International Training Program Concluded in Islamabad

The three days International Training Program (ITP) organized by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in collaboration with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) concluded in Islamabad today.

The program, which ran from 20-22 July, 2016 featured several sessions with national and international speakers.

These sessions focused on new ways and means to address issues and challenges popping up in the ICT sector of the Member States.

Representatives from several countries from Asia Pacific Region including Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Maldives, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Samoa, Salomon Island, Timor Leste, Vietnam participated in the event.

During three days, Director Generals of PTA and senior officials of the telecom operators conducted training sessions on different topics such as biometric verification of SIM users’ data, spectrum management and auction in Pakistan, competition issues in telecom market, online child protection, broadband for networked society, digital financial inclusion and mobile apps, cyber security, consumer protection & quality of Service, OTT players and ICTs for persons with disabilities & women empowerment.

The training covered principles, practices and recommendations which are expected to assist regulators in the Asia-Pacific region in addressing the telecommunication/ICT regulatory challenges.

Mr. Sameer Sharma , Senior Advisor ITU Regional Office for Asia-Pacific said that deliberations through such conferences are helpful in providing international experiences with a focus on current issues and challenges in ICT sector. He said these events have been able to showcase the achievements of Pakistan telecom sector. He appreciated Government of Pakistan for doubling its contribution to ITU. He also thanked PTA for making excellent arrangements for the events.

On this occasion, Chairman PTA Syed Ismail Shah said that this conference was very helpful in highlighting the policy and regulatory issues in the region. He said PTA will continue to host such events in future also to have fruitful discussions. Participants from various countries including Nepal, China, India and Papua New Guinea appreciated hospitality extended to them by the host country.

Senate to Pass Cyber Crime Bill Next Week

The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication is all set to pass the amended “Electronic Crime Bill 2016” on Monday, proposing a maximum punishment of 14 years with fine of Rs 50 million for cyber terrorism to deal with the growing cyber threats.

The amended Bill will be moved to Senate of Pakistan on Tuesday and will be passed from the House during the same week, told us sources who are directly aware of the situation.

It must be noted that bill must get passed from senate with-in next week or it will expire as Senate will meet again from August 18 for new session, when the deadline will lapse.

According to the amended Bill, it will also apply to any act committed outside Pakistan by any person if the act constitutes an offense under this Act and affects a person, property, information system, data or device located in Pakistan.

The committee met with Shahi Syed in the chair here on Friday to consider the prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2016.

Bill Must Get Passed Next Week or It May Lapse

It maybe recalled that different stakeholders — including social media and civil society  — had given written proposals/suggestions to the committee and it decided to consider and incorporate the recommendations that are appropriate by Monday next week.

Social activists are fearing that their concerns may largely remain unaddressed and amended bill won’t be any different from original bill.

However, some Senators raised serious concerns over the proposed legislation, while saying that common men has not been given due safeguards.

The amended proposed law will not be applicable provided that where the violation is committed by a licensee of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the same shall be deemed to be a violation of terms and conditions of the licensee and shall be treated as such under the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996.

Senator Shibli Faraz said that the proposed legislation seems to be a sweeping one where no check has been made to protect general public rights.

Senator Fahatullah Baber raised concerns on the chapter dealing with international cooperation while saying that we should move very cautiously and safeguards are needed. He proposed that requests from outside world should come through a designated agency and should not be received through multiple agencies.

He further proposed only that Judiciary (High Court) should also be involved before releasing any requested information to an out-side country.

Baber further proposed that federal government should require the foreign governments, any foreign agency or any international agency to keep the information confidential or use it subject to some conditions.

He further proposed that all the requests should be routed through Foreign Office and Embassies while Attorney General should be bound to public that how many requests were received and how such requests were treated after every six months to avoid blackmailing through agencies.

Committee Chairman appreciated the efforts of the Ministry while saying that the law should have passed ten years ago; however, he said that it is still better to frame such law and overcome cyber crimes.

He said that such laws are the requirements of the age.

The committee also saw an awkward situation at one stage, when Committee Chairman and Senator Kareem Khawaja exchanged harsh words, and asked each others to shut their mouths and the former suspended the meeting.

Khawaja accused the chairman for supporting the IT ministry Bill blindly while ignoring his Bill. However Shahi Syed clarified that it was not his own Bill.

However other Senators went after and brought back both the legislators and resumed the proceeding of the committee.

The committee would meet again on Monday to finalize and pass the Bill.

