Amazon has come up with the all-new Kindle Paperwhite with exclusive Kindle font Bookerly and a new typesetting engine at a price of Rs 10,999 only.The new Kindle Paperwhite adds highest resolution Paperwhite display, delivering the same 300 pixels per inch that readers love about the top-of-the-line Kindle Voyage. With unsurpassed resolution and 2x the pixels as the previous generation Kindle Paperwhite, the display delivers laser-quality text, making it easy to read comfortably at any font size, including at smaller fonts so you can fit more words on each page. Even with the new higher resolution display, Kindle Paperwhite delivers battery life that is measured in weeks rather than hours.The device comes up with Bookerly, an exclusive font designed from the ground up for reading on digital screens. Warm and contemporary, Bookerly is inspired by the artistry of the best fonts in modern print books but is hand-crafted for great readability at any size. It introduces a lighter, more graceful look and outperforms other digital reading fonts to help customers read faster with less eyestrain.Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO, said, “The new Kindle Paperwhite obsesses over the details that matter most to readers—we’ve added our highest-resolution display so the words are crisp and clear on the page, a new font that is crafted exclusively for reading Kindle books, and a new typesetting engine that makes pages beautiful. Together, these details help you read faster and with less eyestrain, so you can lose yourself in the author’s world.”
Read More
The charismatic Stephen Elop of "burning platform" fame has been quite the headline-maker over the past few years. He was once a VP at Microsoft but took over Nokia when it was in deep trouble and informed everyone there that they were standing on a burning platform and could either jump into the unknown or stay and well, sizzle with the platform. Nokia was split up and later acquired by Microsoft, whereupon Elop took over as executive vice president of Devices and Services there. It looked for all the world as if his move from and back to Microsoft had been premediated. Now, with Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s new CEO taking the tech giant aggressively into the post-PC mobile era, there is to be a merging of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices groups. Many will remember images of Stephen Elop holding the 41-megapixel phone, Nokia Lumia 1020, at its launch event. But the Lumias subsequently didn't do well enough and the breakthrough 1020 was so much a phone strapped on to a camera that it remained a niche product. Even after Microsoft bought Nokia, Windows Phone stayed at the low end of the food chain. Interestingly, Elop profited financially from having overseen the transition of Nokia to Microsoft. There are two other Microsoft executives who will be leaving and Devices and Windows isn’t the only bit of restructuring taking place under Nadella currently. Nothing is yet known of where Elop is headed when he leaves Microsoft after a transition period, but there’s much lighthearted conjecture on whether he will be scouting for another company to buy for Microsoft: in effect another burning platform.
Read More
In a survey by a global leader in cyber security solutions, Fortinet revealed that the most vulnerable element of the IT infrastructure (database is the most vulnerable element of the IT infrastructure for Indian respondents). Nearly half (49 per cent worldwide and 40 per cent in India) of respondents ranked wireless networks as most exposed from a security standpoint, in contrast to just 29 per cent (34 per cent in India) for the core network. Insufficient wireless security is a concern for almost all (92 per cent worldwide and 100 per cent in India) of the CIOs polled; hardly one-third of the enterprise wireless networks put in place for internal employees (37 per cent worldwide and 34 per cent in India), do not have the basic security function of authentication in place, according to the Fortinet survey.Wireless Networks at RiskAccording to the survey, wireless networks are ranked as the most vulnerable IT infrastructure, with the highest proportion of ITDMs (49% WW vs 40% in India) placing it in their top two. Respondents positioned wireless as significantly more vulnerable than core networking infrastructure, with 29% of ITDMs ranking this highly (34% in India). In India, the most vulnerable IT infrastructure is database according to 43% of Indian respondents (25% worldwide). Applications (17% WW vs 23% in India) and storage (11% WW vs 13% in India) infrastructures were considered amongst the least susceptible from a security standpoint.According the survey, 37 per cent of global ITDMs polled (34 per cent of Indian ITDMs) do not have the most basic wireless security measure of authentication in place. A significant 29 per cent and 39 per cent (29 per cent and 25 per cent in India) of enterprises respectively, overlook firewall and anti-virus security functions when it comes to wireless strategies. Other security measures deemed critical to core infrastructure protection, such as IPS (deployed by 41% vs 51% in India), application control (37% vs 38% in India) and URL filtering (29% vs 35%), play a part in even fewer wireless deployments. Concern High Over Insufficient Wireless SecurityOf the ITDMs surveyed, 83% (94% of Indian ITDMs surveyed) are concerned their existing wireless security is not sufficient, with CIOs reporting the highest level of concern