News

TeliaSonera News 4

Kcell News 10

Photo Reportage

Connect Kazakhstan–2012: in Search of New Methods 6

Kcell is a Leader Among Central Asian Mobile Operators 12

What Determines Quality Connection 20

Eurovision–2012: Insight 36

page 6

page 14

page 18

Interview

TeliaSonera in Central Asia: International Experience and Local Expertise 14

Digest 18

Market

A Continuation of Success 24

App Store 2 28

Person

JuJutsu in Kazakhstan: The Path of the Warrior for Spiritual Victory 30

Thoughts Aloud 34

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News

TeliaSonera Opens IT Development Center in Estonia

TeliaSonera is creating a new IT Development Center in Tallinn, Estonia. The center´s main focus will be on improving customers’ experience in sales centers, customer service and web interfaces using leading IT solutions

Reporting on the Speech from Lars Nyberg, President and CEO of TeliaSoneraon the Foreign Investors' Council and his address to Kazakhstan's President

The Nordic and the Baltic region is TeliaSonera's home market. Few other companies have such a large proportion of their activity based around the Baltic Sea. TeliaSonera is now involved in the Baltic Sea Initiative, a project focusing on the environment, youth and the sustainable growth of the Baltic Sea region. The project gives TeliaSonera a unique opportunity to contribute to promoting the work around a sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region, the hub around which more than 20 million of TeliaSonera's customers live and work.

“Our new IT DevelOpmenT CenTer is all about improving our customers’ experience in the major aspects based on state-of-the-art ways of meeting each and every customer with leading IT solutions. Our goal is to always give our customers a world class service experience,” says Claes Nycander, CTO and SVP Mobility Services at TeliaSonera.

The center opens on May 30. Twenty employees are already on board, and another 20—30 people will be recruited. Creating the center is an important step for TeliaSonera and business area Mobility Services’ multi market operation strategy in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Besides providing world class customer experience, the center will also increase efficiency.

TeliaSonera — is the Main Partner for the Sustainable Seas Initiative

“The BalTIC Sea regIOn is very important for TeliaSonera. We would like to contribute to concrete actions to develop the region towards a sustainable future. Along with the Baltic Sea Initiative, we would like to draw attention to the challenges we faced and the efforts and the positive results which have been attained,” says Cecilia Edström, Senior Vice President of TeliaSonera.

The most important ambassador for the Sustainable Seas Initiative in the Baltic Sea region is the brig Tre Kronor af Stockholm, a unique 46 meter long vessel built in 2008 according to the original built in the 1850s. In July and August, the ship will visit 10 ports in Sweden to create a focus

around the Baltic Sea's future development and sustainability.

“The Sustainable Seas Initiative together with TeliaSonera will contribute in promoting the Baltic Sea environment and develop young people's cooperation and leadership in the Baltic region. We believe that it is through technological innovation and the potential for entrepreneurship that we can achieve the targets,” says Göran Lindstedt, CEO, Briggen Tre Kronor.

The international part of the Initiative is planned to begin in late August when the ship’s godmother H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria attends a seminar on Kastellholmen in Stockholm. The Brig will then continue on to Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Hamburg and Copenhagen.

4G: We Support Equal Conditions for All Players in the Market

In laTe may, The 25Th meeting of the Foreign Investors' Council (FIC) was held in Astana with the participation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main theme of the jubilee meeting was our country's development as an international trade, logistics, business and financial hub.

Lars Nyberg, President of TeliaSonera gave a report at the FIC, where he presented some numbers. According to the head of the holding, Kcell has made close to 2 billion dollars in investments in Kazakhstan between 1998 and 2011. Over the same period, there have been another 2 billion dollars paid in the form of various taxes and mandatory payments to the state treasury.

Early this year, TeliaSonera invested $1.5 million into buying out the remaining 49% of Kcell shares from Kazakhtelecom, JSC. Kcell has demonstrated substantial and sustained growth over many years. In 2011, the company experienced double-digit growth in net sales volume, and its subscriber base reached 11 million. In 2012, the rate of growth in net sales was less,

but that was expected, according to Mr. Nyberg, being a result of growing competition and lower consumer prices on the domestic cellular services market, which is good for subscribers.

After Kcell was issued 3G licences, it began rapidly expanding its 3G network. Currently, close to 2 million 3G-enabled devices use Kcell's network. Every month, approximately 4.5 million Kcell subscribers use mobile Internet.

Mr. Nyberg highlighted that he sees great potential in the development of mobile Internet services in Kazakhstan. He used Sweden as an example: in that country, based on TeliaSonera forecasts, within five years the average smartphone user will use 10 times as much data transfer traffic as today.

The President of TeliaSonera expressed his gratitude for how quickly measures were taken by the Kazakhstan government after the request to accelerate the introduction of 3G. This time, Mr. Nyberg took advantage of the high podium at the FIC to address the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Transport and

Communications with a request to issue licences for 4G cellular operators as quickly as possible on the same open and fair conditions that were applied when the 3G licences where obtained.

The Foreign Investors' Council, created by the personal initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a unique organization. Every year, all the major businessmen who invested vast sums into our country's economy have the opportunity to meet with the government in order to discuss any issues that may be of interest to them. Over the 14 years of the existence of the Council, Nursultan Nazarbayev, along with representatives of the world's leading companies, brought up such topics as fighting corruption, improving the country's investment image, developing Kazakhstani content, modernizing businesses and much more. Over all these years, there has been a steady flow of foreign capital. Thus, 70% of the total volume of foreign investment in Central Asia was attracted by Kazakhstan. This has amounted to nearly 150 billion dollars.

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ConneCt KazaKhstan–2012 took place under the umbrella of the V Astana Economic Forum, attracting more than a thousand conference attendees and guests. The main purpose of the Forum was to highlight the latest innovative solutions and trends in the telecommunication industry.

According to Askar Zhumagaliyev, Minister of Transport and Communications, a lot of attention is given to developing the ICT sector in Kazakhstan as information communications today impact all spheres of life. The head of one of the most innovation-intensive agencies gave the following statistics: “…Our country is 38th worldwide in mobile penetration; Internet penetration exceeds 50%; in accordance with the UN: 38th in e-government development, 2nd worldwide on the ‘e-participation’ index, and 14th in online services.” As for the implementation of LTE (4G), the Minister said that a pilot network deployment and testing have been planned in Astana and Almaty for the current year, and next year Kazakhstan will implement 4G technology in the regional centers.

The event program included two conferences: Connect Ideas and Connect Digital, as well as the Connect EXPO exhibition. The topic of the Connect Ideas conference was innovative technologies as drivers of sustainability and economic growth, particularly investing in the information and communication technology sector. The second day of the conference was devoted to ICT innovation in business.

We asked some attendees to share their impressions on the event.

niklas henricson, head of communicaTions of Teliasonera Business serVices diVision, sweden

— in your view, why do operators, providers and ordinary people need such conferences?

— Such conferences are extremely important as they are the place where communication sector experts working in various areas can exchange their knowledge, experience and information. Despite the fact we represent a country with highly developed technology, we are also learning, adopting new services and approaches. The topic of today’s meeting is information communication technologies, and all countries participating in this conference

— Kazakhstan, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Sweden, and Finland

— are all part of one global informational network. Our colleagues’ experience helps us create innovative services that would seem to have no relation to mobile communication. Today’s meeting is a move forward in the search for new methods.

— what do you think about the development of mobile technologies in Kazakhstan and quality connection? what connection did you use?

— As I am a representative of TeliaSonera, it is quite logical that I would use the services of Kcell mobile operator (laughing). Today we cannot even

imagine our life without a mobile phone. You can forget your wallet at home, but in case you forget your mobile phone, you are sure to return for it. Mobile communication has become an integral part of our life, allowing us to be available all the time, regardless of where we are. During the time I spent in Astana as a participant of this conference, I could receive e-mails, visit the interesting websites, make calls and send text messages to family and friends. In short, except for changing time zones, I basically continued working in Stockholm. And this is how communication quality is determined, when a mobile phone is your friend and helper, and does not cause you any annoyance and disappointment.

saken sarsenoV, Vice-minisTer of TransporT and communicaTion of The repuBlic of kazakhsTan

— Mr. sarsenov, in your opinion, what are the benefits of these conferences?

— Famous IT specialists came to this forum, and that is extremely important for our sector as not only we adopt each others’ experience, we also introduce ourselves. Kazakhstan is an active participant of the global information society development process in the world. We very clearly understand that Kazakhstan needs to develop in the line of ICT, absorbing advanced technologies. From this viewpoint the Forum is a great opportunity to determine further telecommunication technology progress.

