Asus started venturing into gaming laptops and peripherals a few years back with its ‘Republic of Gamers’ series and ever since it has been providing some quality products to gaming enthusiasts. One of their finest machines is the Asus G751J gaming laptop which can give a high-end gaming desktop a run for its money. Made for the geeks, this bulky machine has definitely taken inspiration from Alienware with its dark grey design and a backlit ROG logo on the lid. The whole construction is mostly plastic but it is very solid and feels sturdy. It comes with a full sized backlit keyboard with red LEDs that work great and provide an excellent coverage around the whole keyboard. The track-pad is large and very responsive, but somehow the buttons at the bottom are a bit flimsy. The area around the keyboard and track-pad has a matte finish which gives you a good amount of grip for those long Call of Duty sessions. The display measure 17.3-inches and has a full HD (1920x1080) resolution which feels great and sharp and since it is not glossy you don’t get those annoying glares. There are plenty of ports onboard including 4 USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, an HDMI port, a display port, a VGA port, a Kensington lock, your usual set of line-in and line-out ports and a LAN port. You also get a DVD-RW drive sadly no option for a blue-ray drive. The design is definitely quite striking especially the soft matte finish combined with a brushed metal accent on the lid. The exhaust fans are at the back throwing all the heat away, although it does warm up a bit if you keep it on your lap. The notebook runs buttery smooth as it is powered by an Intel Core i7-4710HQ clocked at 2.5GHz with a whooping 24GB of RAM and 1TB of hard disk space to store your latest gaming titles. To power all the games the laptop comes with an Nvidia GTX860M, which is not top of the line, but it still lets you play on highest settings on 30FPS. The battery backup is pretty decent as a full charge can provide about 3 hours of non-stop gaming. With such high end hardware and a large screen size, the weight doesn’t make the laptop very portable and is a best fit for a desktop replacement.The laptop is also heavy on value with a price tag of about Rs. 1,23,000 and it comes bundled with ROG branded gaming mouse, gaming headset and a backpack which sweetens the deal. The price might seem a lot but comparing to the 17-inch Alienware with a similar configuration, it can set you back at Rs 1,95,000. Clearly the Asus G751J is the better option if you really are looking for a chunky gaming laptop.
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Welcome to the world of flying cams, spider cams, quadrocopters, solar drones, laser drones – all kinds of drones in short – which are set to change our lives, dubbed by some as the super computers of the future. In recent times they have garnered substantial buzz. Some delightful, some not so; remember the infamous drone strikes. Back in 2013, some of us began to get fascinated by the world of drones, when a swarm of around 30 quadcopters created a Star Trek logo to promote the movie in London. A lot has changed since. Earlier, they were associated them with some MIT lab project or movie stunts, but now they are seen revolutionising a wide range of industries from film photography to research to healthcare and disaster management. They are incredibly helpful in searching for victims in areas of low visibility or accessibility. Paramedics in air or flying ambulances as they are called, they have been tested to dispatch a defibrillator within a 12 sq km zone in one minute (tested by Delft University of Technology), increasing the chances of survival of the patient from a mere 8 per cent to 80 per cent. But what actually are drones? These are unmanned aerial vehicles, controlled by someone from the ground or programmed to follow set of predetermined tasks. Countries could deploy several armed or surveillance drones but we aren’t going there. As drones enthrall more and more creative people, they fancy them in their creations. An artist recently created a mesmerising ballet with 16 quadcopters performing a beautifully choreographed dance show reflecting light across a room. More recently in the news was Amazon’s announcement of its 30-minute package-delivering project called the “Amazon Prime Air”, promising a courier packet reaching you through a drone. Several other industries like real estate, media, scientific research, video photography, healthcare, and government departments like police are exploring them in a big way. Drone journalism is another area showing promise. University of Mussouri plans to launch journalism robots (nick name J-bots) and expect it to become mainstay of the media industry soon. Same is the case with tourism and personal tour guides. MIT uses a feature called Skycall for their campus – its an autonomous flying quadcopter and personal tour guide helping visitors navigate their complex campus layout. This year at the SXSW (South by Southwest, the Annual music, film, and interactive conference), though drones were disallowed, some incredible wearable drones (drones that launch and land on our bodies) were revealed. An awesome word of possibilities - from drones controlled by voice and guiding an individual in unknown territories after detaching them from the person’s body and flying a few meters above him/her, to drones that will instantly launch above us to protect us from harmful sun’s rays or radiations. Facebook too has been working on solar drones that will bring the web down to areas with no Internet access, and the US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is close to taking a call on allowing commercial drone availability. They may have already decided by the time you read this note, and though most commercial drones are still banned, in some exceptional cases they have already granted permissions, eg to Amazon to experiment their project. Meanwhile, as people all around the world continue to think of new ways to use them, some as heart warming as this San Francisco lover who proposed to his girlfriend, now his fiancée, with a drone by flying the ring to her. Only future will tell how we find exciting ways to incorporate them in our lives, but whatever it is - be ready to soon catch your courier packet or your steaming hot pizza outside your door or balcony flying to you. The author, Rajeev Sharma, works for JWT and has over 20 years of experience in Digital, New Media and has interests in Emerging Technologies
