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Unboxed: The Sony Xperia T3

Sony has been a background player in the smartphone game. They have lost some market in the past and haven’t brought anything out of the ordinary in a while. The Japanese company has now come with the next in their T series of smartphones. The Xperia T3 looks impressive on the outside but the innards leave a lot to be desired.

The box offers the usual. The headset could have been better.

The box comes with the usual inhabitants; the handset, pair of generic looking headsets, charger, micro-USB to USB cable and the documentation. The headsets provided in the box that is available is very average and doesn’t at all say Sony. Design-wise the phone is good to look at. The back panel is made of a gradient or distressed material that makes the phone appealing to hold with its enhanced grip. The exteriors of T3 appear premium, and the 7.7mm ‘thinness’ does make the phone look sexy.

The back panel makes the phone look premium and is good to hold

Specs wise, the Xperia T3 runs Android 4.4.2 out of the box. It is powered by a quad-core 1.4 GHz, Snapdragon 400 processor with an Adreno 305 GPU. The RAM stands at 1GB and 8GB of internal storage. The phone gives expandable storage options up to 32GB. The device is NFC capable. Compared to its competition and its price, the specs don’t feel satisfactory. The battery on the device is 2500 mAh that can take good care of the phone for about a day.

Display wise, the T3 sports a 5.3 inch IPS LCD screen. The resolution of the screen is 1280×720 with a pixel density of 277 ppi. The annoying part of this device is that even with its massive display it only accepts four finger touch.

The main camera on the device is 8 MP shooter whereas on the front is rather disappointing 1.1MP camera, which is capable of shooting 720p videos. The dedicated camera button is a welcome feature. The User Interface (UI) is similar to previous generation Sony Timescape UI. There are some decent customization features but overall it is pretty much the usual Xperia experience.

Multimedia experience in the T3 is appreciable. The playback and viewing angles on the display are great. The sound from the speakers is decent and gets the job done, but Sony should have brought in better speakers.

Overall, the device looks like a lazy attempt by Sony and has too little for too much. The phone is priced at Rs. 25,990. The competitors have lot better specs at this price point, and Sony really needs to buck up its game if it wants to be perceived as a worthy smartphone company.

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August 18, 2014
Techies at Work: Making India Proud

“The U.S. is looking to India as more than just a marketplace for our defense products, but as a technology, aerospace and strategic partner for our future endeavors”, said Kit Bond, a former US Senator. The current global technology scenario, clearly, highlights the rise of Indians in the worldwide market and as Indians, we take pride in it. After all, what is a country without its countrymen? And what do we toil for, if not our own country?

As India celebrates its 68^th Independence Day, we bring to you the top Indian techies from all over the world that have done all they can and more to make India proud.

1. Satya Nadella

CEO, Microsoft

Born in a Telugu family in Hyderabad, Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as the CEO of Microsoft. He joined Microsoft in 1992 and since then, has worked at various projects including the company’s transformation from client services to cloud infrastructure and computing.

Before being announced the CEO of the company on 4 February 2014, Nadella was working as the President of the Server and Tools Division. His desi reason for success, he mentions, is the leadership and teamwork skills he learns from cricket!

2. Padmasree Warrior

CTO, Cisco Systems

Padmasree Warrior is the current CTO (Chief Technology & Strategy Officer) of Cisco Systems and the former of Motorola Inc. Born and raised in the city of Vijayawada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, she has worked for 23 years at Motorola and 7 years (and still counting) for Cisco Systems.

At Cisco, she is responsible for strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, integration of new business models, incubation of new technologies and talent. Earlier this year, she was listed as the 71st most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

3. Amit Singhal

Senior Vice President, Google Inc.

Amit Singhal, also called a “Google Fellow”, is the current Senior Vice President of Google Inc. A product of IIT Roorkee, Mr. Singhal is also the head of Google’s core ranking team. He joined Google in 2000 and has worked sincerely towards its development ever since.

According to New York Times, he is the master of what Google calls its “ranking algorithm” — the formulae that choose which Web page provides the most suitable answer to a user’s question. Prior to joining Google, he worked in AT&T Labs.