at 92% (100% in India). Despite deploying the highest level of security of all the regions surveyed, ITDMs across APAC are the most concerned about their wireless security with 44% stating they are very concerned, in contrast to 30% in the Americas, and 20% in EMEA.Globally, ITDMs reported varying confidence levels in wireless security; China tops the board with 71% 'very concerned followed by India at 61%', compared to just 13% in Japan. Risk of Data Loss Tops PollWhen asked to cite the risks of operating an unsecured wireless network, 48% of ITDMs (55% of Indian ITDMs) considered loss of sensitive corporate and/or customer data as the biggest risk to their organization. This was highest at 56% in APAC, in contrast to the Americas at 45% and EMEA 42%. The next highest risk, industrial espionage, was cited by just 22% of ITDMs, followed by non-compliance to industry regulations (13%), with service interruption and damage to corporate reputation ranked equal last (9%). In India, the next highest risk, industrial espionage, was cited by just 17% of Indian ITDMs, followed by service interruption (10%), non-compliance to industry regulations and damage to corporate reputation ranked equal last (9%).Cloud Management Becomes the Norm Wireless infrastructure governed by a premise-based controller is a thing of the past according to the findings, with on-site wireless controllers the least common form of management (28% vs 17% in India). This trend for cloud-based management looks set to grow further, with only 12% (5% in India) of enterprise ITDMs refusing to trust the cloud for such critical management in the future.Of the cloud-ready respondents, 58% (53% in India) would want to use a private cloud infrastructure for wireless management and 42% (47% in India) would outsource to a third party managed services provider. 14% (20% in India) of those considering outsourcing would only do so provided it is hosted in the same country, leaving 28% (27% in India) happy to embrace wireless management as a public cloud service regardless of geography.71% do not provide Guest Access in IndiaOnly 29% of India ITDMs polled provide guest access on their corporate wireless networks (compared to 43% of global respondents), with 3% of these organizations doing so without any controls whatsoever (13% worldwide). The most common form of guest security access on corporate wireless networks is a unique and temporary username and password (46% vs 38% in India), ahead of a captive portal with credentials (36% vs 24% in India).
Read More
There are a number of fitness bands and smartwatches available in India today, but the consumption of such devices has still not hit a high. Even with the slow adoption, various brands are still trying to push their wearable devices in the market. Garmin, better known for making GPS devices, jumped into the wearable business last year and their latest product is the Vivosmart activity band which is essentially a fitness band which tracks your steps, calories and so on. It also serves as a smartwatch as it has an OLED touchscreen display. The Vivosmart is similar to Samsung’s Gear Fit but without the brilliant curved AMOLED display. It is made out of a flexible rubberised material with a black finish on top and a coloured accent on the bottom which is available in four colours; berry, blue, black, slate and purple. Like most fitness bands that are two prongs to lock the band on your wrist. There are no physical buttons but you can interact with the band through the touchscreen. Just double-tapping activates the display and you can swipe left or right to scroll through your various activity stats, notifications, control your music player or just check the time. The band is waterproof so you can wear it in the shower or when you are swimming without any issues. The battery life is pretty decent on the band as you get about 6-7 days of backup before you need to charge it. The charger is a simple USB chord with a clamp on one end which attaches to the band. It can get tricky to attach it as it needs to be aligned to four contact points on the bottom of the band. The band connects to your Android or iOS device via Bluetooth and you need to sync the band with Garmin Connect app. Once that is successfully done, the band starts calculating your activity including the number of steps you take, the amount of calories burned, and the amount of hours you have slept. The tracker is not the most accurate as there were instances where it converted a slow car ride into steps and giving an alert of finishing the set goal of 7500 steps. The sleep tracker is not intuitive at all as there is no automatic sleep mode. You have to go into the band and turn on the sleep tracker and when you wake up you need to switch it off. There is also an alarm feature which wakes you up in the morning by vibrating on your wrist. Apart from calculating your activity stats, the band also gives you some features available on a smartwatch like quick notifications for email, Whatsapp, SMS, calls, etc. You can also set the apps for which you want notifications from, but only if you have an Android device. There is also a feature to control your music, which comes handy if you are out jogging with some beats on. The Vivosmart is a bit on the expensive side bearing a price tag of Rs. 10,990. For this price it is quite disappointing as it isn’t the most accurate one out there. Some of the features might be intriguing, but it doesn’t offer anything unique that other bands or smartwatches don’t offer.