Mobile Phone Imports Grow Marginally in 2015-16

Mobile phone imports in Pakistan increased by 4.23 percent during the financial year 2015-16 as compared to the same period of previous year.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), total imports of mobile phone stood at $753.22 million in 2015-16, slightly up from $722.622 million in the same period previous year.

Overall telecom imports saw decline of 0.86 percent during July 2015 to June 2016 as compared to the same period in the previous year.

Total telecom imports were recorded at $1.365 billion in 2015-16 compared to $1.377 billion in the same period of previous year.

Other telecom apparatus import also witnessed significant decline of 6.48 percent during this period as it stood at $612.113 million during July-June (2015-16) against $654.508 million during the same period of last year.

Smartphone Penetration During Next Few Years:

According to analysts, telecom sector has come to a brim with respect to infrastructure investment and other apparatus, therefore decline in overall telecom import is justifiable.

However, mobile phone import bill is likely to grow during years to come. Early adaption of 3G/4G service — that now account to some 29 million subscriptions — is majorly consumed by users who were already smartphone users.

This trend is changing with time as more and more consumers have already started to shift to smartphones, mainly to access 3G and 4G services or even otherwise to use OTT services (such as Skype, Whatsapp) over WiFi.

Other incentives for smartphone adaption include better user experience and value added services such as video streaming, better photography and gaming.

Predictions suggest that smartphones are expected to cross 50 percent of mobile phones in Pakistan in next three years.

With three 4G players now — Zong, Telenor and Waird/Mobilink — a big jump in 4G smartphone is also expected during next 2-3 years.

Zong alone, and partly Warid, couldn’t generate such buzz and demand for 4G, however with Telenor and Mobilink jumping into race this trend is going to shift and more 4G handsets are likely to start emerging in Pakistan, indicating a rapid increase in import bill of smartphones as imminent.

Pakistan Among Countries With Lowest Internet Penetration: ITU

Pakistan ranks among the countries with lowest internet penetration in the world, indicating that the recent internet uptake during past two years isn’t enough and a lot is still to be done.

Recent most ICT Facts and Figures (2016) released by International Telecommunication Union reveal that Pakistan — with some 18% internet users — is ranked alongside African countries for internet penetration.

Pakistan specific stats reveal that majority of internet users are connected with wireless broadband (3G and 4G) while fixed broadband (DSL, FTTH) still accounts for less than 3% of Pakistan’s population, as compared with 10-12 percent in fixed broadband globally.

World’s Offline Population

ITU emphasized that a 53% of global population, especially in developing worlds, remains cut-off from internet. ITU said that this is happening regardless of the fact that prices for ICT services are falling in almost every market.

More detailed global map of internet penetration in the world is given below:

Global Mobile Broadband Reach

Seven billion people (95% of the global population) live in an area that is covered by a mobile-cellular network (2G at least).

Mobile-broadband networks (3G or above) reach 84% of the global population but only 67% of the rural population.

Advanced mobile-broadband networks (LTE) have spread quickly over the last three years and reach almost four billion people today – corresponding to 53% of the global population.

But while the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions continues to grow at double digit rates in developing countries to reach a penetration rate of close to 41%, mobile-broadband penetration growth has slowed overall.

Globally, the total number of mobile-broadband subscriptions is expected to reach 3.6 billion by end 2016, compared with 3.2 billion at end 2015.

Fixed broadband growth 

Global fixed-broadband subscriptions are expected to reach around 12 per 100 inhabitants in 2016, with Europe, the Americas and the Commonwealth of Independent States regions having the highest rates of penetration.

Strong growth in China is driving fixed-broadband in Asia and the Pacific, where penetration is expected to surpass 10% by end of 2016.

ICT prices continue to fall

Mobile-broadband services have now become more affordable than fixed-broadband services, with the average price for a basic fixed-broadband plan more than twice as high as the average price of a comparable mobile-broadband plan.

By the end of 2015, 83 developing countries — including Pakistan — had achieved the Broadband Commission’s affordability target.

Digital Divide

By the end of 2016, more than half of the world’s population – 3.9 billion people – will not yet be using the Internet.

While almost one billion households in the world now have Internet access (of which 230 million are in China, 60 million in India and 20 million in the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries), figures for household access reveal the extent of the digital divide, with 84% of households connected in Europe, compared with 15.4% in the African region.

Global online gender gap widens

Internet penetration rates are higher for men than for women in all regions of the world.

The global Internet user gender gap grew from 11% in 2013 to 12% in 2016. The regional gender gap is largest in Africa, at 23%, and smallest in the Americas, at 2%.

