Author: Rachel Issac

Here’s a Little Help if You Haven’t Received the Windows 10 Upgrade Notification Yet

It is safe to say, that the most awaited update of this month is the Windows 10 update. While many Windows users have still not received the little Windows 10 notification button on their System Tray, what is it that you can do to get your system to step up?

source: PCworld

The process to prepare your laptop for this upgrade will differ according to the Windows version you are using. If you are running the Windows 7, then the solution is to simply update, because the older version of the Windows 7 is not equipped to a new OS without intermediary updates. What you can do is go over to the Control panel, click on System and then choose the Automatic Updates option, moreover, one can also manually update everything. Once your computer is through with the process, just reboot it and you should be able to see the notification icon for the Windows 10 upgrade.

What is to be noted here, is that, the icon works solely for the Windows 7 SP1 version and not the Windows 7 Enterprise yet. If the updates aren’t working properly, or if you don’t want to update everything then you can manually update the necessary requirements. The two necessary updates are here and here, after which you can download the app itself. Without these updates, Windows 7 won’t be equipped to upgrade to the Windows 10.

For more detailed information on the upgrade click here.

Similarly, for the Windows 8 or 8.1 user, you will need to upgrade your operating system. If you haven’t chosen the automatic updating option then you will have to go to your Settings and select the Change PC Settings option then pick the Update and Recovery button. There are different options to update your PC on a Windows 8/8.1, so if you want to control the update installation, then simply pick the Choose How Updates get Installed option.

Here also, however, the Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise and Windows RT/RT 8.1 cannot get the Windows 10 update icon or app. Although, for a manual update, the process is similar to that for Windows 7, for which the links have been given above.

For computers on a professional network, the option to upgrade is out of your hands. This is because, most schools, colleges and business organizations run networks with a tight firewall protection which is managed by the administration or IT department. Therefore, in these cases one can only hope that one’s organization also plans to eventually update their version of Windows.

Finally, for older Windows operating systems, if you have picked the “no update for you” option on Windows 7 and 8, one might have already noticed that the new upgrade cannot be downloaded on to your system yet. But, according to sources such as PCgamer.com, Windows is offering an upgrade even for ‘non-genuine’ users. As posted in a Windows blog on May 15th, Terry Myerson wrote that the company would be releasing an attractive Windows 10 upgrade for those running older devices on a non-genuine state.

So let us wait and see, what the much anticipated Windows Upgrade, holds for us.

July 27, 2015
Introducing a 360 Degree-View ‘Treehouse’ With Wi-fi and Beer

Jono Williams, a plastics engineer and graphic designer from New Zealand has built a treehouse. But this treehouse is said to be the ideal bachelor pad. Why? Because it has a 360-degree view, high speed Wi-Fi, an app-controlled beer dispenser and voice-controlled LED lights- all of this being solar powered.

Image Credit: Mashable

It is said that he wanted to build an elevated room with a view, but wasn’t convinced by the generic treehouse idea. Therefore, he created his own steel treehouse for $67,000. The structure is called ‘The Skysphere’, and is controlled by a wireless sound system fingerprint entry.

The Skysphere also has a projector and dimmable LED lighting from solar-powered, app and voice-controlled mechanics.The room is completely powered by solar panels, which is necessary for all of its gadgets. Although Mr.William’s favourite part of the Skysphere is the smartphone activated, refrigerated, in-couch beer dispenser, which can hold 12 beers and can chill an additional 36 beers at the same time.

One general question is- how does he get things up? To answer this he says, his initial plan was to use a large hydraulic ram that goes down into the ground, with a lift on it. But for now he’s using a ladder and a rope-pulley system.

The only thing that seems to be missing here is a bathroom, but Mr.Williams is soon planning to make one “in the trees near the tower”. What do you think of this tech savvy treehouse?

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.theskysphere.com/”]theSkysphere[/tw-button]

July 27, 2015
Edit: Will ‘Tech Wear’ Work?

