MORE Magazine

COVER STORY Mudassar Jehangir Mufti

There seems to be no more reap in near future as the sector seems to have exhausted its sources in price war before reaching climax.

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COVER STORY

l Telecom needs a serious overhaul be-

“

I can hardly remember a campaign from any of the companies where brand loyalty, value added services and quality was the focus point. I still remember those ads from Airtel and Vodafone where every thing is communicated except for the price. Don’t they want to sell their services?

”

fore it gets too late. Multi millions of investment is bringing only paisas. 60 paisa slot has been occupied by most of the operators in Pakistan. How far they can go with this price war, there has to be a solution, a new revenue stream, which could ensure further revenues and stability. The ongoing price war is ridiculous in a sense that it doesn’t match with the basic economic principals. Every company comes up with the new rates to defeat the other ones but all in vein, because customer loyalty is just Rs 100 or less. There is no concept of value of service from buyer’s perspective. Who doesn’t know that this price war was started just couple of years back by Warid Telecom and then what happened is before everyone. But Warid cannot be blamed for this downfall as remaining operators had their own choices.

Warid has reaped what it had sown. The group is in financial crisis and the recession is creating multiple effects on it. Despite of Singtel’s involvement, it couldn’t get up to make a mark. Nevertheless, the numbers of postpaid connections are always praised by even competitors. According to few, Warid couldn’t cash this number so far. Their Ex-CCO Mr Thomas Yeo has been assigned the responsibility to look after Vietnam market, as, to them, it is a much better market than Pakistan.

Does it give a signal that Singapore has lost its interest in Pakistan? I would not be going into details why it happened. My only concern is the ill-prepared price strategy which has ruined all the potential in this sector at this early stage. The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) level is dropping steadily and we are watching the drowning ship helplessly.

Who is to be blamed is the million dollar question. No one is immature, especially

those who make the policies. But the results show a childish attitude towards the trade.

If we take the operator’s case, I can hardly remember a campaign from any of the companies where brand loyalty, value added services and quality was the focus point. I still remember those ads from Airtel and Vodafone where every thing is communicated except for the price. Don’t they want to sell their services? They do it by ruling the customer’s heart. This country, India, has the lowest mobile penetration rate in the region which is 31 percent, behind China's 47 percent and 33 percent in neighboring Bangladesh. This is the same country where world’s largest companies are willing to invest to further explore this sector as 3G has created multiple opportunities there.

In Pakistan, we always try to kill a sparrow with cannon. The price should have been the last resort to attract the customers and quality, value added services and network should have been the weapons to play with.

Price doesn’t ensure the revenue and the product value. I don’t take into account the world, but in Pakistan, the more expensive an item is, the more demanding it proves to be. I have never seen this killing price war among operators in other sectors of the economy. Pakistanis have always lived with increasing prices. Even the most important segments of the life are expensive, may it be medicines, food or fuel. Then how come it was so important to destroy this backbone of our economy.

Websites of the all the operators have a long list of value added services, but who knows, we only see 65 and 68 paisa war.

Do we know there are number of services available on GSM besides call and SMS or MMS? Numbers of those who use the GPRS or other data services on GSM are 07

COVER STORY

“

In Pakistan, we always try to kill a sparrow with cannon. The price should have been the last resort to attract the customers and quality, value added services and network should have been the weapons to play with. Price doesn’t ensure the revenue and the product value.

I don’t take into account the world, but in Pakistan, the more expensive an item is, the more demanding it proves to be.

”

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Mar 2009

We have started talking about 3G before fully exploring 2.7G. According to a CEO of a telecom company, 3G is the next revenue stream for Pakistan. A ray of hope where companies will be offering voice and non-voice services at good rates. Entertainment will be the area to earn from which includes Live Movies, Sports, Online Games etc. It will require a real homework.

When Telenor started the Mobile TV, it suddenly dawned on them that they had not had the license for it. Similarly, Mobilink could never continue with its Gene product as State Bank had asked it to stop the service which was without any approval.

I saw the long queues outside Zong’s franchises and its website choked for the selection of favorite numbers but whenever I searched for any number, either ordinary or unlikely, on the website, it always said, ’The number is not available’. Why don’t we do a proper homework?

Taking into account the role of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), it has always remained least concerned on any such issue. The authority is responsible for creating a leveled playing field for everyone, but doesn’t its responsibility include the forecast of the future from the buyers and seller’s point of view?

Similarly, the cellular network operators are facing towering problems in expanding their networks. They at times have to pay hefty amounts to Development Authorities to keep their mouths shut; sometimes, they have to pay to calm the environmentalists’ warnings regarding dire effects of the radiation on public health; sometimes they have to face the blackmailing of the land owners or his neighbors who get stay orders issued from the court of law.

I have myself witnessed so many towers

which could not be completed even in less than six months. So the question is where does the PTA go on such occasions? It should constitute a team in this regard to attend all such issues haunting these cellular network operators. The authorities must keep in mind that these companies are bringing so much investment and catering employment of our youth.

Recently, the authorities forced a local hotel here in Lahore to remove all the towers installed at the roof of the hotel, as the government was of the opinion that these towers were hazardous for the environment. So where does the contract between the hotel and the cellular network operators go? If the trend continues, then I am afraid that we shall just be securing the environment, not any other thing.

Forget about Mobilink, as the company is here for too long and has earned too much to recover the cost it has invested in Pakistan, but what about others who entered just three and a half years back, most recently, Zong, which is the symbol of Pak-China friendship. It is to be noted here that this very company is becoming a victim at the hands of government and the authority.

As I am writing these lines, Zong is yet to be issued a Long Distance International license despite of various attempts of requesting on different forums. Recently Mr Waqar Ahmed Khan from the investment ministry visited Zong’s head office and said that “the country welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan.”

It was also promised to issue the LDI license within a week’s time. Even weeks have passed, we haven’t heard of any license being awarded. Equal opportunities should be provided to all contestants in the sector.

I am not against the price reduction but there has to be a feasible way where ma-

COVER STORY

jority of buyers and sellers are not affected by the natural rules of demand and supply.

We see the prices of fuel going up and up and we get ourselves used to it but never we demand a decrease in price nor do we reduce the usage. The cartel which includes the oil companies and the government has never bothered to ease the price as well. So everyone is happy.

As a result of 789 validation process, the sale of connections has dropped very sharply. This process should have been implemented right from the start. Had it been implemented earlier, the 90 million mark would have never been achieved. What if we had only 60 million official customers up till now? Do number matter or should there be profitability?

Of so many effects of 789, the main is on the franchisees. After 789, the number of mobile connections being sold has fallen drastically. This decline has almost immensely affected these franchisees. Now they are finding it improbable to sell even more than 200 connections, limiting their profit.

Similarly, the cellular network operators have to pay Rs 500 as tax on each connection sold. (The connections are available for Rs 150, and even less than that.) So, ironically, these operators are bearing a loss of about Rs 800 on each connection sold including the tax paid to government, manufacturing cost of the SIM, distribution expenses and others. So, to me, all the network operators should sit together, call it a day and set up the price at not less than Rs 1000. This would bring the anxiety among operators and franchisees down and the sector would get stabled a little.

Just recently at Barcelona extravaganza, it was heard loud that emerging markets will be the sigh of relief for global telecom players. At the largest telecom show, top executives talked about the emerging markets. It

included countries like India, China, Bangladesh, Africa etc. But no one talked about Pakistan.

Telenor For India, Jon Fredrik Baksaas recently said at Barcelona extravaganza that “For me, it's quite obvious that the mobile market in India will double and that Telenor will take part in that ambition.”

The company recently said in a statement that 800 million people in India were without mobile phones, creating ”the world's largest untapped market” where per capita GDP was expected to grow by 80 percent by 2014.

India's Unitech Wireless, in which Norway's Telenor is buying a 60 percent stake for US$ 1.23 billion, said it had signed agreements with Indian firms Wireless-TT Infoservices and Quippo Telecom to lease telecoms towers.

Mobile tower-sharing agreement will cut Telenor's capex by 75 percent compared to an "own built" model, and enable it to give 60 percent of India's population coverage after a year. It targeted breakeven at the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) level three years from launch and on the operating cash flow level in five years. Telenor plans to launch mobile services in third quarter and invest $3.2 billion in the controversial venture until it’s expected operational breakeven in five years.

China Mobile China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone group by subscriber numbers, struck a similarly cautious note on international expansion.

Back in China, for the sake of having its

own, Chinese-made third-generation mobile communications network, Beijing is willing to spend billions, despite reaping little apparent benefit from doing so.

In 2009, China will officially unleash a $41 billion, two-year program to upgrade the country's mobile communications infrastructure to third generation, bringing it in line with the rest of the advanced cellular world. But it is doing so by implementing three different 3G technologies.

The awarding of licenses, moreover, is being designed to help level the telecoms playing field, further handicapping outperformer China Mobile in a bid to boost the other operators.

As widely expected for several months, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially divvied up 3G licenses among three telecom giants in February.

Industry leader China Mobile will be saddled with the less developed homegrown technology standard, TD-SCDMA. Smaller peers China Unicom and China Telecom will have an easier time implementing the W-CDMA and CDMA 2000 standards, respectively.

The world has increasingly moved toward W-CDMA, as the US, European and Japanese carriers upgrade to the standard. China's own TD-SCDMA network may turn out to be more costly and complex to installation and service. While WCDMA is the preferred technology, China Mobile, which has nearly a three-quarters share of China's wireless market, has the strongest capabilities as an operator. The burden of China Mobile's TD-SCDMA license will cause it to lose its competitive edge, even though the move was long anticipated.

According to a Chinese newspaper, China will be the only country to have three 3G networks. The United States uses two 3G standards.l 09

ENERGY Shaheen Mufti

l Now the time has come to turn up to natural energy resources — such as sunlight, rain, ocean and geothermal heat. These are renewable ones because they are naturally replenished. In 2006, about 18 percent of global final energy consumption came from them, with solar hot water/heating, which contributed 1.3 percent. Modern technologies, such as geothermal energy, wind power, solar power, and ocean energy together provided some 0.8 percent of final energy consumption.

Wind power is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of over 100 GW, and is widely used in several developed countries.

We, in Pakistan, geographically are in an outstanding position to cash in on the renewable resources. But the fact is that such resounding claims, like the country is crammed with Almighty’s blessings, have now started to pinch our minds.

There is no doubt in it. But what is the use of such assertions if we are unable to convert such avowals into actions?

What to talk of the developed countries, even the countries like Kenya, with the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20–100 watt) solar power systems sold per year, Brazil, with one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, Argentina, working on a 6800 MW project, and mainly India, working on projects to generate 7900 MW, are not only striving to earn an estimable name in the comity of nations but also trying to capitalise on renewable enrgy resources as much as possible.

This is not only enabling them to reduce their dependance 10

Mar 2009

on oil but also to boost their economy. But our authorities are enjoying a sweet slumber over such issues. We, by being forced to be dependant on the oil, are being exploited in many ways. We, so many times, fall a prey to oil shortage. Especially for the last six months or so, it has remained a constant exercise to face the oil shortage by the end of month. The price which we pay at filling stations for oil, gives a profit of not less than 35 rupees to the government, and it earns 12 billion rupees from oil every month.

The fall of price in oil even below than 37 dollars per barrel could not convince the government to reduce the oil price. It also seems as if the authorities in our country has never been serious in exploring new avenues to generate energy. The speculations are so many while the answer is none.

Last year, an official boasted that Pakistan would be able to produce another 1,000 MW power through wind energy within the next three to four years. But is their any follow up about that since then? Obviously none. If there is, one always believes that the news is going to be merely news.

On the other hand, it is also worthy to mention our achievement of installing about 30 windmills for pumping water in different parts of Sindh and Balochistan but they are only on experimental bases.

We are yet to install a large wind turbine for power generation and are in the process of issuing letters of intent to companies to generate power through wind. Wrapping all it up, we are way back in such projects and besides political instability, the lack of interest in technology is also a

ENERGY The ocean can help us in producing two types of energy: thermal energy from the sun's heat, and mechanical energy from its tides and waves.

We, in Pakistan, are in an outstanding position to cash in on the energy of ocean and wind. One estimate says less than 0.1% of the oceans' solar energy would supply more than 20 times the daily energy consumption of the US. But using this technology lies a long way ahead.

But are we ready to get onto it?

l The oceans possess an unbelievably gigantic amount of energy and are close to many concentrated populations. Many researches have demonstrated that the ocean energy contains the potentiality of providing for a substantial amount of new renewable energy around the world. Now the world, acknowledging the need for other sources of energy, is turning towards the oceans to cash in on its energy and has even started to use ocean thermal energy for many applications, including electricity generation.

The oceans, by covering more than 70 percent of Earth's surface, are the world's largest solar collectors. The sun warms the surface water a lot more than the deep water, and this difference in temperature creates thermal energy. Just a small amount of the heat ensnared in the ocean can generate lot of power for the world.

Then the oceans correspond to a vast and largely unexploited source of energy in the form of fluid flow (currents, waves, and tides – also termed hydrokinetics) and thermal and salinity gradients. Numerous countries are using a number of modus operandi to extract energy from the ocean, though so many are in the phase of investigation or

demonstration yet.

The electricity conversion systems are of three types: closed-cycle, open-cycle, and hybrid.

Closed-cycle system uses the ocean's warm surface water to vaporize a working fluid, which has a low-boiling point, such as ammonia. The vapor expands and turns a turbine. The turbine then activates a generator to produce electricity. Open-cycle system actually boils the seawater by operating at low pressures. This produces steam that passes through a turbine/generator. And hybrid system is a combination of both closed-cycle and open-cycle.

Ocean mechanical energy is very much different from ocean thermal energy as it is fairly constant. And, unlike thermal energy, the electricity conversion of both tidal and wave energy mostly demands mechanical devices.

It is also pertinent to mention here that using waves and tidal power is expensive at the moment, but the research by the Carbon Trust have found that prices are likely to fall soon.

Machines in the ocean's surface generate electricity when waves crash against them.

