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Microsoft’s Xbox One Now Available for Pre-Order on Amazon India

Microsoft’s Xbox One will be available in India on 23rd Sept 2014 starting at Rs. 39,990 it is now available for pre-order. The Xbox One with Kinect is priced at Rs. 45,990. They will be sold exclusively through Amazon India. Amazon is also running a couple of promotional offers for the first 1000 customers who book the console.

The special offers are worth Rs. 10,000 and it includes : Rs. 3,000 off on an additional controller, 2 free Blu-rays worth Rs. 2,500, a discount of Rs. 2,000 on speakers, and Rs. 1,000 off on backpacks. The Xbox One standalone variant comes with a free game, Fifa 2015 whereas the Kinect variant of the console comes with a free Dance Central Spotlight DLC and Fifa 2015.

The bundle includes the Xbox One console with a 500GB hard drive, Xbox One Wireless Controller, and a free 14-day trial of Xbox Live Gold for new members.

The Xbox One with Kinect will have a number of special experiences such as gesture controls, biometric sign-in, controller paring, Skype video calls, direct personalization, instant scanning of QR codes.

Both the Microsoft Xbox One uses an incorporated CPU-GPU design by AMD, including an 8-core low power x86-64 AMD “Jaguar” CPU. The Xbox One’s CPU cores runs at 1.75GHz.

Xbox One is also packed with features like the Game DVR/Upload which lets you capture and record your greatest game moments and through ‘Upload Studio’ you can easily edit and share clips with your friends and community. It also offers many apps such as Skype which is specially designed for Xbox One, Internet Explorer, OneDrive, Twitch, Machinima and IGN which are integrated flawlessly with your games and TV experience.

Pre-Order Now

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August 9, 2014
Image of HTC One M8 Running Windows 8.1 Leaked

It was reported a few days ago that HTC is intending to bring Windows Phone OS back to its stable with a One M8 windows variant. The company which was at the forefront of smartphone technology during its beginning days had begun its operations with the Windows Mobile OS. HTC had quit the Windows game for a while and had concentrated on bringing awesome Android devices to its consumers.

WPCentral managed to screen grab a blunder by the Dutch Telecom company, Telfort. In one of its advertising visuals, the company accidently posted what looked like a HTC One M8 running Windows Phone OS. Telfort took down the image as soon as it realized its folly.

The phone as shown in the promotional image also shows a Cortana tile which further confirms the phone running the Windows Phone 8.1. Apparently according to WPCentral the phone might be just around the corner and might release on August 19 at a press event in New York City. That will be a pleasant surprise for all Windows and HTC enthusiasts. The Windows sibling of the phone might be called One W8.

HTC might also use some of the lessons it learned with its Android smartphones to give a better Windows Phone experience than it did in the past, when it released HTC 8S, 8X and 8XT.

HTC has made some of the most beautiful phones in the Android ecosystem and so it will be real fun to see its take on a revamped Windows release.

August 9, 2014
uBeam to Bring Revolutionary Wireless Charging Technology to Market

Los Angeles-based startup uBeam is developing a wireless charging technology that will allow people to charge their devices without cords and without having to be right next to the charging station.

The uBeam system developed by Meredith Perry uses ultrasound and converts electricity into sounds, that are then transmitted by ultrasound to the required devices, charging them in the process.

Originally Perry studied astrobiology at the University of Pennsylvania with the goal of finding life on other planets. However during this process she accidentally stumbled upon the wireless charger technology to charge portable electronics using the ultrasound system. Perry explained :

“This is the only wireless power system that allows you to be on your phone and moving around a room freely while your device is charging. It allows for a Wi-Fi-like experience of charging; with everything else you have to be in close range of a transmitter. If wireless power is everywhere, then the size of your battery can shrink because it’s always charging. You’ll never need a cord again, and you won’t need international charging adapters.”

Ms. Perry’s company, uBeam, announced on Wednesday that it took an early prototype concept of this technology, first developed for Ms. Perry’s college innovation competition, and turned it into a fully functional prototype that the company now plans to build for consumers.

