MORE Magazine by more magazine

Cover Story

Content {October 2010 | Volume 3 | Issue 3}

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.

Cover Story

Those who are taking VimpelCom and Orascom deal as sheer a joint venture of Mobilink and Telenor may have to think once again in diﬀerent contest. It is much more than that. The entire course of business in Pakistan may change if things are matured the way they are being planned. Without going into detail, it is a known fact, what we have received so far from Europe and US after serving them this long, ...

teleCom

saMsunG tWeet-uP

send sMs FroM Ptcl landline to any cellular netWork

Samsung Electronics, a global leader in digital media, electronics and mobiles, arranged a bloggers event ‘SAMSUNG TWEET-UP’ on October 8th, 2010 at a local hotel in Karachi. Apart from the introduction to their cellular, display and laptop devices,

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) in order to save its customers on their budget and to make them get through busy cellular network has launched an innovative “call me back” service....

Warid telecoM WindinG uP Petition case

Warid Telecom owes to Huawei Technologies some 10 Billion Rupees. In this regard, Huwaei obtained a stay order against Warid from the court of law so that issue could be resolved.

nokia users noW have JanG neWs on their Phones

The first Urdu app - Jang Newspaper is out now on Ovi Store. Currently available on S60 Nokia devices only, the application will soon be available on S40 Nokia devices as well.

Mobilink continues to helP the Flood victiMs

Mobilink Pakistan has committed more than Rs 236 million towards flood relief in addition to contributing thousands of volunteer hours. This to date is one of the largest relief initiatives from the private sector.

Grace under Fire

Its more than just an achievement that the telecom industry today enjoys a comfortable level of esteem attached with every one of its labels. Considering that its only less than 20 years that telecom was born in Pakistan,

teChnology

insPiron at its best

stuxnet Meant For iran only?

Recently, Dell released its new Inspiron series laptops which include Inspiron 13R, 14R and 15R featuring the all new 2010 Intel® Core Processor Family. Dell Inspiron series notebooks are positioned as full-featured mainstream laptops.

The worm, which was designed to infiltrate heavyduty industrial control programs that monitor and manage factories, oil pipelines, power plants and other critical installations,...

MicrosoFt launches WindoWs Phone 7 ranGe

The world's largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers Samsung, LG, HTC and Dell, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing, reports the Daily Mail.

39 18

lateSt in teCh

24-31

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

Those who are taking VimpelCom

Mudassar J Mufti

aid, we are among the lowest as far as

Last week, Ambassador of Russia,

and Orascom deal as sheer a joint ven-

business ties are concerned and this is

Budnik Andrey met with Chairman

ture of Mobilink and Telenor may have

the area we need to build now if Pak-

Board of Investment Mr. Saleem H.

to think once again in diďŹ&#x20AC;erent contest.

istan has to see a brighter future.

Mandviwalla. In the meeting, Mr. Budnik termed Pakistan as most favorable

It is much more than that. The entire course of business in Pakistan may change if things are matured the way

Russia-Pakistan trade With reference to the recent political

country for the foreign investment. He emphasized on having confer-

they are being planned. Without going

and geographical events in Pakistan,

ences and trade exhibitions, so as to

into detail, it is a known fact, what we

this deal between two giants of the

provide enabling environment to show-

have received so far from Europe and US

world may turn out to be beneficial for

case the potential of Pakistan to Russian

after serving them this long, other than

Pakistan as well as for the region.

investors.

6 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

Cover Story On the other hand, Pakistan has al-

Warid Telecom and Wateen are in no

pending payment issue. Though, appar-

ready invited Russia to invest in Pakistan

position to avoid the legal battles with

ently government of Pakistan can be the

Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways (PR), and

their respective network vendors on the

one to blame for this scene but eventu-

the oil and gas exploration activities in a

issue of payments and unfulfilled com-

ally it may turn out to be an unexpected

joint venture with Oil and Gas Develop-

mitments. Matter of Warid is being

situation.

ment Company Limited (OGDC) under

taken care in the court of the law and

proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty

commenting on that wouldn’t be a

continuous decline in the foreign direct

(BIT).

good idea.

investment as it says that there is 50.2%

Board of Investments’ figure show a

decrease in FDI Including Privatization

VimpelCom Ltd. (“VimpelCom”) and Weather Investments S.p.A. (“Weather”) have signed an agreement to combine the two groups (the “Transaction”) creating the world’s fifth largest mobile telecommunications carrier by subscribers with pro forma net operating revenues of US$21.5 billion and pro forma EBITDA of US$9.5 billion for the year ended 31 December, 2009

Proceeds as compared to July-August 2009. The investment figure was lowest in the 2009-10 US $ 291 Mn during the last 4 years and now it is in negative. In such a worst case when the entire country is seeing the after eﬀects of massive natural disaster, our ties with Russia and this particular deal of VimpelCom and Orascom possess a great value.

The upcoming visit of our president

Orascom, due to its own deal will

What is the Deal

Asif Ali Zardari to Russia in the second

have to leave the country, once the deal

week of next month will be of great im-

has been executed. Though, it will be en-

portance. It is hoped that both the sides

joying some 20% shares but the major

second largest mobile phone company

will enter into number of agreements in-

share holders (Telenor and Alfa Group)

in which Norways’ Telenor posses 39.58%

cluding banking sector, rail and commu-

will never like to see their involvement

owner ship, 39.19% shares are with local

The buyer, VimpelCom Ltd, is Russia’s

nication networks. This is not happening so suddenly, it

Investment figures in telecommunication sector. Source: BOI

must be recalled that Russian trade delegates first visited us in 2006 to gain the attention of our government and the business community.

Declining state of Telecom Pakistan achieved a landmark day when PTA announced the 100 millionth SIM sold in Pakistan that is indeed a

for a longer period of time just like it hap-

Russian company Altimo (part of Alfa

pened with Saifullah Group when Oras-

Group of Russia) and rest of 21.23 %

com had acquired rest of the minority

owner ship is with public.

share in Mobilink.

VimpelCom Ltd has its cellular opera-

Similarly, government of Pakistan is

tions in Russia, Ukraine as well as the en-

still unable to deal with Etisalat over the

tire territories of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,

great job on the part of authority and the operators, but this figure does not hide the weakening state of telecommunication in Pakistan. Things are changing very rapidly in Pakistan and once a fruitful telecommunication sector for Arabs is no more a land of opportunity for them. They are losing control for one reason or the other and therefore, finding ways to get rid of their telecom related operations in Pakistan. www.apnatime.com

October 2010 | More | 7

Cover Story Tajikistan, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan,

ating the world’s fifth largest mobile

vestments in Egypt and North Korea,

Vietnam and Cambodia.

telecommunications carrier by sub-

will be transferred to the current

scribers with pro forma net operating

Weather shareholders. Wind Hellas

ments is a company which is 97% con-

revenues of US$21.5 billion and pro

Telecommunications S.A. in Greece is

trolled by the Sawiris family and Mr.

forma EBITDA of US$9.5 billion for the

entirely excluded from the Transaction.

On the other hand, Weather Invest-

The VimpelCom shares issued to

Reportedly, Orascom has received a notification from the Algerian government that says company has to pay taxes amounting to $ 230 Mn for its operations (Djezzy) apart from earlier unpaid taxes of $ 600 Mn, whereas, Orascom says, it has already paid the taxes

Weather shareholders at the closing of the Transaction will represent a 20.0% economic interest and an 18.5% voting interest in the enlarged VimpelCom group. Upon issuance of the new VimpelCom shares, Telenor ASA, holding through its subsidiaries Telenor Mobile

Naguib Sawiris, executive director of OTH. Weather Investments owns 51.7% shares

year ended 31 December, 2009. At the closing of the Transaction,

Communications AS and Telenor East Invest AS ("Telenor"), and Altimo Hold-

of Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and

VimpelCom Ltd will own, through

ings & Investments Limited, holding

100% shares of Wind Italy. 6 telecom com-

Weather, 51.7% of Orascom Telecom

through its subsidiary Altimo Cooper-

panies operating in diﬀerent parts of the

Holding S.A.E. (“Orascom Telecom”) and

atief U.A. ("Altimo"), will hold 31.7% and

world including operations in Pakistan

100% of Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.

31.4% of the economic rights and 29.3%

(Mobilink), Bangladesh (Banglalink), Alge-

(“Wind Italy”). Under the terms of the

and 36.4% of the voting rights, respectively, of VimpelCom. Minority shareholders in VimpelCom will represent 17.0% of the economic rights and 15.7% of the voting rights. It is intended that Weather will designate two members to an enlarged VimpelCom board of eleven members, while Telenor and Altimo will each continue to designate three board members. Three board members will continue to be unaﬃliated with any major shareholder. The terms of the signed agreement were unanimously approved on 3 October 2010 by both the VimpelCom Supervisory Board and the Weather Board of Directors”.

ria (Djezzy), Tunisia(Tunisiana), Canada

Transaction, Weather shareholders will

Those who are taking VimpelCom

(Wind Mobile), Burundi (U-Com through

contribute to VimpelCom their shares in

and Orascom deal as sheer a joint ven-

the subsidiary Telecel Globe ) directly

Weather in exchange for a consideration

ture of Mobilink and Telenor may have

comes under the ownership of Weather

consisting of 325,639,827 newly issued

to think once again in diﬀerent contest. I

Investments.

VimpelCom common shares, US$1.8

can see a bright future for telecommuni-

billion in cash and certain assets that

cation in Pakistan ahead. Things will

According to their oﬃcial statement, “VimpelCom Ltd. (“VimpelCom”) and

will be demerged from Orascom Tele-

change; of course there will be change

Weather Investments S.p.A. (“Weather”)

com and from Wind Italy. The Weather

of management, change of ownership,

have signed an agreement to combine

interests in these assets, which princi-

change of selling and marketing tech-

the two groups (the “Transaction”) cre-

pally comprise Orascom Telecom’s in-

niques etc etc.

8 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

Cover Story Bottleneck in the deal As I am writing these lines, Algerian government has refused to deal with

Why Mobilink-Telenor Joint Venture isn’t a possibility VimpelCom-Orascom may execute

buying a controlling stake in Unitech Wireless, a communications arm of real estate company Unitech, for $1.3 billion.

