and, when you are performing tasks, such as word processing, you can choose the conventional 2D mode. The CX620 3D packs MSI’s own GPU Boost, so you can strike the perfect balance be-

tween multi-media performance and battery life. The cover and wrist areas of the MSI CX620 3D is sheathed in MSI’s own stylish color-film print for protection against scratching and fingerprints and giving it an extra touch of class. This notebook comes furthermore with a Chiclet keyboard and a seamless touchpad to optimize your typing experience.

magnetically-guided pill sends pictures from inside the stomach by the patient and wirelessly transmits high-res, real-time images from inside the stomach while the doctor navigates using a joystick. Once the patient has swallowed the capsule they are positioned so that their stomach, including the capsule, is lo-

Stomach examinations may soon become more comfortable and less invasive with the development of a

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magnetically guided capsule endoscope. Jointly developed by Olympus and Siemens, the capsule is swallowed

cated in the center of an artificially generated magnetic field. The capsule endoscope has cameras at both ends and is controlled by means of varying magnetic fields. The capsule, which is at prototype stage, has received positive feedback during trials. Patients found the 31 mm long by 11 mm diameter capsule easy to swallow with water: 93% thought the examination comfortable, 89% found it easy to swallow the capsule, and all patients questioned preferred the magnetically guided capsule endoscope over conventional gastrointestinal endoscopy. The capsule endoscope is not yet commercially available.

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Norwegian visits easypaisa outlet n The Norwegian Minister for Environment and International Development Erik Solheim visited a Telenor Pakistan easypaisa retail outlet at a local market recently. He was accompanied by Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile and Chief Strategy Officer & VP Corporate Affairs Telenor Pakistan Aamir Ibrahim. The minister is in Pakistan to see ongoing flood relief and rehabilitation activities. Norway has contributed 400 million Norwegian Kroners (USD67 million) for Pakistan's flood affected. Talking to the media the minister appreciated Telenor Pakistan's contribution to the flood relief activities. "I am happy to see that Telenor is actively contributing to social causes in Pakistan. The Norwegian government and people of Norway will always stand beside our Pakistani friends in their hour of need." Telenor Pakistan's Aamir Ibrahim speaking on the occasion said: "Branchless banking solutions like easypaisa can not only address the lack of financial inclusion in Pakistan but can also potentially help generate and disburse funds to the disaster affected people." Easypaisa, launched in October 2009,

(R – L):Ambassador of Norway Robert Kvile, Norwegian Minister for Environment and International Development Erik Solheim, Chief Strategy Oﬃcer & VP Corporate Aﬀairs Telenor Pakistan Aamir Ibrahim, and Director Corporate Communications & Responsibility Telenor Pakistan Anjum Rahman

aims to oﬀer financial inclusion to Pakistan's population, a large majority of which is currently unserved. The recently launched easypaisa Donation Service was used to collect funds for the flood aﬀected people.

Easypaisa is available in 700 locations across Pakistan. With 11,000 agents, 1 million transactions a month, and Rs 10 billion worth of transaction since launch, the service is helping to provide people with much needed financial services.

First National Virtual Leadership Conference by Telenor At the conclusion of a video conference of disabled people’s organizations, facilitated by Telenor Pakistan, disability leaders from across the country stressed on the government the need to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. They urged development organizations to adopt inclusive development plans for the successful implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Telenor Pakistan, in collaboration with Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP), a disabled people’s organization (DPO), helped bring together representatives of 23 DPOs at the ‘First National Virtual Leadership Conference of Persons with Disabilities’ on the eve of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The conference -- which centered on the theme ‘Keeping the Promise: Mainstreaming Disability in the Millennium Development Goals Towards 2015 and Beyond’ -served as a platform for Pakistan’s disability leaders to discuss issues related to persons with disabilities and to align their development goals. Director Corporate Communications & Responsibility, Telenor Pakistan Anjum Rahman speaking after the conference said: “It is heartening to see all the prominent leaders of persons n

Seen in the picture (L to R) are Nasir Dar, President Pakistan Deaf Forum, Atif Shaikh, CEO and President Special Talent Exchange Program, Abia Akram, Disability Advisor Handicap International Pakistan & Women Coordinator DPI Asia Pacific, Anjum Rahman, Director Corporate Communications & Responsibility Telenor Pakistan and Shamsa Kanwal, Vice President Milestone.

