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World Best Top Paying Ptc Sites

2010-07-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Telecom Telenor EasyPaisa makes an Urdu Website For Pakistanis

2010-07-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Telecom Telenor EasyPaisa makes an Urdu Website For Pakistanis.

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.

PAkistan's Ufone Telecom Raises Salaries By 15 to 25 Percent

2010-07-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Google eyes more government deals for online apps

2010-07-27T06:59:00.001-07:00

Google Inc. is gearing up to sell its e-mail and other Web-hosted applications to a wider range of government agencies after winning a prized security clearance.

The sales push announced Monday marks Google's latest attempt to siphon customers away from rival Microsoft Corp., whose Office suite of e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet and other programs is widely used by government agencies and businesses.
Google is hoping that more federal, state and local government agencies will feel comfortable buying its online applications now that they have the U.S. government's seal of approval. The Federal Information Security Management Act certification means that Google's system for running the online programs is considered reliable enough to store most electronic data handled by U.S. government employees. The clearance doesn't cover classified information.
It's the first time the U.S. government has certified a bundle of software programs delivered over the Internet, a trendy concept known as "cloud computing."
Google has been trying to promote cloud computing as a way for businesses and government agencies to reduce their technology expenses. At the same time, Google is hoping to reduce its financial dependence on Internet advertising, which generated virtually all of its $13.6 billion in revenue during the first half of this year.
Software licensing and other non-advertising services accounted for $558 million of Google's revenue in that period, a 53 percent increase from the same time last year.
The government represents a potentially huge growth market for Google.
Federal, state and local government agencies combined spend more than $120 billion annually on computers, software and other technology. As they grapple with widening budget deficits, many government officials are looking to reduce their expenses by considering money-saving options such as cloud computing. The upfront and maintenance costs of cloud-computing applications are generally lower than that of software installed on individual computers because the programs are leased and automatically updated by the Web host - in this case, Google.
Google charges $50 per user annually for the premium version of its applications suite. The company won't say precisely how many businesses and government agencies pay for its top-of-the-line apps as opposed to Google's more popular free version.
To gain the federal government's endorsement, Google agreed to store all government data in data centers located in the U.S. Google also is catering to government agencies with a new version of its applications tailored to their needs.
Google already has won several large government contracts, including a five-year deal with the city of Los Angeles in which it outbid Microsoft. Los Angeles wanted to switch over to Google's e-mail and other applications by June 30, but that target was missed because of security concerns raised by the city's police department. Google is now hoping to get its apps running for Los Angeles next month.

Yahoo! Japan adopts Google search engine

2010-07-27T06:51:00.001-07:00

A picture taken in 2009 in Paris shows the screen of a computer featuring the home page of Google's search engine. Japan's top Internet portal Yahoo! Japan on Tuesday announced a search alliance with Google, in a deal that would see both giants dominate the Japanese market in a possible blow to Microsoft.

Japan's top Internet portal Yahoo! Japan on Tuesday announced a search alliance with Google, in a deal that would see both giants dominate the Japanese market in a possible blow to Microsoft.

Yahoo! Japan will switch to Google's search engine this year from the Yahoo! Inc. technology currently used and deploy Google's online advertising and distribution system, while maintaining its current user interface.
In return, Yahoo! Japan will provide Google with data on online shopping or auction trends, excluding personal information.
"For Japan, we thought about what the best option would be and came to the conclusion that Google would be best for Yahoo! Japan's growth," said Masahiro Inoue, chief executive of the Japanese portal.
Despite its namesake the Japanese portal is 40 percent owned by telecoms operator Softbank, while Yahoo Inc. holds a 35 percent stake.
It is therefore not directly affected by the Internet search partnership reached last year between Microsoft and Yahoo!, an alliance aimed at boosting competition with Google, which has two-thirds of the global market.
The independently-run Japanese company is not obliged to use Microsoft's Bing technology, which will power Yahoo! in the United States by the end of the year and other regions later.
Inoue said the Bing search engine was at a disadvantage in Japan on "quite a lot of points", crucially lacking a Japanese-language service, whereas Google made the necessary linguistic provisions.
Inoue added that Yahoo! Inc chief and founder Jerry Yang gave him the green light to pursue the tie up with Google in Japan. "We don't think there is a problem of a monopoly," he added.
He added that the group would consider offering its services on Google's Android smartphones.
If Yahoo! Japan and Google team up, Microsoft is likely to try to block the deal from gaining regulatory approval in Japan, Dow Jones Newswires said.
Yahoo! Japan currently has about a 57 percent share of the search market and Google has about 37 percent, Inoue said. Microsoft has almost a three percent share.
"Considering that Yahoo! Japan is the most used portal in Japan, this is not good news for Microsoft. Yahoo! Japan was likely forced to choose Google because Google has an overwhelming share," said Eimei Yokota, an IT analyst at MM Research Institute.
The popularity of Microsoft's free "hotmail" email service -- embodied by its Windows Live Hotmail released globally in 2007 -- has receded and has been overtaken by Google's gmail service, he added. "Microsoft is on the backfoot."
Yahoo! Japan used Google in 2001-2004 before making the switch to Yahoo! Inc, a company spokesman said.
The Japanese portal said its net profit rose 12.6 percent in the first quarter to 21.6 billion yen (248 million dollars) from last year. Operating profit went up 10.2 percent to 37.5 billion yen on revenue up 4.2 percent to 70.5 billion yen.

