[Smart News]

39% internet users in US believe they were affected by Heartbleed

2014-05-03T13:27:00.000+05:30

The Pew Research Center report found 39% of US internet users took steps to protect their data such as changing passwords or cancelling accounts.

WASHINGTON: Many Americans scrambled to protect their personal information online after learning of the Heartbleed internet flaw, and some believe their data was stolen, a survey showed Wednesday.

The Pew Research Center report found 39% of US internet users took steps to protect their data such as changing passwords or cancelling accounts.Six percent of the online users said they believed they lost data as a result of Heartbleed, Pew found.

The Heartbleed flaw, which was undetected for more than two years, allowed hackers snatch packets of data from working memory in computers, creating the potential for them to steal passwords, encryption keys or other valuable information.

Most websites patched the flaw as part of a rush to allay concerns about the security of online information.

The Pew survey found mixed views on security of personal information online:

Roughly half —46% — said they believe their information is "somewhat secure," while 23% said their data was "very secure" and 26% not too secure" or "not at all secure."

The survey found 60% of the American public had heard at least a little about Heartbleed, including 64% of internet users.

Split bills, tip with new PayPal's MyCheck

2014-05-03T13:24:00.001+05:30

New technology for PayPal users called MyCheck will give more options like 'split bills' and 'tip the server.'

WASHINGTON: New technology for PayPal users called MyCheck will give more options like 'split bills' and 'tip the server' with their phone when dining out.

According to CNET, Paypal has collaborated with MyCheck, and now it allows users to pay for select restaurants, split bills and tip their server right from PayPal mobile app.

MyCheck offers a consumer-facing app of its own, available for Android and iOS, the report added.

PayPal's app already offered some features like "pay at table", order-ahead and other such services by working with various companies.

Soon, charge mobile phones with your body heat

2014-05-03T13:22:00.000+05:30

LONDON: Scientists have devised new technology which generates electricity from body heat, allowing you to charge electronic devices on the go.

Professor Byung Jin Cho from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea is leading the team working on a thermoelectric (TE) generator.

The small and flexible generator, made from glass and fabric, can be used to power up heart monitors, smartglasses and other wearable tech.

"Mobile phones consume high electrical energy compared to electrical sensors. Right now we are trying to make a sample that provides electricity for medical sensors," Cho said.

"After that, smartphones will be the next application of the TE generator," Cho added.

The device uses the the small but significant temperature difference between skin and air to create power.

So far only two types of TE generators have been developed, based either on organic or inorganic materials, 'The Daily Express' reported.

Cho said his technology, which minimises thermal energy loss but maximises power output, combines the best of both organic and inorganic tech.

"This is quite a revolutionary approach to design a generator. In so doing, we were able to significantly reduce the weight of our generator, which is an essential element for wearable electronics," Cho added.

Nokia appoints Rajeev Suri as new CEO: All you need to know about India-born Nokia veteran

2014-04-29T15:59:00.001+05:30

Nokia today announced 46-year-old India-born Rajeev Suri will be its new CEO. Suri had been the leading candidate for the position, ever since it was known that there will be a re-organisation within Nokia post the Microsoft takeover. “I am honored to have been asked to take this role, and excited about the possibilities that lie in our future. Nokia, with its deep experience in connecting people and its three strong businesses, is well-positioned to tap new opportunities during this time of technological change. I look forward to working with the entire Nokia team as we embark on this exciting journey,” Suri in a statement released by the company.

So who is Nokia’s new CEO? Suri was born in India in 1967, but was raised in Kuwait. He holds a B. Tech degree from the Manipal Institute of Technology, India. Coincidentally, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is also an alumnus of MIT. It should be noted that Suri is one of those few executives who have risen to the top without an MBA degree.

Suri joined Nokia in 1995. His first major posting came when he served as the Head of Asia Pacific at Nokia Siemens Networks from April to August, 2007. He was also Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Nokia from February 2005 to March 2007.

From 2009 onwards, he headed the Nokia Solutions and Networks division (previously known as Nokia Siemens Networks). According to a Reuters report, Suri is credited with turning the unit around, and last year it contributed most of the 12.7 billion euro ($17.58 billion)turnover Nokia made from its continuing operations.

According to a BusinessWeek profile, Suri has worked in Nigeria before he joined Nokia for the Churchgate Group. He also worked for the RPG Group, and ICL in India and was a production engineer at Calcom Electronics in 1989, when he had just graduated from college.

Nokia’s deal with Microsoft has gone through and the mobile division now belongs to the latter. Nokia will now focus on three core business divisions, the Here mapping service (which Microsoft will license for four years under the deal), its infrastructure division Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), and on developing and licensing its advanced technologies.

Suri has worked across the board from production to handling key divisions and has done well for Nokia’s NSN unit. So it seems natural that he was chosen for the top job. How well he manages Nokia, of course, remains to be seen.

Chrome Beta Gets Another Update; Start Page Now Gets A Cleaner, Refreshed Look

2014-04-29T12:28:00.001+05:30

The last update to Chrome Beta brought a nifty undo feature that allowed users to reopen a previously closed tab. Moreover if you kept clicking on the floating notification, you could undo all the previously closed tabs in the session.

This time around Google has given Chrome Beta’s start page a refresh and it certainly looks good. If you ask us, it now looks a lot similar to the desktop version of the Chrome browser with a leaner look. That lean look comes from the new Google start page which seems to be flatter and minimal compared to the current non-beta Chrome browser.

The Recent Tab’s tiles seem to have gotten bigger in size and instead of appearing in the Recent Tab page now appear on the start screen itself. The bigger previews are certainly more detailed than previous smaller ones as well.

The address bar has disappeared from the start screen and Google now prompts you to click on the search field directly which then expands to the address bar. The tab-switcher now sits isolated at the top right hand corner and appears to float over the start page. Somehow the tab-switcher on the browsing pages sticks to the address bar only.

The Chrome Beta update certainly brings a refreshed look, but certainly promises that there is a lot more coming from Google very soon.

