Xolo Q700 Club with IP55 certification at Rs. 6,999

            The Xolo Q700 Club has a 5 MP rear camera and VGA front facing camera. Camera features include cene detection & tuning, Face recognition , Panaroma, Geo tagging, best shot, Smile shot and HDR. The smartphone comes with 8GB of built-in storage, supports expandable storage up to 32 GB. It is powered by a 2000 mAh battery.
           
The Xolo Q700 Club will be competing against a wide range of budget Android devices in the market such as Android One phones, Moto E, Unite 2 and Redmi 1S. The Q700 Club, however, is one of the most affordable smartphones with IP55 certification.

Read More

Sony launches PlayStation Vue as web TV service

            LOS ANGELES - Sony has set a launch for the cloud-based TV service that it pitched at CES earlier this year.

Named PlayStation Vue, the web service will be accessible via PlayStation gaming consoles and given a soft invitation-only beta launch from this month in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. A wider commercial launch is anticipated in the first quarter of 2014.

The Sony Network Entertainment International-operated service will allow users to forego their cable or satellite services and access live TV and on-demand content.

Functionality includes catch-up TV and on-demand TV, with the past three days of broadcasting available without the need for users to make recordings.

In the beta phase it will start with some 75 channels including channels from CBS, Discovery Communications, Fox, NBCUniversal, Scripps Network and Viacom. Currently absent are channels from Disney, including notably ESPN, and Time Warner, as well as Netflix, Hulu or YouTube.

There are some 35 million Internet-enabled PlayStation consoles in the U.S.

Other devices including Apple's iPads, Sony devices and others will be included later.

The price of the new services was not revealed, though Sony said that it would be "fair and competitive," and not require long-term contracts.

CBS and HBO have both announced new 'over-the-top' subscription services that enable Internet users to bypass cable and satellite bundles.

Read More

Google Glass future clouded as some early believers lose faith

             After two years of popping up at high-profile events sporting Google Glass, the gadget that transforms eyeglasses into spy-movie worthy technology, Google co-founder Sergey Brin sauntered bare-faced into a Silicon Valley red-carpet event on Sunday.

He'd left his pair in the car, Brin told a reporter. The Googler, who heads up the top-secret lab which developed Glass, has hardly given up on the product -- he recently wore his pair to the beach.

But Brin's timing is not propitious, coming as many developers and early Glass users are losing interest in the much-hyped, $1,500 test version of the product: a camera, processor and stamp-sized computer screen mounted to the edge of eyeglass frames. Google Inc itself has pushed back the Glass roll out to the mass market.

While Glass may find some specialized, even lucrative, uses in the workplace, its prospects of becoming a consumer hit in the near future are slim, many developers say.

Of 16 Glass app makers contacted by Reuters, nine said that they had stopped work on their projects or abandoned them, mostly because of the lack of customers or limitations of the device. Three more have switched to developing for business, leaving behind consumer projects.

Plenty of larger developers remain with Glass. The nearly 100 apps on the official web site include Facebook and OpenTable, although one major player recently defected: Twitter.

"If there was 200 million Google Glasses sold, it would be a different perspective. There’s no market at this point," said Tom Frencel, the Chief Executive of Little Guy Games, which put development of a Glass game on hold this year and is looking at other platforms, including the Facebook Inc-owned virtual-reality goggles Oculus Rift.

Several key Google employees instrumental to developing Glass have left the company in the last six months, including lead developer Babak Parviz, electrical engineering chief Adrian Wong, and Ossama Alami, director of developer relations.

And a Glass funding consortium created by Google Ventures and two of Silicon Valley's biggest venture capitalists, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz, quietly deleted its website, routing users to the main Glass site.

Google insists it is committed to Glass, with hundreds of engineers and executives working on it, as well as new fashionista boss Ivy Ross, a former Calvin Klein executive. Tens of thousands use Glass in the pilot consumer program.

“We are completely energized and as energized as ever about the opportunity that wearables and Glass in particular represent," said Glass Head of Business Operations Chris O'Neill.

Glass was the first project to emerge from Google’s X division, the secretive group tasked with developing “moonshot” products such as self-driving cars. Glass and wearable devices overall amount to a new technology, as smartphones once were, that will likely take time to evolve into a product that clicks with consumers.

“We are as committed as ever to a consumer launch. That is going to take time and we are not going to launch this product until it’s absolutely ready,” O'Neill said.