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month in FoCus with disabilities come together for the common cause of mainstreaming Pakistan’s disabled community. Telenor Pakistan has been consistently working toward the inclusion of persons with disabilities into society through various initiatives under the umbrella of its ‘Khuddar Pakistan’ program, and will continue to do so. I hope that our combined efforts will help Pakistan in achieving its MDG commitments in the times to come.” CEO and President, Special Talent Exchange Program Atif Sheikh appreciating Telenor Pakistan’s support said: “This year on International Day of Persons with Disabilities there is a need to ensure that persons with disabilities are integrated into all development activities. While through combined eﬀorts the movement for a rights-based society has gained momentum over the last two decades, a national plan of action is still lacking. The ratification by the government of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will help the disabled community work towards achieving Pakistan’s MDGs.” The video conference, the first of its kind, was held at Telenor Pakistan’s oﬃces in Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Quetta.

‘100 pay 100’ offer – ZONG received an overwhelming response n ZONG received an overwhelming response to its ‘100 pay 100’ offer – a special campaign to reward subscribers each time they recharge their balance. The ‘100 pay 100’ offer, as the name suggests, effectively doubles the balance of ZONG’s pre-paid subscribers automatically every time they re-charge it using Rs. 100 or more denomination scratch cards / mini load. According to the package details, ZONG customers, on every load of Rs. 100, will get 100% extra recharge in the form of free minutes which can be used according to their tariff plan. 80% of the balance can be used to make on net calls while 20% can be used to make off net calls, the free balance

can be used within three days. The customer will be charged according to the prescribed package & pulse while the extra balance can only be utilized on voice calls. “The ‘100 pay 100’ offer has created waves in the market and the ZONG subscribers have responded enthusiastically to this new offer. This unique offering is a huge inducement for mobile phone users to shift to the ZONG network,” said Salman Wassay, Head of Marketing ZONG. ZONG has outperformed in the third quarter of 2010 as it added 748,746 subscribers in its base, the highest numbers among the operators, latest statistics of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) showed.

Dell Pakistan marketing head joins South Asia strategic team

Nubla Iftikhar

n The Marketing Lead for CSB at Dell Pakistan, Nubla Iftikhar, has joined Dell’s SA strategic marketing team where she will be driving Marketing for SADMG countries. Her primary portfolio would be Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal and she will be monitoring the new markets along with her own country Pakistan for CSB Marketing. Nubla Iftikhar was previously looking after CSB Marketing for the Pakistan market at Dell.

PTCL Oﬀers Special Incentive Package for its Employees Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) has offered ‘Special December Incentive Package’ for the facilitation of its employees. Under the newly announced package, acquiring rates of PTCL products like landline, broadband and DSL have been reduced for PTCL employees. Not only has this, several conditions on the acquisition of these products also been modified to give maximum benefits to employees. This includes relaxation on the condition of installation within seven (7) days after registration on landline, elimination of condition of minimum number of installation of broadband connection beyond which the incentive was applicable and the incentive rate of IPTV which has been enhanced three fold. SEVP HR Mazhar Hussain upon announcing this incentive

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package for employees stated that we hope this gesture extended by management would be appreciated by our employees and would motivate them to work together as a combined force to surpass all historical examples and standards of excellence and customer care to provide outstanding services to our customer. SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed said our employees are our most valued asset and their well being has always been PTCL top priority. This new package has been announced with the thought that our customers can benefit most from PTCL products. Our employees will also continue to give their best input and act as organization’s biggest strength. In future as well, PTCL being an employee and customer friendly organization will keep on introducing such packages. December 2010 | more | 33