Read More
My once-beloved Sony RX100 lies stone cold in my gadget drawer and I wince every time I come across it looking so neglected. A new version, the RX100 IV, is now in existence and it’s as pocketable and light as it originally was and now it takes 4K video, but somehow, I’m looking to the next great camera on a smartphone. Although I’m loathe to go so far as to get rid of my RX100 (in case anyone’s asking), I would now think twice before taking it along on a holiday as I once did to the beautiful island to Langkawi. I’m afraid my Note 4 camera does an admirable enough job of holiday pictures. Although no one has seriously thought smartphone cameras were as good as DSLRs, the truth is many photographers are tending to leave their DSLRs behind in various situations. A handful of smartphones have offered cameras that have been more than good enough for non-professional photographs, the iPhone, Samsung’s flagships, Nokia’s amazing 41 megapixel 808 and 1020 and now LG’s G4 with its solid manual controls over parameters. And now, just launched, is the next in Chinese phone-maker Gionee’s ELife line, the ELife E8, with a camera that takes a staggering 120 megapixel photo. The camera is thought to use technology similar to Nokia’s Pureview, and is lossless. Zoom is 3X on this 23.7 megapixel camera. And that’s not all. The camera is reported to launch is 0.8 seconds, so you may just get that shot that you would with the super fast DSLR. Except that you’d have to be ready with the DSLR all mounted and waiting. It also features fast phase detection autofocus and optical image stabilisation. The lens is a six-element assembly. With the help of its software, the camera actually takes 120 megapixel photographs. The rest of the hardware on the 6-inch (all the screen real estate to see those pictures and frame a photo) E8 is on the face of it equivalent to today’s flagships, though performance has to be seen when it’s in the hands of reviewers. There’s even a price floating around – Rs 41,000. The recently launched ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini goes so far as to call itself an SLR camera. While that may not be altogether true, its 16 megapixel primary shooter has a whole lot of features unusual in a smartphone camera including very fine control over settings and the ability to do light painting. All it costs is Rs 16,999. Looking at these phones, already here, one can only wonder how far smartphone cameras will go in matching DSLRs in results. While at the present time it’s impossible to think of what a phone camera can do to mimic the sheer size of lenses used by full-fledged cameras – and the variety of lenses, to be sure – the real advantage will be that phone cameras will begin to suffice and even please in an increasing number of situations.
Read More
Wireless Bluetooth speakers are not longer a luxury and are becoming much more affordable by the day. There is an extensive variety of products from brands like JBL, Bose, Bang and Olufsen and other brands that have been stacking up in the market. Popular accessory maker Logitech has portable Bluetooth speaker of its own called the X300 which is available for about Rs.4000 and aims to target the budget range. The speaker is not very flashy rather has a nice subtle looking design with rubberised plastic all around a large speaker grill in between which feels very sturdy. It isn’t very big in size either and is perfect if you want to carry it around, maybe on vacation trips, as it easily fits in a backpack without taking too much space. The controls include soft buttons for volume control, Bluetooth connectivity and a small power button placed at one of the edges. Of course you can charge it via the microUSB port and there is an option to attach your smartphone or laptop with an auxiliary cable. The audio output is loud and impressive and has the potential to fill up a large hall, something that you don’t expect from such a small speaker. Even at the highest volume you don’t face any distortion. However there were instances where it seems inconsistent and the volume leveling was not the best. This was mostly when playing heavy metal tracks or songs where there is a lot of distortion and heavy instruments. The battery backup is surprisingly great as it played on for 8-hours straight before it had to be juiced up again. The X300 is definitely a value for money product, but it might not be suitable for every type of music listener. If you want a basic wireless speaker with a good amount of volume, this is a recommended product. Definitely not for someone who is an audiophile.
