PTCL “Vfone Azadi Offer”

PTCL Vfone has announced a new “Vfone Azadi Offer” in the celebration of Independence Day for its Vfone subscribers. Subscribers of Vfone can get the free balance of Rs.100 on loading the Vfone scratch card of higher than Rs.100.This offer is valid from 29th July, 2010 till 30th August, 2010.
Terms and Conditions:
• Free balance offer will be valid for all cards of more than Rs. 100 denomination i.e. on Rs. 300, 500 and 1,000 denomination cards• Free balance can be utilized for calling on-net Vfone to Vfone, Vfone to PSTN Local and Vfone to NWD• Free balance can be utilized for Internet and SMS (on-net and off-net)• The validity of free balance will be 30 days only• Free balance offer will be applicable only for WIN subscribers & not for WIPT i.e. not for VPCO

Government Making it Obligatory for Cellular Companies to Curb Grey Traffic and Channelize Forex deals via SBP

The government is allegedly making it mandatory for the cellular companies to acquire systems to hold back grey traffic and channelization of financial transaction with foreign operations through the State Bank of Pakistan. Incoming international telephony traffic generates a financial premium over the cost of transmission and terminating such traffic into Pakistan.

According to the provisions of Telecom Deregulation Policy, approved by the Cabinet in 2003, Long Distance International (LDI) licensees would be permitted to retain a fixed share of termination charge paid by international carriers while the remaining portion of premium is to be used for infrastructure development to increase the tele-density. The latter is termed as the Access Promotion Contribution (APC).

In the existing policy management this premium for the calls terminating on local loop operators (LLOs) is passed on to LLOs while the APC on cellular termination is collected and provided to Universal Services Fund (USF), the agency responsible for escalating the infra-structure of tele-density in the country. Moreover, the policy entrusted Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to work out a formula for revenue sharing, which would be reviewed and notified, at least, once every six months. Framework for APC was outlined in Access Promotion (AP) Rules and AP Regulation published by the PTA in 2005.

Pursuant to Deregulation Policy and AP Rules and Regulation, PTA monitors and approves the international telephone service agreements recommended by a consortium of LDI operators. From time to time, PTA has been reviewing the APC by issuance of determined rates. However, telecom industry has been agitating, for quite some time, on Approved Settlement Regime (ASR) introduced by PTA and they have expressed reservations on recent determinations issued by the PTA.

Sources said current regulatory regime does not provide the mechanism to effectively curb the menace of grey traffic, resulting in a huge financial loss to the exchequer. The matter was referred to the IT Ministry for resolution. A committee comprising representatives of the industry, PTA and MoIT was constituted to deliberate upon the issue. The committee held a series of consultative meetings, with all the stakeholders to finalise the revised policy for ASR.

Based on the consensus, worked out through the consultative process, MoIT proposes the following changes in the clause 4.3 of the Telecommunication Deregulation Policy and to make them the integral part of the next telecom policy for the sector as per following:
(i) at present, net incoming international traffic generates a financial premium over the cost of conveying and terminating the traffic into Pakistan.
(ii) for next five years a reasonable portion of the premium is proposed to be used to promote infrastructure expansion.

The design and implementation of APC programme will be guided by the following principles:

1. APC shall be used to foster new infrastructure development to increase tele-density through local loop operators, mobile cellular operators and US
2. Distribution of funds between all stakeholders shall be done in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner
3. APC programme shall be under the regulatory supervision of PTA, which shall also regulate international traffic agreements
4. In order to stabilize ASR and to eliminate the speculation in the market ASR distribution mechanism for various stakeholders should for the next five years
5. Afair share in APC called APC-M may be allocated to mobile cellular operators
6. Mobile cellular operators shall acquire the system to curb grey traffic on access level which will also facilitate quality of service monitoring and implementation of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) regime.

It is also being proposed that LLOs shall provide 200,000 broadband connections each year exclusively with APC amounts for next five years. Based on the percentage share in APC, the authority shall determine the obligatory connections of each operator. In order to secure the effective collection of APC, negotiations of bilateral accounting rates will be supervised by PTA. The principle of “one country one rate” will be implemented.

PTA would establish an international traffic clearing house for all incoming international traffic. Through this clearing house PTA would have statistics of all incoming and outgoing traffic including the satellite traffic. All licensees will be obliged to file reports on the volumes, sources and destinations of international incoming minutes, and PTA shall audit their itemised call records and billing systems with the objective of detecting and eliminating fraud.

