Acer announces the Quad-Core Running Liquid E2 Costing 229 Euros

Acer has announced another Android phone in its Liquid series of smartphones, this time the Android Jelly Bean running Liquid E2. The mid-range phone comes with a quad-core MediaTek processor.

It comes with a 4.5 inch IPS display with resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, which sums up to about pixel density of 245 pixels per inch. Above the display is a 2 megapixel front facing camera for video calling.

At the back you’ll find an 8 megapixel camera which is capable of recording 1080p Full HD videos at 30 frames per second.

The connectivity package is quite modest with microSD card slot, Wifi Hotspot, Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB 2.0, Radio, GPS and 3G.

On the software side, the phone runs on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean which is one of the later versions and it is customized by Acer.

Here are the specifications:

• Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
• 4.5 inch IPS display with resolution of 540 x 960 pixels
• Optional dual-sim
• 1.2Ghz quad-core Cortex A7 processor
• MediaTek chipset
• PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU
• 1GB RAM with 4GB internal storage
• microSD card slot, Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB 2.0, Wifi Hotspot
• Radio, GPS, stereo speakers
• 8 megapixel back camera with 1080p Full HD video recording
• 2 megapixel front facing camera
• 2000 mAh battery
• Available in Black and White

The phone will go on sell this May for a price of 229 Euros or about Rs. 26,000. It will be available in 2 colours and there will be a dual-sim version of the phone too.

For its price though, I think the package is quite modest considering the fact that you’re getting a quad-core processor, 2000 mAh battery, 1GB RAM and an 8 megapixel camera. It should hit the Pakistani market later this year.

Why and How Firefox OS is Better than Android and iOS?

What Happened to Android and iOS?

You maybe wondering why a new mobile OS? Isn’t Android and iOS enough to meet our needs? The reality is there’s always room for improvement and innovation even in saturated markets like mobile operating system. There are many problems that are needed to be fixed in both operating systems. Following are few of the problems:

• Both Android and iOS are resource hungry. To have best experience with them, you need high end phone.
• High end phones are not affordable by everyone. So you can say they are designed for rich people.
• Resource hungry also means consuming more battery. They don’t have good battery life.
• Your phone is not upgradable to every new release of Android or iOS. Just because with every new release, you need a higher specs device to run it smoothly. So after few releases you are out of scene!
• Left behind on older versions means you can’t run new version of apps because they require you to upgrade to particular version of the OS.
• You are forced to download apps only from their marketplaces. Only Apple and Google are making money from this. What about network operators? What if someone like us want to build their own marketplace?

What’s Firefox OS

Firefox OS is 100% open source HTML5 based mobile OS developed by Mozilla Foundation (non-profit organization). The idea behind it is to make web as the native platform for mobile. Every app in it is developed using HTML5 including the Home Screen, Phone Dialer, SMS, Contacts, everything you see on the screen is developed using HTML5.

In Firefox OS, only browser engine runs above the kernel and device drivers and all apps are executed by that browser engine. Think this way. You have an OS which runs only a browser engine and that browser engine runs all the apps.

Problems that Firefox OS Solves?

Because of this architectural design, Firefox OS consume very less resources. Consuming less resources means many things.

1. It can run smoothly on low-end devices.
2. Of course low and mid range phones are less expensive than the high-end phones. So you can say Firefox OS hardware will be much cheaper than Android and iOS. Everyone can afford it easily.
3. Firefox OS devices will have much longer battery life because of less resource consumption.

Few other problems that Firefox OS solves.

1. Your phone never gets obsolete because web is the native platform. New version of apps will run easily even on your older hardware
2. You are not forced to download apps from Mozilla’s market place. You can add any web app on the internet as native app if the developer has added a small manifest file in the root dir of that app. You can even create your own market place.
3. Imagine a word in your mind and try searching it in App Discovery interface of Firefox OS, it will give you high quality chosen apps from all over the internet. This truly unlocks the power of web on mobile.

Firefox Apps:

Many of you will argue that Android and iOS are superior because of the ecosystem and the magnitude and quality of apps they offer. Well, I do agree that Firefox isn’t anywhere in the radar yet. But look at the openness of the platform and the potential apps for Firefox platform. It may take some time but ultimately Firefox will be placed best to beat the competition.

