Category: Tech

Latest Technology News, Alternative, Bio-Tech, Medical, R&D and Innovations

Xiaomi Announces a Major Price Cut on Mi4’s 64 GB Variant

It seems to be the sale season in the tech world. Recently Motorola reduced the price of its line of smartphones, which has been followed by OnePlus (albeit not for India.) Now Xiaomi has announced that they’re following suit. That’s right, the Xiaomi Mi 4 will now be available for 4,000 rupees lesser. The price will now be Rs.19,999 instead of Rs. 23,999. Which is a substantial drop.

These companies are now getting ready to bring in their fresher 2015 line-up of devices. OnePlus will be launching the OnePlus Two soon, and the 3rd Gen of Motorola devices are also on their way. That brings up the question, which smartphone is Xiaomi planning on bringing to India now? The company is evidently clearing out stock to make room for another smartphone’s arrival. We’d vote for the Xiaomi Mi Note, the company’s current flagship.

Coming back to the Mi4. The smartphone known for its exemplary features and boasts a sleek look. Hence, fans will be happy to hear that the Mi 4, that too 64 GB, is going to be become even more affordable. The specifications includes Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5 GHz, a 3GB RAM and 64GB Flash. The phone also possesses a 5″ IPS full HD display at 441 PPI. It has a battery life of 3080 mAh and includes quick charge 2.0 support. The phone lastly, boasts of a 13 MP rear camera and an 8 MP front camera (both with f/1.8 aperture)

If you’ve been planning to buy a new smartphone; now would be the best time.

[tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/mi-4/p/itme4g2vrpvmggch?pid=MOBE4G2SKSQJSPGJ&ref=L%3A-3240743764927561236&srno=p_3&query=xiaomi+&otracker=from-search&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now[/tw-button] [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/mi-4/p/itme4g2vrpvmggch?pid=MOBE4G2SKSQJSPGJ&ref=L%3A-3240743764927561236&srno=p_3&query=xiaomi+&otracker=from-search&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Xiaomi Mi4 [/tw-button]

June 12, 2015
Make in India: List of Tech Companies to Start Manufacturing in India

‘Make in India’ is an initiative that was started back in September 2014 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The primary objective of this initiative is to create manufacturing firms within India to create more job opportunities and enhance the skills of the people of India across different sectors like automobile, aviation, biotechnology, defence manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, ports, railways, textile and much more. With this initiative, the Government of India hopes to bring in high-quality standards and minimise the impact on the environment.

The scope and potential, the breadth and length of infrastructure and related developments is very huge in India: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 16, 2015

Many companies are in support of the Make in India campaign. Companies from China like Alibaba and Xiaomi showed their full backing for the project. Alibaba Chairman said, “We are excited about India. We are excited about Make in India and Digital India.” Xiaomi President Lin Bin too, showed his support and stated, “We have some big plans for India. We fully support Make in India.”

@MEAIndia Trillions?

— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) May 16, 2015

In response to the Make in India call, The United Kingdom announced in January, about its campaign to forge collaborations with Indian companies. Dubbed as the ‘Great Collaboration’, it will be the first partnership between UK’s BP Petroleum company and India’s Reliance Industries Limited for developing and producing energy. The UK and the Indian Prime Ministers have already appreciated the financial ties between the two countries.

Many companies have started putting up manufacturing houses in India. Celkon, one of the leading cellphone players, is right now in the planning process of setting up its manufacturing firm in Medchal, Telangana. IT Minister, KT Rama Rao, said the manufacturing business unit will be set up within a few days after June and will begin with four production lines, and will eventually increase its capacity to higher levels.

Celkon Plant in Medchal, Telangana

Similarly, Foxconn Technology, who is one of the world’s largest contract makers of electronic products, is trying to develop 10-12 facilities in India, including factories by 2020. The Taiwan-based tech giant said that the company is in talks to manufacture Apple iPhones in India. This could lower the price on the world’s No.3 smartphone market where the US firm trails Samsung Electronics and local players.