VimpelCom management for the sale of

diﬀerently keeping in view the dispute of

In the nine months after its launch, it has

Djezzy, one of Orascom’s major cellular

Djezzy. In several Pakistani newspapers, it

racked up $556 million in operating

was reported that it is in fact be a Te-

losses and has invested about $800 mil-

lenor-Mobilink deal. It is still diﬃcult to

lion on capital expenditure.

operations. Naguib Sawiris had declared after having signed the agreement on October 3 that VimpelCom will talk to the Alger-

predict any such impossible merger. Why would I call it impossible be-

Back at home in Oslo where Norwegian company has its headquarter the

cause as far as Russian giant is con-

management is assuring its worried in-

as VimpelCom has all the rights to repre-

cerned, Telenor is one of the share

vestors that it is still on track to meet its

sent the group.

holders in VimpelCom Ltd and it cannot

Indian targets which includes bringing

directly execute its plans in the presence

the company to break even by the end of

jected the VimpelCom Ltd’s $ 7.8 billion

of a strong board of directors that we

2012 and positive operating cash flow

selling price of Djezzy and has further

have already mentioned above unless

level by 2014-end.

said that it would negotiate with the Vim-

VimpelCom’s Russian partners find it diﬃ-

pelCom management.

cult to operate in Pakistan and any such

planned to bring its talented people from

situation arises where Telenor Norway

other Asian operation excluding Pakistan

ian Government over the issue of Djezzy

But government of Algeria has re-

According to Algerian government it

To change its fate in India, Telenor has

values the unit between $2 billion to $3 billion, and will deal only with Orascom, the Algiers-based newspaper reported.

Issue between Orascom and Algerian Government Reportedly, Orascom has received a notification from the Algerian government that says company has to pay taxes

Telenor and its Russian partner (Alfa Group) have been fighting a legal battle in which Telenor was accused of damaging the joint venture by giving undue favor to its Ukrainian operation. Resultantly, Telenor was asked to leave the country when government had frozen its assets in Russia.

amounting to $ 230 Mn for its operations (Djezzy) apart from earlier unpaid taxes

could see an opportunity of become the

as Indian government would never allow

of $ 600 Mn, whereas, Orascom says, it

largest company in Pakistan by buying

welcoming any Pakistani.

has already paid the taxes.

the Pakistani operation.

According to Orascom, Algerian au-

Company recently told its investors

Secondly, Telenor and its Russian

that it expects seven million active sub-

thorities are trying to force it out of the

partner (Alfa Group) have been fighting a

scribers in India in the third quarter —

country and it will challenge govern-

legal battle in which Telenor was accused

up from 3.9 million in the second quarter

ment’s demand as it has already paid

of damaging the joint venture by giving

— and added that it was satisfied with

taxes of 2008 and 2009.

undue favor to its Ukrainian operation.

revenue growth posted by Uninor so far

Resultantly, Telenor was asked to leave

in the quarter. Telenor said its Indian op-

the country when government had

erations will see a loss of 4,500-5,500

Djezzy is Orascoms’ biggest source of revenue having accounted last year for 40 per cent of its revenue. Algerian government has denied placing any pressure tactics and said, Djezzy had breached foreign currency regulation and the government is simply

frozen its assets in Russia. The issue was

crore (Indian Rupee) during this fiscal

later resolved. Telenor Norway would

period and would face a further hit of

never like to face a new battle.

6,500-7,500 crore (Indian Rupee) be-

Telenor also operates in India, under

tween 2011 and 2013 before breaking

the brand name Uninor. The company is

even. This is in line with its projections in

applying the law. Algerian government

under immense pressure from its in-

2008, when it had told investors it would

had blocked Orascom’s earlier deal with

vestors to exit its loss-making joint ven-

take a 15,000-crore (Indian Rupee) hit in

MTN of South Africa, when it tried to sell

ture in India. Last year, company made its

India over five years ending 2013, before

many of its assets to latter.

entry in the Indian cellular market by

making cash profits. n

www.apnatime.com

October 2010 | More | 9

teleCom

apnatime.com

Samsung Electronics, a global leader

community, as they under-

in digital media, electronics and mo-

stand technology better and

biles, arranged a bloggers event ‘SAM-

hence are the strong opinion

SUNG TWEET-UP’ on October 8th, 2010

leaders and influencers when it

at a local hotel in Karachi. Apart from

comes to innovative gadgets.

the introduction to their cellular, display

The General Manager Samsung

and laptop devices, main highlights of

Pakistan Mr. Steve Han said;

event were an introduction to 3D with

‘This special event has been

an interactive session, competitions and

designed to impart knowledge

give aways which were distributed

relating to various communica-

amongst the attendees.

tion tools and introduce the

It is a tradition at Samsung to enhance

local bloggers to our innova-

the awareness about the latest tech-

tive products. Samsung’s

nologies and developments among the

breakthroughs in 3D technol-

various customer segments. Compli-

ogy have revolutionized the vi-

A competitor is being given the price from a Samsung Oﬃcial

most powerful smart phone features. It is powered by a 1 GHz Hummingbird application processor supporting 3D graphics and smooth web browsing, with cameras enabling video chat on the go. This innovative product was the center of attraction for the Bloggers community at the event.

Khurram Farooq, Manager Marketing, LCD Division, briefing at the event

Bloggers are taking keen interest in Samsung's products

menting their tradition presentations

sual display market across the globe.’

from prominent technology specialists

Communication technology has pro-

to highlight the capabilities and features

gressed at a rapid pace transforming the

of Samsung’s latest cellular; display and

concepts of connectivity on a global

other digital media devices were made.

scale. Samsung is leading this technol-

Karachi Blogger community partici-

ogy arena with its latest Smart phones,

pated enthusiastically. Samsung at-

especially the GALAXY TAB device,

taches great importance to this

which is the 1st mobile tablet with the

10 | More | October 2010

Manager Marketing, Zeshan Qureshi briefing at the event

www.apnatime.com

teleCom

42 Franchises seized by PTA During the past 4 years Pakistan Telecommunication Author-

ity (PTA) has seized 42 franchises across the country which were not meeting the standards and rules drafted by the authority.

•

No SIM should be pre-activated

•

NIC verification is must

It has been observed that franchisees, in order to show healthy sales figures are not meeting the requirements, especially, in the remote areas where awareness level is at the lowest. It is a normal practice to sell the pre-activated SIM without any NIC or fake NIC. This particular sales technique has caused the rise of criminal activity as there is no data available of the pre-activated SIMs which are sold out of the geographical boundaries of the franchisee. Though PTA’s interconnection department keeps tracking such things but it is also the responsibility of the cellular companies to maintain a sound check and balance. It is believe

According to PTA rules;

that in most of the cases these franchises are backed by the

•

sales people of the cellular companies for the sack of meeting

No franchisee is allowed to sell number of SIMs sur-

passing geographical allotted stock.

targets.

Send SMS from PTCL landline to any cellular network n

Pakistan Telecommunication Com-

from the hassle of redialing number fre-

pany Ltd (PTCL) in order to save its cus-

quently in a busy cellular network and

tomers on their budget and to make

to facilitate the budget conscious PTCL

them get through busy cellular network

subscribers by intimating mobile users

has launched an innovative “call me

to call them. He added that in future as

back” service.

well PTCL aims to come up with more

This service would now give landline

such value added services for its cus-

customers facilitation of sending a SMS

tomer’s convenience.

(message) through their landline or

EVP Consumer services Aasif Inam

Vfone of ‘call me back’ on the cellular

said that this new service will add more

number they desire to leave a message

value to our landline service and further

on. And is most useful in the cases when

enhance PTCL image as a customer

the number they are trying to reach is

friendly service provider and reinforce

busy or on call waiting, thus saves them

an IVR customer will just have to feed

the hassle of trying to get through the

the mobile number he wishes to leave

busy cellular networks.

the message on.

The service would be readily avail-

PTCL top of the mind presence. PTCL team is working day and night to raise the bar above and explore new

SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed

horizons in designing and introducing

able on customer telephone set with no

termed this launch another salient fea-

more services to facilitate its customers

subscription required. All that is re-

ture in already existing customer

and to provide them more value for

quired to do to access the service is to

friendly services portfolio of PTCL. He

their money. Any additional information

dial a short code of 1322 from the tele-

said the aim behind launching this dis-

about the service can be obtained from

phone set and upon being asked from

tinctive service is to save our customers

helpline: 1236.

www.apnatime.com

October 2010 | More | 11

teleCom

apnatime.com

Warid Telecom owes to Huawei Technologies some 10 Bil-

petitions and the grant of the stay orders by the High Court,

lion Rupees. In this regard, Huwaei obtained a stay order

Warid and Huawei have attempted to settle the issue. How-

against Warid from the court of law so that issue could be re-

ever, no meaningful oﬀer was made by Warid, and no pay-

solved.

ment has been received by Huawei. Huawei is therefore

According to the oﬃcial statement of Huawei Technolo-

vigorously pursuing the petitions.

gies Co. Ltd, one of the global leading networking and telecommunications companies and its subsidiaries Messrs Huawei International Pte Limited and Huawei Technologies Pakistan Pvt Limited on 23 August 2010 instituted three

It has been pleaded that Warid, admittedly, owes the three Huawei companies a sum far exceeding US $100,000,000 (US Dollars One Hundred Million) equivalent to a sum exceeding Pak Rupees 10,000,000,000.00(Pak Rupees Ten Billion).

petitions in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, for the winding up of Warid Telecom (Pvt.)

