Mobilink Infinity and LDN Considering to Quit Operations in Pakistan

Mobilink Infinity and LDN Considering to Quit Operations in Pakistan
By Aamir Attaa · Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 on PROpakistani.pk


Link Dot Net and Mobilink Infinity, Orascom’s fully owned subsidiaries for DSL and WiMAX broadband services and sister concerns of Mobilink, are considering to wrap up its operations in Pakistan, amid low returns and to shift the group focus on core cellular services and branchless banking.

Sources familiar with the development have confirmed ProPakistani that Infinity and LDN have decided in principle to exit Pakistani market.

However, final decision is yet to come after annual board meeting of Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited, a company under which Orascom operates in Pakistan. Meeting is scheduled for May 15th, 2012 in Islamabad.

Another source in the company told ProPakistani that decision is yet to be made, hence nothing can be said as of now. But yes, group is considering an option to quit operations in Pakistan.

Orascom had bought World On Line and Dancom to offer DSL broadband services in Pakistan. Link Dot Net, after in operations, has been facing tough competition from PTCL, country’s largest DSL broadband service provider. In addition to competition, analysts say, LDN was victim of anti-competitive practices by the telecom giant.

Moilink Infinity, on the other hand, started offering WiMAX services in Karachi back in 2008 with plans to stretch the coverage to other parts of the country. However, it contended with Karachi only especially when Orascom had capped additional investments for various markets it was operating in.

Turn Your Facebook Fan Page Into a Mobile App [VIDEO]

Turn Your Facebook Fan Page Into a Mobile App [VIDEO]
by Emily Price on Mashable

Creating mobile app for your brand can be quite the endeavor. A new product from mobile app builder Cabana attempts to help you cross that hurdle, by creating a mobile app using information from your Facebook fan page.

Called Fan Page Mobilizer, the Facebook app lets the owner of any Facebook fan page take that contact and reformat it into a mobile web app.

The web app pulls information from the fan page, and uses it to power the content you see in the mobile app for your brand.

Getting started with the Facebook app is as easy as identifying what page you would like to turn into a mobile app, then choosing the title for the page, icon image, and start-up screen.

Fan page owners can include any information they want from their page in their mobile app, including wall posts, images, and events.

Essentially just a mobile-friendly version of your traditional fan page, the mobile app is accessed by going to a URL (so you’ll have to pass that out to anyone who might want to take advantage of the app).

Since everything in the app comes from your fan page, updating the app’s content is as easy as updating the fan page on Facebook.

Creating a mobile app for a fan page also doesn’t require you to be the owner of that page. So if you have a brand you like to follow, you can create an app for it on your mobile phone that will update as the actual fan page owner updates the page’s content.

Fan Page Mobilizer currently only works for iOS devices, however, an Android version is reportedly on the way soon. The app builder is free for anyone who likes the Facebook app on Facebook. Otherwise, the cost is $5.

Jan 21, 2012 3:21 am

Microsoft Gives Details on Windows 8 Mobile Broadband Improvements

By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News

Microsoft has given details on a variety of ways in which the upcoming Windows 8 operating system does a better job than its predecessors at letting users manage their connections to Wi-Fi and mobile broadband networks.

"We looked at the fundamentals of wireless connectivity and re-engineered Windows 8 for a mobile and wireless future, going beyond incremental improvements," reads a blog post published on Friday.

Windows 8 has been designed to simplify the process of connecting to mobile broadband networks and of managing those connections, including monitoring data usage and controlling costs.

"We knew that if we were to give you true mobility, that Wi-Fi alone would not be enough. Therefore, for Windows 8, we fully developed and integrated mobile broadband (MB) as a first-class connectivity experience within Windows -- right alongside Wi-Fi," wrote Billy Anders, a Microsoft group program manager and the blog post's author.

Windows 7 allows users to connect to mobile broadband networks, but it's up to users to find and install required drivers and software, including searching for them online at times.

Windows 8 comes with a common mobile-broadband class driver that works with devices from a variety of mobile operators and vendors, eliminating the need for users to install device driver software. "You just plug in the device and connect. The driver stays up to date via Windows Update," Anders wrote.

Other Enhancements

Another enhancement in Windows 8 is that it provides native management within a single console of mobile broadband device functions, such as turning on and off their radios and configuring their connection settings. Previously, users had to perform these tasks in the individual management application for each device.

"Prior to Windows 8, you needed these applications to compensate for functionality not provided natively in Windows. This additional software confused and frustrated users by conflicting with the Windows connection manager, showing different networks, network status, and a separate user interface," he wrote. "Windows 8 eliminates this confusion by providing simple, intuitive, and fully integrated radio and connection management."

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth device functions can also be managed centrally from within Windows 8. The operating system's network settings console also lets users establish connection priorities, so that their machine will automatically opt to, say, connect to a Wi-Fi network as the first option if available, and, if it's not, then seek a mobile broadband connection.

Windows 8 also "learns" about the user's connection priorities based on their actions. As a result, when returning from "standby" mode, a Windows 8 machine is able to reconnect faster than Windows 7 -- in about a second.

"You do not have to do anything special for this -- Windows just learns which networks you prefer and manages everything for you. This work was a major part of the architectural work we did in the networking stack and with our hardware partners," Anders wrote.

Windows 8 has also been designed to help users be aware of mobile broadband data limits and costs. "Prior to Windows 8, we maintained consistent behavior on all types of networks relative to bandwidth usage. With Windows 8, we now take the cost of the network into consideration: we assume that mobile broadband networks have restrictive data caps with higher overage costs -- vs. Wi-Fi --, and adjust networking behavior with these metered networks accordingly," the post reads.

To help with managing mobile broadband data usage and costs, the Windows 8 task manager lists how much data specific applications have used up, so users are aware of which applications consume more data.

Juan Carlos Perez covers search, social media, online advertising, e-commerce, web application development, enterprise cloud collaboration suites and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service