‘Tech Wear’ is a relatively new concept that perhaps began with the introduction and launch of the Google Glass on April 4, 2012. There was a huge frenzy about the Google Glass and the things it promised its wearer – such as direct visual access to friends, schedules and Internet. But Google Glass did not work. Why? What makes products like Google Glass, the Neptune Pine, the Pebble, fitness trackers and other technological wearables not popular enough to cater to the taste of the general public?

Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz

Firstly, these are luxury products. They cater to the needs of the general public but make themselves available to only a certain strata of society. For example, the Apple Watch is created in order to make interaction simpler and intimate. One doesn’t have to constantly be on their phones in order to check the time, reply to emails, take calls, respond to text messages etc, instead all these activities can be completed by a few glances and voice notes. Here is the catch, you have to have an iPhone (or any product by Apple) too so that all the information from your device can get synced to this new iWatch.

To get an idea of the approximate amount of money we might have to spend to buy an iWatch and support it, let us look at its INR value. The Apple Watch Sport Edition: Expected price tag in India for 38mm case model is Rs. 25000 and for the 42mm case model is Rs. 30000, plus the other Apple product to support it, for example an iPhone 6 (Silver 16GB) which is Rs.42,920 (on Ebay). The total amount would be Rs. 67,920. The prices differ in different countries and the accessibility of the product also differs, but to the average Indian, an iPhone update makes no serious change to his lifestyle.

Secondly, even with a large portion of the world being able to afford tech wear, they are still looked at sceptically or cautiously by investors. Why? What makes a product stable in the market? The necessity of a product. Although, further research shows a changing trend in the demands of the consumers. Fashion experts say that most of these products look ugly, in fact, the New York Times even tagged them as ‘ugly tech’ instead of ‘wearable tech’.

The consumer’s taste is now much more sophisticated than it used to be, he/she is not going to wear anything on his wrist that looks like a mini Kindle. And this is where Apple comes in with its slick and fashionably created Apple Watch. The ‘iWatch’ comes in various belts, both leather and metal, and is styled in a way that is appealing to all. Perhaps following suit are smaller fashion-focused tech companies, with a handful of partnerships between tech companies and big-name fashion brands.

So far, the investors and critics were skeptic of these wearable products, but now with the coming of the fashionable and efficient iWatch, their predictions have changed. Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, predicted a 3 million dollars’ worth Apple Watch sale on 9to5mac.com, and thinks that 2017 will be the device’s ‘breakout’ year. What changed?

The reviews for the Apple Watch have been somewhat stable; most of the critics encourage the use of this wearable technology that is more compact, fashionable, efficient, modern, and advanced in its settings and features. For example, the product description states that the custom-designed chip at the heart of the Apple Watch is encapsulated in the resin to protect the electronics from the elements, impact and wear. Configuring an entire computer system on a single chip is an industry first; settings like these and many others make the Apple Watch user friendly. Although despite this commendable attempt by Apple, critics still suggest that there is room for improvement as far as speed, efficiency and battery life are concerned but that these are problems that can be rectified by perhaps an iWatch 2.

Similarly, The New York Times states that earlier this year Fitbit announced a partnership with the designer Tory Burch to make fitness trackers stuffed inside a hinged bracelet and pendant necklace. Google Glass has partnered with DVF and Luxoticca to make the geeky specs, stylish. Rebecca Minkoff and Case-Mate announced a new line of techie jewellery, including a gold bracelet that pairs with a smartphone. Intel has also partnered with Barney’s New York and Open Ceremony to create a bracelet with a curved sapphire screen and built-in wireless radios called the MICA (My Intelligent Communication Accessory.)

Image source: New York Times

As far as reviews are to be trusted, they give us a realistic take on the new influx of wearable technology and its appeal. What has changed therefore, is the taste of the consumer and now that modern technology is being able to steadily cater to it, wearable technology might actually carve a stable niche for itself in the years to come.

