Category: Lifestyle

10 Best Celebrity Instagrams of the Week

This week our news feed was crowded by updates about the IIFA Awards, IPL and inked fingers. Here’s our round up from some of our favourite celebrity Instagrams:

1. Sonankshi Sinha enjoys the lavish life en route to Tampa Bay, Florida for the IIFA awards.

2. Talk about star power. Anil Kapoor and Kevin Spacey mingling at the IIFA awards.

3. Since Kareena Kapoor hasn’t given in to Instagram yet, we follow her stylist Tanya Ghavri to keep tabs on the stunning star.

4. We can always depend on Khloe Kardashian for weekly inspiration.

5.Sonakshi Sinha spent the day with her entourage at Disney World, Florida.

6. But first, let me take a selfie. Virat Kohli sends positive vibes to his 10 million fans.

7. Sorry, she’s not sorry. Mindy Kaling uses her t-shirt to make a statement.

8. Well, atleast someone is excited about the IPL. The elusive Ranbir Kapoor shares a rare picture.

9. We loved the social media trend of sharing freshly inked fingers. Sonam Kapoor does her bit.

10. Justin Bieber being deported from USA was clearly just a rumour. He enjoys a rare sunny day in NYC.

April 28, 2014
Top 5 Apps To Help De-Clutter Your Digital Life

We have so much to thank Smartphones for! They help us keep tabs on our friends, emails, daily events and pictures. If we ever have a random doubt, thanks to 3G, an answer is ready within seconds. Since now we can look up anything, anywhere and at anytime – it has led to the death of debates.

As much as it has made our lives simpler, too many hours are wasted on it as well. At iGyaan, with the million things we do daily, staying on top of the online world is a skill we’ve perfected over time. The aim is to spend the least amount of time scouring through junk and get straight to what’s important. Here are our picks of the top apps which will make you the most digitally organized person around:

Social Media Mania

1. Pixable

After being on Facebook for years, it’s easy to accumulate friends who now hold no significance in your life. You couldn’t care less about who, when and why, the girl you met at a conference in 2008 is getting married to today. Even though unimportant newsfeed annoys us daily, deleting these “friends” is not an option. Here is where Pixable steps in. The app gathers all the pictures shared by your friends, and customizes it to show you only the profiles you choose. It compiles your Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feed, and organizes into sections according to relevance personalized by you. Some of the useful sections include – Top Photos of the Day, New Profile Pics, and Most Recent Photos.

2. Socialgiri

It could be to stay in tune with the entertainment industry or the need to know which teenager James Franco tried to pick up lately on Instagram. We all have specific celebrities we like to keep track of (read: stalk) via social media. There are times when we’ve considered getting rid of the constant updates, but we secretly love being a part of the drama in their lives. This app helps you create a separate timeline solely dedicated to your chosen celebrities, consequently tidying up your Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Socialgiri users can choose from over 500 social media celebrities from Bollywood, Hollywood, music, sports, fashion and politics. So, in a single flow you’ll see Critiano Ronaldo’s tweet about where he’s eating lunch, which would be followed by a perfectly Instagrammed picture of his dish. It also gives you an option to be able to like or comment through any of your three accounts. Available on Android and iOS, it recently launched its iPad Version.

Daily Reading

3. Flipboard

We can’t speak about aggregating feeds without mentioning Flipboard. It is the one-stop destination to stay in clue about what’s happening in the world. You can combine your favourite media portals and search for any news you might be interested in. Its clean interface reminiscent of a print magazine makes this our favourite way to browse through everyday stories. The action of flipping through news pieces, attempts to recreate the experience of physically using a print publication. You can also add your personal networks such as Facebook, Twitter and share stories directly through the app.

4.Pulse

Another one similar to Flipboard is Pulse. Like its competitor it collects and organizes news to suit your needs. Created by Stanford graduates Ankit Gupta and Akshay Kothari, the app got rave reviews for its slick interface. The display is more image-based, making it faster to get through articles. The key feature which gives it an edge above Flipboard is that it can load previously read stories even when you’re stuck without internet.