Mercedes-Benz will be doubling its annual capacity in India to 20,000 units, thanks to the Make in India project. India will also be the first market to receive the GLA entry SUV outside of Germany.
“India is one of the focus markets for Mercedes-Benz internationally, and with the addition of a new plant, we are getting future ready,” said company India MD & CEO Eberhard Kern. The plant was inaugurated by Maharastra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar. With the addition of the GLA SUV to the assembly line, the company now makes six models locally which include C-, E-, S-Class sedans and the ML- and GL-Class SUVs. The CLA entry sedan will be added to the local assembly list later this year while the A- and B-Class models come in after that.

On a smaller scale, Amity scientists have developed a 100% safe, pure and indigenous herbal colours with absolutely no synthetic or harmful additives, in a bid to contribute towards Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. “The herbal colours indigenously produced at Amity, when used extensively in all the industries, will herald a revolution in the country, which is reeling under the pressure of products loaded with synthetic components and chemicals,” said Harsha Kharkwal, faculty at Amity University.

In February 2015, Huawei opened a new research and development (R&D) campus in Bengaluru. It had invested $170 million to establish the research and development centre. In February 2015, Hitachi said it was committed to the initiative. It said that it would raise its employees in India from 10,000 to 13,000, and it would try to boost its revenues from India from ¥100 billion in 2013 to ¥210 billion. It said that an auto component plant will be set up in Chennai in 2016.

This initiative looks very promising. It is understandable that many more companies will join in, soon.This can create a lot of job opportunities here in India and improve the economic well-being of its masses.

Let us see how the campaign shapes up in the future.

You can also follow Make in India YouTube campaign here.

June 12, 2015
Google Search to Get Faster and Cheaper on Indian 2G Network

Though fast wireless networks like 3G and 4G have hit certain parts of the world, emerging countries are still a victim of slow internet connectivity, which constitutes over half the globe. Tech powerhouses have understood the fact that their expansion lies in reaching that majority and providing them the best of their services. Today, Google has launched a slimmer version of Google Search called ‘Search Lite’ on Android phones that optimize web pages on slow 2G network.

The feature shows streamlined search results, and the pages load four times faster than with the original Google Search. Also, it consumes lesser data, saving your monthly pack to last for few more days. Google’s blog post by Product Manager Hiroto Tokusei reads –

If you’re in India, with an Android phone and on a slow connection, like 2G, you should start to see pages loading a whole lot faster, while using far less data, via your Chrome or Android browser from Google’s search results.

To accommodate users with faster loading on slow mobile connections, Search Lite transcodes web pages on the go. As per Hiroto, the new feature gets triggered when an Android user surfs something on Google on a slow 2G connection. Google makes out the connection speed and activates the Search Lite tool. The search biggie has tested the feature in Indonesia and is geared to bring it to Indians in another two weeks.

Google’s testing period showed more than 50% increase in web page traffic. The firm says that it would be extremely beneficial for publishers as the page views will encounter a jump. These faster-optimized pages help publishers and advertisers reach new audiences. Publishers can choose to optimize the page or reject the compressed format. There are other measures that Google is currently working on like Google Analysis for tracking page views, AdSense for ad support, and a few more.

Also, the Search Lite tool will be brought as an option and not as a compulsion. Users can choose to switch to the original page any time through the link provided at the bottom of the page. The feature will be arriving in India as well as Brazil in the coming weeks.

June 11, 2015
5 Tech Patents that Thankfully Never Worked Out

In the world of technology, there is no space for redundancy. Technology is getting updated time after time since tech fanatics are always carving out the next great gadget. The major number of brains swell up for innovating and creating such devices. Gadgets are continuously upgraded and tweaked, but some do not turn out as planned.

We will see some of the weirdest patents filed by the biggest tech powerhouses today:

Nokia’s Vibrating Tattoos

In 2011, Nokia signed a patent for the first vibrating tattoo. Yes, a vibrating tattoo that alerts users when their phone is ringing. According to the official patent, the apparatus would be able to detect a magnetic field and transfer a ‘percievable stimulus’ to alert its users about an incoming call, text ot dead battery.

