Meet the Future with Google Glass: ProPakistani

Meet the Future with Google Glass
Pak Datacom Gets Amir Malik as New CEO
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Announced [Preview]
Pakistani Blog Gets Acquired for Rs. 10 Million
Warid Offers Advance Balance
Wateen Announces Reactivation Offer

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:35 AM PDT

There has been quite a lot of talking on the web about Google Glass but some people still have failed to get the hang of it. Here we'll go through the basics & every other thing related to the hyped product.

What are Google Glasses?

Google Glasses is Google's take at wearable computing. Like you might have seen in various science fiction movies.

Google Glasses consist of a frame made almost like that of a normal spectacle but is a lot more technical. A screen on the glasses that will display an interface from where you'll be able to carry out various functions. This video will help you know more about the interface and how the whole thing works.

Check below video to have an idea of the capabilities of Google Glasses

The hardware and connectivity

The right side of the frame boasts a touchpad. The part of the glass behind your ears is where the battery is placed. The front part has a camera but more importantly a small, transparent screen which acts like a display.

Inside the frame, there's a CPU, RAM, a mic and a speaker. The glasses will have motion sensors. They will most-probably support 3G and 4G connections and also GPS. They'll be Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatible with Android smartphones.

How do they work and what can they do?

The OS running on the glasses will be Android. You will be able to scroll through the interface just by moving your head around and by voice input.

The Glasses will allow you to make voice and video calls, plan routes, know about the places in your surroundings, play music, taking photos (and sharing them through G+), remind you of your time-table & about the weather, send messages and a lot more.

Google Glasses will make the world around you interactive. Google is also working on a special pair of glasses for people who already wear glasses.

Live Demo of Google Glass

I am sure you wouldn't want to miss this live demo of Google Glasses at Google I/O event in which number of Skydivers and stunt bikers performed together hanging out of Google Plus wearing Google Glasses.

The bad

Some trade-offs will have to be made. The glasses will be available at a price comparable to that of a high-end smartphone, so don't expect them to come cheap. Also lets hope that the glasses won't have any troubles in recognizing your voice and accent.

Hopefully the camera will not be as blurry as the one shown at Google I/O 2012 by the Skydivers (but we've got to admit that was an extreme test). Also a pair of glasses should be made with a screen on the left side of the glasses for people with more-capable left eye. But worst of all, the glasses can be dangerous too.

They can distract you from your surroundings during operation. This can cause accidents on roads where the user can be distracted.

And of course, the people on the road (who will be unable to see the glass) will get the impression that you are talking to the surroundings. Also expect the glasses to display advertisements as well.

Availability

Google co-founder Sergery Brin said that he 'expects' the glasses to be available some time next year but wasn't very sure when they'll be released. So expect the glasses to be released in 2014.

This means you'll have to wait for quite a time but the glasses are only in their developing stage now. The developers who've been to the Google I/O can pre-order the glasses for $1500 and will get them early next year. But they'll be far from the final product too and the experience won't be very good.

The Verdict

Google glasses is an extra-ordinary idea which seems to be really advanced and from the future. But the product will come with some disadvantages. And will the glasses work as good in Pakistan as they will in the US? I don't think so. We can only hope the end product to be cheap, user-friendly and of course useable.

To read more, click: Meet the Future with Google Glass
ProPakistani.PK

Pak Datacom Gets Amir Malik as New CEO

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:42 PM PDT

Mr. Muhammad Amir Malik has been appointed as new Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Pak Datacom Ltd. Mr. Malik was earlier serving as Director (IT) at Ministry of Information and Technology.

It is believed that the new selection will harbinger more success to the company, since he carries the reputation of being an extremely diligent officer, and the ICT sector of the country has already benefitted enormously from his industry and meticulous detail to work.

Earlier CEO of Pak Datacom Mr. Salman Elahi was dismissed from service after the allegations of forgery; opening illegal bank accounts and acting beyond authority were proved true.

The whole matter was reviewed during the meeting of the board of directors of the Pak Data, a subsidiary organization of Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.

The report of inquiry committee was presented in the meeting presided over by federal secretary Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom and all the directors approved the findings of the inquiry committee. Resultantly, CEO Pak Data Salman Elahi Malik was terminated from service with immediate effects and Director IT Mr. Amir Malik was appointed as CEO of Pak Data.

Mr. Amir Malik, who has previously served for Ufone and PTA, is an independent, self directed person who is able to communicate effectively and meet even the demanding and most daring of challenges.

We wish Mr. Malik to get things straighten at Pak Datacom with best of his abilities.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Announced [Preview]

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:10 PM PDT

Other than the announcement of the Google Nexus 7 Tablet, the other big announcement regarding Android was that of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest update to the Android operating system.

Project Butter

This is a completely new venture started by Google to solve the performance issues and lagness on Android devices.

Project Butter is reportedly developed in three areas, namely Vsync, triple buffering and touschreen, all of which have been implemented into Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Jelly Bean will offer Vsync, triple buffering and touschreen work together for a better user experience.

Vsync of the screen now works at a constant rate of 60 frames per second, while Triple buffering will make the CPU, GPU and display to co-ordinate well by working together.

The touchscreen will now also be able to anticipate where the user will put the finger. These 3 features promise 'butter' smooth user-interface.

Home screen

Moving and Rearranging apps on the Android homescreen has never been very good. Android 4.1 makes this task easier. The new icons can now resize themselves around any app or widget you will install on the homescreen. Any app or widget will now be deleted by a simple swipe.

Offline voice input

Voice input in Android can now work offline unlike before when it required data connection every time when used.

Updated Keyboard

The Android Keyboard is more intelligent than ever. The phone's dictionary has got updated with more words. Predictive text input can now predict the word even before you've finished writing it.