— what are general challenges of the sector?

— We welcome all challenges. It is important for us to keep up with the world leaders. The main thing is that we do not go through the whole path of ICT development, we are insured from repeating errors. Besides, we have the opportunity to take all the best and most advanced of technologies.

Niklas Henricson

Connect Kazakhstan-2012:in Search of New Methods

Connect Kazakhstan –2012 Eurasian Forum of Information and Communication Technologies was held in late May in Astana. For two days, experts from the USA, Lithuania, Germany, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Canada, and their colleagues from Kazakhstan discussed the latest advances in information technologies, talked about the development of Internet in Kazakhstan, and shared experience with one another. Understanding the importance of such forums, Kcell became a sponsor and actively participated in its organization

PhOTO REPORTAGE

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Connect EXPO–2012 Exhibition Conducted simultaneously with Connect Kazakhstan–2012, the Connect EXPO–2012 Exhibition was a telling example of the levelof ICT development

the latest achievements of local and foreign digital technology manufacturers were represented here, from computers to non-contact bank payments.

The opening of the Exhibition was preceded by breakfast with Mr. Askar Zhumagaliyev, Minister of Transport and Communications, during which he welcomed the key market players, wished them success and highlighted the main areas of the event.

The stand of the International IT University presenting the ‘National Keyboard’ innovative project was of

special attention of the Minister. This project gives one the opportunity to type in both Kazakh and Russian without switching the keyboard, allowing increased typing speeds.

At the exhibition one could get more than just familiarised with the new products offered by the sector, but test them out as well, the 3D TV-sets for instance, or check their knowledge of the state or English language with the help of the SozKomek 4.0, an electronic Kazakh-Russian-English dictionary.

No one was left untouched by Kcell’s new products.

The mimes, invited to the event, entertained the exhibition guests and participants and refused no one’s wish to take pictures with them.

Several important events were simultaneously happening in Astana around the date of May 20th, including the 25th plenary meeting of the Foreign Investors’ Council in which Mr. Lars Nyberg, President of TeliaSonera took part. Despite his busy schedule, Mr. Nyberg accepted the invitation to attend the exhibition and was happy about the way Kcell was represented. ●

nurlan izmailoV, chairman of The Board of zerde holding

— Mr. izmailov, what are the issues the sector is facing and how are they being solved?

— First of all, it is the absence of venture financing of seed investments that impedes our companies and young entrepreneurs to rise from a start-up to a legal entity of a service company. One of our main tasks is therefore to liquidate the so-called “Death Valley”, a situation when idea dies, having not succeed in implementation. We intend to liquidate this stage in our ICT development, and organize venture financing. Another issue is broadband access for everyone, both enterprises, companies, and individuals. The problem certainly relates to a vast territory and low population density in Kazakhstan. However I believe that this problem will be solved in the near future through the cooperation of Kazakhtelecom and mobile operators. There are a number

of solutions to this problem such as 3G networks, and CDMA networks that will ensure broadband access for subscribers, regardless of where they are. The third issue is that no one needs broadband access without content, no matter how strange that might sound. People do not need kilobytes and kilobits, people need information: content, services, social networks, and communication. One of our important tasks therefore is to improve the quality of content, and raise the level of information content for Kazakhstan’s Internet. Attractive content will also help mobile operators make a quality bounce from 3rd to 4th generation networks.

Operators do not invest in order to report to the Ministry, they invest in order to launch information flows via these networks that would turn into financial flows for them. Operators will also suffer from no traffic in case the information and content environment is not developed in Kazakhstan. Innovations are certainly very important, but I believe that the issues I have just mentioned will become our key issues. I hope that we will soon eliminate these barriers, and will give mobile Internet a wide-open road.

— it wasn’t long ago that an iCt Fund was established — what kinds of projects will it fund?

— The key investing strategy will be determined by the Board of Trustees, made up of investors, one of which is Kcell. Decisions will be taken collegially. In my opinion a very prospective line of cloud technologies

are services rendered to small and medium-sized businesses, and individuals via Internet. Significant interest has been seen towards geoinformational technologies, so I believe these are the priority lines. ●

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News

Kcell Becomes a Center for Strategic Developmentof TeliaSonera Eurasia in Central Asia

Kcell is the First Official Retailerfor the Samsung Galaxy S III in Kazakhstan

The Connect Kazakhstan–2012International Forum Took Place with Kcell’s Support

A year has passed since the creation of a TeliaSonera Eurasia Central Asian unit headed by GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell, the leader in the Kazakhstani cellular market. In addition to Kcell, the regional group includes Tcell, the largest operator in Tajikistan, and Ucell, the second largest operator in Uzbekistan. So the total subscribers for these three regional operators is more than 21.3 million*

GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell cellular operator recently became Samsung’s exclusive retail partner for the Galaxy S III in Kazakhstan

Thanks to the installation of 5,000 sites (places where base stations are installed), the companyis providing sustainable mobile communication to 94.5% of the inhabited territory across the country

5,000 Sites are in Operation in the Kcell Network

*As of March 2012, source: Q1-2012 TeliaSonera report

“It is a great honor for our company to lead one of the key TeliaSonera markets in Eurasia. But it is also a huge responsibility for us. At the moment Kcell has an enormous breadth of experience and knowledge gained over 13 years of work in the highly competitive Kazakhstani cellular market. At the same time we appreciate the experience of the two other companies, Ucell and Tcell, who are major operators in their countries. Having joined forces, we’ve created a unique ground for sharing the most progressive

practical experience to contribute to improved efficiency in our business in the future,” said Veysel Aral, Vice-President and Regional CEO of Central Asia.

Company also believe that the new union of Central Asian cellular operators, with Kazakhstani cellular operator Kcell playing a key role, will contribute to reaching the ambitious goal set by the government of Kazakhstan of creating a major Information and Communication Technologies Center in Central Asia.

The Connect Kazakhstan–2012 International Forum took place during the V Astana Economic Forum and is the main event for the communication and information sector in the Eurasian region

During Connect Kazakhstan–2012 two conferences calledConnect Ideas and Connect Digital were held, as well as the Connect EXPO exhibition. The main aim of the forum is to exchange experience and knowledge in the field of modern information and

communication technologies. The Zerde National Information-Communication Holding organized the forum in partnership with the United Agencies CA and with support from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Monthly payment Period

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Samsung i9300 16GB

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11,600 12 0 10,000

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Thanks to the installation of 5,000 sites (places where base stations are installed), the company is providing sustainable mobile communication to 94.5% of the inhabited territory across the country. Commenting on this, Veysel Aral, the Chief Executive Officer of GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell, noted, “It is an important achievement in the development of our company, which speaks to the progressive tasks we’ve accomplished in order to provide wide-spread availability of mobile communication, including

rural areas. We have invested almost USD 2 billion in developing Kazakhstan’s telecommunications infrastructure, thereby making communication available in remote villages and on roads of national and regional significance. We are happy to make our contribution to the innovative industrial development of the country. In areas where mobile communication is available, the information exchange rate increases and modern effective tools for business development appear. We are proud to have built a superior communications network, which is one of

the competitive advantages of our company and is to the benefit of our customers. We are ready to support the economic growth of Kazakhstan in the future by applying advanced communication technologies and introducing goods and services to the market that make mobile communication available for all citizens of Kazakhstan.”

GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell works with the leading global manufacturers of technical equipment, including such companies as ZTE and Ericsson, which enables the company to provide reliable and high quality communication in almost 5,000 settlements around the country. Now the company is actively developing the 3G network with an emphasis on extending coverage. The company’s network is also being modernized, taking into account the future possibility of introducing 4G (LTE) technologies.

“We have chosen Kcell as an exclusive retail partner for our new flagship model Galaxy S III, because it is one of the leading operators in the Kazakhstani cellular market; it has an extensive network of outlets all over the country and it has a strong position in the corporate services sector. In addition, the results of our cooperation in 2011 showed that Kcell was a reliable partner in solving business issues of any complexity,” said Мr. Kijoong Jay Kim, Business Manager

of the Mobile Communication Department for Samsung Electronics in Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

There will be several models of the Galaxy S III smartphone for sale. GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell subscribers can buy the phone and get unlimited Internet as a bonus, if they conclude a monthly payment contract. Subscribers can choose from six tariff plans, offering different monthly payments and bonuses (minutes, SMS, web traffic

— see Table).

