iGyaan Network

Author: Rishi Baruah

  • Unboxing and Hands On | LG G Flex 2

    Unboxing and Hands On | LG G Flex 2

    A month after announcing the LG G Flex 2, LG has finally declared the availability of the latest flagship from LG’s line up of smartphones in India. This phone comes with an improved four side curve design and a high-resolution display. Here, we will be unboxing the LG handset and giving a quick hands on review.

    The 5.5-inch full HD Curved P-OLED display phone is powered by the latest 64-bit Snapdragon 810 Octa-Core processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM. It operating system runs on Android 5.0 with LG UI 3.0. Camera specifications include a 13MP primary camera with dual-LED flash and a front-facing 2.1MP camera. In terms of unique features, the LG G Flex 2 has a fast laser autofocus camera that works by measuring the distance between the subject and the lens using a laser beam. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart Ready 4.1, LTE support, USB 2.0 and NFC. The phone is available in Silver Titan colour and 16GB variant for now and is priced at Rs 54,990.

    LG G Flex 2 Specs:

    SPECIFICATION LG G Flex 2
    Display 5.5-inch full HD 1920×1080 Curved P-OLED display
    Processor 64-bit Snapdragon 810 Octa-Core processor
    RAM 2GB
    Internal Memory 32GB
    Expandable Up To 2TB
    Primary Camera 13MP with Advanced OIS+, LED Flash, 4K Video
    Secondary Camera 2.1MP
    Operating System Android 5.0.1 Lollipop OS with LG UI 3.0
    Price Rs. 54,990

    Check out the Unboxing video below:

    Want to know how the new phone fares against the old version? Check out our hands on with the LG G Flex here.

  • Apple Admits Tattoos May Cause the Watch Problems

    Apple Admits Tattoos May Cause the Watch Problems

    Who would have thought that the proper working of Apple’s newest product, the Apple Watch, will depend on if you have tattoo or not? A few days back, several reports had surfaced of tattooed Apple Watch owners facing trouble with their new purchase. Just like the Bendgate fiasco, it sounded like a tech glitch, which was made to sound bigger than it actually was. However, Apple has posted on its official blog that users sporting tattoos may face difficulty in operating the smart watch’s key feature – the heart-rate monitor.

    Apple said the watch works on a technology called photoplethysmography that bombards the wearer’s skin with green LED and infrared light in order to follow the blood flow between heart pumps.

    apple_watch_sensors

    The official Apple support page reads:

    Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance. The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.

    The only solution Apple has to offer for now is that by connecting the Apple Watch wirelessly to external heart rate monitors via Bluetooth, the wearable can bypass the sensor reading from the tattooed area.

    The tattoo problem is not only being faced by Apple Watch users. Similar fitness wearables that use the same technology, have been reported to malfunction a little when worn on a tattooed hand.

  • Xiaomi’s Next Flagship Rumoured to Come in Two Variants, Mi 5 And Mi 5 Plus

    Xiaomi’s Next Flagship Rumoured to Come in Two Variants, Mi 5 And Mi 5 Plus

    A few days ago Xiaomi unveiled its new smartphone, the Mi 4i, at a grand event in New Delhi. One lakh registrations went up and 40,000 units were sold out within 15 seconds. Now, reports from Gizmochina claim two more new devices will be joining the company’s line-up later in June. These devices are larger copies of the Mi 4, expected to be named Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus.

    mi 4i
    40,000 units of the Mi 4i went out of stock in 15 seconds.

    The claimed specs of the devices were leaked on the Chinese social media site, Weibo. The Mi 5 is touted to have a 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 1440×2560 pixels. It is believed it will be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with either 3GB or 4GB RAM and will be juiced by a 3,000mAh battery. Its camera specification includes a 16MP primary camera.The device will also be infused with fingerprint technology.

    Its larger cousin, named as Mi 5 Plus, will feature a 6-inch screen with 4GB RAM, 32GB internal memory and a 16MP primary camera. No details were revealed about its processor, display etc. Xiaomi has yet to reveal the date of release, but reports mention that the two handsets will be out in June.

    Knowing Xiaomi’s track of getting “inspired” by everything that Apple does, we won’t be surprised to see the upcoming flagship in two variants.

  • Facebook Donation Drive Collects $10 Million to Help Nepal

    Facebook Donation Drive Collects $10 Million to Help Nepal

    Last weekend, Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake which claimed more than 6,000 lives and many more missing are still missing. The earthquake’s epicentre originated 17km south of Kodari, Nepal and measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. Its after-tremors could be felt in places as far as Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Many communication and technological powerhouses came forward to aid Nepal in this time of crisis. Google came up with an app that can be used to locate missing people, telecom enterprises like BSNL, MTNL, Idea, Vodafone and Airtel lowered down their call rates or made it entirely free of charge.

