Tag: Software

  • Pakistan earned $1,523 million by providing IT services to various countries: report

    Pakistan earned $1,523 million by providing IT services to various countries: report

    Pakistan has earned US$1,523.280 million by providing different Information Technology (IT) services to various countries during the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2022-23, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

    This represents a growth of 2.38 per cent as compared to US$1,487.865 million earned during the same months of the fiscal year 2021-22.

    During July-January (2022-23), the export of computer services climbed by 2.87 per cent as it increased from US$1,191.575 million last fiscal year to US$1,225.730 million this year.

    The exports of software consultancy services saw an increase of 5.57 per cent, from US$430.309 million to US$454.283 million while the exports of hardware consultancy services also rose by 158.07 per cent from US$1.357 million to US$3.502 million.

    According to APP, the export and import of computer software-related services surged by 11.89 per cent, from US$312.484 million to US$349.635 million whereas the exports of repair and maintenance services increased to US$1.594 million from US$0.770 million.

    The export of telecommunication services also witnessed an increase of 0.60 per cent as these went up from US$293.180 million to US$294.950 million during the months under review, the data revealed.

    Among the telecommunication services, the export of call centre services rose by 2.30 per cent during the period as its exports increased from US$118.669 million to US$121.398 million whereas the export of other telecommunication services decreased by 0.55 per cent, from US$174.511 million to US$173.552 million during the period under review, the PBS data revealed.

    Moreover, the exports of other computer services witnessed a decline of 6.70 per cent going down from US$446.655 million to US$416.716 million.

    Meanwhile, the export of information services during the period under review declined by 16.40 per cent going down from US$3.110 million to US$2.600 million.

  • WhatsApp now lets you hide profile photo, last seen from specific contacts

    WhatsApp now lets you hide profile photo, last seen from specific contacts

    Last year, the Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp began developing a new privacy setting that would allow users to hide their profile photos, last seen, and about information from specific people in their contact lists.

    It was only available for beta version users, but the company has now announced that it will be accessible to all iPhone and Android users worldwide.

    Users can now show their WhatsApp profile photo, last seen, and About information to anyone in their contacts list except those they choose to keep out.

    Previously, users could choose between three privacy settings for their profile photo, last seen, and About information: Everyone, My Contacts, and Nobody. According to GSM Arena, these are met by a third alternative named ‘My contacts except…,’ which can also be used for Status privacy.

    However, just like read receipts, if someone doesn’t share their last seen with others, they won’t be able to see others. The only difference is that the latter will always remain operational for group chats, even if they’ve turned it off.

    To test this new privacy control, users can go to WhatsApp’s Settings > Account > Privacy menu on an iPhone or Android device.

    WhatsApp also announced some group calling features, including the ability to mute others during a group call and send messages to particular users, in addition to new privacy control. When someone joins a group call off-screen, a banner appears.

    The latest WhatsApp beta update also includes an admin approval feature, which allows group admins to accept or deny requests from people who want to join via hyperlink.

  • Here’s why iOS 16 is going to be the finest upgrade ever

    Here’s why iOS 16 is going to be the finest upgrade ever

    On paper, Apple’s iOS 16, the iPhone’s next big software upgrade, appears to be innovative and super secure. iOS 16, which was previewed at Apple’s annual conference, would bring enhancements to communication, personalisation, and privacy. This contains significant upgrades to the lock screen, Messages app, and photos on your iPhone.

    The developer beta for iOS 16 is already available, with a public beta version expected in July. iOS 16 will be released this fall, most likely alongside the much-anticipated iPhone 14. The new software is also compatible with iPhone 8 and subsequent models.

    “Embarrassing errors are a thing of the past,” Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said as he unveiled three of the Messages app’s most requested additions.

    For starters, you’ll be able to edit sent texts in iOS 16. So, if you find a typo after sending a message, you’ll be able to correct it later. In the message’s status, a small “edited” shows.

    Next, and perhaps the best feature, you can recall a sent message right away. If you mistakenly send an incomplete message, you can utilise the Undo Send feature to prevent it from being read, making your friends and family think you’re crazy.

    Finally, you may flag unread messages and threads. When you don’t have time to answer a message right away but want to make sure you don’t forget about it later, this could be a useful tool.

    The lock screen is one of the first things you see when you open your iPhone, especially if it has Face ID. The iPhone’s lock screen receives the most significant improvement yet with iOS 16. To edit your lock screen, press and hold. You can swipe through a variety of different styles.

    Each design alters the background photo’s colour filter as well as the typeface on the lock screen, ensuring that everything is in sync. This appears to be Apple’s response to Google’s Material You, which debuted with Android 12.

    You can also change the typefaces for the time and date, as well as add lock screen widgets like a calendar, temperature, and activity rings. On the Apple Watch lock screen, the widgets are similar to complications.

    You can also create many personalised lock screens with various widgets and switch between them with a simple swipe. There’s even a photo-shuffle feature that changes the photographs on your lock screen automatically.

    An always-on display was one feature we thought Apple would provide. It’s a feature found on practically all Android phones, as well as the Apple Watch. There’s a chance it’ll be released alongside the iPhone 14.

    As alerts might sometimes obscure the photo on your lock screen, iOS 16 pushes notifications to the bottom of your screen. Instead of being gathered into a list, they show as a vertical carousel as you receive them. This not only looks better, but it should also make one-handed use of your iPhone much easier.

    Another issue with notifications is addressed in iOS 16. You may receive a series of notifications from one app in a sequence, such as the score of a basketball game. Instead of experiencing a succession of interruptions, a new tool for developers called Live Activities makes it easy to remain on top of things happening in real-time from your lock screen.

    Sporting events, workouts, and even the progress of an Uber ride should be easier to monitor with Live Activities.

