Tag: india

What to Expect From the New BlackBerry Z3

They haven’t announced it officially, but rumor has it that Blackberry Z3 will be launched in India tomorrow. Invites to a special event have been sent out to the Indian press for tomorrow, although they don’t mention any Z3 launch plans.

According to reports online, the new phone by BlackBerry was received well at its Indonesian launch a month back. The device has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset along with an ARM-based 1.2GHz dual core processor and an Adreno 305 GPU. It is also equipped with 1.5 GB of RAM and a 5-inch 540 x 960 pixel (220ppi) display.

BlackBerry’s Z3 is equipped with a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera and a 1.1-megapixel fixed-focus front-facing camera. The smartphone includes 8GB of inbuilt storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. Also it fashions a 2500mAh battery, which delivers up to 15.5 hours talk time. It provides connectivity options through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS, NFC and Micro-USB.

The smartphone comes loaded with some BlackBerry services such as BlackBerry Hub, BBM, Time Shift, Story Maker camera features, and BB10 browser. BlackBerry had announced the Z3 touchscreen smartphone, alongside a Classic model with a keyboard, the Q20, at the sidelines of MWC.

The device is said to belong to the affordable price segment. According to us, it is quite crucial for the Z3 to have its price set in the budget category, against other budget-focused Android devices. Especially since the popularity of this particular segment has picked up considerable speed recently.

Its cost is 2,199,000 Indonesian rupiah, which when converted to Indian rupees comes to approximately Rs 11,000. Although we cannot expect that this is the final price of the handset in the country, it would hover around that mark. BlackBerry was once a market leader in India and has recently lost out due to the tough competition. Can this be the company’s attempt at a comeback?

June 24, 2014
Microsoft’s Xbox One Finally Set to Launch in India

Well the wait is over, Microsoft has officially confirmed that Xbox One will be available in India on 23^rd Sept 2014 starting at INR 39,990. They will also launch Xbox One with Kinect at INR 45,990. Both bundles will include 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.

Microsoft had announced a rough September timeline for India launch (along with 25 other countries) back in March. Conspicuously, Sony launched the PS4 in India (at the same Rs. 39,990 price) in January making Microsoft lag behind by 9 months.

The owners of Xbox One with Kinect will be able to experience a number of games and entertainment experiences special to Xbox such as gesture controls, biometric sign-in, controller paring, Skype video calls, direct personalization, instant scanning of QR codes, and improved features only available with Kinect in games such “Kinect Sports Rivals,” “Dead Rising 3,” and “Project Spark.”

Both the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 use 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, compared to the Sony PlayStation 4’s 1.6GHz. Although, it doesn’t make any tangible difference.

Xbox One is 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 integrated flawlessly with your games and TV experience.

Back in 2013 when it was launched in USA, Microsoft sold approximately 2 million units of Xbox One gaming consoles in its first 18 days on sale. It is too early to say that Microsoft will match its success in India, but it surely will give a tough competition to Sony’s PS 4.

June 10, 2014
Websites We Wish We Had in India

The last decade saw the entrance of e-commerce giants Ebay and Amazon, in India. The interest of overseas websites in the Indian market has consistently increased. Undeniably, our country has a huge untapped market of online users. Yet we’re still waiting and wishing to experience some amazing websites, which are a part of everyday lives abroad.

Here’s a list of websites, we’re hoping launch here soon:

Television and Movies

Netflix

Netflix, Inc. is an American supplier of on-demand Internet streaming media accessible to viewers in North and South America, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe. They also have a service of flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States, where mailed DVDs are sent via Permit Reply Mail. Whenever you try to access Netflix India, they crush your hopes and send you a notification informing you that it is not available in India. Though, they ask you to register and promise to inform you when it launches.

Hulu

Hulu is a website subscription service offering on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, TBS, WWE, and many other major networks and studios. Hulu videos are currently offered only to users in the United States, its overseas territories and Japan.
Earlier many people outside the US used to access Hulu from their respective nations. But now TV streaming service supplier is functioning on rigid rules to make sure that people out of the country are not able to access its program library. Going a step further. the company is now trying to make sure that it is able to stop anyone trying to access its library from virtual private network (VPN) or through proxy.

