Category: Technology

Lahore – In pursuit of further enriching the consumers’ retail experience, Samsung has recently launched a highly evolved training programme for its dealers across Pakistan. The retailers are being further trained and groomed to reflect the highest service standards, while selling the world’s premium products and technologies, created by Samsung. The President of Samsung Pakistan – Mr. J. H. Lee stated that: “Training of our retail network and enhancing the skills of our front-line personnel is a perpetual exercise at Samsung. We aim to maintain our market-leadership, as the new training programme will further enhance our distribution capabilities, product availability and outreach. Samsung continues to add more convenience for the consumers, to further elevate the brand-image and consumer-perception of Samsung.” Samsung’s retailer network is consistently inspired to exceed the customers’ expectations, to build trust on the brand. Extensive research on consumer preferences helps Samsung in anticipating their evolving needs, so its innovations and high service-standards, continue to win the customers’ hearts.

I would like to congratulate all our telecom partners globally on this important day celebrating global telecommunication day in the world. For China Mobile Pakistan, we are happy and excited to have announced our future plan for 2017 in upgrading all our 2G and 3G sites to 4G within 2017 and have more and more innovative and intelligent solutions for our subscribers here in Pakistan, and continue to invest in our network to expand our 4G coverage throughout the country and connect Pakistan with the rest of the world from the most remotest areas possible. This will enhance our Pakistani people’s ability to lead a better, quicker, faster and more connected “4G life”, which will be the most innovative way of education, healthcare, social reform and creativity.  We will leverage china mobile communication corporation’s 4G knowledge and research and implement this vision in Pakistan.
Other than connectivity, we have also announced our corporate social responsibility program for Pakistan with a strong commitment to use our 4G technology to make the life of our Pakistani people easier, faster and better with the best quality network under the umbrella of one belt one road initiative by China. We are very excited to play a strong role in connecting this project as well as connect all the industries tied with this project to have a 4G ecosystem led by China mobile Pakistan.
Zong will continue to invest and lead the 4G telecommunication market in Pakistan through our continued investment, our employee’s hard work and dedication and we will work very closely with the government of Pakistan in order to achieve this goal.
This year’s theme, ‘Big Data for Big Impact’ is centered around one of the most important evolutionary leaps in technology that has the potential to dramatically affect the Telecommunications landscape, worldwide. It’s not just about more data, but valuable data leading to valuable insights at operational and individual customer level. A shift is imminent as big data is becoming more and more pervasive. This isn’t just true for social or economic impact, but also in our everyday lives, in areas ranging from Healthcare & workspaces to connectivity in our households. Already, analytics are being embedded in every device and application to enhance functionality or convenience and we being the largest Data Operator of the country, will continue to contribute and capitalize on the trend.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) – The camera phone brand OPPO kick-started the First Sale of OPPO F3 across Pakistan today. The F3 is the second in line dual front camera Selfie Expert targeted towards the Group Selfie generation after the recently launched F3 Plus. The F3 First Sale begins from today in 13 cities across Pakistan. It will be available at all OPPO authorized stores across Pakistan, at a price of PKR 34,899. In Lahore the first sale activity was conducted at Hafeez Centre, and similarly in Karachi the first sale activity event was held at Star City Mall & Sareena Mobile Market and at Centaurus in Islamabad.

Taking selfies a step further, the much awaited and upgraded Group Selfie Expert OPPO F3 was recently launched in the Pakistani market. Pre-orders were taken across Pakistan from May 4th – May 12th. The brand also had a lucky draw through the pre-order entries, and will announce the lucky draw winners on the 15 th May 2017 during the live streaming of the lucky draw on OPPO official Facebook page. The winners of the lucky draw will get to see the ICC Champions Trophy final live in London along with a sponsored trip to the UK.
Expressing his views on the occasion George Long CEO of OPPO Pakistan said that. “We have kick- started our First Sale today for F3 and hope that it reaches consumers across the country. We hope that the new Selfie Expert gives consumers another reason to spend time with friends and family and click Group Selfies!"

The First Sale was inaugurated by country’s renowned celebrity Noor Bukhari at Hafeez Centre Lahore and top model Sara Isis at Centaurus Islamabad. They also shared their selfie experience and gave out gifts to the first set of consumers during the event. Set to be the next ultimate ‘Selfie Expert,' the F3 features a dual selfie camera – a 16-megapixel Selfie camera for individual selfies and a wide-angle lens for the group selfie. The Double View Group Selfie Camera gives a larger field-of- view, twice as wide as a normal selfie camera. The 6P lens maintains a high-level of professional image quality with minimal image distortion. This ensures that you click perfect Group Selfies. The OPPO F3 is also equipped with a 13 MP rear camera that has a 1/3-inch sensor. It can maximize light sensitivity, making for wonderful night-time performance.

