BGR

@LionelatDell (Twitter)

11th February was the date when Nokia announced its partnership with Microsoft. It’s was just the last month but it already feels like an old story.

I thought the same until I picked up this month’s issue of the most reputed local internet magazine and was disappointed to read the same pre-calculated analysis published in it (which is circulating all over the web).

So let’s dissect & clarify this issue once and for all.

Let’s go couple of years back, when Nokia started losing its market share to iOS and Android and it strongly needed to come up with a competitive product but this time it was not about cutting edge hardware, but it was about the software and the user experience.

Nokia’s answer was not customized Symbian but Maemo which later turned into MeeGo, which was going to be the future of Nokia’s smartphones – but something didn’t go right.

During all this, iOS was advancing, Android was expanding its user base, HP bought Palm and released WebOS 2.0, RIM launched a new & improved version of its BlackBerry OS & a BlackBerry tablet, one company was left without an Eco System of their own & it was Nokia.

They had to act and act fast.

Now if we believe Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop, he said in an interview that when he arrived at the company (Sep. 2010), Nokia then knew that it has to make a strategic assessment & CEO’s job was to lead the company through that.

At this point Nokia weighed all of its options from continued investment in Symbian to MeeGo to other platforms and finally partnered with Microsoft for Windows Phone 7.

You may argue why Nokia didn’t partner with Android then?

Here is the reason: Back in September 2010 Google asked Motorola to stop using SkyHook’s location services on the Droid X, which Motorola had decided to use instead of Google’s Location Services.

If Nokia was in place of Motorola (and considering the fact that Nokia owns Navteq (a $8.1 Billion acquisition)), it would never had nodded the Google’s call.

But now, look at the complete freedom Nokia has – it can modify Windows Phone 7 in any way it want. So definitely WP7 was the choice.

will Symbian Die after WP7 Phones?

So is Symbian dead? MeeGo gone? N-series phones soon to be history? The answer it not what you have been listening to and it is, No.

Symbian is staying in its current status till the end of 2012 and until than it will be actively developed and modified. One example is the new set of icons, animations, customizable widgets and the addition of my favorite feature, the drop down notification bar (yes, they way Andriod has it).

This update is coming soon.

What will happen after 2012? The Smartphone’s from Nokia will transition to Windows Phone 7 & Symbian (particularly Series 40 & variants) will continue to be a part of the low-end phones or plain mobile phones. So it is more of relegation than plain death. But where does MeeGo fit in?

“We are not thinking about MeeGo as the Plan B but we are thinking about MeeGo as what’s the next generation”, “What’s the next wave of business and technological disruption (beyond iOS, Android, WP7). We want to make sure we are leading through that as well”.

These three lines summarize the future of MeeGo as it is the OS Nokia will develop to lead the future platform/OS wars beyond the current ones.

What the future holds, no one knows for sure. Huawei is manufacturing low priced cheap Android phones, there are rumors that Apple is working on a smaller or cheaper iPhone & that too is the plan of Nokia to bring WP7 to all the different price points instead of just a premium product.

Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure, the consumer (you & I) will benefit.

Just in case if you don’t know, Imagine Cup, by Microsoft, is the world’s largest premier student technology competition happening round the globe since 2003.

Main theme of imagine cup is to encourage students around the globe to imagine a better world in which people are empowered by technology.

If you remember, last year team Magno Touch from University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore won the Pakistan finals (out of 2,500 + students from Pakistan) and represented the country in the global finals held in Warsaw, Poland.

This year, the Imagine Cup 2011 – Global Finals will be held in United States of America (USA) and the winning team in the Software Design Category from Pakistan will be fully sponsored by Microsoft to go to the United States of America and compete in the global finals.

Who can Participate (in Software Design Category):

If you are a student, and you have an idea of solving the toughest possible thing in this world using Microsoft tools and technology, then you are good to go with registration.

So primarily, you will have to identify the toughest problem, then develop a solution and that’s it. Though, its not as simple as it seems, because your idea and the solution needs to be the best to be a winner.

So here is the time, register yourself, and try your abilities for bringing home the Imagine Cup this year.

How to Participate:

For more details and registration: http://pakistan.imaginecup.com/ or you can send an email here: b-hashau [at] microsoft.com.

Note: Last date for Registrations: March 20th, 2011

Below is the schedule:

The need for high speed transfer of data has spurred many technologies like eSATA and USB 3.0 but Intel’s newest offering might just one up the others.

Codenamed Light Peak, Intel has launched it under the title Thunder Bolt. The reason to be excited about this particular technology is that it features two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to 10Gbps each.

It allows external devices to connect directly to the PCI-e interface on computers, which allows for the incredibly fast transfer speeds. The interface also provides power so users don’t have to worry about connecting extra power adapters to external hard drives. Thunderbolt is compatible with existing DisplayPort displays and adaptors.

According to Intel, Thunderbolt’s speeds will allow users to transfer a full high-definition movie (between 10 gigabytes and 20 gigabytes in size) in less than 30 seconds.

Intel also says that the interface is backward compatible with other standards; it depends only on the cable used. Using the appropriate adapter to the port Thunderbolt can connect any accessories designed to work with USB 2.0, FireWire, or eSATA.

