The New post is finally up, go here to read: http://mohtashim.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/apples-ipod-nano-targets-the-flip/

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Everyone has been talking and raving/criticizing/talking about Worldcall’s new EVDO wireless broadband service. Techlahore recently talked about the rival PTCL service that just launched in competition. We had been using the service in my old company for the last 3 months and after using it regularly, I think its time to share the experience of using this product nearly daily in a full review.

First of all, any good wireless broadband service is a Godsend for techies, consultants, generally people on the road. If you travel intercity, then even more so. Worldcall EVDO is very usable though it has some ticks that could make it better. In light of loadshedding and power issues I think a laptop with this dongle attached makes you invulnerable to KESC. That in itself, is something to pay for. Should you pay for this each month instead of your electric bill?  Read on more for the full review. Read the rest of this entry »

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I was pleasantly suprised that Dawn recently did an investigative article on the UAV Industry in Pakistan and followed it up with a media gallery as well. ITT did a post on this last November. It is great to see several other media sources realizing this new technology niche and recognizing the small but fast growing industry.  To date, several sources , including Wired Magazine and P.W. Singer on his TED talk have mentioned and written about the growing UAV industry in Karachi and Islamabad. This industry currently serves military and civilian customers in Pakistan, US and others. Read the rest of this entry »

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So first of, to clear up, Kraysis’s new name is Kualitatem. Ok now that this is out of the way,  lets get to the interesting bits….

The MIT GSW is a non-profit, student run, volunteer organization that believes in creating a global support network for entrepreneurship.  The goal of this network is to share best practices of entrepreneurship between different regions of the world, which in turn creates stronger more sustainable environments throughout the globe.

MIT Global Startup Workshop selected Kualitatem Pvt. Ltd as a case study in their Student Success Story panel, a part of their 12th global event being held in Cape Town from 25th – 27th March 2009. As one of only 3 cases to be selected, Kualitatem was also presented in the opening panel of the conference. Selection for this panel was based upon the work done as a founder of the company whose successful foundations were derived from the days as a student. Jamil Goheer, CEO Kualitatem was also invited as a speaker for the conference. 

Kudos to the team at Kualitatem for the achievement, their business plan is solid and the small QA startup seems to be going from strength to strength.

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After a long stint away , which was quite unintended, we are back with a huge line up of posts and news coming up this week. 

So with some fanfare,  IT Tazee, one of the oldest blogs around on IT and tech is back! (Dont you just love happy endings)

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How apt! Google just bought out  Paper mill in Finland and plans to build a data center at the site. The paper mill cited the reason for the sale to be low profitability and very dismal future prospects for paper sales.

In a round about way, if you’re in the print business, you should be thinking about a “creative” destruction and renovation process, or be planning to exit. If you’re still thinking “online” is a complement to your print/news/magazine business and not the core, I think this example might help that viewpoint change a bit!

And if you havent already, go and read about the Kindle. I thought books would hang around for awhile, but after seeing this, this and this, that opinion is challenged too. A few more years….and baam! Btw, Star trek has this figured out 10 years ago. (yes yes keep laughing at the nerds. thats all part of the plan! )

http://uk.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUKLC40921720090212?feedType=RSS&feedName=technology-media-telco-SP

Popularity: 54% [?]

Sometimes I regret having left Inbox. Every now and then, they break the norms and do something really amazing in the industry. After a recent string of wins and successful system implementations, starting with the Habib bank project, the AIOU MOU, and then the PTCL deal, Inbox recently closed a deal with PIA to migrate them from their old IBM Z mainframe to a brand new one with high end storage. The price tag of the deal? over half a million USD. Inbox is also a much strong company and has arguably won the “battle of the system integrators” and come out as a major player over several other local firms. Someone should start tracking Inbox’s history because if it does make it, it would be the closest thing to a local Wipro, since it also is the dominant player in the local desktop market.

In a market that is essentially in the boondocks (thats british for the ones reading this in the US) , this is quite amazing to pull off such a large deal, with a tough customer like PIA. So when you now book your flight on the PIA, atleast the computer system would be alot faster and screens (might) load faster!