S.Korea telecom firm to spend 4.3 billion dollars on network

2010-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

South Korea's KT Corp said Tuesday it would spend 5.1 trillion won (4.3 billion dollars) until 2014 expanding its network to meet fast-growing demand from smartphones and other digital devices.

The firm is South Korea's top fixed-line operator and second largest mobile carrier, and the exclusive domestic operator for Apple's iPhone.
South Korea's mobile phone market is one of the world's most vibrant, with 45 million users in a population of 49 million. But smartphones are a relatively small share, implying huge growth potential.
KT said it would spend 2.4 trillion won on third-generation (3G) cellular networks and 1.67 trillion won on more advanced Long Term Evolution services.
It also announced spending of 800 billion won on wireless fidelity (WiFi) and the high-speed wireless broadband technology WiBro.
The plan also includes spending 100 billion won on cloud computing, which gives customers the ability to store and access data on the Internet.
As of last November, when the iPhone was launched locally, smartphones only accounted for two-three percent of the total in South Korea, compared to almost 30 percent in Japan, according to analysts.
KT said it was planning for six million smartphone subscribers and one million tablet PC users by the end of next year and needed to prepare for the surge in demand.
It said data traffic had risen threefold in the six months to May 31 and that smartphone users consumed 21 times more data than conventional cellphone subscribers.
The company has sold 850,000 iPhones since they debuted in Korea last November. It plans to introduce the iPhone 4 in a couple of months, after its original release date this month was delayed.
Top mobile phone carrier SK Telecom announced this month it would create 15,000 WiFi zones in South Korea by the end of this year, up 50 percent from its initial plan, to boost wireless data usage.
The company said it would launch an LTE service next year to meet rising demand for high-speed data.

Mobilink Indigo Launches a new Handset Motorola Milestone

2010-07-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

Mobilink indigo is proud to be Pakistan’s leading postpaid connection; Mobilink has always kept their customers’ needs and satisfaction at first place. Mobilink indigo exclusively introduces a Motorola Milestone and unveils another cutting-edge, highly anticipated smartphone for the first time in Pakistan. Powered by Google’s Android software, the Milestone is a powerhouse which has the sleek looks to beat any stylish handset, and the software and functionality to match any high-end smartphone. Exclusively for indigo customers, Mobilink is offering FREE GPRS for 3 months with the purchase of every handset.

This exciting handset from Mobilink, powered by Google’s amazing Android 2.1 software – features a beautiful multi-touch, hi-resolution screen as well as a QWERTY keyboard, a 5.0 MP camera with auto focus and digital zoom, 8 GB user available memory (upto 32 GB expandable), and thousands of downloadable applications which ensure there’s never a dull moment with this handset.

Features
Size And weight
Weight 165g
Dimensions (H x W x D) 115.8 x 60 x 13.7 mm
Network & OS
Phone Network CDMA, EDGE, EVDO, GPRS, GSM, HSDPA (3G), HSUPA
OS Android OS, v2.1
Display
Main display Color TFT capacitive touchscreen
Color display 16.000.000 colors
Dimensions 3.7 in.
Resolution 480 x 854 pixels
External display No
Camera & Video Recording

Camera Yes Megapixels 5 megapixels
Maximum photo resolution 2592×1944 pixels
Digital zoom 4x
Optical zoom No
Auto focus Yes
Flash Yes
Recording video Yes
Second (front) camera> No
Data Input & Navigation
Multi-touch input method
Accelerometer sensor
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Full QWERTY keyboard with 5-way navigation key
Voice Input & Output
3.5mm stereo headset capable
Integrated earpiece/microphone
Built-in speakerphone (w / stereo speakers)
Connectivity
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
Infrared No>
Wi-Fi WLAN) Yes
USB MicroUSB v2.0
Fax / Data Yes
Memory
Internal memory 16GB
External memory 32GB
Memory slots Yes
Storage types MicroSD, MicroSDHC
Battery
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 1400 mAh (BP6X)
Standby time 350 hours
Talk time 6.4 hours
Messages
SMS Yes
MMS Yes
T9 text function Yes
E-mail Yes
Internet browsing Yes
Applications
Digital compass
MP3/eAAC+/WAV/WMA9 Audio player
MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV9 Video player
Google Search, Maps, Gmail
YouTube, Google Talk
Adobe Flash Player v10.1
Document viewer
Photo viewer/editor
Organizer
Voice memo/dial
Downloadble games
GPS
GPS with A-GPS support, Motonav software

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

City Sales and Service Center Location
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
Lahore First Floor Waves Building ,64-D 1 Gulberg III
Mobilink House, 5-P, Gulberg II
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
Gujranwala Mobilink House, G.T. Road (Near Zaheer Plaza, Laari Addah)
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

Terms & Conditions:
• Handset is only available from the selected Mobilink Customer Care centers as listed above
• JAZZ users can also purchase this handset
• Limited time offer
• FREE GPRS offer only for indigo customers
• Call 111 for details
• Available in select Sales and Service centers in select cities
• Club indigo customers may contact their assigned Account manager for details
• Terms and conditions apply

China considers big rocket power

2010-07-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Engines on China's Long March-5 will develop 120 tonnes of thrust

Chinese engineers are considering a new super-powerful engine for the next generation of space rockets, say officials.