This can then power an electricity generator, a bit like a wind turbine. While tidal energy is made by using different machines on the

ocean bed, this time taking energy from the water flow or tide.

Because the technology is still taking shape, so it is too soon to say how much such projects would cost. But researchers hope to make it as cost-effective as fossil fuels. But initial investment may be higher, the currents that drive the machinery are free.

There are still many unknowns and risks.

One fear is the "Cuisinart effect": The spinning underwater blades can chop up fish and other creatures. Researchers are of the opinion that the underwater turbines would pose little risk to passing ships aswell.

The countries that are utilizing the ocean energy include England, Norway, Australia, Italy, France, Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, South Korea, Mexico, United Kingdom and Channel Islands, United States, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand, South Africa, China and India, and of course, not Pakistan yet. We are still far behind and even Scotland has announced to build world's first 'wind farms under the sea', which is a major step towards leading the way in marine renewable energy with the proclamation that the world's first tidal farms could be built within three years. l 11

ENERGY

l

The world has been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years and historically, it has directly been used to mobilize sailing ships, pump water or grind grain. But now, the windmill's modern equivalent – a wind turbine – is being used to generate electricity by exploiting wind’s energy.

The worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 94.1 Gigawatts till a year ago. Although wind produces about 1 percent of worldwide electricity only, however, it is growing rapidly, increasing more than fivefold globally between 2000 and 2007.

The authorities in Pakistan seem to be active, though just a little, in this field and have endeavored to introduce such projects, as considerable potential of wind energy is available in the coastal belt of Sindh, Balochistan as well as in the desert areas of Punjab and Sindh.

But this renewable source of energy, however, has not been utilized significantly so far and we are still exploiting air to operate things like water pumps etc and not generating electricity. (Notably, the Babylonian emperor Hammurbi made such plans to use wind power for his irrigation projects in the 17th century BC.) The Alternative Energy Development Board has analyzed the wind data of Pakistan as collected

by Pakistan Metrological Department. According to which, the coastal belt of the country is blessed with a God-gifted wind corridor that is 60 km wide and 180 km long and which has the exploitable potential of 50,000 MW of electricity generation through wind energy.

So if exploited, this source has the potential to fulfill our energy demands. Micro-wind turbines can electrify most of the remote villages in the south and it has further been estimated that over 5,000 villages can be electrified through this energy in Sindh, Balochistan and Northern areas. So far, only about 18 villages have been electrified using micro wind turbines.

But we are way behind from the rest of the world, as

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Mar 2009

large wind turbines for power generation have not been installed in Pakistan yet. However, about 30 windmills for pumping water have been made operational in different parts of Sindh and Balochistan but they are merely for experimental purposes.

The leading countries that are generating electricity from wind include the United States with 25,170 MW, Germany with 23,903 MW, Spain with 16,754 MW, China with 12,210 MW while India with 9,645 MW is at sixth place. The rest of countries are Italy, France, United Kingdom, Denmark, Portugal, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Norway, Egypt, Taiwan, Brazil, New Zealand, Belgium, South Korea, Finland, Morocco, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Mexico, Iran, Costa Rica, Bulgaria and Hungary.

UK has put mini-wind turbines into trial which can be fastened to family homes and can produce enough electricity to power a TV, DVD player, computer, fridge, freezer and several lights for the home. These turbines can work in wind speeds of just 3mph and are being tested in both town and countryside locations. Under another project, the UK government is installing wind turbines in schools to meet their power needs.

So we should also start working on such projects with much zeal and zest. If we are not in a position to initiate bigger projects, we should introduce small-scale wind power projects, which can generate power up to 50 KW. Private entrepreneurs like cellular companies, with such projects, can also power their installations like towers at isolated places.

Similarly, equipments such as wireless internet gateways may be powered by a wind turbine that charges a small battery, replacing the need for a connection to the power grid.

Wind power generation has negligible fuel costs and relatively low maintenance costs; in economic terms, wind power has a low marginal cost and a high proportion of capital cost. l

IT Waheed Ahmad

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TELECOM Halima Qureshi

While mobile access technologies has the potential to rapidly expand broadband coverage in South East Asia, the need to provide robust backhaul links to support the resultant surge in data traffic will result in a major bottleneck for network service operators, according to the head of Ericsson in the region. l Jan Signell, president of Ericsson South East Asia, says that there are now more PCs in the region than broadband connections. According to him, data shows that in the SEA, there are now 40 million PCs, compared to eight million broadband connections.

“Today, a PC without broadband is considered a dumb box,” Signell says, adding, “At the same time, there’s very little copper in the ground, and no operator will dig up the streets to put in copper, so the DSL model will not work here. Operators, if they are building a fixed network, will go with fiber, but it will take years to cover the SEA region with fiber.”

He says, “This leaves wireless technology, even platforms with limited broadband speeds like EDGE, as viable and increasingly popular alternatives to extend Internet access to users. Radio is much easier to deploy.”

Signell cites an example from Bangladesh, where one operator that has upgraded their network to EDGE with no marketing support, found a surprisingly rapid adoption of the technology.

“They went to the market to find out what was happening and found that the main customers for the EDGE service were street corner kiosks offering Internet access,” Signell adds, maintaining, “So customers did find a value is paying a fee for 30 minutes of Internet access.”

Citing an Ericsson survey of consumers with PCs in Bangladesh, Signell reveals that over 50 percent of the respondents said they would be willing to pay US$10 a month for broadband access. Even at US$20 a month, some 20 percent of PC owners in the coun-

try would pay for broadband access.

According to Signell, if all the pent up demand for broadband services in SEA is met through mobile technologies, the amount of data traffic on mobile networks in the region will equal some 80 Tera bytes per second per month by 2011 and account for 90 percent of the total traffic load.

The transmission capacity for the backhaul of mobile networks would be “the single biggest bottleneck” for the SEA region, he opines.

“

Operators, if they are building a fixed network, will go with fiber, but it will take years to cover the SEA region with fiber.

”

In developed markets such as Singapore, network speeds would get faster with the implementation of HSPA Evolved, he says, adding that SingTel has already committed to an upgrade to boost data speeds to 14.4 Mbps, with plans to migrate the network to 42 Mbps in the future.

Meanwhile, Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson vice president and head of product area, says that the company has developed a full TDSCDMA solution and is ready to supply China Mobile if the platform is deployed.

“We will provide them with equipment for

TD-SCDMA and will be part of their purchasing going forward,” Ewaldsson vows.

“We are doing entire networks for TDSCDMA and we will be able to offer a complete portfolio if they have the desire to move forward. We will be able to provide what we believe is the world’s best possible TDSCDMA solution,” he asserts.

Ewaldsson also says that the company has “very big doubts” on WiMAX. “First of all, it’s an indication that we have decided not to develop our own equipment. And then we have very big doubts that it will really take off due to the cost of deployment, which I think will be far higher than HSPA,” he reveales.

Going forward, he sees LTE networks would arrive by as early as 2009 while LTE terminals would come to market by 2010.

Interestingly, Ewaldsson predicts that the first adopters of LTE would be CDMA operators, saying, “CDMA has really no good way forward, so if you are on the CDMA track, it’s very difficult to move forward because UMB doesn’t look like it will materialize. And when UMB doesn’t materialise, these operators are stuck on a 2Mbps maximum level, which is what EV-DO gives. Therefore, they are looking, over time, to move to LTE. LTE has big advantage because it is also candidate for the 3GPP for 4G, or what we called IMT-advance – that decision was taken in January by the 3GPP.” According to him, “That means when 4G is being defined, IMT-Advance – as it is called by the ITU, and when that is being done in 2010, it’s likely that it will be an evolution of LTE.” Ericsson’s proposal includes raising the carrier size of LTE from a maximum of 15

TELECOM More Team

l Just recently, Mumbai High Court is in a prolonged session as it is to determine whether or not Vodafone owes the country's revenue service somewhere in the region of US$2 billion in back taxes resulting from the takeover of the mobile operator Hutchison Essar.

Vodafone took a controlling interest in Hutchison Essar thirteen months ago and, at the time, Vodafone's UK lawyers advised that, as the deal was between two entities, foreign to and outside of India (Vodafone is headquartered in Britain and Hutchison Essar was headquartered in Hong Kong), no tax would be payable on the deal to the Indian authorities.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Hutchison Essar was one of India's biggest and best-established mobile carriers, the Indian government disagrees with this opinion and the purpose of the court case now underway is to determine whether or not Vodafone's issuing of a writ that seeks an injunction against the investigation being mounted by the Indian revenue authorities into the Essar deal has any validity.

No decision is expected to be announced for months but both sides in the argument have already announced that if the final verdict goes against them, they will immediately lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court in New Delhi. When that happens and the case disappears into the cogs of 16

the incredibly slow-moving judgment that manages High Court cases, it could well be years before any finally binding judgment is handed down.

The basis of Vodafone's claim is that no tax is payable in India because the sales (and the transfer of shares that followed) actually took place between a Netherlands’ subsidiary of Vodafone and an arm of Hutchison that is registered in the Caymen Islands.

Vodafone says that as it is self-evident that both the companies operate outside India's jurisdiction so there is no requirement for it to pay tax in India.

The Indian authorities say this is nonsense, adding that capital gains tax on the $11 billion deal is payable to the state as all the assets bought and sold are physically in place in India.

However, if the Indian tax authorities can demonstrate that Vodafone-Essar actually operated as an agent for and on behalf of its parent company, Vodafone, in buying Hutchison's stake in Hutchison-Essar, then the court is likely to find that VodafoneEssar is indeed liable to pay capital gainstax on the deal.

The case is obviously of importance to Vodafone and to the Indian taxation bodies but the effects of the eventual verdict could have far-reaching consequences for other non-Indian companies that are moving into the burgeoning Indian telecoms

market.

AT&T, BT and many others could decide to look again at their plans to invest more heavily in the sub-continent if, in doing so, they will be hit by massive tax bills. l

Vodafone claims that no tax is payable in India because the sales actually took place between a Netherlands subsidiary of Vodafone and an arm of Hutchison that is registered in the Caymen Islands. The Indian authorities, on the other hand, say this is nonsense.

IT & TELECOM More Team

l Sony's share price has been hit following the Japanese electronics giant's recall of overheating laptop computers.

The company was forced to recall 440,000 units worldwide due to a manufacturing defect where some models overheated and caught fire. The news sent shares falling by four percent, their lowest level since November 2005.

Some of the Vaio TZ series laptops have overheated, resulting in seven injuries from light burns. The recalled models include

VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000.

Sony is advising users of the affected models to turn off their machines, unplug them, and take out the batteries, and then call customer support to have their machines inspected.

Users in 48 countries who've experienced overheating with the laptops can also take their computers to the manufacturer for free repairs, said the company.

According to a foreign news agency, Sony

was aware of 203 overheating cases, 83 of them in Japan, dating back to August 2007. And this is not the first time that Sony has had recall issues. Five million notebook batteries were recalled after a number of them overheated and caught fire, resulting in $430 million in costs.

The latest recall has sparked criticism and cast doubt over Sony's global image, as it left a month between reporting the problem to Japanese authorities and ordering the voluntary recall. l

l

stimulus, governments need to ensure that they adopt policies that encourage more investment in mobile services and networks.

Wherever possible, governments should seek to create a stable regulatory environment, while licensing spectrum on the right terms to encourage spending on network infrastructure and services, stimulating economic growth.

"If the mobile industry can continue to grow and develop at the rate it has over the past 15 years, it could act as one of the few locomotives which can help pull our economies out of the current slump," said

Alexander Izosimov, Chairman of the GSMA and CEO of VimpelCom, maintaining that governments needed to adopt policies that nurture this potential, rather than stifling it.

The association also adopted that it was important for governments to allocate the same spectrum as other governments in their region for mobile broadband services, as this kind of harmonisation would allow the same devices to be used in different countries and enable manufacturers to achieve economies of scale and lower prices for end users, adding,

Mobile communication is uniquely placed to drive economy growth. That was the message from the GSMA's Leadership Summit in Barcelona, which brought together 400 CEOs, government ministers and industry leaders.

They stressed the that mobile broadband could play as an economic stimulus, and urged governments to support the rollout of broadband services to push economic growth up.

The GSMA says that as the mobile industry is one of the few parts of the private sector currently capable of providing an economic 18

TELECOM “In other words, don’t forget the lessons of GSM in the mid-1980s.” The switchover to digital television will present a one-time opportunity to make low-frequency spectrum available for mobile broadband services. Of the 400MHz of low-frequency spectrum freed up by the switch-off of analogue television, the GSMA believes 100MHz should be used to enable the roll out of cost-effective mobile broadband networks, it was revealed.

The GSMA believes that deploying a mo-

bile broadband network using 700MHz spectrum can cost 70 percent less than deploying the same network using 3G spectrum, making rural areas and economically viable to serve. The GSMA add that providing mobile broadband coverage is far more cost-effective than installing a new fixed-line broadband connection.

"Mobile technologies are the most powerful tools we have for combating extreme poverty in the most isolated parts of the

world," said Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute.

"By closing the digital divide, mobile connections give the poor access to vital health services and students from all parts of the world a chance to learn through ‘global classrooms.’ Digital technologies will play a core role in ending poverty and in enabling the world to join together through markets, social networks, and cooperative efforts to solve our common challenges," he con-

l The growth of Internet users in the Asia

According to the report, the growth rate of Internet users in low and low-middleincome economies doubled in 2007, with China alone putting on 74 million new Internet subscribers. Excluding China, these economies grew their Internet subscriber base by 28 percent in 2007, compared to 17 percent in 2000. While upper middle and high-income economies saw flat growth for the total number of Internet users, they dominate access to high speed, as well as affordable, broadband services.

“The Asia-Pacific region is home to different extremes of fixed broadband Internet access. The inhabitants of high-income economies enjoy readily available fixed broadband at high speed and low cost, with penetration levels of between 15-30 subscribers per 100 inhabitants,” the report said, stating, “However, in the region’s low and lower-middle-income economies, fixed broadband Internet access is very limited beyond the main urban centers and broadband subscriber penetration is low or neg-

ligible.”

