"TAKE NO AS A QUESTION "

Home Remedies for Dandruff

2015-11-22T15:37:00.002+05:30

Home Remedies for Dandruff

Dandruff, also known as seborrheic dermatitis is a common scalp disorder. It can occur due to dry skin, irritated oily skin, growth of bacteria and fungus on the scalp, inflammatory skin conditions and other such factors. It causes itchiness along with excessive formation of dry skin flakes on the scalp.

Dandruff can be controlled by following a healthy hair care routine. You can also try some simple natural home remedies. It is true that natural remedies take time to show results but they can effectively treat the problem completely.

Here are the top 10 home remedies for dandruff.

1. Indian Lilac

The antifungal and antibacterial properties of Indian lilac, also known as neem, help treat dandruff as well as many other hair problems like scalp acne, itchy scalp, and hair fall efficiently.

Boil a handful of neem leaves in four cups of water.
Cool and strain the solution.
Use this decoction as a hair rinse two or three times a week.

2. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil helps eliminate dandruff due to its antifungal properties. It also moisturizes dry scalp and provides relief from itching.

Take some coconut oil and mix half the amount of lemon juice in it.
Rub it on your scalp and massage for a few minutes.
Wash your hair after at least 20 minutes.
Follow this remedy two to three times a week.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

Scalp treatment with apple cider vinegar is effective in getting rid of dandruff. It restores the pH balance of the scalp, thereby inhibiting the growth of yeast. It also works as a natural hair clarifier and helps clean clogged pores and hair follicles.

Take two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
Mix an equal amount of water and 15-20 drops of tea tree oil in it.
Apply it onto your scalp and massage. Rinse your hair after a few minutes.
Follow this natural treatment two or three times a week.

4. Baking Soda

Being a mild exfoliant, baking soda helps remove dead skin cells and absorbs excess oil. It can also help balance pH levels on the scalp and reduce the growth of fungi that cause dandruff.

Wet your hair and rub a handful of baking soda onto your scalp.
After a couple of minutes, rinse your hair well with warm water.
Repeat once or twice a week for a few weeks.

Note: Do not shampoo your hair after this treatment.

5. White Vinegar

White vinegar is one of the best home treatments for dandruff. Vinegar has acetic acid that prevents growth of fungi on your scalp and relieves itching.

Add one-half cup of vinegar to two cups of water. Rinse your hair with this mixture after shampooing your hair.
Another option is massage your scalp with a mixture of two parts white vinegar, one part olive oil and three parts water. After 10 minutes, rinse it off and shampoo your hair using a mild shampoo.

Follow either of these remedies once or twice a week.

6. Olive Oil

Scalp dryness can be cured with regular use of extra-virgin olive oil, an effective natural moisturizer.

Heat some extra virgin olive oil until it is slightly warm.
Massage it onto your scalp and then wrap your hair in a warm towel.
Leave it on for at least 45 minutes or overnight and then shampoo and condition your hair.
Repeat this remedy a few times a week.

7. Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil has strong antifungal properties, making it a good treatment for dandruff.

Simply add a few drops of tea tree oil to your regular shampoo when you wash your hair. Add one drop of this essential oil per ounce of shampoo.
You can also dilute the oil by adding a few drops of tea tree oil to a tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil. Apply it on your hair, leave it on for at least 30 minutes or overnight and then wash your hair. Do this once or twice a week.

8. Lemon Juice

Lemon juice contains acids that fight the fungi that can cause dandruff. It also helps relieve itching on the scalp.

Mix the juice of half a lemon in one-quarter cup of plain yogurt. Apply it on your hair and scalp. Leave it on for about 20 minutes before rinsing it off and shampooing your hair.
Alternatively, you can simply massage your scalp with a few teaspoons of lemon juice mixed with a little water. Leave it on for 5 minutes before rinsing it out and shampooing your hair.

9. Aspirin

Aspirin contains salicylic acid that can help control dandruff by exfoliating your scalp.

Crush two aspirins to a fine powder and mix it with a blob of shampoo. Wash your hair with the mixture, massaging it onto your scalp. Leave it in for a few minutes and then rinse your hair well. If you wish, wash your hair again with normal shampoo to remove the powder completely.
Alternatively, crush three aspirins and dissolve the powder in one tablespoon of vinegar. Massage the mixture into your scalp. Leave it in for half an hour and then wash your hair thoroughly.

Like aspirin, Listerine can also be used to treat dandruff, thanks to its antifungal properties and alcohol content. Just use Listerine to rinse your hair once a week.

10. Fenugreek Seeds

The herb fenugreek has antifungal and soothing properties that can help control dandruff to a great extent.

Soak two to three tablespoons of fenugreek seeds in water overnight. In the morning, grind them into a fine paste. You can also add a few teaspoons of plain yogurt to it.
Apply the paste all over your scalp and leave it in for a few hours.
Rinse it out and shampoo your hair.
Do this once or twice a week.

Hi guys If u like this post please leave a comment in comment box... comment box will top right of every post and bottom of every post. its useful for me give a better information.. check top of the blog there is menu bar in that go to comments i replied for u r comments because there is no direct option for reply for u r comments. if u want to give any suggestion in bottom of blog there is contact information option please leave a msgs with u r mail id sure i will get u.

Nearly Half of India's Internet Population Hit by Cyber-Attacks: Norton

2015-11-22T15:28:00.001+05:30

Nearly Half of India's Internet Population Hit by Cyber-Attacks: Norton

The Digital India initiative by our government is an ambitious move, to say the least. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisions a country in which a number of crucial sectors of our economy embrace the Internet to foster growth, expansion, and accessibility. Of the many things the government is working on, one is connecting rural areas with high-speed Internet networks. This has the potential to significantly ramp up our efforts in education, health, entertainment, and business among other spaces, and revitalise our economy as a whole. However, our cyber-security awareness and efforts continue to lag behind the curve.

A recent report said a large number of Internet users in the country don't hesitate sharing their bank credentials with others. People also continue to download and install apps, music, and movies from unsafe sources - to save money - that is crippling their security and privacy, a conclusion security firm Norton by Symantec has reached. The company first shared the insight with a few journalists at a media conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

As more people come online, and access a smartphone for the first time, it has become more crucial than ever that they are aware of the security implications that these services and facilities come tied with. But as has been found, we continue to remain ignorant about the basics of how the Web works, and what these "smart" devices are doing behind the scenes.

The India-specific report by Norton by Symantec said that as many as 113 million users were affected by a form of online attacks in the past year. On an average, an affected individual loses roughly Rs. 16,000 dealing with the fallout of cybercrimes, and as many as 30 hours in the aftermath of such an attack. "In the past year, 48 percent of India's online population or approximately 113 million Indians were affected by online crime," said Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, India, Norton by Symantec. The firm found these conclusions looking into an online survey of more than 17,000 devices users with age of 18 or above across 17 markets.

One would expect the younger generation - people with base age of around 24 years - to be more educated about how to handle their digital world, because they grew up in a period when the Internet started getting traction, and different companies cropped up to offer their services. But that isn't the case. On the contrary, this subset of user base has been flagged as one of the most immature by Norton.

The firm reports that four out of ten such people live under the impression that they aren't "interesting enough" to be a target of an online crime. Reality is, Norton said, seven in ten of such people have experience a form of cybercrime, with as many as five in just the last 12 months. People around the average age of 55, on the other hand, are in a better position.

That's a dreadful statistic for a country with a young population and in which hundreds of thousands of smartphones are sold every few seconds, and thousands of people mark their arrival on the Interweb. And that also highlights the challenges we've in front of us that need to be sorted.

(Also see: Mobile Locked Unless You Pay the Ransom? Could Happen to You in 2016)

When asked if cyber awareness among people has gotten better over the past year, Chopra told Gadgets 360 that we're seeing a mixed result. While many people are getting hold of these aspects of the digital world, there are thousands of new people that come online everyday that don't.

The state of current security is already worrisome, with hackers devising new ways to circumvent the security our devices offer. We're seeing an increasing number of sophisticated attacks in which our devices are locked down, and attackers demand for a ransom. Attackers have also found ways to hack IoT devices, and get access to the Wi-Fi network they are connected to compromise the whole networkand the devices that they are connected to. But these are sophisticated attacks that we can also understand when we're aware of the basics, and have made others aware of them as well.

But aren't our operating systems getting better? Google, Apple, and Microsoft continue to tout the level of sophistication their products and services have reached with each new iteration. Chopra told us that while good guys continue to protect us, bad guys are balancing the equation by finding vulnerabilities and new ways to hack at an equally staggering rate.

What exactly is compromising our security?

People trust others with their password

Norton said that as many as 60 percent of users in the country are sharing credentials of two email accounts with others (global average is 55 percent). Around 55 percent of people share the passwords of their social media accounts (global average is 43 percent), and a staggering 36 percent Indian users share credentials of their bank accounts as opposed to 27 percent across the globe.

Obsession with freeware and means to get free alternatives

Many users continue to flock to shady websites to get free apps, and download copyright infringed content. What many people don't realise is that these files are highly likely to be riddled with malware or adware of some kind. As we've seen in the past, attackers are aggressively targeting such users.

Many users also like to use freeware products. While there are many great freeware apps and services available in the market, one has to understand the business model these providers maintain to sustain, said Chopra. As has been in the case of AVG - whose AVG Free security suite is highly popular - the company was found selling the data it had obtained from its users to marketers.

As has been previously reported, many apps on Google Play seek permission to information that they absolutely do not need for proper functioning. One needs to be careful while installing and needs to check the kind of things that particular app requires to function. A torch app must not get access to your contacts and text messages, for instance.

Easily sharing information

People continue to readily share their personal information such as their mobile phone number. "While entering this hotel, you provided your contact information at the registration desk." said Chopra, giving a simple example of how people don't think twice before sharing their information. "Who knows who goes through that register and gets your information," he added, jokingly revealing that he often provides a fake data to avoid the consequences such as telemarketing companies mysteriously getting their number.

Not using a secure password

People continue to use same password for all the services, and these passwords are generally not secure (combination of at least eight letters, number and symbols). As we've seen in previous reports, there are plenty of people who still use passwords such as "12345."

"I dream of Digital India where cyber-security becomes integral part of national security," Modi had said earlier this year. At the current state, we've a lot of work to do if we want to stay secure.

