Samsung Announces Galaxy S4 Mini

Samsung yesterday announced the compact with many of the advance features of Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S4 Mini.

Samsung is marketing S4 Mini as powerful yet compact version of company’s bestselling smartphone, Galaxy S4.

Samsung galaxy S4 mini comes with 4.3 inch qHD Super AMOLED screen and runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on top of Samsung’s extensive TouchWiz customizations.

The Galaxy S4 mini boasts powerful performance, equipped with a 1.7GHz dual core processor. It comes along with a 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.9-megapixel HD front-facing camera.

Here are the complete specs for Galaxy S4 Mini:

• Processor: 1.7 GHz Dual-Core Processor
• OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Display: 4.3”qHD (16:9 wide view) Super AMOLED
• Dimension: 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.94mm, 107g (3G Dual SIM version:108g)
• Memory: 8GB Internal memory (User Memory approximately 5GB) ＋ microSD (up to 64GB), 1.5GB RAM
• Camera:
  • Rear : 8 megapixel
  • Front: 1.9 megapixel
  • Camera Features: Sound & Shot, Night(Low Light Shot), Best Photo, Best Face, Beauty Face(include Live Beauty), HDR (High Dynamic Range), Panorama, Sports, Continuous Shot
• Connectivity:
  • WiFi 5.0GHz a/b/g/n
  • GPS ＋ GLONASS
  • Bluetooth® v4.0 (LE), NFC(LTE version only)
  • IR LED (Remote Control)
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Light, Proximity, Gyro, Magnetic
• Battery: 1,900mAh
• Other features:
  • Group Play: Share Music, Share Picture, Share Document,
  • Play Games
  • Story Album, S Translator
  • S Travel (TripAdvisor), S Voice™,
  • S Health (Downloadable from Samsung Apps)
  • Samsung Adapt Display, Samsung Adapt Sound
  • Safety Assistance, Samsung Link, Screen Mirroring, HomeSync, Smart Switch
  • Samsung KNOX

Samsung hasn’t released any info regarding the availability or price of S4 Mini.

94.4% Bank Branches Offer Online Banking Services in Pakistan: SBP

Over ninety-four percent of banks’ branches in Pakistan are now offering Real-Time Online Branches (RTOB) services, said a quarterly Payment System review published by State Bank of Pakistan.

Overall 9,946 branches of banks out of 10,535 now offer RTOB services across the country. The volume of overall e-banking transactions in the country also increased by 3.47 percent amounting to 82.21 million transactions and value of e-banking transactions registered a growth of 4.37 percent reaching Rs. 7.9 trillion during the third quarter of the current fiscal year, the Review added.

The Payment Systems infrastructure in the country maintained an increasing growth trend during the third quarter of FY13 and 217 more Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were installed by various banks bringing the total number of ATMs in the country to 6,449.

The Review said that the number of plastic cards in the country also witnessed an increase of 5.06 percent in the third quarter reaching 21.77 million.

In comparison with other cards, debit cards have shown the highest percentage growth of about 5.41 percent which has raised the total number of debit cards so far issued to 19.57 million. Moreover, debit cards have the highest share in the total number of plastic cards issued in the country which is 89.94 percent in the current quarter of FY 13. Transactions through debit cards have also increased both in volume and value as compared to the previous quarter which is 6.2 percent and 8.82 percent respectively, the Review added.

Mobile Financial Services (MFS) of Visa to start operation in 2014

Visa Inc., a global payments technology provider, has decided to launch its own Mobile Financial Services (MFS) in Pakistan in the next year. The product, using VisaNet’s technology and working on the “interoperability” model will enable users to send and receive payments through their mobile phones.

Visa’s Country Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Kamil Khan informed the media that the company was working with telecom operators and banks and that the product would be launched early next year or by the end of 2014. Since a single Mobile Point of Sale machine (mPoS) was priced at around $350, the process required huge investment for deployment in rural areas. Visa was said to be working with the Telcos and banks to provide

Visa covers more than 200 countries globally and its huge infrastructure manages 24,000 transactions per second. During its fiscal year ending March 2013, Visa transacted over $6.5 trillion making it the world’s largest retail electronic payments network.