Phones are available in all 18 Kcell Centers across Kazakhstan from June 15, as well as in 104 exclusive Kcell Express retail outlets.

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Kcell is a Leader AmongCentral Asian Mobile Operators

A press conference was held on May 18 for Kazakhstan’s mass media journalists and was dedicated to the anniversary of TeliaSonera Eurasia’s founding of its Central Asian division. Speakers at the event included Veysel Aral, the Vice-President of TeliaSonera’s Central Asian region and CEO of GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell, Mansur Khamidov, the CEO of Tcell, and Oguz Memiguven, the CEO of Ucell

at the Meeting with journalists, the latest achievements of the three major operators in Central Asia were announced. According to Mr. Aral, in May, Kcell installed its milestone 5,000th base station. If and when 4G is introduced to Kazakhstan, all the newly installed stations can easily be modified for the new generation of LTE communication. There are already 18 service centers working in Kazakhstan and

almost 200 Kcell-Express dealer offices. For more information about Kcell’s role in developing the Central Asia region, see the interview with Mr. Veysel Aral on page 14 of this issue of VOX.com magazine.

Oguz Memiguven spoke about the history of successfully promoting their company in the market. From the moment of purchase in 2007, Ucell has ranked a strong second in the mobile

market in Uzbekistan. The market share has since grown from 5—10% to 30—31% and their subscriber base has grown from 400,000 to 7.9 million people. Growth in revenues from the introduction of new services such as mobile Internet was 30% last year, and since entering the market that factor has improved by 5 times! Regular data service users stand at 2 million subscribers.

Mansur Khamidov spoke to journalists about the history of success as a market leader in Tajikistan. Indigo-Tajikistan, as Tcell was called earlier, was also acquired in 2007. Today, the share of subscribers is 36% in conditions of tough competition — there are 5 operators in Tajikistan, two of which are Russian. 94% of the country is covered by the Tcell mobile network. Anyone who has ever been in Tajikistan knows that a large portion of the country — 93% to be exact — is mountainous which is of the most difficult conditions for providing mobile service! In less

REPORTAGE

than two years, Tcell was able to increase the number of mobile Internet subscribers from 500,000 to 2 million — an increase of 400%! One peculiarity of the current promotion policy lies in the fact that more than 70% of Tajikistan’s population lives outside of cities, and explains why Tcell is currently aimed at this segment of the target audience.

Journalists asked the classic question of tariff reduction and to support the issue, the example of Russia was given, where tariffs and mobile services are much cheaper than in Kazakhstan. Mr. Veysel Aral answered: “When we talk about Russia, it is necessary to take some of the features of this market into consideration, of which there are many. Russia has in-country roaming. When you travel from one region to another, you pay a very different amount for service. At the same time, we have fixed rates across Kazakhstan. A subscriber from Almaty travels to Uralsk and pays the same price and does not roam. As for Internet, you must understand that operators have a thing known as transmission, which is owned by third companies like Kazakhtelecom. Our prices reflect the prices of the providers. We are constantly in negotiations to lower these prices. With regards to voice services, according to the latest estimates for 2012 by the Ministry of Transport and Communication, the average price per minute on our network is 5.3 tenge.”

Media representatives were also interested in the prospects for revenues from voice services in comparison with data transfer. The head of Kcell answered: “When we talk about voice, we must recognize that revenues from voice are stagnating, which isn’t happening just with us, but is a pattern around the whole world. As a mobile operator we should be providing three things. First is a quality infrastructure. Second, we should provide attractive packages. And thirdly, subscribers should have the proper devices to support 3G. The first two points we can provide, but as for the third point, the operators do not have especially strong leverage over mobile phone manufacturers with respect to the smartphones prices. According to our data, smartphones within our network are a tiny portion — just 5%. But as you know, it is impossible to use mobile Internet without a smartphone. We are currently searching for manufacturers who can provide devices to Kazakhstan at reasonable prices of no more than USD 100.”

When asked what experience the company has borrowed and what the plans for exchanging innovation are, Mansur Khamidov answered: “We have borrowed the system of evaluating the work of the call-center and service offices from Kazakhstan. The idea is simple to perform and quite effective

— after you contact us, regardless of whether it is a call-center or an office, you will receive a text message with a request to rate the quality of service on a 5-point scale. The total ratings, taken together, determine the bonuses and salaries of each individual operator. There are many such examples of exchanging experience.” ●

We have borrowed the systemof evaluating the work of the call-center and service offices from Kazakhstan

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TeliaSonera in Central Asia: International Experience and Local ExpertiseOne year has passed since the creation of the Central Asia unit at TeliaSonera Eurasia; the company GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell — the leader in Kazakhstan’s mobile communications market has been placed at the head of this new direction. Besides Kcell, the regional group includes Tcell — the largest Tajikistani cellular operator, and Ucell — the second largest Uzbekistani cellular operator. Veysel Aral, Vice President of TeliaSonera Eurasia in Central Asia and Kcell CEO, has been interviewed by VOX.com about how this unit is developing today and about its current tasks and objectives

— eurasia has a key place in the business of teliasonera Group. What do you think defines the potential of this region?

— TeliaSonera’s strengths are based on the combination of two aspects: leadership and localization. As one of the five largest European operators, the company holds a stable position at the international level. At the same time it has strong local brands that give us an in-depth knowledge and understanding of our clients in each market. That’s why the company always looks for the best solutions specifically for each local business.

TeliaSonera is known as an experienced and reputable company devoted to long-term partnership, especially in the Eurasia region. The operators in the telecommunications holding are the leaders or close seconds in the countries where they work.

That’s why this region, without a doubt, is crucial for TeliaSonera. This is confirmed by the 30% annual growth the companies forming this business unit have enjoyed.

If we want to talk about the potential in Eurasia, we should take note about the range of common trends, which, in our opinion, will be of current relevance for all markets, including those in Central Asian countries. These include a high level of mobility among customers, whether individuals or legal entities, and the rapidly growing demand for mobile Internet. That’s why we are moving toward the development of next-generation technologies, including 3G and LTE.

— one year has passed since you were put in charge of the Central asia unit of teliasonera eurasia. what has changed during this time?

— It’s a great honour for Kcell to lead the one of TeliaSonera’s pivotal Eurasian markets. But it comes with enormous responsibility. Currently, our company has extensive knowledge accumulated after 13 years of hard work in the highly competitive Kazakhstani mobile communications market. At the same time, the experience of two other companies — Ucell and Tcell, which are also among the largest operators in their countries — is also important for us.

That’s why my personal main objective is to exchange experience and knowledge among these three companies. The top management in our companies meet 3—4 times a year to discuss our current business tasks. These meetings create the appropriate conditions to allow companies learn from each other. Undoubtedly, the markets in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan differ from each other, but they nevertheless have a lot in common, and that’s why we all participate in the discussions at these meetings and make joint decisions about the next steps to take in each market.

I’d like to especially underline that Kcell is the personnel center for the Central Asia region. Not so long ago, Yernar Nakisbekov, who had been the Chief Accountant of Kcell for a long time, became the Chief Financial Officer of Tcell. He is a young and highly-skilled Kazakhstan professional, who is now the second man in Tcell. Aisulu Kussainova has become HR director of Tcell, she was promoted to this position from Kcell. We are also considering possible appointments for Kazakhstani citizens not only in Central Asia, but also in other countries where TeliaSonera operates.

— to what extent is Kcell’s experience applicable for neighbouring markets and vice-versa?

— Of course, each country has its own peculiarities. Let’s start with Ucell. When my colleague was put in charge of the Uzbekistani operator called Coscom, it was a very small company with a market share of about 10 percent. Oguz Memigyuven (now Ucell СЕО) defined those areas requiring the closest attention for developing the company to the point where it attained the second position in the market. First of all, we had to increase the

level of awareness of the company, so we rebranded it. A huge amount of work was completed to increase the service quality. At the same time we have to keep in mind that competition at the Uzbekistan mobile communication market is very serious, as the largest Russian operators have been working there for a long time. Currently, Ucell is the second largest operator of the country.

In terms of collaboration among the Central Asian operators, I can give you an example: two and a half years ago we started collaborative work aimed at developing and providing Internet access services. We knew that we were going to receive licenses for 3G and 4G, and consumers were highly interested in mobile Internet services. Our task was to avoid the mistakes of European operators that had been made when launching the same

INTERvIEW

Besides Kcell, the regional group includes Tcell — the largest Tajikistani cellular operator, and Ucell — the second largest Uzbekistani cellular operator. Therefore, the total subscriber base of three regional operators amounts to more than 21.3 million people.