Top 5 Android Games From India You Must Play

2015-11-22T15:27:00.001+05:30

Top 5 Android Games From India You Must Play

It's that time of the year when our lives get consumed by big budget console or PC games. From shooters like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 to more nuanced fare like Fallout 4, there's a game for everyone. But even if you don't own a decent enough console or PC, there's a lot of entertainment to be had on mobiles and tablets. A surprising number of these are developed in India, and no, none of the ones we're listing are digital takes on existing games like Teen Patti or Rummy. Here are our top 5 picks:

1. Little Life: Adaptivity
Odd name aside, this is a quirky puzzle platformer whose visuals remind you of a simpler time. Rest assured, its levels are anything but simple. With responsive controls and surprisingly addictive gameplay, there's little wrong with this Android debut effort by developer Prasanna Kumar K K. Check it out on Google Play.

2. Samosa
This running game sports art direction that's seemingly inspired by monochrome indie darling Limbo, except with liberal splashes of red to make things seem all the more macabre. You'll drive an auto-rickshaw through hordes of enemies and trick it out with some interesting weapons to boot. As for the naming after a fried snack? It's actually a portmanteau of the game's hero and villain, Sam and Osa. Grab it on Android via Google Play.

3. Scribbled Arena
Sporting a neat hand drawn art style, Scribbled Arena is a top down multiplayer shooter that has you controlling a tank across a few well-realised levels. It promises deep customisation options and has more than a few power-ups to help you even the odds. With more content promised in months to come, it's shaping up to be more than just a precursor to the PC version we checked out at IGX. You can download it for your Android smartphone.

4. Huemory
The premise of Huemory is simple. Select a colour and remember where it is on the screen. Tap correctly and quickly enough and you progress to more complex levels. There's your usual host of power-ups and traps as well. But perhaps its biggest strength is its minimal aesthetic. Well worth looking into if you prefer your games to be a little more cerebral. Available on Google Play.

5. Avion Flight Simulator 2015
Winner of the Nasscom Game Developer Conference 2015 Indie Game of the year, Avion Flight Simulator 2015 is a polished, fun affair. It features 12 aircraft and 5 missions per aircraft, apart from a free flight mode for each plane. Add to that three difficulty levels for each mission, and you can see that this game doesn't suffer from a lack of content. There's an Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8 and a military expansion pack in the works as well. Out on Google Play.

What will you be playing? Let us know via the comments.

Mobile Locked Unless You Pay the Ransom? Could Happen to You in 2016

2015-11-22T15:25:00.000+05:30

Mobile Locked Unless You Pay the Ransom? Could Happen to You in 2016

Software security firm Kaspersky Lab is holding the APAC Cyber Security Summit in Malaysia, where it is talking about the current security trends and threats faced by individuals and businesses in the region and across the world.

Gadgets 360 spoke to Vitaly Kamluk, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab, who discussed Kaspersky's predictions for the global security landscape in 2016. Here they are:

1) Ransomware
Ransomware is a relative new online phenomenon, where the victims are locked out of their devices, unless they pay a ransom to the attacker. Since most users don't back up their devices, many agree to pay to get access to their important data. It a lot more appealing to attackers as well, since the payout is immediate, especially when compared to traditional attacks where they had to steal financial information and then use it to gain access to the money.

According to Kamluk, the amounts involved in ransomware attacks are usually not too huge, and users are also less likely to report such cases, which decreases the possibility of attracting attention from government authorities. As a result, he sees ransomware attacks getting really popular in 2016.

Mobile ransomware is already a reality and Kamluk believes it will be one of the biggest trends in 2016, with users being locked out of their mobiles unless they pay up the ransom. According to Sergey Lozhkin, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky, 98 percent of all current mobile malware targets Android, which should tell you which set of users needs to worry the most about this trend.

OS X could also be another target in 2016, and Kamluk believes attackers see Mac users as more affluent, so they could be asked to pay bigger ransoms than their PC counterparts. IoT ransomware will also be on the rise, and it's hard to disagree with Kamluk on this one - we'd hate to be locked out of our Internet-connected refrigerator, and will happily pay up whatever is necessary to get our hands on the pizza inside come meal time.

2) Attacks on researchers and developers
Kamluk believes researchers will be one of the top targets in 2016, as attackers will try to compromise popular tools used for reverse engineering, virtualisation, debugging, and even various PGP implementation themselves. Code repositories like Github and other channels frequented by developers could be another popular target as a way of injecting code into the entire ecosystem. This means we could see more XcodeGhost-like incidents in 2016.

3) Financial attacks
Kamluk hinted that payment systems like Apple Pay and Android Pay are on the radar of hackers and the next big attack could be used to exploit one of more of these systems. He admitted that the company predicated the same for 2015, and as these systems become deployed in more markets, the probability of such an attack increases.

4) Abuse of trust
One of the biggest threats in 2016 will come from the comprise of websites that consumers implicitly trust, for example the Intranet or Sharepoint, which are used to share information within a company.

5) Extortion and shaming
According to Kamluk, 2016 will see more cyber-extortion and shaming attacks similar to this year'sAshley Madison case.

6) The end of APT
This one is for those who track security trends rather closely. Kamluk believes the Advance Persistent Threats - or ATPs as they are known in the security world - will see a decline in 2016. However, don't go celebrating just yet, as Kaspersky sees newer memory-resident or file-less malware replacing them, which will be even harder to detect.

Disclosure: Kaspersky Lab sponsored the correspondent's flights and accommodation for the event in Malaysia.

Microsoft Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL India Launch Tipped for November 30

2015-11-22T15:23:00.002+05:30

Microsoft Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL India Launch Tipped for November 30

If you're looking forward to purchasing the new Microsoft Lumia 950 or Microsoft Lumia 950 XL in India, you might not have to wait till next month. The company has an event scheduled for November 30, in which it is expected to launch the flagship handsets.

At its Future Unveiled conference in Mumbai earlier this month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadellaannounced that the company plans to launch both its newly launched Windows 10 Mobile-powered handsets in India by December. It appears we might not have to wait till the end of the year. Windows Central reports that the company is planning to launch the Lumia 950 as well as the Lumia 950 XL in all likelihood in India on November 30. Microsoft India confirmed an event on November 30 with Gadgets 360, however, it didn't reveal what it plans to launch on the day.

Windows Central further notes that the company is also likely to launch the Display Dock, the device that allows a Windows 10 Mobile handset to connect to a large monitor and switch to Windows 10-like desktop mode. At this point, we don't know how much Microsoft will ask for these handsets or the Display Dock.

For a refresh, the Lumia 950, which starts at $549 (roughly Rs. 35,800) in the US, comes with a 5.2-inch QHD display of pixel density 564ppi. It is powered by a 1.8GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808SoC, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 200GB).

The Lumia 950 XL, which starts at $649 (roughly Rs. 42,300), sports a 5.7-inch QHD display with a pixel density of 518ppi. It is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 200GB).

Both handsets are liquid cooled, and come with an adaptive antenna technology. In addition, both feature USB Type-C port (USB 3.1), with support for faster charging. The Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL handsets come equipped with a 20-megapixel rear camera with 4K video recording capability, OIS, and an f/1.9 aperture. There's also a 5-megapixel sensor placed upfront with an f/2.4 aperture, which can shoot full-HD videos. Both the Lumia handsets run Microsoft's new mobile operating system, Windows 10 Mobile.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro, Mi Pad 2 Teased Ahead of Tuesday's Launch

2015-11-22T15:21:00.003+05:30

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro, Mi Pad 2 Teased Ahead of Tuesday's Launch

Xiaomi has already confirmed a launch event on Tuesday where the company is expected to reveal the new Redmi Note 2 Pro. The company has been teasing the handset in continuous teasers. Now, Xiaomi has shared a new teaser possibly showing the next-generation Mi Pad 2, as well as a fresh teaser for the Redmi Note 2 Pro.

Bin Lin, Co-Founder and President, Xiaomi, has shared an image on Weibo showing the sides of the Mi Pad 2 tablet that is now expected to be showcased at the company's Tuesday event alongside the Redmi Note 2. The teaser image appears to confirm that the Mi Pad 2 tablet will feature metal body. Considering that the first generation MiPad (First Impressions) tablet did sport a plastic build, we will have to wait for the company's Tuesday launch event to see if Xiaomi has in fact chosen to use a metal body.

The company also shared a new teaser image for its Redmi Note 2 Pro tipping the thin profile of the handset.

Xiaomi so far has already confirmed that the Redmi Note 2 Pro will feature a metal body and fingerprint scanner. The company in its teaser images has corroborated previous leaks of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro, showing a circular camera lens at the back followed by a dual-tone flash below and a circular fingerprint sensor placed below it. It also showed the metal-clad smartphone in Gold colour version.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro was recently spotted in a Tenaa listing. As per the listing, the smartphone may feature MediaTek's MT6795 Helio X10 processor; a 5.5-inch full-HD display; 2GB of RAM; 16GB of inbuilt storage; a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front camera, Android 5.0 Lollipop, and pack a 3060mAh battery. It also adds that the Redmi Note 2 Pro will measure 149.9x75.9x8.7mm and weigh 165 grams. The Redmi Note 2 Pro is tipped to share the same specifications as the Redmi Note 2. The only difference would be an inclusion of a fingerprint sensor and a metal build.

10 Tips to Cut Down Your Mobile Data Bill

2015-11-22T15:20:00.000+05:30

10 Tips to Cut Down Your Mobile Data Bill

Is your smartphone running up huge bills on data usage and throwing your budget out of control? We've all been there, and here are a few simple tips that you can follow to save some money. These are ideas we've tried out ourselves, and can tell you that they work. What's more, you won't just save money by reducing 3G or 4G mobile data usage, but will also use less of our battery as a bonus.

1) Schedule app updates over Wi-Fi
When app updates happen over your cellular data, even something as simple as loading a webpage can become slow. The continued mobile data use also heats up your phone and eats up your battery. There's an easy way to prevent this from happening though, on both Android and iOS. Updating apps on Wi-Fi can help lower your mobile data usage, and make a big impact on overall bandwidth savings. Check if you have this setting enabled.