According to Li Tongyu, general manager of the marketing department at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), engineers are currently studying a rocket engine with the thrust of 600 tonnes, burning highly potent liquid oxygen and liquid oxygen propellant.

If China succeeds in the development of such power, it would increase the nation's capabilities in space by orders of magnitude.

For comparison, China is currently well in the development of its most powerful rocket to date - Long March-5 - that would sport engines with the thrust of 120 tonnes.

"Rockets (with 600-tonne thrust engines) would only be justified for things like sending humans to the Moon, if such projects are approved,"

In March, the official China Daily newspaper disclosed that CALT was studying a super-heavy launch vehicle, which could be used to mount lunar expeditions.

At the time, the newspaper quoted CALT Vice President Liang Xiaohong as saying that the total lift-off thrust of the future heavy launcher would be 3,000 tonnes.

The rocket's architecture would thus be similar to the one adopted for the Long March-5 rocket, but at a considerably grander scale.

Although the expected payload of the future heavy lifter had not been disclosed, available details allow placing it close to the same category with that of the Saturn-5 rocket, which carried US astronauts to the Moon.

In the meantime, the development of the Long March-5 rocket was proceeding well toward its first test launch, currently expected in 2014, Li Tongyu said.

The vehicle's first stage engine had already accumulated more than 10,000 seconds of firing during tests - an important milestone on the way to its certification for real missions.

A full-scale prototype of the Long March 5 rocket would be ready for testing in 2012 and a year later, test firing of fully assembled rocket stages would be conducted.

When operational, Long March-5 is expected to deliver up to 25 tonnes of payload, including space station modules to the low Earth orbit, and up to 14 tonnes to the so-called geostationary transfer orbit, where most communications satellites are released after launch.

At the UK's Farnborough airshow, CALT demonstrated computer-generation videos, showcasing impressive new assembly and launch infrastructure of the Long March-5 rocket.

Newly built facilities will feature a sprawling campus not far from Chinese capital Beijing, where the rocket would be assembled.

The rocket stages would then be shipped to the launch site in the very south of China, where it could take advantage of the Earth rotation to maximise its cargo capabilities.

Along with Earth-orbiting satellites, the Long March-5 is expected to carry Chinese spacecraft into deep space, including unmanned missions to return soil samples from the Moon.

Dark matter hunt eyes deeper home

2010-07-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

The dark matter experiment could relocate to a deeper site in Canada's SNOLAB facility

Scientists are looking to relocate an underground experiment searching for dark matter to an even deeper site.

Cosmic rays striking the Earth could completely mask the rare dark matter events sought by the experiment.

Team members want to cut out as much of this cosmic ray interference as possible, even if it means moving the experiment 2km below ground.

This could help them positively identify the particles thought to make up dark matter.

Dr Marek Kos, who is a team member on the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search II (CDMSII) project, outlined details at the International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) in Paris.

He said the experiment could be relocated from a mine in Minnesota to a deeper facility in Ontario, Canada.

The matter we can see makes up just 17% of matter in the Universe; the remaining 83% is "dark", meaning it does not reflect or emit detectable light.

The existence of dark matter has been inferred through the gravitational pull it exerts on luminous galaxies and stars.

Though scientists have no idea what it consists of, one popular theory is that dark matter is made up of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).

Supporters of the idea believe a large number of WIMPS pass through the Earth every second. But, because they interact only very weakly with normal matter, detecting them is difficult.

Experiments such as CDMSII measure large numbers of particle interactions in their detectors in the hope of spotting one caused by a WIMP.

CDMSII operates at extremely low temperatures and detects the energy released when particles hit atoms in germanium and silicon crystals within the detectors.

Mystery events

CDMSII is currently housed at the Soudan mine in Minnesota. The experiment resides on the 27th level - some 2,341ft below the surface. The original experiment was located in a tunnel on the Stanford University campus in California.

Dr Kos commented: "If we have another successful run at Soudan, we're planning to go even deeper, possibly - to the SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario, in Canada.

"It is at 6,000m water equivalent - a figure that's used to compare it to other experiments - but it's about 2km underground."

Going this deep would help reduce the background signals from cosmic ray muon particles. This effect can only be reduced by moving deeper underground.

Last year, team members made headlines when they reported the detection of two signals which could have come from dark matter particles.

However, writing in the American journal Science, they also reported that the statistical likelihood these were due to WIMPs was low.

Dr Kos, from Syracuse University in the US, told BBC News: "We were critical of those events when we saw them. Discovering WIMPs is a big deal and you've got to be sure you're looking at the right thing."

Bigger and better

Scientists are in the process of installing improved detection equipment at the Soudan mine.

"We're fabricating bigger detectors and some of those are already underground and operational," said Dr Kos.

These will help exclude false positive signals. The detectors pick up two types of particle interactions: electron recoils and nuclear recoils.

WIMPs hitting the detectors are expected to produce nuclear recoils. But certain electron recoils can look like nuclear recoils - these are known as "surface events".

The new detectors are designed to be much better at distinguishing WIMPs from surface events.

Dr Kos said team members were pushing for the new detection equipment to be fully installed by the Autumn, but that there was as yet no firm timescale.

Meanwhile, several other experiments are joining international efforts to hunt for signals from these particles.

One of these is the Large Underground Xenon (Lux) experiment. Like CDMS, this aims to make a direct detection of WIMP particles, but uses different technology. It is being housed underground at the Homestake mine in South Dakota, US.

Meanwhile, Nasa's Fermi Space Telescope is taking a different approach to try to pin down dark matter. It will look for evidence of dark matter "annihilations" in space.

These annihilations are thought to occur when two WIMPs collide, generating gamma-rays which can be picked up by detectors such as those on board Fermi.

However, speaking at ICHEP, Dr Robert Johnson said team members had found no evidence as yet for these events.

Record Facebook membership hits 500 million mark

2010-07-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

The number of people using Facebook hit the 500 million mark on Wednesday, meaning one in every 14 people on the planet has now signed up to online social-networking service.

"As of this morning, 500 million people all around the world are actively using Facebook to stay connected with their friends and the people around them," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post.

"This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world."

To celebrate, the California firm introduced an application that lets members of the online community "tell the incredible stories of the moving and interesting ways they've used Facebook."

Examples given by Zuckerberg included NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen jogging with Facebook fans during his term as Danish prime minister and a US woman using the service to battle breast cancer.

"Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected," Zuckerberg said.

"I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started 6 years ago."

Zuckerberg has pointed to Facebook's unrelenting growth to rebuff criticism of feature changes or privacy safeguards at the website.

Americans are increasingly obsessed with Facebook and many young women check their page even before using the bathroom in the morning, according to a poll released last week.

However, a US study released on Tuesday indicates that while people may be addicted to Facebook they rank it near the bottom when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Facebook landed with notoriously despised airlines and cable television companies in the bottom 5 percent of private companies ranked in a 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index E-Business Report produced in partnership with ForeSee Results.

"Our research shows that privacy concerns, frequent changes to the website, and commercialization and advertising adversely affect the consumer experience," ForeSee chief executive Larry Freed said in a release.

Zuckerberg openly advocates Internet firms releasing innovations quickly and "iterating" with improvements.

"It's clear that while innovation is critical, sometimes consumers prefer evolution to revolution," Freed said.

Facebook recently overhauled privacy controls in the face of a barrage of criticism that it is betraying the trust which has made it the world's biggest social network.

Facebook is growing despite criticisms because "there really isn't a strong alternative and Facebook is relatively sticky, migrating off is a ton of work," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

Leaving Facebook ostensibly involves finding a new online home for photos and other digital content from profile pages and then convincing friends to join one there.

"People keep joining Facebook because that is where their friends are," Enderle said.

"Until there is a strong alternative, we won't even have the beginnings for change. And the more people that join Facebook, the stronger that competitor is going to have to be."

Technology titans Google and Microsoft have the resources and the motivation to field or back a Facebook rival, according to the analyst.

Microsoft bought a small stake in Facebook three years ago for 240 million dollars (US).

Microsoft added Facebook to Outlook last week, giving users of its popular email program the ability to view status updates, pictures and wall posts from their friends on the social network.

Google loses out in Chinese search engine market

2010-07-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Google's share of the Chinese search engine market fell in the second quarter while the US Internet giant was embroiled in a public battle with Beijing over censorship, a research firm said Wednesday.

The web titan's share of the world's biggest online market fell to 24.2 percent in the three months to June, from 30.9 percent in the first quarter, Analysys International said in a report.

At the same time, Chinese web search engine Baidu increased its dominance with its market share rising to 70 percent in the second quarter from 64 percent in the first three months of the year.

China's search market was worth 2.67 billion yuan (394 million dollars) in the second quarter, up 48 percent year on year.

"Uncertainty over Google helped Baidu to expand its market share," Analysys said.

In March, Google said it would no longer bow to government censors and effectively shut down its Chinese search engine, automatically re-routing mainland users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong.

The web giant has since tweaked the way it re-routes users in order to gain the renewal of its business licence in China.

Analysys said Google's decision to shift its server to Hong Kong and uncertainty over the renewal of its licence cost the company valuable market share.

"But now the uncertainties have been resolved, Google will make a comeback," the research firm said.

The number of Internet users in China has leapt to 420 million, according to official figures released last week.

The figure, almost a third of the population, marks an increase of 36 million -- more than the population of Canada -- since the number of users was last given at the end of 2009.

Baidu is due to release its second-quarter results, which analysts expect to show a 67-70 percent year-on-year increase in revenue.

Zong Telecom Becomes the Fastest Growing Network in Pakistan

2010-07-22T07:29:00.001-07:00

Zong has become the fastest growing network of Pakistan as it has recorded 500 percent growth in terms of number of cell sites during the last three years. The Company now has 5,612 cell sites out of which a massive 4,500 have been set up since 2007.

In April 2008, Zong joined the Telecom industry in Pakistan as the smallest operator. It took ZONG two years and the fastest rollout in the history of the industry to setup a network which its competitors had taken more than a decade to set up. ZONG now covers 10,000 cities, towns and villages across Pakistan.

