Food Delivery in Pakistan - foodpanda.pk

After living like 2 years in United Kingdom and getting so much accquainted with justeat.co.uk, it was a step back at my home town Pakistan. Life was so easy back in UK you just make your order online and get it delivered at your door-steps. 

But Pakistan, is now no more lacking behind in the food-delivery business because I came across this website called www.foodpanda.pk they are just awesome!!! you just have to follow 3 steps. STEP 1: Select area of delivery, STEP 2: Dig into the menu's of the restaurants delivering in your area and STEP 3: Get it delivered to your DOOR-STEP - that is it... 
They are just a new-bee right now but what is the best part about them is I see every week different menu's and cuisines uploading on their portal.. Now, let's justeat through foodpanda.pk! 

Karachi Specific: Construction at Baloch Colony

That is our very famous Baloch Express-way, I think that is what it is called but whatever!? Not my concern. These days if you cross this place you find some construction is underway which must solve the commuting traffic in the long-run that's what i hope.

The other day I was passing by this place after work at around 5:30 and it took me 40 minutes to just cross this truck because the traffic was jam from KPT bridge (Imtiaz Supermarket) till here. It is three lane road but because of the construction it has become 2 lane road and above that if you can see the cement truck standing in the middle making it a single lane to cross it. I just laughed when I crossed the truck because the whole road was empty after that till Tipu Sultan Road signal.

Construction is a good-thing it will eventually solve the accidents on this roads or help the commuting traffic to go home hassle-free but working at the peak hour when cars at the maximum number on the road was just a joke that made me laugh.

Drive Safe guys!

Pakistan Zindabad.

tabPhotography

I come from the generation, in which I have seen things innovating and changing with time. I have seen the time when the camera's use to have films, after sometime floppy disk were used in camera, than digital camera. Today, the mobile phones are intact with the high definition cameras in them. The most recent is the tablets with camera feature in them. 

Recently, I was travelling in the Schengen states, and came across many people who are using tablets as the medium of taking the pictures. A tourist asked me to take the picture for him in Paris at a basilica, while holding the tablet in my hand and clicking the picture, the feeling was a bit odd to be very honest. I do not own any tablet probably that is the reason why. 

I have been fond of photography since I was a teen. Taking picture from my elders brothers floppy camera and later on with digital camera built my love for photography from there. With my first job saving I bought myself a beginner Canon 1000D and since than I am planning to upgrade it but it cost a lot of money but still I am using my Canon to click the pictures. 

Now, people do not carry camera with them because they have that utility in their mobile phones they are carrying with them most of time and now the tablet computers which people carry with them. It makes it easier for the user to arrange their library with the tablets. I do not oppose the tablets or mobile phones, but what I see is that this is affecting the love for photography in people, whereas it is letting people capture their memory at their ease. My argument is with the people who uses their tablet computers to take pictures or make long movies in the crowd while the people who are sitting behind them are just viewing from their tablet computer screen, that is annoying which the people who use them does not realize because they are busy doing what they are doing.

People should think about that there are many people behind the screen of their tablet and the tablet cover.

Ahsan

Image Courtesy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twitterchristel/7413893072/

#HeroTV #Pakistan - A TV Channel with NO INFORMATION online!

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging and so many other applications of Web2.0 we come across every day. Regardless of knowing what all they are meant for people just use it because they are considered to be the fastest way of information exchange. In Pakistan, if you consider the percentage of people using Facebook is lot more than any other Web 2.0 applications. I see people starting up their businesses through Facebook which is a great sign, it brings in the employment opportunities for the application developers and so on and so forth, but that is not I will be sharing today.

According to the article published in by Tribune in February 2012, there are 6 million Facebook users in Pakistan, in which 1.9 Million are women and remaining are men. 6 million is a good figure for the marketers to play its card right to target the right TG (Target Group), and that what we all see these. Very often we see the teasers on our SNS’s (Social Networking Sites) that tested by the marketers about the response of the product/ service by the TG.

Recently, we saw this teaser of new Channel called HeroTV on the Facebook featuring Veena Malik with an exotic make over and one tear falling from her tear A GREAT RESPONSE! No doubt in that, viewership of that teaser was insane, this obviously predicted that the show will be a HIT no matter how much it will be criticized. Than we heard the news that the Veena Malik is no more part of it and again today I saw that it is on air, which clears all the misconception that no matter how much you offend on SNSs you can never put the bad-man down in the country like Pakistan.