Brin had predicted a launch this year, but 2015 is now the most likely date, a person familiar with the matter said.

GLASS SELLING... ON EBAY

After an initial burst of enthusiasm, signs that consumers are giving up on Glass have been building.

Google dubbed the first set of several thousand Glass users as "Explorers." But as the Explorers hit the streets, they drew stares and jokes. Some people viewed the device, capable of surreptitious video recording, as an obnoxious privacy intrusion, deriding the once-proud Explorers as “Glassholes.”

“It looks super nerdy,” said Shvetank Shah, a Washington, DC-based consultant, whose Google Glass now gathers dust in a drawer. “I’m a card carrying nerd, but this was one card too many.”

Glass now sells on eBay for as little as half list price.

Some developers recently have felt unsupported by investors and, at times, Google itself.

The Glass Collective, the funding consortium co-run by Google Ventures, invested in only three or four small start-ups by the beginning of this year, a person familiar with the statistics said.

A Google Ventures spokeswoman declined to comment on the number of investments and said the Web site was closed for simplicity. "We just found it's easier for entrepreneurs to come to us directly," she said.

The lack of a launch date has given some developers the impression that Google still treats Glass as an experiment.

“It’s not a big enough platform to play on seriously," said Matthew Milan, founder of Toronto-based software firm Normative Design, which put on hold a Glass app for logging exercise and biking.

Mobile game company Glu Mobile, known for its popular “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” title, was one of the first to launch a game on Glass. Spellista, a puzzler released a year ago, is still available, but Glu has discontinued work on it, a spokesman for the company said.

Another developer, Sean McCracken, won $10,000 in a contest last year for creating an aliens-themed video game for Glass, Psyclops, but Google never put it on the official hub for Glass apps, making it tougher to find. He has quit working on updates.

Still, there are some enthusiastic developers. Cycling and running app Strava finds Glass well-suited for its users, who want real-time data on their workouts, said David Lorsch, vice president of business development. And entrepreneur Jake Steinerman said it is ideal for his company, DriveSafe, which detects if people are falling asleep at the wheel.

PIVOTING AWAY

In April, Google launched the Glass at Work program to help make the device useful for specific industries, such as healthcare and manufacturing. So far the effort has resulted in apps that are being tested or used at companies such as Boeing and Yum Brands' Taco Bell.

Google is selling Glass in bulk to some businesses, offering two-for-one discounts.

CrowdOptic, which uses Glass as portable computers for surgeons and other people out of offices, is currently in use at 19 U.S. hospitals and expects that to grow to 100 hospitals early next year, said Chief Executive Jon Fisher.

Alex Foster began See Through, a Glass advertising analytics firm for business, after a venture firm earlier this year withdrew its offer to back his consumer-oriented Glass fitness company when it became clear no big consumer Glass release was imminent.

"It was devastating," he said. "All of the consumer glass startups are either completely dead or have pivoted," to enterprise products or rival wearables.

Read More

How to factory reset android phone when it is locked

         
           

There is no room for discussion regarding either the smartness or productivity of Google Android, as most of Android device users are well known about the fact! Indeed, Android is a prominent reason for Smartphones to become ‘Smart’phones. The biggest problem we have seen in Android devices is the pathetic situation when it is locked due to the wrong passwords or patterns you have provided. Sadly, most of devices will not overcome this situation, though you might be providing credentials of your Google account. Hence, you will have to wipe data from your Android Smartphone in order to get rid of the issue, by restoring all settings and data as if in the factory stage.

                Moreover, you can make use of data wiping, when you have to sell your Android Smartphone, especially to some strangers or an exchange store, for the sake of your privacy. Even though there are various options for erasing data in your device, the safest and effective way we can find data wiping of your Android indeed, as it will keep no remaining information about you. Here, we would like to give you a tutorial, which can help you in factory resetting your Android Smartphone and hence getting rid of that locked mode. Before that, we would like to give you brief information about the actual problem.

The problem – Explained!
As we mentioned earlier, the problem is with the lock screen of your Smartphone, especially if it has a pattern-type lock. According to various experiences, the problem starts when people, especially kids, start to draw random patterns in order to unlock the screen of your Smartphone, which will be resulting in wrong combinations. Once the number of wrong patterns has reached more than the cut off number (say 10 or 15), your Smartphone screen will be locked until you provide the password of your Google account. Nevertheless, you will face that same cumbersome even if you provide correct credentials of Google account. As you can guess, you will not be able to make calls, send messages or almost nothing! Recalling what we said, data wiping your Android Smartphone is the solution for the mentioned issue.