Channelization of forex inflow of incoming traffic as well as monetary transactions with foreign operators would be through the State Bank of Pakistan; and six monthly account audit and stabilization of call rates will be ensured by the PTA, the sources continued.

A fund for the revitalization of local ICT/telecom equipment manufacturing through public private partnership and curbing the grey traffic under MoIT may be created with the differential amount from APC-M and APC-USF over the international mobile terminating traffic. Accounting separation will be strictly enforced for access promotion contribution received by the operators for tele-density enhancement and the same shall be audited by the PTA, biannually.

PTA would devise all possible mechanisms to protect the share of LDI operators including maintaining the “white list” and “black List” of international carriers whereby LDI operators would be allowed to terminate traffic only for those international carriers on the “white list”. International carriers observing the sanctity of the ASR of the country will be included in the white list. Whereas LDI would register written complaint with the Regulator (PTA) for non-compliance of the sanctity of the ASR and PTA shall black list those carriers and direct LDIs to stop bringing traffic from black listed carriers. Sources said LDI operators would be required to submit bank guarantees to all the recipient organizations so that the same can be encashed in case of default from LDI. PTA would issue comprehensive regulations to ensure sanctity of ASR and timely payment of outstanding amounts by all concerned.

IT Firms’ Registration Hit Record in Second Quarter

Pakistan Software House Association (PASHA) has enrolled 20 new Information Technology (IT) firms in the second quarter of 2010, showing a significant expansion over last year, when it enrolled the same number of companies in 12 months, Yusuf Jan, Chairman, PASHA, told The News on Wednesday.

“There has been a focus on entrepreneurship in the local IT industry for the last three years,” said Jan, adding “There’s a tremendous growth in new companies entering the business, especially in the second quarter.”

Yusuf Jan is also the Co-founder and Executive Vice President of Mixit Technologies, a company providing trading policy to Nasdaq and 250 brokerage houses. Pakistani IT companies such as Sofizar, Mindstorm, Jadu, Chopal, TPS, etc. have won accolades by preparing unique software, games, and Internet-based solutions for global companies.

There is about 400 IT firms in Pakistan that are members of PASHA, it employ around 150,000 professionals, leaving a small number of companies outside its domain. PASHA, formed some 10 years ago, estimates the size of the local IT industry at more than $2 billion per annum with yearly exports of around $1 billion.

Jehan Ara, President, PASHA, said in a presentation that the IT sector had become one of the most innovative and vibrant industries, progressing at a pace of 30 to 50 percent per annum. The local IT firms caters, in a variety of ways, to the financial, textile and telecom sectors’ needs. It also provides software and services to various government departments, while the defense sector is also a major user of IT products.

“The financial sector is leading the way (in terms of IT use) on the back of growth in the online and mobile banking services and ATM usage,” Jehan Ara added.

In order to get the up to date picture of the IT industry, PASHA and Pakistan Software Export Board are conducting a mutual project to analyze future challenges. “The last two-year experience has shown that the global challenges are there, so the study will be a bit different from the previous ones,” said Yusuf Jan.

“Unlike other parts of the world, Pakistan is unique as half of the companies here belong to the product development side and half to the IT services area,” Yusuf Jan said, adding that in many countries this ratio is lopsided.

There are more than 100 companies in the country and over 400,000 graduates are enrolled with them through various programmes and courses. Speaking on the educational and training side, Jan said that 25 percent of the graduates are highly skilled and getting a job has never been a problem for them.

“After three-year slump, enrollment in the universities, offering IT subjects, has gone up considerably this year,” said Yusuf Jan.

“Pay scale in the IT sector is the healthiest among the rest of the professions and every other firm is now looking for people.” A skilled IT graduate can easily earn a salary of Rs100,000 per month within the first four years of his career, he added.

source: The News

The Mysterious Air Crash

And it was all over the news this morning, I’ve been receiving different texts from my friends about the plane crash but I didnt know the case is very different. I woke up and turned on a news channel and I was astounded to know that a massive passenger plane has collided Margalla hills surrounded by Islamabad. I had no idea at that time about the massive holocaust of humanity in the name of Plane crash. By the after-noon it was evidently declared that nobody survived the plane crash, Thus killing all 152 people on board.

