Zong successfully test 5G in Pakistan

Zong, China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak) on Thursday successfully conducted 5G trials.

The event was attended by Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Information Technology and Telecommunication division on behalf of Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Maj. Gen. Amir Azeem Bajwa (Retd.), Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunications Authority and Dr. Wang Zhihua, Economic & Commercial Counsellor, Chinese Embassy, along with dignitaries from various government entities, telecom industry and the corporate sector.

Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said Zong has been at the forefront of pushing the digital agenda forward in the country. Pioneering 4G in Pakistan, the company has continued to uplift the telecommunication infrastructure across the country.

“I would like to take this moment in congratulating Zong for becoming the first Pakistani telecommunications operator to have successfully conducted the 5G trial and putting Pakistan on a short-list of countries which are 5G ready”, he added.

Speaking at the occasion Wang Hua, Chairman and CEO of Zong, said, “CMPak has been committed to serving livelihood of Pakistanis, boosting Pakistan’s economy, and continuously improving its network capabilities and service level by relying on China Mobile Group’s strong support. Zong has become the first operator in Pakistan to successfully conduct 5G trial and this is yet another milestone for us”

Zong believes that 5G will bring more profound and long-term changes to Pakistan’s economic transformation, social progress, and people’s livelihood improvement in future. It is expected that 5G will have an impact on health care, agriculture and education. Since inception, Zong has proved its commitment in providing its customers with the best-in-class services and solutions. Zong has always strived to provide the most innovative mobile connectivity solutions to its customers. Now, with the advent of 5G close at hand, Zong has once again, proven its readiness to open infinite possibilities for the nation.

Pakistan is a growing digital economy which has massively adopted the digital lifestyle over the last decade. Zong has always been at the vanguard of introducing advanced technology to the nation. It is a proud moment for Pakistanis as Zong has become the first and only operator to officially test 5G services in the country.

With a commitment to develop the digital ecosystem in Pakistan, Zong has always been at the forefront to offer innovative, state-of-the-art and most advanced services and solutions to its valued customers. As the pioneer of 4G services in Pakistan, Zong has already established itself as Pakistan’s largest network with more than 13 million 4G customers and 12,000 4G sites. During the event, the Secretary IT, PTA chairman, Economic & Commercial Counsellor, Chinese Embassy along with the dignitaries tested Zong’s 5G network.

China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak, popularly known as Zong) on Thursday successfully conducted 5G trials in Pakistan, a press release issued by the company said.
By doing so, Zong has become "the first and only operator to officially test 5G services in the country", the statement added.
An official from Zong while speaking to DawnNewsTV explained that while 4G speeds cover a bandwidth of 50-100mb/s, 5G will deliver at least 1GB/s. He said that in today's trials, a speed of 1.14 GB/s was achieved.
"This success marks an important milestone in Pakistan's telecom sector," said Zong CEO Wang Hua at an event in Islamabad held to conduct the test.
"5G will herald a new era in Pakistan's social and economic sectors," he added.
According to the company's handout, "Zong believes that 5G will bring more profound and long-term changes to Pakistan's economic transformation, social progress, and people's livelihood improvement in future. It is expected that 5G will have an impact on health care, agriculture and education."
The Zong CEO also announced that the company will establish a 5G innovation centre in Pakistan in collaboration with Huawei, for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed at the event.
He reminded the audience that five years ago, it was CMPak that had first brought 4G technology to Pakistan. Hua said that the introduction of 5G services is an important pillar to meet future technological needs.
PTA chairman retired Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa also spoke on the occasion. "The country will soon be able to enjoy 5G services which will be introduced for commercial purposes," he said.
He said that the Authority was making efforts in this regard and recognises that the introduction of 5G services would bring in a technological revolution.
Information Technology and Telecommunication Division Secretary Shoaib Siddiqui lauded the efforts by PTA and congratulated CMPak on becoming the first to have the achievement under their belt.
“I would like to take this moment in congratulating Zong for becoming the first Pakistani telecommunications operator to have successfully conducted the 5G trial and putting Pakistan on a short-list of countries which are 5G ready,” he said.
"Zong is an important part of the ties that bind the two countries together," added Siddiqui.
The IT secretary said that the government aims to bring in other major developments via the Information Technology sector as well. "It is the right of every Pakistani to be able to compete in terms of technology with the developed countries of the world," he added.

Google’s new Lens feature allows users to copy & paste text from photos

Google Photos’ innovative new text feature was detected by one of its users after the company secretly rolled out the feature on its phones, before finally making the news public earlier today.
According to Tech Radar, Hunter Walk, a famous venture capitalist noticed the Lens feature had been activated for his account, which is when he pointed out the new feature to Google on his Twitter account. Google then broke the news in a tweet replying to Walk:

You spotted it! Starting this month, we’re rolling out the ability to search your photos by the text in them.