But for some people, getting inked for the sake of technology was too much. People said the device plunges into a ‘creepy territory’. In an era of iPhones and Android devices, what would be the cost of unplugging a permanent tattoo?

Nokia never discussed anything about the tattoo including the potential health risks.

Google Background Advertising

Google, in 2012, signed a patent that would enable the search giant to base advertisements on background noise. According to the patents, Google would install sensors on handsets that would detect temperature, humidity, sound, light or air distribution near a device and ads would be served accordingly.

For example, if you are at the gym and make a call, Google will be able to catch the gym machinery in the background and then serve up adverts for home gym equipment. If it is 30 degrees or more outside, Google will throw in adverts for sun cream, air conditioning units or ice creams.

But it raised the question of privacy. People were not pleased with the idea of Google tracking down their location wherever they went. Although from the use and productivity aspect, this patent was quite useless.

Amazon Airbag

Amazon came up with this idea in 2012 for a protective system for mobile phones. The patent describes a system that utilizes a gadget’s built-in gyroscope, camera, accelerometers and other onboard sensors to decide if the device has entered an airborne state. If it has, the technology will release airbags to decrease potential damage – or possibly even alter the trajectory of its fall by firing jets of air.

But this idea gathered much criticism like ‘What’s next, smartphones with built-in parachutes? Or maybe handsets with wings and propellers?’ and ‘From a logistical point of view, the handset would have to be rather big to hide an airbag.’

There has been no track of progress regarding this airbag. Let’s wait and find out!

Microsoft Remote Control Charging Patent

Imagine a situation where you have to pay more for skipping an ad while watching a movie or watching a sporting event and you have to pay extra for accessing the replay. Luckily, this patent did not fly off as imagined by Microsoft when they filed this patent back in 2004. This wasn’t very welcomed by the masses because these charges would be on top of the base price as a way to boost up profits.

Apple Air Jet Keyboard Patent

It isn’t too hard to imagine a flat keyboard without keys- we don’t really look at our fingers when we type, ourselves. But, it’s still a little hard to imagine actually using one. In 2011, Apple patented a unique keyboard design that uses micro-perforations to shoot air at the user’s fingers upon touch, giving tactile feedback to whoever is. One of the biggest objections about virtual keyboards is the lack of tactile feedback, making it much laborious to touch-type at any speed, with much accuracy.

June 11, 2015
Top 5 Tech Companies With the Coolest Employee Perks

Keeping employees happy is the key to success for any company. No one knows more about a workplace than its employees. Employee ideas reflect on fundamental measures, such as pay, perks, benefits, and hours worked. But they are also determined by factors such as a company’s culture and general mood.

Below are our pick of the top 5 tech companies to work for:

Google

It is the people who make Google the company that it is today. They are motivated by the fact that their work has a positive impact on the lives of others. Google topped the list of ’50 Best Places to Work’ by Glassdoor. Since the inception of the list in 2007, Google has been steadily climbing the ranks and now is one of the top tech companies in the world.

Googleplex is Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. The interiors are furnished with items like shade lamps and giant rubber balls. You can access facilities like free laundry rooms, two small swimming pools, volleyball courts and around 18 cafeterias with a broad range of menu from around the world. The building has a series of solar panels that feed power to the whole facility.

Every given perk in Google has calculated reasons that are designed to keep its employees happy and satisfied. The company has everything, from on-site doctors, hairdressers to cafeteria food. It also offers parental leave from 12 weeks to 22 weeks.

Plus, if in any case, an employee decides to leave, having Google on their resume never hurts. Click here to apply.

Facebook

Facebook’s official headquarters is located in Menlo Park, California, and it employs an approximate number of 10,082 employees. The critical autonomy of Facebook is – We don’t have rules. Here, employees are their bosses in their space. Much of the designing on the wall are created by the Facebook employees themselves.

The company offers gourmet food courts, on-site doctors, laundry services and bikes to commute around the campus. New moms and dads are entitled to 4 months of parental leave with $4,000 in baby cash.

The idea behind the luxuries is to remove stress from the employee’s daily life so that they can concentrate on the company without having to worry about anything at all. Its emphasis on establishing a high-quality work environment makes it one of the best companies to work for.