4. Shantanu Narayen

President and CEO, Adobe

He started his career at Apple and is currently, the President and CEO of Adobe. His journey includes various other landmarks such as Silicon Graphics and Pictra Inc. Born in Mumbai, raised in Hyderabad, Mr. Narayen is currently the Board Member of Dell Inc., Adobe Systems and University of California at Berkeley.

He was one of the most hard working and inspirational forces behind Adobe’s $3.4bn attainment of multi-media company Macromedia in 2005. His 16 year career at Adobe reflects the Indian technology talent that currently resides in the creative technology tool industry.

5. Vinod Dham

Managing Director and Founder, Indo US Venture Partners

This list will not be complete without the ‘Father of Pentium’. An inventor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Mr. Dham is a celebrated Indian among all techies from the world for his contribution to the development of highly successful Pentium processors from Intel.

A respected alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering, he specialized in solid state electronics – the technology which forms the basis for the storage that is found in every smartphone and tablet as well as many laptops. He led the development of the Pentium processor, and also co-invented Intel’s first flash memory technology.

August 15, 2014
Top 5 Wearables You Can Buy In India Right Now

Wearables are huge these days – with technology giants like Samsung, Google, Apple and basically everyone else investing huge sums into this relatively new technology. While there are a myriad of wearables available in the international market, only half the number show up on the Indian shore. We are listing top 5 wearables you can buy in India right now.

Pebble Smart

Pebble Smart is a toned down version of more expensive and metal-clad Pebble Steel which is not available in India. This one features a 1.26 inch, 168×144 display along with an ARM Cortex M3 CPU and supports Bluetooth 4.0 LE. The design is also waterproof so you can go for a swim without worrying. Performance and battery life are very good. It may not have the sharpest display, but it would last you several days of heavy usage.

Buy it Now

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Sony Smart Watch 2

Unlike most smartwatches available in the market which beg you to connect the device with your phone, Sony Smart Watch 2 is more like a stand alone smartwatch. However, it can still be paired up with the Sony Xperia Z2/Z Ultra/Z1 for notifications. It includes three capacitive buttons underneath the display, which measures 1.6 inches and has a 220×176 resolution. There’s an array of app support with more than 300 apps supporting the watch, including Facebook and Twitter. It’s also dust and water resistant plus it has that attractive Xperia-like design.

Buy it Now

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Misfit Shine

A lot of fitness gadgets that track your progress are bulky and only come in certain wristband styles. Misfit Shine is the size of a quarter, and can be worn anywhere. The design is diamond-cut from a block of aircraft-grade aluminium and runs on a replaceable battery that lasts up to six months. The Shine syncs easily with its app by placing the metal dot on your phone screen to download data in seconds. It tracks walking, jogging, running, cycling, and swimming (the Shine is waterproof too), and weighs less than 10 grams.

Buy it Now

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Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 Neo

As its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 Neo features 1.63 inch Super AMOLED display, a dust and water-resistant body and a 2 megapixel camera with auto focus. It is a toned down version of the original’s futuristic metallic body. A neat addition is being able to attach your own straps to the Gear 2 Neo. Tizen OS is in place instead of Android and this helps to extend the battery life while focusing more on fitness. A heart sensor and pedometer are included for the same purpose.

Buy it Now

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UP by Jawbone

UP is a fitness tracker that provides you feedback on your activity, calories burned, diet, and sleep, and then guides you towards achieving your goals. The design is fantastic, it is extremely comfortable and pleasant to wear as well.

Buy it Now

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August 13, 2014
Buy a Xiaomi Mi3 In The Next Sale Using These Tips to Better Your Chances

The Xiaomi Mi3 has been a drop of evil for a lot of people, some have waited through the three sales patiently trying to get one of these chinese “wonder phones”. On August 12th 2014, at 2:00 pm the Xiaomi Mi3 will go on sale yet again, this time with a proported 20,000 handsets, says online shopping website Flipkart.

If you really want to buy a Xiaomi Mi3 this time around, here are a few tips to better your chances of scoring one of these budget bad boys.

