Deadline for Deployment of Biometric Verification System Ends Today

As per directions from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and advise of Prime Minister of Pakistan, Biometric Verification System for issuance of new SIMs was to be installed before February 28th, 2013, however it appears that deadline will not be met.

Deployment of biometric verification system was meant to curb illegal and unregistered SIMs from the market.

Directive from PTA, issued on December 7th, 2012, had explicitly said:

A consultation process shall be undertaken with CMOs for deployment of equipment at all sale channels for checking/verifying the biometric (like the thumb impression of SIM purchaser) online through NADRA database by 28t, February 2012

Moreover, cellular companies were asked to eliminate all unregistered and unverified SIMs by regularizing the unverified SIMs by February 28th, 2013.

When the deadline for the deployment of system is ending today, cellular companies and PTA are still arguing over the procedures that are to be adopted for installation of biometric verification system. Cellular companies are more inclined towards the bar-code verification system while PTA is pushing for thumb-impression verification of customers at the time of issuance of new SIMs.

Since regulator is technically dysfunctional, it is less likely that such system will be deployed in near future.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with industry developments, has told ProPakistani that cellular companies are asking for more time – up to three months – for the deployment of biometric verification solution.

Mr. Rehman Malik, the lead character behind all this, is also quite – maybe because he is nearing the end of his service term. Care-taker government is said to be taking charge by mid-March and then the new government. In such situations it is unclear that what will be the fate of biometric verification system.

In the end, I would say that cellular operators are just rolling the stones without worrying about unregistered and un-verified SIMs. Same is the case with the government and regulator. This proves that no one was actually interested in curbing the issue of illegal and unregistered SIMs, instead everyone was working on his/her agenda with goals best known to them only.

Dell Holds Road Show in Karachi

Dell Pakistan once again brought to Karachi an exciting Road Show at Park Towers, where the company displayed its latest Ultrabook™ series – Dell XPS and Inspiron Ultrabooks, along with the new Dell Inspiron Oak series.

People at Park Towers were treated to an Ultraworld experience across two consecutive days, where they were able to try out, on-the-spot, the notebooks and other interesting Dell products on display.

“We had a number of promotions on various Dell products which were displayed at Park Towers on 23^rd and 24^th February, 2013. Apart from on-spot purchasing, we also gave customers the option to book a Dell notebook here for purchase later on”, explains Salman Kazmi, Marketing Specialist at Dell Pakistan. There were also various activities and games executed, such as Minute to Win It, Citizen of the Hour and so on, with lots of amazing gifts distributed and prizes won, by those who attended.

The Road Show is an interactive activity where people not only get Dell products at great prices, but can also put forward any queries they may have, to the available Dell experts, and use all products on display, to test their usability.

On Sunday 24^th February, Dell’s Country Manager – Pakistan, Mr. Shahzad Khan was also present at the Road Show activity at Park Towers, to exclusively speak to media. He spoke about the new Ultraworld Experience available to people through use of the Dell Ultrabooks, and how consumer products are optimizing the IT industry in Pakistan.

Mr. Shahzad was very excited to divulge the fact that the new carbon fiber constructed Ultrabook™ is available in 8 colors, and has a numeric keyboard on the base, which gives consumers a more convenient usage pattern.

ACER H6510BD 3D HOME ENTERTAINMENT PROJECTOR

To bring 3D gaming and movies to a big screen at home, Acer launches in the US market its H6510BD 3D home entertainment projector. It supports popular 3D technologies, including DLP 3D, Blu-ray 3D and NVIDIA 3DTV Play and features instant 2D-to-3D conversion technology to convert any 2D picture or video signal to 3D.

The H6510BD is based on DLP technology and is equipped with 0.65-inch DarkChip 3 DMD display panel. The projector features 1920×1080 Full HD resolution, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 3000 ANSI lumens standard brightness and 2400 ANSI brightness in ECO mode. It includes ColorBoost II technology to deliver natural colors via optimized 6-segment color-wheel design; ColorSafe II technology for color integrity and SpectraBoost for wide color gamut and more saturated color.

The SmartFormat allows instant projection of multiple screen formats. It provides HDMI, D-sub, composite, component, S-video inputs. You can get the Acer H6510BD 3D projector for $799.

