The Static Page

Winning at technology itself

he New Year is here and apart from resolutions, it is also a time for cheap introspection
and armchair theorising. I wouldnt want to
disappoint anyone, so here goes. After six years in
the technology-media business, I am a part of the
Tech Media Frat Boys Club, a ragtag group of technology writers who have or are currently working
with big-name brands (such as Digit).
So, okay, were not exactly a secret coven. We
actually meet up quite openly (and often too
boisterously) in establishments of less repute and
discuss, among other things, technology, the streetlight effect (look it up, its a real thing), and beer (not
necessarily in that order).
At some point, the conversation always takes
a whimsical turn (no points for guessing when)
and in one of our recent conclaves someone ended
up asking this question, What phone would you
buy if you had an unlimited amount of money?.
Seemingly innocuous, this question actually sent
me off on a thinking tizzy. What exactly would be
the deciding factor in such a situation? Technology?
Innovation? Innovative technology? My comrades
bandied about the usual suspects (Sony Xperia Z3,
iPhone 6 Plus, HTC One M8), but when my turn
came, I said I was perfectly happy with my Nexus
5, since there was nothing that I couldnt do with
my Nexus 5 that Id be able to with those phones.
Theres very little difference at the top end choices
at this level are not really driven by innovation
they are purely consumeristic (iSwear).
Long after the bacchanalian discussion was
over, consumerism, technology, and innovation
continued to swirl around in my head. What
is true innovation really? Its certainly not this
incremental innovation we see all around us
today. Its easy to be dazzled by large-screen TVs,
drones, 3D printers, and even our handy, almost
magical, smartphones. These creations seemed
impossible even a few decades ago and one might
argue that we are at the pinnacle of technology. But
this is simply not true.
We have had at least two golden eras of true
innovation. The industrial revolution, followed by
the age of electrification, led to unforeseen advances
in manufacturing and transportation. The period,
from the end of the second world war (1945) up
to the Watergate scandal (early 70s), saw huge
achievements such as the moon landing, the invention of micro electronics, computers, civil aviation,
television, and antibiotics. To use Googles phrase,
all these are examples of moonshot thinking
these were good solid innovations, nothing
remotely incremental about them.

Science author Michael Hanlon calls this

period The Golden Quarter. He believes we
stopped truly innovating since then, and I agree.
Take an example of mass transportation over great
distances. In the 1950s, the best passenger liners
took four days for a transatlantic voyage. With
international civil aviation taking off (mostly in
the 70s with the jumbo jet), the travel time fell to
just 8 hours. By that same progression, by now
we should have had a mass-transport system that
takes us across the Atlantic in just 40 minutes!
There are many such examples that show that
technological innovation is stagnating by now
we should have been commuting to the moon,
landed on Mars, and cured cancer. Tyler Cowen, in
his 2011 essay, The Great Stagnation, talks about
how America harvested the low-hanging fruit of
technological innovation and is slowing down due
to a lack of true innovation.
But why have we stopped innovating? As it
turns out, my jab at consumerism is far closer to the
truth than Id like. Money, whether its shareholder
wealth or venture capital, is only flowing to companies that are able to post growth on their financial
statements. And one of the surest ways of doing this
is by planned obsolescence and creating a market
for incrementally better products with high
aspirational value. Its the safest bet. Why bother
pouring money into R&D for a hoverboard? Of
course, the problem isnt as simple nor as isolated as
consumerism. The topic is too vast and multifaceted
to be discussed in an editorial (involving factors like
philanthropic funding for research, government
will, lack of motivation, war climate, etc.).
Coming back to matters at hand in this issue
of Digit youll find a ton of things you could do to
win at everything using technology. With this editorial Im trying to address the need to win at technology itself. Thankfully, there are stalwarts such
as Elon Musk (almost a real-life Tony Stark) who
are truly innovating, not just for wealth creation,
but for innovation itself. His Hyperloop concept,
the open sourcing of Tesla patents, SpaceX, are
being closely watched and in the coming year, and
through my life, I fervently hope for innovation, big
or small, especially from India. On that note heres
wishing you a happy new year and a chance at winning for, with, and at technology!

Siddharth Parwatay
Assistant Editor
[email protected]

Its easy to be
dazzled by largescreen TVs, drones,
3D printers, and
even our handy,
almost magical,
smartphones.

Got feedback about this column?

Drop me a line at:
[email protected]

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 1

Column

Win at overcoming
technology overload

Jayesh Shinde
Manager Test Centre
[email protected]

We still struggle
to grapple with
this always-on,
interconnected
digital world
weve surrounded
ourselves in."

Got feedback about this column?

Drop me a line at:
[email protected]

2 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

or the longest time, weve welcomed

technology with open arms in every facet
of our complicated lives. From the first
television set we operated with a knob to the
first arcade console we played 8-bit games on
with great aplomb; from brick-like cell phones
to the fathomless expanse of the Internet. Weve
grown up in a world where the digital world has
exploded all around us within just over a decade.
Some may consider this to be a feat of human
ingenuity, a landmark celebrating the progress of
our species and collective civilization, but theres
no running away from the fact: we still struggle
to grapple with this always-on, interconnected
digital world weve surrounded ourselves in.
While some of us are all at sea trying to exploit
and fit into this new reality, others find themselves addicted to digital triggers dictating their
life patterns to an overwhelming degree. Technology, and in particular Internet-overload is a
reality and its driving us to the point of no return.
I have no doubt that its a generational issue that
we have to resolve, since we created this digital
world that we now co-exist in our kids, who
probably will never know what life before the
Internet era looked like, will adjust to this digital
reality far better than us merely by the virtue and
timing of their birth.
Ive pretty much grown up with the personal
desktop computer and Internet explosion era in
India. I remember a time when I used to play football (or soccer) outside with my friends instead of
FIFA 2015 with a bunch of online strangers; read
traditional books and newspapers more than read
for pleasure on my Kindle and consume information on my laptop, tablet and smartphone; meet
friends for lunch on weekends rather than just
chat with them online or lookup their Facebook
feeds. Take my future wife out to cinema halls to
watch the monthly blockbuster together rather
than entertain ourselves through the contents of a
hard drive connected to a laptop or HDTV. And I
sure as heck do remember a time when I wasnt a
slave to my phone like Im now, constantly transfixed by it, caught under its vicious spell without
any sense of control. This addiction, if you can
call it so, was getting so destructive that I would
hear phantom phone calls, twitch and tense up
every time I heard any phone ring, sit on my arse
too long than is good for my health, and invite the

Internet into my life without any checks and balances. Big mistake. Wasnt technology supposed
to help and heal? But why blame technology if a
certain human is too stupid for his own good?
How does one keep a modicum of sanity into
their life and prevent technology and the Internet
from becoming a health hazard? Its simple
disconnect. Not once or twice, but from time to
time, in a habitual, preordained manner. Recent
studies have shown that our over-indulgence
with the Internet and an always plugged-in lifestyle is affecting our mental and physical health
far worse than our parents or grandparents.
More studies have also shown that unplugging
ourselves from the digital world and spending
uninterrupted, quality time away from our
devices boosts our brains productivity. Its like
working Monday to Friday, relaxing on Saturday
and Sunday to re-energize, rest, and come ready
to focus on work again on the following Monday
the same concept applies with our digital lives
to some extent.
Thats essentially my New Years Resolution
to heavily curtail and control the use of technology (and the Internet) in my life. To that effect,
Ive already started switching off my phones on
weekends unless I want to call someone by
choice and I recommend all of you to give this
a shot just to experience the unshackling effect it
can have on your life. Making adjustments to my
Internet affliction wont be easy, but the tradeoffs
are too great (like quality of life, mental wellbeing, social engagement, etc) to not give it a shot.
Especially, entrusted with the responsibility of
bringing up our daughter in an overbearingly
digital world, I at least want to let her experience,
in however small way possible, the world as it is
beyond digital marvels. This way, at least she will
have a better appreciation of technology in her
life than be just hooked on to it without knowing
its self-destructive flipside. And avoid or learn
from the mistakes of her once digitally challenged father.

The RSS Feed

Win at losing

o, Im not talking about losing weight

here, as most others who use that
phrase generally mean. What I
mean is learning from our mistakes, building
character, and all of that Everyone is good
at winning, its when youre losing that your
mettle shows. Real winners have almost
always lost a great deal during the course
of life, and its what makes them successful.
However, I dont mean for this to become a
random, generic rant. Im being specific about
technology, and the way we interface with it.
I recently met a friend who was complaining that his Nexus 7 just stopped
working. As a fellow owner of the device,
Ive had some experience with dropping it
and the battery coming loose, and then the
battery connector getting dislodged. What
did I do when my Nexus 7 died? I did a quick
search on YouTube to see if there was any
special trick to popping it open, and when I
learnt that there was none, I opened it up, saw
the loose connector, reconnected, booted up,
ensured all was well, snapped the back cover
in place again about 15 to 20 minutes of
tinkering, and my tablet was as good as new.
When I told him to do this, he said hed
rather give it to the service centre. Its only
after I insisted that he let me open it, with
reassurances that Id use my clout (I have
none, believe me, I was bluffing) to get him a
new Nexus if something went wrong. Turns
out it was the same problem, and was sorted
in 15 minutes (no YouTube video to watch this
time) the device was as good as new.
This is the problem with technology today.
We just dont lose enough to it to get any
better at winning with it. People who love
Apple usually say its Because it just works,
and in many ways thats good, but in a few
ways its terrible as far as Im concerned. I
hate not being able to tinker. The only reason
I love technology with a passion is because I
can tinker. Or at least I was able to, with PCs
and the likes, a lot more than with all these
gadgets. I still can with software, but Im
pathetic with code.
Thus I find myself happily voiding warranty, rooting, jailbreaking, etc., because its
my device, I paid for it; or even if it came for
testing, I am willing to pay for it if I ruin it
whilst tinkering (and I have ruined and paid
for a few over the years).

4 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

When it comes to voiding warranty, I wont

let some idiotic company dumb me down
and turn me into some brain dead robot with
a threat of withholding some service just
because Im inquisitive. If I lose money by
being a tinkerer, its OK, its only money and
I can earn more eventually, but I dont want
to get soft by not fighting troubleshooting
battles and eventually losing the war against
idiocy in the bargain.
Its not just troubleshooting, its also
tweaking, understanding the device better
and making mistakes. I installed beta and
leaked versions of BlackBerry OS 10.3 on
my phone a few months ago and corrupted
my data. I wasnt able to backup or restore
anything to the phone and had to format it. I
lost about 10 days of SMSes, some contacts,
and other random data (the new stuff since
my last successful backup). Im still going to
continue to try beta or even alpha software,
Ill just backup more often when using it
lesson learnt!
Losing to technology is always, only temporary, and thats the beauty of it. Ive been
getting my @$$ kicked by some problems on
the forum for months now. Ive narrowed it
down to the forum software not playing well
with our server configuration. Those of you
on the forum will know the file upload and IP
problems Im referring to. Like I said, technology is winning right now, and Im losing
miserably, but sooner or later I will triumph,
and will have reduced the ways tech can beat
me in the future by one.
I know Im preaching to the choir, because
Digit readers by definition are tinkerers, but
I just wanted to make sure to remind you to
keep trying new things and not fear losing.
With technology, losing initially is the only
true path to winning eventually. So, get out
there and start losing to technology every
now and then, or else youre not trying to win
hard enough.

Robert Sovereign-Smith
Executive Editor
[email protected]

I find myself
happily voiding
warranty, rooting,
jailbreaking, etc.,
because its my
device, I paid for it;
or even if it came for
testing, I am willing
to pay for it if I ruin
it whilst tinkering
(and I have ruined
and paid for a few
over the years)

Liked or hated this column?

Write in to [email protected]
and let me know your thoughts.

January 2015 Volume 15 Issue 01

Products reviewed this month

To Advertise

Managing Director Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha

Printer and Publisher Kanak Ghosh
Publishing Director Vikas Gupta
Chief Operating Officer - 9.9 Tech Krishna Kumar
Editorial
Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith
Assistant Editor Siddharth Parwatay
Multimedia Co-ordinator Abhijit Dey
Test Centre
Manager, Test Centre Jayesh Shinde
Reviewers Anirudh Regidi, Kunal Khullar,
Hardik Singh, Mithun Mohandas & Prasid Banerjee
Assistant Vikas Patil
digit.in
Online Editor Soham Raninga
Assistant Editor Nikhil Pradhan
Sr. Sub Editor Kul Bhushan
Design
Sr. Creative Director Jayan K Narayanan
Sr. Art Director Anil VK
Associate Art Director Anil T
Sr. Visualisers Shigil Narayanan & Sristi Maurya
Visualiser NV Baiju
Sr. Designers Haridas Balan, Charu Dwivedi,
Peterson PJ, Dinesh Devgan, Manjith PB &
Pradeep G Nair
Designer Vikas Sharma
Online & Marcom Design
Associate Art Director Shokeen Saifi
Sr.Designer Rahul Babu & Manoj Kumar VP
Web Designer Om Prakash
Photography
Chief Photographer Subhojit Paul
Sr. Photographer Jiten Gandhi
Contributors
Writers Abhishek Choudhary, Elroy Desmond, Manish
Singh, Ryan Valles, Siddhant Sharma, Varad Choudhari
Copy editing Infancia Cardozo
Design Vijay Padaya
Production and Logistics
Sr GM - Operations Shivshankar Hiremath
Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay
Asst Production Manager Vilas Mhatre
Production Assistant Brahmanand Nikalje
Manager Logistics Vijay Menon
Asst Mgr Production & Logistics M P Singh
Executives Mohd. Nadeem Ansari,
Nilesh Shiravadekar
Brand
Product Mgr Maulshree Tewari
Asst Product Mgr Sourabha Shakya
Mgr - Online Shauvik Kumar
Co-ordinator / Scheduling Kishan Singh
Circulation Sales
Head - Circulation Samir Mehta
Regional Mgrs Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Norbert Joseph
Manager Circulation Dharmendra Singh
Executive Vijay Mhatre
Reader Services
Lead Associate Itishree Mishra
Executives Sudhir, Shabana, Pradeep, Bhishm
+91-22-67899678 / [email protected]
Cover Design Anil T

6 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Email: [email protected]

Bazaar

Sales Director:
Lalit Arun, Mobile: +91-9582262959

Astrum Bluetooth speaker

South:
Ram Sarangi, Mobile: +91-98864 06961

Asus Fonepad 7 with ZenUI

West:
Sajeed Momin, Mobile: +91-98192 44603
Suvarna Shringarpure, Mobile: +91-93249 28247
North:
Debleena Majumdar, Mobile: +91-98101 19492
East:
Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Mobile: +91-93318 29284

Corsair Bluetooth speaker

Corsair Graphite 760T
Gionee Elife S5.1
HP Pavilion 13

advertising index

HTC Re

Brand................................................................................. Page No

iBall Slide

Asahi Glass.................................................................... 29, 31

Asrock..........................................................................IBC, 61
ASUS..................................................................... IFC, 39, 43
iBall.....................................................................................5, 37

Lumia 830
Mitashi GameIn Thunder Pro
Sony MDR-XB950BT

India AV............................................................................... 111

Kyocera.....................................................................................9
Mediatek..........................................................................13, 17
Micromax..................................................................................7

STK Groovez
TP-LINK Archer C20i
Xiaomi Piston 2

Prodot Antivirus................................................................107

Xiaomi Redmi Note

Quantum.............................................................................. 112
QuickHeal...............................................................................21
RDP.......................................................................................... 33
Ricoh.......................................................................................BC
TP-LINK................................................................................ 19
Xerox..........................................................................................3

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Contents
january 2015

volume 15 \ issue 01

quick

navigator
001 Enter
026 COnnECTIONS
App Watch
Mobile Watch
Security Watch

life
034 Digital
Droolmaal
GeekLife

056 Sci-Tech
Space Age

From the labs

064 Toolbox
Q&A

Workshop
Tips and Tricks

Smart
078 Street
Agent 001
Price Watch
Killer Rigs
Recommended Buys

094 Tech@Work
Smart SoHo
Industry Connect

106 Unwind
Esc

Community

at Everything
54 Win
We kid you not, everything... go to the page to find out
how you can start winning with technology!

36

7 things you didnt know your

smartphone could do

And as a bonus we even throw in a bunch of weird accessories

Tried &
Tested

86
Gionee Elife S5.1

87
Nokia Lumia 830

Beauty, not a beast

Happy ending? Not quite.

88
Xiaomi Redmi
Note 3G
Xiaomi goes big

10 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Geek life

36

Digital life

7 things you didnt know your

smartphone could do. Plus a bonus
round with radical accessories

Win at upping your mind power

38

Productivity and other usage aside, technology today

can help you sharpen your mind. Use these tools to
get sharp and get smart.

Win at living healthy

42

Here are some tips on the best

apps, hardware and practices to
make you fitter.

Low price smartphone

Targeting the consumers who want a smartphone in an

inexpensive budget, Cheers Devices in India launched the DualSIM Cheers C-21 phone, running Android ICS, for only 1,999/-

Rocksmith 2014

Acer Chromebook C720

Who says New Years Resolutions have to be all

about losing weight or getting in shape? Why cant
they be about combining how to play the guitar
into an interactive video game, for instance?
Thats what Rocksmith 2014 is all about. Weve
tried it out in our office and think it justifies its
claim with great aplomb. With a variety of popular
songs to strum your guitar to, this game really
gets it right better than most other games in its
genre. If youre up for learning how to play a
guitar in the new year, we highly recommend you
grab hold of a copy of this game -- it will make the
whole process a lot faster and fun-filled.

Tired of using Windows? Think Mac OS X just cant

cut it for you? Bored being on Linux for too long?
If you answered yes to anyone of those questions,
its time to take the leap to a whole new cloud
computing environment -- Googles Chrome OS.
The Acer C720, an 11-inch Chromebook (laptop)
with 2GB RAM, 16GB SSD, and all the functional
ports and communication options is a great
alternative platform-based computer to buy at its
price. Its more than equipped to handle everything
you throw at it and its OS. So, are you ready to
make the switch to an OS thats 99 percent similar
to working on a Chrome browser? Something to
think about this new years eh?

Drool maal

Goqii

Gadgets to drool over your

New Years Resolution

We never said dont pay attention to your health

this new year. How could we? We know very well
that health-related resolutions are the most
popular ones in January every year -- theyre
often the most broken resolutions. But with Goqiis
smartband, a personal tracker extraordinaire
combine with a in-built fitness coach that can
be tailored to your preferences, getting in shape
(and staying in shape) are no longer a chore. And
it isnt terribly expensive, compared to opposing
smartbands. Just check it out.

Kindle Paperwhite
Admit it. Youre not able to find the time to read
for pleasure as you once used to. And buying
books can either be too expensive or costly to the
environment. What does one do to rekindle the
love for reading in oneself? Get yourself a Kindle
Paperwhite. No, seriously. Its quite cheap, can
store over a 1000 ebooks, and lets you read in the
dark. Whats more, its surface feels just like paper
-- textured and non-smooth. A sleek, compact
device to replace your physical books library.
Yeah, thats pretty much it. A great start to the
new year, if we may say so. Whats better than
getting back to reading, right?

Fujifilm X30
If you arent a photographer, its time to pick up
this creatively rewarding hobby this new year.
Resolve to become better at the art of taking
photos, and the way to do that is not with your
smartphone camera -- oh no siree. Take a look
at the Fuji X30, which sits at the crossroads of a
professional and point-n-shoot camera. Not only
is it incredibly light, but it packs quite a punch with
its specs. Given Fujifilms track record, we have
no doubt the X30 (part of its X Series) is a good
performer at its price. You know how it is with new
years resolutions: being a good photographer is
all about buying the right camera, and vice versa.
Go get shutterbugged!

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 35

34 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

34 Droolmaal

Gadgets for a smart home

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Step 3

On The DVDs
Alpha
Get Programming
Programming IDEs
PDF Guides

Omega
Free to Play Games
Dead Island: Epidemic
Lambda Wars

Photoshop Special
Adobe Photoshop CC
Photoshop effects tutorials

Game Demos
Defence Grid 2
Of Guards and Thieves

Essentials
Avast Anti-virus
Foxit Reader
Handbrake
ImgBurn
iTunes
K-Lite Codec Pack
Thunderbird
and many more...

Documentary
WoW: Looking for Group

Playstation Experience
PS Experience Keynote
Sponsored Software
Ashampoo Burning Studio
ProDot Antivirus
Stellar File Wipe

Drivers
AMD desktop APU drivers
32/64 Bit
AMD desktop graphics drivers 32/64 Bit
NVIDIA desktop graphics
drivers 32/64 Bit
Movie Trailers
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Terminator Genisys
and many more...

56 Space Age

Everything you wanted to know

about NASAs Orion deep space
craft.

Connect
104 Industry
We speak to Dr. Jordan Brandt,

Manufacturing Technology Futurist

at Autodesk on 4D printing, the
Indian Maker movement and more.

playstation
experience
keynote

DVD

90
Xiaomi Piston 2
in-ear headphones

photoshop tuts

91
SimpleAudio Go
Simple yet superior

Budget audio done right

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 11

dgt

Enter

16

Its back, and its inside Digit. Its still a work in progress, but send us
feedback about it. Were going to try and integrate it seamlessly, so
your feedback will be valuable

) Greetings to THE Team!

Let me start with a story. I was in my 5th
standard and I thought of buying some
magazines (of course it included champak).
I was a newbie in computers and I had just
about learnt Logo and Basic. I was busy
with my dads Sony Ericsson phone and
suddenly I saw something attractive. It
was a tech magazine. I picked it up `100
the cover said. I kept it back but after five
minutes I came back and returned all those
comics and took Digit. Yeah thats where it
all started. Now I am in std 12th preparing
for my board exams and my mother has
forbidden me from buying all these magazines. But when I saw your ad (giving away
November issue free with the December
issue I just couldnt resist. You are my saviour from all the boring studies I have to do.
I do have some suggestions though:
Your mobile site is too slow. Try
reducing some ads. That ruins the
experience.
In the Spend Smart section, please try to
arrange the products in increasing order
of price
Please add some music gadgets (Amplifiers, DJ Consoles and the like)
If possible try including all the PDFs of
Digit in your DVD next month.
Technology doesnt mean just computers. Please put some info about
renewable energy sources or Space
Science) That would surely add Stars to
the magazine.
Last but not the least, great Job guys!
Kaushik Ghosh

Thanks for sharing your story of discovering Digit. I remember mine

just as clearly. About your
suggestions let me take
them up one by one:
Agreed the site is
slow. Were working
towards making it
faster.
Good point it should
be ascending. Changed
from this issue onwards.
Thanks!
Well try to add more of
these gadgets.
PDFs only come bundled
with the June issue so be

Feedback for the December 2014 issue of Digit

sure to pick that one up this year.

I think youve been away from Digit far
too long Kaushik. Weve been doing a lot
of core science. In fact some would say
weve been doing way too much of it. We
have had an entire section called Space
Age for the past two years now. Do check
it out in this months issue.
Siddharth
) Hello Team Digit,

Your magazine defines awesomeness for

me. The happiness which I get when I buy
Digit on 1st of every month is equivalent to a
persons happiness when he gets his salary
on 1st of the month. Your December edition
was a dynamite of information and
entertainment. I was eagerly
waiting for Zero1 awards
and you did a splendid
job in zeroing down the
best products in each
category as always.
The final edition of
Encyclopedia Technica
was just as amazing as
the previous four editions.
The new addon Rewind
was the best yearbook for
technology so far that I have
ever read .
Well I have two suggestion
for you :

Everyone
wins a t-shirt
this time!

12 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

1. You are so popular, why don't you

organize a big tech show or exhibition
like CES. I am sure will attract a lot of
companies and tech firms who will be
ready to showcase their products and
services at your event. You can also
organize some gaming or tech quiz
sort of thing there. I have no doubt that
DITS(Digit International Tech Show)
will be a huge success!
And if this happens don't forget to invite
me as the chief guest! (Just kidding free
passes would be enough)
2. You get so many products for testing, do
you return all of them? If not why not
give those as prizes for small contests
like in earlier days there used to be Beat
that Digit Caption contest? It would be a
good treat for gadget lovers.
I wish all the very best and Happy New
Year to team Digit for the year 2015 and
keep rocking like you always do!
Rohit K. Dhanda
Thanks for the wishes Rohit. Wed love to
have an international expo under the Digit
banner. However the economics should
work out. Your suggestion is duly noted
and will be taken up with management in
our next edit meeting. As for the gadgets,
I wish I could tell you that we get to keep
them all, but I cant.
Siddharth

Minecraft story mode

Inbox

TellTale games is developing a story

mode game for Minecraft, announces
Mojang

Steam controller leak

Still waiting for the Steam machines to be

available, a new image of the controller
has leaked again.

Letter of the month

) Dear Team Digit,

Congratulations on completing another

glorious year and still standing tall
as The Best technology magazine in
India. Although I have been a reader
since long, this is my first ever letter
to you so bear with me because this is
going to be quite long.
1. Tell me how in the world do you
manage with a 51 INR discount along
with a coupon of the same
value? Considering the stuff
in print along with the
DVDs thats brilliant.
2. Skoar finally gets a
full print but frankly
speaking, I was never a
fan, I like playing games
more than reading their
reviews and dreaming of
playing them! Of course,
that is because I get all the
latest games for free (you
know how).
3. Omission of the third DVD and addition of a poster was not welcome. You
should not be surprised to know that
my poster is not in a condition to put
on a wall, thanks to the folding. And
Splinter Cell, really!? A Lambo from
Most Wanted wouldve been better.
4. Coming to the DVDs, I suppose you
forgot the Essentials section this
time, maybe its because that has
become common in Digit DVDs.
Alpha DVD is awesome, quite nicely
packed. The UX design videos along

) Dear Digit,
What could be a better way to end this
years final issue? Interactive cover page was
a great trick. Columns written by Siddharth,
Jayesh and Robert really make us think for
a moment about whether its technology or
tech-no-logic and the hint of wittiness is
what adds flair to your writing.
I would like to address few points.
1. Weve witnessed transition of Digit Mag
over the years tech based magazine to
interactive tech magazine. Kudos!
2. Inclusion of all issues of Encyclopedia
Techinca & FastTrack has been a boon
14 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

with the devworx section has been

very well-presented.
5. The magazine itself is a wonder.
Blippar was a new concept. All the
Sci-Fi stuff that you talked about
made me really excited to see our
world in the future. About product
reviews, you guys have great
contacts I must say. How did you
manage to get your hands on the
OnePlus One, even before its launch!
I am looking forward to an internship next summer, especially
because I want to test all the
latest products. Do let me
know if that is possible.
6.
I noticed a few typos
here and there and oh my, I
did find some grammatical
errors as well. Now considering the amount of efforts you
guys put in, such mistakes can
be ignored once in a while but
then we are talking about Digit!
7. Rewind was a delight to read. Again
generating that Sci-Fi excitement!
Arduino did great as a sequel to Make
your own Robot (after a long time).
I would really love a FastTrack on
setting up liquid coolants (pipes, reservoirs and all) particularly focused on
laptops as they need more cooling.
8. In this issue, a reader reported that
your shortened links showed a 404
error so I did some testing and found
out that http://dgit.in/abc123 works
perfect while http://www.dgit.in/

abc123 shows a 404 error. Now I

have seen ABC.com and ABC.net
leading to different sites or a 404
perhaps if one of them has not been
registered but how do you explain
this? The same error doesnt occur
with goo.gl links though.
This brings me to the end of my long
tale. You can always omit the parts that
you didnt like while putting this into
print (I wont mind, seriously). Thanks
for making such a wonderful magazine
and refining it from time to time. Keep
up the good work everyone.
P.S.: Shirt size - XL (just in case, you
know)
Swastik Padhi

for people like me. The DIY VR Headset

was awesome too and expecting a similar
feature regarding Google Glass.
3. Product prices in the magazine arent
consistent.
4. Can your team start a SMS Notification
service for all subscribers?
Keep navigating and digitizing!
Sandeep Tidke

) I am writing this as an extremely aggra-

Thanks for the words of encouragement

and specific feedback. Were working on
point no 3 and 4. Stay tuned.
Siddharth

Talk about dropping hints Swastik! But

ok well bite. Enjoy your T-shirt! As
for your letter:
1. We dont eat for days to enable that
discount Swastik. Savour it.
2. Stay where you are, a police officer
has been dispatched to your address
and should be reaching there anytime
now ;-)
3. How about Far Cry 4?
4. Thanks. Do let us know how we can
make the DVDs better though. Abhijit
our new DVD guy is waiting for your
feedback.
5. Sure send us your CV!
6. Yes we need to be more careful.
7. Sure well look into your idea.
8. Good catch. Well implement a redirect.
- Siddharth

vated fan of what was once an iconic magazine. I have been reading Digit since April
2002. So I am almost as old a reader as the
magazine itself. I have seen this magazine
undergo various happy transformations
through the ages. I have not skipped a
month ever since to get my hands on a copy
of this magazine. There were a few sad times
too. But none was as bad as this now I'm
simply not excited enough to buy my copy
every month.
I am really frustrated at the quality of
packaging you folks provide.

PC Wall Mount

Paintings on the wall are fine, but what if

we tell you that you could mount your PC
components too?

From the past 5-6 months, there hasn't

been one issue where I've tried hard not
to tear anything apart while opening the
package and removing those bits n' pieces
of tape and yet failed I've miserably. Please
don't give me that prices excuse. You already
have almost increased it to 1.5 times in the
past 9 years.
Now about the content: I am sorry but
it is almost going down the drain. I was
always excited to see what the Test Centre
had for me this month. But not anymore.
There was a time when you guys had
reviewed 20-30 graphics cards, laptops,
branded desktops, smartphones, digital
cameras, hard disks and even ubiquitous
things like headphones/earphones and pen
drives. Now even Agent001 also does not
cover any exciting products.
What went wrong? Is it a reflection of the
declining state of the PC market that your
June & December issues are barely anything
more than the rest of the months? Back then
(in 2003 or so) I was used to the idea of getting as many as 4-5 CDs with the December
issue. This time I just got two. I have almost
2 to 3 drawers in my cabinet full of your CDs
& DVDs.
Heck now even the writing team doesn't
seem as enthusiastic to me. So many people
just came and left - Deepak Ajwani, Sachin
Kalbag, Robert Smith to mention a few. It's
almost like being full of mid 90s kids who
got an iPod / iPhone before they were 18,
but are far less inclined to "actually" learn
anything about tech like those kids of the
80s where it all started. They're more about
show-off-cool-stuff-to-the-others who know
the so-called status rise a tech product
brings with it but not the value or the power
that it has.
Over these 12 years I've also bought and
seen off many other tech magazines simply
to fulfill my tech appetite PCQuest , IC
Chip , PCWorld , Linux / Open Source For
You. PC World and IC CHIP are dead now.
Then yours was a different product I
used to wait for. Now it's just another one
of those run-of-the-mill publications. Is
this what success / lack of competition
does to people? Now I need to know if you
really want to improve the quality or will
I have to wait for another publication to
acquire you or take you over? Or is this a
reflection of change in who's in command

Sony OLED Attachable

Sony is preparing to launch a smart
accessory at CES 2015 that turns your
eyewear into a set of smart glasses

the flag-bearing company? 9.9 Media

has disappointed me over Jasubhai Digital
Media. Please accept your faults and truly
take charge of what you're delivering to
your readers.
Yours always,
Siddharth
Hey Siddharth,
Just wanted to start by telling you I doubt
anyone ever "leaves" a brand like Digit. However, since Digit still pays my salary, I most
definitely haven't left... I may, at some point,
stop being an employee of Digit, but it won't
stop me being a reader...
We take the critical feedback far more
seriously than we do the adulation, because
that's what's kept us grounded all these
years. We know we can always do better;
always!
Let me address the very valid points
you make in your criticism, and I'll be as
straight-forward with my answers as you
were with your email, because I think you'd
expect that:

Packaging
Agree wholeheartedly. There's nothing
more frustrating than ruining a magazine by
tearing the cover. We will look into this once
again to try and see what's going wrong. We
buy the best 3M tape to prevent this from
happening. We will try and get to the bottom
of this once and for all. Thankfully the subscriber copies are saved from this headache.

Prices
This is a sore point. For you and for me. No
one likes to pay extra, and yet no one likes
to sell at a loss. Yes, we have, in 13 years,
raised the price of the issue 100%. You tell
me if you would work for 13 years at the
same job and settle for only double the
salary 13 years later? The other mags you
mentioned were businesses first, this one
isn't, which is why it's still alive.

Content
I agree. I loved the 30 GPU comparisons
too. The 100 GPU comparisons even better,
and the 30 CPUs, 65 HDDs, 40 inkjet
printers... every single comparison was brilliant and diverse. Today, companies themselves aren't making that much variety for
PC peripherals, and even if they're selling in

Inbox

the market. For the non-PC stuff, there have

been challenges with getting the products to
come in on time, or at all. Some companies
have decided to steer clear of comparisons.
It's largely a dumb buyers market, and that's
perfect for brands, and terrible for people
like you and me (as tech enthusiasts). We
are working on trying to change this.