What Android data wipe does?
Data wiping your Smartphone will restore all the settings you have altered. Thus, your device will be as if it was bought from the store, visually. As you can guess, all your applications will be lost, all your sensitive data will be tampered, unless you have backed up all these in Google servers by means of synchronization. Nevertheless, unless you have taken backup of all your data such as messages, call history, media etc, all those information will be lost.

Wiping your data
Unlike you think, the process of wiping your Smartphone is an easy job, as it takes minimal amount of your technical knowledge regarding Android. You just have to keep track of following steps for wiping your Android device and hence restoring that ‘factory’ behaviour.

Step One
Even though no other options are working, you can switch of your device by pressing the manual key that is situated at either the side-section or top. Wait some seconds to let the device switch off.

Step Two
Now, you have to reboot your device in recovery mode. You have to press one combination of keys for rebooting device in the recovery mode. Combination of keys is different for each brand. Major ones are as follows.

• Samsung: Volume Up+ Home + Power
• Google: Volume Down + Power
• HTC: Volume Down + Power

Step Three
Once you have reached the recovery mode of your device, you can see many options in the screen. However, you will have to navigate and select using volume control keys and home key respectively, as touch screen does not work. From the menu, you have to select the option ‘Factory Reset’ or ‘wipe your device’. As mentioned earlier, you have to use the home button for selecting.

Step Four
You will have to confirm your decision, as you will be prompted. Altogether, the duration or process will be around a few seconds. Once your device has been reset successfully, your device will reboot automatically.

Final Step
Yeah, if you have done everything correctly, you have to select the reboot option. In seconds, your device will boot up in the usual mode.

Conclusion
By following the way, you can easily break the unlocked mode of your Android Smartphone. We hope the process is simple! Do you have any issues during the process? Do let us know via your comments.

Read More

8 Technologies That Will Rule 2014

               

The tech world is getting much sophisticated and complex with more and more innovations taking place each passing day. The ever increasing tech appetite of the twenty first centaury man has lead to the birth of smart gadgets, social networks, cloud platforms and lot more. Life has become a breeze with mobile apps for all possible things that you can think of, however at a heavy cost of data privacy and credibility. Here are the top 10 technology predictions for 2014 as compiled by ITBusinessEdge.

1.Gamification in the enterprise
Mobile apps and web app developers have added an element of entertainment to deliver a whole new experience. Waze, an app that provides real time traffic updates fetched by its user locations, and the app also recognition and rewards for proper usage. Springshot, a startup that develops apps is now in the workshop of making one mobile gamification solution for the aviation industry. The trend of entertainment has been in the air for quite long with companies like Spotify, already incorporating gamification into their services.

2.Web-scale IT
With their great contributions towards the field of technology, firms like Facebook, Amazon and Walmart have provided heavy contributions to innovative database systems and cloud services. Multinational giants are lifting the standard of technology to new heights with the introduction of eco-friendly data centers, custom server hardwares and distributed computing methods.

"It's not the cloud per se that will save enterprise IT, but thinking and acting like the major cloud providers across all the key dimensions of IT that will,” says Cameron Haight, VP of Gartner Research. The declining margin have helped small and mid-sized firms to acquire the technologies which only the industry giants used to poses.

3.The evolving interface
Incorporated with advanced sensors including biometrics, motion sensors, facial recognition and eyeball tracking the wearable devices have become a prototype of modern technology. The smart watches launched by Samsung and Sony are stuffed with innovations in its limited square box. Demand for more advanced and efficient user interfaces will certainly be heard across the tech world in the year.

4.An enterprise app for everything
The increase of malicious and fraudulent activities on the web has raised issues of security and data privacy. Use of smart gadgets and mobile devices has provided a great opportunity for those indulged in the malicious acts. A feasible solution to make secure the enterprise information is the introduction of an enterprise specific app. Custom enterprise app stores that provide facility to download secure and trustworthy enterprise apps will certainly be on the rising side.

5.Are your devices smarter than a 5th grader?
Industry giants are stepping into the next era where humans are being replaced by robotics. The acquisition of KIva systems, an automated robotics company by Amazon boosted the pace of manufacturing their own delivery drones. Google has also bought robotic companies like Meka and Redwood Robotics. The year of 2014 will witness the rush of robotics through the veins of all major enterprises.

Read More