Are the Good Days of the Smartphone Industry About to be Over?

The good, old days of the smartphone industry, where one saw long waiting lines before a new release or headlines telling “millions of units sold” might well have been numbered. As industry analysts have been observing lately, the smartphone sales haveslowed down, making many people of this industry wonder whether their fortunes are about to take a turn.

As of the second quarter of 2013, more than half of all phone shipments worldwide are smartphones as lower prices have made them more accessible. The arrival of new features (and gimmicks) overtime have perhaps equally lured people onboard the ship as well but obviously nothing timely is without its side-effects.

The myriad of features added in smartphones with the passage of time have killed the need to upgrade. Tech-enthusiasts, for sure, will upgrade as quickly as possible but the average person will find a smartphone of today to be more than enough for a lot more time than one might think.

And this, coupled with the disappointment brought by to the lack of new features and improvements in the bad ones is possibly the biggest cause why Apple and Samsung, among several others have missed sales targets.

Earlier this year, the prey of all this fiasco was Apple which missed analysts expectations and saw its shares slide from $700 to $417. This time they are Samsung and HTC, who are both facing similar problems, seeing their shares slide and sales miss targets simultaneously especially in the case of the latter.

Of course, it is still early to predict anything decisive but one thing is for sure: market is surely getting saturated with the laundry list of smartphones flooding the market with way more features than people need, thereby killing the necessity of upgrading.

7-Point Action Plan Proposed for Cyber Secure Pakistan

To address security issues related to the internet , Senate Committee on Defence and Defence Production organized a policy seminar on “Defending Pakistan Through Cyber Security Strategy” in coordination with Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA) yesterday at Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS), Islamabad.

Senator Mushahid Hussain, Chairman of Senate Committee on Defence and Defence Production, in his welcoming address, said that the cyber security threat can affect Pakistan’s national defence, security, intelligence, diplomacy, nuclear and missile programme, economy, energy, education, civil aviation as well as industrial and manufacturing units both in the private and public sector. “Cyber security is an issue of paramount importance for Pakistan’s stability and progress.”

Ammar Jaffari, President of Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA) highlighted the importance of National Cyber Security Policy. “As a Global best practice to achieve desired results Pakistan need to have a road map which can only be achieved under a National Cyber Security Policy.” He said.

In the Q&A Session, Senator Farhatullah Babar suggested to form focal ministry or division exclusively to handle cyber security issues. He said laws for data protection should be introduced and in this regard, industry experts have to join hands with Parliamentarians. Senator Mushahid Hussain informed Senate Defence Committee has already taken initiative to form Joint Task Force for Cyber Security having technical support of PISA to present recommendations and situation analysis.

In his concluding speech, Senator Mushahid Hussain thanked the members of Senate Defence Committee and announced the Senate Defence Committee is proposing the following 7-point Action Plan for a Cyber Secure Pakistan:

1. Relevant legislation to preserve, protect and promote Pakistan cyber security, drafting for which has already begun. We will presents bills in Parliament for Cyber Security.
2. Cyber security threat should be accepted and recognized as new, emerging national security threat by the Government of Pakistan, similar to the threats like terrorism and military aggression.
3. Establishing a National Computer Emergency Response Team (PKCERT).
4. Establishing a Cyber-Security Task Force with affiliation with Ministry of Defence, Ministry of IT, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Information and our security organizations plus relevant and leading professionals from the private security so that Pakistan can take steps to combat this new emerging threat and formulate Cyber Security Strategy for Pakistan.
5. Under the office of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, an Inter-Services Cyber Command should be established to coordinate cyber security and cyber defence for the Pakistan Armed Forces.
6. Within the framework of SAARC, Pakistan should take the initiative to initiate talks among the 8-member states particularly India to establish acceptable norms of behavior in cyber security among the SAARC countries so that these countries are not engaged in cyber warfare against each other. If Pakistan and India can have an agreement not to attack nuclear installations, why not an agreement seeking the prevention of cyber warfare against each other?
7. Soon after Eid, the Senate Defence Committee, in cooperation with the Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA), will have a special media workshop to promote awareness among the public and educate opinion leaders on the issue of cyber security.

The seminar was attended by a number of representatives from civil society, government officials, ministries, academia and media as well.

Nokia Pakistan and Intel Pakistan Get Verified Pages on Facebook

Apparently, Nokia Pakistan and Intel Pakistan have become only Pakistani brands to get verified page status on Facebook.

Facebook rollout this new feature of verifying well-known public figures and Pages with huge fan-followings – for example celebrities, journalists, government officials, popular brands and businesses – back in May 2013. Company said that verified page status will be extended to a limited and select profiles and pages in the start.

A rather straight-forward copy of Twitter verified accounts, with similar attributes, Facebook also marks the pages and profiles with small blue checkmark to indicate that a person or business is indeed the legitimate account holder. This blue checkmark is displayed across the website, search results and feeds to distinguish the verified pages from regular ones.

Facebook, however, hasn’t made public the criteria through which large-scale pages or celebrities can get verified page statuses. Also to note that no one can request to get verified page status, and this is something Facebook bestows itself based upon an unknown algorithm.

It merits mentioning here that Nokia Pakistan is number 2 Pakistani brand on Facebook in terms of fan-following after OLX Pakistan. However, Intel Pakistan stands pretty much down the line with 592,471 fans on its page.

It is assumed that global association of these brands might have played a role in getting verified page status. But it is anticipated that more brands are likely to get the same treatment in coming days.