CDs / DVDs
Sadly, this increasingly mobile-centric
world of ours means that more and more
Digit readers write in and tell us to do
away with the DVDs altogether. We have
to slowly but sadly accept the fact that we
will have to disappoint the minority who
still want them. Don't expect special issues
in the future to be any different in terms of
number of DVDs. :-(

Writing Style
Although subjective, yes I suppose you're
right in the sense that the new generation of
writers are those who have always had technology, and perhaps lack the emotional connect or the awe that we did when we started
out. However, this does not mean nothing
awes the new age writers... I still think we're
quite in-depth and unswayed by fanboyism
though; do you have any specific instances
you would like me to clarify or look into?

The Rest
As for JDM and 9.9, trust me, it's just a
perception you have. Digit has always
been left to itself to run as a mag that's for
enthusiasts, by enthusiasts. With 9.9 we
went through a terrible recession, and I
know first-hand how tough times got, but
we functioned in a protective bubble, almost
oblivious of the financial chaos all around.
This freedom that we've always been
entrusted with also means that not only do
we get to take credit for the adulation, we
also have to accept the brickbats as well...
it's NOT the company that's failed you, it's
us, the editorial staff.
I really want to be able to wow you and
readers like yourself again. I want you to be
waiting eagerly for Digit again. Let's find a
way to do that together... Maybe we can get
a group of long-term readers like yourself
together and have a reader meet, or make a
small party of it all... What say?
Robert
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 15

section

subsection

Greed

temptation

This month: A watch worth

$200,000, a Lamborghini for
$7 million and a Yacht thats a
mere $30 million, plus more...

This month: The Interview,

Predestination, Autmata,
Pink Floyd, adventure
holidays and more...

For those who just want more

than should be humanly
allowed, we have enough to
satisfy your hunger...

If youre wondering what to do

with yourself or how to spend
some time getting cultured,
this is for you...

Te c h n o l o g y w i t h S t y l e
desire

Googles diverless car

coming in 2015
Shows off the first finished prototype

Launch
of the
Month

On December 22, 2014, Google

unveiled pictures of the first
fully-functional prototype of
their self-driving car project.
The car still has manual
controls and is used by test
drivers, but its only a matter
of time, we think, before
cars are things that just take
you places, and not silly
mechanical idiots who humans
need to control.
Anyone whos ever been
stuck in a traffic jam in one of
Indias large cities, knows the
importance of having some
order to traffic.
For us, this is worthy of
launch of the month, even

though its not a finished

product, because of the promise
it holds. Imagine a not-sodistant future, where you never

need to drive, and can just doze

on commutes instead! Its cute
looking too, and it reminds us of
the Nano just a tad.

iPhone 6 mini?

Pay for VoIP?

Ara confirmed

15m on 4G

If rumours are to be believed,

you may soon see
an iPhone 6 mini
from Apple 4.7inch display, and
hopefully it wont
bend! http://dgit.in/

Airtel has started charging

people for VoIP calls, and we
fear others may follow suit.
This is against the idea of Net
Neutrality. They say theyre
launching a data pack for it,
but the fact is its now being
charged! http://git.in/airtelvoip

A modular phone from Google.

PwC says India will have 15

million 4G users by the end
of 2015. This exponential
growth will come because of
affordable smartphones being
available in India, and the
MSPs push towards it.

BlackBerry
Classic
Hated the BlackBerry Passport
but still want a QWERTY
phone? Youre not going to get
too many quality options for
keyboard phones these days,
and chances are your best
bet will be a BlackBerry when
it comes down to keyboard
quality. We havent reviewed
it yet, so we obviously cant
recommend it, but turn to our
Connections section for more on
this launch. Price: $449

Apple-iPhone-Mini

16 Digit | january 2015 | www.digit.in

http://dgit.in/araconf

http://dgit.in/PWC-4G-Forecast

desire

Sonys clip-on glasses display

Sony announced a new attachable display module that can turn any
existing pair of eyewear into smartglasses (like Google Glass, but
on any eyewear!). Its powered by an ARM Cortex-A7 Processor, has
a 640 x 400 OLED micro display, and comes with Bluetooth and
WiFi connectivity. It will be showcased at CES about the time youre
reading this, so look for it in our coverage online at digit.in.

Jaguar Land Rovers augmented

windscreen experience
The attempt here is to eventually give a deriver a 360 degree view
of his surroundings, by making opaque parts of the inside of the
car, essentially, see-through. Thats not all however, there is also
an attempt to increase safety by displaying routes and information
right on the windscreen itself. While some may argue against
displaying anything on a windscreen, Jaguar Land Rover claim that
the displaying of a car to follow on the wind screen as a way to give
directions to a driver is the safer way. It also displays warnings
of whats in your blind spots, such as someone crossing the road.
Read more at: http://dgit.in/1Epp2iK

Shooting blanks? Not for long...

Scientists might soon be able to cure infertility. Yes, you read
that right. Not that the world at large needs more babies, but
only the infertile know how much it sucks to be them. Using
stem cells, Israeli and UK scientists were able to reproduce
(pun intended) egg and sperm precursor cells from a persons
skin cells. Now if the world would stop fearing stem cell
research and relax some of the laws that prohibit important
aspects of research in this field, maybe, just maybe, wed all
benefit from advanced biology research. Cure balding already!
http://dgit.in/vhtcndms
18 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

BMW M3 & M4 Coup

We recently attended BMWs launch event for their 2015
M3 and M4 Coup models at the Buddh International
Circuit in Greater Noida. Sachin Tendulkar was there to flag
off the cars at the event. Essentially both of these are very
similar cars both are powered by a 3.0 litre straight-six
engine with turbo chargers, so performance is identical.
BMW has managed to extract more power from this new
V6 engine than the output of the V8 that it replaces, which
means more power, but reduced pollution and an increased
fuel efficiency to keep the tree-hugger types from picketing
their gates.
Both cars take 4.1 seconds to go from standing still to
60 mph (and no 60 mph does not equal 100 kmph as many
lazy writers of all things auto will have you believe!). They
have their top speeds limited to 250 kmph, and in some
special circumstances this can be increased to 280 kmph,

though wed rather it was lowered for India. Weve seen our
fair share of rich spoilt brats speeding dangerously down
our tiny roads...
For those of you who are wondering why the two
different models, the answer is simple, the M4 Coup
is a two door model for those who choose style over
practicality, while the M3 has four doors for those who want
a similar racing driver experience, but also need to ferry the
family about once in a while. Obviously you sit lower in the
M4 Coup to give you a more racing feel.
Theres carbon fibre all around and the cars are obviously
built to feel premium (for what they cost they better be!). Its
not like any of us is ever going to own one, but we can dream,
perhaps someday!
Price: M3 `1.198CR, M4 Coup `1.218CR
Site: www.bmw.in

Desire

Mimi MI-W2
An affordable but buggy smartwatch

veryone and their uncle are making smartwatches now,

and we received one from Hong Kong-based MIMI called
the MI-W2. The design of the W2 is eerily similar to the
Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Its made of an alloy material
which seems sturdy. It connects to your Android smartphone (iOS
devices are not supported) over Bluetooth. With a 1.54-inch display,
the device has a battery-life of about 3 days, but strangely doesnt
have any internal storage, or even any support for external storage.
What you get is a screen, a mic and a rather loud speaker.
You can choose between digital and analog watch faces, and get
a minimal interface to access various features of the device. You
can use it to make or receive calls (receive with a shake; which was
buggy when we tried it). Theres an app for your smartphone, but
you have to download the APK file from their site, not the Play store.
After you sync your address book to the device, you can search
through all your contacts and make calls right from the watch, and
it also packs a pedometer to calculates how far youve walked. You
can control song playback, and this worked as expected. You can
also use the watch as a secondary screen for your phone camera,
and click photos using the smartwatch.

The MI-W2 is supposed to show notifications from your phone

but most apps arent integrated, so you just see which app sent the
notification, not the notification itself. You can read and even compose
text messages on the watch, but typing is a pain.
Its a good anti-theft solution, as an alarm is triggered when you
move more than seven metres away from your phone. It can also
be used to locate your phone. Currently, the company is working
on bringing Facebook and Twitter notifications to the watch. Its
available in three colours silver, gold and gray.
Price: `3,400 (approx) | Dimensions: 9.3x1.5x0.4 inch
| Display: 240x240 TFT | Battery: 360mAh | Standby
time: 100 hours | Weight: 57g

Zano
Taking the art of selfies to new heights, literally!
Zano is a tiny quad-copter drone that is semiautonomous, and has an HD camera. Although a
must-have for any advernture sports fanatic, as the
video on their site shows, this is also great to get
some interesting angles for everyday photography
as well. We have no doubt that some people will
also find a way to use this to spy on people in cities,
but oh well, this is the world we live in now.
The Nano doesnt just fly, it flies intelligently.
It has a bunch of sensors that allow it to monitor
its surroundings and avoid obvious obstacles. The
same sensors also allow it to hover in place, and
always know its location relative to you. Actually
it doesnt know or recognise you the person, but it
does tether with your smartphone (Android and iOS)
over Wi-Fi, and knows where your phone is at all
times. You control Zano from your smart phone.
Specifications

Size: 2.5-inch | Weight: 55 gm | Connectivity: Wi-Fi (b/g/n)

| Camera: 5 mp with stabilisation | Others: RGB 8x8 pixel
display; IR sensors; Continuous 15 minute flight time

Price: `14,000 ($220)

20 Digit | january 2015 | www.digit.in

Greed

MB&F Horological Machine No. 6 Space Pirate

Want a limited edition watch? Usually any of MB&Fs watches will
give you that feeling of exclusivity, but this ones a little rarer than
rare. Inspired by some machine some guy saw in Japanese Manga,
Horological Machine No. 6 - Space Pirate is either the weirdest,
coolest or ugliest thing youve ever seen, but it guarantees that
everyone walking
by will stare at your
wrist in awe.
Even if youve
never heard of MB&F
their designs are all
one-of-a-kind (www.
mbandf.com), but
the HM6 surpasses
all that have come
before. There will
only be 50 made, so
its a must-have for
the rich and famous,
as for us, well just
ogle and increment
the number of things
we now know about
but will never own
(or maybe even see)
by one more. Priced
at somewhere over
$200,000 (`1.2cr) this
is wrist-candy like
no other!

TREWGrip
Weve mentioned this one before, but theyve improved things
and are now showcasing at CES 2015. For those of you who
missed our earlier story, TREWGrip is a revolutionary new
way to add a keyboard to a phone or tablet. Why type with
one finger or two thumbs when typing was designed for both
hands? This is the logic that has driven the makers to make
a product where you type on the underside. Basically, if you
see the picture of a letter on the top, your fingers will be able
to find the corresponding key below, plus theres a light that
glows to give you the satisfaction of knowing you tapped the
right key. Although seemingly fine for touch typists, we cant
wait to get one to try out for ourselves to see how well twoor three-finger typing neanderthals like us do with it.
http://www.trewgrip.com/

Roland Iten Calibre R822 Predator

mechanical belt buckle
Heres a first; a belt buckle that costs $400,000 or, about `2.5
crore! Why? This is considered mechanical jewelry something
that serves a purpose but is pretty as well! Its crafted in a way
that makes it easy to use single-handedly you know, to adjust
your belt when youre driving about in your Bugatti Veyron after
youve eaten too many caviar crackers! However, thats not why
you pay 2.5 crores, its the high-tech titanium body and the 387
diamonds that total
to 14.15 carats.
Then theres the
fact that there
will only ever be
three of these
made exclusivity
is probably worth
at least 0.5 crore to
the kind of people
who buy these
things.
22 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Lamborghini
Veneno Roadster
You want exclusivity? Getting a Lambo is usually a
statement enough, but if you really want to go all out, get a
rare Lamborghini! The company has built only 9 of these, so
its bound to be a rather exclusive club. Although the asking
price of $4.5 million seemed a little steep from Lamborghini,
you are paying for exclusivity. In fact, you could probably
make a profit! Apparently one is on sale for over $6 million
(before tax) or more than $7 million with tax on a German
site. The asking price of a (slightly) used Veneno is higher
than Lamborghinis price? Crazy collectors!
Price: `30 to `42 CR ($5 to $7 million)
Site: www.lamborghini.com

Greed

Martin Logan Neolith

Electrostatic transducers with a thump

f you havent heard of the term electrostatic transducer,

you have now and will remember it thanks to Martin
Logan. Their Neolith speakers are named after the Neolithic period of mankind, where apes finally became men
by learning to use tools, etc. Basically, it was the defining
period of humanity, and Martin Logan would have you
believe their speakers are the defining moment in sound.
The Neolith supposedly creates a three-dimensional
sonic soundstage like no other speaker before it. The
huge 48-inch electrostatic transducers a technology
that vibrates a very thin membrane which is suspended
between two oppositely charged layers. Think of an ultrathin diaphragm thats lighter than the air it moves, yet is
uniformly driven! Of course limitations occur and ultra
low frequencies are a problem for such setups, which is
why Martin Logan use both conventional woofers and mids along
with what they call curvilinear electrostatic transducers to give
improved sound output.
The Neolith has a 15-inch, rear-firing woofer, and a 12-inch midrange driver, which overall allows the system to go as low as 23Hz

Grey Designs
Xhibitionist
The ultimate statement of success is
always a yacht. No filthy-rich person is
ever complete without one, and rightly
so. Mansions, exotic cars and $400,000
belt buckles can only get you so much
attention. Plus, the ultra-wealthy
sometimes need a luxury vehicle that

Now that youre convinceed about the technological superiority

of this set, you probably cant wait to get your hands on these
beauties... all you need to do is write a cheque to the company
for $80,000 (`51 lakh) for the cheapest pair and hire a plane to
transport them to you...

can get them into international waters

and out of reach of the long arm of the
laborious, land-lubbered law!
If youre going to run, you might
as well do it in style, and something
that looks like the batmobile of yachts
is about as stylish as it gets! At 229
feet its spacious enough to be a huge
mansion on the seas, has a sun deck
pool, a heli pad that appears out of
nowhere when the deck retracts,
massive cabins and even a garage to

house all those expensive cars so that

you dont leave them behind on land.
You want your Lamborghini Veneno
with you when you dock at Monte
Carlo, after all.
Its made to order, obviously, so
contact the Swedish-based Grey
Design, and theyre sure to customise
according to your specifications and
also and rush your order for a few
million extra!
Price: `191 crore (give or take a few crores)

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 23

temptation

The Left Hand of

Darkness
A classic awardwinning novel
by the science
fiction author
Ursula K. Le
Guin. The book
is set in the fictional Hainish
universe where humanity
is migrating, and is notably
asexual in nature, at least in the
beginning...

Think like a Freak

The
guys
behind Freakonomics
are
back,
and
theyve become
poster boys for
challenging
conventional
thinking. Theyre famous for
trying to do away with emotional
bias and rely on data instead.
They call this kind of thinking,
thinking like a Freak. Just read
the book, its entertaining and
eye-opening at times.

The Endless River

Movie

The Interview
What was all the hype about?

ust in case youve been

living under a rock, with
your fingers in your ears,
screaming out loudly, nonstop, for the last month or so,
and missed all that happened
regarding this movie, well, go
back under the rock, its too
tiresome to repeat again now.
Sony Pictures finally
manned up and released this
movie online, and in select theatres. Funnily iTunes refused to
air it, for whatever reason, and
that kind of irked me a little. I
wonder what damning evidence
the hackers had on Sony to
make them think of scrapping a
whole movie after it was made.

reviews. Now it goes down in

history for reasons other than
what you will watch...
Robert Sovereign-Smith

Movie

Predestination

Pink Floyd have released an

album after 20 years, and its
their last ever. The Endless River
is a tribute to the late Richard
Wright, and the music is reminiscent from The Division Bell
times. Musical nirvana!

Kolibree toothbrush
Regular toothbrushes
are so old school! Just
buy one brush and
different heads for
everyone, plus it uses
apps to make brushing
your teeth fun, for all
ages, because, you
know, we need to be
entertained 24x7

24 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Anyway, coming back to

the movie if this wasnt a
movie that was in the center
of a free speech vs hackers
vs dictator of a communist
regime controversy none
of us would ever speak of it,
and it wouldnt even appear
here. Its bearable at best, and
all the silly hackers succeeded
in doing was making it even
more popular than it was ever
destined to be. From mediocre
acting to a stupid storyline and
not really witty comedy, this
movie could have died a silent
death and perhaps not made
it to theatres in most places
to begin with due to horrible

Not as good as the Heinlein short story

m not going to put any

spoilers because Sid hasnt
seen the movie yet, and he
has to proof this page. For those
of you who have read the works
of Robert A Heinlein a long time
ago, as I have as the movie plot
unfolds in the first half-an-hour,
you kind of get the feeling that
youve seen it before. This is
because the plot is changed up a
little and some more layers have

Polyes Q1
When it comes to 3D
printing pens, weve been
disappointed because of
the risks of getting burnt
or passing out from fumes.
Its refreshing to see this on
KickStarter as it promises
cool-ink and forget risks, to
us adults, it even promises
to be child-friendly!

been added since the original

Heinlein story was a short story,
the script had to be beefed up,
I guess. The acting and the
effects are acceptable, but I felt
there were too many hints as to
what was going on, almost like
it was dumbed down for the
masses, which for me is ruining
the Heinlein feel read All you
Zombies instead.
Robert Sovereign-Smith

Horse-head squirrel feeder

Squirrels often steal seed
and birdfood. Get back
at them. It doesnt harm
them, unless theyre
on Facebook, you tag
them, and theyre easily
embarrassed! In our cities
these are more likely
to be big rats though!
http://dgit.in/1wOV1ns

temptation

Adventure is out there!

Saddleback Cay
You wouldnt happen to have 15.6
million dollars to blow up on some
real estate would you? You could
buy your own island off the coast of
Miami in the Bahamas. Its a nice 47
acres, and has 7 white sand beaches,
an airstrip and some of the best
fishing spots in the world... a steal at
`100 crore if you ask us!
http://dgit.in/1xlUiZN

Aston Martin
Luxury DB10

Its a car that will be seen in the next

Bond movie titled Spectre. Only 10
of them will be made, and theres no
news of them being put up for sale
even. Youd have to have a licence
to kill to get your hands on this car,
and something tells us its worth
killing for!
http://dgit.in/l2kill

Movie

Autmata
Watching this is a prime directive

utomata manages to create a

believable and almost realistic picture of a bleak post
apocalyptic world. It seems realistic
because you have on one side starvation and an inhospitable environment,
and on the other a high technology
world where holograms, LED painted
derelict skyscrapers and even Robots
are commonplace. If at all we devolve
into a survivalist society most of us at
Digit would imagine such a scenario
and the juxtaposition these realities to

Yes the headline is from one of our favourite

movies, Up, but we really mean it. Adventure is
literally out there if you happen to live close to
Maharashtra. Actually, it doesnt matter where you
live if youre willing to travel and spend money on
an adventure holiday.
Della Adventure is located near Lonavala, which
is a hill station near Mumbai. Its a popular retreat
for large corporate companies, but is also popular
amongst families.
In this day and age where most of us are couch
potatoes, have jobs that involve a lot of sitting and
then even choose to go on holidays that involve a lot
of relaxation, it makes sense for a few of us to try
something radically different than the usual geek
lifestyle... With a really diverse and comprehensive
list of activities its a place you wont get bored no
matter who you are bungee jumping, paintball,
R/C planes and cars, flight simulators, pool, golf,
foosball, archery, ATV rides, Land / Water Zorbing,
horse riding, Cricket, rock climbing, table tennis, dog
walking (yes, just relaxing while walking a dog, and
you dont even need to bring the dog!), cow milking
(were serious!), Chess, carrom, darts, dirt biking,
and more...
If you cant find something to do at this place,
you have a serious problem! Plus its not all actionpacked adventure (except the Chess and dog
walking), as you get cozy rooms and internet access
to get back to your geekdom whenever you want.
Theres also body art, massages, Yoga, cooking
classes and even a treasure hunt for those not into
adrenaline rushes. Just log on to www.dellaadventure.
com and check out the various packages they have
on offer. Weve been planning on going there for some
time, hopefully after issue closing.

be quite natural.
The story of Automata itself is quite compelling
and well try to tell you as much as we can without
revealing any unintentional spoilers. Antonio Banderas stars as an insurance claims investigator who
stumbles onto a few curious cases of robots violating
their primary protocols against altering themselves.
Unlike the Asimovs Robots these Robots only have
2 laws. They cant alter themselves and they cant harm
humans. The film focuses on the alteration aspects and
presents an interesting take on evolution. It does however
fall short of believable in its plot and tries to pander to a
broader audience, in doing so diluting what it seemed to
have started off into. Should you watch it? Yes definitely.
Depending on how exposed you are to this science fiction
trope youll either go oh man whyd they have to go that
way? or wow that was mind blowing.
Siddharth Parwatay
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 25

Security watch

Mobile watch

Connections

28

Here's how you can win at all things

mobile, including Google Ara, Aakash 4
and BlackBerry Classic

32

Win at security by paying attention to

our security watch section. This month,
password stealing from Android

Apps
Last month belonged to Microsoft and Google as the two heavyweights
launched new apps and updated old, popular ones.
Sway: Microsoft's
online Office tool
now available for all
Microsoft has launched its
Office online tool 'Sway' for everyone with a Microsoft account.
The company has also added
some new features including
easier text editing features to
the preview.
Microsoft stated that just 10
weeks since the debut Sway has
received over 1 million unique
visitors and over 175,000
requests to join. The company
stated that the numbers have
grown by thousands every
day since the launch, so it has
decided to remove the waitlist.
Microsoft stated in a blog
post: "Its been only 10 weeks
since we kicked off Sway
Preview, and weve already
had over one million unique
visitors to Sway.com and over
175,000 requests to join, and
those numbers grow by thousands daily."
The update has also added
some improvements to the app
such as undo and redo buttons,
easier text editing, improvements to Color Picker and
the ability to import text and
photos from PDF files.
Microsoft has also made
the iPhone app available in
Australia as well as New Zealand. The app has received
26 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Office Online from Microsoft

an update that allows users

to create Sways offline, along
with improved cross platform
support as well as support for
the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Last Month, Microsoft made
its Office suite free for iPhone,
iPad and Android OS. The
move allows users who haven't
subscribed to Office 365, to
create and edit documents in

Excel, Word and Powerpoint

for free. The company has
launched the free version of
Office for iPhone and iPad and
a preview version for Android
for now, with the full release
expected in 2015.

Google brings
museum display
exhibits to mobile
users
Google is making its platform available for museums
to help them showcase their
exhibits to smartphone users.
Museums will be able to use
YouTube and Street View to
showcase their exhibits to
anyone with a smartphone.
Google Cultural Institute
has partnered with museums
worldwide for the project. 11

museums and cultural institutions have participated in

this pilot project to date and
their apps are now live on
Google Play.
Some of the early adopters
of this new software platform
are museums and institutions
in France, Italy, Netherlands
and Nigeria, including the
Museum of Arts et Mtiers,
Musee Curie, Museum of Le
Havre and Rijksmuseum van
Oudheden to name a few.
Museums will be able to use
Googles indoor Street View
technology to offer 360 degree
tours though their apps. The
apps will show exhibit photos
and audio tours, and will come
with social-sharing features
that let visitors post what
theyre viewing in a museum
on Facebook, Google+ as well
as via email with their friends.
The apps are also available
offline for users who are travelling abroad and dont have an
internet connection.
Google Cultural Institute
has earlier digitised the Dead
Sea Scrolls, Art Project to bring
museums online and have documented the World Wonders
in Street View and 3D. Last
year Google launched a 360
degree online view of Indian
monuments in partnership
with Archaeological Survey

Misleading reviews

Owing to misleading reviews by users, Google is now

banning developers from using user testimonials in
their app reviews http://dgit.in/GoogleBan

The Google Cultural institute

of India. The project aims to

create panoramic imagery of
"nationally important" monuments including the Taj Mahal,
Humayun's Tomb, Khajuraho,
Qutub Minar, Red Fort and
Agra Fort, etc.

YouTube Offline
launched in India
YouTube has launched the
offline feature that allows
users to download videos to
their Android or iOS device
for later consumption without
internet connectivity.
Google stated that users
will have to sync with YouTube
to watch the videos. The downloaded content will be available for offline playback only
through the YouTube app, and
can be downloaded via Wi-Fi
connectivity or mobile data.
The videos will be available
for viewing for 48 hours only,
to help avoid issues involved

Watch YouTube videos offline

with free downloading of copyrighted content, the company

stated at the launch. YouTube
stated that, "much of India's
popular YouTube content" is
available to view offline.
John Harding, Vice President of Engineering at YouTube, said of the new offline
feature, "In a country like
India, the future of the Internet
is mobile... By launching this
offline experience on YouTube in India today, we hope
to help people move past the
challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a
smooth, buffer-free version of
YouTube."
Speaking about how content partners will benefit,
Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional
Director of YouTube Partnerships, YouTube Asia-Pacific,
said, "The new feature will
also help our partners bring
more viewers to their content

Snow in Dubai

Dubai might be the last place on earth you find

snow, but a company is planning on simulating
snowfall on the streets http://dgit.in/DubaiSnow

and find even greater success

on our platform."
Google had announced
YouTube's offline feature
along with the Android One
devices earlier this year. The
new feature will be useful in
India which has the slowest
internet speed in Asia, poor
3G connectivity and expensive data plans. YouTube has
over 10,000 Indian films and
over 250,000 Indian songs.
According to a recent report,
Indians watch nearly 5 billion videos on YouTube every
month and the country is

App Watch

changing the screen brightness setting to save battery, or

to charge from a power outlet
rather than from a USB port
for faster charging. It also
includes a button to contact
Google support team for complicated issues and reminds
users to share device information with Google for improved
technical support.
Google Play listing says
that Device Assist app will
give users get proactive help
with detected issues including
GPS, connectivity, and battery
among others. It also includes

Device Assist from Google

expected to become the second

largest market in the world, for
video content, by 2015.

Google launches
Device Assist for
Nexus, GPE and
Android One devices
Google has launched a new
troubleshooting app called
Device Assist for Nexus,
Google Play edition (GPE),
and Android One devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop. The
Device Assist app is currently
limited to US-based devices
and can be downloaded from
the Google Play Store.
Google says that the new
app provides "tips and proactive troubleshooting" when it
detects issues on a device. The
app will offer suggestions like

some tips to explore new features and improve the performance of device as well as easy
access to live Google support
for Nexus and Google Play edition devices.
The device assist app could
also be a way from Google
to track any further issues
with its Android 5.0 Lollipop. The internet giant has
already faced complaints of
WiFi issues, battery bug and
more in its latest OS. Google is
announced a new update for
Android 5.0, dubbed Android
5.0.1 to the Android Open
Source Project (AOSP) with
the build number LRX22C.
This initial update will most
likely be for fixing bugs and
issues reported by users in the
last few weeks.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 27

Longer electric cars

A startup has come up with a new solid state

battery that could store double the energy than
conventional ones http://dgit.in/LongerBatt

Mobile watch

Minecraft Mansion

Minecraft has some amazing structures, and

someone recreated Minecraft creator Notchs
mansion too http://dgit.in/MinecrftHome

Mobiles

Be ahead of the crowd when it comes to the knowing of all the

happenings in the mobile world
WhatsApp to get
voice calling soon:
Reports
Earlier this year, messaging service WhatsApp had announced
that it will roll out voice calling

Voice calling is coming

feature for its users. According

to new images leaked online,
the feature is expected to be
launched soon.
Androidworld.nl has published alleged screenshots
of a build of the WhatsApp
app that offers voice calling.
According to rumors, the test
build is being used by WhatsApp employees, and we will
soon see an official build as soon
as the company is satisfied with
the results.
28 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

The screenshots show separate screens for dialing a voice

call to WhatsApp contacts, call
logs and ongoing calls. Another
interesting feature leaked in the
images shows call recording and
playback. However, it is difficult
to verify the authenticity of the
screenshots and WhatsApp has
not confirmed that its testing
such a feature.
In September voice calling
feature was spotted on WhatsApps iOS app in the update
released for iPhone on September 8, which added several new features including
improved location sharing and
faster camera access. Users who
have updated to the new WhatsApp iOS app are getting a new
pop-up message, which reads,
WhatsApp requires microphone access to send Voice Messages, record Videos with sound,
make and receive Voice Calls.
WhatsApp CEO Jan Kuom
had announced the voice calling

Google Ara: a modular cell phone

feature in February, post the

companys Facebook acquisition.
India which has over 70 million
WhatsApp users, will benefit
from the voice calling feature
as WhatsApp executives in the
past have stated that the popular messaging app will always
remain free in the country. The
feature will be inline with other
messaging app like Line, BBM,
Skype and Viber which already
offer free voice calling. Android,
iOS and Windows Phone also
offer free voice calling through
internet via Hangouts, FaceTime and Skype.

Google confirms
Project Ara circuit
design and chipsets
The form factor and chipsets
for Googles Project Ara modular smartphones have been

confirmed. The companys

Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team stated on its
Google+ page that it is working
on the SoC designs in collaboration with NVIDIA and Marvell.
Reference designs for the Ara
phone modules are under development and have been based on
the Tegra K1 chipset from Nvidia
and PXA1928 chipset from Marvell. The chipsets are expected to
become the reference chips in the
MDK v0.20 release.
The ATAP team had earlier shared an image of the
Spiral 2 circuit board to be
used in the Ara phone. Eremenkos post though indicates that the team has come
up with an all new version
of this circuit board, in the
Spiral 3 model. Eremenko had
also talked about the presence

Gr After Si

Germanium could be replacing Silicon

in the being the next great chip material
http://dgit.in/GerChip

Amazon Prime Now

Amazon wants to totally take over the delivery

system, announces one-hour delivery in NYC
http://dgit.in/PrimeNow

of a Pulse Oximeter at an
Engadget conference recently.
Google is hosting Ara developer conferences in various location in January 2015. The India
leg of this is scheduled for January 21, to be held in Bengaluru.

Indian government
to review specs of
Aakash 4
The Indian government is planning to review the technical
specifications of the Aakash 4
tablet. According to reports, the
Department of Electronics and
IT (DEITY) told a Parliamentary committee that vendors
couldnt meet specifications
desired as per the tender such
as 3G modem, Java support etc.
HRD ministry started this
project. The initial mistake that
was committed by us was that we
fixed the price and asked the manufacturers to supply the product
on this fixed price. If we could
have decided the specifications
and then asked the manufacturers to supply the product that
could be the better arrangement,
DEITY Secretary informed the
Standing Committee on Information Technology.
The official revealed that the
government is now planning to
review technical specifications
of the Aakash 4.
The Aakash 4 tablet project
was initiated by ex telecom min-

The Ubislate 7

ister Kapil Sibal with an objective

to bridge the digital divide in the
country. The Aakash tablet, however, was marred with controversies, right from the price point,
manufacturing and availability.
The project was completed after
DataWind shipped the first and
second versions of the device for
`2,276 and `2,263 per unit.

Our OS is different
from Micromaxs Yu,
OnePlus tells court
Shenzhen OnePlus Technology
Co. Ltd has told the Delhi High
Court that the operating system
being offered on its OnePlus
One phone is different a version of Cyanogen from the one
Micromax had secured an exclusive licence from Cyanogen.
OnePlus added that its
phones featured CM11S version
of the Cyanogen software while
Micromax offered a different

version. The company also the

agreement between Micromax
and Cyanogen implied that
Cyanogen cannot collaborate
with other smartphone makers
in the country.
The company also sought
three months of time to clear its
stock as well as come up with a
new software to replace Cyanogen.
According to reports, the court
observed that Cyanogen wasnt
fair with OnePlus and Micromax.

OnePlus is different!

Mobile watch

The latest development

comes after OnePlus was temporarily banned from marketing,
selling and shipping of its smartphones in India. The directive
came after Micromax sought an
injunction against OnePlus for
allegedly infringing upon exclusive rights it had acquired with
Cyanogen. Micromax recently
launched its Cyanogen based
Yu Yureka smartphone in India.
OnePlusMicromaxCyanogen tussle comes amid
Xiaomi and Ericsson entered in
a legal battle over patent issues.
Ericsson claimed the Chinese
company had infringing upon
its patent.

Google expands
Android One program
to Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Nepal
Google has announced that it
will launch its Android One
smartphones in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the
coming weeks. The Internet
giant plans to make the smartphones accessible to an estimated 200 million people with
the launch.
Google has stated that
Micromax, Karbonn and Spice
which launched its Android
One smartphones in India will
be launching their devices along
with Bangladesh-based Symphony in the Bangladesh, Nepal

The egg comes first

Mobile watch

Android One smartphones

and Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh,

Google has tied up with operator
BanglaLink to start selling the
Android One devices. Bangladesh based brand Symphony
is also planning to launch their
Symphony Road A50 smartphone in the coming weeks.
Googles VP for Product
Management, Caesar Sengupta
said, In the coming weeks, the
Android One devices will start
to go on sale in Indias neighboring countries of Bangladesh,
Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Last week Spice has
launched the Dream Uno H,
which is targeted towards the
Hindi speaking population in
the country. The smartphone
has an entire suite of Google
apps in Hindi. Karbonn
Mobiles has also committed to
a long-term partnership with
Android One in India and
stated that its next generation
Android One smartphone will
arrive in Q1 2015.
Google had unveiled the
Android One programme in
June this year. The internet
giant stated that the new
phones will give people a
high quality mobile experience for an affordable price,
running stock-Android with
updates from Google. Apart
from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
and Nepal, Google is planning
30 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

A startup called Hampton Creek is using

natural plant protein to rebuild the chicken egg
http://dgit.in/SimEggs

to further expand
the programme
to Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. However
Googles Android
One devices have
not seen a great
response in India
with many local
retailers refusing
to stock the devices
due to the low profit
margin and demand
for them.