I’ve been deeply analysing the plane crash as it was for the first time that a big jet with so many passengers on board has crashed into the area where planes are not allowed to go. Beside this, so many questions are still unanswered. I’ve been thinking why the plane was directed to move towards the Blue Area side of Islamabad, as that area is usually regarded as VIP area where no plane can fly. Plus it has all important buildings of Pakistan like Supreme Court, Parliament House, Prime Minister House and the President House. This is still an unsolved mystery for me that why the plane was sent to ‘No Go Area’. Please dont forget that Naval Headquarters and PAF complex is also located in that Area.

That was one aspect of my vision and analysis about the plane crash, however on the other side of coin, Air Pocket could be the other reason. May be a lot of us are unfamiliar with this term ‘Air Pocket’ which is also known as Air Turbulence. Air Turbulence is a phenomena in which an aeroplane can descend as low as 10,000 feet in the time period of few seconds. Air Turbulence is basically a stream of air in irregular motion that normally cannot be seen and often occurs unexpectedly. It can be created by a number of different conditions. The most common encounter is flying in the vicinity of thunderstorm. In fact, a flight through a patch of cloud will often jostle the airplane. Flying over mountainous area with a prevailing wind is another major cause of air turbulence. Other causes come from flying near to jet streams at high altitude, in a frontal system or where temperature changes in any air mass in the sky.

Two third of turbulence-related accidents occurs at or above 30,000 feet. Generally, flying through turbulence of the milder nature, if prolonged, can be fairly uncomfortable to the passengers. If such turbulence were detectable by the weather radar or from weather forecast, pilots would avoid them by deviating off track. There were number of air planes which experiences air crash because of Air Turbulence but they were rare in nature.

According to aviation consultancy Ascend. Examples include the crash of an Austral airlines McDonnell Douglas in Uruguay with the loss of 69 passengers and five crew in 1997. A Fokker aeroplane crashed shortly after taking off from Rotterdam airport in 1981, killing 13 passengers and four crew. One of the earliest cases involved a BOAC (later British Airways) Boeing 707 near Mount Fuji in Japan. The BOAC flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong flew into extreme turbulence and crashed in March 1966, killing 113 passengers and 11 crew. An investigation reported that the likely cause of the disaster was that “the aircraft suddenly encountered abnormally severe turbulence which imposed a gust load considerably in excess of the design limit.”

The mystery still remains unsolved and the questions are still there to answer but initial investigations has to under-go in order to fetch out the conclusion. I’ve extreme sympathy with the families of passengers who were on board. There’s nothing that can compensate human loss but yet when there is loss, it should be investigated so that no-one else in future face something like that.

Rules for Traffic between Pakistan and AJK/GB Revised

After consultation with industry, PTA has decided to route all calls between Pakistan and AJK/GB through LDI operators of both the territories.

Now all calls originating from AJK/GB and terminating on networks in Pakistan or vice versa will go through LDI operators and then the relevant landing operator.

This way, calling party will have to pay Transit Charges to the cross-area LDI operators.

PTA has devised following three scenarios, and their cost mechanisms:

• For calls originating from AJK/GB’s LL or mobile networks and terminating on fixed networks in Pakistan, the respective AJK/GB’s LL operator or mobile operator will route the call through Pakistani LDI on far-end principle and will pay PTA’s Approved Transit Charges to respective Pakistani LDI operator in addition to respective termination charges and vice versa
• For calls originating from AJK/GB’s LL or mobile networks and terminating on mobile networks in Pakistan, the respective AJK/GB’s LL or mobile operator may route the call through Pakistani LDI on far-end principle and pay PTA’s Approved Transit charges to Pakistani LDI , in addition to respective termination charges and vice versa. However, AJK/GB and Pakistani operators may also mutually agree any other traffic routing as well as charging mechanism on non-discriminatory basis.
• For incoming international traffic, an operator having LDI license in AJK/GB is allowed to bring international traffic for AJK/GB territory only (by using numbering series of AJK/GB) and not for Pakistan, same is applicable for operators having LDI license in Pakistan in similar manners. However, an LDI operator having license for both Pakistan and AJK/GB can bring traffic to Pakistan as well as AJK/GB, but through separate IPs/ ISPCs/NSPCs.

ZONG launches SMS Delivery Report at Rs10 per month

ZONG has launched SMS Delivery Report today. Keeping in line with its history of providing distinctive services, ZONG has launched the SMS Delivery Report at a very negligible price and will ensure that the subscriber always receives the report for their SMS.

It’s always important to know whether your SMS has been delivered to the recipient or not. Previously, SMS delivery was given by most operators free of cost but due to the traffic on the messaging system owing to these delivery reports, most of the times the operators would shut down the delivery report service. This would leave subscribers in the dark having no option of knowing whether it is a system glitch or their SMS has not been delivered. Currently operators are revisiting their SMS delivery report situation and developing a charged subscription service for this purpose.