Publisher: Google Inc.

Platforms: Android 4.0 or higher

Size: Varies with device

Price: Free

Download URL: Google Play Store

Now, manage emails better with 'Sanebox'

2014-04-29T11:47:00.000+05:30

There are various services that let you send emails to others which get deleted once they read them.

WASHINGTON: A new mail management system is launched that analyzes user's emails, and sorts them according to one's past behavior.

According to The Good Techie, Sanebox separates important and unimportant emails according to user's behavior and automatically filters out unimportant email into a folder and summarizes it in a daily digest.

The result of which is that one's inbox is left with important and high priority emails.

The new tool also has a suite of time saving features such as SaneBlackhole, which enables users to unsubscribe from emails with just one click.

Another feature is the Snooze folders which lets users snooze untimely emails until later, and more, the report added.

Sanebox works on any email service, device or client.

This lamp can record and live-tweet your conversations

2014-04-29T11:45:00.002+05:30

The lamp dubbed Conversnitch surreptitiously listens in on nearby conversations and posts snippets of transcribed audio on-line.

NEW YORK: Next time you lean against a lamp post while having a private conversation, think twice!

Two

artists have developed a creepy new lamp that secretly records people's conversations and live tweets them.

The lamp dubbed Conversnitch surreptitiously listens in on nearby conversations and posts snippets of transcribed audio on-line.

New-York based artists Kyle McDonald and Brian House hope to raise questions about the nature of public and private spaces in an era when anything can be broadcast by ubiquitous, internet-connected listening devices, 'Wired.com' reported.

The surveillance gadget is constructed using a microphone, an LED and a plastic flower pot.

The $100 lamp screws into and draws power from any standard bulb socket.

It then uploads captured audio through the nearest open Wi-Fi network to Amazon's Mechanical Turk crowd-sourcing platform.

The audio and post lines of conversation are then transcribed to Conversnitch's Twitter account.

The lamp was first tested at an art exhibition in Manhattan in October last year.

McDonald and House, however, have not disclosed where else they have planted the device, citing legal issues, the report said.

"We recognise that this device can be used in an illegal way, and we will not admit to using it in that way," McDonald said.

"It has potentially been deployed in various places," said McDonald. PTI

US govt: Stop using Internet Explorer till bug is fixed

2014-04-29T11:41:00.000+05:30

A US government cybersecurity watchdog has warned computer users Monday against using a version of the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser with a security hole that could allow hackers in.

The government's Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) said in a statement that it was aware of "active exploitation" of the security flaw in versions six through 11 of the flagship Explorer browser.

The agency, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, urged computer users to take protective actions and "consider employing an alternative web browser until an official update is available."

The security flaw is of particular concern for computers running Windows XP, an older version of the operating system for which Microsoft has said it will no longer issue security updates.

Microsoft said Saturday that an attacker who successfully exploits the vulnerability could take control of the computer.

Cybersecurity firm FireEye, which took credit for identifying the flaw, said hackers were exploiting the bug in a campaign nicknamed "Operation Clandestine Fox."

Roger Kay, analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, said the flaw affects multiple versions of the browser "but is most dangerous for XP users, since that OS is no longer being maintained."

"While it's still possible that Microsoft will relent and fix XP one more time, users should not count on it," Kay said.

"And even if Microsoft does throw this group a lifeline one more time, inevitably the day will come when the software giant will no longer bail them out."

Why the future of internet is wireless

2014-04-28T15:26:00.000+05:30

As part of its Project Loon, Google last year launched a balloon 20km (12.4 miles) into the skies above New Zealand, providing wireless speeds of up to 3G quality.

The internet may feel like it's everywhere, but large pockets of sky, swathes of land and most of the oceans are still beyond a signal's reach.

Three decades after the first cellphone went on sale — the $4,000 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X "Brick" — half the world remains unconnected. For some it costs too much, but up to a fifth of the population, or some 1.4 billion people, live where "the basic network infrastructure has yet to be built," according to a Facebook white paper last month.

Even these figures, says Kurtis Heimerl, whose Berkeley-based start-up Endaga has helped build one of the world's smallest telecoms networks in an eastern Indonesian village, ignore the many people who have a cellphone but have to travel hours to make a call or send a message. "Everyone in our community has a phone and a SIM card," he says. "But they're not covered."

Heimerl reckons up to 2 billion people live most of their lives without easy access to cellular coverage. "It's not getting better at the dramatic rate you think."

The challenge is to find a way to connect those people, at an attractive cost.

And then there's the frontier beyond that: The oceans.

Improving the range and speed of communications beneath the seas that cover more than two-thirds of the planet is a must for environmental monitoring —climate recording, pollution control, predicting natural disasters like tsunami, monitoring oil and gas fields, and protecting harbors.

There is also interest from oceanographers looking to map the sea bed, marine biologists, deep-sea archaeologists and those hunting for natural resources, or even searching for lost vessels or aircraft. Canadian miner Nautilus Minerals Inc said last week it came to an agreement with Papua New Guinea, allowing it to start work on the world's first undersea metal mining project, digging for copper, gold and silver 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) beneath the Bismark Sea.

And there's politics: China recently joined other major powers in deep-sea exploration, partly driven by a need to exploit oil, gas and mineral reserves. This year, Beijing plans to sink a 6-person 'workstation' to the sea bed, a potential precursor to a deep-sea 'space station' which, researchers say, could be inhabited.

"Our ability to communicate in water is limited," says Jay Nagarajan, whose Singapore start-up Subnero builds underwater modems. "It's a blue ocean space - if you'll forgive the expression."

Balloons, drones, satellites

Back on land, the challenge is being taken up by a range of players — from high-minded academics wanting to help lift rural populations out of poverty to internet giants keen to add them to their social networks.