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Microsoft has been aggressively pushing out its services and trying to put a Windows PC in every household. In the recent past the company changed its strategy and implemented affordable ways of selling Windows by announcing low cost tablets and notebooks. Microsoft along with Intel had also announced a small thumb drive sized device that turns any display with an HDMI port into a full-fledged Windows PC. This concept is one of the simplest ways of getting your hands onto a Windows device at just $149 (Rs. 9,200 approx). The aggressiveness is probably due to the fact that along with Apple’s Mac OS, the company has another competitor, Google’s Chrome OS. Google has been making progress with Chrome OS and since it doesn't require high-end hardware, the company has taken a step further and announced its own little computer on a stick called the ‘Chromebit’ which is being made by Asus. "Smaller than a candy bar, the Chromebit is a full computer that will be available for less than $100 (Rs. 6,200 approx). By simply plugging this device into any display, you can turn it into a computer. It's the perfect upgrade for an existing desktop and will be really useful for schools and businesses,” said Google. Along with this, it also announced two of its lowest priced Chromebooks which will be made by Chinese vendors Haier and Hisense at just $149 (Rs. 9,200 approx). So does this make Google in a better position? Certainly not. While Chrome OS is gaining popularity, it still needs to be accepted globally. Windows has been around for more than two decades and almost every second PC in the world runs on Windows. Chrome OS still has a long way to go, however it does have the capability to grab a large market share in the near future.
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Just four months after their launch in India, OnePlus mobile phones already have a sizeable following. Thanks largely to its popular Android- based operating system, CyanogenMod, and a powerful quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, there is a halo around these smart phones - "One" - among its users. Their 'invite only' sale model in Amazon India, has further cemented the brand's position here. Their strategy is to use word of mouth or viral marketing, globally, to keep costs low. The company may be a startup, based out of China, but one of its founding members -- Carl Pei -- is a global citizen. He was born in China, but grew up in the USA and Sweden. He along with Pete Lau, another globally savvy founder, have created a technology company that is here to stay. In under 9 months, they sold 1 million phones across the world. Now their focus is on penetrating emerging economies with clever associations and tie-ups. They have roped in Vikas Agarwal, who has worked for Ibibo and the global pension fund house, "Ivanhoe Cambridge", to head the India operations. Vikas caught up with BW|Businessworld on his strategy for India and explains why the smart phone consumer is evolving rapidly and is seeking personal engagement: Excerpts The target for OnePlus seems to be the new influencers or the millennials; how do you plan to work with this segment?The great thing about OnePlus, as a company, is that we follow a local for local strategy without hurting the core ethos of the brand which is "Never Settle". The strategy is indeed to work with local communities that use our phone, regardless of their economic background, and we know that they are young and persuasive because they love technology. Our target is clearly to go to co-working spaces, Universities and city based forums. So the local user is our champion and there are so many requests from young people who want to promote the benefits of using the OnePlus One around their community. This is a great time for marketing; we get to understand the behavioir of our user base and this user base wants to promote our phone over several forums be it online or offline. The power of India lies in the power of its youth and this is the segment that can create viral marketing. See, as a startup, we have to keep costs extremely low. Are you saying that the traditional way of marketing is dead?The more transparency you bring in to the system, with great service, the old ways of distribution based inventory models will certainly go away. Devices turn profitable for a company only when there is critical scale. Large manufacturers burn cash on the inventory they keep. For a startup like us, the low inventory model is the best way to begin and not burn cash for distributor margins and commissions. Therefore the logic of the 'invite only' sale prevails. This keeps our manufacturing and inventory costs low. In a way new companies like us are challenging the old ways by following new marketing techniques. The key is in the messaging of what the device can do to offer that personal experience; which is what our engineers, in Shenzhen, have worked hard at. It has all the premium features at a cost of Rs 22,000. It offers aspirational features at an affordable price. What we can invest for is in the service centres. We have 40 service centres currently across 40 cities and will increase this number to 300 service centres in 18 months. This will be a partnership with HCL. The consumers want convenience and ease. The tie up with Amazon and the sales, based on an invite model, has helped us keep costs low and has built a good image for us. This along with engaging our large online global forum, of 60,00,00 people, gives us insight on what we can do better.Do you want to elaborate on your local for local strategy because as of now it seems new multi national companies in India are struggling with?You cannot change the wheel in India. What works in China, in terms of target audience psychology, does not work in India. You need to pull people, not through traditional marketing, and for that we need to engage them "personally" in various forums. We also cannot pull things traditionally, through