Government Plans to Open YouTube After Eid

Government of Pakistan is making efforts to lift YouTube ban after Eid-ul-Fitr, reported Express Tribune.
Paper, on its website, said that Anusha Rehman, Telecom and IT Minister, has formed a committee to review the matter of lifting ban on YouTube. Committee is directed to somehow make sure that all the objectionable material is blocked or made inaccessible in Pakistan.
However, it is still unclear that how future-duplication of objectionable content will be blocked.
It merits mentioning here that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has already expressed its inability to block objectionable content.
On other hands, Google has also not responded to Pakistan’s request of blocking objectionable content in the country, like it has done for various other regions.
Now government has hinted that it may open YouTube in Pakistan after making sure the blockade of all objectionable material, without mentioning the methods it intend to use for blocking the content.
Government said that all stakeholders will be taken into confidence before reopening the website.

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Uth Pack Offers 7% Exclusive Discount On Galaxy S4

f you are planning to buy Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4, then Uth Pack has this treat of the town for you.
If you are Uth Pack customer then you can get exclusive 7 percent discount or Rs. 5,040 off for buying Samsung Galaxy S4.
Uth Pack has said that this exclusive discount is not all that they are offering. Additionally, you will be given free Ufone to Ufone minutes, Free SMS and free Mobile internet when purchasing Samsung S4.
Here are the details of free minutes, SMS and Mobile Internet:

• Free on-net Minutes (6,000 minutes) for one month
• Free SMS (9,000 SMS) for one month
• Free Mobile Internet (1.5 GB of data) for one month

However, you will have to hurry up a little. Since Uth Pack has said that stock is limited, hence discount will be offered to first come first serve basis.
Yes, Samsung Galaxy S4 bought with Uth Pack comes with all the features and company warranty.
Bookings can be done through Uth Pack Facebook and Web page only.
Terms and Conditions:

• Only one handset per one Uth Pack SIM/CNIC is allowed
• If qualified, user will be called with-in 72 hours after the booking
• Customer will have to buy the phone with-in 48 hours, or his booking will be cancelled
• Handsets will be available on Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad service centres only
• This offer is for Uth Pack customers only

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Facebook May Face Blockage in Pakistan Due To Blasphemous Content

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Peshawar: Peshawar High Court (PHC) has ordered to block all blasphemous content from social networking site including Facebook. Court directed interior ministry to reply within 20 days with complete details of actions. Judge if PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad said anti Islamic content on social media website is hurting Muslims’ emotions and authorities should take strict actions.

Earlier, lawyer Arif Khan filed application in High Court stated that government has failed to block blasphemous content from social networking websites.
The decision has come in such a time when interim government is going to shift responsibilities to new democratic government. There are chances that PHC can give verdict on next hearing if interior ministry would fail to answer clearly. Facebook is top viewing website in Pakistan.

It’s pertinent to mention here that World’s leading Video Streaming website YouTube was blocked 8 months ago on blasphemous content complaint.

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PTCL Upgrades Broadband Student Package to 2Mbps for 2 Months

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has announced that students can experience higher speeds of 2Mbps without any additional charges for next two months.
Earlier, student package users were getting 1Mbps internet broadband speed.
PTCL said that all 1Mbps student package holders are automatically upgraded to 2Mbps for free. This offer will be valid till 30 June 2013, while standard 2 Mbps tariff of Rs. 1,299 per month will be applicable from 1st July 2013.
Subscribers, who wish to opt out of this offer can call 1236 or email at student.broadband@ptcl.net.pk.
Here are offer highlights:

• 2 Mbps Speed for the Price of 1 Mbps
• Unlimited Downloads
• All Student 1 Mbps Customers have been upgraded to Student 2 Mbps
• No additional charges till 30th June 2013
• From 1st July 2013 standard Student 2 Mbps tariff of Rs. 1,299 per month will be applicable
• All upgraded customer who do not wish to continue with Student 2 Mbps can revert back to Student 1 Mbps by calling “1236”

It merits mentioning here that PTCL customers are usually not happy with such short-duration free upgrades, after which they are charged the standard tariff without any discount.

