During his tenure at Nokia, Arif has shown consistently remarkable performance and has made substantial contribution to company’stop-line as well as bottom-line growth. He played a key role in taking Nokia brand to the next level in Pakistan, helping the overall telecom sector to flourish in the process as well. Under his able leadership, Nokia has achieved several notable milestones in Pakistan, most important of them being record-breaking sales last year. As Head of Sales, Arif has not just been developing sales strategies and having them implemented to achieve ambitious targets but also has a clear understanding of the market in which Nokia operates. With his strong analytical skills, Arif is well-versed with ins and outs of Nokia business. Considered a man of action, Arif has full command over critical business areas putting him in the right spot to achieve flawless execution and ensure that everyone in his team is on the same page when comes to understanding overall company vision and mission.

Sharing his thoughts on this achievement, Arif Shafique said,

“I am pleased with being assigned the task to manage one of the biggest Brands in Pakistan.  I’m certain that with the support of my team we will achieve some great new milestones. Nokia is the most loved brand in Pakistan and we will continue to meet and exceed expectations of Pakistani consumers. Our contribution to the industry growth and environmental initiatives in the Country will continue while we do our business of CONNECTING PEOPLE”.

Arif started his career in 1991 from Paktel Limited in the field of Direct Sales which proved to be a stepping stone in his career. Paktel being the leading telecom company of its time in Pakistan gave Arif an adequate level of exposure to Pakistan’s Telecom Industry and helped him learn what drives it. He later worked at senior positions with a number of leading organizations such as Mobil Askari Lubricants and APL – a global transportation and logistics company in shipping and eventually joined Nokia Pakistan in 2007.

AOL not only with TechCrunch have also purchased all the websites under TechCrunch’s network which include MobileCrunch and CrunchGear. In my personal opinion AOL have to pay a huge amount for this deal, yet we have no details on the purchase price officially, but Business Insider is said to report that the deal was made successful for around $25 Million.

For further details of the deal you can read the press release below. Thanks Gizmodo

AOL TO ACQUIRE TECHCRUNCH NETWORK OF SITES

Leading Authority on Tech News Will Expand AOL’s Growing Offering of World-Class, Audience-Relevant Content

San Francisco, CA, September 28, 2010 – AOL Inc. [NYSE: AOL] today announced that it has agreed to acquire TechCrunch, Inc., the company that owns and operates TechCrunch and its network of websites dedicated to technology news, information and analysis. TechCrunch and its associated properties and conferences will join the AOL Technology Network while retaining their editorial independence, further bolstering AOL’s position as one of the world’s leading providers of high-quality, tech-oriented content. The announcement will be made on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, CA.

Founded by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch operates a global network of dedicated properties from Europe to Japan, as well as vertically-oriented websites, including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase. The TechMeme Leaderboard ranks TechCrunch as the No. 1 source of breaking tech news online, followed by AOL’s Engadget.*

“Michael and his colleagues have made the TechCrunch network a byword for breaking tech news and insight into the innovative world of start-ups, and their reputation for top-class journalism precisely matches AOL’s commitment to delivering the expert content critical to this audience,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL. “TechCrunch and its team will be an outstanding addition to the high-quality content on the AOL Technology Network, which is now a must-buy for advertisers seeking to associate their brands with leading technology content and its audience.”

Heather Harde, Chief Executive Officer of TechCrunch, said: “TechCrunch and AOL share a motivating passion for quality technology news and information, and we’re delighted about becoming part of the AOL family. This represents a compelling opportunity to extend the TechCrunch brand while complementing the great work of sites like Engadget and Switched. Our contributors, and our audiences, can look to the future with excitement about what we can build when we have the significant resources of AOL behind us.”

Michael Arrington, Founder and Co-Editor of TechCrunch, said: “Tim Armstrong and his team have an exciting vision for the future of AOL as a global leader in creating and delivering world-class content to consumers, be it through original content creation, partnerships or acquisitions. I look forward to working with everyone at AOL as we build on our reputation for independent tech journalism and continue to set the agenda for insight, reviews and collaborative discussion about the future of the technology industry.”

