Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 30, 2008 at 7:39 AM
Alcatel Mobile Phones have hit Pakistan’s handset market through a nice slim model named as Alcatel V770. Specifications reveal that handset is as slim as 10mm in candybar mode that comes with a sleek design.
Alcatel says that it is a triband Multimedia Phone; hence it comes with an MP3 music player, supporting MP3, AAC and AAC+ files. Data connectivity features include a Bluetooth stereo along with a 1.3-megapixel camera.
There comes an added feature with Alcatel V770 that it can be used as a webcam on a simple plug and play basis with your computer or Laptop. There come 10MB of internal memory as well as a 2GB microSD card bundled in, that a wow.
Available in glossy white and soft-touch black, the phones has a touch-sensitive keypad, boasts 400 hours standby life, and some 7 hours of talk time, and offers an “enhanced” SMS storage capability with space for 500 such messages.
Phone is priced at Rs. 10,700 with one year Warrenty from ArchFiles. Keeping in view the market trends, competition and a low end Pakistani market, i am not expecting this phone to make an impact.
Features:
Standby time: up to 400 h
Talk time: up to 7 h
Music/Video Playback time: up to 20 h
Dimensions (viewing area): 1.9” TFT 262K color screen
Resolution: 176 X 220 pixels
Sound: MP3, Polyphonic melodies 64-tones, AAC, AAC+
Camera: 1.3 mega pixel camera (4x zoom)
Additional: Photo Burst, Webcam, H.263/MPEG4 Video Recorder, 3GP/MP4 Video Player
Additional Features: Phone directory (up to 800 entries), hands free, calculator, currency converter, date & clock, alarm clock with multiple ring tones, MicroSD Card (up to 2GB)
Model Alcatel V770 is currently available in Lahore, Gujraat, Jehlam for the moment and the authorized they are expanding dealers network to reach other cities as well.
If you are in Lahore, you can get this phone from Al-hafiz Mobile, Yassir Electronics and Younis Mobiles at Hall Road and Hafeez Centre.
ArchFiles, the official distributor of Alcatel Handsets in Pakistan can be reached at following address. By the way they are looking for dealers in other cities of Pakistan for their brand.
68 Bridge Colony,
lahore cantt,
Lahore
Thanks to Mr. Abdul Basit from ArchFiles for sending me these details.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 29, 2008 at 11:10 AM
In a recent development to tackle the economic crisis in our country, the government has decided to impose duties on 380 items (called as luxury items). My focus point is the handset industry that has seen a flat tax imposition of Rs. 250 per handset, regardless of its price or model.
This recent increment in tax is other than the one that was imposed in budget 2008 @ Rs. 500 per mobile phone. Hence the total tax on the import of a mobile handset would be now Rs. 750.
I have discussed before about heavy taxes on Telecom services, handsets and telecom equipment and their bad impact on our cellular growth rate and the revenues that our cellular companies have been earning.
Besides, the worst thing in this flat increment is that it will hit both the rich and poor alike, though the government says that taxes are on luxury items but they need to correct themselves as mobile phone is not a luxury item anymore.
Recent increment in taxes on handset is going to badly disturb the prices of low end phones. And we may see a bad impact on the sales of handset and ultimately the cellular connections.
Via [Pro Pakistan]
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 6, 2008 at 3:45 AM
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has asked PTA once again to direct Mobilink to sell unlocked Blackberry handsets compared to locked handsets which can’t be used on other networks.
In a statement issued by CCP, the commission has also warned Mobilink to stop practicing this activity along with a letter to PTA to get it implemented.
CCP, the successor of Monopoly Control Authority (MCA), passed the order on a show-cause notice issued by the MCA to Pakistan Mobile Communications Ltd (Mobilink GSM). The show-cause notice was issued in July 2007 under Section 11 of the MRTPO for carrying on unreasonable restrictive trade practices.