On average, the more developed economies had broadband penetration rates that were 10 times their less developed counterparts in the region.

Average broadband penetration in upper middle and high-income economies was 22 users per 100 inhabitants; while the figure for low and lower middle-income economies registered only 2.2 users per 100 inhabitants.

The exception for lower-income economies was China, where broadband penetration stood at 5 users per 100 inhabitants, the report found, adding that the country was unique in its rapid economic development, its large market size, which provideed better economy-of-scale, and the emergence of domestic players such as Huawei and ZTE. “Such conditions are unique to China and not likely to be replicated in most of the other low and lower-middle-income economies in the region,” the report said. l

Pacific is gaining momentum as emerging markets use mobile phone as a new and widely available form of access. However, mature markets have further widened the digital gap, with the deployment of highspeed broadband services, says the new ITU Asia Pacific Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008 report.

“Broadband and Internet access in the AsiaPacific region is currently characterized by two distinct scenarios. In upper-middle and high-income economies, ubiquitous access is progressing through a competitive race to provide ever faster fixed broadband speeds and the deployment of mobile broadband technologies at ever lower prices,” said the ITU report, entitled Broadband in Asia Pacific: too much, too little?

“At the other extreme, in most of the region’s low and lower-middle income economies, mobile phones have become a substitute for the shortage of fixed lines and fixed broadband access,” it added.

19

TELECOM Tony Chan

l According to Huawei Technologies, its contract sales of wireless access equipment, core network and auxiliary infrastructure have reached US$10 billion in 2008, a growth of 50 percent from 2007.

According to Head of Huawei's Wireless Network Branding, Lu Xingang, the company now counts 35 of the world's top 50 operators as its customers, and is registering growth across the board with all wireless technologies.

“Its success is led by GSM, which registered a 100 percent growth year on year for 2008. Huawei shipped 1.5 million transceivers inside its GSM base stations during the year, representing around 30 percent of the total GSM market and number 2 in the world. Huawei also registered impressive growth in UMTS and CDMA sales last year,” Lu said.

"UMTS also grows very fast. Huawei won 42 new UMTS/HSPA commercial contracts in 2008. By the end of 2008, we have accumulated a total of 128 UMTS/HSPA commercial contracts, which means Huawei has constructed half of global UMTS/HSPA networks," Lu said, adding, "Although the CDMA market size is becoming smaller. Huawei CDMA still maintains a 35 percent growth with 220,000 trans20

ceivers new shipments in 2008. Huawei performed particularly well in China, winning 30 percent plus market share in China Telecom CDMA phase-1 project."

“Lastly, Huawei is also supplying China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network, and had a 17.5 percent market share in China Mobile's TDSCDMA network last year,” maintained Lu.

BEYOND ASIA Geographically, Huawei is expanding rapidly beyond its base in Asia, and into overseas markets. “Asia Pacific is the largest region for Huawei wireless product line,” Lu added, maintaining, “We are also growing very fast in Europe and the North America.

From corporate sales perspective, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe are the fastest growing regions.” He expected growth to be sustained in 2009 as operators looked to roll out new platforms and optimize their existing networks.

“Many mobile operators are facing challenges in network transformation. Firstly, operators have to introduce more advanced technology, such as Femtocell, HSPA+ and even LTE, to increase service revenue,” Lu said, adding, “On the other hand, operators are also thinking of ways

to improve legacy network performance and efficiency, and to converge multi mobile networks.”

LTE CONTRACT & TRIALS Looking ahead, Huawei is already implementing LTE. Recently, it won the world's first commercial LTE contract with TeliaSonera along with Ericsson.

Lu revealed that the company has already deployed LTE trials in Europe, North America and Japan and has completed field tests, including throughput, latency, MIMO, high speed multi-user access and cell hand off, as well as multi-service QoS. At the same time, it is developing both FDD and TDD versions of LTE. "The first commercial LTE product will support FDD at 2.6GHz & 700MHz and TDD at 2.6GHz," he further said, adding that both FDD and TDD platforms would be launched commercially within 2009.

"Huawei is closely working with all of three Chinese operators in the roll-out plan. It is estimated that the first China LTE trial will commence in late 2009. Year 2009/2010 is the most important period for Chinese operators to do LTE trials," he concluded. l

TECHNOLOGY Alina Qureshi

l

Undoubtedly, we are going through important changes in the amphitheater of print media. We outline thoughts on how this will evolve and make impact on newspapers and magazines.

For the past five years, we are witnessing a major shift; you may have noticed that the newspaper or magazine of your choice has an online presence, i.e. a website. You may also have noticed that much of the news that you find in the printed version can also be found on the Web version, and that too for free. If this is not scary, it is very impressive to say the least.

Following the news you may have read or heard that some newspapers and magazines are finding it difficult to sustain their existing business models; the reason is that circulation is falling dramatically, especially in ages between 20-45 where people are more technologically savvy and Internet-oriented.

Naturally, the printed media could not just sit and watch. So, they started to build their online presence and expand it as the time 22

goes by. At present, we are becoming witnesses of a market segment that literally jumped online to exercise territoriality and claim their space in order to maintain their loyal readers at any cost.

There are issues unsolved: how do you justify Web investments when most of the revenue comes from subscriptions of the printed versions? What happens to the printed versions and their supporting background? How will technology evolve to assist in increasing readers and subscribers of the online version – free or not?

There are no easy answers to all such issues; you cannot bring the revenue as in the good old times where the printed versions were counting millions of daily readers.

Supporting a business model based on revenues coming from a Website is not an easy task; advertising is much cheaper than it is on a printed version, so revenues are not as high anymore as they used to be.

The teams that support issuing of printed version will have to face the tragedy of shrinking in the foreseeable future, other-

wise the debts will rise pretty fast. Technology is evolving rapidly but providing an experience similar to reading a printed magazine or newspaper is still far away.

Some efforts are made by electronic companies to introduce book readers; but this is only at very early stage. The cost for such a device is still high and it does not look that the overall experience is as friendly as that of the printed magazine or newspaper.

Currently, we are witnessing a situation where traditional print media giants maintain both their printed and online status.

Many of those left outside the race will have to decide pretty soon what to do – jump in, close, or be absorbed. Will kiosks become extinct? Of course not.

It is just that soon we may see the proportions to change. Media will have to expand to all available new channels that spring up and utilize all new technology. But the printed magazine or newspaper will continue to exist although with all this free news buzz and blogging that takes place, the good old times may already have passed. l

LATEST IN TECH More Team

l You play golf but you hate it when you are playing and winning, it starts raining or sun starts putting its glaring smile right above your head. Well, players like Tiger Woods also hate poor weather.

The architects and designers came up with an idea of indoor golf center with all the facilities under one roof.

So, if you like golf, there would not be as great a delight for you as playing in the world’s largest indoor golf center, ‘Indoor Golf Arena’. The concept of the center is all set to take off in 2010 and it will be one of the best places for playing golf.

Indoor Golf Arena will be built in Netherlands with 34 bays and 15,000 square feet of golf practice facilities with bunkers

and water hazards. Not only this, you will get the facility for kids’ training and wellness center with sauna and spa.

The location of the center has not yet been finalized but some architects have undertaken this project and started planning. It is expected that the center will derive more than 150,000 visitors per year due to its amazing look and facilities. l

l The Premier 3 is a clamshell phone that has everything an audiophile can ask for – it comes with Sony's proprietary 'clear audio technology' which enhances audio playback, a dedicated remote control with microphone and music controls, robust media player and the best of all direct sound encoding recording from a CD player. Just plug in the 3.5mm plug to the CD player from the remote and you can rip CDs directly. Apart from this, it supports direct music downloads using the 'Lismo service'.

Also bundled with it, are Sony’s high ends EX earphones. Coming to the standard specifications, the 'Premier 3' has a high resolution three-inch display supporting (480×854 pixels), 3 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS, Infrared and 50MB internal memory. Although the phone carries a huge drawback, as it has a Micro SD card slot, which can take only 2GB of memory, yet it is hoped that this problem would be sorted out before its release. It is a music phone with a large screen on which videos can be watched comfortably. The Sony Ericsson Premier 3 Walkman phone will be made available in three colors – white, pink and gold – later this year for $450 only in Japan. l 23

LATEST IN TECH

l Very soon in the future, hopefully we shall find Beyflo by Yopi Djauhari in every house with a garden. This garden watering system idea is to create a product that relates to a domestic ritual activity. Beyflo has the ability to navigate itself and recharge its water and electric supply. The power is located on the top; making it easier for users to turn it on/off. Plants location is also not a problem for Beyflo, as it can reach further by increasing its water pump pressure.

The main body case, keeping in view the outdoor and the rough terrain in the garden that needs extra durability, is made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The printed circuit board (PCB) is used as its central processing unit, which not only enables Beyflo to control the motor, pump but also makes it supply power to each component. l

l You are a rescue volunteer, and you don’t know the first aid basics?

With Essence Glove, designed by Brad Pose, you don’t need to know them, as these gloves will make you an expert without an experience.

The Essence Glove is a tool designed specifically for rescue volunteers, first responding teams, and any other user, which needs a simple solution for diagnosing symptoms. This glove replaces many tools and products that are normally carried, and it also simplifies the process of examining many people in the field under stressful conditions. The fingertip sensors allow the user to feel pulse, check temperature and blood glucose levels with a touch, using infrared technology. l

24

LATEST IN TECH

l We love cars and wish to have one. But when we get it, we start yelling with fluctuation in fuel prices. But don’t worry, as there is someone who is trying to solve this problem once and for all. The new Phoenix concept designed

by Sergio Loureiro addresses this problem. This car by Royal College of Art student in London, is a masterpiece of work. This aerodynamic beauty is a sports car, which runs on electricity with the overall concept of reducing energy consumption. l

l You are a great swimmer, you love water skiing, and you want to perform at your best but wind and water become a hurdle in your way of outperforming. Don’t worry, a design is underway that is Aerodynamic and runs smooth on water and gives you an exhilarating experience.

Manta Craft is a watercraft uniquely de-

signed by Casey Reeve. It provides the user with an experience that is a blend of Jet Ski throttles and smooth surfing. The seating arrangement in this craft is created keeping in mind the fan factor.

The rider will be able to sit comfortably and at the same time, can come into close contact with water to experience thrill. It

runs with an electric motor, lithium ion batteries and a solar panel, which makes it a cost-effective tool, as there is no fuel purchase required.

There are handles and hulls shaped like “Y” to control the throttles so that the user can customize the ride according to his convenience. l 25

TECHNOLOGY

Assaad Chughtai

l The metal detector, as the name suggests, is a tool to detect the presence of metal. The most often used places for metal detectors are the airports for check-ins and high security areas.

If you are carrying a metallic object, the job of metal detector is to detect it. Even when the metallic objects are lying on the ground, metal detectors can detect them too. Metal detectors can see through non-metallic surfaces. No wonder, it can see inside your bag, and detect the metallic piece instantly.

Metal detectors don't only find applications in security areas, but are abundantly used in treasure hunting as well and for finding lost items that consist of metal. This wonderful application of science was invented by none other than the legendary Alexander Graham Bell more than 125 years back in the year 1881. Fischer came out with a portable metal detector in 1931.

There have been many more modifications in the first portable detector made by Fischer. Hans Oersted was responsible for discovering electromagnetism. This happened in 1820. Metal detectors work on the principle of electromagnetism. Electromagnetism is the science of studying two forces: those of electricity and magnetic in tandem 26

with each other.

Metal detectors are supposed to be very good conductors of electricity and magnetism. Therefore it is quite natural that the metal detector is affected by electromagnetism in the surrounding.

A high-powered coil generates magnetic effect with the help of power generated by the attached battery. When this electromagnetic field penetrates the ground, the metals tend to get charged with magnetism.

The coil detects the electromagnetic behavior and a signal is sent to the electronic box. The speaker attached to the electronic box beeps and alerts the operator immediately of the presence of metal.

Modern metal detectors work on the similar principle with more electronics added. Now you'll find microprocessors attached inside the box. These microprocessors can indicate the presence of a metal type. It can measure the time between charging of metal and the receiving of the beep that concludes the type of metal and this length of time is known as phase shift.

There are adjustments in the device when searching for a particular kind of metal.

Some detectors can even tell you on a view screen what it is that they found.

Metal detectors have electronic boxes with a battery case on one end and a handle for the operative's arm on the other. It has a coil made of insulated wire wound around a telescoping shaft that is inside a plastic disk. The device is held parallel to the ground due to the angle at which the disk comes out of the shaft. The electronic box is held in the hand, the power is put on and the coil end is slowly swept over the ground.

If the trace of metal is there on or buried in the ground, an electronic beep is heard when the device sweeps the ground.

Working with a metal detector is easy. With just a few hours of training a person can become very good at properly using a metal detector.

Now with the war against terrorism going on around Pakistan and so many suicide bombers exploding themselves in the country with continuously deteriorating the law and order situation, more and more entrepreneurs are using metal detectors to safeguard their installations. Its use also arises a little chaos at times as it make buzz on sensing the metal used in even one’s fly, button, shoes, hair clips, artificial jewelry or cufflink. l

TECHNOLOGY Fahad Chishti

l Watch is one of the most popular personal items in the market and dates back to the 14th century with the first wind up watches that a person could carry in a pocket. Today, the components used to make wind-up watches, remain pretty much the same as those at the beginning. The basic parts of a wind-up watch include a spring to provide power, an oscillating mass for the timebase, two hands, a numbered dial, and gears, which regulate the ticking rate to the hands on the dial.

Bulova began seeking new technology for watches in the 1960s and replaced the oscillating balance wheel with a transistor oscillator replacing the wind-up spring with a battery. This new technology used a tuning fork, but the search was on for an even more accurate method of keeping time. Integrated circuits were being developed and the LED

technology was being introduced as well but the problem watchmakers faced was to find a new timing element and creating a circuit that would be able to run on a battery small enough to be placed in a watch.