On Android, open the Play Store app, then tap the menu button in the top left. Here, tap on Settings. Under "General," tap on Auto-update apps, and select Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only.

On iOS, tap on Settings > iTunes & App Store, then scroll down and turn off the Use Mobile Datatoggle to make your phone does automatic updates on Wi-Fi only.

2) Disable Wi-Fi Assist
Disabling Wi-Fi Assist, a new iOS 9 setting that's enabled by default, can help save cellular bandwidth too. Wi-Fi Assist automatically switches to cellular in the event of a poor Wi-Fi connection. You can disable this feature in Settings > Cellular and then tapping on Wi-Fi Assist.

3) Enable data compression while browsing
Chrome's Data Saver feature, available on almost every major computing platform, uses Google's servers to reduce the amount of data that gets downloaded when you visit a site. Data savings are dependent on the type of content you're accessing. Google claims that you can save up to 50 percent of data by enabling the feature, by tapping on Settings > Data Saver.

Data compression features are also built into Opera's suite of web browsers - Opera and Opera Mini. In Opera, you can adjust the image quality and enable video compression in the Settings tab, while Opera Mini 11 gives the user a choice between High or Extreme compression modes. UC Browser also introduced data compression this year. For more details on this setting, visit the help docs hosted on the websites of Opera, Chrome, and UC Browser.

4) Enable system-wide data compression using Opera Max
The previous tip will help you save data while browsing, but what about other popular apps? Opera's data management app on Android compresses videos, photos and media over mobile and Wi-Fi networks across most apps, and claims bandwidth savings of up to 50 percent. The app also provides an App Management option that lets the user control background app usage over Wi-Fi or cellular bandwidth.

Download: Opera Max for Android

5) Disable media auto-download for WhatsApp
WhatsApp can turn into a major bandwidth hog with auto-download turned on. Fortunately, you can toggle the settings to disable auto-download for images over cellular or Wi-Fi for audio and videos sent by your contacts and groups.

(Also see: WhatsApp - How to Stop Auto Downloading and Saving of Photos)

To do this, just launch the app, then go to Menu > Settings > Chats and calls > Media auto-download. There tap on When using mobile data and de-select all the options, and tap OK to save your settings.

(Also Read: 10 WhatsApp Tricks Everyone Should Know)

6) Switch mail sync to manual
If heavy email attachments are bogging your phone down, Gmail's app on Android allows you to switch Sync off. The settings, accessed in Menu > Settings in the Gmail app, also lets you set the time period for data that needs to be synced.

7) Disable Cellular Data on an app-wise basis
In iOS, you can turn off Push Notifications in Settings > Notifications, and turn off cellular data off for any app in Settings > Mobile data.

On Android, you can disable background data by tapping on Settings > Mobile Data, then tap on the app and tick Restrict background data. Enabling the setting ensures that the apps won't consume any data unless you are actively using them.

8) Use Greenify, if you don't have Android M
App Standby, a new feature only available on Android Marshmallow devices prevents seldom used apps from using your network data, sending you push notifications and draining your battery. This setting is enabled by default on Android M devices, those on an earlier version can install Greenify, which lets you send misbehaving apps on hibernation.

9) Disable auto-play on Facebook and Twitter
If you're a heavy social media user, disabling auto-play of videos on both these platforms can give your bandwidth some respite. We've published an article detailing how you can do that for Facebook, covering iOS and Android.

For Twitter, the setting can be accessed from menu on the top right of the screen. Tap on Settings > General > Video autoplay, and tap on choose the Never play videos automatically option. On iOS, this setting is available in the Settings menu for Twitter. Just Tap on Video autoplay > Never play videos automatically to disable it.

10) Cache Google Maps for offline use
Google Maps lets you save a map area the size of 120,000 square kilometers on your smartphone, with navigation functionality. This feature is available on both iOS and Android, and was rolled out this month. If you're living somewhere where this feature is already available, it could make a big impact on battery life as well as data consumption, if you use maps regularly to get around. Remember you will miss out on features like live traffic updates.

Others
Ad blockers, RSS feed readers, Facebook's Instant Articles, and apps like Pocket, which lets you sync your reading for offline use can help manage your media diet without taxing your bandwidth plan. Paying for apps can also help reduce network usage, according to a study conducted earlier this year.

Do you have any other ideas on saving your phone's bandwidth? Sound off in the comments below.

Lenovo Vibe S1 With Dual-Front Cameras Set to Launch in India on Monday

2015-11-22T15:17:00.003+05:30

Lenovo Vibe S1 With Dual-Front Cameras Set to Launch in India on Monday

Lenovo has sent invites for the launch of its Vibe S1 smartphone in India on Monday. The company is holding an event in New Delhi to launch the smartphone.

The Lenovo Vibe S1 smartphone was unveiled in September during the IFA 2015 trade show in Berlin alongside Lenovo P1 and Lenovo P1m. The Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Lenovo Vibe S1 features a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) display. The highlight of the smartphone are its dual front cameras. It sports 8-megapixel and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras. The company at the time of the launch said "The 8-megapixel primary front camera takes the sharpest photos and a 2-megapixel secondary front camera analyses depth of field information."

The handset also sports several built-in photo editing tools such as Blur, which allows refocusing anywhere on the selfie (up to 3 focal plains), and Cut Out, allows users to cut out people from a selfie and then superimpose them on another image. There Lenovo Vibe S1 also sports a 13-megapixel rear camera. It sports a 7.8mm thin profile and weighs 132 grams. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by a 64-bit quad-core MediaTek processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. The smartphone offers 32GB of built-in storage and supports expandable storage via microSD (up to 128GB). Running Android 5.0 Lollipop, the smartphone supports 4G LTE connectivity, features a 2500mAh battery, and will be available in Pearl White and Midnight Blue colours.

Lenovo Vibe S1

Display

5.00-inch

Processor

octa-core

Front Camera

8-megapixel

Resolution

1080x1920 pixels

RAM

3GB

OS

Android 5.0

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

2500mAh

See full Lenovo Vibe S1 specifications

Pepsi Phone P1s With 5.5-Inch Display, Android 5.1 Lollipop Launched

2015-11-22T15:16:00.000+05:30

Pepsi Phone P1s With 5.5-Inch Display, Android 5.1 Lollipop Launched

Pepsi-branded smartphones and accessories were announced to be in the works last month. The popular Pepsi brand on Thursday took the wraps off the Phone P1 and Phone P1s in China. The food and beverage company is however running a crowdfunding campaign to produce the smartphone.

It's worth noting that Pepsi is only licensing its brand for use on smartphones and accessories, while Shenzhen-based Scooby Communication Equipment company will be manufacturing the first smartphones. The company has revealed two versions of its first smartphone: Phone P1 is the regular version while the Phone P1s is compatible specifically with China Unicom's FDD-LTE support. There are no other differences in specifications between the two variants.

The Pepsi Phone P1s (and P1) is now available via crowdfunding campaign from jd.com in China. The early bidders (now sold out) were offered a price of CNY 499 (approximately Rs. 5,000). The phone was then available at CNY 699 (approximately Rs. 7,250) for next 1,000 bidders, after which it will be available for CNY 999 (approximately Rs. 10,500) and followed by CNY 1,299 (approximately Rs. 13,470) until the target has been achieved. The company has set a target of CNY 3 million (approximately Rs. 3,10,69,901) by December 3 and at the time of writing had raised CNY 637,614 (approximately Rs. 66,03,534).

For specifications, the Pepsi Phone P1s (and P1) features a 5.5-inch 2.5D curved display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. It runs dido OS 6.1 version based on Android 5.1 Lollipop. The smartphones feature hybrid dual-SIM card slots, with the second slot usable for either a microSD card or a SIM card.

The Phone P1s (and P1) is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek (MT6592) processor with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM. It comes with 16GB inbuilt storage and supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 64GB). The phones sports 13-megapixel rear camera while there is a 5-megapixel front camera also on board. It is backed by a 3000mAh battery.

The 4G LTE-enabled Pepsi Phone P1s supports Bluetooth, 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Micro-USB, and GPS. The smartphone also features a fingerprint scanner at the back panel just below the primary camera.

The handset comes with accelerometer, ambient light, and proximity sensors. It measures 152.2x76.2x7.7mm and weighs 158 grams. The Pepsi Phone P1s will be available in Blue, Gold, and Silver colours.

Hackers-for-hire played key role in JPMorgan, Fidelity breaches

2015-11-15T19:52:00.000+05:30

Hackers-for-hire played key role in JPMorgan, Fidelity breaches

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO:

When US prosecutors this week charged two Israelis and an American fugitive with raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in one of the largest and most complex cases of cyberfraud ever exposed, they also provided an unusual look into the burgeoning industry of criminal hackers for hire.

The trio, who are accused of orchestrating massive computer breaches at JPMorgan Chase & Co and other financial firms, as well as a series of other major offences, did little if any hacking themselves, the federal indictments and a previous civil case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicate.

Rather, they constructed a criminal conglomerate with activities ranging from pump-and-dump stock fraud to internet casino break-ins and unlicensed bitcoin trading. And just like many legitimate corporations, they outsourced much of their technology needs.

"They clearly had to recruit co-conspirators and have that type of hacker-for-hire," said Austin Berglas, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New York cyber division, who worked the JPMorgan case before he left the agency in May. "This is the first case where it's that clear of a connection."

Berglas, who now heads cyber-investigations for private firm K2 Intelligence, said additional major cases of freelance hacking will come to light, especially as more people become familiar with online tools such as Tor that seek to conceal a user's identity and location.

Rented time

This week's indictments accused a hacker referred to as "co-conspirator 1" of installing malicious software on the servers of multiple victims at the direction of Gery Shalon, the alleged mastermind of the scheme now under arrest in Israel. A second indictment charges a man referred to as John Doe, believed to be in Russia, for an attack on online trading firm E*Trade.

Officials have not said if the co-conspirator and John Doe were the same person, or even if the FBI knows their true identities.

Law enforcement and computer security officials say that outsourced cybercrime services -- including rented time on networks of previously compromised personal computers and custom break-ins - are most readily found on underground Russian-language computer forums, where skilled attackers advertise their services.

The forums are tight-knit communities where newbies must be vouched for by multiple known members and pay membership fees that cost thousands of dollars, said Daniel Cohen, who oversees an undercover team at EMC Corp's RSA Security that monitors the forums.

