Author: Rishi Baruah

Facebook Launches WhatsApp Web-like Desktop Version of the Messenger

Facebook has launched a desktop based chat interface for its Facebook Messenger users worldwide. It is available right now for its English users, with more languages to follow in the next few weeks. It is accessible at Messenger.com where users can chat with their friends from their Web browser. A user would require a Facebook account to access the service.

Just like Whatsapp for Web, the Messenger site features the list of chat threads on the left with a large white chat interface on the right. Most of the mobile app features can be accessed here, like audio and video calls, photos and stickers.

At present, Messenger for Web lacks the ability to send photos, audio messages, or use the new Messenger platform content sharing apps. But, Facebook can add those features later as the service matures. Users also have an option of enabling a desktop notification; small pop-up is overlayed on the computer screen the alerts the users for incoming messages.

So how is the new service different than the regular Facebook chat box? Well, Facebook says Messenger.com could become an instant hit among busy users, who just use Facebook to talk with their friends and are looking to avoid the social content of the main site, like wall posts or notifications.

April 9, 2015
Meet Phantom 3, The Newest Drone in the DJI Family

DJI has just announced its latest camera-equipped quad-copter, the DJI Phantom 3. The drone, which is capable of an autonomous flight, has more upgrades than its predecessor. The Phantom 2 is more powerful, lasts longer, takes better quality pictures and videos and has a new remote and a revamped app.

The most important part of the drone is the camera. There are two versions of the Phantom 3: the Professional version that takes 12MP and 4K video, and the other, the Advanced version, that takes 12MP and 1080p video. The 4K video records in 24, 25 and 30FPS while the 1080p goes up to 60FPS. Both ditched the distorted fish-eye images to give proper flat images in DNG RAW or JPG format.

Phantom 3’s Predecessor, came with a more powerful battery.

As for the quad-copter, DJI says they have upgraded the Phantom 3 by adding more efficient and powerful motors that can accelerate or decelerate faster than the Phantom 2. Spec sheets read that it can travel up to 58 kmph with a maximum ascent speed of 21 kmph and a maximum decent speed of 6 kmph. It weighs 1280g and its only drawback is that it comes with a less powerful battery (4480mAh, as compared to 5200mAh of the Phantom 2). Although the company claims that it manages to offer the same flight time of 23 minutes.

GPS-assisted features include the IOC (Intelligent Orientation Control) that allows continuous transmission to the pilot regardless of the direction the drone is pointing at, automatic Return Home or the Panic button which allows the craft to return if the communication is lost. The ability to hover at a fixed point is a crucial feature for aerial filmmaking. Phantom has also introduced the Optical Flow Sensor, inspired by the Inspire 1, which combines a ground-facing camera that takes sonar photographs whenever it is too close to the ground or if the GPS is lost. This prevents it from getting crushed.

The Advance DJI Phantom 3 is priced at $999 (Rs. 62,167), and the Professional DJI Phantom 3 is priced at $1,259 (Rs. 78,347). Its availability has not been confirmed yet but according to Engadget, the drone will be released within the next few weeks.

April 9, 2015
Canon Officially Delivers the Powerful Canon EOS C300 Mark II with Built-in 4K

Yesterday we had heard that Canon was extremely close to releasing its new addition to the C300 lineup, and now the company has officially confirmed the same. Canon has announced the successor of the immensely popular C300, an autofocus digital photographic and cinematographic SLR with mirrorless interchangeable lens camera system – the Canon C300 Mark II.

The new camera uses a new high-bitrate codec called XF-AVC with up to 410Mbps (4K). The recording mode has been shifted from CF cards to CFast 2.0 cards, which gives it a better speed. High-speed recording, which has been a point where Canon was lacking in, has been improved significantly. It offers the ability to record to the internal memory card 4K footage in 10-bit (4: 2: 2) with up to 410 Mbps or alternatively 2K / Full-HD material in 10/12 bit ( 4:4:4), with a dynamic range of up to 15 panels. Thus, the EOS C300 Mark II delivers sharp images across the entire color spectrum with minimized color fringing that is suitable even for extensive editing in post production. Though it is not much as impressive as Sony FS7’s 180fps, but it is a huge improvement from C300’s original 60fps in 720p.