Payscale? An experienced worker earns a median on $135,000 annually while interns earn around $6,000 to $7,000 per month. Click here to apply.

Adobe

Adobe was listed in the top ’50 Best Places to Work’ by Glassdoor in 2014. The company’s headquarter in downtown San Jose, California, is a huge skyscraper complex. The three towers, namely, West, East and Almaden, are known for their environmentally friendly designs that inflict minimum harm to the environment.

From the perk point of perspective, the company offers educational reimbursement up to $10,000 each year. Unlike most companies, employees here are entitled to Winter and Summer breaks. Employees are also entitled to a leave of 4 weeks after five years and five weeks after ten years. $360 are given for wellness activities like skydiving, surfing, kayaking, swimming, etc. Just like in college, employees have different fun clubs like soccer, photography, hiking, etc. Some of the other perks offered by Adobe are pet insurance, adoption assistance, backup child/adult care and financial wellness.

Click here to apply.

Apple

Apple is considered one of the most challenging companies to work for. Given Apple’s high-end products, employees have to be on top of their game to meet the ever-increasing pressure. But, working with Apple has more pros than cons. Apple’s newest campus has an area of a behemoth 2.8 million square foot, which is it is a 176-acre site and houses over 13,000 Apple employees. Apple offers benefit to its employees like college tuition fees, gym membership, healthcare, discounts off selected products and services, and much more. Expecting mothers can take up to four weeks to 14 weeks of leave.

Employees praised the leadership of the company, Tim Cook notching up 94% approval rating. Click here to apply.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social media site where instead of making friends, you connect with people in your field of work. It is also one of the newest tech companies in the world. While most companies have inbuilt gyms where employees can work out, LinkedIn has free classes for Tai Chi, Zumba, InShape (a boot camp class), BOSU, TRX, Power Yoga and strength levels in the gym. Every month on a Friday, employees work on projects outside their daily grind. For instance in July, the theme was “LinkedIn for Good” where LinkedIn employees worked on 54 projects that got them interested in their communities.

Employees get $5,000 per year for professional education and get to pitch and run startup-like projects. They can grant up to $10,000 from the LinkedIn For Good Foundation to help their favorite charity or to start their own. Click here to apply.

June 11, 2015
5 Super Affordable Products We Wish Xiaomi Launches in India Soon

Despite being a young player, Xiaomi has become a brand that needs no introduction. The reason is that it sets a reasonable price for its dependable and feature-rich products. People all over the world are eager to get their hands on Xiaomi products, but only some nations have been able to get hold of its exciting offerings.

We have curated a list of devices that are available in Xiaomi’s home ground, but are yet to arrive in India. Here are the 5 devices most-desired products by Xiaomi, we can’t wait to get our hands on:

Mi Note

Launched mid-January, Xiaomi Mi Note is one device that challenges the likes of Apple, Samsung and OnePlus. The device flaunts a 5.7-inch 1080p display with Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB RAM. The phablet will be available in 16 and 32 GB variants. The phone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI 6 on top. It sports a 13MP primary camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and a 4MP front-facing selfie camera. Powering the phone is a 3000mAh battery, which is sufficient enough to power the device for one full day. The Mi Note retails for 2,299RMB, which is about $371 or Rs. 22,893.

Yi Action Camera

Unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015, the Xiaomi-manufactured Yi Action camera is a device taking the Chinese brand into a new arena, ruled by GoPro. The camera priced at CNY 399 (approximately Rs. 3,900) holds 16MP camera with Sony’s Exmor R BSI CMOS image sensor that records a video at 1080p (60fps). Weighing a mere 72 grams, Yi Action waterproof camera holds a storage capacity of 64GB.

Mi TV

A series of Mi TVs have been launched by Xioami in the international market. The 47-inch 3D Mi TV is virtually frameless with 8.4mm frame and features a 1920x1080p Full HD display. Inside the TV is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 quad-core 1.7G processor, an Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB DDR3 of memory and 8GB of storage. Users can connect their gaming controller and headphones via Bluetooth 4.0 to their television sets. Along with that, Xiaomi’s TV supports Dolby Stereo and DTS.