The company’s technology converts electricity to ultrasound, which is then picked up by a receiver in the device, where the ultrasound is converted back into energy. The transmitters can fill a room with ultrasound, charging devices that are equipped with receivers (much as Wi-Fi can provide connectivity to an entire room). Larger transmitters are being developed for stadiums and other large spaces. uBeam’s charging technology is expected to enter the market within the next two years.

Check out their video here:

August 9, 2014
Microsoft’s Next Lumia 720 Offering Might be a Selfie Friendly Phone

Microsoft is seriously getting into the mobile game, which it really needs to compete against its arch rival Apple. The company will try to appeal to the youth demographic by introducing a Selfie centered phone.

Wpcentral reports that a successor of the Nokia Lumia 720 is being planned by the company. The phone currently codenamed Superman would probably be called the Nokia Lumia 730. The Phone comes with a 4.7 inch screen which is bigger than its predecessors 4.3 inch screen.

The Images of Lumia 720 Successor were featured by Wpcentral

To power up the selfies, Microsoft will pack the phone with a 5-megapixel camera into the phone. Though additional information about the specs of the phone are not yet leaked but it’s said to be running on a new firmware called Debian Red. It is said to be a Lumia specific firmware and will coincide with Windows phone 8.1 update 1 and Update 2 releases. This will be Microsoft’s way of separating its phones from other Windows manufacturers. The details of this firmware aren’t certain as of yet.

Microsoft is late to the smartphones party and apart from HTC, no major handset manufacturer has shown the intention to manufacture the Windows Phone OS based products. With a selfie-centric phone, Microsoft may be able to impress some Windows phone enthusiasts, but to have a bigger market it really has to give the consumers something different.

August 8, 2014
Microsoft Offers Chinese Employees Free Nokia 630 to Quit Jobs

You may have heard of a lot many schemes employees are offered when the exit door is shown after an acquisition. There are severance packages, voluntary retirement schemes and other options provided to soon-to-be-ex-employees. But then comes Microsoft doing something that can be seen as borderline evil.

Being taken over by one of the biggest tech giants must have made the employees of Nokia’s former factory in China optimistic about their future. But all hopes were lost when Microsoft announced massive job cuts last month. A majority of the 18000 jobs to be cut by Microsoft will be from Nokia’s stable.

Microsoft said that it will notify those employees in the coming 6 months. The process seems to have started at the Chinese factory where the employees are being offered a Nokia 630 as a consolation for leaving the job.

This is a measly goodbye gift from Microsoft. The phones are being offered on a first come first serve basis for 300 employees. The employees weren’t even explicitly told about their job losses and are unsure about the severance plans by the company. Hopefully after the story coming in international light, Microsoft might give a better deal to these employees.

August 8, 2014
Canword: All Your Information in One Place, Instantly

“Wow, that was fast,” that was our first reaction when Canword installed on our smartphone, almost instantly. The company flaunts the fact that it takes 10 seconds to install and only 10 more to set up.

Canword is a feature-laden compilation app for browsing feeds that you prefer. The app tailors the content according to your interests. You can select from a wide assortment of genres such as art, technology, breaking news, fun, food, etc.

Canword is rather easy to set up; the home screen gives you the option to choose your interests from which it tailors a personalized feed. How is it different from the likes of LinkedIn Pulse or Google Currants? It has more functionalities in terms of saving the articles, seamless assimilation with social media and best of all, it’s Made in India. Also, it lets you get feeds from your social media accounts at one place to give you further convenience. Through Canword, you can share the stories you like to your Facebook and Twitter simultaneously.

The features provided by this app are great for folks who want the information they need, consolidated in one place for a quick skim. Quite like the other readers, Canword lets you read the entire story in the app itself but some links do get directed to the original webpages. The app stitches the feed together using geographical locations. If you want a wider reading space and don’t want to be geographically restricted, it can easily be circumvented if you link the app to your Facebook account.

The journal feature of Canword allows you to bookmark stories for later read.

It has a personalisation feature, through which you can change the appearance of the stories on the app. The option for increasing or decreasing text size will also come handy for folks with visual issues or people who prefer a bigger font size. The app is created by Harscelle Goenka and his team at Valvirt Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The team took three months from conception to launch this app. It was designed and developed right here in India. Being a startup themselves, the makers have a special category for start-ups, found only on Canword. The young team seems confident about their app and have received predominantly positive reviews on the Play Store.

