ApnaWaqat Portal Content and Resources, Articles & News & Forums. http://www.apnawaqt.com en-us Copyright 2006, ApnaWaqat Portal http://backend.userland.com/rss ASPPortal Samsung Electronics has been ordered to pay 50 million yuan in compensation to a Hangzhou firm for an infringement of its intellectual property rights.

The Hangzhou Intermediate People s Court made the ruling on Saturday.

Samsung was deemed to have infringed on Holley Communications patents on dual-mode mobile phones, which support the GSM and CDMA standards.

Almost all mobile phones used in China use the two standards.

The compensation is the most awarded in an IPR case involving China s telecommunications industry.

The ruling follows the announcement by Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information industry, on Dec 12 that China will roll out its 3G services at the turn of the year and invest 280 billion yuan in the industry over the next two years. According to a report by the Associated Press, Lee Eun-hee, a Samsung spokeswoman, said in Seoul: "We haven t received official notification from the court."

However, the Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed official in Seoul as saying Samsung will appeal if it loses the case.

The court ruling was a boost for Holley, which claims Samsung sold more than 700,000 cell phones using technology it patented in 2002, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Holley purchased the San Jose, California-based chip design firm Philips CDMA in 2001 and filed the dual-mode patents with the State Intellectual Property Office the following year.

Holley filed the IPR suit against Samsung in April of last year. The Republic of Korean firm then appealed to the SIPO, asking it to invalidate the Holley patents, but the request was rejected in May.

The Hangzhou court then began hearing the case.

Holley said on its website that it had received government support in terms of funding and policies.

"Samsung won t be the last to be prosecuted for infringements of the dual-mode patent of Holleycomm," Ge Chen, its executive director said on the website.

Also, Shanghai s China Business News quoted Ge as saying the compensation payment could yet rise, as the figure was based on Samsung s sales to the start of last year.

But the company hopes for a settlement through talks, he said. The ruling comes as China prepares to issue third-generation mobile licenses as early as this month, a move expected to spur spending on equipment and services in the world s biggest mobile phone market of 650 million users.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=297112/24/2008The Indian government has notified the customs department that import of mobile handsets is to be allowed only after declaration of the phones International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers.

The IMEI number is used by GSM networks to identify mobile devices. It is used by operators to block a stolen phone from using the network. 

In India, a number of mobile phones sold in the country do not have IMEI numbers or have fake IMEI numbers, said Pankaj Mohindroo, national president of the Indian Cellular Association . "This makes tracing of the phones a critical issue," Mohindroo added. 

A large number of mobile phones that are sold in India are either spurious or unbranded, often sold at low prices without bills or warranty. "Very often people don t realize that they are not buying a genuine phone," said Poonam Kaul, director of communications at Nokia India.

For large vendors of mobile phones, these low-cost phones have led to substantial loss of business, according to analysts. Nokia s interest in getting the IMEI numbers in place reflects an overall concern about the security of the nation, rather than business concerns, Kaul said.

The use of mobile phones without proper IMEI numbers is now seen by the government as a threat to the country s security, as terrorists have been found to use mobile phones extensively.

India s Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Jyotiraditya Scindia, told the country s parliament on Monday that the Department of Telecommunications had directed cellular mobile service providers to make provisions for authentication of mobile handsets with IMEI number for GSM networks and Electronic Serial Number for CDMA (code division multiple access) networks.

The ICA is also working with the Indian authorities on the possibility of having an Indian series of IMEI numbers, which would allow for better control and monitoring, Mohindroo said. A system of this type would not require mobile phones vendors to make the handsets in India, he added.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=297312/24/2008China Telecom started to released its new mobile phone number that begins with the digits 189 on Monday. This means that after the reshuffle of China s telecom industry, China Telecom has stepped into the competition in the mobile phone market. 

The new mobile number that begins with the digits 189 is for the CDMA network. It currently provides a 2G mobile phone connection, but it will soon be updated to 3G technology. 

Compared to its market rivals in China, the 189 number is fit with a faster website surfing speed. In addition, mobile phone users can attach their fixed line phones at home with a 189 mobile phone. No fee will be charged for calls between the attached fixed line and mobile phone.

He Zhiqiang, Marketing Manager of China Telecom said "China Telecom has entered the mobile phone market.And this breaks the dominance of only one operator. It will offer more choice and benefits to consumers."

