Author
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
Cortana is intended to be central to the Windows 10 experience, learning what you do, taking notes on your preferences if you let her, and predicting what you will need as you work with your PC as well as any tablet or mobile It looks like we’ll have several voices clamouring for attention, very soon. Apple’s Siri, Google’s whatever-her-name-is, Amazon’s Echo, Facebook’s Moneypenny, and then there’s Microsoft’s Cortana. These virtual assistants are going to get into everything and battle it out to be the one that guides you through everyday life. Facebook’s, for now, seems to be intended for helping you buy stuff, and so isAmazon’s to some extent, but the others are looking to be more comprehensively embedded in all the tech you use. Cortana may be Microsoft’s voice, but she’s already found her way to Android and will soon be on iOS as well because people no longer use Windows alone but live on their mobiles – not necessarily thoserunning Windows either. With so many activities having shifted to mobiles and Microsoft’s Lumia phones barely maintaining a tiny share of the mobile market, the company that once was in so much trouble for being monopolistic now has to put its software on to other platforms more frequently used all over the world. This includes Cortana, the virtual assistant. As we draw closer to the launch of Widows 10 on 29th July, a beta version of Cortana for Android has leaked (in that purposely accidentally way that companies have these days) and many users are trying that out right now. Cortana is intended to be central to the Windows 10 experience, learning what you do, taking notes on yourpreferences if you let her, and predicting what you will need as you work with your PC as well as any tablet or mobile. The idea is for you to be able to take up where you left of as you move from one device to another. Cortana is supposed to understand semantic language and respond meaningfully including getting you a file you were working on for example. Personalisation is the intention here. To download Cortana on Android, you’ll need to key in a web search and links to the “apk” will come up. You’ll get an alert about downloading an unknown file to your phone and indeed, you may want to avoid it, but if you want to risk it, you’ll get a glimpse into Cortana. Cortana, at the moment, is not yet fully functional and in fact the real value is supposed to be when moving across devices that include a PC or laptop running Windows 10, so you may wonder what the big deal is. There’s already Google Now ready to respond to all sorts of queries and, on many phones such as those from Samsung, a voiceassistant from the company anyway. Currently, Cortana on Android will push some information at you, answer queries, set reminders etc. The interface for the Cortana app is interesting to see and what will be incorporated in Windows 10.
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Long before the Apple Watch even launched, the tech media in the US were frothing at the mouth over how it was the one wonderful gadget that would galvanize the whole wearables industry. It was a bit of a shock when Time Magazine gave it a gadget of the year status when it hadn't yet been launched. Apple is the undisputed master of design in the tech world, with everyone scrambling to copy its products. But just as you'd give credit where it's due, you would withhold it where it's not. When the talk of a possible upcoming smartwatch from Apple began surfacing, it was exciting. Apple has been a category starter with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. No one can quite make a MacBook despite trying. So, what would it do with a brand new category to play with? But the Apple Watch (at first called the iWatch by the general public) took ages. First it stayed a rumour for almost a year and then when it finally did get formally announced, it took another age to actually be launched. By then, the world of fashion was already making much of it and there were full page displays of snazzy outfits graced with the centerpiece - an Apple Watch. When Tim Cook took to the stage to show it off, I was acutely disappointed. There didn't seem to be anything but the obvious. I also couldn't help thinking of so many more really innovative and beautiful looking smartwatches and wrist wear being showcased or launched. The Motorola 360, in fact, was and still is a far more innovative piece of gadgetry. It sparked off a spate of other fantastic looking round watches from others like LG, Asus and more. So what was supposed to be so revolutionary about the Apple Watch and why would it be the one to kickstart the wearables industry? The only thing I can think of is that it's just because it's Apple and the fanatic confidence its fans and the Western media have in the company would indeed open up the wearables industry. But surprise surprise, suddenly the same media is using the word "flop" in a spate of articles. Most unusual for anything to do with Apple. Aside from a few features unique to it, the Apple Watch doesn't do anything spectacularly well that others don't. Android watches already have most of those - changing watch faces, fitness tracking, heartbeat sensing, handling messages and calls, glancing at news. On top of that, the Apple Watch seems neither as intuitive to use as Apple's other products nor is particularly beautiful - a square on our wrist. Yet, it is exorbitant and has all these exclusive versions that only the extremely rich can even dream of. And now, after the initial euphoria, it seems the Apple Watch isn't selling very well at all. Apple isn't about to say anything about that as it hasn't been very long since the device has been on the market - and it hasn't even made its way to some markets. But the analytics firm Slice Intelligence has released some figures that show sales are significantly down since the initial rush. While one should wait until other sources reveal further numbers, the general trend seems to be downward all right and it's a situation that should give one pause while we rethink whether everything Apple touches turns automatically to gold.
