3G auction: Telecom companies start test run

With 3G auction around the corner, telecom companies have started the test run of faster mobile communications after a formal approval from cabinet division as purposed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB).

This test run of 1 month will allow the companies to fine tune their already installed equipment for next generation of mobile communications and will also allow them to assess the worth of this technology, helping them to come up with a bidding price. Three out of the five current telecom companies are using this trail period to check the video quality and download speed being received in major cities of the country. Next in the check list of trial period comes the connectivity and voice quality giving companies an insight to the viability of these services on newly offered spectrum.

According to a news report, a telecom company has already installed more than 7,500 towers in the country that support 3G technology. Pakistan government has high expectations from this auction of new age technologies as they carry huge prospects of not only rising about $2 billion which will boost foreign reserves but will also become source of higher revenue in the form of taxation based revenue.

3G Technology to finally launch in Pakistan

Pakistan plans to auction licenses by March to run third- and fourth-generation mobile-phone networks, with both existing and new operators eligible to bid, the country’s telecommunications regulator chief said. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has hired Value Partners Management Consulting to advise on the sale, including the base price and number of licenses to be auctioned for a 15-year term In a meeting of the Spectrum Auction Advisory Supervisory Committee Thursday 30 jan reviewed the process of “Spectrum Auction” for next generation mobile network and expressed satisfaction over the progress on this count.It has been decided that Road shows would also be conducted next month ahead of auction for 3G spectrum license in March this year.Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the Spectrum Auction Advisory Supervisory Committee held here.The meeting was told that “Information Memorandum” would also be issued next month

Now Microsoft Finally Releases New GDR3 Update For Windows Phone 8 itnsoft

Microsoft has finally outed the Windows Phone 8 Update 3 after making its fans wait for a long time. The update brings support for a lot of enhancements which were rather dubiously missing from the operating system for ages.

Visually, the OS has seen a minor overhaul. A total of six Live Tiles can be placed horizontally. Support for up to 6 inch displays has been brought, with resolution of up to 1920 x 1080 pixels. No signs of a unified notification history are seen but the Live Tiles are bit of a substitute to that anyway.

Support for advanced hardware has finally been brought. Qualcomm’s SnapDragon 800 processor is supported now, which should be enough for the already-fluid OS.

Nifty, useful things like separate ringtones for notifications, phone-calls, etc., screen-rotation lock, advanced storage management and a much-useful task manager which adds a button for directly closing apps are added.

Accessibility features for the blind is added to make using the phone easier by speaking commands out loud.

Microsoft has also increased support for third-party Bluetooth accessories. A new feature called Driving Mode keeps other notifications (read: distractions) at bay while you’re using your phone for its mapping services.

Lastly, the support. Unlike WP8, Windows Phone 8 GDR3 will be coming to existing phones, in the next few months. Nokia’s Lumias and a few HTC & Samsung-built Windows Phones should be getting this update soon.

While the update hasn’t brought everything we hoped and wished for, it will certainly make life a lot easier for existing Windows Phone users, apart from closing the gap between it and other operating systems.

IPHONE 5C, A SLIGHTLY CHEAPER AND REDESIGNED VERSION OF IPHONE GETS UNVEILED

iPhone 5C

The iPhone 5C was undoubtedly the more anticipated version of the iPhone in today’s event. The cheaper model of the series replaces the iPhone 5 (4S will continue though) and features an all new design which waves goodbye to the usual design language.

Design and Display

The iPhone 5C features the first plastic design in an iPhone for years. While the front is still glass, of course, the back is a single piece of hard-coated polycarbonate plastic, made stronger by a reinforced  steel structure. iPhone 5Cwill be available in White, Yellow, Green,Red and Blue.

The Retina display measures 4 inches diagonally, the same as the iPhone 5 and 5S, having resolution of 640 x 1136 pixels. The 5C is also made of compounds which are Arsenic-free, Mercury-free and “Android-free”.