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PTCL Introduces Bill Alert Service for its Customers Facilitation Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) has introduced a unique "Bill Alert Service" for the facilitation of its landline and wireless postpaid customers. The newly introduced service has been launched to facilitate the customers and save them from any hassle of additional surcharge in case of late depositing of bill. With this service PTCL customers will be informed about their total bill amount and due date of payment through an SMS alert on 10th and 17th of each month so that they can deposit their bill on time. Customers can subscribe to this service free of any charge on PTCL order helpline by getting their active cell number updated in the profile on which they want SMS Alert. The added advantage is that customers can also deposit their bill in any PTCL One Stop shop by showing this SMS. SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed on the launch of this unique service said, that it’s a great pleasure for Pakistan Telecommunication Company limited to provide our customers with PTCL Bill Alert service. He further added that in this contemporary era our schedules have become so hectic that we tend to forget or delay at time the things of prime importance. Depositing of our bill is one such thing. We at PTCL, have introduced this unique Bill Alert service to give our customers reminders through SMS to save our customers from any inconvenience as a result of late or no deposition of their bills. He further exclaimed that at PTCL, our customers have always been our top priority and we design products and services keeping in view their maximum benefit. Aasif Inam EVP Consumer Services said that the bill alert service has been especially designed for our customers who are unable to receive their bills on time or forget to pay them due to some reason. The SMS alerts on the 10th to 17th of each month would act like an additional aid in remembering to pay their bills on time so that they can keep on availing the best telecom network in Pakistan. This would also reinforce PTCL top of the mind presence and image as a customer centric organization. He further added that PTCL is planning to introduce more such services for facilitating its customers to meet their present day demands. Any further information about the service will available on helpline: 1236.

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PTCL connecting International Youth Conference to the world n Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) provided the WiFi internet support and enabling live streaming of the proceedings of the International Youth Conference 2010, which held from 6th to 9th of December at Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) Islamabad, to global websites. Young delegates from all over the world and across Pakistan gathered to bridge the borders and to represent their perspectives and issues on this platform. International teams from You Tube, Face book and Google especially flown in to attend the Conference. Opinion makers, media personalities, talented young men and women from fields of performing arts, music and fashion industry attended the Conference. PTCL through its support of this event expresses its faith in the youth of the country who hold the future of this country in their hands. PTCL facilitated uninterrupted internet connectivity by installing dedicated connections for the Conference with speeds of 10MB and wifi connectivity. PTCL is the largest and the fastest broadband service provider in Pakistan with its broadband service available in over 1000 cities and towns across the country. PTCL Broadband Pakistan which is constantly improving and upgrading its services to ensure customer satisfaction has the fastest growing network in the country. To support the educational sector and the youth of the country, PTCL oﬀers special economical student Broadband packages that allow the students to access internet for research and online education. For all its Broadband customers, PTCL provides a free web infotainment portal ‘Buzz’ with a diverse content base from education, religion, entertainment, sports etc along side an online gaming portal. SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed stated that International Youth Conference provides the youth of Pakistan the unique opportunity to interact with the youth of various nationalities. He also stated that this platform has also created an opportunity for the youth of various nationalities to visit our country and discover our hospitality and interact with the dynamic and talented youth of Pakistan. EVP Multimedia and Broadband Syed Zomma Mohiuddin said by introducing various value added services and packages to its already existing thriving portfolio of Broadband Services, today PTCL has become the obvious choice for customers looking for high speed internet. He further added that our future is dependent upon our youth; they will give us a better tomorrow if we give them a better today. He remarked that International Youth Conference provides a platform for the youth that will expand their vision and open new horizons for them and Broadband Pakistan is pleased to be part of IYC.