 

CCP Proposes Guidelines for Telcos To Stop Deceptive Marketing / Advertising

Competition Commission of Pakistan has prepared Deceptive Marketing Guidelines draft for telecommunication companies as part of its efforts to protect consumers from anti-competitive behavior through ensuring compliance in telecom sector sales, marketing, advertising, and communication in all forms across all mediums, online and Point of Sale (PoS).

The draft guidelines have been shared with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and other telecom companies and have been placed on the commission’s website for soliciting feedback and suggestions from stakeholders.

The companies have been advised to bear in mind the legal implications that may arise out of certain practices dealing with, like distribution of false information, deception, fine print, disclaimer and qualifications, importance of substantiation of claims, essential terms and conditions, omissions, puffery, price disclosure, comparative advertising, promotional contents and, telemarketing.

The Draft Guidelines present the approach taken by the commission in its decisions regarding deceptive marketing practices and the approach that it may take towards certain marketing practices by telecommunication service providers.

However, the guidelines are not exhaustive and the approach of the commission shall depend upon the particular facts and circumstances of each case. As it is not possible to predict future behaviour of the undertakings involved in the telecommunication sector, the commission will not, in any way, be restricted to look into matters that have not been mentioned in these guidelines.

The effort has been made in the guidelines to provide guidance on what may constitute as deceptive marketing practices and avoid actions that may amount to violating Section 10 and other provisions of the competition act.

The Draft Guidelines have been prepared in light of best international practices after reviewing several documents and guidelines published by jurisdictions namely, the USA, UK, Australia, Canada and Hong Kong, and draw knowledge and experience from jurisdictions that have similar provisions as those of Section 10 of the Competition Act. The principles contained in the guidelines will be applied and further developed and refined by the commission from time to time in individual cases.

HP Slate 7 Affordable 7-inch Android Tablet

At the Mobile World Congress 2013, HP announced the new Slate 7 that is the company’s first attempt in the consumer Android tablet market. Available at an affordable price of $169.99, HP’s offering will be competing with Google’s Nexus 7 and Asus’s MemoPad. Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the tablet offers Google experience with Google Now, YouTube, Google+ and access to Google Play Store.

While the price of the Slate 7 is quite attractive, the hardware of the Slate 7 may not be able to impressive you. It is powered by an dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex A-9 processor and 1GB of RAM. Its 7-inch 1024×600 multitouch display uses High-aperture-ratio Field Fringe Switching (HFFS) panel for wide viewing angle. There is a 3 Megapixel main camera on the back and a VGA front-facing camera for video chat. It even includes Beats Audio for rich sound and of course, you can expect support for WiFi connectivity. The Android tablet comes pre-loaded with HP’s ePrint application that allows users to easily print at home or on the go wirelessly.

HP will release the Slate 7 in the US in April.

 

Dell reports 8% revenue decrease this year as compared to 2011

Dell has posted the results for its fourth quarter and they look quite bad for the company as it goes into privatization. There was an 11 % decrease in revenue this quarter as compared to the last year’s same quarter as it dropped from $16 billion to $14.3 billion. Comparison over the year states that last year the revenue was $62 billion while this year it dropped by 8 %, making it $56.9 billion. Net income also dropped to $530 million with a percentage decrease of 31 %, from $764 million from the same quarter of the last year.

On the other hand the revenue for the networking department of Dell increased by 42 % with a 100 % increase in Force10 business. The 12G PowerEdge servers of Dell comprised of 80 % of the revenue generated from servers, which in turn showed a 5 % increase in the revenue. Quest Software delivered more than $200 million in revenue.

The Enterprise solutions department solely, saw an increase of 6 % in revenue making it to $5.2 billion, whereas Dell Wyse Orders, also considered in enterprise virtualization solutions, had an increased demand of 25 % as compared to the revenue last year.

USF Pakistan progresses in rural areas under PM Raja Parvez Ashraf

In an ceremony in Sanghar on Saturday 24th February, the Prime Minister, Raja Parvez Ashraf inaugurated a number of telecommunications and health and education projects of worth Rs. 1.7 billion. During his speech on the occassion he said that the social and economic development of the country was linked to the growth in telecom sector and that the government was putting its best efforts  to bring all parts of the country at the same level.