"You can find anything you want for an operation. Hackers, servers, software, code writing. They are all available," said Cohen. Individuals hide their identities even from each other, making infiltration and arrests rare.

In this case, the ringleaders are accused of hiring hackers to steal contact information and other data that they then used to help convince ordinary investors to buy little-regulated stocks. Prosecutors have not disclosed how the hackers were compensated.

Fees vary greatly in the cyber-underground, depending on the complexity of the assignment and supply of talent available to do a particular job. Elite hackers who pull off the most technically challenging attacks might get a percentage of profits, while others might earn an hourly rate or get paid a few thousand dollars for winning access to a target's network, researchers said.

Pump-and-dump

All three of those accused this week -- Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron, who is at large, and Ziv Orenstein, who is also in jail in Israel -- began promoting penny stocks before the hacks took place, according to US government claims.

They used websites including Pennystockdiscoveries.com and Stockcastle.com to send emails as part of a scheme in which they invested in penny stocks, spread false information to boost their prices, and then sold them to make windfall profits, according to an SEC suit filed in July.

Orenstein's lawyer declined to comment, and Shalon's lawyer did not return messages seeking comment.

In one case in early 2012, the SEC claims that they used the website Stockcastle.com to promote shares in Mustang Alliances Inc, reaping $2.2 million, the largest pump-and-dump cited in the regulator's lawsuit. In March of that year, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued an alert warning that two entities tied to Stockcastle were falsely claiming to be registered in the territory.

That same year, the enterprise began a massive hacking spree to get contact information for investors who might be good targets, according to prosecutors. By the end of 2013 they had ordered up six hacks that provided data on tens of millions of customers, prosecutors said.

They hit the mother lode in 2014 when they attacked three other firms, and stole data on 83 million customers from JP Morgan alone, prosecutors said.

In addition to JP Morgan and E*Trade, the firms attacked included the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp and News Corp's Dow Jones unit, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, according to court documents and people familiar with the cases.

"To do a 'pump-and-dump' operation, you no longer need 30 people behind phones in a strip mall," said Shane Shook, a security consultant specializing in investigating financial breaches. All you need is to find a hacker on a Dark Web forum to provide addresses from customers of financial services firms like Fidelity or JPMorgan, then hire a spam service to push out promotional emails, he said.

Shalon bragged about the stock manipulation scheme, telling the hacker known as co-conspirator 1 in a web chat message that it was "a small step towards a large empire," according to the indictment.

His plan, Shalon told the hacker, was to distribute "mailers" on stocks to those customers. The hacker asked if buying stocks was popular in America, the indictment said, prompting Shalon to reply: "It's like drinking freaking vodka in Russia."

Shalon ultimately made good on his promise to build an empire, according to the indictments. Profits from the pump-and-dump fed into a sprawling conglomerate including offshore Internet casinos and payment-processing services for other criminal operators, such as counterfeit pharmaceutical makers. Shalon also allegedly directed hackers to attack rival casinos, stealing customer data and temporarily bringing down their websites with denial-of-service attacks, which are easily commissioned online.

Butterfly and Hidden Lynx

While this week's indictments opened the first major criminal case involving outsourced hacking, there have been other substantial break-ins that researchers believe were contract jobs.

Researchers at Symantec in July attributed a series of precision breaches at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter in 2012 and 2013 to a sophisticated gang called Butterfly, which also attacked law firms and pharmaceutical companies.

Computer security firm Symantec concluded that the group likely works for hire, either for a client looking for financial gain in the stock market or for competitors. How Butterfly gets hired remains unclear.

Tech criminologist Marc Goodman, author of the book 'Future Crimes', says another group, dubbed Hidden Lynx by Symantec, may consist of contractors moonlighting from jobs with the Chinese military.
"It's crime as a service," "Goodman said. "They take all the pain out of it."

'Startup founders, not cricketers, are the new Indian idols'

2015-11-15T19:49:00.003+05:30

'Startup founders, not cricketers, are the new Indian idols'

"Whom do you idolize?"

At school or college, in competitions of every nature, from friends and family members, the question of who one wants to be like in a few years seems to crop up invariably. Over a decade ago, when I was growing up, the answer would largely cover a few regular names. A celebrated cricketer, an astronaut, maybe an actor, a social worker, a historical figure or perhaps a businessman or two. Circa 2015, however, things are decidedly different.
The same question quickly gets answers like Jack Ma, Steve Jobs, Lei Jun, Mark Zuckerberg ... the list goes on. There is an equally large number of Indian entrepreneurs and startup CEOs that a college-goer or a fresh professional hero-worships ardently. The youngsters are closely following their international idols' every step, every tweet, every interview as they have become almost synonymous with that romantic notion of 'following your passion'.

Many of the top entrepreneurs in the country today are engineering graduates from regular middle-class families. Most of them have no political connections, great family wealth or business inheritance backing them. They are, therefore, symbolic of completely self-made success.
Unlike the earlier generations that often viewed business as the preserve of those who have the clout and the luck to navigate through the country's red-tapism, startup pundits make it clear that no obstacle is too large. In addition, many entrepreneurs are viewed as mavericks. They have made a success of their companies entirely on their own terms, doing things differently and always taking the uncharted path. These elements make for a highly palatable recipe as far as the youth goes.

Young adults today don't want to be told what the set path is. They don't want to believe that if they do things differently, success will elude them. This is exactly what their startup idols personify. The new-age entrepreneur's zany policies, belief in ideas against all odds, innovative strategies, courage, confidence and complete disregard for traditional parameters of judgment validate the youth's own desire for freedom, flexibility and love for the unconventional.

What also makes the new-age entrepreneurs connect with the youth is how they leverage technology. Many of these founders and CEOs have either found a solution to a real-life problem through technology or have just managed to make life simpler and smoother using tech.

Tech, as we all know, is something that the youth is most passionate about and feels strongly about. A man who makes booking a cab a matter of seconds is bound to be liked and admired by the youth. He who makes a phone recharge possible in the middle of the night also automatically becomes someone the young citizen views with affinity.

The fact is new-age entrepreneurs have their finger on the pulse of the youth and offer solutions and technologies that wow them.

MTNL to soon launch free roaming service

2015-11-15T19:46:00.003+05:30

MTNL to soon launch free roaming service

MTNL chairman and managing director NK Yadav said the scheme will be announced soon and they are finalizing th... Read More

NEW DELHI: State-run telecom operator MTNL, which offers services in Delhi and Mumbai, will soon launch free roaming scheme, allowing customers to receive calls at no extra cost while travelling across the country.

BSNL already has such a scheme in place.
At present, MTNL customers have to pay roaming charges for incoming calls when they go outside of Delhi and Mumbai.

MTNL chairman and managing director NK Yadav told PTI the scheme will be announced soon and they are finalizing the dates.

The government under National Telecom Policy 2012 has set a goal to achieve free roaming gradually.

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad during a meeting of consultative committee attached to the ministry of communication and IT informed Members of Parliament (MPs) that MTNL is planning to launch free roaming soon.

Moreover, MTNL has also increased minimum broadband speed to 2Mbps and is offering free broadband for one month to its landline customers.

Google Maps for Android Gets Offline Navigation and Search Features

2015-11-15T19:40:00.005+05:30

Google Maps for Android Gets Offline Navigation and Search Features

Next time you need directions to a place but don't have a good connectivity on your phone, Google Maps will still be able to offer help. The Mountain View-based company announced on Tuesday that it is introducing offline navigation and search features to its mapping service on Android. The company says that iOS client of Maps will get these features "soon".

Google says that it has redesigned the service to accommodate the new features. Users will now be able to download maps of specific areas of the cities or states and save them on their phone. When your phone is connected back to a good network, the app will automatically go online and offer other Maps features such as live traffic updates. The offline navigation feature is similar to what's offered byHere, formerly Nokia-owned mapping service.

You've had the ability to download and use Google Maps offline for a while now, but this is the first time Google will be offering other features like turn-by-turn navigation and providing information about places, like hours of operation, contact information, as well as ratings.

The company had first announced its plans to deliver these features at the I/O developer conference earlier this year. The offline navigation support may not sound as useful to people in developed nations as they have nearly-ubiquitous connectivity, but the vast majority of users in other parts of the world don't have such luxury.

Google says roughly 60 percent of the world doesn't have access to reliable and fast Internet connection -- or at times, any connection. "This is a huge problem, especially as people attempt to navigate and explore the world around them, so Google Maps is taking steps to help people across the globe find directions and get where they're going, even when they don't have an Internet connection," Amanda Bishop, Product Manager at Google while announcing the new feature.

IRCTC Now Lets Users Book Train Tickets 30 Minutes Before Departure

2015-11-15T19:40:00.000+05:30

IRCTC Now Lets Users Book Train Tickets 30 Minutes Before Departure

Come November 12, you can book a railway ticket online via IRCTC 30 minutes prior to the departure of a train.

In a passenger-friendly move, the Indian Railways has also made changes in its system of chart preparation, which would now be prepared twice.

First reservation chart would be prepared four hours prior to departure of a train while second and final one, 30 minutes before the train departs, a senior Railway official said.

According to the revised rules, booking will be allowed on Internet as well as at reservation counters for a particular train, subject to availability of berths, even after the preparation of first reservation chart.

Railways has also made it mandatory for the concerned department to finalise the reservation chart four hours before the departure of train from November 12 in order to facilitate passengers to know the status of their ticket and plan their journey well in time.

This is a significant move to provide additional booking facilities enabling passengers to buy tickets even after the preparation of reservation charts, the official said.

A second and final chart of reservations will be made available before departure of train and handed over to onboard ticket checking staff.

This exercise will ensure optimum utilisation of train accommodation as well as enhanced earnings, the official said.

Also, there were complaints of delay in finalisation of reservation chart giving scope to touts for indulging in illegal ticketing activities.

Chrome Exploit Allegedly Gives Root Access to Virtually Any Android Device

2015-11-15T19:39:00.003+05:30

Chrome Exploit Allegedly Gives Root Access to Virtually Any Android Device

A critical vulnerability in Chrome for Android has been reported that makes it possible for attackers to take over a device. The vulnerability was demonstrated at the MobilePwn2Own, PacSec conference in Tokyo. The researcher believes that the vulnerability affects all versions of Android capable of running the latest version of Chrome.

