Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 launched with Intel processor Run On Android Or Windows 10

Xiaomi Mi Pad 2

Last month, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 was unveiled. The 7.9-inch slate was originally offered with 16GB of native storage, powered by Android. This model is priced at 999 Chinese Yuan, or $156 USD. This morning, at 10 am sharp in China, Xiaomi released the 64GB variant of the tablet which is offered with Android, or Windows 10 inside. Both models are priced at 1299 Chinese Yuan, or $203 USD.

If you weren't quick enough to score a 64GB Mi Pad 2, the bad news is that the tablet is now sold out in that configuration. It took less than a minute for all of the inventory to be sold in a flash sale. There were a few complaints made to the company's Tablet page on Weibo, but there isn't much that can be done except to wait for the company to churn out more units.

Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 Windows 10

In case you haven't had time to study the specs, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 keeps the 7.9-inch screen employed on the original Mi Pad, and even the 1536 x 2048 resolution is the same. Instead of the Tegra K1, which powered the OG model, the sequel has the Intel Atom X5-Z8500 chipset under the hood, with a quad-core 2.2GHz CPU. 2GB of RAM is inside along with 64GB of native storage. An 8MP camera is on back featuring an f/2.0 aperture, and the 5MP front-facing camera handles selfies and video chats. A 6190mAh battery powers the unit, and the slate features a Type-C USB port. Fast charging allows you to top off the battery quickly.

The quick sellout of the 64GB Mi Pad 2 will surely lead to the old glass half full/half empty game. Some will say that exceptional demand led to the quick sell out, while others will say that Xiaomi didn't produce enough units. Regardless of the reason behind it, the headlines say that the 64GB version of the Mi Pad 2 is sold out and that will look good for the company, which has uncharacteristically stumbled around a bit this year.

Highlights

- 2.24 GHz Intel Atom X5-Z8500 Quad-Core Processor
- 2GB RAM With 16GB ROM
- 7.9 Inch QXGA Display With 326 PPI
- 8MP Rear Camera
- Full Metal Body
- 5MP Front Camera
- Wifi
- Bluetooth 4.1
- USB Type-C
- 6190 MAh Battery

Bill Payment Via Twitter user will possiblr Soon in India

Twitter users in India may soon be able to pay their bills though the micro-blogging site, the media reported.

The company has announced a partnership with India-based startup Lookup to enable users send a direct message to @lookuplite in order to book appointments, inquire about services and make transactions with businesses, Techcrunch reported.

Lookup lets retailers and consumers chat with each other through direct messaging. It boasts of 1.2 million registered users despite listing merchants from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Currently, users can buy directly within the social network thorough Twitter's 'Buy' button.

In the new arrangement, orders and payments would be fulfilled separately and offline with Twitter simply facilitating the conversation.

Lookup will use Twitter's API, as well as its monitoring capabilities, to handle connecting the customer to the prospective merchant.

Instead of connecting users through phone numbers, Lookup instead uses Google Maps to give users a view of all the retailers in their area.

Last week, a new study found that illegal online pharmacies are using Twitter to promote prescription drug abuse of controlled substances.

"This study is the first to establish an empirical link between Twitter content and illicit online pharmacies which promote the illegal sale of drugs that have significant abuse potential," said study co-author Timothy Mackey from University of California-San Diego.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), young adults are the biggest abusers of prescription opioid pain relievers, ADHD stimulants, and anti-anxiety drugs

Google 'Bubble Level' on Your Phone to Turn It Into One

Next time you need to hang a picture on the wall, but don't have a level measure next to you, just use your Android phone. Google has quietly introduced this capability in Search, letting anyone with Google Search app or Chrome browser use it by typing "bubble level."

The latest entrant to the list of handy features Google already offers, now users can type in "bubble level" in Google Search or Google Chrome on their Android smartphone and use the phone's sensors to check if something is level or not. Notably, users are reporting the feature works with some other mobile Web browsers, such as Xiaomi's proprietary offering for its smartphones.

Apple's iPhone users can also make use of it by searching for "bubble level" in Safari, Google Search, or Google Chrome app. Though, it is worth mentioning that you already have an app on your iPhone called Compass that offers some of these functionalities.

Some users on Reddit have pointed out that this feature might not work on every smartphone, and is not very accurate. The "bubble level" feature uses the edge of your phone -- the top, the side, or the back -- as the base, but it apparently requires the edge to be straight.

It's a handy feature, but do note that a digital representation of a bubble level might not be very correctly calibrated at all times. So if your job requires fixing things and keeping things at a precise level, you might want to carry a real level measure.

Source : NDTV

What Facebook is telling you by Free Basics

What is Facebook...now?

Everyone knows about the origin of Facebook as the social media website born out of a dorm room. We've all seen the movie, read the book and relived Facebook's invention in countless articles on the internet. But, since then, Facebook has expanded its prowess at lightning speed. Facebook is now the owner of WhatsApp & Instagram, the acquirer of virtual reality firm Oculus, and 50 other companies in the fields of travel, internet, file sharing, Mobile Ads, digital publishing, location services, face recognition, speech recognition, the list is long and exhaustive. Facebook is rapidly moving towards becoming one of the largest aggregators of user data in the world.

A research paper titled 'Ethical Implications of Data Aggregation' by Santa Clara University says,  "The myriad bits of information collected by Facebook can be used to compile a detailed and penetrating profile of an individual, one that is if anything even more personal. In the hands of a company that professes a philosophy of "radical transparency," this can leave the subject very vulnerable, not just to having personal information exposed but to being discriminated against because of it."

Facebook makes majority of its revenue by selling adspace and targetting advertisements to users whose data it collects and sells to advertisers. How else does an ad from an online ticketing firm appear on your feed just when you are planning a holiday or when you browse a particular product on an ecommerce website, Facebook instigates you to buy it by flooding your homepage with deals and discounts of the very product. Data aggregation and ownership is the biggest, most viable business in the world right now, and that's exactly what companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc are after.

What is Free Basics and why is Facebook being so philanthropic?

Simply put, Free Basics is an app you can download to access some particular websites and online services for free, sans any data cost. Currently, the app will only work with a Reliance communication connection, but for now the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked Reliance Communications to halt the service temporarily. A TRAI source told TOI, "The question has arisen whether a telecom operator should be allowed to have differential pricing for different kinds of content. Unless that question is answered, it will not be appropriate for us to continue to make that happen."

In the past few months, Facebook has been aggressively pushing its agenda for providing free internet to Indians. They have published full page ads in leading English national newspapers, they have hoardings in metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai, they have television ads, they are pushing notifications on our smartphones, they are promoting their "Save Free Basics" campaign through ads on our Facebook feeds and the countless emailers that follow. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg even made the effort to come down to India this year. The company is  doing all this to gather as much support as they can till the December 31 deadline of TRAI inviting comments on a consultation paper on net neutrality. TRAI is asking the same question as satated above- Should a telecom operator be allowed to have differential pricing for different kinds of content?

While Facebook is doing all that they can to 'Save Free Basics', a free internet platform for those who remain disconnected, the company's insistent agenda does not seem to include the very people this platform is being built for. Targetting the already internet friendly population, metro citizens and english daily readers, Facebook is calling on people who already are on the internet, instead of those that want to be.