The efforts of Universal Service Fund (USF) are the depiction of the efforts of the government where USF was able to provide basic telephony and data services to 213 villages in Mirpurkhas and 426 villages in Dadu with subsidies of  Rs. 930 million and Rs 250 million respectively under their Rural Telecom Project.Under their Optic Fibre programme, 1038 kilometre optic fibre cable has been laid via a subsidy of Rs. 449 million due to which 17 unserved tehsils of Sindh have been connected. Moreover, 77 cities and towns in Southern Telecom Region-I were connected under the Broad-band programme with the help of a subsidy of Rs. 549 million.

The Prime Minister inaugurated local development projects including rehabilitation of a Basic Health Unit (BHU), a primary school, up-gradation of a middle school of girls to high school, repair of bridge at Chak 11, installation of street lights and electric poles and a water filtration plant.
Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf also inaugurated ten classrooms of Commerce Block at Government Degree College Sanghar and an additional 10 rooms at the Government High School Sanghar, which were constructed for Rs 15.046 million and Rs 9.988 million respectively.

China is Now the World’s Largest Market for Smart Devices

China has now overtaken the United States of America in being the biggest market for smart devices like Android and iOS phones and tablets. The market for smart devices in China started growing a year ago and within one year has taken to the first position. Even though, this is the first time that China has overtaken the American market, but it is just with a slight numbers. However, if the Chinese market growth rate remains consistent as it is now, it will take lead with higher numbers.

The report is based on the study by Flurry, which tracked 2.4 billion anonymous application sessions per day from different parts of the world. Having done so, the company claims that they were able to accurately measure activity of 90 percent of the world’s smart devices. Just about a month ago, both China and the U.S. were head-to-head in the market share, but this month in February, China took the lead for the first time.

In January, the U.S. had 222 million active smart devices and China had 221 million, now China is predicted to have 246 million devices and the U.S. increase will take it to 230 million. The third country with the highest number of smart devices is the United Kingdom with 43 million and South Korea is fourth with 40 million active smart devices. The experts who have a keen eye on the trends of the growing smart devices market say that the U.S. will not be able to take back its top spot.

Based merely on the population, the U.S. cannot exceed more than 310 million smart device users. The only country that is predicted to overtake China is India with a population of 1.2 billion people. But that will take some years before we can see India on the top spot as currently there are only 19 million active smart devices in India.

VIRGIN MOBILE KYOCERA EVENT ENTRY-LEVEL SMARTPHONE

Prepaid mobile network, Virgin Mobile USA adds Kyocera’s Event to its lineup. The entry-level Android smartphone is made for people who are looking get an affordable phone without service contract. Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the handset comes pre-loaded with Google Maps and Navigation and offers access to Google Play store for thousands of appications.

  

The Event sports a 1GHz SnapDragon processor and 512MB of RAM. The phone has a 3.5-inch HVGA IPS touchscreen display and features MagniFont mode that provides super large font that is easy to read, and Swype text input for typing faster without lifting a finger. Its 3.2 Megapixel camera gets a LED flash and is capable of video recording. The handset supports 3G mobile network, in addition to Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

Other than 4GB internal storage, the Event also supports microSD up to 32GB. The phone is available for $79.99. Black version will be available from Virgin Mobile USA and the red version will be an exclusive for RadioShack.

 

ADATA DashDrive Air AE400 Combines Wireless Storage Reader, Hotspot and Portable Battery

If you are looking for a all-in-one companion for your mobile devices, ADATA’s newly launched DashDrive Air AE400 may be a good choice. While the AV200 combines wireless router and SD/USB reader, the new eye-catching multifunctional device goes further to combine wireless storage reader, a wireless hotspot and portable power bank. Its surface has a hexagonal lattice pattern to provide sparkling look and feel.

With USB port and a SD card slot, the AE400 allows users to access and transfer data between USB storage devices and SD card and their smartphone, tablet, or notebook wirelessly. You can stream media content from USB drive or SD card and the device is able to stream 1080p video to 2 users simultaneously. It works with iOS, Android, Windows XP/7.8, Mac OS X and Linux and there is free DashDrive Air Elite app for iOS and Android devices.

The new DashDrive Air is also a wireless hotspot with support for WiFi 802.11b/g/n. It can connect to an existing wireless network and create an Internet bridge connection for up to 10 devices. Inside the bling bling housing, it packs 5000mAh  Li-Polymer rechargeable battery for rejuicing your mobile devices on the go.

ADATA’s DashDrive Air AE400 will be available in Europe for GBP 52.99.

 

Sony announces the PlayStation 4, arriving this holiday season

As was widely expected, Sony announced their upcoming PlayStation 4 gaming console at the February 20 event. While a lot was said about the console at the event, we still don’t know what it looks like or how much it would cost.