Google, for example, is buying Titan Aerospace, a maker of drones that can stay airborne for years, while Facebook has bought UK-based drone maker Ascenta. CEO Mark Zuckerburg has said Facebook is working on drones and satellites to help bring the internet to the nearly two thirds of the world that doesn't yet have it. As part of its Project Loon, Google last year launched a balloon 20km (12.4 miles) into the skies above New Zealand, providing wireless speeds of up to 3G quality to an area twice the size of New York City.

But these are experimental technologies, unlikely to be commercially viable for a decade, says Christian Patouraux, CEO of another Singapore start-up, Kacific. Its solution is a satellite network that aims to bring affordable internet to 40 million people in the so-called 'Blue Continent' — from eastern Indonesia to the Pacific islands.

A mix of technologies will prevail, says Patouraux — from fiber optic cables, 3G and LTE mobile technologies to satellites like his HTS Ku-band, which he hopes to launch by end-2016. "No single technology will ever solve everything," he said.

Indeed, satellite technology — the main method of connectivity until submarine cables became faster and cheaper — is enjoying a comeback. While Kacific, O3b and others aim at hard-to-reach markets, satellite internet is having success even in some developed markets. Last year, ViaSat topped a benchmarking study of broadband speeds by the US Federal Communications Commission.

And today's airline passengers increasingly expect to be able to go online while flying, with around 40% of US jetliners now offering some Wi-Fi. The number of commercial planes worldwide with wireless internet or cellphone service, or both, will triple in the next decade, says research firm IHS.

White space

Densely populated Singapore is experimenting with so-called 'white space', using those parts of the wireless spectrum previously set aside for television signals. This year, it has quietly started offering what it calls SuperWifi to deliver wireless signals over 5km or more to beaches and tourist spots.

This is not just a first-world solution. Endaga"s Heimerl is working with co-founder Shaddi Hasan to use parts of the GSM spectrum to build his village-level telco in the hills of Papua.

That means an ordinary GSM cellphone can connect without any tweaks or hardware. Users can phone anyone on the same network and send SMS messages to the outside world through a deal with a Swedish operator.

Such communities, says Heimerl, will have to come up with such solutions because major telecoms firms just aren't interested. "The problem is that these communities are small," says Heimerl, "and even with the price of hardware falling the carriers would rather install 4G in cities than equipment in these communities."

The notion of breaking free of telecoms companies isn't just a pipe dream.

Mesh

Part of the answer lies in mesh networks, where devices themselves serve as nodes connecting users — not unlike a trucker's CB radio, says Paul Gardner —Stephen, Rural, Remote & Humanitarian Telecommunications Fellow at Flinders University in South Australia.

Gardner-Stephen has developed a mesh technology called Serval that has been used by activists lobbying against the demolition of slums in Nigeria, and is being tested by the New Zealand Red Cross.

Mesh networks aren't necessarily small, rural and poor: Athens, Berlin and Vienna have them, too. And Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has called them "the most essential form of digital communication and the cheapest to deploy."

Even without a balloon and Google's heft, mesh networks offer a bright future, says Gardner-Stephen. If handset makers were to open up their chips to tweaks so their radios could communicate over long distances, it would be possible to relay messages more than a kilometer.

In any case, he says, the internet is no longer about instantaneous communication. As long as we know our data will arrive at some point, the possibilities open up to thinking of our devices more as data couriers, storing messages on behalf of one community until they are carried by a villager to another node they can connect to, passing those messages on several times a day.

It's not our present vision of a network where messages are transmitted in an instant, but more like a digital postal service, which might well be enough for some.

"Is the Internet going to be what it looks like today? The answer is no," said Gardner-Stephen.

Pistol shrimps

As the internet changes, so will its boundaries.

As more devices communicate with other devices — Cisco Systems Inc estimates there will be 2 billion such connections by 2018 — so is interest increasing in connecting those harder-to-reach devices, including those underwater, that are beyond the reach of satellites, balloons and base stations.

Using the same overground wireless methods for underwater communications isn't possible, because light travels badly in water. Although technologies have improved greatly in recent years, underwater modems still rely on acoustic technologies that limit speeds to a fraction of what we're now used to.

That's partly because there are no agreed standards, says Subnero's Nagarajan, who likens it to the early days of the internet. Subnero offers underwater modems that look like small torpedoes which, he says, can incorporate competing standards and allow users to configure them.

This is a significant plus, says Mandar Chitre, an academic from the National University of Singapore, who said that off-the-shelf modems don't work in the region's shallow waters.

The problem: A crackling noise that sailors have variously attributed to rolling pebbles, surf, volcanoes, and, according to a US submarine commander off Indonesia in 1942, the Japanese navy dropping some "newfangled gadget" into the water.

The actual culprit has since been identified — the so-called pistol shrimp, whose oversized claw snaps a bubble of hot air at its prey. Only recently has Chitre been able to filter out the shrimp's noise from the sonic pulses an underwater modem sends. His technology is now licensed to Subnero.

There are still problems speeding up transmission and filtering out noise, he says. But the world is opening up to the idea that to understand the ocean means deploying permanent sensors and modems to communicate their data to shore.

And laying submarine cables would cost too much.

"The only way to do this is if you have communications technology. You can't be wiring the whole ocean," he told Reuters. "It's got to be wireless."

Twitter rolls out redesigned profile for all users

2014-04-28T15:19:00.000+05:30

WASHINGTON: Twitter's new Facebook-like profile design, which was earlier available only to a certain group of users, has finally been made public.

According to CNET, the design, though radically altered from Twitter's previous profile design, may look familiar as it smacks of Facebook's Timeline, especially with the massive photo up top and key biographical information displayed on the left.

Twitter users also have the option to pin a selected tweet to the top of their profile page.

Meanwhile, tweets with more activity appear larger as compared to the rest, the report added.

7 things to know while buying a laptop

2014-04-28T14:25:00.000+05:30

Laptop designs and technology have changed considerably over the years and picking up a laptop that suits your needs and budget can be a challenging task. Follow these tips while buying a laptop…

Touchscreen

If you love gadgets that you can operate via touch, then a touchscreen laptop is right for you. For instance, the tile- and gesture-based Windows 8 interface is far easier to use with a touchscreen.