July 26, 2015
Top 10 Trailers To Watch This Week

Here is a list of trailers you should watch this week and of course, look out for the worldwide release dates:

1. Spectre from the Bond Series directed by Sam Mendes, sees Daniel Craig reprise the role of MI6 spy James Bond once again. This trailer gives us a peek into the storyline which deals with Bond’s past and inflitrating a secret organization called Spectre. Release Date: 6th November 2015 (USA)

2. Vacation, directed by, John Dalay and Johnathan Goldstein is about a man named Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) remembering fond, childhood memories of his trip to Walley World and surprises his wife (Christina Applegate) and two sons with a cross-country excursion to America’s favorite fun park. Release date: July 29, 2015 (USA)

3. Missisippi Grind, directed by, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Convinced that his newfound friend (Ryan Reynolds) is a good-luck charm, a gambling addict (Ben Mendelsohn) takes the man on a road trip to a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. Release Date: September 25, 2015 (USA)

4. Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, directed by Francis Lawrence. The film is the last of the Hunger games series, adapted from the novels written by Suzzane Collins. It sees Katniss Everdeen (the heroin) in her final attempt to destroy Snow (villain). The film releases in the UK and US on the 20th of November, but the India release dates are yet to be announced.

5. Black Mass directed by Scott Mass.
The unholy alliance between the FBI and Whitey Bulger, one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history. Initial Release Date: September 18, 2015 (USA).

6. Pan, from the makers of Harry Potter, directed by Joe Wright.
An orphan is spirited away to the realm of Neverland, where he fulfills his destiny as Peter Pan (Levi Miller). Initial release date: October 8, 2015 (Azerbaijan)

7. The Man From U.N.C.L.E, directed by Guy Ritchie.
At the height of the Cold War, a mysterious criminal organization plans to use nuclear weapons and technology to upset the fragile balance of power between the United States and Soviet Union. Release date: August 14, 2015 (USA)

8. Suffragette, directed by, Sarah Gavron.
In late 19th and early 20th century, the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal state in the quest for equal rights. Release date: October 23, 2015 (USA)

9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J Abrams.
The further adventures of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). Release date: December 16, 2015 (Italy)

10. Train wreck, directed by, Judd Apatow.
Ever since her father drilled into her head that monogamy isn’t realistic, watch magazine writer Amy (Amy Schumer) make promiscuity her credo. India release: 7th August 2015.

July 26, 2015
Here’s How You Can Destroy Sent Email Even After a Year

Gmail had recently announced a new feature called the Undo save button, which allowed you to retrack your email within 30 seconds of the it having been sent. Now Gmail has an extention feature called Dmail created by Delicious (an online social bookmarking company) with a tagline that reads ‘Finally sent email has a delete button’.

Dmail is well aware that the concept of re-tracking one’s email isn’t new and has therefore introduced its self-destruct feature, which needs to be installed by the user from the Google Web Browser Extension and for the first time allows you to destroy a sent email whenever you want to. The Dmail button can also be controlled by you with the help of a toggle switch.

How this works is, that, once loaded, you will have a new option on Gmail, within the ‘compose’ interface which allows you to turn on the Dmail service. Ahead of sending the email, you can specify as to when you want the email to destroy itself. The options given are ‘an hour’ to a day, week or never. And even if you choose the never option you can go back and click on the revoke email button which removes access to that email from all recipients.

What is different about Dmail is that the recipent doesn’t need to be a user of the service in order to access the email. In case one is not a Dmail user and receives a Dmail encrypted mail, you will receive a message that says “This secure message was sent using Dmail. To view this message, simply click the button below.” This will direct the viewer to a web view where they can read the email.

The product has been in development for a long time and was built by a seven member subset of Delicious’s team. Currently, the feature is available online for all Gmail users, but not for smartphone users. Hence, the company is looking to expand their business by making this feature accessible to iOS devices in August followed by Android devices. They also plan on making Dmail a fremium service, this means that though some aspects of the service will remain free for individuals; power users and businesses will have to pay for other specific security features.

Meanwhile, a document control feature is already in development, and Jones expects this feature to launch before this winter. Click here to download Dmail. Meanwhile, tell us what you think about this feature?

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://mail.delicious.com/”]Delicious[/tw-button]

July 25, 2015
This New Research is Working on Making Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak a Reality

The curiosity that human beings have had towards the supernatural has always been very apparent. And with pop culture encouraging our intrigue with superhero, sci-fi and fantasy movies, this curiosity turns into obsession to actually create these devices. For example, in a speech by President Barack Obama, on the development of a classified project he famously remarked “We’re building Iron Man”. Even the American military can’t get enough of the superhuman world.