But let’s talk about what we do know, starting with the hardware. For the PS4, Sony is using an x86-64 AMD processor with an integrated 8-core ‘Jaguar’ CPU and GPU. The GPU is capable of delivering 1.84 TFLOPS of performance, which pegs it slightly above AMD’s Radeon HD 7870 desktop GPU announced last year. The PS4 will also have 8GB of GDDR5 memory with around 176GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Other specifications include a built-in hard drive (no mention of SSD or ability to swap the drive), 6x Blu-ray and 8x DVD drive, USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, analog AV-out and optical S/PDIF audio output.

The PS4 will be sold with the new DualShock 4 controller, which looks very similar to the leaked prototype we saw last week. It features a two-point capacitive trackpad above the joystick and a three-color LED light bar on top, which changes color to identify player or even during a game to denote things such as player health.

The PS4 has dual 1280 x 800 resolution 3D cameras with f/2.0 fixed focus lenses, 85-degree field of view, 30cm minimum focusing distance and four-channel microphone array. These track the light bar on the controllers, they way the Move did. The DualShock 4 also has three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer, vibration, mono speaker, microUSB port, stereo headset port, extension port and a 1000mAh battery.

Moving back to the console, there are quite a lot more new features to talk about, including:

• Ability to stream games, thanks to the Gaikai cloud based service. This could be used in future to stream PS3, PS2 and PSOne games to the PS4.
• Ability to stream PS4 games to the PSVita. Sony is aiming to offer virtually every PS4 game on the PSVita through streaming in the future.
• Ability to play games while they are downloading.
• Ability to try any new game before purchasing.
• Ability to record and upload game videos while playing games. The processing is done by a separate background processor. You can view videos uploaded by other players.
• Ability to download games and updates while the console is switched off using the background processor.
• Brand new interface for the PS4 as well as the PSVita.
• New iOS and Android PlayStation App will let you use your smartphone as a second screen to view game details as well as view videos and other content uploaded by other gamers.

There will be no backward compatibility of PS3 titles on the PS4, a direct result of the new processor architecture used on the latter. The Gaikai streaming feature remains the only hope to play older titles on the PS4, although that feature hasn’t been officially announced yet. You will be able to play used PS4 games on the new console, something a lot of people do.

Speaking of games, we have a handful of confirmed titles, including ‘Killzone: Shadow Fall’, ‘inFAMOUS: Second Son’, ‘Destiny’ by Bungie, ‘Deep Down’ (working title) by Capcom, ‘DriveClub’, ‘Knack’, ‘The Witness’, ‘Diablo III’ and ‘Watch_Dogs’ by Ubisoft.

As mentioned before, we still don’t know what the console looks like or will cost. All we know is that it is expected to be released by the holiday season by the end of this year.

iPad mini 2 Backplate leaked in Chinese Website

Over at Chinese website, WeiPhone.com, a guy posted a bunch of photos that he claimed are backplate of the second generation of iPad mini. There’s no way to tell whether the backplate is really built for the iPad mini 2. But given the original iPad mini is released in October, it is possible that Apple is now testing the next generation.

As you can see in the picture, the backplate is made of aluminum. It also suggested that the next iPad mini may be thicker. This is possible if Retina Display will be used, and Apple wants to equipp the tablet with a bigger battery.

Another thing you will notice is the blue Apple logo and iPad branding. In late January, there is a Sina Weibo post that suggested that the production process of iPad mini’s Apple logo has been improved. Is the blue Apple logo crafted using the new process? Again, there is no way to tell at the moment. Let’s wait and see more leaks.

 

Acer H226HQL and H236HL Full HD IPS LCD Displays

Acer launches in the US market its H6 series LED-backlit LCD displays. Available in 21.5-inch H226HQL and 23-inch H236HL models, the H6 series has a Zero-frame construction featuring a super thin 0.08-inch bezel. Its brushed hairline finish makes it stylish.

Both H6 models feature Full HD 1920×1080 resolution and uses IPS panel for a viewing angles as wide as 178 degrees. They also feature 100,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 5ms response time and eColor Management for optimized image performance. The monitors comes with built-in speakers and offers HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs. They have tilt capability from -5 to 15-degrees for users to adjust for best viewing angle, and the magnetic surface allows you to post notes and store paper clips directly.