1. Pre Register

Possibly the most obvious tip, you need to pre register to buy the phone, so go ahead and do it by : Clicking Here

2. Know the Time

The Xiaomi Mi3 will go on sale at precisely 2:00 pm IST on the 12th of August, so try and reach the buying page at least an hour earlier, even though it seems like overkill.

3. Multiple device logins

Try being online from multiple devices, preferably on different internet connections; in order to have different I.P. addresses accessing the site, this will improve your chances and bring to one step closer to buying a Xiaomi Mi3.

4. Flipkart App

The Flipkart app uses a separate server and has a higher chance of “not failing” at the time of sale. If you want to buy a Xiaomi Mi3 the app might prove to be easier, “might being the key word.

5. Super Refresh times 40,000

When the sale starts, most people are struggling to open the webpage, ctrl+R / f5 (refresh) is your best friend, hit it till you get a page to buy a Xiaomi Mi3. (cmd+R on a mac). Other people have reported opening several tabs being helpful.

6. Cart it!

If you do get a page loaded, add that phone to the cart like there is no tomorrow, once you have the handset in your cart, your chances have just gone up from 1 in a million to 50:50 in order to buy a Xiaomi Mi3.

7. Patience

Once you have it in your cart, attempt payment by refreshing several times, in most cases you won’t be able to make payments due to overloads on the server so keep trying.Here the app helps too.

Also, if the website fails completely, there is a very high chance that the phone is in your cart when Flipkart comes back online, thats the perfect moment for you to buy a Xiaomi Mi3.

Once you do get through to the payment section and make your payments in whatever the mode you select, pat yourself on the back sir, you my friend are a lucky owner of the coveted Xiaomi Mi3.

Yay!

Now watch our Review Here:

August 11, 2014
#LetsTalkShop with Amit Boni from Motorola India

When Motorola departed India in haste, shutting down operations and basically calling it quits, a large chunk of Moto believers were left disheartened. Motorola was always perceived as a quality brand, the real inventor of the mobile phone and an innovation driver.

With Motorola’s global operations in trouble the company took a breather to rework strategies and work towards exciting products says Amit Boni, who now heads Motorola Mobility India’s reenergized operations.

In a very candid and exciting conversation with the man we learnt that the company has inherited a lot of traits from ex-parent Google and the business strategies going forward seem to be well in order.

Motorola really researched the Indian market before returning with its new lineup, and found the Flipkart model to be a success runner and in a price conscious market like India, a steady pricing system.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Amit Boni” author_title=”GM, Motorola Mobility India”]

We wanted to ensure our customers pay one price for our phones throughout India.

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Amit says Motorola is keen to begin the relationship when the buyer purchases a Motorola product and will ensure that service is never an issue for the customer. The company has a strong foothold in India for service and Motorola is keen on expanding the service base.

Xiaomi is not a threat, says Amit, we are happy with competition and going forward are ready to provide a better consumer experience. This sort of competition helps us stay grounded he claims, allowing the company to know where they stand.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Amit Boni” author_title=”GM, Motorola Mobility India”]

Xiaomi’s entry in India using Flipkart is a validation of Motorola’s excellent strategy

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Motorola wants to bring products to India as fast as they can, and they are really excited for the Moto 360. The Moto 360 will suffice in a market that has seen some disappointing products, says Amit.

While he stayed mum on future products, he smiled through our questions and demand for some exciting news.

Watch the full video below for the juicy bits and a whole list of other questions.

August 10, 2014
How Do They Do It : Chinese Phone Pricing Explained

Many of you have inquired as to how the Chinese smartphone manufacturers are capable of bringing high speced devices that are priced so low. Here we attempt to explain how the likes of Xiaomi and others go about their business of creating havoc in the mobile markets everywhere.

Both Motorola and Xiaomi have kept prices low by using the e-tailing route

It is estimated that companies like Xiaomi are selling their phones at a loss of Rs. 1000 so that they can create a market buzz around their products. Xiaomi is bringing in just about a 1,00,000 units of their phones to India and have been selling them out in periodic flash sales. By bringing in a limited number of device the company start a stampede and this causes other competitors to reduce their prices, something we saw Motorola do when they slashed Moto G’s price by Rs. 2000. By using this strategy, Xiaomi, with its limited marketing budget has made its name shine out in the market.

However there is a downside to this marketing technique. The flash sales are now confusing and sometimes irritating the potential consumers who want the phone but cannot buy them. It has started to create a negative perception amongst such consumers. They are now seeking alternatives to the phone.

Now here is where the internet marketing convenience adds in. Basically, by just using an online sales channel, a strategy devised by companies like Motorola, the companies get to save massive amounts in distribution, marketing, dealership and other costs. And hence these high speced products reach the consumers in what can be called shockingly low prices, well its shocking for big brands at least.

It is also speculated that another Chinese smartphone manufacturer, One Plus, intends to try its luck in the Indian market. Their phone, the One Plus One is a high speced powerhouse which comes at mid segment prices. They too have limited stocks and might take the Xiaomi approach. But if these companies plan to stay in the Indian market for the long run, they need to come with stocks in accordance with the demand in the market. Or else they will just act as an inspiration to companies with already big reach to bring similar products and in turn, take away these companies potential customers.

August 9, 2014
Top 5 Once-Popular Websites That Are Now History

The internet has led to some amazing success stories, Amazon, Yahoo, iTunes, eBay, Facebook, Google. But it has seen some dark days too. When the dot com bubble burst around 2000, many companies who made millions in pre-Google era failed miserably. Some failed because of the dot com bust, others were ahead of their time and some simply disappeared. We are listing 5 of these websites which are now defunct successes.

1. Google Answer

Google Answers was an online knowledge market. It worked like a traditional search engine but paid one. You pay someone else to do the search for you. People would post questions which would then be answered for a fee, or “bounty”, ranging from $2 to $200 by contractors who completed a registration process. There were of course restrictions: links to adult oriented sites, copy righted material, plagiarism and questions of uncertain legality, i.e. “How do I make a bomb?” were not allowed. The site launched in April 2002 and lasted for four years before Google shut it down. Some of Google Answers contractors went on to form another online knowledge website, Uclue.com.

2. Yahoo! Auction

Launched in 1998 as as direct rival for eBay, Yahoo! Auctions used the same proxy bidding system as eBay and even had its own version of PayPal, Yahoo! Wallet. The big difference between the two was Yahoo! Auctions had no seller’s fees, all revenue was from ad sales. This would have made Yahoo! Auctions more popular than eBay, but somehow the site just never made it. Maybe it just wasn’t trusted like eBay. Either way, the U.S. and European sites failed in 2003. Though the site still operates in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan but for the rest of the world, this site is nothing but a memory.

3. Ogrish.com

Ogrish.com was a website featuring uncensored video and photos of war zones, accidents, executions and other similar material. For example, in 2002, graphic pictures and videos of the jumpers of the September 11, 2001 attacks were displayed. In summer 2004 the site was targeted for hacking attacks from South Koreans after Ogrish uploaded the execution video of Kim Sun-il. In September 2005, graphic pictures of Hurricane Katrina victims were posted. As you can imagine the site proved very controversial and was banned in many countries including Germany (Wow, they really had to have crossed a violence threshold to get banned by the Germans.) Over time Ogrish.com became less about blood and guts and more about uncensored news and video. Today, Ogrish.com redirects to LiveLeak.com, a video sharing and “citizen journalism” website which was among the first to feature footage of the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

4. Nupedia

Nupedia was an online encyclopedia, launched in March of 2000. But while its sister site, Wikipedia, went on to become one of the biggest websites in the world, Nupedia faded into obscurity. What happened? Unlike Wikipedia, Nupedia was not open to public editing. Each article had an extensive peer-review process which resulted in infrequent updates. In fact, Wikipedia was originally created as side-project to get around this very problem. By the time it folded in September 2003, Nupedia had a mere 24 articles.

