Mobile payments have now been around for a while. A large number of users have by now grown accustomed to paying for their shopping through their phones. Apple and Samsung have also introduced new technologies that lets you use your phone as a credit/debit card. But the Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba, has given a whole new look to mobile payment and has made spending your hard earned cash more fun.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma showcased their new facial recognition technology which lets users pay through their mobile devices. This new payment method is expected to be called “Smile to Pay”. This feature will let users pay for their purchases by just scanning their faces. It is something like the Apple Pay and Samsung Pay where users have to authenticate a payment by using their fingerprint instead here you get to do it with a selfie.
Mr. Jack Ma presented his innovation at the CeBit conference being held at Hanover, Germany. He gave a live demo in which he went to Alibaba’s website and clicked buy after which the facial recognition screen turned up. As soon as the software recognized Ma, the purchase was done. He said that this technology would replace passwords and this is the manner in which people will engage in online shopping in the future. Mr. Ma though did not give any more details about the technology. Smile To Pay is expected to be first released in China. We’ll learn more about it later, but you have to admit that it is a cool way to pay for your purchases.
The Canadian electronics producer, Datawind, has reaped a reputation of providing the most affordable tablets in India. The Aakash tablet, Ubislate 7, and PocketSurfer are among the budget devices that have gained acceptance nationwide. The firm now intends to launch a line of budget-friendly Android smartphones in the country. The handsets will start from just Rs. 2,000 and will provide free internet services for one whole year.
The price of the 2G handset will start from Rs. 2,000, while the 3G version will cost Rs. 1,000 higher than the 2G model at Rs. 3,000. According to Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli, the company is in talks with mobile operators to team up with them. The first target of Datawind is a mobile network carrier with vast customer base like Vodafone, Airtel, or Idea. The Canadian firm will later crack a deal with other operators to cover larger geographical boundaries. He also made clear that they are planning to tie-up with network carriers, the devices will be free to switch to other operators.
The company is eyeing on selling maximum number of devices in the price-conscious market. As per Mr. Tuli, as much as 50 lakh units of Android smartphones will be sold. He further added a statement clarifying the rate at which production of the low-end phone is going:
In line with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, we plan to shift production of 90 per cent of total smartphones within 90 days.
Datawind is dedicated to bringing together the unconnected parts of India and said that the company will be paying for the internet services to the data partners.
We haven’t heard anything about when is the company coming up with its new line of handsets, but whenever it arrives in the market, it will play a major role in pushing the country towards wide scale digitization.
Last year in December, OnePlus stepped into the portable charger segment and introduced the world its first-ever Power bank. Today, the company will launch the robust device with battery capacity of 10,000mAh. The official Google+ page of OnePlus reads, “Starting March 17. Are you ready to charge?”
The product can be launched today and is expected to be priced a little lesser than $15 (approximately Rs. 900). With a mammoth capacity of 10,000mAh, the upcoming OnePlus power bank can charge the 3100mAh battery of One device three times on a single charge. The powerful bank is ready for retail.
The overall look of the One Power bank is premium. The company has opted for smooth and rounded edges that give the compact charger a smooth finish. The battery weighs 220 grams and holds 16.2 mm thickness. The unit comes in two colours, Sandstone Black and Silver White. The company claims that the device takes 5.5 hours to charge completely.
OnePlus has launched many gadgets till date and the reason the company enjoys a vast user base is the affordable pricing. At $15, the One power bank can give tough competition to Xiaomi’s 10,400mAh power bank. A minor 400mAh difference will not attract the OnePlus fan base to Xiaomi as the One mobile battery has two USB ports instead of one. One can charge two devices at a time. Also, Xiaomi’s Mi Power Bank has been out of stock for quite some time on Flipkart. It’s the perfect time for OnePlus to jump in the game.
According to PhoneArena, OnePlus Power Bank will ship in the US on March 17. There is no word about its availability in India so far.