As we covered in a previous article, the wholly-owned subsidiary of VisaNet, Fundamo was expected to launch the MFS services in Pakistan and that State Bank of Pakistan had approved of the project.

Fight Between Flagship Devices: Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs. Sony Xperia Z Vs. HTC One

The new trend to buy the latest flagship devices from renowned smartphone manufacturers is growing day by day in the Pakistani market. However, it is rather disappointing that many of the leading companies like Apple, HTC, Google and Sony have no official stores in Pakistan.

Many of the smartphones are either being smuggled or brought from other countries like Dubai at higher rates.

We also see many online stores which are offering these smartphones at competitive prices, which is good and many smartphone lovers are always ready to opt for a newer model with more high-end specs and killer looks.

Today I will be talking about three of the leading flagship devices from Samsung, HTC and Sony, which are currently the top dogs in the smartphone industry and are easily available in the Pakistani market too.

Samsung recently released its latest flagship device Galaxy S 4 while HTC and Sony stepped in with HTC One and Sony Xperia Z respectively. Now if you are willing to buy a flagship device and if you are still confused, I hope my article will help you choose the right choice for you.

Display:

Display has always been the main attraction for any flagship device. Many users want a large screen to enjoy multimedia, gaming and everything they do as the bigger the screen, the better is the user experience.

Samsung decided to go with a 5.0 inches Super AMOLED 1080p display with 441ppi while HTC One features a 4.7 inches Super LCD3 1080p display with whooping 469ppi and Sony Xperia Z shows off its 5.0 inches 1080p display with 441ppi.

Practically anything beyond 400ppi is same but yes the size does matter. While using three of these devices I found that I was able to use HTC One with one hand easily. This is a smart move by HTC to go with a 4.7 inches screen instead of 5 inches. I was able to write text messages easily and I am sure many people will be able to reach every part of the screen easily with one hand.

Coming to Xperia Z and Galaxy S 4, it does become difficult to type with one hand on these phones. Talking about the screen quality Samsung used Super AMOLED display in Galaxy S4 which is always criticized about its inaccurate colors. Again HTC with its Super LCD3 has better color accuracy so I think HTC One is the winner here.

Design and Built Quality:

If I am spending more than 50k on a device, I will surely need a device with exceptional built quality and killer looks. Samsung again used the plastic body for Galaxy S4 while Xperia Z used plastic and glass combo which looks great.

HTC has really raised the game with the Aluminum unibody design used in HTC One which makes it a premium device and built quality compared to Apple iPhone 5.

HTC One feels so great in your hands and the detail used in this phone is outstanding.

Xperia Z also looks good but its glass back is a fingerprint magnet which is a drawback. Not to forget that Xperia Z is water and dust proof so some users might keep this in mind while buying Xpria Z. In the end HTC One wins this department too.

Hardware:

The internals used in these phones are equally good when it comes to daily life performance but on the paper they do differ in many ways.

Samsung Galaxy S4 is powered by Qualcomm Quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.9 GHz while HTC One uses the same chip but is clocked at a lower 1.7 GHz. Xperia Z on the other hand uses a Qualcomm Quad-core MDM9215M chipset which is slightly outdated as compare to the other two.

So the fight is mainly between Galaxy S4 and HTC One and S4 surely has an edge keeping in mind the higher clocked processor but in daily use this difference is hardly observed. Gaming performance is smooth in both of these phones and apps open really fast.

Galaxy S4 wins in terms of hardware.

Camera:

More pixels means better picture quality that is what most people in Pakistan think before buying a new smartphone. It is true to some extent but this is not always the case. Samsung and Sony used 13 Megapixel camera sensors in their flagship devices but HTC has come up with Ultra-pixel technology and I am really impressed with it. Actually the Ultra-pixel technology captures 300% more light than any other typical camera sensors used in other phones and the result is better low-light picture quality. HTC One uses 4 Megapixel sensor but the picture quality is comparable to 13 Megapixel camera used in S4 and Xperia Z. If you ask me I will go for the HTC One but I have heard many people in Pakistan when asked about HTC One “ Yaar sirf 4 Megapixel camera hai,” so I think S4 will take the lead here.

Storage:

Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with 16/32/64 GB of internal memory and that too with the support of microSD card while Xperia Z also comes with microSD card slot and 16GB of internal memory. HTC One on the other hand comes with 32 and 64 GB of internal memory but without microSD card slot and with this much memory I do not think there is the need of extra memory.