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Mobilink to Offer Viber and Nimbuzz Bundles with Unlimited Usage

Mobilink has partnered with Viber and Nimbuzz to offer its prepaid customers unlimited – application specific – data bundles. With these bundles, Mobilink customers will be able to make unlimited voice calls and send unlimited text messages using Viber and Nimbuzz.
Viber and Nimbuzz are mobile apps – available for all major platforms – that offer chat & IM service and voice calls for free.
These applications consume mobile internet for all the IM and voice traffic, which will be offered by Mobilink in bundles to its customers at a fixed daily price with unlimited usage.
According to information we have got, Nimbuzz bundle will be offered in next few days while Viber bundles for Mobilink customers will be available during last week of May 2013.
Prices of Mobilink bundles for Viber and Nimbuzz are not known yet.
VoIP services, such as Viber and Nimbuzz, that also offer chat and IM services are getting popular in Pakistan. Inflating trend of mobile internet usage in the country is likely to see further surge after such bundle offers by cellular operators.
It merits mentioning here that Twitter and Facebook bundles are already being offered by various operators. However chat and voice services such as WhatsApp bundle offered by Ufone and these upcoming Viber and Nimbuzz bundles from Mobilink are going to transform the way people communicate with each other.
These bundles are going to offer true value against the money that customers spend on their telecommunication tools.

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Mobilink Recharge Offer: Recharge Rs.75, Get 75 Minutes, SMS Free

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Mobilink is offering Rs.75 Recharge Offer, an amazing offer.  If you are a Mobilink Customer, recharge Rs 75 and get free 75 Mobilink Minutes, 75 Local Network SMS and 75 MB in addition to the recharge amount, valid till next day. No subscription needed, No daily fee.

Call to Action

You will be able to perform the following actions through USSD:

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Ufone Announces Winners of ShahCar Offer 2013

Ufone today announced 20 lucky winners of the ShahCar Offer 2013. The much awaited results are finally out which will once again make 20 lucky winners dreams a reality.
In order to qualify for the lucky draw customers simply required to buy a Ufone SIM, use an existing Ufone SIM or simply port in to Ufone’s network and consume a minimum balance of Rs.300 between the  7^th of Feb till 31^st March 2013 to get a chance to be a part of the ShahCar offer 2013 lucky draw. On every consumption of the said balance a customer would get another entry in the lucky draw, hence the more credit used would increase his/her probability to win.
The lucky winners for the Shahcar offer 2013 are: 

1. Abdul Sattar from Karachi,
2. Muhammad Khalid Jameel from Faisalabad,
3. Muhammad Tariq from Okara,
4. Mohammad Ishaq Naeem from Jhang,
5. Muhammad Tariq from Bhakar,
6. Muhammad Siddique from Taxila,
7. Muhammad Imran from Sahiwal,
8. Kashif Iqbal from Hyderabad,
9. Shahzad Anjum from Lahore,
10. Muhammad Asghar from Kasur,
11. Abdul Jabar from Lahore,
12. Shahid Akhtar from Bhai Phero,
13. Muhammad Buta from Sargodha,
14. Noor ul Qamar from Swabi,
15. Rashida kausor from Karachi,
16. Muhammad Hassan Tariq from Lahore,
17. Shafique al Rehman from Bhawalnagr,
18. Shahid Maqbool from Lahore,
19. Muhammad Nasir from Gujrawanla
20. Abdul Satar from Sheikhpura

According to Ufone’s spokesperson, media personnel in Lahore will soon get a chance to meet each of these winners at a press conference.
Ufone has been in the lead to offer such attractive offers to its customers In the past, a total of 30 customers benefitted from the two previous SharCar offers.

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Pakistan’s minister says YouTube to be restored in caretaker govt tenure

Islamabad: Pakistan’s caretaker Information Minister on Thursday said that the YouTube, a video sharing website, will be restored in the country during the caretaker government’s tenure.

It is now almost eight months after the government blocked the video sharing website due to the presence of anti-Islam film mocking Prophet (PBUH). The website was restored three months back but was blocked within hours after it was learnt that the blasphemous content was still present on the website.

Speaking to media, the minister said that he had directed the concerned authorities to reopen the website as soon as possible.

“We are working to filter the blasphemous material but the ministry officials had told us that the filter required to sort out the blasphemous material was quite expensive,” he said.

Responding to a question regarding impartiality of the state media, Nizami said that he had directed the state-run media to remain unbiased and provide equal chances to all political parties to run their manifestos on the state television.