Huawei takes contractual matters very seriously and is

Ltd, one of the five cellular operators in Pakistan. The petitions

committed to ensuring that its innovative products and solu-

have been filed only after repeated assurances by Warid that

tions continue to build next generation networks in the Pak-

the outstanding and admitted liabilities would be repaid.

istan market and all the regions it operates in. Huawei is

As interim measures the Huawei companies sought stay orders against Warid from disposing oﬀ its assets and the

committed to being the preferred partner of choice in technology innovation for its customers across the globe.

transfer of shares. The court was pleased to grant such orders. It has also directed Warid to submit its monthly statement of income and expenses. Huawei is seeking the appointment of a provisional manager while the petitions are pending. It has been pleaded that Warid, admittedly, owes the three Huawei companies a sum far exceeding US $ 100,000,000 (US Dollars One Hundred Million) equivalent to a sum exceeding Pak Rupees 10,000,000,000.00(Pak Rupees Ten Billion). The Petitions will be heard by the Court in Pakistan on the 26th October 2010. Following the institution of these 12 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

teleCom

The first Urdu app - Jang News-

paper is out now on Ovi Store. Currently available on S60 Nokia devices only, the application will soon be available on S40 Nokia devices as well. Ovi Store by Nokia is a one-stop

Introduced by a Pakistani developer, the Jang application provides quick access to the latest news published in Jang newspaper. Jang, being the leading Urdu daily newspaper of Pakistan is considered the most reliable source of news, information and updates from within the country and around the world

store for all mobile phone application needs. It provides access to both free and paid content

aims to increase the number of locally relevant applications in

which can be easily downloaded on compatible Nokia de-

near future for Pakistani consumers so that they can stay con-

vices. A variety of applications, games, videos and personaliza-

nected with what matters to them the most, via a seamless

tion items are available on Ovi Store to choose from. Nokia

and integrated user experience. Introduced by a Pakistani developer, the Jang application provides quick access to the latest news published in Jang newspaper. Jang, being the leading Urdu daily newspaper of Pakistan is considered the most reliable source of news, information and updates from within the country and around the world. Jang covers all genres of news ranging from politics, business, sports, health and entertainment. Commenting on the launch of Jang application on Ovi Store, Adeel Hashmi, Communications Manager, Nokia Pakistan & Afghanistan said, “We are happy to see such positive response towards Ovi Store from the local developer community. This level of interest is a good indicator that Nokia would be able to introduce many more locally relevant applications on Ovi Store soon, catering to the varying needs of Pakistani consumers” Jang is a free online application which oﬀers the latest news feeds right on the mobile phone screen along with photo tags for each news item. The user can also view the news details he is interested in by clicking on the news headline. This new application would add convenience in the lives of those Pakistani mobile phone users who are well-versed in the native Urdu language.

14 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

teleCom

Mobilink Pakistan has committed

more than Rs 236 million towards flood relief in addition to contributing thousands of volunteer hours. This to date is one of the largest relief initiatives from the private sector. Besides the distribution of healthy food, hygiene kits and essential items, Mobilink has donated prefabricates sheets worth Rs 140 million to be used as

A group photo of Mobilink Team

Health Units across Pakistan. The shelters will be used by renowned

fectees. Additionally, over Rs 10 million have

tion has reached out to more than 100,000

NGOs including the World Health Organiza-

been raised by Mobilink employee through

flood victims in more than 15 severely af-

tion (WHO) and Thardeep Rural Support

their salaries and friends and family; SMS do-

fected locations by the floods across Pak-

Program (TRDP) to establish health units to

nations, and other private donors.

istan. Over, 95,000 bottles of water, 2,300

meet the medical needs and for rehabilitation of the flood victims across Pakistan. Be-

All funds generated by Mobilink are being channeled through the Mobilink

bags of flour, 5,050 packs of dry food rations and 7,865 packs of ready to eat food,

sides these shelters, Mobilink has

Foundation with the support of Mobilink

4,950 hygiene kits and 1,900 non-food

committed a comprehensive relief-package,

employees who remain the the key driver

items have been distributed among the

worth 85 million rupees, for the flood af-

in relief eﬀorts. To date, Mobilink Founda-

flood aﬀectees in last four weeks.

Mobilink Volunteers distributing relief goods in Muzaﬀargarh

Distribution of dry rations amongst the flood victims

www.apnatime.com

October 2010 | More | 15

teleCom

Sahil Aizaz Adeem

It’s more than just an achievement that the

dustry emerges the first time on a map it faces more

telecom industry today enjoys a comfortable level

than just a competition from other totally diﬀerent

of esteem attached with every one of its labels.

industries. The first thing any new product faces is the

Considering that it’s only less than 20 years that

taboos that other product lines have created in the

telecom was born in Pakistan, the level of grace

general behaviors driven by multiple impressions of

and class that it stands for and projects openly

the demographic. So the cell phone at the time had

asks for a very sensible and careful strategy

a lot of work to do to alter the behavior of the public.

rather than just any other strenuous routine.

It naturally fought for its survival amongst the other

This esteem doesn’t come with a price tag

industries which are passively working against the

since the annual turnovers of a lot of other in-

need on which the industry tries to make its inroads.

dustries are way more than telecommunica-

When wireless telecommunication came, the

tions in Pakistan and this industry quite

local territory had a fair amount of grid stations light-

frankly doesn’t have enough juice in its very

ing up the stretch of the country of a single landline

make to beat those figures, nor does it in-

operator like light houses guiding the other telecoms

tend or claim to. The real battle is fought

to head this way. So cell phone was not a going to be

in the state dinners of ministries and

a miracle. And with no set plan, the landline was the

locker rooms of corporate health clubs

only thing working for the wireless communications

where the heads of the industries dine

in this country. It did the two things the wireless

and steam it out.

needed before its arrival in Pakistan.

It becomes a matter only of what

It had made everyone in the country given the

the industry actually holds within its

proof of concept of Mr. Bell. So everyone knew that

claims. And it all boils down to who

the Telephone works! Second and most important

represents what in those fine mo-

thing that the landline phone was doing was making

ments which determine big deci-

everyone subliminally realize that its very diﬃcult to

sions carving the very shape of the

make a call since most people travel a lot to go to the

house holds of the people in its

nearest exchange to make a call and its quite an

folds. It’s only at times like these

achievement to own a telephone. This sense of

that you wonder where it all

achievement was the real sale’s pitch.

started and where it went right or wrong.

podium in a game that he is never going to lose. The

Before I go ahead, please

16 | More | October 2010

All one had to do was to put the customer on the course of nature helped by Uncle Sam followed more

allow me to go back in time

than our civics Professor who cries about driving the

just a little. The first genera-

behavior of 95% mass buy driving the impressions of

tion of telecom profession-

5% (elite). Paktel was the first to come in and try this

als of Pakistan did what

out. It didn’t come big but it definitely came good.

they thought was best for

With a local name the first thing it did was to clear

the industry, themselves

the layer of emotional algae this demographic suﬀers

and the people to come.

from and it did not feel much resistance in the accept-

Even if not in this order

ance category. Instead it played more role in using

but it worked out close

the more eﬃcient taboo which rules this demo-

enough

graphic which was the ‘status quo’. The customer

being

called a fine perform-

came really close to feeling that achievement which

ance. When an in-

is a technical failure that the local landline suﬀered www.apnatime.com

teleCom from. However the demographic was still a

thing that had to happen. Even with the

servers instead of ocean liners. The question

little emotionally tuned, so it did retract a

local per-capita laughing at the industry

is how? And when and where did it all start

little before laying its guns down to the in-

overheads, the tide was ‘simply’ too strong.

to occur? The price war hit the industry just

evitable momentum of mobility.

What started oﬀ as a toy for the rich only

like a civil war goes through all the founda-

Since it’s the past era, any sort of an event

took a decade for the writers to alter the

tions of the country. The worst part is that

which lasted less than a certain substantial

script of sales strategy and made it feel like

even being so close to the picture it’s still

period cannot be mentioned here due to the

a basic necessity for the poor as well. And

not so blurry to every one of the Pakistanis.

Doppler’s eﬀect and they didn’t last long

that’s when it actually happened!

Because the eﬀorts done by everyone re-

enough to matter or change the shape of matter which the industry sits upon.

Let’s come back to the present. If it was

sponsible are so blatant and repercussive

such a slow process I wouldn’t have blamed

that even a newly qualified member of the

By and far the first generation which

the first generation. I would have only

cell phone club has lost that sense of

started all of telecom operations are still

linked it to the appendages of the course

achievement amazingly in all layers of the

running the show right in Pakistan. I cannot

and put all the blame on Mr. Darwin. Since

demographic.

emphasize on how much I am indebted to

demographic inabilities don’t really matter

It doesn’t take a professor to predict

their insight for developing the platform

in the long term strategies since we live in

that even before the beginning of the next

which enables me to realize the inherited

a world with a pattern of behavior which

age, that with the purchase of a new cellular

grace that this industry comes with. Glob-

has an uncanny ability to come back and

subscription, the customer won’t be any-

ally the cellular phone was an enchanting

keep its level.

thing close to what Mr. Bell can relate to, let alone call it a sense of achievement. And it

The real battle is fought in the state dinners of ministries and locker rooms of corporate health clubs where the heads of the industries dine and steam it out. It becomes a matter only of what the industry actually holds within its claims

definitely doesn’t take the seven vows of CEOs to realize this. It’s something innate, the very diﬀerence of sense between any other person and a CEO, or any decision maker for that matter. Its a curse that comes with the package of carrying a burden of running a company or being part of an in-

product line and a superlative service arena

The grace of the telecom industry with

dustry, or in simple words, making an living.

that complimented each other naturally

which it started in the country came as an

Telecom went to war in Pakistan no

and most beautifully. Any demographic

inheritance to all of us. Let’s face it, we didn’t

more than 5 years ago. Apparently it was

would have been swept away by the literal

do enough justice to the very essence of

too sudden and that is why its rocked the

appeal it carried in its core. Let me keep em-

the philosophy we came with and brought

very ship the industry sailed in. Every com-

phasizing the point before I start to become

it lower than the customer expectations for

pany brought the kitchen sink with it just to

a little redundant since it’s the very basis of

just about any other product. The business

prove a point to the competitor instead of

my case.

centers of GSM lost the crimson drive ways

the customer.

The simplicity of the product made it

which gave this very esteem in question to

look like something straight from the

the customer while he looked at the dollar

the Pakistani demographic was never ready

Maslow’s triangle. Even though I remember

store across the street getting the feel of the

for such a war of the realms. The Pakistani

reading a whole book on how the tele-

million dollars spent on our shops.

demographic was not even accustomed to

There was a school of thought saying

phone satisfies the need to listen and to be

And the current marketing frenzy set-

gaining any intelligence on marketing me-

heard. I don’t think that Maslow would

tled right in the philosophy of push sales

chanics or industry dynamics, this was the

agree as well because in my own humble

strategy. I remember when Pepsi started

‘Oﬃcial republic of hearsay’ and could have

opinion the telephone merely plays with

fighting with coke, and Chrysler fights with

been driven easier than most case studies

the need to cover distances without mov-

Benz. They do everything but sell the grace

the oﬃcials blow up on a 6 by 6 screen in

ing. The need to keep your inertia intact

of the industry since they share the same

front of their managements on Monday

and that’s what makes it so appealing. The

boat and are well aware by the principles of

mornings in their mahogany conference

simplicity of ‘The Achievement’ was so visi-

leadership alone that the day anyone burns

rooms.

ble that it felt like cell phones were some-

the deck everyone will be selling life pre-

Continues on page 40

www.apnatime.com

October 2010 | More | 17

teChnology

Recently, Dell released its new Inspiron series laptops which include Inspiron

13R, 14R and 15R featuring the all new 2010 Intel速 Core Processor Family. Dell Inspiron series notebooks are positioned as full-featured mainstream laptops. These machines focus on needs of users between 20-35 years old & are available in red, black and peacock blue. It wouldn't be wrong to say that these notebooks are extensions of Dell's consistent style.

