Digitalization of Mobilink is what we need today

Controlling the Crime & Interacting
WITH PUBLIC,POLICE GOES SMART WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Glamorous and Star-studded
Launch of Huawei Mate S and G8
Digitalization
of Mobilink is
what we need
today
Aamir Ibrahim
CCO & Deputy CEO, Mobilink
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Price: 150/-
November 2015 Content
Telecom
Volume: 9, Issue 3
IN THIS ISSUE
Event
Digitalization of Mobilink is
what we need today, Aamir
Ibrahim 08
How 5 SIM limit on one CNIC
causing massive decrease in sales & revenues of
Telcos? 29
Technology
Controlling The Crime & Interacting With Public,
Police Goes Smart With Modern Technology 12
A Tale of a Technology illiterate buying a Laptop
26
Innovation in Asia: Intel’s Five of the Best
22
Opinion
A Comparison between Online and Print Reading
Habits of Pakistanis 16
Energy
Alternative Energy,
what options we
have 34
Alternative
Energy
Glamorous and Star-studded Launch of Huawei
Mate S and G8 36
GITEX 2015: The largest trading event of Dubai
brings latest innovation for people 42
Review
Say Hi to skinny entrant in the market, Haier
Esteem i50 38
Lifestyle
How to Reduce Lower Back Pain in 7 minutes?
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Buyer’s Guide
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Telecom
Digitalization of Mobilink is what we need today
Aamir Ibrahim
by Mudassar Jehangir
I
t must have been his love and tremendous regards for the largest operator which
persuaded Aamir Ibrahim to start giving back to the company what he learnt during
the course of his career.
Mobilink had welcomed him when Aamir started his career back in 90s and now once
again, after years of journey, he has come back, but this time, as a leader, in the capacity
of Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy CEO.
He is very excited and talks much about digitalization of the company. How he plans to do
it is worth sharing with readers. His valuable comments and experiences are mentioned
below;
Where the market leader stands in the existing 3G regime?
I think Mobilink started on a good journey as you know that 3G
license was awarded last year and four of the operators got the
licenses whereas all five are rolling out their respective networks.
Mobilink is at par with the remaining telcos but if i talk more
critically, i would say we could have done more. When i say more,
i think we entered into a price war too soon rather than improving
the grade of services.
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November 2015
Talking about industry, the transition we had from broadband
to mobile broadband was done in a slightly immature fashion.
Because as industry we were probably too excited to announce
the early number of subscribers rather than creating a stable
environment for the customers to benefits from. When you work
in a competitive environment everybody has the same rule. They
add more subscribers and cities and in a similar manner you
respond as well. But this all started a statistical race which is no
way in anybody’s favor as of yet.
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And how do you plan to change this strategy at Mobilink?
Soon as government awarded 3G licenses, Mobilink, like rest of
the players, entered into a race that was aimed to capture highest
3G customers in the shortest time. I disagree with the strategy.
Rather, i would have preferred to give a stable experience to the
existing customers.
After coming over here i changed this strategy a little bit to improve
our services in more than 300 cities rather than going to thousand
towns. Today, we are experiencing more stable and consistent 3G
experience in all the cities where we exist. So i can comfortably
say that we are going through a strategy of densification and
improvement of our services.
In terms of building real 3G eco-system, all of us in the industry
are behind. We have just provided the highway but what is on
the other side of the highway, we still have to bring this to the
customers.
Does it mean that you are not getting expected 3G revenues?
Honestly, no we are not! And it is because of the price war as i
mentioned earlier. If you look at some of the offers coming in right
now you will find something like 7GBs in 7 Rupees in 7 days. You
know, 1GB around the world can be sold for as much as hundred
dollars but in Pakistan we are selling it for Re. 1 which is highly
unacceptable.
The craziness that we all have given in the market, may be liked
by some customers but it is unfair. The per GBs rates that we are
giving in Pakistan are lower than our cost.
Let’s take it this way, 4 companies bid for licenses, paid over $ 1 bn
collectively and then further invested another 500 - 600 million
dollars in rolling out infrastructure.
We provided something for the customers who are now over 18
million in Pakistan and having the benefit of 3G. Government
made money from the licensing, the customers have gotten access
of mobile broadband at extremely low prices but the third player
which is actually enabling all of this has’t benefitted anything.
If you look at the top-line of the industry, it probably has moved by
1 percent for me this year as compared to the last year.
Now you find me one investor in the world who will accept a
response like that. After spending this much you get nothing at
the top-line. That’s a fairly a damaging score card from a financial
investment standpoint.
What’s the biggest challenge for largest operator, externally and
internally?
When you are at the top, you always face this challenge of getting
attacked from outside. There are always more people to take the
shot at you. So maintaining our leadership position is a challenge
for us.
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“
“
When i talk about the growth within the company i think of 3 things;
Digitalization, MFS and B2B. In the long run every body is going to be a 3G
user. We just have to create the appropriate local content which will excite
customers to spend money.
It’s not a secret that the difference between us and number 2 has
decreased significantly over the years which is understandable.
Although, we have started increasing that gap again but as a leader
you will always get attacked.
Internally, you become less agile, you become more process
oriented. When you become successful, you take things for
granted, you lose the hunger. Whereas, the number 2 and 3
operator would be more hungry.
How to do you actually create the excitement to start that spirit
again? How do you get these kids and middle senior management
to really get out of bed and motivate them to try to do something
different is the task now. i think that’s what we need to create.
It’s been 4 months since i have come back and my observations are
mostly around the cultural elements. I think our ability to execute
things should be faster. We need to have spirit to pick the start
again. Our ownership as employees need to change and i think our
working culture should allow for some risk taking and induction
of fresh ideas. No matter how good you are as an employee,
after some time you need a new challenge and i think, may be in
Mobilink the level of cross fertilization of talent has gone slow.
People were doing the same job for number of years. You should
be put into a new position where there is a new learning and add
something new to the environment.
I think the way things are changing outside is faster than how
things are changing inside. If that remains the case then you lose.
If i look at Mobilink in its entirety, our biggest challenge may be
internal and not the external i would say.
Mobilink hasn’t crossed 40 million mark since long, where
would you get the new numbers and revenue stream coming
from?
Pakistan still has huge potential especially in terms of number
of subscribers in this multi-SIM environment. We have about
120 million unique subscribers and you can see there is organic
opportunity.
When we look at revenue streams, we have 3 major areas. We
have talked about digital data, although the trend hasn’t been very
healthy but i think in the long run every body is going to be a 3G
user. We just have to create the appropriate local content which
will excite customers to spend money.
Secondly, Mobile Financial Service is another growth area.
Pakistan is a hugely underbanked environment for the only about
12% having access to some kind of financial institution. These
financial services coupled with data make a lot to do for building
a digital economy where the actual growth is.
I also think that there is an opportunity in B2B area. Traditionally,
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sometimes you become sluggish and there is a danger that you will
fall behind unless you reinvent yourself. So this time i am back at
Mobilink the key and bigger challenge for me is to transform the
company into a digital entity.
Do you think Pakistan was not ready for 4G yet and what a
subscriber should buy at the moment, a 3G connection or 4G?
Today, 4G has only 2 hundred thousands customers whereas
3G has 18 million customers. We know that 4G is a very good
technology from speed point of view but the 4G handsets are
expensive at the moment. The cheapest 4G handset is around
13,000. How many customers in pakistan who will pay 13000
or beyond? A 3G handset comes for Rs. 4,000 only. So the gap
between 4,000 and 13,000 is one of the reasons that 4G is slow. I
think prices will drop and penetration will go up. Maybe it was 2
years ahead of time. but sooner or later it will happen.
So when i talk about the growth within the company i think of 3
things; Digitalization, MFS and B2B.
What does digitalization mean to you and when it can actually
happen?
The way technology is moving around the world, these things
can happen in a span of 3 to 5 years. Yesterday i read that Uber
is coming to Pakistan so people are going to experiment with
different business models and Mobilink wants to be there for
facilitating them.
Sometimes we overestimate what we can do in one year but
sometimes we underestimate what can be done in 5 years. So i
am very optimistic that in 5 years time a lot of things will change.
When we talk about digitalization, i think it’s also about the
digitalization of the organization internally.
Including myself , I am still a digital immigrant. We hire youngsters
from different universities so they can reverse mentor people like
me. They can tell me what the possibilities are because i may be
a senior member of the organization but i am not really a digital
spark. So we have to get the bust of knowledge and ideas from
youngsters and try to implement them within the organization. It
could start from things like paperless environment or getting rid
of old fashioned structures.
Another example i can give you is that why we actually develop
a website for PCs and then make it friendly for mobile phones.
When we know that all our businesses and daily life work will
be carried out through mobile phones in few years to come then
we should do it other way round. We need to develop things for
mobile phones and you may or may not go over to big screens
because for majority of people the internet would be on mobile
phones.
With over 20 years of experience, Mobilink is like a dinosaur
within the telco world. It is completely successful but with success
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November 2015
How comfortable you are with the existing taxation system?
Nobody is comfortable with taxation in Pakistan especially the
telco sector. we actually inevitably pay for the lack of progress
“
Government made money from
the licensing, the customers have
gotten access of mobile broadband at extremely low prices but
the third player which is actually
enabling all of this has’t benefitted anything.
country has made collecting taxes from others.
“
we have only thought about selling SIMs to businesses. But other
than this, business need IT support, they need to have plan
storage, data centers and Mobilink being the biggest technology
driven entity is ideally placed to exploit that opportunity.
If you have a stable 3G, you should be fine. 4G is obviously faster,
but it depends what is your requirement. If you are watching
Youtube and you get stable 3G you should be fine with 3G but
if you have to download a movie in 10 mins then it’s a different
story. But for daily life requirement, a 2 mbps 3G connection will
do the job.
I read about it that out of 190 million people only 920,000 people
filed their tax returns last year. So in a situation like this the
reliance on indirect taxes become very high.
Telcos, as just mentioned have 120 millions SIMs so it becomes a
very effective mechanism for the government to collect taxes. The
level of taxation in this country is highest anywhere in the world
that takes one third of our revenue.
Lately, despite all the assurances, every province has started taxing
mobile data which is extremely detrimental to the investment
and also to the vision that the government and even provincial
governments have towards the progressive digital educated
workforce. Its very counter productive and its very short term that
you start taxing data. For data the biggest user base is youth and by
taxing them, you are really taking away their pocket money.
Why have you failed to convince the government on the taxing
issues?
We have been talking about it and yes we have failed so far. We
go and meet officials and and make our cases but sometimes they
take these decisions which i think may do something good for
the short term but certainly such strategy is not useful in the long
term.