Do we really need Free Basics to increase internet penetration in India?

While Facebook's Free Basics' ad proudly claims statistics like 50% faster adoption of mobile networks, 3.2 million petitions to TRAI in support of Free basics, and an 86% support from Indians for Free Basics, the fact is that we may not need Free Basics at all.

According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI), the country's internet user base grew 17% just in the first 6 months of 2015. In 2014, the base of Indian internet users clocked its fastest boom of 32% in a year. While internet penetration was slow for 10 years as it took a decade for the base to grow from 10 million to 100 million, the user base rose to 200 million in 3 years post hitting the 100 million mark, and only 1 year to rise to the 300 million mark. The report also says, that going forward, rural India will be the primary driver of internet growth with a whopping 75% participation, while urban India will grow at a rate of 16%.

This shows that not Facebook or Free Basics, but the proliferation of low-cost smartphones and local language content is responsible for the current and future surge in Internet penetration in India. The question is, will a handful of free internet services really transform our digital lives?

What will Free Basics 'not' provide?

According to Facebook's guidelines for developers to register for the Free Basics platform,

"Services should not use VoIP, video, file transfer, or photos larger than 200 KB."

"If websites are found to contain any of the above post-implementation, we will block them until we can confirm that the content has been removed."

"Your URLs may be re-written and embedded content (like javascript and content originating from another domain) removed. In addition, secure content is not supported and may not load."

So yes, you cannot watch videos through Free Basics, you cannot place video calls, you cannot share files, you cannot view quality images, there'll be no banking or money related transactions as secure content is not supported, and if you are the owner of a website, your content can be removed or blocked. Wasn't the whole point of internet supposed to be freedom? Why the custom user experience?

Fun facts for Facebook:

According to a report by Video on Demand firm Vuclip, 78% Indians prefer video content in local languages. Another report by video tech company Ooyala calims video consumption over mobile phones has spiked by 127% in the last year. So, for a country where people consume on-demand videos the most, is Free Basics literally so basic that it won't give users what they are actually looking for? 

Another interesting study by Deloitte states, "Social media and entertainment (Music & Video) are the two activities on which the Indian mobile internet users spend their time the most followed by games, general search, and emails." While Free Basics will definitely provide users the much wanted social media connect, the rest is conveniently forgotten about, or as Zuckerberg said, "It's not sustainable to offer the whole internet for free."

Moreover, Facebook has tied up only with Reliance communication, a network which according to the recent Mint-instaVaani survey, is the worst telecom service provider in India.

What will Facebook get by propagating Free Basics?

Free Basics will give more power to Facebook that ever. Even though the company says that Facebook on Free Basics will not have any ads, its developer guidelines clearly mentions, "Your name and logo may be included in Free Basics, product screenshots of the service and press releases, but we won’t use your brand in a larger marketing promotion without first asking for your approval."

Now, who wouldn't want "a larger marketing promotion" by Facebook? If you are a business, would you ignore this opportunity? If I tell you that I know the most influential business leaders of the country, wouldn't that automatically increase your trust and reliability on me? If I give you a platform where users can access your content for free and on priority, would you not pay me more to advertise on my associate platforms as well? Not to point out the obvious, but doesn't this seem familiar to a marketing pitch?

Will your Free Basics' data be secure?

Last but certainly not the least, security can also be a big concern when it comes to Free Basics. Facebook's guidelines for developers state that a website's content "passes through Facebook's servers." It goes on to explain, "When people use the Free Basics mobile website, information is temporarily decrypted on our secure servers to ensure proper functionality of the services and to avoid unexpected charges to people. We preserve the privacy of that information while it's decrypted by only storing the domain name of your service and the amount of data being used—the same information that would be visible using end-to-end encryption—as well as cookies that are stored in an encrypted and unreadable format."

If information passes through Facebook's servers and is temporarily decrypted, can it really be safe? If someone willingly hands you a treasure chest, would you only take one gold coin? The statement on security seems quite ambiguous as of now and makes for yet another question Facebook needs to answer. 

So there you have it, everything you did or did not know about Free Basics by Facebook. Do let us know what you think of the service and if you are in support or against such a platform in India.

Google testing new password-free login Method

Google is experimenting with a password-free login method. First discovered by Redditor rp1226, the scheme would let you use a phone to sign into your Google account on the desktop. The idea is that users will begin the login process on the PC, but authorize the login through smartphone notification. This update comes from a Reddit user who wrote about his firsthand experience. After that, though, his Nexus 6P popped up a message that said "Are you trying to sign in from another computer?"

Android Police According to a batch of screenshots you’ll be able to skip typing in a password when you sign on to a new device As noted by Android Police, once Paul's phone was enrolled to be used for sign-in purposes, he simply had to enter his Gmail address on his handset to log into Google on a nearby computer. So, in order to add security without too much complexity, it looks like Google is testing out an option to allow users to sign in on any device by using their phone, not a password. Since 2012, a White House program, the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, has backed a number of pilot projects aimed at finding new ways to identify people without a password. On Tuesday, Google confirmed it is trialing the tool on a small selection of its user base. This new method could fit the bill. According to Google, the current test is running on both Apple and Google's operating systems. Since Google hasn't announced the feature, the details on how this works are still unknown. The test is part of a broader effort among security experts, the government and major tech players to eliminate the traditional password, widely viewed as the most vulnerable part of any account. You'll find instructions and a submission form here: Information Week's Elite 100 2016. These mobile apps are designed to create and store secure passwords across all your devices.

Special Delivery for you on YouTube by Google

It is the most marvellous feeling to see stories come to life in the form of videos, and when you can interact with a story with your smartphone, it's even better. Google Spotlight Stories aim at giving users a 360 degree storytelling experience. Filmmakers are using mobile technology to enhance the storytelling experience, enabling users to have a 360 degree view of a scene from a story, along with enabling them to follow particular characters in the story. The "latest show" of Google's Spotlight Stories features a 4 minute long Christmas special story called 'Special Delivery'.  Directed by Academy Award winning studio Aardman (Wallace and Gromit fans, take note), this tale of a  humble caretaker disturbed by a mysterious rooftop stranger, will give you the ability to chase the stranger and the caretaker throughout the scene of the movie, using- up, down, left & right buttons on your YouTube screen. In the full interactive experience of Special Delivery, users will encounter 10 subplots, three potential ways to view the ending, and 60+ moments that can be followed to end the story in different ways.

“Special Delivery” is one of the many Google Spotlight Stories to come out of Google ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects group). The company says, "With Google Spotlight Stories, your phone becomes a window to a story happening all around you. The sensors on your phone allow the story to be interactive, so when you move your phone to various scenes, you unlock mini-stories within the story." You can also watch these stories using the Google Cardboard.

All CBSE Books to Be Made Available Online for Free, Says HRD Minister Smriti Irani

All CBSE books and learning material will be made available online for free as part of the Centre's good governance efforts, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said New Delhi on Saturday.

At a function organised at a Kendriya Vidyalaya in east Delhi, she also said that initiatives would be undertaken to ensure holistic nurturing and improve learning outcomes at these schools.

