UExaminer is a unique and first of its kind VAS from Ufone. This focuses on use of cell phone for educational purpose and targets all students studying in 9th, 10th, 1st Year, 2nd Year and even from O/A Level education system, to get themselves prepared for final board examinations.

This innovative VAS allows students to go through online SMS MCQ’s/quiz/fill in the blanks based on text books and last 5 years board exam papers. Also students from all boards of Pakistan will be able to get exam Date Sheet by this service.

The service mechanics details can be checked here.

The service is offered to all prepaid & postpaid subscribers and the good part is the charges are not much, SMS will be charged for Rs. 0.15+Tax.

Bonus point is that upon scoring 90% & above, on complete class/grade quiz, students will be provided with 1000 free SMS after next day of internal results verification to that specific Mobile number.

Users do share your experience of the service and best of luck to all appearing in exams.

Ufone has come up with their version of talkMail, Awaz Email. Like talkMail, Awaz Email lets you record a voice message and send it directly to someone’s email. By calling the Awaz Email IVR 4412, you can just do that.

You will first be greeted with a Welcome Message.

You will then be given instructions on how to use Awaz Email.

You can then record your voice or whoever’s.

Once the voice is recorded and you hang up, you will receive an SMS.

Reply to the SMS with the email address of the recipient whom you would like to send that sound byte to, it could be your own email address too.

Your recipient will receive an email containing the voice recorded Awaz Email message.

Charges and terms

• All SMS are charged at Rs. 0.50 + Tax / SMS
• IVR is charged at Rs. 2 + Tax / min
• This service is available to all Ufone customers on all packages (Prepaid, Postpaid).
• The maximum duration of one Awaz Email message is 3 minutes.
• Terms and conditions apply
• 19.5% FED on usage and 10% withholding tax at recharge or bill applies

talkMail still has an edge over Awaz Email, its a free service and is available for all mobile operators in Pakistan.

Ufone has been launching new services quite rapidly in the last few months, perhaps in response to all the subscribers it lost in the SIM recounts. Most recently Ufone launched Background Music through which subscribers can create a unique ambiance for every conversation they have. It would be interesting to see how this service plays up in comparison to a number of other music related services.

To subscribe SMS ‘SUB’ to 770 or dial 770 from Ufone. After subscribing and selecting the back ground music the subscribers will simply dial 77 before the recipients number e.g. 7703335199942 and can talk to their friends or loved ones with the song playing in the background of the conversation. A Back Ground Music call can be made to any number, any network in Pakistan.

Call charges are not that simple – take a look.

Subscription Charges (Prepaid) Re. 0.5+Tax per Day
Subscription Charges (Postpaid) Rs. 15+Tax per Month
Call Charges to 770 IVR: Rs. 2+Tax per Minute
Content Download: Rs. 5+Tax per Download
BGM Tune Copy: Rs. 5+Tax per Copy
SMS to 770: Rs. 2+Tax/SMS
Call Charges with prefix 77: Rs. 1.30+Tax/Minute (Prepaid & Postpaid)

After IM over SMS warid brings in SMS to PTCL V-Fone. Now all Warid customers can receive and send SMS to any V-PTCL number within Pakistan any day any time.

Every SMS sent to any V-PTCL number will be charged as per standard off-net SMS charges of the package plan opted with no charges on receiving the SMS. The facility is available for both Prepaid and Postpaid customers. There is no activation procedure for this facility.

Terms and Conditions

• All charges are exclusive of government taxes and levies including FED at 19.5%.
• 10% withholding tax is deducted on each recharge amount by ezeeLOAD & scratch card.
• Using SIM without proper Documentation is a Crime.

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.

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

A cross post from BA’s Brain Waves

PTCL steps up to give more to Lahorees. In their latest regional campaign for Lahore, they are offering three exciting packages for new subscribers.