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We are still fighting and we haven’t given up. Interestingly, we are
fighting with provincial governments as well. Over the issue of
19.5% tax on mobile internet, we had the assurances from CM
Punjab that it would be reversed. This statement came 2 - 3 weeks
after when Provincial Finance Minister announced it on the floor
of the house while delivering budget speech that tax on internet
will be revoked. But so far, nothing on ground has been witnessed.
If you look at it, Punjab is 60% of the total cellular consumption
and sets agenda for the rest of the provinces. Once we get tax
refunded here, we will go to other provinces for the same cause.
who i got inspired with, he was a mentor and he still is.
That doesn’t mean i never had challenges. Career is not always a
smooth sail. It goes up stays and sometimes comes down as well
but you just have to be patient, consistent and persistent.
What should be the rational tax regime?
It should never be more than 10%. Withholding Tax (WHT) is the
advance tax for which people have the opportunity to reclaim at
the end of the year but interestingly people who are paying these
taxes are below the minimum income group. These people do
not really have the ability to get these taxes refunded. If we were
in the elite industry, i could have understood it but most of the
customers this industry has are the watchmen, drivers, maids etc.
They are not supposed to pay taxes but every time they top up Rs.
100 about 25 or 30 out of them go straight to the govt in terms of
various taxes.
I have had periods of inactivity, lull but i think those were good
development time periods in my life also. Not every day is going to
be exciting and not every job is going to be exciting as well.
How was your early college life?
I studied from Aitchison College. In my early years, i was a better
student but later my passion for cricket grew more. I played cricket
and became the captain of my college cricket team. As i became
a better cricketer i became poorer student. When i finished
Aitchison, i was at the peak of my cricket and bottom of my grades.
The culture is more open here. We don’t sit in cabins any more. I
sit in a hall with other team members. Cubicles, closed spaces and
closed doors are the relics of the older era and they don’t belong
in the digital world.
Did you find hurdles at the start of your career?
In Pakistan there is a typical culture that you must have Safarish.
When i came back my father had already passed away. I didn’t
really have anybody who could open doors for me. I knocked into
door myself. There was a company called Mobilink at that time
which had just started its operations. One day, i walked in with
my CV and i saw somebody making photocopies. I asked who
was this guy and they said he was the CFO of the company. I just
walked over to him and introduced myself and gave him my CV.
He chatted with me for a while and asked for an interview session
and later i was offered a job. That guy name was Zouhair Khaliq.
He became the CEO of Mobilink and when you were talking about
“
Is it the same environment at mobilink when you joined it or it
is changed?
We are trying to re-establish Mobilink as meritocracy. You
don’t have to know somebody to get here. If you are good the
environment is there and if you are not so good then we can
give you another chance but if you are not really creating that
excitement then we have to part ways.
If you look at any digital company even the facebook, i’m sure
Mark Zuckerberg’s office wouldn’t be a spacious cubicle. We want
to become more like the google, facebook and the likes rather than
the oil companies or the banks and that’s what the ambition for
Mobilink is. I’m just taking Mobilink closer to where we should
go.
In the end i would say that we just need to take the approach that
various components in this ecosystem have a role to play. We exist
because there are consumers who need a product. We give the
product. Various stakeholders need to work together to create this
magic. If everyone becomes very selfish for making money, for
example, customer has to get product for free and government has
to get all the tax, then it wont’ work. In pakistan we will need to
show maturity that how various stakeholders can sit together and
take this industry forward.
The cellular infrastructure is just like road infrastructure without
which Pakistan won’t prosper. Shareholders from outside Pakistan,
they want a return on the investment. When they get a return,
they will invest more. the govt. has to think long term
I played cricket and became the captain of my college cricket team. As i became
a better cricketer i became poorer student. When i finished Aitchison, i was at
the peak of my cricket and bottom of my grades.
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“
Of course, i had to become more serious about my college and in
later years it was a routine college life for me. I went to US for my
under graduate in accounting from GMS Austin but i didn’t really
want to be an accountant so i started moving towards commercial
functions and spent majority of my work life in commercial roles
like sales to marketing to strategy.
When i talk to some of the youngsters, there is a lot more impatience
in terms of how quickly you want to be at certain destination. It’s
not a sprint but a marathon. Sometimes we are actually going a
little bit slow but those are also times of your growth because you
get time to think about how you are doing.
November 2015
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Technology
Controlling the Crime
& Interacting
WITH PUBLIC,POLICE GOES SMART WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY
by Saleha Khan
T
he pace of technological change in recent years is so fast that computerization and automation
have taken everyone into their magical sphere, whether it be individuals, businesses or large
scale governmental organizations.
Today, it has become essential for law enforcement agencies to stay current and updated with the
ongoing technological developments. Not only the need be cognizant of the technology has increased
manifold but to have a working knowledge of what this technology can do to curb the ongoing wave
of crime and terrorism is more important.
This article outlines modern methods and technologies which are currently used by Police Department
of two major cities of the country, Lahore and Islamabad. The new technological system is adopted
mainly with the help of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).
In a very recent move, adopting the modern means of communication, Punjab Police has started
using WhatsApp messenger to interact with the public and consequently, a number of culprits have
been arrested with the help of these complaints, as announced by DIG Operations Haider Ashraf.
According to I.G. Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan, the monitoring of crime has become much easier
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November 2015
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by means of
deploying the
new technological
solutions and
innovations at
somewhat localized
but at a fast pace.
The prominent
example is the use
of CCTV cameras as eyes of the city. This has been initiated in
the form of Safe City Project in Lahore and Islamabad. Through
this project, the majority of the areas of both these cities are
being covered by cameras that not only include police stations
and hospitals but also public places. that have the capability to
recognize faces as well as number plates of vehicles. These are
monitored by central control rooms.
I.G. Police Islamabad, Tahir Alam Khan
system is directly linked to these smartphones. Hence, every
number, CNIC or location that is included in the watchlist when
re-entered, the system shows a pop-up in real time with red
color, helping the officers on duty to get the related details within
minutes.
The innovations in technology in the capital seem successful
substantially, told IG Islamabad. There has been a marked
decrease in crime since last year as evident from the following
table:
In addition to this, on the directions of Lahore High Court (LHC)
to install cameras, additional 1,800 sites have been selected for
initial installment of CCTV cameras in Lahore within next few
months.
Likewise, the Model Town Division of Lahore has been completely computerized while the complaints registered by the citizens are now e-tagged. Moreover, the location of police mobile
is being monitored via trackers and cameras are also deployed on
these vehicles to keep the third eye on the roads.
There is a new Application Entry system that is being deployed
in police stations of Lahore with the help of PITB. The
complaint of the complainant is scanned and the data is fed in
this system through which it is monitored that what kind of
crime is sprawling in which specific area, as told by Inspector
Headquarter Operation Wing, Model Town Division Mr. Azhar
Naveed Khan.
Inspector Headquarter Operation Wing
(Model Town Div.), Azhar Naveed Khan
He added by saying
that the complaints
of the public are
being monitored on
the LCD screens by
using this new system
that has helped the
police to respond and
resolve a complaint
within 3 days.
The new Android smartphones that are given to the admin
officers and the police officials are proving helpful for the whole
department. What is even important is that the new monitoring
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In order to elevate the misconception and hesitation of a common
man to visit the police station, IGP has planned and ordered a
new Complaint Management System. The complainant now has
many options for registering his complaint. These include the use
of police website, sending email, sending SMS, making a phone
call, sending fax etc. Hence, now a system has been designed
where each and every complaint is given an ID number and they
are followed in a systematic manner and complainant is provided
a feedback.
“
Islamabad Police is utilizing the
powers of community members as
volunteers who have to address
the problems of their community
related to police by effective
liaison. These committees are
called Security & Vigilance
Committees and currently there
are 3654 members working for
the provision of peaceful and
crime free city.
“
Another example is the use of geo-mapping which has been in use
in Islamabad by Special Investigation Unit. The crime is mapped
by coordinates and analysis thereof is made by the marking of
hotspots of crime and focusing patrolling effort to those areas.
Explaining even further, Tahir Alam Khan told More Magazine
regarding another initiative in this regard that include the idea of
using community members as volunteers working for the police.
These volunteers have to address the problems of their community
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November 2015
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related to police by effective liaison. These committees are called
Security & Vigilance Committees and currently there are 3654
members who are working for the provision of peaceful and crime
free city.
While talking about a new project by Islamabad police, it is being
told that Capt Ilyas, Head of Special Investigation Unit, Islamabad
has developed a comprehensive profiling and statistical database
which is very successful and has till now profiled more than 5000
crime incidents and has a thorough profiling of more than 22000
criminals. This profiling also has the element of geo-mapping.
The details are as under:
Lahore Police 15 Android app
Database Elements include Fingerprints, DNA, Post Mortem,
Cellphone Stolen, Amount Stolen in Rs. and Jewelry Stolen etc.
As far as Lahore
is concerned, DIG
Operations Dr.
Haider Ashraf is of
the view that the
process to equip
rest of the police
stations with the
latest technology
is underway.
DIG Operations Lahore, Meanwhile, a mobile
Dr. Haider Ashraf application for the
citizens has been
introduced ‘Lahore Police 15’ through which citizens can inform
about suspicious activities, call 15 without any charges, report
via text or photo and can also check the status of their complaint.
Apart from this, there is also an SMS service for the citizens
who can access Lahore police within minutes by sending a text
14 MORE November 2015
message to 8330.
The training of the police officials with respect to the modern
technology is considered very significant and we are being told
that every relevant official is supposed to complete courses in
order to be compatible of using it and consequently utilizing it for
the good of the whole police department.
Dr. Haider Ashraf further stated that in the preliminary phase,
we are compiling the watchlist of the suspects. Secondly, we
are trying to minimize the bike seizing incidents that are part of
traditional police culture. Lastly, our major success will be the
readily available data through smartphones that will help police a
great extent to tighten the noose on culprits.
Talking about his experience while performing his duties,
Azhar Naveed revealed that one of the major hurdles he and
his team face in dealing a case is that people usually inject so
much exaggeration and lies while registering a complaint or FIR
against someone. For example, if a person murders someone, the
family of the victim usually do not hesitate to lodge FIR against
culprit’s whole family including his brothers, cousins, and
even uncles who are neither directly nor indirectly part of that
incident. Likewise, if someone snatches their purse containing
money only, they come to us and most of them exaggerate that
the purse had a gold chain, some rings or wrist watch etc.
He advised the public to refrain from lies as it is unethical and
makes the situation very complex and time-consuming for the
officials on duty.
Moreover, he stressed that public needs to treat the cops like a
fellow human being and should show some respect for those who
risk their lives in order to provide them security and this can be
done by means of simple acts of smile, or greeting.
When asked to respond on the same topic, IG Islamabad said that
no police can be successful without help from the community.