The F3 gets a higher energy density 3200mAh battery which gives you even longer endurance. In our real use simulation test, it lasted for about 15 hours! That means, it can save you the inconvenience of bringing the heavy power-bank or look for chargers again and again on your trip.
The F3 is equipped with an octa-core processor, 4 GB RAM, and 64 GB ROM backed by the ColorOS 3.0, assuring a seamless and snappy performance. The embedded triple-slot card tray allows two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card to work simultaneously.
With a lighter and thinner 5.5-inch body, the F3 contributes to a matchlessly comfortable grip. The smooth texture of the lustrous metal back panel repels dust and is a pleasure to hold. Every detail of the F3 comes together to give an impression of mercurial grace and beauty. Equipped with in-celltechnology, the FHD in-cell display of F3 decreases 1/4 of the normal screen thickness, thus giving the whole screen a high rate of penetration and a bright image. So, what you see will be noticeably more brilliant and vibrant even in the sunlight.

About OPPO
OPPO is a camera phone brand enjoyed by more than 10 million young people around the world now.For the last ten years, OPPO has been focusing on manufacturing camera phones, while innovating mobile photography technology breakthroughs. OPPO was the first brand to launch smartphones with 16MP front cameras. OPPO was also the first brand to introduce the motorized rotating camera, the Ultra HD feature and the 5x Dual Camera Zoom technology.
In line with its deep insight of young people's behavior, OPPO first launched selfie-focused smart phones in 2015 – Selfie Expert F series in South Asia and other markets. Its first batch of products received a warm welcome, and the brand leads the trend in the industry. In 2016, OPPO was ranked as the number 4 smartphone brand globally, according to IDC.

(Web Desk – Monitoring)- After banks in Pakistan turned down loan applications for his fledgling advertising company seven years ago, Faraz Khan found plenty of private investors willing to back his vision — with a catch.

Much of the cash was illicit, and accepting it would have turned his Gizelle Communication into a money launderer.

“There were investors with blank cheques and investors who were like ‘take as much money as you want,’” Khan, 42, said over coffee at the Movenpick Hotel in Karachi. “You have to sift through very carefully, the ones that are dirty money.”

Khan instead turned to other businesses and an international bank to build the company, which he is considering listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange this year, what would be a first for a startup in the country. Stung by the banks’ reluctance, he’s taking on an angel-investor role to get hundreds of other businesses off the ground across Pakistan as he seeks to replicate his success with Gizelle through his Seed Ventures incubator. It’s not an easy task.

India has long had a vibrant venture capital and startup scene. But Pakistan is looked at cautiously by foreign investors concerned about its power shortages and security concerns. With unemployment remaining high even as China finances more than $55 billion of infrastructure and energy projects, Pakistan is struggling to create enough jobs for its young workforce.

To boost entrepreneurship, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif set up a loan programme for those under age 45 to set up businesses, providing interest-free loans to more than 260,000 people since his election in 2013. That’s critical in a country where nearly two-thirds of the population is under 30, according to the Jinnah Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank.

Home-grown organisations like Seed Ventures and Planet N Pvt. are attempting to change the status quo. Young Pakistanis that Khan meets at university road-shows are often resistant to becoming entrepreneurs.

They say “it’s risky, there’s a chance of failure, there’s a lack of access to finance and we’ve got great expectations from our parents to actually become doctors, engineers, lawyers and that is a safer option,” said Khan, whose firm, Seed Ventures, has invested $745,000 (Rs78 million) supporting 135 startups.

According to Planet N, 67 per cent of the more than 700 startups established since 2010 are still active and 68 have managed to increase funding by about $20 million. At least 24 incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces supporting startups have popped up across the country in the past seven years.

Despite the growth of incubators and accelerators, the startups will continue to stumble without wider access to seed finance, Planet N founder Nadeem Hussain said. While his firm has invested $8 million in 41 companies, most of them startups, he estimates that at least $1 billion of seed money is needed in Pakistan to help new businesses take the next step.

“They teach you, they mentor you, but when you come out there’s no capital,” said Hussain, 61, a financier who built Tameer Microfinance Bank Ltd, before selling it to Telenor ASA last year. “Unless we can address that, people are going to turn away from entrepreneurship because of the high failure rate.”

The old way of thinking is being challenged at centres that are popping up across Pakistan. The Nest i/o, which opened in Karachi about two and a half years ago, looks just like the incubators found in Silicon Valley.