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Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Rozee Research recently did a survey to find out from the educated community of Pakistan as to how, if applicable, YouTube ban has affected them.
Rozee.PK’s survey tried to dig out into which sub-sector, students vs. employed has been affected by the YouTube ban and in what ways. Are people happy with ban? do they perceive it as justified? Who do they blame, (Google, Government etc. ) and why? Has the business been affected (less revenue generation from ads), what alternatives have been in use, and whether this ban has really resulted in something beneficial for the people of Pakistan and of course the economy at large.
More than 3000 people responded to this survey from across Pakistan and here are the results that were exclusively shared with ProPakistani for the readers:

Highlights:

• 30 percent respondents came to know of ban through digital media channels
• 88 percent respondents used to access and use YouTube before ban, who don’t use YouTube anymore
• 68 percent people think that they are unable to watch videos of their choice anymore
• 30 percent people have shifted to alternate video service
• Before ban, majority of users used to watch instructional and self-help videos (75%), while half of respondents said that they used to watch Islamic Lectures (52%) while 69% said that they used to watch movie trailers and songs
• After the ban, 40 percent respondents have unfavourable opinion about Google, before ban this ratio was mere 6 percent
• 62 percent respondents said that Google is being unreasonable for not removing the anti-Islam videos which irked the ban
• 48 percent respondents believe that Google is the real culprit for getting YouTube banned
• 29 percent believed that Government of Pakistan hasn’t lodged a formal request to YouTube
• 27 percent think that neither Google nor Government of Pakistan is interesting in opening YouTube
• 46 percent respondents were unhappy about the ban, 43 percent were okay with the ban

Why YouTube is Banned?

Surprisingly 95% of the respondents who took the survey knew the answer to that one. The rest either didn’t know (3%) or thought it’s because of bandwidth issues (0.6%) or pornographic content on YouTube (0.7%).

Power of Media

The power of media in making those 95% aware of the video’s presence can be seen in the fact that a whopping 45% of them found about it via National News (TV/Print/Radio/Online). 30% of them found about it via their online social media connections; 14% found it themselves on YouTube; and 11% learnt about it via grapevine.

Decline in Viewership

Before the ban on YouTube a whopping 88% of the respondents used it. Of these, 54% used to browse videos on YouTube daily.


After the ban on YouTube, the viewership has declined to 12% who are still able to access YouTube via a proxy. In addition to this, 42% respondents admitted not browsing videos at all because of the ban on YouTube.

15% student respondents admitted still being able to use and access YouTube, comparatively more than the unemployed (13%) and employed respondents (11%).

Another interesting trend is seen in the fact that the use and access to YouTube diminishes as the respondents’ age increases. Where 16% of the respondents below 20 admit still using YouTube, for those above the age of 45, the rate falls to 8%.

In the Aftermath of the Ban

69% of the respondents, who used YouTube before the ban, said because of the ban they have been unable to view videos of their choice. For others it has resulted in monetary losses: for individuals who used to it promote their business (9%), advertisers (6%) and has disrupted their other Google Services causing problems in business operations (14%). However, 30% of the respondents reported they have been able to cover up their losses by switching to alternatives.

Majority of respondents, who used YouTube primarily before it was banned, said they watched instructional and self-help videos (75%), Islamic Lectures (52%), and movie trailers and songs (69%).

The preference for males and females for using YouTube differs slightly with females showing comparatively more preference to watching Dramas than their male counterparts. However, surprising to note where 54% of the men who used YouTube use it for religious purposes, while only 38% females have been using it for this purpose.

Instructional, learning and self help videos tops as a reason for using YouTube for both men and women. One aspiring artist from Lahore voices her distress over the ban, “I’m a poor artist who cannot afford fancy productions and Media releases. All I had to promote my cause and my music is now taken away from me…. And there are many like myself who are trying to spread positivity, peace, love and healing. Also as a corporate trainer, I used a lot of useful videos on YouTube in my work, now I cannot. Other sites don’t offer half as much useful information and insights and instructional videos.”

Disappointed with Google?

Whereas 69% of respondents had a favorable view of Google before the YouTube blocking, this number dropped to only 29%.  39% now view Google unfavorably and of these 20% held the view that Google was antagonistic towards Muslims.



For males, the opinion about YouTube after the ban has drastically switched; with 6.6% considering it unfavorable before the ban, but after the ban a whopping 40% have an unfavorable opinion about Google and their YouTube services.

How Just Is Google?

Only 15% feel that Google’s action decision to not remove the video is justified. However a massive 64% of the respondents were of the opinion that Google has been unreasonable with its decision to not remove the video from YouTube.

The perception doesn’t falter for employed, student or unemployed respondents as each feel Google is being unreasonable by not removing the video. Employed respondents (63%), however, comparatively feel more hurt by Google’s adamant nature.