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The Periscope and Meerkat apps and the freedom to stream video to the world are so new that it may not always be easy to see the best that’s put out right nowWhen Periscope and Meerkat, the two instant video streaming apps that turned anyone with a phone into a broadcaster, first appeared, I had said that something has changed forever, a line has been crossed, with video. It didn’t happen abruptly and nor would I expect it to, but from then on, the power in the video creating world shifted from experts to anyone. And this has widespread implications, even though they will take their time unfolding.Periscope and Meerkat, mentioned together only because they launched at almost the same time, are apps that are now on both iOS and Android devices and that use the phone’s camera to stream video straight to the app and to Twitter. Periscope belongs to Twitter and works directly with the social network. Early adopters had a field day recording all sorts of things, including, predictably enough, all manner of nonsense. A video of someone picking his nose could sit side by side with a stream of a great walk by the riverside, for instance.These apps and the freedom to stream video to the world are so new that it may not always be easy to see the best that’s put out right now. But in time, it’ll happen. But it seems one of the early adopters of Periscope is the Bangalore police, who believe that in time, the general public can use video streaming to report crimes they come across. Good thought and full marks for forward thinking. For now, they’re starting with streaming police conferences.When these apps launched, I watched a stream from the location of a crime. Someone had been murdered and a passerby was shooting the aftermath. Despite the fact that there was nothing more of the crime to see and people and police were just milling around in a cordoned-off area, it was very disturbing to see. And different from a TV report. For one, there was the atmosphere that you could experience, unhindered by the usual cliché of news broadcasting. For another, you could see things through an emotional lens as the “broadcaster” focused on whatever was bothering him most. In this case it was the mother of the victim, crazed with grief.Gradually, the general public will get more savvy and alert about what they stream and how to make that more conducive to getting help quickly. Technology has certainly brought in a new era of transparency, but culture has to catch up with it first. In present times, when violence has become so much more prevalent, obviously using a phone to film a crime is likely to get the broadcaster beaten up, or worse. For decades we have been unwilling to get involved in any part of the reporting a crime or even helping the victim, for fear of our own safety. To go from that to outright filming a crime being enacted is a far cry. By the time the general pubic and police get used to it, perhaps potential criminals will think the possibility of being filmed and beamed instantly enough of a deterrent.For now, if devices and cellular connectivity allows, it might be interesting to Periscope say, a cab ride, in the interest of greater safety.
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If you’re on the go a lot and want to make sure you make the best use of your time, get the bulk of your reading done aloud on your Android phone while you’re dashing about. Use earphones if you want to avoid bothering anyone else. Ideal for car and metro listening, @Voice Read Aloud is a great app to just send text to when you’re catching up on essential news, picking up links from Twitter, or just browsing. You use your Share or Send button to channel the content to the read-aloud app and get your eyes off the screen while the app reads for you.A few tips though. You can collect a bunch of articles and use the app’s add-on feature to put articles into a play list. That way, you don’t need to get interrupted while doing something and get to the next piece.Another thing is that you can even have your mail read out to you, which is worth it if it’s long and if you’re tired and don’t want to look at your screen any longer. In fact, reading aloud is a great way to save yourself eye strain overall. To listen to your mail, you can cut and paste the text into the app. Cut and paste is also always a good idea if some article ends up with a format problem and doesn’t show up on the app properly.Another thing you can do to improve the experience is download a language pack for better quality voices. Once that’s done, the reading doesn’t sound horribly electronic and flat but instead is quite easy to listen to for extended periods.The add-on and language packs can cost a small amount, depending on what you choose, but the Read Aloud app itself is free. It tends to go through a lot of updates, which is a little annoying, but on the other hand, it’s too useful to stay annoyed with for very long.