This service will add to the list of value added services being provided to its customers. With this service, customers will get information in real time as soon as the SMS is delivered to the recipient and will be assured of the delivery of their SMS on the destination.

Subscription:

For subscription, subscriber can send “SUB” to 533 for activation of this service

Charges:

The charges for Delivery Report Service are Rs 10+t per month.

Express Tribune Violates Google TOS

Newly launched newspaper, Express Tribune, is apparently violating Google Terms of Services for using Google Custom Search Engine on its website.

Express Tribune uses Google Custom Search service to facilitate its readers with best possible search results; however, webmaster has apparently removed the Google branding from search box, which is not allowed by the Google TOS.

One may opine that Express Tribune is using “Google Site Search”, a paid solution for businesses that allows removal of Google branding, however, ads displayed in Search results and “Google Custom Search” logo in results confirms that website is using the free version.

A query sent to Express Tribune’s webmaster regarding this is still awaiting response.

This violation, if reported, can cost heavy to Express Tribune, as Google can ban this website forever by not displaying it in Google Search, a nightmare for any online business.

Mobilink Super Engineer Competition Concludes

Mobilink held a prize distribution ceremony at Mobilink Office Islamabad, to conclude the “Mobilink Super Engineer Competition”. The title was won by students from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

Securing 1st position with their project, “Traffic Analysis and measurement system in IPMPLS Environment” the 5-member team from GIKI was thrilled. The team representing NUST University took the 2nd position, with their project, “Inter-city video conferencing system” while the 3rd position was taken by the team from FAST University with their project, “Automation of physical distribution of E 1s”.

An inter-university contest involving teams of students from the leading engineering universities of Pakistan, Mobilink Super Engineer Competition provides the students the chance to work on a real life project with technical experts from Mobilink’s team. The projects were evaluated by a senior Mobilink jury having representation from different Technical departments against a pre- defined criterion of innovation and creativity, project presentation, meeting the timelines and meeting project objectives.

Rashid Khan, President & CEO Mobilink, awarded the teams with shields and certificates in the presentation ceremony held at the Mobilink head office. He appreciated the efforts of the participating teams and assured the winning team of opportunity of employment assessment within the Technical division at Mobilink.

Khan shared, “Mobilink believes in nurturing the intelligence of progressive youth and innovators of our nation. We recognize this as a very hands-on field and this is why the Super Engineer Competition was packaged as a project based drive. We were confident that with adequate support, our youth can indigenously develop modern technologies and truly innovative systems. The outcome of the participating teams has confirmed that.”

Thanking Mobilink’s Technical team for their support, Hafiz Zeeshan from the winning GIKI team shared, “This was a true test of what we had learned. Having the chance to work with experts in the field and being recognized for it has given us a renewed confidence in our ability. We will never forget this experience and opportunity.”

In addition to mentor programs, Mobilink also provides grants at Bachelor and Masters level for students of LUMS and GIKI. Mobilink also launched an innovative SMS Literacy project for rural women in partnership with UNESCO to improve the reading and writing skills of semi-literate women using cellular technology.

PTA and Nust Sign MoU

Islamabad: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance mutual cooperation for research in the relevant field and to promote mutually beneficial relations between the two organisations. Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammad Yaseen and Rector NUST Lt. Gen. Muhammad Asghar signed the MoU in a ceremony held at NUST Headquarters Islamabad today. This MoU would be valid for (five) 5 years and would be renewed after completion of the five year period.

It is anticipated that this collaboration would allow the academia to share its research in the field of telecom, for its appropriate utilization by the regulator and other organizations. Main objectives of this collaboration are to support research activities and to equip the future leadership with theoretical training as well as practical experience in policy and regulatory issues of telecom sector.

On this occasion, Chairman PTA Dr.Mohammed Yaseen said that PTA would provide telecom information and expertise to NUST, reciprocally NUST would encourage its students to undertake research in different areas of telecom sector. He said that under the MoU, PTA would help NUST in identification of research areas. Similarly NUST would cooperate with PTA on different issues related to trade, business and economy. It may be pertinent to mention here that PTA has always been working towards encouraging research activities in telecom sector. PTA being an academia friendly organization has taken number of initiatives to establish strong linkages between the educational institutions and PTA for the promotion of telecom research.