The new element decided upon was of course the quartz crystal. They had been used for years in radio transmitters, receivers and early computers. The reason quartz is so accurate is that it is unaffected by most solvents and maintains its crystalline properties even when subjected to intense heat and the electronic charge of a crystal comes from compressing it.

Most modern quartz watches now use tuning-fork-shaped crystal. Often, these crystals are made from thin sheets of quartz plated like an integrated circuit and engraved chemically. The major difference between good and indifferent time keeping is the ac-

curacy in initial frequency and the precision of the angle in cut of the quartz sheet with respect to the crystalline axis. The amount of contamination that is allowed to get through the encapsulation to the crystal surface inside the watch can also affect the accuracy.

The electronics inside a watch amplify the internal noise at the frequency of the crystal which creates oscillation and makes the crystal ring. In digital watches this is converted into pulses for the digital circuits.

In the quartz watches most of us wear today that have a face with hands, one-second pulses drive a small electric motor connected to gears, which move the hands. This is what gives the movement we see in most quartz watches with the exception of the Rolex and its perpetual movement innovation, but that would be dealt in some other article. l

Mar 2009

27

TECHNOLOGY Zubair Rehman

l It has become our routine to leave for job at the last minute, and so many times, traffic deadlocks make us late. These things happen to most of the people around the globe daily, especially in our part of the world. Its quite usual for the people residing in a densely populated metropolitan like Lahore to get stuck in traffic jam at least for 15 minutes or so. The extra-time spent on road not only makes us late but also stores lot of hazards for a healthy person and the more one stays at the road, the more one is exposed to the poisonous smoke which is being emitted by vehicles.

Then what can be done to save the time as well as ensuring to secure health? Another issue is that of economy. Getting inspiration 28

after reading it from somewhere, I got bio diesel for my car, but not of much avail.

Since it is cooking oil so it has a big drawback that it naturally thickens in winter and clogs the whole engine mechanism of the car. Then it is also not easily available everywhere. Although CNG-fitted cars, and Euro 5 and 6 certified cars are now in everybody’s reach but they still produce carbon-monoxide emissions that are dangerous for environment. So, what alternatives we should consider to travel fast and not to get stuck in the traffic. One option can be of buying small cars like Suzuki Alto that not only goes extra mile but also leaves extra space for other vehicles on the road. It is feasible but merely for a short period of

time, because we still may encounter problems while visiting more densely rushed places where not much parking facilities are available.

Now the world is making more and more innovations to make smart travel possible.

The problem was first addressed by SEGWAY in 2002 with the introduction of SEGWAY Personal Transporter. Personal Transporter has computers and motors in the base of it, which keep it upright when powered on with balancing enabled. Users lean forward to go forward, lean back to go backward, and turn by using a "Lean Steer" handlebar, turning it left or right.

Maximum speed of SEGWAY PTs is 12.5 miles per hour (20.1 km/h). Gyroscopic

TECHNOLOGY

sensors are used to detect tilting of the device, which indicates a departure from perfect balance. Motors driving the wheels are commanded as needed to bring the Personal Transporter back into balance. But unfortunately, due to poor marketing by SEGWAY, this PT is limited only to some police departments, military bases, warehouses, corporate campuses or industrial sites in some parts of the world.

these smart vehicles in the city, particularly at transit stations and major destinations; it’s like having a taxi waiting for you at such places, with the added advantage that the vehicle will recharge itself while parked in the stacks. This will greatly overcome the problem of an electric car’s limited range, which will remain with us until battery technology radically improves.

According to Prof Mitchell, “Users of MoD system have the convenience and comfort of private automobiles without the associated high cost, insurance requirements, need to refuel, service and repair demands, or parking problems.”

To move on with their concept of MoD, they have introduced two vehicle concepts: 1. City Car 2. Robo Scooter Now let’s see how these two work

City Car

In the recent years, a team of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) engineers led by Prof William J Mitchell has given a new dimension to traveling, known as Mobility on Demand (MoD).

According to this idea, no one would own a vehicle and whenever one needs to travel, one would go to the nearest Mobility Stack of Vehicles or parking space, and by paying from his smart card for the vehicle; one could travel to any destination in the city.

On reaching the destination, one would simply return the vehicle to the nearest stack. For the user’s convenience, stack of vehicles would be available to one at certain places in the whole city. With enough of

The City Car is a stackable electric vehicle for two passengers. This project has been backed by General Motors. The City Car utilizes fully integrated in-wheel electric motors and suspension systems called, ‘Wheel Robots’. The wheel robots eliminate the need for traditional drive train configurations like engine blocks, gear boxes, and differentials because they are self-contained, digitally controlled, and re-configurable. Additionally, the wheel robot provides all wheel power and steering capable of 360 degrees of movement, thus allowing for omni-directional movement.

The vehicle can maneuver in tight urban spaces and can be parked by sideways.

This vehicle is currently in development at the MIT Media Labs.

Robo Scooter The unique design of the Robo Scooter is the outcome of a collaboration involving SYM (Sanyang Motors), ITRI (Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute), and the Smart Cities group of the MIT Media Laboratory, led by Professor William J Mitchell.

The Robo Scooter is a lightweight, foldable, electric motor scooter. It is designed to provide convenient, inexpensive mobility in

urban areas while radically reducing the

“

The extra-time spent on road not only makes us late but also stores lot of hazards for a healthy person and the more one stays at the road, the more one is exposed to the poisonous smoke which is being emitted by vehicles.

”

negative effects of extensive vehicle use – road congestion, excessive consumption of space for parking, traffic noise, air pollution, carbon emissions that exacerbate global warming, and energy use. It is clean, green, silent and compact.

These smart vehicles, designed to be used in dense urban areas by MIT will open up the possibility of restructuring urban transportation and energy distribution systems.

Furthermore, awareness should be given to the people that how much energy, space and cost efficient these vehicles will be and they should be told that every time they will be sitting in a vehicle it will be new one from the stack.

Not only this that these cars will be safe but it also depends on how much money you want to spend on a vehicle, for example: one can go to super-market on a Robo Scooter to buy grocery and then come back home in a City Car, this will greatly decrease one’s traveling budget. To make this concept a reality, famous motor companies which produce cars in masses every year should also come forward and assemble these smart vehicles in order to create competition in this field as well as to make the world a clean and healthy place for the fu29

TECHNOLOGY Zain Zahid

l A huge attention span is the hallmark of genius. The biographies of men like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla reveal that they were so fascinated by their experiments that they worked almost all day and all night in a state of fascinated excitement.

Conversely, a short attention span is a sign of stupidity. Our world will never see again the essays of men like Henry David Thoreau, rich in metaphor, similes, and cascading rivers of prose. It is moving too fast, and its events are being communicated to our bedazzled brain in sound bites and media blitz. The internet itself, when it comes to the subject of literacy, is a huge paradox.

On one hand, the pace of technology causes the user to quickly grow weary of slow dial-ups and slow loading web pages, our nervous systems responding to 5 to 10 second pauses with the impatience of drivers stuck behind a red light. On the other, the plethora of information, running to billions of web pages, with each search word 30

literally offering a million or more possibilities on a search engine, is staggering.

The word "Henry David Thoreau," on Yahoo Search Engine for example yields 1,900,000 results.

Unfortunately, those of us who habitually dabble in this new frontier are becoming increasingly less likely to develop solid study skills, which involves developing a large enough attention span to process, comprehend, and implement ideas.

Our hard drives are filled with e-books not read, software files not opened, and digital projects not completed. Unfortunately, these habits of subject illiteracy are not confined only to this new media of global communication, but spills over to all other aspects of our lives-from channel surfing to grocery shopping, from responding to the question of a friend to designing a new business plan.

Quick is in, and slow is out. Brief is hot, and long is the kiss of death. The person with the fastest pitch wins the sale. The faster you move, the more you can get done.

While all this may have its merits, the human brain, the three pounds of spongy mass, which has more circuits than the most sophisticated telephone exchange in the world, is becoming increasingly less efficient.

Our eyes need time to scan and our ears to hear and our brain to sort out the true from the untrue, fact from fiction, and to draw elaborate models of how things are put together and work in harmony.

Sometimes when reading a novel from another century, like Victor Hugo or Honorè de Balzak, for example, where the characters move slowly and ponderously through the plots, feeling deeply the movements of their destiny, in touch with the depths of moral and philosophical complexities, it seems we are evolving to become a different species-a dazzled and bewildered one, where superficiality is the norm, rather than the exception, and where we are almost completely losing touch with what it means to be human. l

TECHNOLOGY Awais Waheed

l Do you think battery is a new device? How long do you think they have been around? One hundred years? Two hundred? More? Actually, believe it or not the oldest known battery dates back over 2,000 years!

Why would someone have needed a battery for 2,000 years ago? This primitive battery found in the area, now known as Iraq, was discovered in 1936 and testing showed it could have produced up to two volts of electrical current. It is thought that the battery was used to electroplate gold into silver.

In the year 1800, Alessandro Volta made a battery using multiple layers of silver, paper, and cloth soaked in salt and zinc.

The electrochemical series concept, which ranks the potential, produces current when different metals come in contact with an electrolyte. This is where the term ‘volts’ comes from.

This primitive battery was not good for delivering currents over longer period of time. This led to the British researcher John Frederich Daniell developing a type of battery with a copper plate located at the bottom of a wide mouthed jar. A cast zinc piece commonly referred to as a crowfoot, because of its shape, was placed at the top of the plate, hanging on the rim of the jar.

Two electrolytes, or conducting liquids, were employed. A saturated copper sulphate solution covered the copper plate 32

and extended halfway up the remaining distance toward the zinc piece. Then a zinc sulphate solution, a less dense liquid, was carefully poured in to float above the copper sulphate and immerse the zinc. As an alternative to zinc sulphate, magnesium sulphate or dilute sulphuric acid was sometimes used.

The Daniell Cell was also one of the first to incorporate mercury, by amalgamating it with the zinc anode to reduce corrosion when the batteries were not in use. We now know better ways than to put mercury into batteries. This battery, which produced about 1.1 volts, was used to power telegraphs, telephones, and even to ring doorbells in homes for over 100 years.

In the early 1900's, Thomas Edison developed the alkaline cell using iron and nickelic oxide. The electrolyte mixture used was potassium hydroxide, which is the same as used in nickel cadmium and alkaline batteries today. These batteries did well and lasted for long time by being overcharged as well as the remaining uncharged for extended periods of time.

In 1949, the alkaline-manganese battery now known as the alkaline battery was created at the Eveready Battery Company in Ohio. These batteries could supply more energy than its predecessors and further improvements have increased the energy storage capability. l

SPACE More Team

l Space has always been remained a magnetically fascinating place for man who has dreamed of unveiling new horizons there. After conquering Moon, man has been eyeing on triumphing Mars for many years and some scientists are even predicting that life also exist there. Unlike our other planetary neighbor; Venus, which remains shrouded in cloudy mystery, the 4th planet has invited speculations and explorations.

The US, the former Soviet Union, Russia and even Japan have launched spacecraft destined to land on or orbit Mars since the 1960s. Meanwhile, Earth-bound scientists keep their fingers crossed for more information about the red planet.

The successful missions, like the very first Mars flyby in 1964 by the US Mariner 4, have provided a treasure trove of data and, of course, given rise to many new questions.

Recently, those data, compliments to spacecraft such as the Phoenix Mars Lander, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter among others, have been arriving at Earth, though at a dizzying rate. It seems that all is set for a golden age for Mars exploration.

Here's what we've learnt about the fourth planet from the sun while orbiting it, landing on it and sampling its contents: It's cold, dusty and dry, but that probably wasn't always the case. Ample data seem to point toward liquid water rushing over its surface in

the form of lakes, rivers and an ocean at some undetermined point in the past. Traces of methane have also been detected in the atmosphere, but the source is unknown. On Earth, much of the methane is produced by living organisms, like cows, which could augur well for the possibility of life on Mars.

On the other hand, the gas could also have non-biological origins, such as the Martian volcanoes.

The current mission to Mars involves a pair of robotic rovers, known as the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER).

The question arises that, why are we sending robotic rovers rather than sending human beings like we did when we explored the Moon? l The real problem of not sending humans to the red planet is that different nations have sent more than 30 probes toward Mars, but less than one-third of those probes have survived the trip. So the track record is not a very good one, and certainly no one would encourage NASA to replace those robotic probes with human beings, at least until it has improved the odds of success. l The second reason is cost. It is currently costing about a million dollars per pound to design and deliver a robot to Mars, and robots don't have to worry about complicated

things like life support systems. Nor do robots have to worry about coming home – something that adds a great deal of weight to a mission.

Nor do robots require a soft landing on the surface of Mars. It would take a minimum of 100,000 pounds of vehicle, equipment, food and water to get a small team of human beings to Mars (each person, for example, will require 408 kg or more of dehydrated food), at a million dollars a pound, that's $100 billion right there. And chances are that a manned mission would cost more per pound than a robotic mission because of the significant safety margins needed for the human beings. l The third reason is the engineering challenges. For example, to make a manned mission possible, one likely scenario is to produce fuel for the return flight from the Martian atmosphere. However, nothing like this has ever been attempted, and it would take a number of test missions to prove the concept.

Another big consideration is the cosmic radiation that astronauts would absorb during such a long mission, and how to block it.

Much of this radiation is blocked on Earth by the Earth's magnetic field. Mars has no magnetic field. l

Mar 2009

33

SPACE Sana Rehan

l More than 51 years after the first man-made satellite was launched, two satellites collided there on February 10, 2009, and raised some crucial strategic and commercial concerns.

The collision between a private US satellite and a defunct Russian military satellite 780km above Siberia not only destroyed both, but also scattered at least 500 to 600 pieces of debris, each with a diameter of more than 10cm, which now pose a threat to other satellites and spacecrafts.

