So what’s wrong with being connected?
Look at the picture above. It was taken at an event attended by the most connected people in Pakistan, sitting row upon row, young and old alike. Something tremendous may be happening on stage, but all of them are staring into devices that are gobbling up their lives. When I was growing up, the biggest sci-fi thing out there to marvel at was the ‘tricorder’, which existed in the fantasy world of Star Trek. According to Wikipedia, a tricorder is a multifunction handheld device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data. A tricorder from Star Trek was about as capable as the ...
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The fall of Blackberry
Research in Motion (RIM) is a smartphone manufacturing Canadian firm, which has been operating since 1999. Its product, the Blackberry, is currently the fourth most popular smartphone in the world, with 11.7% of the market share. It sits behind Ericsson, Google, and Apple. This is surprising because Blackberry started as the market leader, introducing push e-mail, internet faxing, web browsing, and other wireless information services back in 2003. It started off as a professional smartphone and soon gained commendable publicity worldwide. However, lately the BlackBerry’s popularity has been declining significantly and it is losing market share, especially to the Android and iOS. So, ...
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Relax and let Siri look after you
“Hi Siri!” “Hey honey! What can I help you with?” OK, so this particular assistant isn’t quite as ‘personal’ as that, but admittedly, does sound a touch seductive, especially if you are into the whole android – pun intended – female from the future kind of thing. Siri is also smart, funny and very useful, and essentially, is like an aide for your pocket. But I am getting ahead of myself. What exactly is Siri, you ask? Well, Siri is voice-recognition based personal assistant application, integrated in the iOS5, and offered only on the iPhone 4S smartphone, which is manufactured by Apple Inc. ...
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Steve Jobs: You die, and everybody loves you
Fact: If you’re dead, suddenly everybody loves you – Grouchy Rabbit. Especially if you are an American billionaire that made shiny consumerism cool in ways unprecedented. Or at least that’s what the global wave of mourning that engulfed us in the aftermath of Steve Jobs death would have us believe. The dotted I’s went up in solidarity for a man who was hailed as a legend, a visionary or in some extreme cases, a prophet. His dogma offered you a bite off the forbidden fruit, a guilt free morsel of the sweetest thing you will ever taste if you have the ...
Read Full PostHeroes die, legends live forever: RIP Steve Jobs
They say that till your deathbed, you will remember the exact moment you learned of a significant global event. I remember all of mine, so far. I recall, as a child, I was listening to the radio with my parents in Saudi Arabia, when Sadam Hussein invaded Kuwait. I recollect celebrating in my cousin’s home in Riyadh, when Imran Khan lifted the cricket world cup. During the fateful hour on September 11th, I was listening to the Howard Stern radio show, who was broadcasting live from New York near the twin towers. And just a few hours ago, on ...
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Why I want an iPad 2!
Since the launch of the iPad last year, various tablets have been released on the market which are more powerful than the original. But Apple was not going to sit back and watch the competition succeed. They have announced the iPad 2 – the new improved version of the revolutionary iPad. Size and weight The iPad 2 is 80 grams lighter and 33 per cent thinner than the original. So if your reason for not buying the original tablet was its size and weight, you should seriously consider the iPad 2. Aesthetics The device’s edges have also been reshaped and look much sleeker. ...
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HP on the war path: Touche’ Google and Apple?
Hewlett Packard (HP) may just win the mobile operating war it has entered with Apple and Google. And it will probably be able to do this regardless of whether their operating system (OS) is superior or not. This is because the computer manufacturing giant is going to leverage all of its power behind webOS, (a proprietary mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel, initially developed by Palm, which was later acquired by HP) the mobile operating system which will be gracing its newly released Touchpad Tablet and two smartphones: the Veer and the Palm Pre3. Apple introduced the usable smartphone, ...
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2010: The year of Bieber, vampires and iPads
The year 2010, according to the Citizen Police Liaiason Committee (CPLC), was the most violent of all years for Pakistan since 1995. With the floods, civil unrest, too many holidays, not being satified with the government, recession and way too much chaos, 2010 was indeed hard on all Pakistanis. I was just picking out on few trends and news that were special or prevalent in the year 2010 on the international front (No not Obama’s Health Bill). Here is the list: The year of trashy dance tracks and squeaky singers! Beyond its 315 million (yes, million) views on YouTube and worldwide multi-platinum status, ...
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For the love of books: Digital is not always better
I’ve been papering my wall with pages of old books that I’ve loved. The mechanical exercise is strangely cathartic and every time I step back to look, it makes me happy. However, it does set off a train of thought on the role of books in a busy world, where paper is becoming redundant. Is it true that they are becoming largely ornamental, to display on shelves and proclaim, “I read”? For those who can afford it, options exist which have eliminated the need to ever enter a bookshop. The Amazon Kindle, for instance, is the ultimate simulation of the book ...
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iPod: The next generation
Apple has upgraded its line of iPods as was widely anticipated in its September media event. So what are these products and what’s new in them? How different they are from their predecessors? iPod Shuffle In terms of design, not much has changed with this device. The major change is the wider dimensions and a new circular control pad. The older iPod shuffle had most of these control on its earphone cord, but Apple has finally realised the importance of having physical buttons on the device itself. The new design saves you plenty of time. The device ...
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