He advised the people to be observant of the fact that they have
to vigilant and should also consider and endure the police as it is
their own force. They should support it and appreciate its good
work also and indicate wherever it goes wrong. Again, people
should keep an eye on their surrounding and inform police about
any suspicious element which they observe. Ultimately, we can
achieve a peaceful and friendly society that will lead us towards
the common goal of success and prosperity.
www.moremag.pk
“
Opinion
“
According to some researchers, that both online and
print media contribute very effectively to widen the
horizon of their audience’s agenda, however, the
online newspapers show this impact more effectively
and actively among the most educated group of
people whereas print media does the job for average
education and interest-holding people
by Muhammad Adeel Awan
A Comparison between
Online & Print
Reading Habits of Pakistanis
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November 2015
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I
t would not be wrong to argue that modernity, at a physical
level, occurred before and played a key role in the construction,
development and spread of the intellectual modernity. 17th
and 18th century took human race into a new era with the invention
of two important technologies; faster inter-city transport (e.g.,
trains), and multiple publications/copies of documents making
machines. Though both these technologies were quite rare in their
early days, but they helped in quickly developing several copies
of an intellectual piece and spreading it as far as possible. This is
how Philosophers, scientists (or thinkers, in general) of that time
became widely known very quickly and late 18th century became
the time of revolutions (American and French). Scholars’ words,
books/essays as well as newspapers’ reading vastly increased in
those times and it enlightened the hearts and minds of the people.
feedback instantly too. Since then online reading has experienced
a boom.
However, what is important is that print material is not out of
market. Rather humans have got a choice, in most cases if not
all, of whether to read in printed hardcopy format or via an online
softcopy version. The purpose of this article is to ask who uses
what source (print or online) for satisfying their reading/knowing
thirst. More importantly, it analyzes the essential ‘why’ question
which makes this article’s significance increase not only for
academic purposes, but also for business purposes. We review
statistics and research available on the subject as well as present
findings and discuss the results of our own survey.
Eric Tsai, a blogger, is of the view that people are increasingly
tending towards reading online compared to print material. In
one of his posts in the blog (business2community.com), he cites
various studies to support his claim. First, the Poytner Institute
did a study in 2011, as quoted by Eric Tsai in the blog, to examine
the readers who read via print or online sources. The study found
out that compared to print readers, online readers read more of
a story that they choose to read. The following graph shows the
results:
In a very similar fashion it could also be argued that an advancement
in late 20th century took us to post-modernity stage, physically
as well as intellectually. This is the innovation of internet/webbrowsing where one post becomes available to the whole world
instantly. It is fast, often real-time, has a long memory so one can
look at past material as well and it has the capacity to take your

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

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


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
It found out that on average online readers read 77% while
broadsheet readers read 62% and tabloid readers read 57% only
of the story they choose to read.
Similarly, another study that the same author talks about is done
by Ryen White and Jeff Huang (2011) in which 50 million internet
surfers and their browsing habits were examined. They study
found out something that could be labeled into distraction as well
as multitasking. The results showed that usually people spend
57.4% of their surfing while doing parallel browsing in different
tabs. And usually users open 5 to 10 pages per tab.
If we compare this statistic with a report reviewed in the
Guardian which says that e-readers usually do not absorb as much
information from the material as the ones who read from print
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sources, it shows us that although online readers read more but
due to high level of distraction, they do not retain as much.
However, there are also studies that show the opposite. An
experimental study by d’Haenens, Jankowski and Heuvelman
showed there was no significant difference in the percentage of
story online readers read compared to the print readers. This study
was done to analyze the online VS print reading consumption and
recalling. However, from one news category to another depending
upon the readers’ interests, the length of the story read does vary.
Similarly, when asked questions to analyze how much readers
can recall what they have read online or in print newspaper, no
significant consistent pattern was found in that either.
But, facts from US show that even the business community seems
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to realize the rising trend of online reading/surfing because of which the advertisements revenue in print is dropping down every year
while in online, it is experiencing growth every year. To understand better, see the following table:
However, Schonbach, de Waal and Lauf reveal an interesting
phenomena about online and print newspaper reading in their
study published in European Journal of Communication. After
doing a survey among 1000 individuals, they found out contrary
to the hypothesis that since online newspaper give control to
switch the sections in the hands of the readers, so it does not
contribute to increase the perceived public agenda as much as
print newspapers. Their study showed that online and print both
media contribute very effectively to widening the horizon of their
audience’s agenda. However, online newspaper show this impact
more effectively and actively among the most educated group of
people whereas print media does the job for average education
and interest holding people.
But other than newspapers, e-book reading is also an important
question to be examined. A study by Rainie, et al. showed that
e-books availability has increased the temptation to read more. In
2012, they found out that every one in five Americans had read
at least one e-book in past one year. And the trend showed a rise
from 17% Americans in December 2011 to 21% in February 2012.
Similarly, 43% of the Americans in the study said yes to have read
a long-form content in e-format in past one year. And 30% of these
responded positively to a question asking if e-content availability
has increased the overall time they spend reading. However, print
books market is still at the top with 72% American readers having
read print books in past one year, according to the study.
Unfortunately, such studies have not been conducted in Pakistan.
Therefore, our survey is the first of its kind conducted in the
country. The survey was targeted more towards quantitative side
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and inferring some qualitative points regarding the issue. The
findings of the survey are as follows:
We divided the survey into four categories: one was about personal
information in which we asked age and gender of the respondent
to know/categorize the respondent. Then, the next sections were
had questions related to newspaper reading, books reading and
general article/content reading in print as well as in online format.
It was an online survey which could be seen as a bias/limitation
of the survey against the people who do not use the internet in
the first place. So, naturally that section of the society got cut
out. Similarly, the respondents were mostly from urban areas,
therefore the results may also not be applied to the rural readers.
About 31 people (18 male and 13 female) responded to our
survey. The sample was random, though not quite big for cogent
inferences. However, considering the capacity and purpose of
the survey, it helped us infer important results and hypothesize
noticeable/researchable questions.
“
E-readers usually do not absorb
as much information from the
material as the ones who read
from print sources, it shows us
that although online readers read
more but due to high level of
distraction, they do not retain as
much.
“
From 2005 onwards, every year the revenue from print ads kept
dropping and as a total it dropped by 46% until 2013. On the other
hand, online ad revenue has experienced an increase almost every
year. However, the case of Pakistan might be different.
When asked generally which reading format they prefer. The
response was generally mixed though slightly bent towards
online reading. 35% selected online reading while 32% selected
print reading and 26% were indifferent towards each format. It is
interesting to note that those who spend more time on electronic
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devise (computers, tablets, etc.) prefer more of online reading.
82% of the people who use at least 1 hour of such devices either
prefer online reading or are indifferent between the two formats
which means that more usage of these devices makes online
reading a normal and routine thing for people.
But when asked about reading newspaper or magazines about
32% of the respondents said they never read such material.
However, of those who do read it, only 12.9% said they read in
print format. Even though because of our small sample size, these
results may not be as valid, but considering the increasing online
reading trend reviewed through literature, it is true that print
reading of newspapers is continuously decreasing. 30% also said
that they have no fixed format for reading newspapers/magazines.
Sometimes they read online while sometimes in print format.
This imply that currently the audience for online as well as print
newspaper reading is quite fused. But the projections show that
online reading would dominate in the coming years.
Our next four questions were to inquire whether our respondents
prefer online or print format for book (long) reading and in their
perceptions how good they can remember what they read. The
second part of it was to test the hypothesis that online readers
usually stay distracted and hence, cannot take in as much
information as print readers. But we did not have a memory test
or experiment designed for that. Our intention was only to check
their perceptions on how good they remember what they read.
About 41.9% respondents told they had read at least one book
in last one year in online format and 28% were able to claim that
they remember it perfectly well. However, 57% thought they
remembered it good, but not perfectly. On the other hand, 80% of
the respondents had read a book in print format in last one year.
This clearly shows that for book reading print media is way more
popular than online. More importantly, print readers’ perception
regarding what they remember from they had read was also
much better than online readers. 36% responded perfectly well
while 48% said pretty good, but not perfect. This also validated
the hypothesis that for book reading there are more readers who
prefer print as well as they remember it better than those who read
online.
Finally, we moved to short content reading. Here we noticed
that the unavailability of articles and other short content in print
format made readers read online significantly more than print.
65% responded that they read such material in online format.
Respondents also showed positivity (90%) towards the idea that
electronic devices has generally increased daily reading. However,
online sources are considered reliable enough by only 30% people
compared 51% who consider print sources reliable enough.
In conclusion, it could be noticed that like other countries, online
reading is increasing in Pakistan as well. However, for longer
formats, it is still not quite popular. Moreover, its reliability is
questioned by more people compared to those who question
print sources’ reliability. Therefore, though reliance on online
sources is increasing but trust is not there quite as much. This
raises some interesting questions for academic as well as business
research. Academicians might be interested in discovering social
and psychological aspects of such reading preferences. Similarly,
businesspersons involved in work where online and/or print
publication costs make a difference, such research could lead to
a better decision.
5 Benefits of Reading
1. Mental Stimulation
Studies have shown that reading works for mentally stimulated and slows the
progress of Alzheimer and Dementia.
2. Stress Reduction
A well-written story comes with the ability to transport you to other realms
while distracting you from stress and letting tensions drain away, allowing you
to relax.
3. Knowledge & Vocabulary Expansion
Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and the more
you read, the more words you gain exposure to that inevitably make their way
into your everyday vocabulary.
4. Memory Improvement
Reading helps in improvement of reader's memory and it is very helpful practice to remember things without any effort.
5. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
Whether it be predicting rest of the story or criticizing the point of view or storyline of the author, reading empowers people to
build strong critical and analytical skills.
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Business News
Dawlance Introduces Inverter Savings
Calculator Facebook Application
Dawlance has introduced an app on their official Facebook page which helps its customers
determine approximately how much money they can save by using the new Dawlance
inverter series appliances. As we can see from the screenshots, users can select the number
of air conditioners and refrigerators that they own and input the number of hours of usage
to see their current expected electricity bill, and then see how much money they can save by
using inverter technology products.
K-Electric Secures up to US$ 250
million in Financing from OPIC
K-Electric Limited and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
(OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution,
have executed a commitment letter for a US$250 million, 10-year
financing project in a signing ceremony attended by the Honorable
Senator Ishaq Dar, the Finance Minister of Pakistan.
The ceremony was held at the US Chamber of Commerce in
Washington, D.C. recently, asserting that the OPIC loan will be used
by K-Electric to undertake a comprehensive and transformative
upgrade of the K-Electric power grid.
The K-Electric grid strengthening project will significantly improve
the reliability, stability and efficiency of the K-Electric power
Representatives of K-Electric & OPIC signing agreement in the presence
network. The project will increase K-Electric’s transmission system
of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar
capacity by 33% (up to 1000MVA), thereby allowing it to deliver
more energy to its customers. The project will also help support K-Electric’s loss-reduction measures and will include an innovative
smart grid initiative to more accurately distribute and utilize existing power.