How To Never Miss An Email

5. Mailbox

This handy app promises to make your inbox light, fast and mobile-friendly. It helps you combine your Gmail, Google Apps and iCloud accounts into one single app. Some of its significant functions which should be utilized: You can snooze emails and get back to them later, mute conversations which aren’t important and it also automates your common actions. The mailbox swiftly recognizes what’s important and what’s not.

April 22, 2014
10 Best Celebrity Instagrams of the Week

Here’s the weekly update from some of our favourite celebrity Instagrams. In this week: Coachella continues, 4/20, Easter weekend and Real Madrid’s Copa Del Rey win.

1. Another week, another Arjun-Alia Selfie. We’ve heard plenty good things about their recently released movie, 2 States.

2. Kim Kardashian’s half-sister makes style statement at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held in Colarado.

3. Eminem and Rihanna performed “The Monster” for the first time live at the MTV Movie Awards.

4. This is how the supermodel chose to wish her fans a Happy Easter.

5. Another Easter update, this time from Ms Pinto. She shares a snap enjoying a happy meal, with a spicy Bloody Mary on the side.

6. Now this is what we’d call a power-celeb slumber party. Nicole Richie, Chelsea Handler, Stella McCartney, Naomi Watts, Gwen Stefani, Sam Taylor Wood and Gwyenth Paltrow enjoy a girls night in.

7. Jacqueline Fernandes “sightseeing” while out and about in Poland.

8. Right after Real Madrid beat archrivals Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey title, Ronaldo shared a shot with their trophy.

9. On the sets of the upcoming comedy Humshakals. Directed by Sajid Khan, the movie has Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh in a triple role.

10. Last but not least, Kardashian reposted one of the images from their cover shoot on the April issue of American Vogue.

April 21, 2014
Top 4 Places To Buy T-Shirts Online

The end of every winter always makes us wonder where our summer wardrobe disappeared. Once the jackets and sweaters have been stored away, the empty closet space seems to require replenishment. But let’s face it, when it comes to picking out sartorial choices, life is hard. Depending on the occasion and after combing through our closets that one tough decision needs to be made Every. Single. Day. – what variation of t-shirt and blue jeans should you wear today?

After slogging all week at work, the last thing you want to do is waste your precious weekend braving through overcrowded markets. Luckily a large part of the internet is now a digital mall. Not only is online shopping convenient, but the stores we found sell t-shirts with original designs at amazing prices. We can’t be the only ones sick of mass-produced brands with replicated styles and overused logos. Here’s a list of stores where you can buy cool t-shirts online:

Redwolf
(Price Range: Rs 449 – Rs999)

We’d pick Redwolf as our favorite find. It is an indie clothing brand which we’d solely recommend for its vast collection of expressive t-shirts. Each design is original and the printed quotes are clever. Many of which have popular culture references from Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and Big Bang Theory. The t-shirts are 100% cotton fabric; perfect for the sultry season. Follow their Facebook page for discounts and coupons.

Bhane
(Price Range: Rs430- 2900)

The highlight of the Bhane shopping experience is the website itself. The images showcasing the clothes have used Indian faces and real people posing street style-esque, wearing original designs. With a easy and clean layout, their website is a refreshing change from the rest. Bhane promises clothes made with all-natural materials, classic cuts and low prices. One minor setback: when we visited the site, they had only six options to offer for men. We wish their collection wasn’t so limited, but on the other hand, less choices means quicker decisions.

Captain KYSO
(Price Range: Rs 449 – Rs999)

All their designs are “crowd sourced”, which only means that t-shirts on sale have original and exclusive designs licensed from artists and designers all over the world. The idea is to offer buyers t-shirts which reflect a variety of ideas, thoughts, cultures and styles. Each t-shirt description includes information about the artist, including links to their work. If you’re wondering about its strange name – the acronym K.Y.S.O stands for ‘Keep Your Shirt On’. The only complaint we have is that their website layout is messy. Disorganized clothes simply thrown on racks puts off even the biggest shopaholic; the same theory applies for online shoppers.