Google vs. the Government of Pakistan

48% Pakistanis feel that Google isn’t allowing the removal of the video from YouTube which is why the decision to unban YouTube in Pakistan is still pending. Others are of the view that it is the Government of Pakistan that hasn’t lodged a formal request to YouTube for the removal of the video. Users of YouTube in the past have exposed prominent members from Pakistan government and political parties in compromising videos and 27% feel that it could be a possible explanation as to why there has been a delay in YouTube being banned from Pakistan. Some of them (27%) also felt that it could be both Google and Government of Pakistan’s lack of interest in the matter which has caused a delay in decision regarding the ban on YouTube.

Why Is Google Being Uncompromising?

A majority (27%) believe Google does not care about Pakistan to be bothered with the efforts for unblocking. Others (20%) are of the view that Google is being hypocritical because it had blocked the video in India, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia but not Pakistan. Rest of the respondents (12%) feel that reason why Google has not blocked the video is because it is against Islam and Muslims and Google is upholding interests of the US State Department and CIA (14%).
However, a meager 9% feel that the video does not violate YouTube’s Term of Use, and hence makes Google justified in their actions.

Ban or Not to Ban: That is the Question

A majority of the respondents (46%) are unhappy with the ban declaring their disappointment at how the ban isn’t for the better. 44%, however, felt that the ban is justified.
Of those who oppose the ban, held Google (35%) and Sam Bacile, the creator of the video (34%) primarily responsible for the ban on YouTube. Others’ view was divided between the Government of Pakistan (16%), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (8%), and Rahman Malik (3%).

Female respondents are less welcoming of the ban as their male counterparts with 52% of them opposing the ban. Male respondents feel most torn in their decision to evaluate the ban on YouTube with almost equal number (45%) opposing and appreciating the ban.

Respondents working status break down shows a similar perception for the three classes: employed (46%), student (42%) and unemployed (47%); with the majority feeling the ban isn’t for the better.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, the ban has been unwelcoming by the Pakistani internet community at large. However, Google and its YouTube services have severely taken the hit with the ban in place with their unyielding decision to not remove the controversial content. Majority feels they have acted in an extremely hypocritical way and their antagonism for Pakistani Muslim community is very much obvious through their resolute on keeping the video on their site in Pakistan only.

Methodology

More than 3000 respondents took the online survey from across 165 cities in Pakistan; with majority of respondents being males and belonging to the age group 26-30.



62% of the respondents were employed with 15% student respondents taking part in the survey.
Majority of respondents hailed from Lahore (25.56%), Karachi (23.92%), Islamabad (14.71%), Rawalpindi (5.25%) and Peshawar (3.92%).

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Internet Speeds Get Back to Normal as Repair of Undersea Cable Gets Completed

IMEWE  Segment 1  repair  has  been  completed after almost one month and cable has been powered  up  for  the  traffic,  said a statement issued today.
Statement said that post repair system performance has been verified and undersea cable is now functioning in full throttle. Repeaters performance and splice loss all are as per the acceptable values.
Reportedly, the shunt fault was located at  116.7 KM from Mumbai link where the cable was observed to be dragged on sea bed by fishing liners.
It maybe recalled that IMEWE got damaged on March 10th, after which PTCL and other Pakistani ISPs had to route traffic to other under-sea cables connected to the country.
During  the  cable  fault  Pakistani Internet Service Providers took  necessary actions to minimize the impact  on  the  services  to  customers in Pakistan, by making alternate arrangement for internet capacity.
This has been made possible because of multiple submarines cable systems facility in Pakistan.
It merits mentioning here that SMW4 – another undersea cable connected to Pakistan – was also damaged during last month, and its repair work is likely to get complete by April 21st, 2013, that is when Internet speeds in Pakistan will be fully restored.