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Twitter like Facebook is cozying up to you on your birthday as it wants to serve you ads and make some moneyAs if it weren’t enough that you have a few hundred soppy birthday greetings to deal with on Facebook, you can now add many thousands to that. If your Twitter followers really love you, that is. If they don’t, not to worry, as Twitter will plant a few animated balloons on your profile, presumably making you feel all warm and fuzzy and loved all over. You can spend your special day saying thank you to everyone you don’t know, because what other way is there to celebrate, really.The reason Twitter wants to be so up-close and personal is much the same as Facebook’s – it wants to serve you ads and make some money. And well, it has to, else why would it stick around spending millions on supporting the world’s ‘stream of consciousness.’Both on Facebook and on Twitter, you can choose to let friends, relatives, followers and enemies see your date of birth in all its glory, or keep it hidden and have a more peaceful day. You can choose not to add it in the first place. But once it’s given, the network won’t care whether your friends know or now – as long as it does and its advertisers do. To show you ads of a Harley Davidson and not beauty soap, you’ll have to let the social network know something about you and a birthday is critical to direct age-specific messages at you.While Facebook has been ruling the online and mobile advertising roost, the same cannot be said of Twitter, whose CEO Dick Costolo recently stepped down after getting outright tired of investor criticism and a race for numbers. Twitter just doesn’t have enough active users, say stakeholders, and advertising dollars will only come in if the involved user base is proven to be substantial and growing rapidly. You wouldn’t think it from the noise that’s made on Twitter, but it’s actually got less users now than the photo sharing network Instagram does and has been overtaken by it in valuation.But always be wary of the word personalise in technology and social media. It means not only that you will be shown ads, which you may believe to be a small price to pay for a free service, but that your experience will be shaped and led towards further realisation. This, in a subtle way, reduces your choices while appearing to customise your experience making what the algorithm thinks you wanted, phenomenon you can already see with Google.At the same time, with today’s on-demand economy growing the way it is, you may wish Twitter well and be perfectly happy with the ads and the buy buttons. For now though, I’ll buy my own balloons.
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While the smart city project has its heart and mind in the right place, one can’t help but wonder if it is a pipe dream, Mala Bhargava writes
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With Nokia SimplicityNokia — yes, the old loved Nokia — has a launcher on the Google Play Store meant to make life on an Android phone easier and quicker. The Z Launcher is light and easy for a total novice to use. Basically it takes over your home screens, reduces them, and puts frequently-used apps on two of those home screens. No fuss, no frills.It learns what you use and presents those apps for easy access. But, if you want to find a specific app quickly, you can just draw the alphabet with which its name begins on the screen. A W will get you Whatsapp and anything else with that alphabet, for example. Those who are new to Android take a while getting used to things, and this is just the sort of app that makes onboarding unintimidating.Countdown To WhateverIf you're constantly losing track of everything and then getting a big shock when it’s almost time, try out LifeTicker Pro, an app for reminders with a twist. You have to be an iPhone user and pay Rs 60 for the privilege. Only you can decide whether that’s worth it to you. Life Ticker works with countdowns. For whatever you want, birthdays, anniversary, upcoming vacations, a party, a visit, or work related deadlines, you can set the lot to a countdown. You can set years, days, weeks, hours, minutes etc., and get customised notifications. As usual, you can share on Facebook, Twitter, email etc, in the unlikely event that you should want to. You can add photos — what can be done without photos after all — to pretty up the reminders and keep you looking at the app.When The World ShakesIt's startling when you realise just how many earthquakes happen on our planet every single day. With the recent devastating quake in Nepal and India, this most unpredictable of natural disasters is top-of-mind. Well, you’ll be surprised at just how many earthquake related apps there are. One on iOS that goes by the simple name of Earthquake is a no nonsense app which gives you as-it-happens status of earthquakes everywhere. Knowing your location, you can opt to see seismic activity around you. While the average person may not want to dwell on earthquakes, anyone whose work involves geology, emergency services or any other related field will find information like this useful. The pro version will also enable push notifications while the regular version may be more appropriate for geo-enthusiasts.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 27-07-2015)