"We made NCERT books available online for free through e-books and mobile applications a month-and-a-half ago. We are similarly going to make CBSE books available online along with additional learning material and videos as part of our good governance efforts," Irani said at the inauguration of a new building of the school in Khichripur.

Responding to the call by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia at the function that endeavours be made to ensure that children not only excel professionally but also become good human beings, Irani asked her ministry's officials to organise 'Baal Sabha' (Child Conventions).

These conventions will feature interactions between children and professionals from fields including defence to help the former grow into "good human beings".

Irani also reiterated that the Centre will launch 'Shaala Darpan' and 'Saransh' services (for Class I to Class XII students) in Kendriya Vidyalayas in the next academic year.

The 'Shaala Darpan' service is aimed at using SMSes to keep parents informed about their wards' attendance, time table and marks in exams while 'Saransh' will help parents compare the subject-wise learning outcomes of their children, with others at the district, state and national levels.

Earlier, addressing the function, Sisodia stressed on the role of education in the lives of children.

"You need to check whether you are doing better than yesterday. Are we behaving better than yesterday. The focus should be that if a child gets out of educational institutes 20 years later, he/she should pass out as a sensible person," he said.

The AAP leader urged schools to take the responsibility of turning children into good human beings.

When we read in newspapers about communal violence, rapes somewhere, then we feel we fell short somewhere. Hence, we will have to take responsibility. A person is giving us 20 years of his/her life.

"So, we will have to ensure we impress on him/her that it is equally important to be a good human being as to be a good engineer or other professional," he said.

East Delhi MP Maheish Girri also addressed the event, which was attended by senior HRD officials and local public representatives.

Reliance Jio to Roll out 4G services For Reliance Employees on 27th Dec 2015

Reliance Jio will launch 4G services for Reliance group employees on December 27, on the eve of its founder chairman's birth anniversary.

"We are happy to share that we will unveil Jio to our colleagues first, on the eve of our founder chairman's (Dhirubhai Ambani) birth anniversary," Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani with his wife Nita Ambani said in an invitation letter to employees.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and musician A R Rahman will host the function on December 27.

"We want every member of our Reliance family to participate either in person or virtually through a Jio telecom beamed live to more than 1000 locations across India," Ambanis said in the letter.

There had been reports that RJio would launch its much-awaited commercial 4G services on December 28.

RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani in June had said that beta programme (trials) of Reliance Jio "will be upgraded into commercial operations around December of this (2015) year" and "financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations for Jio".

Later in October, RIL said financial year "2016-17 is projected to be the first year of commercial operations for RJIL".

Reliance Jio holds the highest amount of liberalised spectrum among telecom operators which can be used for deploying any technology for mobile services.

It has a total of 751.1 MHz spectrum across 800MHz, 1800MHz and 2300MHz bands.

According to field trials by brokerage firm Credit Suisse, download speed on 4G network of Reliance Jio during its beta-test phase peaked at 70mbps but remained in 15-30mbps range on most occasions

WhatsApp Blocked in Brazil: Mark Zuckerberg Calls it a 'Sad Day'

WhatsApp

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, the company that owns WhatsApp, has called the ban of the popular messaging service in Brazil a 'sad day'.

"This is a sad day for Brazil. Until today, Brazil has been an ally in creating an open Internet. Brazilians have always been among the most passionate in sharing their voice online," Zuckerberg in a wrote on his Facebook page in both English and Portuguese.

"I am stunned that our efforts to protect people's data would result in such an extreme decision by a single judge to punish every person in Brazil who uses WhatsApp," he added.

The shutdown order stems from a criminal proceeding in the Sao Paulo State Justice Tribunal in Sao Bernardo do Campo. The case involves a drug trafficker linked to the PCC, or First Command of the Capital, one of Sao Paulo's biggest and most dangerous criminal gangs. The trafficker allegedly used WhatsApp services in the commission of crimes.

According to the court, WhatsApp failed to comply with a judicial order issued July 23. WhatsApp was notified again on August 7 when the court set a fine for non-compliance. On Wednesday, after finding WhatsApp in continued non-compliance, Judge Sandra Regina Nostre Marques ordered the 48-hour shutdown under terms of the country's Internet legislation, the statement said.

Facebook bought WhatsApp in a $19 billion deal last year, adding to its kitty an app that's really popular in emerging markets like India and Brazil. Here's is the English text of Mark Zuckerberg's statement on the subject in full:

Tonight, a Brazilian judge blocked WhatsApp for more than 100 million people who rely on it in her country.

We are working hard to get this block reversed. Until then, Facebook Messenger is still active and you can use it to communicate instead.

This is a sad day for Brazil. Until today, Brazil has been an ally in creating an open Internet. Brazilians have always been among the most passionate in sharing their voice online.

I am stunned that our efforts to protect people's data would result in such an extreme decision by a single judge to punish every person in Brazil who uses WhatsApp.

We hope the Brazilian courts quickly reverse course. If you're Brazilian, please make your voice heard and help your government reflect the will of its people.

Today first time Isro is Testing PSLV Multiple Burn Engine

The Indian space agency on Wednesday will be testing its ability to restart the fourth-stage engine of its rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on shutting it down after putting into orbit six Singaporean satellites.

Technically speaking, India will be testing its multiple burn fuel stage/rocket engine for the first time.

"The restart and shut off of the fourth stage engine is done as a first step towards launching multiple satellites but in different orbits," a senior official of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS.

Launching of multiple satellites with a single rocket is nothing new for Isro and it has been doing that for several years. The challenge is however to launch several satellites at different orbits with one rocket and this is what Isro will be testing out after PSLV ejects out six Singaporean satellites on Wednesday.

The PSLV rocket is a four stage/engine rocket powered by solid and liquid fuel alternatively.

"Restarting a rocket engine soon after it is shut off is a critical technology that has to be mastered. Once a rocket engine is activated, then the heat generated is very high. The trick is to cool it down in the space and to restart it at a short gap," an industry expert told IANS.

"This is entirely different from switching on and off the communication satellite's engines in the space. The interval between two restarts of a communication satellite engine will be in days. But in the case of restarting a rocket engine, the time gap will be in hours," the expert added.

"By that time the rocket's engine has to be cooled down. This part of the experiment is very critical," he explained.

On Wednesday, Isro's PSLV rocket will blast off from the first launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80km from here, with the six Singaporean satellites. All the satellites will be put into orbit around 21 minutes into the flight at an altitude of 550km.

After that the rocket's fourth stage will be shut down.

"It will be coasting after that," an Isro official told IANS.

Around 46 minutes after the launch of the sixth satellite, the fourth stage will be restarted when it is in a lower altitude of 523.9 km.

The engine will be in operational for four seconds and would go up to an altitude of 524 km before the stage is cut-off.

Meanwhile Isro officials told the countdown for the December 16 evening launch of PSLV rocket is progressing smoothly.

On December 16, Isro will be flying the 'core alone' variant of the PSLV rocket. The rocket will not have the strap on boosters, its standard feature

The successful launch of the six Singaporean satellites will take Isro's total flights of foreign satellites to 57.

Out of the six satellites, the 400 kg earth observation satellite called TeLEOS-1 is the main passenger for the PSLV rocket and hence the mission is called TeLEOS mission by Isro.

