It is not clear whether #Twitter is down due to capacity issues or have been blocked again by PTA. However, we were still able to use it via Tweetdeck and other Social Media Dashboards

Update: It was down for a couple of hours. But now it is opening again

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The famous micro-blogging social network, Twitter was blocked across Pakistan today for failure to remove blasphemous content on request of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)

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PTA officials claim that Twitter Authorities failed to respond and take action regarding their reservations about publishing blasphemous content on the micro-blogging site. Instructions to all ISPs have been passed from Zonal Directors to immediately block Twitter.com and PTA is actively ensuring that its instructions are complied with.

Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Mr. Yaseen was interviewed by Dawn. He was quoted:

”We have been negotiating with them until last night, but they did not agree to remove the stuff, so we had to block it (Twitter)”

Instructions to block the site came from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology, said Yaseen.

”The ministry officials are still trying to make them (Twitter) agree, and once they remove that stuff, the site will be unblocked,” said Yaseen.

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Persona Weblounge Telenor’s first social media attempt was with their product ‘Persona Weblounge’, the service that allows you to take control of all your mobile communication needs by ensuring a continuous access to your Persona subscription via internet. It was with this product telenor interacted for the first time with bloggers and unveiled the service to them before the actual launch to stir up information on social media.

Along with this they also announced a blogging competition to appreciate the concern and efforts of bloggers. Eight bloggers participated and showed great muscle during contest. Neck to neck efforts was observed between two of them however we are glad to announce that Hamad Dar admin of Kool Muzone won Blackberry having maximum reference to Weblounge.

To spice up their product, telenor also launched weblounge blog/portal that has been updated regularly with weblounge event news and information. Here competition on Weblounge game was conducted in which more than thousand visitors participated. 10 lucky winners got gift hampers on completing all levels of the game.

Cricket Challenge Next attempt was to indulge in the cricket fever during the ICC Champions trophy with ‘Cricket Challenge’ a facebook game. It was based on predictions in which customers have to predict the winner of the upcoming cricket match. Points were allotted to the player on predicting the right answers. This experiment with social media engaged thousands of facebook users during ICC Champions Trophy who played. Farhan Raza from Karachi was the lucky winner of Blackberry however Mohammad Rizwan and Syed Raza (Both also from Karachi) got lucky in securing iPods.

EasyPaisa Then came guess the name win the game as a pre-launch teaser for easypaisa. The competition was run online in which people were asked to guess “What is EP”. More than 5000 visitors participated in the campaign and huge curiosity and excitement was observed in online social circles. Names of  seven winners who correctly answered “easypaisa” were announced last week and they will hopefully receive iPods soon.

The latest is again a competition over facebook and other online websites about the easypaisa TVC and questions based on it. Again more than 4000 visitors participated in the competition and provided easypaisa an impression on online social media. Winners for this are yet to be announced.

Overall, Telenor has used the social media channels effectively to promote and enhance their brand. They have started a trend which other companies will follow.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVXKI506w-E]

What do you say, Is Social Media a Fad?

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mobi2weet comes as another such service. To register all you got to do is SMS, ‘reg your_id your_password (twitter userid and password) to 03014402764 or 03314805098 (wish they had opted for easier numbers).

Some mobi2weet commands:

1. <message> (type your message directly)
2. @twitterID <message> (reply to someone’s tweet)
3. D twitterID <message> (sends a direct message to a user)
4. ON (turns twitter notifications on)
5. OFF (turns notifications off)
6. inv <mobile number> (to invite your friends to use our app)
7. help <message> (to contact customer support)

mobi2weet comes with a feature to updates off or on for specific users. To turn updates off or on for specific users, text ‘OFF twitterID’ or ‘ON twitterID’ for turning off and turning on updates for a specific user, respectively

It is a free service. However, network SMS charges are applicable.

Update:

oAuth has been succesfully  implemented on mobi2weet. Now, your passwords are absolutely secured.

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This post takes a look at how are the major Telcos contributing to the Independence Day Celebrations.

PTCL, the national land-line operator is giving away cash prizes on new land-line connections this August.

At the broadband front PTCL has come up with another Independence Day offer, giving away laptops on new broadband connections.