Dell Inspiron 13R N3010 Review Metallization Design This less conductive vacuum metallization design is better for heat radiation and low thermal conductivity, earlier used

Performance tests showed the Inspiron 15R N5010's speed to be adequate for office and multimedia pursuits. Its 2.27GHz frequency is the lowest.

by the palmrest of Inspiron 1464. spiron 13R N3010, has an output audio

Salient Features Dell Inspiron 13RN3010 features a 13-

port along with one for mic and line in, USB port, Ethernet and a card reader jack

Dell Inspiron 13R N3010 laptop + battery = 1.97kg Dell Inspiron 13R comes with the Intel

inch glossy screen with the resolution of

are also available. There is no built in CD-

Core i3 330M and HM57-chip dual-core

1366 x 768 pixels & a chiclet-style key-

Rom. This notebook also supports an E-

processor with Intel速 HD Graphics that de-

board.

SATA, HIMI, and Kensington. The power

livers a revolutionary new architecture for

jack and VGA are located on the rear side.

an unparalleled computing experience. It

SRS Certification Mark Most Dell laptops are configured with Dell SRS authentication technology, with

also provides superb visual performance

Air Vent The machine is equipped with suit-

for sharper images, richer color, and life-like video and audio. Inspiron 13R laptops are

promising 3D premium quality sound

able ventilation which makes it easier to

also equipped with 2GB DDRIII-1333 mem-

with the help of SRS technology. Dell In-

cool the laptop.

ory, with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470

18 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

teChnology discrete graphics card and Seagate 320GB

tional throughput. This 4-way multi-task

tractive package for a 14-inch, 5.1-pound

7200RPM SATA-II hard drive, DVD burner

processing allows each core of your

laptop. The Mobility Radeon HD 5470

and 802 In wireless network card. Inspiron

processor to work on two tasks at the

graphics board makes playing games on

13R also features preloaded 64bit Windows

same time. The Intel® Smart Cache within

this all-purpose portable a real possibility.

7 Home Premium operating system.

the processor is shared cache dynamically

More intensive games will require more

For gaming & music performance this notebook is excellent. The processor comes equipped with

allocated to each processor core, based on

sacrifices, but the 14R's vibrant screen and

workload. This eﬃcient, dual-core-opti-

reasonable graphics performance make it

mized implementation increases the

a pretty capable entertainment laptop,

probability that each core can access data

given its size and price.

Intel HD Graphics, an advanced video en-

from the fast cache, significantly reducing

gine that delivers smooth, high-quality

latency to frequently used data and im-

done, the Inspiron 14R is no slouch. Intel

HD video playback, and advanced 3D ca-

proving performance.

Core i3 an i5 processors oﬀer more than

pabilities, providing an ideal graphics solution for everyday computing. A smart choice for home and oﬃce,

It also has 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and an

When it comes to getting work

enough performance for everyday Web

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 with 1GB of

surfing e-mail, word processing, and

graphics RAM. It also carried a 500GB,

light image editing.

the Intel Core i3 processor also features

5400-rpm hard drive. Once you pick a sys-

With intelligent performance that ac-

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, which

tem you can only change its color and up-

celerates in response to demanding tasks,

enables each core of your processor to

grade to 6GB of RAM. Beyond the internal

such as playing games and editing photos,

work on two tasks at the same time, delivering the performance you need for smart multitasking. Do not let too many open applications slow you and your PC down. Dell Inspiron 13R N3010 comes with a

When it comes to getting work done, the Inspiron 14R is no slouch. Intel Core i3 an i5 processors offer more than enough performance for everyday Web

48Wh lithium ion battery, and in energysaving mode, the battery can last for 4 hours 08 minutes at the max!

hardware, the Inspiron 14R diﬀers from

the processors moves faster when you do.

non-R laptops in other important ways.

The Intel Core i5 processor automatically al-

Dell Inspiron 14R N4010 Review Dell

The lid hinge is oﬀset about half an inch

locates processing power where it's

has released its new R series of Inspiron all-

forward from the back of the machine,

needed most. Whether you’re creating HD

purpose laptops. Though the stylish silver

and the internal keyboard-tray surface is a

video, composing digital music, editing

accents are the first thing you'll notice, the

nice brushed-silver tone.

photos, or playing the coolest PC games—

Inspiron R series is more than just a cos-

The power plug extends from the

with the Intel Core i5 processor you can

metic upgrade. The Inspiron 14R may have

back-right corner of the machine, next to a

multitask with ease and be more produc-

fewer configuration options than the Insp-

USB port (non-R units have the power plug

tive than ever. It also boasts Intel® HD

iron 14 and may carry a higher starting

on the left side, and nothing on the back).

Graphics which provides superb visual per-

price, but its improved hardware and re-

The left side of the Inspiron 14R includes

formance for sharper images, richer color,

fined design more than make up for the

the Ethernet jack, the exhaust vents, an

and life-like video and audio. With 4GB of

diﬀerence. You can get an Inspiron R laptop

HDMI output, a combination eSATA/USB

RAM, the system is pretty responsive.

in any one of four colors: Mars Black, Pea-

port, and a multiformat card reader. The

The keyboard has great key action and

cock Blue, Tomato Red, or Promise Pink. The

right side has another USB port, head-

is easy to type on, save forone annoyance:

real reason to select an R model is to obtain

phone and microphone jacks, and the 8X

The spacebar sits too low and flush

an Intel Core i3 or i5 processor, which you

CD/DVD burner. In addition, 802.1 In net-

against the inside surface of the laptop,

can't get in a regular Inspiron 14.

working is standard (an upgrade over the

making it a little harder to press with your

non-R models), and the SRS Premium

thumb than it should be. The large touch-

Our test machine, came with an Intel Core i3-350M processor (2.26GHz, two

Sound definitely produces better audio

pad tracks smoothly and evenly, and the

cores, and four threads), delivers two pro-

quality through the speakers than you get

two distinct buttons make it easy to click

cessing threads per physical core for a

on the non-R Inspiron models.

what you want to, when you want to, with

total of four threads for massive computawww.apnatime.com

In all, the Inspiron 14R is quite an at-

no accidental misclicks. October 2010 | More | 19

teChnology

Dell Inspiron 15R N5010 Review The Inspiron 15RN5010 runs an Intel

ertheless, it's more than enough graphics

Core i5-430M CPU with two cores, Hyper-

performance for HD video processing and it

Threading, and a clock speed of 2.26GHz.

will even be able to run some older games.

This 4-way multi-task processing allows

The hard drive recorded a fast transfer

The ports and slots are well spaced all

each core of your processor to work on two

rate of 29 megabytes per second, thanks in

around the base, including on the spine, in-

tasks at the same time. The most impres-

part to its high density. Once it gets sub-

stead of being mainly crammed on side. The

sive specifications are the notebook's 6GB

stantially filled with files, that figure will

front has nothing but two speakers, which

of DDR3 SDRAM and a 640GB Western Dig-

drop slightly.

are reasonably loud and emit great sound for

ital Scorpio Blue hard drive. This is more RAM and hard drive space than we're used to seeing in a mid-range notebook, and it

movies and music. There are also vents on

Dell Inspiron 15R N5010: Design The Inspiron 15R N5010 comes with a

the base of the system and overall we found the Inspiron 15R N5010 to run cool, without

gives the Inspiron 15R N5010 excellent

roomy keyboard that has firm yet easy to

multitasking abilities as well as lots of head-

press buttons. It's not tiring to type on it for

room for image manipulation and other

long periods of time, but the keys do make

Dell Inspiron 15R N5010: screen

memory-intensive tasks. It runs Windows 7

a hollow thud when you hit them. A num-

The screen is 15.6 inches and it has a

Home Premium 64-bit edition, so all the

ber pad is located on the right side of the

native resolution of 1366x768. It sits about

memory is available.

keyboard, and although it's a little

two centimeters in from the spine, which

squished, it comes in handy if you regularly

gives the notebook good balance and a

The Inspiron 15R N5010 has two memory slots.

much heat coming through the base.

use the calculator. The Function keys are re-

slightly diﬀerent look to the norm. It has a

versed and this allows you to change

red lid and a black bezel and these colors

brightness, volume and other tasks without

match nicely with the silver palm rest.

15R N5010's speed to be adequate for of-

having to first press the Fn button. If you're

There's a webcam located above the

fice and multimedia pursuits. Its 2.27GHz

used to hitting F5 to refresh your Web

screen, directly in the centre, and it's ac-

frequency is the lowest of all the available

browser, you'll have to remember to hold

companied by a built-in microphone. The

Intel Core i5 CPUs (except for the low-volt-

down Fn as well.

bezel and the screen are very glossy

Performance tests showed the Inspiron

age models), but the diﬀerence between 2.26GHz, 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz will be negligible in real-world tasks. In our Blender 3D test, the Inspiron 15R N5010 recorded a time of 60sec. Integrated memory controller enables two channels of high-speed

though, and reflections can be distracting

The touchpad is large, the keyboard feels good to type on and the design of the unit is nice and clean.

while you work. In dark environments, we

A large touchpad allows you to per-

grees. The shimmering was not noticeable

DDR3 1333 MHz memory. This memory

form various gestures with two fingers: it

controller's lower latency and higher mem-

supports two-finger scrolling, pinching and

ory bandwidth delivers amazing perform-

rotating. You can also set it up so that you

ance for data-intensive applications.

can use one finger circular scrolling. The

You won't really lose too much time

left- and right-click buttons are soft and

noticed a shimmering in the screen when looking at white backgrounds while the screen was leaned back just past 90 dewhen the screen leaned forward.