Read More
The annual developer’s conference, WWDC, was held on Monday (8th of June) where Apple announced its upcoming updates for iOS 9, Mac OS X and other services. One of the most interesting and talked about announcements was the Apple Music service which will be launched globally on the 30th of June. The service will be available in 100 countries at the time of launch and will be free of cost for the first three months. Upon finishing the first three months the monthly subscription will cost $9.99 (approx. Rs. 630). There is also a family pack where up to six users can use the service for $14.99 (approx. Rs. 1000), and can share via iCloud Family Sharing. With Apple Music, users will be able to stream every single song available on the iTunes store and even save them for offline listening. The service will also let users skip tracks as many times as they want and will feature an intuitive search system and Siri integration which will understand the kind of music you seek and even search for any track that you wish. The service will also include a 24x7 radio station called Beats 1 which will be available free of cost to anyone who has an Apple ID on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. Another interesting feature of Apple Music will be a social network for musicians called ‘Connect’ where musicians will be able to share their latest songs with their fans. However one can only listen to these songs if one has the subscription. This is quite useful for unsigned artists who want to share and get a feedback on their music. Now Apple didn’t confirm that India would be one of the 100 countries where the service will be launched, but since it confirmed that the service will be available on Android devices, there is a fair good chance that it will. And if you happen to visit the Apple India website you will notice that it has been updated to showcase the Apple Music service features and also mentions the free trial membership. With a number of companies already establishing and paving the online music streaming business in India, it shouldn’t be very difficult for Apple to roll out Apple Music, however; the biggest hurdle for the service will be to provide relevant content as the Indian consumer is not only seeking English music, but wants Bollywood as well as regional music. For instance, Saavn has over 3 million song titles in over 10 languages. Another major concern for Apple would be the subscription cost as a majority of consumers in India are not willing to pay for such a service. They prefer a more affordable or a free of charge service as they are already paying money for data consumption. It will be interesting to see how Apple will tackle these issues if it plans to go big with Apple Music in India.
Read More
A bunch of new laptops were announced by Dell and Lenovo for the Indian market this week and both of the companies are focusing on providing the best PC experience at different price ranges as well as different form factors. Lenovo’s popular Yoga series has been known for a having a 360-degree hinge design where the display can be turned all the way back and the Chinese brand expanded the series by announcing four new models including the Yoga 300, Yoga 500, Yoga 3 and Yoga 3 Pro. The new series ranges from Rs. 30,490 to Rs. 1,14,900 and Shailendra Katyal, Director – Home and Small Business (HSB), Lenovo India, said that through this launch the company wants to expand its reach and make the Yoga series accessible to a much wider audience. Out of the four, the Yoga 300 is the most affordable and is aimed at consumers who want to experience the Yoga series at an affordable price range. The 11.6-inch notebook does offer a decent set of features for its price, however it feels quite similar to Lenovo’s affordable Flex series. Probably the company is planning to axe the low end series altogether and replace it with low end Yoga laptops. The hero product however was the Yoga 3 Pro which sits on top of the line and features the latest Intel Core M processor, a sharp Quad HD+ (3200x1800) 13.3-inch display and 7-hour battery packed in a lightweight body that weighs about 1.2kgs. The design is quite unique as Lenovo has a used an innovative hinge design that is basically a watch band consisting of 813 precision-machined, hand-assembled components that keep the display in place. On the other hand, Dell introduced a variety of notebooks which include upgrades straight from their basic Inspiron series right up to their gaming lineup of Alienware notebooks. The updated range of Inspiron 5000 notebooks come with upgraded processor options from Intel and AMD, and are aimed at everyday usage and multimedia purposes. The new range will also come in a variety of coloured lid options and Dell’s new precision touchpads which are claimed to offer a smoother experience with full gesture support. The most attention grabbing product was the XPS 13 which is a slim ultrabook that offer a 13-inch Quad HD+ infinity display in an 11-inch laptop chassis. Dell has achieved this by using a borderless design for the display and well it does look stunning. With just 1.2kgs in weight and a carbon fiber body, the XPS 13 comes with an Intel Core i5 and Core i7 option along with SSD storage. Prices start at Rs 70,990. In the gaming department, Dell announced the latest and updated Alienware laptops in the 15 and 17-inch sizes for consumers who want high-end gaming hardware in a portable package. The machines are loaded with the latest Nvidia graphics processors and the latest 5th gen Intel Core i7 processors. Not to forget the uber-cool lighting system that can be customised as per your liking. Prices for the new Alienware start at Rs 125,990 for the Alienware 15 and Rs 145,990 for the Alienware 17. Dell also introduced the Venue 8 7000 tablet which has acclaimed the throne of the slimmest tablet in the world with a thickness of just 6mm and is also the first tablet to include Intel’s Real Sense 3D camera capabilities. The tablet runs on Android 4.4 and includes a sharp 2K display (2560x1440). The Venue 8 7000 is priced at Rs 34,990.
Read More