Once you find the photo you’re looking for, click the Lens button to easily copy and paste text. Take that, impossible wifi passwords 😏
— Google Photos (@googlephotos) August 22, 2019

This latest update resembles one announced by Google at their 2017 I/O developer conference where Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, unveiled a new feature that will allow an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Lens camera to lift text from photos. So for instance, a user could point their camera at a Wi-Fi password and connect to the network automatically, without having to manually type it in.
Due to its AI technology, Google’s Lens platform allows users to search for text in photos and screenshots saved in their Google Photos library. This text can then be copied and pasted onto a note or document.
The technique uses optical character recognition (OCR) to identify and extract text from photos of a physical sign, screenshots, or even a document. 9to5Google reports that currently, this feature is only available on a handful of Android devices like the Samsung S9 and Huawei’s P30, but has yet to be rolled out on iOS devices.
Furthermore, users’ will not need to select photos to copy text from, as Google performs the OCR on your entire photo library automatically. Additionally, it allows users to execute a range of tasks like searching the web for photos of menu items or adding contact information from a business card into a user’s address book.

5G to increase consumer video streaming: Study

Consumers plan to increase their amount of video streaming with 5G, according to a new study. The majority (78%) of consumers said they will expand their video streaming activity as they adopt the next generation wireless standard in smartphones and home networking.

In addition to video streaming, activities consumers say they will increase with 5G include video calling, social media, mobile gaming and virtual and augmented reality, MediaPost reported.

“The promise of faster video streaming through 5G is generating enormous enthusiasm among consumers,” states Joshua Builta, senior principal analyst at IHS Markit-London–based global information provider.

“Interest is particularly high for those younger than 50, with 81 percent of survey respondents in that age range citing video streaming as the top activity for 5G. Consumers are expressing strong interest in video streaming both on smartphones and for home internet services, which are equally supported by 5G,” Builta added.

Huawei dives into 6G research along with others

5G networks have not even entered markets globally and Huawei has begun research on its 6G network, racing to develop the latest technology, as they anticipate to launch it in 2030.
While over half the world is alienated from the 5G network, Huawei has not waited a second and has begun research on 6G at it’s research and development (R&D) center in Ottawa, Canada, reports cnet.
When Huawei began research on 5G technology in 2009, China had just begun issuing 3G licences. As the company races to develop the future technology, it is clear that it won’t become a reality until 2030, as GearBest reports that 6G currently exists in its theoretical state.
In a previous interview, Ari Pouttu, director of Finnish ‘6Genesis’ said, “If 5G is the era of de-centralization of smart phones, then 6G will be the post-smartphone era and fully enter the Internet of everything,”, according to GearBest.
Huawei, however, is not the first one to begin this research. South Korean companies are also in the race, with LG setting up its 6G laboratory in South Korea this January. The South Korean government aims to begin developing 6G standards by 2021. France and the USA are soon to follow.
Earlier this year, the Finnish government also invested 25 million Euros in an eight-year 6G research project, ‘6Genesis’.
Although there is no news regarding the features of 6G currently, it is certain that 6G R&D is due to face many problems in terms of materials, manufacturing and energy consumption as currently, only 4-5 countries have managed to operate 5G successfully.

Upcoming iPhone 11 likely to feature shatterproof screen

The upcoming iPhone 11 has reportedly undergone some massive changes including a more shatterproof screen, among other features which Apple has not yet disclosed.
Apple’s iPhone 11 is set to launch on September 10 and will reportedly go on sale starting September 20, according to TechRadar. This phone is going to soon replace the iPhone XR, with an improved shatter-resistant screen, according to Bloomberg.
Currently, screen damage of Apple’s iPhone X could cost up to $279, making it expensive for consumers. To improve its durability, Apple is working on its screens so users can avoid paying high repair fees, especially as phone prices are increasing year after year.
Besides this, Bloomberg has reported some additional upgrades in the upcoming iPhone. This year, three models of iPhone 11 are to be released, including a cheaper ‘iPhone 11R’ and two high-end ‘iPhone 11 Pro’ models.
The new ‘stove top’ triple camera in the Pro models will allow users to click three photos simultaneously, which can be edited and merged into one. Low light photography has also been improved as has the quality of video recording.
The face recognition system has been boosted to capture Face ID from multiple angles. The phone can now be submerged into water for an additional 30 minutes as opposed to the current iPhones. However, the 3-D touch has been removed.
One last surprise that comes with this new range is the possibility of 5G technology, however, this won’t be official until the 2020 iPhones.

Instagram reportedly creating new messaging app called ‘Threads’

Facebook is reportedly developing a new messaging app for Instagram, so users can better connect and share photos and messages with their closest friends, similar to Snapchat.
Social media app Facebook is working on a new app called ‘Threads’ for Instagram to promote constant sharing between users, especially their closest friends, according to The Verge. The latest program is currently being tested at Facebook and will allow users to automatically share their location, speed and battery life with friends, along with photos and text and video messages via Instagram.
Instagram, however, has so far refused to comment on this new feature, reported The Verge.
Earlier in May, Instagram ceased work on their standalone messaging app, ‘Direct’, which they had been developing since 2017. However, Facebook has not given up on its dream to create an integrative and unique messaging experience for its users; by combining all its databases, including Whatsapp and Instagram, according to The Independent.
A messaging app that focuses on a more private approach to connect the user to their immediate social group may just be what the people are looking for. This is similar to the way Snapchat operates, thus, mounting pressure on the company to build an even better social networking platform.
Reports indicate that the average Snapchat user spends more time in the app as opposed to Instagram users. Hence, Threads may just be another way to top that.
What makes Threads unique is that it allows one to automatically update their status and share photos when turned on and it has its own built in camera feature, according to screenshots from sources, reviewed by The Verge.
While it is unclear when Threads will launch, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerburg continues to develop it’s social media platforms to provide users with an engaging experience.