Internet bandwidth

By early 2016, international Internet bandwidth had reached 185,000 gigabits per second, up from a low of 30,000 gigabits in 2008.

However, bandwidth is unequally distributed globally, and lack of bandwidth remains a major bottleneck to improved Internet connectivity in many developing and Least Developed Countries.

ITU Nominates Anusha Rehman as Commissioner of Broadband Commission

Anusha Rehman, Minister for IT and Telecom, has been nominated by International Telecommunication Union as Commissioner of its “Broadband Commission for Digital Development”, we have checked with Ministry of IT officials.

Broadband Commission is an international body governed under ITU and is meant for the proliferation of broadband in the world.

The Broadband Commission engages in high-level advocacy to promote broadband in developing countries and under-served communities. In doing so, the Commission leverages its high-profile Commissioners to spread the message of Broadband for Sustainable Development at key events, conferences and functions.

Anusha Rehman happens to be first Pakistan to become the commissioner of Broadband Commission.

Other commissioners of Broadband Commission include heads of statea, chairpersons of telecom groups, experts from telecom, academia and other relevant businesses from across the world.

Her selection is primarily the result of work she has done in uptaking the internet penetration in Pakistan.

Anusha’s nomination on this international forum is a recognition of her invaluable services by global community, which she successfully rendered in arena of broadband.

At the time of joining her office in 2013, internet penetration in Pakistan was less than 3 percent which is now hovering around 19 percent. During her tenure Pakistan successfully conducted two spectrum auctions in which four telecom companies were granted 3G licenses while two operators were granted 4G spectrum.

Huawei Sales Increase by 40% in First Half of 2016

Huawei is looking set to join the big leagues in the smartphone business. The company has announced its revenue figures for the first half of 2016 and they are already 40-percent higher than what they were a year ago, reaching $36.8 billion.

The number outranks the growth margin of 30 percent which Huawei experienced over the same duration a year before. It hasn’t announced how many smartphones or accessories it sold during this half but it could be a sizeable gap over the 48.2 million phones it shipped in H1 2015.

It has already recorded shipments of more than 28 million in Q1 of 2016 already. With sales for the new P9 and P9 Plus flagships still going fairly strong, the company is likely seeing a sizeable increase in demand.

A concern which the Chinese company could face in the future are the declining operating margins. Over the same time past year, they declined 6-percent to just 12 percent for H1 2016, something which could likely be attributed to an increased focus towards smartphones.

We are confident that Huawei will maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations. – Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng

The strong statistics mean Huawei is on course to meet its target of reaching $75 billion in revenues for the year, its highest ever.

Last year, Huawei became the first Chinese manufacturer to record 100 million units in sales. With increasing revenues, it is looking well on course to become the third biggest smartphone company there is.

PTA Organizes Pakistan ICT Indicators Symposium

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA),Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoIT) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) jointly organized ‘Pakistan ICT Indicators Symposium’ under the theme of ”Multi-stakeholder Engagement to Highlight the need of ICT Data Reporting” at PTA Headquarters today.

The Chief Guest of the event was Ms. Anusha Rehman Khan, Minister of State for Information Technology & Telecommunications (MOIT&T) and Mr. Rizwan Bashir Khan, Secretary, MOIT, was the guest of honor. Chairman PTA, Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Mr. Tahir Mushtaq, Member (HRD), MoIT, Mr. Sameer Sharma, Senior Advisor, ITU Asia-Pacific. Mr. Tariq Sultan, Member (Finance) Mr. Abdul Samad, Member (Compliance & Enforcement) PTA were present on this occasion. Representatives from MOIT&T, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Telecom Operators, international organizations, donor agencies, DGs of different Divisions of PTA and senior officers of the Authority attended the event.

On this occasion, Ms. Anusha Rehman Khan said that ICTs indicators are related to newly formulated Sustainable Development Goals. Since we all know that SDGs of the United Nations (UN) represent a renewed commitment of the 193 country leaders to ending poverty, combat hunger, and disease, and promote social justice and human dignity. She said that it is imperative to mention that ICT indicators are the key enablers to achieve multiple SDGs. ICT indicators can also help monitor achievements in other areas included in the SDGs, such as poverty reduction, education and economic growth.  We all need to take a proactive approach to develop a comprehensive mechanism to collect all relevant ICT data. The Minister said that Pakistan has shown tremendous growth in telecom sector over the last few years and it has also achieved some exceptional milestones. Similarly, on the policy front, finalization and approval of a comprehensive Telecommunication Policy is yet another milestone achieved, she further added.

