Samsung Gear Watch Review

We live in a world of progress and invention where major players of technology especially in smart phones are always aiming to be the market leaders, hoping to attract new customers and to retain the existing ones. This year, Samsung has come up with the mind boggling Galaxy Note3 and the revolutionary Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch. Samsung really swung for the fence with the Galaxy Gear. Just about every major tech company is rumored to have been working on a smart watch but Samsung moved quickly and pushed ahead full throttle making the most advanced smart watch till date. It boasts features which, just a few months ago, were only in the books of science fiction and old Dick Tracy comics.

Galaxy Gear currently works with Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition and Galaxy S4. More devices such as Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S4 Zoom and Galaxy Mega will be added soon to the compatible devices lineup.

The Gear is not just a Smart Watch, it is a Style Statement. With a bold design and a range of color options, the Galaxy Gear is your perfect accessory. Whether it be a formal dinner or your evening run, Galaxy Gear is the perfect way to Jazz it up. The Galaxy Gear is available in 6 color options: Beige with Silver Band, Beige with Rose Gold band, Black, Orange, Mocha Grey, Lime Green (straps are not interchangeable).

Design and functionality:

Galaxy Gear is a 1.63-in square display set on a stainless steel face. The AMOLED screen is pretty sharp 278 pixels per inch, pretty reasonable size for the things it does without any problems in direct sunlight with the Outdoor Mode. The watch face is thick at 11.1 mm, but it doesn't feel too big or bulky. The Gear's band is a permanent part of the watch, and isn't swappable. That's because the device has a sharp, high quality 1.9-megapixel camera, microphone, and speaker set into the strap. The watch does come in several different colors, ranging from neutral blacks and grays to bolder oranges and greens. Waterproofing (IP55) keeps it protected from rain and routine day to day use. The Gear's display stays off most of the time to save power, with adjustable screen timeout settings. To turn it on either press the power button or lift your wrist towards your face a typical "looking at your watch" gesture using the “Wake Up gesture” feature from the Gear Manager.  In the UI, each app icon fills the watch's entire 1.63-in display. 

The Galaxy Gear connects with your Samsung device through Gear Manager, which is available both from the Samsung Apps Store and by tapping the back of your NFC enabled device to the back of the Gear’s charging dock. The Gear Manager allows you to set various settings of the device along with controlling the clock face (which can also be done through the settings menu in Galaxy Gear). Gear Manager also provides a “Find my Gear” feature to locate your smart watch in case you’ve misplaced it. The connection between Galaxy Gear and your Device is made through Bluetooth and if you move out of connection range, an alert is shown on both your watch and your Smartphone/Tablet.

The Galaxy Gear runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.3, with a simplistic User Interface for convenient usage.  By swiping sideways can move between applications and menus, tap to select, and swipe down to go back, double tap anywhere with two fingers to see system info including Bluetooth connectivity features and shortcut controls for volume and screen brightness as well as battery status. Hold two fingers to see and switch to your recent apps.

Here are some of the Features which differentiate Samsung from others:

S Voice

One of the most important part of the Gear's software may be S Voice. S Voice lets you dictate and send text messages, make calls, open apps, check the weather, and more just double-tap the watch's power button to activate, and speak your request.

Notifications

The Gear alerts you to three core essentials by default: SMS, phone calls, and emails notifications. Galaxy Gear also supports notifications from virtually every Android application including Social Media Applications and Games. You can set your watch to notify you with a sound, or you can stick with the default vibrating of your wrist.

A recent upload being rolled out now allows you to read the text messages from third party applications, Social Media posts and Gmail messages right on the Galaxy Gear.

Further, the new update allows you to create text message templates which you can use to reply to messages and calls you’ve received right from your Gear.

Camera

The camera on the Galaxy Gear gives amazingly sharp results for a 1.9MP camera, and is easy to use. To access the camera from the home screen, swipe your finger from top to bottom to access the camera. A single tap takes the picture. You can easily switch to recording videos of up to 15 seconds through a shortcut button and can access Macro Focus, Sound & Shot and Signature settings through an onscreen menu.

All pictures and videos taken with Galaxy Gear are immediately transferred to the phone/tablet through Gear Manager.

Music

Gear lets you to control and play music anytime and anywhere through the Media Controller.