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technologies there. In my opinion, we successfully managed this task.

If we compare the three Central Asian countries, we see that Kazakhstan has the highest market penetration of cellular communications. At the same time, the rates, products, and packages offered in Uzbekistan are similar to those offered by Kcell in Kazakhstan.

A special situation was observed in Tajikistan: this country, although relatively small, is known for its high and even fierce levels of competition in the cellular market. Besides Tcell, five mobile operators work in this country. At the same time, the penetration level of mobile Internet is also about 25%. So we took the experience gained in promoting services based on mobile data transfer in Tcell and used it as the basis for a similar program we developed for Kcell.

— Mobile commerce services are under active development in the Central asia region. in your opinion, which area of these services has the greatest prospects and why?

— In Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, there are regulations on cellular operations. Mobile commerce is legally defined under

banking services. An operator has to have a bank license to perform these activities. We are currently in negotiations with the National Bank and regulating authorities to amend our laws so that we can develop in this direction. We see the positive experience of Western European countries, which are actively developing mobile commerce, and we feel that Kazakhstani operators should be involved in this process. The situation for Ucell and Tcell is more or less the same. ●

Kcell has such objectives as the reinforcement of TeliaSonera’s position in the Central Asian region and increasing the effectiveness of the three operators’ activities through successfully implementing various business measures

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Digest

O R e a n b u s i n e s s p u b l i cat i O n MK Business News reports that the successor to the huge Samsung Galaxy Note is coming in October to compete with iPhone 5, the launch of which is rumoured to have been planned for the same time.

Even though there is no official confirmation that the flagship Apple Phone will actually be released in October, Samsung does not want to risk losing time.

ccO R d i n g tO R e s e a Rc h conducted by NPD DisplaySearch, the share of global Smart TV sales in the 1st quarter of this year reached 20%. This term refers to devices that provide access not only to the Internet, but also to the other services from local operators.

The largest share of "smart" TV sets is sold in Japan — 36% of all TV sets; China sold 30% (3 million units); and Western Europe sold 29% (2,1 million).

The largest share of Smart TV sets is sold in Japan — 36% of all TV sets; China sold 30% (3 million units); and Western Europe sold 29% (2.1 million).

The largest manufacturers of Smart TVs in the world are Sony, Skyworth, Philips, and Sharp. Sony and Sharp dominated the Japanese market while Skyworth and Philips dominated the Chinese and European markets, respectively.

NPD DisplaySearch has divided smart devices into two categories: TV sets, the functionality of which is defined and limited by their manufacturers, and TV sets that allow access to any Internet services (as a rule, they contain a built-in web browser).

In the 1st quarter of 2012, the number of TVs that can be connected to the Internet increased in the world market. Their market share was higher than that of Smart TV sets, which is 27%. Most of them are also sold in Japan, Western Europe, and China.

s e e m s t h at n Ot a l l R e ta i l e R s share the desire to sell more Nokia flagship WP-smartphones. Many European operators believe that the Lumia range is not good enough to compete with other manufacturers of products of the same category. Now the story gets even more troubling.

Recently Germany started selling Nokia Lumia 900; however, the retail chain operator T-Mobile has not yet offered the smartphone for sale.

When confused subscribers referred to the support forum, they were given the following answer: the smartphone will not be sold due to its

Samsung Galaxy Note II:Super-Durable Displayand Quad-Core Processor

TelevisionContinuesto "GrowWiser"

Free Angry Birds Infect Smartphones

The Most Expensive Phones in the World

german Operator Refuses to sell nokia lumia 900

m i d J u n e, t h e e x p e Rt s of Kaspersky Lab officially announced that some ad banners in free games direct users to fake Google Play pages, where the user becomes at risk of downloading malicious files.

In his blog, an expert at Kaspersky Labs, Yuri Namestnikov, talks about the fact that every third block of advertising in the free versions of Angry Birds for Russian users, which he discovered and analyzed, led to a malicious file.

Clicking on some of the banners in Angry Birds, the user risks getting taken to a fake Google Play page. Here, under the guise of legitimate programs, there are SMS-Trojans that send expensive messages to short numbers. These malicious programs are downloaded to your phone when you click "download". You should be alarmed by the fact that the fake store opens directly into the browser while the address bar shows that the site is in the “. net” or “. in” area. There are no other differences; the design is almost identical to the official version, and the text is even translated into Russian.

obile phones have long ago ceased to be merely a means of communication, they are now articles of luxury and fashion. It is possible that only a hundred or so people could afford such phones, but nevertheless they are being manufactured and sold. Their overestimated value is most often defined by a high content of precious stones, while functionality is usually not affected. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to sacrifice certain features in order to install one or two diamonds into the phone. These phones are only created for the Guinness Book of Records.

3rd place: GoldVish "Le Million" Piece Unique —$1.3 million

2nd place: King’s Button iPhone — $2.4 million. This iPhone is decorated with a scattering of precious stones, and its focal point is a 6.6-carat diamond in place of a single button.

1st place: iPhone 3GS Supreme — $ 3.2 million. Here comes the most expensive phone in the world. It differs from the previous contender merely by the size of the diamond, which is 7.1 carat. It has the usual bells and whistles such as the body of the phone being coated in 271 grams of gold, the screen being decorated with 531-carat diamonds, among others. In terms of this phone’s functionality and utility, it is unlikely to be inferior to a regular phone. But nevertheless, this is how the most expensive phone in the world looks.

The most outstanding feature of the new Galaxy Note will be an ultra-thin and ultra-strong display manufactured using technology similar to the production technique for flexible displays. It will significantly reduce the thickness of the device but without detriment to its technical features: quad-core processor, 12-megapixel camera, and a higher capacity battery than its predecessor's.

MK Business News reported that the new device will not necessarily be called Galaxy Note II; it also reported that the diagonal size of the display may be more than 5.3 inches (according to another source, it could be 5.5 inches).

incompatibility with the upcoming Windows Phone 8, and the operator does not wish to cause dissatisfaction and frustration among its customers.

It is difficult to believe that one of the largest European mobile operators will not sell the flagship smartphone of a famous manufacturer for any reason whether valid or not. In any case, there has been no guaranteed confirmation of whether or not current WP-devices will be updated, but rather there have only been rumors and speculation.

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What Determines Quality Connection?Natalia Yeskova

On June 21–22, Kcell received journalists from nine cities across Kazakhstan. As part of Media Days, Kazakhstan’s largest mobile operator brought together regional press representatives and the leading national media outlets with the Center for Network Quality Monitoring and Control.For the first time, journalists were told and shown in detail just how much effort and attention the company puts in to ensure its subscribers are always connected

“this is the heartoF the Mobile operator”

— said Expert Engineer for Kcell’s main grid Evgeniy Senko, opening the door for journalists, which is restricted for outsiders as well as for many company employees. It is a rather cold and gloomy room providing the warmth of conversation for 11 million subscribers across Kazakhstan. Located here is a switching node — mostly metal cabinets in which processors handle, send and redirect many thousands of communications signals for Kcell subscribers.

“We have never skimped on equipment, only working with the most well-known worldwide producers,” said Nikolai Naumov, head of GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell’s main grid. “Just one figure will be enough — our investment in developing Kazakhstan’s telecommunications network is near 2 billion dollars. The names of the foreign companies that supply us with advanced technology are of little interest to your everyday person. For subscribers, the most important thing is the quality of communication. And we provide it!”

Kcell’s network quality monitoring and control system is a complicated one that combines the work of several divisions of the information-communication technologies department. Monitoring and control centers are located in Almaty, Astana and Shymkent. The large rooms are outfitted with huge monitors that display the status of the company’s network all

over Kazakhstan. Employees can see information about each region covered by Kcell. The number of places lacking coverage is fewer and fewer and to date, Kcell-equipped mobile phones receive a signal in 94.5% of all populated places in the country.

The company’s network quality control divisions work around the clock. A modern and convenient online system observes how each station is working and immediately reports any changes that occur in the network. The occasional glitches that do happen are quickly eliminated regardless of where the one among thousands of base stations is located, whether it is the capital, a regional center in the Steppe, or a village in the mountains. Groups of mobile specialists located in every region are dispatched and take care of the problem.