PACKAGE 1 LAHOREE MAUJ MASTI – Pay Rs. 599/= per Month (tax exclusive)

• FREE unlimited Local Calls up to March 31, 2010
• FREE 900 Local Minutes from April, 2010
• FREE TELEPHONE SET on Installation
• Installation Charges at Rs. 500 i.e. discount of Rs. 250/-
• NO Line Rent
• Following VAS services free for 1 year
  • CLI
  • Call Waiting
  • Voice Messaging
  • Conference Call

PACKAGE 2 LAHOREE TIP TOP – Pay Rs. 1,599/= per Month (tax exclusive)

• FREE 500 Nationwide minutes
• FREE 500 Local minutes
• FREE TELEPHONE SET on Installation
• NO Line Rent
• Installation Charges at Rs. 500 i.e. discount of Rs. 250/-
• FREE DSL Modem
• 1MB Broadband
• Following VAS services free for first 3 months
  • CLI
  • Call Waiting
  • Voice Messaging
  • Conference Call

PACKAGE LAHOREE LUSH PUSH – Pay Rs. 2,499/= per Month (tax exclusive)

• FREE 500 Nationwide minutes
• FREE 500 Local minutes
• FREE 1200 International Minutes for USA, Canada, China (Landline + Mobile) & Australia and UK(Landline only)
• FREE TELEPHONE SET on Installation
• NO Line Rent
• Installation Charges at Rs. 500 i.e. discount of Rs. 250/-
• FREE DSL Modem
• 1MB Broadband
• Following VAS services free for first 3 months
  • CLI
  • Call Waiting
  • Voice Messaging
  • Conference Call

1911 Social Service is the latest VAS from Telenor. It brings you all the professional advice you might ever need via one portal on the go. If you are ever in need of any kind of expert medical or legal advice, guidance on how to chart your career path or any other information, simply dial 1911 (one-nine-one-one) to talk to our professional agents and get the personalized attention that you both need and deserve.

Social Services available:

• Tele Doctor: Talk to professional doctors who will ensure that your issues are resolved and appropriate advice is given.
• Tele Lawyer: Talk to professional lawyers to seek expert advice on any legal matter or browse recorded legal tips.
• Career Counseling: Talk to professional counselors to get guidance regarding your career, take an IVR based personality assessment test.
• Tele Genie: Talk to professional agents to get any sort of information or browse through amazing facts.

Calls to 1911 are charged @ Rs. 10 + Tax per 3 minutes.

Lesson from emerging telecom market – when revenues per user from voice are going down, find creative ways to encourage users to spend on other (data) services. And that’s what Indian cell phone companies have done by offering radio, sports and other entertainment and religious services over cell phones to rural areas, where such services had never reached before. ARPU comparison below is from a recent WSJ article on the mobile VAS market in India. And this dear readers, is the answer to the “suggest a title” mystery post. The woman in the picture was listening to radio on her cell phone.

Comedy and joke apps on iPhone meet their equivalent in Pakistan – Warid Comedy Corner is a new service through which you pay to listen jokes and comedy.

The service brings you renowned & distinguished comedians along with their hilarious stand-up comedy sessions and gut-busting jokes in both Urdu and Punjabi. Just dial 420 from your handset.

The cost is Rs. 3/minute. See the list of comedians here. A service like this can be a good break on a tough day … although it may not be “a quick solution to all your tensions & worries”, as claimed on Warid’s web site.

By the way the 420 reminds me of another service by a competitor :)

Missed call alerts services have been around for a while. Warid has introduced this service as a subscription now. And its available for prepaid users for just Rs. 10 + tax per month. Compare this with Telenor’s missed call alert service where service activation is free of charge for the post paid customers (All Packages) whereas all prepaid customers would have to pay a one time charge of Rs.50 (plus tax). Here’s more from Warid.

Now whenever your phone is busy‚ switched off or out of coverage‚ you can rest assured that as soon as you are back in coverage‚ you will be instantly informed about all your missed calls via SMS. With Missed Call Alerts‚ you can enjoy complete peace of mind knowing that you can miss calls but never lose out on them!

Warid now also offers the MCA service to its Prepaid Users and gives free service activation for first month.

Key Features:
1. Available on both Warid Prepaid and Postpaid subscriber
2. Instant delivery of Missed Call Alerts upon subscriber availability
3. Alerts carry calling party’s name if number is saved in subscriber’s phone book
4. One alert per missed call‚ ensuring ease of returning calls
5. Permanent storage of Missed Call Alerts for future reference

To activate the service, type ‘MCA ON’ in a SMS and send it to 129.
Charges:
- Monthly subscription for Postpaid Users: Rs.30+tax
- Monthly subscription for Prepaid Users: Rs. 10+tax.