PTA and Alcatel Lucent present laptops to SOS children village n Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) joined hands with Alcatel Lucent (ALU) Pakistan to donate laptops to the children of SOS Village as a Corporate Social Responsibility gesture. Laptop donation ceremony was held recently at SOS Village, Bahria Town, Islamabad. Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammad Yaseen and CEO ALU, Mr. Aadil Rauf attended the ceremony. Speaking on the occasion Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said that Government and private sector should work together and ensure that Corporate Social Responsibility must at all times remain a priority, especially in Pakistan’s perspective where disparities remain high. He appreciated the great zeal of SOS Staﬀ who groom disadvantaged children for the future of the country and applauded SOS worldwide for looking after

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month in FoCus these kids so responsibly. He also thanked to ALU for providing assistance to SOS. During the ceremony CEO ALU, Mr. Aadil Rauf explained the need for technological advancement awareness amongst children, and to equip them with modern tools so they can excel at the required pace. PTA and ALU aimed to continue such endeavors in future as well he added. SOS senior representatives Ms. Naznin Murtaza and Ms. Lubna Malik thanked PTA & ALU for taking interest in developing better SOS individuals. SOS Children's Villages is a private social welfare organization providing orphans and abandoned children a home, good nurturing and a fair chance in life. It may be mentioned that development of ICTs has become an important growth factor for countries around the globe. With every passing day, the world is edging into an information-driven place. The rapid evolution of ICTs is clearly re-shaping daily lives, enhancing productivity and transforming the economies.

wi-tribe Ranked Pakistan’s No. 1 Broadband Company n In its 2010 annual report, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced that wi-tribe Pakistan successfully ranked number one in both the ‘Technology Neutral’ and ‘Technology-wise’ categories for highest Quality of Service, despite being the youngest broadband company, after just over one year of launching commercial services. PTA’s acknowledgment of wi-tribe’s service quality emphasizes that the company is passionate about delivering nothing short of excellence to its customers. To celebrate this achievement, PTA Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, was invited by wi-tribe Pakistan’s CEO, Mustafa Peracha and his team for a cake-cutting ceremony at wi-tribe’s head office in Islamabad. During the ceremony, wi-tribe’s CEO Mustafa Peracha expressed his delight on the recent achievement, stating, “I am elated about witribe’s success in Pakistan. I’m also thankful to PTA for recognizing our effort to take broadband to the next level.” On the team’s effort he said, “Today, I proudly share wi-tribe’s feat with my dedicated team, our community, customers and

partners, who have continuously extending their trust and support. We aim to deliver an exceptional and personalized broadband experience to our customers, and believe in constant evolution, which will continue to reflect in all our offerings.” In addition to recognizing wi-tribe’s qualitydriven approach, the report also concluded that wi-tribe is the fastest growing broadband operator in Pakistan, successfully delivering high speed internet to customers in all its cities of operation. During the last five years, Pakistan’s broadband subscriber base has increased by leaps and bounds. People from all walks of life, including professionals, students, academics and corporates are all finding high speed internet to be essential towards their respective progression. wi-tribe realizes the need to serve growing demands, with no compromise on quality of service. With a focus on delivering high quality broadband internet across its network of operations, wi-tribe enables instant connectivity with its plug ‘n’ play devices, offering the latest in affordable internet technology.

turanor Planetsolar is Worlds largest solar Powered boat When you’re aiming to break records, there’s no reason to just aim for one, when you knock a couple of them down in one try. That’s what the owner of the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar, the world’s largest solar powered boat, is trying to do. He’s already got the record for the world’s largest solar powered boat, and now he is aiming to be the first person to sail around the globe without using any fossil fuels at all. The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar is owned by one Immo Ströher, who is a German entrepreneur. He took oﬀ in the PlanetSolar just over a month ago, and intends to sail around the world without using any fossil fuels at all If he can succeed, that would make him the first person to accomplish it. If you find yourself in Miami or Cancun in the next mont, you might be able to catch a glimpse of the PlanetSolar, as it is scheduled to stop there during the next month. As for the boat itself, it measures in at 5,700 square feet. Most of that is covered in solar panels. The energy collected from the solar panels is stored in a lithium ion battery. It took Immo Ströher $17.5 million to build the PlanetSolar. www.apnatime.com

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google's cr-48 chrome os laptop ditches the caps-lock and function keys