The Russian communication satellite belonged to the famous series of Cosmos and Russia had put many satellites in this series into orbit, mostly for military use. The Cosmos 2251, of 950 kg weight, was sent up in 1993, but it stopped functioning two years later. By now, no 34

Mar 2009

country has the technology of either guiding such defunct satellites to a safe location or bring them back to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The other satellite was launched by Iridium for communication purposes in 1997. The 560 kg satellite was part of Iridium’s 66-satellite constellation mainly used for relaying calls from satellite phones. Iridium has more than 300,000 subscribers, including private clients and the US Department of Defense.

The users of this system possess handsets that are twothree times bigger than conventional mobile phones, and are not dependent on local cellular networks. Three days after the crash, Iridium announced that it had completed a "service hole patch" to prevent service disruptions caused by the loss of the satellite.

SPACE

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UN should also come forward to develop a universally-accepted space regime to avoid space pollution, which can give rise to more collisions.

Technology to bring the defunct satellites back to the Earth should also be achieved at the earliest.

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The first man-made satellite was sent into space in 1957 by the former USSR. Since then, more than 6,000 satellites have been sent to space. Out of which, according to NASA, 3,000 remain operational. The STRATCOM has placed the number of satellites in operation at about 800.

Coming back to the collision, it raised several issues related to the space security, both at the geopolitical and commercial levels. In the commercial arena, the first reaction came from the stock market, where Iridium witnessed a limited downward trend in share prices. Today, the company is run on the money put in by many private parties. In the 90s, the company was an economic failure when it was run by Motorola.

On the other hand, the insurance companies have also taken a serious note of this collision, and are likely to raise their premiums for insuring new satellites.

Currently, outer space is filled with an estimated 18,000 pieces of debris. But the recent collision still had an extremely low probability factor. While physical damage to other satellites in the orbit, due to the debris floating around, is not ruled out, but many space scientists are of the opinion that there is not much danger to any space system, at least in the near future.

Any major threat to the International Space Station (ISS), where three astronauts are currently living, is also being ruled out because the ISS is revolving at a height of around 440km above the Earth’s surface. While, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Earth observation satellites, which are at higher orbits, face a bigger risk.

Since this crash happened at higher altitude, the debris pieces are likely to remain in space for many years. If the accident had occurred at a lower altitude, then the debris would have entered the Earth’s atmosphere due to gravity and burn out over a period of time.

Major space faring states have developed networks of tracking stations to monitor objects in the space. European space scientists were reportedly aware of these satellites passing very close to each other. But one thing is obvious that the collision proves that it is difficult to accurately predict such crashes.

A few agencies are even cataloguing the debris and their movements, though at times it is difficult to predict the behavior of such

objects because of gravity characteristics, solar radiation effects and lack of knowledge about the composition of atmosphere at those heights.

This actually means a huge asteroid could strike Earth without us having any prior warning about it.

Space may be infinite, but the orbital altitude where the recent accident occurred is among the most crowded place in low Earth orbit, and is likely to get even more crowded as more countries are launching their own satellites. Iran recently launched its satellite, and several other nations are likely to follow suit. Also, the dependence of militaries on space-based assets is expected to increase.

This accident clearly highlights the need for countries to develop a code of conduct for civil and military activities in outer space.

The debris problem is expected to increase in this century mainly because there is no globally acceptable space regime agenda.

Analysts predict weaponisation of space becoming a reality in near future. Indications towards that are already available.

In January 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite test, which was followed by the US destroying its rogue satellite that had gone out of control. Both these acts have direct and indirect military connotations and have increased the amount of debris in the outer space.

There is thus a yelling need for the international community to come together and initiate various technological as well as political measures to avoid further pollution of space.

There is also a need to develop satellite-hardening technologies.

Major research and development projects need to be undertaken to devise techniques to manage dead satellites. It is also essential to develop legal structures to address situations arising out of such collisions, and fix the responsibilities and financial liabilities for such damage.

More importantly, it is essential to develop a universally-accepted space regime under the aegis of the United Nations to deal with situations in space.

Mexico is attempting to develop its own program but as of currently they are awaiting various approvals. Countries like the Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Columbia as well as Belgium have had space programs for decades but they do not have the facilities for a manned space flight or even launch capabilities in order operate their own satellites.

Canada, Brazil, Germany and United Kingdom may have their own satellites, but they do not have the launch capabilities or have ever had a manned mission but only Russia, the US and China have launched a man into space. Many countries operate their own satellites and some of them even have the launch capabilities to do so.

Take India for example, they have the launch capability as well as operating their own satellites. Ukraine, Japan, Iran and Israel are both capable of launching their own rockets and already have their own satellites in orbit. Taiwan and Nigeria have their own space programs. So now there is need that to realize that focus should not only be on merely putting a satellite into space, but to keep space safe as well. l Mar 2009

35

EDUCATION M. A. Farooq J.

Who is to lead with HEC’s lighthouse collapsing at authorities’ feet and putting off the future of the emerging scholars to realize rulers’ luxurious dreams? Do we have a back up? Undoubtedly not.

l Our country inherited a colonial varsity system created by the Britons. The core features of this system were that it was under-financed, bureaucratic, mediocre and teaching oriented (rather than research). It continued to be the same until the Higher Education Commission came to its rescue and it did spearhead the system incredibly well.

The best graduates opted to join the bureaucracy and the rest took up teaching at universities. The colleges received the worst.

The universities, though not much better, did have a couple of good scholars and scientists who were attracted to the job in spite of the system.

In terms of figures, 2.6 percent university-age students attended institutions of higher education in 2001. Only 23 percent of the faculty had doctorates and not a single university was among the top 500 universities of the world. Then came the year 2002 when a quiet revolution occurred in the varsities’ almost completely failed system.

First, the budget went up by 340 percent in real terms from 2001 to 2006, bringing 39 percent of the students into universities which expanded from 18 to 124 and even more.

More than 3,755 students were sent abroad to obtain their PhDs and over 20,000 journals and 45,000 e-books were made available through the digital library in Pakistani universities.

The salaries of academics were made so impressively competitive that the best of them preferred to stay with the public universities.

If these high salaries (under the Tenure Track System) had not been put in place, the universities would have lost good professors to the private sector.

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But then came 2008 and, just as our higher education was about to ‘take off’; the HEC’s own recurring grant was slashed by 23 percent, and in early 2009, by another 20 percent.

Besides this, the government is warning the HEC with more budgetary constraints in months to come. Considering that inflation has gone up by 21.6 percent and fuel prices by 66 percent, universities would be forced to cut down on even essential expenses. Similarly, the dream of sending PhD candidates every year to foreign countries will remain just that.

Moreover, who knows whether a good faculty will join the public universities considering that the TTS salaries are in jeopardy. In short, the higher education has been grounded even before ‘taking off’.

The ‘taking off’ refers to the increase from 815 in 2002 to 2,495 in 2008 in our publications. All these publications may not have been as good as they should have been or as cited but nevertheless it does speak a success story and even the citations have grown in these few years. We have video-conferencing facilities in 42 universities and about 1,020 events have been arranged so far.

On the other hand, some projects of the HEC have also turned out to be seriously flawed. I have never been a student of science but it has been known that that some scientific equipment was either not required or useless. This mistake needs to be rectified in future but it does not mean that all projects should be frozen.

My personal assessment has always been that the public sector universities need not have expanded to 67 from about 12 or so.

Putting ‘university boards’ in colleges and in

under-developed towns does not turn educational institutions into universities. It is merely aimed at bestowing undeserved vice chancellorships on well-connected people and setting up degree-giving factories.

The HEC created an indigenous PhD program in which supervisors and students were both paid. On the face of it, it appears to have been a good incentive but actually 3,500 students in this program are of unequal quality. But the doctorates given to them, especially in the social sciences and humanities, are reported to be of sub-standard quality.

If they join the faculty, the nation shall be saddled with mediocrity for a quarter of a century at least. I think that it would have been better if the HEC had spent all its funds only to send young people abroad. The irony now is that the sending of students abroad for a PhD has been suspended while the indigenous PhD goes on.

Can something be done? Obviously yes!

Pakistan spent 2.44 percent of its GDP in 2007-08 on education out of which the share of higher education was 15.6 percent.

This is not excessive as Iran spent 4.7 percent, India 3.8 percent, Maldives 7.5 percent and even Nepal spent 3.4 percent.

Actually, in real terms, we spend Rs 21,063 per student per year in 2001-02 while now this figure has gone up to Rs 22,059.

If the government whittles down the expenditure on higher education by another 20 percent, the varsities will stop dead in their tracks and the 293 development projects the HEC has on the cards will vanish into thin air.

Meanwhile, India is all set to create 12 central universities in addition to its existing 18 ones. This will cost Rs 3,280 crores ($73m).

EDUCATION

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With growing population and quality demand for higher education, more and more young students should be sent abroad for PhDs, and state-ofthe-art laboratories and libraries should be established in the universities within the country and they should be made worldclass. These universities should admit students only on merit after very stringent tests.

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India already owns Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Their number too will be increased. There will be 30 world-class universities; eight new IITs and seven new IIMs. The salaries of academics there in India will also be increased by 70 percent which, however, will still be less than our TTS scales.

I do not know enough about India to be able to say whether these huge increases will dilute the standards of good universities, IITs and IIMs. As it is, none of India’s 348 universities is in the top 100 universities of the world. If India is serious about creating some world-class universities, it will have to concentrate resources on a few big cities and not spread them out too thin.

Be that as it may, the lesson for us is that India is continuing with what we too started doing since 2002 i.e. paying academics better and improving our universities.I believe we should go on doing what we began but focus should only be on a few universities.

The HEC should create a few world-class universities, with TTS salary academics promoted on the basis of excellent research. It is also pertinent to mention here that the scheme of building nine new Pak-European universities was in the pipeline of the HEC. Countries like Germany, France, China, Austria and Italy were to establish the campuses of their universities in major cities of Pakistan under linkage program.

These Universities of Engineering Science and Technology were not only bringing so much investment to Pakistan but also the technology of these countries was to be transferred.

Similarly, London Metropolitan University (LMU) was planning to open a full-fledged campus in Lahore with seven million pounds.

The university had considered setting up a campus in China and India, but had selected Pakistan because of its conducive investment environment. This was not going to be an affiliated institution, but to act completely as a British University. Now can one dare question where the authorities of our country have left the ‘conducive investment environment?’

The LMU is the second largest university in Britain and offeres more than 285 bachelors courses, 140 masters courses and PhDs in 60 disciplines.

The University of Czech Republic was also considering setting up Textile University in Pakistan. Even there were reports that a French university was under construction.

Though only fewer people know now where

has it gone. But it is known to everyone that all such projects have evaporated because of government’s burning policies towards education.

With growing population and quality demand for higher education, more and more young students should be sent abroad for PhDs, and state-of-the-art laboratories and libraries should be established in the universities within the country and they should be made world-class. These universities should admit students only on merit after very stringent tests.

Other universities, university-colleges and colleges should cater for the increasing number of mediocre students who too need degrees and jobs. But for all this, the HEC needs money and recognition. So, while no institution is above criticism and correction, starving the HEC of funds just when the universities are beginning to take off would be a colossal folly.

But at the moment, the future of the country is made to gaze at the top officials decreeing the future of higher education in Pakistan. It is urging them to zoom out and take a strategic view of the issue as the tactics currently being implemented will nip many higher education institutions in the bud and will not lead to any noticeable improvement in quality. These tactics have forced the HEC to shelve future scholarships and make the education in the country as it had always been.

In view of the government’s decision of not providing funds to the HEC, which were promised under the cash plan for the current financial year, the HEC, on not getting the grants, has stopped offering scholarships for higher studies. However, knowledgeable sources said, the existent scholarships would not be affected by this decision. But there are reports that as many as 7,000 PhD students, who are studying abroad and in the country on the HEC scholarships and were sprinting towards the success, are facing dire circumstances on not getting any aid.

And indeed it seems to be the end of the HEC, rather of a golden period in higher education, and more specifically, the future of the country is being made bleak. Now there are reports that the authorities are planning of placing some one as its chairman based on political affiliation. The affected quarters are making much hue and cry to bar the government from making such a decision.

So the government must not pur a deaf ear to all these yellings and must not install its chairman for political means. l 37

HEALTH Sumaira Mudassar

l Green tea has received great attention over the past couple of years due to the many health benefits researchers have associated with it. Several studies prove that it does indeed have a positive effect on our health, including the fact that it can help people lose weight. Increasing fat oxidation and increasing thermogenesis are two ways in which it contributes to weight loss. Here we shall examine each process and how these factors assest in losing weight.

Some fat is important, our bodies require fat for nutrition as it aids in the transport of vitamins and minerals through our blood. It isn't a shocking news that too much fat in our diet can lead to many health problems including heart attack, high cholesterol, stroke and other heart related conditions.

An increase of fat oxidation leads to weight loss, and regular green tea consumption is

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Mar 2009

a form of increasing the oxidation process.

There is also a firm belief that drinking the tea helps to optimize the use of fat in the body and increases athletic performance and energy. Combined with an intense workout (which also evokes a high rate of fat oxidation), tea can be considered a safer alternative to all the diet pills flooding the market these days.

Green tea also helps curb appetite cravings by decreasing the sharp spikes our bodies feel after the consumption of carbohydrates. It slows down the action of amylase (the digestive enzyme responsible for carbohydrate breakdown and digestion) which causes the carbs to be released into the blood slower.

This keeps the body from feeling a steep increase in blood sugar which later leads to "carb crash." This phenomenon is often

linked to snacking behaviors in between meals (which is never good when we are dieting), and can be slowed down and/or stopped, thanks to the tea's regulation of blood glucose levels.

Along with increasing fat oxidation and regulating blood glucose levels, increasing thermogenesis is another effect linking green tea to weight loss. The human body produces heat as a means to burn fuel; this is known as thermogenesis.

Caffeine and other compounds in the tea create a higher rate of thermogenesis enabling the body to burn calories faster by increasing metabolism. Unlike other metabolic enhancers (such as diet pills or other synthetic drugs) green tea creates a gradual increase and is not harmful to the cardiovascular and nervous systems. This makes drinking it a safe and effective form of weight loss. l

HEALTH Saba Asgher Ali

l Honey, especially mixed with cinnamon, can cure a multitude of ailments. Honey is produced in all parts of the world. Scientists of today believe honey can be used without any side affects for a number of diseases.