Why though? Is it because human beings inherently have a characteristic to never be satisfied with what they have? Suddenly, a pair of hands and feet don’t seem good enough. Therefore, the need to build something that is bigger and better than us crops up. Things that can do everything we cannot, so that they can protect us.

The newest announcement, stemming out of this thought process perhaps, is the need to build and create invisibility cloaks (just like the one in Harry Potter) and invisible military vehicles. The American Chemical Society has released an episode of a series called Reactions in collaboration with ACS Photonics, that speaks about how we can actually create such a device or wearable. They speak about how the idea of invisibility or camouflaging actually exists all around us, with the aircraft that can disappear from radar imaging systems, and animals like cephalopods and chameleons that can camouflage themselves by mimicking light.

The video is said to have been revealed to celebrate the International Year of Light by exploring the science behind light, sight and invisibility. The technology behind this is being referred to as, cloaking technology and the video shows how many scientists and researchers have actually made discoveries towards this possibility. At Duke University, methods of making light avoid an object by using meta-materials and engineered materials to craft things such as powerful antennas and invisibility cloaks have been undertaken.

Harry Potter trying out the invisibility cloak for the first time.

In fact, researchers from Europe have already created a three-dimensional cloak that can hide objects by bending light waves. And as reported, researchers from the German Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Imperial College of London used the cloak that was made using photonic crystals, with a structure resembling piles of wood, to conceal a small bump on a gold surface.

These are merely advances towards cloak technology, but companies such as BAE Systems are working on projects to give military vehicles the option of invisibility. Researchers in various institutions have already began experimenting the uses of meta-materials to make small objects disappear.

So, is this the future? Has the human race become so paranoid so as to take a cue from Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak? Are we now incapable of facing the damage that we ourselves have created? Either way, mischief managed!

Source:[tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2015/july/are-invisibility-cloaks-possible-video.html”] American Chemical Society[/tw-button]

July 25, 2015
Here’s How U2 is Smoothly Mixing Music and Technology

At U2’s recent eight-show run at Madison Square Garden, Bono pulled up a woman onstage, handed her a smartphone and announced that they were live streaming the performance onto the internet. The stream was then displayed off a huge feed from U2’s Meerkut account.

At this particular concert, famous talk show host, Jimmy Fallon made a surprise appearance for a duet of “Desire”. This tour also includes messages condemning the 1974 car bombings of Ireland, a call to fight AIDS, Stephen Hawking’s voice, high-tech gimmicks and more than two hours of music that included songs from U2’s 2014 album, “Songs of Innocence”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VWsGG2Z-dI

U2 packs technology into its Innocence and Experience tour by incorporating the smartphone spectacle each night for at least one song. Yet, this isn’t the first of U2’s tech savvy performances. One can recall a stage they had built in the shape of a four-legged spaceship, and now, they have designed a two-sided display that hangs over the arena, providing a good view to each and every person.

The band also used a new form of musical storytelling, they climb up to perform within the display while Bono walks along the base, with displays showing visuals and animation to help create an analogy of him akin to that of walking the street on which he grew up.

But, it is said that the most creative way U2 used technology for this tour is one that cannot be seen. Most touring production companies store visuals directly on the systems they use for running the video screens. The problem with that is, if something needs to be changed, the entire thing would need to be copied to the show system with a pen drive, which might even delay the show.

Image: Rich Fury/Associated Press

U2, is now, using a modern technique for its tour with the help of a cloud storage company called EMC. Therefore, if they need to switch setlists or songs, the team is able to update visuals and deliver them on time. But, because cloud relies on the internet, which may not be available at major venues for security reasons, U2 uses an on-premise tech unit so that they have access to the data even without a web connection. EMC is said to be archiving the HD video streams with their cameras used during the show.