Red Box Instant

Redbox Automated Retail, LLC is a contributory of Outerwall, Inc. specializing in DVD, Blu-ray Discs, and video game rentals via computerized retail kiosks. As of the end of November 2012, Redbox had over 42,000 kiosks at more than 34,000 locations. Redbox titles can be rented or purchased, in SD or HD quality. Redbox is also cheaper than Netflix. For $8(Rs 480 approx) a month, Redbox Instant provides unlimited streaming of movies and lets you borrow four DVDs. When customers rent a title, they have 30 days to begin watching it and then 48 hours to watch it as many times as they like. It seems like we are a long way from seeing Redbox kiosks or any similar services in India.

Music

Spotify

Spotify is a profitable music streaming service providing digital rights management-restricted content from record labels including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal. Music can be browsed by artist, album, genre, playlist, or record label, as well as by direct searches. Spotify was launched in 2008, and now it is available in over 40 countries all over the world, however India is not a part of that exclusive list.

There are many websites and apps which are tagged as ‘Indian Spotify’ such as Saavn, Dhingaana and Gaana but none of the as good as Spotify. These websites are trying hard to compete with each other, but none of them have impressive music lists or social media integration – which Spotify is known for.

Vevo

Vevo is a video hosting service owned and operated by a joint undertaking of Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media. It launched on December 8, 2009. The videos on Vevo are syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue.

Since launching in 2009, Vevo has become the go-to place for watching music videos online. But it hasn’t been available everywhere. Though you can watch most of Vevo videos on its YouTube channel, it doesn’t have the entire collection of videos launched by them.

Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio is a music streaming and automated music recommendation service operated by Pandora Media, Inc. It is only available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It is a feedback-based music recommendation in which the user provides positive or negative feedback for songs chosen by the service, which are taken into account when Pandora selects future songs. While listening, users are offered the ability to buy the songs or albums at various online retailers. Over 400 different musical attributes are considered when selecting the next song.

India’s internet market, not only misses Pandora, it currently has no such service available. Last.fm has similar features, but it is not as user-friendly as Pandora Radio.

May 2, 2014
One Election, Two Amazing Videos

As the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections comes to a close, we present two viral videos that caught our attention. They couldn’t have handled the topic of the 2014 Elections any differently. While one used a sombre note to reminds us that we had been deprived of the power to vote for too long to take it for granted now. The other, intelligently pulls the voters leg for spending too much time thinking, talking, discussing and not enough time doing.

Congress Vs BJP

All India Bakchod, a comedy collective, nails the core theme of every discussion surrounding the elections. The ever-exhausting BJP Vs Congress debate has turned family dinners, kitty parties, and a friendly-drink-at-the-bar into mini war zones. Though that’s not the point of the video, the joke is not on BJP or on Congress – it’s on us. Why is debating about the lack of a reliable leading party the only thing we do so well?

The viewers (slightly more than a million), watch the video, laugh and the next day have another version of the same discussion, by the coffee machine at work.

#PledgeToVote with Mr Shyam Negi

Google India teamed up with Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai and developed this video for their “Pledge to Vote” campaign. It made Independent India’s first voter, 97-year-old retired schoolteacher Shyam Saran Negi, a household name. Negi lives in one of India’s coldest corners. Kalpa is a place where transportation is scarce and the weather conditions are rough. Even though it’s a struggle, Negi has never missed a vote since 1951.

Within the short span of the video, Mr Negi’s story makes us forget the hopelessness and frustration usually associated with the political future of our country. It simply impresses us to be proud citizens of a democratic nation. A reminder of that fact we conveniently forget: just a few decades back, we didn’t have the power to decide who governs our country.
Steering clear of the fact that voters are struggling to choose the least incompetent of the contesting parties, Google instead chose to focus on reminding us how privileged we are to have an option of getting our fingers inked.

April 13, 2014
Samsung Sees Underwhelming Sales of the Galaxy S5 in India Drops Price to Rs. 50,500

Update : The Price appears to have further dropped to Rs. 49,000 as of April 14th 2014, just 3 days post launch.

Yesterday Samsung launched the Galaxy S5 into the Indian market on retail sale for a price of Rs. 51500. After seeing more than disappointing sales, the execs at the Korean company’s India office have authorized distributers and dealers to offer discounts and deals to users.

One of the south Delhi distributors said that Samsung issued notices last night to their chain ; asking them to be a lot more aggressive in selling the Galaxy S5.