    Facebook initiated a donation drive in order to collect money for Nepal. The social networking giant launched a donation button that reached out almost 1.4 billion users worldwide. Facebook successfully raised over $10 million (Rs. 1.2 billion) within two days. Zuckerberg stated that the company would add $2 million, bringing the total to $12 million.

    We’ve seen our community come together in some amazing ways since the earthquake in Nepal. We activated Safety Check... Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, April 30, 2015

    All the money will be handed over to a non-profit organization, International Medical Corps, who will be providing medical care, medicines, food, water, and other basic amenities for the Nepalese community. Zuckerberg states this effort have been amazing.

    Capture

    Read more in detail about how different technological powerhouses joined hands to help Nepal here.

    A picture is worth a thousand words. Click here to witness the devastation in Nepal after the earthquake.

  • Counterpoint : Samsung Stays Steady on Top in India; Micromax Faces a Steep Decline

    Counterpoint : Samsung Stays Steady on Top in India; Micromax Faces a Steep Decline

    According to the Q1 2015 reports by Counterpoint Technology Market Research, Samsung remained the the lead as India’s  champion in terms of growth and market share. The company has recently faced absurd challenges, in Asia particularly, but its condition improved enough to win over the Indian market from Apple and Micromax.

    Reports of the Q1 2015 showed Samsung India grew 2.1% over the last year. Samsung led the overall mobile phone market and the smartphone segment during the quarter with market shares of 18.2% and 27.8% respectively. This figure is still below the 33% growth from the previous year. But, with a sale of 82.4 million handsets within the first three months of the quarter, Samsung captured 24.5% of the market share.

    According to the report, Samsung has used its distribution prowess to sell-in during the quarter as it executed aggressive smartphone launches during the quarter including the Tizen-based Z1.

    India Smartphone shipment counterpoint

    One of the reasons why Samsung boomed is that the Korean company launched its flagship Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge at the end of the quarter in April.

    Micromax ended their quarter with 15.3% market share that served as a decline on the yearly basis as well as on sequential basis. Although, it still managed to secure the second place, the report commented that Micromax’s new brand Yureka with the launch of its first Cyanogen powered LTE smartphone Yu started off well, but will need more models across different price brackets to match the scale of Xiaomi and Motorola.

  • Here’s the List of Free Games Available for Playstation Plus Members for May

    Here’s the List of Free Games Available for Playstation Plus Members for May

    Each month, Sony releases a bunch of free goodies for its Playstation Plus users. This month is no exception. Sony will be releasing five new games for the month of May, four games for PlayStation Vita and three for PlayStation 3.

    Some of the games that were up for free download in April were Aaru’s Awakening (PS 4, PS3, PS Vita), Towers Of Guns (PS 4, PS3), Never Alone (PS4), Dishonoured (PS 3), Killzone Mercenary and Monsterbag (both PS Vita).

    For this month’s edition, there is Ether One (PS4), Guacamelee Super Championship Turbo Edition (PS4), Race the Sun (PS4, PS3, PS Vita), Hohokum (PS4, PS3, PS Vita), The Unfinished Swan (PS 4, PS3, PS Vita) and Murasaki Baby (PS Vita).

    The game details are as follows:

    Ether One:

    ether one

    It is a first person puzzle thriller where you have to solve complex puzzles in order to restore the minds of mentally ill patients and to put back the fragments of the person’s deranged lives.

    The Unfinished Swan:

    The Unfinished Swan

    With an astounding art style and thought-provoking gameplay, the game is filled with unexpected twists and turns. It is about a boy named Monroe who has to chase a swan that has escaped through a painting. This game includes various tricking landscapes.

    Race The Sun:

    Race The Sun

    It is a minimalist racing game where the setting sun is your timer. Race before the sun dwells down the horizon. It is a race against time!

    Hohokum:

    Hohokum

    It is a game where you play a kite-like creature and explore your surroundings. Basically, a game like the GTA franchise, except that it’s more colourful and gives a happier vibe.

    Murasaki Baby:

    Murasaki Baby

    A negatively created puzzle game where players have to guide a baby through the nightmarish landscape in search of a home.

  • India Plans to Launch Six More Satellites During 2015-16

    India Plans to Launch Six More Satellites During 2015-16

    Till the month of April 2015, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched a total of 74 satellites, out of which seven failed to reach the orbit due to launch failures and three failed in the orbit. Now it has been announced that India will be launching six more satellites during 2015-16. Out of the six, two will be communication satellites, three navigation satellites and one space science satellite, ASTROSAT. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, writes down:

    Six more satellites are planned to be launched during 2015-16. These are two communication satellites GSAT-6 and GSAT-15; three navigation satellites IRNSS-1E, IRNSS-1F & IRNSS-1G; and one space science satellite ASTROSAT.