Pakistan Navy continues earthquake
relief operation in Swat and KPK
While continuing with the humanitarian efforts, Pakistan Navy’s ongoing Relief
Operation is extending its reach and resources to adjoining areas of Swat for the
provision of all possible support to the earthquake affectees.
A total of 15 Tons of relief goods including food and clothing items transported
through special aircraft and trucks have been distributed amongst affectees so far.
Relief goods collection points have also been established at Karachi, Lahore,
Islamabad and Coastal basis for the collection of donations/relief goods which are
then transported through Pakistan Navy aircraft to affected areas of KPK.
Pakistan Navy officers distributing relief goods among
earthquake affectees
PTCL introduces Winter Offer for broadband customers
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is offering its 2Mbps and 4Mbps broadband internet at discounted rates with
free SmartTV through ‘Winter Offer’ for the convenience of valued customers.
The new offer by the company enables customers to avail 2Mbps unlimited package for just Rs. 1,299 per month and 4Mbps unlimited
package for Rs. 1,750 per month. Customers also get free Wi-Fi router and free SmartTV along with payment of installation charges in
easy installments.
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Business News
Federal government to announce special relief package
for Earthquake victims
Federal Minister Planning, Development & Reform Ahsan Iqbal
has said that government would utilize all resources for the
rehabilitation of affected people of the earthquake and would
leave no stone unturned to provide relief to the victims of this
natural disaster in these turbulent times.
He added that grief of affected people is the grief of whole
Pakistan and whole nation is grieved over the loss of precious
human lives and financial damages due to collapse of houses.
He said that on the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
Federal government is in contact with KPK government for the
rehabilitation of affected people and it will announce a special
relief package within few days.
Minister Planning and Development believed that natural
calamities are unavoidable, but their affects can be minimized
through well-devised contingency plans and risk management
measures.
He said that government is focussing to equip the disaster
management departments with the latest means and tools to deal
with the natural calamities in an efficient manner. Moreover,
government's “Vision-2025 focuses on urban development and
smart cities that will not only help in better management of cities
but would also minimize the risks of losses caused by disasters.
Experts call for tax reforms to boost tax to GDP ratio
Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Research and Advocacy for the Advancement of Allied Reforms (RAFTAAR) recently
organized a seminar at the LCCI on “Tax Policy & Tax Administration Reforms.”
The speeches delivered at the seminar by the experts emphasized that Pakistan is in a dire need for tax reforms to boost tax to GDP
ratio which is one of the lowest in the world.
The speakers said that it is a matter of concern that in the population of over 186 million, 5.7 million are eligible taxpayers, 3.6 million
are tax registered, 0.8 million are tax filers and only 0.5 million are direct taxpayers. Hence, the government should have to initiate
tax reforms in consultation with the stakeholders to bring untaxed sectors into the tax net.
The seminar was attended by LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad
Arshad, Senior Vice President Almas Hyder, former Finance Minister Dr. Salman Shah, former Economic Advisor of the Ministry of
Finance Sakib Sherani, Dr. Hanid Mukhtar, Fasi Zaka, Dr. Ijaz Nabi,
Mustafa Omer, and former LCCI President Bashir A. Baksh as well
as some other experts.
The LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that most
of the challenges being faced by the economy are directly linked
to complicated and lengthy taxation procedures. Therefore, the
government would have to make taxation system business friendly
through due consultation with the stakeholders as being done in the
EU states.
LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad along with other experts
delivering session on Tax Policy
i2 Pakistan ready to introduce latest iPhone 6S and 6S Plus shortly
After one month of official release all over the major countries, the latest and most advanced smartphones iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
are about to hit the shelves of our country by means of i2 Pakistan, the authorised dealer of Apple’s iPhones, from November 13, 2015,
through selected retail outlets.
According to the details, both of these versions of iPhones will also be up for pre-ordering from very next week i.e. November 5, 2015.
i2 Pakistan will be offering iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus with official warranty through i2 Network and other affiliates like iRaffles,
iTech and iStores.
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Technology
Innovation
in
Intel’s Five of the Best
A
Asia
by Naveed Siraj
sia in 2015 is a hotbed of innovation. New devices from
the Chinese Technology Ecosystem are increasingly
coming to market, enabling more personal and engaging
experiences designed specifically for the Asia-Pacific and Japan
region. Simultaneously, some of the latest, most innovative
technologies, from super computers through to computer
processors, are being developed right here in Asia too.
is aimed at powering cost-effective devices, and satisfying a
growing hunger for affordable mobile products. Based on their
local expertise of market demands in Asia and expert capabilities,
the Intel team in Asia was perfectly placed to bring this product
to market, and with the first prototype highlighted the significant
value this new innovation would bring to Intel, its partners, and
customers.
Technology and its users have never been smarter, and the latest
technology innovations are enabling a new wave of Intelligent
Generations in Asia and across the globe. Here we’ve outlined
five of the IT innovations being driven right here in Asia which
will help shape the world of tomorrow.
Working with teams across the globe, including US, France,
Germany, India, Israel, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and
Denmark, Intel Singapore was able to develop the platform we
see today.
1. Processors Designed in Asia, For Asia
In early 2015, Intel launched its Intel® Atom™ x3 processor,
which was designed and created for Asia, in Asia.
High-performing, cost-effective devices will be one of the
fastest growing segments in Asia over the next few years, and by
equipping manufacturers with the tools they need to create these,
Intel is looking forward to seeing a raft of new, innovative devices
come to market enhancing consumer experiences in the region.
2. Vietnam’s Smart City
Asia is home to one of the world’s smartest and technological
advanced cities: Da Nang in Vietnam. Having adopted a
comprehensive IT and communication infrastructure system,
Da Nang is able to enhance living standards across the city by
efficiently managing transport systems, and offering improved
internet connectivity.
Led by Intel’s architecture team in Singapore, with collaborators
across Asia and the Intel worldwide team, Intel set out to build a
new mobile processor specifically for emerging markets, which
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As one of the world’s first smart cities, Da Nang has established
a new traffic control center with which city officials can monitor
traffic and control the city’s traffic light system through a
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Lenovo Yoga Pro 3, and ASUS Transformer Book Chi, enhancing
new and productive consumer experiences.
With investment in the CTE increasing and innovation showing
no signs of slowing down, we’re looking forward to seeing a new
wave of mobile devices being created right here in Asia.
dashboard. Software and sensors have been embedded in roads,
highways and on buses track whether there are traffic jams and
the buses are running on time – in the future, Da Nang could
even inform them as to how many passengers are on each bus.
Furthermore, by improving the quality of its transport system, Da
Nang hopes to discourage citizens from buying cars to ensure air
pollution does not become an issue for the city.
As an increasing number of the world’s citizens flock to bustling
city centers, the demand for resources and services, such as water,
energy, traffic flow and power, will continue to grow, meaning
intelligent and connected infrastructures – like that seen in Da
Nang – will be critical in ensuring high-quality, effective, and
affordable offerings for citizens.
3.CTE: The Best in Innovation
In a world of spacious boulevards and high-tech parks, levels
of innovation within the China Technology Ecosystem – which
4.The Next Intelligent Generation
Each year, Intel holds its International Science and Engineering
Fair (ISEF) – the world’s largest pre-college science competition
– which gives over 1,700
high school students from
over 70 countries the
opportunity to showcase
their independent work
and compete for a share in
over $5 million in prizes.
Historically, Asia has a
strong presence at ISEF,
and most recently in
2014, 17 year old Habab
Idress, from the Dewaan
Dayaraam Jethmal Sindh Govt Science College, Karachi, won the
Third Award of $1,000 in the Physical Energy category. Habab’s
project – ‘Multi-Purpose Smart Solar Device’ – was selected for
its commitment to innovation, use of authentic research practices
and its practicality as a solution to the problems of tomorrow.
5.Super Computers
The Asian region is home to the world’s fastest supercomputer,
the ‘Milky Way 2’, which aims to change the way we think about
global issues, such as climate change.
Powered by 70,000 Intel processors, the ‘Milky Way 2’ is one of
the fastest and most power-efficient system on the Top500 list.
Residing in the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou,
China, the immense capabilities of the ‘Milky Way 2’ mean it
can be used to study everything from hurricanes and tornadoes to
stretches over 100 miles from Hong Kong to Guangzhou and
Foshan – are fast rivalling those of more established regions.
Aided by significant investments, such as Intel’s $100 million fund
aimed at accelerating innovation of smart devices, IoT and other
related technologies, the construction of innovation centers – like
those seen in Singapore, Shenzhen, and Taiwan – and industry
partnerships, the CTE is helping to foster the next generation of
intelligent mobile devices.
For example, continual research and development into new
technologies in Asia enabled the creation of an entirely new
mobile device category – 2 in 1s. Since the form factor’s creation,
we’ve seen a great range of 2 in 1s come to market, such as the
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geomagnetic storms, tsunamis, and air pollution more accurately,
allowing scientists to come to better environmental conclusions
and predictions.
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25
Technology
A Tale of a Technology
ILLITERATE BUYING A LAPTOP
by Muhammad Aqeel Awan
I
f your friend wants to buy the laptop, then why are you
doing all the questioning? Do I smell a rat?’ asked Adil, the
shopkeeper, while moving his fingers across his beard and
trying to figure out the real situation in his own friendly way.
‘Aqeel knows very little about technology, so I am here to help
him buy a good one,’ responded Ejaz with pure calm and a smile
on his face.
‘O com’on, Aqeel bhai can’t be that bad. Okay, let me ask you
Aqeel bhai, Ejaz is asking for core i5, how about I give you i6
with a minor cost difference,’ said Adil, in a very controlled,
investigative yet joking voice.
I looked at him and despite noticing an intended pun in his eyes, I
responded, ‘sure, anythin g above i3 should work, even i4.’
‘hahahaha,’ I heard laughs and high-fives all around in the shop.
As soon as I said ‘even i4’ everybody in the shop started laughing
except me because I could not figure out the joke in it. We were
all friends or at least friends of mutual friends in the shop and had
good taste for verbal fun, so even I enjoyed the laughter without
any offence, but yes, this is how much I knew about laptops and
their parts not more than a month ago.
I had never had much interest/desire of technology. I remember,
my first cellular phone was Nokia 5310 which I used for 8 years,
until early 2015, and I knew nothing about the phone. In its early
days, a friend once asked, ‘Is it a Symbian set?’ and I replied,
‘who cares, man! I have no idea.’
Even with computer, I used a Pentium 4 desktop computer for a decade until my need for a better and more up to date machine reached
its peak. And when that happened, I went through the following steps which I think can be useful for anybody, especially a layman like
me, who wants to buy a new technology of any sorts especially laptops:
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Budget Setting
Being a student of Economics, the first question I asked myself was what my budget is and then looked for a machine that maximizes
my utility within the given budget constraint. I started my search by taking a conservative approach and set the budget limit at Rs.