The body is very much similar to the old C300 but has a new, sturdy OLED screen which, the company promises, will deliver rich blacks and accurate colours. There has also been a slight tweaking of the button layout, with a large red Start/Stop button being placed low on the left side (operator’s side) of the camera. Other features include a Dual Pixel CMOS AF and a 4-channel audio in 16 or 24 bit and 48kHz. The sensor read-out is twice the speed than its predecessor, the C300 with less rolling shutter. The new C300 Mark II is priced at $15,999 (approx Rs. 9,97,144).

Also, Canon has confirmed about another 4K video recording camera, Canon XC10.

Specs of this camera include a 1-inch sensor with a max ISO sensitivity of 20,000 and will provide 12 stops of dynamic range while capturing 305Mbps 4K videos or 12-megapixel still photographs.the fixed lens is a 24-240mm f/2.8-5.6 zoom lens. Also attached is a microphone socket, headphone jack, HDMI 1.4 port, DC power and a built-in neutral density filter along with USB and Wi-Fi connectivity.

April 9, 2015

HTC One M9 Expected in India by End April, Pricing to Rival the Samsung Galaxy S6

HTC kickstarted MWC 2015 by unveiling the HTC One M9. There has been quite a bit of speculations around its release date in India. Now we’ve heard HTC is just about ready to revamp its Indian line-up with the high-end M9. HTC is expected to launch the HTC One M9 in India by the end of this month. According to our sources, HTC is also planning to price the device to fight it out with Samsung’s new Galaxy S6.

From the specs point of view, the display is a 5.1-inch Quad HD. A powerful 64-bit Exynos octa-core processor runs this handset along with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. It runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense. Since we expect its price may clash with Samsung Galaxy S6, we pit the two device against each other. Here are the differences:

SPECIFICATIONS	HTC One M9	Samsung Galaxy S6
Display	5-inch Full HD	5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED (577ppi)
Processor	64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core	64-bit Exynos octa-core (1.5GHz quad-core Cortex A-53 and 2.1GHz quad-core Cortex A-57)
RAM	3GB	3GB
Internal Memory	32GB	32GB/64GB/128GB
Expandable Up To	128GB	—
Primary Camera	20MP with Auto-focus, BSI sensor	16MP with F1.9 + OIS
Front Camera	HTC UltraPixel	5MP
Operating System	Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense	Android 5.0.2 Lollipop
Battery	2840mAh	2550mAh
Price	Rs 53,800 (Approx)	Rs. 49,000 (starting price)

You can check out the video below to get a first basis idea of the handset.

To know more about HTC One M9, click here.

April 8, 2015

Stanford University Scientists Invent Batteries Which Can Fully Charge Your Device Within a Minute

Scientists at Stanford University have invented an aluminium battery that could potentially allow smartphones to charge within a minute. This battery, according to its inventors, is so powerful that it could revolutionise the industry. The new battery is claimed to go from flat to full within a minute and pulls in enough electricity to fully charge a phone, a laptop or a tablet.

The Apple iPhone takes around two hours to completely charge its inbuilt battery. But if it were fitted with the aluminium power source, it would completely top up within 60 seconds. Though the invention is still in its infant stage, scientists claim that the aluminium battery can withstand more than seven times of charging cycles than traditional battery. If a traditional battery can be recharged around 1,000 times, then the aluminium battery can withstand 7,500 cycles.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Hongjie Dai” author_title=”Professor of chemistry at Stanford University”]

Otherwise, our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. We have developed a rechargeable aluminium battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It’s quite exciting.

[/quote]

As of now, the aluminium battery cannot produce more than half the voltage of a lithium battery, scientists are confident they will improve the output within the next few years. Another feature of aluminium batteries is that these can be bent or folded, and can be used in flexible electric devices and are also cheaper than lithium. Aluminium batteries are safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries used in millions of laptops and cell phones today, Hongjie Dai added.

April 8, 2015
Decoded : Snapchat’s Recent “Emoji” Update
Snapchat has launched a key update that allows you to recognize your closest friends based on a complex tier system of emojis. Previously, anyone could visit your Snapchat profile and check out who you sent the most number of snaps to. Hence, friendships would be questioned if a person did not appear in the ‘Best Friend’ list.

