Mala Bhargava says Moto X is a "lesser" device and should have had a brand new alphabet of its own, somewhere between G and XMotorola changed the smartphone market with the predecessor of this very phone – the Moto X. Showing the world how you didn't need to be in the race for hardware specs to work really well, the Moto X and later the Moto G and Moto E set the benchmark in a new way for budget Android phones with experiences that centered around an un-tampered form of Android. And now Motorola has come up with two versions of the Moto X, one of which has been recently launched in India. The Moto X Play costs Rs 18,499 and isn't quite an upgrade of the original Moto X. Surprisingly, it's a "lesser" device and should have had a brand new alphabet of its own, somewhere between G and X. Not Much Of A LookerNobody is going to look at your Moto X Play and say "Wow, which phone is that?" It's got a nice enough back panel, soft rubber with a texture that makes for a good grip and is removable to let you get at two nano SIM slots and a memory card slot as well. The back has a slight curve to it and so the device won't sit flat on a table. While the ergonomics of the X Play are really just fine, even at 5.5 inches, and it feels sturdy and solid, it's also just plain downright boring to look at. I was casually comparing it with my mother's Moto G which just happened to be within reach and found I easily would pick the Moto G in the looks department. Something about the Moto X Play keeps it from being classy. It's all plastic, but that isn't it. The fit and and finish and lack of attention to details, perhaps – on my review unit the power and volume buttons actually rattle when you touch them or shake the phone. There's absolutely no other stylization other than that the back panel comes in many colours and you can just buy a lot of them and give the phone a different look whenever you like. But the Moto X Play was probably not created the way it was for its looks anyway. Big Fat BatteryOne of the main attrtactions of the Moto X Play is its 3,630mAh battery, bigger than you get in most of the flagship phones, in fact. And on top of that, it has quick charging. This is a battery that will definitely last you the day with varied usage and you ca actually charge it in the morning instead of leaving it to top up all night. The battery alone could prompt many to consider the Moto X Play. It would make a good second phone or, because of its fairly good speaker and call sound, a good option for those who need to speak to work associates a lot through the day and want to leave their more expensive phones to use at other times. I notice teenagers also getting fairly interested in this device so it's also a good option to give to a youngster who spends a lot of time on the phone. An outdoor picture clicked by the phone cameraA 21-megapixel Camera The one thing Moto phone users missed at first was a really good camera, or even a usable one, for that matter. The Moto X Play comes with a 21-megapixel primary autofocus camera. But then, the megapixels count doesn't by itself automatically make for high quality pictures. Motorola touts the camera as being a fast one -- and that it is. You can trigger the camera off with a quick double twist of your wrist (something that gives me a sprain but that others like) and a little tap gets you a quick photo. Just as megapixels don't necessarily mean a great photo, neitherr does speed. Here, the photo is in before you have time to focus or steady up properly and so the results aren't always good. The settings wheel is hidden on the left and will come out with a swipe to let you play with some parameters including drag-to-focus. But the rest of the settings are basic. Photos taken outdoors are pretty good and show natural colours. Indoors, in good enough light, you continue to get good detail and colour. But in low light, as with the majority of phone cameras, you get softness and noise. The rear camera, a 5-megapixel shooter that doesn't have a flash but lights up the portrait a bit. There are no beautifucation modes. Power And PerformanceThe Moto X Play works with a 1.7GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB RAM. You could have once said that was enough for a mid-range phone but today some are actually beginning to come equipped with 4GB RAM. It's running Android 5.1.1 with all of Motorola's signature software lke Motorola Assist. For the most part it performs well, but expect some lag without warning no matter what the task may be. Occassionally, some heating as well. If you're using it for basic stuff and not keeping a whole multitude of apps open, you should be just fine. The Moto X Play could have been a real workhorse of a phone if it weren't for its niggling performance issues, specially given its solid battery life. But in reality it competes with the One Plus 2 and the Zenfone 2. If the One Plus 2 were only freely available, it would be the device people would go for in this category. The Zenfone 2 too has a lot to offer and is quite a draw as well.