Hardware

The iPhone 5C is powered by an Apple A6 processor, the same breed in the line of processors which ran on the iPhone 5.

Software

The phone will come with iOS 7 pre-installed which will definitely match the colorful identity of the device it’s running on.

Apple claimed that iPhone 5C will be vivid realization of hardware and software together in one device.

Apple’s own productivity-boosting software, i.e. iWork, iPhoto, iMovie,Keynote and Pages and Numbers will also be free for this device.

Camera

The camera on the iPhone 5C is also an 8 megapixel BSI sensor with 5-element lens. It does 1080p Full HD videos at 30fps too. The front-facing camera is also improved to perform better in low-lighting conditions.

Miscellaneous

The battery of the iPhone 5C is not-disclosed right now but can last 10 hours during 3G talk-time and 250 hours on standby. Bluetooth 4.0, Lightning Port, dual-band Wi-Fi, LTE and headset jack is used for connectivity.

Pricing and Availability 

The price of the iPhone 5C is set at $99 and $199 on contract for 16 and 32 GB versions. At launch, it will cost around 70,000 PKR in Pakistan but that figure will settle down later. Optional cases will cost $29.

As you might’ve noticed, the iPhone 5C is a lot like the phone it’s replacing. It does bring a new design however and maybe that will be one of its key selling factors. Being an Apple product, it is priced highly and of course, you can buy a 4S or a used 5 for much cheaper but for those who are buying an iPhone and planning to keep it longer, the 5C is probably your safer bet.

Apple Shareholder Goes To Court Over Stocks

Apple has long had a reputation amongst its investors for hoarding cash.  In  fact, the company has 137 billion in cash reserves. Some believe that Apple’s reluctance to distribute cash to their investors is a by product of the fact that they almost went bankrupt in the past.  For Apple supporters, it is just one part of why the company continues to be hugely 

successful.  However, for one former supporter, Apple’s cash hoarding has been cause for action.

Top 10 Mobile Phones to Watch Going Through 2013

Top 10 Mobile Phones to Watch Going Through 2013

We are just few days away from going through 2013 and change is year is a big change in Calendar. As 2013 is very near, the Consumer Electronics Show followed by Mobile World Congress in February, so these two big events relating to mobile phone industry are not too far-away as the smartphones and tablet PC manufacturers gearing up for it. Several of the devices have been spotted passing through various certifications required like Bluetooth certification, Wi-Fi certification, GL Benchmark test. We generally call this information as leak devices or rumours.

With iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III, Note II, LG Nexus 4 and now no more high-end smartphones expected to arrive this December. Furthermore manufacturers are preparing for the 2013 lineup and we expect to see various top ends and flagship smartphones. Sony already has leaked several devices for 2013 lineup and other manufacturers are through it as well.

Here are the top smartphones which will be launched in 2013 as we go look up to these devices –

• Samsung Galaxy Note III
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7
• Samsung Galaxy S4
• Samsung Galaxy Premier
• Oppo Find 5
• Huawei Ascend D
• Nokia Juggernaut
• Lenovo IdeaPhone A586

Samsung Galaxy Note III

After successful launch of Samsung Galaxy Note II everyone is eyeing the Galaxy Note III and they would be wandering what it would be included in the Galaxy Note third generation device.

We found some details of the device available and it’s said that it will include Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie OS and other set of specifications of the device are not yet known. Certainly this device will not be a part of MWC and CES 2013.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

Following the huge success of Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note competitor, the Korean giant is looking for different kind of sequels hoping that it covers up the non-popularity of Galaxy Tabs. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will be mostly alike the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 taking smartphone capabilities to large screen display tablet PCs.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 GT N5100 has the following specifications –

• 7” HD display screen
• 1280 x 720 pixels resolution
• 1.6 Ghz quad core Samsung Exynos 4412 processor
• ARM Mali 400 GPU
• Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS
• S Pen, S Memo, S Calendar, S Note
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether
• 4G LTE connectivity

Samsung Galaxy Grand

The large screen display smartphones are growing popularity and we see lot many of such devices been launched in the recent times. Samsung already have Galaxy Grand has already spotted in the benchmark results.