Not to forget Linux, which always struggled with Windows in terms of applications – but it is still one of the top competitors of Microsoft’s Windows.

Can I Buy Firefox OS Phone?

Firefox OS will see the light of the day in summer this year and Mozilla’s initial target is to launch the OS for low-end devices in developing countries, specifically the Latin America and few European countries. The only devices that are available now are Keon and Peak. Both of these devices are developer preview phones and manufactured by Spanish startup Geeksphone and the good news is that they are shipping them worldwide.

Keon is priced at 91 Euro (12,000 PKR) and Peak at 149 Euro (20,000 PKR). Just to mention that entire stock of these devices was sold out in just few hours after the launch. But Geeksphone promised to bring them back as soon as possible on there online store.

Other brands who will manufacture Firefox phones are Alcatel, Huawei, LG, Sony, and ZTE. Few months ago, Sony released Firefox OS experimental ROM for Xperia E. Alcatel and ZTE are targeting extremely low-end phones. You can check the demo of Firefox OS running on ZTE Open. ZTE Open has 256MB of RAM and 1GHz single core processor but still you can see from the demo how smooth it’s running on such low spec phone.

You maybe wondering why Samsung is not manufacturing Firefox OS phones. Actually they are developing their own OS called Tizen. Maybe at the end of this year or next year, you will see Tizen devices in market from Samsung too.

Why Support Mozilla?

Mozilla is non-profit and I fully support their philosophy of Open Web. About 50% of their source code is written by volunteers. Not only there products are open but also every single web page of there products is open. They have always promoted open technologies and never did anything bad to create monopoly.

Mozilla also won the Most Trusted Internet Company in Privacy award. Do you really believe in Google, Apple, Facebook or Microsoft in same way? I don’t!

Thanks to Mozilla and all the volunteers who worked hard to keep the mobile platform open and promoting use of open technologies to develop mobile apps.

Zuckerberg Taking 1USD Salary This Year

Mark Zuckerberg founder and CEO of worlds largest social media site is taking $1 salary this year. According to UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Facebook’s CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is taking $1 salary this year and foregoing any bonuses.

He is on saying, “We don’t wake up in the morning with the primary goal of making money,” and isn’t really beholden to shareholders, since he controls a majority of proxy votes.

The $1 salary is symbolic. Companies have to compensate all of their employees, so working for free is out of the question — and doesn’t $1 sound better, anyway? Since the first dot-com boom, getting paid $1 has become something of a tradition among extremely wealthy executives whose compensation instead comes in the form of stock.

Steve Jobs famously took a $1 salary from the time he returned to Apple as CEO in 1998; he didn’t take any stock grants after 2003, either. In 2005, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, along with then-CEO Eric Schmidt, all reduced their salaries to $1. Schmidt, now executive chairman, takes a salary of several million dollars these days; Page, now CEO, and Brin still make $1.

Other tech CEOs who belong to the $1 salary club include Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Zynga’s Mark Pincus, and HP’s Meg Whitman. Yahoo’s Jerry Yang was making $1 before he was ousted as CEO last year. Outside of Silicon Valley, CEOs of American companies who made $1 in salary last year include Capital One’s Richard Fairbank, Urban Outfitters’ Richard Hayne, Fossil’s Kosta Kartsotis, Kinder Morgan’s Richard Kinder and Duke Energy’s James Rogers.

All About iPhone 5S, Release Date, Specifications and Much More

iPhone 5 is still new but with the news of iPhone 5S release its worth has declined.

Release Date Of iPhone5S:

Peter Misek from the firm Jefferies and Co. is of the view that iPhone 5S will be released in June.

This is evident from the production schedule of Apple as they have reduced the order from 40 million to 30 million for iPhone5. This may be the reason why iPhone5 sale decreases faster than  expected. But according to Misek this is because suppliers are demanding for iPhone5S earlier than June.

It seems that Apple is decreasing its stock of older phones so that public show maximum interest in the upcoming model.