Mi Wi-Fi 6TB Router

Firming foothold deep into the consumer electronics market, Xiaomi recently launched a new Wi-Fi router that offers high-speed connectivity and is claimed to improve 2.4G performance by 100 percent and 5G connectivity by 30 percent. The device holds a 1.4GHz Broadcom 4709c dual-core chipset and 512MB flash memory along with offering 6TB hard drive for content storage. The 6TB Mi Wi-Fi will cost 2,999 Yuan (approx. Rs. 30,800). Xiaomi also introduced Mi Wi-Fi Amplifier along with Mi Wi-Fi. When the Amplifier is plugged into the router, it expands the Wi-Fi range without any hassle of wires. The Mi Wi-Fi Amplifier is priced at 39 Yuan (somewhere Rs. 400).

Yi Smart Webcam

Yi Ants Smart Webcam, is a multi-purpose camera that works as a webcam for chatting as well as security camera with recording capabilities. With 111 degrees wide-angle lens and 4x zoom, the Yi Smart Webcam offers a resolution of 720p and allows users to make two-way voice calls. Xiaomi has also launched a night vision edition, which can record even in the dark with 940mm infrared sensor. It is priced at 149 RMB, which translates to Rs 1,532 (approx.)

June 11, 2015
5 Dream Jobs For a True Tech Lover That Actually Pay

Our society is in continuous need of skilled professionals who are willing to work hard and fast. Luckily for us, demand for tech experts is not going down anytime soon.

But which technological post offers the highest paycheck. We have listed down the top five jobs for a tech geek:

Quality Assurance Testers AKA Computer Game Tester

What can be more awesome than to get paid for playing the latest games? Yes, it sounds like a fantasy world, but in reality, companies pound out an enormous chunk of their revenues for computer game testers. This is done to put out multi-million titles with the minimum bugs. In a more proper term, computer game testers are known as ‘Quality Assurance Testers’ and they earn by testing out games. They point out all the faults while playing, including spelling mistakes.

This job requires a great deal of skills like expert play and an obsessive eye for details. On the bright side, you get to play the game before anyone else in this world.

Web Developer

They are responsible for everything you see on a website. The layout, the fonts, the pictures and videos, everything! Web developers work alone or in a team either as full-time employees, part-time consultants or on-contract basis (freelancers). While the trend is still catching up in India, Web Developers are the some of the highest paid people in places like California, San Francisco and Baltimore.

Ethical Hacker

If hacking is your super power, then this job is for you. Many companies employ ethical hackers to protect their network from hackers who would try to access private and sensitive information of the company. The goal of the ethical hacker is to expose all the weak and vulnerable areas in the main framework of the company’s network. The spot is patched once it is identified. Also, you don’t have to a programmer to be an ethical hacker, which is a common myth.

Gadget Reviewer

A photo posted by iGyaan Network (@igyaan) on Dec 8, 2014 at 4:14am PST

Almost every other day, you receive a courier containing all your favourite toys and gadgets, and in return, you get to write your honest opinion about it. But, be warned, this job is not as easy as it seems. Speaking in front of the camera and differentiating between ten similar handsets is tough. Also, don’t expect to make the big bucks as a newbie in the business. This one takes time and patience.

Game Developer

Developers are perhaps the trendiest people you will see, and it is also considered one of the most fun jobs in the technological sector. A game developer gets to work on titles for computer, consoles, mobile phones and tablets. Creativity is as important as working in a highly pressurised environment. But, if your game does well in the market, it will be perhaps, be the greatest victory in your life.

June 10, 2015
5 Amazing Ways Drones Are Helping Out

Slowly and steadily, drones are finding their space across several kinds of industries in this world. Some companies use it to provide WiFi signals to remote places, while some high-end resorts use it to follow skiers and videotape them as they come downslope.

Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), are aerial vehicles that do not need to be piloted by any person on board. Drones are scaled up functionality model aircrafts that serve more of purpose than the enjoyment of flying a remote-controlled aircraft.