China Telecom used to only operate fixed line phones. It recently moved into the mobile service business after acquiring CDMA from China Unicom this year. The new phone number represents its first move to win more market share. 

Among China s 620 million mobile phone users, two thirds are China Mobile customers. China Unicom has 120 million users. And China Telecom has 40 million for CDMA operation.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296712/23/2008Ufone, one of the leading telecom companies of Pakistan, has once again stood up to its strong market repute of providing the most cost effective mobile internet solution by launching Ufone EDGE USB with free Postpaid and Prepaid Data SIM and an amazing 6 months free unlimited high speed internet access.

Ufone EDGE USB is an ideal high speed wireless data communication device for business and home usage especially suitable for people on the move or at places where traditional internet links are not available.

Ufone is the only mobile phone operator in Pakistan to offer the most attractive data bundled price offer. This offer includes a Ufone EDGE USB Modem with a FREE Prepaid or Postpaid Data SIM (Voice Blocked, GPRS/SMS allowed) and 6 months totally FREE Unlimited data Package for Rs. 6,999/- (all inclusive).

It also supports send/receive SMS and Phone Book Contacts Saver. Ufone EDGE USB wireless internet can be accessed anywhere, anytime throughout Pakistan.

At the launch of Ufone EDGE USB, Mr. Asher Yaqub Khan, Chief Marketing Officer Ufone said, "At Ufone, we have always tried to come up with the most unique and cost effective value added solutions to address our customers requirements. By launching Ufone EDGE USB with Free Data SIM and 6 months free totally unlimited Mobile Internet access, our valued customers can do a lot of downloading and browsing as we have already upgraded high speed EDGE data network in all metropolitan cities of Pakistan that supports four times the existing GPRS speed."

Ufone is an Etisalat Group Company with its presence in all the major cities of Pakistan along with a comprehensive coverage across all major towns, villages and tehsil headquarters of the country. The company employs more than 2,500 people and operates with a network of more than 365 franchises and 25 company-owned customer service centers along with a distribution network of 150,000 outlets nationwide.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296512/23/2008Schoolchildren, families in need, senior citizens and even turtles are just a few of the beneficiaries of Intel Corporation’s 40th anniversary, celebrated by 1 million volunteer hours in 2008. Increased volunteerism where employees live and work has spurred the development of a new skills-based volunteer program at the company, matching employees with specialized skills with community needs. 

“To celebrate Intel’s 40th anniversary, rather than throwing a big party, we decided to give back to the societies in which we do business,” said Ashar H. Zaidi, Country Manager, Intel Pakistan Corporation. “Volunteerism is part of Intel’s values. The uncertain economic outlook makes volunteerism more important than ever and Intel’s commitment is stronger than ever. The impact of 1 million hours of volunteering, coupled with the Intel Foundation’s volunteer matching grant of approximately $8 million for non-profits and schools, makes a big difference for the communities in which our employees live and work.” 

Meaningful volunteering acts in Pakistan include efforts by employee made towards the Citizens Foundation and the Child Aid Association (CAA). Mrs. Aneesa Naviwala, executive advisor for TCF commented “Intel representatives through various activities with us have shown a great amount of dedication and support and we at TCF have a very positive perception of them. In fact, our initiative of further volunteering activities is also based on the fact that our experience with Intel has been very heart warming; one that we would look to repeat and replicate across TCF Schools.” 

In recognition of International Volunteer Day, Intel’s CEO and President Paul Otellini thanked employees for their volunteerism. Intel employees gave of their time in more than 40 countries, including Pakistan, in 2008, a more than 50 percent increase over 2007. More than 47,000 Intel employees volunteered this year for nearly 5,500 local schools, community support organizations and other non-profits. 

This skills-based type of volunteerism was so well-received in Intel communities around the world that Intel plans to continue the 40th anniversary momentum with a greater focus in this area. Employees with specialized disciplines will be matched with community needs. Their efforts will earn grants for the organization while delivering valuable professional services in finance, HR, strategic planning, engineering, Information Technology and other areas.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296412/23/2008Spurred by the continued interest in broadband technologies to deliver rich media experiences in the home and beyond, Motorola, Inc. will carry groundbreaking Long Term Evolution work and expanding WiMAX and Fiber-to-the-Home  deployments into a projected expansion of broadband in 2009. The leading provider of wired and wireless broadband solutions wrapped up 2008 with historic demonstrations, including the industry s first CDMA to LTE network handoff, and a steady drumbeat of WiMAX and FTTH deployments and products.