It has the following features & specifications as mentioned in the technical data sheet –

• 5 inches WVGA LCD display screen
• 800 x 480 pixels resolution
• 1.4 Ghz Exynos 4412 Quad core processor
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS
• Samsung TouchWiz UI
• 2100 mAh battery
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether
• NFC chip

Samsung Galaxy Premier GT I9260

Samsung Galaxy Premier is just next to Samsung Galaxy S III featuring 4.65 inches Super AMOLED HD display screen providing 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. Remaining specifications of the devices includes 8 mega pixel camera on the rear side with 1.9 mega pixel front facing camera. The smart phone includes 8 GB/16 GB internal memory with 2100 mAh stronger battery capacity.

Samsung Galaxy Premier has the following features –

• 4.65 inches Super AMOLED HD display screen
• 1280 x 720 pixels resolution
• 8 mega pixel camera on rear side
• 1.9 mega pixel camera front facing
• Full HD video recording
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether, GPS
• NFC
• 8 GB and 16 Gb internal memory storage capacity
• Micro Sd card support up to 32 GB
• 2100 mAh battery

Oppo Find 5

Oppo Find 5 is another large screen device with 5 inches capacitive touchscreen display with high-end specifications. The best feature its 12 mega pixel camera and it’s one of the slimmest smartphone with chassis measuring 6.9 mm thickness and includes powerful 2500 mAh battery.

Oppo Find 5 has the following specifications –

• 5 inches display screen
• Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor
• 2 Gb RAM
• Adreno 320 GPU
• NFC, HDMI
• 12 mega pixel camera
• 6.9 millimeter thin chassis
• 16 GB/ 32 GB internal memory
• Micro SD card support
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS
• 2500 mAh battery

Oppo Find 5 will be announced in December second week and will be available for sale in China only.

Samsung Galaxy S4

The Samsung Galaxy S III successor is everyone dying to see. Everyone is sure that Samsung Galaxy 4 is in works and it would be announced somewhere in between Q2 and Q3, 2013.

Samsung Galaxy 4 has the following specifications -

• 4.99 inches Full HD display screen
• Quad core Cortex A15 processor
• 13 mega pixel camera
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether

Huawei Ascend D2

Huawei Ascend D2 an unannounced device by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer will be the next flagship model by the company. It’s certainly up against the Oppo Find 5 smartphone for sole competition as a phablet phone in China only. We are not sure whether this will be launched outside China or not just like its predecessor Ascend D.

Huawei Ascend D2-5000 has the following specifications –

• 5 inches HD touchscreen display
• 1.5 Ghz quad core phone
• 13 mega pixel camera
• 1.3 mega pixel front facing camera
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS
• 3,000 mAh battery
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether
• Bluetooth 4.0
• HDMI out port

Nokia Juggernaut

Nokia Juggernaut as rumoured would be the third Windows Phone 8 smartphone by Nokia. Its rumoured that Juggernaut will take Windows Phone 8 OS to phablet phone category and it would be equal competitor to Galaxy Note.

It has the following features -

• Windows Phone 8 OS
• 800 x 480 pixels resolution
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether
• 4G LTE
• Windows App Store access

Lenovo IdeaPhone A586

Lenovo IdeaPhone A586 is one of the key smartphone to watch out as it would be the different device to come out with speaker verification technology alike Face Unlock. Apart from that the smartphone features mid level hardware specifications with 4.5 inches display, 1.2 Ghz dual core processor and lot more under it.

Lenovo IdeaPhone A586 has the following specifications –

• 4.5 inches FWVGA touchscreen IPS display
• 854 x 480 pixels resolution
• 1.2 Ghz dual core processor
• 5 mega pixel camera
• 4 GB internal memory
• Wi Fi, Wi Fi tether
• Android OS

Any other that you are looking around? So which of these smartphones did you like?