Founder Jehan Ara took inspiration from visits to incubation centres in Germany, the UK and the US. Gaining about $1.4 million in grants from Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Samsung Electronics Co and the US State Department, about 100 startups have come through the centre’s four-month cycle. About 85 per cent of those are continuing to survive.

Among the businesses that have been through The Nest are a provider of flat-pack homes for refugee camps and one that makes engraving machines that are a fraction of the price of imported ones, Ara said. Social Champ, a mobile app that posts on different social media platforms simultaneously, caught the eye of venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki, who has invited the founder to Silicon Valley, she said.

“A lot of kids have started thinking startups, which is a good thing,” Ara, who calls herself the Nest’s “Big Bird,” said in her office decorated with toys, candy, and entrepreneurial and motivational text books. “It’s a shift. It started three to four years ago when kids started taking work online.”

Google has just renewed Nest’s grant for another three years and is now looking to open an accelerator programme and enter the race with Seed Ventures and Planet N for Pakistan’s first unicorn, a startup with a value of more than $1 billion.

To get there, more will have to be done.

“It’s sad if I’m the largest angel investor in Pakistan because I know groups sitting with half a billion dollars of liquidity which aren’t coming in this space,” said Planet N’s Hussain.

— By arrangement with Bloomberg-The Washington Post

Lahore – Telenor Pakistan has announced recruitment for the fifth edition of its annual Youth Forum, a program that challenges young leaders of the world to tackle big, social issues through the use of digital solutions. Talented Pakistani youth between the ages of 20-28 who are passionate about driving social economic and/or environmental change in their community are encouraged to apply for #TYF17 which will run in Oslo, Norway, from December 8-10, 2017.

The Telenor Youth Forum (TYF) is a global program that is designed and hosted by Telenor Group and the Nobel Peace Center (NPC). This joint initiative is based on Telenor’s and NPC’s shared belief that young people can use digital technology to drive real change in the world.Telenor Youth Forum 2017 is a year-long program taking place in Oslo and Bangkok, which will challenge what delegates know and how they make an impact on the world. Selected applicants will also attend 2017 Nobel Peace Prize festivities in Oslo. The TYF 2017 program requires a one-year commitment and includes a second gathering in Bangkok in May 2018. The selected delegates are expected to work virtually throughout the TYF year with their assigned teams, averaging around two hours per week. Their work will, over the course of the year, create digital services that address urgent social challenges originally posed to them at the event’s kickoff in December.

“We are pleased to announce recruitment for the fifth Telenor Youth Forum and highly encourage young Pakistani leaders to join us on this brilliant platform and showcase their innovative solutions that carry the potential to change the Pakistani society for the better,” said IrfanWahab Khan, CEO, Telenor Pakistan. “Telenor Youth Forum is a true manifestation of our vision of ‘empowering societies’ and we couldn’t be happier when we look back at our TYF journey and see how Pakistani youth made their mark on this international gathering of futuristic minds.”

The Telenor Youth Forum delegates receive guidance and mentorship from experts at such reputable organizations as UNICEF, the World Education Foundation, the Red Cross, Techfugees and Telenor Research. Throughout the TYF journey, the mentors will equip the delegates with real-world, relevant skills such as service design, service and product prototyping, presenting, exhibiting and pitching, in addition to insights on issues that can only be gained through hands-on experience.

At the end of each TYF, the team whose new product or service idea is deemed the most viable and/or impactful is chosen as the winner. This team is then awarded with a second trip to Oslo and a speaking slot at the next round of TYF. Last year’s TYF delegates are still in the midst of their TYF journey and are currently tackling the issues of climate change, education for young refugees, mental health taboos, gender equality and unemployment. The teams are mid-way through the program and will be gathering later this month in Bangkok to further their work.

LAHORE – Following the launch in New York, Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices have now launched in Pakistan. The launch event was held on 5th May at Hazoori Bagh, Shahi Qila in Lahore; the historical garden aging back to 1818 which is encircled by the icons of Mughal culture.

This event was attended by numerous famous celebrities and well-known industry experts. President Samsung Pakistan –J. H. Lee said; “I am proud to say that the S series is one of the most-admired smartphone series in this era of technology. Not only will the Galaxy S8 and S8+ deliver superior durability, amazing visual appeal, enhanced functionality, high quality visuals and will also redefine the current smartphone trends.”

The S8 and S8+ displays are 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch respectively, having a resolution of QHD 2960 x 1440. Both the devices are equipped with Samsung Exynos 8895, 1.7GHz + 2.5GHz Octa-Core SoC and 4GB of RAM, making the devices’ run seamlessly. Since photography is a major part of the customer’s everyday life, S8 and S8+ both boasts a 12MP, F/1.7 rear camera and an 8MP front camera.