Despite the current economic landscape, the demand for media mobility points to myriad opportunities for Motorola products and services to help operators and service providers deliver rich media experiences to their customers. 

"Motorola is committed to broadband and 4G development and made significant gains in 2008, particularly with LTE to address the mobility demands being driven by consumers looking for personalized media experiences," said Dan Moloney, president, Motorola s Home and Networks Mobility business. "Our testing of LTE networks has demonstrated great forward movement for the cellular community into networks that are fast, agile and able to deliver content on consumers terms. We re looking forward to carrying this commitment into 2009 and leading the market in further development and deployment of LTE technologies."

LTE

Motorola s confidence in LTE comes from its OFDM expertise and industry-leading success as the first company to engineer a packet-switched network handoff between CDMA EV-DO Rev-A and LTE technologies in a demonstration with VoIP calls and streaming video. Motorola s handoff technique illustrated how service providers using CDMA-based networks today can smoothly integrate broadband OFDMA and IP packet-based wireless broadband technologies like LTE into their network, enabling the rollout of more interactive services like HD mobile blogging and broadcasting, HD video-on-demand and online gaming. 

Soon after, Motorola successfully completed the first LTE call in the 700MHz spectrum. Major carriers including Verizon/Vodafone have taken notice of Motorola s LTE leadership and are conducting LTE trials with Motorola. With the wireless broadband technology s expected 2009 launch, Motorola is ready for the necessary products to keep pace: products for both 700MHz and 2.6GHz are expected to be offered commercially in late 2009. View more information on Motorola s LTE solutions and get a behind-the-scenes look at LTE development here.

WiMAX 

According to a new report from West Technology Research Solutions, regulatory conditions are looking bright for the mobile WiMAX industry growth and adoption. As for the fixed WiMAX market, Forrester sees Africa and Eastern Europe as key areas for telecom growth.

Motorola is poised to take advantage of both. The company already has 25 contracts for commercial WiMAX systems with customers in 20 countries, and has shipped more than 5,000 multi-sector access points (powering more than 17,000 sectors) and hundreds of thousands of CPEs and PC cards as of Q3 2008. The company s WiMAX business for contract deployments, trials, and other customer engagements is currently engaged in 49 countries.

Motorola s global gains include a $165 million contract with Saudi Arabia s Atheeb, and contracts with Embratel in Brazil and Axtel in Mexico. Other significant new contracts and expansions occurred in previously underserved areas of the world, including Jordan, East Malaysia, and Pakistan. In fact, Wateen Telecom in Pakistan placed one of the world s largest WiMAX device orders in 2008, with 198,000 units.

Stateside, in advance of Clearwire s commercial deployment of mobile WiMAX in Chicago, Motorola s WiMAX infrastructure has passed rigorous technology acceptance tests. Nearly 600 Motorola WiMAX base stations are on the air and ready for commercial service. View information on Motorola s global WiMAX activity.

Fiber-to-the-Home

On the wireline side, Motorola s FTTH suitability for large-scale telecom environments is reflected in the solution s reach: Motorola service passes through 14 million homes and connects 3.75 million homes in North America.

That growth continued with the announcement that Hotwire Communications has selected Motorola s FTTH, MPEG-4 high definition (HD) encoder and IP set-top solutions for the delivery of both residential and commercial broadband services. Specializing in multi-family communities, Hotwire Communications is the latest in a series of ultra-broadband network and FTTH wins for Motorola that range from tier-one deployments to smaller telecom and cable operator rollouts.

Smaller telecoms will benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture  Rural Development Program for Motorola s gigabit passive optical network  FTTH solutions. This official listing gives telecom service providers access to Motorola s field-proven solutions for the delivery of triple play services, while qualifying for low-interest rural utilities service loans.

"End users around the globe are showing us their desire to have immediate, reliable broadband access wherever they are," added Moloney. "With the continued launches of WiMAX, optimal test results for LTE, and ongoing gains in our FTTH solution, 2009 promises to be another exciting year for the entire broadband landscape."

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296612/23/2008 Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Business Zone North (BZN) Islamabad staff should work with devotion, zeal and zenith for customers care for image building of the Organization.

PTCL Executive Vice President Business zone North Islamabad expressed these views during the function of giving away wireless local loop handsets to Islamabad operational zone field staff in F-8 Exchange Islamabad.