TeLEOS-1 is Singapore's first commercial earth observation satellite designed and developed by ST Electronics.

The other five co-passenger satellites are VELOX-C1 (123 kg), VELOX-II (13 kg), Kent Ridge-1 (78 kg), Galassia (3.4 kg) and Athenoxat-1.

The December 16 mission will be the last rocket launch mission for Isro in 2015.

So far in 2015, Isro has launched 14 satellites (three Indian and 11 foreign) from its rocket port in Sriharikota. Thirteen satellites were launched with PSLV rocket and one communication satellite - GSAT-6-with geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV).

Last month India also launched its communication satellite GSAT-15 using the Ariane rocket of the European space agency which takes the total number of satellite launches in 2015 to 21 (17 foreign, four Indian).

Artificial Intelligence Project open by Infosys : CEO Vishal Sikka

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka on Monday said non-profit Artificial Intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI is an opportunity to do something about the lack of fundamental progress in the field.

In a blog post, Sikka, an advisor to OpenAI, wrote down his thoughts about the birth of OpenAI in answer to receiving numerous questions in the last couple of days about the endeavour.


"Our wish is that together the OpenAI team will do unfettered research in the most important, most relevant dimensions of AI, no matter how long it takes to get there, not limited to just identifying dancing cats in videos, but to creating ideas and inventions that amplify our humanity," he said.

Highlighting the disappointment expressed by one his idols and AI virtuoso Marvin Minsky who bemoaned absence of fundamental progress in AI, he said: "Marvin is one of the truly great human beings and scientists, whose teachings and advice helped influence my life and led me to focus on AI in my grad studies and beyond. So more than anything else, I see OpenAI as an opportunity to 'do something about it'."

Emphasising on the open nature of OpenAI, Sikka said he decided to support the non-profit research organization only after confirming openness is a fundamental characteristic of the organisation.

"If complex systems are not open, not open to be used, extended, and learned about, they end up becoming yet another mysterious thing for us, ones that we end up praying to and mythifying. The more open we make AI, the better."

The newly formed non-profit research organisation has no profit earning pressures and is free from FINANCIAL obligations.

Sikka said an organisation like Infosys with 150,000 software engineers is a unique beneficiary and contributor to OpenAI like an endeavour answering a question on why Infosys' chose to back the non-profit research company.

"Most of our work is in building and maintaining software systems, and AI will increasingly shape the construction and evolution of intelligent software systems, in all kinds of domains and industries, from complex machinery to consumer behavior, from medicine to energy."

According to Sikka, many parts of a large services company like Infosys' work will transform fundamentally with AI, be it services like infrastructure management, business process outsourcing, and verification and maintenance of existing software.

"We can massively migrate mechanisable work to automation, and instead build intelligent software systems, that amplify us, our abilities, as well as those of our customers," said Sikka.

OpenAI was introduced to the world on Saturday by its research director Illya Sutskever and CTO Greg Brockman in a blog post and received $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,701 crores) donation from a bunch of global technology stalwarts including Infosys.

World famous technocrats and scientists associated with it include Elon Musk, Pieter Abbeel, Yoshua Bengio, Alan Kay, Sergey Levine, Trevor Blackwell, Vicki Cheung, Andrej Karpathy, Durk Kingma, John Schulman, Pamela Vagata and Wojciech Zaremba among others.

Microsoft Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 demands shift to 2016

The holiday season is by far one of the most profitable for any company, and if you’re Microsoft who’s recently unveiled the Surface Pro 4 tablet and the Surface Book laptop, you probably were upbeat about cashing in on the festive season demand spike for gadgets. Unfortunately, at present, the latest Surface devices have been plagued with supply chain problems, led by the shortage in supply of Intel’s Skylake chipsets. This will have led to much diminished shipment numbers for Microsoft in Q4 2015, in concern with the two Surface devices – headliners of Microsoft’s present gadget arsenal.

To speed up the process, Microsoft is using Pegatron’s services, and with improving numbers of deliverable devices in Microsoft’s inventory, a unique post-holiday demand spike is expected to take place. Notably, most companies face a lull after the holiday season is over, with slow-moving numbers and lack of momentum in the market. In such market environment, Microsoft is expected to ship 100,000 units of the Surface Book, and 200,000 units of the Surface Pro 4, in Q1 2016, according to word from sources in the upper echelons of the supply chain.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if the initial delay works in favour of Microsoft, which it seems like it might. For one, the holiday market is extremely competitive, beyond which most companies face a lull, and it is there that Microsoft will execute most of its shipments, giving its numbers a major boost.

The new Surface devices have come in the light of Microsoft giving its operating system, Windows 10, a major push across multiple devices. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is a flagship tablet that faces direct competition from Apple’s iPad Pro, and Google’s Pixel C. Powered by 6th generation Intel Core m3, i5 and i7 processors, it also houses 4GB of RAM, and 128GB, 256GB and 512GB of storage. Its display is 12.3 inches in size, with a rather unusual resolution of 2736x1824 pixels. The tablet-notebook hybrid Surface Book is powered by 6th generation Core i5 and i7 processors, 8GB/16GB of RAM, 128GB to 1TB of storage, a 13.5-inch display with a resolution of 3000x2000 pixels, and optional 1GB of NVIDIA GDDR5 graphics chip.

Source : Digit

The new Cardboard Camera app will let you take photos for VR

Google has come out with a new camera app called the Cardboard Camera, which will let users click pictures which you can enjoy via a VR headset. The new app takes three dimensional panoramas which can be seen via Google Cardboard or a VR headset. The app is now available and is offered in 17 languages. It is available for devices running Android 4.4 (Kitkat) or above.   According to the official blogpost, the VR photos taken via the app are three dimensional panoramas, which offer a slightly different view of the image from each eye to stimulate stereogram. This in turn makes things look near or far. However, it is to be mentioned that the images taken by the camera app are not truly shot in 3D as that would require a dedicated depth camera or sensor. In its place Google has implied a powerful post processing algorithm which does all this heavy lifting, including stitching the image together.

Cardboard Camera turns the smartphone in your pocket into a virtual reality (VR) camera. It’s simple to take a photo: just hold out your phone and move it around you in a circle. Later, when you place your phone inside a Google Cardboard viewer, you'll get to experience something new: a VR photo, says, Carlos Hernandez, Software Engineer, Cardboard Camera

The app can also record sounds from the surrounding environment. All you have to do is open the app and start recording a 360-degree panorama slowing moving in a 360-degree circle. Earlier Google announced the “Photosphere” which also lets users click 360 degree pictures by stitching panoramas. This new Cardboard Camera app is a far more advanced version of that Photosphere mode which only clicked 2D pictures of the surroundings. Photosphere is part of Google Camera app
You can download app from here

Android One v2 may be unveiled by Sundar Pichai,

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, has been scheduled for a visit to India, to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss the future of Google’s involvement in the Digital India Initiative. While his other objectives in India have not yet been announced, a recently received media invite for a December 16 event hints at a possible launch of the next version of Android One.