Acer’s H226HQL and H236HL are available now for $149.99 and $179.99, respectively.

 

Wateen Telecom Launches Core Values

Naeem Zamindar – Values Launch – KHI.

In a first for any corporate organisation in Pakistan, Wateen Telecom recently launched its Core Values during special events organised for all company employees in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad.

The events kicked off with the first one held at the Wateen Head Office at Oberoi House in Lahore. Over 700 Wateen employees were in attendance, ranging from office assistants to the Senior Management Team, Wateen CEO Mr Naeem Zamindar, and senior Board Member Mr Zouhair Khaliq.

A select group of the company’s Enterprise customers were also invited to attend the explosive, high-energy and fun-filled event.

The most significant aspect of the launches was the Value Champions Team, comprising of employees from every tier, segment and background. Following six weeks of ‘living the Values’, Wateen now has a total 100 employees who’ve experienced the benefits of the Values and have become ‘commandos’ who will drive the new culture.

Asad Rezzvi, Wateen Chief Transformation Officer, says, “Culture is the source of great strategy.  It is the conglomerate of the beliefs of the people. Beliefs drive behaviour and thoughts. With extraordinary beliefs and thoughts come extraordinary actions. Keeping this in mind, we set out to sow the seeds for a high performance culture.”

Naeem Zamindar & Zohair Khaliq – Values Launch – Lahore

The entire process of defining and creating the Wateen Values took over a year and a half, finally resulting in five final Core Values to be implemented within the organisation: Serve & Enable; Passion, Energy & Fun; Team work & Respect; Ownership & Accountability; and Innovation & Creativity. Each of these values is defined by three specific behaviours, allowing the values to be integrated easily into every day behaviour.

Commenting on the successful launch, Mr Zamindar said, “For Wateen this marks the dawn of a New Beginning and a sign of our commitment to build a workforce that exemplifies the right attitude, behaviour and mindset of Pakistan’s leading converged communications service provider.”

The events consisted of demonstrations, presentations, skits, and other interactive activities aimed at allowing employees to actually experience the Core Values as they might be applied in real life settings. The Lahore event was followed by similarly successful events in Karachi and finally Islamabad.

Moving forward, the plan is to drive the Values throughout the organisation by getting every single employee on board. A Rewards Program is being planned around the Values and their behaviours, which will motivate people to focus in the direction of the new culture.  Every time someone hits a certain level of points, a reward will be triggered.  This will create momentum and create healthy competition in the right direction.

VimpelCom to bring easy payment solution for Windows Phone Apps

VimpelCom, Nokia and Microsoft Corporation have signed a deal which will enhance digital entertainment experience for VimpelCom customers across its markets. VimpelCom customers will be able to easily find, try and download apps or digital content available on the Windows Phone store and the price amount will be conveniently deducted from their prepaid credit or will come in their postpaid bill. There have been trials of services to provide such features by integrating it with payment options like credit card and utility payments with a single bill provided by the operator.

Windows Phone has not yet been able to gain much popularity like Android or iOS as it is still in its initial phases of maturity despite the agreements between Nokia and Microsoft to pledge their future together in the smartphone industry. Windows Phone has only 125,000 apps in its app store for 191 countries however, the operating system is beginning to gain attention within developers, with most popular applications now being created, or adapted, for Windows Phone.

VimpelCom will create its own ‘VimpelCom Shelf’ that will bring tailored content to Windows Phone smartphones using VimpelCom customers around the globe thus providing them with the most convenient way to access and pay for apps. In many of the markets in which VimpelCom is operating, the telecom giant will be the first to introduce the service.

Samsung MENA Forum 2013 to entice the attendees in Dubai

The Korean based global leader in consumer electronics, Samsung Electronics is holding a forum titled ‘Samsung MENA Forum 2013’ at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Dubai, UAE from February 18, 2013.

The Samsung MENA Forum will showcase the latest 2013 products and provide the guests with an opportunity to experience a dedicated B2B exhibition area. Attendees will further have the unique opportunity to interact and experience the latest products and services that express Samsung’s vision for the consumer electronics industry.  Samsung’s vision of the future pursues to permit customers to discover exciting new worlds of possibilities. Through its pursuit of discovery and its deep understanding of consumers’ lives Samsung will reveal its goal of creating a new experience for all.

Samsung has showcased its new line-up of televisions and has informed the guests about the astounding success it has had since the last year.