Earlier, addressing the event Secretary, MOIT said that the Government is committed to enhance the quality of manpower in the ICT sector. We will continue to provide the necessary support to the industry. He said that we need the effort and close cooperation from all of us including operators, equipment manufacturers and content providers for the contribution of ICT sector in GDP. He appreciated the efforts of PTA towards proliferation of ICT sector of the country. He further said that local content and applications have generated new forms of consumption and attracted large number of consumers.

Chairman PTA said in his welcome address that to take advantage of the rapidly changing society, governments need to monitor and benchmark progress in order to design and review national policies and strategies. In order to do so, reliable data and indicators on the access and use of ICTs, and their impact on development have to be defined and collected. Chairman said that such data and indicators help governments design and evaluate ICT policies and strategies, compare their ICT developments with those in other countries and adopt solutions to reduce the digital divide. These rankings also depicts the current snapshot of country’s ICT profile that is a key parameter for investors to analyze market and to take an informed decision of their investment opportunity in the country, Chairman further added.

At the symposium, Mr. Tahir Mushtaq, Member (HRD), MoIT highlighted Ministry of IT role in the betterment of ICT Indicators.  Mr. Sameer Sharma Senior Advisor, ITU Asia-Pacific  introduced ITU’s work on ICT indicators measurement.

Mr. Tariq Sultan Member (Finance), PTA briefed about PTA efforts for improving the ICT profile of Pakistan. Dr. Muhammad Saleem, DG, PTA shared his views on telecom data collection  by PTA, Ms. Rabia Awan, Director, PBS  and, Mr. Attiq-ur Rehman, Director, PBS, gave presentations on ICT household data collection by PBS, and Mr. Zafar ul Hassan, Project Director, Ministry of Planning, shared about development and reform ICT indicators & effective monitoring of  SDGs.

Mr. Abdul Samad, Member (Compliance & Enforcement), PTA moderated a session under the theme “removing impediments on ICT data collection & way forward. Mr. Arif Sargana, Director (CA), PTA , Mr. Syed Ali Abbas Hasani, Director, PSEB, and Mr. Sikander Naqi representative from CMOs also shared their views on  removing impediments on ICT data collection & way forward. Further the symposium provided opportunities to the stakeholders such as ITU, PBS, MOIT&T to shared their perspective and opinions on improving ICTs data collection and reflecting true picture of the progress in telecom sector of the country. At the end of symposium Chief Guest presented shields to the speakers.

It may be mentioned that State Minister for IT&T, Ms. Anusha Rehman Khan, has been appointed by ITU Secretary General as Broadband Commissioner for sustainable development of international Telecommunication Union (ITU). ITU and UNESCO set up the Broadband Commission for Digital Development in response to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s call to step-up UN efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Careem Offers Telenor Users a First-Time 35% Discount and Free WiFi

Careem and Telenor have partnered to provide discounted fares to customers who use Telenor’s service. Careem is a transportation company quite similar to a cab service which connects the captains (drivers) with the customers via its app.

Details about the Offer

The transportation service will be giving a discount of 35% to Telenor customers for their first ride using Careem. Furthermore, all customers will now have access to free wifi during the ride. The captains will also be able to avail special data packages from Telenor.

The discount will be available from 26th July till 9th August for business and economy users both for their first ride only. You can use the promotional code Telenor35 to avail the discount while booking a ride.

Careem operates in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Internationally Careem operates in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as well. Careem’s service is different from regular cab services in that it offers an app for its customers in addition to hailing a cab via a call.

Telenor and Careem Partnership

Telenor Pakistan’s CEO Michael Foley added,

With Careem, Telenor subscribers will not only enjoy cheaper and more comfortable rides, but also WIFI connectivity on the go. We will continue to look for newer avenues of serving our valued customers.

Managing Director of Careem Junaid Iqbal also commented on this new partnership saying that they are happy with this crucial deal with Telenor. He said that the agreement between Telenor Pakistan and Careem will help them explore newer prospects for them to further accommodate their customers, and that they will explore more options on expanding upon this agreement and their joint venture in general.

Watch Out: These CCTV Cameras Can Steal Your ATM Pins

Cameras are placed on all ATMs now for security reasons. But sometimes the same camera can prove to be a security risk itself. Wondering how? Let’s have a look:

On a UBL ATM in Centaurus, Islamabad, a CCTV camera is placed at such a point where the ATM keypad is clearly visible. When an ATM user punches the keys for entering their pin code, it is seen in pictures. Now any person with malicious intent in the bank watching the CCTV footage can notice a user’s pin code and do with it as they please.