The app ditched the Best Friend feature in January, and now they are back with a new personal way to see who you’re closest to. The new Friend Emojis on your screen of incoming snaps will only be visible to you. Next to some of your Snapchat friends’ names, you will see an emoji that indicates the status of your photo-sharing friendship. Here is how the new Snapchat emoji looks like:
- Gold Heart: You are the #1 Best Friend. This is the person to whom you send the most number of snaps, and they snap back at you the most too.
- Grimace/Grit Teeth: A Mutual #1 Best Friend: You send the most snaps to the same person that they do.
- Smile: One of your Best Friends: One of the people to whom you exchange snaps the most after your Best Friend.
- Sunglasses: One of your best friends is one of their best friends: One person to whom you snap the most is also the person another friend snaps the most.
- Smirk: You are their Best Friend but they are not yours: You don’t send them many snaps, but they send you a lot.
- Fire: You two are on a Snapstreak: You have snapped this person every day, and they have snapped you back. Increases with number of consecutive days.
Snapchat has also bought in some technical changes that include a new low-light mode for your phone camera, simply by clicking on the Moon icon on the top of the screen. Also, a new bracket has been added- friends who have not snapped in a while will fall under the category of ‘Needs Love’.
April 7, 2015
Xiaomi No Longer Exclusive With Flipkart; Partners with Snapdeal and Amazon

On the occasion of completing five years Xiaomi announced that it will be joining hands with Snapdeal and Amazon as the company’s distribution partners. This means that along with Flipkart, the Mobile Store and the Bharti Airtel stores, Xiaomi products will soon be available on Snapdeal and Amazon too. We currently don’t have any information about if they’re going to stop the flash sale system just yet, though one thing is for certain – Xiaomi is here to stay.

Manu Jain, India Head of Xiaomi, confirmed the same via a tweet –

1) To mark this special occasion, we are announcing two new partnerships with @Snapdeal n @amazonIN :) #MiFanFest

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) April 7, 2015

Xiaomi entered the Indian market with the Xiaomi Mi3, which was launched on Flipkart in July 2014. Since then, the company has been releasing several handsets via Flipkart through the flash sales.

The company has also come up with a range of offers for its customers in India which will be valid only for a day, i.e., April 8th, from 12 noon to 12 midnight. As per the offers, the Xiaomi Mi 4 will get a price cut of Rs 2,000 on both, the 16GB and the 64GB variant. Buyers who purchase the Redmi Note 4G from online partners, Flipkart, Snapdeal or Amazon, will receive a Mi in-ear headphones for free. If the same is purchased from the Airtel or The Mobile Store, the buyer will receive a 5,200mAh Mi Power Bank for free.

For Snapdeal, this will be a major upgrade as they have lagged behind in bagging exclusive partnerships with major tech brand. Meanwhile, Flipkart already enjoys the exclusive partner status with several smartphones like Motorola, Huawei (Honor series), Lenovo, etc. and Amazon is the exclusive seller of Micromax, Yu Yureka and OnePlus One.

April 7, 2015
Finally! Twitter Now Lets You Retweet With Comments

After several years, Twitter has revamped its Quote Tweet feature to include more space, as demanded by its users. Twitter has finally announced the new update, ‘retweet with a comment’, that will allow users to add a comment to any tweet. Twitter began testing this feature last summer and it was officially released on 6th April. It is currently rolling out for iPhone and web users.

One of the main complaints about ‘quote retweets’ in the past was that the users hardly had any characters left to add a comment. The new update allows users to embed a tweet in their tweets and add up to 116 characters to any tweet, regardless of the fact of how many characters the original tweet contained. This will allow them to share and comment on tweets without having to shorten the original tweet, that means that the context and the meaning remains unchanged.

Right now, the update is being rolled out to iPhone and web users.