Battery Life:

To be very frank, most of the smartphones just manage to last one day with moderate to heavy use. According to me Galaxy S4 do last longer than the other two but again this depends on the usage by the user. I must mention here that Galaxy Note 2 was the only smartphone I used which did last more than a day with heavy use but keeping in mind its big size and much bigger battery, this was expected. So Galaxy S4 wins the battery race!

Price:

Coming to the most important part the price, Samsung has officially launched Galaxy S4 in Pakistan at Rs72000 with official warranty. It is also available at Rs64000 in the local market without warranty. Sony Xperia Z now costs about Rs55000 in the local market while the price for the HTC One is on a higher side with Rs78000 because of the shortage of supplies from HTC.

The huge price difference between these three flagship phones makes it very difficult for the buyer to select the best for them. But I would always go for HTC One as HTC has doubled the production of HTC One and soon the price will decrease.

Xperia Z seems to be the best choice with the lowest price tag while Galaxy S4 will be the choice for those who prefer to buy smartphone with official warranty.

Mozilla and Foxconn to Build a Firefox Tablet

Mozilla has already confirmed the partnership and although the company wouldn’t share the exact nature of the device, it is believed to be a tablet. Mozilla is expected to unveil the plans at Focus Taiwan on June 3.

Mozilla has already signed partnerships with Alcatel (TCL), Huawei, ZTE and LG for Firefox phones but this would be its first tablet initiative.

Foxconn makes most of its money from Apple but is reportedly looking to diversify its customer base. It already makes Android devices but this would be its first foray into the Firefox OS space.

Firefox OS is just one of the class of operating systems vying for a fourth or fifth spot in the smartphone ecosystem. These platforms which also include Ubuntu Touch and Tizen, are primarily targeting emerging markets and first-time smartphone buyers.

Intel Pakistan Hosts an Interactive Session: Toddlers and Technology

Intel Pakistan, today held an interactive session with toddlers and parent bloggers to focus on how the touch-generation can benefit from technology and how it positively impacts the quality of life.

The event titled ‘Toddlers and Technology’ was held at Kidz Klub in an informative and relaxed environment with a panel of expert speakers.

Attended by media, the event focused on key topical issues around Toddlers and Technology, such as: when should children be exposed to technology and what applications are out there to assist with their development, providing the information in a fun, informative, relaxed event environment.

Reared by digitally connected parents, this new uber-connected generation is not only comfortable using touchscreen computers, but they are intuitively touching screens and flipping through apps with ease. Children are growing up as digital natives, and it is important to understand how to use technology in a positive manner. A device has the ability to be an incredibly powerful educational tool and mixing computer play with interaction re-enforces what the child is learning and makes the experience more engaging.With the increase in density of touch-enabled screens, from ATMs to tablets, mobile phones to pubic smart display kiosks, there is now a growing expectation that the screens that people use every day will respond to their touch.

In addition, touch plays a critical role in our development and our understanding of the world. Babies try to comprehend their environment through touch. When they are too young to fully manipulate objects with their hands, they put them in their mouths where touch receptors are at the highest density.

Speaking at the event, Asma Aziz, Marketing& PR Manager, Intel South Asia said, “Today’s kids are so completely at ease with navigating and flicking their way through devices to get to the latest game on a smart phone or tablet. The rapid spread of touch-screen computing devices like smartphones and tablets is creating a generation of children that we call the “Touch Generation” – and they’re heralding a new era that fundamentally changes the way we interact with computers.We are at a significant stage in the evolution of how we interact with technology. The rise of the touch generation is not only set to change the way we interact with our technology, but it is also changing the type of technology we will demand in future.”

Theevent covered a wide range of topics such as child development and technology, introducing children to technology, top apps and games for children, setting limits for children when using technology, technology in the classroom and touch/perceptual computing . The event also showcased some of the latest high tech touch devices; latest Tablets, All-in-One PCs all powered by Intel processors.

All About Xbox One Latest Version

Microsoft is going to introduce totally a new and different type of games for its multimedia customers through release of Xbox One.