Not to mention that if the CCTV stream is hacked somehow, the users are easy prey for hackers.

This becomes a big question mark on the security of users’ accounts, though it may be a co-incidence. But that’s besides the point since it is not at all acceptable. This is a security, privacy, and rules breach by the respective bank itself. Certain questions arise regarding this act of sheer negligence:

Is it in the notice of respective bank branch? It must be! As the CCTV footage is pretty clear. So has the branch manager or administration taken any step to remove the camera from that particular point?

Is it done intentionally by any malevolent bank employee or the camera installing person? Has the bank admin done any investigation?

Is there any theft or misuse of a user’s account reported to the bank administration? If yes, have they taken any step?

Has the bank branch placed a notice there for users to operate the keypad secretively till the camera position is changed?

Is this an isolated instance or do such cameras exist at other ATMs as well?

A few weeks ago, another financial and banking scam came to surface. Some people fixed a sort of secret scanner into the ATMs where the card is inserted. It was used to read the data from ATM card and the robbers made transactions from many accounts. That way, tens of thousands of rupees were looted.

If a bank fails in such basic security, it loses credibility. And once that happens, people will be hesitant to trust banks with their cash. In fact, such a security breach can lead people to sue the bank because none other than the bank management can be held responsible for such negligence. People don’t tolerate carelessness regards to money that too in the supposed safe hands of bank.

After the coming to light of this security breach, other banks and their users will also get watchful. To stay safe, a simple precaution can save customers from such a theft which is almost impossible to trace. Now almost all the ATMs have biometric devices. Users should start operating the ATMs through biometric instead of pin code. This is the easiest and safest way to use any ATM.

Also the users should report this negligence to the respective bank branch immediately, be aware while using any ATM, and operate keypad secretively. Carefulness is the only solution.

Affordable Xiaomi Redmi Pro Offers an OLED Display & Dual Camera Setup

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has just revealed the Redmi Pro, its flagship device for 2016.

Known to make affordable smartphones with top notch features, Xiaomi is a popular brand across the world, including Pakistan (however these devices are officially banned by PTA as per media reports).

Redmi series from Xiaomi is aimed at budget conscious smartphone customers who want to get “big” smartphones and top features without spending much.

The main highlight of Redmi Pro is the “Dual Camera” consisting of a 13 MP Sony IMX 258 sensor and secondary 5MP Samsung camera, which actually gives you control over depth of field or simply the bokeh effect in your pictures.

Redmi Pro comes with a brushed aluminum body and a 2.5D curved front featuring a 5.5 FHD display with OLED panel, for brighter colors and rich contrast.

On the inside, this phone is packed with Helio X25 10-Core Processor with clock speeds up to 2.5 GHz and Mali – T880 GPU. To support the high performance CPU, there is a duo of 4GB RAM and 128GB built in storage. You can also use an SD card to expand storage.

This phone packs a dual-SIM hybrid slot and does support VoLTE, along with other connectivity features such as 4G LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi 802.11ac.

The specs card also includes a finger print scanner on the front, USB Type-C port and a 4050mAh battery. There is no official word on quick charge, but it must be there. The phones also gives you control over TVs and other home appliances via IR Blaster.

On the software side, the Redmi Pro runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow wrapped under Xiaomi’s custom MIUI 8.

This phone will be available in three colors; Gold, Silver, Dark Grey. The price for 3GB/32GB version is $224 (Rs. 24,000), for 3GB/64GB is $255 (Rs. 27,000) and for 4GB/128GB is $300 (Rs. 32,000).

The Chinese manufacturer claims it has sold over 110 million Redmi phones around the world as of July 2016. Xiaomi might not get the green light to start sales in Pakistan anytime soon, but we can expect that in couple of couple of months Redmi Pro will be available in the Pakistan market (unofficially), but with a higher price tag.

Swiss Bank Account Details Will Be Made Public: Ishaq Dar

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated on Tuesday that those who have billions of rupees in their Swiss accounts will no longer be able to escape the law, as all the details of their accounts will be revealed to the public.

Recently when he was interviewed by Geo News, Dar said that Switzerland and Pakistan have reached an agreement pertaining to information sharing on Pakistani accounts in the Swiss banks.

The minister said that officials from Switzerland and Pakistan have finalized the first draft of the accord.