No caps-lock or function keys are to be found on Google's new Cr-48 Chrome OS laptops. And no hard drive or Google branding for the blacked-out notebook computers either. The Cr-48 laptop, unveiled recently at All Things Digital's Dive Into Mobile conference in San Francisco, also won't be found for sale in any retail stores. Instead, the computers that look to be built for Darth Vader will be given away as a part of Google's Chrome operating system pilot program. The Cr-48 will be built in limited numbers, by Acer, and sent to

an even-more-limited number of approved users to test out the "work in progress" Chrome OS and provide feedback to Google on how the Web-based system works. Anyone over 18 can apply to take part in the pilot program. No word yet on just how many Cr-48s will be made or how big the pilot program will be. The top-row function keys have been abandoned in favor of media keys that will handle the playing, pausing, volume and assorted controls for movies, music and other media. The laptops, named for an isotope of the element Chromium, run Web-based applications and connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or 3G wireless networks.Because the Cr-48 will rely on the Internet to run all applications, a traditional hard drive has been ditched in favor of enough flash memory to store the software needed to connect to the Web.The computers will feature a 12-inch display, weigh 3.8 pounds, hold about an eight-hour battery charge and boot up in 10 seconds or resume from sleep instantly. A camera above the screen is included, as is one USB-port and a large Apple-esque trackpad.While the Cr-48 won't be available to consumers, Acer and Samung will release other Chrome OS laptops next year, though no information has been made as of yet on exact release dates or prices.

Jawbone Jambox - small size, big sound Jawbone, a company better known for its Bluetooth headsets, has now released a Bluetooth speaker system called the JAMBOX that makes use of two powerful acoustic drivers and ultra-small speakers that work in concert with an innovative moving-wall passive bass radiator packed inside an airtight enclosure. The company says this is the first time this technology has been seen in a personal speaker system and delivers more punch than you'd expect from such a small unit. The JAMBOX pumps out 85dB with a frequency range of 60 Hz – 20 kHz to deliver high quality highs and lows that can be felt as well as heard. It weighs only 327 grams (12 oz) with dimensions of 15 x 5.7 x 4 cm (5.9 x 2.2 x 1.5 in) – adding up to small size, big sound. With Bluetooth connectivity the JAMBOX is easily connected to a computer or smartphone, and without the need for audio cables it can be carried around from room to room – or used as a boombox wherever you go. Now the kids at the bus stop playing their favorite tracks on their mobile phones can do so without it being a completely low fidelity experience. With an eight hour battery life they can even loiter at the mall inflicting their taste in music on passers by all day. Equipped with a microphone JAMBOX can also be used as a speakerphone and

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can be updated with new apps and features through Jawbone's online platform, MyTALK. Priced at US$199 it does have a bit of a sting to go with the audio punch it delivers.

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Kingston Digital Ships Next-Generation Aﬀordable Consumer SSD

n Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent leader in memory products, today announced the SSDNow V100, the latest addition to the SSDNow V Series family of solid-state drives (SSD). Designed for mainstream consumers, the Kingston V100 SSD is the best performance enhancer and most cost-effective upgrade path for desktops and notebooks, short of a total system replacement. The V100 expands the V Series line with the addition of a 256GB capacity drive. Also available in 64GB and 128GB capacities, the new V100 has Windows 7 TRIM support and features an optimized controller and advanced NAND Flash technology for increased read and write performance. Consumers looking to extend the life cycle of their current system will notice quicker bootup and application load times as well as a faster overall user experience with the new V100. “We are determined to stimulate the consumer upgrade market through Kingston’s various upgrade bundle kits that provide cloning software and all of the accessories needed to advance one’s desktop or notebook PC from a hard-disk drive to an SSD,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston. “Our new SSDNow V100 drives do just that as they represent the best value for an affordable upgrade solution with a low price vs. performance ratio.” The SSDNow V100 drives ship as either a standalone unit or as an upgrade bundle kit. The desktop bundle kit includes the SSD, cloning software, cables (SATA data and power), and 3.5” hard-drive mounting brackets and hardware. The notebook bundle includes the SSD, cloning software and a 2.5” external enclosure allowing the replaced hard drive to be used as extra storage.