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Airbus Defence and Space, a reference player on the cyber security market in Europe, and Atos, an international leader in digital services, have agreed to join forces in response to the growing demand for cyber security solutions.The two companies have signed a strategic partnership pact on research and development and the provision of a complementary range of products, services and solutions designed to counteract cyber-attacks.The partnership includes a worldwide distribution channel partner agreement. It addresses a broad range of businesses and industries including banking and insurance as well as the public sector, notably the defence market. Together, Atos and Airbus Defence and Space will have the opportunity to better benefit from the growing cyber security market estimated to be worth $84 billion by 2016[1].Today, organisations are targeted by an increasing number of sophisticated attacks designed to steal sensitive information or intellectual property from them or to disrupt their operations. In this context, the security needs of organisations are skyrocketing and require the most innovative security solutions.To address this demand, Airbus Defence and Space and Atos – which benefits from the security expertise of Bull – have decided to complement their portfolios in order to provide larger and more effective range of cybersecurity products, services and solutions. By combining their respective expertise and research and development knowledge in Europe, the two partners will for example work on the development of security solutions for extended enterprises (group, subsidiaries and supply chain).(BW Online Bureau)
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Look at Facebook or look at Whatsapp and everyone's peddling happiness. These get maximum likes as well (including mine). But, whose happiness?Isn't happiness an intensely personal, contextual emotion? A functional of each individual's temperamental construct, phase in life and context? Maybe why a formula for unbroken, personal happiness has remained elusive.Imagine Dad, Mum, 16ish daughter and 14ish son on holiday. Dad wants to hit a beer when mum wants to hit the spa when son wants to hit the arcade when daughter wants to hit the mall. So is a one-size fits all model for happiness a possibility?The incomplete happiness elephant. Religion tells us to shun and be happy. Epicurus tells us not to shun and be happy. Socialism tells us to share and be happy. Capitalism tells us not to share and be happy. Maslow tells us to self-actualise and be happy. And the Buddha tells us that it is the suffering of change. Well, so what is this animal in the drawing room?I believe all of the above have contributed to happiness in their own ways. But unbroken, personalized happiness? That accommodates your temperament, phase and context? Nope.Technology can near-complete the elephant! Happiness technology is built for a culture premised on an algorithmic model of self. For this we have to understand individuals as a bundle of inputs (data collection), algorithmic processes (data analysis), and outputs (data use). So we can actually convert input resources into outputs of emotion.Statisticians (and now every marketer) can predict and influence our behaviour and preferences based on the content we create and on social media's likes, dislikes and opinions. Which can easily be converted into customised recommendations for individual delight.A confluence of technologies for personalised happiness. Today we do have the technologies to gauge, understand and deliver personalised happiness. I already have all information about the individual, I have the technology to bucket preferences and contexts. Now if I marry pop psychology and a little philosophy to your need context, I have a formula for personalised happiness. For you.The delivery mechanism, we already have. All of us already know that social networks can impact moods. And every time I deliver your happiness pill via social media, you will reveal how you could be made happier. And I keep getting better at keeping you continually happy."I am kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy." - J D Salinger. It was not said in this context, but I love Salinger's quote, very apposite to this context. Will we be engineering happiness alone? Or will it lead to further power in the hands of a few, now with the ability to keep us happy as well? These questions I have no answers to. I take recourse in Ockham's les parsimoniae - the fewer the assumptions, the better.Data can create continual happiness - with curated, personalised recommendations to connect with an individual's contexts of mood and time. And this to me seems 'the' idea, as the fluctuating nature of the epistemology of happiness makes any one formula redundant.Happiness has always been an industry, whatever -ism you call it by. But then again, with their formulae for your happiness.My happiness formulae varies itself to suit the pill-popper's subjective, contextual need. This is the ultimate happiness pill (blue or pink or whatever), personalised to individual, mood and time. What man has sought all along - now brought to you by data science.The author, Atul Jalan, is managing director and founder of Manthan
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Dell has expanded its networking portfolio to address growing complexities in campus networking and skyrocketing bandwidth in the data center.For the campus, Dell introduced a new unified-campus architecture powered by the new Dell Networking C9010 Network Director switch and companion C1048P Rapid Access Node.In the data center, Dell debuted the Dell Networking S6100-ON, combining multi-rate connectivity, modularity and open networking to deliver unparalleled in-rack networking flexibility.