“It has been more than 2 years since the launch of ZONG during which we have made monumental progress,” said Salman Wassay, Head of Marketing, ZONG. “In all areas of our operations, we have upped the ante and set new benchmarks for the industry,” added Wassay.

ZONG’s reach now stretches from the mountain tops of Ishkoman in Gilgit-Baltistan to the rocky plains of Buleda in Balochistan to the midst of mega cities. It has chosen to work with some of the top companies like Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE to provide top-of-the-line infrastructure for its services.

ZONG has so far invested US $1.66 billion in Pakistan and has plans to further invest $300 million in 2010 which is the largest investment by any telecom operator in the current year. The Company continues to invest heavily in the construction of GSM networks, support systems and transmission facilities, and for the development of new technologies and new businesses. China Mobile – the parent company of ZONG – pursues continuous innovation in the provision of services, business, technology and management and has sustained a leadership position in the telecom industry.

Pakistan Zong Telecom Offers you to Block Promotional SMS (

2010-07-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Zong has become the first operator to provide its customers with a facility to block promotional SMS, a unique service through which you will be able to restrict promotional SMS from the comfort of your homes and offices.

Usually, other companies block promotional messages by calling helpline or by visiting service centers.

How to Block Promotional Messages:

To block promotional SMS,

Visit this URL: http://203.82.55.30/websms/blocklist.aspx
Enter your number and you will receive a PIN Code
Enter that PIN code on the website to block all promotional SMS.

How to UnBlock Promotional Messages:

To unblock promotional SMS just enter your number and unblock the promotional SMS.

Nokia Siemens to buy Motorola wireless gear unit

2010-07-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

n this file photograph taken May 8, 2007, the company logo of Nokia Siemens Networks is displayed in front of the headquarters in Munich, southern Germany. Nokia Siemens Networks says it will acquire the majority of Motorola's wireless operations in a $1.2 billion deal.(AP Photo/Diether Endlicher)

(AP) -- Motorola Inc. said Monday that it is selling most of its wireless network division to Nokia Siemens Networks, a Finnish-German joint venture, for $1.2 billion as part of a planned breakup of the company.

The division supplies wireless carriers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. with the equipment they need to connect to cell phones. It's not a big player in an industry dominated by LM Ericsson AB and Alcatel-Lucent, but it does have valuable relationships with U.S. and Japanese carriers that Nokia Siemens hopes to exploit.

About 7,500 employees will be transferred to Nokia Siemens, Motorola said. The company is based in Schaumburg, Ill., but the networks division has large development centers in India and China.

Nokia Siemens Networks - a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG of Germany - has seen dwindling profits in recent years, worsened by the global economic downturn. The deal, expected to be completed by the end of the year, would improve profitability and "have significant upside potential," Nokia Siemens said.

Motorola has planned for years to spin off the division that makes cell phones, but steep losses in the unit have forced it to postpone the move. The spin-off is now scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

The handset division, to be called Motorola Mobility, would take with it the division that makes cable set-top boxes.

That would leave Motorola Solutions, the remainder, focused on government and corporate clients, with products such as police radios and bar-code scanners. It's also keeping one part of its wireless network portfolio: the division that makes iDEN equipment, used in the Nextel part of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network. Motorola invented that technology and is the dominant supplier of equipment.

Its push-to-talk feature is appreciated by dispatchers and work crews, but has been overshadowed in the mainstream by other technologies that provide broadband data speeds.

The wireless division has had some success in the business of making equipment for broadband networks that use WiMax, but that technology looks set to be a niche at best. The major wireless carriers are planning to use a technology known as LTE, for Long-Term Evolution. Motorola hasn't secured any LTE contracts in the U.S., but has signed one with KDDI in Japan.

Motorola shares rose 15 cents, or 2 percent, to $7.50 in pre-market trading Monday. The shares have gained more than 40 cents since The Wall Street Journal reported last week that a deal with Nokia Siemens was in the offing.

U.S.-listed Nokia shares were up 15 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $8.89.

New generation security body scanner unveiled by ThruVision Systems

2010-07-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thruvision's unique passive security imaging technology (Credit: Thruvision Systems Ltd)

ThruVision Systems Ltd has officially launched the TS4, its new generation of compact security body scanner, at the Farnborough International Air Show in Hampshire.

A spin out from Science and Technology Facilities Council, ThruVision Systems' unique passive security imaging technology can detect explosives, liquids, narcotics, weapons, plastics and ceramics hidden under clothing and can image both metallic and non-metallic threat objects concealed on still or moving subjects, without revealing body details and also without radiating the person with energy. ThruVision System's technology functions by collecting a natural thermal energy that is emitted by all people.

Combining all the groundbreaking features of ThruVision Systems' existing scanners with a significantly increased frame rate, improved image definition, a larger field of view and greater usability, the TS4 provides a more compact, yet more effective and powerful alternative to full body scanners.

The TS4 has been designed for use in both checkpoint and stand-off people screening applications and, being compact, can be deployed discreetly if required. Having already been trialled in a major European airport, the TS4 offers a viable solution for contraband detection by Customs agencies, amongst other applications. The TS4 has generated significant interest from a host of government agencies and the corporate security community.