Koovs
(Price Range: Rs 1100 – 5099)

This online retail store has the largest collection of clothes for men in India. They are a collective store of various brands as well as their in-house Koovs label. Koovs is bang on trend and frequently updates its collections. Like any typical high street label, their stuff is young, hip and cheap. This is the store to visit if you dress to stand out. Koovs also gives you full thirty days to think over your purchase and an option to pay cash on delivery.

April 19, 2014
Top 4 Apps To Download This IPL Season

The Pepsi IPL 2014 flagged off in Abu Dhabi with a grand ceremony. It had everything worthy of a typical flashy IPL event – beautiful fireworks, Sunil Gavaskar delivering a passionate speech against corruption in cricket (ahem ahem), and of course, performances by Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone providing some Bollywood masala. Since most of the matches are being played abroad, this season the level of excitement in India has been comparatively low. But as the tournament progresses, slowly and steadily everyone is bound to catch a slight IPL fever.

There is no dearth of cricket applications online, infact the myriad of choices available are overwhelming. However, upon closer inspection we found most were copies of each other. Hence we decided to scour through the options and list out a few you must download:

Divided By Teams, United By Cricinfo

For every fan of the sport, the first one to download is The ESPNCricinfo Cricket App. This useful application gives you all the information you need to stay on top of the game. Some of the useful tabs include match schedules, results, points, latest news, graphs, player profiles, videos, team member descriptions and general team information. It’s a one-stop app for all sorts of cricket requirements. The most handy feature would be the option of live game coverage with ball by ball commentary. Its glossary section gives in-depth description about each of the players, which includes the matches they’ve won in the past, and their personal score of number of runs and wickets. If you want to keep up with the happenings of the IPL, this app is the simplest way to go to.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

From day one, IPL has been more about the drama and excitement than about enjoying a true game of cricket. So it isn’t surprising that every season we feel the keen pain of being deprived of the thrill of some harmless betting. Maybe it’s a fruitless attempt to keep the IPL clean, but recently there has been a surge in the number of legal betting websites and apps. They use points or virtual money to attract gamblers. The Big Toss: Cricket app is the one we’d place our bet on. Upon registering, you are awarded 1000 karma points, and a further 100 for every team you select as a favourite. What we liked best about it was that you can “virtually” bet on anything – from who the winner might be or the expected number of runs taken in the first over. You’re then on your own to maintain your karma points. Also, go ahead and have a look at the forum created for news. The Big Toss links you to articles written all over the world. Cricinfo, Pakistan Observer, Deccan Herald and many more are listed under the same forum.

East or West, IPL is the Best?

And the award for the strangest IPL app goes to ‘The Loudest Cheer’. Blogmint launched this app in an attempt to make the Indian audience feel closer to those matches taking place in foreign countries. Its basic function is to help the audience cheer every time their favourite team scores. Audio cheers are available under the following categories – Ace Catch, Great Shot, Great Run, Ace 4, Ultra 6 and Big Wicket. The app also allows users to create their audio or video cheer that will be showcased on digital channels such as YouTube. By numbering up on cheers, participants can win prizes.

Let’s Make it Official

Anticipating interest this season, most of the teams have launched their official apps just in time. If you’re an avid fan of a specific team or player then these apps are made for you. Using the Kolkatta Knight Riders one as an example: you can use it to set up alerts solely for KKR matches and track their team activity. Furthermore, you can even customize it to follow one single (knight) player. The feature we’d vouch for, is the tab that integrates their different social media feeds, combing twitter and facebook updates and bringing them to one single portal.

April 17, 2014
Nike Fuelband will work with Strava, My FitnessPal and Run Keeper in the Future

Up until now Nike’s FuelBand was only favored and bought by those with an Apple iDevice whether iPhones or iPods, simply because of the ease with which they could sync up their bands.