“At Dell, we’re taking a holistic, end-to-end approach to networking from connecting server, storage and workloads together in the data center to connecting desktops and mobile devices in the campus,” said Tom Burns, vice president and general manager, Dell Networking and Enterprise Infrastructure.The new Dell Networking C9010 Network Director is a next-generation multi-rate capable modular switch and is the first platform based on the new Dell campus network architecture. It delivers optimum scalability for up to 4,000 virtual ports managed centrally, a lifetime of flexibility with support for 10 and 40 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) today, and a tool-free upgrade to 100GbE in the future to meet the growing bandwidth requirements of a diverse campus of end-users and end-points.For initial deployments, the C9010 can be deployed as a traditional campus switching platform without the Dell Networking C1048P Rapid Access Node, serving to aggregate legacy switching platforms in wiring closets.New Campus Network Architecture: Powered by the Dell Networking C9010 Network Director and C1048P Rapid Access Nodes.Designed for mid- to large-scale campus environments seeking improved scalability combined with simplified management, the new Dell unified-campus architecture provides a single management view for the entire campus from access to core. This provides a single point of control for quality of service, policy provisioning and software upgrades, as well as for programming software-defined attributes. Additionally, through the use of industry-standard protocols, the new Dell campus architecture can be jumpstarted using existing Dell campus investments by re-deploying Dell Networking N-series switches as access nodes.Manish Gupta, Director, Enterprise Solutions Group, Dell India said: “Our new campus management solutions are designed to address some critical customer requirements such as the management of data growth and simplified network management. Combining the most useful innovations in the networking space such as SDN and taking an integrated approach makes it a very convenient and easily deployable solution. These features have made this an ideal solution for mid to large-scale campus environments and we are expecting good customer response in India.”Dell Networking C9010 and C1048P will be available in October 2015 and Dell Networking S6100-ON will be available in the first quarter of 2016.(BW Online Bureau)
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Dell has expanded its networking portfolio to address growing complexities in campus networking and skyrocketing bandwidth in the data center.For the campus, Dell introduced a new unified-campus architecture powered by the new Dell Networking C9010 Network Director switch and companion C1048P Rapid Access Node.In the data center, Dell debuted the Dell Networking S6100-ON, combining multi-rate connectivity, modularity and open networking to deliver unparalleled in-rack networking flexibility.“At Dell, we’re taking a holistic, end-to-end approach to networking from connecting server, storage and workloads together in the data center to connecting desktops and mobile devices in the campus,” said Tom Burns, vice president and general manager, Dell Networking and Enterprise Infrastructure.The new Dell Networking C9010 Network Director is a next-generation multi-rate capable modular switch and is the first platform based on the new Dell campus network architecture. It delivers optimum scalability for up to 4,000 virtual ports managed centrally, a lifetime of flexibility with support for 10 and 40 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) today, and a tool-free upgrade to 100GbE in the future to meet the growing bandwidth requirements of a diverse campus of end-users and end-points.For initial deployments, the C9010 can be deployed as a traditional campus switching platform without the Dell Networking C1048P Rapid Access Node, serving to aggregate legacy switching platforms in wiring closets.New Campus Network Architecture: Powered by the Dell Networking C9010 Network Director and C1048P Rapid Access Nodes.Designed for mid- to large-scale campus environments seeking improved scalability combined with simplified management, the new Dell unified-campus architecture provides a single management view for the entire campus from access to core. This provides a single point of control for quality of service, policy provisioning and software upgrades, as well as for programming software-defined attributes. Additionally, through the use of industry-standard protocols, the new Dell campus architecture can be jumpstarted using existing Dell campus investments by re-deploying Dell Networking N-series switches as access nodes.Manish Gupta, Director, Enterprise Solutions Group, Dell India said: “Our new campus management solutions are designed to address some critical customer requirements such as the management of data growth and simplified network management. Combining the most useful innovations in the networking space such as SDN and taking an integrated approach makes it a very convenient and easily deployable solution. These features have made this an ideal solution for mid to large-scale campus environments and we are expecting good customer response in India.”Dell Networking C9010 and C1048P will be available in October 2015 and Dell Networking S6100-ON will be available in the first quarter of 2016.(BW Online Bureau)
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MoMagic reached out to 90 million users in India which includes 75 million smartphone users through OEMs (Original equipment manufacturers), 3 million users through offline and 12 million users via OTA (over the air), revealed MoMagic business and analytics team. Arun Gupta, CEO and Founder MoMagic Technologies said, “An important trend which the data showcases is that we have managed to register 98 per cent activation and 80 per cent retention within one week, an important indicator that for online penetration an offline network is important, especially in the Indian context and keeping the Tier II and Tier III cities in mind.”With the handset market accelerating at the rate of 25 per cent to 30 per cent for India, MoMagic Technologies aims to have 12M new user acquisitions in the FY 2015-16 through offline channel. Having registered a remarkable 300 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue for FY 2014-2015 and worked on more 200M handsets in past 55 months, the company believes that the India App Ecosystem and M Commerce will play a significant role in the Digital India and Make in India Initiatives of the government of India.”Two key reasons for better results with offline is: lower Internet penetration, network issues and lack of awareness and understanding amongst the end customer especially in the next rung of cities, where there is a clear need for one-on-one interface and explanation," he added.MoMagic Technologies, which works across all the widely used mobile platforms and in the area of mobile Internet services, offers innovative and analytically driven solutions to enterprises and ecommerce players who are targeting mobile as a key tool for connect with consumers for business and communication.(BW Online Bureau)