The research on forthcoming regulatory issues and challenges and transfer of new technologies in local sector is likely to assist the regulator and the policy makers. To this end PTA has taken significant steps that have received an exhilarating response from all the stakeholders. These initiatives include SMS-based Information System for educational institutions, PTA Gold Medal Scheme, Essay Competition on Telecom Day and cash prizes for best research project competition. PTA has awarded the gold medals to the winning students for academic year 2008 and 2009.

EasyPaisa Gets an Urdu Website

Easypaisa, the mobile banking solution from Telenor and Tameer bank has launched Urdu version of its website, with almost similar details as they are available in English version.

It looks that Urdu version is machine translation (or what they call meaning to meaning translation) of Easypaisa’s English version; check following paragraph (available here) and its translations in quite literary manner (available here):

Telenor Pakistan has always been a pioneer in innovative services. For easypaisa, Telenor Pakistan has partnered with Tameer Micro Finance Bank to introduce branchless banking for the first time in Pakistan. The innovative product umbrella of easypaisa will give you complete convenience and empowerment that you have always wanted in life.

Translation:

ٹیلی نار پاکستان ہمیشہ سے اختراعی سروسز کا بانی رہا ہے۔ ایزی پیسہ کے لئے ٹیلی نار پاکستان نے تعمیر مائیکروفنانس بینک کے ساتھ شراکت دار کی ہے تا کہ پاکستان میں پہلی بار برانچ لیس بینکنگ کو متعارف کرائے۔ایزی پسیہ کی چھتری کی اختراع پروڈکٹ آپ کو مکمل سکون و اختیار دے گی جو آپ اپنی زندگی میں چاہتے ہیں۔

Even Google translated this paragraph better with easy-to-understand language.

Nevertheless, a good step, with lots of chances for betterment; particularly if payment sending methods are explained in easy to understand language with more details than what they are available in English.

he Iphone 4 Antenna, Steve Jobs, The War, The Fight

By Muhammad Faisal

A very curious and hilarious topic going around these days is between IPhone 4 and Steve Jobs. Apple having a good market share has messed up big time, which is the Antenna issue in iPhone 4 and its competitors are seriously behind it.

Personally, a friend of mine has even shared his first-hand views with iPhone 4 and yes this is a real existing problem the users are facing with this device but to be very honest, the whole scenario has been just blown out of proportion.

I have personally observed Steve Jobs and have concluded that he is a person, who cannot accept a NO or a drawback and precisely the reason why we keep hearing so much about iPhone 4 issues.

Let me go with the issues in step by step and create this topic more interesting for you.

After the launch, complains were filled against yellow spots or white spots on the display, the strong screen it claimed failed too and Signal Reception, this was just the beginning. People these days are tech oriented too therefore the reception problem was discovered very soon.

As soon as you hold your device with your left hand so that your hand touches the corners, the reception bars are all the way down.

Here we have the first statement from Steve Jobs

“Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.”

Steve Jobs attitude of don’t hold it that way was not acceptable to the public because obviously you don’t choose how to hold a phone, you just hold it and the positions are real time. Further pretending it’s not a big issue or a design flaw aroused many of the other issues.

Later Apple gathered a press conference dedicated on the iPhone 4 reception issues and played a puzzle in it. At a point Steve Jobs was seen quoting that every phone has a weak point and even further claimed everybody makes mistakes but also said Apple is quick to fix their mistakes and thus have loyal users. Apple wants its users to be happy and as people ran for their free cases, courtesy of Apple with the statement of “not because they have messed up, but only because they love their users”.

Apple was still not satisfied and even took a big risk of creating real time enemies for itself by starting to point out and accusing RIM’s Blackberry Bold 9700, HTC Driod Erics, Samsung Omnia II & Motorola’s; mentioned in the conference. Apple claimed that they also face the same antenna problems and demonstrated with the videos of each phone and the ways of holdings at times of lack in reception even with images.

Obviously the companies Apple accused so conveniently would have stayed back…!

The Co-CEOs of RIM (Blackberry) statement

Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.

RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity.

Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.”

- Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie

HTC’s statement

That only 0.016 percent of all HTC users have complained about the Droid Eris and only a few of them have experienced with the device’s antenna and signal.

Samsung’s statement

The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna,”

Shin Young-joo said.”We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smart phones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future,” he added.

Motorola statement

Sanjay Jha, the company’s co-CEO, responded that “consumers don’t like being told how to hold the phone … It is disingenuous to suggest that all phones perform equally”. He also added that unlike Apple, Motorola avoids placing the antennas on the outside of their phones since that could cause reception issues.