April 7, 2015
BSNL Aims to Install 2,500 3G and 4G Wi-Fi Hotspots Across The Country

BSNL officially announced that it will be investing Rs 7,000 crore in setting up WiFi hotspots with 3G, 4G networks across the country within the next 3 to 4 years.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Anupam Shrivatava” author_title=”Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL”]

Wi-fi is an obvious choice for BSNL going forward but it alone cannot be successful. It has to be integrated with 3G, 4G network so that the customer can be seamlessly transferred to WiFi. In two to three years, we will be investing Rs 7,000 crore to set up integrated WiFi across the country.

[/quote]

BSNL has already started rolling out the service in places like Varanasi and aims to extend it to more tourist spots by the end of this year. Additionally, BSNL has also partnered along with QuadGen Wireless for setting up Wi-Fi hotspots on a revenue sharing basis. QuadGen will be setting up WiFi hotspots in the South and the West Zone under the terms of the partnership. Anupam Shrivastava says they aim to set up at least 2,500 WiFi hotspots around the country.

In the words of M S S Rao, Chief General Manager of BSNL Telecom, since huge amounts have been invested in the spectrum auction, it is a high time to invest in the networks. BSNL seems to be taking the right steps in ensuring that all part of our well connected.

April 3, 2015
The Upcoming Assassin’s Creed Chronicle Will Visit India

Ubisoft recently released a trailer of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Chronicle, each exploring a different locale. As seen in the trailer, the storyline takes place in China, Russia, as well as India.

The first chronicle takes place in China, where the players will play as the female assassin, Shao Jun, and experience the downfall of the Ming Dynasty. The next is based in India and is the story of Arbaaz Mir, an assassin in the era of the Sikh Empire at War in 1841. Lastly, the story of Nikolai Orelov, set against the backdrop of the Red October in Russia.

Climax Studios is handling development on this trio of titles in conjunction with Ubisoft Montreal. The games will feature a 2.5D perspective, each with their distinct art style. Assasin’s Creed: China edition will be releasing on April 21st for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on April 21st for North and South America, followed by the release in European countries the day after. The remaining two titles, which are based in India and Russia will be released separately later this year. Release for India has not yet been disclosed.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicle: The unique 2.5D graphics

Each Chronicle will be priced at $10 (Rs. 641). Players who have the Assassin’s Creed Unity Season Pass will be able to download the ACC: China with no extra cost.

You can check out the trailer below:

April 3, 2015
Lenovo to Bring the Affordable A7000 with Dolby Sound to India on 7th April

Looks like Lenovo is all set to bring its newest smartphone to the Indian market. The company is hosting a launch event for their latest gadget, the Lenovo A7000. This handset was first unveiled at the MWC 2015, and it will hit the Indian market on 7th April.

According to the price and spec ratio, it has been speculated that it can match against the Yu Yureka and Redmi Note. It is powered by a 1.5 GHz MediaTek True8Core Processor with 4G LTE and sports a 5.5-inch HD display. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory, which can be expandable through microSD.

Measuring up to just 7.9mm thick and weighing 140g, it is easily one of the lightest phones to carry around. The smartphone runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The camera specification offers an 8MP primary camera and a 5MP front shooter. Specs aside, the main attraction of this phone is its Dolby Atmos sound. This technology will tweak the audio of the content to make it sound like it is coming from all directions. You will, of course, require a pair of headphones to get the true Atmos experience.

Lenovo A7000 will be priced at $169 (about Rs.10,500). Until now we don’t have a confirmation about its price or availability. We’ll make sure to update you about the same on 7th April.

April 3, 2015
Meet Nikon’s New Candidate in the Mirrorless Camera Market : The Nikon 1 J5

Nikon has launched their latest entrant in the compact mirrorless camera market, the Nikon 1 J5. This camera is a latest model of the 1 J ensemble. However, unlike the rest of the J-series cameras, this camera does not require a lot of menu diving to access basic settings.

The camera has a 20.8 MP, 1″ CX-format BSI sensor, added up along with EXSPEED 5A image processor and a 171 point contrast detect auto-focus system. As claimed by the company, the camera offers fast burst modes of 20fps at full auto-focused resolution and 60fps of fixed focus. The camera also boasts 4K video recording but can do so at only 15fps. Even though, if this does not work out, the camera also has an option of the 1080p at 30/60fps recording mode and 120fps 720p slow motion video mode.

