Category: Business

Motorola Climbs Over Nokia in Q2 Market Standings

With its mighty good year in the Indian market and a new-found loyal fan following, Motorola has risen again. After a few years of moving around and working with multiple owners such as Google, the brand is currently settling with Lenovo. Analyst group Canalys has brought out a report that shows Motorola taking Nokia’s spot on the market standings.

The Canalys report states that in the Q2 of 2014, Motorola sent out 955,650 smartphones for the period while Nokia did 633,720. In just the previous quarter, the situation was almost the opposite with Nokia leading with 583,160 smartphones, compared to Motorola’s 379,310.

With the power of Moto G and E, Motorola took over Nokia

This is a remarkable jump for the Motorola. The credit of course goes out to Motorola’s two stars that changed the way the market viewed its products. First came the Moto G, which created a new power center at the Rs 10,000 – 15,000 range. Then came the younger sibling, Moto E, which challenged the dominance of Indian smartphone companies on their home turf. The phones got the companies to reorganize their strategy and forced them to bring out a number of Moto Killer devices.

But it seems now that Motorola has some series competition from the Chinese infiltrators in the Indian mobile market. Xiaomi and Asus have caused some major upheaval in the mobile markets. Their high speced – low priced products have taken the market by storm and even caused Motorola to slash its price of the Moto G by Rs. 2000.

In the current standings, Motorola currently holds on its own behind Samsung, Micromax and Karbonn with their shipments of 4.4 million, 3.1 million and 1.07 million smartphones respectively. The Indian Smartphone market grew by 9% quarter on quarter. The figures might look even better in the coming holiday seasons and with fierce competition in the market. Overall it is turning out to be a good year for the phone makers and the buyers.

August 4, 2014
President Obama Signs the Law for Legal Phone Unlocking

Remember when the first generation iPhones arrived in India, they had to be jailbroken (unlocked) to make them accessible to the networks here. Till recently this process was illegal. But yesterday President Obama made it legal by signing the “Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act” (S.517) into law.

This will make it a lot easier for consumers who want to change their service providers while keeping their own phones. It will also be beneficial for folks who travel abroad and would want to switch to local services. Wireless providers install software barriers to prevent users from using the phones on other network.

President Obama Signed the Consumer centric law on Friday.

Usually the users in America buy their phones under a contract program which usually extends to 2 years or more and after which they have the option for changing operators or upgrading to a better plan. With this law people who want to change their plans while still keeping their phones can do as they please.

The Law also passed because the wireless providers association CTIA supported the decision. They have stated that they laud the decision. CTIA affiliated service providers had agreed in a deal brokered by FCC last December to allow users to unlock phones.

FCC’s chairman Tom Wheeler welcomed the decision in a statement saying “This new law is a positive development that addresses the issues that triggered unlocking concerns in the first place. When the wireless industry worked with the FCC on a voluntary agreement to unlock devices when consumers’ contracts have been fulfilled, they took an important step forward. The president’s signature today makes greater consumer choice the law of the land.”

The US legislation is currently infamous for severe partisanship which has caused a severe gridlock which has prevented them from passing any law. So it is rather welcome to see that some new law, especially a consumer oriented law getting the presidential accord. It can also be seen as a signal that laws supported by corporate interest will be the only ones that will surely pass in America.

August 2, 2014
Xiaomi Becomes the Fifth-Largest Smartphone Vendor in the World

The year 2014 is definitely proving to be a great year for the “Apple of China”. Yes, Xiaomi Inc has overtaken LG to claim the fifth spot in overall smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2014. The company, barely four years old, was labeled as the ‘star performer’ for the quarter by Strategy Analytics.

The market research firm today reported that Xiaomi captured a record 5.1% market share, up from a meagre 1.8% it captured last year. In physical numbers, the company showed a sharp growth. Xiaomi shipped an incredible 15.1 million units in the second quarter of 2014, as compared to only 4.1 million units shipped in the same quarter in the previous year. This incredible growth now puts it above LG and into the top five smartphone vendors for the first time in the company’s history.

This is largely due to its very competitively priced and high specs laden smartphones selling like hot cakes in developing markets. We recently published news of their Mi3 flagship phone selling out on Flipkart in less than 5 minutes. Even their latest smartphone, the Mi4, is being sold in China for only 1999 yuan (about Rs. 20,000), less than half the price of Apple’s iPhone 5s.

“Xiaomi’s Android smartphone models are wildly popular in the Chinese market and it shifts millions of them every quarter through its extensive online and operator channels,” says Strategy Analytics. “Their next step is to target the international market in Asia and Europe, where it will have to invest big money to familiarize western consumers with its unfamiliar brand name.”

Overall, the market continues to be dominated by Samsung and Apple, although their lead keeps on diminishing. Total smartphones shipped for the quarter stood at 295.2 million units, up from the 233 million units in 2013. Out of these, Samsung accounted for 74.5 million units, which surprisingly, was a fall from 76 million units it shipped in the same quarter in the previous year. Their market share also declined sharply from 32.6% last year to 25.2% this year. Samsung in a recent statement blamed cheaper Chinese competitors for this decline.

Apple continued to hold the distant second position with 11.9% market share, again a decline from the 13.4% share it held last year. Physical units shipped by them however, rose from 31.2 million units to 35.2 million units.

Korean giants LG, despite an increase in shipments, saw a decline in market share from 5.2% to 4.9%. “LG is performing relatively well in the United States and Europe, but it continues to lag in the huge China and India markets,” Strategy Analytics said. The third and fourth positions continued to be held by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and Lenovo, both of which saw an increase in units shipped and market share.

August 1, 2014
Instagram Joins the ‘Instant Share and Delete’ Game with its Bolt App

Snapchat began a race for instant messaging in which the content disappears once it is viewed. Now Instagram has brought its own app to counter Snapchat’s dominance in the field. Facebook did try to take on Snapchat with its Slingshot app which garnered a lukewarm response. Now it attempts to try the same with its subsidiary, Instagram.

You don’t have to look around in your huge contact list to find folks you chat with the most. The app lets you have upto 20 favorites to share your images with. To take a snap you just have to tap the contact for a snap or tap and hold to record a video. The UI is really minimalistic and easy to understand.

To sign up for the service you will only need your phone number. You don’t need a Facebook or Instagram account. This is the moment of evolution in mobile chat where text is slowly replaced by photos and videos. The service also lets you bring back deleted pics to return within the first few seconds of deleting if you wanted to see that snap once more, before it goes into oblivion. The one sect of people who will be particularly disappointed by these developments are the NSA analysts. Those guys had to deal with reading all those emails and texts were having an easier time with images, but instantly deletable messages might be an issue for them. But they might just hack into the service to retrieve the information.

Even though the app is available for iOS or Android, Bolt is currently only available in Singapore as an app called Bolt already exists. The other Bolt is a mobile voice app and has been around for quite a while. The developers of the other Bolt, Benton have filed an application but haven’t got a trademark yet. They are adamant about keeping the name. Benton were also eventually going to start their own messaging service. But with a prominent company like Instagram coming out with a messaging app with the name Bolt would prevent that from happening.

It will be interesting to see which side caves first. Will it be the big pocketed Facebook or Benton? For the moment if you want Instagram’s Bolt, you can download the apk available easily online.

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July 30, 2014
Apple Acquires BookLamp, The ‘Pandora For Books’

After making a giant purchase of Beats for $3 billion, Apple has now acquired BookLamp, a book recommendation maker. Apple confirmed reports that it recently acquired book analytics firm BookLamp which is dubbed the “Pandora for Books”. The acquisition happened in April to bolster Apple’s fight in the e-book sales market, bringing better discovery and analytics to its digital storefront.

BookLamp’s most well-known product was the Book Genome Project, a platform that lets users find suggestions for books to read based on natural language analysis of other titles. BookLamp’s tech and talent could help Apple improve its iBooks service with better recommendations, search, and categorization.

The report also states that Apple has bought BookLamp’s employees and technology for a price somewhere between $10 and $15 million. Meanwhile, the BookLamp website now states it will no longer be available as “the company evolves its mission.” It hasn’t mentioned any details about being acquired by Apple.

Apple is thought to have acquired the start-up for the iBooks store, which offers e-books to iOS and OS X device owners but does not yet have an effective recommendations system for content discovery. Like the iOS App Store, Apple is likely looking to improve generated suggestions through BookLamp’s specialized software that can parse words and sentences to look for various metrics like genre, themes and even pacing.

There are several big ways Apple could be using BookLamp to bolster its own e-book platform. One option would be to use BookLamp to build a competitor to Amazon X-Ray, which lets readers see where and how often terms or characters pop up in a book. That could be useful for classifying books into categories or flagging ones with sexual or violent content as being unsuitable for kids — or simply providing feature parity with Amazon’s Kindle app, which offers X-Ray on iOS.

Considering Amazon’s headway into self publishing, it’s enticing to wonder whether BookLamp’s technology for screening manuscripts to figure out their market fit, or the other tools they were developing and using, may end up getting implemented under their new owner to determine what it should promote. BookLamp’s algorithms could augment Apple’s human editors who choose what’s highlighted on the iBooks homescreen.

The most obvious way, though, would be to use BookLamp’s content and style analysis to power individualized iBooks recommendations. Before it was snapped by Apple, BookLamp had raised around $900,000 from local backers.

With the WWDC release of the new Spotlight power upgrade and the acquisition of Swell, the radio curation app along with several other secret acquisition, it seems Apple is trying to give its best in class search boost to its ecosystem. Good curated content will simplify the life of many people and will attract them to the Apple ecosystem.

July 30, 2014
Google Plays The Acquisition Game With $1 Billion Twitch Take Over Plan

It seems the year 2014 would be known as ‘The year of takeovers’. In just the last few months we have seen some major billion dollar acquisitions by tech giants. Without a doubt the golden throne of big dollar takeovers is ruled by Mark Zuckerberg with his takeover of Oculus, Whatsapp and Liverail. Microsoft finished the $7.2 billion acquition of Nokia this year. Google is now planning its own billion dollar deal. The Search giants are now interested in taking over gaming video streaming network Twitch under the Youtube brand name.

It was reported in Variety and the Wall Street Journal that Google was in talks with Twitch for acquiring the company. It is now being reported that the companies have reached an agreement and will announce it soon. Though as of now both parties have refused to comment on the issue.

Twitch is a cool service which lets users share their game video streams. It’s a great way for the nerds and super-nerds to hangout, share stats and their gameplay. You can easily see how this service can be in line with YouTube’s streaming medium. Maybe its an effort by Google to give gamers some kind of contact with the mainstream world.

July 25, 2014
Xiaomi-Competitor One Plus Might Arrive in India Soon

Just when you were thinking that Xiaomi was the kickass all-in-one package, a new competitor is raising its head at the horizon. Smartphone manufacturer One Plus is planning to come to India with its One Plus One smartphone and boy, is it impressive.

The One Plus One has an incomparable spec sheet at the price it is offered. The phone runs on CyanogenMod 11S based on Android 4.4 Kitkat. It has a heart of steel with a Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz Quad-core processor. Its graphics is powered by a 578MHz Adreno 330 GPU. The RAM on the One Plus One is a phenomenal 3 GB LP-DDR3 and comes in a 16 GB and 64 GB variants.

Everything is Awesome about the One Plus One

The camera department is as impressive as the hardware spec sheet. The main camera is 13 Megapixel with Sony Exmor IMX 214 sensors and a dual LED Flash. The front camera is a distortion free 5 MP Selfie Shooter. The camera also has a wide aperture of f/2.0. The most remarkable feature is its 4K recording capability with and its ability to record slow motion at 720p resolution at 120 frames per second(fps). Now that’s a camera!

The display on the One Plus One is a giant Full HD, 5.5 inch, Corning Gorrila Glass 3 screen. There is nothing to complain about in this phone, a true all-rounder from every angle. To power all of these epic features, this phone comes with 3100 mAh battery.

If you thought the features are impressive the One Plus One also provides impressive back panel options

Now you might be asking, how much lighter would your pockets get if you get this power packed gizmo, well the answer is: the 16 GB variant comes at $299 (around Rs. 17,900)and the 64 GB variant comes at $349 (around Rs. 20,900). Yeah, you read that right, go ahead pull your jaw up!

The company said that there is an enormous interest in their phones in India and they have heard talks of Indians importing them from the US. They would like to take advantage of this favorable situation.

Now this is a real competitor to Xiaomi, which came in and cleared the market and took the limelight away from the Moto G. Indian smartphone consumers might be feeling like a king right now in the times of heavy inflation. So what if food is expensive, you can simply distract yourself with these badass phones.

July 24, 2014
Phones With a Terabyte Of Storage To Become a Reality Soon With RRAM

Now right when you were wondering if the 128 GB expandable option would make your memory troubles obsolete, a group of scientists has something better in store for you. The researchers at Rice University have come up with a new resistive RAM (RRAM) which can be made with regular equipment at room temperature.

Several companies have been in the process of developing an RRAM, but they all have required higher temperature and voltages thereby making the production process expensive and inefficient for the manufacturers.

The RRAM acts as a flash memory and can store data without a constant influx of power. Now unlike the regular flash memory which uses transistors to save the data, this new technique uses resistance to save their bits. These bits can, therefore, be stored in a smaller area in comparison to a flash drive and hence increasing the amount of data that can be stored in a small amount of space.

Also like a multiple core processor, these RRAM’s can be stacked on top of each other so their storage capacity increases phenomenally. It is also said that RRAM performs much faster than regular flash storage, about a hundred times faster. They are apparently so efficient that they a postage stamp sized chip can hold a terabyte worth of data.

The research is being led by Professor James Tour of the Material science department. The technique is cheap and efficient as it utilizes one of the most abundant elements on the planet, Silicon. The process involves a silicon oxide with tiny 5 nanometers holes. This material acts as an active electrode and data bits can be stored by changing the conductivity of the electrode with low-voltage pulses.

Mobile technology will get a boost with this advancement. Major companies like Samsung are also experimenting with RRAM’s. While we would want our phones to be as robust and large data capable as our computers, we are restricted by the miniaturizability of the storage technology. RRAM’s and technology like it will bring us closer to achieving that. Maybe we could someday have a pro video rendering capability on our iPads.

July 24, 2014
Apple Reportedly Working on a 12-Inch Macbook and a 4K iMac

Apple is surely going to have a good this year. With the mega buzz around the new operating system, the OSX Yosemite and the iOS, Apple is confident of its hands being full with cash by the end of this year. Now the company is planning to bring out a 12-inch Macbook and a new iMac with 4K display or a standalone 4K monitor.

The 4K display would be immense step forward for the company and for the graphical and entertainment industry. An entire industry thrives on Apple systems and by having an iMac with 4K display will really speed up the content production for that medium. This will also help in bringing in these advanced displays to the lower mediums like the Macbook Pros.

The new Macbook is described to have a thickness between the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pros. This laptop computer will come with an intel processor instead of the Apple A8 processor. Though this started off as a rumor last year but its validity is getting established with each new report.

This report coming from Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac, is definitely going to make a lot of people happy. The software prowess of the Mac’s is the best in business and when united with superior displays, it’s going to be magical. Let’s hope these come out as soon as possible. They will surely obliterate the competition.

July 24, 2014
Indian Government Lost 41k Crore Due to Lack of EVDO Spectrum Auction

Government of India had recently allowed CDMA service providers the option to use EVDO technology to provide high speed internet access. But now a CAG report states that as this facility was provided without an auction, it cost the government treasury a sum of Rs 41,000 Crore.

The CAG seeking a reply from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) stated in a note, ‘‘The non-auctioning of the spectrum in 800 Mhz (CDMA spectrum) for EVDO services resulted in non-realisation of upfront one time charge of Rs 4,187.65 crore.”

The Department of Telecommunication(DoT) though stated that the CAG’s claims of losses are “presumptive and hypothetical”. They replied that the CDMA providers were well within their license limits when they provided the EVDO based internet access. DoT holds the view that EVDO is to CDMA as EDGE is to GSM services and hence don’t require a new auction.

This is still a developing story in which multiple stakeholders will clear their stance on the matters. The trade association representing telecom companies, Telecom Service Providers India (AUSPI) Association of Unified Telecom Service, has cleared that in their opinion EVDO is an alternative form of CDMA and so companies are in their limits to use the technology.

In the recent times the Compotroller and Auditor General (CAG) has been proactively watching India’s accounts and have uncovered some glaring scams in the process. Lets just hope in times of severe corruption scandals, a new scandal doesn’t come and act as a dampner to our inflation-prone economy.

July 19, 2014
Vertu Contemplates a Luxury Smart Watch

British Luxury Smartphone after making a shift to Android are now contemplating going into the smart watch business. Vertu was established by Nokia as a wholly own subsidiary. The company is known for their ostentatious designs which separate them from all other phone companies. The company uses premium materials in designing their phones for their exclusive clientele.

As the market has slowed down for luxury products, the company now is intending to make a entry into premium wearables. Though it’s still in an exploration phase right now, but it can be a real game changer in the watch business. In a market which is dominated by Rolex and Swiss watch makers, a premium Smart watch will be appreciated by the opulent clientele of Vertu.

The Premium watch decision was inspired by the current Smartwatch boom

Until recently, Vertu was one of the few companies which still used Series 40 Symbian OS as their mobile OS. The company released their Android series under the name Vertu Ti and Constellation, thereby finally keeping up with times.

The part about Vertu that separates it from rest is that it offers an experience that matches to its customer’s opulent taste. The phones are handmade and they use materials like calf leather, alligator skin, lizard skin, ceramic, sapphire glass screens. They also use premium metals like titanium and Gold. As these customers have to deal with privacy concern, a basic Symbian set up helps them to access basic phone functionality while looking good doing it.

With their premium pricing which starts from $6000 and can go higher than $168,000 while just being a basic feature phone. If exclusivity is what the users are looking for, Vertu sits at the top-echelons of feature providers. With this affluent buy, the customer gets access to Vertu’s Concierge service. The service offers offers 24-hour worldwide assistance, recommendations and priority bookings, all with a personal touch. They facilitate users every request, from finding the perfect gift to accessing exclusive events, they do it all.

The company now also plans to make an entry into its “affordable” segment, which will still be far away from the reaches of regular consumers. By accepting Android into its phones, Vertu has brought back the aspirational aspect back but it will still be limited to people with unfathomably deep pockets.

July 19, 2014
Finnish Smartphone Company Jolla Enters India With Snapdeal

Today began with a sad news. The last remnants of Nokia will be shredded in the coming months with Microsoft pulling the plug on Nokia X. This Finnish giant had ruled the mobile market during its formative years, and now it is a chapter for the history books. But if you thought that it was the end of Finland’s involvement in the Indian mobile market then you have to think twice. Another Finnish company, Jolla is all set to make an entry into India.

Jolla Phones run on Sailfish OS which wont take long to get used to.

Jolla markets phones running on the Sailfish OS. Jolla (Ok, it’s actually pronounced as Yolla), has signed an exclusive partnership with Snapdeal.com to market their products in India.

The Sailfish OS has evolved from Nokia backed OS, Meego. Guess some legacy of Nokia will still be around apart from, of course, the Nokia 3310 which is known to survive stellar supernovas. The Sailfish OS is unique in the sense of its gesture heavy interface. Multiple functions on the phone can be targeted through interactive gestures. The learning curve is minimal if you have some smartphone experience. The best part, Sailfish is compatible with Android applications which will definitely make it desirable for many enthusiasts.

The sharp design features looks good on the phones.

Jolla’s co-founder and CEO Sami Pienimäki said that there had been a lot of interest in India concerning Jolla phones, and that’s why they landed here. It is a good alternative for people looking for a different user experience in comparison to devices flooded in the market.

Meanwhile the co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal, Kunal Bahl commented on the deal saying “The market in India offers few choices in terms of mobile operating systems. Jolla with its innovative Sailfish OS introduces an entirely new user experience to consumers. Jolla offers a unique smartphone experience both in terms of hardware and software. We look forward to a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship.”

There are multiple back panel options too.

India’s mobile market is currently bustling with some youthful energy with multiple companies trying to impress Indians with their products. In the past few months some major international manufacturers like Asus, Xiaomi and some smaller ones like Obi have entered India.

With Jolla also coming into the fray, Indian consumers will have a good number of option to choose. In times of heavy price rises, a healthy competition in the mobile segment can be in favor of the consumers. The phones will be available for purchase within a month.

July 18, 2014
Microsoft Puts the Final Nail in Nokia’s Coffin With Biggest-Ever Job Cut

Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella announced the biggest job cut in the history of the company. The company will lay off 18,000 of its employees. The majority of these cuts, around 12,500 will be Nokia employees. The cuts will be on all fronts, from professionals to factory workers, everyone can expect pink slips.

In a letter to his employees, Satya Nadella stated that the first 13,000 folks losing their jobs will be notified in the coming six months. He also said that while the cuts are being made, there will be some employment opportunities in other areas too.

He promised that the process of job cuts will be thoughtful and transparent. Microsoft will offer severance packages to all and will also provide job assistance. The reason cited for these cuts is simplification of work and the integration of Nokia Devices and Services into the company’s model.

The Nokia X product line up will be converted to Lumia series

The most important aspect of this news is that the Android-based Nokia X product line up will be integrated into the Lumia products and will run on Windows OS. This has to be the single most brutal take down of brand in the history of corporate acquisitions.

Microsoft had earlier announced that they will do away with the Nokia brand name as they believe that the brand name is outdated. We have previously brought you extensively researched story about the rise and fall of Nokia and with this development, you can expect the death of Nokia. From here on, Nokia may be just mentioned in nostalgic past references about its glory days. A titan that the mobile industry, as well as we, grew up with has finally perished.

July 18, 2014
Samsung Enters The “Premium Audio” Market With Its Level Series

By Pranav Arora

Premium headphones seem to be the craze right now. With artists like 50 Cent and Ludacris starting their own brand of headphones, the potential of this market seems to be sky high. Now if you are thinking this is just a move by Samsung to score some of Apple’s market share following the recent Beats acquisition by Apple, you may not be completely right. These headphones started their development long before the Apple-Beats deal had ever happened. Even the announcement took place in April. So no, this isn’t just a cheap shot at Apple.

Samsung’s Level series will take on the giants of Premium Audio business

Level Over sure appears massive on this model

The headphones, on paper at least, look pretty impressive. The lineup is led by the Level Over (Over-ear) headphones, which are priced at $349.99. They feature 50mm drivers with neodymium magnets, to reproduce “deep, powerful and realistic sound”. These are Bluetooth headphones, so no more dangling wires. Other features include NFC pairing, Active Noise Cancellation, and touch panel controls.

These are followed by the $179.99 Level On (On-ear) headphones, a set of foldable, wired cans that promise to deliver “powerful, clear, and pure sound.” These don’t come with the fancy Bluetooth connectivity, or the touch panel controls, but Samsung is hoping that their sound quality will make up for that.