If rumours are to be believed, you might get a closer look at the Apple Watch sooner than you expected. During the massive ‘Spring Forward’ event, Apple had announced the arrival date of the Apple Watch, however only for a few lucky countries.
10th April onwards, in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US, Apple Watch will be available for preview, try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores, and available for pre-order through the Apple Online Store. Although, in the usual Apple style, the actual ‘on sale ‘date lands later on 24th April.
Unfortunately, India did not feature in the list of the first countries. But according to gizmodo.com, the potential sale of the Apple Watch in India might be a result of the country emerging as an important market for many brands.
The base model of the Apple Watch is estimated to start at a price of Rs. 35,000 (approx). The Apple Watch incorporates fitness tracking and health oriented capabilities along with the ability to integrate with iOS and other Apple Products.
The device will be coming in three variations – Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and the Apple Watch Edition. And will be compatible to use with the iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, 6 and 6 Plus.
During the latest Apple ‘Spring Forward’ event, one new feature that was somewhat overshadowed by the launch of the Apple Watch was ResearchKit. With this new software platform, Apple would involve users and health professionals to gather medical data which can be used to study various diseases. Apple might have found a successful way to crowdsource medical data.
Once the user gives ResearchKit the required permissions, it sends the users health data to Apple. The company then shares the data with doctors and scientists. The information can include the user’s weight, blood pressure and activity levels, as well as data on conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and breast cancer. It lets iPhone users to become the source of information for massive research projects which would help advance medicine for the future.
At present, ResearchKit is only available on the iPhone, and it uses hardware resources like the accelerometer in the device to capture the user’s physical data. It will also let educational institutes and research facilities to create apps which can gather medical data securely.
Using various tests and apps on the iPhone, users can easily monitor their health and also contribute to medical research.
The potential of the software has enticed many, and there have been huge signups for the service. In an interview, Apple chief Tim Cook said that about 11,000 people had signed up for the study using their iPhones in just 24 hours. Conventionally, it would have taken five medical centres over a year to gather up that many subjects.
But amongst the many encouraging responses, there are also some professionals who are raising concerns related to the new platform. The first and foremost is the security and privacy of the medical data. There cannot be a more personal data than the medical information of the person. This platform will keep a track of the signed up users twenty-four seven, and they have to trust Apple with this sensitive information.
The current areas of Research.
Apart from the privacy issues, there are also concerns that the data wouldn’t be as varied as Apple hopes it will be. As most of the iPhone buyers are financially independent and have college degrees, the data might not be all inclusive. But considering that the Apple smartphone is now available in almost all markets across the earth, it will lead to a massive amount of information from varied population that is not limited by geographies. Also, as the data is being collected through the iPhone’s internal sensors, it would be difficult to falsify the results, and the researchers will have access to quality health information.
ResearchKit has a long way to go, but it sure looks promising. It is an experiment worth considering by the medical community. Apple though has to come clear on its privacy policy for the platform and introduce it in clear language and illustrations that would be easy for anyone to understand. It should also engage Android and other OS users to join the platform to give the researchers a broader range of subjects to choose from. The smartphone ecosystem has finally evolved from mere communication devices to tools for bringing real world change.
The world’s largest social network Facebook is a powerful tool to connect with billions of people across the globe at any given time. With an active user base of 1.39 billion users, the responsibility for establishing the proper code of conduct for the website gets really tough for Facebook. This is why the biggest social network in the world has to constantly update its community policies. Facebook has now clearly spelt out what kind of actions are likely to get a user suspended from using their service.
The social networking giant has set a standard to make sure no nuisance befalls on the website and today the company has updated its community standards section to make clear what all is prohibited on the site. The company didn’t change the policy and instead provided details ‘on what is and is not allowed’.
Gratuitous nudity and violence will definitely get you banned from the website
Without seizing the freedom to share and freedom of free expression from the users, Facebook gave a detailed policy description for nudity and hate speech; “We remove photographs of people displaying genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks.” It said that “images of female breasts if they include the nipple” is unacceptable “but we always allow photos of women actively engaged in breast-feeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring.”