Camera of iPhone 5S:

Due to the high quality camera offered in the smartphones in the past few years the demand of digital cameras has decreased largely. This is because people do not want to take heavy devices to take photos.

iPhone was best known for its high quality camera but in the past few months strong competition has been given by competitors such as Nokia Lumia 920, HTC One, and Sony Experia.

To cater this Apple is coming with 12 megapixel camera as told by Viatnamese site Tinhte.

Features of iPhone5S:

iPhone 5S is using IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) material thus presenting display of much higher resolution than its previous model. This material will provide bright display and will also decrease the thickness of the cell.

It is also in the air that Apple will not use Sharp only in iPhone5S but also in iPad5.

As the trend of large screens is gaining worth among public it is also doing round that apple will release iPhone 5S in two or three different sizes. This is to offer variety to its customers.

Capacity of 128GB:

It is seeming true that upcoming model of iPhone will come with 128GB capacity as Apple has introduced 128GB in iPad4. This capacity is double than its previous model, iPad3, i.e. 64GB. This step was taken to increase the uses of tab as by increasing the capacity larger files can be stored such as CAD and music files. It also increases the capacity for storage of videos and pictures.

iPad 4 was totally different from iPad 3 with new price so expectations are high that iPad5 will also be available in different ranges i.e. 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB. Apple is offering 128GB in tabs. The question arises that whether the same will be introduced in iPhone and iPad mini or not.

As the competition is growing daily so the rumor of 128GB iPhone is looking true.

NFC inclusion in iPhone 5S;

Near field communication (NFC) will also be provided in iPhone 5S. it is a close range wireless system which is already present in other Android Smartphones but not in iPhone 5.

One more interesting fact is that along with NFC fingerprint sensor will also be introduced in iPhone 5S.

Design of iPhone5S:

Apple always comes up with a new design in its products so same is expected for iPhone 5S. According to our sources there will be a third color other than white and black and this will raise the sale of product.

Togetherness is the Future of Smartphones

It was forty years ago that the world’s first mobile telephone call was made in New York. Mobile telephones in the 1970’s and 1980’s were huge pieces of equipment. That first call was made on a chunk of plastic that was nine inches tall with thirty circuit boards, it took ten hours to charge up and had a talk time of thirty-five minutes. Who could have possibly imagined that a device that was originally designed as a telephone would evolve to become a life companion.

During those forty years, mobile phones have undergone rapid and constant change – the evolution of the mobile saw many milestones seemingly come from nowhere: the text message, group chats, voice notes. Then came the ground-breaking ability to share an image in real time: to take a photo with your phone and immediately send it as a ‘multimedia’ message, to somebody on the other side of the world. Anticipating key trends such as the instinctive desire to share what one can see and feel is what enables manufacturers to stay ahead of the game.

For the world’s leading mobile telephone company like Samsung, there is a heavy responsibility to continue to deliver innovative technologies that bring people closer to the things that matter in life – to make living a richer, easier and fuller experience. This is the direction of travel for the Smartphone. The purchase of a Smartphone is no longer about its ability to make a call, send a photo or upload a document. Smartphones are now a way of life, a personal assistant, a constant companion that has the ability to make every part of life easier. The challenge is to offer Smartphone customers a platform that makes human interaction central to everyday life. Understanding the human need to share, to reach out and engage positively with other people is central to the future development of the Smartphone industry.

Until now, the Smartphone has been a passive device – waiting for us to lift it, hold it and press it. Samsung has signalled an end to this relationship. The technology inside this Smartphone is so advanced that the device can be manipulated either by voice or by a simple wave of the hand. The future (for now at least) is in the gesture. ‘Air Gesture’ means that the GALAXY S4 can be manipulated without even touching the screen – so if it is raining or too cold to take your gloves off, the Smartphone can be controlled by simply waving your hand over it. ‘Samsung Smart Pause’ enables you to control the screen with your eyes. Whilst watching a video, it is possible to ‘press pause’ by looking away – the movie starts again as soon as you look back.

The GALAXY S4 also features a ‘Group Play’ function – users can enjoy music, photos, documents and games with those around them without even requiring a wi-fi AP or cellular signal. This innovation enables users to connect directly with others to share, play and co-create content and entertainment instantly. These are the features that Smartphone users demand.