    Furthermore, ISRO has successfully launched 40 foreign satellites belonging to 19 countries, that include four micro and nano satellites built by Indian students using the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket. India has also planned to launch 13 more satellites that belong to four other countries using the PSLV.

    ISRO said it was to include the technology of ion propulsion system to power the future satellites. Presently, satellite fuel occupies space and makes it heavy, according to Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre Director, K.Sivan. According to Sivan, the projected technology would be tried, tested and analysed in a communications satellite.

    Meanwhile, ISRO is working on another alternative known as the semi-cryogen engine. It is still under development and will be used to power India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-MkIII Rocket in the near future.

  • All Major Indian Telecom Players Slash Down Roaming Rates by Up to 75%

    All Major Indian Telecom Players Slash Down Roaming Rates by Up to 75%

    After Vodafone slashed down their roaming rates, leading telecom operators followed suit, including Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication. All of the operators lowered their roaming rates up to 75% after TRAI cut off the maximum ceiling tariff. Roaming call rates will be cheaper by 40% and SMS by 75%. The above is effective immediately.

    For Airtel, incoming rates have been reduced by 40% and outgoing inter-circle calls will be lowered by 23%. Outgoing local call rates will be decreased by 20%, and it reduced local SMS rate by 75%. Outgoing inter-circle SMS rate has been cut by up to 74%.

    As for Idea Cellular and Reliance, similarly, these two companies have slashed their roaming call rates by 40%. Idea will now charge incoming calls at 45paise/minute and outgoing is reduced by 20%. Local SMS on Idea will cost 25% lesser, and STD will be charged 38 paise while on roaming.

    In the words of Morgan Stanley, American multinational financial service:

    Reduction in national roaming ceiling tariff would imply a 2% revenue impact and 4% Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) impact for operators, which could be partly offset by an increase in roaming minutes and any positive differential gains.

    Earlier this month, TRAI had cut the maximum rate for STD calls on roaming to Rs 1.15 from Rs 1.50. To read about Vodafone’s new tariff plans, click here.

  • Vodafone Lowers National Roaming Tariffs For its Customers

    Vodafone Lowers National Roaming Tariffs For its Customers

    Vodafone India has lowered down their call rates for national roaming tariffs. These will come into effect 1st May onwards.

    This reduction applies to both local and STD calls. All outgoing calls on roaming have been set to 80paise/minute, which earlier was Re. 1/minute. For STD calls, rates have been revised to Rs 1.15/minute from the former Rs 1.5/minute. Also regarding text messaging, prices have been slashed down to 75% while on roaming. Earlier, it was Re. 1 which have been lowered to 25 paise now. For STD, rates have been reduced to 38 paise from Rs. 1.50.

    As for the Special Roaming Tariff Plan for prepaid and postpaid users, which is as follows:

    Roaming Vofafone

    Currently, Vodafone has incoming free packs for Prepaid and Post-paid customers and the incoming voice calls while on national roaming would be free, on payment of fixed charge. Revised packs are as follows:

    Vodafone

    Vodafone is one of the largest telecommunication service providers of the world, with more than 444 million subscribers and 11.8 million fixed broadband customers. Clearly, this move will be appreciated by many.

  • You Can Now Play Classic MS-DOS Games On Twitter

    You Can Now Play Classic MS-DOS Games On Twitter

    Who would have thought that Twitter, one of the world’s largest social networking site, would now allow its users to play old MS-DOS games within its app? Now, thanks to the feature that allows you to embed various forms of media into tweets, it is possible to share old DOS-format games.

    For now, the Internet Archive’s library is offering a good amount of games such as Metal Gear, Prince of Persia, Wolfenstein 3D; that can be shared and played within tweets. All you need to do is click on the game, copy the link, paste it in the tweet compose field and press send.

    ms dos game

    The games can also be embedded within the Wordpress platform. Try playing Aladdin below:

    Most of these games can be played otherwise, but you may face problems while playing these because programs like DOSBox are not compatible with modern machines. If you wish you spend hours on these nostalgic games, make sure to play it on full screen mode. This helps in dealing with the pixel problem. Happy gaming!