Facebook banned the terrorist organisations like ISIS a while back, and they also made clear that encouraging groups that show violent, criminal or hateful behaviour is also prohibited on their platform.
These measures have been taken to put an end to online bullying. Posting tailored images to degrade a person, and threatening someone for financial or physical harm is illegal and banned. The company has also opted strict rules for revenge porn videos where intimate images or videos of women are shared online without their consent to degrade them in public.
Meanwhile, it should also be taken into account that there is no set method to scan the image automatically and remove the offensive content once posted on Facebook. The previous method of reporting abuse still follows, and once a user reports about an abusive post, it will take about 48 hours to eradicate the content from the website. Monika Bickert from Facebook talked about the rules saying:
Sometimes the best way to share information about atrocities in the world is Facebook. We recognize that is a very challenging issue.
Along with updating its rule book, the company also released its ‘transparency report’, which had requests by governments of each country for user data. The overall governmental applications were 34,946 in the first half of 2014 and 35,051 in the second half. The government of India, Turkey and Russia made most of the request, while the western countries including UK and the US, showed a decline in applications.
Overall, the new announcement shows the kind intentions of Facebook. With a medium like Facebook where videos go viral in a matter of minutes, 48 hours is too long skip a prohibited content from eyes of the 1.4 billion users. Facebook wouldn’t be able to stop the content from being posted as its a matter of freedom of speech. Also as it has a massive varied user-base raging from different regions of the world, it would be difficult to have a one size fits all policy. So as of now, the user complaint based feedback model seems like the best way let Facebook know of your discomfort with the content on their website.
Dogs are a man’s best friend. A dog owner spends as much on their pets as they would spend on a human child, minus the heavy education costs, of course. Pet grooming parlours are mushrooming everywhere for folks who want to give their pets the best care. Samsung is now offering dog owners the ultimate doghouse, which is priced at a whopping $30,000.
Samsung’s Dream Doghouse has everything that will get your dog’s tougue wagging. It took 12 architects and fabricators over six weeks to complete. They were tasked with creating the ultimate doghouse of the future. It houses a treadmill, automatic food dispenser, hydrotherapy pool and a tablet computer playing dog-themed content. It was presented at Crufts 2015, the largest dog show in the world (which was sponsored by Samsung UK.)
The environment has been created to make it as dog-friendly as possible. The treadmill has been lined with a grass surface; the insides of the house have a vinyl wallpaper, and there is room for the little guy to jump around and relax.
Now it’s unsure when or if Samsung would bring the ultra luxurious house for the high flying pup to the market. The present doghouse has already been gifted by Samsung to a puppy through an online contest. The Dream Doghouse looks amazing and will be loved by the dog who gets to stay in one. But dogs are eternal kids; they would be fine with the playhouse, but all they need is love of the owners instead of a poodle palace.
It has become awful hard to keep a track of our passwords these days. If remembering passwords is not your thing, then Yahoo has a way out for you. The company has introduced a new service called ‘On-demand passwords’ system that sends out a unique password to your handset whenever you want to sign in to your account.
The new approach by the company is much like Google’s two-step verification method, but Yahoo has made it hassle-free by encapsulating it into one easy step. Now, users don’t need to remember the tricky password. Whenever someone wishes to login to the account, he/she need to click the ‘Send me password’ button. The user will receive a code through an app or text message on their phones, which will be the password for your Yahoo account. Yes, exactly like the One-Time Password Service used by banks for online transactions.
The Director of Product Management, Chris Stoner, stated on the official Yahoo Tumbler page –
We’ve all been there…you’re logging into your email and you panic because you’ve forgotten your password. After racking your brain for what feels like hours, it finally comes to you. Phew! You no longer have to memorize a difficult password to sign in to your account.