Mobilink that brought Blackberry services in Pakistan is not even subsidizing Blackberry Devices; (meaning that they are selling Blackberry devices at original price) even then they sell network locked handsets (which means Blackberry handsets sold by Mobilink can’t be used with Ufone or Warid’s network)
Mobilink Blackberry® Phone Prices: (All LOCKED)
Blackberry Pearl 8120 - PKR. 27,000/-
Blackberry Curve 8320 - PKR. 29,000/-
Blackberry Huron 8800 - PKR. 34,000/-
Blackberry Bold 9000 - PKR. 40,000/- to 45,000/- (Expected availability in September-October 2008 )
Warid Blackberry® Phone Prices: (All UNLOCKED)
Blackberry Pearl 8120 - PKR. 25,000/-
Blackberry Curve 8310 - PKR. 28,000/-
Blackberry Huron 8820 - PKR. 31,000/-
Ufone Blackberry® Phone Prices: (All UNLOCKED)
Blackberry 8700 - PKR. 18,000/-
Blackberry Pearl 8100 - PKR. 24,000/-
Blackberry Curve 8300 - PKR. 25,000/-
Blackberry Huron 8800 - PKR. 29,000/-
[Prices Via Mobile Pakistan Blog]
A review of these prices reveal that Mobilink’s prices for Blackberry handsets are actually higher than of Ufone and Warid, which are selling unlocked Blackberry handsets.
CCP has currently asked Mobilink to advertise the SIM lock features of their blackberry handsets, and educate their customers that they will not be able to use these devices with other networks. However, in my openion, they must stop selling locked handsets or they must subsidize Blackberry handsets.
It merits mentioning here that you can’t get Mobilink Blackberry services on devices that are not purchased from Mobilink.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 6, 2008 at 2:46 AM
Nokia has announced price cut for many of its handsets this week and putting further pressure on its rivals’ already thin profits.
Mobile phone manufacturers are already going through an increasingly tight battle for market share as demand for pricey phones has started to slow in developed and even in developing countries.
Nokia made the steepest price reductions of up to 10 percent for selected music and media phones, while it made smaller cuts across the portfolio.
The price cuts from Nokia, which controls 40 percent of the cellphone market, will put further pressure on its smaller rivals like Sony Ericsson, which has focused on music and camera phones.
Struggling Motorola, the third-largest phone maker, has made losses since its flagship phone Razr lost appeal among consumers.
Nokia has a dominant market position in many emerging markets like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh helping it increase phone sales volumes.
Samsung’s market share increased to 15.3 percent in the quarter, while LG’s declined to 9.3 percent.
[Via Reuters]
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 6, 2008 at 2:11 AM
After publishing Secret codes for Nokia handsets i am putting following codes for Chinese handsets. I have tested these codes on few on Chinese Made handsets, and they seem working. But due to the fact that there are hundreds of models available for Chinese Handsets, there are chances that these codes may not work on your phone. Let me know in that case…!
default user code: 1122, 3344, 1234, 5678
Engineer mode: *#110*01#
Factory mode: *#987#
Enable COM port: *#110*01# -> Device -> Set UART -> PS Config -> UART1/115200
Restore factory settings: *#987*99#
LCD contrast: *#369#
software version: *#800#
software version: *#900#
set default language: *#0000#
set English language: *#0044#
set English language (new firmware): *#001# Send
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 5, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Last month, Nokia stopped supporting blackberry services on its handset, and the launch of Nokia E71 without blackberry was a clear indication from mobile phone manufacturer Giant Nokia to give competition to Blackberry.
Yes, Nokia has started offering Push Email services in a beta phase and that too at no cost, yes service is free but we don’t know how long it will remain free. Service named as “Nokia Email” is an application that offers native push emails to your Nokia devices.
Nokia email currently supports POP and IMAP email protocols. MSN Hotmail and Corporate Mails are not yet supported. However, Nokia says that may arrive very soon once the beta testing is over. Currently supported devices include: Nokia E51, E61, E61i, E65, E66, E71, E90, N73, N80, N81 8GB and N95.
How to use Nokia Email
To begin you must register on Nokia Email site. You will receive the application via download link to your mobile and application installation is very simple and smooth. Once the application is installed the set-up automatically begins.
Setting up the sync schedule is easy as well and of course since we want push we want it on at all times! Remember though that data charges will apply as per your GPRS/EDGE plan.
The inbox speaks for itself. The application also gives an option to create local folders which are stored on the device (but not synced with Gmail in this case). There are many other great features included in this application and we can expect even more in the final release.
For further reading and queries, check the FAQ’s to get your questions responded.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 5, 2008 at 4:02 AM
Mobile phone subscribers were once again deceived by Chinese Let Zong, when they saw an AD in today’s newspapers which read “Rs. 1 Only”.