“Initials of the two parties have been put on the draft proposal, while the signatures are yet to be done and will be put down once they have completed their internal code formalities.” – Ishaq Dar

He continued by saying that the government doesn’t intend to take any additional help from International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The finance minister also added that he believes that no further IMF support will be required by Pakistan in the future.

He said the foreign exchange treasury in Pakistan is currently at its highest ever number at US$23 billion. “When our party came to power this figure was at US$6 billion and we had to clear US$2.8 billion by the subsequent February.”

The minister also said, “Pakistan required this program at that time because the predictable reserves were not sufficient enough to return the previous loans.”

Coming down to IMF program, he stated that US$4.5 billion has been paid off so far to the monetary agency.

Xiaomi Notebook Air: Is It a Macbook Killer?

Xiaomi is known to announce multiple products at their launch events. In addition to announcing theRedmi Pro, the Chinese company announced its new laptop line called the Mi Notebook Air which run Windows 10.

The Mi Notebook Air

There are two versions available in this line currently, with a 13.3 inch version and a 12.5 inch version. The two variants feature a slim form factor with a 1080p (1920 x 1080) screen resolution, slim under-glass bezels, a 1 MP camera which they somehow added with the tiny bezels, a backlit keyboard, a USB type-C port for charging as well as metallic designs. Curiously, the laptops don’t have any logo on the outside.

The 13.3 inch version is 14.28 millimeters thick and weighs in at 1.28 Kilograms. It houses an Intel Core i5-6200U processor with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and an Nvidia GTX 940MX with 1GB memory. It also has a 256GB SSD installed in the PCIe slot for more read and write speeds with an extra SATA slot for expansion which can only be serviced by Xiaomi. It costs 4,999 Yuan or Rs. 78,545.

It also happens to be thinner and lighter than the 13 inch Macbook Air on top of having a 40 Wh battery which lasts 9.5 hours according to Xiaomi and also supports fast charging via the USB type-C port and can go from 0 to 50% battery in just half an hour.

The Cheaper Mi Notebook

The smaller 12.5 inch Mi Notebook takes it to the next level by being even thinner and lighter than the 13.3 inch version with a thickness of 12.9 millimeters and weighing 1.07 Kilograms.

With lower price however the specs are also less beefy compared to the the bigger Mi Notebook. It contains an Intel Core m3 processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and no dedicated GPU. It does however have a free PCIe slot which you can upgrade via Xiaomi later on. There’s just one USB 3.0 port compared with two on the 13.3 inch Mi Notebook.

The good thing about the cheaper variant is that you get two more hours of time out of your battery for the 12.5 inch Mi Notebook. It costs 3,499 Yuan or Rs. 54,977.

Xiaomi’s Mi Notebook Air is launching in China on August 2nd. There is no information on when it’ll be available in Pakistan or when Xiaomi officially launches any other product in Pakistan. We will keep you posted on when they do.

New VAIO Laptops Are All Looks & No Substance

VAIO is the premiere brand that is famous for its svelte and industrial-inspired design language. The brand was discontinued a few years ago by Sony, much to the horror of its most ardent fans.

But now its back and ready to make a splash.

Coming back from the dead, the VAIO brand is focused mostly on targeting the business and enterprise level customers. Even though VAIO’s new releases are targeted at a different type of customer, it still retains its premium pricing.

Presenting The New VAIO C15 Series of Laptops

The new C15 series of laptops are a class apart from other consumer grade alternatives. Their main differentiating feature is the color customization options which include:

• Yellow/black
• White/Copper
• Navy/Gray
• Orange/Khaki

The company calls these the “fashionable PC” series.

Thats all it has going for it though, at least when it comes to the pricing.

Specs and Pricing

The regular variant of this VAIO C15 comes with a 15.5 inch screen with a 1366 x 768 resolution and contains 4GB RAM with an Intel Celeron 3215U processor. For all that you need to pay 66,800 Yen or 66,391 Rupees which is keeping with the brand image of the VAIO series.

The other stores will sell these models for 94,800 yen or Rs. 94,193 approximately.

Note that this price is for the regular model. You can also upgrade to an Intel Core i3 processor with 8GB of RAM and a 1080p (1920 x 1080) screen for an equally heavy price which was not mentioned.

All things considered, this looks like a laptop for the most ardent fans of Sony and its VAIO brand.

Telenor Pakistan Awarded 4G License

Technology neutral license for the 10 MHz of frequency spectrum 850 MHz has been handed over to the successful bidder, Telenor Pakistan in a “License awarding Ceremony” which was held at Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications today.