While previously, tours were held to promote music so that an album was successful, nowadays monetizing concerts and merchandise have become more important, as we have seen in Taylor Swift’s 1989 tour, which has an entire line of clothes created with the album’s theme kept in mind. This is said to be done, so that later on, the band can use the footage and decide how to monetize those archives.

The Innocence And Experience tour is definitely said to be a high-tech futuristic event that has been created, not just for fans but anybody who wants to be entertained.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://mashable.com/2015/07/24/u2-tour-technology/”]Mashable[/tw-button]

July 25, 2015
Meet the Anime Revolutionaries Who Want to Silence the ISIS

In case you missed it, ISIS Chan is the new anime activist, created by anime nerds all over the world to silence violent ISIS terrorist propaganda. ISIS Chan is a girl who wears the terrorist group’s black clothing, has green eyes and dark hair. She is 19 years old and holds a knife, only because she loves to slice and eat melons!

The aim of these ‘revolutionaries’ is to hijack the terrorist group’s messages and replace them with this cute anime character. They hope that one day when people all over the world google ISIS they won’t have to see intimidating pictures of terrorists with AK-47 guns, but instead, this cute anime character, who represents the opposite of what the terrorist group propagates.

Some call it the ‘Google Bomb’, a war of attrition, where images are ammunition and “search engine optimization” is the rule of engagement.” The group reportedly said:

“The World Wide Web is our battlefield,we want to change the meaning of the term ‘ISIS’.”

Winning this war would mean a monumental change, since Google keeps its algorithms a secret. With the basic rule for its search results being popularity, the group has reported more than 3000 original images from an unknown number of supporters mainly from Asia. As of now though, most supporters prefer to remain anonymous, fearing an attack from the terrorist group.

The idea of ISIS Chan emerged in japan when the group killed two Japanese hostages. The country being unable to retaliate militarily, did so in the best way they knew how to: anime. Animators had independently photoshopped ISIS images of the murder and replaced the killer’s knife with a banana!

The only anti-ISIS activist who is known on Twitter, known as, GenKnoxx reported that they did this to make people who try to be terrifying look ridiculous. Despite being anti-ISIS the group has some simple rules such as: no insulting Islam or showing religious symbols. Respecting the images of hostages, no gore or porn.

ISIS now has ISIS Chan and anything you decide to post on Twitter with the hashtag #ISISChan gets shared by the leading activist @isisvipper. So get tweeting and spread the awareness.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/23/technology/isis-chan/index.html”]CNNMoney[/tw-button]

July 24, 2015
Logitech Announces New Mechanic Gaming Keyboard

As a follow up to the G910 Orion Spark that had been brought to the market in late 2014, the new Logitech G310Atlas Dawn Compact Mechanical Gaming Keyboard has been announced. The G310 is a more slender version of the G910 without the macro keys, media control functions, and number pad. The G310 is designed to be convenient to carry around, making it ideal for traveling.

Along with this, the Romer-G mechanical switches can register key presses up to 25% faster than its competitors. It Sports a 1.5 mm actuation point with the switches featuring an average lifetime rating of 70 million keystrokes, which according to Logitech is 40% longer than any other switch in the market.

Source: Digital Trends

As quoted by Logitech G vice president and general manager Ujesh Desai:

“Having a keyboard that is compact and lightweight was important, but it also had to be durable and comfortable for hours of gameplay.”

The keyboard also supports a central backlighting system with the ability to control its brightness. It also allows users to dock their smartphones in the blue section, at the top of the board. This allows them to use the smartphone as a second screen that displays in-game information, system stats, and so forth, in conjunction with the Arx Control App conceived by Logitech.

The Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn Compact Mechanical Gaming Keyboard comes with a two-year manufacturer warranty and a price tag of Rs.8,795 in India and an MSRP of $180. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/logitech-announces-mechanical-keyboard-with-homegrown-switches/”]DigitalTrends[/tw-button]

July 24, 2015
The New Mockingjay Part 2 Trailer Leaves You Asking For More

The full-length trailer of Mockinjay-Part 2 is finally here. Mockingjay Part 2 is the final installment in the Hunger games series with it’s ‘reluctant heroin,’ Katniss Everdeen portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence.