30,000/-. The idea was to set a low limit, then see what is high in the market and then try to find the equilibrium or the middle
ground/balance, another classical Economists approach.
Searching Online
In the next step, I looked at a few laptops online from different
websites, official as well as blogs, within the given price limit.
Generally, I noticed that blogs/websites that were privately run
were more user-friendly than companies’ own websites in a
sense that one can look up in them with using brand, price as
well as specs filters. However, having studied logic as well as a
little bit of programming and algorithm designing, I definitely
thought that many of these websites/blogs could improve the
logic of the interface. For example, in some cases, I could only
filter one category, either brand or price or specs, not all at once.
So, their filtering worked in one-dimension only, two or more
dimensional filtering was rare, but definitely could have been
more useful. Similarly, there were some other notable issues too.
But knowing that many of the bloggers use already available
templates and cannot control the interface much, I did not even
think about sending my thoughts to the admin of the websites
blogs. Moreover, another teasing factor was the lack of accuracy
Consulting with Friend(s)
The question to be asked here
was which friend to call. I noticed
that I not only need a friend
takes deep interest technology,
knows a lot about it, but also
would care enough to help me
buy a good laptop. This is when
I called Ejaz. I have known him
for ten years. We went to high
school together. He has always
had the latest technology in his
room. From smartphone, to tablet,
laptop/desktop and other external/
internal devices of any sorts, you
name it, he has it. So, I went to
him, offered/bribed him a bottle
of ‘sting,’ as in his case, I always
have to, since he is a crazy sting
drinker and got him on board
quickly.
Here is what he said to me, ‘people
buy laptop or any new technology
for one of the two reasons, need
or craze/passion. What is your
motivation?’ I obviously shook
my head to ‘need.’
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of information in privately run websites/blogs. Therefore, once
I liked a laptop, I always had to copy the name to the brand’s
original website to check if the specs and features mentioned are
accurate.
However, my prior information level about the technology was
not good enough. For example, I knew that there is a processor,
RAM, hard disk, etc and with RAM and HDD I could see more
GBs would be better, but I could not understand what processor
level is suitable for me, whether I need a graphics card. What
about my screen and webcam quality. How much difference
would a 3rd, 4th and 5th (etc.) generation laptop would have
in its performance. What difference with original windows and
DOS OS make for me. Which battery and how many cells. How
do I know which brand is better. These and many other such
questions were unanswerable for me, so I decided to move a step
further and consult with a friend who has better knowledge about
such things.
Estimating Specs based on Need and Revising Budget accordingly
My primary need was research, writing and using STATA/SPSS, R and other research and
analytical tools, and once a week watching a couple of movies/seasons too. His next question
was about price limit. I told him what I had originally set in mind. His response to that was quite
thoughtful. He said, ‘You cannot get lower than that if you wish to buy a new laptop. However,
that should also tell you that the specs would also be the lowest available and out of date or at least
out of fashion which would not help your cause much since you already have a out of date specs
holder desktop computer in your room. Other option could be buying a used laptop. But knowing
you, I would not recommend you that either. Because, you need a sustainable machine that has a
long life. With used laptops, occurrence of small problems is not rare. So, that would only give
you extra headache. I would suggest that you increase your price limit, if possible.’
At this point I had my set philosophy in mind, so I asked him what could be the highest so I could
settle for something in between. Rather than answering my question, he said, ‘forget about buying
Macbook or Sony or other such expensive machines. They need a level of delicacy in usage that
you cannot provide.’ ‘Then what do you suggest,’ I inquired. ‘For an average user like yourself,
my suggestion would be a budget of about 65k. Can you manage that or should we look for a
lower level?’ My answer was, ‘I can manage, but the question is would the machine then last
enough number of years without making my life difficult.’ The question was clearly bizzare since
even I knew if I use it with care it would definitely last long enough. So, yes, I ended up setting
the budget to 65k with a hope that I would still be buying a laptop charging around 45 to 50k.
But my friend knew exactly why he asked me to set the limit to 65k. He told me that I could get a
machine having ‘intel core i5 5th generation with at least 2.2GHz processor speed and turbo speed
option too, 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM, 2GB Graphics card of, hopefully, nvidia and HD webcam.’
He mentioned one or two more specs too but this is all I can remember now. I happily said, ‘good
enough.’ Later I found out that this had already took me from 45/50k to 57, 58k minimum. After
that Ejaz did his online research noted a two to three laptops’ names and took me to the market.
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Utilize Contacts for Getting an Optimal Product
Ejaz took me to a shop in Hafeez center, named Laptop Experts.
He knew the shopkeeper very well. He had met the shopkeeper,
Adil, first time on a hiking trip and had become good friends with
him. Since then, he has been taking all his and his friends laptop
related problems to them. So, naturally when I asked him for help
in buying a new laptop, he took me to Adil’ shop. Adil also asked
some similar questions that Ejaz had been asking me in which one
question was about giving me core i6 too. However, after getting
my answer to that, he realized my lack of knowledge about the
subject and after told me that i4, i6 do not even exist. Had I been
alone and probably sitting in a different shop, the shopkeeper
could have made full use of that in his favor. But presence of
Ejaz, his contacts and level of friendship with the business owner
as well as business ethics of Adil, did not make any difference.
Basically, he kept our attention to hp, dell and lenovo which could
be for his business reasons as well as my budget, I could not figure
that out. From an economist prespective, if I recall his words, he
essentially told us that if we keep other specs/features constant,
hp brings better looks at a higher price and needs more care too.
Dell would come second and Lenovo at third, with comparatively
lesser price but not as good appearance. Adil suggested me to
buy Lenovo with similar specs as mentioned above. He called it
‘lakkar hazam, pathar hazam machine,’ which he thought would
be best for me considering my usage need and style.
He showed us about two laptops from each brand mentioned
above. Despite understanding his rational reasoning in favor of
Lenovo very well, this is where I lost my economistic rational
approach and fell for the ‘beauty’ of hp. But like any other human
being, I tried to justify it too by telling myself that it has the
same specs as other laptops shown and is still under my budget
limit, 65k, so getting a machine that looks cool too would not
kill me, it would only increase the pleasure which means utility
maximization. Well, this is what we economists do! Reason before
or after making a choice does not matter for us, we can always
bring everything under the umbrella of rationality by saying it
maximizes the utility within the given budget.
Cross Check Reviews and Price
So, I settled for hp. It was HP ProBook 450. The laptop price was 65k with local warranty of 1 year. We came back home that day
without buying it. Next day we looked it up on the internet, checked for reviews and after finding it up to the expectation, went again
to the market but not back to Laptop Experts this time. I think even Ejaz knew that despite good friendship with Adil, at the end of
the day he is a business man. So, we cross checked the price of the machine and asked for shopkeepers review and if they can offer
a better alternative.
Buy the Laptop
After doing this market research too, we were satisfied with what
we had shortlisted a day before from the same shop as other
shopkeepers were either offering the same price or slightly more
(with difference of not more than a couple of thousands at max).
So, we went back to Laptop Experts and bought the laptop.
After that, we enjoyed a happy meal with Adil where despite my
try, Adil did not let me pay and paid for everyone which convinced
me of his good business ethics as while paying for my and Ejaz’s
meal he would have lost about Rs. 700 to 1000/- but he knew
this is where the business is over and he is just being a good host
now serving the guests who are friends too. So, I returned back
home not only with my economic utility maximized in shape of
the new laptop, but also being humanly satisfied to have dealt
with an ethical businessman.
*For privacy concerns, the real names of the friend, the shopkeeper and the shop has been replaced with fictional names.
Few worth knowing facts about Laptops!
1. The first laptop computer available to the public was the Osborne 1 by Osborne
Computer Corporation and it was released in 1981.
2. The early laptops weighed around twenty-five pounds while the laptops available
nowadays weigh as little as only five pounds.
3. According to a research, the most preferred laptop is the one that comes with 500
GB Hard Disk, 4 GB RAM, 2 GB Graphic Card, 15-inch screen size.
4. According to the statistics: 68% of laptop owners use it for work, 21% for
entertainment (games, movies, and clips), 9% actively use the laptop for school,
colleges and universities assignments.
5. A UK-based company Luvaglio offers one of the most expensive and luxurious
laptop that comes with a price tag of one million dollars, having uncommon colored
diamond and stone in it.
28 MORE
November 2015
www.moremag.pk
Telecom
How 5 SIM
limit on one CNIC
?
causing massive decrease in sales & revenues of Telcos
T
he sale of more than five SIMS against one CNIC by all
five cellular mobile operators was banned by the Supreme
Court of Pakistan under the supervision of former Chief
Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on May 21, 2012, who
passed verdict while hearing a matter related to the worsening law
and order situation in the country.
Apart from mobile phone users who are against this ban, the
telecom operators of the country are of the view that this decision
has caused a massive cut in their sales and revenues, but despite
this, they went ahead with the ban and accepted it in the larger
interests of country and in compliance of the verdicts of the
Supreme Court and PTA.
It is frustrating to know that this ban is continued even after the
successful auction of next generation mobile services (NGMS
– 3G & 4G) and the restriction goes on without any distinction
between a voice and data SIM and a data SIM, therefore, resulting
in the less interest on the part of potential investors and the
expectations attached with the auction seem impossible to meet.
In April 2015 that following the instructions by the Ministry of
Information Technology and other relevant authorities, cellular
operators carried out an extensive exercise of biometric Reverification, which was embarked upon with the belief that it
would prove to be an enabler for law-abiding citizens and the
www.moremag.pk
Industry to gain back their fundamental constitutional right to
Freedom of Trade, Business and Profession.
Surprisingly, the paragraph 8(d) of Standard Operating Procedure
on SIM Sale and Activation through Biometric Verification dated
20.11.2013 also states that restriction on the number of SIMs
against one CNIC will be lifted once deployment of biometric
verification system is completed.
However, even a few months after the completion of full fledge
biometric verification of SIM, there seem no signs for the uplift
of this ban which is resulting in the massive drop in sales and
revenues of cellular mobile operators.
In order to get rid of this loss, China Mobile Pakistan (Zong) took
the initiative and filed a petition in which it pleaded the Supreme
Court for the removal of 5 SIMs per CNIC limit for data SIMs
back in June this year.
In response to this in September 2015, the Chief Justice of Pakistan
passed orders on formulated a committee comprising of Attorney
General of Pakistan and PTA and instructed them to submit their
recommendations for removal of 5 SIMs per CNIC limitation.