Battery life

Galaxy Gear supports a long lasting battery which will last you over 25 hours under heavy use on a single charge.

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Flick.pk an Islamic Video Sharing Website Launched

Flick.pk is recent launched and ready for use. It is authentic and reliable source of family education and entertainment in Pakistan and the world. 

You can take it as an alternate controlled media site to ensure the content, particularly videos posted are in compliance with the principles, values and teachings of our sacred religion Islam as well as the ideology, creation, culture, founders and people of our beloved country Pakistan.

One of the powerful feature introduced is that you are able to import videos already uploaded on the internet. There is no need to upload them again on Flick.pk although you may as you like. Currently supported sites for import include Youtube, Vimeo, Blip, DailyMotion and Metacafe.

Flick.pk has a mission to provide education and entertainment that is in compliant with all of our cultural and religious values. You can comfortably let your kids watch videos at Flick.pk without worrying about the content. They have humans in place for approving all the videos submitted on Flick.pk.

You can upload your own videos and you can also import a video from other websites on Flick.pk. For importing a video, click on the "Suggest video" link under your name on top-right corner, enter the URL of the video you want to import and click the "Submit" button. Your video will be available automatically immediately after approval by an admin. Currently you can upload video files upto 500 MB in size. Flick.pk works on all smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

For uploading a video, click on the "Upload" link under your name on top-right corner, browse the video you want to upload and click the "Upload" button. Your uploading will start, and it will take some time to complete. Your video will be available automatically immediately after approval by an admin.

Go to the site, make your account and start uploading or import videos. This is our own Pakistani community. Lets use it.

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Dell Selected by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government for Distribution of Free Laptops to Students

Dell has been selected to provide the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) 25,000 Inspiron3420 computers which will be distributed to students in the province.

The initiative is the largest of its kind ever in the province and is designed to help enable students and people of KPK to become productive and contributing members of society and to give back to the province. The first round of distribution will be conducted on Feb 10 at Peshawar University.

Speaking about the initiative, Project Director KPK, Adeel Khan, said “This project is agreat leap in terms of equipping our youth to meet the challenges of the modern world and to keep Pakistan a competitor in the global knowledge economy. Dell’s involvement goes a long way in guaranteeing the success of this initiative.”

Shahzad Aslam Khan, Country Manager Dell Pakistan & Afghanistan, said we look forward to working with KPK as they increase technology access and the learning potential for students. Mobile computing devices have become essential to daily life — at work, at home and increasingly, in academic institutions. Students are leveraging devices of all kinds to access information, collaborate with their peers and teachers, and produce dynamic content inside and outside of the classroom.  At Dell, we believe these devices can help support teaching and learning – and have the potential to personalize the learning experience for each student.Dell is delighted to work with KPK in this important program and is committed to providing these devices by meeting aggressive time lines and ensuring highest product quality.

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Etisalat Group CEO, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar Elected to GSMA Board

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Group, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar has been elected to the GSM Association (GSMA) Board. Mr. Julfar joins 24 other global CEOs and senior executives reflecting the largest operator groups as well as smaller independent operators with global representation.

GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, spanning more than 220 countries and uniting nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

Mr. Julfar will work with the GSMA Board and the GSMA to help shape the future of mobile communications and develop a new future for the individuals, organizations and governments throughout the world. Mr. Julfar will serve on the GSMA Board for a two-year term from January 2013 through December 2014.

“Group CEO Etisalat, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar’s representation on the GSMA Board is a source of great pride for the whole Etisalat family”, said President & CEO PTCL. “This success is a testament to Mr. Julfar’s dynamic role as the leader of one of most vibrant and fastest growing telecommunications companies in the world”, he added further.

As Group CEO of Etisalat, Mr. Julfar is driving Etisalat to have a direct impact on the social and economic growth of the 18 international markets it operates in. His role includes the delivery of the Group’s commercial, technological, financial, business development and overall organizational goals as Etisalat strives to become one of the world's top telecommunications companies.

"It's a pleasure to welcome Mr. Julfar to the GSMA Board, and we are all looking forward to working with Etisalat Group on the GSMA's efforts to advance the strategic priorities of the operator community," said Franco Bernabe, Chairman of the GSMA Board and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Telecom Italia Group.