Honey is sweet but if taken in the right dosage as a medicine it won't harm diabetic patients. It's important to remember that these ten natural sweet cures haven't been independently verified. These are homeopathic cures, many passed down from generation to generation. I found many uses of honey mixed with cinnamon to cure ailments from heart disease, acne, hair loss, and gas.

I will focus on the top ten cures to try.

Arthritis is one disease that can be cured with honey. One part honey to two parts of lukewarm water and a teaspoon of cinnamon will make a paste that will noticeably reduce pain in a matter of a couple of minutes. Patients suffering from arthritis can take one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon once in the morning and again in the evening.

It's been said that taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. Copenhagen University tested their theory by giving patients a mixture of one tablespoon of hone and one half teaspoon of cinnamon before breakfast. The results were that within a week, 73 patients out of 200 were relieved of pain and within a month, arthritis patients could again walk without pain.

Cholesterol is said to be treatable with honey. Mix two tablespoons of honey and three tablespoons of cinnamon in 16 ounces of tea. This mixture is said to reduce the level of cholesterol by ten percent within a short amount of time. As with arthritis, it is said that pure honey taken with food daily will reduce cholesterol levels. Along the same lines, using cinnamon and honey on bread and eaten at breakfast revitalized the arteries and veins leading to the heart and helpful towards preventing heart attacks.

Men, pay attention! A mixture of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon made into a paste can help baldness and hair loss. Apply the paste before your shower and leave it on for approximately five to fifteen minutes then wash the hair.

In India and Japan honey and cinnamon is said to help relieve gas, stomachaches and clears stomach ulcers at the root. If honey and cinnamon are taken before eating it helps digest even the heaviest of meals.

Colds can be treated with honey. One tablespoon honey with Âź teaspoon of cinnamon taken daily is said to cure most chronic

coughs and clear the sinuses. You can also make up a mixture of honey and lemon juice. If it doesn't clear your cough, at least maybe you'll sleep.

Pimples, the curse for both young and old can be removed within two weeks if this remedy is applied. Make a paste of three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Put the pimples on before going to bed and wash it off the next morning.

Now here's a big one. Weight loss. Twice daily, once at night, and one in the morning ½ hour before breakfast drink a cup of boiled hot water with honey and cinnamon.

It's been said that even the most obese patient can lose weight and drinking this mixture doesn't allow the fat to accumulate in the body.

Studies have shown that chronic fatigue can be helped by honey. One half tablespoon of honey in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon in the morning and in the afternoon will increase your vitality within a week.

Infertility is a problem that ancient people in the Far East treated with honey. It was said to strengthen the semen of men. Two tablespoons of honey taken before bed is said to also correct impotency. A touch of cinnamon in one half teaspoon of honey and applied to the gums throughout the day will help a woman conceive. Mixing it with the saliva lets it slowly enter the body.

Finally, bad breath is said to be helpful if gargled in the morning. One teaspoon of honey and cinnamon mixed in hot water is supposed to keep breath fresh all day. l 39

GENERAL Ovais Qureshi

l The history of human progress is a testimonial to the strong desire that man has always had to make his life more comfortable.

Every invention ever conceived has been designed to make life just a little bit better. Tools have been made for every activity including agriculture, hunting, construction, transportation and even entertainment. The desire for an easier existence for a few has also led to a few bad ideas such as slavery, military conquest, corruption and other manners of exploiting people.

While many tools and machines have been invented throughout history, they have mostly been of use in extending or enhancing the capabilities of the person using them. The ultimate desire of having artificial helpers and companions and the attempts to create them have a long history.

We now have many machines and mechanical devices that operate automatically with humanlike skills for a wide range of routine tasks on command. But the making of a fully autonomous machine that resembles a human has yet to be realized although it may be closer than most people imagine.

Man started out by inventing tools, from tools evolved machinery and most recently in human history do we have programmable functioning machinery. The next step is selfadjusting, self-adaptive and reprogrammable machinery to realize robotics ultimate goal: to create a machine which has equivalent capacity of a human being.

The refinements in technology that are nec40

essary to create a fully functional robot are not so much founded in the physical design but rather in the development of artificial intelligence (AI).

Whether people realize it or not, we are surrounded by examples of artificial intelligence.

Voice activated customer services, the GPS system in your car, the airport scheduling system that chooses the gate where your will disembark when your plane lands, most video games and even the software to write this article contains some form of artificial intelligence.

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Robots are helpers and companions to humans.

Could it also be possible that the inadvertent direction of robotics will be, not to replace humans, but perhaps the next step in human evolution?

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Right now, we are well into the period of ‘Narrow AI’ which refers to artificial intelligence that performs a useful and specialized function that once required human intelligence to perform and executes those functions at human levels or better ones. Often Narrow AI systems greatly exceed the speed

of human being as well as provide the ability to manage and take into account thousands of variables simultaneously.

The market for Narrow AI applications in 2007 was estimated to be over 21 billion dollars. A small list of areas where Narrow AI is currently being used includes Defense and Intelligence, Space Exploration, Medicine, Science and Math, Business, Finance, Manufacturing, Language and Speech, and Entertainment and Sports.

While Narrow AI gives machines the ability to perform specific tasks, what is needed to develop and construct a fully functioning robot is Strong AI. Although there is no total agreement on what defines Strong AI, most researchers in the area of artificial intelligence agree that the properties of Strong AI should include the following: l Ability to reason, strategize and make judgments under uncertain conditions l Ability to represent knowledge including knowledge that is categorized as common sense l Ability to plan and learn l Ability to communicate in a natural language l Ability to integrate all the above skills Development in the area of Strong AI draws upon tools from three main areas: first, on what is currently known about the brain; second, based on the decades of research in Narrow AI; and third, reverse engineering of the brain.

GENERAL Many tools have been developed and are emerging that provides the spatial and temporal resolution necessary to produce adequate data from extremely accurate scanning and sensing of neurons and neural components.

For a human being, the learning process required to master the knowledge necessary to function in any scientific area is decades. For a robot with artificial intelligence, learning will be just a matter of the time required to download the information from one machine to another. Once a human level of artificial intelligence is reached, then technological advances in all areas will accelerate at an incredible exponential rate.

From the physical aspect, the development

of a human like robot is much closer to being realized. In many depictions of robots in science fiction, they are metallic and awkward but technology can create an almost human appearing robot. In Japan, a new artificial outer covering gives the feel of real human skin by covering a 1-cm thick "dermis" of elastic silicone with a 0.2-mm thick "epidermis" of firm urethane.

Countless tiny hexagonal indentations etched into the urethane epidermis provide it with a very realistic texture.

On the other hand, advances in medical technology are creating many artificial parts to replace some of our worn out or broken biological parts.

Today, knee, hip and shoulder replacements

are common. Artificial limbs are used by many who have lost their original ones. Advances will continue at a rapid pace so that in the near future, we may be able to replace any organ or limb with a new and improved one. Some scientists hypothesize that all the information and memories in our brain may one day be downloadable. It seems possible that one day, we may reach a point where the distinction between human and robot becomes too close to distinguish.

Robots have long been dreamed of as helpers and companions to enhance the lives of humans. Could it also be possible that the inadvertent direction of robotics will be, not to replace humans, but perhaps the next step in human evolution? l

l One of the most sophisticated robots created in the UK made its public debut - with a game of rock-paper-scissors in the month of February.

Bert, the robot, is less than two years old but will help scientists develop artificial intelligence outstripping anything previously seen before.

The robot, created by Bristol Robotics Laboratory and Elumotion, a robotics firm based in Bath, will spend the next three days meeting and greeting the public at London's Science Museum.

It was created to mimic human gestures as part of a study into how humans react to lifelike robots.

Berti, whose name stands for Bristol Elumotion Robotic Torso 1, has already been programmed to play the game rock-paperscissors and a sensor glove worn by its competitor means the robot can even tell whether it won or not.

Dr Graham Whiteley, co-director of Elumotion, said, "We are working towards the design of future humanoid robots that will be intuitive and natural for people to interact with.

"Robots like Berti could be used in the development of prosthetic limbs for people who have been in car accidents or to carry out extremely dangerous jobs such as land mine clearance."

The robot gives a short speech using a computer generated voice, and make hand gestures before to rate the "naturalness" of its performance. The estimated cost of robot is around ÂŁ200,000. l

Mar 2009

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EVENT Barcelona 2009

Samsung’s new projector phone Mobile phone with video projection capabilities will change the way people use mobile phones.

Back in January, Samsung unveiled a mobile phone that could display video on a 50-inch screen. The feat was made possible through a connection to a wireless phone accessory utilizing a DLP pico chip from Texas Instruments.

Now, Samsung has improved its form factor by embedding the Texas Instruments chipset directly into the phone, offering consumers a complete mobile office and entertainment solution.

“These phones instantly turn any situation into a media viewing opportunity,” says Frank J. Moizio, manager of DLP Emerging Markets business. “While tiny by nature and easily able to fit into a mobile device, the DLP Pico chipset produces stellar image quality and gives the freedom to project content onto practically any surface.”

The Samsung projector phone will be available this month in Korea (model W7900) and in Europe (model 17410) shortly thereafter. The phones will also feature a 5.0 megapixel camera, high-resolution OLED touch screen, and built-in speakers.

Sony Ericsson's 12-megapixel touchscreen phone, Idou It's still a concept product and the name will change, but when it ships in the latter half of the year, it'll be the phone to watch out for. Enter the Idou, a high-end 12-megapixel touchscreen handset that will deliver Sony Ericsson's "Entertainment Unlimited" a vision that it has been working toward since the start of the joint venture in 2001.

Details about the product are rather scant at the moment, but we do know the Idou will pack a Xenon flash module, a full touch-enabled media menu, 16:9 widescreen display and run the Symbian Foundation operating system.

When it launches, users can expect a unified Walkman, Cyber-shot and Java gaming experience with the ability to share media across multiple devices, from handsets to computers, to home A/V systems. The concept isn't terribly new as Nokia has been toying around similar ideas with Ovi, an integrated gateway for a multitude of its services. Apple, on the other hand, has also built an ecosystem around the iPhone with the App Store. Other companies like RIM and Palm are catching up as well.

How Sony Ericsson is going to deliver its vision remains a mystery for now, but head of global marketing and vice president of the company Lennard Hoornik is upbeat about it. In a press release statement, he said: "Everything that we have done to date has brought us to this point-we created the music phone category in 2005 selling over 100 million Walkman phones and we are now ready to unveil the next chapter in the evolution of the company--Entertainment Unlimited--giving consumers unlimited opportunities to share their entertainment experiences."

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EVENT Barcelona 2009

i-mate’s toughest Cell Phone, 810-F There are plenty of electronics that are made to be tough, but imate is so secure in the knowledge that it is going to last for years as the company offers a lifetime warranty for the 810-F. The cell phone has a waterproof rubber seal and can handle temperatures from -10°C to 60°C, pressure, shock and humidity. Features include a QWERTY keyboard, HSDPS, 2.2GB storage, GPS, Wi-Fi, a digital compass, accelerometer and Bluetooth capability, and it runs on Windows Mobile 6 .1. The 810-F also has Secure i-Q embedded so that you can lock it or get rid of personal data from your PC should it become lost or stolen.

Nokia 6720 classic This sleek, classic-looking device features a 5 megapixel camera, noise reduction technology, and GPS navigation integration.

Power users will likely be impressed by the phone's 20 days of standby time. Users who are often on the go will appreciate the phone's turn-by-turn navigation and electronic compass. While out and about, users can snap pictures with the phone's quality 5 megapixel camera with autofocus.

Two variants of the 6720 will be released.

Both feature quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) support. One variant features tri-band UMTS (900/1900/2100MHz) support and the other replaces the 900MHz UMTS band with 850MHz UMTS support. Both feature HSDPA connectivity for high-speed downloads.

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EVENT Barcelona 2009

Sagem’s Sonim XP3 waterproof phone

Nokia 6710 Navigator The attractive slider phone features a subtle, curved design, and is a powerful combination of a GPS navigation device and convergence business mobile device. With a 2.6-inch QVGA (320x240 pixels) display designed for outdoor viewing, the phone's updated Nokia Maps with full regional support and its drive and walk navigation appear sharp on screen. And its 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens will snap great pictures while you're on the go.

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EVENT Barcelona 2009

Samsung brings Blue Earth Solar was in at the recent Mobile World Congress as everyone witnessed the first solar-powered full-touch mobile phone from Samsung. Samsung are highlighting the eco-friendly credentials of the phone, which can be charged by the solar panel located on the back, calling it the "Blue Earth" and constructing it from recycled plastic.

The Blue Earth is designed to symbolize a flat and well rounded shiny pebble and is built to reduce CO2 emissions and save energy at every stage of its life cycle - from its construction from recycled plastic called PCM, which is extracted from water bottles, helping to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions in the manufacturing process, through the unit’s recycled paper packaging and its solar-powered working life, to its ultimate recycling through a growing number of special take-back points worldwide.

The eco theme also carries over to the user interface, which is designed to draw attention to preserving the environment. One click of 'Eco mode' button sets screen brightness, backlight duration and Bluetooth to an energyefficient mode while the 'eco walk' function counts a users steps with an in-built pedometer, calculating how much CO2 emissions have been reduced by walking as opposed to motor transport. This function also shows users the value of this reduced carbon footprint through the number of trees that have been saved – a nice touch that conveys often abstract environmental impacts into something easily understood. Although, the most environment friendly way to charge the phone is through the solar panel on the back, it does come with a 5 star energy efficient charger which uses standby power lower than 0.03W. It’s easy to be cynical of companies seemingly jumping on the eco-bandwagon and view it is nothing but a marketing exercise, but even if that were the case, (and I’m definitely not saying that is what Samsung are doing), it’s great to see that eco-friendly has become a very strong selling point for consumers and, for whatever reason, it’s great to see companies like Samsung getting well and truly on board. The Blue Earth is expected to be available later this year with rumors suggesting it will be at the upper end of the market.