You can download the app for Android phones here, and for iOS devices here.

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August 8, 2014
Apple May Bring Siri-like Personal Assistant to the Mac

In a development similar to the movie ‘Her’, Apple is planning to bring a voice based personal assistant to their desktop systems that run on Mac OSX platform. The company had filed a patent application back in February which was released yesterday.

The patent doesn’t exclusively mention Siri, but instead uses the term Apple’s “digital assistant”. The new personal assistant or what some may call desktop Siri, will be able to deliver Siri’s functions with added features. It can be conjured up using predetermined gestures on the touchpad or through an icon on screen.

Apple’s patent application also states that the digital assistant will be capable of performing tasks of operating systems like moving files, type and send emails, access internet and look for files, photos or play videos on YouTube. The biggest issue though will be people not just screaming at their phones, but their computers too.

The Yosemite beta has no Siri like feature as of yet so it most probably will be up and running in the next outing of the OSX. It will be a welcome surprise though if Apple includes the assistant in this release itself. But Apple thrives to perfecting its offerings to its best capabilities before bringing it out for its users, so this feature may still be a distant dream.

In the end, this seems like the natural order of things. Maybe the future where we bid farewell to keyboards and mouse is around the corner.

August 8, 2014
Apple and Samsung Agree to Dismiss their Patent Battle

Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. are starting to wind down their global patent dispute. Smartphone giants announced in a joint statement that they will drop all patent lawsuits outside the U.S. However, the two companies still haven’t settled their patent disputes within the U.S.

The two companies have sued each other in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, the UK, France, and Italy, and all these cases are being dropped, without being settled and without any cross-licensing agreements being negotiated. The companies disclosed the change in legal strategy in a joint e-mail. Apple and Samsung said they would push ahead with the most high-profile cases taking place in the U.S.

Apple first sued Samsung in the U.S. for copying features of the iPhone in 2011. Samsung then sued Apple for patent infringement in South Korea, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. Apple filed countersuits in five of those countries.

“Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States,” the companies said in a joint statement. “This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts.”

Earlier, Apple and Samsung agreed in June to drop their appeals of a patent-infringement case at the U.S. International Trade Commission that resulted in an import ban on some older Samsung phones. In the U.S., Apple had two victories against Samsung: $930 million in 2012 and $120 million in May of this year. The case is still unresolved though.

August 8, 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
Google May Bring Multi-User Support to Android Smartphones

Google may bring multiple user support to Android smartphones. The feature was mentioned by a Google project member in an official developer forum. In a discussion thread regarding multiuser functionality in Android handsets, the Google employee posted the following reply to forum members: “The development team has implemented this feature and it will be available as a part of the next public build.”

Although the statement isn’t exactly specific, but “the next public build” refers to Android L, unless Google is planning to introduce the feature in another minor KitKat update, which seems unlikely. Already available on Android tablets, the multi-user feature will surely make owners of Android smartphones a tad less wary of leaving their devices to others, especially children. It would also be useful to small businesses who want to create separate accounts for their office and home without investing in enterprise-managed mobile devices.

Google introduced Android L at this year’s Google I/O. Google has already made the developer preview available. As of now the update is available only for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7.

According to reports Moto X and G will be first in line getting Android L updates. Android L is expected to be launched later this year, although no clear date has been mentioned yet. Motorola vice president of product management Punit Soni recently responded to a Google+ query on the smartphone receiving the L update. “Moto X is still going to get Android L (5.0) right?,” asked a user, to which Punit Soni simply responded, “Yup”.

August 7, 2014
Google Buys Emu Messaging Service to Boost its Messaging Might

Google has bought an intelligent, personal assistant based messaging app called EMU. The app is created by an ex-Google and an ex-Apple employee who worked on Siri. The basic premise of the app is close to what Google Now offers. It goes through your conversations and picks up leads to provide the users with recommendations related to their interest.