A side note : Alot of recent changes in my life are prompting me to blog a bit slowly, but there is a broadband review, a new smart phone review, and some website reviews coming up. plus new authors and design changes. Ah, when will I find the time!!

The story is also covered on netxpress here:

http://netxpress.com.pk/2009/01/inbox-to-provide-ibm-system-z-mainframe-server-and-ds8300-storage-solution-to-pia/

Popularity: 45% [?]

…is faster than the cable I had in the US, and the DSL I have in Pakistan. 300 kbps down, for free…. the 4 hour layover is going much better than anticipated in part thanks to the free wifi at Hong Kong Airport. You have to get out of your shell to realize what you have could be alot better (For my more curious friends : By that, I mean my DSL connection could be alot better…)

Now for a quick review of the Internet Kiosks at Karachi Airport that I had time to go through while waiting for the Hk flight:

At Karachi Airport, the Wateen built/sponsored internet kiosks were good too and did help but I think they were designed to give users back, neck and wrist pain in under 10 minutes (probably so people leave the stations after that, if so, genius! but probably not…) While they have solved the dirty washroom problem at Karachi Airport, the public washrooms are …ah yes! relatively clean…these internet kiosks I think have tiny bacteria cities growing around them…! The Mobilink Infinity Kiosk, all pretty and slick with an expensive HP screen and Logitech Keyboard,  DID not work at all and just advertised the “speed” of Infinity but did not let anyone logon. And no sign saying if this is an advertisement thingamajig or a public terminal, or a broken terminal.  I think about 20 people came by, tried, it got ticked off and left to sit on the old worn down wateen sponsored terminals (myself included). Some of my unsolicited feedback for Infinity : NO ONE wants to read 10 line paras on a screen at the airport on a terminal that looks like a internet terminal. Would be nice to see good, intelligent slogans, and a free internet terminal, so we can love Mobilink (that we pay alot of money to monthly).  Or just remove the darned thing. Worse than no message is a negative message you think is a good message! 

Wifi? no idea, but I dont think its 300 kbps. Till now, unless Mobilink Infinity shapes up, or someone smarter comes in and sponsors good connections, all we have is bacteria-infested-once-upon-a-time-wateen terminals running IE 6. Good thing gmail works on that browser!

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This is quite disturbing news, apparently it seems that there has been no public debate on the Pakistan ICT policy. A document that will define the laws, and government stance(s) on IT for the next several years should atleast be voted on right? Atleast by all the IT industry companies/professionals? I have heard only a handful of companies have been “allowed” into the discussions.  This sounds similar to a medical doctor trying to put together a plane with only one aeronautical engineer on the phone. Hmmmm. not good. there is more on Teeth Maestro too:

http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2008/12/03/pakistan-ict-policy-closed-doors 

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Its (almost) over. The deplorable and horiffic Mumbai terrorist attacks are under control and the last of the militants has been killed, according to reports. Our prayers go out to everyone in Mumbai, and especially those directly effected by these attacks. Mumbai will come out of this, but now India is dealing with terror on a massive scale, just we are in Pakistan.

Fanatics are all over South Asia, using religion as a false basis for violence. First in Karachi, then in Islamabad and now Mumbai. This is now a regional problem and can be solved with government and intelligence agencies putting aside fears and cooperating. A strong willed population and determined authorities=a militant’s worst nightmare (esp since they were told that would never happen.) 

In this entire saga, one must notice the important role of blogs, tweets, flickr uploads, and other social media (Mahalo, Wikipedia) where ordinary citizens have been more proactive and sometimes have facts more helpful than the networks like CNN, BBC,etc. Citizen journalism that one can argue went mainstream in India after the Asian Tsunami has now come of age in South Asia, and interestingly much faster than in the US, Europe,etc. Maybe this has to do with our fundamental mistrust of state controller and large new networks  . The People’s voice is now digital.

As South Asians we have too many times been lied to by those in power, we would rather listen to each other than the authorities,right? and Web 2.0 tools let us do that. twitter, flickr, wordpress,blogs, these are now fundamental tools that allow for greater, faster communication than a television.

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