Here are some of the top brands from Pakistan on Facebook:

• OLX Pakistan: 1,937,728 likes
• Nokia Pakistan: 1,456,860 likes
• Ufone: 1,315,424 likes
• 14th Street Pizza: 1,012,632 likes
• Pizza Hut – Pakistan: 943,968 likes
• Zong: 920,804 likes
• Samsung Pakistan: 858,490 likes
• Pepsi Pakistan: 780,146 likes
• Mobilink: 734,623 likes
• Pantene Pakistan: 718,719 likes
• Intel Pakistan: 592,471 likes

Huawei Hints a Manufacturing Facility in Pakistan Against Tax Exception

Huawei has said that it can open a manufacturing facility in Pakistan if government of Pakistan facilitates them with custom duty and taxes.

Tang Qibing, Vice President, Huawei Technologies, said this during a meeting with Mr. Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan when he was travelling from Beijing to Shanghai through high speed train.

Huawei high-up, while showing his concerns over the taxes and duties, was confident about the viability of a manufacturing facility in Pakistan.

Tang Qibing said that company is engaged in various telecommunication projects with Mobilink and Ufone, hinting that company will be interested in locally manufactured telecom equipment in the long run if facilitated by the government.

Pakistan’s skilled force is long hoping for investments in manufacturing sector, however, very limited interest from government, energy crisis and high taxes confine the opportunities for multinational firms.

Huawei chief also briefed the PM with Pak-China Optic Fiber project, detailing the cost and timeline of the work.

Mr. Nawaz Sharif urged Huawei to open a research centre in Pakistan to facilitate Pakistani students.

It merits mentioning here that Huawei – in collaboration with Zong – opened a GSM Lab at NUST by investing around USD 1.3 million in hardware. Company also remained engaged with UET Lahore for datacom trainings and various scholarships for the students.

Buying Guide: Things to Look for When Buying a Laptop!

Laptop is becoming a thing of office commodity than rather a necessity and it is one of the most important things for professionals who need to be connected with people around them. The good news is that the computer industry of Pakistan has grown exponentially and we have more products and computers especially laptops than ever before.

With a large variety of laptops in the market buying the right one can be a tiring and daunting task. Before you start-off you should know what exactly you be looking for to keep yourself on the right track. Ok so to start with, keep these three simple rules in mind when you head to the market

Three Simple Rules of Buying a Laptop under a Budget:

1. Design is Not Always the King – Don’t let design and shinny surface distract you.
2. Never Ask Too Much – Buy what you need and not what you want.
3. Save Some Money to Buy Laptop Accessories – It is always wise to save some money on a laptop to buy accessories such as laptop bag, cooling pad and optical mouse.

Here is What Exactly You Should Be Looking for

Screen Size

It is crucial to have the right screen size of your laptop because you will of course look stupid closing-in to the screen of your laptop because you can’t read a thing. An 11.6-inch screen would be ideal for students because it is an average display size and you will get plenty of charge time for laptops with such screen sizes. You can also go for a 13-inch screen for better viewing, which is considered as a mid-size screen.

A 13-inch screen is not the best screen size for graphic designers, engineers or office professionals but it is a rather average size on which you can work all day comfortably. Go for a 15 or 17 inch screen if you have a good budget as these are mainstream sizes. A laptop with a 15-inch screen has an average weight and is ideal for people who usually carry it between office and home.

Processor

AMD and Intel are two major (or probably only options in Pakistan) processors manufacturing companies. Although AMD is popularly infamous for heating up PCs but it certainly has some advantages over Intel. You will find some laptops running on AMD processors but most new laptops in Pakistan come with Intel processors which leave us with it as the only option.

If you have a fair budget I recommend you buying a used laptop rather than a new one because most new laptops come with an Intel i3 or higher processor starts with a price tag of PKR.40,000 and above. You can still find some used laptops running on Intel core2duo processors but I suggest that you look for dual-core so that you can enjoy Microsoft Vista and new software updates.

Fortunately, there are still many people who aren’t ready to switch to i3 or higher processors and you can still find new notebooks and laptops running on Pentium and Celeron processors.

Samsung and Dell are two good brands to follow which manufacture new laptops running on Pentium or Pentium Atom probably 1.5-1.8GHz processors, and they usually have 320GB hard drives and 15-inch LED screen.

Features

Once you have narrowed down to a laptop that attracts you, look for its features such as add-ons like hard drive, battery time and keyboard. The storage space of 500GB is considered as standard hard drive storage size and it will keep you relieved for years before you run out of space.

A brand new laptop can easily give you battery time of up to 2-hours or more but a used laptop can give you up to 90-minutes of battery time or less. Replacing the battery of the laptop with a new one is also a good idea which will give a boost of backup to your laptop.

Next check the keyword and its simplicity. Some laptops have their English keywords aligned to left which is not a good thing especially for people who types a lot. Having a keyword not aligned in the center of the screen will cause you discomfort in typing as your right hand will bend to left – make sure it is aligned centered. Secondly, some small laptops don’t have a separate numeric keypad but rather top numeric keys alone.

Depending upon your typing habits, find a keyword that works best for you and size of your hand.

Add-ons

I love looking for add-ons because they really ease your work on laptop. A laptop should have a DVD-RW, at least three USB ports, HDMI outlet, 3.5mm audio outlet, a microphone, webcam and everything else you find in it.

But for older laptops and mini notebooks you won’t find a DVD-RW or a webcam because of their small size and low prize – depending upon your usage and preferences you can go for laptops with fewer features to fit your budget. Some free gifts also add some attraction to a product and things such as a free cooling pad and bag make a good deal.

Verdict

Keep aforementioned three simple rules in mind when you visit a laptop store and look for these features and specs. Buying a laptop is no rocket science but it does require some knowledge about computers and you should know what exactly you should be looking for.

Author is a freelancer, and the co-founder and managing editor ofwww.ZindagiMag.com – A complete online Pakistan lifestyle magazine where he discusses everything tech and what’s happening in Pakistan. Follow him athttp://www.facebook.com/zindagimag to get latest updates.