Qihoo 360 researcher Guang Gong showcased the exploit. The vulnerability resides in JavaScript v8, Google's open source JavaScript engine. For the vulnerability to be exploited, users needs to be tricked to visit a malicious website using Chrome Web browser.

An attacker is then able to install an arbitrary application and gain the full privileges of the device. He noted that the attack was "one shot exploit," essentially meaning that just one vulnerability was enough to perform the attack. The exploit worked on many other devices as well, said Dragos Ruiu, the organiser of PacSec.

"The impressive thing about Guang's exploit is that it was one shot; most people these days have to exploit several vulnerabilities to get privileged access and load software without interaction," Ruiu toldVulture South.

"As soon as the phone accessed the website the JavaScript v8 vulnerability in Chrome was used to install an arbitrary application (in this case a BMX Bike game) without any user interaction to demonstrate complete control of the phone."

Working details of the vulnerability haven't been disclosed, and Ruiu said that Google had been made aware of the vulnerability.

At the same event, two security researchers managed to trick the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and the Galaxy Note 4 to connect to a compromised base station and had the calls and messages go through it. As a result of which, a victim's calls and messages could be intercepted.

Amazon May Export Delivery Lessons From India to Cut Costs Abroad

2015-11-15T19:34:00.003+05:30

Amazon May Export Delivery Lessons From India to Cut Costs Abroad

E-commerce giant Amazon.com is taking lessons learnt from its daily battles with India's choked roads and cramped cities to some of its largest developed markets, exporting a model of cheaper deliveries and reduced warehousing costs.

Online shopping is booming in India, where millions of consumers are newly able to access the Internet thanks to cheap smartphones. For Amazon, it is already the largest contributor of new customers outside the United States.

But, like local rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal, Amazon has struggled with deliveries in cities where snarl-ups are frequent and road signs unreliable. In response, firms have set up logistics networks and use motorbikes instead of trucks.

Flipkart, for one, has tapped Mumbai's dabbawalas, a more than a century-old lunch box distribution service.

More than two years on from its arrival in India, Amazon says it is now ready to apply some of the innovations applied here to markets including the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

Britain, for example, could get a delivery service called Easy Ship, where orders are picked up by Amazon's crew directly from sellers, cutting out the time and cost of sending goods to a warehouse and the need for more space.

"It's not just that we learn from the big brothers like North America," Akhil Saxena, director of operations at Amazon India said in a recent interview at the company's local headquarters in the southtern city of Bengaluru.

"There is so much focus on India and the kind of growth that is happening here... People say, if it works for them, let's see what we can pick and learn," said Saxena.

E-commerce in India could grow to $137 billion by 2020 from $11 billion in 2013, says Morgan Stanley, and firms like Amazon, local market leader Flipkart and rival Snapdeal, backed by Japan's SoftBank, are fighting for a bigger share.

Speedy and cheap delivery is critical to winning over customers in a cut-throat industry, where heavy discounts mean firms are already burning through substantial cash to grow.

Harish Bijoor, an independent brand expert and business analyst, said the innovative delivery services were helping Amazon extend its reach in India, even at the cost of giving up some control over logistics - a lesson it could export.

"E-commerce is a trust business today and without that you cannot achieve scale," Bijoor said.

Made in India
Unlike in its other markets, government restrictions on foreign investment mean Amazon operates in India purely as a marketplace, rather than hawking its own goods. That tightens its relations with a multitude of sellers, and underlines the need to keep those connections simple.

Launched in India in 2014, Easy Ship, for example, cuts out costs of storing, packing and separately shipping goods.

"This probably cuts your overall transportation cost at least by half," said Samuel Thomas, Amazon India's director of transportation, adding that it trains sellers to provide the service, now used by 30,000, or more than 75 percent of them.

Another service introduced in India in May and considered for export to other markets, Seller Flex, allows sellers to have the flexibility to store goods and ship them to customers on their own, instead of routing them through Amazon.

Amazon provides technology and training to ensure goods are packed, labelled and delivered as the company would.

While Amazon in developed markets may not want to tweak its model for best selling goods, analysts said, it could consider the made-in-India seller solution to cut down on warehousing and delivery costs for thousands of "non core" products which are offered, but infrequently bought.

"Amazon is becoming a lot more flexible about how it services its customers," said Neil Saunders, at UK-based retail research firm Conlumino.

"If you go back about five years ... it was fairly one-dimensional. Now you have Amazon Prime, in some cities you have same day deliveries, a couple of hour deliveries ... And this is part of that."

No, This Startup That Raised Rs. 12 Crore Isn't '12-Days-Old'

2015-11-15T19:33:00.003+05:30

No, This Startup That Raised Rs. 12 Crore Isn't '12-Days-Old'

Coverage of startups seems to be see-sawing between breathless adoration, and cynical condemnation. We're in the latter phase again unfortunately, and that's why you might have seen headlines claiming that a 12-day-old startup just raised Rs. 12 crore in funds. Making the news even more salacious, the founder of the startup actually worked for one of the companies that is providing the funds. Clear signs of cronyism and all that's wrong in the world of funding, or is there actually more to the story?

Zilingo (the company in question) co-founder Ankiti Bose was upfront about her connection with funder Sequoia Capital in our meeting in October. "I was a consultant at McKinsey, and after that, I was a VC myself," says Bose, who met us in a co-working space the company is using for its office. "I used to work at Sequoia Capital. I left seven to eight months back, to start Zilingo, with the idea of doing long tail aggregation."

Co-founder Dhruv Kapoor, an IIT Guwahati alumnus, has worked in Sequoia-backed mobile gaming studio Kiwi, and also with Yahoo on a localisation automation tool. "That's something we've used extensively - because in South-East Asia, you need a localised product," Bose says. The two launched Ziligo as a Thailand-based e-commerce startup - the idea is to tap the long tail seller ecosystem in South-East Asia, with native language user experience.

Although the company has just launched officially, work on Zilingo has been going on for seven months now, Bose says. She tells us that the co-founders and a designer stayed in Thailand for a majority of that period, to figure out the market.

"Once we validated the idea after meeting a lot of sellers, using the existing products, figuring out where the whitespace was," says Bose. "What we figured out was that in all of South East Asia - there was a gap in demand. People have C2C type of apps, like Carousell and Tokopedia, or they have the Flipkart-Amazon type apps like Lazada, which are not built keeping in mind these kind of folks who are very mobile-centric. We thought of building a product for those people," she adds.

"Our backend couldn't use something like Shopify or Magento - we had to create our own platform - [because] there were multiple currencies, multiple languages, and localisation happening," she adds, comparing the app to Alibaba + TMall, built from scratch, and customised for the South-East Asian market. Another big part of the plan has been to build for cross-border commerce. "We didn't want to build something that was Thai to Thai - we always knew that this is an Asia play," Bose says.

Zilingo plans to start shipping from the Thai sellers to Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong in November and to other Southeast Asian countries right after, according to an emailed statement accompanying its recent round of funding.

The company makes its money through commissions on sales; the packaging, door-to-door pickup and delivery, insurance, and everything else is handled by the startup. Sellers are given a mobile app that simplifies their storefront management. That's an important tweak for the region, Bose says, because most sellers in Asia don't use laptops, but all of them have smartphones.

"Everybody has 4G, but their aversion to using Excel, etc for doing business is much higher than you would find in India," she says. "They are the Facebook-using Instagram generation." Bose adds that 70 percent of Zilingo's seller base have physical stores as well. "The seller is somebody who ships 50-60 products a day, they are savvy, smartphone using, they have access to a good network," she adds.

The app officially went live on the 31st of October, fully localised in Thai, with more than 300 sellers on board. At the time of writing, Zilingo has over 10,400 Facebook fans, and between 1,000-5,000 downloads on Google Play. But unless the company could make an app on the day it started, it's clear that Zilingo has actually been working for a while now, making the 12-day-old startup headlines look particularly strange.

It's Time to Go Green: Save the Planet and Money Too

2015-11-15T19:32:00.000+05:30

It's Time to Go Green: Save the Planet and Money Too

Bengaluru's world famous eyesore, Bellandur Lake became a headlining act on national and international media, as news reports highlighted how it had caught fire, with foam coming right into pedestrians faces. A change.org campaign demanding an immediate cleanup of the lake has collected over 31,000 signatures so far, while the local authorities have installed water sprinklers around areas where it tends to froth. Yet, the problem doesn't seem to be solvable until the city's citizens take accountability to treat their sewage. Actually improving the cities we live in would be a lot easier if we, as individuals, take some steps that don't just help the environment, but also actually save us a fair bit of money.

Nearly 650 million litres of untreated sewage is discharged into Bengaluru's vicinity every day, says S Vishwanath of the Bengaluru-based company Biome Environmental Solutions. The firm works on water sustainability solutions in government schools and drought affected areas. He points out that this problem has existed for fifteen years, and it's only after the foam started hitting the cars and two-wheelers in the city that people took notice. "It was frothing in Vishwavati Valley, where farmers had to deal with this froth since 2000. This is clearly a question of industrial consumption levels of detergents and fatty acids and other stuff which is going into the lakes," Vishwanath says.

Vishwanath's himself harvests water from the roof at the highest level of his home for cooking and drinking, while the water from lower roofs is used for landscaping and gardening. All the grey water (washing machine water and bath water) is funnelled through a series of filtration tanks, where grey water is stored, and plants, algae and bacteria break it down, removing phosphates and nitrates from the water. Guppies are put in so that mosquito larvae don't breed.

"The fish eat the larvae, and they are also functional indicators. If they start to die, then the water is not getting treated enough," Vishwanath explains. Eventually, the filtered water is used for in the garden and for flushing the loo below. In theory, this water can also recharge the groundwater. An eco-san toilet installed on the roof recycles urine as fertiliser for plants, while solids are composted in blue drums, so that no human waste goes out of the house.

It's possible to build an eco-friendly house, with features for rainwater harvesting, solar heating, and using environmentally friendly materials for construction, at around the same per-square foot cost as traditional building methods, experts say. Retrofitting can be a little more expensive, but over time, the saving from consuming less water and electricity won't just mean a cleaner environment, but also smaller monthly bills.