Sadly, both of the authorities reached no decision to solve the
matter despite arranging three meeting, as stated by the subsequent
MORE
November 2015
29
report by the government. Although, during these meetings, PTA
Chairman Dr. Ismail Shah fully supported the telecom operators
and requested to relax the limit of five SIMs per identity card as it
goes in favor of growth of the telecom sector, especially with the
introduction of biometric verification that reduced the number of
active SIMs from 140 million from 114 million.
On the other hand, representatives of the Ministries of Defense
and Interior and security agencies were of the view that as long
as the National Action Plan (NAP) was in force, the limit of five
SIMs per identity card should be maintained for both data and
voice SIMs.
They agreed that there may be certain advantages of relaxing the
limit, however, added that it would not be advisable to relax the
limit for security reasons until the security improves and after that
the limit can be reviewed in consultation with stakeholders.
Here, the ban on regular SIM cards is somewhat understandable,
however, since the biometric verification was not intended for
data SIMs, there seems no reason for the restriction on Data
SIMs which cannot receive an inbound or make an outbound call.
However, the ban has been applied to them as well.
The thing which adds fuel to the fire is that this restriction has only
been placed on the cellular operators and there is no restriction
at all on other data service providers, making it an unjustified,
irrational and unequal act, the mobile phone operators believe.
Keeping this mind, Zong is of the view that voice SIMs and dataonly SIMS are two distinct categories and any limit imposed on
the former should not be applicable to the latter and this practice
is already being followed in the market by another telecom utility
with the consent of PTA.
A source in the cell phone industry said that due to the family
dynamic of our region, it was not an oddity to have SIMs issued
on the ID card of one person in the house. He said, “Due to this
issue we are losing out on potential sales of SIMs. The issue of
women not using their CNICs also causes a problem as they either
get their SIMs through other male members of the family and the
5 SIM per CNIC restriction causes a hindrance in this case,” he
said.
“
He said that with the launch of 3G and 4G services, the market
was moving towards a multi-device environment where each
individual might have multiple devices. With the introduction of
Data SIMs and laptops, tablets, dongles/wingles etc, all operate
on 3G/4G connectivity. He said, “By blocking SIM sales for more
than 5 SIMs per CNIC we are stopping this potential growth in
the market which is not only hurting our revenues but also causing
losses to the national exchequer.”
He said the young people who did not have CNICs were required
to issue SIMs on their parents’ CNICs which caused a problem.
Therefore, it is need of time that either in compliance of SOP
mentioned in foregoing para restriction on the number of SIMs
against one CNIC shall be lifted or segregation of data SIMS from
Voice SIMS to ensure easy access to data sim by classifying it a
separate product to avail true benefits of latest technology.
The telecom sector of Pakistan is known for paying the highest
amount of revenue to the government in the form of different taxes
since years and helps a lot to contribute in the national exchequer.
Considering the high NGMS penetration (nearly 18 million) in a
short interval of time as well as the newly emerging “Internet of
Things” phenomenon, data services can prove to be a big booster
for the country in case it is utilized in an efficient way. But the ban
on more than 5 data SIMs makes this all practically suppressing
that has started to show result in the form of reduction of profits
for all cellular mobile operators who have made huge investments
to get fruit out of this all.
Over the top, it been over half a year since the internet services
of the country are imposed with 19.5% tax and just like YouTube
ban back in 2012, this tax does not seem to see its end anytime
soon despite the various verbal commitment by the concerned
authorities.
It should be a serious topic of interest that the existing environment
for internet services that include 3G as well as 4G seem no
favorable neither for the investor and operators nor for the
consumers. Hence, it should be the foremost responsibility of the
government as well as of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
(PTA) to ensure the immediate withdrawal of this decision as soon
as possible in order to cultivate the good from this technology.
By blocking SIM sales for more than 5 SIMs per
CNIC we are stopping this potential growth in the
market which is not only hurting our revenues but
also causing losses to the national exchequer
November 2015
“
30 MORE
www.moremag.pk
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MORE
November 2015
31
Energy
Alternative
Energy
WHAT OPTIONS WE HAVE
by Muhammad Adil Islam
W
ith the spectacular failure of the Nandipur Power Plant,
the nation has a bit of a worry. Will load shedding
ever end? I’ll be honest. Things don’t look rosy on
the horizon. The Nandipur project is a furnace oil power plant.
Instead of appointing a person who has the required qualification
and experience, the government appointed a bureaucrat and the
result: - a $ 500 million plant in a country that is energy starved.
To add fuel to fire, the plant cost an extra 10 billion rupees to
make it tri-fuel plant so that it could run on diesel and gas too.
When the PM inaugurated it, he said it was nothing short of a
miracle and miracle it was! It could run a few days because of the
32 MORE
November 2015
high cost of producing electricity from diesel. The Furnace Oil
Treatment Plant hadn’t arrived yet when the electricity was made
and when it arrived it was well short of the required capacity. It’s
been more than two years, the plant is rotting and no one has been
held accountable as of yet.
This failure begs the question: Will Pakistan be ever capable of
bridging the gap between power supply and demand? Probably. A
proper professional needs to be at the helm instead of the ruling
political elite.
www.moremag.pk
Solar Power
You hear a lot about solar power. In fact, Pakistan has developed
a specific solar power farm in Bahawalpur known as the Quaid
e Azam Solar Power Park. Hopefully, this would be a success.
Currently, the use of solar power globally stands 0.3%. Lots of
money and research is
An aerial view of the Quaid e Azam Solar Park in Bahawalpur
being made regarding this form of alternative energy. Elon Musk
has also stepped into developing solar power and providing it to
the masses. It is the fastest growing energy renewable energy in
the world. Some issues need ironing like the seasonal variations
and nighttime inefficiency. But solar power is on the rise and it
would be in the best interest of Pakistan to grab this chance with
both hands…
Geothermal
It is the usage of the force of natural steam emerging from the hot
inner Earth to spin turbines and generate electricity. The country’s
demand for energy is rising by 11% annually. Geothermal is a
good option to explore. Currently, global usage stands at a measly
0.2%. The northern areas of Pakistan have been identified as
potential sources for geothermal energy however the government
has not paid attention to it. It can save billions of dollars because
the cost of importing crude oil would be saved. The environment
would be greener and less pollution will be there. According to a
review, Pakistan should be able to generate a lot of energy through
geothermal methods because:‘(a) Fairly extensive development of alteration zones and
fumaroles in many regions of Pakistan, (b) the presence of a fairly
large number of hot springs in different parts of the country, and
(c) the indications of Quaternary volcanism associated with the
Chagai arc extending into Iran and Afghanistan border areas.
These manifestations of geothermal energy are found within three
geotectonic or geothermal environments, i.e., (i) geo-pressurized
systems related to basin subsidence, (ii) seismo-tectonic or suturerelated systems, and (iii) systems related to Neogene–Quaternary
volcanism.’ (Elsevier Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review)
Geothermal springs in Pakistan. (Tawanai.com)
Map shows how much surface area is actually needed to generate power
The sun is a fusion reactor in the sky and produces an insane
amount of energy. It shows up everyday. It radiates more energy
to the Earth than the energy consumed by humanity in a whole
year from all sources.
www.moremag.pk
“
“
We need policies and loans that
support investments in the green
energy sector. We also need to assign
proper experts and professionals on
projects instead of bureaucrats or
someone of the ruling political elite.
The sad part is that the government is investing huge amounts of
money in the Underground coal gasification project in Thar led by
Dr. Samar Mubarak and his team. Not being an expert and I can
still point out serious concerns in this project. They are working
against the principles of common sense, engineering or whatever
you may call it.
Usually tests are conducted rigorously to determine the
composition of oil and gas- this has been overlooked. The
contract for the plant has been given to a firm that has accepted
that the proposed bid is well below the required investment. The
cooling requirements of feed gas are not in order either and plant
safety has been overlooked. Until and unless, a technical third
party team investigates, this project will turn out to be a potential
failure as well.
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November 2015
33
Wind Energy
The origin of wind power came from Asia through the Persians.
Then the West started developing it into a more efficient form
of energy and now Asia has snaked its way through the top
again. China and India are major producers of wind energy. It
is interesting to note that India has potential of 45,000 MW with
a much larger surface area while Pakistan has a wind energy
potential of 50,000 MW despite having a smaller surface area. The
reason of this good fortune is that Pakistan has high wind speeds
near its major centers. Recently, the government has completed
several projects that show wind energy is viable. The biggest wind
power project is being made in Jhimpir in the province of Sindh.
However, wind power companies in Pakistan have to face a
harsh reality. For starters, Pakistan does not have a ‘Feed-inTariff’ scheme, which forces the companies to negotiate its
tariff separately with NEPRA. This is time consuming and cuts
off investment significantly. The other problems are technical
corruption, high inflation, lack of investment loans from local
banks and bad government management system.
less than 20 miles from the rapidly expanding metropolis of 20
million people. There is outcry and fear as a small mistake can
cripple Karachi and if Karachi is crippled so is Pakistan. Some
architects and engineers think that the people of Karachi are
being held hostage by this program. However, Azfar Minhaj,
the general manager of the reactor, has said fears are unfounded.
Pakistan has ordered the ACP-1000 reactor that has a double
containment and structure and an elaborate filtration system as
well as the ability to cool itself within 72 hours without electricity.
Regarding the tsunami fears he replied that the reactor is 39 feet
above sea level on a rock ledge and the Pakistan meteorological
office has recently concluded that in an event of an earthquake of
9.0 magnitude it will cause a tsunami wave of 23 feet. Lets hope
everyone recognize their responsibility and make sure everything
inch is explored.
The Karachi Nuclear Power plant
The Jhimpir Wind Power Farm developed by a subsidiary of a Turkish firm
Nuclear Power
Nuclear energy harnesses the power of nuclear fission- the process
of splitting heavy atoms, which releases energy- to generate
electricity. It is a bit controversial though. People like me feel
positive about it. I seriously think that it can solve energy shortage
in Pakistan while some people are negative about it. They argue
that it is dangerous and can be used in terrorism. The problem
of its waste disposal and potential of catastrophic accidents has
made people against this.
Why Renewable Energy?
Fossil fuels will eventually run out. Pakistan is not blessed with
crude oil like the Middle East. It needs energy for its growth.
Fossil fuels already cause a lot of pollution and Pakistan needs
to adopt green ways to produce energy. It’s not a big ask. It is
already blessed through nature with high wind speeds, geothermal
springs, a well functioning nuclear department and lots of sun. I
am a big supporter of green energy and I believe this is the only
home we have. We need to save it! We need policies and loans
that support investments in the green energy sector. We need
to assign proper experts and professionals on projects instead
of bureaucrats or someone of the ruling political elite. People
responsible for previous failure should be accounted for and the
efficiency of government departments should increase.
The case was strengthened when tsunami struck Japan in 2011
and caused the Fukushima power plants to melt down. It resulted
in the most harmful nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. This caused
the countries to reduce its dependency on it or ban it all together.