Now let’s calculate what actually Zong is offering, and let me justify how Zong deceived (lied to) its customers
As per Zong’s official website:
Handset Price = PKR 499
ZONG SIM Pack = PKR 150
12 months on-net airtime = PKR 2,032.8 (PKR 140 x 12 = 1680 + 352.8 as tax)
Advance Tax = PKR 168
Total Deal Price = PKR 2849
So this Rs. 1 handset is going to cost you Rs. 2849 : -)
Check Points:
- You cannot buy handset or the SIM alone, means you will have buy the whole package
- Free Air Time will compass over 12 months, and you can not consume that in a single month, which means you can consume free air time of Rs. 140 in first month and same in second and so on.
- The built-in on-net airtime worth PKR 1,680 is only for ZONG to ZONG calls,
- The un-used airtime will not carry forward to next month. For example if a customer uses PKR 110 worth of airtime till month end then remaining PKR 30 worth of airtime will be lost (confiscated).
- Handset purchased under this deal would be functional with ZONG SIMs only. Other mobile network SIM will not work on this handset.
- ZONG Handsets comes with six month warranty.
- Warranty can only be claimed from the customer service center it was purchased from.
- After 12 months customers will stop getting PKR 140 worth of monthly built-in on-net airtime. The customer can use the handset and the SIM after 12 months by recharging account as per regular procedure.
Conclusion
Ufone’s bundle offer of Rs. 999 for Handset and SIM was lot better than of this long term contract and handset that’s actually locked (means you can not use this handset with any other network)
Another element that left a bad impression about this handset offer Zong was its advertisement, which says that get a phone for Rs. 1 only…! and not only this, ad sayz “Mobile Phone Sirf 1 Rs main, 12 Maheenay kay balance kay sath” Now please Zong people us me from where this Handset is of Rs. 1???
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 31, 2008 at 11:04 AM
There are lots of people in Pakistan who keep on switching their mobile phones and mostly they deal with used handsets. Following tips and tricks can be helpful to them while they are going to purchase a Nokia handset from their friend’s cousins or from some shop.
| Code |
Description |
| *#7780# |
To restore
the factory settings of mobile set |
| *#3283# |
To verify
the set Manufacturing date |
*#746025625# |
To stop the sim clock |
*#67705646# |
Use to delete the operator logo Clear the operator logo (3310 and
3330 only) |
| *#73# |
Use to
reset game scores and phone timers |
*#0000# |
Use to
display the mobile software version |
| *#06# |
To display the
IMEI Number of the mobile |
*#92702689# |
To display the mobile warranty related settings
(Serial no, Made, Purchasing
date, Repaired date, Life time). |
| *#7760# |
To display
the Production serial number |
| *#bta0# |
Use to
display Bluetooth MAC address |
| *#9999# |
Use to
display the mobile software version |
| *#2640# |
To display
the mobile security code |
*#7328748263373738# |
Apply to resets the set default security code (Default security code
is 12345) |
| *#43# |
To verify
the call waiting status |
| *#2820# |
To verify
the Bluetooth information |
| *#3370* |
(EFR) deactivation. Phone will automatically restart. Increase battery life
by 30% because phone receives less signal from network. |
| *#delset# |
To delete
the GPRS AND EMAIL settings |
#pw+1234567890+1# |
To display
the lock status of mobile set |
#pw+1234567890+4# |
To display
the lock status of your SIM |
| *#3925538# |
delete the contents and code of wallet |
| *#3370# |
Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) activation. Increase signal strength, better
signal reception. It also help if u want to use GPRS and the service is not
responding or too slow. Phone battery will drain faster though. |
| *#mac0wlan# |
Display the WLAN MAC address (models with build-in Wi-fi radio) |
| *#21# |
Allows you to
check the number that “All Calls” are diverted to |
| *#4720# |
Activate Half
Rate Codec - Your phone uses a lower quality sound but you should gain
approx 30% more Talk Time (Use same code to deactivate) |
| **21*number# |
Turn on “All
Calls” diverting to the phone number entered |
| **61*number# |
Turn on “No
Reply” diverting to the phone number entered |
| **67*number# |
Turn on “On
Busy” diverting to the phone number entered |
| *#61# |
Allows you to
check the number that “On No Reply” calls are diverted to |
| *#62# |
Allows you to
check the number that “Divert If Unreachable (no service)” calls are
diverted to |
| *#67# |
Allows you to
check the number that “On Busy Calls” are diverted to |
Note: All these codes may not work on all Nokia Handsets + Please use these secret codes carefully, as few operations are not reversible.
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