Etisalat operates across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, catering to consumers, businesses, international telecommunication companies, ISPs, content providers and mobile operators. Etisalat has been at the forefront of the Middle East's technological revolution and for close to forty years, the company has developed and grown to become one of the world's leading telecommunications companies.

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Wateen CEO Participates in SAP Conference on Digital Marketing

Wateen Telecom, Pakistan’s leading converged communications provider, recently participated in the prestigious Digital Marketing Conference 2012, held in Karachi on 18th December 2012.

The Digit conference was held under the auspices of the Pakistan Advertisers Society as a platform to bring together Pakistan’s marketing and advertising communities on the subject of reinventing and reshaping marketing media. The conference, which is EC-Pakistan’s 2nd Digital Marketing Conference, was held under the theme of “Digital Marketing: Today, Tomorrow & Beyond” and was specially designed to keep an eye on present and future digital marketing/social media trends, tools, techniques and approaches.

As the country’s leading converged communications provider, Wateen Telecom acted as one of the headline sponsors for the event. Mr Naeem Zamindar, CEO Wateen Telecom, also addressed the conference as a keynote speaker. Mr Zamindar spoke of the increasing importance and role of convergence in Pakistan’s telecommunications technologies during his address on Mobile Marketing.

Specifically, Mr Zamindar talked about mobile content and measurement, and how brands can work together with telecommunication companies such as Wateen to deliver content. He also commented on the impending advent of 3G technology in Pakistan, adding that the availability of high speed broadband on mobile devices would prove to be a tipping point for both the mobile and internet industries.

Commenting on event Mr Zamindar said, “Wateen is really pleased to be a part of this visionary conference. Pakistan’s IT and communications industry has grown immensely in the past few years and we feel privileged to have been a facilitator in Pakistan’s communication sector.”   

He added: “We at Wateen are strong evangelists of the digital revolution in Pakistan – and we believe that telecommunications technologies, such as high speed broadband and WiMAX, have the ability to enable and transform the lives of the average Pakistani. The DigIt conference is one step in demonstrating how digital and telecoms technologies can add value for both brands and individuals.”

The conference was attended by CEOs, VPs, Directors, Senior Managers and professionals from varied backgrounds, ranging from Brand Management & Marketing, Advertising & Promotions, Communication & PR, Digital Strategy & Planning, Ad Agency & Media Buying, Web Design & Online Content Development, Research & Measurement Specialists, Publishers and Technology Providers.

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Wateen Collaborates with Pakistan Advertisers Society to sponsor Digital Marketing Conference 2012

Wateen is looking to support worthwhile initiatives especially if they focus on technology. In this regard they have teamed up with Pakistan Advertisers Society as the official Wi-Fi partner at the Digital Marketing Conference, 2012. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Karachi on 18th December 2012.

Pakistan Advertisers Society initiated this conference as a platform that aims to bring the Pakistani marketing and advertising community together on the subject of reinventing and reshaping. The conference will be attended by CEO’s, VP’s, Directors, Senior Managers and professionals from different backgrounds related to Brand Management & Marketing, Advertising & Promotions, Communication & PR, Digital Strategy & Planning, Ad Agency & Media Buying, Web Design & Online Content Development, Research & Measurement Specialists, Publishers and Technology Providers etc.

With the help of its engineering team, Wateen is deploying a WiFi mesh at the venue to enable the expected guests attending the event, especially bloggers, in using social media at the conference.

As the official Wi-Fi partner, Wateen shall be gaining the mileage through logo placement on all promotion in print and online mediums which has begun from this week. In addition to this, Wateen is using its own social media space, especially Facebook and Twitter to improve its fan following in this space.

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PTCL Holds Annual Sales Conference

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) held its day long Annual Sales Conference 2012 yesterday at a local hotel in Islamabad.

Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) Commercial PTCL, Naveed Saeed and Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP )Human Resources PTCL, Syed Mazhar Hussain led the conference by sharing valuable insights and holding brainstorming sessions, focusing on improving the processes and methodologies determining the customer experience.

“Our people empower our business by conceiving ideas, sharing insights, and working together to create solutions with a single minded focus i.e. boosting our customers confidence for the offered products and services”, said Senior Executive Vice President Commercial PTCL, Naveed Saeed, while chairing the conference. “Innovative thinking and out of the box business ideas are vital to remain competitive in the ever changing telecom industry”, he added further.