5. Audiogalaxy

The original Audiogalaxy system was created in 1998 by Michael Merhej as an FTP site index called The Borg Search. It quickly evolved into a robust peer-to-peer system with client software (the Audiogalaxy “Satellite”), a web-based search engine, always-on searching for requested files, auto-resume and low system impact. It quickly gained ground among file sharers abandoning Napster in 2001. From 1998 to 2002, it was a file sharing system that indexed MP3 files. From mid-2002 to mid-2010, it was a promotional website for the Rhapsody music subscription service. From mid-2010 through 2012, it was a personal audio placeshifting service. Audiogalaxy finally ceased operations on January 31, 2013.

August 8, 2014
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro with 6-inch Quad HD Display Officially Launched

After weeks of rumours and leaks, Lenovo has finally made the Vibe Z2 Pro official. This is the latest flagship from the Chinese manufacturer, and carries all high-end specs you would expect from a flagship. The star of the show is definitely the 6” Quad HD (2560×1440) IPS display, that is capable of outputting 500-nits of brightness.

The rest of the specs are equally impressive. The Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro will come with the latest Android 4.4 KitKat pre-installed. Under the hood, the device will contain Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 801 chipset with a 2.5 GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU. This will be paired with the Adreno 330 GPU, making sure that the device can handle all your processing needs.

It will come with 32 GB of in-built storage, however there will be no microSD card slot for expansion. The rear camera will be 16 megapixels, a BIS sensor with Optical Image Stabilisation, dual LED flash and 4K video recording. The phablet will also feature dual-SIM capabilities, with two micro-SIM card slots.

All of this goodness will be encased in a premium unibody metal body that measures only 7.7mm in thickness. The body will weigh 179 grams. Now, some people may not like the sheer size and heft of the phablet, but that size allows the manufacturer to fit in a larger than normal 4,000 mAh battery.

The device is set to release in September, in black, white and gold colours.

Take a look at the video and tell us what you think.

By Pranav Arora

August 6, 2014
Oppo Teases the Indian Market With the Hint Of N1 Mini

Remember the Oppo N1? Announced way back in September last year, the device featured a unique rotating camera at the top, giving you the capability of taking your selfies in ultra-sharp 13 megapixel quality.

Now, Oppo is teasing the launch of it’s younger sibling, the Oppo N1 Mini, in India. The company on Sunday tweeted an image of the Mini with the text “Revolutionary 24 Mega Pixels Ultra HD Camera, Coming Soon!”. The picture carries the caption “Mini in size, Max on fun”.

If you missed the official launch of the N1 Mini back in June, we don’t blame you. It was a silent affair, with no extravagant event or hype. However, it did manage to tell us the official launch specs that the device will carry.

The N1 Mini sports a 5” HD (1280×720) display. Under the hood, it comes with a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and Adreno 305 GPU paired with a healthy 2GB of RAM. There is 16GB of non-expandable storage available. Similar to its bigger brother, it features a 13-megapixel ‘swivel’ camera with LED flash.

The battery capacity is 2140mAh. The body is 9.2mm thick, and weighs 150 grams. It comes in White, Blue and Yellow colour options. The Oppo N1 recently received a price cut in India, bringing it down from Rs. 39,999 to 32,990. So if Oppo learn from their mistakes and price the N1 Mini competitively, they could have a winner on their hands.

By Pranav Arora

August 6, 2014
Moto X Confirmed to Receive Google’s Android L Update

Ever since Google announced the amazing Android L back at Google I/O, everyone is keen to know which handsets will get this update first. While Google pointed out that Motorola handsets will be one of the first ones to get the update, now it seems like Moto X will be the first phone to get the Android L update.

Since the Moto X is more or less a year old in the smartphone market, it goes without saying that the Moto X will be taking the Android L route, where Android L is tipped for an October or November roll out later this year.

Google+ user Josh B. sent out a feeler question to the Moto X community on G+, asking whether the Android L update will be arriving, and VP of Product Management at Motorola, Punit Soni, confirmed the impending arrival of Android L on the Moto X.

Soni did not reveal any other details about Android L for Motorola devices, but considering that the company has updated many of its 2013 handsets to Google’s latest Android OS versions almost immediately after their respective launches, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Moto X gets the Android L soon.