The trailer sees a confident Katniss ready to end the games. For Hunger Games fans, this might be the equivalent of what the last battle at Hogwarts meant for Harry Potter fans. The last film, Mockingjay Part 1, took less than $100m worldwide than its predecessor, Catching Fire. Thus, this film hopes to return to its former grandeur.

Those of you who have read the books would already know that the film’s plot will follow Katniss and company as they prepare to storm Panem’s Capitol which will be portrayed, as in previous movies, in adventurous booby trap-filled landscapes.

Cast members include Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and Josh Hutcherson.

The movie will release in Australia and UK on the 19th of November and in the US on the 20th of November, this year. However, it is still unclear when Hunger Games fans in India, will get to witness the epic conclusion.

July 24, 2015
Airtel Users Experience Maximum Call Drops

We have all been recently experiencing something that has been termed as ‘call drops’, and as of June 30th 2015 Airtel has received the the most number of complaints (31) followed by Vodafone, Idea Cellular and BSNL as written by telecom minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has also received complaints from Reliance, Aircel, MTS and Tata users too.

The Airtel CEO had written an open letter to its customers asking for their help. He mentioned that the two most important things necessary for a good service or network were sites and spectrum. He also requests customers to identify nearby mobile sites to reduce call drops in a particular locality.

But what is the government doing about this, since customers are still paying for inefficient services?

“TRAI has been monitoring the performance for service providers against the quality of service benchmarks for the various parameters through quarterly performance monitoring reports.” – Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ideally, the call drop rate should be less than 2%. Although, service providers have cited various reasons such as equipment faults, frequent load shedding in some circles, difficulty in site acquisition, shutting of existing mobile towers due to radiation concerns and restrictions near international borders. These don’t seem to be excuses but facts of this situation.

The government promises to meet telecom service providers in April as well as the second week of July, 2015 regarding the call drop issue, wherein, they have been asked to take immediate measures to address issues of call drops by radio frequency optimization, installation of new sites and in-building solutions.

However, the results of these measures are yet to be experienced.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Airtel-subscribers-suffer-maximum-call-drops-TRAI/articleshow/48184843.cms?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOITech”]Times Of India [/tw-button]

July 24, 2015

Apple Grabs 75.5 Percent of Smartwatch Market Shares; Samsung Lags at 7.5 Percent

The announcement for the launch of the Apple Watch was met with great optimism and reviews encouraging the users to adapt to the product despite certain glitches. Fashion experts were also looking forward to its launch as it was hoped that Apple would finally launch a fashionable smartwatch that would be wearable.

Despite these reviews, the critical opinions seemed to overpower them, even post release. For instance, Brad Hargreaves initially predicted an 11 million sale in the third and fourth quarter which he later slashed down to 10.5 million. Most reviews seemed to tag the product as ‘destined for failure’ and no one would ever know since Apple rarely reveals sales numbers or internal statistics.

However a new report is said to show the Apple sales as “exceeding internal expectations” despite the pessimistic aura. Numbers never seem to fail Apple Inc. and as reported they have sold four million watches in the second quarter, giving them 75.5% of the global smartwatch market shares.

Global Smartwatch Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q2 ’14	Q2 ’15
Apple	0.0	4.0
Samsung	0.7	0.4
Others	0.3	0.9
Total	1.0	5.3

Global Smartwatch Vendor Marketshare (%)	Q2 ’14	Q2 ’15
Apple	0.0%	75.5%
Samsung	73.6%	7.5%
Others	26.4%	17.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%

Total Growth: Year-over-Year (%)	~	457.3%

Source: Strategy Analytics

In direct comparison we have the Samsung smartwatch that sold only four hundred thousand watches giving them a 7.5% share in the market. Other brands like Motorola, LG etc. have sold around nine hundred thousand watches giving them a total of 17% of smartwatch sales. In total, Samsung plus the other smartphones own 24.5% of the market, with Apple far ahead of it with 75.5%. Hence, proving that Samsung and the rest have a long way to go before catching up to a Cupertino product.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”https://www.strategyanalytics.com/strategy-analytics/blogs/devices/wearables/wearables/2015/07/22/apple-watch-captures-75-percent-global-smartwatch-marketshare-in-q2-2015#.VbChwflZRpK”]Strategy Analytics[/tw-button]

July 23, 2015

Is the iPhone 6S in Trouble Even Before it Has Been Announced?