Touchscreen laptops also have a number of benefits. It is easier to scroll through web pages, start apps, browse images and view lengthy documents. In touchscreen laptops, you can also revert to traditional keyboard mode.As of now, touchscreens are available in Windows only. A touchscreen laptop with Windows 8 can be purchased for less than Rs 30,000.

Weight and design

If you travel a lot, opt for a lightweight 12- or 13-inch laptop that offers good battery life. If your usage is mainly at home/office, go for a laptop with a 14- or 15.6-inch display that can be carried around occasionally

If you are a gamer or photo/video editor who prefers a powerful machine, then consider getting a powerful 15.6- or 17-inch machine.

If your laptop travels with you all the time, then go for a laptop which has a metallic body instead of a plastic one. If your kids also use the same laptop, then go for a corporate model laptop built from metal to make it more durable.

Storage capacity

Optical drives are bulky, so they were the first to go. These days, unless you get a 15.6-inch laptop, optical drives are rare. Another change is the shift to flash based storage (SSDs) from hard drives or HDDs.

Flash storage is more expensive but less prone to failure and can be much smaller and offers better speed.

Operating system

Many people, just to save a few bucks, do not go for a pre-loaded operating system, without realizing that installing an OS on your own along with other software is a tough and time-consuming task. Also go for an operating system which you are familiar with.

Size does matter

If you need a laptop for your home office, then go for a bigger screen laptop as it not only improves your productivity but is also good for your eyes.

However, if you need a laptop to give presentation, then a light notebook with a small screen would be ideal.

Features

A good laptop needs to have a higher multi-core CPU like Intel and AMD CPU, which have multi-core have good speed. Also ensure that it has 3-4 USB slots.

Watch out

Do not buy re-certified or refurbished laptops. Buy from a reputed dealer or e-commerce sites, as well-known brands offer after-sale services and their laptops last longer.

LG G Flex review

2014-04-22T15:38:00.000+05:30

LG’s ‘curveball’ is a unique Android experience at a great cost

We’ve reached a point where numbers aren’t everything when it comes to flagship smartphones. Yes, it is important to have good specifications since customers expect the best at the higher prices but they are also looking for something else, something unique. This could be design, choice of materials used or a killer feature that no one else has. LG decided it’s finally time to put its Plastic OLED display into mass production and the G Flex is the first commercial device to launch globally with it. Since this technology is still in its nascent stages, it’s going to be costly to produce, which reflects in the Flex’s retail price.
But one the economies of scale even out over the next couple of years, is this the future of smartphones? Will flexible displays be the next frontier to innovate on or is it just a fad like 3D was in the mobile space?

Design and Build

The LG G Flex is superbly built handset. In fact, it might just be the best looking and built 6-inch smartphone after the Nokia Lumia 1520. It’s tough to get a phone of this size to feel comfortable in your hand but we feel LG has done a brilliant job with this. The front is almost all-screen with very slim bezels all around. The 6-inch curved P-OLED display has a slightly low resolution of 1280 x 720 due to technological limitations but it doesn’t detract from the experience in anyway. It’s noticeably less sharp compared to LG’s G2 but the special skin for the Flex compensates for any side effects of low pixel count. This skin is a lot more pleasing and user friendly compared to LG’s usual interface, which you can switch to if needed.

The cluster of buttons around the back

Taking the ‘curvaceous phone’ concept to another level

The G Flex is massive and there’s no getting around that

A much more pleasing skin

Good audio and video playback

Plenty of productivity apps

Low-light is not bad

Indoor shots have pretty good detail

Good depth of field effect

There’s a single slot on the side for the Micro-SIM and the usual assortment of ports at the bottom. The rest of the buttons, including the IR blaster, sits on the back. This can be a little inconvenient to use due to the phone’s size and we wished they had kept the buttons on the side. Thankfully, there are plenty of gestures for waking up the phone or adjusting the volume so you won’t really need to bother with the buttons.

There are a couple of ways to design flexible OLED panels and LG has chosen the Plastic OLED route. The display is quite resilient when it comes to scratches and fingerprints. Being a curved phone, there are chances of undue pressure falling on the back during the course of usage, which is why the flexing bit is used as a safety mechanism. The entire body, including the battery, has the ability to flatten and pop back into shape. We’re not sure how the phone will handle being flat for extended periods of time but we recommend you don’t try it.

LG as also added a special coating to the back panel which automatically ‘repairs’ scratches during normal usage. This works well with fine hairline scratches that appear when you place your phone on a hard surface. However, since it’s merely a coating, a deep enough scratch will cause a permanent mark as the coating itself, comes right off.

The G flex is well packaged and features all the usual suspects like lots of reading material, charger, data cable and the QuadBeat 2 earphones.

Features

Underneath the flexing madness, it’s a standard flagship Android phone. We have a quad-core number cruncher from Qualcomm running at 2.26GHz. There’s 2GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard memory. Needless to say, everything from the UI to apps runs extremely smoothly. The interface is very similar to any other LG phone so there are scrollable toggle switches on the top Q Slide apps and Q Remote. LG has also added a Dual Window feature, similar to what Samsung started with their Note series. Here, you can have two apps running simultaneously in split-screen mode.

The Plastic OLED display takes a bit of getting used to. It’s unlike a typical LCD or even AMOLED display and on certain backgrounds, like gray, it looks like an e-ink display. This is only really noticeable when you fire up the Play Store but otherwise, it’s just like any other display. Colours are fairly accurate but it’s very sharp due to the low pixel count. The curve isn’t really going to change your smartphone experience in any way but it does make the display seem a bit less massive.

Media

The audio and video player supports the usual assortment of codecs and file types. Audio quality is good with good IEMs. The player supports a host of ‘Audio Effects’ and you can even add your cloud accounts to directly save tracks in the cloud.

The QuickTheatre app lets you access your photos, video and YouTube through a single app. Video playback maxes out at 1080p.