Minister for IT & Telecom Mrs. Anusha Rahman formally handed over 850 MHz license to Mr. Michal Foley CEO Telenor Pakistan.

The new CEO designate Mr. Irfan Wahab was also present at the event. The newly awarded license will also enable Telenor Pakistan to launch 4G Services in Pakistan and would become third 4G operator in the Country

Anusha Rahman, while congratulating Telenor Pakistan, stated that Telenor has played a significant role in the sector during the last few years. Telenor successfully participated in all 3 spectrum auctions held in last twelve years and have invested billions in Pakistan since they first got the license in 2004.

Telenor Pakistan also played a significant role with other operators in Biometric Sim verification process as well as extended their support in handling the menace of Gray Traffic. Anusha Rahman further said that when she became Minister, the broadband penetration was less then 3% but within a shortest span, Mobile Broadband is grown to more than 19% and is targeted to cross 38% by 2020 In sha Allah. The new license to Telenor will further enable taking high speed connectivity and the associated socio economic benefits and opportunities to the Pakistani citizens.

While expressing his gratitude to the Government, Michael Foley, CEO, Telenor Pakistan, said, “Telenor is committed to supporting Pakistan’s efforts to become a digitally developed nation. Driven by our vision of empowering societies, our success to date has been built on a simple realization: mobile communication, financial services and internet are not luxury goods for the few; they are for everyone. He extended his heartfelt felicitation to the Minister for her nomination as “Broadband Commissioner” in global Broadband Commission. He hailed the Minister for her key initiatives towards expanding the overall digital ecosystem in the country.

Secretary IT Mr. Rizwan Bashir also congratulated Telenor Pakistan and appreciated the role of his team at MoIT, PTA, FAB for Carrying out another successful and transparent spectrum auction.   Chairman PTA, Members (Telecom, Legal, IT & HR), Senior Officials from FAB and MoIT were also present in this license awarding ceremony.

Microsoft Pix is an iPhone Camera App for Taking Better Pictures

If you think using Office on your Apple device is a good enough idea, then perhaps you won’t object to using this new camera app from Microsoft, called Pix. The app, which uses AI, is claimed by its maker to be better than Apple’s own.

Likened to having “a pro photographer in your phone”, Pix adjusts lighting and other settings with every shot. It selects the best photos and enhances each image that you shoot and ones that you don’t, since it gets underway before you’ve even tapped the shutter (and continues afterwards).

The app automatically changes the settings once it detects faces in the shot. This results in more vivid pictures with better-looking subjects.

The app can also take videos and improves on them with Microsoft’s Hyperlapse technology, which adds more stability while playback.

Microsoft is also bringing out its own take on Apple’s Live Photos, called Live Image which is an option that appears automatically once something interesting (like a flowing stream) is detected. It is activated by holding the shutter key to activate the burst mode.

The app is 76.4 MB in size so even on a 16 GB iPhone, installing won’t be a problem.

Apple’s own app has traditionally been the fastest option for capturing the snap, but if you are all for the quality, then this is likely an option worth checking.

Startups, Here’s Your Chance to Go to Austin & Work on Your Ideas

The US city of Austin is awarding scholarships for Pakistani entrepreneurs. This State Department-mandated scholarship program allows Pakistani startups and entrepreneurs to connect with a vibrant community of investor and entrepreneurs at Austin.

This program has been dubbed as the ATX+PAK Launch program.

About the ATX+PAK Launch Program

The whole concept of the program is to provide local accelerators and entrepreneurs with access to international mentorship and networking opportunities. This program also provides a platform for collaboration and joining talent development between the two communities as well.

Greater Austin Asian Chamber Of Commerce will be dealing with the Austin based activities of the scholarship.

With this program, four associates of Pakistani startups will travel to Austin over a two year period.

Each training will conclude with a pitching event to regional investors. A group of investors will also be taken to Pakistan at the end of 2016 and a Creative Collaboration Summit in Austin will be held in 2017.

The first associates from Pakistani startups were taken to Austin on April 2016. The second cohort is scheduled to leave in October, 2016.

Benefits Pakistani Startups Will Get

The program intends to offer exposure to startups, enabling them to think in with the global market in mind, and upgrade their business accordingly.

Here are the benefits of the ATX + PAK Launch program:

• Work Space – Startup and entrepreneurs will get three weeks fully-funded and equipped work space in Austin, where they can learn and gain more knowledge as to how they can expand the scale of their businesses to an international level.