Umar Ghumman – Mobile Business Head of Samsung Pakistan & Afghanistan highlighted the state-of-the-art technology Samsung brings to the table every time it launches a new device and stated: “We will continue to strive to deliver innovative ideas that shape the future of our world. Our consumers will get the chance to experience hands-on the smartphones’ beautifully crafted design and multicolored layers.”

Samsung is a truly global award-winning innovator in telecommunications, electronics and convergence technologies. Samsung is also playing a key role in strengthening the digital infrastructure and creating a sophisticated cellular eco-system in Pakistan.

Smartphone shipments up by over 50pc

Lahore – Huawei Consumer Business Group announced that in Q1 2017, it shipped 34.55 million Smartphones, this amounts to a year-on-year increase of 21.6%. According to IDC, Huawei’s global smartphone market share further increased to 9.8%, consolidating its position in the top three smartphone vendors in the world.
In Q1 2017, Huawei achieved breakthrough growth in many countries. Its smartphone shipments increased by over 50% year-on-year in 52 countries, 32 of which saw growth of over 100%. In China and Europe, Huawei smartphone shipments maintained robust growth of 20% and 15% respectively. Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, smartphone shipments increase over 70%.
In addition, significant growth was achieved in the high-end smartphone sector, boosted by the global sales of the HUAWEI P9 series and HUAWEI Mate 9, further demonstrating Huawei’s increased influence as a global high-end brand. In Q1, the proportion of middle and high range (2000 RMB or above $300) smartphone increased 11% on the same period last year.

LAHORE – The global leading camera phone brand OPPO has strengthened the ‘Group Selfie’ trend by launching another Selfie Expert F3, priced at Rs 34,899 for the mid-range market. The F3’s first sale begins from May 13th nationwide and those who pre-order from 5th May till 12th May 2017 can enter the lucky draw and get a chance to watch the final of the ICC Champions trophy live in London along with a fully sponsored trip to the UK.

OPPO F3 delivers great selfie photos through the revolutionary dual selfie cameras: a 16-megapixel camera for selfie and an ultra wide-angle lens for group selfie. The rear camera has a13-megapixel camera with a 1/3-inch sensor that allows maximize light sensitivity, making wonderful nighttime performance.

The F3 brings beauty, elegance and performance all-in-one into the palm of your hands.

Mehwish Hayatt, a famous actress and renowned model from the fashion industry, said, “A smartphone today is more than just a phone, it is a reflection of your personality and here the F3 smartphone is making a fashion statement that is all about style and glamour. With a wide angle dual selfie camera, taking group selfies have never been so much fun and convenient before. You can fit a large group of friends, family or fans in your picture and preserve your memories with OPPO F3, the ultimate gadget for you.”

“At OPPO, our customers have always been our top priority and through our innovative products with groundbreaking technology we have made a promise to deliver and meet their requirements. With the help of our customers’ support and feedback we are given the opportunity to deliver that promise by offering the ultimate smartphone that allows you to create memories from your dual selfie camera that are worth capturing. With the launch of the dual selfie camera F3 we envision a new ‘GroupSelfie’ trend to further reinforce our position as the Selfie Expert.” said George Long, CEO of OPPO Pakistan.

Not just a Dual Selfie Camera, OPPO F3 is also packed with a Lightning fast fingerprint unlock, Octa-core processor, 4GB Ram plus 64 GB Rom. Thisphone is a great deal in the Smartphone market, and is all set to revive the Group Selfie trend in Pakistan.

Lahore (WEB DESK) – Oppo is set to launch the Oppo F3 in India on Thursday, at an event in Mumbai that kicks off at 12:30pm IST. The company will also be live streaming the event, and you can catch that right here.

Oppo F3 is the more basic sibling of the Oppo F3 Plus
The Oppo F3 Plus was launched back in March
The highlight will be the dual selfie camera setup

The launch teasers show the Oppo F3 to look identical to the Oppo F3 Plus from the front. Oppo says the Oppo F3 will “feature high performance hardware along with optimised software to provide smooth user experience.” There’s also a wide-angle camera feature in the front to incorporate more composition in selfies.

To recall, the Oppo F3 Plus was launched last month for Rs. 30,990, and its big highlights were the dual selfie camera setup, its 4000mAh battery, and its sleek metal design. The Oppo F3 will presumably be the smaller variant of the Oppo F3 Plus, and it will also be priced relatively less comparatively.