TV or print advertising, because we have no marketing budgets. But talking more is the key here and connecting with local content is even more important. In China people find a good product and they are pulled to the technology and its benefits. This is why there are so many smart devices selling there. In India mind share for the large companies is focused on spending heavily on push and pull marketing. It is more of a status and aspiration thing. We are challenging this because at some point the consumer will evolve and the young people will naturally buy products that benefit their lives or make it easier for them. But we are very clear that we will use local champions to create forums in various cities in India. To further add to the local strategy; we may toy with the idea of pick up and deliver, when the product has to be serviced, and only this time the serviceman will need to talk in the local language or engage the customer with knowledge of the product. The controversy about CyanogenMod operating system going to Micromax has been a cause of concern with many fans. How are you handling the situation?We assure our users in India that we have launched our own OS called the OxygenOS which is equally rich in fulfilling user experience. Going forward all devices will be on OxygenOS in India. CyanogenMod will ship with our devices in other markets for now. Here CyanogenMod has a tie up with another manufacturer and that continues. What's next for OnePlus in India?This year will be about setting up a R&D centre here in Bangalore. It will be about increasing our team and creating a network of local champions. Currently we have fans across 10 major cities. But with the Indian smart phone boom, the market is wide open for many players. We are also launching the next version of the smartphone in July. We are going to have a strong focus on local content in the coming years. Currently we want to saturate the ecommerce channel and focus on consumers who want a great experience a phone. Not to forget we will scale up our service centres and this will further improve the brand's position here. I don't want to give targets because everyone quotes numbers. But yes we will have to scale up if we are to be a popular brand in India.
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With so many smartphones hitting the market every day, consumers are left with a large variety to choose from, and it just doesn’t stop there. Smartphone makers and other brands have started pushing accessories down the consumer’s throat as well. There was a time when a smartphone itself meant a huge deal, but today one wants a lot more out of it. While there are many third party accessory brands, smartphone makers have aggressively started coming up with their own accessories, giving them another source of making profits. From cases to chargers to Bluetooth speakers, the choice is yet again immense. So just in case you are looking to get more out of your smartphone, then here are some of the most useful, interesting and value for money accessories that you can get for your smartphone. Power Bank: Some consumers might detest Chinese products but Xiaomi, the Chinese tech giant, introduced two impressive power banks which are a must for every smartphone user. There is one with 10400mAH capacity and one with 5200mAH both of which provide a lot of juice for your smartphone or even your tablet. The best part is that both of these don’t cost a lot, the former one costs Rs. 999 while the latter is available for Rs. 599. Lenses: If you use an iPhone and love to shoot pictures, then the Olloclip lens accessory is an amazing little tool to have. It is basically a small attachment which sits on top of your phone with a couple of lenses. These lenses enhance the capability of the smartphone camera giving you some amazing photos. The company offers various lenses including macro, tele, wide angle and even a fish-eye lens which are available for the iPhone 4 and above and even the iPad. If you don’t have an iPhone, then you can look at a similar range from Photojojo which offer lenses for the iPhone as well as many Android smartphones. Another noteworthy accessory or rather a camera which was launched by Sony, called the QX lens, some time back uses your smartphone as the viewfinder and storage device. Built in the shape of a lens, you can snap it on to your smartphone, connect it via NFC and shoot pictures through its built-in lens and sensor giving you high quality pictures. Wireless speaker: If you want a compact Bluetooth speaker, then the X300 from Logitech is quite the cracker of a deal. The sound is surprisingly powerful and is enough to fill a large hall. You also get an inbuilt mic to attend calls and a line-in port to attach your device with a wire. But if you are one of those people who don’t want carry the extra bulk, then Lenovo’s snap on Bluetooth speaker case for the Vibe X2 smartphone is a unique accessory that has a built-in JBL speaker to boost your music output. Smart cases: There are a lot of cases out there but definitely one of the most innovative designs we have seen is the HTC Dot View case for various HTC smartphones. It not only protects your device but the folio case allows you to get notifications, calls and other information even when the case is shut thanks to the pores on the front cover. This case is a quite an innovative way how you interact with your smartphone. Similar smart folio cases are available for Samsung, LG and even Asus devices, although they offer a small window for quick notification and app access.
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Amazon just launched another version of its Kindle e-Reader and though it's more expensive at Rs 16,999, here's why you should consider it. 1. It's smaller and lighter, making it more ergonomic to hold and carry even in a large jacket pocket. 2. Just a tiny squeeze on the side and you can turn the page - no reach out and flip needed. Nice even in a shaky car.3. It works faster - and that's always reason enough. It's responsive enough to avoid irritating you as you're on the go.4. The screen is now 300 pixels per inch and clear and bright in all lighting conditions.5. It has an optional but great origami smart case, prop up or fold away to protect.