Apple is the first company to have adopted the new technology. Their updated line of Mac Book Pros has Thunderbolt connectivity. LaCie have also released a hard drive compatible with Thunderbolt. Other manufacturers like Western Digital have entered contracts to use it and are expected to adopt it later this year or by early 2012 at most.

Imagine, if you will, business travelers gallivanting across the globe with nary a care in the world — secure in the fact that should they lose their laptop by hook or by crook, they can disable it with a simple text message. Well, the dream is now a reality as Intel has put its third-gen vPro technology in Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 business chips, giving users the ability to lock down and reactivate a PC remotely via SMS. Not exactly a fresh idea, but nice to see it passed on to more modern chipsets. To further simplify the lives of IT professionals, the new version of vPro also has an encryption login requirement upon awakening from sleep mode, 1920 x 1200 resolution remote management, and host-based configuration to allow the set up of countless PCs at once. Of course, that assumes your employer’s willing to pony up for Chipzilla’s new gear — the economic downturn’s almost over, right?

InformationWeek Intel

Incoming search terms:

• difference between core i7 and corei7 vproP
• twitter sms delay pakistan
• twitter sms pakistan delay

Microsoft Pakistan recently organized two BizSpark Camps at Microsoft Innovation Center where 9 technology products, developed by 6 startup companies, were showcased.

This was the first initiative of its kind where the ideas of young entrepreneurs were actually transformed into a mature product.

The first camp was based on Windows Phone 7 Development and the second one was on Windows Azure Development. The projects were diversified from a game to live score updates. There were also solutions related to e-banking, e-commerce and personal security.

The showcasing event was attended by 80 professionals including developers, IT pros, bloggers and students, and executives from Microsoft, P@SHA and TiE. The main highlight of the event was the deployment of projects on Multi Touch Screens where the attendees could actually witness the applications in real time.

Sharing his views on the program Kamal Ahmed, Country General Manager Microsoft said:

“We want to do everything through which we can equip the young talent in Pakistan. Through BizSpark, Microsoft has tried to facilitate these young startups with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software, which will help improve lives, solve problems and become a catalyst for economic growth in Pakistan.”

Also present during the event were Shoaib Khalil, Marketing Manager, Microsoft Pakistan; and Zafar ul Islam, Enterprise Technology Strategist.

BizSpark Camp is a subset of Microsoft’s BizSpark Program launched last year. For many technology startup companies, achieving and sustaining business success is a tough proposition. Many succumb to myriad challenges along the way — from funding to marketing to changing market conditions.

Looking at these concerns, Microsoft Pakistan, in partnership with Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES (P@SHA), The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and Tech Angels Network (TAN), launched Microsoft BizSpark program.

This program is targeted towards early stage software companies, providing them with resources including access to Microsoft platform software and development tools with no upfront cost.

Microsoft BizSpark Camps were held to enhance the technical skill set of the startup companies, based on emerging technologies and latest trends, and also to provide mentoring through local industry experts.

Microsoft may be leading at this point in its battle with Google to see who has the better travel search. With Google’s acquisition of ITA, a travel industry software company, still pending, Microsoft is moving full steam ahead announcing a partnership with the travel search engine company Kayak.

We mentioned last week that Microsoft launched some new features for their travel search with the addition of autosuggest flight and price predictor. With the new partnership, Kayak users will gain access to these features while Bing users gain access to more comprehensive flight listings and itineraries.

This partnership between Bing and Kayak should be a good move for both companies to battle Google’s potentially formidable travel search service once the ITA acquisition completes. Kayak will start powering Bing’s flight metasearch within the next few weeks as a first step in their alliance.

[via Tnooz]

Digging the 1080p LifeCam Studio but don’t feel like spending $100? Or, maybe you don’t need all those p’s? Microsoft has, for you and you alone, announced the new LifeCam HD-3000. It tops out at 720p but retails for a more palatable $39.95. Also newly announced is a trio of mice, first and most exciting being the $19.95 Express Mouse (above) which, according to Microsoft, has both the looks and the moves. We’re not really sure what that means, but it is kind of funky looking with the offset cord your choice of six colors ranging from “Hibiscus Red” to “Dahlia Pink.” For those who’d rather stick with something less-flowery there’s the Comfort Mouse 3000 for the same price, similar features in a design less likely to stand out in the conference room. Or, cough up another $10 for the $29.95 Comfort Mouse 6000, pictured below. It gives up ambidextrous pretenses in favor of a more form-fitting shape and five whole buttons. Can you handle that many buttons? Yeah, you totally can.

Incoming search terms:

• ＬｉｆｅＣａｍＨＤ３０００

In order to contribute its support to the mental health sector of our society, employees of Microsoft Pakistan volunteered their services at Fountain House Lahore – a unique institution in Asia in the field of mental health.

The employees spent their day interacting with the members of Fountain House who are undergoing rehabilitation treatment.

According to Peps Foundation’s survey of 2008, the estimated number of psychologically disturbed people in Pakistan is more than 14 million. The survey also reveals that there is only four major psychiatric hospitals and 20 such units attached to teaching hospitals, barely enough to serve a growing population.

As part of Microsoft’s global initiative – Employee Volunteer Day in which employees are given a day off with pay to adopt a socially responsible cause- this year a team of 36 employees spent their day with the members of Fountain House. The activities of the day included recreational activities like painting competition, music and sports. Microsoft also upgraded software and hardware for the computer lab at Fountain House.

Continue Reading