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Usually i'm more than happy when a gadget goes back to its company. One less thing to look after. But saying goodbye to the LG G4 was an exception. I know I’m going to miss this phone which very quickly began to feel like it was mine and which is somehow just plain comfortable to use — for a big phone. While there’s nothing groundbreaking about it, using the G4 makes you realise there doesn’t always have to be. It’s a nice mix of everything, and that should be enough for most.The first thing that stands out on the G4 is its leather back — if you have that version and not the metallic looking one. I’d highly recommend the leather, stitched down the middle and very good looking. I had the tan, but there are changeable backs. The back panel opens up to let you add the SIM and memory card. Without the leather back, the G4 will look unremarkable. There’s a case that covers the front in addition to duplicating the back panel.The G4 is ever so slightly curved, which makes it a better face-fit. It’s pretty comfortable to hold. You have the signature LG buttons for power, volume and even camera trigger on the back and these are quite natural to use just where they are, except that you’ll likely use the knock-knock feature on the screen to wake up the device. There are patterns you can set to security-protect your phone from anyone who tries to pry. Actually, you can also lock down photos and files, even individual ones. Those can be separately code-protected.I rather like LG’s formulas for their screens. I found the G4’s “soothing,” and that’s saying something, considering I use a device practically all waking hours. It’s fine, has realistic colours and is generally easy on the eye while still being crisp and bright. Some reviewers in the US report unresponsiveness on the screen — possibly a software issue — but I didn’t encounter that at all. CHECK OUTXOLO CHROMEBOOKIf you’re in the happy situation of having 24/7 connectivity to the Internet and not a whole lot to do, you could make do with a Chromebook. I say make do because the Chromebook, Google’s bare-bones laptop is just the very basics of working online. Of course, in some enterprises where the work is specifically just online and say, on a website, a Chromebook is just what the doctor ordered, helping to keep costs low and altogether avoid Microsoft’s Windows and other software.You live a Google life, working on Google Docs, and use the Chrome browser and other Google services. At one time, Chromebooks cost too much and gave too little — but with budget versions out, a company can consider these for specific use cases. But life is not all work and no play on this Chromebook — you can use Android apps and games using the browser.The Xolo Chromebook, one of three, Google just launched in India, is a tidy no-nonsense laptop with an 11.6-inch non-touch display. The screen is adequately bright. The keyboard is pretty nice as well. It's gently stylised and not focused on looks. It’s 1.15kg and boots up at top speed and uses a 1.8GHz Rockchip 3288 with 2GB of RAM. You mostly store things online but there’s a storage card of varying capacities you can use. Battery life is 10 hours. There are two USB ports, but these are 2.0, not the newer 3.0. You do have good speakers, a headphones jack and a camera. The Xolo Chromebook costs Rs 12,999 and is available online at Amazon and Snapdeal.Well, you need a great screen to do justice to the camera. In this case, a 16 megapixel shooter that makes this one of the most recommended phones if you’re into phone photography. You have control over white balance, ISO, exposure, etc., and yet the app is simple and intuitive. You can flip to the 8MP front camera with a swipe. The optics are powerful and the images are really good and can even be saved as RAW files. You have optical image stabilisation as well. Low light images are fine, but not special. LG uses its own CSS flash technology which adapts to the environment — sometimes with passable results and sometimes not.The G4 has a powerful processor and an interface that doesn’t get in the way, so its performance is smooth. Incidentally, the Sony Xperia Z4 and HTC One M9 sport the 810 Snapdragon while Samsung uses its own. The LG skin, on top of Android Lollipop, doesn’t appeal to all, but it’s not problematic. There are specific widgets, such as a wordy weather one that annoys some people, and easy multi-tasking if you want it. It just doesn’t have any special features that pop out at you — but then Samsung was criticised for just the opposite: putting in too many features and making it all complicated. The G4 has useful capabilities while at the same time not being overwhelming.Peculiarly, I couldn’t find where to select certain mobile network settings. The battery wasn’t stellar and while I found it to be adequate for moderate use, reviewers have reported having to charge the device twice a day.Overall, the G4 is a well-equipped phone with all necessary tools. The camera stands out as good and there’s no shortage of processing power. However, it does not have any blow-you-over software features. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 27-07-2015)
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Light from digital devices trick the brain into thinking it isn’t really nighttime at all, and this disrupts the natural sleep-wake cycle, in the long term, impacting sleep architectureOne thing’s for sure: I’m in trouble. My eyes are barely open in the morning when I’m squinting at my phone, checking out mail, reading the news, canning messages and dismissing the notifications that plague my life. And late in the night, my phone slips out of my hand to one side as I reluctantly stop reading my ebook. Let’s not count the hours in between because, in brief, they amount to most of the day.Unsurprising then that I should find I suffer from eye strain and dryness. But that’s not all. The “blue light” from screens can and does harm the eyes.Blue light apparently reaches deep into the eye and causes damage to the retina maybe even speeding up age-related macular degeneration.That’s if lack of sleep doesn’t kill you first. Enough studies now show that screen-staring, specially close to bedtime, will affect the quality of sleep you get. The first thing you could do is to blink more. In fact there are even apps that remind you to look away from the screen and take a break. There’s the famous 20-20-20 format where you look away