According to a report, 'green' construction can lower energy consumption by 30-50 percent, and lower water consumption by 30-70 percent. Short term planning is a particularly big culprit; a one-star rated gadget like an A/C or geyser might be significantly cheaper than a similar product with a higher energy efficiency rating, but the added electricity it consumes has a real cost, in terms of pollution and your finances over time.

Waste management and chemical pollution are as big an issue as excess consumption. One of the main reasons for Bengaluru's frothing lakes seems to be our everyday detergent - which has foaming agents, surface active agents, and phosphate. Delara Damania, founder of Bengaluru-based Common Oxen which makes natural cleaning agents for the home, points out that even wastewater sludge goes into farms, and comes back into our food. "The fact that nobody is regulating this is just mind-boggling," she says.

Her startup is built around the problem of eliminating phosphates from household cleaning. "Phosphates on their own are not a bad thing, but they encourage the proliferation of water hyacinths, and other fast-growing weeds, that sort of suck out the oxygen and kill the other aquatic animals, and that's what spoils the water bodies," she says.

Vani Murthy, one of Bengaluru's most active waste management campaigners, is launching a mission to get one million people to compost their green waste at home. "It's a one week challenge, and is building up to a launch," she says. "If you could, on your part, take care of that half a kg of waste that you generate, than asking the municipality. That's one action that can have a direct impact on the future of the planet itself."

Composting is one action you can do for a better world, she says. "You are dealing with 60 percent of the waste right where it is being generated, converting it into something that is so important for the soil to grow your own food," Murthy adds. "The safest food is what you grow, because you know what you are putting in there."

Once you understand the process of aeration, the breakdown of food into micro-organisms, Composting can be a lifetime practice, a gateway to rooftop gardening. Murthy bartered her compost for seeds in her early days, and now she has three terrace gardens growing her own food. The organic terrace gardening group on Facebook has 27,000 members, and out of that, 6,000 to 7,000 are from Bengaluru, she says. They have quarterly events where people bring their produce called Oota from Your Thota.

For the first-time composter, she recommends doing it at zero expense, using an old bucket with some holes in it. "Start off with peels, egg shells, fruit peels. Dry leaves can be added to the compost mix, as it absorbs moisture from the peels and keeps the pile balanced. It does not let the wet waste get compacted," she says. A composting kit needs a bit of shade, and has to be protected from rain. Cow dung or sour butter milk can be used as a source of microorganisms.

"The basic rule is that it should be well aerated. If it doesn't breathe, it becomes anaerobic, and that's when it starts to stink. For aeration, it should not be packed in too compact - it takes a few tries to get the right balance," she says.

Reducing your energy footprint
If you're planning to build a green home or live in one, Teri's Griha Rating Booklet has a bunch of useful parameters to evaluate and rank housing projects by, with a points based rating system based on various criterion. These include factors such as materials used, environmental impact, energy use, water harvesting, low-power devices, 5-star rated electronics, amount of daylight used, surface reflectivity, and cooling.

Teri's rating system stresses on local sourcing of components - there are somethings that you lose points for - for example you can't use Italian marble, because it has a higher carbon footprint because of the transportation cost.

Some of the things to look into include insulated walls and roof construction, which can reduce you air conditioning bill in the summer and your heating costs in the winter. Smaller windows will also help - large windows look nice, but turn your home into a greenhouse, which isn't very suitable in India. You can also look into alternative energy, such as solar panels, and solar heating for water; rainwater harvesting can also make a big impact.

Materials like teak wood, and quarried stone that has to be transported from afar are a bad idea when you're building a new house. Fly ash bricks and locally sourced materials, design that promotes ventilation instead of air-conditioning, and planning for things like low-flow water and low-energy lighting all add up and make a big impact over time.

Prasanto Roy, who lives in India's first Teri Griha home, which scored 96 percent overall on their Teri's ratings, said that building a green home doesn't come with a significant cost overhead.

"Other houses that have been built in this area cost more than this one, and they don't even use green features. That is because they have used more expensive finishes, fittings, Italian marble," he says. "For us, it cost ten percent more per square foot to build this house. There are some savings you get directly in the capex itself, as you need less equipment, and so on."

Roy's house is made of two types of fly-ash bricks, which are easily available. Around 70-80 percent of the material was locally sourced. The supply chain for green materials has improved since he built his home, with Teri's website cataloging the suppliers. "Today, almost everything can be sourced locally, but electronics like controller systems, were imports," he adds.

"For a typical house, depending on where you are, the one thing to focus on is cooling the home passively, so that you need less active cooling," he explains. "Go increasingly on to LED lights, and you pick the low hanging fruits - the lights which are always on, and so on. Staircase lights can have motion sensors," he says, so they will not only be on when needed. "A solar power is a simple enough system to add on, can be paired with an inverter or used directly, a 1 KVA solar panel for around Rs. 1.5 lakhs is a very worthwhile thing to do," as this can help you reduce your dependence on the grid, and save significant amounts of money over time.

At the same time, low-flow fixtures reduce water waste, and your water bill as well, and rainwater harvesting can be good for the environment and will also reduce your dependence on expensive water tankers, when the municipal supply runs short.

Microsoft Releases First Major Update to Windows 10

2015-11-15T19:28:00.005+05:30

Microsoft Releases First Major Update to Windows 10

Microsoft has announced it is rolling out the Windows 10 November update, the first major update to its latest operating system. Codenamed Threshold 2 and also dubbed the Fall Update, Thursday's update largely aims to smoothen the rough edges that Windows 10 originally shipped with around three-and-a-half months ago.

The update is the same build, dubbed 10586, which was rolled out to Windows Insider testers last week. As previously rumoured, computers currently running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 can jump directly to the latest version of Windows 10, should they wish to upgrade (for free, of course). The company claims that with the new update, the same machine with Windows 10 will be 30 percent faster than Windows 7.

Besides offering fixes and improvements, the latest Windows 10 update also brings along new features to Cortana, and some graphical alterations to the user interface. The Start menu, for instance, now offers better context menu while resizing the tiles. It can now also hold more items - increasing the count from 500 to 2048.

Moving along, Cortana has gotten smarter, now allowing users to write using a stylus to create reminders. It is getting better integrations too. It can now keep a track of your upcoming meetings and events by looking at your email and offer to book an Uber cab to your destination. Cortana is now also well versed with Indian English.

The digital voice assistant always worked with the new browser, Microsoft Edge, but now users will be able to see its applications more prominently. For instance, if you visit an online retailer, Cortana will let you know if there are coupons available for that website. Speaking of Edge, it now offers tab previews, and allows you to sync favourites and reading items between different computers. Extensions support, however, is not arriving until next year.

The update is also aimed at enterprise users. The company says that it is including support for Windows Update for Business, and Windows Store for Business. Both will allow business users to utilise Group Policy to easily deploy and manage apps and updates on Windows 10 business PCs.

Users on the regular cycle (i.e. most end users) will receive the update via Windows Update. Standalone ISO images of the updated Windows 10 version are also available to download via company's MSDN channel.

Google's Self-Driving Car Gets Pulled Over for Driving Too Slow

2015-11-15T19:27:00.003+05:30

Google's Self-Driving Car Gets Pulled Over for Driving Too Slow

Everyone's equal in the eyes of the law - even self-driving cars. A testament of which was on display this week. A Google self-driving car got pulled over by a law abiding policeman in Rengstorff Ave, Mountain View, USA for driving too slowly.

This is the first time, says Google, that its self-driving car was pulled for driving too slowly, a relatively rare offence among humans. "Driving too slowly? Bet humans don't get pulled over for that too often,"said the Google car team in a Google+ post Thursday. "We've capped the speed of our prototype vehicles at 25 mph for safety reasons."

The cop pulled the car because it was driving at 24mph in a 35mph zone. In Google's defence, its car is set to drive slowly to make it safe and less scary for others, and easily approachable for people who're interested in learning more about Google Autonomous Car.

In the meanwhile, the Mountain View Police has explained the situation as well. "As the officer approached the slow moving car he realised it was a Google Autonomous Vehicle," they wrote in a blog post. "The officer stopped the car and made contact with the operators to learn more about how the car was choosing speeds along certain roadways and to educate the operators about impeding traffic per 22400(a) of the California Vehicle Code."

The cop realised the situation and graciously didn't issue a ticket. Though, at this point it is not clear who should have gotten a ticket if a self-driving car does commit a serious violation. Several concerned laws currently find the person in the driver's seat to be responsible, but the laws are still pretty grey as to what should be done when the seat is empty.

The incident, while amusing, just goes on to suggest that laws aren't moving at the same pace as technology.

Best Phones Under Rs. 15,000: Diwali Gifts Shopping Guide

2015-11-15T19:25:00.000+05:30

Best Phones Under Rs. 15,000: Diwali Gifts Shopping Guide

The Diwali season in India is a time for new things and these days that means new mobile phones more than anything else. Whether you're getting yourself a long awaited present, or gifting a phone to someone else in your family, there are plenty of great options out there today that don't cost half a lakh. We've listed out the ten best phones you can buy for between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 15,000. All the phones in the list are pretty good devices though a few really stand out. We decided to stick to phones that have at least 3G support, and also phones that have been launched reasonably recently. Interestingly, it's the first time that we're looking at a list of phones under Rs. 15,000 that doesn't include anything other than Android phones, thanks to these filters.

Check out the full list below, to help you pick your phone. The detailed ratings of phones will help you quickly compare devices and help decide which phone you want to buy.

1) Yu Yunique
The Yu Yunique (Review) isn't a phone that is going to wow you, but if you're looking for a value for money phone that does a reasonable job on all counts, it's one to look out for. Just don't expect too much from the camera.

Yu Yunique

Rs. 4999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
4G LTE support
Good looks, low weight
Good display
Near-stock Android

Bad
Mediocre camera
Limited availability

Read detailed Yu Yunique review

2) Yu Yuphoria
The Yu Yuphoria (Review | Pictures) edges just ahead of its sibling the Yu Yunique on this list. The Yuphoria's camera fared a little better in our testing, and it is also the better looking phone, for only a slight premium.

