UConnect – Put all your files on the cloud

Posted by BA on Dec 12, 2009 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Go computing out there on the road with UConnect

Uconnect is probably the most revolutionary VAS that Ufone’s released ever, not only because of its feature set but its relation with the evolution of computing that will altogether transform the way we use computers and information today. The experts claim that all your computer resources that you can conceive today and can predict for tomorrow will all reside on the cloud in not so distant future. Actually we are already there with several tools emerging online.

Uconnect is our telecom sector’s contribution to the evolution. Using Uconnect, you can put all your files on the cloud and can access them anywhere, anytime using your cellphone. You can perform basic file management operations on most popular file types that we use on our PCs. You can view, send, receive emails and can even shut-down your PC remotely.

They say, a picture is better than a thousand words and I say, a video is better than a thousand pictures. So go-ahead, watch this video that shows how UConnect works. And if you decide to sign-up, simply SMS SUB to 292 and start enjoying UConnect.

Following is UConnect’s features list :

• Put and access your files on the cloud and make them always-accessible.
• Supports doc, xls, ppt, pdf, jpg and other popular formats that you can view right on your wap browser.
• Access one or more of your machines’ file system live (obviously when your PC is online).
• Cut/copy/paste/delete files remotely both from the cloud and your machine.
• Basic PC tasks like restart, shut-down, sleep and hibernate can be done right from your phone
• Last but not least, use PUSH EMAIL on up to 5 of your email accounts. This all works on SMS. You get SMS for each incoming email and you can read and reply emails.

To know more about the product, please visit http://uconnect.ufone.com

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.

Ufone Launches UConnect

Posted by BA on Aug 12, 2009 in Uncategorized | 10 comments

Today, Ufone has announced the launch of a very interesting service named UConnect. The service allows you to use your cellphone to control several activities on your PC. In addition to remote PC access the service combos Push-Email-over-SMS as well. It may sound a bit complex but in my initial experience I find the service very easy-to-use. No downloads and installation required on phone, no complex configurations, no issue of proxies and firewalls on your pc, in short, if you have data enabled phone, it’ll work just fine. Following is the list of main features of UConnect:

• Remote file access: You can access the files on your PC remotely. No download required on your phone and it all works on the mobile-browser.
• Remote access to your Outlook emails: Access your MS-Outlook emails on the go using the mobile-browser
• PC control: Allows you to restart, shutdown, hibernate, sleep and log off your machine.
• Multiple PC remote access: Above three features can be used on more than one PCs
• Push Email: Sends you SMS and Wap-Push notifications for every incoming email and you can configure up to 5 email accounts with it. You can even use it on a non-smart phone.
• 512 MB web-space: Each user will be allocated 512 MB space on the server.

How to subscribe?

Simply SMS SUB to 292 to sign up for the service.

How it works

• You can access the service on the phone by visiting http://uconnect.ufone.com on their mobile browser. Once signed up you can login and configure push email from here.
• You can download UConnect client software to be installed on your PC from http://uconnect.ufone.com that allows remote access on your phone.

Please download the user manual for further details.

Anticipation

I’ll come back on this blog with a detailed review of the product, its features and price later, but right now I’m really excited about this product. File sharing, remote file and PC access is something that has not been available earlier, at least as a VAS in Pakistan. Moreover, Push Email over SMS is a service that targets a big number of users and will help bring Email access to masses.

Please wait for the detailed review to follow.

Ufone Urdu SMS – Simple and useful

Posted by BA on Jun 5, 2009 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Ufone has launched its Urdu SMS services and that’s what I call convenience with simplicity. We all keep sending messages in roman Urdu but keeping in mind that the mobile usage has gone way beyond the very basic literacy level, we need solutions that keep things in Urdu or even use picture illustrations for getting a message through. As far as I remember, Ufone is not the first one to launch such translation service, for example Mobilink is already running their SMS translation services.

How it works

For all your message recipients, who cannot understand English script, Ufone has come up with this very useful yet simple service. Simply send a message to 424 written in roman Urdu and you will receive a response translated in Urdu text. If you want to send the message to someone else, type [recipient number] [space] [message in roman] and the service will attempt its best to translate it word by word in Urdu script.

To give it a shot I sent a simple message from a Ufone number to a non-Ufone one and it was delivered within a few milliseconds. Here was a simple test run:

Source Message:

Received at destination as:

Most cell-phones out there in the market do not have Urdu-keypad and do not have Urdu typing support in their firmware/OS, but they have capacity to display Urdu messages. In these circumstances, the service can be a hit.

The only problem in this service is the use of roman combination and users’ habits. Ufone has a software at the back end that is translating these English character combinations to Urdu. In case it doesn’t find your desired combination, or you spell a certain word differently, the translation will not work perfectly. For example I’ve seen people using “Hay”, “He”, “Hey” and “Hy” for the same word “ہے” in Urdu. But once people start using it, they will learn the right syntax. I was expecting a detailed guideline or user-manual on Ufone’s website, that I couldn’t find.

Each message translated will cost Rs. 2+ Tax. Here are the details: