IT industry tops ‘Pakistan 100 business’ Index

STAFF REPORT IBD: Pakistan’s IT industry has been showing a tremendous performance in terms of fastest business expansion, revenues growth and employment generation in the short period of time.
This is evident as number of companies offering software services and products, computer networking and development solutions are leading the ‘Pakistan 100 business index’.
These companies have gained a limelight and secured positions in the recently announced ‘Pakistan100 index’ of AllWorldNetwork for the year 2012 showing a high revenue growth potential with constant success and recognition at global platforms in the recent years.
According to the report, there are 12 companies categorized under software services and products that have been listed and ranked in the Index.
The software companies have generated a total revenue of $46.491 million last year and secured sixth position in terms of turnover among different other sectors. There were four emerging companies in this sector with total turnover reached at $19.64 million registered in 2010.
These companies have continued to impart a remarkable contribution in the economy with introduced advanced solutions and applications in services and different business. The companies have not only created direct and indirect jobs but also allied businesses, shaping growth and trends in the market as emerging potential companies in the country. 

Geek Week Planned in Lahore on March 30th

The ACM Society of FAST-NU, Lahore is organizing the 1st International Geek Week from 30^th March to 1^st April, 2012 with prize money of more than Rs. 450,000.

Geek Week is likely to be one of the biggest Computer Science and Information Technology extravaganzas in South Asia.

It is the 1^st Indo-Pak event being organized by the collaboration of Pakistani and Indian students in the field of IT.

The Pakistani and Indian chapters of ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) are conducting this event simultaneously in five different universities. Students and professionals will bring forth their work and well-known researchers and academicians have been invited to judge the competition.

This session has many competitions. These 3 being its biggest highlights:

• Asia Cup: An International Distributed Programming Competition
• DevFest: 24hr App Development Contest (being held for the first time in Pakistan).
• Custom PC: Opportunity to exhibit the customized machines.

GEEK WEEK would be held in collaboration with 3 Pakistani ACM chapters in different institutions in Pakistan including Fast-NUCES and 2 Indian ACM Student Chapters. The institutions collaborating for GEEK WEEK 2012 are:

• NUCES ACM Lahore, Pakistan
• PUCIT-ACM Lahore, Pakistan
• GCU-ACM Lahore, Pakistan
• Indian Inst. of Tech/ New Delhi ACM , India
• SVCE-ACM, Chennai, India

The occasion will consist of the following competitions.

• Asia Cup
• Gaming contest
• Development Fest
• Custom PC
• Technology showcase
• ACM Logo Designs

Shahbaz Claims Better Government through E-Governance

Chief Minister Punjab Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif has claimed of implementing better government through E-governance in the province, which has benefited the masses.

Talking to a four-member delegation led by Zong Chief Executive Officer in Pakistan Mr. Fan Yunjun, CM said Punjab government is working on a comprehensive program to boost Information Technology (IT) industry in the province.

He further outlined that a world class IT university is being established in Lahore where the students would be given world class education in various departments of Information Technology (IT) which would fulfill the required demand for IT professionals in the country.

Shahbaz Sharif said there is a lot of room for development and expansion for IT industry in Punjab and investment in this department is appealing as well as safe.

Zong Chief Executive officer in Pakistan Mr. Fan Yunjun appreciated the Punjab government steps to boost IT industry in the province and said his company would continue co-operation in this regard.

Mr. Fan Yunjun outlined that his company is setting up branch less banking in the province and an endowment fund for the students as well.

PTCL 1Mbps DSL Upgraded to 2Mbps for Free

PTCL has decided to upgrade 1Mbps DSL broadband package holders to 2Mbps till May 31st, 2012 for free.

After the expiry of the promotional period, normal tariff of 2 Mbps “Rs. 1,499” will be applicable.

Price for 1Mbps DSL broadband is now Rs. 1,250.

It merits mentioning here that you can downgrade back to 1Mbps during the promotional period (if upgraded automatically) or you can opt not to be upgraded if asked, however, after May 31st – if not downgraded – you will be charged usual 2Mbps rates.

PTCL said this promotion will not be applicable for:

• Broadband student package holders.
• Those customers who are currently on packages like double up, double impact andtriple play packages
• Those customers who opted out of the promotion last year,
• Those customers whose line currently does not support 2 Mbps speeds.