Dell Inspiron 15R N5010: battery life The Inspiron 15R N5010 has a 48 Watt-

when performing everyday encoding tasks,

don’t make a sound when you press them,

hour battery installed on its spine and it

and even more taxing tasks such as DVD

we love that. There aren’t any extra buttons

lasted 2hr 20min in our video rundown

ripping will be accomplished in reasonably

above the keyboard; you'll only find the

test. In this test, we disable power manage-

good time. It took us 1 hr 10 min to com-

power button. The palm rest has a brushed

ment, turn up the brightness and enable

press our test DVD to a 1.5GB Xvid file.

design and it looks good. It's very smooth

the wireless radio. This is a decent time for a

though and could become sticky and un-

Intel Core i5-based 15.6in notebook and

comfortable to use during hot weather.

you'll be able to get even more life out of it

Graphics performance out of the installed ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 adapter is only middle of the road; it recorded a score of 4572 in 3DMark06. Nev20 | More | October 2010

Sparseness in the design is also evident when you look at all four sides of the base.

if you use a power management plan and lower brightness. n www.apnatime.com

saddads

www.apnatime.com

Cover Story

October 2010 | More | 21

teChnology

Gregg Keizer

Stuxnet meant for Iran only? n

Stuxnet's inability to stay stealthy

may be fall-out from a failure to hit its intended targets last year, security researchers said today. The worm, which was designed to infiltrate heavy-duty industrial control programs that monitor and manage fac-

and a co-author of a paper that ana-

June. "The first version didn't spread

lyzed the worm's code.

enough, and so Stuxnet's creators took a

Even though the Stuxnet makers obviously included measures to limit its spread, something went amiss, O Murchu said.

gamble, and abandoned the idea of making it stealthy," said Schouwenberg. In Schouwenberg's theory, Stuxnet's developers realized their first attempt

The original infection method, which

had failed to penetrate the intended tar-

tories, oil pipelines, power plants and

relied on infected USB drives, included a

get or targets, and rather than simply re-

other critical installations, only popped

counter that limited the spread to just

peat the attack, decided to raise the

onto researchers' radars this summer,

three PCs, said O Murchu. "It's clear that

ante.

nearly a year after it was likely first

the attackers did not want Stuxnet to

launched.

spread very far," he said. "They wanted it

on Stuxnet," Schouwenberg said. "They

to remain close to the original infection

could try again [with the USB-only vec-

point."

tor] and maybe fail again, or they could

"Obviously, it spread beyond its intended target or targets," said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus re-

O Murchu's research also found a 21-

"They spent a lot of time and money

take the risk of it spreading by adding

searcher at Kaspersky Lab, one of the

day propagation window; in other

two security companies that has spent

words, the worm would migrate to

the most time analyzing Stuxnet.

other machines in a network only for

ble the worm's creators had failed to in-

three weeks before calling it quits.

fect, and thus gain control, of the

Most researchers have agreed that

more functionality to the worm." O Murchu agreed that it was possi-

Stuxnet's sophistication -- they've called

Those anti-propagation measures

it "groundbreaking" -- means that it was

notwithstanding, Stuxnet has spread

jective(s), but said the code itself didn't

almost certainly built by a well-financed,

widely. Why?

provide clear clues.

high-powered team backed by a gov-

Kaspersky's Schouwenberg believes

industrial systems running at their ob-

What is clear, O Murchu said in a

ernment. The worm's probable target

it's because the initial attack, which re-

news conference Friday morning, is that

was Iran, possibly the systems in its bud-

lied on infected USB drives, failed to do

Stuxnet evolved over time, adding new

ding nuclear power program.

what Stuxnet's makers wanted.

ways to spread on networks in the hope

Earlier this week, Iranian oďŹ&#x192;cials ac-

"My guess is that the first variant

of finding specific PLCs (programming

knowledged that tens of thousands of

didn't achieve its target," said

logic control) hardware to hijack. "It's

Windows PCs had been infected with

Schouwenberg, referring to the worm's

possible that [the attackers] didn't man-

Stuxnet, including some in place at a

2009 version that lacked the more ag-

age to get to all of their targets [with the

nuclear power plant in southwestern

gressive propagation mechanisms, in-

earlier version]," O Murchu said. "The in-

Iran. They have denied that the attack

cluding multiple Windows zero-day

creased sophistication of Stuxnet in

had damaged any facilities, however, or

vulnerabilities. "So they went on to cre-

2010 may indicate that they had not

that Stuxnet contributed to well-known

ate a more sophisticated version to

reached their target."

delays in the reactor's construction.

reach their target."

But if Stuxnet was aimed at a specific

That more complex edition, which O

With the proliferation of Stuxnet, Schouwenberg said that the country or

target list, why has it spread to thou-

Murchu said was developed in March of

countries that created the worm may

sands of PCs outside Iran, in countries as

this year, was the one that "got all the

have themselves been impacted by its

far flung as China and Germany, Kaza-

attention," according to Schouwenberg.

spread. But that was likely a calculated

khstan and Indonesia?

But the earlier edition had already been

risk the worm's developers gladly took.

"That's something we find puzzling,"

at work for months by then -- and even

And that risk may have been quite

said Liam O Murchu, operations man-

longer before a little-known antivirus

small. "Perhaps they knew that their

ager with Symantec's security response,

vendor from Belarus first found it in

own critical infrastructure wouldn't be

22 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

teChnology aďŹ&#x20AC;ected by Stuxnet because it's not

"Stuxnet looks to see that a specific type

and O Murchu said. However, some

using Siemens PLCs," Schouwenberg

of PLCs are present," he said today.

clues in the code point to Israel, or at

said.

"Those are quite popular models, but it

least the hackers wanted everyone to

Stuxnet only tried to grab control of

does show that they knew what hard-

think Israel was behind the cyber attack

PLCs manufactured by German elec-

ware was being used at the target or tar-

against Iran.

tronics giant Siemens, which has sup-

gets." Additionally, the code only

plied large amounts of industrial control

infected PLCs that used a specific model

sibility for the attack, the authors really

hardware and software to Iran.

of network card.

had nothing to lose by letting the worm

O Murchu's research seemed to back

The identity of Stuxnet's makers may

"But as long as no one takes respon-

spread," said Schouwenberg.

never be known, both Schouwenberg

Source: www.computerworld.com

Microsoft launches dows Phone 7 range

Win-

up Schouwenberg's speculation.

Microsoft has unveiled a new range of smartphones to rival

the phenomenal success of Apple's iPhone. The company wants its new operating system, Windows Phone 7 (WP7), to put its mobile business back in the running against not just Apple, but also Google, which makes the Android phone software, among others. Speaking at a launch event in New York, Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer said: "Everybody should be able to take a look at a Windows Phone and say it can represent me." The world's largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers Samsung, LG, HTC and Dell, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing, reports the Daily Mail. The new phones, initially available on the T-Mobile network in Britain and on AT&T in the US, are much closer in look and feel to Apple's iPhone , with colourful touch-screens and 'tiles' for easy access to email, the Web, music and other applications. Ballmer, who has admitted that his company 'missed a generation' with its recent unpopular phone oďŹ&#x20AC;erings, said the new

available Nov 8. Six Windows Phone 7 handsets will be released in Britain in

phones would eventually be available from 60 mobile operators

the coming months, including three from HTC and the Dell

in 30 countries.

Venue Pro, which is the only model to come with a slide-out key-

Meanwhile, at a simultaneous launch event at London's Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Microsoft announced that WP7 will be coming on the Dell Venue Pro by Christmas. Dell's Venue Pro will join five other WP7 handsets - three from HTC and one each from LG and Samsung - in the British market in the coming months. In the US, the first phone from AT&T, priced at $200, will be www.apnatime.com

board Microsoft has a market share of only five percent in the global smartphone market, according to research firm Gartner, compared with nine percent a year ago. Gartner expects almost 270 million smartphones to be sold around the world this year, up 56 percent from last year.

Source: Economictimes October 2010 | More | 23

lateSt in teCh

Denon Headphone

Human-Powered ORNITHOPTeR, Flies like a Bird

Denon has revealed the latest details for their high-end head-

Impossible dream as it seemed to have a human-powered

phone --the dual noise cancelling AH-NC800. This new dual-

ornithopter flown in the air, as many have failed and yet one

noise-cancelling technology means "that ambient sounds are

has succeeded. Thanks to lightweight carbon fiber and to a

cut by 99 per cent using a system of two microphones that

Canadian engineering student, who have conquered a

cancel noise from outside and inside the cans.

dream pondered over by inventors and flight enthusiasts for

Audiophiles are also going to love this cans which is designed

over a hundred years, flying an ornithopter. (An aircraft that

with comfort.

flaps its wings like a bird to sustain forward momentum and some lift). Engineering student Todd Reichert is 28 years old, and studies for his PhD at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies. He’s successfully created, and flown, what he’s calling The Snowbird. The flight is a record breaking one, as he managed to sustain about 16 MPH, and flew at a height of 475 feet. The Snowbird has a huge wingspan, measuring nearly to a Boeing 737, but they managed to cut the weight to only 94 pounds. Due to weight limitations, Reichert had to drop 18lbs of his own weight just to make sure that the bird would fly.

The company used "human factor" idea which means "based on precise scientific modeling and anatomical measurements of the human head, leaving virtually no gap between the band and the wearer’s head. The AH-NC800 also sports Denon's compressed audio restorer technology with high-quality 42mm drivers and detachable OFC cables with gold-plated plugs. Accordingly users will have 40hrs of astounding sounds on a single AAA battery. 24 | More | October 2010

www.apnatime.com

lateSt in teCh

Panasonic toothbrushes Those vibrating and whirring toothbrushes are very handy. They make sure that your teeth get cleaner without quite so much eﬀort. The down side is that those sonic toothbrushes are so incredibly bulky they won’t fit in any conventional toothbrush holder nor will they fit inside of your average portable toothbrush container. Thankfully, there is this Panasonic toothbrush that is actually made to be portable. These vibrate at over 16,000 strokes per minute or 267 every second. You could easily slip this tiny toothbrush into your pocket or a purse. These come in many diﬀerent colors as you can see from the picture and it’s made to resemble a tube of mascara. To keep it up and running you’ll need all of one AAA battery. With that single battery it’ll stay alive for 180 brushings.

Voltaic Fuse Portable Solar Charger Bag with Clips The Fuse Portable Solar Charger by Voltaic Systems is a lightweight clip on solar charging pack that will allow you simply clip it on to various items such as backpacks, bags, tents and other

Pac Man Alarm Clock

items that have universal 3/4″ or 1″ buckles. The Fuse charges most popular cell phones like iPhones, Black-

Battery operated, this eye-catching alarm clock

berrys, HTC, Motorola and

features Snooze, Alarm Oﬀ and Backlight but-

many more but also charges

tons represented by cherries, a bell and

other devices such as digital

naughty ol’ Pinky – and if that particularly 80s

cameras, portable gaming

name means nothing to you, there’s little point

devices and Portable GPS units. With room enough for the Voltaic battery,

telling you about our other recurring dream in-

adapter cable and a small phone and camera, the Fuse makes it quick and easy

volving Gorf, Duran Duran and Kim Basinger.

to take your devices with you, clip on and charge on the go!

