Google To Expose traffic Chokers

Google has begun offering tools to expose Internet service providers that choke traffic or shift users into slow lanes while allowing others to zip along at high speeds.

The online search and advertising king is an unabashed champion of “net neutrality” in which all Internet traffic is treated equally instead of letting service providers give preferential treatment to privileged clients.

“At Google, we care deeply about sustaining the Internet as an open platform for consumer choice and innovation,” Google chief evangelist Vint Cerf and principal engineer Stephen Stuart wrote in an online posting.

“No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they’re getting when they sign up for broadband.”

The PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers to create an online Measurement Lab (M-Lab) that researchers can use to detect Internet traffic manipulation.

“When an Internet application doesn’t work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else?” Cerf wrote.

“It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users, to address this sort of question today.”

M-Lab went online Wednesday with three diagnostic tools running on computer servers near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The tools are available to help users “diagnose common problems that might impair their broadband speed, as well as determine whether BitTorrent is being blocked or throttled by their ISPs,” according to Cerf, a computer scientist often called “father of the Internet.

ISPs argue that such measures are necessary to manage growing congestion on the Internet highway. Google has been among those advocating against fettering online traffic, saying that doing so stifles Internet innovation and growth.

M-Lab is in a nascent phase and through the year Google will add servers in a dozen locations in Europe and the United States. More diagnostic tools will be added and results made public, according to Google.

“M-Lab is intended to be a truly community-based effort, and we welcome the support of other companies, institutions, researchers, and users that want to provide servers, tools, or other resources that can help the platform flourish,” Cerf wrote.

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Google To Expose traffic Chokers was first posted on January 29, 2009 at 10:57 am.

Eight-Core Xeon Processor To Be Launched By Intel

With the aim to create even faster CPU than its current Yorkfield 45nm Core 2 based Xeon, Intel is planning to come out with an upgraded edition of the same that will operate at 3.16GHz. The present fastest Yorkfield based Xeon is X3370 at 3.0 GHz clock 12MB cache and FSB 1333 was carrying a price tag of $525, but from 18th January its price has come down to $317.

The name of the latest faster version is Xeon Quad core X3380, which will function at 3.16GHz and has the same FSB 1333 and comes with 12MB cache. The users will have to pay $525 in the Q1, when the product would be launched. As far as the launch is concerned, it will happen before 29th March before Intel launches its Nehalem based Xeons.

It is being quite surely expected that since Nehalem will change pricing in server renting space.

Major hosting companies including ThePlanet, Rackspace, LayeredTech, Softlayer, ZipServers and Hi-Velocity are expected to announce new packages in multi-core processor based servers.

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Eight-Core Xeon Processor To Be Launched By Intel was first posted on January 30, 2009 at 11:14 am.

3 Novel Phones Launched By Nokia

Three latest cellphone models were launched by Nokia, among which the successor to its slim hit model Nokia 6300 is also included.

In the second quarter of this year, Nokia will come out with its 6700 classic with a price tag of 235 euros ($307.4) when excluding subsidies and taxes, which is the follow up of the Nokia 6300 that was among Nokia’s top sellers for many quarters.

The features of this model will include a 5-megapixel camera and GPS navigation with Nokia Maps.

Via a statement, Soren Petersen, Senior Vice President at Nokia announced, “Our new arrival shares the same ‘DNA’ as its predecessor and we believe that it will be one of our best selling devices in 2009.”

Other than this, Nokia has also come out with the 6303 and 2700 models that are supposed to sell for 135 euros and 65 euros respectively, excluding subsidies and taxes.

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3 Novel Phones Launched By Nokia was first posted on January 30, 2009 at 11:33 am.

Phone calls implicate companies and famous brands in fake lucky draws and gift schemes

Unilever Pakistan would like to inform consumers that some unscrupulous people have been using the names of its brands and the company name to promote fake and illegal lucky draws and gift schemes.

Consumers have been receiving calls from mobile and PTCL numbers informing them of their lucky draw wins. They are then asked to deposit varying amounts of money in bank accounts or otherwise. They frequently use Unilever brand names that are household names across Pakistan.

Unilever is the largest FMCG in Pakistan and has been operating here for the past 62 years. Its brands like Lux, Sunsilk, Lipton, Brooke Bond, Rafhan, Energile, Surf Excel and Wall’s help people look good, feel good and get more out of life.

Unilever spokesperson clarified that currently there are no lucky draw schemes in the market offered by the Company and asked people to be vigilant about believing in such hoax calls. A legitimate Unilever consumer promotion would never ask for a cash contribution; the company would be looking for proof of purchase of its products in order to redeem the prize.

Customers and consumers receiving phone calls informing them of their win should immediately disconnect and report the number to the Police or Lever Raabta Careline at 0800-13000.