Nokia’s statement

Nokia was out of the picture but still it stated a very offensive statement which I guess Apple should be ready for as Steve Jobs chose to point out fingers.

Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.

Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.

In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.

As I mentioned previously Apple does not take NO for an answer and further was not able to show a faulty Nokia handset in the conference explored more and more and turned to figure out one of the Nokia’s cell phone flaw with the demonstration via video and images in Nokia N97 Mini.

The war has started as seen above and we are pretty much sure this will not end up good lately as Apple has officially launched a page whereby Pointing out Names of Brands, to even me this came as a shocker but yes this is official now Click Here.

Ufone Raises Salaries By 15 to 25 Percent

Ufone Management has raised salaries of all Ufone employees by minimum of 15 percent across the board and 25 percent for those with outstanding performance during past year, told us sources in the company.

‘Ufone Management has been happy with the overall performance of the workforce and has decided to increase salaries by 15 percent at least”, said a top official while announcing the increment.

All other companies increased salaries last year except Zong that paid higher salaries to only promoted employees.

Its good on Ufone’s part that it hiked salaries in tight economic situation.

Ufone didn’t confirm this increment officially.

Telenor 5MB Prepaid GPRS Bucket

Finally, Telenor Pakistan has introduced prepaid GPRS bucket.

Price:

Get 5 MB quota for GPRS at Rs. 11.95 (including taxes)

How to Avail?

All telenor prepaid and djuice customers can avail this package by dialing *345*901# from their telenor prepaid.

Validity:

Validity of this package is till 12:00 AM in the night from the time you subscribe. Customers can activate package as many time he/she wants during the day.

Note:

• Package will not be renewed next day automatically by the network, customers have to reactivate by dialing through *345*901#
• To check remaing quota in GPRS bucket dial *999# (12paisas will be charged to checking reaming quota)
• Charging pulse in this GPRS package is not 64 KB, it is 1KB.

Without this GPRS package, for Telenor customers normal GPRS rates are Rs. 1+tax per 64 kb and 50 paisas+tax per 64 kb for Djuice din raat package.

Click here to get Telenor GPRS/MMS settings

This GPRS package is better than of Ufone’s daily GPRS bucket, however still Zong is leader in providing several inexpensive GPRS packages.

Amendments in Telecom Act Proposed

National Assembly has accepted a bill to be presented in the house urging amendments in Pakistan Telecommunication Act 1996.

Bill has proposed amendments in 8 sections of Telecommunication Act, 1996 with 12 amendments in total.

The purpose of amendment is to introduce procedures for defining and tackling grey traffic. Moreover, PTA members are proposed to be called “Executive Members”, with one as the chairman of authority.

Authority will consist of 3 Executive Members and 5 non-executive members. All members will be appointed for a fixed term of 4 years with a chance for re-appointment. All members will be appointed with minimum experience of 15 years in Telecom, Finance or Legal domains, with 20 years of experience as exception for the chairman.

Bill proposed that Provincial Governments will nominate one non-executive member each, while fifth non-executive member will be nominated by Federal Government.

Bill says that Executive Members of authority will be paid the salary and be entitled to the privileges of MP-II while the chairman will be paid salary and be entitled to the privileges of MP-I.

Salary of non-executive members is proposed to be defined by authority itself.

Once passed from NA, Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization)(Amendment) Act, 2010 will be effective immediately.

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Ditches iPhone for Android

If his recent Facebook activity has to be believed, than Facebook’s founder and CEO might have just ditched his iPhone for Android. It was only last month when Mark made the headlines for switching to iPhone (it was 3GS, not iPhone 4) from BlackBerry. But the experience wasn’t all that great as he posted about his frustrations with the device, citing poor battery life, and phone calling quality. He also said that he will get the new iPhone 4 and see if that solves all his problems before switching to Android.

Mark Zuckerberg Profile on Facebook, June 2010

And now according to his recent Facebook activity, it looks like he has finally gone for an Android phone.

Mark Zuckerberg Profile on Facebook, July 2010

But given the amount of revenues that he generates from the most popular social networking site, I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps both the iPhone 4 and an Android phone to fulfill all his needs.

Oh and now that Zuckerberg is using an Android phone, we may finally see an update forFacebook for Android app which badly needs to get updated to come on-par with the iPhone version.