The company’s network is set up in such a way that, in case of failure in any of its key systems, a backup automatically engages. And when the situation demands it (whether natural disaster or, alternatively, a major holiday), the company maintains mobile base stations in every region that can provide service in any place accessible by van (all equipment is transported inside).

Because of this, Kcell subscribers do not feel up to 90% of changes that sometimes happen in the network.

“And this is despite the fact that Kazakhstan is a very inconvenient market, in terms of mobile communication,” explained Kcell’s Director of Business Development Nurlan Sargaskayev to journalists at the briefing. “The vast territory and low population density entail high costs in developing the service provider’s infrastructure.”

There are currently 5,000 sites (area with base stations) working within the Kcell network. The highest base station is installed 3,500 meters above sea level in the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains.

“Why so many?” asked journalists. The reason is to make mobile communication as accessible as possible for all Kazakhstanis and so that subscribers don’t have any breaks when moving from the range of one zone to another. For the most part, these zones do not just simply dock a call into one site, but overlap, thereby avoiding “holes” where signals from neighboring sites are not strong enough to provide a high-quality connection.

The second head office for Kcell in Almaty is located on Alimzhanov Str. The building was built in 2011. It is staffed by employees from the Customer Relations Department and the Department of Information and Communication Technologies. The largest Kcell-Centre (service centre) in the country’s southern capital is also located here. A tour for the press was held here on June 22, where journalists were introduced to the company’s network quality monitoring and control system

Kcell’s network quality monitoring and control system is a complicated one that combines the work of several divisions of the Information Communication Technologies Department

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“The base stations work irrespective to climatic conditions and seasons. We instantly see if there has been an accident and send word to the engineers who are in the field. They eliminate the problem before the user can even feel it,” said Yerken Shnasbayev, head of the Radio Department, acquainting journalists with the monitoring system.

In addition, the company is constantly updating the existing stations and installing new ones in order to meet the growing demand for mobile services, especially data transfer.

“It took us long to put the horse to the cart, but now we are moving fast” — this is how Kcell’s Director of Business Development Nurlan Sargaskayev characterized current 3G

development in Kazakhstan at the briefing. The company is actively developing the 3G network and focusing on increasing the coverage area, which currently has 1,373 base stations that transfer data at speeds up to 21 MB/second. The network is constantly being updated and has successfully undergone trial

tests for 4th generation LTE. There is more and more focus on mobile Internet as well, with 4.5 active subscribers using mobile Internet and who want quick and affordable Internet that is accessible anywhere.

“We have been and will continue to be trendsetters in the most recent development trends in the mobile communications market. GSM Kazakhstan was at the forefront of the mobile service network in introducing new technologies like 3G, EDGE, GPRS, and WAP. Our goal is to make mobile communication accessible for everyone, bringing maximum benefit to every subscriber. This is why we recently launched Activ’s “chatterbox”

tariff plan called Day Unlimited, which has a subscription fee of just 59 tenge a day. You can talk within the network with new times from 12 am to 6 pm. To date, there are a plethora of tariff plans — regional ones, All for 8, Unlimited-24 and others. Mobile Internet is becoming more affordable — the current cost for 1 MB is as low as KZT 0.3 under our special Unlimited Internet plan. In addition, our company was the first to sell contract smartphones to allow more Kazakhstanis to enjoy the benefits of mobile Internet at high speeds. These steps have led us to retaining our position over the past 12 months in the mobile communications market,” underlined Nurlan Sargaskayev. ●

“It took us long to put the horse to the cart, but now we are moving fast” — this is how Kcell’s Director of Business Development Nurlan Sargaskayev characterized current 3G development in Kazakhstan at the briefing

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A Continuation of SuccessHaving the courage to produce a smartphone based on Android, now the dominant smartphone platform, proved to be a good call for Samsung. The risk paid off and to date, Samsung has sold more than 50 million units of its flagship smartphones Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy S II worldwide. But will the new Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone achieve the same level of popularity? I will try to answer this question by reviewing Samsung’s newly designed product

liKe its predeCessors, The Samsung Galaxy S III combines the maximum possible number of features and services that a typical smartphone should have with the latest processor technology, resulting in a product that runs smoothly and starts up instantly. Developers packed the Samsung smartphone with a 1.4 GHz quad-core Exynos processor and 1 GB of RAM. Coupled with the latest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, this set of properties provides high performance and the fastest speeds available today for applications and games. It also makes unique services like Pop Up Play possible, which I will talk more about later. Let’s start with its appearance…

was changed to be more rounded to fit with the overarching “nature” design concept. On the left, there is a lock and enable

button and on the right there is a double volume button. In the center under the display there is a menu button with search and reset buttons on either side. The microUSB slot is located on the bottom of the smartphone, while the headphone jack is at the top. Everything is as it should be. The back panel is removable and houses the 2100mAh battery along with slots for microSD and microSIM cards. The panel is securely fixed to the housing by means of a number of fasteners placed around the edge of the whole back panel. Removing and replacing the cover is easy, though if dropped, it is unlikely to fly off and can probably withstand the force of impact. Special Gorilla Glass 2 protective glass, which is 20% slimmer, protects the smartphone display from scratches and other possible damage and is 30 times more durable than plastic.

soFtware stuFFMoving away from the appearance, let’s turn to the main services and functions with which the company has graced its brainchild, the Samsung Galaxy S III. “Invented for people, inspired by nature” — the embodiment of this concept is reflected in various applications developed for the convenience of users, as well as in

the original TouchWiz Nature UX touch interface. The neat thing about this smartphone is that the lock, unlock, typing keys, and other smartphone functions are accompanied by the sounds of nature. I personally like the effect of water ripples on the screen which play when the smartphone is unlocked. I also like the fact that Samsung has kept some interface elements from the original version of Android 4.0, such as the widgets and apps menu, the multitasking manager, and removal of elements by swiping across the menu. In the new model, developers worked hard in order to make the 8-megapixel camera even more convenient to use, and have added a range of interesting services: Social Tag, Buddy Photo Share, Burst Shot, and Best Photo. Here are some details, going one by one. Social Tag allows you to call, text, or email friends whose photos phone identifies in your photo gallery. Continuing the social theme of camera apps, Buddy Photo Share allows the user to send photos to Facebook friends tagged in the photo, either to everyone in the photo or to those you have selected. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to test this function on a group photo, but in photos with 3-4 people, the application manages easily. Burst Shot and Best Photo allow taking up to 20 and 8 snapshots in a row, respectively. The first one is suitable for taking shots of fast-moving objects when necessary to capture each moment while the second one lets you choose the

appearanCeThe new Galaxy S III is void of the sharp edges and angular housing of its predecessors. Developing the new phone’s look, the company obviously took into account the millions of comments from ordinary users and mobile device reviewers who thought it would be nice to make the smartphone more attractive. The designers’ work has resulted in a slightly larger-sized and more rounded housing than the Galaxy S II. You could compare its shape to a large seaside stone: perfectly smooth and flat. Even more similar to something from nature, the smartphone’s housing is a stone-blue color, which, in my opinion, looks much better than the white version. But that is a subjective point of view of course - some may prefer the white design. In spite of its rather large size, the smartphone is quite slim at 8.54mm and light, weighing in at 133gr. It should also be noted that Samsung’s designers have managed to put a 4.8” Super AMOLED display with a HD-resolution of 1280×720 pixels on its front panel. The availability of such a screen puts this model in the same category as the larger smartphones on the market and on the list of the several models with HD-resolution.

The location of the smartphone’s main elements remained the same, except that the design of the buttons

Special Gorilla Glass 2 protective glass, which is 20% slimmer, protects the smartphone display from scratches and other possible damage and is 30 times more durable than plastic

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best of the eight shots taken. A back-lit sensor improves the quality of pictures in bad lighting, a similar technique used by one of the main competitors to Samsung’s new product — the iPhone 4S. Another useful capability of the flagship camera is the simultaneous video and photo function. Often when you are shooting video, you also want to take a photo; users of Samsung’s Galaxy S III will be able to do so. The phone shoots video at 720p or 1080р resolution with fixed autofocus, and if the lighting is poor, you can use the flash as a light. In general, the Galaxy III is good in terms of photo and video capabilities. But the list of technologies is not limited to camera settings alone. One of the unique features found only in this flagship smartphone from Samsung is the aforementioned Pop Up Play. The idea behind this feature is that you can start playing a video, minimize it in a small, separate window, and continue using the phone to write texts, surf the Internet, etc. The video window can be placed anywhere on the screen. Another interesting and, in my opinion, more useful function of Samsung’s Galaxy S III is the Smart Stay feature that uses a 2MP camera to monitor the position of your eyes and keeps the screen in active mode when you are looking at

it. This is very helpful when surfing the Internet and reading books where you need to touch the screen periodically to keep it from darkening.