Now, with the launch of the Nike+ Fuel Lab in San Francisco, the sports group is planning to bring more to the user with partnerships and collaborations. Nike plans to bring integration with MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper and Strava. According to Nike, thanks to this partnership Millions of people will have a “common universal currency to monitor and evaluate” all kinds of activity.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Stefan Olander” author_title=” Nike’s Vice President of Digital Sport.”]

We are excited about evolving NikeFuel to deliver richer experiences that make it easier for all athletes to reach their potential, The demand for simpler data-powered experiences is soaring, and all-day sensing is more available on mobile and wearable devices than ever before. Nike is committed to broadening the use of NikeFuel through collaborations with industry leaders to create smarter products and services.

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April 11, 2014
LG Smart Bulb Launched for Android and iOS devices

The LG Smart Bulb is the LG’s first smart light-bulb, which is compatible with Android and iOS devices. This is similar to the Bulb launched by Philips some time back.

It is not clear if this smart bulb will be available for other markets, but for now, it has been launched in Korea at a price which converts to roughly Rs. 2000. LG claims that the Smart Bulb can work with devices running a minimum of Android 4.3 and iOS 6.

On the inside, it has a 10W LED bulb and can run for more than 10 years if used five hours a day, Claims the company. The LG Smart Bulb can connect to smartphones via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and even flashes when its connected device receives a call, or if music is played within the same device.

March 24, 2014
Moto 360 is Motorola’s Android Wear Watch

Its no surprise that Motorola will be the first company to drop in the most interesting piece of hardware in the new ecosystem announced by Google, aka Android Wear.

Called the Moto 360, its possibly the best vision of what a smart watch should be like. Motorola has taken the traditional route with the new Moto 360 keeping the design round and the materials very robust. A generous use of Steel and Leather alongside a tried and tested milled round design make the hardware look very promising.

Thanks to very enticing images, we are now aware that the Moto 360 will show maps as well as updates from Google Now. Motorola may have hit the nail right on the head with the new Moto 360, it is said to be available in the summer in a list of varied styles including a Leather strap or all metal strap.

Its goes on sale in the US in the summer to start with, expected globally soon after.

March 19, 2014
LiveBlog : Samsung CES 2014

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztsmusDQ9jU”]

For all the Latest CES Coverage on iGyaan : Click Here

January 7, 2014
Samsung Nexus 10, LG Nexus 4 and Asus Nexus 7 3G all to come on 29th Google Event

According to rumors Google “has been distributing a video recorded at one of its weekly all-hands “TGIF” meetings on its internal network” to present the new products coming in just over a week: the Samsung Nexus 4, LG Nexus 4, and the new Asus Nexus 7 (32GB Wi-Fi version and 32GB 3G + Wi-Fi model), all running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Looks like the Key Lime Pie versions will come out in the early 2013 event.

Nexus 4

Several sources including TheNextWeb have stated that LG will make the SmartPhone which will feature a quad-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon processor, 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera (and 1.3-megapixel front-facing snapper) and a 2100mAh battery.

Nexus 7

The new variant of the tablet is supposedly going to come with not only a 32 GB capacity but also a 3G modem built in, expect a nano sim card slot. Asus will continue to make the Nexus 7 and the new variant will supposedly feature a newer chipset which is more battery efficient.

Nexus 10

Here is the big news after the positive success of the Google Nexus 7, Google will launch a new Nexus 10 tablet. The device will feature a 10-inch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio and 300 pixel per inch (PPI) density. It is also believed that Samsung will be the manufacturer of the said tablet and the Nexus 10 will also run the new Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Google’s October 29th event also will hold host to launch of several other products making it a total of 5 Nexus launches on the Day. The Google Nexus launch date of Oct 29th also co-incides will Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Phone 8 launch that will take place on the very same day.

[more]

October 22, 2012