every 20 minutes at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. It sounds easy enough, but we soon tire of this and try ever persuading kids to look away from their screens for a break – they don’t even consciously experience the strain and yet, the damage to their eyes so early in life is frightening. Forget games, they sometimes have to do homework online. Mala BhargavaNor can one afford to ignore the impact of blue light on REM sleep. You may not feel it over a day or two, but consistent depletion of this most important phase of sleep in turn affects overall health. Light from digital devices trick the brain into thinking it isn’t really nighttime at all, and this disrupts the natural sleep-wake cycle, in the long term, impacting sleep architecture. A study by the AMA (American Medical Association) in 2012 recognized that exposure to blue light at night can disrupt sleep and exacerbate sleep disorders, specially in children and adolescents. Dim red lighting in the room is recommended to counteract the blue light somewhat.One would think manufacturers of electronic equipment would do something about it, but while enough work goes into protecting the screen, little or nothing is done to protect the user. Dhruvin Patel, optometry student, decided he should change this and invented a screen protector which can block up to 50 percent of the blue light. His product, Ocushield, actually helps reduce eyestrain and get better sleep. Patel developed Ocushield while he was at City University in the UK, winning a modest sum of funding for the product after a competition and later at Vision Express.From January this year, Ocushield is available for sale online. It’s manufactured in Hong Kong from where it’s quality controlled and sent out to distributors. It’s a film that’s a cut out and it fits onto a screen. “You don’t really notice a difference in coloration,” says Patel, “There’s no change in image clarity. “ Currently, Patel is getting Ocushield to hospitals and doctors, which he believes will establish the credibility of the product. The next step will be to get Ocushield to corporate and mobile companies. In the near future, if mobile makers take it up, we could look forward to at least some reduction in the damage to our eyes and claim back some of that sleep lost to digital devices. Meanwhile, if you can’t wait, head to http://ocushield.com.
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Amazon keeps refreshing its line of Kindle devices, among which the Paperwhite is a good affordable optionHaving given up on ‘real books’ I tend to read on multiple devices. Each instantly syncs to the point where I left off in the book, so I don’t miss anything as I pick up whichever device is handy or convenient at that moment. But there’s nothing to beat the Kindle when I settle down for a good read, avoiding too much eyestrain and using a gadget optimised for reading. Actually, who’s only job is provide a great reading experience.Amazon keeps refreshing its line of Kindle devices, among which the Paperwhite is a good affordable option, specialising as it does in an experience that is as close to paper books as electronics can get.With each refresh, there’s fine-tuning and tweaking rather than the big changes you see from one version of a smartphone to the next. The differences in Kindles are most evident to those who own one and upgrade to the next or to reviewers who are trained to look for these differences. For new buyers, it’s just a better deal.Luckily I had a previous Paperwhite with which to compare the newly released 2015 version. To look at, there’s really very little change and this is unfortunately because the device has had a horribly placed power button on the bottom edge which I’ve always thought very hard to get to. It’s also without some give, so it takes an awkward position and an extra hard press on a small thing to get it to respond. In the more expensive Kindle Voyage, the power button has been beautifully shifted to the back panel just around where your finger will rest as you hold it so that you don’t need to do much to turn it on or off.But for now, on the Paperwhite, it seems we’re stuck with the old power button. And you do need that button more than you think if you like to turn off the screen when you’ve stopped reading for a while. The Kindle has a battery that lasts a purported eight weeks even with the light on, so it won’t suffer too much from being on for a while, but still.What makes the 2015 Paperwhite good to have is that the screen is visibly crisper, brighter, whiter, and better. There’s also a new font, Bookerly, which has been created for the e-reader, and better spacing, better handling of hyphenation, and support for things like drop-caps in the text. Putting the two Paperwhites side by side, I see that the older one does look a lot dimmer at the same screen brightness setting and the text is blockier – not that I mind it terribly the way it was.In daylight and bright light, the two Paperwhites are just a shade different in their own brightness – but of course, the 300ppi Paperwhite 2015 has the advantage of finer looking text in that optimised font.If you already own the previous Paperwhite, I wouldn’t say it’s essential to upgrade to a new one. The differences are nice but don’t redefine what is a pretty good reading experience to begin with. The new Paperwhite is available, of course, on Amazon.in itself, but also 450 other outlets like Croma. It costs Rs 13,999, for the Wi-Fi plus 3G version which is quite a bit when you look at the varying prices of previous versions. You can get EMI options if you need them.The Wi-Fi only version costs Rs 10,999 and has always made more sense to me as this isn’t a device for which you constantly need connectivity on the go. Fill it up with books – which contrary to popular belief are not expensive – and go.
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