Unlike Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, BlackBerry App World is only available in selected countries and the service being introduced here will certainly prove to be a huge boost for our telecom sector.

CEO Mr. Babar Khan, EMS was quoted as follows:

“We are very excited to be a part of the App World launch in Pakistan. The BlackBerry App World storefront is a wireless application store that is available on BlackBerry® smartphones. It is designed to allow BlackBerry smartphone users with an environment to browse, download, and update third-party applications, and purchase applications using valid PayPal® accounts and credit cards. BlackBerry smartphone users can use the BlackBerry App World storefront to rate and share applications with other BlackBerry smartphone users.”

Although the BlackBerry App World is not as popular as its competitors the service is certainly no slouch with users downloading more than 6 million apps per day from the store’s extensive 70,000 app catalog.

BlackBerry App World with the addition of Pakistan is now available in over 130 countries worldwide in over 14 languages and 26 different currencies. The service was launched back in April 2009 in the UK, United States and RIM’s home country of Canada.

BlackBerry App World also supports telecom billing so you can buy applications and pay for them in your monthly bill, the service went live in August of 2010. We’re not sure if Telecom billing is available in Pakistan or which carriers support it but if it is I’m betting we’ll get to know soon.

So guys tell us, will you be using the service on your BlackBerry?

The smartboards produced by Smart Technologies, a company based in Canada have been available since 1991 and have been employed in many international schools. The decision to replace the boards was made when the school realized the smartboard’s exceptional potential.

The smartboard’s display is connected to a computer and projector while the software can be directly controlled by interacting physically with the display which is similar to resistive touchscreens. Users are able to note down notes on the smartboard using digital ink which they can save as a normal file to view or share later. Smartboards can also be used view shapes and other three dimentional objects and interact with them using their fingers, similar to something you could do with a tablet.

New iterations of the smartboard like the ones employed in PakTurk schools can be connected to Wi-Fi to communicate with other computers and smartboards. Teachers and students can also use the smartboards to transfer lectures, pictures, notes and other media at high speeds.

The smartboards although being a great tool for modern education are not without their weaknesses. We noticed that since the smartboard requires a projector to display data on its screen students will have to jot down notes on their paper registers in the dark. There’s also the loadshedding factor, the schools will need to have a constant electrical supply to power the board, the projector and computer. And last but not least the smartboards are expensive and not every school is able to afford them.

We commend PakTurk for introducing such modern teaching instruments and hope that other schools will soon follow suit.

Post by: Danial Arshad

“Rashid is a man who I have the utmost repect for and if he says it’s safe for us to travel there we’d be delighted to,” chairman David Folb said. “We would be honoured to play there, if the Pakistan Cricket Board would have us.”

The country has seen no international cricket on its soil after the armed attack on Sri Lankan cricket team back in 2009. Several cricket teams refused to play on Pakistani soil eventually leading to cancellation of Pakistan’s hosting rights for cricket worldcup 2011 and champions trophy.

Pakistan has reportedly been in talks with a few cricket boards including Bangladesh Cricket Board for the possibility of sending their teams to play on Pakistani soil. Upon success, this will be first international cricket after a long period of 3 years in Pakistan.

Guppu.com as you know it has been serving as an internet platform for news stories and blogs as an alternate to the mainstream media. We have earned much respect by breaking several exclusive stories and getting many media mentions.

Over the times, I have tried to pay Guppu bloggers for their commitment and dedication but then it all came down to the efforts of myself and a few unpaid guest bloggers because without sufficient income generated by Guppu, I was unable to keep paying bloggers. It’s true that Guppu does not earn revenue yet and it’s just the respect and love from readers that’s keeping it alive. So I’d like your input in this regard as well.

In short, give me the ideas on what should be the way forward for Guppu! The best idea will get a surprise gift. You can email your ideas to me directly at farhan@guppu.com or post via comments below.
Thanks and Regards,

M. Farhan Janjua

Editor-in-chief, Guppu.com.