Samsung has usually seen excellent response from the Indian market for their smartphones, however this time around the company may have hit up on its worst nightmare.

According to people, the biggest reason for the general disappointment with the flagship device, is that Samsung has launched the Galaxy S5 with the Exynos chipset and not the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 in India.

Samsung has been following this policy in the Indian market since the time of the Galaxy S2, after initial sales of the dual core Galaxy S2 a special India edition was launched which actually had a single core processor vs the Dual Core offered in the Global variant at the time. The performance of the Galaxy S5 handsets on these separate chipsets differ in many ways. The Exynos based version also lacks several features including LTE but now includes 4k Video capture, which was missing from the Indian version of the Galaxy Note 3.

While the price has been fluctuating since last night, the Galaxy S5 is available from a price bracket of Rs. 50,000 – 51,000 depending on the mood of the seller. If you were considering buying this phone, we expect huge drops in price in the coming weeks so holding out may actually not be such a bad idea.

Do you think that Samsung should further reduce the price of the Galaxy S5? Or feel that they should launch the Snapdragon 801 variant ? Let us know below or tweet us @iGyaan and include @SamsungMobileIn ! We will ensure that Samsung gets the message.

Our review of the Galaxy S5 will be up shorty ! Stay Tuned.

April 12, 2014
Samsung Galaxy S5 To Launch in India On 27th March

Samsung is all set to launch the Galaxy S5 in India on 27 March 2014. The global availability will still be 11th April, but the smartphone will be launched in India prior to that.

Including India, Samsung Galaxy S5 will launch in 150 countries all together. However, it is not clear if this launch will also include, the new range of wearable devices from the company.

The Galaxy S5 is IP67 Dust and water Resistant, which means; it can be used in rain, while swimming etc, but keeping in mind it is not water proof. The Galaxy S5 also features a hear rate sensor, located just below the back camera and aside to the flash light. It also offers a Finger Scanner, providing a secure, biometric screen locking feature and a seamless and safe mobile payment experience to the users.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a 5.1 Full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The Galaxy S5 is powered by a 2.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU, Snapdragon 800 chipset and Adreno 330 GPU.

This new Galaxy is packed with a 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of storage which is expandable to 128 GB via MicroSD card. The Galaxy S5 sports a 16 MP camera with an enhanced menu and user interface that allow take, edit and share photos. The Galaxy S5 offers the world’s fastest autofocus speed up to 0.3 seconds. The new Selective Focus feature allows users to focus on a specific area of an object while blurring out the background. Most importantly, the Galaxy S5 also is capable to shoot 4K videos.

The device is packed with a 2800 mAh battery which is removable if required. Talking about the battery, Samsung has introduced a Ultra Power Saving Mode which turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features to minimize the battery consumption. During the keynote, the company said if the S5 is at 10% battery level and if you switch on the Ultra Power Saving Mode, the device will further be active on standby for 24 hours. Connectivity options include WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2), Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE / ANT+, USB: USB 3.0, NFC and IR Remote.

Other features like S Health 3.0, the new Galaxy S5 offers more tools to help users stay fit and well. It provides a personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, along with additional tools including a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and a new, built-in heart rate monitor. The new S Health app can sync with Samsung’s Gear line of wearables, including the Gear Fit fitness band, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, and it offers guided coaching and feedback while you work out.

The User Interface on the Galaxy S5 have also changed, with focus on icons, you will not see many tabs in this phone as all of it is mostly icons. Talking about the fingerprint scanner, it requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner which might be difficult to do so holding the 5.1 inch/145 grams device with one hand. However, Samsung has reportedly tied up with PayPal to secure purchases using the fingerprint scanner which was first seen on iPhone 5s.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be available in new colors like charcoal Black, shimmery White, electric Blue and copper Gold. Samsung has not shared any price information, but it should out really soon. We will bring you the latest, so stay tuned!