August 5, 2014
Xiaomi Dethrones Samsung from the Top Spot in China

Seems like a bad day for Samsung, earlier we reported that their No. 1 position in India slipped away, and sounds like they’re headed towards trouble in China as well. Xiaomi is just four years old but the way the company has taken over the market in the last quarter is remarkable.

Just last year, Xiaomi was just another dubious Chinese handset maker. Well, things certainly have changed and according to the report by research firm Canalys, Samsung is no longer the top phone manufacturer in China.

Xiaomi distributed around 15 million phones in early 2014 while Samsung is lagging behind at 13.2 million. The report published on Monday by Canalys, revealed that Xiaomi’s remarkable growth, surpassing giants like Samsung and Lenovo to become the top player in China. Because of its huge growth in China, Xiaomi became the fifth largest smartphone maker in the world.

Xiaomi is little known in Europe or in North America because it sells nearly all of its smartphones in mainland China. But strong growth in China and Indian-subcontinent (recently) was enough to get Xiaomi to a top five position among the world’s smartphone makers from nowhere the previous year.

“Over all, Xiaomi grew 240 per cent, compared with the second quarter last year, to take 14 percent of the Chinese smartphone market. Undoubtedly, this was helped by an under-strength Samsung performance during the quarter,” Canalys research analyst Jingwen Wang wrote in a statement, “But that is only half the story — Xiaomi has also executed on its strategy to grow volume shipments. It has delivered compelling products at aggressive price points, backed by effectively targeted marketing.”

To increase customer base, Xiaomi offered special software that customers cannot get with other Android devices. The company offers a customized version of Android, called MIUI, which customers can help design by giving feedback online; the company releases a new version of the operating system every Friday to keep fans excited.

Samsung reported last week its lowest quarterly profit in two years for the second quarter, partly blaming a slowdown of cheap smartphone sales in China. Samsung said it faced higher competition from local brands and weaker demand for its 3G handsets as Chinese consumers shifted to 4G smartphones.

China has highest percentage of mobile users than any other country and makes up 37% of the global phone market. Encouraged by its success at home, Xiaomi is looking to expand into other countries in the next year, including Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey.

August 5, 2014
Images of the Upcoming Samsung Galaxy Alpha Leaked

The new Samsung Galaxy Alpha will soon be officially unveiled. The metal-clad phone has been taking rounds on internet and now photos of the white version of the Galaxy Alpha have leaked from the micro-blogging website Weibo.

The metallic side looks more polished on this model. According to various reports, the Galaxy Alpha might be segmented as a high-end device. It is expected to sport a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED 720p display (same as Galaxy S III), Exynos 5433 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera, a fingerprint and heart rate sensor, 32 GB of non-expandable storage and Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

The Galaxy Alpha will be a step above the Galaxy S5 mini and will actually be sold as another watered-down variant of the Galaxy S5. There will also be an LTE-A variant, which is affirmed by an image leaked on a Vietnamese tech blog showing the device in the powered on state, and we’re guessing the LTE-A variant could be powered by Samsung’s recently announced Exynos ModAP processor, which brings support for 150 Mbps LTE-A speeds.

Unfortunately, there are no more details on other features and hardware, but more info should start popping up as we approach the rumored launch of the Galaxy Alpha. As rumors have suggested, the Galaxy Alpha could see a limited release.

Earlier, some pictures of black version of Samsung Galaxy Alpha were also released by Sammobile. The images confirm earlier reports that the Galaxy Alpha will sport a 4.7-inch screen and a metallic construction, though Samsung has opted to use aluminium on the sides while keeping the faux leather back that we’ve seen on the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Note 3. This should help in offering both a solid grip and a premium feel.

August 4, 2014
#LetsTalkShop with LG’s Amit Gujral

LG has put them selves on the map in the past couple of years. Taken as a company known for “cheap” products, LG has managed to quickly change their public image and their product lineup to match their image.

Amit Gujral, who has spent well over a decade and a half with the company, heads the marketing for the Mobile division of LG and sits out of the large and lavish Greater Noida HQ which also doubles up as a factory for home appliances.