Below are the PTCL Broadband packages available for customers:

• 1Mb     @ Rs 1,250
• 2Mb     @ Rs 1,499
• 4Mb     @ Rs 1,999
• 6Mb     @ Rs 4,999
• 8Mb     @ Rs 6,999
• 10Mb   @ Rs 9,999

PTCL Smart TV gains 30% increase in subscriber base

akistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has achieved a 30% increase in the subscriber base of its IPTV service also known as Smart TV, claimed an official statement without reveling the number of subscribers.

This increase has been a result of PTCL Smart TV’s aggressive content acquisition strategy, which led to swift content enrichment as well as higher focus on improved quality of service and enhanced customer care.

PTCL Smart TV has recently added PTV’s hit dramas such as Fifty Fifty, Aangan Teraah, Aahat, and Dhoop Kinary to its VOD service. In addition, a wide range of Hollywood movies, children’s content and Bollywood movies have also been added to this service.

Nine percent of the world’s broadband homes now subscribe to an IPTV service and PTCL is striving to achieve the same level in Pakistan. Smart TV is also enriching the television channel list by positioning the channels as per consumers’ demand.

The digital and high quality Smart TV with its advanced and unique features such as rewinding live channels through time shift TV, parental lock and an enriched digitally mastered VOD library has created a favored spot for PTCL Smart TV amongst consumers.

“PTCL is rapidly increasing its high-end services subscriber base by providing efficient and state of the art telecom services to its customers all over the country,” said Senior Executive Vice President Commercial, Naveed Saeed. “Smart TV will always make efforts to bring the best service features and highly entertaining content to its valued subscribers.”

“We are giving our customers innovative services and sound packages with a clear strategic direction to facilitate them,” said Executive Vice President Wireline, Aasif Inam. “PTCL constantly strives to renew and enhance its networking, products, services and capabilities bringing the latest technology for the customers at their doorsteps.”

Firefox's plans for 2012: Silent updates, sharing on social networks

After releasing a new version of its browser, Firefox11, the Mozilla foundation has laid out its plans for 2012, and there are definitely some interesting things in the works for one of themost popular web browsers out there.

Part of the plans Mozilla mentions have already been achieved in Firefox 10 and 11. To resolve problems with old add-ons not working in (now very frequently released) new versions of the browser, they were made compatible by default. Also, from Firefox 11 you can now also sync add-ons across several computers.

However, the full Firefox roadmap reveals several other important updates planned for later in 2012.

One that caught our attention is silent updates, which will be downloaded and installed silently in the background,for more....

New iPads hit stores Friday

The latest version of Apple's iPad, the genre-defining tablet computer that has outperformed virtually everyone's expectations since first released in 2010, goes on sale Friday starting at 8 a.m. local time.

As such, thousands of Apple diehards were already lining up Thursday to be among the first to get their hands on a gadget that was already earning raves from reviewers.

"Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet," wrote Walt Mossberg for All Things D. for more....

Is there a viable alternative to the iPad?

 Apple's new iPad goes on sale on Friday. It's not the iPad 3, or the iPad HD, but the new iPad. That's great, but should you buy the new Apple tablet or opt for a different tablet? After all it's not the only tablet on the block.

Why doesn't the new iPad have a name?

You might not realize it, but there are hundreds of Android tablets already on the market. Most of them are rubbish, for more... 

Mobilink today announced the launch of Samsung Galaxy Nexus (also known as the Nexus Prime) in Pakistan.

The Galaxy Nexus is Google’s flagship smartphone, officially released with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), and encasing a 4.65” HD Super AMOLED display.

Powered by 1.2GHz dual core processor, the Galaxy Nexus allows the user to take panoramic shots and videos in 1080p using the 5 mega-pixel continuous auto-focus camera.