These innovations are a major milestone on the Smartphone road map, but it is not the final destination. The ability to wander down the road and speak to a relative at home many miles away was nothing short of miraculous in 1995, but it rapidly became commonplace. Gesture-based interaction will also soon become the accepted reality. So too will the reliance on our smartphones to provide important lifestyle solutions. They are already our companions.

Samsung sold more Smartphones than any other company in the world in Q4 of 2012. It did this by understanding that the Smartphone is more than just a telephone, more than a media player and much more than a digital camera. Samsung has focused heavily on developing technologies that foster interaction with others. Moreover, the world of the Smartphone is now moving towards a focus on community – connecting people with their communities, their loved ones and the wider society.

The direction of travel in the Smartphone market is towards togetherness. Producing a best-in-class piece of hardware that is beautifully crafted and equipped with software that helps people to live a richer, simpler and fuller life is the ultimate goal. Using a Smartphone is now second nature to hundreds of millions of people. Using it is now increasingly effortless, graceful and supportive of a better living experience.

Mobilink Mocks President Zardari

Mobilink, in its MobiCash ad that is available on its Facebook page, mocks President Zardari in a strange way. A video ad that demonstrates the procedures of getting a MobiCash account – Mobilink’s branchless banking accounts – by showing an ID card which has Mr. Zardari’s name on it.

A closer look at the AD reveals that Mr. Asif Ali Zardari is attributed to various (objectionable) things. Check following screenshot yourself.

Though the text isn’t readily visible, however, it appears that details on ID card is as following:

• Name: Zardari Khappay
• Gender: Khawaja Sira (خواجہ سرا)
• Father’s Name: Not known yet ( ابھی تک معلوم نہیں ہو سکا)
• Signature: عظیم الشان کنجر

This video ad is still available on Mobilink’s Mobicash page on Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=394202750686535

NIB to Bring Internet Payment Gateway in Pakistan

It appears that the wait for having an online payment processing platform is over now. NIB Bank has announced that it is is brining Internet Payment Gateway in Pakistan that will allow online businesses to charge their customers through debit or credit card for the stuff they will buy on internet.

Establishment of Internet Payment Gateway in Pakistan is long pending, which was first announced by PTA in 2009. After that Bank Al-falah, along with its sister concern, claimed similar deployments but nothing turned into reality.

Agreement between Mastercard and NIB was signed on 5th April 2013 at NIB Bank’s Head Office, Karachi, by Mr. Khurram Agha, Group Head Operations & Technology – NIB Bank and Aurangzaib Khan, Country Manager, Pakistan and Afghanistan for MasterCard.

Now that NIB has partnered with MasterCard it is likely that MasterCard Internet Gateway Service (MiGS) will finally come to Pakistan.

With this service, merchants will be able to charge internet surfers with their debit/credit card for the services or products they sell on internet.

“Now, NIB Bank merchants will be able to process payments from cardholders on their online Web stores in real-time. As a MasterCard acquirer, NIB Bank will offer merchants world class, secure internet payment processing capabilities”, said a statement issued by NIB Bank.

Cut the Rope: Time Travel [Game Review]

Cut the Rope is now a worldwide sensation. Downloaded hundreds of millions of times, it first appeared on the horizon in 2010. A sequel followed in 2011 in Cut the Rope: Experiments. Now, after a wait of two years, ZeptoLab has released its third instalment of the series: Cut the Rope: Time Travel.

The new game is available on Android and iOS platforms.

Gameplay

If you’re familiar with the series already, then you already know this game. You have to feed your cute, little monster Om Nom shiny candies to complete levels and progress forwards. Your green monster has supposedly gone centuries back this time to meet its ancestors so for the first time ever, there are two monsters in each and every level for you to feed. Once you get on with this formula, it’s mostly similar to any other Cut the Rope game. But does twice the action mean twice the fun?

Unfortunately in this case, the answer is a plain and simple ‘No’, as the game again falls victim to some of the mistakes ZeptoLab made in the last iteration as well. To start off, there are six ‘boxes’, or in simpler terms, stages: The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, Pirate Ship, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and lastly, The Stone Age. All of these boxes include 15 levels each (instead of the usual 25) followed by videos at the end. That sums up to around 90 levels for you to play.