Themed “It matters not how far your goal is, but how far you are ready to go”, the conference was attended by PTCL’s countrywide sales management teams comprising consumer sales, direct and indirect sales, corporate sales, contact centers, one-stop shops, wire-line and wireless departments.

Senior officials from the company’s Commercial, Human Resource and Marketing departments as well as General Managers from different Regions also attended the conference.

Comprising of various interactive and creative sessions, the conference gave the opportunity to the participants for knowledge sharing and discussed in detail different initiatives & promotions regarding existing and new products & services at regional and national level.

PTCL management emphasized upon maximizing customer experience by providing timely after-sales services. Top performers were also rewarded for showing excellent performance for the company.

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Wateen Shuts Down Coverage Map and Other Portals

Wateen broadband footprint just got disappeared from internet as Wateen stopped providing coverage information on its map at coverage.wateen.com. Currently Wateen coverage map website is accessible and live, however apparently as per the message “sorry the service is not available now” they no longer wish to provide coverage info to customers momentarily.

As reported earlier that Wateen Telecom is no longer offering services in six cities Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Faisalabad. Possible reason behind shutting down coverage map would be to redesign map with the latest coverage that Wateen itself owns for customers. 

Following is the look of Wateen coverage website:

It merits mentioning here is that this is not the first time Wateen is taking some service away from you, there is a lot more you really need to know about what is Wateen management of Websites/Portals is upto:

Wateen had a portal wateen.net that covered lifestyle, entertainment, fashion, events, technology and most importantly it had a forum for customers to complaint about Wateen which was a great way to bring the real picture of what Wateen is capable of in terms services. It was helpful for the existing and new customers as they were easily being familiar with the latest issues that occurs while using services and how to get them fixed. 

Hope you remember Wateen gaming portal games.wateen.com it attracted a lot of customers but strangely enough it has been closed down also.

Wateen Gaming Portal offered following services:

Having thousands of registered users the Gaming portal was home to the Online Gaming Community in Pakistan
The service offered competitive, online gaming supported through a proprietary software which stream lines the process of playing online

Wateen offered following online games to its customers for free

Counter-Strike 1.6
Counter-Strike: Source
Call of Duty 4
Call of Duty 5
Medal of Honor: Spearhead
Team Fortress 2
Battlefield 2
Left 4 Dead
Quake III Arena
The Witcher
Fall out 3
Metal Gear Solid 4

Gaming Cafes on Board

Neomatrix Gaming Network
Fariya Xtreme Gaming
Each network had multiple cafes in their respective cities (Lahore and Karachi) and were connected on the Wateen Gaming Network.

I hope you are familiar with the recent shut down of Wateen Entertainment Portal www.wateen.com/portal that brings movies to download, entertainment, music and more.

Wateen Presented "Yellow Pages Of Pakistan" City Xplorer www.wateen.net/home/yellow-pages.html that has also been shut down since long, it had following features:

It was Pakistan's First Mobile Phone Yellow Pages. City Xplorer CX  was Pakistan's prime and most searchable portal. City Xplorer helped users to surf & search any source in Pakistan specially in Karachi, Lahore, & Islamabad. It assured global visitors by delivering updated Business Data and Place of Interests (POI) of Pakistan, using State-of-the-Art Technology. It helped you find business in Pakistan, Buyers & Sellers were never as accessible to browse and find but with City Xplorer - Pakistan Yellow Pages.

Following images are being pasted just for a reference: 

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PTA: Who Handles Your Website?

It feels good that Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has started the URDU version of its website www.pta.gov.pk, but it still hurts to know about many things that PTA website lacks that needs to be available on the website.

PTA remains unable to recognize the users platform whether it is web version, or mobile platform. As you visit the website, they have set it to ask visitors to go to web or mobile platform.

It merits mentioning here that the webmasters of the website are sleeping all the time as the rarely care about updating the website with the latest press releases which might only be the reason for someone to visit it most often. 

As reported previously that they also fail to share the list of banned websites and the reasons behind it.

Just a reference: A press release that was held on 20^th September 2012 was updated on PTA website on 30th November 2012. Awe full isn't it? 