Hands-On with Apple Magic Trackpad [Video]

The Apple enthusiast 9to5 Mac site has published a complete video of first hands-on and impressions of the newly released Magic Trackpad by Apple for all desktop based Macs. For those of you who don’t know, Magic Trackpad is basically a larger desktop version of touchpads found in MacBook Pros. You can use it for swiping, pinch-to-zoom, two-finger scrolling, finger tip rotation and so on. Since the entire Trackpad acts as a single button, you can effectively use it as a replacement to your mouse.

Check out this video embedded below for complete video walkthrough of Magic Trackpad.

iOS 4.1 Beta 2 is Jailbreakable Using Redsn0w

The newly released iOS 4.1 Beta 2 is jailbreakable using the existing version 0.9.5b5 of Redsn0w. However this Redsn0w jailbreak is supported on iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G only. Here is the update on this from the iPhone Dev-Team blog:

If you’ve updated to 4.1beta2 on iPhone3G or iPod2G(non-MC), you can use this redsn0w from June to jailbreak. Just point it at the 4.0 IPSW (the public one, not the developer GM one).

(Yes – point it at the 4.0 IPSW even though you’re at 4.1beta2).

Don’t do this if you need the ultrasn0w carrier unlock!!

Note 1: This won’t hacktivate your iPhone3G – but for those with legit access to the 4.1beta2 this shouldn’t matter. Please don’t pirate Apple software

Note 2: If you’re at 4.1beta2 you’ll probably experience network problems after jailbreaking. Until a new version of redsn0w is released, you may need to rely on afc2 access (such as FunBox-like file browser programs) to manipulate your filesystem.

Note 3: This is recommended only for power users who can deal with the problems that will pop up as the JB apps fall further behind the beta firmwares.

So all you need is the latest iOS 4.1 Beta 2 firmware for iPhone 3G or iPod touch 2G (non-MC Models) and you can jailbreak it using Redsn0w on Windows and Mac. Again, this is strictly for iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G (non-MC models) only. If your iPhone 3G relies on an unlock, you MUST STAY AWAY from iOS 4.1 for now.

Full set of instructions on how to to jailbreak iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G on iOS 4.1 using Redsn0w 0.9.5 can be found here. Please read all the instructions carefully beforeupgrading and jailbreaking your phone on iOS 4.1.

iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 3G and 2G (MC models) users will have to wait for the new all iOS device jailbreak by Comex, which is currently in testing stages and will be out as soon as all the bugs have been ironed out.

Download iOS 4.1 Beta 2
Download Redsn0w 0.9.5b5-5 for Mac
Download Redsn0w 0.9.5b5-5 for Windows
Download iTunes 9.2.1 for Windows and Mac

Apple Releases iOS 4.1 Beta 2 for iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G and iPod touch [Developers Only]

Apple has just released iOS 4.1 Beta 2 for all iPhones and iPod touches. This beta build, like all the previous betas is meant for developers only. Only members enrolled in the iPhone Developer Standard or Enterprise Program can access these bits of by signing into Apple Developer Connection.

Beta 1 of iOS 4.1 was released about two weeks ago on July 15th.

Download iOS 4.1 Beta 2 and SDK

UPDATE 1:

• iOS 4.1 Beta 2 contains a new baseband for iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G. If you rely on anunlock, DO NOT update to Beta 2.
• Build number of iOS 4.2 Beta 2 is 8B5091b.
• Gizmodo is reporting that this build has apparently solved the proximity sensor issue which was plaguing some iPhone 4 users since launch.
• The Next Web is reporting that iOS 4.1 may have fixed the slowness issue of iOS 4 /4.0.1 on iPhone 3G.

UPDATE 2: iOS 4.1 Beta 2 is jailbreakable on iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G (non-MC model) using Redsn0w. More info can be found here.

More updates as they come.. Stay tuned !!

Apple Responds to “Jailbreaking is Legal” Ruling

Yesterday, a court in United States ruled jailbreaking and unlocking iPhones as 100 percent legal as long as it does not violate any copyright laws. This decision was a blow for Apple who has always been against jailbreaking of iPhones. When asked about this ruling, Apple at the moment at least has adopted defensive strategy, saying thatjailbreaking may have been declared as legal but it will still void your iPhone’s warranty with Apple.

This what an Apple spokesperson said to the Cult of Mac site:

Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience. As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.

Well there is nothing wrong with Apple’s spokesperson statement above, but that last remark that jailbreaking will cause your iPhone to become unstable and unreliable is a bit too much in my opinion. After all, if jailbreaking iPhone was so problematic, you wouldn’t have an estimated 10 percent of jailbroken iPhones. And now since the jailbreaking has gone officially legal, expect this number to go even higher in the coming months!