Sometimes you are carefully writing a text to someone, but you can’t get all your ideas in the 170 symbols limit and you decide it would just be better to call. The Direct Call function speeds up this process: just put the phone to your ear and the appropriate number will be dialed automatically. It doesn’t save a ton of time, but the small things form an overall opinion about the convenience of using this phone. Another small but cool thing is the Smart Alert function, which alerts you by vibrating to calls, texts, or e-mail-messages you missed while out.

As expected from a top of the line smartphones, the Galaxy S III is equipped with AllShare Play and AllShare Cast support, which allow content to be transmitted from the smartphone to widescreen TV and other equipment with this technology. In addition to standard WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, the Samsung smartphone is equipped with a NFC chip and S Beam technology. Developers decided to combine the ease of synchronizing one-touch NFC devices to each other and high speed data transfer via Wi-Fi. But it is worth mentioning that only owners of Samsung Galaxy S III can send video, music, and other content at Wi-Fi speeds having synchronized with NFC. Interacting with other devices, the transmission rate is at typical NFC speeds. Downloaded data is saved to either the 16 or 32 gigabytes of embedded memory that may be expanded with a microSD-card up to 64 GB. This is the first time this is available.

Finally, I want to talk about the S Voice voice control, which leaves much to be desired. Although company statements say that Russian language support is forthcoming, even using the English version showed that the app is not fully developed and functions too slowly. I couldn’t manage to obtain any meaningful response to the command to start up the camera or find out the weather forecast even after half an hour. In spite of this, the Samsung Galaxy S III made a good impression and if I was going to choose an Android smartphone, this would definitely be the first candidate for a place in my pocket. I think this model will be no less popular than its predecessors and most likely even more so. If, after this review, you are thinking about purchasing this flagship phone from Samsung, I recommend looking into the Kcell and Activ service plans. Unlimited high speed Internet will help properly evaluate all the capabilities this smartphone has to offer. ●

Another useful capability of the flagship camera is the simultaneous video and photo function. Often when you are shooting video, you also want to take a photo; users of Samsung’s Galaxy S III will be able to do so

Open-air presentation accompanied by genuinenatural special effects

in Mid june, an event happened that had Kazakhstanis waiting on pins and needs for a whole year — the much heralded launch of the hottest smartphone of 2012: the Samsung Galaxy S III. We should note that over this time, Samsung was able to keep the public tormented: the phone's design and functionality were kept under the tightest of wraps until the very last minute, when the new device was first unveiled at a global presentation in London.

A month later, Samsung Galaxy S III finally made its way to Kazakhstan. On 16 June in Almaty, at the square in front of the Palace of the Republic, anyone who wished could snatch a peek at Samsung's new flagship phone.

Thunder, lightning and rain were the special effects at the event, making it even more eye-popping, and highlighting one of the slogans of the Samsung Galaxy S III — “Inspired by Nature”. Raincoats were being swapped up that evening like hotcakes. By the end, the organizers of the event handed out over 5000 single use capes.

The participants in the event were able to learn all the details on the Galaxy

S III's unique functionalities in special interactive zones: • Greatness zone had free wi-fi and artists painting portraits of visitors on the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note;•Intelligence zone, where specialists shared information on all the smartest functions of the new smartphone;• Sharing zone, where the guests learned about all the ways you can share information using the Galaxy S III;• Fast connectivity zone was set up for people interested in finding out about the phone's technical parameters;• Intelligent camera zone demonstrated the unique photo and video capabilities of the new gadget;• Exhibition zone, the place where you could actually touch the device and test it in all its uniqueness.

Moreover, the most active visitors were allowed to shoot Angry Birds from a giant slingshot. The guests of the evening were entertained by famous television host Alan Cherkasov, the Kazakhstani pop group Metisy and the Street Life dance troupe with the best hip hop project of the year — Band'Eros.

All of the participants were able not only to personally assess the Galaxy S III’s capabilities, but also win it. Upon the conclusion of the final lottery, 3 people, including representatives of two other regions of Kazakhstan became the happy owners of the next-generation smartphone.

Anyone wishing to buy the Samsung Galaxy S III can now buy one at any Kcell centre or any exclusive Kcell retail chain throughout Kazakhstan. The smartphone will also be accessible at all Beeline subscriber service center and Azbuka Svyazi stores throughout Kazakhstan between 7 and 31 July.

Every buyer of a certified Galaxy S III gets guaranteed access to Samsung's VIP Service, which offers advice on the product through the complete VIP support service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, provides access to replacement phones, as well as any question about the product will be answered within 48 hours. ●

Samsung Electronics Launches Galaxy S III in Kazakhstan

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2App Store

The number of apps available on Google Play, known before as Android Market, recently broke the half-million mark and continues to grow to the joy of the users of today's most popular mobile platform. Mobile

games, photo and video editing software, music players, file managers and many other types of applications are constantly being added to the list. In this piece we will continue our overview of the most popular and

in-demand apps according to a survey of active Android-based smartphone users. We hope it helps you save time when looking for new apps and adding them to your collection. So, here we go!

photo appsInstagram is one of the most popular mobile applications for processing still images available in the world today. The facts that the app is free of charge, along with its user-friendly interface, abundant customizability, and its social component have led to the ongoing success of this app, and today it is already used by more than 40 million people all over the world. Originally developed for users of iOS, the Android version of the app has garnered at least the same amount of popularity among users: within a month it has already been installed 6.5 million times, and we are sure that you will like it too.

To start using Instagram, you will have to open an account when you launch the app for the first time. After your account has been created, the software will search for Instagram users among the contacts in your phone's address book, Twitter and Facebook and you will be able to add them as friends within the app in order to comment on or 'like' their pictures, and so they can do the same with yours. The app has 17 different filters where you can adjust white balance, contrast and sharpness, and also add frames, vignettes and other effects; you can add a description to each photo, along with geo-tags and

hash-tags. You can process pictures that are already in your gallery, or take new pictures from within the app

itself. It only takes a couple seconds to apply the selected settings, and you can post the processed photos on your own Instagram page, as well as in Twitter, Facebook,

Foursquare and Tumblr. Cartoon Camera is not as popular as Instagram,

possibly because it does not combine its users in a social network; but on the plus side: you can see edits to your pictures in real time as you make

them: comics, sepia, black strokes, white strokes, white strokes on black, black strokes on white.

In addition, you can adjust colour saturation and sharpness.

Photoaf Panorama Free is an app that allows you to make a panorama shot out of a number of other shots using a straightforward, intuitive interface. The software stitches the frames together and the borders between the frames are invisible in the result, unlike in some other similar programs. When creating panoramas, the software uses arrows to point you in the direction you need to rotate the device. Using the

app, you can transform four pictures into a panorama shot in 20—25 seconds.

Pixlr-o-matic is probably the best tool for processing images taken from many of the free apps available on Google Play, the main advantage of which is its incredible ease of use. In three processing stages (colour correction, adding effects and frames) you can take any picture, no matter how poorly shot, and make it into an unrecognizable masterpiece. The colour correction pre-sets can make your picture warmer or adjust its colours to cooler hues; you can make your shot brighter and more saturated, or impart a scratchy vintage look. Effects include different bright strokes, blurred bokeh circles, scratches, vintage photos, captions, etc. Using frames, you can make your photo look like a Polaroid or torn out of a photo album. You can send the resulting image over Bluetooth or email, upload it to social networks or a photo hosting service such as imm.io. In addition, one of the differentiating features of Pixlr-o-matic is the 100%-free effects store, where you can download additional styles, effects and frames.