Emu began as an Android app, and its superior assistance feature must have prompted Google to loosen its purse strings. The app is capable of scheduling appointments to the calendar, set reminders and setting restaurant reservations with convenience like never before.

This is how the website looked soon after the acquisition announcement.

Messaging is where a lot of big companies have been investing. With Facebook buying Whatsapp, it was evident that messaging apps have grown in prominence and have overtaken the good old SMS. Now there is a race to perfect a messaging app. Apple, at WWDC this year has already presented a unique messaging feature which intertwines all its ecosystem’s messaging features. Apple’s messaging features were appreciated even though they seemed “inspired” by the features of various apps like Whatsapp, Snapchat, etc.

It is said that Google’s acquired Emu to strengthen its Hangout app, thereby giving an alternative to what Apple has to offer. Emu founders have announced that the app will cease to exist as an independent app and will be shut down by August 25. It will be interesting to see if Google plays the messaging game. Will it repeat its email success with Gmail or we’ll end up with another Google Plus fiasco?

Emu is impressive the way it was introduced and Google might have learnt its lessons by now and may be ready to go head-to-head with Apple.

Check out what the app can do in this video. Caution: They have a catchy background score that will be stuck in your head all day long.

August 7, 2014
Facebook Updated its Messenger App With Android Wear Support

Android Wear is the platform of choice for many, and Facebook recently added itself in the list. They’ve updated their popular Messenger app to work with Android Wear, leaving your phone to rest in your pocket.

Facebook recently had pulled out the chat option from its app, making Facebook Messenger a standalone app. Mark Zuckerberg is”The reason why we’re doing that is we found that having it as a second-class thing inside the Facebook app makes it so there’s more friction to replying to messages, so we would rather have people be using a more focused experience for that,” Zuckerberg said.

In an announcement by Facebook’s Ian Lake, an updated version of the Messenger, version 9, will include lots of new Android Wear focused improvements. First on the list is voice replies. The update includes the ability to tap the reply button when a message comes in, and speak what you want to say. Also included is the ability to mute a conversation directly from the Android Wear device.

Lake also mentioned that users will be able to reply to messages with the ‘thumbs up’ icon. No word on whether or not Facebook will follow suit and expand the selectable replies beyond just a ‘thumbs up’, but with Wear support constantly growing, we can’t help but imagine that new features are just around the corner.

Even with the shortcomings wearables can bring, this is still a major app supporting Android Wear. These are still early days for Android Wear, and Facebook Messenger support is pretty impressive

August 7, 2014
Pinterest Rolls Out its Own Messaging Feature

With the ever-growing market of instant messaging app, every social networking company is coming up with innovative new ways to get in touch with your friends and families. Facebook recently announced the stand alone Messenger and dropped chat window in the app. Meanwhile, new startups are also coming up with innovative ideas to make instant messing fun such as Fling.

Now, Pinterest is joining this race by rolling out a new messaging product called “Conversations”. It seems to be growing up to become a true social network. The digital scrapbooking service announced on Wednesday that its users can now send each other direct messages.

“Say you’re organizing a camping trip with friends – try sending Pins to the whole gang so you can figure out where to go and what meals to make,” Pinterest product designer Tom Watson wrote in a blog post. “If you need a reminder of who’s bringing what, just pull up the conversation right from your notifications.

Direct messaging is meant to be an addition to the “send a pin” feature Pinterest rolled out in May 2013. The idea now is that when users receive a pin, they can reply with a message or send back another pin.

Starting today, the company is rolling out messages on Android, iOS, and the web. Like Facebook’s ‘chat heads,’ the recent messages pop up to the left of the feed as bubbles with your friends’ faces. You’ll find the others under the pin icon where notifications pop up.

Just click the ‘+’ icon, type in the name of a friend on Pinterest, and you can send a pin or a standalone message. The impressive thing about Pinterest messages is that the pins you send within the app retain all the functionality of a pin you see anywhere else on the site.

Anything you can do with a pin on Pinterest’s web site, you can do inside a message: pin it to a board of your own, send it to another friend, or click the ‘heart’ to add it to your list of favorites. You can even drag a pin from the site into a message.