While these accidents show us the downside of nuclear, nuclear
energy has caused fewer deaths over time as compared to fossil
fuels. Since it has practically no carbon dioxide emission, it is a
worthy option to explore.
China is building two nuclear plants on the coast of Karachi
that is vulnerable to tsunamis and hijackings. It also stands at
34 MORE
November 2015
A polar bear has died due to starvation. This is due to climate change that
has destroyed its habitat
Feel sad, yet?
www.moremag.pk
Lifestyle
How to Reduce Lower Back Pain in 7 minutes?
Being incredibly active as well as sitting idle results in back pain. According to a research, nearly 31 million Americans experience
lower back pain at any given moment. And the situations prevails all over the world including Pakistan. It’s a common disease that
requires care and diligence to eliminate.
Whether you experience stiffness, aches, or spasms, the following stretches can help keep your back fit and strong.
1. The hamstring floor stretch
2. Knee to chest stretch
Keep the leg raised 30 seconds.
First one, then - the second.
This exercise helps to strengthen and at the
same time relax the muscles in the buttocks .
Make two repeat for each leg 20 seconds.
3. Spinal stretch
4. The piriformis stretch
This is one of the best exercises for those suffering from sciatica.
Hold in position for 20 seconds . Then repeat this with the other
knee . Make as many repetitions as you want to do, but do not
overdo it .
Hold the leg in the desired position for 30 seconds. Repeat for
the other leg.
5. The hip flexors stretch
6. Stretching with a focus on a stool or chair
Hold this position for 30 seconds and then repeat it with the
other leg.
Hold for 30 seconds on each side. Do this one twice on each
side.
7. The total back stretch
Hold this position for 10 seconds on each side.
www.moremag.pk
Source: you-journal.ru
MORE
November 2015
35
Event
Mr. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with the Fashion icons, Ayesha
Khan, Uzair Jaswal and others
Huawei Brand Ambassador,
Syra Yousaf
Mr. Faraz with Mr. Martin
Ali Safina and Hira Tareen taking selfie with Huawei officials Aragon Meng, CEO Huawei Pakistan
Glamorous and Star-studded
Launch of Huawei Mate S and G8
A
t a glittering and auspicious recent event, Huawei
unveiled its latest flagship smart phone, Mate S,
organized at the Royal Palm, Lahore. The evening
was star-studded; prestigious media personalities, famous
celebrities, fashion icons and high ranking bloggers adorned the
event with their presence. The launch event’s Red Carpet was
hosted by the talented Anoushey and Faizan ul haq, who talked
to the celebrities, singers, Jawani Phir Nahi Ani’s cast members,
Ayesha Khan, Ahmed Ali butt about their views on the Huawei
stunningly attractive Mate S launch event.
The event stage was hosted by charming Ali Safina and his
beautiful wife, Hira Tareen. Huawei Pakistan’s CEO, Mr. Aragon
Meng, opened the evening with a presentation, highlighting
Huawei’s successful journey in 2015.
There was a series of thrilling music and dance performances
36 MORE
November 2015
by Ahmed Ali Butt with Humayun Saeed joining him later, as
a mega surprise for his fans. Emerging Music icon, Sara Haider
won over the audience with her sweet voice.
To add to the heat of the event, unique clothing line of Ali Xeeshan
was presented on the runway by the stunning models like Cybil
Chaudary and Rabya Chaudary and many others. The runway
was enlivened with the performance of Uzair Jaswal and Nabeel
Shaukat. A Selfie booth, radiating Ali Xeeshan’s matchless sense
of style was also set up, along with the experience zone, which
carried the innovative, star of the evening smart phones, Mate S
and G8.Music maestro, Mr. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, created magic
with his enchanting voice and left the audience spellbound for
several minutes. The event ambiance was alluring and the aura
of it conveyed the matchless prestige of the Huawei brand.
The gem of the evening, Mate S and Huawei G8 were put up on
www.moremag.pk
Mr. Aragon Meng ( CEO) along
with General Manager Mr. Shawn
Event Host, Mr. Wiqar Ali Khan
Mr. Faraz Khan with Huawei Brand Ambassador's Sheroz and Syra
Amina Niazi, Siddy says with Mr. Faraz Khan and
Mr. Salman Javed
Moosa Nadeem, Account Manager Huawei, Atif Saleem, Account Director Huawei,
Ahmed Bilal Masood, CEO Huawei and Jaffery, GM Huawei
Mr. Moazzam Paracha, Mr. Muzaffar Paracha, Air Link with Mr. Shawn,
GM Huawei Devices and Mr. Faraz M Khan, Marketing Head, Huawei
Mr. Faraz with Huawei Brand
Ambassador Mr Sheryar Munnawar
exhibit on the stalls, so that the honored guests could have a first
hand experience of these, elegantly crafted smart devices. The
launch event was further escalated with the series of entertainment
programs and engaging activities. Mr. Faraz M Khan, Huawei’s
Head of Marketing, along with the sizzling model Mr. Waqar
Ali Khan, gave out a detailed insight to the audience about the
exquisite wonders, wrapped in the Mate S and G8.
The innovative “Power of Touch”, was the main highlight of the
event. Huawei officials emphasized on how the technology world
has been glorified with the “Powerful Touch” primarily launched
through Huawei Mate S. Another exclusive and modernized
feature being delivered through Mate S is the advanced fingerprint
scanner, which has broken all the barriers of the conventional
smart phone control by giving fool proof access to the main
functions of the phone at the single touch and swipe of the finger.
www.moremag.pk
Model Fiza Ali,
Mr. Faraz M. Khan with
adorning Ali Xeeshan's Ahmed Ali Butt
unique outfit
“We have now, officially, introduced our premium smart phone,
Mate S in Pakistan. This magnificent device is an excellent
prodigy of Huawei, which exhibits our R&D team’s expertise and
ultimate finesse,” said Mr. Shawn, who is now leading the devices
division of Huawei in Pakistan. He further said,”The flourishing
technology market of Pakistan is indeed very fertile and holds
promising growth prospects which is why, we are quite hopeful
that Mate S will receive an overwhelming response in Pakistan,
making Huawei, the best-selling brand of the region.”
Among the esteemed guests at the Launch, CEO Airlink, Mr.
Moazzam Paracha, Muzzaffar Paracha, M& P CFO, Munaf,
Xulfi, Maria B, Porche owner Abuzar Bukhari, Tricon village
owner Asif Kamal and Farhan Masood CEO of Solotech were
also there at the event.
MORE
November 2015
37
Review
I
t feels delicate to hold Haier Esteem i50 that is a
new configuration introduced by the company
and it appears to be a worthwhile advance on the
previous models of the Esteem series of smartphone.
What is more alluring is that it comes with Haier Protect
Plus which is a complementary coverage in case you
broke your smartphone accidently or even it gets stolen.
The device sits in the middle of the price scale, but it is
a bit early to say that same goes for the specifications
or not.
Apparently, Haier Esteem i50 seems orderly with a
smooth touch of build and design. Let’s have a look
in details regarding the overall configuration and
performance of the device.
Say Hi to skinny entrant in the market,
Haier Esteem i50
by More Team
Hardware
The smartphone is angular in shape with slightly round edges
covered with a metal-like grayish silver material. The placement
of power, as well as volume rocker button, is on the right edge
just like we have seen in another model of the same series, Haier
Esteem L50.
Display & sound
With a resolution of 1280x720, Haier i50’s 5-inch screen might
not seem anything extraordinary as you can get this much screen
size in a similar price tag. However, it still has the ability to well
entertain the users via multiple specifications which we shall be
considering below.
There are no color choices except that of one standard color black,
but it looks great with this tone. The back of the device gives the
illusion of a textured material though it is made of a pleasant softtouch plastic and looks classier from behind.
The display is vivid which does a decent job of boosting multiangle view and the screen is also super bright and readable even
in direct sunlight.
You can take off the backing of the device over which you can
see a round primary camera, LED flash, speakerphone slot and of
course Haier logo.
Under the cover, there resides a removable battery, two SIM card
slots, and a microSD slot. At the top, you will find a headphone
port e while the bottom hosts a charging slot.
On the front of the device, there resides a front facing camera, a
phone receiver and a proximity sensor to detect the presence of
nearby objects without any physical contact. It turns off the screen
to disable accidental touch as well as save the battery life of the
device.
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November 2015
The same can’t be said for speaker quality. Despite its serious and
dedicated appearance, the tiny holes of speaker are not much loud
just like all other conventional smartphones.
But the headphones that come with the box of the device are
pretty impressive and once you made to fix them into your years,
even the loud noises won’t be able to disturb you anymore with
the full volume of music. The tiny silver button on the handsfree
allows to pause or resume the song so, you are not required rush
to your smartphone to hear something unusual immediately, like
the creepy sound of a supernatural around you, Heebie Jeebies!
www.moremag.pk
Software
As we had expected from Haier, the latest i50 offers a smooth
interface of Android 5.0 Lollipop, with some more in the form of
additional layer of utility apps.
Whenever a notification arrives, an icon appears on the locked
screen. By tapping the icon, you can jump straight into the
relevant application. However, you can also tap and hold the same
notification icon to block notifications from that particular app.
Since there is no notification LED on this smartphone to alert
you regarding the incoming messages and calls, hence you are
supposed to prick up your ears all the time to stay updated.
image way bright. However keeping an average distance from the
object brings better results.
The 2-megapixel front camera is actually better and brighter than
the traditional smartphones of the same lens. It can take smile
shots for you in an instant while you can also capture selfies with
Beauty and HDR mode. Below are few images captured by this
device:
i50 Camera result
Performance & Battery Life
On the inside, there’s a 1.3GHz Quad-Core processor paired
with 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of built-in storage, expandable by
microSD card and honestly, i50 never hitched to keep pace with
my daily routine. So we have reached an era of advancement
where less expensive phones don’t slow down or stutter in regular
use and that’s what most of us long for.
Haier Esteem i50 interface
At the top of usefulness, there is a built-in Battery Saver
application that reduces the performance of the device when
turned on. It also limits vibration and most background data but
turns off automatically when the device gets power plug. Most
apparently, the top bar of the interface which displays time and
other notifications turns orangish-red to show that Battery saver
is on.
Additionally, there is a Go Keyboard app that not only supports
plenty of languages but hundreds of symbols included in the
keyboard are also compatible across all popular apps like SMS,
Gmail, Whatsapp etc. And yes, you can add colorful themes to
your keyboard, use voice input with different effects and voice
Camera
With Haier Esteem i50, the company has fitted an 8-megapixel
shooter, and things are much pleasant. Due to Android Lollipop,
all you need is to swipe on the screen to take a photo. That means
it is super quick to access the camera, even from the lock screen
to capture photos in the blink of an eye.