TechCrunch also hosts industry-leading conferences and events, including The Disrupt series, The Crunchies Awards and various meet-ups worldwide. These conferences bring together industry innovators, entrepreneurs and financing sources to exchange ideas, forge new relationships and discuss the current and future industry trends.

“Engagement with thought leaders is as important to AOL as our engagement with our contributors, audiences, publishers and advertisers, and TechCrunch’s conferences and websites will give us a promising, additional springboard to join and amplify these conversations. We’re committed to quality in everything we do at AOL, and look forward to working with Heather, Michael and the TechCrunch team to extend the brand,” said David Eun, President of AOL Media and Studios.

The AOL Technology Network consists of AOL’s tech-oriented properties including Engadget, the Web magazine about everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics; Switched, which covers the intersection of the digital world with entertainment, sports, art, fashion and lifestyle; TUAW, the unofficial Apple weblog; and DownloadSquad, the weblog about downloadable software and other computer subjects. The AOL Technology Network ranks in the top five for tech news according to comScore Media Metrix, August 2010 data, and leads the top five in average time spent and average visits per user.

This acquisition will further AOL’s strategy to become the global leader in sourcing, creating, producing and delivering high-quality, trusted, original content to consumers. TechCrunch will remain headquartered in San Francisco, CA, as a wholly owned AOL unit. Deal terms were not disclosed.

At its heart, Apple TV is a cloud based media server that syncs (transfers) songs and videos from iTunes based computers via a blisteringly fast draft-N Wi-Fi link or high speed Ethernet connection. The device available in Pakistan also features a 160GB hard disk, so one has the luxury of streaming all contents either directly from the internet or from the built-in hard disk drive.

Streaming the content from internet is possible, courtesy the iTunes Pakistan Store, which can now provide you with movies, TV shows, podcasts, photos, YouTube videos, and other such contents on your own TV. Connectivity on the iTV is provided via HDMI cables, optical digital output, USB and Ethernet. Minimalistic Apple menus which are intuitive are straight-forward operations ensure that everything goes smooth.

Apple iTV Flaws :

On the downside, Apple doesn’t play well with others. The TV can’t show DivX, XviD or WMV files natively. Apple’s definition of HD also leaves something to be desired, although honestly the 720p resolution is enough ripped DVDs and also for the type of content available locally. However if one were to spend a couple of thousands rupees extra, the price point is close enough to PS3 which can do all this and even can playback Blu-Ray media formats easily.

All in all, if aren’t Apple fan with simple tastes, you’re going to love it. If you’re and audiophile/videophile and want a more versatile device, then its better you stay away from iTV.

Apple iTV Video Formats :

H.264 video upto 720p, 30 frames per-second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, and .mov file format. MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second. Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats. Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format (source Apple)

Apple iTV Audio Formats :

HE-AAC (VI), AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple lossless, AIFF, and Wav; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound passes-through (source Apple)

via Geeky Gadgets | Gizmodo

This day Panasonic Japan launched a web camera [TY-CC10W] that can be used for Skype video calling into VIERA TV models. According to Panasonic the user just have to plug-in the camera into TV’s USB 2.0 port and experience your loved ones on 1280 x 720 resolution screen. The camera already comes with a built-in sensor and a microphone. The plans to roll out this device on 11th of June for a price tag of $190.

via CrunchGear

With a goal to eliminate this hard ship, a fresh designed concept has been proposed by Ez Tik. A strap is being tied with every battery which helps to replace the dead battery, more over know you can also easily identify between the fresh and old batteries, if the strip is plucked or still intact.

via Tuvie

In order to avail this golden opportunity all you have to do is visit their facebook fanpage enter your desired domain name. The original cost for the domain is $7.99 (1 year subscription) which you can get for just $1 now, so hurry up !!

Note: Its limited to one per credit card, and this offer is for the first year only the renew charges will be applied the regular one i.e $7.99. Promotion expires on 31st of May 2010.

via FatWallet | WebTrickz

This guy is named Asif, the popularity is shown by Alexia Tsotsis from San Francisco Weekly quotes to Asif:

“Asif, if we ever need a cab in Pakistan, we promise you’ll be the first person we’ll call.”

Asif Hussain Shah still does not have any homepage on Google, but still if you search his name, the first link points to some video hosted on Youtube about his Urdu book.

via Digital Inspiration