Leaked Sony tablet

boasts insane specs
Leaked specs of what is claimed
to be the Xperia Z4 Ultra suggest that the upcoming Sony
tablet will be the most powerful
mobile device ever launched.
The leaked specs are so unbelievable that we literally cannot
believe them, especially since we
dont know where PadNews, the
blog that leaked the specs, got
the source image from.
As you can see, those specs
make the Xperia Z4 Ultra tablet
the single most powerful tablet
to ever be launched. Now, while
Sony has a reputation of packing
its devices with quality, powerful hardware, the above specs
do seem out of this world.
On the other hand, if Sony
can actually deliver an Android
tablet with a 13-in 4K IPS display, a 64-bit octa-core processor,

Xperia Z4 Ultra

3D printed yearbook

3D printed yearbook gives blind students an

opportunity to remember the faces of their
classmates http://dgit.in/3DprintBook

6(!)GB of RAM and a 12,100(!!)

mAh battery, then its all set to
rule 2015, thats for sure.

Android Auto to
come pre-installed in
cars next year
Google plans to directly integrate its services in your car
instead of via your Android
powered phone. If and when this
happens Google will be able to
make use of information coming
from your fuel gauge, rear view
cameras, sensors, GPS, etc.
According to Reuters, the
source close to Google did
not provide any timeframe on

dubbed as Android M, in the

next year or so.
This year we saw both
Android and its arch rival
Apple launch their versions
of smartphone and auto integration and both initiatives
are backed up by car manufacturers. Both Android Auto
and Apples Car Play are aimed
at giving you more information
about your car and your trips.
And if Googles auto integration goes as planned and the
smartphone goes out of the
picture, Google will be able
to integrate its services more
tightly around you.

Android Auto for smarter cars

when Android Auto will be

integrated into cars but mentioned that it is in the works. It
was also revealed that Google
is planning to come out with
the next version of Android,

BlackBerry Classic
QWERTY smartphone
officially unveiled
BlackBerry has officially
unveiled its Classic smartphone featuring full QWERTY
keyword, physical navigation
keys and design language of
the BlackBerry Bold 9900. The
smartphone is available through
Amazon.com and www.BlackBerry.com for $449 in the U.S.
and $499 in Canada.
The BlackBerry Classic
runs BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 and
is powered by a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
along with 2GB of RAM. The
BlackBerry Classic has a 3.5inch touch display, 294 dpi HD

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The BlackBerry Classic

resolution and Corning Gorilla

Glass 3 protection.
It comes with an 8MP rear
facing camera and 2MP front
facing camera. It has 16GB of
device storage (expandable by
up to another 128GB via Micro
SD card).
Other important features of
the Classic include BlackBerry
Blend, digital assistant BlackBerry Assistant, dual app storefronts BlackBerry World and
Amazon Appstore, and BlackBerry Hub.

We
listened
closely to our customers feedback
to ensure we are
delivering the technologies to power
them through their
day and that feedback led directly to
the development of
BlackBerry Classic.
BlackBerry Classic
is the powerful communications tool
that many BlackBerry Bold and
Curve users have
been waiting for. Its
the secure device
that feels familiar
in their hands, with
the added performance and agility
they need to be
competitive in todays busy
world, says John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO
at BlackBerry.
BlackBerry has been
making a lot of efforts to make
a comeback in the smartphone
segment, currently dominated by the likes of Googles
Android and Samsung. The
recent BlackBerry Passport,
the square QWERTY smartphone, helped BlackBerry
gained some attention.
Right now theres no word
on the availability of the smart-

Next-gen camera

LG and Mercedes are jointly working on

next-generation camera systems to power
Mobile watch
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phone in India. But, we expect

to be available early next year.

Spice launches
first Hindi Android
One smartphone at
`6,499

Googles Android One program. The company launched

the Spice Dream Uno, which
was its first Android One device.
The Micromax Canvas A1 and
Karbonn Sparkle V are the
two other Android One smartphones available in the market
right now.
Instead of going with the
online model, Spice has opted

Homegrown smartphone
maker Spice has launched
the first Hindi Android One
smartphone. The device, Spice
Dream Uno H, is the
first smartphone to
feature a complete
Hindi keyboard,
voice input along
with Hindi versions
of Android and popular Google products
such as Chrome,
Search, YouTube
and Google Maps.
The device has
a 4.5 inch IPS display along with a 1.3
GHz quad-core processor and Android
4.4.4 KitKat. It also
has a 1700 mAh LiPolymer battery and
expandable storage
Android one
of up to 32 GB. It is
priced at `6,499 and
offers 2G and 3G connectivity
to sell the Dream Uno H in
all major retail stores in the
options. The device also has a 5
MP rear camera along with a 2
country. This makes sense, as
MP front camera.
the phone seems to be aimed
Spice, along with Micromax
at the tier II and tier III cities
and Karbonn, was the first of
in India, which arent big on
three manufacturers to join
buying online yet.

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Security watch
Connections

3D printing is working wonders in almost

every field and now helping a dog run again
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NaNoGenMo Writing

National Novel Generation Month is and event

where computer programs that generate novels
will be written http://dgit.in/NaNoGenMo

Security
Theres been an increase in cyber attacks recently, and this is going to
increase in 2015, plus Android is under threat as well
Cyberattacks to
increase in 2015
Security researchers predict that
there will be an increase in cyber
warfare and espionage, with
cybercriminals coming up with
new strategies to hide their tracks
and steal sensitive data.
McAfee Labs 2015 Threats
Predictions report claims that
Cyber espionage attacks will continue to increase in frequency, the
report said. Long-term players
will become stealthier information
gatherers, while newcomers will
look for ways to steal money and
disrupt their adversaries.
The report comes after the
news of large-scale cyberattacks
this year linked to Russia or China,
as well as the infiltration of Sony
Pictures by cybercriminals.
Trend Micro Incorporated
has also released its annual security predictions report, Trend
Micro Security Predictions for
2015 and Beyond: The Invisible
Becomes Visible.
According to that report, targeted attacks campaigns will continue to multiply in 2015, after
cybercriminals had noteworthy
breaches via targeted attacks in
the US and China.
What we are seeing today
is not a huge surprise but rather
the velocity and brutal measures
cybercriminals are using to
steal information, said, Dhanya
32 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Thakkar, Managing Director,

India & SEA, Trend Micro. Following the success of targeted
attacks from Chinese and Russian
cybercriminals, many hackers
from other countries will regard
cyber-attacks as a more practical
method to grab a foothold in an
organisation. Additionally, with
the incessant barrage of data
breaches emerging almost daily,
its reasonable to presume that
data breaches will be essentially
regarded as a common offshoot

of the present threat landscape.

Threats around banking will continue to become more severe, and
banking intuitions must implement two-factor authentication for
online services.
The payment ecosystem will
continue to evolve, said JD Sherry,
vice president of technology and
solutions, Trend Micro.

New Password
stealing virus hits
Android devices
Cybersecurity sleuths have issued
a warning about a new infectious
Trojan virus which steals vital
information from your Android
based smartphone and can even
illegally send SMSes to those on
the mobile contact list.
The malware dubbed
AndroidSmssend can acquire
as many as four aliases to steal
passwords. Android/SmsSend
is a premium service abuser

family malware that arrives

bundled with legitimate Android
applications and infects Android
based smart phones.
Once infected, it sends text
messages (typically with a link
to itself or a different threat) to
a specific number, typically to
numbers on the contact list and
is also capable to send SMS to
premium rate numbers, the
Computer Emergency Response
Team of India (CERT-In) said in
its latest advisory to Android
phone users.
The advisory says that after
infecting a device, the malware
steals the Smartphones IMEI
number, device id, device type
as well as other basic information and can even install spyware
on the targeted device.
CERT-in also warns that the
virus steals contacts and pictures, tracks the location, steals
passwords, illegally accesses text
messages, crashes a complete
system, steals personal banking
information when logged in,
installs other sort of spyware and
disables firewall and anti-virus
program to defend itself.
Be careful when downloading
apps, and when clicking links
when surfing from your phone.
Always check the permissions
that apps ask for, and try and
encrypt your data if your OS
supports it.

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IBM curing Ebola

Apparently the development of the Xbox One

VR headset is complete and has reach a few
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Spam from messaging

apps on the rise
Even though unsolicited phone
calls and texts from telemarketers are on the decline, spam
from internet and messaging
apps like WhatsApp is on the
rise, say industry experts.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad
stated in the Rajya Sabha that
the number of complaints lodged
by consumers on the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of Indias
(TRAI) portal has now begun
to decline.
The minister added that the
Indian government has fined service operators who failed to take
action to the tune of `7.13 crore,
blacklisted 19 telemarketers
permanently and blacklisted
another 2.4 lakh for two years,
in an effort to curb spam.

IBM wants to cure Ebola by using your

Android device, doing work on it when its
idle. http://dgit.in/IBMEbola

However, industry experts

state that these steps may not
be enough as the governments
regulation that curbed spam
calls and texts does not apply to
messaging apps like WhatsApp.
Spam sent over WhatsApp, Internet-based spam

calls and spam messages

the current regulations do not
cover it, and this is a major
new front for unsolicited calls
and messages, stated Rajan
Mathews, Director-General of
the Cellular Operators Association of India.

Nortons Jeans
Norton has developed a pair of
jeans and a blazer with RFID
blocking technology that will
prevent thieves from stealing
information from passports and
contactless credit cards.
Security Software maker
Norton has teamed up with San
Francisco-based Betabrand to
make the READY Active Jeans
and Work-It Blaze with radio
frequency identification (RFID)blocking fabrics in the pockets.
The pants include two protected
pockets, one in front and one in
the back, while the blazer has just
one pocket.
According to the crowd
funding page, Norton and BetaBrand claim that more than 10
million identities are digitally pick
pocketed every year and 70% of
all credit cards will be vulnerable
to such attacks by 2015.

Security watch

Betabrand CEO and founder

Chris Lindland stated that the
two companies started working
together in October to develop the
design and the silver-based material to block signals. The products
were developed by Betabrands
think-tank, where early backers
get a discount on the products that
end up in production.
The RFID jeans have already
surpassed the funding goal and
the company plans to ship them
in February. However the Blazer
will be launched only in midMarch 2015 if it reaches it funding
goal. The jeans are a modified
version of a popular one that the
company already makes but are
priced $20 more at $151 for the
added materials. Once the promotion is over the jeans will retail at
$168. The blazer is priced at $198
but is currently available at a 30
percent discount.

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Geek life

36

Digital life

7 things you didnt know your

smartphone could do. Plus a bonus
round with radical accessories

Win at upping your mind power

38

Productivity and other usage aside, technology today

can help you sharpen your mind. Use these tools to
get sharp and get smart.

Rocksmith 2014
Who says New Years Resolutions have to be all
about losing weight or getting in shape? Why cant
they be about combining how to play the guitar
into an interactive video game, for instance?
Thats what Rocksmith 2014 is all about. Weve
tried it out in our office and think it justifies its
claim with great aplomb. With a variety of popular
songs to strum your guitar to, this game really
gets it right better than most other games in its
genre. If youre up for learning how to play a
guitar in the new year, we highly recommend you
grab hold of a copy of this game -- it will make the
whole process a lot faster and fun-filled.

Gadgets to drool over your

New Years Resolution
Kindle Paperwhite
Admit it. Youre not able to find the time to read
for pleasure as you once used to. And buying
books can either be too expensive or costly to the
environment. What does one do to rekindle the
love for reading in oneself? Get yourself a Kindle
Paperwhite. No, seriously. Its quite cheap, can
store over a 1000 ebooks, and lets you read in the
dark. Whats more, its surface feels just like paper
-- textured and non-smooth. A sleek, compact
device to replace your physical books library.
Yeah, thats pretty much it. A great start to the
new year, if we may say so. Whats better than
getting back to reading, right?

34 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Win at living healthy

42

Here are some tips on the best

apps, hardware and practices to
make you fitter.

Low price smartphone

Targeting the consumers who want a smartphone in an

inexpensive budget, Cheers Devices in India launched the DualSIM Cheers C-21 phone, running Android ICS, for only 1,999/-

Drool maal

Acer Chromebook C720

Tired of using Windows? Think Mac OS X just cant
cut it for you? Bored being on Linux for too long?
If you answered yes to anyone of those questions,
its time to take the leap to a whole new cloud
computing environment -- Googles Chrome OS.
The Acer C720, an 11-inch Chromebook (laptop)
with 2GB RAM, 16GB SSD, and all the functional
ports and communication options is a great
alternative platform-based computer to buy at its
price. Its more than equipped to handle everything
you throw at it and its OS. So, are you ready to
make the switch to an OS thats 99 percent similar
to working on a Chrome browser? Something to
think about this new years eh?

Goqii
We never said dont pay attention to your health
this new year. How could we? We know very well
that health-related resolutions are the most
popular ones in January every year -- theyre
often the most broken resolutions. But with Goqiis
smartband, a personal tracker extraordinaire
combine with a in-built fitness coach that can
be tailored to your preferences, getting in shape
(and staying in shape) are no longer a chore. And
it isnt terribly expensive, compared to opposing
smartbands. Just check it out.

Fujifilm X30
If you arent a photographer, its time to pick up
this creatively rewarding hobby this new year.
Resolve to become better at the art of taking
photos, and the way to do that is not with your
smartphone camera -- oh no siree. Take a look
at the Fuji X30, which sits at the crossroads of a
professional and point-n-shoot camera. Not only
is it incredibly light, but it packs quite a punch with
its specs. Given Fujifilms track record, we have
no doubt the X30 (part of its X Series) is a good
performer at its price. You know how it is with new
years resolutions: being a good photographer is
all about buying the right camera, and vice versa.
Go get shutterbugged!

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 35

Ur/Web development

A researcher at MIT has unifed web

development into a single speedy language
called Ur/Web http://dgit.in/UrWeb

The joys of SNES

Read this short and sweet christmas comic by Julia

Wertz on the Super Nintendo console from her childhood.
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things
7
Geek life

you didnt know

your smartphone could do

Your phone can do much more than just keep you

connected or play lol cat videos. It can start a fire.
Literally. Read on to find out more.
Ryan Valles
[email protected]

hese days, the one thing we

cant live without, is our smartphones. We have them with
us all the time. They have
become an integral part of our lives. We
use them constantly. But did you know
that you could...

your Guitar Using

1Tune
your smartphone

Using your smartphone you can tune

your guitar or any other stringed instrument. The smartphone detects the sound
of the string you are playing and displays
on screen if you need
to sharpen or flatten
that string to get the
desired note.
Check out
DaTuner (lite) dgit.
in/datunerl. This
app displays the
nearest note and the
octave as well as the
error in cents. It is
Never miss a note
very easy to use and
extremely accurate.

take a picture
2Remotely
with another smartphone

With the RemoteShot app (dgit.in/

rmtsht) you can remotely click a picture
with an android device using another
android device. The app needs to be
installed on both the devices. Pairing is
done through Bluetooth.
36 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Once the app is started you choose

which device will be the remote and which
device will be the camera.
There is a viewfinder on the remote
device that lets you frame the shot.
Once you click the
shutter button on
the remote device an
image is captured on
the device acting as
the camera.
The remote
device can switch
between the main
camera and the front
facing camera, set a
You can take a
timer interval, turn
picture remotely. If the flash on or off as
only you had such
well as take pictures
pretty friends.
with burst mode.
Perfect for using it as a remote trigger
when taking group pictures and you dont
have one of those long selfie sticks.

Your smartphone can be

3
used to check if your TV
remote is working properly
Often you find that one of the many remotes
in your house isnt working. You tap it to
try to get it to work, next you proceed to
pointing it from all possible angles, and
eventually get
frustrated and
open up the back
panel to change the
batteries. However,
before doing any
Look at it through
of that there is a
your smartphones
simple way to check camera.

if the remote is still transmitting a signal.

Just start up your default camera app, point
the remote to your smartphone lens and
voila! If your remote is working, youll be
able to see a purplish light emanating from
the remotes IR bulb when looking through
your camera. The reason is that while your
eyes cant see in infra red, your camera can.

Snap pictures of Sheet

4
music and have your
phone play it back to you
With iSeeNotes Sheet Music OCR
(dgit.in/staffocr) you can click a picture
of your sheet music and have your cell
phone play it back
for you. This app
reads multiple
staffs, recognizes
the bass and treble
Mozart anyone?
clefs etc and give
you a surprisingly
accurate playback of the sheet music.
Though it has its limitations it will
not be long till reading sheet music and
playing it back with a smartphone is a
reality. For now though its just a proof
of concept and we wouldnt recommend
spending the `250 asking price.

Forecast the weather

5
(not just tell you the
weather stats)
The good people at OpenSignal stumbled
on something very interesting: the sensors
in Android phones used to measure light,
pressure, battery temperature etc can also
be used to work to report the weather.
Using enough smartphone sensors
experts can use the data gathered to
accurately forecast the weather. You can
be part of the program by installing the
Crowdsourced Weather Map app. Mind

Print it quick!

PrintSnap, a new self-contained instant camera

can print pictures on cash-register receipts.
Polaroid watch out! http://dgit.in/PrintSnap

Geek life

Bonus round: Radical accessories for the win!

Use you smarthphone as
a rifle sight
Did you know your
smartphone could be
used as a rifle sight
to help you improve
your aim and shooting around corners? With
this accessory called Inteliscope you can
even view thermal imaging for hunting in
the night.

Catch Fish using your

smartphone
With the Deeper Smart
Fishfinder sonar device
you can get information
about the pond bed, the
fish and even the water temperature via

you this is different

from using something like AccuWeather which
merely reports
Youll do your bit
the weather; the
weather you like it
Mobile Weather
or not
Station app at least
in theory is supposed to use analytics to
predict patterns and your smartphone
helps it in doing so.

6Help you sleep better

Yes you read that right. As addictive and distracting as smarphones are,
if you choose to, they can help you get
a good nights sleep too. Smartphones,
with their amazing capabilities, make
it hard for us to put them down. We are
constantly looking at
the screen while messaging, editing photos,
browsing the internet,
checking our email or
even creating lists and
tasks.
This confuses the
brain as to the time
of the day and makes
it hard to fall asleep.
Sleep better
Add to this the condespite your
phone being next stant buzzing of the
phone with incoming
to you

Bluetooth on your smartphone. The device

works in depths from 0.5 meters to 40
meters (130 feet).

Measure your
alcohol levels
If you are at a
party with your
friends and you have
had a few drinks, you are
probably feeling alright to drive but would
like to make sure. With the Bluetooth
BACtrack Vio Smartphone Breathalyzer
you can get this information in just 5
seconds. This compact keychain acts as
a breathalyzer, wirelessly sending your
BAC reading to your IOS or Android
smartphone.

messages and notifications disturb you

throughout the night.
Using the Sleep Time app (dgit.in/
morezzzz) you can use your smartphone
to get a good nights sleep.
This app detects your movements
through the night and figures out your
sleep pattern. All you have to do is place
the phone on your mattress before you go
to sleep and the app does the rest.
The apps alarm wakes you up at the
lightest part of your sleep cycle. You can
avoid waking up groggy with the urge to
hit that snooze button.

7Save your life

Imagine you out in the wilderness and

lose your way. Your smartphone can help
you find your way back to civilization. Most
smartphones come equipped with GPS
sensors and navigation software. Apps like
Sygic, and Nav free allow users to download
maps of entire countries onto the smartphone. These apps and phones do not need
access to mobile networks and data plans.
The apps use GPS satellites to pinpoint
your position accurately displaying it on
the map stored on your SD card. All you
have to do is zoom out to find the closest
city or town.
You can even use the battery of your
smartphone to start a fire. Check out this
video: dgit.in/fiyastata showing you how.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 37

Cheaper Mars travel

Mathematicians have come up with a ballistic

capture method, to make travel to Mars cheaper
http://dgit.in/CheaperMars

Feature

Samurai Star Wars

What would happen if Disney puts a japanese

twist on Star Wars? Head here to know:
http://dgit.in/MoshiForce

Upping Your Mind

Power

While the cynics talk about the adverse effects of technology and how it
makes us lazy, phones, tablets and laptops can actually do a lot otherwise.
Productivity and other usage aside, technology today can help you sharpen
your mind. That applies to both children and adults.
Prasid Banerjee
[email protected]

uying gadgets today costs a lot

of money, more than it did a few
years ago. The reason is that
you can do a lot more with them
and its your choice how you want to use
them. Your phone can easily be used to
improve how sharp you are or how fast
your mind works. In fact, it is as easy as
going to the Play Store and downloading
a free app. Such apps include both
games and productivity related apps.

Games
Lumosity: This is an online brain training
and neuroscience research company. You
can download the app for free and gain
access to games, which improve your
concentration and overall brain power.
An example of a Lumosity games is a

38 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

bunch of leaves,
coloured yellow
and green,
moving in a
certain direction.
You, the user, has
to simply swipe
in the direction
that the green
leaves point and
in the direction
that the yellow
leaves move.
It is basically
a representation of brain exercises that
many researchers and doctors give to their
subjects and patients. What might interest
you even more is that you can also access
Lumosity on your PC through it website
or download the Chrome Extension for it.

Elevate: This app

takes a little bit
of time to set up,
but it is arguably the best of
the lot. Elevate
makes you go through a short test
(which felt quite long) and determines
your skill level. It also asks you what
all you would like the app to help with.
You can then play relevant games to
improve your reading, writing etc.

http://dgit.in/LumosityAnd

http://dgit.in/ElevateAnd

Brain Trainer Special: This app also

brings you games that can improve certain
aspects of your mind. The free version has
games that improve your abilities in Math,
Analytics, Concentration, Observation
and Memory. A simply math game in this
app shows you a bunch of floating cubes,
with numbers on them. You have to then
enter the sum of all those numbers. Simple
math, but effective when used enough.
Similarly, the memory training game
shows you a bunch of names and numbers
associated with them. It then asks you to

type down the

number of one of
those people.
http://dgit.in/BrainTrainS

Reading and
Writing

Stress and
De-Stress
We lead stressful
lives nowadays
and your phone
can help you with
that. While Samsungs newest
devices come
pre-installed
with a heart-rate
monitor, there are

Drone Life Guard

Drones carrying a self-inflating preserver ring

can be used to save people from drowning
http://dgit.in/DroneLfGuard

apps that can take advantage of existing

phone hardware to monitor stress levels.
Stress Check: The Stress Check app
on the Play Store tells you exactly how
stressed you are. In order to do this, you
need to stay still and let the app monitor
your pulse, heart rate etc. It even checks
the time taken between heart beats, in
order to determine how
stressed you are. It quantifies
physical and psychological
stress and gives it to you in
percentage terms.
http://dgit.in/StressChk

Sleep Better
Researchers have often
showed that certain kinds
of music help you achieve
better sleep cycles and
hence improve your overall
health. Sleeping better
helps you stay focused
and energised, so that you dont slack
off during important activities.
Relax and Sleep: This is perhaps the
simplest app that weve written so far, but
it is also one of the most useful. You know
how people often fall asleep while listening
to music? Well, this app does just that. It
is a compilation of music, from acoustic
guitar to white noise, which you can play
while sleeping at night. It is something like
hypnotherapy, only without a voice telling
you what to do. The app will play the music,
calming you down and helping you sleep
better. Oh and the app icon reminds you to
count sheep if you find it hard to sleep.

NSAs Christmas gift

NSA had been spying on people for long and now

they have released their erroneous spying attempts
http://dgit.in/NSASurv

segment have existed for quite a while,

big names like Coursera and Udacity
have joined the fray now. The premier
online learning portals are now available through Android and iOS apps,
meaning you can work on that course
you chose while youre on the move.
When youre outdoor, travelling and
have time, you can watch lectures and read through course
material on your phone or
tablet. When youre indoors,
you can cast the content on to
your television and enjoy the
bigger screen experience.
Udacity: http://dgit.in/UdacityAnd
Coursera: http://dgit.in/CourseraAnd
Udemy: http://dgit.in/UdemyAnd

Reading
No, nothing replaces the
experience of reading a hardbound book when it comes to reading,
but tech can help in other ways. Reading
has long been the best way to improve
your vocabulary and diction and its sad
that more people dont do it anymore.
The Kindle and Kobo e-book stores are
very good for buying e-books and reading
them on your mobile device or computer.
So, stop making excuses for why you
dont read books and get on it. Both the
apps have eclectic collections, ranging
from fiction to self-help, both paid and
free. Even the Google Play Books section
is a good option.

http://dgit.in/RelaxSleep

Kindle: http://dgit.in/AmKindle
Kobo: http://dgit.in/KoboAnd

Education

News apps

Education is one of the more recent

additions to Android. While apps in this

Sharpening your mind doesnt end

their either, even something as simple

Feature

as the Google Play Newsstand, can help

you. Every major media outlet has an
app that can be used for reading the
news and improving your awareness.
News apps: http://dgit.in/NewsAppAnd

Others
Su-Doku
The Play Store also offers a variety of
apps modeled after the magic square
game, better known as Su-Doku. Not
only does it help you improve your math,
but it increases the power to concentrate
as well, while also making your brain
sharper. If you dont want to wait for the
one Su-Doku puzzle your newspaper
will give you every day, Androids Play
Store is more than what you can handle.
You can choose from a variety of
Su-Doku apps, most of which are free. In
addition, you can access higher level SuDoku puzzles as well.
http://dgit.in/SuDokuAnd

2048
One of the most irritating, yet loved
and downloaded games of this year.
2048 is somewhat similar to Su-Doku.
Just by the looks though, this app also
provides you with a square and multiples of the number two pop-up as you
swipe across the screen. The goal is
to add up the numbers and get 2048.
The catch? 2 can only be added to 2,
4 to 4, 8 to 8 and so on. Millions have
downloaded it and only a handful have
actually been able to get the number.
The game has results similar to SuDoku, in the fact that it improves your
concentration and patience considerably,
two things that are lacking, especially in
the youth today.
http://dgit.in/1EtLBms

New malware

Regin, a new type of Trojan that is most

probably a powerful spying tool has been
detected recently. http://dgit.in/Regin_Spy

Feature

For VR!

Google is pushing its extremely low-cost virtualreality based Cardboard idea on the Play Store.
Head here to know more: http://dgit.in/Yes_To_VR

Staying Healthy
There are many ways technology can help you lead healthier lives. Here are some
tips on the best apps, hardware and practices to make you fitter.
Nikhil Pradhan

Like Health, Fit also serves as a onestop repository of all your health data
procured by the various apps youve got
installed on your smart device, accessible
to both you and other apps. If youve got
an Android Wear device (for instance
the Moto 360, the Zen Watch or the Gear
Live), then you can install Fit on it as well,
and have access to some of your data on
the second screen.

[email protected]

eve finally reached a

point in the evolution
of personal technology
where it can be used to
not only enhance our productivity but
also help us get healthier. In fact, health
has become a major talking point for all
the big names in personal computing
today with both Apple and Google
investing plenty of time and money in
developing their own health platforms.
The premise of using technology to enable
healthy living has also received a shot in
the arm with the emergence of wearables
as a viable product segment.
Moving into 2015, well see many
more ways how technology will help
us live healthier, better lives. Rest
assured, Health will no longer exist as
a mere buzzword in the context of
personal technology.

Apps to help you

stay healthy
One of the simplest
ways technology is
helping people all
around the world get
healthier is through
apps on smartphones
and tablets. Health apps
have been around forever
and are used to track workouts,
runs, diets and even medication
schedules and health data like
heart rate and blood pressure. Some of
the most popular health related apps
today are:
42 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Instant Heart Rate (iOS, Android)

http://dgit.in/1xHw6nh (Android)
http://dgit.in/1xHwfac (iOS)

Apple health

Health (iOS)
Health is so important to Apple that it
may soon supplant Music in the companys priorities. Some would say that
the shift has already begun after Apple
unveiled its Health platform with iOS 8
along with Healthkit, a set of tools
for developers to help them
make use of Health. Health
is both an app and a
platform that collates
all of the users health
related data as gleaned
from different apps.
This allows the user to
see all his data in one
spot and also lets apps
read health data from
other apps to give the user a
more complete picture.

One of the many heart rate monitors for

both iOS and Android, Azumios Instant
Heart Rate is a simple app with one objective - it quickly measures and tells you
your heart rate. All you need to do is place
your finger on your phones camera and
the app will give you the requisite data.
This way you can quickly judge if your
workout is too strenuous or just right.

Nike+ Running (iOS, Android)

http://dgit.in/1xHwvGa (iOS)
http://dgit.in/1xHwyln (Android)

One of the first and most popular apps

to track your runs came from sports
apparel powerhouse, Nike. Unlike other
run-tracking apps that came later, Nike+

Google Fit (Android)

http://dgit.in/1xHvVbt (Android)

Fit is Googles answer to Apples Health

and essentially has very similar features.

Nike running

Weird Hexapods

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University

are using robotic snakes as legs for hexapods
http://dgit.in/HexaSnakes

Programmer wisdom

The root is at the top of a tree! These and

other witty truisms about programming here:
http://dgit.in/progwit

doesnt waste real estate on its interface or

your time with superfluous features and
just lets you get to running, all the while
tracking your run on the map. Nike+ also
gives you access to instructors, who motivate you through your earphones, and also
lets you compare and share your runs with
your friends over social networks.

Calorie Counter - MyFitnessPal

(iOS, Android)
http://dgit.in/1xHx5nn (Android)
http://dgit.in/1xHx7Mb (iOS)

WebMD

RunKeeper (iOS, Android)

mean that it cant serve an actual purpose.

The fact is that WebMD is one of the largest
storehouses of medical data in the world
and, provided, you are smart about the way
you use it, it can be an invaluable tool. The
WebMD app for iOS and Android is welldesigned and has a very simple interface.
You can use the app to check for symptoms,
discover treatments, identify medication
and get first aid training, among others.
WebMD is an essential app for anyone with
a smartphone.

http://dgit.in/1xHxgyV (iOS)
http://dgit.in/1xHxqXh (Android)

Zombies, Run! (iOS, Android)

Apart from working out and going for

runs, one of the essential things to keep in
mind when trying to stay healthy is your
diet. Calorie Counter helps you stick to
your diet routines and keeps track of your
calorie intake. The app gives you access to
a huge database of food and lets you input
every meal that youre having in order to
figure out your calorie intake.

If you find Nike+ Running too simple for

your tastes, then you can check out RunKeeper. RunKeeper does not only track
your runs but also your entire workout
plans. You can also use it to train for
marathons and employ different training
schedules to improve your workout plans.
Plus, like with Nike+ Running, you can
share your progress with friends and also
compare with each other.

http://dgit.in/1xHxE0o (iOS)
http://dgit.in/1icNGld (Android)

Even if your running needs have been

met by Nike+ Running or RunKeeper,
you may sometimes find you need more
motivation to go out on strenuous runs. If
thats the case, then you owe it to yourself
to try out Zombies, Run! The app puts you
in an immersive game where you have
to run away from hordes of zombies and
the more you run, the more resources and
points you collect to keep yourself safe.
The app tells you a neat story using audio
notes and instructions and will ensure
that you turn every run into an interesting game.

7 Minute Workout Seven (iOS,

Android)
http://dgit.in/1xHxJRT (iOS)
http://dgit.in/1xHxQNo (Android)

As much as youd like to stay healthy and

exercise everyday, youll often find yourself constrained by your daily schedules.
If youre the sort who finds very little time
in the morning (or evening) to go out for
a run or to the gym, then the Seven app
is for you. The app helps you engage in
an intense workout that lasts only seven
minutes but focuses on almost all the
important muscles in your body. When
you run the app, it starts a 30 second timer
for each exercise and offers a total of 14
exercises. Plus, you also get an instructor
who encourages you through audio.

Strava (iOS, Android)

http://dgit.in/1xHxTbL (iOS)
http://dgit.in/1xHxUg4 (Android)

WebMD (iOS, Android)

http://dgit.in/1xHxxCe (Android)
http://dgit.in/1xHxAOi (iOS)

Okay, WebMD may be a heavensent tool

for all the hypochondriacs and the armchair
doctors around the world, but that doesnt

Feature

Zombies Run

You may find that the Strava app is very

similar to RunKeeper in terms of features
and usability. However, Strava is one of
the most popular apps among cyclists
who use it to track their cycling routes
and compare and share it with their

Warrantless search
Feature

A new bill passed in the Romanian Parliament

lets its security services do warrantless access to
privately owned data http://dgit.in/RomaniaSec

Check your offices lighting to ensure that

you dont have bright lights that directly
fall on your monitor. Every 15 to 20
minutes, turn away from the monitor and
try to focus on an object in the distance,
this will help your eyes relax. Finally, try
to keep the centre of your monitor about
7 to 10 inches below your horizontal line
of sight.
Strava

friends. Strava is also better designed and

has some neat features like keeping you
constantly updated on how your current
cycling session compares to your previous
one. Plus you can also join various groups
started by cycling enthusiasts in your city
through the app.