They are remotely controlled by a pilot or a computer, which means that some drones are pre-programmed to carry out actions without direct human piloting.

Here are some amazing examples of how this tech is making our lives easier:

Saving Lives

Drones were used during the Nepal earthquake to search for survivors under the debris of buildings.

From firefighters to rescue personnel, a drone can be used to fly over hard-to-reach areas to check for survivors before rescuers risk their lives through the thick bush. Rescue drones are equipped with infra-red cameras that can help in search-and-rescue efforts. They also help determine the hottest area during a house fire. In the recent chain of earthquakes in Nepal, drones were put to use to search for survivors.

Supporting law enforcement

Police forces around the world are slowing starting to see the advantages of UAVs to aid them in their work. Drones are now being used to give the cops a wide range of view and to provide quick and accurate information. If used on a regular basis, drones will soon revolutionize the way police force operates.

Safe Infrastructure Management

Across countries, drones are already being used on a considerable scale for the betterment of the society and community. Considering the difficulty to inspect the top of a skyscraper or under a bridge, drones can help in minimizing the risks taken to otherwise examine such areas. These UAVs can just be deployed to assess a structure’s condition remotely, thus reducing the need for cranes or harnesses, along with the associated risks.

Agriculture Management

Using drones, farmers can target areas that need special attention. Most of the farms are acres in size, and it is not viable for a farmer to access far ends of the farm every day. By working in those areas, farmers can improve their yield and avoid wastage of resources.

Media Access for Hard-to-Reach Places

While we can already understand how this power might be abused by the media, if utilised cautiously, photography for a news channel can easily be taken using drones without risking the lives of the media person.

Some of the other potential uses where drones can be utilized are earth and climate monitoring, mapping, wildlife research and anti-poaching, temporary communications, etc. Besides in Disaster Management, India should soon start using UAVs for other purposes as well as its usage is almost endless and will prove to be beneficial for the nation.

June 10, 2015
Coolpad’s Dazen 1 Adds Heat to the Flash Sale Fever

It all started last year in July when Xiaomi entered the Indian market with a bang. Our country was happily surprised when the Chinese tech company decided to launch the Mi 3, priced at a mere Rs. 13,999. It was the first time, potential Indian buyers were asked to pre-register and patiently wait at a particular time and e-commerce website, to try and buy a smartphone. Flash sales by Xiaomi caused such an uproar that even Flipkart was unable to cope with the traffic. Xiaomi brought the smartphone in small stocks, which only helped increase the enthusiasm of the Indian market to get their hands on the device.

This wildly successful (and frustrating) practice has since been adopted by Asus, Yu, Honor, Micromax and many more companies. The latest one to join in the flash sale madness is Coolpad.

Chinese manufacturer Coolpad had announced that it will be bringing in the Dazen 1, a week back, and it went on sale today at 12pm on Snapdeal. The company claimed that the smartphone had already received over 1 lakh registrations since the window opened.

Keeping up with the trend, this smartphone also comes with high specs at a low price. As a direct competition to Xiaomi Redmi 2, Yu Yuphoria and Moto E Gen 2, the Dazen 1 has been priced at a mere Rs. 6,999.

Specs-wise, the smartphone stocks a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor coupled with 2GB of RAM along with 8GB of built –in storage, which is expandable upto 32GB via a microSD card. The LTE capable phone comes with a 8MP rear camera, and a 5MP front camera. The Dazen 1 is powered by a 2,500mAh battery.

While there were 1 lakh people eagerly waiting to add a device in their digital cart, the company put out only 10,000 pieces on sale. We wish these companies soon realise that week after week, impressing an audience with the news that their “stock was sold out in seconds” will get old. While it may create a temporary hype, potential buyers would rather go for a device which wasn’t using an old marketing gimmick to persuade them.

June 9, 2015
Samsung Galaxy S6 Active Adds Power, a MicroSD and Ruggedness

Samsung’s Galaxy S6 when launched earlier this year lacked a few features that people actually liked about the Galaxy S5. The S6 is not water resistant nor did it have a replaceable battery. Samsung had also left out a microSD card slot aiming for a more Apple-like approach towards storage.