David Haskett, ThruVision Systems' Product and Marketing Manager said: “We've worked closely with our existing customers during the evolution of the TS4 and feedback has been particularly positive, the product trials have been successful and initial market feedback has been very encouraging. We have focused on delivering a complete TS4 solution for our customers and offer a range of customised accessories which enable the systems to be integrated into existing infrastructures.”

Clive Beattie, CEO at ThruVision Systems added: “The launch of the TS4 is an important milestone in our history because it has been developed to meet specific customer requirements and the needs of the public.”

ThruVision Systems' passive imaging technology stems from a collaborative European Space Agency project, based on research carried out over many years by UK astronomers, including those at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, to study dying stars.

More information: You can visit ThruVision Systems at the Farnborough International Air Show, 19-25 July, Stand H3/D24.

Aaply Jobs Online in Pakistan Celluler companies

2010-07-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

The Cellular companies in Pakistan are providing Jobs to thousands of people in different areas of their organizations, This includes but not limited to Engineering, Call Centers, Marketing, HR, Operations, Accounts and many others.

Vacancies for jobs are advertised in Newspapers, through online portals, or sometimes people are hired by internal references. Today we are going to give you a short review about the Online Career portals of these Celcos.

Mobilink GSM (PMCL):

Mobilink is the largest and oldest cellular company in Pakistan, comprising of 4500+ work force, 25% of which is female staff.

Mobilink uses a Job Application System powered by Rozee.pk for its recruitment. You can use your Rozee account to login to their system, where you can check current openings and apply for those if you meet the criteria. Once you have applied – your application is reviewed and short listed candidates are required to go through multi tiered interviews with line management and the human resources teams.

You are kept in the loop on the outcome of the selection process in writing. If you are identified as the best fit for the role and upon satisfactory reference checks, an appointment letter follows.

Telenor:

Telenor claims to have policy of non-discrimination towards all employees and applicants for employment. About 18% staff comprises of females. Telenor has developed its own Job Application System, Where you build your CVs online, and unique CV tracking number is allocated to every user.

Using Telenor’s system with your password you can login to your account and View/Apply for current openings, you can also change/add your CV by editing different areas like education, work experience etc. The system is very easy to use with step by step guidelines, jobs are regularly updated there, Telenor also has maintained an account on Rozee.pk

Ufone:

Ufone official website allows you to Apply online by simply uploading your Resume and mentioning your Email, your resume must be in Microsoft Office .doc or .docx formats. Unfortunately the new Ufone continues the same trend and there are no options for creating a CV online, also there is no section for currently available jobs, Ufone also has an account with Rozee.pk but no jobs have been posted there since long.

Warid:

Previously warid was using its own Global Job Application system, www.waridjobs.com, which was not updated since 2007, now this website has gone under maintenance.

Warid is currently using Oracle’s iRecruitment solution, which is a full-cycle recruiting solution. Where you can register and search for jobs on the basis of keywords, job category, date posted, and location etc. This iRecruitment system is difficult to use and sometimes works well only with Internet Explorer.

Zong(CMPak):

Previously Zong was using its own Job Application system, where you first have to create your resume online and then apply for current available jobs, but now the Career portal link is attached with Zong’s Rozee account.

However, there is an issue with hyper linking and as the link forwards you to Rozee.pk Homepage, You can visit the official Zong’s Rozee portal at http://zong.rozee.pk/, You can also send your resume in .doc and .docx formats to apply@zong.com.pk.

Beliscity Launches Online Book Store, Grocery Store to Follow!

2010-07-20T08:28:00.001-07:00

Beliscity, Online shopping stop for Pakistan focused audience, has launched its online book store starting with around 1,000 titles in the stock already, claims the website.

http://www.beliscity.com/

This is indeed a step forward for online product retailing other than computer and technology gadgets.

This is not it; Beliscity is preparing to launch a grocery store, which they are planning to announce on August 1^st, 2010.

There is no doubt that market is ripe, where people want to stay home if they get quality products at their doorstop and against good prices, so If nicely done with good prices, these two newly formed departments of Beliscity will make the difference.

Pakistan May Launch New Satellite Next Year

2010-07-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

Pakistan is planning to replace PAKSAT-1 with a new communication satellite PAKSAT-1R and hopefully it will be launched on August 14, 2011. The satellite will support all conventional and modern Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) applications, will use the geostationary orbit, and acquire a constant height of 36,000km above the surface of earth crust.

Manager PAKSAT (SUPARCO) Waseem-ul Hassan in an interview with APP said that the satellite will have a total of up to 30 transponders and life time of the satellite would be 15 years. Giving some more details about the satellite, he said it would carry the communication pay-load that consists of internet broadband, TV channels distributions, tele-medicine and tele-education.

He mentioned that work on the project is started with full bloom, and the measurements are taken to make it perfect and a long-term loans are also made for this project. Manager PAKSAT said, as per the technology achievements in the region, Pakistan has to make fast and competitive progress in the technology of space sciences. Some more satellites would also be launched in the next years by Pakistan, he added.

“It is a right time for Pakistan to make such progresses while the eyes of world are on us”. In future such contributions, that make the Pakistan in every field a proud one, will be made and always be made for not only to assist Pakistani nation but to give a big helping hand to whole humanity, he maintained.