Stay Healthier at the

Computer
The truth is while many of us would love
to exercise daily and go to the gym, most
of us never do or even if thats not true,
we have sedentary jobs that put us in
front of a computer all day long, essentially negating all the good that workouts
do. If youve got a job that makes you sit
and stare at a computer screen for most

Keep your monitor at eye level

of the day, then youd be wise to ensure

that you follow some basic tips to keep
yourself healthy.

Protect your eyes

Most workout plans tend to ignore your
vision but its your eyes that are used the
most, especially if you sit at a computer
at work. To protect your eyes, make sure
that, more often than not, you look at
black text on a white background. Your
monitor should be as bright as your surroundings and not too dim or too bright.
44 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Maintain Good Posture

Your posture or the way you sit in
the front of your computer is also an
extremely important factor in determining your health. Your office chair
should have good back support and when
you sit on it, you feet should fall flat on
the floor or on some other support to
ensure that your back isnt under undue
stress. Dont rest your elbows on the edge
of your desk or any other hard surface.
They should also be at an angle of 100 to
110 degrees in relation to the keyboard
to prevent your wrists from acting up.
Also, try to keep your neck as relaxed or
straight as possible. If youve been sitting
at your desk for close to an hour, take a
two minute break where you walk around
and stretch your muscles.

Hardware to help you

stay healthy
Finally, if youre really conscious about
your health and dont mind spending a bit
of money, you should consider picking up
devices whose sole focus is health and fitness. Thanks to both Apple and Googles
decision to take an interest in health, we
now have many third-party manufacturers, big and small, whove launched
health focused tech hardware.
Lets take a look at some fitness tech
that are worth your money:

Sony Smartband Toq (SWR10)

`4,990
The main features of the Sony Smartband have to do with notifications; i.e.
it informs you of incoming messages,
missed calls etc. on your smartphone
by vibrating gently. However, Lifelog,
another one of its main features has
decent fitness implications. Once you
install the Lifelog app on your smartphone, it uses the Smartband to record

Epic stunt

Airbus used five A350s to do crazy stunts

in the air. Watch $1.5 billion worth of
awesomeness here: http://dgit.in/StuntAirbus

all your activities including steps taken,

distance run etc. It also analyses your
sleep cycles and habits to wake you up at
the optimal time.

Garmin VivoFit
`7,990
The Garmin VivoFit is a water resistant
activity tracker that records all your daily
activities and suggests goals based on
that. It provides you with a lot of information, including the distance youve
travelled and the calories youve lost as
compared to the previous day.

JBL Synchros Reflect in-ear

headphones
`3,990
These JBL earphones are perfectly suited
for your daily workout. If you like to go
out on your runs in the early morning,

Get the right headphones for extra motivation

then the reflective coating on the Synchros cables will keep you visible to
those driving vehicles in the dark. Apart
from pumping out balanced sound, the
Synchros Reflect also keep away the
annoyance of tangled cables with the help
of in-built magnets on the housings that
stick the buds together when not in use.

Xbox One (with Kinect)

Health and gaming never mixed until
Nintendo launched the Wii console
in 2006. With motion tracking games
now mainstream, its only obvious that
the new generation of consoles would
improve things. The Xbox One with the
Kinect accessory is a fantastic gadget to
help you get fitter in the comfort of your
living room. If you do plan to get the
Xbox, then make sure you also pick up
games like Xbox Fitness, Zumba Fitness
World Party and Just Dance 2014.

Our pick of the best tech articles from around the globe

(Must reads)

[Aeon Corner]
robots taking over

When the Hubble Bursts

With its 25th birthday
approaching, the Hubble Space
Telescope has already seen
several upgrades, both to its
hardware and its software. But,
with other more advanced projects in the offing, viz, the James
Webb Space Telescope. There
are two options for the boffins at
NASA either send a manned
mission to fix it up or let the
earths gravitational pull bring it
to a fiery end.

http://dgit.in/Hubble_Bubble

Watson for the World

If youre the type to whom raw
data and numbers make absolutely no sense, IBMs Watson
is for you. Its a cognitive data
analytics service where users
can upload data as a spreadsheet and leave all the number
crunching and analysis to it. The
result is a visual representation
of the findings as graphs, maps
and even infographics.

Robots have been painting cars and cleaning rooms, but driverless
cars are getting closer and closer to reality. The robot, expected to be
a humble servant has grown up and is ready to take over the world.
Definitely not in a cartoon-esque way (we hope).
http://dgit.in/BetterDaleks

http://dgit.in/Smooth_Watson

Back Muscles FTW

Its well known that sitting at
a place for a long time wreaks
havoc on your back and core
muscles. To combat the effects,
Dutch design firm RAAF introduced the standing desk that
is aimed at getting people to
spend more time on their feet
and its proven to be quite
effective at making people feel
more productive.

http://dgit.in/BackMuscles

Win at Farming
Salt is bad for plants. So bad in fact,
that salting fields leaves them fallow.
This means that giving your plants salt
water is like shooting yourself in the
foot. Not with the seashore mallow, a
perennial plant whose seeds are 18 to
20% oil and could be used as biofuel.

Euro(pa) Trip
The only reason were obsessed with
Mars is because its close by and as
there are clear signs telling that there
was water here a long time ago. But
recent finding suggest that Jupiters
moon Europa could have had organisms
beneath its surface billions of years ago.

Copy Paster>Copypasta>Creepypasta
From stories that are entirely made
up, just to creep you out to retelling of
incidents that happened to friends of
friends, creepypasta are weird to say
the least. Not the kind of weird that we
relate to today though. Head to the link
to meet modern fear for yourself.

http://dgit.in/Boss_Farmer

http://dgit.in/ToMarsWeGo

http://dgit.in/OhhTheHorror
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 45

(worldview)

Shorts

How to win a F1
The average F1 car has four
wheels. The above average car
has six. Introducing, for two
seasons only, the Tyrell Ford
P34. A better car in theory, it had
four smaller wheels in the front
giving it better grip, handling
and breaking. Although quite
interesting, sadly, it was a hit or
miss type of car.

Link: http://dgit.in/HowToF1

Chop wood
like a boss
Chopping wood isnt easy
and it only took thousands
of years and the Finns to
do something about it.
Presenting, the Leveraxe or
the Vipukrives 2. The Leveraxe
has a weight set off to the
side which helps strip the
piece of wood apart.
Link: http://dgit.in/Chop_Chop

Win at... war?

While the US Army is still
running around with heavy
backpacks without any external
aid, DARPA is one step closer
to giving soldiers super-human
strength. Their upcoming low
energy exosuits can be worn
under uniforms, giving soldiers
the ability to carry weights of
up to 100 pounds.

Link: http://dgit.in/War_Ahoy

How to win at
evolution
Evolution takes time. It took us
thousands of years to get where
we are. If there is some other
life-form in the universe from a
long time, it may have evolved to
a great extent. Susan Shneider
SETIs director at NASA believes
that the aliens we might meet
could be robots. Huh?
Link: http://dgit.in/Beat_Darwin

Mumbai Comic Con 2014: cosplayers and gear galore!

We look into all the things that amazed and disappointed us in the
fourth edition of the Mumbai Film and Comics Convention

riginally started in Mumbai in

the year 2011, Mumbai Comic
Con 2014 saw the best cosplayers and artists from all over
the country under a single roof. The sheer
hardwork put in by the cosplayers was truly
commendable, who obviously spent weeks

making their costumes. This year again,

there was a maze of T-shirt stalls spread
across the venue, with great pieces of art
equally dominating the event. The convention saw many sessions from writers to artists, including co-creator and executive producer of BBCs Sherlock, Mark Gatiss, who is
also the writer of the popular revival of the
Doctor Who series. Sessions had comic book
author Nick Spencer and also the author of
Kabul Disco, Nicolas Wild. It didnt end there
as we also saw cosplay contests that gave
participants an opportunity each day to win
46 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

an all expense paid trip to the Oz Comic Con

in Australia next year.
We were quite intrigued with the level
of details cosplayers had put into their costumes, making it hard to believe they werent
stolen replicas from the sets of movies or
video game developers studios. My attempt
to cosplay was brutally
destroyed due to bad
time management and
I ended up convincing
myself that I would
surely dress up for the
next year (Im great at
lying to myself).
As we entered
the Bombay Exhibition Centre, we easily
guessed the amount
of people we would be
pushing through at the
end of the day. Spotting
the familiar characters
across the floor was like a quick quiz-up,
battling and testing each others knowledge
of popular geek culture.
What was probably the highlight of
Comic Con this year was Mark Gatiss. He
was present throughout the three days of the
convention, attending the special screening
of An Adventure in Space and Time and
an interaction session with his fans. He was
also there for signing sessions which was
only for a select number of fans each day. The
fans had many questions for Gatiss, mostly
useless, because they were searching for

By Abhijit Dey

spoilers from the upcoming seasons, which

obviously he wouldnt reveal and he was
repeatedly bombarded with silly questions.
But you know what they say about the Brits,
the more silly questions were shattered with
a pleasant grin by Gatiss, showing utter wit
and classy sarcasm. Gatiss may have even
felt like a One Direction member owing
to the incessant screaming from fans that
went on throughout the session. There were
hardly any good questions, but a couple
of them were thankfully pertinent. You
can read more on the Mark Gatiss interaction session in our slideshow here:
http://dgit.in/36_Cosplays

(worldview)
Win at cleaning up

Parking FTW

Win at Winter

While Sparta had 300 braves

trying to keep it clean, the
largest particle accelerator in
the world has a crew of 100. If
youre going to be smashing
atoms and such, youre going
to make a mess and heres the
story of the people who do what
they have to do in the name
of science.

The worst part about driving

to the mall is parking your car.
Its bad enough that it costs
you a bomb, but things get
worse when you circle the lot,
looking for a spot. This could
soon be a thing of the past as
BMW introduces some interesting tech that can revolutionise parking completely.
Link: http://dgit.in/ParkBetter

If its the cold time of the year,

youve got to hate the numbness in your fingers after a
night out. Heres a nifty solution
that you can whip up with the
kind of materials youd normally
find in your fridge or under the
kitchen sink. You can thank
us later.
Link: http://dgit.in/Beat_Winter

Link: http://dgit.in/Cleann_Up

What is Comic Con without mind-boggling cosplays? This year too we got to witness amazing costumes and also saw professional cosplayers taking the floor. Doctor
Who fans were among the most spotted, with
Doctors, Time Lords and people wearing the
fez crawling all over the place. Talking about
the best costumes, it had to be the cosplayers
from the Naruto universe, or rather, everyone from the anime universe, who showed
dedication and pride through their characters. There were many League of Legends
and Final Fantasy cosplayers too, who could
be right away cast for a live action trailer
for both the games. L from Death Note was
also a popular choice, one cosplayer actually showing up bare-footed. Then there was
Captain Titus of the Ultramarines from the
popular game Warhammer: 40K, who really
made the whole suit. We expected parents
dressing up their children as Elsa, and also
thought we would bump into Star Lord
(which we did but he didnt have a mask).
Patrick Bateman from American Psycho was

also seen in a groovy mood, carrying an axe,

all covered in blood, nothing unusual.
Have a look at the best cosplayers that
we came across here. And also the cosplay
contest, judged by professional Japanese
cosplayers Miya and Shiguma, can be seen
in the slideshow online.

Among the clutter of handmade weapons,

one could not ignore the brilliant artwork
that was seen in this years comic con. From
custom painted shoes to eco-friendly wallets
to catchy coasters and wonderful sketches,
they had it all. Many artists set up stalls
and made caricatures and live paintings,
inspiring the budding artists who attended
the event. You will love all the artwork at
comic con in the slideshow.
It was nice to see parents encouraging
their kids to cosplay and we also heard of a
whole family dressed up as The Incredibles
who left early. The volunteers did a great
job in catering to the needs of the attendees,
showing no signs of fatigue, wearing a
pleasant smile all the time.
Though it may seem like a wonderful
event, some things got us really distracted.
Like last year, this year too we saw too much
merchandise, a lot of which appeared lazily
made but costly. The Star Wars Zone was
really disappointing, and totally not what
it had been hyped up to be. After short ses-

Landing Rockets Like

a Boss
Elon Musk is back and wants to
change space travel. As booster
rockets fall away from space
shuttles and can never be used
again. SpaceX wants to change
that and plan on landing a
Falcon 9 rocket on an artificial
platform in the middle of the
ocean. Heres how:
Link: http://dgit.in/Land_Rockets

sions of eavesdropping on conversations we

came across a few cosplayers who glared
down on people who couldnt recognize
their characters, questioning their existence in the world. But thankfully, we also

met many folks who were open and friendly

about their interests and invited discussions,
putting a lovely shine on our experience at
the Mumbai Comic Con 2014.
For a lot more on what happened at the
Mumbai Comic Con you can check this link:
http://dgit.in/2014_MCC
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 47

(worldview)
(worldview)
Collectivecadenza
From a medley consisting
of songs with epic keychanges to a series of
videos chronicling the history of instruments from

classical music to contemporary pop and rock, Collectivecadenza is a whole

bunch of musical geniuses
who come together to
make musical experiment
videos. Visit the channel
to get musically inspired
or have a good time.

(Product Launches)
Micromax Yu Yureka

Blackberry Classic

vivo x5max

Thanks to the exclusive

deal between Cyanogen and
Micromax. The Indian phone
manufacturer has launched
the YU Yureka, a smartphone
based on Cyanogen OS 11 with
a 5.5-inch 720p screen and a
64-bit 1.5GHz Snapdragon 615
octa coreprocessor.
Cost: `8,999

BlackBerry are walking

down Porsches path and
arent asking them to do any
designing this time. Theyre
giving some classic love to
their new QWERTY phone.
Heres hoping it gets around
as much as your passport
and not Blackberrys.
Cost: `30,800 approx

Measuring at a thickness of
only 4.75mm, the newest contender has achieved the title
of the slimmest smartphone
ever built, leaving behind
the 4.85mm thick Oppo R5.
Another highlight about the
phone would be that it supports Hi Fi 2.0.
Cost: `32,980

panduwin
z Pro
z lDote
1 year
licence
worth
` 4 6 5

Top 3

Digit||January
January2015
2015||www.digit.in
www.digit.in
48
48 Digit

Timepass

Solve this

https://www.youtube.com/
user/collectivecadenza

For a list of all the links from

this section, head over to
http://dgit.in/WorldViewJan15

Absolute

p i c ture pu z z l e

Picks

Science Experiments FTW

What you can do with a battery, some magnets and a lot
of copper wire is amazing.
Heres a simple experiment
to try on a lazy afternoon.
http://dgit.in/For_Science

Make sure your boss doesnt catch you goofing off with
one of these videos playing on your screen

Angel Rice 5 Double

Twists
In what can only be described
as a superhuman feat, watch
a cheerleader redefine the
meaning of many things.
http://dgit.in/EpicCheerleader

How to win at wrestling

Still think pro wrestling isnt
scripted? Maybe this will
change your mind. Warning:
May contain several exclamation marks and dancing.
http://dgit.in/Pwn_Wrestlers

> code / creativity / community >

12 Million routers
affected by Misfortune
Cookie Flaw. To know
more visit :
http://dgit.in/MisCook

An Intro to Backbone.js
>>If youve ever shopped around for a framework for making
single-page apps, chances are you have come across
Backbone.> by Kshitij Sobti

ackbone is a JavaScript library that provides a collection

of modules that work together but can just as easily be
used independently. It doesnt preclude using other JavaScript frameworks / libraries such as jQuery. In fact, using jQuery
is encouraged.
This flexibility can be freeing if you find other frameworks
/ libraries to be restrictive, but can also make Backbone hard to
approach. Hopefully, this article will help you sink you teeth in
deep enough that you can delve deeper on your own.
Before we dive into Backbone though, lets first understand
what it is trying to do.
Chances are any web app you make involves manipulating data,
and figuring out how its to be displayed in an HTML document. Its
common to load data from a web service as JSON, or XML, process
it in JavaScript, and then display it in HTML. At this point you have
multiple representations of the same data in your application that
need to be kept in sync. If you are not careful in structuring your
application, you can end up with code that is tied to your DOM.
This is where Backbone comes in with some basic modules that
you can build your app on. These are basic enough that they are

applicable to nearly every app. They also dont make unnecessary

assumptions about the structure of your code.
Backbones modules will look familiar to those who know of
MVC (Model View Controller), but know that it doesnt follow
many of the conventions of MVC frameworks. Backbone includes
four major components, the Model, the Collection, the Router,
and the View.
Boilerplate
Like with any JavaScript library, before you can begin using it, you
need to set up a basic HTML page that includes it, and any dependencies it has. The following code includes jQuery, Underscore (a
requirement of Backbone) and Backbone all loaded directly from
the internet, so you neednt source them locally.

*coding matters

*Coding Infographic

>>There is a plethora of
programming languages out
there, but which one should you
choose to learn? Have a look
into this infographic to pick the
programming language according
to your uses and benefits.

http://dgit.in/PickCode

*Spell corrector code

*Attention JAVA coders

http://dgit.in/SpellChk

http://dgit.in/JCheatSheet

>>If youve wanted to make your

own spell corrector but thought
it was too complex to be coded,
then you need to have a look at this
python code of just 21 linesthat
claims to be almost 80 to 90 per
cent accurate.

>>JAVA is quite popular now and as

more people accept this language,
a cheatsheet is always required
while one spends sleepless nights
of coding. Here you can have a
look at the JAVA cheatsheet by
Princeton University.

devworx> | January 2015 | www.devworx.in 49

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html><head>
<script src=//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/
jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js></script>
<script src=//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/underscore.js/1.7.0/underscore-min.js></script>
<script src=//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/backbone.js/1.1.2/backbone-min.js></script>
<title>Backbone.js playground</title>
</head><body></body></html>
You can play with this code online on JS Bin at http://jsbin.com/
fineviyejo/1/edit

Yeoman is a great tool

for bootstrapping web
projects. It properly structures your code in folders,
downloads required
libraries and builds and
packages web apps from
the command line.
Backbone.View
Lets start with the bits
of Backbone that actually
shows something on the
page. Here is a bare minimum View that when rendered and
added to the page will display a button called Hello World.
var Hello = Backbone.View.extend({
tagName: div,
className: hello,
render: function() {
this.$el.html(<button>Hello World</button>);
return this; } });
Lets unpack this. In this snippet, we are creating a new custom
View by extending the base Backbone View. The tagName and
className properties define the tag that surrounds our view,
and its class. In fact, if we just want a div then we need not even
include a tagName since it defaults to div.
The render method is responsible for actually creating the
content of the view. Here, it is adding the button labelled Hello
World. Backbone views have an el property that represents the
raw JavaScript DOM representation of our view. If you are using
jQuery then $el will be the jQuery-enhanced version the view.
The Backbone-Eye add-on for FireBug and Firefox is a great
way to inspect running Backbone apps.
In the render method, we use the jQuery html method to set the
content of our views element. You could have directly manipulated the raw non-jQuery representation via el if you so desired.
To actually have this show up on the page, we first need to
create an instance of the above view, and add it to the page body.
The following lines of code should take care of that:
var h = new Hello;
h.render();
$(body).html(h.$el);
We first create a new instance of our new View, we then render
it, and finally we set the HTML content of the page body using
jQuery to our rendered view accessible via the $el (or el) property.
Backbone is flexible enough that you could possibly automatically render the view in its initialize method and even
50 devworx> | January 2015 | www.devworx.in

View sections under the View tab

add it to the page body. This is what the flexibility of Backbone

gets you.
Now lets take this a step forward. We want this button to display a counter that shows how many times it has been clicked. The
first step in this process will be to add an initialize method that
sets this count to 0 (zero) in the beginning. Then we need some
way to listen for, and respond to a mouse click event.
Thankfully, Backbone makes both very simple. You can add
an attribute called events to the button that maps events to their
corresponding methods. Here is our completed code (we removed
some unnecessary stuff):
var Hello = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
this.count = 0;
},
events: {
click button: updateCount
},
updateCount: function(event) {
this.count++;
this.render();
},
render: function() {
this.$el.html(<button>Hello World: + this.count + </button>);
} });
Whats going on in the initialize method should be fairly
obvious here; the more interesting bit is in events, the format of
which is quite simple: event selector: callback
So in the above code we are listening to the click event on the
element that matches the selector button and then calling the
updateCount method in response. You can also listen to other
events such as mouseover, dblclick, or contextmenu. The
selector bit is the kind you use with jQuery to match elements,
so it could be something like #btn.test.example. As you click the
button you will see that the view will automatically update on page!
Backbone.Model
Backbone models are as flexible as the Views, leaving a lot to the
developer. The most basic model you can create is essentially an

empty one that extends from Backbone.Model.

This doesnt mean that it does nothing though!
It simply means we dont need to add anything
to the features Backbone already offers. Well
start with an empty model, and then store some
data in an instance of it.
var Contact = Backbone.Model.extend({});
var graceHopper = new Contact({
name: Grace Hopper
});
console.log(graceHopper.get(name));
The above code creates a Model for contacts
called Contact, creates a new Contact variable
with an attribute called name. We also demonstrate getting this name attribute out of the
model and logging it to console.
Now lets demonstrate some of the juicier
features of Backbone. Well add code that listens
to changes in the model, and outputs the raw
JSON content of the model.
graceHopper.on(change, function() {
console.log(graceHopper.toJSON());
});
graceHopper.set({about: Inventor
of first compiler.});
Lets go backwards with this. Notice how
easy it is to set a new attribute on our object.
You could as easily supply a new name attribute
to change it; you could even supply multiple
attributes at once.
The first bit of code that calls the on method
is adding an event listener, that will call the
supplied method when any attribute is added
or changed. The method supplied here logs the
JSON representation of our data to console using
the toJSON method. You can have multiple
statements and can even listen to changes in specific attributes if you want. For instance, if you
just wanted to know when the name attribute
has changed, you can replace the change above
with change:name.
Models get even more interesting when
server-side data comes into the picture. This
is expertly handled by Backbone using just a
single attribute: urlRoot. If you have serverside data accessible via a RESTful interface that
provides JSON data, youre all set to go with
Backbone. Lets say your server at http://
myserver/ provides a list of contacts at
http://myserver/contacts and lets you
access an individual contact by id at http://
myserver/contacts/ you should set urlRoot to http://myserver/contacts.
Once you have set the appropriate urlRoot
Backbone can automatically fetch data and
put it in the model for you to use. Lets look
at an example:
var Contact = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: http://myserver/contacts });

*pointers
>>Interesting
developer videos

*Android Studio
Tutorials

>>The stable version of Android

Studio is out, making it easier
for app development in Android.
Go and check out this playlist of
Android Studio tutorials.
Duration: 3:59:00

http://dgit.in/AndroidStud

*Linux Game
Development

>>Keen on getting starting with

development for games running
on Linux? But before you do, watch
this talk directed at Windows
Steam developers on the same.
Duration: 48:43

http://dgit.in/LinuxGame

*Star using
material design

>>Watch the panel of developers

answering various questions on the
implementation of material design
at the Chrome Dev Summit.
Duration: 56:40

http://dgit.in/MatDesPan

*Develop in Swift

>>If you have been holding

back on using Swift, Apples
programming language for Macs
and iOS devices, get started with
watching this video first.
Duration: 1:05:12

http://dgit.in/SwiftiOS

var contact1 = new Contact({id:11});

contact1.fetch();
This code will fetch the data about the contact
with id 11 from the server. You can modify this
data and then call contact1.save() to post
the changed data back to the server.
Backbone.Collection
Where Model deals with a single data object,
a Collection deals with a bulk of data objects.
In our case, we can create an AddressBook collection that has a list of contacts. Once
we create this Collection we can specify a url
attribute that points to the list of contacts on the
server, and it will automatically populate the
collection with models when you call the fetch
method on a Collection instance. You specify
which Model this Collection is collecting via
the model attribute.
Once you have a Collection of Model objects,
you can use the where method to search for
models matching certain attributes, fetch individual models based on their index in the Collection, or their id on the server. We demonstrate
all of this in the following code sample.
var AddressBook = Backbone.Collection({
url: http://myserver/contacts,
model: Contact
});
var contacts = new AddressBook();
contacts.fetch();
var developers = contacts.
where({job: Developer});
var person_at_position_11 = contacts.at(11);
var person_with_id_11 = contacts.get(11);;
Backbone.Router
The final piece of the puzzle that we will look
at is the Backbone Router. This is the module
that makes navigating to different parts of your
app work. It can map changes in the state of the
app to changes in the URL, so it is possible to
bookmark specific locations within the app. For
instance, in a contact management application
a user might want to bookmark a specific contact and go to it directly rather than needing to
navigate to it every time.
Here is a sample router for such a contact
management application:
var AppRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
contacts, contactsList,
contacts/:id, contactDetail
},
contactsList: function() {...},
contactDetail: function(id) {...}
});
var router = new AppRouter;
devworx> | January 2015 | www.devworx.in 51

Backbone.history.start({pushState: true});
router.navigate(contacts/11, {trigger: true});
The routes hash lets you specify different locations within
the app, and the method to be called when navigating to that URL.
Here, we map the contacts path within the app to the contactsList method, the second path has an :id parameter that is
passed to its corresponding method, contactDetail. These
methods have been blank here, but you could imagine what theyd
do; initialising your models and collections, fetching remote data,
and updating the UI.
After creating the router, and instantiating it in the router variable we call the
code in Backbone that actually handles all
this with the Backbone.history.start
call. The pushState parameter set to true
allows the browser to use neat urls such as
http://myappsite.com/contacts
instead of hash fragments such as http://
myappsite.com/#contacts.
The final method call tells the app to go to
a specific page within the app, and the trigger
parameter set to true simply tells the Router
to actually call the corresponding method
instead of just changing the URL.
Putting the Pieces Together
You may have noticed that till now that we
have used each component almost independently of other components. This is one of the strengths of Backbone. You can use bits
and pieces of it in your own app without converting your whole
app to it. Just want to use the Model and Collection modules to
pull in data, go ahead! Like how Backbone Views work, use them
without bothering with the rest. Or use the Router module alone
to navigating within your app without bothering with Views,
Models or Collections. This isnt to say these components dont
work well together.
Frameworks like Marionette build on Backbone by extending
existing Backbone modules and introducing new ones. For some
they can be easier to start with than Backbone.

When creating an instance of a Backbone View, you can pass

an instance of a model to bind the model to the view. For example
:var contactView = new ContactView({model: modelInstance});. This model is then accessible inside the view.
The view can then listen to changes in the model and update the
display on page automatically!
All you will need to listen to the model change events in the
initialize method of the View. You can also pull in data from
the attached model to display in the view using the toJSON
method we have mentioned above. Similarly,
you can have Views bound to collections by
passing the Collection instance as a parameter
just like we have done with model above :
var addressBookView = new AddressBookView ({collection: myAddressBook});
Underscore, a dependency of Backbone
includes a template engine that simplifies
binding model data to HTML code, but Backbone does not require its use. In fact, it will
work with any template engine you want to
use, such as Jade or Handlebars.
Conclusion
There is no shortage of JavaScript libraries
and frameworks out there that tell you what
to do, how to lay out your code, but few like
Backbone that just lay back and let you handle things yourself.
This might not make it better, or more suitable for all kinds of projects. In fact, you might find yourself implementing functionality
that comes by default with many alternative libraries. However,
Backbone is more amenable to use cases that lie slightly outside
of the scope or comfort zone of more rigid frameworks.
Backbone can also be extended through plug-ins to support features like, saving to a local storage, integrating with different kinds
of services, specialised views and models among other things.
If youre still hankering for more direction, there are frameworks such as Thorax and Marionette build on Backbone and give
it a more opinionated direction.>

*lumbar support

*NewsBlur RSS Reader

>>NewsBlur is a great online RSS

Reader that offers some unique
features. It also happens to use
Backbone, and is open-source.

www.newsblur.com

52 devworx> | January 2015 | www.devworx.in

*Handlebars Template
Engine

*Codepen

http://handlebarsjs.com/

http://codepen.io/

>>The handlebars template engine

is a great option for handling
templates in Backbone apps.

>>Codepen is a good alternative

to JS Fiddle and JS Bin if you are
looking for one. Its got a neat inline
error reporting feature.

Cover story

Win at

Learning

Win at

pg. 38

Yourself
pg. 12

Win at

Troubleshooting
pg. 71

Win at

PCing

Win at

Apps

pg. 72

pg. 26

Win at

Discovery
Win at

Mobiles
pg. 28

pg. 74

Win at

Gadget
Protection
pg. 64

Win at

smartphoning
pg. 36

Win at

Win at

Living
pg. 42

Gadgets
pg. 84

Win at

Security
pg. 32

54 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Cover story

Win at

Assembling

Win at

Making
Money

pg. 82

Win at

pg. 97

Prices
pg. 80

Win at

Space
Exploration

Win at

Comfort
pg. 100

pg. 56

Win at

Buying
pg. 83

Win at

War
pg. 60

Win at

Android
pg. 67
Win at

Photography
pg. 76

Win at

Laptopping
pg. 68
Win at

Productivity
pg. 94

Win at

Trolling
pg. 106

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 55

From the labs

Sci-Tech

60

We take a look at how the

world aims to bring on the pain
but not the reaper

3D Printing in Space

Behold the first 3D printer to have been used in

space. First object to be created was a wrench.
http://dgit.in/3DPrSpace

Orion:
Not quite
Endurance, but
were getting
there
All you wanted to know about
our first foray into non-terra
realms, making interplanetary
travel a reality
Abhishek Chaudhary
[email protected]

f we just had to create a spaceship

that can take us to realms far beyond the Earth, and lets not kid ourselves Interstellar made it clear
that it is indeed necessary, then we simply
could not have picked out a better name
than Orion. A great hunter in Greek mythology, Orion was a force to be reckoned with.
It was said that he could go into unknown
surroundings and conquer them to gain
supremacy. A force so well respected, Zeus
himself placed him among the stars on his
demise (incidentally, that came after mother Earth was angered by his vanity, but
thats a story for another time). Yeah, pretty
much all the good qualities that youd want
from a machine that is supposed to help us
set foot on new terrains.
Alright, with that seal of approval for
its name, let us consider what exactly
this means for mankind, and our future in
the stars.

56 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

NASAs official release of Orions cross-section

What took us so long?

Whether or not most people like to admit
it, the greatest advances in space-tech
came when USA and USSR went head
to head in the space race, considering it to be another lap in the race for
global supremacy. Of course, after the
United States won that race, things kind
of slowed down on that front. The spirit of
competition is probably the most powerful
motivator in the world, as evidenced by
humanitys innovation (or lack, thereof) for
the final frontier. Until recently, that is. In
the month of December 2014, NASA announced that they will be putting humans

on Mars for the conclusion of their latest

series of space missions Orion.

Orions Significance
Orion is one of the most extravagant displays of human curiosity. After sustained
criticism of our neglect of one of the most
interesting domains of existence, space research has really kicked into a higher gear
in the past decade. They say the greatest
advances in science are evolutionary and
not revolutionary. And Orion, marking our
first step in our quest to move beyond the
limitations of the Earth, is indeed a great
increment as we chart our way to con-

Audio without headphones

This pillow uses bone-conduction technology

to transmit audio to the user without reducing
comfort http://dgit.in/DreamPad

quering the space around us. This will be

the platform on which our transport modules will be based, at least for the foreseeable future. For a challenge this significant,
we simply could not go ahead and reuse
the same technology that was prepared
when we were aiming for low-earth orbits,
or even the moon. Although the following
statistics have had a lot of popular mindshare, it is still worth revisiting them just
for fun. The International Space Station
is about 250 kilometres from the surface
of the Earth. The Moon is not even in the
same ballpark, or indeed the same country,
and stands about 1000 times further than
that, with the distance ranging in 3 order
of magnitude. Mars, on the other hand, is
not on the same continent, to continue the
analogy. The distance is about 250 times
the distance to the moon, or about 54.6 million kilometres to put a number on it. Yeah,
this is not the scale we had built our earlier
equipments for.
Our solution to this problem, the new
and improved Orion is slated to visit the
next set of achievable goals in interplanetary exploration, with destinations including near-Earth-asteroids, moons of Mars,
and eventually Mars itself.

Baidus Dubike

Comes with tonnes of sensors including heart

rate and navigational system that sends data to
an app on your smartphone http://dgit.in/Dubike

one has even been before. A lot of time

and energy has gone into the overhaul
of the system from the outdated Apollo
specifications, and this was just an experiment to make sure that the resulting
shuttle can be a viable option for a journey
to Mars, and probably beyond. Here is the
chronological roadmap of the project, as
per current understanding.