For Pakistanis abroad, LocalPhone is offering 50% off their regular rate: To mark 62 years of Pakistani independence you’ll be able to call any landline or mobile in Pakistan for just 3.95¢ per minute from 18:00 GMT on Thursday 13th until 18:00 GMT on Friday 14th August (midnight to midnight in Pakistan).

Mobilink has not come up with any offer/promotion but celebrating in its own way, their website have got an Independence Avator. Patriotic song from their last year’s Independence campaing ‘Aye Watan’ plays in the background and the cursor gets green with crescent and stars.

Ufone no offer/promotions to celebrate Independence. Should we expect an Independence TV Commercial from them :).

Telenor, although arranged bloggers meet-up in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to launch the Persona Weblounge, but nothing particular for Independence Celebrations.

They could have scored by launching the Persona Weblounge on 14th August.

Warid, once again nothing special for August Celebrations.

Wateen, well at one end they slashed on their rates but at the other downsized -  reportedly fired around 500 employees. No time for celebrations here.

Zong, the china mobile company could have come up with something on pak-china friendship but ‘SAB KEH DOU’ squad have nothing to say this August.

UPDATE:

Telenor has started on its Independence Campaign on the evening of 13th. The focal points of the activity will be Lahore. You can be a part of ‘Telenor Float’ which will travel on the roads of Lahore. Karachi would be having Telenor’s Azadi Carvan on Tariq road. Hyderabad Gym khana would be having a Family Concert by Telenor. In Rawalpindi touch-up points will be palced in different parts of the city.

Warid has come up with a not so popular offer (not highlighted properly on thier website) is an Azadi Package for Rs. 2999. Offer includes a Trend mobile phone along with an exclusive 0321 Code Warid post paid Sim with 75 free minutes every month and Rs 500 security waiver.

Wateen, Independence gift comes on 14th August, waiving 60 percent on Subscription charges.

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The device was announced at a glamorous press event where two European models brought the phone at the venue and the Finnish First Secretary, Deputy Head of Mission H.E Miia Rainne handed over the phone to the GM Nokia Pakistan Imran Khalid Mahmood. Also present at the ceremony was Henri Mattila, Head of Category Marketing, Nseries Middle East and Africa.

Delivering on Nokia’s vision and thought leadership based on mobile convergence, Nokia Nseries has aimed to present the best in class mobile computers to its internet savvy consumers. Today, we take great pride in introducing the newest addition to Nokia Nseries – Nokia N97. We have combined the most-advanced smartphone capabilities in this device to enhance the internet entertainment for our consumers and at the same time ease-of use with one-touch access to their favourite online content.

Imran Khalid Mahmood

GM Nokia Pakistan

The Nokia N97 is Nokia’s first device to feature a personalizable home screen, which can be customized with a range of widgets which bring live information directly to the device. These widgets include key social networking destinations like Facebook and Hi5, news services like the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters, as well as shopping and weather information.

The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with the Ovi Store, which offers easy access to applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more. Ovi Store has paid and free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Paramount Pictures, Facebook and Qik, as well as a selection of Twitter applications.

The Nokia N97 is an important step towards our vision of delivering a highly personalized Internet experience. Fuelled by a multitude of music, maps, games, media and applications via Ovi, the Nokia N97 transforms the Internet into an experience that’s completely tailored to the tastes and interests of its owner.

Henri Mattila

Head of Category Marketing

Nseries Middle East and Africa

Entertainment Ensured

The Nokia N97 also has direct access to the huge catalogue of music in the Nokia Music Store. With multiple high-speed connectivity options and 32GB of storage (up to 48GB using a microSD card) it is possible to directly download and store tens of thousands of songs on the handset. And you can listen to your favourite music on the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-905, which Nokia also launched today. This headset brings crystal clear sound, eliminates background noise, and is the ideal accessory for listening to music and making calls on the Nokia N97, as well as being compatible with a diverse range of other mobile and music devices.

High-quality images and video clips at 30 frames per second (fps) can be captured using the 5 megapixel camera with integrated Carl Zeiss optics. Images can also be geo-tagged to specific locations and shared instantly with friends or uploaded online via Ovi Share, Twitter or Flickr.

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