Connectivity

The G Flex is supports 4G along with dual-band 3G and quad-band 3G support. You even get dual-band Wi-Fi ‘ac’, Bluetooth v4.0, GLONASS, NFC, Miracast and IR. LG also throws in a bunch of productivity apps like LG Backup, Life Square, Polaris Viewer, Quick Translator, RemoteCall Service.

Call quality is good and alerts are audible clearly through the loudspeaker.

Camera

The G Flex gets a 13MP BIS shooter but it’s not the same as the one on theLG G2. For starters, it doesn’t seem to have Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) so low-light shots aren’t very good as compared to the G2. You get to play around with the same features like we did with the G2 and the UI hasn’t changed much as too. 4K video recording support hasn’t been added yet, although the phone is capable of it.

Battery Life

Battery life is nothing short of excellent on the G Flex. The 3,500mAh battery coupled with the low resolution screen and efficient Snapdragon 800 SoC all come together very well. We easily got at least a day and half of real world usage, sometimes more. After our 8-hour loop test, we had about 38 percent battery remaining.

Verdict and Price in India

Living on the cutting edge of technology doesn’t come cheap, especially if that technology is still in its nascent stages. The G Flex will cost you Rs 70,000 a pop and that’s a lot of money for a smartphone. As a ‘phablet’, the G Flex is easily amongst the best there is. It’s built very well and looks absolutely stunning, second to the Nokia Lumia 1520. And it’s not like LG compromised on the hardware as well since it’s every bit as powerful as the G2. Battery life is also one of its strong suits. If the G Flex can drop to around Rs 30,000, we would recommend it but right now, there are better offerings like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Lumia 1520 in the upper segment while the Sony T2 Ultra makes a very strong case for itself under Rs 30,000.

Recipe: Crab Curry

2014-04-22T14:20:00.000+05:30

It is a mouth-watering delicacy

Ingredients: Three or four raw crabs, four potatoes, two onions (finely chopped), two tbsp turmeric paste, two tbsp red chilli paste, one tbsp ginger paste, one tsp garlic paste, bay leaves, garam masala, oil, two tbsp ghee, salt, two cups of water.

Method: Clean the crabs well and remove the hard shell. Mix turmeric, salt and fry, before keeping aside. In the same pan, fry the potatoes and keep aside. In a pan, heat ghee, add bay leaves and garam masala. Stir and fry for a few minutes, and add onions and stir. Add all pastes, salt and cook until the colour changes. Mix a bit of water, then add two cups more to fried potatoes and crabs. Cover and simmer gently until potatoes get cooked.

Tips for a glowing skin

2014-04-22T14:18:00.000+05:30

Follow these simple rules...

1. For a glowing skin it's not only what you put on your skin it's also to what one puts inside both food and thoughts! So, eat healthy,think healthy and positive for a clear skin! Flax seeds, sesame, soya, nuts, fish&other sea food, palak, saag is very nourishing as provide oils needed more in this weather for skin and internal body systems.

2. Never sleep without cleansing your face even after a 2:00 am late night! As we sleep to vitalize our mind skin automatically rejuvenates and the last thing you put on your face is like food our dermis! So a good and potent night cream according to the individual skin care demand is the true need of hour at that time!
3. Hydrate your body well!Never forget pure water is the healthiest drink known to us for healthy skin and body!

4. Time to sun bathe for those few minutes of sun surely but pls use a SPF on face and avoid splashing it on legs,neck and other protected areas so that vitamin D can be absorbed. This SPF will help you against wrinkles, pigmentation, skin cancer,etc.

5. Using almond oil for dry to normal skin, else baby oil for oily skin on face as a face pack is the best moisturizer for skin in this weather. Try to apply more on slightly damp face and remove with tissue for oily skin after less than a hour and for normal or dry skin almond oil can be left for longer!

6. Short showers with mild soaps and dabbing essential oils on top of which moisturisers on damp body which do not need to be expensive elixirs but can be pure petroleum jelly, Glycerine,mineral oil will help trap the moisture and keep you at bay this winters from dehydration of skin!

Ek Villain - Official Teaser Trailer

2014-04-22T14:05:00.001+05:30

Ek Villain is a love story from the Director of Ashiqui 2. Starring Sidharth Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh and Shraddha Kapoor, this romantic thriller is set to release on 27th June 2014

Install Windows Phone 8.1 Preview On Your Handset Today

2014-04-22T13:21:00.002+05:30

Showcased at BUILD conference, the Windows Phone 8.1 update has started rolling out for developers. As many of you would already know, the new software comes with a plethora of improvements such as virtual assistant Cortana, more customisable Start Screen, Action Center (copy of Android's notification bar), Internet Explorer 11, swipey keyboard, and tighter Skype integration. The best part is that the update is compatible with all WP8 handsets including the entry-level Nokia Lumia 520. Note that developer preview is not the final version of Windows Phone 8.1, so you may come across a few bugs.

Jealous of all those developers rocking the latest version of OS? Well, you too can participate in this program and get WP 8.1 update today. The procedure is quite easy, just follow these instructions:

1. Go to appstudio.windowsphone.com and register. Use the Windows account (Live.com, Outlook.com, Hotmail.com) associated with your phone. It's free.

2. Download the Preview for Developers app on your phone.

3. In the app, use the same Microsoft account to login.

4. Now again go to appstudio.windowsphone.com. You'll be asked whether you want to let this service access your email addresses in your profile. Click 'Yes. You can these permissions at any time.

5. Go to Settings - Phone update. Click on 'check for updates'. The automated process will back up your data before the big update. The 8.1 update is around 500 MB in size. So download it over Wi-Fi.

We've tested the update on Lumia 520 and HTC 8X. It's working fine on both. Here are a few screenshots of the new features. After the software refresh, feel free to share your start screen in the comments sections.

Apple to recycle all products for free

2014-04-22T12:53:00.002+05:30

The iPhone and iPad maker is detailing its efforts to cultivate a greener Apple in an environmental section on the company's website.