The feature will not activate automatically, and one has to login to their account using the traditional method. Once you’re logged in, change the settings to enable ‘On-demand password’ service. Go to Settings > Security and turn on ‘On-demand passwords.’ Enter the phone number on which you wish to accept the password from then on. Enter the code you’ll receive on your registered device on your system, and you are done. You will now get a new password on the handset every time you wish to login.
It’s difficult to say how much the new method is reliable because once your registered phone gets lost, you’ll be unable to access your account anymore as there will be no set password. The best part is that Yahoo has not forced the new system on its users, and it’s optional.
Yahoo presented one more technology to secure emails, along with the single-step password system. According to the new feature, the emails will be encrypted, and only the sender and receiver will be able to see the content of the email. Again, the service would not enable automatically, and users can turn on the the security measure for specific emails.
Both the ‘On-demand passwords’ and mail encryption technology will release globally later this year. The former is available for the US users now. To know how the mail encryption service works, check the video below:
Xiaomi smartphones have been well received world over. The company has expanded itself to various sections with Mi purifiers, power banks and pen drives. The Chinese electronics producer had not shown any inclination to smartwatches till now, but the rumour mill suggest another story. Xiaomi seems to have taken the recently launched Apple Watch as a challenge and according to a report, the China’s Apple is working furiously to gain a foothold in the smartwatch segment.
GSM Arena recently reported a few features of Xiaomi’s first smartwatch. According to the source, the Xiaomi smart watch will be clad in an elegant metal design and boast a circular dial. Also, it is said to equip a pulse wave velocity determiner that keeps a check on the stiffness of arteries. Overall, Xiaomi’s upcoming smartwatches will gauge your internal body activities all the time.
Xiaomi isn’t only known for its smartphones, the company recently unveiled a super affordable action camera.
For the time being, these are just reports and there’s no solid proof of its authenticity. Very scarce details are known about the watch, but from the little information, it can be said that Xiaomi is prepping to answer back to its competition. The company is renowned for providing superior specs at affordable prices like the new Mi Pad, Mi Note, and most recently, a super cheap action camera. It’s an easy conclusion, if the news turns out to be real, Xiaomi’s first smartwatch will be priced lesser than the other wearables in the market.
The video streaming services have exploded in the recent years. For many of the internet users, online video services have replaced the need for a television as the primary entertainment source. Services like Vimeo, NetFlix, Hulu and others have become a prominent source for folks looking for original or premium content. YouTube is said to be considering plans to raise its dominance in this competitive video streaming arena by launching a subscription-based video on-demand service.
YouTube might rope in its YouTube stars to create videos under the YouTube Originals banner. As it would be subscription based service, the content would be ad-free. It is said that the new service would resemble the YouTube Music Key that offers ad-free access to select music video and free streaming from Google Play Music all for a monthly charge of $7.99.
Fan Funding is mutually beneficial for the content creator as well as the company
A subscription-based service will definitely bring in more revenues for YouTube. The service requires heavy investment on the part of Google but doesn’t bring in huge revenues for the Silicon Valley giant. The increased use of Ad-blocks has also made it difficult to attract ad revenue on the website. YouTube is said to be finally breaking even, ten years after it began offering its service. The increased revenues garnered through subscriptions would also bring more income in the hands of the content creators thus encouraging them to create more engaging content.
In the long run, YouTube should also look into creating original series like the ones on NetFlix. Google has deep pockets and it should seriously look into competing in the original shows segment of online video market that has offered some amazing shows, such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. By putting its foot in this arena, YouTube will come closer to its goal of making scheduled television obsolete in the near future.
Following the news of free Wi-Fi in Kolkata, one of the major poll promises of providing free Wi-Fi to Delhi is now under way by the AAP government. Ideas and suggestions are being crowd-sourced by the public for the same. The Government has set up ten questions by which ideas are being considered for wider consultation. Tips are also being adopted from different countries worldwide which already has established free public WiFi zones. The primary aim of this is to use much of the existing infrastructure to mount routers and other equipments, like electricity poles, etc.