Layers of
construction of the
final spacecraft

The event that was witnessed earlier

last month was just a test launch for the
vehicle, even if it did take a human carrier
(no humans it, just the carrier) farther than

Test run (this project):

This particular run that we witnessed was
just a verification that the components
that have been in development for so long
function properly. Officially called Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1, this Orion
module was built by Lockheed Martin.
The final component production of the

Orion: The first launch

The planned SLS Iterations

The path from here

Space Age

EFT-1 Orion was completed in

2012. This was followed by
rigorous internal testing
to ensure quality in
the build process.
The
remainder of the
spacecraft was
completed,
and the
entire structure
was assembled
under NASAs guidance and supervision.
The Delta IV rocket was
put in a vertical position
on October 1, 2014, and the
Orion module was mated with
the vehicle on November 11.

Exploration Mission 1:
Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) also called as
Space Launch System 1 is scheduled to be
the first planned flight of the SLS and the
second uncrewed test flight of the Orion
Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.
SLS is essentially the payload carrying
heavy launch vehicle that is supposed to
propel the long distance flights that humanity is planning to undertake as a part of the
Orion missions from the Earths orbit.
The launch is projected to occur sometime around November 2018, and the Orion
spacecraft would perform a circumlunar
trajectory during the seven day mission,
which is to say that it will take a gravitational assist around the moon, and then re-

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 57

Detailed nerve endings

Space Age

Scientists have used a technique called SNAPtagging to produce the most detailed nerve
images ever http://dgit.in/SensoryNer

Laser clean up

Tests are underway for cleaning rails on highspeed rail tracks using lasers by Dutch Railways
http://dgit.in/TrainLaser

Nerd War Ammunition

Of course, it is always a pleasure to know some bits of trivia
about the spaceship. The next time your friends sit down for an
intellectual discussion about the future of humanity, everyone
should see you for the genius that you, dear reader, most
certainly are.
The total budget for the program will be north of
$350,000,000 per year of operation, which is about five times
what our beloved Mangalyaan cost to put up in orbit near
Mars. But considering that this one will carry and support
humanity, we suppose we can understand the cost here.
Although for reference, a US B2 bomber costs more than
twice that amount. Food for thought.
Your friendly neighbourhood Intel Core i7 processor is about
250 times faster than the processors used on board for this
aircraft. Let that sink in your beloved desktop is probably
more computationally capable than something that is
supposed to ferry humans 55.6 million kilometres and back.
As interesting as that stat is, it always helps to remember
the reason that it is so all the heavy computation
needed for the journey is the responsibility of Earth based
computers, and the one on-board is supposed to mostly take

care of the navigation, and therefore really does not need all
to sport all sorts of bells and whistles.
The most important task of on-board computer(s) is verification
of all the info that it is fed nothing can ever cause an
interruption. One of the most important parts of the avionics
system for Orion is redundancy. There are twin processors
in a single computer called the Flight Control Module that
run in parallel, constantly checking against each other for
differences. If anything is not 100% consistent actions are
taken to immediately self-correct. Additional redundancy is
added by having three identical Flight Control Modules (each
with twin processors) running in parallel. This allows control
to be to be switched to any of the backup FCMs if something
causes one to require a reset. In the highly unlikely scenario
that something renders all the FCMs ineffective there is a 5th
completely different computer capable of running different
code with a focus on crew survival and return functions.
The systems make use of programming languages across
almost all domains and specializations C, C++, C#, Python,
Java, JavaScript, among many others. We explain these in a
lot more detail for the interested in this months FastTrack.

turn to Earth (yes, pretty much like what

went down in Interstellar). It is planned to
be followed by Exploration Mission 2.

Exploration Mission 2:
The continuation of the Exploration Mission series promises to be the most exciting part of the whole process. Exploration
Mission 2 or EM-2 is scheduled to be the
first manned mission of NASAs Orion project. This forms the core of the project that
is supposed to restart manned exploration
of the Solar System. With the developments and understanding of almost eight
years of operation of the Orion modules,
the assumption is that we should be capable of making humans reach so far beyond
the Earth a reality. NASA has plans to
launch it as early as 2021, taking a crew to
a captured asteroid in lunar orbit. In the
event this mission proceeds, it will be the
first time humans have left low Earth orbit
since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

Space Travel and Humanity

Space travel has had opinions divided
among the general population like no
other agenda. Some believe that as sentient life forms, it is imperative that we go
on and explore our surroundings. Others
58 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

An artists rendering shows the Orion crew capsule about to slingshot itself using the moon

Brain eating zombies

Ever wondered why zombies always have a

huge craving for brains? This is how it started
http://dgit.in/ZombieBrain

New smart skin

Researchers from Seoul National University develop

new smart skin that could provide touch perception to
temperature and moisture http://dgit.in/ProsthSkin

What we gained by the Apollo Program

To make a long story short, the Apollo series of missions by NASA were
fundamental to the incredible technological leap made by humans over the course
of these past 50 years. Started (allegedly) as another pawn in the Cold War race for
supremacy, the program laid the seeds for much of our modern accomplishments.
By the time their activities died down, the Apollo missions had brought almost
400 KGs of moon rock onto the Earth. A large part is still stored across various
laboratories across the world, and continues to be a great aid in geological,
astronomical, and biological research. One of the greatest accomplishments
that came from this is that scientists could finally agree on a single theory for
the existence of the Moon (separated from Earth by an asteroid impact). That in
turn put a lot of theories in their place and allowed us to form a good model of
our understanding of the history of the Solar System, and also of the Universe. Of
course, a lot of the major advances in the world of science was a by-product of
the innovation poured on this set of projects. Fireproof materials, now taken for
granted in most modes of long-distance transport, chemical control in water and
atmosphere, water purification, pollution remediation, fuel cells, the list can go on.
But the gist of the matter is that the these amenities, staples of modern life due to
reduction in cost by years of research, were first pioneered by programs such as
this one.
All of that, and we havent taken into consideration what it achieved in spirit.
Inspiring a generation of young, aspiring minds, it convinced them that there really
was no limit to what we can do. Countless scientists, researchers, and engineers
attribute their initial interest into the field by the hype that went through the world
when man set forth and stepped on the moon. One giant leap for mankind, indeed.

Space Age

believe that we should not simply waste

our time and energy (to say nothing of the
resources) on such explorations while we
are yet to solve the big social problems on
Earth -- the upcoming energy crisis, economic instability, general unrest and the
ilk. Both are correct to varying degrees,
former probably a little more than the latter, but both have valid points. But a very
select group of people get that there is another way to look at the situation. Space is
called the final frontier with good reason.
Innovations to conquer the constraints
placed on us in space travel have fostered
an astonishing number of innovations that
we take for granted today. From artificial
limbs to fire-fighting equipment, the range
of sciences that have been touched by this
pursuit is impressive.
They say one of the greatest virtues
of mankind, one that has kept us physically rather unremarkable beings at the
top of the planets metaphorical food
chain for so long, is that we are an inherently ambitious species. Weve moved far
beyond being satisfied by the basic urges
and necessities of life. Having conquered
Earth, for all intents and purposes (unless
Dolphins really turn out to be as smart as
Douglas Adams said they were), it is only
logical that we now look to the heavens.
For years, when we had no ways of reaching them, humanity looked up to the skies
and assumed that the Gods lived there, because we couldnt reach those realms. But
lo and behold, here we are, ready to board
the flight to the red planet.
The Kardashev Scale divides civilizations into three distinct types. We, the ones
harnessing the energy of our home planet
and nothing else, are the lowly Type I
plebs. Type II can harness its star(s), while
the final type can harness its own galaxy.
Given enough time, a civilization that exists
should evolve to become Type III, and yet
we see none around. That is to say, there
must be a great filter to the jumps in type
on this scale, the one that civilizations cannot cross, and are doomed to stagnate and
eventually die. Were not sure if weve already crossed the filter, or if it still remains
as a challenge for the future. But one thing
is for certain -- the pace at which we are
currently moving, we most definitely are
not hitting stagnation any time soon.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 59

By-passing restrictions
From the labs

Got an ambitious building project but an old

protected structure is in the way? Cantilever
yours over it http://dgit.in/RestrictBuild

IoT (Intel) Inside

Intel is trying to provide anything an enterprise

would need to set up Internet of Things
implementations http://dgit.in/IoTIntel

Thisll teach those

kids to not play Justin
Beiber all day!

Merchants of pain:

Non-lethal weaponry
at its finest
The use of lethal force by law enforcement agencies in the west has been
cause for great controversy and concern lately. Against this backdrop we take
a look at how the world aims to bring on the pain but not the reaper
Elroy Desmond DSouza
[email protected]

rom crude stone axes to deadly

long-range sniper rifles, mankind has come a long way when
it comes to lethal weaponry.
And more often than not, a civiliza-

60 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

tions progress in terms of technology

and resource gathering has always been
equated with its ability to defend itself
by the use of ever-evolving weaponry.
But weapons need not always maim and
kill. In most situations, the bad guys
only need a friendly reminder of their
mortality in the form of debilitating jolt

of pain. Enter the fast expanding field of

nonlethal weaponry.
The concept of weapons designed to
incapacitate by causing minimal injury
is now fairly well-established. In fact,
law enforcement agencies and private
security organizations around the world
are slowly employing a wide array of

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Slimmest smartphone

Samsung is pushing the limits with the new

Exynos chip capable of supporting Cat.10
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innovative, non-lethal security measures.

While non-lethal weapons such as Tasers
and tear gas grenades are common
knowledge, well be looking at some of
the more intriguing concepts and prototypes of non-lethal weapons from around
the world.

Long-range Pain Guns

This one comes from China, the birthplace of gunpowder and Sun Tzu. With
such a healthy track record, it hardly
came as a surprise when a Chinese
defence company recently unveiled
a long-range, nonlethal weapon that
causes targets to experience excruciating
amounts of pain.
Known as the Poly WB-1, this hellish
contraption uses millimeter-wave beams
to immobilise targets that are situated as
far as a kilometer away. Did that sound
familiar, that would be because of a
device that is perhaps present in most
modern day homes the microwave
oven. The principle is the same as that
by which microwave ovens function: the
millimeter-waves excite water molecules
under the targets skin, causing any fluids
(such as blood and fat) to heat up. This
results in extraordinary amounts of pain.
If youve ever watched the cheese on your
leftover pizza bubble in the microwave
then youd pretty much have a good idea
as to what happens to your skin.
Of course, the US Military is not far
behind on mobile pain guns; the Active
Denial System (lovingly dubbed ADS)
employs a similar method for inducing a
burning sensation on its unfortunate
targets. The American military claims
the gun is not as dangerous as reports
make it out to be. However, in almost all
tests, subjects unsurprisingly choose
not to stick around for too long when
subjected to the effects of the weapon. We

The Worlds Slimmest Smartphone title gets

snatched by Vivos X5Max which is only 4.75
mm thick http://dgit.in/SlimPhone

can only hope that wounded and immobilized targets incapable of escaping the
harmful microwave radiation emanating
from the gun dont end up getting cooked
medium-rare.

A Treat for Your Ears

While on the subject of weapons that
cause pain, the Long Range Acoustic
Device (LRAD) is more than worthy of
a mention. These sound cannons are

capable of projecting loud and highpitched sounds that induce pain. The
device works by generating extremely
loud sounds that are audible over long
distances. It does this by employing
numerous miniature speakers that
produce the same sound via an array
of piezoelectric transducers. Developed
by the LRAD Corporation, this sonic
weapon was initially designed to help the
U.S. Navy fight off and deter pirates. Over
time, more applications were discovered
for its use, such as the dispersing of
protesters as well some non-weaponised

CM

MY

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Fatal1ty
Z97 Extreme4 X99M Killer

X99M Extreme4
Z97 Extreme6

uses including the amplification of

recorded messages for crowd control.
Although it may seem like the
safest non-lethal weapon on this list,
the LRAD has its own fair share of
critics. Many claim that its effects are
extremely debilitating to the point
where targets end up permanently
losing their hearing. Similarly, there are
sonic weapons that are more than just
an annoying nuisance. Some can even

Damn! That looks hot

CMY

From the labs

Z97 Extreme9
X99 Extreme4

cause considerable damage without

even making a sound. Sonic bullets, for
example, can cause enough localized
pain to immobilize a target and, in some
cases, cause eardrums to explode. Talk
about getting an earful.
Another amazing contraption in the
same ilk is the Thunder Generatora
sonic cannon that was originally developed by Israeli farmers as a cost-effective
deterrent against birds. The device
detonates a fancy mix of petroleum, air
and cooking gas to generate a series of
extremely short shock waves that can

3D Printed Dress
From the labs

A 3D printed dress might not seem

possible but heres someone whos done it
http://dgit.in/3DDressPrint

Wakie Wakie

Wakie is a new app that lets users within the

user base wake each other up by calling them
http://dgit.in/AlarmWakie

traverse a distance of up to 100 feet.

Although its application is nonlethal,
if used at a distance of less than 10 m,
the shock waves can cause permanent
damage or even death. If youre ever
visiting Israel and you see one of these
beauties, make sure to give it a wide
berth, lest you wish to get cooked like the
poor birds unfortunate enough to get hit
in close proximity.

Get Bedazzled
No write-up related to weaponry would
be complete without mentioning the
American Military multiple times, and
as expected, they do not disappoint. Say
hello to the PHASR, aka the Personnel
Halting And Simulation Response rifle.
With a design straight out of a sci-fi movie,
the PHASR is a laser dazzler-type of
non-lethal weapon, which is intended to
disorient targets by temporarily blinding
them using a directional twin-wavelength
laser beam of high-intensity radiation.
The PHASR has been designed
primarily for perimeter defence and can
be used to incapacitate large crowds. Furthermore, since the 1995 United Nations
Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons
banned the use of weapons that cause
permanent blindness, the makers of the
PHASR tweaked their product to ensure
that it skirted the guidelines set by the
UN. Should you ever find yourself at the
business end of this fun toy, you can rest
safe knowing that the feeling of your eyeballs turning to mulch is just a temporary
thing (hopefully).

It comes with a DIY ammo kit. The last alternative for a weekend project with the kids.

To add some more flavours, a few

variants of these sting-ball grenades
have a flash bang effect built into them:
they can eject a bang of up to 160 dB (a
jet engine taking off at about a 100 feet
away is approximately 140 dB) and a light

Did you know?

Lifes a Blast
When you think of explosives, nonlethal is probably the last adjective to
pop into your head. Thanks to science,
however, we can now blow people up just
the right amount to cause excruciating
pain while still keeping them alive. Take
these innovative sting-ball grenades for
example. Designed for crowd control use
in prisons, these grenades differ from
traditional ones in that they are made
almost entirely of rubber. On impact, the
rubber casing on them bursts and the
grenade expels about a hundred rubber
pellets that can maim and bruise like getting hit by hundreds of BB pellets.
62 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

output of 68 million candela. It goes

without saying that it would be best to not
look directly at the flash if you are ever
unfortunate enough to find yourself in its
blast radius.
Sting-ball grenades have now become
commonplace in prisons across North
America. They are relatively affordable
and highly effective. However, they still
remain a highly unethical and unsafe
means of crowd control. Especially, since
at any time, a stray rubber pellet might
end up blinding an inmate. For now, the
best way to avoid these dangerous nonlethal grenades would be to stay out of
its way.

The Invisible Pain Fence

Eco-friendly
Nonlethal Weapons
The Indian military has developed its own
non-lethal weapon with a classic Desi
twist. Using one of the worlds hottest
chillies the Bhut Jolokia they have
designed a tear-gas hand grenade that can
be used for incapacitating suspects. Its
main applications are to deter gatherings
of large mobs or to flush out terrorists
from hiding spots.

Ever played a video game in which

an invisible force field vaporizes any
unauthorised personnel who try to pass
through it? The Portal Denial System
(PDS) takes this concept and brings it
one step closer to reality. It uses a laserinduced plasma channel to deliver a surge
of electricity, similar to that of a Taser. It
does this by emitting a laser beam into
the air that ionizes surrounding gasses to
form plasma. This plasma can deliver a
seriously debilitating electric shock when
the proper voltage is applied.

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Stirio is an expandable blade that sits on

any pot and stirs on its own for a full hour
on a single charge http://dgit.in/Stirio

3D Bionic Eye

Princetons 3D LED printer integrates quantum

dot LEDs with contact lenses to project beams
of coloured light http://dgit.in/Bionic3DEye

From the labs

Although PDS is designed to be

non-lethal, the method implemented
to deliver the electric charge can be
tweaked to the point that it can deliver
up to 10,000 volts of electricity, enough
to fry a large dog. Developed in 2007, the
system is currently deployed in military
buildings across the US. Fortunately,
plans to make this device available for
civilian use never materialized.

Personal Projectile
Launcher
The ARMA 100 is probably the most
easily accessible non-lethal weapon
on this list. It is a handheld projectile
launcher capable of providing just the
right amount of nonlethal force to injure
an attacker from a distance of up to 20
feet away. The idea behind using this
amount of force is that it can give you
enough time to escape without the need
for anyone to resort to deadly force.
Approximately the size of an air gun, it
uses single-shot gas cartridges for propulsion and has an effective range of up
to, you guessed it, 20 feet.
The gun uses a custom bean-bag-type
projectile that if fired at a vulnerable
spot, such as the stomach or head, can
cause a good deal of damage to the target.
It weighs around 1.5 lbs with a barrel
length of 10 inches and requires a basic
knowledge of gun handling to operate.
The AMA 100 is a relatively safer option
for those inclined towards purchasing
a viable self-defense device for home.
Furthermore, it is legal to use without a
license (in the United States) and can be
purchased without a background check.

Shock and Awe

The name Taser is now synonymous with
non-lethal weaponry. So much so, that
any generic electric gun is simply referred
to as a Tasernot unlike how all photocopiers are referred to as Xerox machines.
Taser guns now come primarily in two
flavours: the smaller version that most law
enforcement personnel roam with is the
X26P. The original model (X26) developed
in 2003 featured a gas tube spark gap and
fixed discharge energy, whereas the new
one features the ability to keep a log of
discharges, as well as an advanced digital

Law and Order: Shocking Victims Unit But officer, I paid for these donuts!

display and extended battery. Then theres

the X2, which is water-resistant and features dual lasers that improve accuracy.
Both these models, however, look
like a childs toy in front of their (now
discontinued) bigger brother, the X12.
This 12-gauge shotgun fires Taser XREP
cartridges (i.e., Extended Range Electronic Projectiles) up to a range of 100
feet. Like the X26P, the projectiles of X12
are self-contained, wireless projectile(s)
that delivers the same neuro-muscular
incapacitation bio-effect, which in plain
English translates to a very painful
electric shock.
Being in the weapons industry, Taser
is no stranger to controversy. In fact,
their products have not always proven
to be non-lethal; some critics have
claimed that Taser rounds are capable of
inducing cardiac arrhythmia in targets,
eventually leading to a heart attack and
instant death. Every year, reports crop
up listing police brutality with many
incidents involving unsolicited use of
taser guns. It is obvious that even though
the taser gun is marketed as a non-lethal
weapon, it is extremely important that
its use be regulated. Proper training for
its users cannot be understated.

Cloudy with a hint of

chemicals
We were bound to come across a highly
controversial weapon developed by

the US military sooner than later. The

XM1063 is the codename for the US
Armys new secret non-lethal weapon.
The development of the weapon was
overseen by ARDEC, the US Armys
Armament Research, Development and
Engineering Centre.
Details about this mysterious weapon
are still rather murky. Many reports
have stated that it is an artillery weapon
that shoots a projectile which delivers
a payload containing a concoction of
chemicals devised to immobilize and
incapacitate targets without killing
them. The projectile is fired using a
155 mm howitzer that has a range of 28
km. As the payload parachutes down
towards the designated target, it releases
the toxic cocktail over an area of effectively one acre.
Nobody is still entirely sure about the
exact nature of the payload, although
there are numerous speculations about
it. Some experts claim that it may
contain a type of riot-control agent,
similar to that seen in tear gas grenades
and pepper sprays. Others state that
it could simply be a malodorant (such
as a super-powered stink bomb) or an
anti-traction agent that makes the target
area extremely slippery and impossible
to traverse. It is possible that wed see
the application of this weapon in antiterrorism operations to incapacitate and
capture targets.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 63

Win at tweaking!

Toolbox

67

Get the most out of Android 5.0 Lollipop

and your good old Laptop by following
these simple tricks.

Win at troubleshooting!

71

Whether its a software niggle or a hardware

nightmare, we show you how to win at
troubleshooting like a boss.

Safeguarding your
gadgets and data
Gadgets are always at a risk, be it theft, data fishing or just an accidental drop. We
take a look on how you can lower this risk via preventive measures and apps.
Hardik Singh
[email protected]

n todays world our gadgets have

become such an important and
integral part of our lives that we wont
let them go out of our sight. And if, by
chance for some reason we do, we remain
in a state of anxiety until we reunite with
them. So, how to get some peace of mind in
situations like these, here are some apps
and measures to get you sorted.

and lock your device remotely by simply

going to https://www.google.com/android/
devicemanager in your web browser on
your PC.
In case you have lost your phone nearby
you can remotely activate the ringer of
your phone which can attract attention
and help you locate it easily. And if all your
efforts to find your device still go in vain,
you can remotely backup and wipe your
phones contents.

would continue to display your customized message.

Find my iPhone/iPad and Mac (iOS)

OMG! Wheres my phone

Android Device Manager (Android)
Android Device Manager is a basic and
simple tracking app from Google. The app
keeps track of all your connected devices.
It lets you remotely locate and lock and
erase your Android smartphone. This feature is also baked into the phones setting
and could be enabled via Google settings.
Once enabled, you will be able to track
64 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Just like Android Device Manager Apple

also has in-house device finding app cum
service which works via your iCloud. This
service can be easily activated from iCloud
setting in your Apple device.
Now if you lose your device you just
have to enable the find my iPhone feature
from https://www.icloud.com/, the registered
device will go in lockdown and would
require your Apple id and password before
anyone could turn off the find my
iPhone feature, erase your
device or reactivate it.
You can also initiate
a remote wipe on your
Apple device which
will reset your device
to its factory settings.
But the good thing is
the find my iPhone
feature will continue
to work even after the
device has been erased, it

Prey (Windows, Linux, Mac,

Android and iOS)
Prey is a third party multi-platform app
which supports Windows, Linux, Mac,
Android and iOS. You can add up to three
devices on a basic free account. The app
provides tracking, remote locking, triggering a loud alarm and customized messages which would be displayed on screen
as standard and adds up a couple of other
features as well. The app can take
pictures of its surroundings via
front and rear cameras and
can resist un-installation.
You can add more
features to this app
when you update your
basic account to a paid
account. The Paid
account of this app will
let you track unlimited
number of devices. You can
avail real-time on-demand

Win at PC Maintenance!

72

Even your PC needs some tender love

and care. Learn how to maintain it for
smoother operation.

Win at discovery!

74

The digital age has ushered in a new era of discovery,

an age where just about every niche is catered for. You
have to be at the top of this game.

DIY

reports sent with SSL encryption. Your

device will keep leaving last-locations so
that you can track it down and also help
local law authorities in helping you do so.

lost, GadgetTrak, etc offer all the general

anti-theft features but with one or two
features missing.

also uses this app, you will get an option to

call the contact via RedPhone on a secure
encrypted line.

Private Matters

Wicker (Android, iOS)

Lookout (Android)

Ok, now you have secured your phone

from getting lost. Great! What what about
data theft? Are you safe from phishing
emails, data-leaking apps, data-hungry
social media websites/apps or just prying
eyes? Privacy is an hot topic in current
times with ongoing debates on net neutrality. This post-snowden age has made us
think about social media. Internets filter
bubbles are playing a major role in making
our private life, a more public one.
Well lets just dig into it because in this
smart world every solution is miniaturized in an app and we take a look at what
the android and iOS marketplace has to
offer when it comes to respecting your
privacy. We will go through some important encryption softwares you can use on
your PC.

Wicker is a secure and encrypted messaging service just like telegram but it
takes the secure and anonymous part
much more seriously. The app deletes all
metadata like location, network information, timestamps, etc. The app also
features self destructing, text, pictures
and video messages. The secure shredder
included in the app erases all data
attached to prevent recovery.

Lookout is yet another app for your

Android smartphone ecosystem which
helps you keep track of your beloved
device. This app has a built-in antivirus
which keeps a check on viruses, malwares and spywares. Features like Smart
Dialing, scans numbers for potential
dialer related threats.
Apart from added features the app
covers the basic features an anti-theft app
should have like Find my phone and
signaling the last known location. You
can also backup your contacts and important data remotely in dire situations.
Features like Backing up photos, device
lockdown, remote wipe, safe browsing
and privacy advisor are available only
if you buy the premium version of the
app. The premium version of the app also
includes a feature which clicks images via
the camera of the smartphone and then
emails you the pictures.

Cerberus (Android)
Cerberus is one of the most feature rich
anti-theft apps you can buy for your
Android device. The app is free to install
from the play store and comes with a one
week free trial period. The usual features
like remote lock, wipe and alarm are
included but the functionality of this app
runs further and deeper.
You can lock the device with a SMS and
the app supports SMS commands and offer
remote control services even when the data
is turned off. The app will provide call logs
and SMS logs which can help you to track
your device down easily. This app can also
take pictures and even record sound of its
surroundings which can further help you
or the authorities in locating your device.
Since this app is open source users
with rooted phones can embed Cerberus
directly in the root of the phone, which
means that the app will be able to survive
data wipes.
Apart from these recommendable apps
there are plethora of similar apps you can
go through and use. Apps like Android

SpiderOak (Android, iOS)

If you want to securely save your data on
a cloud storage system, SpiderOak is the

Telegram (Android, iOS)

From the looks of it, the Telegram app
looks like WhatsApp with a bluish color
scheme but the app is more than that.
This is one of the most popular encrypted
messaging services, with client-server
encryptions for standard chats. The app
also offers secure-chat modes with endto-end encryption so that you and only
your recipient would be able to read it.
Telegram also features self-destructing
messages which disappear from both
phones after some time.

app / service for the job. You can avail 2GB

of free storage which is fully encrypted
and only you can unlock it with your
password since SpiderOak doesnt save
your password. SpiderOak provides extra
space as well but then you have to pay for
it on a monthly basis.

NumberCop (Android, iOS)

NumberCop is a spam blocking app which
blocks pesky calls and spam messages.
It keeps checking for unknown callers,
messages and senders or suspicious links
and files them with NumberCop servers.
This in turn help other NumberCop users
to stay clear of these unknown numbers as
well. The app also features whitelist and
blacklist features.

RedPhone (Android)
RedPhone is a free open source app via
which you can place encrypted voice calls
to other RedPhone users over a data connection. It works over your standard phone
dialer and if the contact on the other end

Spybot Search and Destroy

(Windows)
Spybot does what the name suggests that
is searching and destroying spyware apps.
It is a dedicated spyware eliminating
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 65

Win at taking better photos

DIY
Toolbox

76

From understanding your dSLR better to using

everyday tools and apps to take better pictures,
we reveal all.

Kodak Android phone

Kodak will be unveiling a new Android smartphone

at the CES 2015 event. Are they too late?
http://dgit.in/KodakPhone

Flip covers give an all round protection to

your handheld device. These are now available in various materials and designs. The
magnetic iPad covers is a great example
of how a simple cover can add usability
with protection. The flip covers continue to
evolve with HTCs M8 Dotview case and
LG G3 Quick circle flip cover.

app which catches spywares in your PC

including pesky tracking cookies. The App
also keeps your PC from getting infected in
the first place.

Malwarebytes anti-malware
(Windows)
Malwarebytes is a simple must have
anti-malware tool. The heuristics engine
in this software makes it quite efficient
and speedy. It is capable of determining
dangerous apps and malwares quite
efficiently. The software is easy to install
and the interface is quite easy to use and
well-organized. The software does have
some extra features but they require you
to pay and upgrade it.

thing in your browser, it will give you a

red and green flag next to a unsafe and
safe link respectively. All you have to do
then is, stay clear of the red flagged links.

Truecrypt (Windows)

Dont forget to use protection

Also known as THE solution to encrypt

your personal files and folders, TrueCrypt
is a free open-source disk encryption tool
for all your file encryption needs. The
software includes various algorithms by
which your can encrypt your files. You
can encrypt a file, a folder, a drive or a
whole partition via this software. It can
also be used to encrypt a USB flash drive.

Your theft issues have been taken care off,

your privacy issues have been resolved,
now lets get physical. No matter what
phone or tablet you own, no matter what
laptop is in your backpack or in-front of
you for that matter, you would require
some protection.

Enigmail (Windows)
Enigmail is a tool you can use to encrypt
your emails. It is actually an extension
for Thunderbird and SeaMonkey which
encrypts your emails and keeps it safe
from prying eyes of internet and mail service providers. The tool does have a slight
learning curve and would require you to
go through the installation guide on its
website. But if you deal in data sensitive
emails, Enigmail should do the job.

AdBlock Plus (All major web

browsers)
AdBlock is a free extension which is available for majority of web browsers. Once
installed, AdBlock runs silently in the
background blocking all advertisements,
even the hateful pop-up ones.

AVG LinkScanner free edition 2015

(Windows)
Earlier AVG LinkScanner was part of the
AVG anti-virus suite but AVG has now
made it a standalone software. What this
basically does is, when you search some66 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Rugged cases (Major phones and

tablets)

Plastic cases (phone)

Lets start with something cheap and
practical. Plastic bumper cases as we
know it are available across all major
street markets and numerous e-commerce websites. They start at as low as
Rs. 20 and a fine printed plastic case can
go upto Rs. 200 but they serve only two
purposes, which is to save your phone
from an accidental drop and add a little
more grip-ability (ahem! iPhone 6).
Beyond that you should be looking
at more robust options for your handheld devices.

Rugged cases are your best bet to protect

your phone or tablet from drops and
mis-happenings. These cases can take
a beating and still protect your phone.
These cases use materials like silicone,
Aluminum, polycarbonate, etc. The
G-Form XTREME case iphone 6 case
takes its job way too seriously and is built
from a customized titanium alloy.

Screen protectors
Cheap screen protectors are not hard to
find but good screen protectors come at
a steep cost and are not available easily
either. A good screen protector will take
upon all the scratches on behalf of your
screen. Nowadays you also have choice
of tempered glass protective screens
which gives a better protection overall
over the polyurethane screen protectors.

Rubber cases (phones)

Rubber bumper cases are just a better
option over the plastic cases. They are
better at absorbing drops and add even
more to the grip-ability quotient. But the
thing is rubber bumper cases wear and
tear off very easily and is susceptible to
stickiness after some time.

Flip covers (Phones and tablets)

Samsungs Note series may have started
the flip cover trend but now you can
easily get a flip cover for any smartphone.

Laptops dont have that luxury of

being pampered by high end cases or
covers but what you can get instead are,
basic and fancy vinyl covers for your
laptops. They come in plenty of designs
and are easily available. They hide the
glossy or plastic back of your laptops
and add much needed grip to it. Another
useful addition to your laptop is a
keyboard skin which will help you keep
dust at bay.

Tips & Tricks

Android 5.0
Lollipop
Android 5.0 Lollipop is out
and has already found its way
to most devices either by side
loading it or by the official
OTA route. The new iteration of Android introduces
the all new Material Design
look and feel, featuring lots
of animations, creating an
entirely new Android experience. Compiled with a glut of
features, its the best iteration
of Android yet. If you have it
running on your device check
out these tips and tricks to get
the most out of it.

Make use of
different user
accounts
Lollipop has added the multiuser support to smartphones
as well. There are three builtin accounts, which are: User
account, Guest account and
Profile account.
User account: This is
similar to an administrator
account. The phone owner will
control it. The system settings
made in the user account will
be automatically reflected in
the other accounts.
Guest account: The guest
account is similar to the

hiding several shortcuts. These

will save the time you spend in
navigating through the menus
otherwise. The notification
panel (one-finger pull) can be
expanded further by pulling it
down with another swipe. Voil
you have your shortcuts!

Double tap the

screen to wake

Android 5.0 Lollipop..................................................01

Supercharge your laptop..........................................02

Tips & Tricks has its own page numbers, and does not follow the rest
of the magazines page numbers. This is done to ensure that you can
cut out and save T&T in a separate folder for later reference.

Chromes incognito mode. Data

generated, sent, and received
during the guest session is
temporarily stored.
Profile account: The profile
account is the account without
admin privileges. -This is ideal
for a secondary user of the
phone. You can limit the access
to apps and services for these
users. Also very handy when
you want to show off your phone
but dont want people snooping
on your photos or mails.

Search within
settings

Head over to Settings >

Users to enable guest account
or to add different accounts. To
switch between accounts go to
Quick Settings and select the
user you want to switch to.

Play Flappy
Android
This little Easter egg in Android
5.0 Lollipop is inspired from the
now famous game - Flappy Bird.
To access it, go to Settings >
About > repeatedly tap
Android version line >
long press the Lollipop
that youll see on the screen to
launch the easter egg.

Access Quick
Settings
Quickly switch to guest user
from Quick Settings.

Directly get the setting you are

searching for

| www.digit.in

Instead of pressing the power

button you can double tap the
screen to wake your phone.
Google borrowed this neat
feature from other manufacturers and made it its own.
However, it requires hardware
support and hence would work
on only those phones that have
the compatible hardware.