• Networking – Interaction with the mentors and entrepreneurs residing in Austin. This will help you build relationships and contacts which can lead you to potential partnerships.

• Entrepreneurial events – The startups of Pakistan will get a fair chance to look closely at the startup culture of Austin by attending such events.

• Investment Opportunity – Connection and networks with interested investors in Austin can get your potential investment in your startup.

• Mentorship – The exposure you will get from this will allow professional mentors in Austin add surplus value to your startup with their industrial know-how and specific domain experience.

• International Exposure – Startups will get the opportunity to come out of their comfort zone and brace for bigger challenges internationally.

Eligibility Criteria for ATX

The eligibility criterion for joining ATX is as following:

1. The startup must have a functional technology based service/product.
2. The startup should be globally scalable.
3. The startup should be in one of the following phases:

• Generating revenue
• Strong user base

How To Apply?

To apply for ATX + PAK Launch, go here.

The last date to apply for this program is 1st August, 2016.

Time is of the essence if you want to be part of the chance to experience an amazing entrepreneurial journey to Austin city.

Apple’s Sold 1 Billion iPhones So Far, $42 Billion in Revenues During FY2016

Apple may not have been able to reverse the trend of falling sales but it is doing better than expected. For Q3 2016, the company has reported net income of $7.8 billion on revenues of $42.4 billion. Those are lower than last year’s figures of $10.7 billion and $49.61 billion respectively, but sales are still higher than the expected revenue of $42.11 billion.

The quarter saw Apple selling 40.4 million iPhones, less than the 47.5 million it sold a year ago but higher than 40 million which were expected to be sold. Unsurprisingly, the cheaper iPhone SE exceeded expectations though it did also meant that the average selling price of an iPhone fell to $595. The company sold its 1 billionth iPhone this quarter.

One good news comes from the iPad division, which saw its revenue grow for the first time in 10 quarters thanks to the new Pro models which are more expensive, by 7 percent. Sales were 10 million, which were down 9 percent, however. Mac sales were also down 10.5 percent, to reach 4.8 million units.

The services division continued to boom and rose by 19 percent over the preceding year to $6 billion. Apple reckons it’s large enough to be a Fortune 100 company on its own. Lastly, the Other Products category, which includes the Watch, saw sales slide from $2.64 to $2.22 billion over the past year, which isn’t surprising given the falling sales of the Apple Watch.

The company is spending big on research, having spent $7.5 billion over the past 9 months alone. Following the success of Pokemon Go, it is also planning to enter the augmented reality market in a proper way. We’ll have to wait to find out more.

Honda Civic 2016 Comes with Pathetic Build Quality in Pakistan

A few days ago, Honda unveiled its 10th generation Civic for Pakistan. The Civic 2016 model received a lot of applause for the great new design and lots of internal improvements. But unfortunately, as reports are suggesting, Honda has made a mess of it and allegedly the car is of a sub-par quality and below-standard build.

Many people have shared how their new Civic looks like and criticized how the manufacturer bypassed all Quality Assurance standards in a hurry in order to make the car available at launch.

If pictures shared by users on internet are to be believed then the build quality is worse than you can imagine and it’s unbelievable to see a brand new car with such issues.

Honda spent months readying these few cars and yet they didn’t have the time to adequately weld and paint the car parts?

In the pictures below, you can clearly see the welds and non-metallic paint of a slightly different shade. In one of the pictures you can see misalignment of the body parts like the bumper.

Is this really a car which went through QA before being shipped to customers?

Several people have shared a lot pictures in resentment on both, Facebook and Twitter. Honda Civic 2016 is much more expensive than any other Civic car ever before.

It sells for nearly 30 lacs. Had it been a budget car, even then you couldn’t explain it away. But when you compare this Civic with an international Civic, all you get is an underpowered, sub-standard car which costs 30-40% more than what it costs in the international market.

Pakistani car manufacturers have really crossed all lines this time. If Honda couldn’t produce the cars in time, they should have imported the first batch from some other country, like they used to.

The trio, Suzuki, Honda and Toyota are known for producing below-par vehicles compared to their international variants but this is off the charts. It’s time the people get some more competitors in the market since the current automobile manufacturers are just ripping us off by overpricing cars which are built without any QA and come with poor build quality.

You won’t be safe if you go Toyota either. Similar problems have been reported with Corolla 2016 so it’s a general trend. They want to make as much money as possible before some other automakers enter the market. Our advice would be get an imported car or wait until some other manufacturer starts selling cars in Pakistan. The current three manufacturers are just a waste of money.