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple is offering free recycling of all its used products and vowing to power all of its stores, offices and data centres with renewable energy to reduce the pollution caused by its devices and online services.

The iPhone and iPad maker is detailing its efforts to cultivate a greener Apple in an environmental section on the company's website that debuted Monday. The site highlights the ways that the Cupertino, California, company is increasing its reliance on alternative power sources and sending less electronic junk to landfills.

Apple had already been distributing gift cards at some of its 420 worldwide stores in exchange for iPhones and iPods still in good enough condition to be resold. Now, all of the company's stores will recycle any Apple product at no charge. Gift cards won't be handed out for recycled products deemed to have little or no resale value.

The offer covers a wide array of electronics that aren't supposed to be dumped in landfills because of the toxins in them. In the past seven years alone, Apple has sold more than 1 billion iPhones, iPods, iPads and Mac computers.

The new initiative, timed to coincide with Tuesday's annual celebration of Earth Day, strives to position Apple as an environmental steward amid the technological whirlwind of gadgets and Internet services that have been drawing more electricity from power plants that primarily run on natural gas and coal.

Technology products and services accounted for about 2 percent of worldwide emissions in 2012, roughly the same as the airline industry, according to statistics cited by environmental protection group Greenpeace in a report released earlier this month. Some of biggest electricity demands come from huge data centres that house the stacks of computers that process search requests, store photos and email and stream video.

These online services, often dubbed "cloud computing," collectively consume more electricity than all but five countries - China, the US, Japan, India and Russia.

As the world's largest technology company, Apple is trying to hatch more environmental solutions than problems.

"What the company wants to do is use all our innovation and all of our expertise to make the planet more secure and make the environment better," Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environmental initiatives, said in a Monday interview. Jackson ran the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama before joining Apple last June.

Apple CEO Tim Cook underscored the commitment by narrating a 1 minute, 44 second video about the company's efforts to protect the environment. "To us, better is a force of nature," Cook says in the video.

The campaign appears to be more than just public relations stunt, based on Greenpeace's high praise for Apple in its recent review of the technology industry's environmental responsibility.

Among the 19 companies covered in the report, Greenpeace described Apple as "the most innovative and most aggressive in pursuing its commitment to be 100% renewably powered." Greenpeace also gave high marks to Apple rival, Google, and Facebook, which makes one of the most popular apps on the iPhone and iPad.

All four of Apple's data centres, which are located in North Carolina, Oregon, Nevada and California, already rely entirely on renewable energy, the company said. The electricity comes from a variety of alternative sources, including biogas, as well as wind, solar and hydro power.

That means whenever people are interacting with Apple's iTunes store, sending messages or engaging in video chats, they "can feel comfortable that they are not adding any carbon pollution to the atmosphere," Jackson said.

About 94% of the power in Apple's offices in the world is now supplied by renewable energy sources, up from 35% in 2010, according to the company. Apple is building a new 2.8-million-square-foot headquarters in Cupertino that will be powered solely by renewable energy when it's completed in 2016.

About 120 of Apple's US stores, or nearly half of the outlets in the country, run entirely on renewable energy. The stores running on renewable energy include locations in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Santa Monica, California. The company isn't specifying a timetable for meeting its goal to convert its other 300 stores in the world to renewable energy.

TCS joins top 10 global IT services companies club

2014-04-22T12:51:00.001+05:30

Twelve years ago, when TCS’ revenues were about $1 billion, then CEO S Ramadorai had laid out a vision to be among the top 10 by 2010.

BANGALORE: This is a landmark for Indian IT. The country's largest IT services provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has broken into the league of top 10 global IT services companies, moving from the 13th position in 2012 to the 10th spot in 2013.

Twelve years ago, when TCS' revenues were about $1 billion, then CEO S Ramadorai had laid out a vision to be among the top 10 by 2010. It's taken a little longer, partly because of the global financial slump of 2008-09, but the company has now got there, and considering the pace at which it is growing compared to its global counterparts, the ranking could get better fairly quickly in the years to come.

"Talk to any incumbent western service provider today, and the one making them all tremble from the sub-continent is TCS," writes Jamie Snowdon, executive VP of research operations at HfS Research, the consultancy firm that compiled the ranking.

TCS is estimated to have IT services revenues of $10.1 billion (out of its total revenues of about $12.5 billion). IBM ($54.4 billion), Fujitsu ($32.1 billion), Hewlett-Packard ($29.2 billion) and Accenture ($25.4 billion) lead the list.

The research compares IT services, and excludes other areas such as BPO, R&D services and software/hardware products. And it uses figures for the four quarters of calendar year 2013. TCS rose to the 10th spot displacing Montreal-based IT services firm CGI.

India-based companies Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro and HCL are at the 15th, 18th, 20th and 25th positions, respectively, all of them rising by one to three spots compared to 2012. HfS Research believes that Cognizant could be in the top 10 in the next 2-3 years, may be at the expense of US IT company CSC. CSC's revenues last year had dropped compared to the year before.

On TCS, HfS says its aggressive targeting of renewals and new business, particularly in continental Europe, was an important factor in driving its assault on the leaders. TCS, it said, is frequently seen as being the most flexible service provider on pricing and terms, and has a developing reputation for winning any deal anywhere in the world at any price, if it really wants.

"The firm is increasingly being perceived by many today as an alternative provider to the Western Tier 1s, that can come in and fix messy contracts and implementations; it has shown an appetite and willingness pick up a lot of the low-margin, low-value work that seemingly every Western Tier 1 wants out of and make the deals profitable and leverageable across clients," said Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS. TCS also has an extraordinary profit margin, something that's normally difficult to achieve in conjunction with high revenue growth.

Google And Apple Battle To Offer Exclusive Game Apps

2014-04-22T12:40:00.000+05:30

Trumping each other in offering better app environments seems to be the goal here.

Despite the inherent power of Google's Android and Apple's iOS, the thing that really draws customers in is the app environment built around them. Now the two rivals have declared an all out war to ensure that top game titles arrive first on devices powered by their respective operating systems.