On the other side is a 3-inch 1037k dot touchscreen display with an 180-degree tilt. It also includes built-in Wi-Fi and NFC. The camera is also compatible wth the entire NIKKOR 1 series lenses and the DX and FX mount NIKKOR lenses with FT-1 mount adapter. J5 can take up to 250 shots in a one time charge of the battery.

The camera is priced at $499.95 (approx Rs. 31, 116) with the NIKKOR 1 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom lens and $749.95 (Rs. 46,676 ) with both the 1 NIKKOR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom lens and 1 NIKKOR VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens. The camera comes in three colour variants, namely Silver-Black, Silver-WHite or all Black.

Nikon has not yet announced its release date in India, however the product will start rolling out in USA later this year.

April 2, 2015
Motorola Launches India’s First Moto Care Centre in Bangalore

Motorola has announced officially that the first Moto Care centre has been set up at Jayanagar Road, Bangalore. This is the first of the many service centre that the company has promised, which will soon be up and running all over the country.

This service centre will serve as a walk-in service support location for Motorola customers. The Experience Zone will cater to the needs of prospective buyers who want to experience products like Moto G, Moto X (2nd Gen), Moto Turbo, Moto E, Moto 360 and other Motorola products at the centre. The Zone can also assist online ordering via Flipkart.

It has been added that the centre will not only facilitate customers directly in Jayanagar, but will also benefit customers from neighbouring locations of Bangalore such as MG Road, Koramangala, Indiranagar and Rajendra Nagar. For its customers elsewhere in India, new reaching out options include the Moto Care app and the helpline number. For its customers in Delhi, Motorola has initiated a pilot project which provides Moto vans for servicing the device within few hours. The Moto van service is valid up to 30 days of the purchase.

Motorola recently launched the new version of its Moto E in India, along with the Moto Turbo, their flagship model. The company has seen a lot of success in the country with the Moto G and Moto E smartphones. This move will only help better the company’s position in the market.

March 31, 2015
Images of the 4-inch iPhone 6c Surface Online

We’ve barely recovered from the Apple Watch and MacBook hype, and already there are pictures of what the next iPhone might look like, floating online. Pictures of the new ‘iPhone 6c’ have been posted by Future Supplier, which show what possibly could be the successor of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

As seen in the photo, the device sports an approximately 4-inch screen just like the iPhone 5, 5C and 5S. One of the few prominent differences include the cut-out of the camera flash. The cut-out on the 6C is elongated, unlike the round ones on the current iPhone line-up. Only the iPhone 5S has the elongated shape of the camera flash, thanks to the introduction of the True Tone flash. Additionally, the hole for the camera does not appear to be a protruding out.

At the bottom of the handset, the iPhone 6 has six speaker holes on the left side of the lightning connector when faced down, and one microphone opening next to the headphone jack. While most of the design remains the same, the new photos of the assumed 6C, however, show eight speaker holes positioned in two rows on a thicker body.

There is a possibility that the images may be fake. Apple is not expected to unveil the next iPhone for the next few months. Hence, there is a chance that the design of the speculated iPhone 6C may change by the time the arrival date arrives.

March 31, 2015
LG Sends Out Invites; the G4 Expected to Arrive on 28th April

South Korean company, LG, has started sending out press invites for an event which will be held on April 28th. This event may likely see the launch of the company’s next flagship, the LG G4. The South Korean electronics giant will hold the events on April 28 and April 29 (due to time zones) in six cities: New York, London, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, and Istanbul.

The official invite simply reads ‘See the Great, Feel the Great’. The invite also features a leather background signifying that the new LG G4 may sport a leather rear case. The invite also hints that LG will focus on using high-end materials for the phone.

According to GSMArena, the rumored specifications of this handset include a 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It is also said to feature Android Lollipop, possibly Android 5.1. Camera specifications include a 8 MP front camera and a 16MP rear camera with optical image stabilization and Laser Auto Focus. The flagship is also rumored to sport a radically new design, including a curved display.

According to reports, the G4 launch was delayed until April to avoid the MWC clash, which took place from 2nd March to 5th March. This was done with the intention of avoiding the hype created by Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. The reports also suggest the LG G4 might be a complete change from the previous generation LG G3.

March 31, 2015