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Cyber Secure Pakistan 2013: Dealing with Hackers and Threats

Since last few years we do get regular news about hacking attempts and defacements. Here are few example stories ProPakistani covered lately:

• Google’s Pakistan site, 284 others hacked by Turkish hacker group Eboz
• 2000 Pakistani websites Hacked By Indian United Hackers
• 20 Pakistan websites Hacked and defaced by jaguar for 26/1
• Top Pakistani Government & other 250 Websites Hacked by Indishell
• Pakistan’s Punjab Assembly Website Hacked
• Bangladeshi hackers defaced top Pakistani websites
• Pakistani websites are experiencing massive hacking attempts by Israeli hackers

And the list goes on and on.
Is seems like a cyber-war is going on and there is an immense need of creating awareness about data and information security at all levels i.e. from government to an individual level to secure our cyber fronts.
It was last year in May that Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA) took an initiative to pull up a Flagship Conference on Cyber Security to spread awareness at all levels involving relevant stakeholders of the industry. You can recap the archives of the conference here.
After an year, when the threats have only increased, there is another conference planned on April 20th, 2013 with a focus on to creating awareness about cyber security amongst the general public and corporate sector about Information Security issues.
CSP 2013 will continue to evolve the tradition of securing industrial and organizational data transactions.
At Cyber Secure Pakistan 2013, additional director general FIA, project director NR3C, Minister of IT and Telecom along with Secretory IT will grace the conference with their presence. Dignitaries from Google, Microsoft, Interpol, Cyber Secure Malaysia, EC-Council USA, Oman CERT and Australian Federal Police along with other organizations will be there to discuss their point of views and experiences.
Besides discussions by experts, the conference incorporates different sessions like training and competition in order to pull out the right talent from industry. For that reason NTFS Forensic Analysis training will be given by the CERT team from Malaysia in collaboration with NIMIS. ‘Capture the Flag’ hacking competition with exciting giveaways for the winners is also set in place in collaboration with Tranchulas.
The conference is pertinent for all professionals working in the field of Information or Data Security.
Cyber Secure Pakistan 2013 is carrying the following objectives:

• Bridging the gap between local and global Information Security practices;
• Educating about adapting new streams (tracks) of Information Security for bringing positive change in the IT industry;
• Improving our infrastructure according to the current immediacy of global threat;
• Highlight the hidden talent of professionals working in the back end to bring Pakistan back on the global talent map;
• Bring academia and industry closer to each other for bringing change and solving our collective problems.

You can get yourself registered at: http://www.cybersecurepakistan.com/registration.php
Just to mention, ProPakistani is the official Blog Partner for the conference and we will be brining you all the updates from the conference.
Ministry of IT and Telecom is in official support of the conference where as ICT R&D is among the sponsors for this year’s Cyber Secure Pakistan 2013.

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Pakistani Hackers Deface Over 1,000 Indian Election Commission Websites

In response to hacking incidents of Election Commission of Pakistan by Indian hackers, a hacker group from Pakistan has hacked over 1,000 Indian Election Commission websites.
“This targeted hacking incident is in response to Indian hackers’ attempt of damaging Election Commission of Pakistan website”, said an email which was sent to ProPakistani from a hacker group identifying itself as “True Cyber Army”
“We have not damaged any data, instead just replaced the banners of few websites — saying Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) — to leave the mark. However, we may change our mind and deface all the websites or even delete the data since we have complete control over all Indian Election commission websites”, warned True Cyber Army.

True Cyber Army has shared the admin and password details of 1,059 Indian Election Commission websites with ProPakistani and said that fate of these websites rest in the hands of Indian Hackers and their behaviour in future.
“If Indian Hackers don’t stop attacking Pakistani websites, we reserve the right to fight for the integrity of our homeland”
It maybe recalled that website of Election Commission of Pakistan was shut down last Friday after an attack by Indian hacker who identified himself as NIGh7 F0x. The hacker defaced the homepage of ECP website and later compromised its availability. ECP is since struggling with the availability of website due to increased traffic.

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PTCL Launches Smart TV Application for PCs

Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) today announced the availability of its Smart TV PC application with which customers can enjoy digital quality live streaming of 125 channels on their DSL broadband connections without set-top box. PTCL had previously offered the same app for EVO customers only as a pilot. Service is now extended to all PTCL broadband customers.
With this Smart TV app for PCs and Laptops, that can be downloaded from PTCL’s website, customers can watch live streaming of 125 digital quality channels on their PCs or laptops.
PTCL has said that Video on Demand isn’t available with Smart TV PC Application, instead only live streaming is available with this app.

How to Avail Smart TV App for PCs:

Customers can subscribe to Smart TV app viewing by calling 0800-80800. Along with, they will have to download the app from PTCL’s website.