I am based in Glasgow, United Kingdom and today I saw a viral video of the show in which Veena Malik is crying and a Mualana Sahab is sitting in the show to answer the queries of people. Since, the time the teaser of this show was launched I tried to look for the company which owns this channel. I just could not find anything on Google. The channel does not even have a website, there Facebook page does not even have the company information that who are the owners and who are stakeholders of this channel. Then I came across the Express News TV page on the Wikipedia and found out that Hero TV is there collaboration, it states as, “EMG is now launching new channel named Hero Tv, an infotainment channel, from 5 June 2012”, (Wikipedia). It comes as a shock to me although I do not totally agree with the information available at the Wikipedia but I would like to ask anyone who can tell me that if this information is correct or not.

It is so ridiculous that people don’t even care about what is happening and how it is affecting our society, the major stakeholders of the society the people who can run the television channels are just busy in selling the spots and raising money and the advertisers are flowing money like anything just to have their product/service on TV. There is so many ways that an effective marketing can be done but the seth-sahab environment will always pull-back Pakistan and will never let the young talent to show their creativity.

In the end I would like to ask the users of SNS, how many of you people raised the question to know the people who are behind the channel HeroTV and expose them. We have the power to write and spread the information and that can change the stage play but only if we would want to do it.

Ahsan Mateen
8/9/2012

References

En.wikipedia.org (2008) Express News (Pakistan) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_News_(Pakistan) [Accessed: 6 Aug 2012].

Tribune.com.pk (2011) Over 6 million Pakistanis on Facebook! – The Express Tribune. [online] Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/330906/over-6-million-pakistanis-on-facebook/ [Accessed: 6 Aug 2012].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRwcACvlROc&feature=player_embedded

From Search Engine and Video Conferencing to Google It and Skype

Over the course of time, I have seen things changing; from generic name to the brand names are more emphasized by people because the brand name eliminates all the doubts related to the generic names. The strong brand names can be Pampers by P&G of which generic name is Diapers.

In the last decade with the technological or internet boom have changed and increased our vocabulary to define things. Being a baby-boomer we have lived 2 generations all together. We have seen the world without internet being easily available; we have seen mobile phone technology advancement and we have seen fast moving world.

The evolving words and their meaning have been a vital part of our dictionaries, an ordinary search engine Google is not itself a billion dollar organization but that is not we are emphasizing here. Google started by the two people in their garage is now a billion dollar organization. The journey started with a search engine and now that search engine has replaced the generic name to the brand itself, ‘Google it’. The company relies with the strong brand image which helps them to build the whole empire over a search engine.

Internet made it very convenient for its users to do video-conferencing. Mostly the popular instant messengers started with the option for video conferencing like most popular one were MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and etc. but Skype came in 2003 and now it has completely changed the perspective of Video Conferencing. Now, we say let’s Skype rather than video-conferencing.

The brand names are becoming big and bigger day by day. We are involving them in our daily lives and we are getting highly dependent on them but still we always have the alternatives in the internet business...

Google acquiring Motorola

The news of Google acquiring Motorola has taken a lot of hype since last August when Google announced to takeover the Mobile Manufacturing department of Motorola. Now, On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department would likely approve the $12.5 billion acquisition next week.

The Reuter's article, citing "two people with knowledge of the matter," reported that the European Union's approval would be "unconditional." Rivals had been pushing for restrictions to prevent Google from unfairly promoting its products.

Google have always been in making the software, the Android Operating System which was tested on the Motorola. The acquisition will help Google to develop its hardware side but with no as such knowledge and the expertise in the hardware side can also be a back-draw for the giant Google. 

Motorola, itself was never successful in the mobile phone industry because of their designs and features, after the acquisition Google would have to invest in the research and development of Motorola. It is a risky deal for Google.! 

The stock price of the Motorola might also increase as the approval of acquisition undertakes which will be beneficial for Google. 

I have crossed my fingers and have full faith in Google they can bring the trickle down effect in Motorola but you never know how the market evolves because there is a big difference in Software & Hardware...

Facebook IPO... A good option or not?

Initial public offerings often capture the public's attention, but they're not always good investments. A dollar invested in Amazon.com’s 1997 IPO would today be worth about $140. 

Facebook’s IPO would be the biggest ever by an Internet or technology company. The portal have the 800+ million user around the globe but still many of the emerging countries are not being counted in the league namely China; being the most populated country runs their own alternative to Facebook same with Russia. 

The uncertainty of the Facebook IPO is very much high because the average age user of the Facebook is 35 and we are only talking about the users here and it is not confirmed that those users will be interested in buying the stock of Facebook because it is used for fun in the emerging markets. 

My opinion over the Facebook initial public offering is that it is not a strong company as Google and it is like a bubble which is playing its card on the usage per user. Now, even the users are not comfortable with the policy they have privacy protection which gives an other turn to the Facebook company itself. 

For the complete story please check the video.