NUST Students Prepare Brain Controlled Robotic Arm

2010-07-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Handicaps are always considered integrated part in every society. So most people don’t even think of making something useful for such people but there are minds which always think out the box.

They think how can we use our God gifted talent to serve other humans, which bring true value to society as Einstein said “Try not to become a man of successful but rather a man of value”.

This is a verse by Allama Iqbal which conveys message from God to a common man that “If you’re talented and you work hard you’ll be rewarded”. It’s rightly said that “Human brains have powers beyond measures”. This statement has been proven by a group of Pakistani students from NUST University who recently invented Brain Controlled Artificial Robotic Hand.

This Robotic Hand is very simple to operate and it’s a blessing for handicapped people. Just connect some sensors with your arm, now whatever you think in your brain regarding the movement of your arm this robotic arm will follow your brain’s order.

These kinds of projects are very rare and expensive in the world but Pakistani students maashaaAllah with their talent and hard work proved again that when we work for what we desire we get what we need.

Pakistan top in Porn Search: Google Denies

2010-07-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

Google officially denied the accuracy of its search trends that declared Pakistan as the top nation searching for illicit material on the internet, reported Dawn News.

In an email sent to dawn.com, Therese Lim of Google’ communications and Public Affairs Southeast Asia team said,

“We do our best to provide accurate data and to provide insights into broad search patterns, but the results for a given query, such as those reported in this story from Pakistan, may contain inaccuracies because the sample size is too small for the results to be statistically sound.”

Internet Service Provider Association of Pakistan has also declared statistics regarding pornography in Pakistan as flawed.

Earlier, Myinfobuzz had published a detailed report, incorporated by Google Data, to show that Pakistan isn’t even in top 10 countries for porn search, leave alone the top slot.

Last week FoxNews had produced a report alleging Pakistan to be number one nation for porn search.

Pakistan-or-pornistan

2010-07-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today Fox News published a report on Pakistan and refereed to it as Pornistan claiming that it is “No. 1 Nation in Sexy Web Searches”. Whatever keywords Fox News has mentioned are factual and not made-up.

I don’t deny the fact that Pakistan ranks 1st on these keywords. I also don’t deny the fact that porn is popular in Pakistan. However, I deny that Pakistan is “No. 1 Nation in Sexy Web Searches” as claimed by Fox News.

Pakistan is top dog in searches per-person for “horse sex” since 2004, “donkey sex” since 2007, “rape pictures” between 2004 and 2009, “rape sex” since 2004, “child sex” between 2004 and 2007 and since 2009, “animal sex” since 2004 and “dog sex” since 2005, according to Google Trends and Google Insights, features of Google that generate data based on popular search terms.

It’s funny how the mentioned keywords are few of the least popular keywords when it comes to pornography. Below is the image of comparison of these keywords along with other major keywords related to pornography like “sex”, “porn”, “big tits”

If you have a look at the image, the search volume for keyword “sex” is FAAAR more than other keywords. Keyword “Porn” has the 2nd highest search volume. Followed by “big tits” and then there is this little search volume for “rape sex” and “horse sex” which you might spot with a magnifying glass.

Since we have an understanding that other keywords consume much largely to porn searches, let’s now have a look at their traffic distribution.

Regional traffic for “Sex”:

Regional traffic for “Porn”:

Regional traffic for “Big tits”:

I don’t see Pakistan occurring even in the top 10 regions here. It’s a shame how Fox news has refereed to a country as Pornistan just to sell off their papers. We all exactly know the status of Fox news in international media. The stunt they played is exactly like referring to Pakistan as “Number 1 nation in music searches” since it ranks number 1 on keyword “Sufi Music”!

Just to add further, as per FoxNews’ formula, whole of United States of America is inhumane and USA is wildest nation as a whole – see following if you don’t believe me:

www.myinfobuzz.blogspot.com

InstantPay: PayPal Alternative for Pakistan & MEA

2010-07-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

InstantPay, a product of TheBC.com is said to be a PayPal alternative for Pakistan, Middle East, Africa and rest of the world where ecommerce infrastructure is yet to kick high gears.

When we say InstantPay would be PayPal alternative then it gonna have following features:

You will have an online virtual account
Deposit money into your online account,
Redeem money through ATM cards
Buy/Sell products/services online
Transfer money online
Interbank money transfer
And of course more!

So just assume if you are enabled with above mentioned features, what else would you require being in Pakistan?

We know that InstantPay is going to offer you all these services, starting with a virtual online bank account that will offer all the luxuries of conventional bank account plus an ability to make and accept payments online.

Through sources we know that these virtual bank accounts will come with ATM cards, meaning that you will be able to withdraw money from any ATM in Pakistan or worldwide, thanks to InstantPay’s contract with international payment vendors.

This equation suggests that an individual will be able to sell products online, and get the money in cash format through nearby ATM. Sounds perfect given that InstantPay bank accounts will be audited for taxing through FBR exactly the way physical bank accounts are monitored, so money laundering is out of question.

We may not say any words on the procedures of the InstantPay as they will be kept secret till the launch in September 2010.