Here are Galaxy Nexus Specs again:

• OS: Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0)
• CPU: 1.2 GHZ dual core processor
• Screen: 4.65″ HD(1280 x 720) Super AMOLED, Contour Display (curved glass)

• Weight: 135g

• Data

• LTE/CDMA
• WIFI
• BLUETOOTH
• Memory
• Storage: 16GB
• Memory: 1GB RAM
• Camera
• 5MP continuous auto focus
• 1.3MP Front
• LED Flash
• Zero shutter lag
• Video recording in 1080p
• USB: Micro USB
• NOTIFICATION: 3 color LED
• BUTTONLESS
• NFC
• ACCELEROMETER
• GYRO
• COMPASS
• PROXIMITY/LIGHT
• BAROMETER

Price:

• Rs. 49,999
• Three months of unlimited Mobile Internet for free (limited time offer), and a Samsung Customer Priority card!
• Phone would be unlocked

Terms and Conditions:

• This offer is valid for both indigo and JAZZ customers
• Free GPRS offer will remain valid for all handsets sold in the first 30 days only.
• GPRS usage will be restricted to 100Mb per month for a period of 3 months.
• Blackberry customers will not be eligible for 3 months free GPRS offer.
• Any customer who wants to activate IR will be deactivated from the Free GPRS bundle.
• Customers who are already active on IR will not be given 3 month Free GPRS bundle unless he/she deactivates his/her IR service.

Where to Get

This handset is only available at the following Mobilink Customer Care Centers:

• Karachi:
• Ground Floor, Nice Trade Orbit Building (NTO), Near Nursery Shop, Shaharah-E-Fisal
• D-21/22, Block 8, Chaudry Khaliquzzaman Road, Scheme 5, Kehkashaan, Clifton Karachi.
• Lahore:
• Waves Building,  64 D -1 Gulberg, Lahore
• Mobilink House , 5 P Gulberg II, Lahore
• Islamabad
• 78 E Redco Plaza, Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area
• Faisalabad
• Builiding # 1298/B, People Colony Near Saleemi Chowk, Satyana Road
• Multan
• 60 Bridge Lane, LMQ (Lahore Multan Quetta) Road, Near Kutchery
• Sukkur
• Plot No. 47,48 Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, Opposite: Red Carpet Hotel, Military Road
• Hyderabad
• Plot No. D-1 and D-4 R.E.C.H.S, Main Auto Bahn Road, Unit No.2 Latifabad

WiMAX South Asia Summit to be Held in Islamabad

The WiMAX Forum has announced its 2012 series of Operator Summits, WiMAX South Asia 2012, to be held at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan April 2^nd to 3^rd.

This event, officially endorsed by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority and co-organized with the assistance of Wateen Telecom, will focus specifically on supporting the South Asian operator community in deploying profitable WiMAX networks.

“WiMAX South Asia 2012 is an exciting opportunity for the broadband industry to exchange expertise and share success stories from across the world,” stated Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority.

“We welcome the WiMAX Forum to Pakistan and express our gratitude for bringing together a resource pool of international and local professionals that will help accelerate the proliferation of broadband, especially through WiMAX.”

WiMAX South Asia 2012 is an event for all participants, both operators and vendors, to meet, exchange ideas and develop business and cooperative relationships. The event will highlight the opportunities, challenges and strategies involved in operating a profitable WiMAX network in South Asia.

“As a pioneer for WiMAX technology in Pakistan, it is an honour for Wateen to bring the first WiMAX South Asia conference to the country,” said Naeem Zamindar, CEO Wateen Telecom. “I would like to congratulate the WiMAX Forum on hosting this year’s summit in Islamabad and providing an opportunity for telecom professionals to work together and share experiences.”

Topics of discussion will include:

• Exploring Different Go-to-Market Strategies for WiMAX operators
• Operational Considerations for Greenfield WiMAX Networks
• Timing and Planning Considerations for WiMAX network construction
• Core Network Strategies and more

WiMAX South Asia 2012 will be an interactive working event, and there will be no registration fee. Participation in this event is free and open to all participants of the WiMAX ecosystem, and membership in the WiMAX Forum is not a requirement for to attend.

Vote Verification via SMS Served 4.5 Million Requests in 2 Weeks

Over 4.5 million citizens have so far verified their records of vote through SMS servicewhich was launched from March 1 to facilitate citizens to verify their vote registrationand particulars in the voters lists.

Deputy Chairman National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Tariq Malik yesterday told APP that Mobilink, being the largest mobile phone operator is leading in term of checking vote verification through SMS, as around 1.44 million eligible voters have utilized its network.

Telenor is second as far as using the particular service is concerned. Around 1.282 million voters have so far checked the status of their votes through its network. Ufone is third in a row with 980,072 SMS, Warid with 448,438 and Zong with 392,816.