Let’s start with the good news. The game features new items and abilities. There are bombs, blades, ability to stop time, sundials, moveable items & stars, synchronized candies and the list goes on. The game has got good looking visuals. The ancestors of Om Nom are all quite beautiful and interesting, especially the monster you’ll find in The Stone Age levels. They all sound great too. Presentation-wise, Cut the Rope: Time Travel is a great achievement.

All the levels come with their own uniqueness for the most of the part. The Ancient Greece levels, for example, come with switches which swap between the two Om Noms.

But 90 levels doesn’t mean fun all the time. Most of the levels are extremely easy. What’s ironical is that some of them are frustratingly difficult and even boring. It feels weird to be playing a “hair-pullingly” difficult level just after playing an easy level which even a third-grader can pass. And you can literally count the number of those hair-pullingly difficult levels on your fingers. I finished the game in less than 2 hours and wasn’t exactly ‘mad’ for achieving 3 stars in every level but was still able to get 250 out of 270 possible stars. It’s that easy. This is the very thing which I didn’t exactly admire in Cut the Rope: Experiments.

And then it’s the background. As I said the visuals are good but an interactive background certainly wouldn’t have hurt much, especially since we’ve all got so used to those.

Conclusion

That being said though, the old, faithful cult following of the series will still love this game. The game too but as an old fan of the series, I felt disappointed.

The good: Good graphics, easy-to-learn gameplay, two monsters to feed

The bad: Extremely easy, not that many levels, boring at times, nice sounds

Final Score: 6/10

IBM Empowers Pakistan’s first Hydroelectric Project

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) Remaco, the operator of Pakistan’s first private sector hydroelectric power scheme, has tapped IBM to help meet the business challenges of running the $235 million plant. TNB Remaco chose IBM software to help streamline business operations.

Currently, the total power generation capacity of Pakistan is 23,538 Mega Watt with energy consumption having grown by almost 80 percent in the last 15 years. The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) forecasts the country’s electricity demand will increase to around 40,000 MW by 2020.

TNB Remaco – Operation and Maintenance Contract Partner with builder Laraib Energy Limited – recently completed the 84 MW New Bong Hydroelectric Power Complex on the Jhelum River in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. 

After going live at the end of March 2013, the plant is expected to help meet Pakistan’s growing energy needs by adding an estimated net annual of 540 GWh green energy to the national grid, and enhancing the hydro power generation capacity of Independent Power Producers (IPP) by 40 percent. The addition of this power source will be able to provide cheaper electricity to an estimated 60,000 homes  in Pakistan.

‘To be a global one-stop service provider for power-related works, we have to continue serving our customers with high-end quality services through transformational use of technology. IBM’s solution will play a vital role in running the systems efficiently and helping pave way for rapid and full scale development of Pakistan’s hydropower potential’ said TNB President Che Khalib.

TNB Remaco selected IBM Maximo asset management software to automate its manual systems in order to optimise efficiencies while helping to scale the business to meet increased resource demands. Previously, finalizing approvals and searching for timely, relevant information was a big task as data was scattered across multiple systems. The IBM software provides TNB Remaco’s power plant with a single, consolidated view of all their energy data as well as asset and service management data, enabling employees to make better informed decisions about the plant’s operations.

The solution will also assist in planning inventory to meet precise maintenance demands, making the correct parts available at the right location whenever needed.

‘The hydropower project operated by TNB Remaco will add a sufficient amount of energy to the region’s current energy production capacity. IBM’s solution not only equips TNB Remaco to automate their business process and better manage resources, it will also create an interconnected system that helps plant operators run a more efficient energy complex’ said Adnan Siddiqui, Country General Manager, IBM Pakistan and Afghanistan.

With global electricity demand expected to grow more than 70 percent by 2035 ⁴, hydropower, along with other renewable energy sources will become critical. By 2035, renewable energy will account for almost one-third of total electricity output.⁵ Helping Pakistan tap into new energy resources underscores IBM’s commitment to helping companies across the globe operate more efficiently as they work to meet rising energy demand.