The invite states instances of “more Indians coming online” and “affordable smartphones”, which define the objective with which Android One was launched. Android One was Google’s attempt at getting more first-time smartphone users to familiarise themselves with the Android experience, and effectively, gather more users of its mobile ecosystem. Unfortunately, till date, Android One has failed to take off, and the devices that featured Android One have somehow disappeared from the market in face of stiff competition from innumerable brands.

The most recent instance of Android One was with the Lava Pixel V1, which attempted at making a promising start with priority access to Google’s firmware updates, but with the likes of Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo and Meizu taking a stronghold over the Indian budget smartphone market, the device never really managed to make a name for itself. With Android One, Google aims to give uninterrupted, clean Android experiences, with basic or mediocre hardware specifications in a device. Having failed so far, it will be interesting to see the next approach that Google takes for Android One.

Google is not the only company targeting first-time smartphone users. In a similar attempt to provide smartphone experiences for the first time, Samsung is backing its own platform, driven by the custom Tizen OS, to its Tizen series of smartphones. The latest Tizen smartphone, the Samsung Tizen Z3, was launched as a feature phone capable of giving users a smartphone experience, focusing majorly on complete services suites, via its My Galaxy suite of services and applications.

Microsoft is also banking on its services to catapult its mobile computing sector ahead, but is not solely directed at first-time users. Rather, Microsoft is presently aiming at spreading its services across multiple platforms and device form factors, in the hope of gathering users who would then have a single platform to synchronise work and personal data across all devices. All of these three technology majors, in short, are gearing up with their own products and services, catering to different users, for somewhat similar reasons.

Vodafone to roll out 4G services in Kerala on December 8

Telecom giant Vodafone is reportedly all set to open access to 4G services in India. The company has sent out invites to the media, for an event in Kochi on December 8, where it’ll announce a ‘new strategic national initiative to enhance mobile Internet experience’. This is expected to be the beginning of Vodafone’s 4G services in India. The company had earlier announced that its 4G services would be available in India from December this year, following it up with another announcement that its 4G services will be rolled out in Kerala in December. Reports say that Kochi, Trivandrum and Kozhikode will be amongst the first places to receive Vodafone’s 4G networks.

Further, the telecom player has also confirmed that other states, including Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, will be amongst the first to get its 4G services. The company had acquired 4G spectrum (1800 MHz) in five circles in February last year. Vodafone though has been slower in rolling out the services compared to competing Airtel, which has been massively marketing its 4G network for a while now. That said, while pricing for Vodafone’s 4G services isn’t known yet, the company will have to keep it competitive against Airtel.

Vodafone’s 4G network has been set up in Kerala and Karnataka with the help of Chinese Huawei, which is a veteran in such services. The company had earlier struck a deal with the telecom service provider, for the supply of base station and other equipment required for setting up its 4G services. The Chinese company is expected to get almost 60% of the share of 4G network deals from Vodafone India, said a report by The Economic Times. Huawei is also strengthening Vodafone's 3G network in these circles, said the report.

The 4G revolution in India has been picking up pace for a while now, with companies like Airtel and Vodafone pushing services. In addition, Reliance Jio is expected to roll out similar services, which most expect, will be a stepping stone for 4G in India. While the infrastructure is nowhere close to being adequate, Prime Minister Modi’s Digital India and Smart Cities initiatives require such infrastructure to be set up fast.

Want to Sell Your Phone? Get a Better Deal With These Startups

Selling off old phones and other gadgets can be tricky, because it's hard to know what value you can expect for it. You could always go in for an exchange offer (there are several even when buying online, and at the local store) but the deal you get is rarely as good as when you sell the phone separately.

The problem with a lot of sites that let you advertise your products is that it's hard to get an accurate valuation based on the state of your phone, and you're on your own when it comes to logistics and payments. That's where Atterobay.com and the Cashify app by ReGlobe come into the picture.

There's no need to post an advertisement online, or wait for a prospective buyer. To use Atterobay, just log into the Website and you can sell your phone right away. Simply click through the links and you will be able to find your phone, or you can simply search for it.

Next, you have to answer a few basic questions about the device - how old is it, what condition it's in, and that's all. For a six month old Motorola Moto Turbo, the site offered Rs. 18,899. Once you've confirmed the details, Atterobay sends you protective packaging, and then collects the phone from your home.

The phone is taken to the plant in Roorkee, where it is then examined, and a final value is decided - the company again contacts you and makes the final offer, and if you agree, it either sends a cheque, or makes a bank transfer, as per your preference.

It's a simple enough process that should take only 2-3 days according to the company, but the idea of sending your phone off, without being given your money up-front, is something that can be daunting. And of course, it depends on how honest you are about the condition of your phone - you might have a minor camera issue which the company in its test sees as major.

The Cashify app by ReGlobe tries to address this issue. It's a simple app that lets you sell all your electronics, from laptops to game consoles to washing machines. Through the app, you can directly answer questions about your device and make sure its features work before you try and sell it.

This does a number of things to help the selling process - for one, it identifies the exact brand and model of your phone for ReGlobe, so there can be no confusion. Next, it also checks that the various features of your phone are working properly - it diagnoses your Bluetooth, battery, Wi-Fi, and GPS - which are all done automatically. After that, there are some tests that require your involvement - pressing the volume and power buttons helps it to detect if the inputs are working, then a microphone test requires you to talk into the phone.

Next, it checks the speaker by playing a sound and asking you if you heard it, and then asks you to draw a pattern on the screen to test the touch response. Next, it checks your camera and also your screen for dead pixels. Finally, you have to check a few boxes about the age of the phone, and whether there's a bill, charger, and other accessories.

Once this is done, you can tap the Cashify button and enter your mobile number to get a call from ReGlobe to arrange for a pickup. The advantage of this app is that it allows the company to quickly check the condition of your phone without having to send it to a central location - which means that the payment can happen at the time of pickup; the agent simply needs to confirm the app's report, the physical condition of the phone, and whether the accessories are present, and the phone is good to go.

As of now, ReGlobe is also offering better buyback rates if you use its app, and for the same Moto Turbo, offered Rs. 19,850 - Rs. 1,550 more than what is being offered on the ReGlobe website.

Between Atterobay and ReGlobe, getting a fair price for your old phone isn't that hard - you may still make a little more money if you can find a buyer yourself, but doing that will be a lot more effort as well. And this definitely beats the deals that the local shop will give most people.

There's no Cashify app for iOS as of now, although the company has confirmed that it is working on one. If you're an Android user though, then it is a good idea to install the Cashify app and see what deal you'll get for the phone; check Atterobay as well, and you should be able to get a good price for your old phone. Just remember to delete all the data before you sell it.

Source : NDTV

12 Indian Hardware Startups That Are Making an Impact

Twenty four years after liberalisation, India's prowess as an IT services and outsourcing player needs no endorsements, with aggregate industry revenues for the financial year 2015 estimated at $146 billion (approximately Rs. 9,73,242 crores). India's EDSM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) industry is projected to grow to $94 billion (approximately Rs. 626181 crore) in 2015, from $76 billion (approximately Rs. 506619 crore) in 2013. Indian trade bodies IESA and Nasscom plan to drive Vision 2025, where IT and ESDM bring 25 percent of India's GDP.