So there you go.. if you have a jailbroken iPhone and for some reason you are in need to take it to Apple Store, make sure you restore it back to factory settings by simply restoring it to the official firmware via iTunes.

21.5 and 27 inches iMac Updated with Core i3, i5, i7 and Faster Graphics Options

Apple today has updated their existing iMac lineup by dumping Core 2 Duo altogether and bringing Intel’s Core i3, i5 and i7, along with faster graphics card options. Available in both 21.5 and 27 inches, the prices of both the entry level base model, and the flagship model remains same as the older ones, except that these new ones have more power then ever before.

Full details are as follows.

Apple Updates iMac Line

Introduces New Multi-Touch Magic Trackpad

CUPERTINO, California—July 27, 2010—Apple® today updated its all-in-one iMac® line, widely praised as the world’s best desktop computers, with the latest Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors and powerful new graphics. Starting at $1,199, the new iMac line is the fastest ever with dual-core processor speeds up to 3.6 GHz, quad-core speeds up to 2.93 GHz and discrete graphics including the powerful ATI Radeon HD 5750. The new Magic Trackpad, with a smooth glass and aluminum design, gives iMac users the same intuitive Multi-Touch™ gestures that Mac® notebook customers have come to love and is available separately for $69.

“We took the world’s best all-in-one and made it even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the latest processors, high-performance graphics and signature aluminum and glass design, customers are going to love the latest iMac.”

Dual-core Intel Core i3 and Core i5, and quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 processors set a new benchmark for iMac performance. The processors feature an integrated memory controller to access the system memory directly, allowing the new iMac to take full advantage of its faster 1333 MHz memory. New discrete ATI Radeon HD processors deliver incredibly smooth, crisp graphics for the most demanding 3D games, creative software and technical applications. iMac displays feature IPS technology to deliver a brilliant image across a wide 178 degree viewing angle. The SD card slot on the iMac now supports the SDXC format to handle the latest high-capacity storage cards. Customers of the 27-inch iMac have the option to order a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) as a primary or secondary drive. The iMac SSD supports up to 215 MB/s data transfer rates for faster startup and application launch times.

Every iMac comes with Apple’s innovative Magic Mouse and customers can also order the new Magic Trackpad as an option. The Magic Trackpad brings the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures of Mac notebook trackpads to the desktop. With its glass surface, the wireless Magic Trackpad enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with their fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of web pages or photos. The Magic Trackpad can be configured to support single button or two button commands and supports tap-to-click as well as a physical click.

Continuing Apple’s commitment to the environment, Apple’s desktop lineup is a leader in green design. The iMac meets stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status.* iMac features LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iMac uses PVC-free components and cables, contains no brominated flame retardants, uses highly recyclable materials and features material-efficient system and packaging designs. A new Apple Battery Charger provides a convenient and environmentally friendly way to always have a fresh set of batteries for your Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse and Wireless Keyboard. The Apple Battery Charger is available for $29 and comes with six long shelf life rechargeable batteries.

Every Mac also comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. iLife features iPhoto®, with breakthrough ways to organize and manage your photos by who appears in them and where they were taken; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which offers a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar.

Pricing & Availability
The new iMac line is shipping now and available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The new 21.5-inch 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

• 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LED-backlit display;
• 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 4670 discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM;
• 500GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight® video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• one FireWire® 800 port;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include up to 8GB of RAM.

The new 21.5-inch 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

• 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LED-backlit display;
• 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 5670 discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3;
• 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include a faster 3.6 GHz Core i5 processor, 2TB hard drive and up to 8GB of RAM.

The new 27-inch 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,699 (US), includes:

• 27-inch 2560 x 1440 LED-backlit display;
• 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 5670 discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3;
• 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video input and output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include a 3.6 GHz Core i5 processor, 2TB hard drive, 256GB solid state drive (SSD) and up to 16GB of RAM.

The new 27-inch 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

• 27-inch 2560 x 1440 LED-backlit display;
• 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 5750 discrete graphics with 1GB GDDR5;
• 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video input and output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include a 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor, a 2TB hard drive, 256GB solid state drive (SSD) and up to 16GB of RAM.

Oh and more thing. These new iMacs wont ship with the just released Magic Trackpad. It will ship with Apple wireless keyboard and Apple Magic Mouse only. You will have to shell extra $69 to get your hands on this accessory.