Provided you have got a well-lit subject in front of you, you
are definitely going to get great photos. The colors are accurate
without being dull or gaudy. The flashlight result is not that
amusing with a minimum distance as it makes everything in the
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As far as the power of the device is concerned, it has got an
ample 2000mAh battery, which takes around two hours and a
few minutes to get completely charged. Importantly, you can use
this smartphone for a full day under more than average usage that
include social networking, calling, texting, capturing pictures and
a little bit browsing that too without any trouble.
We used 3G internet on this device and placed a 30-minute Skype
call. Everything went well and smooth except that battery power
that dropped a bit faster, around 17% in that time slot. Hence, you
are suggested to keep the device connected with the WiFi as far
as possible.
Playing games on i50 is fun that is combined with pretty
comforting resolution and a quick processing.
The voice quality is found to be clear during the call conversations
and we have no reservations regarding it. Texting is state of the
art due to the gorgeously smooth keyboard and we enjoyed typing
on it.
Wrap-up
The smartphone seems well priced topped with pretty acceptable
specs and features meanwhile the build is also classy. If, like me,
you’re not a super-heavy user, i50 can easily see you through the
day without a charger.
Although Haier Esteem i50 is not the most exciting phone, but
above all, it is very capable one, and it could be one of the most
decent choices for you keeping in mind its pocket-friendliness.
MORE
November 2015
39
Advertorial
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November 2015
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November 2015
41
Event
Gitex 2015
The largest trading event of Dubai brings
latest innovation for people
by More Team
G
itex Technology Week is recently concluded in World Trade
Center, Dubai while putting forward the latest innovation in Information
and Communication Technology sector
during 5-day event from 18th October to
the 22nd October 2015.
The event is known as one of the largest
trading events in Dubai which is a gateway
for global brands to access of the fastest
emerging ICT market, the Middle East.
Continuing its tradition, Gitex 2015 attracted more than 130,000 participants
from nearly 150 countries of the world.
The tech giants like Huawei, Panasonic,
LG as well as other technological firms
came up this time to introduce and unveil
their ideas of innovation. Let’s gear up to
find out tech industry’s top developments
for 2015.
LG’s narrowest bezel video wall
During the Gitex 2015 event, the South Korean multinational LG
Electronics announced the global launch world’s narrowest bezel
video wall that is having ultra high-definition display, measuring
just 0.9 mm, offering the most seamless and immersive display
solution as claimed by the company.
The video wall display features LG’s “webOS for Signage” that
enables a variety of web-based applications across multiple
platforms, as well as the ability to write applications using HTML5.
The targeted locations of the Video walls are airports, shopping
centres and hotels.
Huawei’s In-Vehicle IoT Security Solution
Huawei has unveiled its in-vehicle IoT solution in Gitex 2015 that uses
Huawei’s Agile IoT Gateway and offers a variety of services such as
in-vehicle video surveillance, accurate passenger tracking, emergency
services communication, real-time vehicle health data analysis and
even host multi-media services for the entertainment of passengers.
This solution has been made mainly to connect public transport
vehicles and school buses that allows road transport authorities to
monitor, track and communicate with their fleet of vehicles, ensuring
increased safety for citizens.
One of the key features of Huawei’s smart in-vehicle IoT solution is its
streamlined connectivity to emergency services in the event of a crisis.
An emergency button is mounted inside the vehicle that the driver can activate, which sends out an alarm. Through the Geographic
Information System, the circumstance can be detected in real-time and the in-vehicle video surveillance data can be quickly accessed
ensuring that the relevant measures can be taken to guarantee passenger safety.
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4. Islamic IT Products
A Dubai-based company X-Concepts have launched a series
of Islamic IT products, including the world’s largest Islamic
mobile app iMurshid that assist users with the local Prayer
Timings, Qibla direction, Islamic Calendar and events, Halal
Restaurants, Mosques in vicinity, translation of the meanings
of the Noble Quran in many languages and its Tafseer, Zakat
Calculator, Dua and Azkar, Islamic TV and Radio, Islamic
Wallpapers and Islamic News and much more.
Panasonic Interactive Mirror
“Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”
The new Interactive Mirror by Panasonic is something really
interesting that grabbed the massive attention of the visitors
during the event and is a masterpiece by the company.
It is designed to enhance lifestyle as a new professional health and
beauty advisor. Using the in-built high definition cameras, the
mirror is capable of analysing face feature to point out every flaw
and suggestions to fix them.
iMurshid also feature a complete collection of 18,000
authentic hadiths, help to keep track of Zakat, Charity,
prayers, fasting and other forms of worship, a special Hajj and
Umrah portal and a
social front to find
jobs, sell properties
and cars etc. Seems
comprehensive! Isn’t
it?
Apart from this, the
company has also
launched
Islamic
Router, and the
Islamic tablet in the
Gitex 2015 event.
It operates with two types of remote controls – presentation and
demonstration. The interactive mirror also performs makeup,
styling & lighting simulation with an ability to record and play
rear view (hair style check). With the help of this, the users can do
virtual make-up and make-up navigation. Likewise, men can do
virtual beards and mustaches that suit on the facial contour.
Oppo R7s
Oppo unveiled the latest member of the famous R7 family during the same event which is a
metal-clad phablet featuring 4GB of RAM and a 5.5” 1080p AMOLED display.
In addition to above specs, Oppo’s R7s include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset, 32GB of
built-in memory, and a microSD card slot. A 13MP main camera and 8MP front-facing unit
are also on board. Powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop with ColorOS 2.1 on the top, this device
contains a 3,070 mAh battery with support for VOOC Flash Charge.
R7s will debut in a number of the Asian
markets next month while Europe and
the United States will follow suit in
December.
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November 2015
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BUYER’S GUIDE
Huawei G8
Network
Display
RAM
ROM
OS
CPU
Camera
Battery
Price
4G
5.5 inch
3 GB
32 GB
Android 5.1Lollipop
Quad-core 1.5 GHz &
quad-core 1.2 GHz
13 MP, 5 MP
3000 mAh
Rs. 41,000
Samsung Galaxy J1
Network
Display
RAM
ROM
OS
CPU
Camera
Battery
Price
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3G
4.3 inch
512 MB
4 GB
Android 4.4 KitKat
Dual-core 1.2 GHz
5 MP, 2 MP
1850 mAh
Rs. 11,999
Huawei P8
4G
5.2 inch
3 GB
16 GB
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Octa-core 2 GHz
13 MP, 8 MP
2680 mAh
Rs. 50,000
Samsung Galaxy J5
4G
5.0 inch
1.5 GB
8/16 GB
Android 5.1 Lollipop
Quad-core 1.2 GHz
13 MP, 5 MP
2600 mAh
Rs. 23,000
Huawei Mate S
4G
5.5 inch
3 GB
32 GB
Android 5.1 Lollipop
Quad-core 2.2 GHz & quadcore 1.5 GHz
13 MP, 8 MP
2700 mAh
Rs. 68,000
Samsung Galaxy J7
4G
5.5 inch
1.5 GB
16 GB
Android 5.1 Lollipop
Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.0 GHz
13 MP, 5 MP
3000 mAh
Rs. 28,000
November 2015
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BUYER’S GUIDE
Haier Esteem i50
Network
Display
RAM
ROM
OS
CPU
Camera
Battery
Price
3G
5 inch
1 GB
8 GB
Android 5.0 Lollipop
1.3GHz Quad-Core
8 MP, 2 MP
2000 mAh
Rs. 12,500
Lenovo A5000
Network
Display
RAM
ROM
OS
CPU
Camera
Battery
Price
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3G
5-inch
1 GB
8 GB
Android 4.4 KitKat
1.3 GHz Quad-core
8 MP, 2 MP
4000 mAh
Rs. 13,900
Haier Esteem i70
Haier Esteem i80
3G
5 inch
1 GB
16 GB
Android 4.4 KitKat
Octa-core 1.4GHz
13 MP, 5 MP
2300 mAh
Rs. 17,999
3G
5 inch
2 GB
16 GB
Android 4.4 KitKat
Octa-core 1.4GHz
13 MP, 5 MP
2300 mAh
Rs. 19,500
Lenovo A6000
Lenovo A7000
4G
5-inch
1 GB
8 GB
Android 4.4 KitKat
1.2 GHz Quad-core
8 MP, 2 MP
2300mAh
Rs.14,900
4G
5.5 inch
2GB
8GB
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Octa-core 1.5GHz
8 MP, 5 MP
2900mAh
Rs. 19,500
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BUYER’S GUIDE
Rotating camera hits feature
phone with Qmobile XL50
You might have seen a few smartphones that host swivel cameras like
Oppo's N1 and N3, Huawei's Honor 7i or G'Five Tango 7 but it is interesting
(at the same time hilarious) to know that the largest selling mobile phone
manufacturer of Pakistan, Qmobile has also come up with the same idea, but
not for smartphone.
Yeah, you heard it right! It is Qmobile XL50 feature phone that has been
released very recently and allows the user to capture images with a rotating
camera which is accompanied with a flashlight.
The device is equipped with traditional functionalities that you expect from a
feature phone i.e. 3-inch display screen, Dual SIM connectivity, and up to 16
GB external memory card support. However, there are no exact details about
the quality of camera though the company calls it to be a 'Smart Camera'.
If you expecting this device to be kind enough to support 3G connectivity for
you then there is a bad news, as there is simply option for GPRS/EDGE and
hence the social media applications that are preinstalled in it can be accessed via this mode of connectivity only.
As far as the battery of Qmobile XL50 is concerned, it comes with 1200mAh power pack and can last for a week on standby mode,
reportedly. The device has been put up on shelves in Pakistan with a price tag of Rs. 3,250.
Google's new app 'Who's
Down' lets you know
which of your friends are
free to Hangout
Google is here to accompany you.
The most recent example of this fact is the recent yet quietlyreleased "Who's Down" Android app that has just hit the Google
Play store. The app simply shows you whether you are "down"
to hang out and once you have confirmed that you are "down,"
your friends will see that status and include you in whatever
wonderful activities they have planned.
Once you have confirmed you're "down," you can add a status
message to say just what you are "down" for, be it a trip to
meet some animals in the zoo or a hangout accompanied with
a dinner.
Start a chat and
Additionally, there is group chatting feature
make plans
included in this app to stay connected with the
friends.
If you think that weird ideas attack your mind only then you
need to reconsider this as the famous tech giant of the world Mr.
One slider to see who’s
free to hang out
Instantly know which
friends are free
The striking part is that this app seems very
similar to that of Apple's 'Find My Friends app'
but that does not let you say that you are "down"
for a specific activity. Unfortunately, Who's
Down is currently invite-only, and the app's
page on Google Play does not contain a whole
lot of detail on how exactly things work hence
we will have to wait and see when Google will
make it available for everyone out there.
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