Service Charges:

• Smart TV with App for broadband customers is free of charge for first two months (from April 1st, 2013 to May 31st, 2013)
• Monthly service charges of Rs. 250 per month will apply from June 1st, 2013

Related Information:

• All the existing and new PTCL customers can avail this facility.
• PTCL says that Smart TV PC Application can be used with PTCL broadband only
• Smart TV PC Application is comparable with Vista, Windows 7 and above OS
• Running Smart TV PC Application simultaneously on multiple Laptops/PCs will not work.
• Smart TV PC Application is offered free with Smart TV Jadoo Plus and Smart TV

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS:Samsung Unveils Galaxy Win and Trend II Droids

 
Continuing the stream of Galaxy, Samsung has added a few more members namely Galaxy Win, Galaxy Trend II and Galaxy Trend II Duos in its series. These smartphones have appeared on the official website of Samsung.
Apparently, the dual-SIM, Samsung Galaxy Win (GT-I8552) is thick at 9.7 mm and weighs 143.9 g boasting 4.7-inch screen with WVGA TFT display.
Running on android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), it packs 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor along with Adreno 203 GPU. However, there is no word on the RAM or the internal storage available on Samsung Galaxy Win.
On board, there is a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 3-megapixel front camera with a battery capacity of 2,000mAh battery
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS that comes pre-loaded with ChatON app and China specific apps Sina Weibo and QQ.
Reportedly, the smartphone phone will launch first in Asia and later to Europe but there is no word on the official price for this smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy Win specifications

• 4.7-inch TFT capacitive touch screen with 800 x 480p display
• 1.2 GHz quad-core processor
• 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
• VGA front camera
• Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with dual standby
• 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v 3.0, GPS
• Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
• 2000 mAh battery

Samsung Galaxy TREND II

Samsung Galaxy Trend II (GT-I739) is said to be stripped-down version to that of Galaxy Win sporting 4-inch WVGA display weighing at around 128 grams. Measuring 11.1 mm in its single-SIM flavor and 11.3 mm in the dual-SIM variant, it is powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processor and like the Samsung Galaxy Win, Galaxy Trend II too runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).
There is a 3-megapixel snapper along with 1500 mAh battery. This device also comes with dual-mode CDMA/ GSM connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, and microSD card slot.
On other side, Samsung Galaxy Trend II Duos carry nearly all identical specs apart from the fact that it is a dual-SIM smartphone.
Moreover this smartphone does not come with dual-mode CDMA/ GSM connectivity that Samsung Galaxy Trend has.
However, pricing and availability is yet to know about Galaxy Trend II devices.
Samsung Galaxy Trend II/ Trend II Duos specifications

• 4-inch WVGA display
• 1.2GHz processor
• 3-megapixel rear camera
• Dual-SIM (only Trend II Duos)
• Dual-mode CDMA/ GSM connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi
• 1500mAh battery

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ECP Website Gets 25,000 Hits Per Day, Which They Are Unable to Manage

Other day we wrote about horrible things happening with Election Commission of Pakistan’s Website and the way ECP has managed it so far.
Things haven’t got any better till now. In fact ECP website is still down and showing a default page powered by Comsats Hosting.

According to stats that we have got from reliable sources – who have direct access to ECP website analytics – the average number of visitors to ECP website are 25,000 per day. We have logs available with us.
For those who aren’t familiar, this is a small tiny traffic for a website of ECP’s scale. Managing this traffic is like a piece of cake for webmasters. In such situations, its pity that ECP is still struggling with the data and website.
Just to clarify, we aren’t doubting the intentions of ECP, however, their abilities are surely questionable.
An expert on hosting matters told ProPakistani that ECP has large amount of files available for all the candidates. Now anyone who wants to check a single candidate’s data must download all the files. It maybe recalled that Election Commission of Pakistan was to put online the list of nominated candidates for next general elections on their website.
Experts say that these huge files aren’t optimized for web viewing and hence the data load on server is more than what it should be. They anticipate that servers are probably not optimized due to which server memory usage boosts up and services go down.
Resultantly, ECP (or their website managers) shut down the website claiming that they are still receiving huge traffic, which is not the case.
Those who are eying ECP’s website closely agreed that website was getting DDoS attacks earlier, which were again not mitigated well. However, DDoS attacks are now gone and its legitimate traffic that is being not managed well by the commission.
Analysts say that it is crucial for ECP to get its website up and running at earliest. They said that ECP should make sure that all the files and candidates’ data is made available to media houses and citizens, who can help ECP in investigating into candidates background to get the best out of the before election scrutiny process.