Spokesperson of the company told that it will be a complete source of entertainment for its users. It will have specifications which are quite similar as in Sony PS4.

New Xbox will contain features like T.V games, films and facilities of using Skype and voice recognition system of Kinect.

The price of the game is not decided yet but most probably it will be £399. According to loose ideas the game will be in the market for entertainment of in consumers in autumn of 2013.

Specifications of  Xbox One:

The specifications of the new version will not be a surprise as they are already in the buzz. The detailed specifications include a hard disk having capacity of 500 GB, RAM of 8GB DDR3, 3.0 ports USB and a CPU of x-64 8-core AMD.

Various other attractions are the provision of 802.11n WIFI and this WIFI also has the capability of exchanging of data between the devices and specially those of Xbox family.

Blue- ray- drive is also included in the upcoming version of Xbox One which is the copy of Sony et al.This system is used by the Microsoft for the first time and thus has left behind HD DVD system.

As according to expectations the latest version of Xbox One will be different from the previous models and will look like Minicomputer. The inclusion of these specifications will make this version equally good as that of PS4 and will do a lot of good for those game developers who want to excel in making of cross platform games.

The game will include both HDMI- out port and HDMI- in port as well. This facility is given to attach the game with your T.V sets thus amuse the users with experience of watching T.V and this will give one device with two functions.

Kinect Technology in Xbox One:

Kinect technology has been introduced into Xbox One. It is a technology through which Xbox listens to the instructions of switching on and off. So if you want to turn on the game you just say “Xbox on” it will automatically be switched on. It can also recognize your hand movements.

A live demonstration of it has been presented at the launching ceremony of the game in which it sharply responded to the hand movements and voice instructions. This is not possible with the hardware currently in use in Xbox 360. For voice and gesture recognition Kinect V2 is required.

This technology has the capability of moving from one game to another, to videos, music and live T.V immediately through simple verbal instructions if we say “Xbox switch on” it will be turned on. Even it has the ability to turn to a specific channel. Just call the name of a particular channel and it will be on screen for your amusement within no time.

According to the claim of Microsoft that Kinect 2 is so fast in working that it recognizes a movement in only 13 billionth part of a second. It is equal to the time taken by the light to travel from you into the camera.

The camera used in this technology has resolution power of 1080p so the pictures taken by it will look awesome on HD T.V.It can make movie at 60fps so which will be a beautiful and clear.

The camera will have 60 percent larger field view then that in original Kinect. This and various other features will provide a new world to game lovers.

It can also work in the darkness because of inclusion of infra-red.

Controller of Xbox one:

The controller of the latest version is very much similar to that in the previous one but it the old design will also come with 40 innovations in the technicalities. AA batteries will be used in the pad. As told by Microsoft these batteries will work in the same way as in the previous model but it will be an improved one so comfortable to use. The most prominent change in the game is the triggers equipped with vibration feedback so you will feel vibrations while playing. There is slight change in buttons and outlook but the most obvious changes are in the inner design.

Discs for Xbox One:

Blue ray discs are used for Xbox games but they can be used only for one time. You just need to put the game once into the Xbox and install it in the hard disc then it will reside permanently in your Xbox live account and you no longer need to keep the discs with you. This idea is the copy of the one used in Steam and Uply on PC

Upgrading of Xbox One:

The most popular gaming type on the earth is live games and is getting more and more popular. Currently the number of game server is approximately 15000 but Microsoft has increased it to an unbelievable number i.e. 300,000. This will provide you Access to all your games within no time and in all parts of the world.

Personalized settings in Xbox One:

Turning Xbox on is now a very simple task. You just have to say turn on and it will be ready for your amusement. After recognition of your voice it will lead directly to your personalized data and games through Kinect.

Requirement of an Internet Connection:

There is a rumor that Xbox always require an internet connection but this is not true at all. According to spokesperson from Microsoft it does require an internet connection but not always. They are trying to design Xbox one in such a way that it will be a source of all in one entertainment for its users. It will be designed in a way that that it will provide its consumers with games, blue ray movies and live T.V

Number of Games in Xbox One:

According to Microsoft 15 games are going to be launched in Xbox and FIFA 14 will also be introduced. A newer COD game i.e. Call on Duty Ghost will exclusively be launched in Xbox One.