Hand-Cranked Paper Shredder Think of the footprint: No electricity means no carbon use; and the slim, streamlined box design means it slips into any bookshelf.

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Crystal Lipstick Mouse

The Crystal Lipstick Mouse is pretty self-explanatory — a mouse that looks like lipstick. Ultra light and charging via your laptop’s USB port, this is an ideal accessory for those ladies who are often out of the oﬃce. The Swarovski Elements Crystallized decoration adds an edge of brand luxury so you also look good in the cafe catching up on work between meetings.

Trek Support

Power Planter

This stylish case features a removable battery-powered USB gadget dock, which can charge up to three

It comes complete with

electronic items at a time. It also has a detachable lap-

organic soil and wheat-

top sleeve at the rear, designed specifically for travel-

grass seeds. Just add

ers. TSA allows laptops to remain in bags through

water and let nature take

security screening as long as the bag provides a clear

its course! Bring a bit of

and unobstructed X-ray view of the laptop. Just unzip

green power to your

Trek Support, lay it flat, and place it on the conveyor

home or oﬃce!

belt instead of going through the hassle of removing your laptop.

GSI Super Quality 5-In-1 Fashion Sunglasses Records high resolution color video and sound through a discreet lens and microphone; Interesting Design For Man and Women, 4 GB Memory Card Included and supports Up To 8GB, USB: 1.1/2.0, Built-in Rechargeable Battery, Up to 5 Hours Recording; High Quality Polaroid Lens, Connect to PC, Laptop or Notebook, FM Radio Uses Philips Module, Bluetooth V2.0; Support several audio formats, WMV, MP3, WMA, Etc., AVI Video 640*480, Pictures 1280*1024; Great Spy Gadget, For Meetings, Interviews, Law Enforcement, Surveillance and Travel. 26 | More | October 2010

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Portable Laser effects Projector with Sound Activation Fun and easy to use, this Portable Laser Effects Projector displays beautiful red and green laser light designs that will get the party started instantly! Instant fun: Nothing is easier to use and faster to set up when you instantly want an amazing light show to dazzle guests or set the mood. With various amazing red/green laser designs and patterns, this Portable Laser Effects Projector is perfect for discos, clubs, KTVs, pubs, bars, and even home parties. In automatic mode, users can just sit back and watch the show. Move with the music: With its sound activation feature, this Portable Laser Effects Projector can intelligently change its color/pattern to match the beat of the music! How? Just set your stereo system nearby and the projector's mic will pick up nearby music vibrations, so if you turn up the noise the laser will respond in style!

Use anywhere: This Laser Eﬀects Projector comes with a very handy mounting bracket that allows it to be mounted on walls and ceilings and is easily adjustable to be aimed at anywhere in the room. Just turn it on and watch the party come to life, and when you're done, the small frame will allow you to easily store it in a drawer or desk until your next event.

Bluetootn bike helmet headset intercom system / FM Radio Receiver This device allows bikers to receive GPS voice instructions, communicate with the passenger on the back seat, to conduct calls on their mobile phone and listen to the embedded FM radio or their MP3 player. Last but not least, the device oﬀers biker-to-biker intercom communication. This headset works with any Bluetooth equipped mobile phone.

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lateSt in teCh

F-Stop Watch for photography nuts Those of you who have gotten a little obsessive about your love of photography shouldn’t be stuck with an ordinary watch with silly numbers. Instead you need something you can really understand. Normal watches are for mathematicians. Thankfully, someone has created a watch for anyone that enjoys photography, the F-Stop Watch. Instead of numbers it lists oﬀ the relative aperture or F-Stop, which is where the name comes from. These fit most adult wrists and even come in a handy little collectible tin. The strap itself is leather with metal clasps. It has Quartz movement and the batteries are thankfully included.

Sony Playstation game The Shoot lands on October 19 There are gamers all around the world who are waiting to get their hands on the new Playstation Move controller system. Many of those gamers will certainly be looking to play some of the shooting games that are offered for the console and will want a gun accessory to make those games more realistic. The official Sony Shooting Attachment accessory is set to launch this month along with an exclusive PS3 game for use with the accessory or without. Sony announced that the retro looking Shooting Accessory pistol accessory will land in the US on October 19. That is the same day that the PS3 exclusive shooting game called The Shoot will hit store shelves as well. The Shoot will cast the player as an action-movie hero that has to go through five different

movie sets blasting away at enemies. The game looks pretty cool and has underwater sets, sci-fi, and horror scenes among others. The game will feature combos and other power ups too. Pricing for the game and the Shooting Accessory are unknown right now. Its Pakistani availibility is unknown as well.

28 | More | October 2010

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saddads

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Bluetooth MP3 Player Sunglasses -Silver -2GB Flash Memory Bluetooth MP3 Player Sunglasses -Silver -2GB Flash Memory. Gadget sunglasses / shades with an 2GB MP3 Player and wireless Bluetooth headset built-in.

Philips Wake-up Light Plus

Corsair Air Series A70 High-Performance CPU Cooler We are left with the concept of a much more eďŹ&#x192;cient, much larger, big brother to the A50. This super-sized version takes on the naming just as did the Hydro series, and we are pleased to get to show you the Corsair Air Series High-Performance CPU cooler. As well as the A50 placed on the listings, I am intrigued to see what the A70 will produce in the way of noise and performance, for what should be a well priced, visually appealing cooler that covers all the basics. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get to it and see just what the A70 from Corsair is capable of!

Gradual light prepares your body to wake up; Clinically proven to make waking up more pleasant; Choice of fm radio, 4 natural wake-up sounds, or your own music files via usb port; Dusk simulation helps you drift to sleep. 30 | More | October 2010

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Samsung Se-S084F DVD burner runs oﬀ a single USB connection I often work from my netbook when I travel and the worst thing about the little machine is that it lacks an optical drive. I still get handed CDs and DVDs with information on them that I can’t access on the little machine. There are also many ultraportable notebooks

Fuel Concept Device Allows You to Create Biodiesel At Home

on the market that lack optical drives as well. This is an issue for many users who want to watch movies and be able to access software and other content on discs. But it is no more the case.

This concept Fuel device is a personal biodiesel processor that is safe and eﬃcient, allowing you to make an alternate fuel source from the comfort of your home. All you have to do is pour the necessary ingredients into the top and leave the rest to the device. The automated pumps, heating elements and thermostats will perform the entire process. A display is located on the machine to keep you informed of the current status. A pull-out tank is available to collect the waste glycerin, which can be easily transported and disposed of, or used for making soap.

Imec unveils mobile and wearable eCG system on Android smartphone Imec has come up with a spanking new mobile and wearable ECG system that will run on an Android smartphone. Since Bluetooth connectivity does take a huge chunk out of a device's battery life, Imec has managed to achieve what it set out to do using an entirely different, low power transmission system which should rely on less juice to pave the way for longer continuous monitoring sessions while the patient is being up and about. The interface will be based on a standard Secure Digital Input Output (SDIO) interface on Android handsets, where the integration of all available features will be available on Google’s operating system (SMS, e-mail and data transmission over the internet, GPS to track user location). Does this mean Android-powered tablets have yet another use for them? www.apnatime.com

October 2010 | More | 31

month in FoCuS

PRIME MINISTER’S HOUSE n Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has congratulated the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for achieving 100 million mark of subscribers. The Prime Minister was talking to the Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr. Mohammed Yaseen who presented him SIMS of five operators to commemorate the 100 millionth subscriptions here today at PM Chamber in the Parliament house. The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction on the extraordinary growth of cellular mobile industry in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan oﬀers immense investment opportunities while the Government has formulated policies to create a business friendly environment. He further said that Pakistan has moved

from comparative advantage to competitive advantage in the global market. The Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority briefed the Prime Minister about the latest developments taking place in the telecom industry of Pakistan. He said healthy competition introduced by the Government has encouraged operators to go an extra mile for making a strong subscriber base. Therefore, the predictions, estimates and forecasts made for Pakistan mobile industry proved to be counterfactual and the subscriber base proceeded with growth higher than the forecasted one, he added. He also said that the regulator’s compliance with the Government policies gave boost to the subscriber base.

PTCL Global IP Connect Service - The Most Flexible Connectivity Solution n Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) is pleased to announce to its corporate and enterprise customers the most flexible connectivity solution with multiple applications in the form of Global IP Connect service. Based on internet protocol, this service allows Pakistani companies whose offices are located across the globe to connect and transfer data in a private secure manner over a reliable robust MPLS infrastructure provided by PTCL within Pakistan, while global connectivity is achieved through an extensive network of PTCL global network partners. Not only this, flexible network topologies are also oﬀered to customers depending upon the class of service

selected based on the enterprises’ applications e.g. real time, transactions, data base and email applications. Customers here can choose from Platinum, Gold and Silver packages and can benefit from bandwidth ranging from 64Kbps to 1Gbps. SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed while elaborating the eﬀectiveness and usage of this service said that it not only provides private and secure connectivity to our customers but is also scalable in its MPLS network architecture which would easily adapt to growth in complexity and volume in the customer’s network, topology which can then be easily redefined. It also enables customers to interconnect remotely located sites in to an in-

tranet and create an eﬃcient fully meshed network providing any-to-any communication among sites. Zaman Gulzar EVP Corporate Services and Product Development said this service supports multiple types of applications such as data, voice and multimedia. The coverage at the moment is being provided in 21 countries in Asia, 58 countries in EMEA and 30 countries in the Americas. He also added that in the future PTCL plans to provide its corporate customers most updated connectivity solutions to meet their increasing business requirements and to keep them connected internationally. “A single network supporting all your business’ application needs”

Tadateru Konoé, President International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (second from right) presenting a plaque to Jon Eddy Abdullah, CEO Telenor Pakistan in recognition of the cellular company's flood relief donation of Rs100 million to Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Chairperson PRCS Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar (right), and oﬃcials from IFRC and Telenor Pakistan are also seen in the picture.