InstantPay will start with 50 invite only virtual accounts in the beginning. If you want to be one of lucky 50, simply fill a form here: http://www.thebc.com/instantpay/intro.php

It merits mentioning here that TheBC.com, the parent company of InstantPay is headed by Sulaman Choudary, a young Pakistani who recently returned home after graduating from US.

In short, the news is – a Pakistani individual will be enabled to make/receive online payments from September 2010 onwards.

It’s too early to call InstantPay a threat for conventional banks, but Banks and EasyPaisa sure need to take this solution seriously.

Instant Virus Killer: An anti-virus product made in Pakistan

2010-07-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here’s a piece of trivia for you. Do you know who wrote the very first virus for PCs? (Not anti-virus, but virus) It was a group of Pakistanis. Much of the credit is given to Amjad and Basit Alvi, but those who were connected to the duo say it was actually Ashar Nisar, their friend from UET, who actually wrote it. Anyway, whichever one from amongst these three erstwhile friends did the deed, the bottom line is that it was undoubtedly Pakistanis. The first PC virus was perpetuated via the boot sector and was named the Brain virus. It didn’t do anything particularly violent; just propagated itself ad-infinitum.

So, we’ve come full circle now and the vicious virus/anti-virus cycle we Pakistanis started, we are now trying to address once and for all. That’s where Karachi based company IT Solutions comes in with their “Instant Virus Killer” anti-virus product. Frankly, the marketing material is pretty weak and I haven’t tested the product since they don’t provide a free download. The claims made are pretty incredible, so without any further proof or explanation of how these miraculous feats are accomplished, I have to stop short of an endorsement and take things with a healthy dose of skepticism.They basically talk about fixing everything from data corruption in Office documents, to ‘NTLDR missing’ bootup issues to virus cleaning and spyware prevention… quite a list.

Apple to give iPhone 4 users free cases

2010-07-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

Apple will give iPhone 4 users a free case for their smartphones to help them with antenna and receptions problems, even though those issues have been reported by just a fraction of the phone's users, CEO Steve Jobs said Friday during a press conference the company called at its headquarters to discuss ongoing issues with the smartphone.

Users who buy the new version of the iPhone by Sept. 30 will be able to sign up on the Apple website to receive a free case -- or "bumper" -- starting late next week. Users who already bought bumpers will receive refunds, he said. "And if you're still not happy, before or after you get a free case, you can bring your iPhone 4 back undamaged within 30 days for a full refund."

The company knew that if users gripped the iPhone 4 a certain way that the bars of reception would drop, but didn't think it would be a big problem, he said during a 15-minute presentation in Cupertino, California. And, according to figures from AppleCare, the company's help desk, 0.55 percent of iPhone users have called to report antenna or reception problems, contrary to how it might seem based on the ongoing coverage of the reception issue, he suggested.

"You know, we're not perfect," Jobs said at the start of his presentation. "And phones aren't perfect either. But we want to make all of our users happy. And if you don't know that about Apple, you don't know Apple."

Since the problem was reported 22 days ago, the company has worked hard to find out "what the real problem is," he said, opening his presentation by saying that other smartphones have the same issues and then ticking off a list of competing phones.

"Most smartphones behave exactly the same way," he said."Now these phones were tested in areas of relatively weak signal strength, as other testers have reported. This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren't perfect."

AT&T has supplied Apple with data on drop rates, which show that the iPhone 4 does drop more calls per 100 than its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS, but the figure is still not substantial, Jobs said.

Europe overtakes Asia to become top producer of email spam

2010-07-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

A report said that Europe has overtaken Asia as the biggest source of email spam worldwide with Britain a major culprit.

Europe has overtaken Asia as the biggest source of email spam worldwide with Britain a major culprit, a report said Thursday.

Europe produced over a third of the world's total junk emails in the second quarter of 2010, slightly more than Asia, information technology security firm Sophos said. Asia had been ahead of Europe in the first quarter.

In terms of countries, it singled out Britain as a major contributor to Europe being given the dubious honour.

"The UK... saw a significant rise in the proportion of spam it relayed. With a total output of 4.6 percent of the world's spam, this puts the UK in fourth place overall compared with ninth earlier this year," the report said.

A steady increase in spam generation from France, Italy and Poland were also contributing factors leading to Europe's rise, it said.

Asian countries' rankings in the "hall of shame" generally fell, with both Vietnam and China dropping five places to tenth and twentieth, respectively.

The United States remained the world's single biggest generator of junk emails, accounting for 15.2 percent of total spam sent in the second quarter, up from 13.1 percent in the previous three months.

India came in second (7.7 percent) and Brazil took third place (5.5 percent).

South Korea (4.2 percent) came after Britain to be the world's fifth largest source of spam, followed by France (4.1 percent), Germany (4 percent), Italy (3.5 percent) and Russia (2.8 percent).

Sophos also said spam emails constituted 97 percent of all emails received by business email servers, "putting a strain on network resources and wasting a huge amount of time to lost productivity".

"It's an uphill struggle educating users about the dangers of clicking on links or attachments in spam mails, and that their computers may already be under the control of cybercriminals," said Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley.

"Spam will continue to be a global problem for as long as it makes money for the spammers. It makes commercial sense for the criminals to continue if even a tiny proportion of recipients clicks on the links."