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iSuppli Ranks Kingston Technology as World’s Top DRAM Module Maker Kingston Technology, Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, has announced it was ranked No. 1 in the world by independent research firm iSuppli in the third-party DRAM module market for the first six months of 2010. According to the report, Kingston’s revenue from memory modules was more than $2.56 billion (U.S.), giving it 45.8 percent of the total third-party memory module market. “The strong relationships we have maintained for many years with our partners helped carry us through the downturn of 2008 and part of 2009,” said John Tu, co-founder, Kingston. “We are fortunate that these relationships allow Kingston to stay strong.” “Our good fortune has come from taking care of our employees and customers since we started this company over 20 years ago,” said David Sun, co-founder, Kingston. “We can only be successful if we continue to work hard and take care of each other.” In 2009, iSuppli ranked Kingston as the world’s top memory module maker with revenues of more than $2.85 billion and a 40.3 percent share of the third-party DRAM market. The iSuppli report covers memory module revenue only. It does not cover Kingston’s NAND Flash revenues. In February, Kingston announced that its 2009 global revenues were $4.1 billion, the second highest in company history. Kingston’s memory module products include branded or system-specific memory; ValueRAM industry-standard memory built to JEDEC specs and designed for system integrators and white box builders; and HyperX memory for gamers and PC enthusiasts who demand higher performance and speed. Founded in 1987 with a single oﬀering, Kingston now makes and sells more than 2,000 memory products. n

2010 1H iSuppli Third-Party DRAM Module Supplier Revenues 2010 Rank

Company

2010 Revenue*

2010 Market Share

1 2 3 4 5

Kingston A-Data Ramaxel Crucial Smart Modular Others Total

2,562 423 392 330 326 1,562 5,595

45.8% 7.6% 7.0% 5.9% 5.8% 27.9% 100.0%

* Revenue in U.S. Millions

Source: iSuppli Corp., November 2010

Kingston Digital Launches HyperX MAX 3.0 External USB 3.0 Drive n Kingston Digital, Inc., announced the HyperX MAX 3.0 External USB 3.0 Drive. Shipping in December, the SuperSpeed USB certified HyperX MAX 3.0 drive is a fast and durable external USB 3.0 storage drive. SuperSpeed USB is the specification delivering USB 3.0 transfer speeds up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0. Kingston’s HyperX MAX 3.0 has a read speed of up to 195MB/sec., and a write speed of up to 160MB/sec., when paired with a USB 3.0 compatible device. It is also fully compatible with USB 2.0 devices, as the speed de-

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faults back to USB 2.0 capability. During internal testing, a 10GB movie file was transferred in only 1 minute, 12 seconds to the HyperX MAX 3.0 from a USB 3.0 system*. The transfer time increased to 5 minutes, 52 seconds using a USB 2.0 port with the same test bed.

HyperX MAX 3.0 is an excellent drive solution for any prosumer, computer enthusiast or professional requiring extremely fast file transfer to their PC with portability requirements. Moving or backing up HD video, RAW images or other large project files are examples that can take advantage of the extremely high-speed data transfers of the USB 3.0 interface. “The HyperX MAX 3.0 External USB 3.0 Drive follows the tradition of Kingston’s HyperX enthusiast DRAM family providing users with premium quality and extreme performance,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston. “In addition to portability and speed, users will be pleased with the durability of this drive. Its Flash memorybased architecture is designed for the rigors of mobile use.” HyperX MAX 3.0 is available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities and is sold through Kingston’s authorized channel of distributors and resellers. It comes with a three-year warranty and is backed by Kingston’s legendary free technical service and support.