Moving further down, we have the Level In (In-ear) earphones, a pair of $149.99 earphones that aim to deliver “clear sound separation and rich, natural sound quality.”

These look pretty impressive on the design front

Finally we have the Level Box, a portable Bluetooth speaker, that aims to take on a vast array of competitors from Bose, Logitech, Jawbone and unsurprisingly, Beats. It is priced moderately at $169.99, and based on early reviews, delivers nicely in the design and performance departments.

All these may seem good on paper, but Samsung still has a mountain to climb if it plans to trump the massive name that is Beats. It’s going to be pretty hard to sell a pair of headphones for $349.99 without the massive ‘b’ logo on them, and it seems like Samsung will have to use all of their advertising muscle that they’ve become known for.

The Level Series looks like a good start, and we’ll just have to wait and watch how they sell. They’re currently only on sale at luxury store Gilt in the United States, but Samsung will surely expand to a wider market soon, as they have done in the case of their smartphones.

July 18, 2014
Five Inspirational Young Self-Made Tech Millionaires

Technology has brought immense advancement to our civilizations as a whole. It also gave a chance to budding entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas a launchpad to take their dreams to the skies. Here is a list of some of these individuals, who in a small period of time have used their intellect to not just make some of the most interesting and innovative tech products but got rich doing it.

These self-made richies are also an inspiration in times when young people constantly fear their upward mobility is being hindered by businesses. So if you have an idea that you are passionate about, just start working on it, maybe the next time we make a list, you might be in listed in.

1. Mark Zuckerberg

Age: 29

Net Worth: $28.5 billion

So let’s start this list with this famous or for some, infamous billionaire. There would hardly be a person who won’t know this guy. With his social network Facebook becoming the indomitable social network which turned 10 this year the Zuckman is on his lifetime high right now. He is also known for ferocious takeovers of start-ups. Just this year itself his company has acquired Whatsapp and Oculus in Billion dollar plus deals. He is also a philanthropist who has signed the Giving Pledge, thereby committing to pay over half of his fortunes in charity.

2. Blake Ross

Age: 29

Net Worth: $150 million

The co-founder of the third most used web browser in the world truly deserves his fortune. The open source browser has grown phenomenally over the 11 years of its existence. The browser currently has over 450 million users. Blake was in high school when he had started working on the Firefox. At age 14 he started working on Netscape. So if you are in high school and need an inspiring figure, this man should be it. He is responsible for giving a true alternative to folks frustrated by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and turning it into a browser that people used to download Firefox. He also worked with Facebook from 2007 to 2013 as the Director of Product.

3. Matthew Mullenweg

Age : 30

Net Worth: $40 Million

A lot of people need to thank this Texan for giving a phenomenal web tool called WordPress. The idea behind WordPress was to provide a blogging platform, but quickly it became a content management system which most websites, including the popular ones have begun using. Mullenweg attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where he studied jazz saxophone. Mullenweg is also a Dvorak Keyboard user and can type over 120wpm.

4. Drew Houston

Age: 31

Net Worth: $1.2 Billion

Dropbox is one of the most popular and fastest growing cloud services. Its founder Drew Houston is as versatile as his Cloud tool. He holds a degree from MIT and has worked with multiple start-ups like Bit9, Accolade and Hubspot. The service initially took assistance from Y Combinator‘, who might consider it their best investment yet. Drew is also politically active and is one of the founders of a lobbying group called FWD.us (aimed at lobbying for immigration reform and improvements to education).

5. Kevin Systrom

Age: 30

Net Worth: $400 Million

Instagram is responsible for the menace called “amature food photography” which your friends share around social media, which ends up making you crave munchies at 2 AM at night, a time when nothing is open. Its co-founder is Kevin Systrom is a Stanford graduate who began the service with Mike Krieger. Both their bank balances got a serious boost after Facebook acquired Instagram in a Billion dollar takeover.

(Note: A previous version of this story said that the Firefox browser had 450 users. The error has been corrected. )

July 17, 2014