According to AAP, universal access to the Internet is a transformative idea that can empower the citizens of the state. Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of AAP government chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said that it will transform Delhi and become a role model for the rest of India to look up to.
[quote text_size=”small”]
It can be argued that the next greatest enabler of opportunities for the poorest of the poor would come from access to the information highway and Internet, and this will democratise opportunities and empower the ordinary man.
[/quote]
The ten questions asked by DDC are:
What should be the ideal level of access of public wi-fi and whether it can be made available right up to citizens’ doorsteps?
What are the feasibility and technological challenges and whether the wi-fi should be made available at well-defined public spaces in every neighbourhood?
what is the infrastructure and technology required to create the public wi-fi network?
What should be the essential services that a government should aim at providing through public wi-fi?
What is the capex and opex required to create and operate public wi-fi?
What could be a model that makes public wi-fi viable, sustainable and scalable in terms of usage, technology and finance?
Can public wi-fi network be made financially self- sustainable if viewed from the welfare service perspective alone?
Should there be multiple operators or an exclusive operator in a well-defined zone of the city?
What could be the operating architecture that brings all the stakeholders together?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a private enterprise model vis-a-vis a PSU model?
The Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) is inviting opinions, ideas, suggestions within 200 words on the above ten questions at [email protected] or the Whatsapp helpline, +919643327265. DDC is also considering case studies of public Wi-Fi from other parts of the world.
Google is the most prominent advertising platform of the internet. With its broad range of offerings, Google provides multiple advertising venues for companies. Google will be debuting its ‘Behind the Scene’ series to showcase the power of branded video content on its YouTube platform. The series will be launched today, with Clean&Clear’s ‘See the Real Me’ campaign, which debuted last year on YouTube. The central idea of ‘Behind the Scene’ series is to showcase the brands and agencies on how to create more gripping video content.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”David Mogensen” author_title=”Head of YouTube Ads Marketing”]
Increasingly we’re hearing from brands that they want to become better content creators on YouTube, but they’re not exactly sure how to do it. We thought instead of telling them how to be better content creators we can show them by highlighting a brand that’s going on the same journey.
[/quote]
This move is targeted at attracting more marketing personal who are focusing on creating branded online content to reach the masses. YouTube is keenly interested to be a beneficiary of the branded content push. The ‘Behind the Scene’ series will be the first of its kind for YouTube. Mogensen said that more of such series could help in educating brands on creating exciting content that strikes a chord with the audience.
Clean&Clear is a Johnson & Johnson skincare owned brand. It launched its ‘See the Real Me’ series on YouTube last year to showcase how real girls, social media influencers and celebrities tackle personal challenges. Clean&Clear produced more than 120 videos and was viewed by almost 30 million viewers.
The ‘Behind the Series’ will include videos on ‘how to create content strategy’, ‘how to spark a conversation with the audience using content’ and ‘how to operationalize content creation’. It will also feature interviews with the executives of Johnson & Johnson and the story of the conceptualization, production and launching of the campaign. This series will also help marketing and advertising students to understand the nitty-gritties of online marketing using the power of YouTube and other social media services.
WhatsApp voice-calling is the feature Android users have been waiting for, for a long long time. The company has finally rolled out the update and the tool functions amazing on smartphones (on good network, of course.)
Now you don’t need to figure out a way to get an invite, users just need to download the latest version of the cross-platform mobile messaging service i.e. 2.12.5. Once downloaded, the free voice-calling service will be activated on your phones. It’s observed that some people, especially Samsung users, still don’t have access to the new calling feature, but it’s likely that they will receive it soon.
We tried the new WhatsApp free calling feature on an HTC model. Here’s what we found new in the mobile messaging service:
Split screen
The new version of WhatsApp has a divided screen, just what we saw in the leaked images, a few months back. The page is split into three parts with categories: Calls, Chats and Contacts. Earlier there used to be one screen with Chats where you could find the chat history with your WhatsApp contacts.