    Visual Look Up in iOS 15 analyses photographs and can recognise objects such as flora, landmarks, and pets. This is taken to the next level with iOS 16. You may remove a photo’s subject. Interestingly, It’s just a tap-and-hold tool for removing the background from a photo.

    Safety Check is a programme that tries to assist people who are in violent relationships. It’s a new service that is designed to assist those who are in violent situations. It allows you to check and change who has access to your iPhone’s location information, passwords, messages, and other apps.

    Several changes have been made to the focus mode. The first uses widgets and lock screen appearance to apply Focus behaviours. So you could have one lock screen for when Work Focus is turned on and another for when you’re working out.

    Moreover, Apple has added Focus filters to apps that apply your iPhone’s Focus mode. For example, depending on which Focus mode is active, you can limit which tabs are displayed in Safari.

  • Twitter officially declares adding an edit button

    Twitter officially declares adding an edit button

    The legendary “edit button,” which Twitter users have been demanding for so long that it’s become a cliché, is finally becoming a real thing. Twitter has now officially declared that it is working on allowing users to modify tweets after they have been posted on the platform.

    The aim is to enable users to correct any mistakes or errors in a tweet without losing any existing replies, retweets, or favourites. Twitter said Tuesday that it will begin testing the capability with Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming months.

    https://twitter.com/TwitterComms/status/1511456430024364037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1511457595181068294%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fbusiness-61003270

    In a post on Tuesday, Jay Sullivan, the company’s VP of consumer development, remarked that editing has been “the most requested Twitter feature for many years.” Since last year, the corporation has been studying how to implement the function “safely.”

    In the past, Twitter’s former CEO, Jack Dorsey, was hesitant to implement such a function.

    Back in 2018, Dorsey even expressed concerns during a discussion, that an edit button may allow users to modify the meaning of a tweet after it has been widely shared, and he claimed in 2020 that Twitter would probably never incorporate the option.

  • Apple’s new iOS update to fix battery drain issues for iPhones, iPads

    Apple is rolling out a new series of software updates for its gadgets. This update includes both iOS 15.4.1 and iPadOS 15.4.1 for all compatible iPhones and iPads.

    This may seem like a small update with no new features, as the number incrementation clearly suggests.

    However, it claims to increase something that we are sure is quite essential to the majority of Apple users: battery life. The recent reports state that installing this patch will resolve the battery drain issues that were supposedly triggered with the release of iOS 15.4 just a short while ago.

    A workaround for Braille devices (a touch reading and writing method for blind users) becoming unresponsive while navigating text or showing an alert is also included, as well as a fix for Made for iPhone hearing devices (made for Apple) losing connection within select third-party apps.

    Other, unspecified bug fixes and performance improvements may also be included, but the major hype is all about the fix for battery drain issues.

    Read more: Is the iPhone SE 2022 a major flop?

    If your iPhone or iPad becomes extremely hungry following the iOS or iPadOS 15.4 version, you should go to Settings and install iOS 15.4.1 or iPadOS 15.4.1 which should be available for all devices by now.

  • Pakistan IT exports cross $1.5bn for the first time

    Pakistan IT exports cross $1.5bn for the first time

    The Pakistan Information Technology (IT) industry has experienced $1.5 billion in exports for the first time. In March, the industry received the highest export remittances of $213 million.

    According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP, IT and IT-enabled services recorded a huge increase of $1.512 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2020-21.

    The industry observed an increase of $459 million, or 43 percent in comparison to the previous period in which the IT exports stood at $1.512 billion.

    The handsome growth in IT exports was driven through software consultancy, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), e-commerce, telecommunication services, etc.

    Moreover, the Pakistani IT industry capitalized on the worst-hit market of India that is also a leading IT service exporter, but because of the COVID-19, the global industry has consulted experts in Pakistan.

    Pakistani software houses are getting a great influx of orders from countries like the US, UK, EU, and the East Easter or Gulf countries because they have a high demand for IT services.

    The country could further increase the exports from $2 billion to $3-3.5 billion in the next financial year if the stakeholders including software houses, the government, and concerned authorities develop an aggressive plan while minimising impediments in the IT sector.

    Furthermore, as per the old policies of the government, the IT sector was exempted from the tax network but the government has decided to reverse the decision.

    Companies are concerned about the immoral practices of government departments, and the recent raids on the IT companies from the intelligence agency also created a fearful working environment for the other software houses, which are considering setting up their offshore offices in different countries.

    On the other side, revenue experts said the IT industry with handsome balance sheets should contribute to support the ailing economy with taxes at a time when the industry is witnessing a peak time.

  • Software installed to keep Punjab Police’s Rs119b annual budget under check

    The finance wing of the Punjab Police has presented a comprehensive financial management software to stop corruption and embezzlement of funds in police accounts.

    Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) helped in the development and installation of the software. This kind of software has not been deployed before in any state-run department in Pakistan.

    The software will monitor the budget of Rs119 billion that is allocated to police annually. The initiative was taken keeping in view the previous mega scams of corruption in police accounts when the district accountants had withdrawn funds worth hundreds of millions of rupees and misused them for personal gains.

    Recently, a similar scandal has embarrassed Punjab Police when an inquiry panel of senior police officers proposed disciplinary action against a senior officer following a mega scam of Rs340 million in the accounts of the traffic police department.

    With this new software, the accounts will be made online, giving access to the Regional Police Officers (RPOs), District Police Officers (DPOs) and the Finance wing at the Central Police Office (CPO) to keep monitoring of the funds withdrawn by the accountants of the concerned districts.

    Meanwhile, according to a police handout, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab, Shoaib Dastgir said that police station is a basic unit in police department and officers should play a supervisory role for improving working and prestige of this basic unit so that problems of citizens may be resolved by the timely provision of justice.