Archive for January 7th, 2009

Rabta Ghar Updates

Published by Babar Bhatti on January 7, 2009 under Broadband Internet, Business, Consumer Rights, Digital Divide, Education, PTA, Telecommunications

Below is a recent press release by PTA about Rabta Ghar program. Posting here as public service so that this information is available to general public in Urdu. Summary of the Rabta Ghar scheme:

  • Rabta Ghars are tele-centers equipped with modern communication facilities such as computer, fax, printer, scanner, telephone and internet.
  • There are about 350 Rabta Ghars: 104 in Sindh, 82 in Punjab, 86 in NWFP, 62 in Balochistan and 15 in AJK and Northern Areas.
  • PTA arranged free delivery, installation and training of Rabta Ghar equipment with the sponsorship of Intel Corporation. Other sponsor include PTCL, Mobilink, Instaphone, Ufone and World Call.

Any feedback on the Rabta Ghar scheme and its effectiveness to promote education and awareness of technology will be welcome.

Demand Grows For Mobile Applications

Published by Babar Bhatti on January 7, 2009 under Business, Marketing, Media, Mobile Applications

In the early years of Internet the growth of web sites was not as fast as the later years. Same is the case with mobile sites and applications. A number of factors held the mobile sites and apps back. The recent wars between smart phones has changed that. A recent article on MoCoNews talks about the reasons why mobile apps are important for building brands.

Why an app? Because it allows brands “to engage consumers and plunge them into a branded environment in which they will be more sensitive to the brand messages,” Phonevalley CEO Alexandre Mars told MobiAd. Seaborn believes the apps represent a step forward for mobile marketing. Past efforts such as mobile banner ads, he says, were usually an attempt to copy what worked on the wired internet and slap it on the mobile internet. Mobile ad applications can, however, be created to take advantage of a phone’s specific function. For example, Carling’s iPhone app—iPint—makes use of the phone’s accelerometer and lets users pretend they’re drinking a beer. (The phone’s screen fills up with a virtual beer, and when tilted looks as if it’s being emptied). Currently, the branded app is number eight in the AppStore’s free apps, ahead of both Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Earth and Facebook.

Brands and agencies are optimistic that apps will be the way forward for the coming months, but while the number of platforms and app stores have grown, so have the number of applications, all vying for a user’s attention. So now that brands have figured out a way to appeal to consumers, the next big problem is figuring out how to let consumers find them. As MobiAd notes, “With such a wide variety of platforms, stores, and applications, discovery is actually becoming the big problem these days.”