To change this harsh scenario for Pakistan in the next twenty years, the government must do something sufficient to take control of the situation. This would be the environmental reality of Pakistan that will certainly affect the country.

But in terms of Pakistan’s GDP growth rate, currently it is 6 per cent, it will have a GDP of $436 billion in 2030 and the per capita income would only be around $1800. With major part of the country’s budget given to military expenditures, it would be spending millions of dollars on militarisation by 2030. This will lead to slow growth rate of development in economy and a poor graph performance on literacy rate.

To take responsibility and to manage Pakistan’s natural resources, it is important that the government takes action now. Planning for a better future which will not only be environmentally secure but also politically viable, the experts should be paid heed to in the policy making circles. Already the region of South Asia is of global strategic importance to the superpowers. It is not just the oil, gas and petroleum that make this area politically sensitive, but on a scientific level too, the predictions are a bit frightening.

Hence, the solution that comes first to mind is to make policies and spend in the way of developing environmental infrastructure to change scenario in our favour that will provide for our agricultural backbone of the economy and sustain employment for the people.

Image captured from Geo News screen.

The parents of the Polish girl Anna, thus, arrived in Hyderabad on the invitation of Jibran’s parents and gladly gave their daughter’s hand into wedlock with Jibran after meeting the family. Anna also converted into Islam and changed her name to Hiba.

Image via Wikipedia

[Guppu Exclusive] A reliable source close to Pakistani pop singer Annie Khalid has revealed that the producers of the upcoming Indian singing reality TV show Sur Kshetra which is all set to air on Sahara One TV channel of India, had approached Annie Khalid to come on board as the mentor of Pakistani team. The show’s format will feature a singing competition between the contestants from two traditionally rival nations India and Pakistan. And the two teams will be mentored and judged by Pakistani rockstar Atif Aslam and Indian playback singer Himesh Reshamiya.

The show is created by Gajendra Singh of Saibaba who has also created other popular Indian reality shows including Star Voice of India, Saregamapa, Chhotte Ustaad.

Even though the name of the show is Sur Kshetra, approaching Annie to mentor Pakistan’s side does raise an eyebrow! And not just her, the other two mentors aren’t very popular when it comes to traditional “sur” stuff. There have been several controversies about Atif, Himesh and Annie with regards to sur and accurate singing. The auditioning of the show has already begin and lets see where it gets. You might like to see the video clips from the press conference and the promo of the show.

Click on the image to see full size image

This images has been making its rounds across the social media spaces in Pakistan and abroad. The image in question is distributed by state influenced news agency APP (Associated Press of Pakistan) to the press and is blatantly photoshoped as an attempt to show the several times larger audience then the actual number of people present there. The image has gone viral over the internet media spaces of Pakistan. Social media seems to have taken yet another lead in this so called war between the conventional and new media as it has repeatedly proven that true voices can no longer be manipulated.

Lets see, all the previous political leaders and parties have given promises to the Pakistani people, and have unfortunately never fulfilled them. Is Imran Khan going to be one of them? I don’t think so and nor does the “tsunami” because he has something to give our country. Everyone probably sees something in him as he has been given the name “Quaid e Inqilaab”. If he rises to power, he is bound to bring a change as he has already proved himself with the examples of the 1992 Cricket World Cup, as well as his initiating step to build a cancer treatment hospital.

With that said, if he is in power, at least we will get rid of our ex-prisoner president who has done nothing except giving speeches on Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary every year. Imran Khan has the leading capabilities, which is the reason why he led Pakistan to winning glory in the Cricket World Cup. He is the one person who wants to come in power, not for power, but to bring a change in Pakistan. At the moment, he has achieved a great amount of support by the youth, after all they are the future of Pakistan. In my opinion, he has the largest amount of supporters all over with the “tsunami” he brings in every rally of PTI.

After a very long time, the people of Pakistan have hope for change, as this time we think this hope will not be drained after he rises to power. Even if he tries, though it will take a very very long time with the current condition, I’m sure he can bring a change in our Pakistan.

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Guppu.com.

We at Guppu will keep our visitors posted as the updates are coming in.