March 24, 2014
Samsung Galaxy S5 to Hit India Early April

Update : The Device will Launch on the 27th of March : Read More Here

The Samsung Galaxy S5 will come to India early April for a price that may be cheaper than the launch price of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Sources close to iGyaan, who have been pretty accurate in the past have let us know that Samsung Plans to bring the S5 to India as early as April to match up with the US availability of the smartphone which is rumored to be April 11th.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has 5.1 inch full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and is powered by a 2.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU, Snapdragon 800 chipset and Adreno 330 GPU. The Handset has 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB Storage along with a 2800 mAh battery. The main camera has been bumped up to 16 MP and features 4k video capture. Samsung has also added a new set of features to their S Health application allowing better use of the inbuilt heart rate monitor and the Galaxy Gear 2 watches.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 was launched at MWC 2014 in Barcelona and is going to be their new flagship of the Galaxy S series. The phone is expected in India for a price of around Rs. 45,000 but may actually be available for as low as Rs. 40,999.

March 22, 2014
Moto X is Now Available in India, Starts at 23,999 INR

Ok Google Now- Where is my Moto X? The famous always aware smartphone has been launched in India in partnership with Flipkart. The sale of the Moto X has begun at a starting price of Rs. 23,999.

Motorola probably has no plans to bring the 32 GB variant in the Indian market, for now the 16 GB variant is available in Black and White and can even be delivered using “in a day delivery”.

Other color options which include Red, Blue and Turquoise are on Pre-order and are estimated to be available by the second week of April. The higher price variants include the wood back Moto X in either Walnut or Teak finish. And Unlike the US we only get two pre made Back Finishes for a price of Rs. 25,999.

The wood back Moto X will also be sold along with the other color options, which is by the second week of April. alongside the Moto X itself, Flipkart has also introduced three new launch day offers, which include 70% discount on accessories, Rs. 1000 cash back when the handset is bought with a 6 months EMI option and 10 lucky people will get 100% cash back.

Flipkart has said that the Moto X is available in limited quantity, and they expect the units to sell out really soon, Stating similarities to what happened with the Moto G.

Moto X features a 4.7 inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The device is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon processor coupled with a 2 GB of RAM. The device comes with a 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable.

Moto X sports a 10 MP rear camera with a LED flashlight and a 2 MP secondary front-facing camera. Moto X is expected to be available with Android 4.4.2 out of the box. Hit the source link below to get your hands on one now.

March 20, 2014
LG G Flex Review

LG has been an underdog in the mobile industry for quite some time. However, last year brought about a new beginning for the Korean manufacturer especially in the mobile space. LG broke the traditional association of “cheap products” when they successfully chased the market with a product like the LG G2.

The new G Flex is the company’s latest marvel and a first of a kind phone at that. The first phone with a curved display, a curved body and a curved battery. The G Flex is also capable of handling reverse tension of upto 40 kilograms and then returning to original state.

Specifications

[row cols_nr=”2″ bg_color=”e0fce0″]

[col size=”6″]

Display

Chipset

Battery

Camera

RAM

Storage

Price

[/col]

[col size=”6″]

6 Inch

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800

3500 mAh

13 MP main / 2.1 MP Secondary

2 GB

32 GB

Rs. 63000 / USD 899

[/col]

[/row]

Build Quality and Design

The funny thing about the build quality of the LG G Flex is that on one hand, it has a brilliant build and design : it is the first curved phone, which flexes and returns to its original position. It also has great tensile materials that allow it to do that flex thing it does, including LG’s patented Plastic OLED (POLED) tech. However on the other hand, the phone is purely plastic, front to back, the Plastic Display adds to the plastic nature making the phone look : well not so premium.

[quote text_size=”small”]Curved and Flexible makes it unique![/quote]

The G Flex however due to its design can be mishandled quite a lot. It has a very damage resistant design, including the Gorilla Glass (er.. plastic) front, the self healing paint finish on the back that does a pretty decent job. You can however scratch the back if that what you are trying to do, dropping the phone on concrete can have bad repercussions.

Performance, Display & Multimedia

The G Flex is a refreshing change for Android devices, just like the G2 the G Flex is responsive and fast and hold down on the lag quite a lot. Apart from daily chores, it does a brilliant job in handling heavy games and performance apps, especially a few architecture and calculation apps we tried.

Even benchmarks are not a problem for the G Flex and you will find it hovering in the top range of the spectrum of devices. The graphics performance also takes a leap as it saves up on the lower 720p display. The limitation of the new “POLED” tech restricts the screen resolution to 720p and may be upped in the G Flex 2.

For the time being the display is pretty fantastic, the vivid colors and exceptional brightness put it in the top their in our list. If you ignore the resolution which effective is pretty alright, considering the size of the display you are bound to hold it further away. You will not notice the lack of 1080p, and if you do its purely an irritation in the mind .