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As we are progressing into the digital age, laptops are not only getting more affordable but manufacturers are also pushing out devices for various types of users. Here we have five unique notebooks with different features and design under the range of Rs 30,000. Acer E5-571: This is the best that 30K can get as you get the best specifications including a 15.6-inch display, an Intel Core i3 processor, 1TB of disk space and 4GB of RAM which is good enough for daily usage including internet browsing, document editing, entertainment and light gaming. There is also the Dell Inspiron 15 and the Toshiba Satellite C50-A both of which offer a better looking design, but a smaller 500GB hard drive. HP Stream 11: Netbooks are becoming more affordable and since they can be carried around easily, consumers look for a good design along with the portability factor. The HP Stream 11 is a beautiful looking netbook which comes with a uni-body design and offers a peppy look. If you are not very style conscious then you can look at the Asus Bing-KX395B X Series which offers better features at a similar price range. HP 14 Chromebook: Chromebooks are becoming popular thanks to its simple and lightweight Chrome OS which runs smooth and gets your daily tasks done. The OS itself doesn’t require a lot of resources, thus saving on high cost of the hardware. While there aren’t many Chromebook options in India, you can however get the HP 14 Chromebook which is lightweight and quite pretty as well. Asus Transformer T100TA: If you are looking a tablet that can easily be turned into a productivity tool with a keyboard, then this is an excellent option. This is Windows 8 tablet which turns into fully equipped laptop by just docking it to the supplied keyboard dock. HP Slatebook 10 x2: Android has become the largest mobile operating system and while it is still trying to enter the laptop territory it hasn’t been successful. For the ones who want an Android experience on a laptop, HP offers the Slatebook 10 x2 which runs on Android 4.2 along with a full sized keyboard. It can also be used a standalone tablet as the keyboard can be removed. Another great Android laptop option is the Lenovo A10, however you don’t get a removable keyboard.
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Typical Xiaomi. the Chinese company that stuck its tongue out at the dominant players in the mobile market and pole-vaulted to the third place, has brought its little 7.9-inch MiPad tablet to India. Audaciously as usual, the tablet has overtones of Apple-ness to it and is quite a match for Samsung’s tablets, which in turn are facing competition from iBall and others in the Indian market.The MiPad, unlike other “cheap” tablets, gives an immediate impression of being value for money. It’s actually heavy for its size. While that makes it feel nice and substantial, it’s ever so slightly tiring to hold it for a long time, say, while you read, and its slippery back makes it a prime candidate for a slip to the floor. Using it, I noticed that my grip would slide, slide, slide until in a few minutes, I’d have to readjust. But well, that sort of thing may not bother many who will find the benefits outweigh the ergonomics. You see, the MiPad has a really nice screen. If you’ve been watching screen resolutions over multiple reviews here you’ll know that 2048 x 1536 is nice and high. Pixel density is good at 324 ppi. More than that, the screen looks good. It’s a bit warm looking, like a Samsung screen, but just right for a tablet. And Xiaomi has put a few live widgets right on top, making sure you immediately get an eyeful of that screen. Only problem is that every app and game may not scale to fit the screen quite that well, but I didn’t have a problem with it.Neither did I notice any lag. The MiPad, in fact, has a 2.2GHz Nvidia Tegra K1 processor powering it, not the typical Qualcomm, Mediatek and Intel. Nvidia makes chips that are popular with gamers. The tablet has 2GB of RAM to play with, and onboard storage of 16GB with an SD card slot. Its 6700mAh battery keeps it going for the day, with fast charging support if you’re a heavy user of the device.The MiPad’s cameras are 8 and 5MP, on the better side for tablets right now. The camera application is very barebones but does have a handful of average looking filters to use. There’s not much by way of controls but the assumption is that tablets are unlikely to be the preferred device for shooting much, only a second device. Sound on the MiPad is very nice. Not as nice as say, the HTC phones, but better than many tablets I’ve seen.You get Android 4.4 on the MiPad, with Xiaomi’s much talked about MiUi interface, well known for doing away with the app drawer and giving you a bunch of themes and other goodies for customisation. Overrated, in my opinion.All of this costs just Rs 12,999 which isn’t much for a device that looks good and performs well. The catch? There’s no calling ability, 2G, 3G or any G. It’s a Wi-Fi only tablet. If it’s an at-home device, that’s just fine, but tablets were supposed to be mobile and we don’t have free Wi-Fi everywhere. Or even anywhere for that matter, so this upsets the applecart for many. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-04-2015)
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