The Galaxy S6 Active is a more rugged version of the Galaxy S6 from Samsung and it has been presently launched in the US exclusively for AT&T. The S6 Active is an IP-68 rated dustproof and water and shock resistant handset from Samsung.

AT&T confirms the phone has a 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED screen, a 16-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera. It also packs a large 3,500mAh battery, an Exynos 7420 processor and Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.

Like many other handsets in the US the galaxy S6 Active will go on sale starting this Friday for a price of US $ 199 on a two year contract. The handset will be available in two colours : Black and Camouflage white.

June 9, 2015
Apple Pay Steps Out of the US For the First Time, Arrives in UK Next Month

The WWDC 2015 kicked off in style. Along with introducing iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, another set of important announcements made by the tech giant were about Apple Pay, the company’s NFC and Touch ID-based mobile payment solution.

Jennifer Bailey, Vice President of the Online Store of Apple, came up on stage to talk about the service. She announced that it will finally be made available in the UK, from July 2015. People will now be able to make quick transactions at Boots UK, BP, Costa Coffee, Dune, JD Sports, KFC UK & Ireland, Liberty, LIDL, Marks & Spencer (M&S), McDonald’s UK, Nando’s, New Look, Post Office, Pret A Manger, SPAR, Starbucks, SUBWAY stores, Wagamama and Waitrose.

Apple is partnering along with HSBC, Santander, Natwest, Nationwide, First Direct for the UK launch, and many more. Users will also be able to redeem reward cards from Kohl’s, Walgreens and Dunkin’ Donuts. The biggest news of all was that Apple even managed to rope in Transport for London to accept Apple Pay. So you can use your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay for your travel or daily commute.

Physical stores aren’t the only places where this service comes of use, you can use Apple Pay to pay within apps; cutting short the procedure. Apps that will accept Apple Pay in the UK, include Addison Lee, Airbnb, Argos, Booking.com, British Airways, Domino’s, easyJet, Hailo, HotelTonight, hungryhouse, JD Sports, Just Eat, lastminute.com, Miss Selfridge, Ocado, Stubhub, thetrainline.com, Top 10, Topshop, Uncover, Vueling, YPlan, Zalando and Zara, among others. To pay within apps, Apple Pay is compatible with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Another important advancement to Apple Pay is that later this month, Pinterest will launch ‘buyable pins’ that will allow you to buy things from Nieman Marcus and Macy’s using the Apple Pay.

Other than the UK, Apple also announced Apple Pay will be adding support for rewards programs and store-issued credit and debit cards. Apple Pay has managed to expand merchant acceptance to over one million locations in the coming month. With this addition, Apple Pay will accept credit and debit cards across all major card networks, issued by the most popular banks, representing 98 percent of all credit card purchase volume in the US.

Paying using Apple Pay is as simple as holding your iPhone near the contactless reader in the store, while keeping a finger on the Touch ID. With Apple Watch just double click the side button and hold the face up to the contactless reader to make a purchase right from your wrist. For now, Apple Pay is currently supported for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and the new Apple Watch, allowing you to pay for items. Apple uses the NFC technology and the Touch ID fingerprint reader to authenticate purchases for buying goods in a store. Keep on checking iGyaan for more updates.

June 9, 2015
Apple Watch OS 2 Improves Performance, Adds Native Apps

Apple’s new Watch OS 2 has added new features to Apple Watch, including many of those that were suggested by current owners and app developers.

Apple has now allowed moving the logic and processing directly to the Apple Watch improving the long and nagging load times everyone has been complaining about.

All the new features from Siri are going to be available on Apple Watch. Apple claims that only 6 weeks from launch thousands of apps are already available on Apple Watch. The new Apple Watch OS 2 allows for third party apps to display their information on the watch face.

The new Watch OS 2 also allows for custom watch faces, use your own photos and art to make your own watch dials.

The new Apple Pay features will be coming to Watch OS 2, including the new Wallet app, previously called Passbook. This app holds all financial and loyalty cards along with tickets and passes and is available directly on your Apple Watch.