The iPhone 6 is touted as being different from all the other iPhones especially since it catered to the ‘large screen’ demand. However, the rumours about the iPhone 6S do not mention a larger screen and it is precisely this reason that has made many analysts and firms wary about it’s success and appeal.

Macquarie, a global investment banking and diversified financial services group, writes:

Since the new phone will not be a size upgrade, we are concerned that the growth simply won’t be there. We are well aware that this is incredibly simplified, but because it is simple doesn’t mean it won’t impact the growth and stock.

The ‘comp issue’ mentioned above refers to the hypothesis that – if the iPhone is already doing so well then it would be difficult for the future creations to compete with what is already available.

Piper Jaffray, an investment bank and asset management firm also has similar worries and writes that the iPhone growth is expected to go flat in CY16. It is said that because of the level of excellence that the iPhone 6 surpasses, it will continue to be successful even after the announcement of a new device. Especially because the price of the iPhone 6 will drop.

Apple is expected to release their reports earnings later today and announcements for a new iPhone is anticipated.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.businessinsider.in/Why-analysts-are-already-worried-about-the-iPhone-6S-even-though-Apple-hasnt-announced-it-yet/articleshow/48162855.cms”]Business Insider[/tw-button]

July 23, 2015
What We Know About The Apple Car So Far

As reported earlier by us, Apple has not yet made an official announcement about its new electric car project that is currently being called Project Titan. What we know about it, is that Apple has been on a recruiting spree, hiring about a hundred new professionals from Tesla, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and the like. They have also hired former deputy director of the Autonomous Systems Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Paul Furgale. In fact very recently, Apple just settled a law suit filed against them by automotive battery manufacturer A123 Systems accusing them of an attempt to use A123 employees to start a battery operation.

Their latest hire is Mr.Betts, a former VP for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), who has also worked with Toyota and Nissan in the past. He worked at Chrysler from 2007 to 2014 and is said to have left one day after after the company had a relatively poor showing in a Consumer Reports quality survey. It is said that Mr.Betts may be the first major automotive executive to join Apple.

Furgale is said to be hiring recruits and researchers to work with him while Apple CEO Tim Cook is also said to have hired Steve Zedesky, a veteran product designer and former Ford Motor Co. engineer, to hire a 1000 member team and recruit employees from other parts of Apple.

This initiative from Apple Inc. comes at a time when many other software companies are looking at opportunities in the automobile industry by creating software savvy, driver-less cars. Google and Uber have also been reported as developing and testing what might be called the next-gen automobiles.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.wsj.com/article_email/apple-hires-auto-industry-manufacturing-veteran-1437430826-lMyQjAxMTI1NjIwMDgyODA4Wj”]Wall Street Journal[/tw-button]

[tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://mashable.com/2015/07/22/apple-hires-fca-vp-car-project/”]Mashable[/tw-button]

July 23, 2015
Google Maps Now Helps You Retrace Your Every Step

One of the features of the modern day lifestyle is the GPS tracking devices on our Android or iOS phones and laptops, with the most famous tracking app being, Google Maps. We all know how this works regardless of whether we own a smartphone or not. Google Maps already knows your location so you just have to add your destination address and voila, it shows you the way.

Image Source: Mashable

This app is usually helpful, but there are times when Google Maps either takes you to some remote location or you forget which road to take etc. Although, Google Maps previously did have a location history setting, now, it has come out with a new feature called Your Timeline.

The new Timeline is curated in a more efficient way than the location history and allows you to rename a location or remove a location and allows you to check where you were at any given time.The location history of the Timeline is private and can be deleted by the user from the settings menu. The new feature also allows you to control your account settings if you don’t want Google to track your location history.

The new Your Timeline feature is soon to be out for desktop users too.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://mashable.com/2015/07/22/google-maps-your-timeline/”]Mashable[/tw-button]

July 23, 2015