How to watch a cricket match without electricity? Mobilink TV – a life saver

Posted by BA on Sep 27, 2009 in Uncategorized | 4 comments

Pakistan vs India cricket match is always a popular event to watch not only in these two countries but everywhere else cricket is played, understood and liked. I was also very excited about the match on Saturday but was also afraid of the possible power failures. It went great for the initial hours but when the match reached the climax at midnight, power company employees showed their dutifulness and switched the power off for an hour.

Now what?

Quickly I tried a few options. First of all, I tuned into a good old FM radio channel that was quick and convenient. At least I could get live score and updates. In addition, I had a few other options for live score updates, for example:

• Cricinfo.com on my mobile browser (http://m.cricinfo.com)
• Cricinfo.com widget on Snaptu, a mobile app that is much more cool than a website.
• Mobilink cricket companion that is a J2ME app for your phone
• Cricinfo’s own J2ME app available from Plusmo

All of the above are text based cricket score tools and eventually were much slower than that of FM radio. I was still missing the TV as I knew that the power is not going to be available. Then I recalled a service that I tried several months ago. Yes, Mobilink TV. I simply directed my browser to Mobilink TV’s wap site and launched the sports channel on my phone. Within a few seconds I could watch the match live. That was the best thing that happened to me in several days

It was an amazing experience. I watched the match for almost 45 minutes. But I must warn and inform you about a few facts here:

• The service is very expensive but at that time, it was worth it. It costs Rs. 6/megabyte plus tax. According to a careful calculation, it must have costed me around Rs. 100 or more for these 45 minutes. (I’ll post the exact amount once I get my bill)
• The TV transmission sound was crystal clear but you need external speakers for better experience.
• The quality of video for a 3 inch screen was moderate. I could hardy read the score at the bottom of the screen but could clearly understand what’s going on in the game.
• Like any other internet video solution, there were points when video got stuck for data buffering. May be a few seconds pause every couple of minutes.
• There was around 25 seconds delay as compared to normal TV or radio’s live coverage.
• And yes, there is a specific set of compatible handsets that runs this service. Not all smart phones are compatible. Even the BlackBerries are not
• Last but not least, there is a separate access-point setup needed to access these TV streams. Make sure to get the settings by calling the helpline.

In short it was fun to watch cricket without electricity. Lets see how much fun it will be to pay for it

Please share your experience if any.

Mobile Payments made simple – Nokia and Etisalat team-up to make it happen in Middle East!

Posted by BA on Apr 27, 2009 in Uncategorized | 4 comments

Nokia and Etisalat have announced a collaboration that will allow Nokia to provide advance Internet services to Nokia users in the region. Etisalat will provide a convenient means of payment to Nokia users willing to subscribe to paid Nokia services. As a first step, Nokia users will be able to purchase games on Nokia’s N-Gage platform and pay for Ovi-Maps services. The purchases will be made over the air and Etisalat will charge the amount to the customer’s bill. This is a very convenient and safe option as opposed to the use of Credit cards and other similar payment options. UAE will be the first country from the region to offer this service in Q2 2009.

This is very interesting to mention here that if you can use this service to pay for mobile applications, games and services, you can use it for other payments as well. For example, you can use the same mechanism for sending gifts to friends, you can use it for buying items at grocery stores or paying other utility bills, and everything is eventually charged to your monthly Etisalat bill.

In Pakistan, Etisalat is holding shares in PTCL and a similar payment model has been in place in the country for payments of PTCL DSL service and IP TV subscription. Those who subscribe to DSL or IP TV, the subscriptions are billed to the customers in their monthly phone bill. I would love to make other payments in the same way if it adds the luxury of convenience to the payment process.