Redesigned camera app

The camera app gets even better in Android 4.1. The taken photos can now be seen just by a swipe to the left. Pinching brings all your photos in the form of a filmstrip and swiping a picture from the screen registers a delete now. An undo button is there too if you've mistakenly deleted a beloved photograph.

Google Now

Google Now is a brilliant new feature which keeps track of your current location. It then keep telling you about the things associated with the place you are in. Like if you are at an airport then Google Now will keep telling you about the flight timings.

Smart app updates

Smart app updates is a new feature which will allow the app developers to update only the part of the apps which require an update instead of updating the whole app. It will save time and will also use less data. Google says that the new app updates will now be of only one-third the size they used to be.

Better Google Search Integration and Google Now

Google Search now tracks your location and brings you suggestions for the places you visit. It also gets visually better. The feature of searching the web in Android has been quite old but now the device will reply you back too with the search results.

Tap to connect by Android Beam

Jelly Bean brings tap to connect feature by NFC (which we have already seen on several devices). To connect, the devices running Jelly Bean will be tapped and the files will be transferred at a good speed. This technique will also be used for connecting with NFC compatible speakers.

New notification system

Now you can do tasks and carry out actions directly from the notification bar. For example, if you have got a missed call, you'll be able to call the person directly from the notification bar.

Android Jelly Bean will be available right in mid-July and a developer preview version is already made available. Its not as big an update as Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 but still Jelly Bean promised to bring some cool new feature which sure will attract a lot of people.

Pakistani Blog Gets Acquired for Rs. 10 Million

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT

Gagism.com, a blog co-founded by Farrukh Zafar and Salman Saeed, recently got acquired by an Australian firm at a whooping Rs. 10 million valuation, tells us the team that is now working on a new venture.

Farrukh Zafar, who left his remunerative job at LG Pakistan to dedicate his efforts for Gagism, tell me that the idea of selling Gagism hit him when blog traffic dipped down to 400,000 page views per day, while it had been serving a million hits per day, in the past.

Soon enough, Farrukh told me, the blog was put up on an online listing for sale, which eventually took them only two weeks to get the whole deal done.

"The funny thing is; the reason for selling the site – low traffic, had flown away in two week's time and we were back up serving around 600,000 page views daily; but by that time, the deal had entered into serious phases, and the lure of a 10 million Rupees, kept us going in the acquisition's direction", commented Farrukh.

Gagism.com is a community driven blog that hosts comics, jokes and funny images. A footer published on blog reads: "Gagism is a movement to heal wounds, to fight sorrow and to bring out the jokers in us".

Gagism had 6 team members including Farrukh and Salman. They all are now working on a new venture after registering a company in Dubai. Farrukh said that they don't want to unveil their upcoming project at this time.

Warid Offers Advance Balance

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:57 PM PDT

Warid is re-launched its advance balance, or credit for using airtime, for its prepaid customers.

Advance Balance is aimed at providing prepaid customers with emergency balance; once their account has insufficient balance for use of basic cellular services e.g. voice call, SMS.

Warid had announced Advance Balance service earlier in February 2012, which they have re-branded now enhanced features.

How to Get Warid Advance Balance

Just send "AB" to 7676 to get Warid balance
Rs. 12 will be credited to user account as advance balance.
Service charges are Rs. 2 plus tax

Terms & Conditions

Subscribe to Advance Balance by sending “AB” to 7676*
*Sending any other keywords or even a blank SMS to 7676 will get you subscribed to this service.
There are no charges for sending SMS to 7676, service fee is charged only on successful Advance Balance.
Available to Warid Prepaid Subscribers only.
This service is currently available for limited packages.
In order to qualify for Advance Balance:
- Customer should be active during the past 90 days.
- Customer should be at-least 6 months old in order to qualify for Advance Balance.
- Your current prepaid balance should be low enough as not being able to use basic services.
Service fee of Rs.2+tax shall be applicable over and above the Advance balance amount.
No extra charges or taxes apply on the Advance Balance amount apart from the Service Fee.
Customer shall not be able to make international calls until Advance Balance is paid off.
Customers will not be able to share their Advance Balance amount with other customers.
Subscriber can utilize this feature only once before clearing their Advance Balance + Service fee amount. Once the amount is cleared the subscriber is eligible for another Advance Balance.
Once the Advance balance limit is consumed, the subscriber will have to recharge/top-up via the conventional methods available.
Upon the next recharge/top up customer is charged the Advance balance amount plus service fee for utilizing the service
Partial deductions to Advance Balance amount shall be done where customer's recharge amount is less than the Advance Balance + Service fee.

To read more, click: Warid Offers Advance Balance
ProPakistani.PK

Wateen Announces Reactivation Offer

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:45 PM PDT

Wateen Telecom is offering its inactive subscribers to re-activate their accounts without activation charges in addition to getting discount on line rent for three months.

Probably the best time for a re-activation offer from Wateen, since majority of students are having their summer vacations and are likely to use Internet.

If you are one of such Wateen customers, who have not used their Wateen devices since 31st March 2012 can get their accounts re-activated without any charges. Additionally, you will be given a 50 percent discount on line rent for next three months after which you will have to pay your regular line rent.

Just to mention, all line rents on all WiMAX packages are now charged with Rs. 50 extra per month.

To avail this offer:

Call Wateen helpline 111-365-111 or visit your nearest Wateen Business Center / Franchise.
Once your device and account details have been verified, you will be contacted by Wateen representatives.
No activation charges will apply & 50 % off on line rent for first 3 months after that our normal monthly line rent will be charged.
This is a limited time offer.

To read more, click: Wateen Announces Reactivation Offer
ProPakistani.PK

world on your screen

Friday, June 29, 2012