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Digital wallets are the main topic of discussion online when it comes to payments innovation in some of the world's biggest emerging markets including India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and the UAE, according to a MasterCard study.Of all the payment innovations that were part of the Mastercard study, people everywhere were most excited about digital or mobile wallets, despite the fact that some of the products being talked about haven't yet been rolled out in any of the markets covered by the survey.The study also found that people's greatest concern when it comes to taking up innovative payments technology is how vulnerable their data could be to hackers and criminals. The announcement that MasterCard is looking into facial recognition software that would allow people to use a selfie to complete a transaction was widely discussed across the region, showing that there is interest in using biometrics to make payments both easier and more secure.Of all the emerging markets, India was where most discussions on payments innovation took place - with nearly half the total number of posts (48 per cent) - followed by Indonesia (22 per cent) and Nigeria (10 per cent). Overall, the majority of posts were driven by news-story sharing with 95 per cent positive/factual tonality.Matthew Driver, group executive, Global Products & Solutions, Asia Pacific, MasterCard, said, "The findings from MasterCard's latest social listening research demonstrates the incredible appetite for innovation in emerging markets. In terms of payments technology, people everywhere are looking for newer and more convenient ways to pay provided it is secure and easy to use. In markets such as India, China and Nigeria, the speed of mobile penetration has had a massive impact on financial access and inclusion, with people moving from not having a bank account to straightaway being able to make payments via SMS whether it is for bills or digital content. With millions of consumers finding new ways to connect via mobile and more merchants going digital, the world's emerging markets will be at the forefront of innovation and the adoption of new payments technology."(BW Online)
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India is becoming one of the world’s largest economies but today only about 16 out of 1000 people in the country owns a PC. While the penetration is quite low, more than 1.5 lakh tones of e-waste is generated annually most of which is quite harmful for the environment. Technology is being updated faster than what it was five years ago which means that we are leaving behind large amounts of redundant and outdated devices and hardware. A Gurgaon based startup called Reboot, has taken this as an opportunity and has been managing e-waste efficiently by refurbishing and selling unwanted electronic items.Reboot started off in 2012, by founders Rahul Chowdhury and Anand Tater, where the company buys old electronic items for reasonable rates and then refurbishes them in their factory to sell them off at a much affordable price. The idea of refurbishing electronic goods is nothing new though as companies like Overcart and Greendust are some well-known names that have established themselves in the country. So what is so new about this startup?Rahul comments, “We (Reboot) are the only company worldwide that provides a full one-year warranty on the refurbished products that we sell. One of the biggest issues a customer faces when he buys a refurbished product is that it feels as if he is investing in a second hand or a used product. But we make sure that what we sell to the consumer is of high quality.”All the old products go through a 16-point check to ensure quality and then they are packed in boxes and sold to customers online as well as through physical stores via a zonal partner program. The have established close to 20 experience centres around the country. Reboot is also a Microsoft Registered Refurbisher which means it installs genuine Windows and other licensed products (starting at Rs. 600) on the laptops and desktops that it sells. The most affordable PC starts at Rs. 5000 and they also sell refurbished smartphones that start at Rs. 999.The founders said that currently they are selling to a variety of consumers and have classified them into four categories. Educational institutions have the highest demand as 40% of the total sales comes from that category. Small to medium sized enterprises, NGOs and retail consumers each constitute 20% of the total sales.The company is also working on a program where it is planning introduce the Reboot Certified Engineers / Entrepreneurs program. This will include training of over 10,000 individuals who will provide their expertise to remote places in the country via the REBO (Rural Empowerment and Business Optimiser) platform. Each REBO will be trained for duration of 4-6 weeks via formal in class training and handheld device training so that they can act as an aid consumers in locations where there is communication or lack of understanding. They are also planning on setting up its own metallurgy recycling plant where it will be extracting metal and plastic parts and trading them directly.Reboot is certainly one of the few companies that has taken the vision of refurbishing to a new level. Instead of just selling refreshed old products, the company is offering a more reliable way to buy them and where the customer is assured of the quality. So does the company aim at eradicating the dubious scrap markets of Nehru Place? Well the founders say that apart from aiming at reducing e-waste and providing a better solution for selling old electronic items, they want to spread awareness about the fact that outdated electronic products might be useless for someone but it can be quite valuable for someone who can’t afford a new one.
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