32 | More | October 2010

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month in FoCuS

A new Public-Private Partnership between WHO and Mobilink to restore the flood damaged Basic Health Units in Pakistan

President and CEO Mobilink Rashid Khan with Dr. Guido Sabatinelli World Health Organization Representative in Pakistan exchange MoUs to install the prefabricates as basic health units in the flood affected districts of Pakistan. n World Health Organization is playing a major role in the response to the flood emergency providing medicines, deploying health staff and restoring primary health care. The destruction of many Basic Health Units (BHU) and medical centres has severely affected the level of health care available for people. Many people that were displaced during the floods are now returning back to their place of origin to find only devastation. “Now we have to deal with two different types of responses. While in some dis-

tricts of Sindh flood continues to spread and people are still being displaced, in Punjab and in the North of the country the situation has started to improve and support is needed for rehabilitating damaged healthcare facilities” said Dr Guido Sabatinelli- World Health Organization Representative in Pakistan. A recent survey showed that 514 health Facilities were damaged or destroyed in the flood aﬀected districts of Pakistan. Mobilink has generously oﬀered through WHO to restore the health serv-

ices in the aﬀected districts of Pakistan by providing 244 high quality prefabricates which are easy to assemble and ready to use as BHU. These prefabricated sheets will be made into more than 100 BHUs nationwide. Speaking at the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Mobilink and WHO, President and CEO of Mobilink, Rashid Khan said; “No crisis is too big if we stand united and form meaningful synergies. Our partnership with WHO, to whom we are grateful, is a testament of Mobilink’s commitment to reach out to millions still awaiting a helping hand. We have contributed more than Rs. 236 million towards flood relief and our employees and associates continue to volunteer their time, energy and expertise in the relief process to reshape live son ground.” “World Health Organization is grateful for the contribution by Mobilink and will work closely with the provincial Governments to identify the locations where to install these prefabricates. WHO will also provide furniture and equipment to transform these infrastructures into Basic Health Units and Medical Centers while the Ministry of Health will ensure medical staﬀ to make these BHU fully functional,”said Dr Sabatinelli in the signing ceremony of MoU.

ZONGís Keep Phone On (KPO) reward program's lucky draw was held recently in which one lucky winner from Faisalabad received a car for keeping his phone on. The picture taken on the occasion shows Mr. Berkatullah, Regional Director handing over the car to lucky winner Muzammal Hussain of Faisalabad.

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October 2010 | More | 33

month in FoCuS

Etisalat won, Arbitral Tribunal upheld the claim n An Arbitral Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France rendered a final award in the dispute between Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (“Etisalat”) and Planor Afrique (“Planor”) relating to Etisalat’s Burkina Faso subsidiary, Telecel Faso. The Arbitral Tribunal upheld Etisalat’s claims that the Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”) entered into by Etisalat and Planor in September 2007 to settle their dispute regarding Telecel Faso was valid, binding and en- Mr. Ahmed Bin Ali, Group Senior forceable and that Planor had Vice President, Corporate Commubreached the MOA. nications of the Etisalat Group The Arbitral Tribunal also ordered Planor to take the necessary steps to close the transaction contemplated by the MOA within 60 days as from the notification of the award, on penalty of a €10,000 per day in the way of non-compliance fine as from the 61st day. In addition, the Arbitral Tribunal also awarded Etisalat monetary damages for the losses arising from breach of the MOA. The MOA was signed by Etisalat (as a substantial stakeholder in Atlantique Telelcom) and Planor in September 2007 to provide a global settlement of the dispute relating to Telecel Faso (in which Planor Afrique was the minority shareholder). The MOA stipulates that Atlantique Telecom will own a 68% stake in Telecel Faso and that Planor Afrique will own a 32% stake. The MOA also provides for the definitive withdrawal of all pending claims between Planor Afrique and Atlantique Telecom relating to Telecel Faso. Mr. Ahmed Bin Ali, Group Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications of the Etisalat Group, said: “Etisalat notes with satisfaction that the ICC Tribunal has confirmed the binding nature of the settlement agreement reached with Planor Afrique. Etisalat intends to proceed quickly with the implementation of the MOA, so as to facilitate the Group’s plans for significant contributions to the advancement of the telecommunications sector in Burkina Faso. “We would like to take this opportunity to assure our customers in Burkina Faso that we will introduce world-class value added services to this fast growing nation”, Mr. Bin Ali said. Etisalat is amongst the largest telecommunications groups in the world and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, operating in 18 countries across Middle East, Africa and Asia, and servicing over 107 million customers out of a total population of approximately 2 billion people. In Africa, Etisalat already has presence and strong and growing operations throughout the African continent including Benin, Central African Republic, Egypt, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania and Togo. Etisalat is world renowned for the quality of its national networks and customer support. It has been ranked by Alcatel-Lucent as amongst the best in the world in terms of call completion ratio with call disconnect ratios less than 0.36 per cent compared with the global standard of 1 per cent and call blocked ratios of 0.02 per cent in comparison with 2 per cent. Etisalat is rated by Moody’s: Aa2; Standard & Poor’s: A+ and Fitch Ratings: A+.

34 | More | October 2010

wi-tribe Unlimited Internet via Happy Days Campaign n wi-tribe announced their Happy Days internet campaign. Now with Happy Days promo fellow tribers can use as much internet as they like, for a price.

To sign up; simply choose one of their plans below: n Plan A. 01 day of endless internet @ Rs. 100 n Plan B. 03 days of endless internet @ Rs. 200 Then, call 111-187-423 and order over the phone* Or, Logon to my wi-tribe and place your order directly** Otherwise, Visit any of their customer care centers This is a limited time oﬀer so hurry and signup to enjoy endless wi-tribe internet. *Phone orders have a credit limit of Rs. 200 per month, hence, Plan A can be purchased twice or Plan B can be purchased once. **Orders placed online have a 1-time purchase limit per month

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month in FoCuS

Empowering Through Excellence to promote education – industry linkage for students and to facilitate them in improving their skill sets in the technology. Pakistan is one those countries which are providing excellent technical resource worldwide, especially in the field of Telecommunications and IT. The demand of trained resource is still very high, therefore, ETS shoulders the responsibility to promote market oriented workshops and trainings to strengthen the basis for the young professionals. Such kind of workshops not only help young professionals in understanding the technology but also provide them healthy activity and platform to share their ideas. Pakistan is one of the fast growing Telecom sectors of the world. The cellular subscribers have reached Professional and market oriented trainings are need of the hour and ETS is providing such up to date trainings to the students and professionals, said by Miss Maria Zafar, Business Development Oﬃcer ETS, She was talking to MORE magazine/apnatime.com at the eve of workshop organized in Lahore recently. She further said, ETS is planning to conduct more ZERO FEE workshops across Pakistan. The topics include but not limited to WIMAX Network Planning, UMTS Network Planning, FPGA Based Designing, Network Security & Ethical Hacking etc. On 25th Sep, 2010 a ZERO FEE workshop was conducted by Engineering & Technology Solutions (ETS) in Lahore. The workshop was focused on Radio Network Planning and the audience was young Telecom professionals and students of University of South Asia. It was a “ZERO FEE- Workshop” presented by Mr. Muhammad Rizwan, an internationally n

ets oﬀers a broad range of complimentary engineering design and build services including deployment, Planning & optimization, Managed services, human resource consultancy, Project Management and trainings to a wide range of organizations, including mobile telecommunications network operators, vendors, oil & Gas sector, it, banking & Finance sector etc 36 | More | October 2010

on 25th sep,2010 a workshop is conducted by engineering & technology solutions (ets) in lahore . the workshop was focused on radio network Planning and the audience was young telecom professionals and students of university of south asia. it was a “Zero Fee- Workshop” presented by Mr. Muhammad rizwan ,an internationally recognized telecom trainer. Workshop was well managed by the head of electrical engineering department- Mr. Manzar ahmed.

recognized Telecom Trainer. Workshop was well managed by the Head of Electrical Engineering department- Mr. Manzar Ahmed. The basic purpose of the workshop was

100Million (Approx) while 3G telephony is knocking on the door. The cellular companies and multinational vendors should come forward and promote such kind of human resource development programs. www.apnatime.com

month in FoCuS

Kingston Digital Launches USB 3.0 Flash Drive n Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory aﬃliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping its first USB 3.0 Flash drive. The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 Flash drive takes advantage of the faster USB 3.0 specification that has up to ten times the data transfer rates of the current USB 2.0 specification. The DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 has a read speed of 80MB/sec. and a write speed of 60MB/sec. It is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. The combination of speed and size makes it ideal for data backup or fast transferring of large files including music, photos and videos. To ensure backwards compatibility, Kingston is also including a Y cable as some USB 2.0 ports require it to initialize USB 3.0 drives. “USB 3.0 is the next major milestone in Flash memory for USB products and

Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 Features and Specifications Kingston wants to have a solution in the marketplace for early adopters,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston. “The DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 is our first USB 3.0 Flash drive oﬀering and is designed for enthusiasts who like to embrace new technology before it goes mainstream.” During internal testing, a 1 hour 44 minute movie (3.9GB) was written to the drive in 1 minute 13 seconds. Similarly, a 2 hour 23 minute DVD (4.4GB) transferred to the drive at a fast 1 minute 23 seconds†. The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 USB Flash drive is backed by a five-year warranty, free tech support and legendary Kingston reliability. For more information visit www.kingston.com/asia/.

• • • •

• • • • • •

Capacities*: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB Requirements: system with USB 3.0 port Backwards compatible**: with USB 2.0 Speed***: data transfer rates for USB 3.0 up to 80MB/sec. read and 60MB/sec. write; USB 2.0: approximately 30MB/sec. read and 30MB/sec. write Dimensions: 2.90" x 0.87" x 0.63" (73.70 mm x 22.20 mm x 16.10 mm) Operating Temperature: 32° to 140° F (0° to 60° C) Storage Temperature: -4° to 185° F (-20° to 85° C) Practical: durable casing with a solid lanyard loop Warranty: 5 Years

Samsung ranked 19th among the Top 100 global brands n Samsung Electronics has been ranked 19th among the Top 100 brands. It also attained the 9th ranking within the IT industry. These rankings were published by “Interbrand”- the definitive guide to the most valuable global brands. The value of Samsung brand has been estimated at 19,491 million US Dollars, which shows an increase of 11% over last year. Interbrand’s annual report on the Best Global Brands is voted to be one of the three most influential benchmark studies by business leaders. It offers evaluative insights into how the best global organizations create and manage brand value. The General Manager of Samsung Pakistan, Mr. Steve Han said, “Samsung considers its brand to be a strategic business asset and invests heavily on its brand building functions to gain on this intellectual capital. We have built a compelling brandproposition around our strategic growth agenda to ensure success and returns”. The Interbrand report says, Samsung has been on the forefront of digital and design, developing new products and increasing its presence in all its markets. Its sales growth, even in tough economic times, demonstrates its ability to effectively hedge its portfolio of businesses. This year, Samsung saw strong mobile phone sales. In the U.S., it was placed at number one for HDTV shipments and French-door refrigerators”. Interbrand annually evaluates the value of global brands against 10 principles of brand strength including; Commitment, Protection, Clarity, Responsiveness, Authenticity, Relevance, Presence, Understanding, Consistency and Differentiation. It should reflect world-class financial performance and an immaculate public awareness profile. To find out more about Interbrand’s methodology, please visit: www.bestglobalbrands.com

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Mr. Zeshan Qureshi and Mr.Roy Chang along with the HHP and PR team at the announcement of Galaxy Tab , which is the first mobile tablet with the most powerful smart phone features, a brilliant 7inch enhanced TFT display screen and 1GHz Hummingbird Application processor supporting 3D graphics.