General Manager Islamabad Telecom Region Mr. Saeed Iqbal, Senior Manager (Operations) Islamabad Mr. Tanveer Ahmed Cheema and other senior Officers were also present on the occasion.

Executive Vice President Business Zone North Islamabad gave away the wireless local loop (WLL) handsets to linemen, cable jointers and other field staff inn order to improve efficiency and to enhance mobility for keeping the network in order.

He also reiterated that each and every member among the field staff will be equipped with tool kits, wireless Local loop handsets, motor bicycles for enhancing mobility and increasing efficiency.

He informed that wireless phone handsets would give the opportunity to field staff to keep close contacts with the operational heads for receiving messages about faulty phones and Network of valued customers in the field.

He said that in future the PTCL will achieve its set targets regarding faults, new telephone connections and other value added services and added that the staff would be rewarded on better performance, therefore PTCL staff should work hard for providing state of the art telecom services to its customers.

He also mentioned that by promoting services among our customers with full devotion and hard work, "We can achieve our targets easily", he said.

He expressed his confidence in the abilities, skills and innovative capability of staff members of PTCL that can steer the esteemed organization up to high mark of achievements.

Executive Vice President Business Zone North Islamabad also provided the opportunity to the field staff to give their suggestions, proposals about the respective problems during field duties for improving PTCL services.

He also vowed to solve their genuine problems at the earliest in order to see improvements in their fieldwork.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=295612/22/2008Work began on Sunday to fix submarine cables under the Mediterranean suspected of being cut by a ship s anchor, disrupting Internet and international telephone service in parts of the Middle East and south Asia.

Experts arrived at the site of the damage between Sicily and Tunisia on a cable ship at 1330 GMT on Sunday.

They sent a remotely operated submarine robot to track down the cables, a spokesman for ship operator France Telecom said.

"The robot has begun its mission," Louis-Michel Aymard said, referring to the France Telecom Marine "Hector" vehicle.

The damage at about 0730 GMT on Friday to the SEA-ME-WE3, SEA-ME-WE4 and FLAG cables, owned by different consortiums, caused varying degrees of disruption from Zambia to India and Taiwan.

The situation had improved in India, Singapore and Reunion by Sunday at 1500 GMT, the France Telecom spokesman said.

The Egyptian government reported that more than 80 percent of its Internet capacity had been restored, although there remained some "tangible impact on call centres".

It was unclear how long it would take the robot to locate the cables as the anchor suspected of causing the damage may have dragged them several kilometers from their normal positions, the spokesman said.

The robot would bring the affected parts aboard the "Raymond Croze" ship for repairs to be carried out in a special facility before putting them back at the bottom of the sea.

France Telecom expected to have repaired SEA-ME-WE4 by December 25 and SEA-ME-WE3 by the end of the year. The French company is not part of the consortium owning the FLAG cable, which would be repaired by another cable ship.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=295812/22/2008After releasing a handset for skiers, LG is out with another winter edition phone. It’s the Ice Cream Phone 2 and it will be released in Korea. Apparently, the original Ice Cream Phone was released in April and honestly, we haven’t noticed it. The successor sports the clamshell form factor and at thickness of 15.5 mm, it’s quite thin for a clam.

The Ice Cream Phone 2 was made for CDMA-based networks and comes with EV-DO Rev. A support. Other specs include T-DMB mobile TV receiver, web browser, electronic dictionary and more.

Now you may ask why it’s called Ice Cream? LG seems to think the pastel tone colors along with “cute emoticons” such as heart and smiling face, and orange colored LED light will make some people affiliate this phone with their favorite frozen candy. I don’t get it…

Anyway, LG will make the Ice Cream Phone 2 available in three different colors — snow white, sky blue and peach pink — and will sell it through LG Telecom for about 400,000 KRW.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296012/22/2008The meeting is an annual event, and has Qatar Telecommunications as its Patron, and will be opened by the Qatar Minister of Communications. 

TMT Finance and Investment 2009, which includes the first Awards ceremony in the region for operators, financiers and law firms, is an international forum attended by CEOs and CFOs of leading operating companies in the telecom media and technology sectors across the region. 

To facilitate travel to the event from North America, Europe, Asia and within the Middle East, Qatar Airways is the Official Airline Partner ensuring the airline provides registered delegates with special offers to attend the two-day event. 

Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar has undergone phenomenal expansion since its formation in 1997, averaging 35% growth year-on-year for the past 11 years. Along the way, the airline has garnered many awards and accolades, becoming one of only a select-few international airlines to have been awarded a 5-star rating by independent aviation audit Skytrax. 

It also won the coveted World s Leading Business Class at the World Travel Awards lavish ceremony held in the Caribbean earlier this month (December). 

Skytrax also named Qatar Airways cabin crew as Best in the Middle East for the sixth year running in 2008 and the airline was voted Best in the Middle East for the third year in a row following a survey of more than 15 million passengers worldwide. 

From its Doha hub, Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of 64 Airbus and Boeing aircraft to 83 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Far East and North America. 

By 2013, the airline will almost double its fleet size to 110 aircraft. The company currently has orders for more than 200 aircraft worth over US$40 billion. Orders include 80 Airbus A350s, 60 Boeing 787s and 32 Boeing 777s, with deliveries of the latter having started in November 2007. 

The airline is one of the customers of the twin-deck Airbus A380 super jumbos with five on order and scheduled for delivery from 2012. At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2008, the airline also ordered six Airbus A321s. Qatar Airways is due to move to the New Doha International Airport in 2011 when the first phase of the new facility is scheduled to open. 


The annual event, which is hosted this year in Qatar is perceived as the premier forum for the leadership of telecom technology and media firms across the Middle East, and their financiers, legal advisors and other professional intermediaries. It also attracts significant international participation from around the world, and the partnership of Qatar Airways reflects the quality image and global reach the event has sustained over the past few years,

commented Philip Low, managing director of BroadGroup, the international consulting firm who research and organise the event.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296112/22/2008PIA has made arrangements for operating special flights from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to Sukkur in addition to the airline s regular scheduled flights from December 26 to 28, 2008.

To facilitate people reach Sukkur to attend the 1st Death Anniversary of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan.

PIA s flight PK 385 will depart from Islamabad to Lahore on December 26, 2008 at 0800 hours for onward flight PK 3912 leave Lahore at 1025 hours for Sukkur.

PK 3092 will operate from Karachi to Sukkur on December 27, 2008 at 0900 hours and PK 3912 will return at 2100 hours from Sukkur to Karachi the same day. 

The return flight PK 3902 will leave Sukkur on December 28, 2008 at 1200 hours  for Lahore and then onwards to Islamabad.

This arrangement is in addition to the regular scheduled flights to Sukkur and back.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296212/22/2008Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd recently welcomed the release of a new report that has ranked Huawei first in the global DSL industry with a worldwide market share of over 30 percent. 

The Q3 2008 market share report authored by respected telecoms market research firm Broadbandtrends found Huawei delivered more than 6.6 million DSL lines in Q3 with a market share of 30.5 percent, retaining its global leadership in the DSL industry. The report confirmed Huawei s leadership in the IP DSL and MSAP (multi-service access platform) segmented markets with 28.5 percent and 34.5 percent market share, respectively.

Huawei s copper access solutions now serve more than 180 million users worldwide and have been deployed in more than 90 countries on behalf of the industry s top carriers including, among others, British Telecom, SingTel, Etisalat, Telecom Italia, Telmex, Telefónica, China Unicom and China Telecom. 

"Despite the fierce competition of the global DSL market, Huawei consolidated its number one industry position with a very strong 30.5 percent market share," said Teresa Mastrangelo, a Principal analyst for broadband infrastructure and services at Broadbandtrends. "This clearly indicates the extent to which Huawei s network access services have been widely adopted and trusted by operators across the globe." 

"We are delighted that Huawei s copper technology solutions are now providing high-speed broadband to more than 180 million consumers worldwide," said Yang Zhirong, president of Huawei Access Network Product Line. "But this milestone could not have been achieved without our customers long-term support and ongoing confidence in Huawei s ALL IP broadband technology and network solutions. Huawei looks forward to continuing to contribute to the development of advanced DSL technology solutions and the wider application of next-generation broadband services." 

Huawei also remains a leading provider in the FTTx market and has already engaged in more than 100 FTTx projects worldwide for more than 40 telecommunications operators. Having constructed the world s largest commercial GPON (gigabit passive optical network) FTTH and FTTB networks, as well as the first FTTx mobile bearer network, Huawei is helping carriers transform their existing networks into next-generation digital broadband access platforms.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=295912/22/2008Microsoft’s released emulators for the new IE6 mobile. Early reviews have criticized the browser for its high technical requirements, as well as for missing features such as tabbed browsing.

