Apple Declared the Most Admired Company for 6th Year Running

Apple, the tech-giant, has been named the most admired company in the world for the 6th consecutive year by the American magazine Forbes.

The company achieved an overall score of 8.24. It seems like the big drop in stock prices and the stubbornness of the company hasn’t hurt its reputation much, or at least as some people would’ve thought.

The top 10 list was itself dominated by technology companies. Second and third positions were secured by Google, Apple’s rival, and Amazon, world’s biggest online store. IBM came 6th.

Adam Lashinsky, the author of the popular ‘Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired — and Secretive — Company Really Works" wrote:

For those expecting a fall from grace, Apple undoubtedly is a victim of its own success. [Steve] Jobs, a legend in his own time and the face of Apple, actively hid his managers from public view, preferring that they focus on work, not self-aggrandizement.

What’s more, for a company that without hyperbole can be described as having released four revolutionary products in a decade — iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad — expectations become exceedingly high.

He also noted that Apple has become such a huge phenomenon that even the slightest of schedule misses can collide universes and such is the bond between the Apple and the people that a miracle is expected out of it every time a product launch starts looming. That’s certainly not wrong as most people still think of Apple as the "most innovative company".

What’s more is that even a recent drop in share prices couldn’t resist the biggest profit in the company’s history of $13 billion.

Samsung’s Amazing History Shown in an Infographic

Did you know that the world’s biggest smartphone company first made noodles (similar to Nokia which manufactured tyres)? And do you know what is the meaning of the word Samsung and how did the once small, unknown company became the Samsung which we’ve all come to know?

Are you familiar with the gem-studded phone the company released in 2003? If no, then you need to see this awesome infographic by the dutch site typhone.nl and see for yourself what happens when hardwork and luck combine.

Cheap iPhone 5 for $330 to hit the market soon

Apple had taken quite a stringent stand on the quality of its products, thereby refusing to lower the price of its iPhones is now forced to bend its knees against the overwhelming demands of the populous but underdeveloped country markets. Apple is now launching a cheap iPhone 5 to satisfy the needs of such markets.

Sources inform that the new cheap iPhone 5 will not have the aluminum body which will be replaced by a plastic casing, thereby considerably reducing the manufacturing cost. The shape and making of the cheap iPhone 5 will resemble its expensive counterpart and is also expected to have a retina display and feature Apple’s new Lightning connector for charging and syncing. Macotakara, a Japanese technology website predicts that the new smartphone will be priced around $330 which would bring it in the range of younger middle class generation of China and India.

Apple has not officially launched iPhone in Pakistan up till now (which means no after sales services) whereas the sale and customer services of its iMacs and MacBook is going on under its supervision. With the new cheaper version it is expected that the company may also launch the brand in Pakistan.

Why My Next Phone will be a Windows Phone?

I’ve decided that I’ve seen enough and I am finally ready. Windows Phone camp is my next destination!

You might be thinking why am I moving to an OS with low app count, dwindling market share and which lacks basic features as compared with Android 2.3.6. Its all agreeable but the good thing for me is that I don’t care. Downloading apps is not my hobby anyway.

The single biggest reason why I am migrating is because of the boredom my current OS is giving me. Android Gingerbread is just plain boring and I’m too afraid to upgrade to Jelly Bean as I may end up with an even more laggy device.

Windows Phone is both lively and smooth. Performance in both high-end and low-end phones is smoother than any Android flagship. The top-of-the-class.

2 years back when Nokia announced its intentions to make Windows Phone devices primarily instead of the obvious competitor Android, a lot of us were looking at the Finnish company with disbelief, myself included. 2 years later, its obvious that the decision was by far the best one. Nokia can now make exclusive phones and price them accordingly at will.

This transition will not be without its drawbacks though. Windows Phone still lacks a Notification Centre (although live tiles somewhat make up for it), ununified volume controls and customizations besides the all so important apps. But at least I’ll be able to breathe without crashing my phone.

Crashing might not sound like a big deal to Gingerbread users, our phones crash a lot. Sometimes my phone restarts randomly without warning. At other occasions, it won’t install a 33MB app because of ‘low storage’, even when I’ve got 1.27GBs of internal, and 2.2GBs of external, untouched storage left. What a misery. Performance-wise, there is a wide gulf between mid-range and upper-end phones in Android. At least the much hated phone among Pakistanis, i.e. the iPhone has got way better records to boast. Every time I’ve used it, I am taken aback by how smooth it is. Windows Phone is very similar in this aspect too.