Earlier this year Pinterest launched “guided search” which recommends keywords to help refine searches on the service. The feature helps people find the stuff they are looking for and the stuff they didn’t know they were looking for.

August 7, 2014
Rumor Roundup : All That We Know About the Moto 360

The most hotly anticipated wearable of the year, the Moto 360 smartwatch, couldn’t come soon enough. Announced way back in March, the device hasn’t exactly been Moto’s secret project with multiple demos and hands-on videos at this Google I/O this year.

But do we really know every detail about the smart watch? Here’s a rumor roundup to sum up everything we know other than the official information on Motorola’s website.

Use of Premium Materials

As Motorola and Google have made sure to point out several times now, the Moto 360, unlike its Android Wear siblings, the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live, will be crafted of premium materials, namely glass and metal. Yes, no cheap plastics here.

But is this really true? A Chinese website, G for Games, recently made claims that the Moto 360 would actually be made of plastics that mimic metal. Now, before you start frowning, we should point out that a lot of tech reviewers are claiming these rumours to be fake. But we can’t be certain until the watch officially releases.

Standard Dimensions

Ever since the announcement, Motorola has made a big deal out of how the Moto 360 will look and feel just like a regular watch. It will have a regular 44mm round dial and a leather strap that can be switched with any other strap.

However, another rumor recently surfaced that Motorola will have to increase the thickness to 13.5mm to incorporate wireless charging into the watch. This will make it considerably thicker than either of it’s siblings, the G Watch and the Gear Live, who stand at 9.95mm and 8.9mm thick, respective

Wireless Charging

In the past couple of months, this has been one of the most consistent rumors. If the Moto 360 manages to support any Qi Wireless Charger, this will be a major accomplishment for the smart watch as it will eliminate the need for proprietary charging docks.

Water Resistant

It has been confirmed by Motorola that the watch will be water resistant. However, no comment has been made on whether it will be IP67 rated or not.

Leaked Images from Mistergadget.net

Optical Heart Rate Sensor

Recent leaked pictures by Italian website Mister Gadget show the Moto 360 flaunting an optical heart rate sensor on its back. We are yet to find out how it will be implemented.

Release Date

Finally, the Moto 360 is believed to be be launching by the end of this summer. This is exciting news, as summer is just coming to an end, and we should expect the watch to be launched at an event in the near future. A very recent rumor is floating that the watch will be released this September. We wish this stands true.

The Moto 360 has definitely managed to become one of the most hotly anticipated gadgets of the year. While we all wait with baited breath for the launch event, if you haven’t already, check out this video by Motorola:

By Pranav Arora

August 7, 2014
Samsung Dealers Unhappy About E-Pricing, Threaten Boycott

As if Samsung wasn’t facing enough heat from the market and the users, the dealers of Samsung are taking them on the retail and e-tail price gap. The representatives of Samsung Retail dealers have told Samsung if the massive discrepancies in prices are not stabilized, they may have to boycott the brand.

Samsung has not had a good time against the competition in the past couple years. The phones are seen as identical replicas of each other and their features are unable to compete with the likes of Motorola, LG and the latest entrants, Xiaomi and Asus. In fact, Samsung, which boasted of holding the throne of the biggest smartphone company in the top two populous countries in the world saw itself dip to 2^nd spot. Micromax toppled Samsung’s majority in India and Xiaomi stole its spot in China.

The center issue is that Samsung offers its dealers a margin of 5.5% while the phones can be bought online for 20-25% discounts. The dealers say that they are not able to meet their sales targets as consumers are scared the prices might keep dropping. Times of India reports that some of the dealers have been selling the phones in wholesale markets to achieve their sales goals. These phones too make their way on the internet and are sold at discounted rates.

The dealers have threatened the company with a boycott that includes blacking out Samsung’s branding. Samsung executives have asked the dealers to not take any drastic steps as of yet. The dealer body has given the South Korean electronics giant time till the 15^th of August to resolve the pricing issue. Samsung needs a strategy reanalysis if it wants to prevent a certain dip in sales numbers which includes focus on mobile innovation. Or else it won’t be long before they follow Nokia’s path.

August 6, 2014