The LG G3 is being pushed by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as an “Endorser”, Amit Gujral claims the campaign is simply to push a “legend by a legend”. The company is not interested in playing a catch up game, and wants to go beyond the thinking of its competition.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Amit Gujral” author_title=”Marketing Head – LG Mobile India”]

We don’t want to play catch up!

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LG is also working on a tablet that they will launch shortly, said Amit coyly. Giving us another opportunity to sit with him to discuss details. The company has understood that there is very little need between a large phone and a tablet for consumption of content.

Amit claims that Social Media availability for a brand is a must, and the trend in the market is more “we” than “me”. LG is available for the consumers on Social Media and is arming up operations to be available in a better fashion.

Software is key and mostly all our phones are running KitKat, from mid to High segment , said Amit. Going forward LG will continue supporting updates for products.

Watch the full video below for the juicy bits.

August 4, 2014
Hp’s Premium Smartwatch Brings Beauty and Geek Together

What does it take to put smartwatches on the wrists of the masses? Well, HP seems to believe a premium design is the answer. That is why they are teaming up with designer Michael Bastian and US-based premium retailer Gilt, to create a smartwatch that does not immediately shout ‘geek’ when worn on your wrist.

HP is going to take care of the internals on this timepiece, and it will have all the basic functions and capabilities of a smartwatch. These include notifications for all calls, text messages and emails, along with user controls for applications like the music player. HP is said to be building all the software that runs on this watch, so it is highly unlikely that it will run the Android Wear platform when it finally releases. The watch will be iOS and Android compatible. Functionality wise, it is highly reminiscent of the Pebble Smartwatch, the watch that many believe ushered in the wearable revolution.

Michael Bastian released sketches of the upcoming watches

Michael Bastian is going to take care of the design aspect of the smart watch, which will feature a circular 44mm stainless steel case. It will also have options for various interchangeable bands made of leather, rubber, or nylon. Bastian says the design cues came from luxury automobiles, namely interior features like the dashboard and trim.

The watch will be exclusively available on premium online retailer Gilt’s website, and is pinned for a release this fall. It is very likely going to carry a premium price tag to match that premium design.

The Gilt website provides very little detail on the actual smart watch, as it is simply labeled ‘A Michael Bastian Smartwatch’ and features a black body and a round, blueish dial. Perhaps a better idea is provided by these separate sketches prepared by Bastian himself, giving us a better look at what the timepiece might look like when it is finally released.

This is not the first time a manufacturer has tried to create a fashionable smart watch, as the Moto 360 has already wooed a fair share of the audience with its beautiful design. Even the recent Pebble Steel smart watch follows this mantra. But will HP’s effort have an added advantage due to it’s cross-platform compatibility? We’ll have to wait till this fall to find out.

By Pranav Arora

August 2, 2014
Danish Researchers Create World’s Fastest Internet Running at 43 Terabits per Second

What is the fastest speed with which you have ever downloaded an entire movie? An hour, half an hour or 15 minutes or if you are one of the lucky few with access to Google Fibre, it might take you about 2 minutes. But how does 0.2 milliseconds sound to you? Yeah, it’s not impossible anymore. Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have been able to send 43 terabits per second using one multicore optical fiber and one laser transmitter. This makes it about a 1000 times faster than Google Fiber which tops at a speed of 1000mbits/second.

In terms of bytes the connection tops at a speed of 5.4 terabytes per second. Now look at your 1TB hard drive, you can send five of those full hard drives over this connection in a second. Amazed yet? if not, then here’s a stand out point, this data transfer took place over a single fiber using a single laser beam.

As this is a single optical fiber technology it is a practical solution to providing high speed data transfer. It can be replicated out of laboratory settings and into the real world. The hitch in the story: the cables which managed to create this phenomenal network are really difficult and expensive to produce. So don’t anticipate a lighting speed connection anytime soon. The cables used by the researchers were manufactured by Japanese telecom company NTT.

There have been many research teams working on making the internet faster and more efficient. Currently the internet providers have immense investment in cables that they have laid and even if a faster internet is available, the deployment of such technology will only happen once the companies have recovered their costs. So it will surely be long wait before we get access to Terabyte Internet connections.

August 1, 2014