Multimedia is a brand new experience, it fun even, simply because the curved display adds a strange magic to the viewing experience. The curve is pretty good and noticeable and anyone holding the device is impressed when viewing videos . The inbuilt sound may not be the top notch sound you would expect .

The G Flex captures and plays back 4k video, which allows you to zoom into videos without loss of resolution. A new tech also allows you to zoom into the sound of the area you zoom into. LG calls it Audio Zoom and shockingly it works well.

Camera

The camera on this handset seems less polished than one would expect. Images are shabby, and mostly end up shaky. The lack of image stabilization also shows its dark side. Unlike the G2 the G Flex seems to have a slow and shabby shutter and mostly translates to less sharp images in the end.

That all being said, its not a complete failure and one can really take pictures by being careful with the handset. On the plus side the sensor captures unaltered 4K video which is simply too good to talk about. Talk about portable Ultra High Def, the camera is highly capable and manages excellent video. There is some software stabilization which may not be very well appreciated but, applying stabilization in post works great and you can even select your areas from the 4k footage to make a nice 1080p video with the right kind of detail. Its like a lossless zoom in video. 4k Video is the future of mobile camera tech, we saw that at MWC, and the G Flex embraces it really well.

[quote text_size=”small”]G Flex embraces 4k Video as it’s the future[/quote]

Phone Networks and Battery Life

The G Flex is a great phone too, with an excellent grasp on network towers the G Flex is able to get network where most phones failed. We used the G Flex primarily while traveling for MWC and while most people struggled with network problems, we were pretty happy.

Battery life was also excellent, also possibly due to a great network antenna. The 3500 mAh battery is not only good on paper but also in real life usage. LG has managed processes and its display really well ensuring high battery life. Great apps like the power saver enhance the battery considerably and come out of the box. Oh and did we mention that he battery is curved!

Conclusion

The LG G Flex is a new age smartphone, it has all the matching pre requisites and it is a one of a kind device. It is not only curved, it flexes! The hardware is on the low side when compared to higher end of the spectrum, 720p display vs an 1080p and 2 GB of RAM vs 3 GB. However, those specs are arguably not needed.

While the performance of the phone is really on the happy side, the camera especially for stills is the sad side. Video, especially 4k is good and the phone networks are solid and battery excellent. The G Flex is large and not easily handled with one hand, even with large ginormous hands.

The G Flex brings in a new category, bendable phones, while its a step into the future we are not quite there yet and a long time from it. The design is unique and one of a kind, the build nice and resistance splendid. Honestly if LG made this phone slightly smaller we would have been happier, at 6 inches its more a mini tablet. So bring on the G Flex Mini and we we be happy soldiers.

Even though its priced high, its a new technology and may be worth the value for those who become first movers.

March 11, 2014
India Now Officially A Polio Free Country

This week marked three years to the day the last polio incident was reported in India – the official requirement of being marked as a Polio free country by the World Health Organisation.

On the same day in 2011, a two-year old girl suffered polio paralysis in Howrah district of West Bengal. Since then, India has not reported any new cases of wild poliovirus.

Being declared polio-free is a tremendous achievement for India, which reported 200,000 new cases in 1988, and as recently as 2009 still reported 741 cases, more than any other country in the world according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador for Polio eradication for almost a decade, Amitabh is delighted with the news that India has officially been declared polio free by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“As the brand ambassador for the United Nations in the fight for polio eradication, I’m very happy and proud that India has been declared a polio-free country. I wish to applaud the efforts of the various volunteers and medical workers who have persevered tirelessly and charitably to enable India to be eradicated of the disease,” Bachchan said.

On the website of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is inexplicably called Impatient Optimists, Gates wrote: “As of today, India has gone three years without a single case of wild poliovirus, which means it’s now officially ‘polio-free’. India’s achievement is one of the most impressive accomplishments in global health, ever.”

He added: “India’s victory galvanized the global health community to commit to achieving a polio-free world by 2018. Now, we only have 3 more countries to go, down from 125 in 1988.”