After two years of being costly and quite restricted, Microsoft’s phones have fallen in price too. Lumia 620 and HTC 8S are best performing mid-range phones available right now and the Lumia 520 will sit even one step below.

In the Windows Phone party too, my next phone will undoubtedly be a Lumia. The exclusive Nokia apps and technologies make the Lumia phones the top WP choice. There are other compelling options too but none are quite nearly as compelling (or energetic) as the Lumias.

So there you have it. Everything can be summed up in three words: Performance, Live Tiles and Difference. The deep social integration, cloud services (which are a must for me) and Office Suite are huge pluses too.

I am still among the minorities now. Its now up to Microsoft to convince the top app developers to cross borders. Until then, I don’t think most people will feel like jumping the ship.

Having owned 3 Nokia phones before (which were also the first three phones that I ever owned, like most Pakistanis), I can’t wait to go back to Nokia again.

Microsoft Releases Office 365 for Businesses

Microsoft announced worldwide availability of a major new update to its Microsoft Office 365 services for business.

Microsoft’s Office cloud service to date has new features and offerings tailored to the needs and budgets of small, medium-size and large organizations. In addition to updated Microsoft Lync Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online services, business users can now get the rich Office applications they are familiar with, on up to five devices, delivered as an always up-to-date cloud service.

Office 365 features enhanced enterprise social capabilities with SharePoint and Yammer and Lync-Skype connectivity for presence, instant messaging (IM), and voice by June. The new Office 365 service is available today in 69 markets and 17 languages and will be available in an additional 20 markets and 16 languages in the second quarter of this year.

“With Office 365, everyone from large enterprises to small businesses to individual consumers can now benefit from the power of Office and the connectivity of the cloud,” said Amir Rao; Country Manager, Microsoft Pakistan. “This release unlocks new scenarios and delivers capabilities that far surpass anything available in browser-only solutions.”

Since launching in mid-2011, Office 365 is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Microsoft history. After only 18 months, one in five of Microsoft’s enterprise customers now has the paid service, up from one in seven a year ago. The number of small and midsize businesses using Office 365 has also grown by 150 percent in the past 12 months.

Zubair Abdullah, Group IT Head at Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited said; “At Dawood Hercules, we always strive to provide innovative products and exceptional customer satisfaction. We needed to improve our productivity service to support our business speed and demands as well as improve collaboration across our affiliates. We evaluated our options and found that Microsoft had the most robust, integrated suite with Office 365. It has the capabilities we need to excel in today’s business environment. Microsoft Office 365 is enabling us to make faster, unified decisions.”

The new set of Office 365 offering is designed to meet a broad variety of business requirements:

Office 365 ProPlus

Office 365 ProPlus includes the latest and most complete set of fully featured, rich Office applications — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, InfoPath and Access — delivered as a service, on up to five devices.

People can now simply sign in to Office 365 from any of their devices, and their documents and personalized settings roam with them, allowing them to quickly pick up right where they left off. IT departments also get the controls they need, including the ability to run Office 365 ProPlus side-by-side with other versions of Office and tools to streamline and manage updates for their users.

Office 365 ProPlus is available as a standalone offering for $144 per user for an annual subscription and is included with the updated premium Office 365 Enterprise offerings and the new Office 365 Midsize Business.

Office 365 Midsize Business

Office 365 Midsize Business is designed for medium-sized businesses with 10 to 250 employees. This service includes Office 365 ProPlus and provides midsize businesses with enterprise-quality communication and collaboration with Exchange Online, Lync Online and SharePoint Online — along with the simplified IT tools they need to maintain control while reducing complexity.

Active Directory integration, a Web-based administration console and business-hours phone support are also included. Pricing is $180 per user for an annual subscription, the equivalent of $15 per user, per month.

Office 365 Small Business Premium

Office 365 Small Business Premium is designed for small businesses with one to 10 employees. In addition to the complete set of rich Office applications, this service includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools and HD videoconferencing capability in an easy-to-manage service that does not require IT expertise. Pricing is $150 per user for an annual subscription, the equivalent of $12.50 per user, per month.

Customers can purchase Office directly from Microsoft or through an authorized retail outlet or partner. More information on Office and how to sign up for a free trial is available at http://www.office.com.