Other features include addition of more favourites in the quick dial, multi coloured sketches and enhancements in the performance of the UI.

June 9, 2015
WWDC15 | Apple’s Biggest Stab at Android is Open Source Swift Code

Apple’s new launches at WWDC 2015 showed off many new features and capabilities of both the new iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan. However, the highlight of the evening was when Craig Federighi announced on the stage today that one of the most powerful coding languages, Swift, would become “Open Source”

Swift 2.0 adds a bunch of features that developers have been asking for, to ensure that apps written in Swift are faster and can do more.

“Open source” means that any developer, anywhere in the world, can contribute new features and updates to a software project — totally for free.

Google’s popular Android mobile OS, for example, is open source, which is how smartphone manufacturers can release devices with versions of Android that are slightly different from each other.

Does this mean other manufacturers will be able to make iOS devices – probably not. However with the code becoming open-source, bug fixes and features would develop faster. Swift becoming Open Source will also allow other operating system manufacturers including Google and Microsoft to utilise the features and apply them to their code if they so choose to.

This will allow Android forks like Cyanogen and MiUi to add enhancements to their performance and capability. However, this will also depend on inclination and need to do so from others.

June 9, 2015
WWDC15 | Apple Launches a New “News” App on iOS 9

Apple at the WWDC 2015 has launched a new “News” app for iOS allowing you to bring all your favourite news feeds to one app. We have seen this before on apps like Flipboard and even HTC’s Blinkfeed.

News is designed by Apple from the ground up – claims Apple. It stars aggregating in the US, UK and Australia with the new iOS 9 update. Apple wants to allow news agencies, TV channels as well as blogs to be a part of the new News App (more details on this later).

News will allows publishers to add video, or animations, enhance text or include recipes and galleries.

Once you start the News App, it will allow you to select your favourite feeds and then will recommend more based on your selected interests. Apple plans to bring enhanced readability features to big publishers and then trickle them down to everyone. The more you read, the better News is at showing the stories you care about most.

Unlike other news aggregation services, News was built in a way that respects and maintains your privacy.

Top publishers like The New York Times, ESPN, Condé Nast, and more will be making their content available in News.You can also publish a copy from your own blog or website.

June 8, 2015
Apple Launches Mac OS X El Capitan

The new OS for Apple’s personal computers is out and it’s called El Capitan. The new update numbered 10.11 brings not only new visual and usage changes, but also performance improvements.

Mac OS X El Capitan features a newer Safari web browser, which allows you to pin windows with web addresses that you visit frequently. The websites that you pin to Safari will remain active and consistent on the same page.

Pinned Sites
New Spotlight features allow you to do custom searches that work for you. These searches can be based on what is in your documents, current events or even weather conditions.

Enhancements to mission control and the way windows are laid out improve productivity. Pulling windows to the top right allows them to be added to a new desktop. If you want to make a window full screen, dragging it in between two active desktops will launch a full screen desktop for that particular window.

New Mission Control
Adding another app/window to the fullscreen desktop will allow split screen.

Full Split Screen
The mail app gets gestures to archive or trash emails with two finger swipes on the Mac trackpad. New Spotlight search capability will also be available on the new mail app in OS X El Capitan. Left you perform conversational searches like : “Mail that I ignored from Jack”.

New Mail App
When you put the Mail app in fullscreen mode, you can actively pause your drafts, just like in iOS. You can also drag and drop attachments between mail windows.

Mac OS X Yosemite was the most adapted OS for personal computers. With over 55% Mac users shifting to Yosemite since its launch in Oct 2014. Apple has included Mac OS X El Capitan in their public beta in July and will ship as a free update to all Mac users later this year.

On the performance front, Apple claims that opening windows or apps is considerably faster on El Capitan due to the reduction in processes that are performed before executing an action. Bringing Metal to Mac from iOS has allowed Apple to replace OpenGL and enable enhanced graphics for developers and gamers while reducing the CPU overhead by upto 70%. This will also considerably improve battery life on portable computers.

June 8, 2015