This year, we saw many smartphone manufacturers pledging to Make In India, mostly subcontracting the assembly work to Foxconn's plant in Sri City, with others setting up facilities of their own. There are also several hardware startups that have emerged in the last five years. Some of these have seen funding rounds come their way this year. Nasscom's latest startup landscape report counts over 30 hardware startups, over 35 players in the IoT space. In this roundup, we list some of the notable device startups to have emerged out of India.

1) Grey Orange Robotics

ounded by BITS Pilani alumni, Grey Orange is the creator of AcYut, India's first indigenously developed humanoid robot. GreyOrange has two product lines that it provides to India's e-commerce and logistics companies - Butler, a fleet of mobile robots that can move materials in the warehouse, and Sorter, a fully automated sorting system to consolidate and route packages. The four-year-old company raised $30 million (roughly Rs. 192 crores) in its Series B in August, and it has offices in Hong Kong, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Founders: Akash Gupta, Wolfgang Höltgen, and Samay Kohli
Headquarters: Gurgaon
Website : www.greyorange.com 
Category: Robotics solutions for e-commerce warehouses

2) Ather Energy

This two-year-old startup is expected to launch its first product, the S340 electric scooter in early 2016. The S340 is powered by Lithium ion batteries, and will be priced under a lakh, with an estimated range of around 50-100 kilometres. Ather energy raised seed funding from FLIPKART founders and secured a $12 million (roughly Rs. 80 crores) funding round in its Series A from Tiger Global in May 2015.

Founders: Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Website: www.atherenergy.com
Category: Electric smart scooters

3) Goqii

Goqii retails its fitness band with a subscription plan, combining it with a platform that provides users access to fitness services and karma points. Goqii's subscription plans start at Rs. 3,999 for three months, and the company plans to expand its operations to global MARKETS with its recent Series A, where it raised Rs. 89.4 crores.

Founder: Vishal Gondal
Headquarters: Mumbai
Website: www.goqii.com
Category: Fitness tracking wearables

4) MangoMan Consumer Electronics

Founded in 2013, MangoMan Consumer Electronics is now shipping its second generation HDMI dongle, Teewe at Rs. 2399. The startup plans to add the new features like torrent streaming and a 'couch mode' for Web video through its app, and release an SDK for game developers to publish Android games for the Teewe 2.

Founders: Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Website: www.teewe.in
Category: HDMI dongle for wireless media streaming

5) Lechal

Started initially as a navigation for the visually impaired, Lechal ships its haptic footwear for men and women globally, along with pods, which can be clipped to any existing footwear one might have. The Lechal pods connect to smartphones via Bluetooth, keeping track of calories burnt, and provides navigation cues to the wearer based on haptic feedback.

Founders: Anirudh Sharma, Krispian Lawrence
Headquarters: Hyderabad
Website: www.lechal.com
Category: Bluetooth-enabled haptic footwear

6) Ezetap

Ezetap's card reader turns smartphones into mobile point of sale solutions, and works on basic 2G networks. Ezetap added four major mobile wallets players to its payments solution in October, when it quoted a coverage of 70,000 service points across the country. Ezetap has raised $25 million (roughly Rs. 161 crores) in its Series C round in August this year, and partnered with some of India's largest banks and companies, like SBI, HDFC, Citibank, American Express, AMAZON, Bajaj Allianz, and Airtel.

Founders: Abhijit Bose and Bhaktha Keshavachar
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Website: www.ezetap.com
Category: Mobile Point-of-Sale

7) Inoho

Inoho's affordable "home controller" lets users control and schedule on and off times for their home appliances from anywhere in the world, via the Internet, using an app or web browser. The startup retails its home controller and switchboard module on AMAZON INDIA, and has partnered with Housejoy for installation.

Founders: Deepankar Garg and Deep Singh
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Website: www.inoho.com
Category: Home automation

8) Absentia

Founded by BITS Goa dropouts, Absentia recently launched two versions of Tesseract, a virtual reality head mount device that's now up for pre-order. The startup recently secured $180,000 (Rs. 1.2 crores) in a seed funding round, led by Astarc Ventures. The full-HD version of the Tesseract headset is priced at Rs. 12,000, while the QHD version of the headset is priced at Rs. 20,000.

Founders: Shubham Mishra, Vrushali Prasade, and Harikrishna Valiyath
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Website: www.absentiavr.com
Category: VR Headset

9) Tesseract

Mumbai-based Tesseract is currently shipping its Methane 360 VR camera globally. Priced at around 1.5 lakhs, the camera is finding customers among startups like Housing.com, CommonFloor, NestAway, and Oyo rooms, who want to provide virtual walkthroughs on their platform.

Founders: Kshitij Marwah
Headquarters: Mumbai

Website: www.tesseract.in

Category: VR Cameras

10) Cooey

Cooey provides a healthcare monitoring platform that can be referenced by healthcare providers and loved ones. Cooey has announced three devices so far - wireless body fat analyser and blood pressure monitor were launched on FLIPKART in November, its Smart Glucometer is expected to launch in the second week of December.

Founders: Manu Madhusudanan and Prabhakaran T P
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Website: www.cooey.co.in
Category: Health monitoring devices

11) Sensegiz

Consumer wearables startup SenseGiz is currently retailing two products on its website - a smartwatch called Star, and Find, a device tracker that can be clipped to clothing or keys for alerts on an app, available on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android. Sensegiz secured $500,000 (roughly Rs. 3.3 crores) funding from Karnataka Semiconductor Venture Capital Fund in November.

Founders: Abhishek Latthe
Headquarters: Belgaum
Website: www.sensegiz.com
Category: Wearable technology

12) CarIQ

This two-year-old startup provides car monitoring devices called SmartPlugs, which are available in GSM and Bluetooth versions. The GSM-enabled version provides realtime car health alerts, speeding/ geo-fence alerts, roadside assistance and connections to a network of service providers. The company is upgrading its inventory at the time of writing, and promises a few surprises to kick off 2016.

Founders: Sagar Apte, Deepak Thomas
Headquarters: Pune
Website: www.mycariq.com
Category: Car diagnostics

Others

Other notable Indian hardware startups include tablet maker Notion Ink, which pivoted to Windows + Intel hardware last year with the Cain. There's also Gecko, a device that works as a key finder, which was a notable crowdfunded success story, raising $135,000 (approximately Rs. 89 lakhs) on Indiegogo with support from Steve Wozniak in 2013.

Source : NDTV

Google introduces app streaming to mobile advertisements

Google has introduced interactive advertisements in order to drive app installation. One of the interactive advertisements is called Trial Run Ads which allows users to try a game for a 60 seconds without installing it. They have also introduced a method of creating more engaging advertisements called Interactive Interstitials where users can touch and swipe. Google says that it found out that one of every four installed apps in phones is “never even used” and the aim of these interactive advertisements is to engage users and show off the best features of an application.

The Trial Run Ads allow users to play a game for up to 60 seconds by streaming content of the app to their phones before they download it. This lets the user try out the game and see if it is to their liking before they install it. This leads to more relevant ad clicks and app downloads as well as pre-qualified app users. In its official blog, Google showed how these advertisements would run by showing a demo advertisement of Cookie Jam.