Scammers Use FBR to Trap Online Bank Account Holders

Scammers have come up with new technique to hunt online bank accounts in Pakistan tosnatch their usersname and password and then to ultimately use these details to empty these accounts.

Previously these Phishing Attacks used to involve an email from bank itself, redirecting the users to fake bank website and to collect username/password information of the target.

Now, these attackers are sending emails from FBR, telling the users that there is a tax refund that they can claim by clicking an link which should lead to FBR website, but in reality it takes the user to attackers’ website.

Check below the email:

When a user clicks on the link provided in the email, it takes him/her to this webpage:http://www.zhypublishing.zhylosa.net/orders/editors/fbr.gov.pk/fbr.gov.refundportal.htm

Where user is presented with a list of banks (with fake pages) to proceed for the tax refund. Upon clicking the link of any bank, user is taken to the fake page of that bank – which looks identical to original bank website – asking the username and password.

All the data input on this fake website is automatically sent to attacker who can use your username/password to use your internet-bank account at his/her will.

Message for General Users:

• NEVER respond to any email that asks Password, Pin Code, Security answer or any similar information that you may not want to share with anyone.
• Immediately report any such email to your bank
• Register a complaint with FIA

Need for Awareness

Banks are sending out mass-emails to their users, explaining them what phishing attacks are and how not to respond to them. This is helpful in many ways, but banks probably need to do more. Maybe State Bank can take this initiative and do a mass-level campaign for users’ awareness.

Message for Banks!

• With increasing trend of mobile banking and net-banking, there should be a comprehensive awareness campaigns by banks to educate their customers of such phishing attacks.
• Enhance your security and intelligence to detect and deal with such criminal activities.

Message for NR3C

• Tracking these websites is easy. Simply do a reverse IP lookup and see what other websites are hosted on same server
• Contact details from host, or from other websites can get you to the culprits, simple and easy.
• This is exactly how we tracked a friend who DDoS attacked us back in 2010

Link Dot Net Wraps up its Broadband Operations in Pakistan

Link Dot Net, a sister concern of Mobilink, is closing its broadband DSL operations in the country, revealed various official sources who wanted to remain unnamed.

According to details we have got, Link Dot Net is handing over its customers to PTCL in all the cities where it was previously offering broadband DSL services. Procedures for handing over the customers have started, confirmed a source working in Link Dot Net.

Our source further confirmed that all the Link Dot Net customers, country wide, will be transferred to PTCL. Source wasn’t sure about his future and said that it is likely that company will also free-up its staff once the transition is over.

A Link Dot Net Official confirmed ProPakistani that company is handing over its home users to PTCL, but said that company will retain corporate customers and will continue to exist in the country.

Link Dot Net is aiming to hand-over all its customers by June end.

Link Dot Net is also informing its customers about the decision. Following Letter has been sent to customers telling them that company is closing operations due to tough market conditions.

Dear Valued Customer,

LINKdotNET Telecom Limited (“LINKdotNET”) has always strived best to be one step ahead of the market as it integrates technology, knowledge and people in a unique way that completely redefines the Internet.

However, due to current market conditions, we regret to inform you that we will be discontinuing LINKdotNET consumer DSL service in your area. It is a business decision which we have taken after thorough deliberation and evaluation of all alternative options.In order to ensure your connectivity needs without any disruption, LINKdotNET has entered into an agreement with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (“PTCL”), by virtue of which PTCL shall provide its DSL services to LINKdotNET customers in all such areas where LINKdotNET has discontinued its consumer DSL services.

LINKdotNET shall provide you services up to 30th June, 2013. You will, in this regard, be contacted by PTCL in due course.PTCL is the country’s largest broadband service provider with customer base of over 1 Million subscribers.

You will continue to enjoy seamless Internet experience, uninterrupted streaming, fastest downloading speeds, and unlimited downloads at the most economical rates without paying any upfront charges to PTCL.We once again thank you for showing your trust in our services and assure you to do our best for a smooth transition of your DSL services.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to call us at our round the clock helpline: 111 600 111. We will be available to answer any of your concerns and queries. For queries related to PTCL services, you may call at 1236.

It has been a great honor and a privilege to serve you. We wish you continued success.
Warm Regards,

Customer Care Team
LINKdotNET