January 16, 2014
RBI Cautions Users of Virtual Currencies(Bitcoin) against Risks
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, they are digital coins that can be sent through the internet. The company claims that Bitcoins has number of advantages over the other alternatives. Using Bitcoins money is directly transferred from a person to another, which means no bank is involved in between. This further means lower cost of transfer and Bitcoins can be used in any country, user’s account cannot be frozen, there are no prerequisites or arbitrary limits.

However, authorities of India does not like this concept at all. Several Indian Bitcoin exchanges have suspended operations following a warning from the Reserve Bank of India, which is concerned on digital currencies. The Reserve Bank of India has today cautioned the users, holders and traders of Virtual currencies, including Bitcoins, about the potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks that they are exposing themselves to.

RBI says, the creation, trading or usage of VCs including Bitcoins, as a medium for payment are not authorized by any central bank or monetary authority. No regulatory approvals, registration or authorization is stated to have been obtained by the entities concerned for carrying on such activities. As such, they may pose several risks to their users, including the following:
- VCs being in digital form are stored in digital/electronic media that are called electronic wallets. Therefore, they are prone to losses arising out of hacking, loss of password, compromise of access credentials, malware attack etc. Since they are not created by or traded through any authorised central registry or agency, the loss of the e-wallet could result in the permanent loss of the VCs held in them.
- Payments by VCs, such as Bitcoins, take place on a peer-to-peer basis without an authorised central agency which regulates such payments. As such, there is no established framework for recourse to customer problems / disputes / charge backs etc.
- There is no underlying or backing of any asset for VCs. As such, their value seems to be a matter of speculation. Huge volatility in the value of VCs has been noticed in the recent past. Thus, the users are exposed to potential losses on account of such volatility in value.
- It is reported that VCs, such as Bitcoins, are being traded on exchange platforms set up in various jurisdictions whose legal status is also unclear. Hence, the traders of VCs on such platforms are exposed to legal as well as financial risks.
- There have been several media reports of the usage of VCs, including Bitcoins, for illicit and illegal activities in several jurisdictions. The absence of information of counter-parties in such peer-to-peer anonymous/ pseudonymous systems could subject the users to unintentional breaches of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws.
Bitcoin came into existence in 2009, and the current number of Bitcoin units generated so far is about 12 million. However, India is not the only country to suspend the use of Bitcoins, as Thailand and China did the same. RBI is examining the issues on the usage of the virtual currency under the extant legal and regulatory framework of the country.

[Source]
December 28, 2013
Report: Internet Users In India Is Expected To Reach 243 Million By 2014

The users of internet in India is expected to grow by 18.53 percent in the next few months, which will reach 24.3 crore by June 2014. With this, India is also expected to be the second largest Internet base in the world.

“The report estimates that by June 2014, India will have 243 million Internet users, at which point of time, it is expected to overtake the US as the second largest Internet base in the world,” the I-Cube 2013 report, released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International said.

At present, China leads the report with more than 300 million Internet users while the US has an estimated 207 million Internet users. The report said the number of Internet users in India has reached 20.5 crore till October 2013, and after applying some maths India is expected to reach 24.3 crore by mid 2014.

The Internet in India took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million and only 3 years from 100 to 200 million. From here on, we can hope to develop a robust Internet ecosystem with a multitude of local and global players and a thriving Internet economy,” said IAMAI Chairman Rajan Anandan.

The report showed, Internet access from mobile devices will see huge growth in the coming years. “Mobile Internet is going to be the next game changer for Internet in India.” it added. The report also included, that the number of mobile Internet users has witnessed a steady rise, with 11 crore users in October and is estimated to reach 13 crore by the end of December this year.

“Mobile usage and hence, mobile Internet usage has seen huge jump from the 2012 penetration levels. Compared to the 0.4 percent mobile Internet users in 2012, the penetration has grown to 2.4 percent, indicating a substantial growth in the mobile Internet user penetration levels,” the report said.

“Social Networking continues to be the rage with 75 percent of the users engaging in it actively while 69 percent use the Internet for entertainment,” it said. Every second active Internet user claims to have bought something or the other over the Internet,” it added. No doubt, this will further increase when we get good speeds in all part of India!

[IAMAI]

November 18, 2013
Aircel Starts 4G Trials in Andhra Pradesh

Aircel has been into talks for 4G services in India, and the company is currently conducting trials of 4G services in Andhra Pradesh as said by an official these are trials and it can take a while before it is available for the general masses.