The Interactive Interstitials are based on HTML5. This allows for a customized user experience that is tailored to each advertisement. Interactive interstitials allows advertisers to show off the best features of an app by highlighting certain features. Google says that this type of advertisements can be as big or as small depending on the needs of the advertiser. The aim of the Interactive Interstitials is to show the value that the app will have for the user before they install it. Google’s post showed how Zalora built an advertisement which allowed users to swipe and discover an exclusive offer.

The company stated that both forms of advertisements are currently in beta and are available to a limited set of advertisers. Those interested in joining the beta need to get in touch with their account managers.

Source: Google

Google is powering the internet with renewable energy

Google has announced the largest purchase of renewable energy ever made by a non-utility company. Through this latest agreement, Google will add 842 megawatts of renewable energy capacity ranging from wind farms in Sweden to solar plants in Chile. This renewable energy will then power its own data centers.  Google has been a big supporter of using renewable energy as a power resource, and with its latest purchase, it is now upto 2 gigawatts of energy, which the company claims is equal to taking 1 million cars off the road. Google plans to triple its purchase of renewable enrgy by 2025 and their goal is to power 100% of their operations with clean energy. A lesson here for India's tech companies as well.
The company says that it has entered into long-term contracts of 10-20 years with various renewable energy projects and during this time, the company will help these projects with financial assistance, to scale their operations in their respective regions. There are many other environmental and renewable energy initiatives that Google is involved in since a long time. The company aims to build the world's most efficient computer infrastructure by designing their data centers to use as little energy as possible. They are also investing into other renewable energy projects and have made agreements to the tune of  $2.5 billion for 22 large-scale renewable energy projects, from Germany to Kansas to Kenya.
In a press release, the company said, "We’re also WORKING on new technologies and ideas—ranging from Project Sunroof to Makani Power to air quality monitoring—that we hope can make a cleaner energy future an option for many more people." 

Only 9.2% indians create safe passwords online, says research

A recent research by Avast suggests that Indians are amongst the least secure population online. According to the paper, a majority of 93.2% online consumers in India claim that they create strong passwords but in reality only 9.2% of the Indian popluation actually does so. The Avast research also reveals that majority of websites that Indians visit do not challenge users to create safer passwords. The report goes on to say that "Unprotected smartphones and unlocked banking apps plus weak password requirements from American websites contribute to lost privacy." The research findings also state that 36.5% of Indians do not lock their smartphones, even though 83.9% claim they have personal and private information on their devices. "Specifically, 68.6% of Indians say they’d rather have their nude photos leaked than their personal banking information, yet many more lock their photos apps than their banking apps," says the research.

“While Indians are rightfully concerned about privacy, there is a disconnect between that concern and the steps they take to protect themselves,” said Vince Steckler, chief executive officer of Avast. “Users have a multitude of devices and passwords to keep track of, which can be overwhelming. When users feel overwhelmed, they tend to default to unsafe practices that put their privacy at risk.” The survey goes on to find that the average length of passwords made by Indian users is only eight characters, while security experts recommend a password that is atleast 16 characters long. The survey also found that from the Top 15 websites visited by Indians, (we all know what we surf daily!) none require users to create passwords with a combination of upper & lower case or numbers & special characters.

These findings are proof of the fact that cyber security is still an alien concept for majority of Indians. Securing a digital future is far more important that the dream of a Digital India. It is vital to create and store passwords in a safe and secure manner. Password management is not so tough and there are a lot of password protection apps that are available in the ecosystem. Take for instance- Last Pass. It's an app that stores all your passwords in a vault and users just need to remember the password for unlocking the app. This frees the users from the hassle of remembering each and every password. Other such password managers are also available on iOS, Android & windows.

Microsoft to Help 200,000 SMBs in Karnataka Use Cloud Computing

Global software major Microsoft said on Thursday it is partnering with Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) to help about 200,000 small and medium businesses (SMBs) across the state use cloud computing to spur their revenue growth.

"Cloud computing will open more avenues for SMBs and connect them with their present and prospective customers across the country, as they play a significant role in the economy," Microsoft's India subsidiary said in a statement in Bengaluru.

Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, instead of a local server or a personal computer.

According to a study by the IT industry representative body Nasscom and growth partnership firm Frost & Sullivan, the Indian SMB market employs about 40 percent of the country's workforce, contributes 17 percent to national GDP and accounts for 45 percent share in manufacturing and 40 percent of exports.

"Among SMBs, primary workloads are productivity, Internet connectivity, mail and messaging, business applications, collaboration, cloud storage and cloud platform. In association with FKCCI, we are able to reach thousands of SMBs and democratize IT for small businesses while providing enterprise-class solutions," Microsoft India general manager Meetul Patel said in the statement.

FKCCI president Tallam R. Dwarakanath said: "Technology lies at the heart of any business and the right mix of IT adoption helps businesses accelerate their growth at a minimum cost. We are excited to partner with Microsoft to drive the next wave of growth for our member organizations."

While findings from Greyhound Research highlighted Bengaluru based organisations to be ahead of the national average in terms of IT maturity and deployment, another study by consulting giant Boston Consulting Group (BCG) observed SMBs which embraced IT solutions grew faster than ones which didn't.

SMBs actively adopting IT tools will create an opportunity for the sector to grow revenues by $56 billion (roughly Rs. 3,74,618 crores) and create 1.1 million new jobs, said Microsoft.

How to flash the Windows 10 Mobile ROM for Xiaomi Mi 4

As you all are already know that Windows 10 for Mi 4 LTE version will be going to released on 3rd Dec 2015. Many of you are beggarly waiting for flashing it to your Mi 4. But a question arises How do we flash the Windows to Mi 4. For to overcome this the MI has updated its flashing tool MIFlash to the latest version 20150601 which flashes the Windows 10 to Mi 4 with simple one click Method.

• Download the attached MiFlash20150601.zip file, decompress the file after download

• Double click the  MiFlash20150601.exe to start the installation. There will be starting note of installation, click on next 

• A  Windows Security Alert popup may appear stating that 'Windows cant verify the Driver",  click on "Install this driver software anyway (I)"

• Once the driver installation is done, click on Finish to complete the installation of the Mi Flash Tool

• After completing the installation MiFlash tool will be in your installed programs of your system, double click to run the program

Now you are all Set to Flash the Windows 10 on your Beloved Mi 4

Disclaimer:All users who are going to flash the Windows 10 are requested to download and use this version on Mi Flash Tool only as this version of Miflash tools have integrated the Qualcomm driver.  By using other versions of MiFlash tool you may not be able to Flash the Windows 10 accurately.

Microsoft Surface Phone to Be Launched in the Second Half of 2016: Report

The much-rumoured Microsoft Surface Phone is reportedly still in development. According to a new report, Microsoft is working on the long-rumoured and speculated handset, and currently plans to launch it in the second-half of 2016.

Citing multiple sources, Windows Central reports that Microsoft has cancelled the Intel-powered Windows Phone which was rumoured to launch in 2016. The report, however, notes that the company's Surface team is working on a Surface Phone. This is in line with the reported appearance of the phone in Surface team's office spotted in a recent interview.