The notifications panel in Lollipop is just the tip of the iceberg,

Vol 15 | 01

Going into the settings apps and

finding the right one located
within the submenus can be
tedious right? To deal with
it, Google has added a search
option within the settings. Its
fast and easy if you know what
you are looking for.
To search, go to Settings >
tap the magnifying glass
icon > start typing.

Set a metered
Wi-Fi network
Like your cellular data, you
can now set your Wi-Fi to be
metered as well so that it will
restrict background data and
give warnings for large downloads. To set Wi-Fi network
as metered, go to Settings
> Data usage > Network
restrictions and set Wi-Fi
as metered. Metered WiFi will
come handy while tethering
and when using Mi-Fi hotspots
(if you find any that is)

Restrict the
information
revealed in
notifications
The notifications appearing on
the lock screen might reveal
Digit | January 2015

Tips & Tricks

Make use of the

Priority mode

Hide content from appearing on

the lock screen

sensitive information that you

dont want others to see, say
for example WhatsApp messages. Lollipop offers a way to
present the notification in a way
that will hide its content on the
lock screen. This feature will
only work if you have a PIN or
pattern protecting your phone.
To enable PIN or pattern
lock go to Settings > Security > Screen lock and
then set up a PIN or pattern.
That being done youll be asked
if you want to hide sensitive
information - tap Hide sensitive notification content.
If you have already enabled
screen lock you can directly
turn on the feature by going
into Settings app > Sound
and notification > under
Notification heading tap
When device is locked and
select Hide sensitive information content.
To make an app sensitive,
go to Settings > Sound and
notifications > App notifications > turn on the
Sensitive toggle. This Sensitive switch will only appear if
Android is currently configured
to show all notification content,
so youll need to manually flick
the slider for every app that you
want to hide.

Lollipop offers a new mode called

Priority mode. When in priority
mode, only the apps marked as
high priority will be allowed
to alert you. To mark an app as a
priority app, go to Settings >
Sound and notifications
> App notifications. Here
you can either block an app or
choose to set particular apps
as priority apps. Apps that are
given this elevated status will
always have their notifications
at the top of the list and will be
able to bug you when the device
is set to priority mode.
To activate Priority mode,
press volume up or volume
down key then tap Priority
on the screen and select Indefinitely or finite amount of time.

Try the Do Not

Disturb mode
In addition to the Priority mode
theres a Do not disturb mode,
which unlike the Priority mode,
is centered around the time of
day rather than specific apps.
To activate Do not disturb, go
to Settings > Sound and
notification > Interruptions and choose the days, start
time and end time.

See your
battery
percentage
Android Lollipop doesnt list the
battery percentage on the status
bar. However, you can see it in
the Quick Settings. Just open the
Quick Settings and the battery
percentage is listed there.

Pin an app such

that you cant
close it
Screen pinning is a new feature
that lets you run a single app
all the time in such a way that
it cant be escaped until you
perform a button press combo
and/or type your PIN. App pinning comes very handy when
someone borrows your phone or
if you want to give it to say your
little nephew who wants to play
a game. Dont want the little one
to be confined to temple run?
Simple pin that app to your
screen before handing it over.
To enable screen pinning, go
to Settings > Security >
Screen Pinning > set it to On.
To pin an app, go to recent
apps drawer (by pressing the
square button to the right of the
Home key) pull the app up to see
its entire thumbnail, then tap
the pin icon at its bottom right.
To unpin an app, press Back
and Overview button (square
button to the right of the Home
key) at the same time. Youll be
asked for a PIN if you have PIN
set up.

Unlock with
Bluetooth

Bring the app card forward and

click on the pin button to pin
an app.

Digit | January 2015

In Lollipop you can set up a

bluetooth device as your phones
key. This being set up, your
phone will stay unlocked when
that particular device is present
in the vicinity and paired.
To set it up, first, pair your
Bluetooth device, then go to
Settings > Security >
Smart Lock. Enter your PIN
and tap Trusted devices, hit
the plus icon, select Bluetooth
and choose your paired device.

Vol 15 | 02

Use the built in

flash light
Flashlight is (finally) integrated
into the system directly. You
dont have to rely on the thirdparty apps anymore. To turn on
the flashlight, go to Quick Settings (two finger swipe from the
top) and youll find the flashlight
toggle there.

Check out face

unlocking
You can also use face unlocking
method to unlock your phone.
Its not new but the one offered
in Lollipop seems better implemented. To enable it, go to Settings > Security > Smart
lock and enter your PIN,
then go to Trusted Face >
Setup, and follow the instructions given.

Turn on battery
saver mode
Project Volta has lot to offer in
Lollipop. Google says you can
extend the battery life by up to
90 percent by using the battery
saver features. Theres a built
in battery saver which is automatically turned on at 15% or
5% battery. You can also switch
it on and off manually. To enable
battery saver, go to Settings
> Battery > tap the Menu
button > select Battery
Saver.
Then set whether to turn
on automatically at 5% or 15%.
If you want you can manually
turn it on.

Supercharge
your laptop
With the strides taken in software and technology, portable
computing devices such as
laptops and smartphones have
become indispensable. In fact,
laptops are almost entirely
starting to replace traditional
desktop computers in both
homes and offices. It makes perfect sense, therefore, to ensure
that your laptop is consistently
running at an optimum level.
| www.digit.in

Tips & Tricks

games. Any media that you
want to store would of course be
better off on your portable HDD.

Upgrade RAM

Below are a few tips and tricks to

boost your laptops performance
while also improving productivity and to a certain extent
battery life.

Install an SSD
Upgrading to an SSD
from a run-of-the-mill HDD is
arguably the most noticeable
upgrade you can make for a
smoother UX and improved
overall computing experience.
Even an entry-level SSD, when
compared with a high-performance 10,000 rpm HDD, has a
markedly faster response time
(up to over 30 times faster) as
well as faster sequential and
random readwrite operation
times. Loading your operating
system, applications and games
from an SSD can result in up to
200% faster startup and loading
times. This faster operating time
leads to more disk idling, which
results in a slight improvement
in battery life. It doesnt hurt
that SSDs have no moving parts
either, resulting in protection
from bumps and even more
battery life.
In the past, these devices
might have been looked upon
as a slightly hubristic upgrade,
especially considering the ridiculous price per gigabyte. However, these days you can grab an
affordable 240 GB SSD for as
low as `8,000. Those looking
for a more affordable deal can
opt for a 120 GB drive (~`4,500),
which should be sufficient to
store your OS and important
applications, as well as a few

Today, with applications getting more memory

intensive (were looking at you,
Firefox), adding additional
RAM has almost become an
inevitable upgrade. Most laptops now come with minimum
4 GB RAM, expandable up to
8 GB. While 4 GB would have
been sufficient for regular usage,
those using graphic designing
and image editing applications
like Maya, Coreldraw and
Photoshop will see a definite
improvement in performance
after upgrading to 8 GB.

Push links and images to your devices or those of a friend

Use a Laptop
Cooler

Customize your cleaning needs

Laptop RAM is now

extremely affordable, with a 4
GB kit setting you back by just
`2,500. Ensure that you check
the total number of RAM slots
(standard laptops come with two
slots) as well as the number of
free slots: for example, if your
laptop comes with 4 GB of RAM
and it mentions expandable up
to 8 GB, then your laptop is most
probably loaded with a single
stick of 4 GB RAM. You can
verify this with a tool like CPUZ
that will give you a detailed
explanation of the type of RAM
on your system, including the
number of free slots.

| www.digit.in

While laptops these days come

with much improved cooling
systems, countless laptops
in the past have been lost to
overheating owing to dust
accumulation and unsolicited
overclocking. An ideal solution
for this is the use of an external
laptop cooler (a.k.a. cooling
pad) which also doubles up as
a convenient resting surface for
your laptop during use in bed.
There are two types available: an active cooling type,
which is powered via USB and
either draws hot air away from
the laptop or pumps cool air
towards it, and a passive cooling

type that uses a type of organic

salt compound to absorb excess
heat. Cooling pads come in a
variety of sizes to correspond
with that of your laptop and
start at an affordable rate of
`800 and go up to `5,000 for
premium brands.

Install
CCleaner
A major culprit of decreased
system performance is the accumulation of temporary Internet
files and redundant application
data. CCleaner is an easy-to-use
application that aims to clean
such virtual gunk that gradually builds up in your storage.
You can customize its settings

Google your laptop name for a link to its support page

Vol 15 | 03

Digit | January 2015

Tips & Tricks

to ignore certain applications
and/or file types, and it is also
an easier means to delete private data such as history and
cookies from multiple browsers
with a single click. Besides that,
the application lets you disable
programs that automatically
boot with your OS, thus helping
you manage resources better for
smoother performance.
CCleaner has a built-in
application manager that
lets you rename and uninstall applications, as well as
a drive cleaner tool that lets
you securely delete files preventing any chance of recovery
using file recovery tools. The
app also includes a windows
registry cleaner. However, the
boost in performance from
this is minimal and is almost
not worth the risk of accidentally deleting crucial registry
values. Use this particular feature with caution.

the text/link to your phone.

The potential applications are
endless.

Check for
Driver Updates
Updating outdated hardware
drivers especially important if
you have a laptop that is over
three years old. Device manufacturers keep releasing updates
to drivers for integrated devices
such as your on-board graphics
card and motherboard chipset,
which includes drivers for your
sound device and LAN adapter.
You can find updates for your
laptops hardware by visiting

Integrate with
Pushbullet
Unlinke the other tips on this
list, Pushbullet is not a performance-boosting tool. However,
it does help increase productivity, especially in tasks that
require you to switch between
multiple devices such as your
laptop and mobile phone. It
allows you to mirror notifications from your phone to your
laptop, as well as reply to text
messages. Furthermore, you
can push text, links, and images
between your phone and laptop,
opening the door to a wide array
of applications.
For example, if a friend sends
you a link on a messaging app
like WhatsApp while you are
using your laptop, you can push
the link to the Pushbullet app (or
browser extension, depending
on your OS) and view the content on a larger screen instead
of your phone. Similarly, if you
want to share some text or a
link with a friend via the same
messaging app, simply push

A 4GB USB drive should suffice

for ReadyBoost

the manufacturers website and

searching for the support page
for your particular model.
In the case of chipset
drivers, updates are far and
few between and most do not
contribute any noticeably significant performance boosts.
Hence, it is recommended that
you only update these drivers
if you are experiencing hardware issues. However, if your
laptop comes with a dedicated
mobile graphics card, ensure
you are always on the latest version of drivers as these drivers
are updated often and include
significant performance
upgrades, especially for new
games that require driver optimization post release. In short:
driver update equals slightly
increased frame rates.

Digit | January 2015

Get an external
WiFi Adapter
Seeing as how a laptop is primarily for wireless use, wireless internet is nothing short
of an indispensable feature.
Therefore, its imperative to
ensure that your WiFi connection is running at its optimal
setting, and there are quite a
few measures you can take to
improve connection strength
and stability. First and foremost, upgrade to a wirelessn or wireless-ac router if you
are still using a wireless-g one.
This helps you gain improved
internet speeds (limited to that
given by your ISP of course) as
well as faster transfer of data
via local wireless intranet,
ideal for streaming media
(Chromecast users take note).
In addition, AC devices have
a much improved net battery
usage if connected to a wireless-ac network
Alternatively, you can
upgrade the PCI wireless
receiver in your laptop or simply
plug in a USB antenna receiver
for improved reception. The
physical antenna on the USB
receiver will help you capture
signals in places where you
would earlier encounter WiFi
dead zones. Beginners should
note that installing a new PCI
card on your laptop will take
some homework as you have to
open the laptops back case.

Make use of
Windows
ReadyBoost
Users who have their laptops equipped with Windows
Vista or better can make use of
Microsofts proprietary ReadyBoost feature, which improves
memory-based performance
(application switching, response
times, etc.) on older systems
with less RAM (1 GB or 512).
Using the feature is as simple
as plugging in a USB pen drive,
right-click it in My Computer,
select Properties, and click

Vol 15 | 04

on the Dedicate this device to

ReadyBoost option.
Note that not all USB
devices support this feature;
Windows will allow you to test
the drive before you can assign
it as a ReadyBoost device.
Some manufactures have even
begun to add the Enhanced
for Windows ReadyBoost
tagline for their products,
indicating that the device has
been tested by Microsoft to confirm ReadyBoost compatibility.
ReadyBoost will exhibit some
improved performance during
non-sequential readwrite
operations as flash drives are
faster during non-sequential
reads. Dont expect a lightning
fast solution to your RAM
woes, but whatever little performance boost you get may be
worth it.

Linux

Consider
Switching to

If you use your laptop primarily

for browsing the Internet or
watching movies, there is a
possibility that switching to a
lighter, relatively safer operating system such as a Linux
build will significantly improve
your UX experience. Gamers
will have time switching to
a Linux build because most
modern day games are only
available for Windows. First
time Linux users should try
either the Ubuntu or Fedora
build for a good-looking, hasslefree distribution.
Most Linux distributions
such as Ubuntu and Fedora are
free to download, so you can
have little complaint about the
cost. Installation is also easy:
burn the ISO for these distributions on to a DVD or load
it on a USB drive using ISOburning software such as Universal USB Installer. Linux is
generally much lighter on
system resources, which can
directly help improve battery
life and performance.
| www.digit.in

Agile UAVs coming!

DARPA has created the Fast Lightweight Autonomy

program to build agile UAVs, taking inspiration from the
flight of birds of prey http://dgit.in/DARPAUAV

Fingers at work

Researchers have found that using smartphones are

changing the way the fingers were meant to be used,
perceived by the brain http://dgit.in/PhoneFinger

Q&A

Win at troubleshooting
Providing tech support like a boss...
New SSD or more RAM?
Hello Digit! I have an ASUS G750JX laptop
from the ROG series. Im a gamer and I love
to play single-player as well as multiplayer
online games. The specification of the laptop
are as follows:
Processor: Intel Core i7-4700HQ @
2.4GHz;
RAM: 16GB DDR3;
GPU: GeForce GTX 770M
I was wondering whether an SSD or
16GB of RAM would be worthwhile in terms
of performance?
-Prithvi Bhambri
Since your laptop has a really good
configuration while already having 16GB of
RAM installed, it would definitely be much
more wise to buy an SSD. Although your
laptop supports upto 32GB of RAM, 16GB is
more than enough for playing current
games at the highest settings and so youre
better off investing money into a SSD. As
you dont have budget issues, you can go for
something from Samsungs stables like the
250GB 840 Evo or even the new 256GB 850
Pro which are available for Rs.8,799 and
Rs.12,299 respectively. Even SSDs from the
SanDisk Extreme Pro series are a good
option to consider.

mated to a HD over-the-air antenna

connection will allow you to use your PC as
a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) for locally
available channels and so youll be able to
record content to your PC directly. As youll
be using Arch linux as the OS for the HTPC,
you should head over to www.mythtv.org in
order to get MythTV which is an excellent
open source DVR software with plenty of
options to choose from. If you get stuck
while setting up MythTV, just head over to
the website where youll easily find an easy
step-by-step setup guide for it.

Stupid .DLL files

Hi Team Digit. I recently started seeing an
error on my PC. Every time I turn on the
computer, a window opens up with a Run DLL
error telling me that: There was a problem
starting C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Conduit\BackgroundContainer\BackgroundContainer.dll
The specified module could not be found.
I press the OK button and continue
working on the PC, but I would really want
to know a way to get rid of this issue for
good. Please help.
-Neoson Parakkottil

Are TV Tuners any useful?

I recently bought a nice 50-inch Full HD LED
TV and Ive almost started building a HTPC
for use with the TV. I have a spare ZOTAC
IONITX-E-E Intel Atom 230 Mini ITX motherboard and so I plan to use that for the build
along with Arch Linux as my preferred choice
of OS for the HTPC. I was thinking about
getting a TV tuner card for getting basic TV
channels on the PC, but I dont know how it
works or would it even be of much use to me.
Please advise what should I do.
-Amish Soni
Basically, a TV tuner card takes a video
signal from a cable, antenna or any other
source and lets you view or record it on
your PC. A decent digital TV tuner card

A standard layout of MythTVs menu

The error pertains to RunDLL and

RunDLL is a Windows file responsible for
executing or loading .dll modules where the
modules can be legitimate or even malware
related. Youll usually see a RunDLL Error
loading message when a particular .dll
file that was supposed to run at startup has
gone missing or is deleted. This is because

the file in question may have been deleted

but an entry about it still exists in the
registry which still prompts Windows to
load the file at startup. So, youll have to
remove the entry of this file from the
registry but according to the error specifically mentioned by you, your PC is in all
likelihood infected by a malware. Unsurprisingly, this is a common problem faced
by many Windows users whose computer
has been infected with the Conduit browser
hijacker which is a pretty persistent
malware. To understand how to remove it,
follow the steps below:
First, you need to remove the BackgroundContainer.dll startup registry key
using the Autoruns utility for Windows.
Download the utility from here: http://
dgit.in/Auto_Runs
Once its downloaded, double-click on
the autoruns.exe program to start the
utility.
Click File > Select Find
Type BackgroundContainer.dll as well
as Conduit to find entries related to
both conflicting files.
Once you find BackgroundContainer.dll
or Conduit in the list, right-click> Delete
Delete all the entries related to the search
terms that you used.
Restart the computer to check whether
youve solved the problem.
If the issue still persists, use CCleaner
to find and delete the startup entry with the
name Conduit. If youre still facing the same
issue, you should download a good free malware removal program like Malwarebytes
or even AdwCleaner, scan the system using
the anti-malware program and clean it
completely to get rid of the Conduit browser
hijacker as well as other malware that may
be infecting your system. Detailed guide
here: http://dgit.in/MalGuide
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 71

Kodak Android phone

Kodak will be unveiling a new Android

smartphone at the CES 2015 event. Are they
too late? http://dgit.in/KodakPhone

Workshop

Best earth images

Check out the best images of the earth taken

by the fleet of satellites owned by NASA
http://dgit.in/NASAImages

PC Maintenance

Learn about fixing your everyday PC troubles, and the tools to maintain it
Manish Singh
[email protected]

t has happened to all of us. Youve a

presentation to submit the day after,
you hover your mouse or click on the
power button, and the unthinkable
happens. The system just wont comply
with your wishes. Either it will keep looping
around a blue screen, or will act so slow
that you literally cant do any work on it, or
worse, it just wont turn on.
With complex operating systems
these days, pointing out the culprit is
never straightforward and the steps weve
outlined here are suited for a more general
approach. Remember, Google is your friend!
That being said, lets check out some of the
most common problems users face.

Everyday issues
Speed and performance glitches
Issue: CPU is slow, or unstable, or always under
heavy load
If youve recently mounted a new motherboard, or installed a new operating system,
you may want to check the BIOS for any
improper configuration. You can try the
freeware utilities like CPU-Z (http://dgit.
in/CPUzID) and Cinebench (http://
dgit.in/MCinebench) to check if
your CPU is working fine by
comparing it with results
of others over the web.
That would be
helpful if your CPU
is slow. But what if
its unstable? Thats
a rather more concerning possibility. If
your computer, however,
is exhibiting such symptoms,
72 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

GPU is slow
If your systems graphics has all of
a sudden become cumbersome, this
could be a software compatibility
issue. The first thing youll need to do
is check the GPU temperature using
GPU-Z, Then update your graphics
drivers as a recent update might
have messed things up. Sometimes
your GPU is simply not powerful
enough and is heating up. It is
probably in your best interest if you
didnt play the latest AAA game but
In Windows 10, the defragmenting tool also lets
you optimise the system.
if it is too important and you know
your ways, you may also try overclocking (http://dgit.in/WAPCOverclock) to
you need to check the temperature first
increase the devices efficiency.
and then test stability by running Prime95
(http://dgit.in/Prime95) alone. If it ends up
showing a blue-screen to you, your CPU
Critical issues
is probably heating too much. Else, you
Issue: Windows is freezing or slowing down
should the RAM modulesand for that,
Freezing is one of the most common and
you can try Memtest86+ (http://dgit.in/
frustrating issues our computers run into
Memtest86). If that too isnt the problem,
every few months. It happens for a myriad
the next component you should check is the
of reasons with a common cause being
PSU (Power Supply Unit). When the PSU
insufficient processor cooling. Generally,
fails to provide the right amount of voltage
its when the CPU fan gets clogged up with
to the motherboard it can also make the
too much dust, or when the thermal paste
system unstable.
between the sink and processor has dried
But what if your system always seems
up. Cleaning and replacing the thermal
to be under too much stress? In other
paste should help.
words, it is hogging too much
Additionally, loose cables and comporesources at every instance
nents can also degrade the performance, so
of time even when you
you will want to check and tighten everyknow you arent doing
thing right. Also, in case youd overclocked
anything. This could be
your CPU or GPU recently, you should
the work of a malware.
restore it to normal if it continues to heat up.
Try installing the free
If your computer has also slowed
or trial version of AVG
down recently, you need to check the task
(http://dgit.in/AVAVG),
manager to know which process is at fault
or ESET, and run a comand uninstall or temporarily stop it. Also,
plete scan to hunt down
browsers with too many extensions and
the malware.
plugins installed consume a lot of resources.

So many testers

The technical preview for Windows 10

has currently reached 1.5 million testers
http://dgit.in/1MWin10

New Apple patent

Apple has a new patent for reverse AirPlay

for streaming Apple TV to your iOS devices
http://dgit.in/AirPlayPat

check that its connected to a native

SATA III port which is set to AHCI.
Switching between AHCI and
IDE can render your OS useless
so create a backup disk image first.
Always prefer a native port that is
set to AHCI for storage devices.

Maintaining a system

Glary Utilities lets your clean, optimise, and fix your

system

Regardless, you also need to stop a few

programs from starting up at the time of
login. To do that, go to Run (or open Start
menu and start typing) msconfig, go to the
Startup tab and uncheck all the applications
that you dont need. Google each process
name to figure that out.
Issue: Blue Screen of Death (BSoD)
This is one of the most annoying issues of
all. Your computer encounters some error
and gives you a blue screen before shutting
down. This leaves no choice to the users
but to restart. On the bright side, though,
figuring out why your computer got the
BSoD isnt that tough. Install WhoCrashed
to know exactly what caused the BSoD.

Other annoying issues

Issue: USB Drive isnt showing up or working
At times, a USB port on your system might
go haywire. In such a case, youll need to
check whether the internal cables are properly connected and your BIOS still has the
requisite USB header enabled. Once youre
sure theres no problem there, you need to
fire up Device Manager (run/start menu ->
devmgtmt.msc) and check if any of the USB
port is reporting a problem. If so, you need
to update and /or reinstall its driver an
option youll see in the properties of the port.
Issue: SSD Performance is slow
If your SSD feels slow, there could be some
problem. Check to see if its a firmware
problem on technology forums where
multiple users might report the same thing.
If not, benchmark it using CrystalDiskMark
(http://dgit.in/CrystalDiskM) and see if its
the same as mentioned in the manual. If not

Now that you know how to handle

everyday quirks, it is time we also
discussed how you can make sure
that your computer stays in shape.

Clean, clear, optimize

your registry
Much like your house, an operating system
also becomes cluttered and messy over
time. And much like your house, the system
needs cleaning and optimization as well.
Regardless of the Windows version youve
installed on your system, it is always a good
idea to defragment your hard-drive every
once in awhile. For that, you can use Windows built-in defragmentation tool called
Defrag. To open it, go to Start menu and type
defrag (without the quotes). Alternatively,
you can also use free defrag tools like Auslogicss Disk Defrag.
For advanced cleaning and optimizing,
such as of registrys, you can try CCleaner
(http://dgit.in/CCleanerD). Additionally,
well also recommend you try D7 suite
(http://dgit.in/D7Suite). Its user interface
isnt as eye catching, but it can automatically detect and fix several common
issues.

Workshop

mended that you update your drivers. One

of the common gateways for viruses to get
into your computer is your browser. And
thats why it has become very important that
you check whether your Anti-Virus suite
offers internet security or not. Additionally,
you can also sign up for OpenDNS (https://
www.opendns.com/), a DNS service with
easily configurable security settings.
You can also automate several of these
processes to occur periodically using the
scheduler in Windows. Alternatively, you
can also use suites such as Tune Up Utilities
or Glary Utilities.

Dont forget the hardware

Prefer running your system on UPS
If youve a desktop computer, prefer using a
decent UPS with all the protective circuits.
The good ones protect your computer
from current spikes and provides you time
to perform a proper shutdown. Almost
every components inside your computer
including and especially the network card is
sensitive to fluctuations.

Cleaning internal components

Regardless of where you keep your system,
they are bound to gather dust over time.
You can use a vacuum cleaner to get the
dust off but be careful since bringing it

Keep your computer virus

free and secure
Make sure youve a good anti-virus
suite installed on your system. The preinstalled security suite from Microsoft
CCleaner lets you clean junk off of your system.
has certainly become better over several
versions, but according to several reports,
it is still not enough to combat some of the
too close to the motherboard might cause
more sophisticated malware our computers
a few components to fly off (e.g. jumpers).
are exposed to these days. Dont think about
You should also pay extra attention while
getting more than one anti-virus, though,
going through processor fan (CPU fan) and
as it often raises conflicts like false alerts.
processor heat sink. If your CPU has been
Besides, it may even hog too much memory
getting too hot lately, you may also want to
and thus slow down other operations.
check if the thermal paste between the heat
Updating Windows is also very critical
sink and processor chip has dried up. You
and something that you should not be
can buy a new refill for that paste from your
neglecting. Additionally, it is also recomlocal computer store.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 73

NFL deals with Fb

Feature
Toolbox

NFL is getting serious with their videos, striking a

deal with Facebook, posting highlights and fantasy
football content http://dgit.in/FacebookNFL

Video game Olympics

Should video games be a part of the Olympics?

Rob Pardo, creator of World of Warcraft thinks
so. http://dgit.in/GamingOlym

Discovery
The digital age has ushered in a new era of discovery, an age where
just about every niche is catered for. The art of discovery is not a dark
art and were going to teach you how to WIN at Discovery.
Anirudh Regidi

Gnoosic.com

[email protected]

This is a site that most of you have probably never heard off and ironically, it aims
to serve up artists that youd like, but
never heard off. Discovering new music is
simple, head over to gnoosic.com, type in
the name of three artists that you love (or
even three artists from a genre that you
want to listen to at the moment) and then
hit go. The site will throw up one artists
name at a time, along with a discussion on
said artist (by Gnoosics members). The
onus is on you to find that artists songs
however as Gnoosic will not play back
those songs for you. Every time you discover an artist you tell Gnoosic that you
liked it, didnt like it, or already knew of it
and Gnoosic will fine-tune the recommendations accordingly.

here are many who claim that the

Digital Age has weaned us away
from the true joy of discovery,
from discovering a gem of a book
in an aged library, from the (dubious) joy
stumbling across a good movie or show on
TV, and more. We beg to differ. A little bit
of effort and some guidance from us, youll
be well on your way to discovering any joy
you choose to experience.

Discovering music
Music is, in many ways, a universal language. Rhythms transcend language and
might even be at the very heart of what
makes this universe tick. But its not always
easy to discover new music, but thats only
because you might not know how.

The usual suspects

The most obvious way
to find new music is to
use popular services
like Last.fm, Spotify,
Grooveshark, Pandora
and more. Once you
setup an account for
yourself (via VPN if
necessary) and use those
services regularly, its only
a matter of time before those
services learn your taste in music
and throw up songs and playlists that
will suit your taste (a.k.a. scrobbling). Just
pick a service, use it regularly and let their
algorithms do their thing.
74 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Gorankem
Gorankem.com lets you, and everyone else, rank artists and
bands. Pop over there from
time to time and rummage through the listings and theres bound
to be something you
like in the pile. Find
gorankem members
with a similar taste in
music and youll have
found a new buddy as
well as a great source for
new music.

YouTube Music
This is a comparatively recent launch,
and while were quite certain that many

of you have already been using YouTube

as a source of music, the dedicated music
section now isolates all
your music listening to a
separate, well, section. All
you really need to do is to
train YouTube. Listen to
music, like or dislike the recommendations
and YouTube will slowly, but surely learn
your taste. Be wary though, accidentally let
someone else use your account and your
entire listening experience will be screwed,
ending up listening to Lady Gaga in the
middle of a Black Label Society session.

iTunes radio
iTunes is popular abroad, but maybe
not so much in India, at least, as a media
hub. That said, if you
manage to create a US or
UK iTunes account for
yourself (you dont need
a credit card, just a US
address off Google maps), iTunes radio
does a fantastic job of understanding
your taste in music. Be warned, iTunes
Radio will not play the song that you
want, when you want it and is very much
akin to a radio station in that regard. A
great place for discovery.

Hypem.com
Hype machine is an interesting site with a
very simple concept, it aggregates the most
popular music across a selection of social
network sites and blogs. The music might
not always be to your taste, but it will be
whats popular and you might end up discovering something that you really love.

Vinyl coming back?

With a record label opening up a vinyl

factory, are vinyl records making a
comeback? http://dgit.in/VinylTimes

Discovering Movies
Movies are much more than moving pictures and audio, theyre the actualization
of imagination, a medium for bringing
dreams to life. Good movies are few and
far between and sifting through a glut of
movies is time-consuming, but it doesnt
have to be that hard. Heres how to win at
discovering movies.

Jinni
Feeling down, want a pick-me-up type of
movie? What about if you want something
thats dark and witty, or bittersweet?
These are concepts that most recommendations engines and even people will
struggle with, but Jinni.com does its level
best to offer a solution. It lets you search
for movies by mood, genre, plot, place,
time period and myriad other filters that
you never knew you wanted. You can also
fine-tune search results by how serious
or unrealistic you want the setting, and so
on. Its a great tool and, in our experience,
one that does a very good job of churning
out acceptable recommendations.

Movie Map
Think of this as a spider-web of movies.
You enter a movies name, hit enter, and
youre presented with an inter-connected
web of movies that are in some way related
to your initial choice. Hovering over a
name presents the trailer of said movie.
This is an excellent tool for sourcing a
quick recommendation for anyone.

GoodMoviesList
As the name suggests, this is a list of good
movies. Yes, exactly that. The movies are
classified into lists including the best of
2014, the best sci-fi, the best horror, and so
on. You can spend hours browsing through
the lists and youre sure to find a movie that
you like among the hundreds listed.

IMDB
You might be scratching your head and
wondering why were stating something
thats so blindingly obvious, but bear
with us. IMDB, while a great source for
information on movies, is also a great
source for discovering movies. Theres an
entire social network buried in the site
and curated lists of movies are available

10 Gbps Speed

Google Fiber was fast, now Minneapolis is set

to be the first to be getting a 10 Gbps internet
speed service http://dgit.in/10GbpsInter

for the asking. Create an account, spend

some time browsing the site. Users put
up curated lists all the time, the best
horror movies, the best action movies,
the best indie movies, the
best movies featuring a
particular actor and many
more such lists. Follow the
right users and youre sure to find what
youre looking for soon enough. Quick tip,
read the reviews of movies that you know
and start following the users that seem to
share your opinion and you will probably
have found the right one.

Amazon.com
This might also seem like an odd choice,
but once you create an Amazon.com
account and start browsing through the
video section (you dont have to pay to
browse), youll see an option to vote on
the movies that are available and those
that youve seen. Youre feeding Amazon
a whole pile of data, but youll also get
tailor-made recommendations.

Discovering Games and Apps

Games and mostly apps meant to provide
pure entertainment, but finding good
ones can sometimes be quite a challenge.
These simple tips should set you on the
right path.

Feature

time and put in the effort to really immerse

yourself in the Steam community and
Steam group and curators, youre assured
of a deep and rewarding pool of game
recommendations, as well as membership
to a great community of gamers.

GOG
As old foggies ourselves (at Digit), many
of the offerings on GOG.com are very
familiar to us, but for you young uns out
there, its a whole world of classic games
waiting to be discovered and played.
GOG.com is a website that offers what
is probably the largest
collection of classic
games in the world and
a library thats second
only to Steams and to
top it off, all the games
there are DRM-free. Getting back to you
young uns though, just pop over to the
site and randomly pick-up a few games
in a genre that you like. At Rs.50-100 a
game, theyre cheaper than most good
mobile apps and are sure to offer a great
deal of entertainment. They also have a
very vibrant community that will be more
than willing to provide you with recommendations, should you need them.

Universal sources
Reddit

Vsauce3
The Vsauce series of channels is a great
source for information, the whacky and
the extraordinary. The third channel
in that group, Vsauce3 features a series
called App All Knight and is among the
best sources for new apps and games on
the Internet. http://dgit.in/1xjUc4B

Reddit quite literally is the front page of

the Internet. Its almost entirely a usergenerated site and is probably the only
website that caters to just about all tastes,
the good and the uncomfortable. Haunt
this site and youll find good recommendations for whatever it is that youre looking
for. Be warned that Reddit is not a place
for little kids, so do browse responsibly.