“The trials are currently on but we don’t have the required ecosystem, including the 4G-enabled mobile handsets, to launch the services commercially,” Data services are growing exponentially in Andhra Pradesh. About 44% of our 1.85 million subscribers in AP use data services, including 12% for 3G. This has enabled us to double our revenues in 2013 compared to the previous year,” Deepinder Tiwana, AP circle business head of Aircel.

[tr-shareit text=”Are we Ready for 4G?” sites=”twitter,facebook,pinterest,google” align=”left”]Are we Ready for 4G?[/tr-shareit]

However, Aircel is not the first telecom company to do this, as Reliance has also got the license for this service in the AP circle. Aircel has always kept competitive prices for its services and said that they will be coming up with new voice and data plans to give more value for money. The company was in a loss of 250 crore INR till last year, the business head says that the company has plans to identify the priority segments and are accordingly drawing up on the strategies to drive future growth.

[via]

November 9, 2013
Planning to Buy the New iPhone 5s? Get 10% Cash back Only for Today

Apple will launch its new iPhone 5s and 5c in the Indian market today, the new iPhone’s will be available starting today. The pricing of the new iPhone’s is a bit high, but as the festival season is on Citibank has an option to make your Diwali Happier!

Citibank has announced to give a 10% cash back on the purchase of the new iPhone 5s, the offer is only said to be valid for today. This option will be valid at the launch locations in New Delhi/Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmadabad and Ludhiana. One card has a price cap of 12000 INR for this offer, However you can save around 7000 rupees with this offer.

If in case you missed it out, check out our unboxing video of the Gold and White iPhone 5s here. How is gaming on the iPhone? you can also checkout our gaming video, Infinity Blade 3, Batman Arkham and alot more here. At last if you have made up your mind to spend some good amount of money on the iPhone you might want to consider our Droptest on the iPhone 5s, check it out here.

November 1, 2013
Canon Launches Powershot S200 in India at a Price of 19995 INR

Canon India has introduced the new PowerShot S200 in India. The latest edition to the S-series is a slim pocked-sized camera body and is priced at 19995 INR.

The camera features a Controller Wheel and Control Ring that suits people who want to shoot not only with Auto, but also photos to their own preferences with manual mode. The camera is equipped with Advanced DIGIC 5 imaging processor. The Advanced DIGIC 5 imaging processor enhances the camera’s HS System by incorporating an advanced algorithm to deliver exceptional image quality and also has built in Wi-Fi. WiFi capabilities on PowerShot S200 allows instant sharing and uploading. The Canon Image Gateway(CIG) allows instant uploading from the cameras. Users with smartphones can also use the CameraWindow app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) to perform the same function.

The camera is equipped with a F2.0 lens, the company claims that its newly engineered specifically for the PowerShot S200, the device features a 24 mm Wide-Angle 5x Optical Zoom (24mm-120mm) lens with a F Stop of f/2.0–f/5.9.

[toggle title=”Press Release “]New Delhi, 21st October, 2013: Canon India, world leader in Digital Imaging Space has introduced the new PowerShot S200 in India. The latest edition to the S-series inherits supreme power with slim pocked-sized camera body. The camera comes with Controller Wheel and Control Ring that suits people who want to shoot not only with Auto, but also photos to their own preferences with manual mode

Key Features:

· Advanced DIGIC 5 imaging processor

The Advanced DIGIC 5 imaging processor enhances the camera’s HS System by incorporating an advanced algorithm to deliver exceptional image quality
· Wi-Fi for easy sharing

WiFi capabilities on PowerShot S200 allows for instant sharing and easy uploading. The Canon Image Gateway*(CIG) allows for instant uploading from the cameras. Users with smartphones can also use the CameraWindow app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) to perform the same function

· F2.0 lens for dramatic depth-of-field images

Newly engineered specifically for the PowerShot S200, the 24mm Wide-Angle 5x Optical Zoom (24mm-120mm) lens with a F Stop of f/2.0–f/5.9, giving the user exceptional versatility and allowing them to create captivating portraits with beautiful, soft background blur, even in low light.
· Full range of shooting and recording modes, including Live View Control

Capture the images the way you envision it using the full Manual mode or Live View Control. The PowerShot S200 gives you outstanding flexibility and complete creative control.
The PowerShot S200 is priced at INR 19,995/-[/toggle]

October 21, 2013