The move to make a Surface smartphone comes as the three-year-old brand, under which Microsoft sells its own manufactured devices, finally started to return profits to the company. The earlier version of Surface tablets including the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 couldn't manage to sell well in the market . But things changed with the Surface Pro 3, which as Microsoft claimed, turned a $1 billion in profits.

The Surface Phone is said to be powered by an Intel processor that is more more powerful than recent Qualcomm offerings. The idea behind siding with Intel for SoC is said to make it possible to run x86 (Win32) applications on the smartphone. It also appears to be a logical move from Microsoft, as the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL it launched recently can be hooked to a monitor using the Display Dock and be used as a computer, with the Windows 10 Continuum feature.

The launch of the Surface Phone could happen either on August 2016 or between late September and around Christmas time, the report added. It heavily relies on how soon Intel could provide the rumoured processor to Microsoft. Microsoft might want to time the launch of the Surface Phone with the release of Redstone, the speculated codename for the next major Windows 10 update, which is said to come with improvements in Continuum.

Chennai Rains: Skype Announces Free International Calls Into Tamil Nadu

Several companies have launched initiatives to help citizens in Chennai and Tamil Nadu, a region affected by heavy rains that have caused floods. Now, Skype has come forward and announced it is making all international calls to landlines and mobiles into Tamil Nadu free of charge for the next few days. The company however notes that the free calls don't include calls to special, premium service, and non-geographical numbers.

(Also see: Chennai Floods: Telcos Offer Free Calls, Mobile Data to Subscribers)

"In light of the devastating floods in Chennai - and the subsequent impact to the local COMMUNICATIONS infrastructure - with immediate effect we are making all international calls to landlines and mobiles into Tamil Nadu free of charge for the next few days. Since we don't know the full extent of the devastation, we want to help provide people with alternative methods of communication to reach friends and family in the region during this difficult time," said Microsoft-owned Skype in a blog post.

The other two major tech companies that launched resources to help with the relief efforts in Chennai include Google and Facebook. The two tech firms mobilised their crisis response modules to Chennai floods. Facebook activated its Safety Check feature for Chennai.

The country's telecom providers, Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Reliance COMMUNICATIONS, and Aircel, are now aiding subscribers in the city with several initiatives.

Telecom providers are not the only ones that have extended helping hand for people in Chennai as there are a handful of startups and companies offering people help. Paytm is offering Rs. 30 worth of free talk-time to anyone who would like to remain connected. Practo has a spreadsheet with phone numbers of verified doctors and hospitals available for help in an online spreadsheet. Zomato has launched a scheme where they will provide meals for flood relief victims, and is offering to buy one meal from their end for every one purchased on the website.

Source : NDTV

Windows 10 Mobile ROM Now Available for Xiaomi Mi 4

Xiaomi, in conjunction with Microsoft, on Thursday released Windows 10 Mobile ROM for its flagship Mi 4 Android smartphone, specifically the LTE version of the handset. The ROM will not support non-LTE versions of the Mi 4, which is what was launched in India.

In a MIUI forum post, a moderator announced the availability of Microsoft's software (download here) for the Mi 4 handset. Interested users are required to sign up for the Windows Insider Program, the moderator noted. You will, however, need an LTE variant of the Mi 4 to run the latest ROM.

"This is a Microsoft led effort and the build they have produced only works with the China version of Mi 4," a spokesperson for Xiaomi told Gadgets 360 earlier this week. "As far as I know, it is not going to be made available in any other markets."

The public release of Windows 10 Mobile for the Xiaomi Mi 4 comes nine months after Microsoft partnered with the Chinese technology conglomerate to beta test Windows 10 Mobile on Mi 4 handsets. Lin Bin, Co-Founder and President of Xiaomi, announced earlier this week that the company plans to make Windows 10 Mobile publicly available for Mi 4 handsets on Thursday.

Some enthusiasts have put up instructions for installing Microsoft's software on the Android handset, in case you need any assistance. We haven't been able to independently verify the instructions, do note.

As Microsoft looks to revamp its mobile efforts, the partnership could be company's move to get more people to try out its mobile operating system. The company hasn't shared how successful this test has been so far. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to share more information earlier this week.

Xiaomi Mi 4, Mi Note Set to Receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow Update Soon

Xiaomi has confirmed that its Mi 4 flagship smartphone along with Mi Note will be the first smartphones in its lineup to receive the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow update. The company's MIUI Operations Manager in a Weibo post confirmed the news.

Both the Xiaomi Mi 4 and Mi Note will still run MIUI 7 version based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, as per the company executive, who also added the first closed beta will roll out soon.

To recall, Xiaomi's Mi 4 was launched back in 2014 running Android 4.4 KitKat initially while the Mi Note was unveiled this year and also came running KitKat version.

Notably, the company released Android Lollipop based MIUI 7 ROMs for its handsets in October this year.

The Chinese company has been delaying the launch of the long-anticipated Mi 5 flagship smartphone for months now. However, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun recently claimed that the handset was "worth the wait" and was "very, very good".

Xiaomi in partnership with Microsoft released Windows 10 Mobile ROM for its flagship Mi 4 Android smartphone, specifically the LTE version of the handset.

Last month, Xiaomi unveiled its new Redmi Note 3 smartphone. The company confirmed that the Redmi Note 3 would be available in two variants: one with 2GB RAM and 16GB inbuilt storage variant priced at CNY 899 (approximately Rs. 9,500) and another with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage at CNY 1,099 (approximately Rs. 11,500). There's no word yet on India price or launch date. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) Sunlight Display and is touted be a "fully-laminated display". The company has teased the phone is just 8.65mm at its thickest point and weighs 164 grams. It runs MIUI 7 based on Android OS.

Meet the First Phone You Can Wash With Soap

Until now, we have come across rugged and durable smartphones with features like water-resistance and shock-proofing. However, a new smartphone named Digno Rafre has now set a new standard of durability. The handset as per its creators - KDDI and Kyocera - is the first in the world that can be washed with soap.

With the feature, users of the Digno Rafre can clean the smartphone with ease. To further aid in cleaning, it is also rated for hot water resistance at 43-degrees Celsius, which is not included in the usual smartphone IP certification ratings. The smartphone is IP58-rated and features a self-healing rear panel, which we have already seen in LG G Flex smartphones.

It is also shockproof (MIL-STD-810G). The display can be operated even with wet hands and is protected by Dragontrail X glass coating. Available in Coral Pink, Cashmere White, and Marin Navy, the Digno Rafre will launch on December 11 in Japan priced at JPY 57,420 (roughly Rs. 32.300)

As for the specifications, the Rafre runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box and features a 5-inch TFT LCD display with HD (720x1280 pixels) resolution. Under-the-hood it packs 2GB RAM as well. The processor details have not been mentioned yet. The smartphone includes a microSD card slot (up to 128GB) for expanding the 16GB inbuilt storage.

Digno Rafre houses a 13-megapixel rear camera with CMOS sensors and is backed by a 3000mAh battery, which is rated to deliver 20 hours of VoLTE talk time. It also supports 4G LTE connectivity, WiMAX plus VoLTE along with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, and USB connectivity. The handset measures 71x141x10.1mm and weighs 155 grams. Full specification list should be out when the handset releases