This achievement of Samsung can be attributed to business enhancements in memory/LCD, product launch of TV/HHP hero products along with Samsungs leadership and innovations in TV category. Samsung fully realizes that the advent of modern telecommunications and hyper connectivity has transformed the art of brand management. An increasingly direct relationship with consumers has enforced a real-time approach to its brand responsiveness. October 2010 | More | 37

month in FoCuS

Samsung continues to distribute relief goods among flood victims

n Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, a global leader in digital media and convergence technologies, is a proactive and caring company operating in Pakistan. Recently a team from Samsung visited Muzaﬀargarh, which is among the areas facing the worst flood disasters in Pakistan. The Managing Director Mr. Steve Han and the Senior Manager Mr. Injae Lee personally visited the displaced victims along with numerous Samsung employees to distribute more than 400 relief packs containing food and clothing items in the relief camps, besides personally interacting with the unfortunate flood victims. The Managing Director of Samsung Pakistan, Mr. Steve Han said; “It is really painful to see such a large number of Pakistanis, facing such a massive disaster, where they have lost their homes, livelihood, properties, valuables and lives. Samsung is fully committed to help in the revival of a normal healthy life for these fellow citizens.” During this visit the Samsung team personally ensured the fair distribution of

38 | More | October 2010

2 truck loads of relief goods. The DCO of Muzaffargarh briefed them about the extent of devastation in the area. About 2.1 million people among the total population of 3.5 million living in and around Muzaffargarh have been affected by the floods. 50% of the road Infrastructure, 80% of schools and 90% of health centers in the district are either destroyed or severely damaged. This team from Samsung, which also included Mr. Zeshan Qureshi- Head of Mobile Phones, Ms. Rabiya Siddiqui-PR Manager and Mr. Zahid Saeed- Head of HR and Admin later visited some surrounding areas like Baseera and Shershah, where the level of devastation has been more than 75%. The recent floods have caused a severe disaster for people all over Pakistan. Earlier, Samsung has been regularly distributing flood relief packs, each containing essential items like; Cooking Oil 2.5 kg, Flour 10 kg, Sugar 3 kg, Rice 5 kg, Gram 1 kg, Pulses 1 kg, Tea 0.5 kg, Sherbet Bottle 1.5 liter, Clothing for Man/ Woman and 1 Pack of Dry Milk. www.apnatime.com

month in FoCuS

Nokia and Ufone join hands for N8

Nauman Durrani (R), Operator Sales Manager, Nokia and Khurram Mahboob (L), Head of Device, Affinity & Loyalty, Ufone acknowledging partnership n Nokia and Ufone signed the first of its kind MoU here in Islamabad whereby Ufone shall have the exclusive rights to sell N8 handsets in Pakistan for the first month of sales – the period includes pre-sales booking time as well. This is the first time in Pakistan that such a partnership has taken place between a Nokia and a local telecom service provider to launch a new device in the market. The Nokia N8, Nokia’s latest smartphone, intuitively connects to the people, places and services that matter most. With the Nokia N8, people can create compelling content, connect to their favourite social networks and enjoy on-demand Web TV programs and Ovi Store apps. As part of this collaboration, N8 phones will be available at selected Ufone service centres across Pakistan. Commenting on the partnership, Nauman Durrani, Operator Sales Manager, Nokia Pakistan & Afghanistan said, “Nokia is pleased to enter into this partnership with Ufone. This collaboration is a healthy sign for Pakistan’s Telecom Industry. The partnership will offer many add-on benefits to both Nokia and Ufone customers. Nokia N8 is a feature rich device and that gives you an opportunity to see the world the way you want from it.” Mr. Khurram Mahboob, Head of Devices, Affinity & Loyalty said, “We are thrilled to have the exclusive rights to bring to Pakistan the latest, high-tech mobile computer – Nokia N8. The recent past has seen Ufone offer its valued customers a number of exciting handset deals and this is sure to be one to look out for. We are giving our valued customers an opportunity to experience Nokia’s flagship device before any one in Pakistan. We are also giving away exclusive internet data bundles for six months for our loyal customers to stay in touch all the time.

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Dell Marketing’s finger on Pakistan’s pulse n Dell Pakistan has been gaining a steady consumer base for a quite a while now. The most fascinating aspect of this gain is not just the sheer number of Pakistani consumers who relate with Dell on a day to day interactive level, but the ways and means by which Dell Pakistan has achieved this loyal fan following; out of the box, unique marketing. From interactive lucky draws at point of sale locations to giveaways in collaboration with symbiotic brands, Dell Pakistan’s individuality in terms of marketing strategy has set it apart from its competitors. It is a clear trendsetter in terms of marketing tools and activities. Even though many other big names have online presence; it seems that marketing at Dell has tapped into the internet pulse of the Pakistani youth. They have understood that the ultimate interaction between brand and end consumer has never been closer, thanks to Social Media’s gain in popularity as ‘The’ platform where brand and consumer become equals, due to the existence of consumer generated reviews and opinions about their personal experiences with the products in question. Social media sites like Twitter, Blogger, Wordpress etc, provide a stage for everyone interested and are the next frontier in marketing. Digital marketing is taking over in the west, as people prefer to be advertised to in a customized manner, an evolutionary chain that is bound to take Pakistan by storm one day as well is a fact that Dell has clearly set its far sight on. The 68,000 (and counting) fans on Dell Pakistan’s Facebook page are a testimony to the brand’s ability to deliver local consumers with choice products with which to express themselves and experience the brand. Taking the example of ‘Jam a Jingle for Dell’ on its Facebook page, one merely begins to understand how Dell has thus far managed to put its finger on a main artery of the end consumer; the ability to identify with the brand. The Dell website overflowed with submissions from people from all walks of life, ages and career back grounds. It brought together a myriad of personalities and demographics and allowed them to identify with the Dell brand in a manner never seen before. Dell's Facebook page is an extremely interactive page where users can get live exclusive updates on all things Dell in Pakistan, inside information, upcoming events, promotions, contests & instant gifts. In lieu of its Dell’s activities, one can only imagine how far out of the box its next advertising venture will manifest.

(L to R) Muneeb Tariq & Qasim Meher Asad, winners of an Online Contest, Jam a Jingle organized by Dell Pakistan

October 2010 | More | 39

month in FoCuS

Mobilink & Ufone’s ambiguous TVCs n Mobilink and Ufone are trying to bring one another down through their campaigns. Ufone’s “Full Time Mufta” and Mobilink’s “Na Qabil-e-Yaqeen Offer” are few of the examples. I don’t know what both the TVCs achieve in their real sense but they do raise couple of questions; n As far as comedy is concerned, Ufone’s Mufta ad may be liked by few people but how practical and decent it is in real life to attend someone else’s wedding without an invitation. Secondly, how strongly it conveys Ufone’s actual offer is ambiguous. n Mobilink “Na Qabil-e-Yaqeen Offer” shows as its hero a guy who has been failing in the college for the last 10 years. n Finally the girl, Hira, gets impressed when she hears from that “loser” that he will keep calling him 24 hours by using this particular offer of Mobilink I am not sure how good these packages are but I believe, selling them in this silly way will never serve the purpose eventually.

ZONG and Dreamworld Ltd have signed an MoU, according to which ZONG has become Oﬃcial Telecom Partner of Dreamworld. Picture shows Mr. Ali Kamran, Director Corporate Sales, ZONG and Col. Anayatullah Nadeem, Executive Director, Dreamworld exchanging the documents.

Continued from P 17 But someone out there tried to intro-

of a product until forcefully driven to-

plummeted it down to the depths of the

duce a highly potent medicine right out of

wards it. It is always only led to believe

lowest expectations of the customer for

the lab and gave it directly to the ‘therapy

that he has a choice. Or at times only

any other product there ever already was. In other words, no one would remember

The price war hit the industry just like a civil war goes through all the foundations of the country. The worst part is that even being so close to the picture it’s still not so blurry to every one of the Pakistanis

what Mr. Bell actually gave this world. Where the SIM was a symbol of esteem now is a just another plastic toy sitting on a rack, with a shelf life of a little more than 88 seconds on prime time television and a half life even less.

ward’ instead. Now the side eﬀects have

something close to a choice of buying

One by one every company will beat

forced the telecom companies themselves

only a relatively better product is the best

each other, until there won’t be left a

to vacate critical niche in the folds of

a customer shall ever have. These are the

company which is not ‘beaten up’ and the

downsizing and cost eﬀectiveness. Even

fundamentals of a market not an indus-

‘For Sale’ board would be worth more

though Mr. Kotler would call it a ‘dimin-

try. This was a rookie mistake made by a

than the product itself. The value added

ished capacity’ rather than anything close

magnificently overwhelming number of

service will add no more value then a

to being eﬀective at any level and the term

decision makers in these times over and

mere bubble that will burst with laughter.

‘bad rhythm’ is more appropriate than call-

over again. And no one seems to have

And a million dollar advertisement will

ing it merely a vicious circle.

any intent of coming out of this cycle. It’s

fall wanting for laughter cracked hard on

as if the paradigm was set in a bad

the competitors which are dime a dozen

was never in the hands of a customer. It

rhythm and no one came for the rescue.

rather than bringing out that age old

can never bebecause customers don’t

This rhythm actually took its toll in shak-

smile of achievement which is the price-

make the product. If managed well, he

ing the very soul of the industry and in

less value of everyone who represents

can’t even make an intended impression

simpler words, stole the actual grace and

this industry.

The choice to buy a better product

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mobile PhoneS

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mobile PhoneS

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CameraS

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gadgetS

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gadgetS

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