  • Future Google Laptops May Eliminate the Space Bar Altogether

    Future Google Laptops May Eliminate the Space Bar Altogether

    In an attempt to making laptops more compact, Google has recently signed a patent that may make your future laptop smaller by getting rid of the space bar. In a patent signed by the search giant, the design of the laptop replaced the space bar with an extended mouse trackpad. The trackpad and the rest of the keyboard are separated by a ridge, or a line, which might work as a spacebar button. Sensors beneath the trackpad will determine whether the space is used as a trackpad or a space bar. While typing, a touch to this region will result in a space, while a tap while using the trackpad will result in a mouse click.

    google-space-640

    Google’s reason for removing the space bar is that by pushing the trackpad up to the area of the space bar would be the first step to creating a smaller laptop. Although, the patent is still presented as ‘questionable’ since Lenovo’s current line of laptops already have trackpads pushed closer to the space bar.

    Meanwhile, Google’s space bar patent was rejected four times in the past, according to Patent Office’s digital paper trail system. Will we soon see a smaller keyboard in Google’s Chromebook? We will have to wait to find that out.

  • Microsoft Introduces ‘Microsoft Edge’, the New Windows 10 Browser

    Microsoft Introduces ‘Microsoft Edge’, the New Windows 10 Browser

    Work on a new browser for Windows 10 has been underway since January. For months it  had been codenamed as Project Spartan, today Microsoft has finally unveiled this browser with a new name, Microsoft Edge. New features like faster rendering, voice assistant Cortana, note-taking mode, customizable reading note, these gave the Project Spartan an ‘edge’ upon the traditional Internet Explorer.

    Here are the new developments:

    Break-up with Internet Explorer

    It is definitely a replacement for the Internet Explorer because it features a new and faster rendering machine called EdgeHTML. With a basic and minimal designing layout, it looks like a browser from the future. It will be set as the default browser for Windows 10 and, as claimed by Microsoft, the only one that will be used by the customers.

    windows 10

    Microsoft Edge’s logo

    Logo of the Edge browser does not stray far from its original logo of the Internet Explorer. The lower-case Explorer ‘e’ was not exactly a favourite among users after the entry of Mozilla or Chrome. The Edge’s logo is almost the same, just added a futuristic look to convey a message that it knows where it came from.

    edge logo
    Then and Now

    Edge will not support Extension until after RTM

     Though the browser is loaded with new features like Cortana, customizable reading note, etc., the company says the browser is not yet ready to be integrate RTM support on Microsoft Edge. It has said the Edge will continue to iterate through updates in the Windows Insider Program. Although still far off, Microsoft is now making it easier for developers to port extensions from other browsers.

    Check out the video below by Microsoft introducing Microsoft Edge

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH1D31YHsgY

  • Micromax Launches a Surprise Device on April 30

    Micromax Launches a Surprise Device on April 30

    Indian tech company, Micromax, is all set to enter an entirely new product category on April 30th. Micromax established a firm foothold in the smartphone market with the release of the Yu Yureka, and moved forward to release its smart television.

    The teaser by Micromax reads as ‘The Next Smart Thing is Coming.’ The question mark shown next to the television may suggest the company is working on something very different than what it usually offers. The invite drops the hint that the gadget is being brought in collaboration with Intel.

    What’s interesting to note is that days after Micromax’s event, Xiaomi’s Mi fitness band goes on sale on 5th May. It might be possible that Micromax would release their version of a fitness band few days before Xiaomi’s launch. The surprise device could also be as simple as a Chromecast-like streaming dongle, or a dangerous bet like the HTC Vive virtual reality headset.

    Meanwhile, there are several rumours going around. Some claim that Micromax is planning to release a hybrid laptop. Since the speculations are many, it would be better to sit back tight and wait for the 30th. Just a day to go now.

  • Leaked Images of Xiaomi Mi 5 Suggest a 5.2-inch QHD Display

    Leaked Images of Xiaomi Mi 5 Suggest a 5.2-inch QHD Display

    In January, Xiaomi announced the Mi Note and the Mi Pro but did not reveal a successor to their victorious Mi 4, which came out last year in January. However, this can change as the new device, tentatively named as the ‘Mi 5’, may arrive this summer. Recently leaked photos reveal new details about the new phone.

    Alleged-Xiaomi-Mi-5-images

    The phone looks a lot like its predecessors in terms of its body design, only molded a bit more taller and thinner. Below are the alleged specs of the device.

    The phone is expected to have a 5.2-inch QHD display, 4GB RAM and powered by a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 810 chipset. The rest of the rumoured specs include a 16MP primary camera, integrated with an Optical Image Stabilisation for steady shots, a fingerprint scanner via the handset’s button and a 3,000mAh battery. All these were tipped off by a Chinese blogger. If true, this will be a significant upgrade over the Mi 4.

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