Yu Yuphoria

Rs. 6999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Good design
Sturdy build quality
2GB of RAM
Good pricing

Bad
Buggy performance
Average rear camera performance

Read detailed Yu Yuphoria review

3) InFocus M530
The InFocus M530 (Review | Pictures) is going to be a divisive pick here - you need to know that the battery life is really bad. On the other hand, the design and display are pretty good, and the camera and performance are well ahead of others at the same price.

InFocus M530

Rs. 10999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Power and performance far above its price category
Good rear camera
Among the better front cameras we've seen
Fairly customisable UI

Bad
Pathetic battery life
Average looks
Screen is too low-resolution compared to the competition

Read detailed InFocus M530 review

4) Lenovo A6000 Plus
Another good all-rounder, the Lenovo A6000 Plus (Review | Pictures) is a great buy if battery life is a priority for you, though the camera is still very average.

Lenovo A6000 Plus

Rs. 7499

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Much-needed boost to internal storage and RAM
Excellent battery life
Good design
Excellent value for money
64-bit SoC

Bad
Camera is still average
Still no toughened glass
Vibe 2.0 UI could be improved

Read detailed Lenovo A6000 Plus review

5) Lenovo K3 Note
The Lenovo K3 Note (Review | Pictures) is a good all-rounder with great performance. For the price, you're getting good display and design, and the only (slight) quibbles we have are around the camera and battery life, but if it's in your budget, then this looks like a great pick.

Lenovo K3 Note

Rs. 9999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Great performance
Lots of software tweaks
Good screen and sound

Bad
Average camera quality
Battery life could have been better

Read detailed Lenovo K3 Note review

6) Coolpad Note 3
The Coolpad Note 3 (Review | Pictures) is a good middle of the road Android phone. It's nothing special, but for the price, it delivers good performance, great battery life, and a decent camera. So why is this phone on the list? There's one standout feature that makes it score high on many a wish-list, and that's the fingerprint scanner. This is one of the more interesting new features to come to Android, and makes the Coolpad Note 3 a very tempting buy for some.

Coolpad Note 3

Rs. 8999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Quick and accurate fingerprint sensor
Good performance
Good camera
Good battery life

Bad
Limited availability
Unappealing UI customisations

Read detailed Coolpad Note 3 review

7) Huawei Honor 4C
If you want excellent performance and a dependabe camera then the Huawei Honor 4C (Review |Pictures) appears to be a solid choice. Its rather average display and the fact that it doesn't support 4G in India are two things that keep it from being the top pick.

Huawei Honor 4C

Rs. 8999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Good camera performance
Affordable
Fast and capable SoC

Bad
Display should have been better
Too heavy
Doesn't support 4G

Read detailed Huawei Honor 4C review

8) Xiaomi Mi 4i
The Xiaomi Mi 4i (Review) is amongst the highest rated phones on our list, and it's easy to see why. It's a good looking phone with a great display, good battery life and performance, and a decent enough camera.

Xiaomi Mi 4i

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Stunning display
Great build quality

Bad
MIUI has its quirks
Camera performance could be better

Read detailed Xiaomi Mi 4i review

9) Motorola Moto G (Gen 3)
Together with the Yu Yureka Plus and the Xiaomi Mi 4i, the Motorola Moto G (Gen 3) (Review) rounded out our top three phones under Rs. 15,000 in terms of ratings. Water and dust resistant, the phone has good battery life and performance, though its display and camera could be better.

Motorola Moto G (Gen 3)

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
IPX7 water resistance
Stock Android, timely updates likely
Reliable performer

Bad
Screen gets a bit warm at times

Read detailed Motorola Moto G (Gen 3) review

10) Xolo Black
The Xolo Black (Review | Pictures) is a decently built phone that offers a lot of UI customisation options, and reliable performance, but the custom UI can be sluggish at times.

Xolo Black

Rs. 12999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Decently built and looks good
Hive UI has plenty of customisation options
Good cameras, front camera has flash
Straightforward, reliable performance

Bad
Hive UI can be sluggish at times
Screen isn't quite up to the mark for full-HD
Notification light in the power switch makes no sense
Two separate camera apps make shooting a complicated affair

Read detailed Xolo Black review

11) Gionee Marathon M4
The Gionee Marathon M4 (Review) set a battery life record for us, justifying its bulk with a battery that kept going and going and going. The added bulk also has the bonus of making the phone feel well built and solid, and the camera is pretty good as well.

Gionee Marathon M4

Rs. 15499

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Record-breaking battery life
Feels well-built and solid
Decent photos in daylight
Smooth performance

Bad
Bulky and heavy
Low-resolution screen
Lots of UI quirks and mangled English

Read detailed Gionee Marathon M4 review

Bonus
These are our top ten picks but you could also check out some other phones like the Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime (Review, the InFocus M330 (Review), or the Asus Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE550KL) (Review), which are also within the budget. They all have their own pros and cons as well, and for our picks, we tried to stick to the most rounded choices, but if you have specific needs from your phone, do check out these alternatives.

Which phones caught you eye? Tell us via the comments.

Best Headphones and Earphones Under Rs. 5,000.

2015-11-15T19:21:00.001+05:30

Best Headphones and Earphones Under Rs. 5,000

Don't have a lot of money to spend on new personal audio kit? Don't let that get you down. No matter what you're looking for in a pair of headphones, there's definitely something interesting on offer at under Rs. 5,000.

It's possible to get good sound without breaking the bank. Whether it's looks, comfort, gaming or something else, we've compiled a list of great personal audio products for you. Take a look at our recommendations based on our own experiences, and cross referenced with professional and customer reviews, for all kinds of headphones and earphones priced at less than Rs. 5,000.

(Also see: Tech 101: Things You Need to Know Before Buying Headphones)

Best for comfort

Beyerdynamic DTX 910 - Rs. 3,500

The Beyerdynamic DTX910 has an around-ear design with comfortable and plush padding. It also has swiveling ear pads and an open-backed design, meant to provide a more open and detailed sound. The headphones are also fairly light, thanks to a plastic build, which makes them easy to wear over long periods. The headset has accurate responses, tight bass and decent mid-range performance. However, the open-backed design makes the DTX 910 suitable only for home use, as the sound leaking from them would doubtlessly annoy fellow colleagues or commuters.

Also consider: Audio Technica ATH-AX1iS - Rs. 1,498

Best for looks

Sennheiser PMX 95 - Rs. 4,939

Considered to be a budget headphone work of art, the Sennheiser PMX95 is beautifully stylish thanks to its fabric-coated mesh and sparkling finish. It also uses a neckband rather than a headband for a more urban look and feel, slotting behind your ears for a secure fit. The fit isn't quite as secure and tight as you'd expect with headband-style on-ears, but it offers a laid back, spaced out sound signature.

Also consider: AKG K77 - Rs. 2,299

Best for customisability

Rock Jaw Alfa Genus V2 (Review) - Rs. 4,999

The Alfa Genus V2 in-ears from Rock Jaw aren't like most ordinary pairs of earphones. This headset comes with an interchangeable tuning filter system, which lets you customise the sound to boost part of the frequency range. You can choose to have the bass or treble boosted, or opt for a flat signature, all with the same pair of in-ears. It's also built well, and ships directly from Great Britain.

Also consider: Brainwavz S0 (Review) - Rs. 2,399

Best for wireless

Jabra Move - Rs. 4,592

Among the cheapest wireless options around, the Jabra Move is an on-ear Bluetooth headset that's made with convenience and comfort in mind. It's got a great industrial design and doesn't weight much, but falls a bit short in sound isolation. It has decent sound quality and battery life as well, and comes from a brand with years of experience in wireless audio.

Also consider: Sony MDR-AS600BT - Rs. 4,990

Best for gaming

Steelseries Siberia V1 - Rs. 2,699

Steelseries is a brand known and loved the world over for its dedication to gaming and related peripherals and accessories. The Siberia V1 headset is the perfect entry point into the world of gaming audio, thanks to its comfort, long 2.8m cable and excellent microphone. Unfortunately, the microphone is not retractable, and can only be folded up when not in use. It's one of the best audio options for serious gamers looking to get started.

Also see: Razer Kraken - Rs. 4,975

Best for pure audio

Audio Technica ATH-M30X - Rs. 4,279

Part of Audio Technica's popular M-series of monitor headphones, the M30X is one of the best on-ear headsets you can buy for under Rs. 5,000. Promising a neutral sonic signature which aims to please and excel with practically every genre, the M30X is also comfortable and well-built. It has 40mm dynamic drivers, and also comes with a 3m cable, which makes it ideal for home and studio use.

Also consider: Soundmagic E10S (Review) - Rs. 2,089

That's it for this edition of Headphones 101. For more in our series of headphones basics, visit ourHeadphones 101 page. Do you have any recommendations for great headphones under Rs. 5,000? Let us know via the comments.

Five Engineers, 42 Days: How Flipkart Built an 'App' for the Mobile Web

2015-11-15T19:16:00.003+05:30

Five Engineers, 42 Days: How Flipkart Built an 'App' for the Mobile Web

Flipkart's new mobile web experience Flipkart Lite, which launched on Monday, brings an app-like experience to the mobile Web.

Amar Nagaram, Director - Engineering at Flipkart gave Gadgets 360 a behind the scenes look at how Flipkart Lite was built, including an account of the low-level APIs used to create the advanced Web app, which enables instant access, offline functionality, push notifications, and a rendering performance of 60 fps, in standard test conditions.

"We know a thing or two about Web technologies," says Nagaram, explaining how Flipkart managed to pull off what's being seen as a global exclusive, at least in terms of scale.

"It was all done by five engineers in a matter of 42 days," he says. "There was a lot of learning in the process. It was not like we discovered the silver bullet, and it was all hunky dory from there. There was a lot of back and forth, the Google team was very helpful. We gave a lot of suggestions, they were very quick in turning things around for us,"

"What we did, along with Chrome was to bring these technologies to the mobile, to the browser, and we showed what that can do to a mobile site," Nagaram adds. "We want to bring whatever is on the native app onto Lite. The idea is that Flipkart Lite will drop its Lite tag at some point in the future."

"In terms of feature parity, not in terms of its lightness in terms of memory footprint," he quickly clarifies.

One of the many strengths of Flipkart Lite, Nagaram says, is that its behaviour is network strength agnostic; it was designed to work consistently and reliably on all networks. "If you see Flipkart Lite on a 2G network, there's not much of a difference in its performance," he claims.