According to the Wall Street Journal, both companies are trying to lure game developers by offering them prominent placement on their app stores' home page and featured lists. This ensures maximum exposure for certain game apps, while both companies use them as marketing ploys to showcase why customers should choose their device environments.

Moreover, for Apple this means added earnings through its app store, given that it takes a 30 per cent cut from every transaction made to buy an app and even within the app itself. Just last year the company struck a deal with Electronic Arts Inc to promote the game “Plants Vs Zombies 2” in its app store.

This also goes to show that productivity isn't the only thing on the minds of customers who purchase smartphones. Game and social tools are still among the most downloaded and used apps on mobile devices, and apart from enhancing the look and feel of their operating systems, Apple and Google know that staying ahead in the app race is key to their success.

Nokia expects Microsoft deal to close by Friday

2014-04-22T12:31:00.001+05:30

Nokia said on Monday it expects the sale of its handset business to Microsoft to be finalised on April 25, as it had received all the required regulatory approvals.

The closure of the 5.4 billion euro ($7.5 billion) deal, which was agreed in September, had been delayed due to pending approvals, but earlier this month the companies won a crucial nod from Chinese regulators.

Last year, Microsoft had announced that it has purchased substantially all of Nokia’s devices and services business, and license and use of the company’s patents and mapping services. The deal was expected to close in the Q1 of 2014 and would be subject to approval by Nokia’s shareholders, regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will pay 3.79 billion euros to purchase the Finnish company’s devices and services business, and 1.65 billion euros to license Nokia’s patents, for a total transaction price of 5.44 billion euro (approx $7.2 billion) in cash. That amount is significantly less than what the Redmond company paid for Skype in 2011. Microsoft will draw upon its overseas cash resources to fund the transaction, the company had said.

Microsoft is also believed to rename the handset division of Nokia to Microsoft Mobile once Microsoft’s Nokia takeover is complete.

Motorola Could Soon Roll Out Two New Variants Of The Moto G

2014-04-21T16:42:00.001+05:30

American phone-maker Motorola is supposedly planning to release two new variants of its popular mid-segment Moto G smartphone, dubbed the Moto G LTE and Moto G Ferrari, accroding to Xataka. The two devices are expected to retain much the same hardware as the regular Moto G, albeit a few changes.

The Moto G LTE as its name suggests will feature a 4G LTE radio, allowing for much faster internet speeds. While Motorola had initially planned for the Moto G to be successful in emerging markets, the phone has been well received in developed markets too where customers have ready access to 4G networks. This could be one of the reasons the company decided a 4G enabled Moto G would make sense.

The other device, dubbed Moto G Ferrari is rumoured to be a special edition version, featuring the distinctive design probably inspired by the Italian supercars. On the contrary it could just be a red coloured version of the phone just as Google launched a red Nexus 5. (keep in mind the Moto G was conceived when Motorola was still owned by Google)

Apart from this, one can expect some Ferrari logos with some added livery to spruce things up. If the Moto G Ferrari does indeed get launched, it wouldn't be the first time Motorola has joined forces with the Italian mark to launch special edition phones.

Recently Motorola has been making the headlines with an upcoming flagship Moto X+1 and even an ultra-slim Moto E. Seems as though Motorola is keen to maintain its newfound success, despite the ongoing transition of ownership from Google to Lenovo.

HTC One (M8) Finally Gets Launched In India, Will Retail For Rs 49,900

2014-04-21T16:42:00.000+05:30

The HTC One (M8) has finally been launched in India for a price tag of Rs 49,900. The gorgeously crafted all metal flagship handset by HTC will soon be available starting early May.

The HTC One (M8) was one of the first high-end devices to go on sale worldwide this year. But the sale was most limited to Europe and the Americas until now. The phone has two new features that HTC hopes will help it take the lead from Samsung’s GALAXY S5 which has been a hit here in India since its launch a few weeks ago. Samsung surely had a head start, but HTC plans to catch up with an all-metal (plastic free) construction and the enhanced UltraPixel sensor with Duo Camera.

Most notable, is the phone's 5 inch Full HD 1080 x 1920 LCD (441 ppi) display, which now includes the navigation buttons at the bottom, doing away with the soft-touch buttons. On the Inside there's a fresh piece of silicon — a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core 801, clocked at 2.5 GHz with a Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU. Currently there is just one option for in-built memory: 16 GB, with the option to expand storage up to 128 GB via a micro SD card slot.

The body of the new HTC One is more rounded around the edges when compared to its predecessor, and comes in three colours - Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver and Amber Gold. The finish of the phone’s body has changed as well and is now a sexy brushed aluminium one. This time around HTC seems to have made the One out of 90% metal.

Now moving on to the newest feature of the One, its camera. HTC has retained the 4 MP UltraPixel shooter, but it now features a 1/3-inch sensor with pixel size standing at 2-micron and a wide f/2.0 aperture. Output from the second camera will never be visible on the screen but will simply be used for calculating the depth of field; information that will later be useful for image enhancements such as focus shift.

PayPal Fingerprint Authentication System For The Galaxy S5 Now In 25 Countries

2014-04-20T16:43:00.000+05:30

Samsung at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) along with the GALAXY S5 also announced that a new mode of payment that would be introduced worldwide thanks to PayPal. This obviously would be possible only with the use of Samsung’s latest and greatest flagship, the GALAXY S5 which has finger print sensor built into the home key. However back then, such a feature still looked gimmicky as people were not convinced about how well such a technology would work; especially when it is running on a device with open source software.

Well, PayPal has now finally announced that the same fingerprint-based authentication system will now be available in 25 countries. This obviously had to come only after the GALAXY S5 was released worldwide because it uses the fingerprint scanner that is built into the phone.

The phone will now allow you to just swipe to make payments on mobile web sites, mobile apps and even in physical stores just via your phone. This is all thanks to PayPal without which, Samsung’s fingerprint sensor would only be limited to unlocking the device. The video below clearly shows that you will definitely not need to pull out your wallet and get all transactions done securely, just via your phone.