Let take a look at pathetic PTA services:

It's time that PTA should compose a list of blocked websites available to public exposing each and every website/URL. This is particularly important at once when elections are just ahead.

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PTCL Holds Diabetes Prevention and Awareness Seminar

In connection with World Diabetes Day 2012, observed every year on 14 November, Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) held an awareness seminar on ‘Prevention of Diabetes’ at S A Siddiqui auditorium in the PTCL Head Quarters premises.

Dr. Osama Ishtiaq, Consultant Endocrinologist/Dialectologist, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, was specially invited by PTCL Medical Services to deliver an interactive lecture to PTCL employees about Diabetes prevention.

“PTCL believes in providing a healthy and safe working environment for its employees”, said Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) HR, Syed Mazhar Hussain, speaking at the occasion. “The seminar is organized to create awareness regarding Diabetes, especially amongst our youth”, he said.

To commemorate the World Diabetes Day, PTCL Medical Centers also arranged Blood Sugar Tests, Serum Cholesterol and Hepatitis B and C awareness drive at PTCL Head Quarters and Medical Centers.

he major health hazards we face today, which has affected over 346 million people worldwide”,  said PTCL General Manager Medical Services, Dr Muhammad Shafiq Ur Rehman at the occasion. “We can protect ourselves from this disease through simple measures like, daily walk for 30 minutes coupled with 3-5 vegetables and fruit servings”, he added further.

Dr. Osama, while addressing the seminar,said that Diabetes prevention is as basic as eating more healthfully, becoming more physically active and losing a few extra Kilograms and it's never too late to start. He specially appreciated PTCL for providing health care information and awareness about Diabetes and its preventive measures.

PTCL routinely organizes health seminars as part of its CSR initiatives and bring health awareness for its employees.

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Sale of SIMs Banned in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In case you missed the announcement of government about shutting down all the franchises in Pakistan, you will be surprised to know that in the name of counter-terrorism measures they have started the activity already.

Along with mobile number portability (MNP) banned, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) banned the sale of all private cellphone company’s Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, acting on the directives of the Federal Interior Ministry, Dawn reported today.

The ban involves the selling of cell phone SIMs at all company and franchise outlets.

The decision to enforce the ban in the province was taken in view of the prevalent use of illegal SIMs in most terrorist activities in the province.

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Warid Joins Hands with TRG to Enhance Customer Experience

Warid Telecom and The Resource Group (TRG) have signed an agreement whereby TRG will provide a significant set of Call Center services to Warid Telecom’s subscriber base in the country. The company has outsourced its Karachi Call Center operations to TRG. This outsourcing will ultimately translate into greater operational efficiencies and better customer experience for Warid subscribers.

While speaking on the occasion Mr. Muneer Farooqui, CEO Warid Telecom said “We are pleased to partner with TRG, who have the expertise in providing world class customer services. Our objective is to further enhance the customer experience and make it worthwhile.”

“We are very excited about our partnership with Warid Telecom,” said Mr. Nadeem Elahi, TRG’s Country Head for Pakistan. “TRG is not only Pakistan’s largest exporter of IT-enabled services, but a leader in providing Business Process Outsourcing solutions to renowned brands across the globe and in Pakistan. 

The Warid-TRG agreement is also not a typical outsourcing arrangement, rather it is a strategic partnership where TRG is in close collaboration with Warid’s staff of 120+ personnel at the Karachi facility and is committed to working with the same staff in bringing about efficiencies both in the operations and technology front over the next several years. This is important because it shows the tremendous faith and commitment that Warid has placed in TRG’s capabilities and market reputation”.

From Left: Mr. Syed Adnan, CFO TRG, Mr. Fahad Shameem, Director Sales TRG, Mr. Muneer Farooqui, CEO Warid Telecom, Mr. Nadeem Elahi, Country Head TRG, Mr. Younas Sheikh, CCO Warid Telecom and Mr. Nauman Fakhar, Head of Customer Services Warid Telecom.

About TRG 

TRG Pakistan Limited is Pakistan’s largest IT-enabled services company and a global leader in providing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions to renowned brands across the globe. TRG currently employs over 6,000 personnel in 4 continents; TRG Pakistan’s common stock is listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE: TRG; Reuters: TRGP.PA).

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