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PTCL Offers Discounts on EVO and Nitro Cloud Devices

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has announced discounts for its potential new customers buying EVO Cloud and Nitro Cloud devices.
Customers will have to pay monthly charges for three or four months in advance to get the discounts, in addition the devices are offered for free with such deals.
PTCL says that this new 3 months bundle packages will provide maximum flexibility to the Customer whereby user shall be offered an option to get their FREE cloud devices with 3 months connectivity at even more affordable upfront payment, which better suits their needs and pockets.

Tariff/packages Details:

EVO Cloud:

• EVO Cloud 3 months bundle promo
  • Upfront Charges: Rs.6,500
  • Device: Free
  • Validity: 3 months
  • Monthly charges from 4^th Month: Rs.2,100
• EVO Cloud 4 months bundle promo
  • Upfront Charges: Rs.8,000
  • Device: Free
  • Validity: 4 months
  • Monthly charges from 5^th Month: Rs.2,100

Nitro Cloud:

• Nitro Cloud 3 months bundle promo
  • Upfront Charges: Rs.9,500
  • Device: Free
  • Validity: 3 months
  • Monthly charges from 4^th Month: Rs.3,000
• Nitro Cloud 4 months bundle promo
  • Upfront Charges: Rs.12,000
  • Device: Free
  • Validity: 4 months
  • Monthly charges from 5^th Month: Rs.3,000

Offer Details:

• New bundles shall offer Free EVO cloud & Nitro Cloud devices with 3 months data usage.
• The new bundles shall be offered as an additional option to the 4 months bundle; so that customers can choose whichever package better suits their needs.
• Packages will be offered on Postpaid billing patterns.
• For both billing modes, customer shall have to make advance payment at the time of purchase for the respective products.
• Offer is applicable for new sale only.
• New packages are not applicable for package change.

Product Features:

• Devices available in two models i.e ZTE & Huawei; each having slightly different features.
• ZTE devices connect upto 5 Wi-Fi gadgets simultaneously and can be used as an external charger to charge other gadgets including smartphones, tablets, MP3 players etc.
• ZTE cloud in addition also supports external data storage via the provided Micro SD Card slot.
• Huawei clouds Connects up to 8 Wi-Fi gadgets simultaneously
• Perfect for the on-the-go connectivity.
• Unlimited Data Volume downloads
• Fits easily in your pocket
• Longer lasting battery life with an improved battery for both EVO & Nitro clouds
• Built-in battery supports up to 12 hrs usage for both EVO & Nitro clouds
• Speeds up to 9.3Mbps in 200+ cities nationwide with Nitro Cloud
• Un-interrupted roaming in 250+cities at 3.1Mbps speeds with EVO Wi-Fi cloud
• Simple, one touch connectivity

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Tranchulas Brings Competition for Hackers in Pakistan

Tranchulas has announced ‘Capture the flag’, a competition to hunt for Pakistan’s top hacker at Cyber Secure Pakistan 2013 to reward them with exciting prizes including Nexus 7 and a chance to work at Tranchulas.
On the upcoming event of Cyber Secure Pakistan 2013 at the Marriott Hotel Islamabad (20th April, 2013), this competition is for all the hackers out there to show their expertise and to win prizes.
There are no prerequisites for this competition and the registrations are totally free!
Participants will be given a scenario with VPN (Virtual Private Network) access and they will have to exploit that scenario on the spot in a given time frame of 6 hours (One working day). The first one to exploit all machines will get the prize.
Such ‘Hacker Capture the Flag competitions’ are arranged all over the world at premium hacking and security conferences.
This is wonderful opportunity for all the hacking minds who should capture this chance of ‘Capture the flag’ & to become Pakistan’s Top hacker. For registrations/inquires email: info@tranchulas.com.

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Mobilink Announces Twitter Zero for Free Tweeting

Mobilink has announced Twitter Zero for all its prepaid Jazz and Jazba customers to let them tweet without any charges at all.
Subscribers don’t need to subscribe to this offer since it is available for all prepaid subscribers by default.
It merits mentioning here that Ufone has a similar offering for its customers too.
How to Access Twitter Free?
Mobilink customers will have to access mobile.twitter.com from their mobile browsers or opera mini to enjoy free tweeting.
Please note that proxy browsers (such as Nokia Xpress) aren’t supported.
Native apps on iOS and Android are also not supported, and using Twitter through these apps will incur regular data charges.
After accessing twitter through customers can do all kind of activities while remaining with-in the website, such as you can tweet & retweet. However, going on external links will result in data charging.
Whenever a subscriber clicks on an external link, he will be shown a notification indicating that standard data charges apply to view the link. External link will be opened after subscriber’s consent only.
Terms and Conditions?