ZTE’s solar power phone ZTE launched low-cost solar-powered mobile phone at the Mobile World Congress (GSMA) in Barcelona. Chinese group ZTE unveiled the world's first low-cost solar-powered mobile phone targeted at the world's poor, which is to go on sale in June for under 40 dollars.

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EVENT

LG Arena

Barcelona 2009

The LG Arena (LG-KM900) multimedia handset will be bundled with SanDisk Corporation’s iNAND embedded flash drive (EFD) - used as a boot device and also as a data storage device.

Arena is a fully loaded multimedia phone that offers an exhilarating audio and video experience made possible by LG’s intuitive new 3D S-Class User Interface (UI). LG claims that it is the only multimedia phone to use Dolby Mobile fromDolby Laboratories to deliver an exciting surround sound experience for video content and enhance the sound of music content.

According to SanDisk, iNAND was developed for multimedia handsets like the LG Arena to provide power saving efficient storage in a small pack.

HTC Touch Cruise The Cruise is half Windows Mobile smartphone, half in-car GPS system when mounted in an GPS cradle.

Like other HTC phones, it runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 with HTC's TouchFLO 3D overlay, which adds several shades of user-friendliness to the UI. It is not winning any 'New Innovations' award, but it's still one of the more attractive WinMo overlays on the market.

The phone uses a resistive touchscreen, and you'll need to use a stylus or your fingernail to hit the smaller menu icons. And bear in mind there's no physical keyboard for tapping out emails -- it's all done on-screen.

Sadly, this is a limitation of Windows Mobile 6.1, which doesn't support more sensitive capacitive touchscreen hardware.

There's a neat new Footprints feature though, which not only lets you geo-tag any

photos you take with location information, but also lets you click on any photo and be taken straight to the location the picture was taken on the built-in maps application.

Innards include a 528MHz Qualcomm processor, a 71mm (2.8-inch) 240x320pixel TFT LCD display, HSDPA data connectivity, GPS, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a microSDHC slot for media storage.

47

MONTH IN FOCUS

Mobilink launches Brand Ambassador Program for youth Mobilink announced its countrywide program of selecting top-students as Mobilink Brand Ambassadors (MBAs) from the leading universities of Pakistan in February. The MBA Program which kicked off at IBA Sukkur aims at selecting students with an exceptional flair for marketing. The selected individuals will be Mobilink Brand Ambassadors amongst the youth.

Commenting on the launch of this unique student-development program, Bilal Munir Sheikh, vice president marketing said, "Pakistan's young minds are known to be among the best globally. Catching them early and giving them direction, exposure and recognition will enable the aspirants to achieve very high standards in today's competitive world. With the chip of being a Mobilink Brand Ambassador, these individuals will be extremely well-paced to overcome professional challenges later in life."

The MBA program is yet another aptly designed initiative by Mobilink to seek, groom and nurture exceptional talent from all over the country. The selected candidates will be imparted specialized training including skills in latest marketing techniques, training materials and first hand exposure to marketing in a highly-challenging environment. The 'MBAs' will be rewarded with internship certificates, support and guidance from Mobilink's talented marketing team, chance to win a trip to Dubai and most importantly, a guaranteed job interview at Mobilink.

The selection process involves applicants to successfully undergo intensive interactions and involves role playing exercises to better evaluate the interactivity barriers the students might face through the course of their participation. The next stop of the MBA program is Bahauddin Zakaria University Multan.

Wasim Akram, former captain of Pakistan cricket team presents the Mobilink Fastest Fifty Award to Mahela Jayawardene who receives it on behalf of Kumar Sangakkara.

A Mobilink employee donates blood at the camp organized by the Mobilink Foundation for Thalassaemic children. Mobilink actively encourages employee volunteerism and regularly organizes such activities for the betterment of the community.

49

MONTH IN FOCUS Ufone, Dell ink accord to offer Internet anytime, anywhere Achieving yet another milestone in the telecom industry of Pakistan, Ufone signed an agreement with world renowned computer company Dell to offer the latest Dell Vostro Notebook experience bundled with Ufone’s high speed EDGE USB device through Unitech; authorized dealer of Dell in Pakistan.

This exclusive collaboration between Ufone and Dell will not only let Dell customers experience the power of its latest notebook series but also enjoy one month of free speedy internet access through a free Ufone EDGE USB device – supported by a state-of-the-art EDGE network available in all major metropolitan cities of Pakistan.

Upon purchase of any Dell Vostro Series Notebook from any Unitech authorized dealer in Pakistan, buyer gets a Dell/Ufone co-branded voucher which, when shown at any of the 22 Ufone Customer Service Centers, will be verified via the new PTA 789 SIM activation initiative and the customer can get a FREE Ufone (L) Mr Asher Yaqub Khan, Ufone chief marketing officer and Mr Andreas Diantoro, the regional managing director (South Asia/Developing Markets’ Group) of Dell exchange EDGE USB with a prepaid SIM, 6 months free warranty documents. and one month free mobile internet access. Ufone provides 24/7 support services for all its products.

At the signing ceremony, Mr Asher Yaqub Khan, Ufone chief marketing officer, said that “at Ufone, we have always worked with sheer commitment towards growth, reliability, innovation and customer satisfaction. This alliance with a leading computer company will enable us to provide high speed internet access to valued customers of Dell and Ufone – making sure they feel the absolute power of technology and communication.”

At the signing ceremony, Mr Andreas Diantoro, the regional managing director (South Asia/Developing Markets’ Group) of Dell, said that this cooperation between Dell and Ufone would give freedom to their valued customers in accessing Internet connectivity anytime and anywhere, adding that this powerful bundling would enhance productivity and give competitive to Dell users.”

Wateen organizes Telecom Integrated System Wateen recently organized a high traffic event entitled "Telecom System Integrated" in Karachi.

At the event, Wateen's senior management presented demonstrations about Wateen's Data and IP-based solutions, Security Surveillance, Hosted Contact and Data Center and System Integration solutions. Representatives from the Banking and Financial sectors, Service and Distribution, Media houses, IT companies, Call Centers and Manufacturing and Construction sectors attended and displayed their interest. Wateen interacted with the audience and explained how these products could easily be integrated into their existing infrastructure for better business, accelerated growth and robust development.

Wateen has positioned itself as the Telecom System Integrator of choice and provided awareness to the customers of the importance of IP-based solutions and how they can be effective in matching the demands of the market today.

The event began with an overview of Wateen’s growth, development and achievements over the years, by Furqan Qureshi, Corporate Sales head. “Wateen is the only company offering a complete suite of connectivity solution for the market,” explained Mr Qureshi. The top management gave presentations of Wateen’s range of products and value-added services which include voice and telephony over WiMAX, Fiber and Satellite connectivity, automated intelligent security and surveillance and managed services and applications. The audience had the opportunity to experience Wateen’s solutions and engage the speakers in an interactive QnA session.

50

Mar 2009

MONTH IN FOCUS Telenor Pakistan’s CR programs lauded

Telenor Pakistan launched its second annual Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report 2008 in Islamabad. The report presented the company’s contribution to the social and economic development of the society. At the event, social sector partners praised Telenor Pakistan’s community initiatives.

Telenor Pakistan’s CR partners gave a joint statement saying, “Telenor Pakistan had set new standards by releasing a CR report for the first time in the telecommunications industry in 2007. We congratulate them on releasing an outstanding Corporate Responsibility Report, 2008.

It is indeed encouraging to see Telenor Pakistan exercising such commitment towards social responsibility and community development. We, as CR partners feel confident of our success when backed by such multinational companies. It is truly uplifting when an organization does not only support a cause by providing resources but its employees actively take part in all CR activities. We wish Telenor Pakistan the best of luck for all future initiatives and ensure them of our full support.”

The report was unveiled by CEO and President Telenor Pakistan Jon Eddy Abdullah before media at the event. Distinguished guests included Vice President SOS Children's Villages of Pakistan Mrs Safia Awan, General Manager Academics TEVTA Col (Retd) Javed Malik, Country Director Nokia Siemens Network Saad Warraich, Customer Team Head Nokia Siemens Network Faisal Ansari, Credit Officer Indus Resource Center Nusrat Ghumro, President Disabled Welfare Association Javed Rais, Secretary General Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Brig (Retd) Muhammad Ilyas and Managing Director Initiator Human Development Foundation (IHDF) Rana Asif Habib.

Mr John Eddy Abdullah, speaking at the occasion said, “This report outlines our progress to date.

It presents a balanced view of our organization’s economic, environmental and social performance. At Telenor Pakistan, we believe in creating shared value for our business, our customers, broader stakeholders and the communities that we operate in.

During the years we have worked on establishing our leadership position in areas such as sustainable growth, responsible corporate citizenship, employment and products & services. For future, we will continue building on the foundations of our long-standing commitment to responsible business.”

Wateen sponsors “Rockball 2009” Wateen sponsored “Rockball 2009”, a major musical concert arranged by JB and Jaws at Paintball Battlefield in Lahore. Pakistani Rock groups Call, Noori, Roxen and Jal entertained a crowd of hundreds with their amazing performances.

There was a frenzy of activity amongst Roxen fans when Mustafa Zaidi, the band’s lead vocalist, came on stage. The band rocked the floor with some of their best numbers and had the audience on their feet. Next in line, was the popular band, CoVen, followed by Noori who thrilled the crowd with their debut single, Manwarey. The night continued with performances from Call and Jana Malik.

The prominent theme at the concert was of Peace and the Youth Alliance, a volunteering union, engaged the crowd by accepting donations and lighting candles in order to show solidarity with Palestinian brothers and sisters. The crowd was also shown a video produced by The Rising, to encourage the theme.

Wateen CEO, Tariq Malik, commented, “This was an important event for us to support. In times of global crisis, our country must have faith in their own abilities to keep their heads up.

Pakistan is a nation of strong, young men and women and events which demonstrate their character, are events that we will continue to support.”

PTCL gets 'environment friendly' The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has decided to introduce a new billing system for its customers, effective from February 2009. This decision was taken to ensure that PTCL moves towards adopting environmental-friendly and customer-friendly policies in line with the government of Pakistan's efforts which urges companies and institutions to go green. This initiative of PTCL also coincides with the Government's decision to celebrate 2009 as the "Environment Year".

PTCL's decision to reduce the number of billing pages focuses on the environment-friendly initiative and moving towards introducing a paperless environment. According to Dr. Sadik AlJadir, SEVP Commercial PTCL, the previous bills, comprising multiple pages, would be replaced with this new one-page bill, condensing all the necessary billing details on a single page.

This initiative of issuing a single page compact bill will help in saving 12 million papers every month used for printing bill details. Customers can still get itemized details of their bills by visiting any customer centre of PTCL. Besides, customers can also get details of their bills by dialing 1200, he added.

The company is determined to improve and build good rela51

MONTH IN FOCUS Experts urge need to tackle threats in Cyberspace Memon Professional Forum, in collaboration with TerraBiz, organized a seminar on “CyberSpace – Tackling Emerging Threats & Challenges” at a local hotel.

The speakers panel included some of the senior most industry professionals namely Mr Ammar Hussain Jaffri, project director - NR3C (FIA), Mr M M Khan, CEO – NIFT (Pvt) Ltd, Mr Sabah uz Zaman, Chief Information Officer (CIO) – State Bank of Pakistan, Mr Monis Rahman, chairman & CEO – Naseeb Networks and Mr Zahid Jamil, Barrister-at-Law – Jamil & Jamil Barristers at law. The session was moderated by Jehan Ara, president P@SHA. Mr Hanif Jhakura, president Memon Professional Forum delivered the welcome note and outlined the event objectives. Mr Ammar gave a detailed presentation on the opportunities and threats of the Internet, highlighting the vulnerable areas and stressing on the need of valuing internet as an infrastructure. He also emphasized on the importance of disaster recovery capabilities and Business Continuity Planning at all IT-based organizations.

“Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues must be carefully addressed in employee/third party contracts,” Mr Monis stressed. He spoke in length about the procedures of protecting the source code of websites.

Mr Zahid presented a detailed interactive presentation about cyber crime forensics, investigation, procedures and the prosecution of cyber crime cases in the court.

He compared international and national laws against cyber crime and highlighted the difference of interpretation of both. He also talked about the need to formulize a comprehensive Cyber Crimes Law, Copyright Ordinance and Electronic Transactions Ordinance.

ZRG represents Pakistan at Dubai Software Expo

ZRG International recently participated in Middle East Call Center '09 (MECC 2009) Exhibition at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center from February 4-5, 2009. On the occasion, it represented Pakistan.

MECC ‘09 consisted of a high level conference and exhibition which gave a comprehensive update on the best practices and proven techniques and technologies for today’s evolving contact centers. This exhibition and a conference were attended by Corporate Executives, IT Managers and other Call Center professionals. ZRG team displayed their innovative solution suite including IP Contact Center, CRM, Outbound Campaign Management, Call Recording and Evaluation tools and contact center quality management solutions.

Latest Contact center technology and solutions were on display at MECC ‘09 and most of the delegates and visitors of the event acknowledged the true potential of the contact center technology in improving the service experience of customers. Visitors showed eagerness to learn about the best practices, innovative ideas and ways to enhance their customer service operations.

Bank Alfalah’s Exciting ‘Formula Won’ Campaign Begins

Group Picture Shows (from Left) Waqar Khan – manager Services of NIFT (Pvt) Ltd, M M Khan – CEO, NIFT (Pvt) Ltd, Sabah uz Zaman – SBP chief information officer, Zahid Jamil – Barrister-atlaw of Jamil & Jamil Barristers-at-law, Ammar Hussain Jaffri – project director NR3C, FIA, Muhammad Hanif Jakhura – president, MPF - CEO, CDC, Jehan Ara – president, P@SHA & Monis Rahman – Chairman & CEO, Naseeb Networks at the Seminar on “Cyberspace – Tackling Emerging Threats & Challenges,” organized by MPF in collaboration with Terrabiz.