Winners of the 2010 Teradata National IT Excellence Awards n Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) has announced the winners of the 2010 Teradata National Information Technology (IT) Excellence Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements by individuals in the Pakistani IT community. The awards for 2010 were given for excellence in Software Development, IT Software Exports, Internet working, IT Research and Development, IT Education, IT Project Management, IT Media & Publication and IT Enabled Service Oﬀering. Teradata also gave awards to the CIO of the Year, IT student and Lifetime Achievement in IT. According to Mr. Khuram Rahat, Managing Director, Teradata Pakistan and Bangladesh, “Teradata is very pleased to host the awards program and recognize individuals who have been instrumental in introducing, promoting and implementing IT in Pakistan. While this is the ninth annual awards event, Teradata started giving individual awards in 1997, as part of Pakistan’s Golden Jubilee to recognize professionals in information technology.” Christopher Armitage, Teradata Area Vice President for United Kingdom, Ireland and Pakistan and Chief Guest at the event said, “The IT Excellence Awards will go a long way towards promoting the development of information technology in PakChristopher Armitage, Teradata Area Vice President istan and, more imChristopher Armitage, Teradata Area Vice President for United Kingdom, Ireland and Pakistan and Khufor United Kingdom, Ireland and Pakistan and Khuportantly, ram Rahat, Managing Director, Teradata Pakistan and ram Rahat, Managing Director, Teradata Pakistan and encouraging profesBangladesh giving away an award on occasion of the sionals to excel in Bangladesh at the 2010 Teradata National Informa2010 Teradata National IT Excellence Awards tion Technology Excellence Awards their fields.”

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MULTINET ESTABLISHES FIRST eCONNECT HUB IN PAKISTAN n Multinet Pakistan, in collaboration with Epsilon launched eConnect, the Carrier Neutral Interconnect Platform and its ePoP services in Karachi. The eConnect Hub in South Asia will eﬀectively cater to the growing demand for the fast and cost eﬀective exchange of voice and data traffic between local telecom operators in Pakistan while providing a managed presence for local and international Carriers. The new eConnect does not only provide a carrier neutral ‘meet-me-room’, it also offers access to international capacity from Karachi to Epsilon’s European and Asian network. eConnect is the largest Global ‘Meet-MeRoom’ for Voice and Data Connectivity, linking the major regional Telecom Hubs around the World. Epsilon’s reach extends to over 50 Global Telehouses, enabling ac-

cess to approximately 1000 Operators and Service Providers, 270 of which are already pre-connected to the network. A network backbone of robust and low latency coupled with quick and effective deployment of new services ensures quality of service and speed of delivery to the customers. Mr. Adnan Asdar Ali, CEO, Multinet said: "Multinet is working towards taking Pakistan's fixed telecommunication market to the next level of operational and business efficiency. Epsilon's e-connect platform leverages existing investments of collaborating operators to create time and CAPEX efficiency solutions for the end business users". This initiative will enable domestic and international carriers to enjoy seamless network access to all local networks in Pakistan, managed by a single Carrier Neutral party, thus effectively facilitating

the delivery of end-to-end solutions. Epsilon Managed Presence, ePoP, oﬀers international and domestic Carriers to rent multiplexing facilities to host their incoming bandwidth, distributing it to the desired network partners without the need of having physical co-location themselves. This reduces costs in regards to CAPEX and ongoing maintenance support. eConnect and ePoP are now widely deployed across the main Telecom hubs globally and the expansion into Pakistan will provide the desired platform to reach out to the growing demands of customers in South Asia. Other services that are also available include Epsilon’s managed aggregation or distribution service platform and Epsilon’s Enterprise Connect, through which local tails to enterprise locations can be provided.

Eithad celebrated UAE's national day Consul General of UAE for Pakistan, His Excellency Suhail Bin Matar Al-Ketbi and Mr. Amer Khan, country manager Pakistan for Etihad Airways, the national flag carrier of UAE giving out Etihad Airways Pearl Business Class ticket to the airline’s home-base Abu Dhabi at the UAE national day reception held in Karachi. A ticket was also given out at the national day reception held in Islamabad and hosted by the UAE Ambassador His Excellency, Ali Saif Al-Awani. UAE National Day, Etihad Airline, National Day Reception, Ali Saif Al Awami, Amer Khan, Country Manager, Business Class Ticket, Peal Airways n

Members of Etihad Airways cabin crew proudly wear their special “grid girl” uniform at the airline’s head quarters in Abu Dhabi, ahead of Sunday’s Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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