Tariq Malik said Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in collaboration with NADRA and mobile phone operators launched the world’s biggest short message service (SMS) for 83.2 million Pakistani voters besides displaying new electoral rolls across the country.

He said on sending at short code 8300 CNIC number (without dashes), a voters gets an SMS with the information of his/her electoral area name in Urdu language, where she/he is registered to vote, including tehsil and district. Exact Block code number per Pakistan Census Organization is also displayed with serial number in the respective voters list.

Mr. Malik appreciated the cooperation of mobile companies in this historic move leading towards ensuring free and fair elections. This is the initial phase and cellular companies will design more strategies to encourage citizens while with the passage of time.

Iran hacks BBC Persian TV

 Iran launched a “sophisticated cyber-attack” against BBC Persian TV, according to the BBC News. This is not the first time the Iranian government has tampered with the BBC’s Persian service.


Iran today hacked BBC Persian TV. The move is part of a broader attempt by the government to disrupt the BBC’s Persian service, according to BBC News. The BBC’s London office was inundated with automatic phone calls and the company’s satellite feeds into Iran were also jammed – while this only affected owners of illegal satellite dishes, these are of course the only ones that can receive the BBC signal in Iran.  for more....

Oracle trial against Google set for April

A U.S. judge scheduled a trial between Oracle Corp and Google Inc for April 16, 2012, over claims Google violated Oracle's intellectual property rights relating to the Java programming language, according to a ruling on Tuesday. 

The trial is set to take place in a San Francisco federal court.

Oracle sued Google in 2010, alleging the Web search leader's Android mobile operating technology infringes Oracle's Java patents.

In addition to those patent claims, Oracle also leveled copyright infringement claims against Google. Oracle acquired the Java programming language through its purchase of Sun Microsystems in 2010.

Oracle agreed to withdraw several claims after the patents were struck down by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However, two patents remain in the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote on Tuesday. for more...

Just Google it! Questions dumb people ask online

The online realm is replete with a vast cornucopia of information, just waiting to provide the hungry masses with nourishing nuggets of knowledge -- or (as in "The Hunger Games") scary-ass weapons of mass destruction.

So it baffles us to no end that instead of delving deep into said cornucopia and feasting on the kernels so lavished there when faced with a quandary, folks instead click on over to Twitter or Facebook and type missives akin to: "Der, der, der what day is Christmas this year?" for more...

The do's and don'ts of borrowing a computer

Supremely obvious observation: We love the Web. We love scrolling through tweets and blog posts and constantly updated news sites like rats in Skinner boxes. We love accessing the cloud, floating up into that sweet mass of data like Icarus and his wings of wax and feather.

The mere sound of our iPhone's chirp activates the brain regions involved in love and compassion, research shows. The bond we share with our computers or smartphones is, for many of us, the most lasting and fulfilling relationship we've managed to hold on to.

But when it comes to our gadgets, absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder. If you find yourself unhooked from your digital life support (say, because your phone is dead, your laptop is in the shop or you're wrapping up last week's challenge to put the phone down and look around this lovely world), you may need to ask those five little words: "Can I use your computer?" for more...

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 Review: A Lenovo Bestseller

Review 

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570: A Lenovo Bestseller. For those who is looking for a notebook that can play HD movies and run most of the latest games for a fair price.

for more..

Parents need more privacy info about kids' apps, feds say

Is that app you just downloaded surreptitiously gathering data to push targeted ads to your 6-year-old? Quite possibly.

According to a new Federal Trade Commission report, the vast majority of the thousands of mobile apps intended for children offer no privacy information, which makes it hard for parents to make informed decisions about which apps are safe to let their kids use.

In July, FTC staff searched Apple's and Google's app marketplaces for the term "kids" and found nearly 12,000 apps. They then randomly selected 200 kids' apps from each store and examined the information provided in the store about each app. They also visited developers' web pages for the apps. for more....

Grenade-throwing robot to fight fires on ships

 It might look like science fiction but the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) hopes to turn this humanoid robot into a seafaring fact in an effort to improve firefighting capabilities on board military vessels.

Currently at the development stage, the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (or SAFFiR for short) is intended to combat fires in the cramped conditions of a ship, saving lives and costly equipment.
for more....