Steam
Steam recently unveiled a Discovery List
feature and tagging. These features combined are doing for games
what Netflix did to movies,
classifying Steams massive
library via user-defined
tags. Its a great concept
that works very well in
real life and the Discovery Queue, a list
of game recommendations tailor-made to
your taste, is the very best place for finding
a game that youll like. If you make the

Forums
Forums, regardless of where theyre
hosted or who they belong to, will almost
always feature a section dedicated to
movies, music, etc. If youre already a
member of a forum thats filled to the
brim with like-minded individuals,
asking them for suggestions is not such a
bad idea when you really think about it!

Google
http://dgit.in/143Ya87
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 75

Prime number lovers!

Mathematicians mightve made a huge discovery

in the average gap between consecutive prime
numbers http://dgit.in/PrimNum

Workshop
Toolbox

Prototype Bionic Car

The Light Cocoon Sportscar from Germany has

a 3D printed ultra-lightweight outer skin that is
bionically inspired http://dgit.in/BionicCar

Photography
Be it a DSLR or a smartphone camera, photography has become
a big part of our daily lifestyle. Here are a few tips that can help you
become a sharp shooter
Kunal Khullar
[email protected]

here was a time when photography used to be a professionals job and only a few could
afford to have a camera. It used
to be a tedious and a calculative process
that required skill, patience and of course,
creativity. Today, the process has become
far more easier for the photographer
thanks to the combination of complicated
algorithms along with cutting edge hardware. Taking pictures is now a piece of
cake thanks to the easy affordability and
compact size of the devices.
But, is it just as simple as pressing the
shutter button? Here are some tips that
can help improve your bland pictures.

Get your basics right

Having a high-end camera doesnt matter,
well, up to a certain level. Having a higher
megapixel count is somewhat important,
but again its not a very crucial factor.
Photography is all about using the camera
smartly. You should also know
your equipment well, be it a
DSLR, a point and shoot,
or even an smartphone.
The capabilities and
limitations of your
equipment along with
the lighting conditions
are very important
to understand, which
can only be achieved
through a lot of practice.
The more you shoot, the
76 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Adobe Photoshop Express: Your one-stop shop for editing on the go

more you understand light and the abilities of your equipment.

Technical knowledge
Having the technical know-how can
make a huge difference and this applies
to all sorts of cameras, the only difference
is that some devices like DSLRs
and smaller sized cameras
offer more controls and
features when compared
to, say a smartphone.
You can either leave
all the settings and
calculations in the
hands of the camera,
or take charge and control your exposure.
Now exposure is
basically the amount of

light that falls on the sensor to produce

an image, and this can be controlled by
the right combination of shutter speed,
aperture and ISO. Sounds complicated? Well to make it simple, shutter
speed is the amount of time the shutter
curtain is open, the aperture is the size
of the opening of the lens that lets the
light enter and ISO is the sensitivity or
capacity of the sensor to absorb light.
A proper balance of these three determine how bright or how dark your image
will be.
Once you get the hang of the technical aspects, you need to work on your
composition. Start with simple and clean
pictures. Try to keep a clean background
without much distractions. Try to focus
on lines, shapes, form, colours, and
contrasts. Using the auto-focus is a good

Solar Storm Detector

DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) is a new

satellite that can detect and warn of impending solar
storms about an hour earlier http://dgit.in/DSCOVR

Boeing Black

Boeing and BlackBerry are building a

phone with high-security that can selfdestruct http://dgit.in/AlienStruc

Workshop

habit, until and unless the camera is

unable to give you a sharp output. The
white-balance helps you get the correct
colour temperature in your pictures, but
you can also use this feature to bring a
cooler or a warmer feel to your pictures.

Flash, a big no
Try not to use your in-built flash all the
time. Slightly under-exposed pictures
look better than having ghostly shadows
throughout your picture. While the
flash does help in low light conditions, it
just doesnt produce natural results and
mostly leaves you with shiny or unevenly
exposed pictures. If you really need to
use a flash, try to bounce it or diffuse it, to
have an even spread of light.

Smartphone photography
The most affordable and extensively used
camera is the one in our smartphones and
frankly speaking, one can achieve great
results by using them. Most of the default
smartphone camera apps offer exposure
compensation with a range of one-to-three
stops, ISO control, white balance and few
features here and there. Some smartphone
camera apps even offer HDR, or the ability
to control the shutter speeds, and even
focusing features that make your pictures
look as if they were shot with a very
shallow depth of field. Feel free to tinker
with all the settings and features to make
your photos look as if they were shot from
a high-end camera.

Post production
You always have the flexibility of post
processing your pictures if you dont like
the results or are in the mood for something artsy. With over a thousand apps
available on almost all mobile operating
systems, you might be wondering which
ones right for you. So weve curated a

VSCO Cam: Dont overdo it with the filters

Breathe new life into images with Snapseed

small list of apps that we believe you

should try out.

Third party camera apps

VSCO cam: VSCO Cam offers one of
the best selections of pre-set filters to
enhance your photographs. The app
offers editing tools to control exposure,
temperature, contrast, crop, rotate,
fade, vignette and more. There are
some preset packs as well which can
be brought for a few bucks. The app
also allows you to share your pictures
on social networks and has its own
VSCO community that users can join
and share pictures and experiences.
Android: http://dgit.in/WinAtPF
Instagram: Because really lets face
it. What would your life be without
the ability to share filter-laden square
photos of your meal with the world? If
not that, then the new dress you just
bought must absolutely be showcased
to the world through the process of
colour altering filters. Regardless,
Instagram has become that one app
that has taken the smartphone photography world by storm.
Android: http://dgit.in/WinAtPF2
Photoshop Express: Everyone knows
that Photoshop is the king of image
editing software, so why not get it on
your smartphone? Adobe Photoshop
Express brings in a lot of features that
lets you do basic editing like cropping, sharpening, colour correction,
exposure control and more. The paid

version has extensive controls to fine

tune your images.
Android: http://dgit.in/WinAtPF3
Snapseed: One of the most famous
photo editing apps is Snapseed which
is now owned by Google. Apart from
allowing basic edits as well as adding
effects and border to your photos
you can even share your pictures
on Google+. It is developed by Nik
Software, which is a popular plugins
developer for Adobe products.
Android: http://dgit.in/WinAtPF4
Pixlr: Its an easy to use app that lets
you add one or a combination of effects
to your pictures. The app comes with a
variety of borders, filters and overlays that completely transform your
images. It also lets you do basic editing
like cropping or tuning the exposure
and so on.
Android: http://dgit.in/WinAtPF5

Open your mind

Photography is a lot easier and much
more accessible than it was a decade ago.
But making a picture that stands apart
requires you to have a creative mind and
not just having the technical know-how.
Mix and match the environment or even
look for something conceptual. When
you are out for a walk in the park, or
just taking the last train to your home,
scan your surroundings for interesting
subjects. Start following the works of
established photographers to learn more.
Of course, dont plagiarise their work.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 77

Killer Rigs

Price Watch

Street smart

80

The latest up-to-date prices of

all the gadgets you would want
to buy this month

82

We have a combination of PC
configurations for most budgets out there,
including the combo of our test rig

Smartwatches
More than telling the
time, these smart wrist
devices are more than
just a one trick pony,
and are well and truly
vying for your hardearned cash. Should
you buy one?
Agent 001
[email protected]

f theres one category of products

that really announced themselves
to the world in 2014, I have to pick
the category of smartwatch. These
handy devices are like companion gadgets
to go along with your smartphone, and
they let you keep your phone within
the pocket (within Bluetooth range) by
delivering notifications right to your
wrist. Paired with your phone, smartwatches can help you get over your
smartphone addiction by notifying you
about incoming calls or SMSes without
you having to whip out the handset
every single time. Thats not all, as most
smartwatches also come with extra
features like letting you control music
playback on your smartphone, and some
offer fitness features to help you out with
your workouts. Thats pretty much what
most smartwatches are capable of doing
right now. Not very smart now, is it?
One of my biggest beefs with smartwatches selling in the market currently
is to do with their look and feel. Apart
from, say, the Motorola Moto 360, none
of the true smartwatches can be passed
off as a plain old watch on your wrist.
Most look like contraptions straight off a
sci-fi movie (Mr Indias invisibility device,
remember?), and clearly not something
youd want to wear to work or in a professional environment. Geek chic is great,
but you dont want to be confused with

78 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

C-3POs cousin based on that ultra funky

smartwatch on your wrist now, do you?
Another thing to watch out for in
smartwatches is the fact that their platform is still very young and not clearly
defined. For e.g., among smartwatches
running on Googles Android Wear OS,
LG G Watch R and Moto 360 are the two
clear favourites to buy right now. Having
said that, the Android Wear platform
is awfully barren with respect to thirdparty apps that you can fire up on these
smartwatches, and youre stuck with a
chosen few apps to play with right now.
To mention some other good smartwatches to buy -- off the ones available in
the market right now -- would be Pebble,
Apples Watch, Samsung Galaxy Gear,
and Sonys SmartWatch 3. Like I said, the
field is barren right now when it comes to
dependable purchases from well-known
brands. I wouldve loved to indulge in the
world of fitness bands and wrist-based
health trackers here, but the fact that
theyre so numerous and full of independent tracking and sensing methods
that theyd require their own page in this
section some time in the future. And I also
feel that some of the features that fitness

bands try to offer are

incorporated within all
the good smartwatches
that are worth their salt
in the market anyway.
Theres no doubt
that smartwatches are
here to say, whether
you like it or not. And
its only a matter of
time before traditional
watch companies, big
or small, make the deep
dive into the world of
smart wrist devices.
However, the landscape
is still emerging, and
these are undoubtedly
early days in the evolution of smartwatches. I
advise treading with caution, not getting
easily swayed with e-commerce website
discount deals and splurging on smartwatches unless you really really want
them. Because most of these devices are
either too infantile in their utility value,
or Star War-ish in their appeal, and sport
clearly exaggerated price tags that make
absolutely no sense whatsoever -- seriously, I look at smartwatches sold online
and get a mild heart attack everytime I see
at their inflated prices. As I see things, a
good old traditional watch packed with
features like chronometer, barometer,
altitude meter, water resistance, etc are
cheaper compared to these new-age smartwatches which are hopeless on their own
(meaning, if theyre not paired with your
smartphone) and cant last more than a
few days without having to recharge them.
Clearly, in my book, based on the evidence
so far, the modern smartwatch isnt smart
enough just yet. I have no doubt that 2015
will debut some interesting smartwatch
concepts or iterations that will raise the
bar even higher on last years products,
and your wrist (not to mention your bank
balance) will ultimately thank you for
your patience.

Crazy airport stories

Agent 001

Exynos or Snapdragon?
Dear Agent001,
I want to buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 but I am confused
whether to go for the Exynox or the Snapdragon variant. So
please help me by giving your precious advice. Thank You.
Shrikant Kalar
Hey Shrikant,
Exynos SoCs used to be way powerful about 2 years back but
Qualcomm has caught up since then and the Snapdragon 805
now performs equally good if not better than the Exynos 5433.
Depending on which benchmark you run either the Exynos
variant or the Snapdragon variant will come out ahead and
that too by a slight margin.
Check the GeekBench3 scores here: http://dgit.in/SamN4ExyVsSnap. Snapdragon is ahead in this one but if you check out
AnTuTu scores then the Exynos variant comes out ahead.
When it comes to custom ROMs then Snapdragon SoCs seem
to have been favoured a lot more than Exynos variants in the
past but its not a given that the same could be said for current
generation of SoCs.
Security-wise, there have been reports of vulnerabilities in
both SoCs and thats something which isnt going to change
at all. So if you wish to fiddle around with your phone and
install custom ROMs then the Snapdragon variant seems to be
preferable but if you want to make use of the 64-bit computing
power of the Exynos (which is expected to improve with the
Lollipop 5.0 update) then by all means you can go ahead with
the Exynos 5433.
You might want to watch a few videos to help you make
up your mind and also to figure out if that meagre difference
in performance between the two variants is something that
youre worried about. Most people wouldnt even be able to
tell the difference but if youre going to plunk down a sizeable
amount for the Note 4 then you need to experience them both.

Digital camera for `30,000

Hi Digit!
Im one of your magazines biggest fan. Since my childhood I
have been fascinated by photography. Now I have got a chance
to buy a digital camera. Please suggest me a best one to buy
including lens. My budget is around `30,000. Please guide
me. Thank you.
Anish Angadi
Hi Anish,
Considering your budget, Id say that the best option for you
will be the Nikon D5100 and a Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens.
The camera should set you back by about `24,000, if you keep
an eye out on sites like Amazon and eBay, and the lens should
be available for around `7,000. If not you can wait for the next
sale and youd definitely get it for this much or even lesser.
This is an excellent bundle for beginners and the 50mm will
be particularly useful for portraits and macro shots, as well as
night photography. Good hunting!

Game Designers:
More than meets
the eye
Look around you. You may be in a bus, on a train or in a busy
lift on your way to the office, ninth floor. Wherever you look,
people scan-read screens, play games, follow directions to
the next turn to their destination or the next station on their
commute. Wherever you look, you can see people being
guided and taken through interfaces whether digital or
physical leading them in a flow to their next purchase or
destination. Wherever you look, you see design is everywhere.

he times, they are a changin, says the song. The back and forth
interaction between those screens and their end users, the
heads-up-displays, the branching narratives, the progression
curves, the learning curves all notions familiar to game designers.
All notions in which we thrive and excel, have now become increasingly pervasive.
Pervasive to
such an extent that
industrial designers,
e-learning companies, marketing
and advertising
managers are now
using them on a
daily basis, though
lacking the skills to
tackle them in most
of the cases. We
cant blame them
for these skills are rather difficult to be found in the different sectors
of the job market theyre shuffling through. Thing is, they didnt look
for them in the right place, the video game design job market for
who knows these mechanisms better than game designers?
The cultural shock is happening right now at a low intensity, as the
industry at large understand that gaming might mean much more
than just shooting zombies and crushing candies and the gaming
professionals begin to realize on their side that they might be useful in
very, very diverse areas. McDonalds Monopoly? Gaming. Promotional
game for the Air Force? Gaming. Loyalty achievements for the clients
of a mall? Gaming. Teaching English to kids through interactive stories? Gaming. Building an application that lets you visit museums with
your iPad? Gaming. Immersive documentaries? Gaming.
Game design indeed with all the fields of interaction design,
digital storytelling, e-training that it encompasses. Its about time to
find ourselves a new, broader name and to fill in the roles in which the
industry needs us.
Article written by Patrice Crespy, who is a Game Design Trainer
at the Rubika Supinfogame School. Hes been a Lead Game Designer
and Producer for several years, a critically-acclaimed writer of
fantasy novels and roleplaying games, a politics storyteller and a
Serious Game Designer. For more information, visit www.dsksic.com.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 79

Advertorial

Check out some of the craziest things

caught by airport security being sneaked
on airplanes http://dgit.in/AirportFrisk

Facebook to face lawuit

Twitter + Foursquare

A class action lawsuit has been slapped

on Facebook over unauthorised message
scanning http://dgit.in/FaceTheBook

Following the footsteps of Microsoft, Twitter has

decided to collaborate with Foursquare to bring
detailed locations in tweets in Q1 2015

Price Watch

Spend Smart
We shortlist a plethora of Portable Speakers, budget
smartphones and monitors for you

Portable Speakers
Brand

Model

Configuration

iBall

Xpresso

Stereo

Battery
Type
Li-ion

Zebronics

NITRO

Stereo

Li-ion

Max Output
(in Watts)
2W

Chassis
Material
Plastic

Frequency
Response
100-20,000 Hz

Price
(in `)
900

5W

Plastic

80-20,000 Hz

999

Zoook

Air Drum ZB-BS100

Stereo

Li-ion

6W

Plastic

60-20,000 Hz

1480

iBall

OPUS

Mono

Li-ion

4W

Plastic

150-80,000 Hz

1545

iBall

UFO3

Mono

Li-ion

NA

Plastic

100-20,000 Hz

1830

F&D

Swan

Mono

Li-ion

2W

Plastic

60-20,000 Hz

1899

Umeko

Dynamo

Stereo

Li-ion

10 W

Plastic

NA

2070

HMDX

Jam Classic

Mono

Li-ion

NA

Plastic + Metal

NA

2190

Portronics

Drums

Stereo

Li-ion

2.5 W

Plastic + Metal

NA

2200

JBL

Micro II

Mono

Li-ion

3W

Plastic

150-20,000 Hz

2250

Portronics

Pure Sound BT

Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Plastic

NA

2340

SoundLogic MTV

Twister

Mono

Li-ion

3W

Silicone + Plastic NA

2500

Logitech UE

Mobile Boombox

Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Plastic

2698

150-18,000 Hz

HMDX

Jam Plus

Mono

Li-ion

NA

Plastic + Metal

NA

3200

Divoom

OnBeat 200

Mono

Li-ion

8W

Plastic + Metal

80-20,000 Hz

3499

SoundLogic MTV

Soundbox

Stereo

Li-ion

6W

Plastic

NA

3499

Edifier

Extreme Connect MP 260

Stereo

Li-ion

4W

Plastic

190-18,000 Hz

3658

Creative

D100

Stereo

Any AA

NA

Plastic

20-20,000 Hz

3775

Promate

AquaBox

Mono

Li-ion

3W

Plastic + Rubber

100-15000 Hz

4799

JBL

Flip

Stereo

Li-ion

10 W

Plastic

150-20,000 Hz

4899

JBL

Flip 2

Stereo

Li-ion

12 W

Plastic

100-20,000 Hz

5707

HMDX

Jam Party

Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Plastic

NA

5999

JBL

Charge

Stereo

Li-ion

10 W

Plastic

150Hz-20,000 Hz

6350

Sony

SRS-BTM8

Stereo

Any AA

4W

Plastic

NA

6490

Creative

AirWave HD

Stereo

Li-ion

20 W

Metal + Plastic

NA

6619

JBL

Pulse

Stereo

Li-ion

12 W

Plastic

100Hz-20,000 Hz

8999

Bose

Soundlink Color

Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Plastic

NA

11138

Bose

SoundLink Mini

Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Plastic

NA

16875

Logitech UE

Boombox

Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Metal + Plastic

55 20,000 Hz

20995

Bose

SoundLink Mobile Speaker III Stereo

Li-ion

NA

Metal + Plastic

NA

22388

80 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Is Sony the victim?

Unmanned cars = no revenue?

In the aftermath of the recent hack, The

Guardian looks at Sony's past to answer the
question http://dgit.in/SonyVictim

Study estimates that driverless cars could mean

reduced revenue for the traffic department from fines
http://dgit.in/NoDonutsFoPoPo

Brand

Model

Price Watch

Monitors Below `40,000

Display Size

Panel Technology Native Resolution Built-in Speakers HDMI Port(s) Price (in `)

AOC

e2262Vwh

21-inches

IPS

1920 x 1080

Yes

8699

Dell

S2240L

21.5-inches

IPS

1920 x 1080

No

8750

Philips

224E5QHSB

21.5-inches

AH-IPS

1920 x 1080

No

9013

Acer

S220HQL

21.5-inches

NA

1920 x 1080

No

9300

BenQ

GL 2450HM

24-inches

TN

1920 x 1080

Yes

10150

Acer

S240HL

24-inches

TN

1920 x 1080

No

10500

Asus

VS238H

23-inches

TN

1920 x 1080

No

10900

Samsung

LS24D300HS/Xl

23.6-inches

TN

1920 x 1080

NA

11150

Viewsonic

VX2456sml

24-inches

NA

1920 x 1080

No

12240

BenQ

RL 2455HM

24-inches

TN

1920 x 1080

Yes

13350

BenQ

GW 2760 HS

27-inches

VA

1920 x 1080

No

17000

LG

27MP35HQ

27-inches

IPS

1920 x 1080

No

18780

Viewsonic

VX2770smh

27-inches

IPS

1920 x 1080

Yes

22400

Asus

PB248Q

24-inches

IPS

1920 x 1200

No

26679

LG

29UB65

29-inches

IPS

2560 x 1080

Yes

29000

Dell

S2740L

27-inches

IPS

1920 x 1080

No

32000

BenQ

XL-2720T

27-inches

TN

1920 x 1080

No

35000

Budget Smartphones Below `10,000

Brand

Model

Operating System

Processor (in MHz)

RAM

Display
Size (in
inches)

Primary
Camera
(MP)

Battery
Price
Rating (in (in `)
mAh)

XOLO

One

Android 4.4

1300 MHz Quad Core

1GB

4.5 inch

5 MP

1700 mAh 5569

Xiaomi

Redmi 1S

Android 4.3

1600 MHz Quad Core

1GB

4.7 inch

8 MP

2000 mAh 5999

Micromax

Canvas A1

Android 4.4

1300 MHz Quad Core

1GB

4.5 inch

5 MP

1700 mAh 6025

Micromax

Unite 2 A106 (8GB)

Android 4.4

1300 MHz Quad Core

1GB

4.7 inch

5 MP

2000 mAh 6475

Huawei

Honor Holly

Android 4.4

1300 MHz Quad Core

1GB

5 inch

8 MP

2000 mAh 6999

Motorola

Moto E

Android 4.4

1200 MHz Dual Core

1GB

4.3 inch

5 MP

1980 mAh 6999

Samsung

Galaxy Core 2

Android 4.4

1200 MHz Quad Core

768MB 4.5 inch

5 MP

2000 mAh 7998

Microsoft

Lumia 535

Windows 8.1

1200 MHz Quad Core

1GB

5 MP

1905 mAh 9290

HTC

Desire 310

Android 4.2

1300 MHz Quad Core

512MB 4.5 inch

5 MP

2000 mAh 9549

Alcatel

Onetouch Flash

Android 4.4

1400 MHz Octa Core

1GB

5.5 inch

13 MP

3220 mAh 9999

ASUS

Zenfone 5 A501CG

Android 4.4

1600 MHz Dual Core

2GB

5 inch

8 MP

2110 mAh 9999

Sony

Xperia M

Android 4.1

1000 MHz Dual Core

1GB

4 inch

5 MP

1700 mAh 10000

5 inch

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 81

killer rigs
Everything youll ever need to build your own PC.
Whatever your budget.

Basic rig = 25,395

HTPC = 30,135
Entry-level gaming = 48,270
Ultra high-end = 2,74,412
Digit Test Rig= 2,70,302

Mid-range gaming = 64,280

HTPC

Basic RIG
Processor
Motherboard
RAM
HDD
Monitor
Graphics Card
Cabinet
PSU
Speakers (2.1)
Optical Drive
Mouse
Keyboard
Sound Card
Total

Intel Pentium G3220

Gigabyte GA-H81M-S1
Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB 1333MHz
Toshiba 500GB
Acer V196HQL 18.5 inch
LED Backlit
None
NZXT Gamma
Corsair VS450
Creative SBS A120
Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS
Amkette Ash Black (Bundle)
Amkette Ash Black (Bundle)
None

3,975
3,500
1,490
3,150
5,650
0
2,490
2,200
1,400
990
550
0
0
`25,395

Entry-Level Gaming
Processor
Motherboard
RAM
HDD
Monitor
Graphics Card
Cabinet
PSU
Speakers
Optical Drive
Mouse
Keyboard
Sound Card
Total

AMD FX6300
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
G.Skill NS DDR3 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) PC
RAM (F3-10600CL9S-2GBNS)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Dell S2240L
Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2 GB
NZXT Gamma
Cooler Master Thunder 450W
F&D F680
Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS
Amkette Ash Black (Bundle)
Amkette Ash Black (Bundle)
None

RAM
HDD
Monitor
Graphics Card
Cabinet
PSU
Speakers
Optical Drive
Mouse
Keyboard
Sound Card
Total

Intel Core i7-4790K

ASRock Z97 Extreme6
Corsair Vengeance 16GB CMY16GX3M2A1866C9B
WD WD30EZRX 3TB + Samsung 850
Pro 256GB SSD
BenQ BL3200
ZOTAC GTX 980 ZT-90201-10P
Standard
NZXT Phantom 820
Cooler Master V1000
Logitech Z906 5.1
LG Blu-ray WH16NS40 RW
Roccat Kone XTD
Corsair Vengeance K70
ASUS Xonar Phoebus

82 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

RAM
HDD
Monitor
Graphics Card
Cabinet
PSU
Speakers
Optical Drive
Mouse
Keyboard
Sound Card
Total

AMD A8-6600K
MSI FM2-A75MA-P33
G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 2 GB (2 x 2 GB)
PC RAM (F3-12800CL9S-2GBXL)
Western Digital WD20EZRX 2TB
None (your TV)
None (HD7560D onboard)
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced
Cooler Master Thunder 450W
None
Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS
Microsoft Desktop 2000 wireless combo
Bundled
None

7,100
4,750
3,900
5,858
0
0
2,977
2,660
0
990
1,900
0
0
`30,135

Mid-Range Gaming
6,999
5,850

Processor
Motherboard

3,350

RAM

3,750
8,676
9,975
2,490
2,660
3,000
990
530
0
0
`48,270

Ultra high-end Gaming

Processor
Motherboard

Processor
Motherboard

HDD
Monitor
Graphics Card
Cabinet
PSU
Speakers
Optical Drive
Mouse
Keyboard
Sound Card
Total

Intel Core i5-4440

ASUS B85M-G
Gskill RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D8GBXL (2 x 4GB)
Toshiba 1TB DT01ACA100
Dell S2240L
ZOTAC GTX 660 192-bit 2 GB
Thermaltake Versa H21
Seasonic S12II 620 Watts
F&D F680
Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS
CM Storm Devastator (Bundle)
CM Storm Devastator (Bundle)
None

11,775
6,000
6,300
3,650
8,676
12,830
2,980
5,630
3,000
990
2,449
0
0
`64,280

Primary Digit Test Rig

23,499
14,340

Processor
Motherboard

13,000

RAM

20,215
73,850
44,999
16,000
15,200
23,299
5,950
5,750
8,460
9,850
`2,74,412

Intel Core i7 - 4960X (Extreme Edition)

ASRock X79 Extreme 9
Corsair Dominator 32GB - 2133MHz
(8GB x 4)
Toshiba DT01ABA100V
SanDisk Extreme II 240GB (x2 for
HDD testing)

70,000
28,499

ZOTAC GTX 980 AMP! Extreme Edition

Cabinet (NA) + Intel RTS2011LC Cabinet+ Cooler Stock AIO

50,850

HDD
SSD
Graphics Card

PSU
Monitor
Optical Drive
Mouse
Keyboard
Sound Card
Total

Corsair HX1050
BenQ GL2460HM
NA
Razer Ouroboros Elite
Roccat Isku FX
ASUS Essence STX

36,599
3,810
24,980

NA
16,291
11,775
NA
10,999
7,500
8,999
`2,70,302

Recommended
Buys
From smartphones to graphics cards, heres what we
recommend for your next purchase!

top
3
Gaming Laptops

top 3
Best Smartphones
Brand
Sony
Motorola
Apple

Model
Xperia Z3
Moto X (2nd Gen)
iPhone 6

Price (in `.)

47,990
31,999
53,500

Brand
ASUS
MSI
MSI

top 3
Premium Point and
Shoot Cameras
Brand
Fujifilm
Sony
Fujifilm

Model
X100s
DSC-RX100 II
FinePix X20

Model
GTX 660 192-bit 2GB
GTX 750TI 2 GB
Radeon R7 260 X 2GB

Price (in `)
68,000
34,989
29,999

Brand
Toshiba
Acer
HP

Model
Nexus 7 2013 (32GB + WiFi)
iPad Mini Retina 16GB WiFi
Pro XT911

Price (in `)
12,830
10,740
9,975

Brand
Sapphire
ZOTAC
ASUS

Model
E10M
EM1
HITZ MA350

Price (in `)
1,00,000
99,999
1,49,865

Model
Radeon R9 295X2
GTX 980 AMP! Extreme Edition
GTX TITAN Z

Price (in `)
1,19,999
50,999
1,39,000

top 3
Best Tablets
Price (in `)
17,999
27,500
14,999

Brand
Apple
HTC (Google)
Samsung

top 3
Budget To Mid Range IEMs
Brand
SoundMAGIC
Cowon
Creative

Model
Portege Z30t-A
Aspire S7-392
Elitebook 1040 G1

top 3
Best Graphics Cards

top 3
Budget Tablets
Brand
ASUS
Apple
Digiflip

Price (in `)
90,000
1,12,290
1,48,000

top 3
Ultrabooks

top 3
Budget Graphics
Cards
Brand
ZOTAC
ZOTAC
Sapphire

Model
G551JK
GE60 2PE
GS60 2PE

Price (in `)
2,850
1,099
1,399

Model
iPad Air 2 64GB
Nexus 9 (32GB + LTE)
Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)

Price (in `)
42,900
44,900
44,640

top 3
Gaming Headphones
Brand
SteelSeries
Kingston
Thermaltake

Model
Siberia V2
Hyper X Cloud
Ttesports Level 10M Diamond

Price (in `)
8,000
7,500
19,992

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 83

I N SIDE

Bazaar

Page 87
Nokia Lumia 830

The latest products

reviewed For you

The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products

every month. Each of these products is put through
a series of tests and is finally given a score. The
final score is arrived at after considering a number
of factors and evaluating them in terms of features,
performance, value for money, build quality, and, in
the case of software, even ease of use.

Page 89
Mitashi GameIn
ThunderPro
Page 88
Xiaomi Redmi
Note 3G

For better understanding of our ratings, heres a

quick guide to our overall score
10

to

30

Extremely poor product.

31

to

50

Strictly OK.

51

to

70

Decent product.

71

to

90

Very good product.

91

to 100

Keep away!

Not recommended

Go for it, but there may be better products out there.

Highly recommended.

Ground-breaking product.

Weve never seen anything like it before.

A definite must buy!

Page 91
SimpleAudio Go

& M ORE . . .