• This service is available for Mobilink Prepaid subscribers only, including all Jazz & Jazba subscribers.
• This service may not be available on Blackberry built-in web browsers.
• For unlimited free usage, subscribers should access twitter by writing mobile.twitter.com via mobile browser or selected versions of Opera Mini.
• Opera Mini can be downloaded from m.opera.com, however, standard data charges will apply.
• Standard data charges apply for visiting external links/websites.
• Accessing Twitter via proxy browsers & Apps may result in data charging.
• Subscriber may get charged for mobile phone applications consuming data in background. This can be controlled by turning off such applications.
• Mobile browsers (for example Nokia Xpress) on some handsets are proxy browsers. Accessing Twiiter via these browsers may result in data charging.
• This is a limited time offer

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Nokia Lumia 920: Preview, Unboxing and Hands-on

Last month Nokia officially launched 3 new Lumia smartphones 920,820 & 620 in Pakistan. We have got our hands on Lumia 920, the flagship smartphone from the Finnish firm, here is a brief review of this device.

Hardware specifications:

• 1.5GHz dual-core Krait CPU
• Adreno 225 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset
• 1GB of RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage
• 4.5″ PureMotionHD+ IPS display, resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels
• 8 megapixel pureview camera with LED flash, 1080p@30fps video recording, 1.3MP front-facing camera

Design:

Lumia 920 is the successor of Lumia 900, which was introduced last year and follows the same design as its predecessor. It has the same polycarbonate unibody design that comes in a range of bright colors like yellow and red as well as black and white.
I haven’t tested it but I am sure that if you accidentally drop this phone it won’t take much damage – thanks to the sturdy plastic and Gorilla Glass 2.

The Lumia 920 is a big phone, measuring 130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 mm, the unibody polycarbonate design provides a premium finish, however its weight is noticeable. It weighs almost 185g but the rounded sides of the Lumia 920 provides a smooth and comfortable hold.
On the front we have got a 4.5-inch IPS TFT screen powered by PureMotion HD+ technology, which provides a crisp, bright display with HD resolution of 768×1280.
Above the screen there are Nokia logo, front facing camera and ear speaker. Below the screen there three touch buttons; back, Windows and search, which are quite close to the screen and you might accidentally press them while interacting with the screen.

On top there’s a 3.5mm jack in the center, with a microphone and Micro SIM card slot. A pin is provided in the box to eject the tray. On the bottom you have a microUSB port with two speaker grills screws, in case your phone needs repair service.

The left side of the Lumia 920 is untouched, on the right there’s the volume rocker, power/lock in the center and a physical two step camera shutter button towards the base – which is a distinctive feature of Windows Phone smartphones.

The back of phone is very identical to the Lumia 900, with centralized camera lens, silver plate surround and dual LED flash. The only difference is that now it also says Nokia instead of only Carl Ziess on the silver plate.

Operating System & Performance:

The phone runs on the latest Mobile OS from Microsoft, Windows Phone 8. The OS has improved a lot as compared to Windows Phone Mango (7.5). Now it also supports multi-core processors, Bluetooth file transfer, Screenshot and SD Card (this phone doesn’t have SD Card slot). Still there is no file manager or folder previews.
Nokia has also added some of its applications like App Highlights, Here Maps, Nokia Drive etc. and you can also download many additional apps for Camera.
After switching on the phone, you are welcomed by the lock screen, which shows Date and Time and can show information from your Facebook or other apps like Outlook, Calendar. The home screen is filled with a number of live tiles, which can be moved, removed and re-sized by holding down on them. Swipe to left and you have all the apps – you can also use the search function if you have installed many of them.

Just like the previous version of Windows Phone, the newer OS also has the Social network integration and your Contacts, Messages, Facebook, Twitter and Outlook all are interlinked.
You’ll also get NFC and a pre-loaded “Tap and Send” app. This feature can be used with any NFC enabled device, like the JBL PlayUp speakers we reviewed last week.
Nokia Lumia 920 is also 4G enabled, but it has no use in Pakistan since we are still waiting for 3G to arrive. This phone is equipped with Explorer 10, which comes with a better HTML 5 support but sadly there is no Flash support.
Panning and zooming on pages is very smooth. IE 10 supports tabbed browsing but you will have to navigate to the menu to open every new tab.

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