Call Log
Just like the chat history, there is a call history option in the updated version. Just tap on Calls to see incoming calls, outgoing calls and missed calls. The feature is very much similar to the call log option on your phone, with notifications about the date and time of the calls as well.
New WhatsApp Panel
WhatsApp has done major modifications in the app along with embedding the voice-calling tool. The Contacts section is shifted to the bottom and given it a place in one out of the three split columns of the screen. A dropdown option sits at the top right of the new panel, and on its left is Contacts field to add more contacts. The dropdown menu comprises of three options: Refresh, Status and Settings.
Uncluttered Format
WhatsApp has become more organised with the new version. Earlier, users have to go to the user’s profile to see a particular profile picture, but now it’s pretty easy. Click on the image of the contact and the picture appears in another window with options to start a call or chat.
Tried and Tested:
We tried the voice-calling feature from an HTC phone with a Samsung S3 device, which doesn’t have the access to the upgrade. The calling was average, and there was a gap of a mere few seconds while sending out one conversation and receiving it at the other end. Overall, it’s not as smooth as a regular call, but again it depends on the strength of your internet.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S devices had one of the best displays in the market. They are great portable entertainment companions. But what if they could also be used for carrying confidential or classified information? BlackBerry has taken up the task and is ready to bring out a device called SecuTablet that is basically an updated Galaxy Tab S.
Blackberry is known world over for its superior security technology. During the last year’s Sony Pictures hacking crisis, it was the old BlackBerry phones in the storage that came to rescue to establish secure communications. Now in the age of portability and mobility, the people handling sensitive information will also have to be on the move. The security of such information can be essential to businesses and governments.
The SecuTablet is basically a Galaxy Tab S with a Security bundle to keep data safe.
SecuTablet can be used as a regular tablet. It lets you access the usual Android apps and features. The tablet is the result of cooperation between BlackBerry’s SecuSmart wing and IBM. They have added a bundle of security features that keep the users data safe and prevents it from falling into the wrong hands. It also encrypts voice and data communication through a built-in Secusmart Security Card
The SecuTablet will not be available in any store near you. The device with its advanced security features comes at a price of $2,380. The device is currently being tested by the German government and may soon find takers in other governments and enterprises. Security of data and information has become a major concern amongst institutions and citizen’s alike after revelations by Edward Snowden. It’s no surprise that BlackBerry is trying to cash in on the concern with its advanced technology considering its smartphone business hasn’t been doing so well lately.
4G LTE is fast gaining crowd across the world. LTE networks have penetrated most of the developed world and now has a strong presence in several developing countries too. The network has been activated in several cities across India by several operators. A new report is out now that lists the speed of LTE connectivity across various countries, and it has some interesting facts to report.
According to The State of The LTE report by OpenSignal, Spain, sits on the top of global LTE speed with the top speed of 18 Mbps. Following Spain in second spot is Finland, Denmark and South Korea with an average speed of 17 Mbps.
In the Indian neighbourhood, Taiwan flaunts a speed of 14 Mbps; Hong Kong has 12 Mbps while Malaysia has 11 Mbps followed by Japan with 9 Mbps. India’s standing hasn’t been stated but considering its dismal standing for having the worst internet speed in Asia we doubt the LTE speeds would be any different yet.
The part of the report that may surprise many around the world is that the United States of America sits at the fourth spot from the end. The only super power on the planet has an average LTE speed of 7 Mbps. Its formal colony and Pacific paradise, Philippines is a spot above it with 8 Mbps LTE speeds. The only three countries behind America are Mexico and Kuwait with 6 Mbps each and Saudi Arabia with 3 Mbps. Not the kind of company the US would want to keep in this list.
We hope that with the tech-savvy administration in power currently in India would change the scenario for the country in the future. If the Digital India program is successful in creating a trustworthy connectivity backbone across the nation, it would propel the country forward rapidly in the information age and probably get a mention on the above list too.