Commenting on security, John Lunn from PayPal Developer Network, said

“Customers can use their finger to pay with PayPal from their new Samsung Galaxy S5 because the FIDO ready software on the device securely communicates between the fingerprint sensor on their device and PayPal’s service in the cloud. The only information the device shares with PayPal is a unique encrypted key that allows PayPal to verify the identity of the customer without having to store any biometric information on PayPal’s servers.”

The FIDO Alliance is basically made up of a number of big names in software, hardware and finance. Some of these include Google, BlackBerry Bank of America, Lenovo, MasterCard, Microsoft and many more. Their basic objective is to create a secure online ecosystem for users and businesses helping develop a secure internet for the future.

PayPal has also launched apps for the GALAXY Gear 2 and Gear Fit as promised back at the MWC. These apps will allow the users to check their balance, get notifications about offers and even pay directly from their smartwatches (via the device of course).

In case you are wondering which are those 25 countries, Samsung‘s website currently mentions 26. Below is a list for the same; and NO, India is not on it.

US, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong.

Top Windows Phone 8.1 Features You Need To Know About

2014-04-20T16:18:00.000+05:30

Four years ago, Microsoft was struggling to battle iOS and Android with its ageing Windows platform. The situation hasn’t changed much today, the software giant is still lagging behind Apple and Google in the mobile space. However, at least now, Microsoft has got a modern OS at its disposal, and it's getting better with time. Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president & manager for Windows Phone, unveiled the latest iteration of Microsoft’s mobile platform at BUILD conference. Dubbed Windows Phone 8.1, the update brings a lot of new features to the table.

Enhanced Start Screen

Those who made a switch to Windows Phone would definitely appreciate its fluidness. But, at the same time, they must be missing the customisability offered by Android. However, the situation is set to change with the Windows Phone 8.1 update. Users can now set custom background for the Start screen. Moreover, the company has added a new app that lets you set a wide range of interesting Lock Screen Themes. This feature lets you personalise the lockscreen right from the visual style to animations.

CortanaTo compete with Apple’s Siri, Microsoft unveiled its personal digital assistant called Cortana. Named after the AI character from the popular Xbox game Halo, Cortana can be triggered by pressing the search button on your device. You can interact with her with voice or keyboard input. It’s powered by Bing, which works well in the US, but not very relevant for India. Cortana will launch in the U.S. first as a “beta,” followed by the U.K. and China. For the rest of the world, it is expected to roll-out in 2015.

Tighter Skype Integration
In the latest iteration, Windows Phone OS comes with tight Skype integration. Instead of treating as the third-party app, WP devices will now let you place Skype calls right from the phone dialler. If you’re too lazy to place a call, you can ask Cortana to set it up for you.
Action Center
In Windows Phone, live tiles bring all the latest updates right onto your start screen. Still many users have been requesting an Android-esque dedicated notification bar. Based on the consumer feedback, Microsoft finally introduced the Action Center to enable notifications. Ot also gives quick access to Wi-Fi, Flight Mode, Bluetooth, and Rotation Lock toggles.

Internet Explorer 11
The Internet Explorer 11 offers a slew of new features. You now get the reading view, which extracts texts from an article distraction free reading experience. Then there’s an InPrivate mode, which works like Google Chrome’s incognito window. IE mobile is now compatible with WebGL and YouTube’s HTML5 video player.
If you were missing Android’s Swipe keyboard on your WP device, there’s a good news for you. Windows Phone 8.1 comes with the new ‘Word Flow Keyboard’ that lets you type quickly with swipe action.

WP8 phones were criticised for the unified volume control. Now finally, in Windows Phone 8.1 you can set volume for ringtones and music playback independently.

Improved Keyboard

Individual Volume Settings

Apart from these major changes, Microsoft has also added a few new features to PeopleHub, Camera app, and Xbox Music (not available in India). The Windows Phone 8.1 update is compatible with all the existing WP8 devices including the budget Nokia Lumia 520. It will come preinstalled on all upcoming WP handsets starting from the Lumia 630 and 635 and Lumia 930. Developers would get to test the latest build as early as 10 of this month.

"Unlock interesting data from your Gmail account with Gmail Meter"

2012-04-20T09:32:00.003+05:30

I’ve been using Gmail for as long as I can remember, and unfortunately I have more unread emails than I care to admit. The service is my lifeblood, but one thing that’s missing is the ability to gain insight into how active I am in sending and receiving email. Is there a certain

time of day where I get more emails than others? That’s the type of thing I’d love to know.

A Developer Programs Engineer on the Gmail team, Saurabh Gupta, has posted a note about a neat little Google Apps script called “Gmail Meter” which will send you a report at the beginning of every month with interesting data about your email interactions, as well as the ability to set up your own custom reports.

It’s not an official Google app mind you, but it seems like a pretty robust script. Installing it requires you to set up a new spreadsheet within Google Docs, using the same account that you have for Gmail.

Out of the box, the app will show you:

- Statistics on the volume of email you send and receive, along with breakdowns of how many messages you’ve starred and marked important

- Daily traffic estimates showing you which days are your heaviest “email days”

- Categories of emails which will tell you how you’re using Gmail labels to manage your messages

- How long it takes for you to respond to an email the first time, showing you how efficient, or inefficient you are with email

- Word count tabulations which can give you an overall sense of if you’re too wordy

The installation process requires you to go to Tools > Script Gallery. Search for “Gmail Meter” and click Install within your newly set up spreadsheet. Here’s a quick video tutorial that will take you through the steps:

Once you’re all set up, you’ll start getting emails at the beginning of the month which will keep you on the straight and narrow as far as managing email goes. Who knows, it might turn you into an email pro. Or in my case, it might scare me away from using email completely.

Hopefully Google will integrate something like this into the Gmail product so that we can get stats in real-time and not have to install any scripts.