One of the key advantages of the Android mobile platform is its openness: every manufacturer of the mobile devices running the system can make their own modifications to the user interface. As a result, some well known themes have appeared, such as Sense, Touchwiz and others, which have played an important role in the success achieved by the HTC and Samsung models available on the market. But when it comes to this platform feature, there is still another side to the coin — as a result of the modifications to the interface, it has become more complicated to access some functions than originally. So-called utilities are developed in order to resolve these issues with the interface and expand the standard features of the smartphone.

utilitiesThe DW Contacts/DW Phone software may become the perfect solution to the shoddy job your smartphone does at keeping a record of calls and dialing phone numbers. In addition to the alternative dialing system, this app offers a wide array of options for managing contacts, groups, SMS, MMS, email and ringtone playback. DW Contacts & Phone includes: built-in firewalls for different groups, the ability to send out mass SMS and email

messages and a special incoming calls filter (you can block numbers for certain days or time periods)

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes you might want to save all the SMSs that have been collected on your Android over the long months since you first got it — for example, if you're planning on lending your smartphone to your friend

or colleague to use for a couple of days, but you don't want him or her to read all personal correspondence. In situations like these, SMS Backup & Restore is the perfect solution. This app is the ideal tool for creating and restoring backup copies of short messages (SMS) on Android smartphones. You can backup copies to separate files, into a single archived file, or make scheduled backups. After

you've made a backup file, or after the backups have been restored, the program verifies the data. In addition, you can delete the selected backup copies or delete text messages.

It can be exceedingly difficult to sort the useful from the useless when it comes to the endless flow of information that bombards us every day in the modern world, and we end up having to use all kinds of notepads, sticky notes and podcasts that then have to be organized. Evernote is an online service that sets as its main objectives saving, synchronizing and searching for notes. The app offers the option of saving all your thoughts,

apparently in every form available today: in the form of ordinary text notes, entire web pages, lists of tasks, lists of purchases, photos, pictures, emails and podcasts! All of these are saved by the Evernote client on a virtual server, synced with your Evernote account. Thus, if you access your account from any other device, you'll get access to all your notes, photos and podcasts. Over 20 million users have already downloaded this super convenient app.

Dolphin Browser HD could be the best alternative to the standard browser on your smartphone. The app supports themes, add-ons, page zooming, and all of the multi-touch gestures that we've grown accustomed to. In addition, you can choose which gesture does what, for example, a certain gesture can minimize tabs or other interface elements you don't need at the moment in order to save screen real estate. In the add-on gallery, there are already

a number of useful tools available that expand the browser's functionality, including Google Services, Bookmarks, Read it Later, AdBlock Plus and much more. Included among other key advantages found in Dolphin Browser HD, we should not forget that it makes it possible to play back Youtube clips from mobile versions of sites and download clips into your SD memory to watch later. ●

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Ivan Gluschenko

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Jujutsu in Kazakhstan: The Pathof the Warrior for Spiritual Victory

In April of this year mobile operator GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell and the Republican Federation of Jujutsu and Mixed Martial Arts Public Association signed partnership agreement

Kcell intends to provide the association with funding, organize events, and work on projects aimed at the development and popularization of Jujutsu and mixed martial arts in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Ruslan Abdreyev, the First Vice President of the Republican Federation of Jujutsu, talked to us about what the federation is, what it has already achieved, and what the plans for the near future are.

— ruslan, first off, could you tell the readers of VOX.com about what it is that makes Jujutsu so unique compared to other martial arts? What is the philosophy behind it?

— Jujutsu is one of the most ancient systems for self-defense. The harmony between soft and hard techniques makes it

possible to successfully disarm your opponent. Jujutsu is the foundation for all modern martial arts: Judo, Aikido, Sambo, Karate and Brazilian Jujutsu. The philosophy behind it is described in the Path of the Warrior. This is a code of behaviour that provides a special way of life for the person towards which he or she should strive to become a perfect warrior in order to win the battle for his or her life, both physical and spiritual. The Path of the Warrior means the development of special skills and abilities to the level of Master, from mastery in martial arts to mastery in other areas. From a material point of view, the Warrior's craft helps him live and achieve success in life and great heights in the physical world, and also helps him to survive wars and continue on in his or her tradition.

In ancient times, Chinese and Japanese masters of martial arts preferred not to talk of philosophy, but rather guided the student to the Path, where he could discover all of the laws of the universe. It was only after this that the teacher began a discussion or corrected the adept on his Path. This method was justified, because by following it, no illusions were conjured up that were not confirmed by practical experience, and the adept was enabled to take reality for what it is without distortion.

— how effective are jujutsu techniques for self-defense in our day-to-day lives?

— To answer your question, let me mention the fact that nearly all international special forces, armies and police practice

Jujutsu. Unfortunately, though, traditional Jujutsu is not as well known as its athletic counterparts. Genuine Jujutsu requires knowledge of traditions and proper technique, and its effectiveness is founded on knowledge of human biomechanics and anatomy. You are really not required to have exceptional physical traits or to exhaust yourself with many hours of exercise, as in championship training.

The techniques are not meant to be appealing to the eye, but they are the most effective because they focus not on impact but on effectiveness. What you see on TV would usually be moves that have the greatest impact: high kicks, jumping and painful punches, mat wrestling. But on the streets there are no referees, and there is no audience. Your enemies may outnumber you and they could have weapons. If you kick too high, your foothold will cover only a small area and it will be easy to knock you off your feet. In the street you can't fight your opponent from a lying down position for all the five minutes, because by that time new attackers might have come and knocked you out. In situations like these you need to have the special knowledge and skills that are provided by the principles of traditional Jujutsu.

— the main moves in jujutsu were developed a very long time ago and are passed on from generation to generation. have they been modernized at all?

— Sorry to disappoint you, but it is impossible to

PERSON

The five rules of Jujutsu:• Better to step back than shove;• Better to shove than hit;• Better to hit than injure;• Better to injure than kill;• Better to kill than be killed.

Ruslan Abdreyev — Senior Vice President of the Republican Federation of Jujutsu; member of international organizations in more than 60 countries; international class referee in Karate, Kickboxing and Jujutsu; head of the Kazakhstan division of combat and traditional Karate and combat Jujutsu. Member of the Republic Union of Veterans of Kazakhstan. Was granted 8th dan rank in combat martial arts and assigned the highest title in Jujutsu — Hanshi. Initiated in the most ancient Samurai clan, Katabami Ryu.

N. Sargaskayev and R. Abdreyev are signing the agreement on the tatamiHanshi Ruslan Abdreyev Second Eurasian Martial

Arts Forum

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create a new throws or moves; after all, the number of bones and muscles in the body has not changed over the past several millennia =) In the world of martial arts, there is the old school style of Ko Ryu and the new school style of Shin Ryu. Our federation practices Ko Ryu from the ancient Samurai clan school, Katabami Ryu. New throws and moves can only appear in the newer, more collaborative schools. More often than not, these schools are created as a result of a lack of competence in trainers or groups of trainers who were unable to achieve a certain level of mastery and recognition in a given martial art. They start new schools and directions and come up with new rules for competitions in order to somehow stand out. Old schools, on the other hand, are an example of survival of the fittest over centuries.

— it is thought that Kazakhstani athletes are good at boxing, greco-roman wrestling and cycling. what are the chances of jujutsu joining this list?

— At an international seminar in Denmark, following an open demonstration by the masters, I was asked, "Does everyone in Kazakhstan fight so well?" I said that we, Kazakhs, have it in our blood, because of our great warrior ancestors.Maybe it sounds audacious, but it's true. For instance, in November 2011 at the world championship in Lima (Peru) athletes from the Republican Federation of Jujutsu won 22 (!) gold medals in three categories: grappling (mat wrestling),

nefunsen (semicontact fighting) and combat Jujutsu (full contact). Another example was at the Dutch Open, our athletes took one gold and two silver medals. In the first event, we had 7 competitors, in the latter there were three. Kazakhstani Jujutsu athletes are better balanced. Our athletes are not spoilt by attention. They have a great thirst for learning and a colossal working ability. That is a fact. Unfortunately, we have virtually no well-educated trainers and instructors. But we are already working on this problem.

— is there a concept of exchanging international experience in your sport, and if so, how does it work?

— The international exchange of experience is a must. Our federation has been able to conduct two Eurasian martial arts forums. Last year, 15 masters of various types of martial arts came to see us in Astana. At the event Hanshi Ruslan Abdreyev was officially granted the 8th dan rank in traditional Jujutsu, as well as the title of Hanshi. A large number of master classes on Jujutsu were conducted. This year, international attestation of belts and the first international referee seminar were held. We certified 32 people. Members of our federation receive invitations from international federations on a regular basis.

— i know that that there is a brazilian jiu-jitsu. Maybe we should start our own Kazakhstani version?

— Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practices a type of Japanese Judo known as ne waza, i.e. mat wrestling. Jujutsu was brought to Brazil by Mitsuyo Maeda — one of the best students of Kodokan Judo. The Brazilians came up with a large variety of introductory exercises developing mat wrestling skills. They have their own certification system and hold their own competitions, but the Brazilians did not come up with new moves. If you remember the history, when the Brazilians challenged the Japanese masters, they lost. Japanese Master Kimura beat the Legendary Gracie with a move that the Brazilians did not know. This move was called kimura, and anyone who practices Jujutsu or Judo knows it. In Kazakhstan we have no such need. We don't need to come up with anything unusual, particularly Kazakhstani Jujutsu. We feel that if we play and win by the rules accepted in more than 150 countries all over the world, that's when everyone will talk about Kazakhstani Jujutsu.

— are they any age limitations in this sport?— There are no limitations because traditional Jujutsu teaches self-defense. Not everyone can become an Olympic gold medalist; for that you have to have special traits. Many people are turned away from clubs as they only want results. But not anyone over 30 years old can come to the club and practice with youth. In addition, we don't have any special women's self-defense clubs in Kazakhstan. If there are any, then they are teaching variants

of Judo and Karate, which are not very effective from a self-defense point of view in the street. In Jujutsu, on the contrary, women can quickly learn effective moves. All that's needed is to attend training regularly. That's why we work with everyone

— children, women and adults that don't have the opportunity to practice at paid clubs. Of course we need governmental support, because we currently owe our existence to sponsors, for whom we are immensely grateful.

We are very pleased that Kazakhstan's largest mobile operator Kcell has become our partner. Thanks to their support, we have conducted the Second Eurasian Forum, the first Blue Mountain Panther Open Tournament in Kokshetau and were able to send our federation's youth team to the Netherlands, where our athletes won one gold and two silver medals.

We plan to organize and conduct a joint charity event called 'Defend Yourself and Your Neighbour' at orphanages around the country. We also plan to work with schools. Of course, we need to expand. For now we simply don't have enough tatami mats and special equipment for training: after all, the majority of children and parents cannot afford training. Very often, it is difficult to send these kids to take part in the major tournaments, but we are happy that we have like-minded people among us that help, support and believe in us. Together we will be able to achieve a lot, I'm sure of that! ●

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Not to Conquer Your Opponentbut More to Conquer Yourself

The External Aspect of Jujutsu philosophy is to protect people from external threats and teach them how to survive under extreme circumstances.It includes tactics and strategy, an arsenal of techniques and skills,

offensive and defensive weapons abilities and the developmentof target-oriented traits. The external aspect consists of qualities expressed

by the person in relationships with the world surrounding him or her

Mastery and knowledge coMe not through the Mind or intellectual understanding, but through the heart.the internal aspect Means following the path of the warrior, practicing personal obedience to natural

laws, and the battle between good and evil within each person. nothing shall be found outside of oneself: everything we need is within us;

all we have to do is learn to look inside.the essence of huMan life consists of choosing between ascension to the higher realMs or falling

into the lowest ones. in order to decide which way to go, one Must becoMe conscious, sensitive, and responsible for one's life and

Must accuMulate enough power and practical experience.Martial arts help us to becoMe conscious and Meditative through the constant need to keep the entire

situation in the forefront of one's Mind and to be effective in the here and now. it is Meditation in MoveMent. when involved in Martial arts, we either becoMe able to persevere until the end (of which there is none),

or we fall back, giving ourselves up to unpredictability and deterMinisM.it is about falls and rises, and choosing between personal freedoM

and dependence on the circuMstances

of the world around us.our teacher can only point us in the right direction on the path, but we will have to walk it ourselves...

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Natalya YeskovaPhotographs: Dina Astayeva

these girls got the Most votes on social networks for videos they made themselves, in which they performed songs from the Eurovision repertoire. All of them were Twit-reporting the whole week from the event. Many Kazakhstani people felt that their insights from the Eurovision Contest were much more interesting than news coverage of the event. But first things first.

Let's start with the fact that the trip to Eurovision-2012 was organized at the invitation of our sister company Azercell, one of the main sponsors of the music event. Besides the Kazakhstani bloggers, Moldcell and Geocell groups of contest winners also came to Azerbaijan, including both journalists and regular subscribers. Kcell guests were pleasantly surprised to learn how vast TeliaSonera’s coverage across Eurasia is. "I have only just realized how big Kcell really is, and that is has such an international scale," said tweeter Sabina Uspeshnaya, sharing her impressions with me.

The program of our visit was packed. Our colleagues did their best to tell us about Azercell as much as possible and even organized a tour to the Customer Service Center. More than 400 people work in the subscriber service center, which serves 4.5 million users. Kazakhstani bloggers were especially struck by the fact that the same number of Kcell employees serve 2.5 times more clients. We were also shown the "holy of holies," the call-center where mostly male employees work; the telesales department; and the training center, where experts provide training to practically all of TeliaSonera Eurasia’s companies. On the evening of May 22, we attended a party in

This year, the ever-hospitable country of Azerbaijan became the center of attraction for a week for lovers of good vocal and live sound from all over the Europe. Eurovision–2012 took place in Baku from May 18 to 23. The winners of an online contest organized by our company traveled there from Kazakhstan to support competitors. The group included popular bloggers and "twitterers" Bakhyt Syzdykova, Dina Astayeva and Sabina Kablakatova (better known across social networks as Sabina Uspeshnaya)

Euro

visi

on

Insight PhOTO REPORTAGE

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honor of Eurovision hosted by Azercell, where we found out and congratulated Azercell for receiving a license for 4G/LTEs.

But the main event is still Eurovision. And it was already obvious leaving the airport, where guests were welcomed by 3,000 taxis, specifically purchased from England. They were nice looking, comfortable cabs with special tourist-friendly rates and even priority routes along the closed streets. The organization was just wonderful and could fill a separate article. But just one word about it all: Could you ever imagine our director of domestic road transport department from the Ministry of Transport and Communications with a radio in hand and controlling the process of sending people on shuttle busses to the concert hall in person? Well theirs was there, personally sending us mere tourists in free taxis.

The overall atmosphere of those days was a holiday one with an overall and sincere love for the country. Everywhere in the streets we were welcomed by smiling people with national flags.

Graceful girls went to the concert in dresses embroidered with sequins in a green-blue-red tricolor (the colors of the national flag). The same colors were used to illuminate the Hilton Hotel in the center of Baku. And as the main attraction of the city, our guide proudly showed us, in his opinion, the largest national flag in Europe in front of Cristal Hall, the competition venue specially-built in just 8 months.

Cristal Hall is built on the site of old oil rigs, which is why the smell of oil accompanied us for the half-hour walk to the concert hall. When they showed us a short film about its construction at the grand-finale, what an impression it made — in just a few months, this industrial zone was transformed into a magnificent waterfront with a “crown” in the very center! That’s exactly how Cristal Hall looks because of its lighting at night: its toothed shape from a distance looks like an Eastern crown, covered with diamonds. The capacity of Cristal Hall is 35,000 people and when all 35,000 people stand up to cheer and greet

their favorite singers, it leaves quite an impression. But only the obvious favorites were greeted this way — Azerbaijani singer Sabina Babayeva, Turkish artist Jana Bonomo, and of course, Lauren, the finalist from Sweden and the ‘Buranovskie Babushki’. The latter group was greeted with applause way before going on stage, and when they started singing, the audience went wild, jumping up and waving flags from almost all participating countries. Even the magnificent acoustics of this ultra modern hall was partially damped by exclamations of delight. To be honest, I am not a fan of pop music and I never followed the ups and downs of Eurovision before coming to Baku. I had heard bits and pieces about the ‘Babushki’ and it was very strange for me to learn the opinions of music critics, who considered that group to be favorites for victory. But when the ‘Babushki’ passed by me, being so small and quite old and dressed in the national dresses of Udmurtia, and took the stage after the gorgeous singer from Cyprus, feelings just overwhelmed me. And when they

were signing, I understood the critics, I understood the reviews of those who heard them in the semifinals, and I understood the audience, which was already standing, applauding, and all 3 minutes of their performance I was happily singing the «Party for everybody dance» along with them.

The most intense moment of the contest was, of course, during the voting. Some believe that this process is influenced by political factors. But through the eyes of someone who listened to all of the contestants, it is my subjective opinion that victory was awarded to the strongest performer in an objective manner. And that goes for everyone else who made it to the top 5 of Eurovision-2012. When the countries declared their results, the diversity of Europe appeared in all its beauty — from glamorous ladies all way to the wild unbridled troll, whose image was used by the Master of ceremonies from Finland. How wonderful it is that with all the diversity, there is something that unites us all — love for good music and high quality mobile communication. ●

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