Nagaram goes into the details of some of the tools used in Flipkart Lite in a blog post - Service Workers, a scriptable network proxy, can be used to serve a response from the cache when the user is offline. Web Push API was used to enable Push Notifications even when the browser is closed. He also provides links to specific features like Add to Home Screen, detailing GPU friendly animations used to keep rendering performance at 60 frames per second.

"Native apps use splash screen to hide the slow loading of home screen. Web never had this luxury and there was a blank page staring at the user before home screen could load up. Good news is the latest version of Chrome supports generation of a splash screen that radically improves the launch experience and perceived performance of the Web app," the blog post explains.

"We are 60 frames per second on many devices, but due to Android fragmentation we cannot say it out loud on all devices. That is something we are striving continuously to work towards," Nagaram later told Gadgets 360.

Flipkart's future roadmap includes bringing features like Ping and visual search on the mobile Web. "What we've done so far is just the beginning. There's a list of about five or six things that we wanted from browser vendors," says Nagaram. "The idea is to get as close as we can to the native app. So we want much richer and much deeper access to hardware which can make search and Ping possible. We want much richer and contextual permissions from the user, unlike Android, where you take a blanket set of permissions."

"What we are proposing to the Web community, to the browser community - we want to take contextual permissions so the user knows why he's giving the permission," he adds, hoping browsers will one day have access to the same kind of device information and resources that a native app does today. "The user has an option to say no if he doesn't want it."

And there are some definite advantages to this approach. Unlike apps that need to be updated, Web experiences carry a lesser security burden, and bear a smaller memory footprint. The question is whether such functionality can be extended to other browsers as well, or whether it will be locked to Google's Chrome.

According to data provided by Statcounter, which tracks usage share for browsers, UC Browser has a dominating marketshare of 54.4 percent in India, Opera has a 20.21 percent marketshare, Chrome comes third, with 13.46 percent marketshare, while Android's default browser comes fourth, with 5.21 percent marketshare. With Flipkart Lite's technology dependent on the Chromium engine, the user experience is currently limited to only a small subsection of people who use Opera, Chrome, or Android's default browser. It's also worth noting that Chrome on iOS does not support Flipkart Lite. All things considered, Flipkart Lite will benefit less than half of India's mobile browsers right now, though Flipkart insists "it will be extended to other browsers as well in future."

Nagaram didn't want to comment on whether the Flipkart-owned Myntra, which is currently app only, would follow suit and return to the Web. "I head the technology team on Flipkart [and can't speak for Myntra], but there's no reason why not," he says. "We are hoping many app-only companies will follow. There is no reason for Uber to be only on your app."

Trai's Draft on OTT Regulations Goes Far Beyond Telecom for No Reason

2015-04-03T07:56:00.000+05:30

Trai's Draft on OTT Regulations Goes Far Beyond Telecom for No Reason

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) released its draft consultation paper on the regulatory framework for over the top (OTT) services last week. There are severalissues with this paper ranging from language that hides its meaning, cherry picking examples of net neutrality while ignoring those that don't agree with its ~~decisions~~proposals, and drawing inferences about losses to telecom providers without real justification.

The problem is that the term OTT, as defined in the paper, is far reaching and refers to all apps and services you can access online - from Gmail, to Facebook, to news websites like NDTV.com or even apps like Uber or Foodpanda.

The issue goes beyond simply net neutrality, though that is an important one for all Indians. However, Trai's guidelines go well beyond the telecom industry, and start to look at things like health, social sentiment, and the concerns of brick and mortar businesses. This does not really seem relevant in a paper that is meant to understand the impact of Internet businesses on telecom providers.

You can read the consultation paper yourself on the Trai website. The regulator is seeking the views of all stakeholders by April 24 - that includes consumers like you and me - and we would strongly urge our readers to go read this article and then send your comments to advgos@trai.gov.in to let your government know what you want from it.

We read through the complicated 118 page document and while we certainly won't call ourselves experts on the subject, there are some passages that seemed particularly worrying, and didn't seem to belong in this discussion at all. We already highlighted the biggest telecom related issues in the paper, but here are some of the passages from the draft that seem completely tangential.

The argument that Internet services disrupt brick and mortar businesses, and therefore need to be regulated by Trai seems pretty random. That online businesses are disrupting traditional models is clear. Discounts have reportedly cost e-commerce sites around Rs. 1,000 crore in losses and this behaviour appears in many ways anti-competitive.

However, these are questions that have little to do with telecom, which is Trai's mandate, and don't belong in this paper. An app shouldn't require a green-light from Trai before it can be distributed in India.

Trai also raises the dreaded spectre of hacking - and describes the Internet as a car parking lot that a thief is prowling through - this kind of alarmist language is misleading, and perhaps even more importantly, simply allowing people to access apps and websites can't be blamed for these things. Unless the Trai is suggesting some sort of a safety net, the overall implication of these two points is that we should just not have Internet access in India.

Apart from thieves in parking lots, predators, stalkers, bullies and con artists fill the Internet in Trai's eyes. Children need to avoid file sharing, chat rooms, and online gaming. You can almost imagine someone saying: "When we were kids we didn't have any of this Internet stuff. If you wanted to play, you went outside and had fun."

Cyberbullying and (gasp!) "sexting" (their quotation marks, not ours) are the scary phrases of the day, that are apparently made possible by OTTs. Of course, you could argue that it's the prevalence of smartphones that has caused this in the first place, so perhaps Trai can issue a mobile license, which will be required to operate a smartphone, much like a driving license.

Companies like Ola and Uber are also disrupting the taxi industry, and this, Trai believes, should be regulated. We agree wholeheartedly. However, taxi companies should be regulated as taxi companies - the fleets that these companies are hiring operate very differently from their business in the West, and come closer to acting like radio taxi fleets than private car hire.

This seems to be an issue for the Transport department - which is in fact already looking into taxi apps - and not Trai.

Trai also seems to believe that consumer protection laws do not apply to e-commerce websites, which is quite strange. If a site is the seller, why can't you name it as the respondent in case of any issues? And in the case of a marketplace model, the seller is still made clear, and contactable, when you make a purchase. The laws of the land shouldn't cease to exist simply because something is online, and you shouldn't require special laws for the Internet, as was proved by the Supreme Court of India recently.

It is also quite interesting that while Trai in other parts of this document complains that OTT services make it hard for the government to access your data, in this point, it goes so far as to say that Big Data (not Big Brother) is watching. The use of term 'Big Data' aside, this is actually a point we are in agreement with Trai - not that OTTs shouldn't collect data, but the government should have some provisions guaranteeing the privacy of citizens. The catch is that this should be universal, and not something that the government can violate on whim.

Here, we see Trai worrying that tech-savvy thieves will use your GPS information to rob your house while you're out. As you can see though, the regulator is a little conflicted because it says that these apps could be useful for law enforcement. These are actual concerns that need to be debated, but again, Trai does not seem to be the ideal forum to debate issues of national security.

Cultural sensitivity is a bogey that is raised fairly often in Trai's draft consultation paper. Here, the regulator talks about how social media was used to send inflammatory photos targeting students from the North East in 2012. This is problematic because Trai seems to be suggesting that we should not have the option to communicate quickly on social platforms that allow messages to disseminate quickly, in the name of cultural sensitivity. In a paper whose main thrust is that OTTs are hurting telco revenues, this feels like an emotional point being scored that isn't really relevant to the key argument in the first place.

These are just a few samples of how the Trai paper seems to want to focus on all issues that are not related to net neutrality and telecom. At a time when our providers use Fair Usage Policies to offer limited plans they call "Unlimited", where Airtel was considering special fees so that Skype calls aren't cheaper than voice calls, when billing is often erroneous, never transparent, and our call and data services are barely acceptable, it seems that Trai should be looking at what the telcos can do better, instead of helping them to do nothing new and still make more money.

Once again, please read the paper and write to Trai before April 24. It's for all of us.

Samsung Gives Away Free Galaxy S6 Phones to Loyal Galaxy S Owners

2015-04-03T07:54:00.000+05:30

Samsung Gives Away Free Galaxy S6 Phones to Loyal Galaxy S Owners

Samsung Korea is giving away its new flagship smartphone to loyal Galaxy S owners in South Korea, a local newspaper reports. The company offered the new Samsung Galaxy S6 to SK Telecom customers who either bought all Galaxy S-series smartphones or were still using the Galaxy S1, which was launched back in 2010.

The South Korean electronics giant on Tuesday held an event to reward its loyal customers, and the report adds the customers were also given one year's worth of free calls on SK Telecom. The South Korean mobile operator claimed that 15 million customers of its customers had used at least one Galaxy S-series smartphone while 17,000 were still using the Galaxy S1.

Additionally, the operator revealed that more than 1,600 consumers bought all the 13 Galaxy S-series handsets unveiled in the country, while 2,400 people bought more than 10.

Samsung's new flagship Galaxy S6 was initially unveiled at MWC and was launched in India last month at Rs. 49,900 for the 32GB variant.

The Galaxy S6 feature 5.1-inch Quad HD (1440x2560 pixels) Super Amoled display with a pixel density of 577ppi. The new Samsung Galaxy S6 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and is powered by a 64-bit octa-core (quad-core 2.1GHz+ quad-core 1.5GHz) processor coupled with 3GB of RAM (LPDDR4). Three storage variants are available: 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB.

There is a 16-megapixel rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation) and LED flash while there is a 5-megapixel front camera on board. The new premium Galaxy handset also packs fingerprint scanning with an enhanced touch-type fingerprint scanner on the home button. Additionally, the handset comes pre-installed with upgraded Samsung Knox. It also comes preloaded with Microsoft apps such as OneNote and OneDrive with 115GB cloud storage free for 2 years.

The Galaxy S6 is backed by a 2550mAh battery and for connectivity supports LTE Cat. 6 featuring up to 300Mbps download speeds and support for India's 4G LTE networks as well.

Samsung Galaxy S6

Display

5.10-inch

Processor

1.5GHz

Front Camera

5-megapixel

Resolution

1440x2560 pixels

RAM

3GB

OS

Android 5.0

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

16-megapixel

Battery capacity

2550mAh