52

Mar 2009

Bank Alfalah Limited announced the launch of ‘Formula Won’ campaign at a press conference in February. Bank Alfalah is providing an opportunity for its esteemed Platinum Card Customers to enjoy F-1 Grand Prix live in Malaysia, April 2009. The top 20 highest spenders of Platinum Card Customers for the months of December 08 and January 09 are being flown to Malaysia to witness the Malaysian Grand Prix in April, 2009. Bank Alfalah takes this as a way of expressing Bank’s gratitude for their patronage and showing their valued customers that when it comes to them there is no compromise on

MONTH IN FOCUS Care. From business class travel to five star accommodations, from exciting trips to beautiful sunny beaches to the most exclusive VIP Formula 1 hospitality, no expense has been spared to ensure that the platinum customers get the extraordinary treatment that they deserve. The Formula Won project also includes improvisation of selected petrol pumps staff as pit crew team. Bank Alfalah Formula Won Car will be displayed at different locations during the campaign Formula Won is a unique and one of a kind campaign through which Bank Alfalah wanted to create awareness about the thrilling and exhilarating motor sports in Pakistan and also engage people in the fun activity. Further to strengthen the support of the Motorsports in Pakistan, Bank Alfalah has purchased Ferrari Formula 1 car, a true example of Power – Human Excellence – Performance – Reliability – Achievement. This replica car would be used in series of events, shows and misc activities in the major cities of Pakistan.

Mr. Hamid M. Mirza Head of Marketing, Bank Alfalah Limited and Mr. Adnan Sarwar, Farmula Racing Driver & Brand Ambassador along with the team at the launch of ‘Formula Won’ campaign

IGI, ALICO sign MoU to introduce insurance, savings products for customers IGI Investment Bank, a part of the IGI Financial Services group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with American Life Insurance Company (Pakistan) Limited – ALICO to introduce insurance and savings products for its customers. The signing ceremony took place at the IGI Financial Services head office in the presence of senior executives representing both companies.

By signing the MoU, IGI Investment Bank customers will have the privilege of availing valuable insurance and savings products offered by ALICO, the market leader in international life insurance with assets in excess of US$100 billion and operations in 55 countries worldwide, through the bank’s advisory and distribution channel.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Samir Ahmed, MD & CEO of IGI Investment Bank said, “By joining hands with ALICO, we aim to provide a complete range of financial services to our customers under one roof, and we are confident that this initiative will facilitate us in offering convenience and value-added services to our customers.”

Mr Arif Sultan Mufti, Chairman & CEO of ALICO said that in a country where the concept of bancassurance was still relatively new, “We aim to increase its potential in a market where exposure to financial markets is still on a rise.

Going into an understanding with IGI Investment Bank, we hope to create a long term relationship with them, providing our expertise in the field of insurance, whilst aiming to cater to the masses through different channels.”

Kingston Releases 16GB micro SDHC Card Kingston Technology Company, Inc., has announced it is releasing a 16GB microSDHC Flash memory card for use in mobile phones. The larger capacity card offers greater storage options for the latest mobile phones and other digital devices and joins the microSDHC card family which includes the 4- and 8GB products.

“The increased functionality of the latest mobile phones has helped fuel and raise consumers’ appetites for more digital content,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Product Manager, APAC Region, Kingston. “Today’s mobile lifestyle includes using phones as portable media players and as a camera. The Kingston 16GB microSDHC card removes the barrier of limited internal handset or device memory and allows users to store more photos, songs, games and videos.”

Kingston 16GB microSDHC cards can store more than 3,000 digital songs, over 9,000 images from a 5MP cameraphone, or up to 16 hours of video, offering the most convenient means to store, move and play digital content via a handset’s storage slot. Newer handset models from manufacturers such as LG, Motorola, Nokia, RIM and Sony Ericsson support 16GB external storage.

The Kingston 16GB microSDHC card (Kingston part #: SDC2/16GB) is backed by a lifetime warranty and free technical support. Although the microSDHC card format is identical in physical size to the original microSD card, microSDHC is compatible with microSDHC host devices and not backward compatible with standard microSD-enabled devices or readers.

53

MOBILE PHONE

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm, 83 cc 109 g TFT touchscreen, 16M colors 360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB, 8GB included Class 32 Class 32 HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps 15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Up to 8 h 45 min

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size : Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: Camera:

Rs. 35,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

90 x 45 x 14 mm, 52 cc 110 g TFT, 16M colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches microSD (TransFlash) 18 MB internal memory Class 32, 88 kbps Class 32, 296 kbits Yes, 384 kbps 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Up to 4 h

Rs. 23,000

97.5 x 55 x 16.3 mm 117 g TFT, 16M colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches microSD (TransFlash) Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots) 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

Rs. 42,500

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm 122 g TFT touchscreen, 256K colors 240 x 400 pixels, 3.2 inches microSD (TransFlash) 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM 8 GB/16 GB internal memory Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 2 - 48 kbps Class 12 HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps 5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels Up to 5 h 50 min

Rs. 51,000

113 x 59 x 13 mm, 87 cc 126 g TFT, 16M colors 320 x 240 pixels, 2.36 inches MicroSD (TransFlash), up to 8GB, hotswap, 120 MB internal memory Class 32, 100 kbps Class 32, 296 kbps Yes, 384 kbps 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels Up to 11 h

Rs. 24,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: BlueTooth:

109 x 46 x 12.8 mm 107 g TFT, 256K colors 176 x 220 pixels, 2.1 inches MicroSD (TransFlash), up to 8GB, 40 MB shared memory Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps Yes, 384 kbps 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, Yes, v2.0 with A2DP

Rs. 13,400

Note: Above prices serve as a refrence only, they may be different in actual.

54

Mar 2009

MOBILE PHONE

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

112.5 x 62.2 x 14 mm 155 g TFT touchscreen, 65K colors 360 x 480 pixels, 3.25 inches MicroSD (TransFlash), MicroSDHC, up to 8 GB, 128 MB RAM,1 GB storage Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps HSDPA 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Up to 5 h 30 min

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

Rs. 48,000

Dimensions: Weight: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera: Talk time:

104 x 49 x 18-19.5 mm 136 g TFT, 256K colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches Memory Stick Micro (M2), 2 GB card included, 160 MB internal memory Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps lass 10, 236.8 kbps HSDPA 3.6 Mbps 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels Up to 9 h

Rs. 34,000

Dimensions: Display: Size: Card slot: GPRS: EDGE: 3G: Camera:

106.5 x 55.4 x 11.9 mm 89 g TFT touchscreen, 256K colors 240 x 400 pixels, 3.0 inches MicroSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB (verified Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps No 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, p to 3 h 30 min

Dimensions: 90 x 48.6 x 16.4 mm, 57 cc 87.5 g Weight: Display: TFT, 256K colors 1240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches Size: Card slot: MicroSD (TransFlash), 25MB internal memory Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 GPRS: slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE: Class 12, 236.8 kbps 3G: No 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, Camera: Talk time: Up to 7 h

Rs. 25,000

Rs. 20,500

105 x 46 x 13.5 mm TFT, 256K colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches microSD (TransFlash) 90 MB internal memory Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Class 10, 236.8 kbps No 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels,

Dimensions: 100 x 47 x 14 mm Weight: 104 g Display: TFT, 256K colors Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches Card slot: Memory Stick Micro (M2), 2 GB card included GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE: Class 10, 236.8 kbps 3G: HSDPA 3.6 Mbps Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels Talk time: Up to 9 h

Rs. 9,000

Rs. 26,500

Note: Above prices serve as a refrence only, they may be different in actual.

55

MONTH IN FOCUS

l The recent launch of Nokia 5800 Xpress Music with a stunning outlook made people’s mouth watering. Starting with 5310, Nokia stepped into the music race with a promise to provide quality music devices. Although it seems that Nokia seems very much on top of the Xpress Music business but in fact it is rather a cover up for the previous set 5220.

Nokia 5220 seriously made Nokia stagger and sway on reliability. People, who have used the set and those who have sold it, rather try to avoid the set now, as there are a number of problems associated with it.

56

“Nokia 5220 is bound to hang when you are working on it.” It is not the comment of a single person but of a number of people including shopkeepers and general users. “It rather annoys you a lot when you are listening to music or just even exploring through the commands,” this is another comment.

A shopkeeper said that twice he had claimed the warranty of Nokia 5220 sets as they were hanging a lot. So the software was reinstalled (flashed). “And to another set, I had to repair the memory card reader as the set was hanging much more often during browsing the MMC files. It had been previously flashed but of no avail. So I did alteration by removing the MMC protector,” he maintained. It seems that the OS for 5220 was unstable as it had to be reinstalled so often. Or may be the manufacturing structure, CPU or the RAM was unable to withstand the ultra-high requirements of the music and other user-based actions.

Now the question arises that with the outlook of new Xpress Music 5800 similar to iPhone, is the set fully stable? Has Nokia really been able to cover up the problems as in the previous set, or are the problems cowering up just behind the dazzling looks? l

DIRECTORY Mobile Phone

Dimension

Memory

Camera

Battery

Price

Nokia 3120

102 x 43 x 20 mm 67 cc

Phonebook: 256 x 4 fields Call records: 10 dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls Card slot: No

No

Stand-by Up to 410 h Talk time Up to 6 h

Rs. 11,000/-

Nokia 7070 Prism

87.5 x 44 x 15.8 mm 52 cc

Phonebook: 1000 entries, Call records: 20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls Card slot: No 11 MB internal user memory

No

Stand-by Up to 410 h Talk time Up to 6 h

Rs. 49,00/-

Samsung U600

103.5 x 49.3 x 10.9 mm

Phonebook: 1000 entries, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Stand-by: Up to 250 h Call records:30 dialed, autofocus, video(CIF) Talk time: Up to 3 h 30 received, 30 missed calls LED flash 30 min Card slot:microSD (TransFlash), buy memory,60 MB embedded memory

Rs. 14,750/-

Samsung U700

102.5 x 50 x 12.1 mm

Phonebook: 1000 entries, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Stand-by: Up to 270 h Call records: 30 dialed, autofocus, video(QCIF), Talk time: Up to 5 h 30 received, 30 missed calls LED flash; secondary VGA Card slot: microSD (Transvideocall camera Flash), buy memory, 20/40 MB embedded memory

Rs. 17,000/-

Sony Ericsson T650

104 x 46 x 12.5 mm

Phonebook: 1000 contacts, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Stand-by: Up to 300 h Call records: 30 received, autofocus, video(QCIF ), Talk time: Up to 7 h dialed and missed calls LED flash; secondary VGA Card slot: Memory Stick videocall camera Micro (M2), 256 MB card included, 16 MB shared memory

Rs. 17,500/-

iMate 8150

118.5 x 60.5 x 15.5 mm

microSD (TransFlash),buy memory, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM

2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, autofocus, video; secondary VGA video call camera

-------

Rs. 47,500/-

iMate 9502

116 x 60 x 17.8 mm

microSD (TransFlash),buy memory, 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM

3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video, LED flash, secondary VGA videocall camera

Stand-by Up to 180 h Talk time Up to 4 h 20 min

Rs. 53,000/-

microSD (TransFlash), up 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, to 4GB, buy memory, 12 Schneider-Kreuznach MB user available memory optics, autofocus, LED flash, image stabilizer, video (720x480 pixels)

Stand-by Up to 450 h Talk time up to 6 h

Rs. 20,500/-

LG KC 550

96.9 x 51.4 x 14.9 mm

Note: Above prices serve as a refrence only, they may be different in actual.

57

CAMERA Sony Black Cyber-shot® T500/B 10.1 megapixel 3.5" wide touch screen 5X Optical Zoom Face Detection

Sanyo VPC-E860 8 MP Resolution 3 x optical zoom 5 x digital zoom 2.5in LCD screen

Cannon A470 Power Shot 7.1 MP resolution 2.5 inch LCD 3.4X optical Zoom 4.0X Digital Zoom

Cannon A580IS 8MP resolution 4.00x Digital Zoom 2.5 inch LCD SDHC / SD type Memory

Cannon FS10 2.7 INCH WIDE SCREEN 1/6 INCH CCD 37X OPTICAL ZOOM 2000X Digital Zoom

Cannon FS11 Cannon FS11 2.7 INCH WIDE SCREEN 1/6 INCH CCD 37X OPTICAL ZOOM

Cannon IXUS 85IS 10.0 Megapixel image sensor 3x optical zoom lens Face Detection Technology DIGIC III with Noise Reduction Technology

58

Price Rs. 30,800

Price Rs. 9,500

Price Rs. 8,200

Price Rs. 9,000

Price Rs. 45,000

Price Rs. 56,000

Price Rs. 16,000

Cannon IXUS 90IS 10 MP Resolution 3x optical zoom lens Large 3 inch LCD screen A 32MB SD card

Nikon S210 8.0 MP Resolution 3x Optical Zoom 2.5" LCD display Sd card slot

Powershot_E1 10.0 Megapixel 2.5-inch TFT color LCD 17 shooting modes Face Detection Technology

Cannon S5-IS 12x optical zoom lens with Ultrasonic Motor (USM) and UD lens Optical Image Stabilizer 8.0 Megapixel CCD 2.5” high-resolution vari-angle LCD

Canon G9 12.4 megapixels 106.4 x 71.9 x 42.5 mm 1024 x 768 @ 15 fps Secure Digital, Secure Digital HC, MultiMediaCard

Nikon L16 7.1 MP resolution 2.8-inch LCD Monitor Optical 3X Zoom Easy Mode

Sanyo VPC S500 5 MP Resolution 3X Optical zoom 2.36 in LCD display 16MB Internal Memory

Price Rs. 17,500

Price Rs. 14,900

Price Rs. 15,000

Price Rs. 25,000

Price Rs. 28,000

Price Rs. 8,300

Price Rs. 4,800