With other mobile browsers like Opera’s Opera Mini, Nokia’s own Symbian-based browser, Apple’s Safari for the iPhone available for comparison, the new WinMo browser pales in comparison. PC World’s writeup on the new IE Mobile 6 frankly discusses Microsoft’s shortcomings in the mobile space. 

One shortcoming is the ridiculous hardware requirements: 128MB of RAM, and a 400MHz processor? You’re not going to see IE Mobile 6 on any budget phones in that case. As usual, Microsoft won’t release the browser as a separately downloadable app, choosing instead to work with device manufacturers to supply the browsers to them.

This is contrasted with Opera’s approach to its mobile browser, which allows users to download it direct from their site. Though the version that runs on the current Windows Mobile OS is a beta, users merely need to surf to http://www.opera.com/mobile/download/ to give the browser a try.

The new IE for Mobile will finally allow users to display standard Web pages and view Adobe Flash content. But the code is practically ancient – based on the older version of the desktop IE 6, released in 2001. You do get previews of AJAX and Jscript 5.7 from the soon-to-come IE8. There will also be user interface tweaks that incorporate touch , zooming as well as integrated search in the browser bar.

But wait – doesn’t the already freely available Opera browser, as well as Nokia’s browser for its newer handsets already have most of those features? And when it comes to Web standards, Bruce Lawson of the non-profit Web Standards Project was decidedly unimpressed, detailing just why on his blog. His take? "Twenty percent of the world’s population [China] are being offered an ancient, discredited browser." IE 6 Mobile is set to launch on phones first in China, sometime in 2009.

Microsoft has a huge mobile division – the question right now is, what the heck are they doing over there? The new IE Mobile 6 isn’t out yet, and already it lags behind the innovations we’re seeing from Opera, Symbian as well as the Android team. The consensus here is that IE Mobile 6 isn’t going to differ much from its predecessors. It looks like it’ll keep the same old shortcomings – behind with the featureset, bloated, non-Web standards compliant and pretty much a poor substitute for everything else on offer.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=296312/22/2008Toshiba has introduced what it says is the first 2.5-inch, 512-GB solid-state drive for notebooks. The drives also will come in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB, which will be available in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch enclosures.

Samples of the new products will be available in the first quarter of next year, with mass production scheduled for the second quarter. Toshiba did not disclose pricing.

Toshiba’s second-generation SSDs include a multilevel cell controller that achieves read/write speeds of 240 MBps and 200 MBps, respectively. The drives also offer data encryption that complies with the Advanced Encryption Standard. Other specs include a serial ATA-2 interface and a mean time between failures of 1 million hours. Depending on the model, the drives weigh from a half-ounce to about 2 ounces.

SSDs are typically lighter, are more durable, consume less power, and deliver higher performance than traditional hard-disk drives.

The technology, however, costs much more per gigabyte than HDDs. As a result, SSDs are used in select applications, such as mini-laptops where less weight and more durability in a storage device are important. Within the data center, SSDs have been targeted for applications that require faster transaction times.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=295712/22/2008In the midst of all the local and international political problems, attacks and violence, Karachi was treated to much needed breather of melody by four French musicians at Alliance Francaise on 29th Nov 2008.

The Caravan Quartet comprising Samuel STROUK (guitars), Bestien RIBOT (Violin), Olivier LORANG (bass) and Robin ENSINA (guitars) presented 12 tracks based on a unique blend of jazz music called gypsy jazz, the origins of which are largely found in and around Paris.

Starting with Artillerie Lourde, the chattering crowed was immediately silenced by the infectious nylon string guitars. The guitarists Samuel and Robin, who are childhood friends, were seen employing the different “Le Pomp” strumming style n the rhythms section.

It became clear from the word go that Bastien, the violinist would be the star of the night as he improved effortlessly on the chromatic scale. The bassist Olivier also got the opportunity to run wild and he was especially impressive in “ Bilbolojy and Tame house Blues”

Most notable aspect of the quartet was their expert co-ordination as a band, They played in perfect harmony with eachother throughout their performance.

The evening was well attended by the Music lovers in Karachi. The evening was Sponsored by JS Investment ltd.

]]>http://www.apnawaqt.com/content/news/News_Item.asp?content_ID=295212/20/2008