For more information please contact

Meraj Alam – 0321-2211106

Danish Hassan – 0322-8288093

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Phone calls implicate companies and famous brands in fake lucky draws and gift schemes was first posted on January 31, 2009 at 1:30 pm.

Is consumer getting what he wants?

On a global level, consumers are well-aware of their needs and wants. They know what choices are available to them and they can prioritize their purchases intelligently. The presence of transparent system in most developed countries and the strong presence of consumer rights bodies allow consumers to enjoy a large variety of choices, stand up for their rights and even influence the government to take appropriate steps if need be.

However, in third-world countries like Pakistan, consumer awareness is comparatively low. Most of the consumers are swindled of their hard-earned money without realizing it. When they do realize that they have purchased an inferior product, it’s too late to reverse the damage. Several reasons can be identified for low consumer awareness in Pakistan. Few of them are low literacy level, low internet penetration and high level of corruption and crime rate. One of the effective quick fixes for this problem can be that companies take the initiative to act like responsible corporate citizens and educate consumers about the difference between spurious products and authentic products and at the same time highlight the relative advantages and disadvantages of using each type of product.

The current on-going global recession has slowed down consumer spending all over the world including the developing countries. Our economy is worst-hit because of various other factors that have made many products much less affordable for the consumers. Some of these factors include double-digit inflation and increasing import duties on many products.

A prime example of such products is a mobile phone. A few months back government categorized all mobile phones as luxury items and imposed a flat rate of PKR 750 on all mobile phones being imported regardless of their prices. This has made all mobile phones available locally much more expensive especially for the low-tier consumers.

Mobile phone manufacturers have recently shifted their focus towards developing countries where mobile phone penetration is lower than that of developed countries. In many developed nations number of mobile phones is higher than the number of population of that country. Even though, in recent times, Pakistani telecom industry has experienced accelerated growth in mobile phone subscription and mobile phone penetration, there’s still a huge chunk of population particularly in rural areas where mobile phone penetration is low. This is the potential untapped market being targeted by mobile phone manufacturers operating in Pakistan.

While the government’s objective behind higher import duties was to reduce the widening trade deficit, in effect, it has had an overall negative impact on consumers, mobile phone manufacturers and government itself.

The authentic mobile phones that are available with manufacturers’ warranty are now out of the reach of a common man. Consumer need for using a mobile phone is still being fulfilled. However, this gap is being filled by mobile phones available through grey channels and Chinese mobile phones. These mobile phones are available at cheaper rates but they are not reliable and furthermore they are not accompanied by the warranty that comes with original handsets. There’s no guarantee that the mobile handset available from grey channels would contain all the accessories and even if all the accessories are part of the packaging, there’s no guarantee of the authenticity of these accessories. Similar problems are associated with Chinese mobile phones. They can malfunction at any moment resulting in loss of all the important contacts and other data stored in the mobile phone.

Sale of mobile phone manufacturers operating in Pakistan has declined to a great extent. Most of these sales of mobile phone manufacturers are being eaten away by the flourishing grey channels. They are facing a tough time in improving sales locally.

Due to high import taxes, import of mobile phones has declined by almost 70% in the first half of fiscal year 2008-09 compared to the same period of last fiscal year. The direct result is lower tax revenues being earned by the government. Further tax evasion takes place every time mobile handsets are imported via grey channels; this activity has been rising particularly after imposing of higher import duties breeding greater corruption in society.

In the current scenario, consumers who are suffering the most are ones who deserve to get the greatest relief in terms of prices. Mobile phones have become an important means of earning livelihood for wage-workers who use mobile phone services to communicate their product and service rates. As human dependence on mobile phones for communication is increasing, mobile phone is going further away from the category of luxury goods. This holds true specifically for the low-cost mobile phones used by low-tier consumers. These consumers are certainly not getting what they want. Due to increased prices of mobile phones, they are left with no other choice but to buy unreliable handsets through alternative channels. It is the low-tier consumers who are bearing the greatest burden of tax revenue. A flat rate of PKR 750 implies that a mobile handset of PKR 50,000 now costs PKR 50,750 while a handset of PKR 2,500 costs PKR 3,250. This means that a person buying a PKR 3,250 mobile handset is paying 30% taxes while a person buying PKR 50,750 mobile handset is paying only 1.5% of taxes.

In order to improve level of consumer awareness, mobile phone manufacturers can run awareness campaigns to educate consumers about the cons being faced by the consumers when they don’t purchase authentic product. On the other hand, government must rethink whether low-cost mobile phones (priced PKR 5,000 or below) are luxury item or not. By not considering low-cost mobile phones as luxury items, government will benefit consumers, mobile phone manufacturers and the economy on the whole. Taking the suggested measures will not only curb mobile phone smuggling but also lead to higher tax revenues as more mobile phone imports will take place through authorized channels. Then eventually the consumer will get what he really wants.

Written by Danish Hassan

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Is consumer getting what he wants? was first posted on January 31, 2009 at 7:51 pm.