Page 92
Sony MDRXB950BT

Bing Search in Word

PureView technology

Microsoft is integrating Bing search into Word

Online, which is going to be called Insights for
Office http://dgit.in/WordBing

Check out this animated video that shows how the

PureView technology 41-megapixel camera in the
Nokia Lumia 1020 works http://dgit.in/NokiaLens

Bazaar

HP Pavilion 13

A good basic laptop at the price. Barely.

etting your hands on a good laptop at

the `40k price range can be a bit tricky
at times, because its an awkward price
range to be in sandwiched between the
budget laptop category around the `25k to `35k
mark, and the `45k to `50k mark mainstream laptops. Notebooks at this price point are transitional
between the budget to mainstream laptop segments, and this can always be a difficult handoff.
Not so much with the HP Pavilion 13 notebook,
though. For its asking price, we found it to be a
good basic laptop to have. HPs Pavilion range of
laptops have traditionally rolled out good looking
laptops at a slightly higher price tag, but its good
to see that this lower-price Pavilion 13 has maintained some of those characteristics. The laptop
has a snazzy metallic gray colour scheme, is of a
slim profile overall, and has a bit of a polished look
and feel going for it great to see that, although
its not totally unexpected. At 1.8 kg, this laptop is
in the ultrabook range, meaning its quite easy to
hold onto and transport while tucked away in your
backpack, which is a good feature in any laptop.
Made out of plastic through and through, its
good to see the HP Pavilion 13 is built well not
exceptionally so, but we found no undue creaking
at its joints and its screen hinge does a good job at
fusing the screen with the rest of the chassis.
Typing on the Pavilion 13s isolated, islandstyled keys is a good experience, with little or no
flex encountered during furious bursts of typing.
Weve seen that sometimes manufacturers end
up using a flimsy metal plate as the base for the
keyboard but thats not the case here. Its singleslab touch pad (with no dedicated mouse buttons)
is good to use once you get accustomed to its feel
and we found no fault in its haptic feedback. The
laptops Beats Audio speakers are good compared
to most laptop speakers weve encountered at this
price bracket, but they arent exceptionally great
by laptop audio standards which are still disappointing, overall, to say the least.
Coming to the Pavilion 13s core performance,
we found it to be average, and within the range of
its onboard hardware not bad, not great either.
Satisfactory is the term. Its screens brightness
isnt too great at 130 cd/m2, and with a contrast
ratio of 97:1, we can clearly say that the Pavilion
13s screen isnt very good. But for basic use, its
alright. Watching movies on the anti-glare screen

Price90
39,9

helps block out reflections to a large extent, and

the accompanying onboard audio definitely adds
to the experience. Its HD webcam is quite efficient
at handling video chats through Skype or Google
Hangout, no problems whatsoever. Definitely no
gaming on this machine, since it lacks a discrete
graphics chip, and the most you can do without
throttling it down is access the Web through a
browser, listen to music, watch movies, work on
productivity software, and thats about it. For
most people, thats enough, and a laptop need not
be capable of doing anything more.
What we definitely liked about the HP Pavilion
13 are two things 1 terabyte of hard disk space
and 3 hours of runtime on our battery benchmark
(at high performance preset), which should let this
laptop last between 4 to 5 hours on a single charge.
We dont have any complaints about that.
Basically, it all boils down to the price. Better
options do exist, when it comes to specs from
brands like Acer and Lenovo, but the HP Pavilion
13 with its petite frame, lightweight form factor
tries to offer something in areas that others
havent fully locked down on. It is highly ultra
portable as a device, offers encouraging audio
performance, oodles of storage space and good
battery performance. For a laptop thats suited for
basic tasks and a little casual gaming on the side,
you cant go wrong with this one.
Jayesh Shinde

63
Features......................... 65
Performance................. 60
Value............................... 60
Design............................. 65

Specifications

Display: 13.3-inch, WLED

backlit, anti-glare screen;
Resolution: 1366x768
pixels; CPU: Dual-core Intel
Core i3-4030U @ 1.9 GHz;
RAM: 4GB; HDD: 1TB, 5400
RPM; GPU: Onboard Intel
HD 4400; I/O ports: 2 x USB
3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI, 1
x Ethernet, 1 x headphone,
mic combo port; Wireless:
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth 4.0; SD Card
Reader: Yes; OS: Windows
8.1; Weight: 1.8 kg

Contact

HP India Pvt Ltd

Phone: 1800-180-1810
Email: [email protected]
Website: hp.com/in

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 85

Microsoft Sway

Battle for space

Microsofts new app Sway lets you build

general online presentation documents is now
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Corsair
Graphite 760T

Gionee Elife S5.1

Beauty, not a beast

One for the show-offs

he original
Graphite 600T
from Corsair was
a wonderful case
and the 760T retains the
same plastic-metal shell
design concept. Although
this time around, the entire
side panel is transparent
and made of good quality
acrylic. We especially liked
the hinged door design
along with the spring
loaded latches. You can also
mount four SSDs using the
included modular quick
mount trays. Theyve also
added a magnetic top cover
that fits really well and is a
welcome add-on.
Three pre-installed Corsair
140mm AF series fans coupled with the inbuilt fan con-

75
Features.....................................84
Performance.............................74
Build Quality.............................87
Value for money.......................55

Specifications

Form Factor: Full-Tower;

Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX,
MicroATX, ATX, E-ATX, XL-ATX; Fans:
2x140mm (Front), 1x140mm (Rear);
PSU Location: Bottom; Drive Bays:
(x3) 5.25, (x4) 2.5, (x6)2.5/3.5;
Expansion Slots: 9; Dimensions:
564(H) x 246(W) x 568(D)mm;
Weight: 11.2kg; Warranty: 2 Years

Contact

Corsair Memory
Phone: 9845651608
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.corsair.com
86 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Everything about the private sectors space

race in this brilliant and colorful infographic
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Price00
14,5

trol help in maintaining the

temperature and noise inside
the case and as a result, the
Graphite 760T performs fairly
decent with the load temperatures inside never crossing
38.5C with the ambient room
temperature being 28C.
Theres a fundamental
problem with saturating the
market with innumerable
options, at one point the price
to features(or performance)
ratio of two different products
in the same category is bound
to be immensely close. This is
exactly what happens with the
Graphite 760T. Corsairs own
Obsidian 750D which belongs
to its flagship series of cases
is available for a similar (or
even cheaper) price and since
the insides of the 760T and
the 750D are almost identical,
your choice boils down to your
preferred material finish and
the price difference between
the two cases.
Siddhant Sharma

ts not often that were

wowed by the design
of a smartphone, but
this one did it. The
Gionee Elife S5.1 is one of the
slimmest smartphones in the
world and leaves no stone
unturned in terms of
design and build.
Price99
The device is like
18,9
a flattened Xperia
smartphone, which
makes the iPhone 6 feel
bulky. It weighs only 97.7
grams, making it lighter than
most other phones. The glass
back makes it a bit slippery,
but slapping on a cover takes
care of that and pretty much
everyone does that. On the
MediaTek MT6592
build and design front, the
octa-core is available
Elife S5.1 is actually one
on much cheaper devices, all
of the best weve seen in a
of which perform better than
long time.
the Gionee Elife S5.1. The proSadly though, the design
cessor doesnt perform well
doesnt go with whats
and the phone is underpowinside. At `18,999, the phone
ered, both on regular usage
is grossly overpriced. The
and on benchmarks. Even
1 GB of RAM feels a bit less
given that Gionees AmigoUI
consumes a fair portion.
In addition, the battery
life, though better than what
we expected, is nothing close
to what its competitors come
Features.....................................81
with. The 4.8-inch display
Performance.............................61
doesnt feel lacking but wed
Design.........................................80
have liked it better had it
Value...........................................53
sported a resolution of 1080p
instead of 720p.
Specifications
Display: 4.8 inch 720p HD IPS;
The 8MP camera is pretty
Processor: 1.7 GHz MediaTek
good in normal light but fails
MT6592 octa-core SoC; Battery:
under low light conditions.
2050 mAh; Operating System:
While the camera is acceptAndroid 4.4 KitKat; RAM: 2GB; ROM:
able, the performance overall
16GB
isnt. The brilliant design
Contact
doesnt make up for a laggy
Gionee India,
experience and we cant quite
Phone: 1800 208 1166
recommend this smartphone.
Email: [email protected]
Prasid Banerjee
Website: http://gionee.co.in/

70

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Nokia Lumia 830

Happy ending? Not quite.

Gaming on the device is fairly

he last of the Lumia
good, but we were disappointed
phones sporting the
when we played a resource heavy
Nokia badge, the 830 feagame like Asphalt 8. There were
tures a sharp metal frame
some obvious frame drops and
with an anodized finish giving it
at certain periods the stuttering
a flagship feel. The display sits
became a bit too cumbersome.
on top of the frame and is slightly
Games that require less resources
raised from the body sporting a
felt much more stable.
curved finish. The 5-inch display
In the battery departis sharp and bright, the contrast
ment, you get a 2200 mAh
is great and the colours look
battery which sounds
rich thanks to the adoption of
decent and should provide
AMOLED display technology.
you almost one and a half
Even under the harsh sun, the
days worth of juice for regular
readability is surprisingly good.
use. This includes checking your
Nokia didnt go for on-screen
email, your social networks,
buttons on the Lumia 830 and
clicking some pictures and so on.
instead opted for capacitive butIt has wireless charging support
tons underneath the display. At the
as well, so you can just pop it on
back, the rear cover is comprised
a wireless charging pad to charge
of a polycarbonate material and
the device.
it comes off to reveal the microSD
In the camera department,
card, nanoSIM card slot and the
Price35
the handset sports a 10 megbattery. Similar to the Lumia 1020,
26,8
apixel rear camera and a 0.9 megapixel
there is a smaller round section which
front camera for taking selfies. The primary
houses the camera lens and the LED flash.
camera comes with OIS (Optical Image StabiThe phone fits well in your hand and doesnt
lisation) and PureView technology with an F/2.2
slip off easily thanks to the metal frame which proaperture. It performs great in bright conditions
vides a decent amount of grip and weight.
with pictures sporting rich colours and you can
The smartphone runs on Windows Phone 8.1
easily make out the details. Low light performance
with the latest Denim update. Now you can create
is decent with a slight visible noise, however, a
folders on the start screen, have more informastable hand will always get you good results. The
tion on your glance screen and a lot more other
best part is that the (Lumia) camera app offers
improvements have been made. There is of course,
manual controls including the option to change
the notifications panel called the Action Center
your ISO, shutter speeds, exposure, white balance,
that can be pulled down from the top and in it we
and so on. All of which is reminiscent of the Lumia
get to see quick settings toggles, three different
1020. We were highly impressed with the video
sizes for tiles, and a lot more. The live tiles have
recording capability as not only do the videos look
been improved as they are more intuitive and
good but the audio quality is superb since videos
offer more information. Overall, the performance
are recorded with dual-channel AAC audio at 256
is noteworthy and the OS runs perfectly smooth
Kbps, and you also get an option for Dolby Digital
without any stutters or lag. Microsoft has defiPlus 5.1 recording.
nitely improved some important features, however,
For a price of about `26,000, the Lumia 830 is a
there are still a few things here and there which
good Windows Phone but not the best smartphone
makes the mobile OS fall short when compared
as you can get much better options in the market
to Android or iOS. Firstly, the apps are not fast
like the Nexus 5, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, etc. It
enough and dont load as quickly. Secondly, Winoffers an appealing design, a smooth OS and a great
dows Phone still falls short in the variety of apps.
camera, but somehow it doesnt justify the price.
Yes, the numbers have increased but some of the
crucial apps are still missing.
Kunal Khullar

69
Features......................... 73
Performance................. 58
Value............................... 65
Design............................. 82

Specifications

Display: 5-inch Display;

Resolution: 1280x720;
Gorilla Glass 3; Battery:
2200mAh; Storage: 16
GB with microSD support
upto 128GB; Camera:10MP
rear autofocus with LED
flash and Carl Zeiss lens,
0.9MP front facing; SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon
400; CPU: Quad-core 1.2
GHz; GPU: Adreno 305;
RAM: 1GB; Operating
System: Windows Phone
8.1; Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, NFC

Contact

Nokia India Pvt. Ltd.

Phone: 022 - 33286000
Email: NA
Website: www.microsoft.
com/en-in/mobile/

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 87

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New Instagram filters

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Xiaomi
Redmi Note 3G
Xiaomi goes big

hen you price a

phone at `8,999
and give it specs
that would otherwise cost `20,000, youve
created something fit for the
Indian market. Theres
a point where this
needs to become the
Price9
8,99
norm though, which
is why we ignored
the price of the Xiaomi
Redmi Note.
The 5.5 inch 720p display
makes this phone big but the
problem is that the overall
design is too plasticky and
feels very cheap. The extreme
glossiness makes it slippery
and combined with the big
Though the octa-core
size, its quite tough to not let
allows for a snappy
it slip.
UI and multi-tasking,
The MediaTek MT6592
you do notice lag when gaming
octa-core SoC has never been
on this device. The Asus
our favourite and it disapZenfone 5 is slightly underpoints again on this one. The
powered compared to this
phone has a poor battery life.
phone but it offers uniform
performance. The Redmi Note
starts off as a powerhouse, but
soon enough the lag and stuttering becomes prominent.
What really impressed us
was the 13MP rear camera.
Features.....................................83
The camera is weaker than the
Performance.............................62
one on the Xiaomi Mi3, but its
Design.........................................71
still quite good. The white balValue...........................................89
ance and colour reproduction
are really good under normal
Specifications
Display: 5.5 inch 720p HD IPS;
light and it feels like one of the
Processor: 1.7 GHz MediaTek
better cameras in this range.
MT6592 octa-core SoC; RAM: 2GB;
Overall, the Redmi Note
ROM: 8GB expandable to 32GB;
is
a
device that is aptly priced
Battery: 3100 mAh; Camera: 13MP
at the moment. If youre
rear, 5MP front
expecting another Mi3 then
Contact
you best lose hope. The Redmi
Company: Mi India
Note is strictly a value for
Phone: 1800 103 6286
money smartphone.
Email: [email protected]
Prasid Banerjee
Website: www.mi.com/in/

STK Groovez
SMC650 Bluetooth
speaker
Get the party started

TK is a common
brand name thats
known for making
smartphone
accessories. One of
the latest products
from them is the
Price9
2,19
SMC650 Bluetooth
speaker which
comes with an in-built
microSD card slot, FM radio
and a microphone for making
phone calls.
The speaker is compact and
has a cone-like shape. There is
a chrome rim on the top of the
speaker along with the grill
and four buttons on the side
which allows you to control
your music, volume and
attend calls. At the bottom you
will find the power switch and
some blue-LED lights covered
with a translucent rubber grip
going all around.

74

88 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

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65
Features.....................................70
Performance.............................60
Value...........................................70
Design.........................................62

Specifications

Bluetooth: 2.1; Range: 10m; Output

3W; Battery 300mAH Li-polymer;
MicroSD card slot; FM Radio; Calling
capability with built in microphone

Contact

Company: STK
Phone: 9840308113
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.stk-acc.com/in

The speaker also has a

3.5 mm audio jack and a
miniUSB port to charge the
speaker. The speaker indicates the current input mode
by using prerecorded audio
clips.
The microSD card feature
is quite interesting as you
can swap your card from
your phone and it starts
playing MP3 tracks right off
the bat. When making calls
the clarity of the microphone
is not bad and there is next to
no distortion on the speaker.
When you dont have a Bluetooth device connected or a
microSD card in the speaker,
it switches on the FM radio.
Coming to sound quality,
the bass overpowers the
sound and the overall quality
goes for a toss. The speaker
is loud enough for its size.
Although, at high volumes the sound is not very
appealing. If you are not a big
audiophile, then you might
not mind getting this device.
Kunal Khullar

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72
Features......................... 77
Performance................. 70
Build Quality................. 76
Value for Money........... 65

Specifications

Processor: Cortex A9
1.6GHz; RAM: 1GB; GPU:
Mali-400 MP; OS: Android
4.4; Battery: 3500 mAh;
Screen Size: 5 inch TFT;
Resolution: 800x480;
Camera: Yes; 3G Support:
Yes; Connectivity: Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n; Output: HDMI;
In-built Memory: 8GB
(expandable upto 32GB via
MicroSD Card)

Contact

Mitashi Edutainment Pvt. Ltd.

Phone: +91 22 25006661 / 62
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mitashi.com

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Mitashi GameIn ThunderPro

Hadouken! A step in the right direction.

he ThunderPro is a new entrant in Mitashis

GameIn series of consoles and its design
is quite a departure from the previous
devices in the range.
While we were not particularly
left impressed with the older
models, the ThunderPro manages to upstage them and grab
out attention. Especially with
its superior build quality and
battery life. This time around,
Mitashi managed to include two
Price9
proper full size analog sticks
9,99
coupled with extra shoulder buttons.
The 5-inch screen, however, isnt very
bright when compared to smartphone screens
of today. We werent too impressed with the colour
saturation and vertical viewing angles either. The
latter doesnt matter with small screen sizes.
Although the specifications of the ThunderPro
are pretty standard for a device at this price, its real

world performance is decent. We didnt see any lag

while performing regular operations or browsing
on it. Gaming was smooth too, something that
didnt necessarily hold true for its
predecessors. The ThunderPro
shines the most in gaming
using emulators and Mitashi
has pre-installed emulators with
popular games for almost every
classic game console available. Playing 8/16/32/64-bit
games on the ThunderPro is a
good experience thanks to the
physical buttons.
The device has two speakers
at the front that are quite loud. As for playing
normal android games, the console has an inbuilt
virtual button mapping app that resides on the
action bar for easy access. All in all, the ThunderPro is big improvement.
Siddhant Sharma

HTC Re digital camera

Point and shoot

TCs peculiar looking device

called the Re is an attempt
by the Taiwanese OEM to
take a shot at the action
camera market. The camera is portable, quite easy to use and looks like
an asthma inhaler. There are just
two button, one to take pictures and
record videos and the other to activate
the slow-mo mode. There is a microSD
card slot and a microUSB charging
port at the bottom. The camera is
waterproof and can be used under
water for about 30 minutes at a depth
of 1 meter as its IPX7 certified.
Since the Re itself doesnt have a
viewfinder you can use the Re camera
app on your Android or iOS device
as a viewfinder. The app also lets
you control more features of the camera
including time-lapse and gives you access to

Price9
9,99

all the images stored on the microSD card

within the device.
The Res camera has a 16 megapixel
sensor that can record 1080p videos at
30fps. Thanks to the wide angle lens, the
area coverage is quite vast and you can
definitely take some great selfies. Images
come out quite decent although pictures
taken indoors and in low light turn out
to be grainy, underexposed and mostly
blurred. You need to keep your hands
really stable when clicking stills which
is true for all cameras in this price point.
On the other hand, videos turn out to be
more stable and the output is similar to
what you get on mid-high range smartphone cameras.
For the price, the Re offers a decent
package but it comes nowhere close to the
quality you can achieve from a GoPro.
Kunal Khullar

68
Features......................... 68
Performance................. 65
Value............................... 70
Design............................. 70

Specifications

16MP CMOS sensor; 1080p

videos at 30fps; 146 degree
wide angle f/2.8 lens; Builtin microphone; MicroSD card
slot upto 128GB; Bluetooth
4.0; Grip sensor; 820mAh
battery; IPX7 certification

Contact

HTC Corporation
Phone: 1800 266 3566
Email: NA
Website: www.htc.com/in/

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 89

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Xiaomi Piston 2
Asus Fonepad 7
in-ear headphones Dual-SIM with
Budget audio done right
ZenUI

he Mi earphones
have a 1.2 metre long
Kevlar fibre cable
that manages to stay
untangled even when kept
messily in a bag
or in the pocket.
The cable appears
quite hardy, at
least up to the cylinder with
the in-line controls, beyond
which the split cable takes up
a more traditional guise with
its rubber coating. The rest
of the earphones, including
the 3.5mm connector and the
earpiece unit that houses the
drivers and the flanges, are
made of ribbed metal. The
overall build quality is fantastic, almost unbelievably so,
especially when you consider
the price of these earphones.
Mis pricing strategy is easily
evidenced in this product
category as well.

82
Performance.............................71
Features.....................................83
Design & Build..........................80
Value for Money.......................94

Specifications

In-Line controls: Yes; Cable

length: 1.2m; Impedance: 12~16
ohms; Sensitivity: 93 dB; Rated
Power: 5 mW; Frequency range: 20
Hz to 20 KHz

Contact

Company: Mi India
Phone: 1800 103 6286
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mi.com/in/
90 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

A quintessential budget tablet

Price
799

The Mi earphones are

really, really loud and even at
the max volume, there is little
distortion except for some
static that leaks in occasionally. The earphones are also
capable of very good clarity.
The Mi earphones tend to
fall on the flat and dry side of
things with a preference for
mids and highs over bass. The
Mi earphones will also have
you missing out on resonance
and warmth especially if
you listen to a lot of baritone
singers. On the other hand,
if a song is overly reliant on
highs, then the Mi earphones
run the risk of sounding
shrill. However, a well
mixed song where the highs
and the low-end both have
room is reproduced well by
the Mi earphones.
To sum it up, bass heads
will not like the Mi earphones
but those with a preference
for mids and highs will be
pleasantly surprised. Theres
no denying that at `799, the
Mi earphones are a fantastic
deal. Those looking for a
warmer and slightly less
treble oriented approach
should consider the Cowon
EM-1s at the same price.
Nikhil Pradhan

bout six months

ago, we reviewed
the Asus Fonepad 7
Dual-SIM. Back then,
wed told you that the device
was a good choice for
those on the lookout
for a budget tablet
Price9
8,99
but it wont suit you
if your requirements
include resource intensive operations. Well, Asus
has come out with a refresh of
the Fonepad 7 but its a very
minor update. With it, the
company has added the ZenUI,
which had been introduced in
its Zenfone series, to the tablet
line-up as well.
those looking for an AndroidIts the same 7-inch tablet,
based tablet at below `10,000.
with thick bezels and an overall
At `8,999, the price is right and
sturdy build. Its not much of
with Asus theres not much to
a looker but fits the budget for
complain. We dont like the 2MP
camera at the back and neither
will you. But then again, if it is
indeed irksome then you can
check out the upgraded version
of this tablet which costs a little
Features.....................................73
over `10,000 and comes with a
Design.........................................63
5MP camera.
Performance.............................69
This one, however, is all
Value...........................................78
about the ZenUI and were
happy to report that it doesnt
Specifications
change much in terms of the
Display: 7 inch 1024x600p HD IPS;
performance. The addition of
Processor: 1.2 GHz Intel Clover
Trail Z2580 dual-core; Operating
a custom UI usually means
System: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
lesser performance but the
with ZenUI; RAM: 1GB; ROM: 8GB
ZenUI doesnt affect it much.
expandable to 32GB; Battery: 3950
We did see some lag after filling
mAh; Camera: 2MP rear, 0.3 MP
the device up with apps not
(VGA) front
to the extent thatd make us
Contact
label this a bad tablet. Also, the
ASUS Technology Pvt. Ltd.
features added by the ZenUI
Phone: +1800 209 0365
make up for it.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.asus.in
Prasid Banerjee

69

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Astrum BT-021N Luxury Bass

65
Performance................. 50
Features......................... 77
Design & Build.............. 60
Value for Money........... 75

Specifications

Interface: Bluetooth
3.0 with NFC, AUX, USB;
Rated battery life: Up
to 7-10hours; Power:
5W RMS; Mic: Omni
directional/noise filter
Microphone; Battery
specs: 1600mAh, 5-7Hrs
Charging time

Contact

Astrum Holdings
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.
astrumltd.com/

Feature rich average performer

Now for the flip side: the

his little Bluetooth
speaker isnt the best perspeaker bears a striking
former out there. While there
resemblance to the
is some bass, its accompamuch more expensive
nied by distortion as well.
and premium Cambridge Audio
The speaker produced about
Minx Air 200 wireless speaker
the same volume output as
wed received a while ago. Of
the Zoook BS100 perhaps a
course, the Astrum BT-021N
Price9
smidgen less but not too much.
is about 5 times more compact
2,69
At this price point you cant
and 10 times cheaper. In fact,
expect stellar audio quality and that is what
its one of the least expensive Bluetooth
you get something that greatly amplifies the
speakers weve received. Putting it head on
capabilities of your smartphone speakers but not
with our best value winner from last year, the
much else. If youre looking for clarity, precision,
Zoook BS100, we noticed a lot of differences. First,
and all those lofty luxurious ideals youll need to
the Astrum speaker has managed to throw in NFC
look elsewhere and be prepared to shell out more
at this throwaway price which is quite commendmoolah. But if youre looking for a feature rich
able. Second, its got a 5V USB out, which is quite
device that amplifies your music, can double up as
rare not just at this price point but even otherwise.
a power-bank for those tight situations, then look
Very few speakers like the JBL Charge give you the
no further, the Astrum BT-021 is your speaker.
option to charge your devices using this battery
that youre anyway lugging around.
Siddharth Parwatay

SimpleAudio Go
Simple yet superior

arly last year, PC components manufacturer

our test tracks. One of the things wed liked about
Corsair announced the acquisition of Simple
the UE M Boombox was that no matter how much
Audio, a company specialised in developing
you push it (nearly 100 percent volume), the speaker
home audio streaming solutions. The Go
just wouldnt distort. Its similar with the Go but its
portable Bluetooth speaker is the result of this partmuch louder! Acoustic tracks open up and unlike the
nership and is supposed to bring with it the acquired
Boombox which was warm, the Go speaker clearly
know-how from the Scottish audio makers. The
is tuned to have a bright sound signature. Thats not
speaker is slightly curved along its
to say the mid range or lows arent well reprefront grille, with the edges sweeping
sented, they are, but only as much as you
back. Both in terms of size and
can expect from a speaker this size.
design, the speaker cant help but
When the UE Mobile
remind you of the Ultimate Ears
Boombox launched it was priced
Mobile Boombox portable speaker,
at an atrocious `8,995 but soon
which for some time now has been
it dropped to around 5k. The
our go-to recommendation for
Go is priced at `6,999 to begin
anyone looking for a compact Bluetooth
with so hopefully youll be able
speaker that does not compromise on
to pick it up for lesser already. At
audio quality. With the SimpleAudio Go, that
the MRP though, its recommended
Price9
recommendation might just change.
for someone who just does not want to carry
6,99
In a head-to-head comparison the Go
something bulkier like the JBL Flip variants.
was able to deliver deeper bass on many of
Siddharth Parwatay

70
Features......................... 63
Performance................. 77
Build................................ 72
Value............................... 65

Specifications

Dimensions: 12.5 cm x
6.5 cm x 6 cm; Bluetooth:
3.0 A2DP; Inputs: Aux
3.5 mm; Other features:
Microphone; In the box:
3.5mm cable and carrying
pouch

Contact

Corsair India
Telephone: 9845651608
Email: indiaservice@
corsair.com
Website: www.corsair.com

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 91

Goodbye darkness

The next Blackbird

Lighthouse MV, high-tech sensors monitor

power lines to detect outages before they
even happen http://dgit.in/OutageSens

Bazaar

NASA has recently funded Lockheed Martin for

an unmanned hypersonic spy plane capable of
Mach 6.0 http://dgit.in/LMSR-72

Sony MDRXB950BT
headphone

TP-Link Archer
C20i AC750
Wireless Router

Drop the bass

f its bass that you are

looking for, then you
should check out the
Sony MDR MDRXB950BT wireless headphone. It has an over-the-ear
design and comes packed with
Bluetooth 2.0, NFC and large
40mm drivers. The ear cups
have a soft cushioning with
a faux-leather finish which is
quite comfortable on the ears.
The overall finish and design
is quite premium and it feels
sturdy as well.
The left earpiece houses
the power button with an
indicator LED, a bass boost
button, the microUSB port for
charging, a standard 3.5 mm
audio jack, and the microphone. The right earpiece has
the NFC chip, volume rocker
buttons and a sliding button

65
Features.....................................75
Performance.............................60
Value...........................................45
Design.........................................78

Specifications

Bluetooth: 3.0; Drivers: 40mm (3 28 kHz, with cord); Weight: 280gms;

NFC; Electronic Bass Boost circuitry;
Battery life (Approx): 20 hours;
Passive operation with auxiliary
cable; A2DP support.

Contact

Sony India
Phone: +1800 103 7799
Email: NA
Website: www.sony.co.in
92 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Another entrant in the affordable

wireless 802.11ac market

Price0
9,50

for attending calls and skipping tracks.

Frankly, the sound quality
is not very impressive as the
drivers have been tuned to
give a high bass output. Even
when you connect the headphones via an auxiliary cable,
the output is still quite high
on bass and you need to tinker
with your equalizer settings
to bring it down. Do think
twice when you hit the bass
boost button as it completely
overpowers the mids and the
treble. You can attend calls
from the headphones when
connected to your smartphone
and overall sound quality is
quite good.
In terms of battery life, you
can get about 15 hours of usage
after charging for about 2-3
hours which is quite decent
considering the large size of
the drivers. The headphones
are perfect for someone who
like to go high on bass, but
for those who prefer a more
crisp and flatter sound profile
should probably skip this. But
with such a high price tag, you
dont get the moneys worth.
Kunal Khullar

ffordable 802.11ac
routers are becoming
more and more
commonplace
these days. The Archer
Price9
C20i is the scaled down
3,19
version of the C2 with the
key differences being that
the C2 has Gigabit Ethernet
ports and adjustable external
antennae. The Archer C20i
has three internal antennae
near the top of the device while
the entire circuitry is towards
sitting at approximately in the
the bottom. This coupled
centre of the bottom half of
with the fact that the ports are
the product. The placement of
also situated near the bottom
the power, WPS, Wi-Fi radio
makes this router quite stable
switches and the USB port are
i.e. not prone to toppling off so
in an easily accessible location.
easily. The front panel of the
The device does not come with
device has a nice glossy plastic
wall mount.
finish with the indicator LEDs
We managed to squeeze
out approximately 250 Mbps
on the 2.4GHz band and 360
Mbps on the 5GHz band. However, the 2.4GHz stream wasnt
as stable as the 5GHz stream
Performance.............................65
which hardly ever showed any
Features.....................................58
major undulations during the
Build Quality.............................61
throughput test. When pinged
wirelessly the device did have
Specifications
a very fluctuating response.
Wireless LAN Chip: MediaTek
So we wouldnt recommend
MT7620A+MT7610E; Memory:
64 MB; Protocols: 802.11
gaming on Wi-Fi.
b/g/n/ac; Bandwidth:
At the heart of the device
750(433@[email protected])
lies
the MT7620A which is
Mbps; Ethernet: 4x LAN, 1x WAN,
also
present in the C2 but the
10/100 Ports Without modem;
C2 has GBe ports aside from
Warranty: 3 years.
the external antennae. So if the
Contact
price difference isnt considerTP-LINK India Private Limited,
able then wed pick the C2 over
Phone - 1800 209 4168,
the C20i.
Email - www.tp-link.in,
Website - [email protected]
Mithun Mohandas

61

Aliens in UAE?

Salmon shooting

UAEs new building for environmental management

looks no less than an alien spacecraft, docked in the
middle of the desert http://dgit.in/AlienStruc

Whoosh built a cannon system that shoots

off Salmon over a dam. Heres to the future of
ecological conservation http://dgit.in/Whooshh

Bazaar

iBall Slide WQ149

A decent enough tablet thats hampered by poor design

icrosofts vision for its Windows platform is a bit, well, fuzzy. Windows 8 and
the Surface series of PCs/Tablets were
designed with work tablets in mind,
to create a device and platform that was as good
for work as it was for entertainment. The initial
Surface RT devices failed because they seemed
to represent the worst of both worlds, presenting
users with a cross between a somewhat more powerful netbook and an app-less tablet that only really
offered Word and IE.
What those devices did bring, however, was
incredibly good design. Despite their many flaws,
the Surface series is among the most thoughtfully
designed tablet PCs available today and you do
have to commend its design.
The iBall Slide is, in a way, the antithesis to the
Surfaces design. By itself, its a good enough tablet.
For `25,000, you get an Intel Bay Trail powered
device with a nice screen, decent speakers, Windows 8.1 and a nice touch screen. You also get a nice
pouch to carry the device, and a charger as well.
On the downside, you only get 32GB of HDD
space, 10GB of which is hogged by your OS, a
micro-SD card reader (so you cant plug-in your
cameras SD card) and a micro-USB port (with fullsize adapter), along with a keyboard cover, which is
what this device is really about but isnt very good.
While using the device as just a tablet, browsing
and watching movies, it seemed fine, only really
suffering from the problems that Windows 8 itself
presents rather than any issue with the hardware.
20GB of usable HDD space is very low, but if youre
used to tablets and mobile devices in general, you
wont notice the shortfall since its not meant to be a
primary computing device anyway.
Its when you decide to actually start working
on the device that the frustrations begin. Firstly,
the keyboard cover is awkward. Its been designed
to envelop the device, but only latches on in the
middle via a magnetic clip not unlike the one on the
Surface. The problem is that both sides hang free
and neither of them latch onto either the front or
the back of the tablet. To compound this problem,
the rear flap is hinged at two more points diagonally, meaning that you can never hold the cover
flush against the rear of the device.
The keyboard itself is actually quite nice to
type on, but while the Surface managed to find an
elegant solution to lapability (working with the

Price99
24,9

device on your lap), the Slides solution is clunky,

fiddlesome and rarely worth the effort, while also
being limited to one angle.
If youre familiar with an iPads cover, opening
and closing it unlocks and locks the device. This
isnt the case here and this is a serious problem
because the power button sticks out the side and
is easy to press, resulting in the device turning on
randomly even while in your bag. It was this same
problem that caused the device to overheat badly
and the battery to discharge completely on more
than one occasion.
Speaking of the battery, our tests were entirely
inconclusive. The device gave us battery life ranging
from 2.5 hours to five hours at max. brightness
(PCMark 8 Work test) and this was never consistent.
Going by the results however, we can estimate a battery life of at least 3-4 hours for regular use.
Worse still is the implementation of the USB
port. Half the reason anyone would want a Windows-based tablet is for the freedom that it offers,
but with only one micro-USB port (USB 2.0) and
virtually no on-board storage, you have to carry
around the adapter if you want to plug in a USB
drive or HDD. If that wasnt enough of a problem,
the device takes forever to charge and even then,
charges via that lone USB port, rendering it useless
for everything else.
The iBall slide is a great example of the power
and flexibility of Intels BayTrail platform, but it
also underscores the need for good design. Till the
more serious flaws in its design are fixed, particularly with regards to the keyboard cover, we just
cannot recommend this device.
Anirudh Regidi

52
Features......................... 57
Performance................. 75
Design............................. 30
Value for money........... 45

Specifications

CPU: Intel Atom Z3735D;

RAM: 2Gb; HDD: 32GB;
Display: 10.1 @ 1280x800;
Battery: 31.8Wh; 3G
Network: WCDMA 2100MHz
(Data only); Connectivity:
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. Micro
USB, Mini HDMI, Bluetooth
4.0, Pogo Pin k/b interface;
Misc: One year, one user
Office 365 license with 1TB
SkyDrive space

Contact

iBall India
Phone: 022-67745100
Email: NA
Website: www.iball.co.in

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 93

Win at $$$$

Tech @ Work

97

Spot the best deals and save like

a boss. We even show you how to
make some money the easy way

Win at comfort

100

Ergonomics goes a long way in keeping you

up and running. Understand how to design
the best possible furniture for your gadgets.

Productivity
Being more productive might have always been on the top of your
new years resolution every year. Finally heres a cheat sheet on how
you can achieve it.
Abhijit Dey
[email protected]

roductivity has always been

about being more efficient,
rising above the banal, and
doing things quicker or
smarter. Ironically its technology itself
that sometimes keeps us from being
productive. For all its promises to make
things simpler, sometimes technology
itself clutters and complicates our lives.
How do you then focus on things that
are important? How do you do things
quicker? How
do you stay
organised so
that you can use
your time more
efficiently? With
technology of
course! The year
2014 saw many
services and
devices, that
gave your life a
new meaning,
getting more things done in lesser time.
Looking forward into the new year
ahead, we look into such services which
will certainly make you more productive and efficient in your everyday lives.

Declutter your life

To begin with, we will have a look at
how you could tidy and clear up all the
mess that might have accumulated over
the years in your digital life. It time to
dust away the proverbial cobwebs and
start getting to the important stuff.
94 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Filtering your social accounts

It will ensure productivity by giving

you an option of unfollowing irrelevant
Social networks have become an essenaccounts you might have followed once.
tial part of your life, be it personal
Just Unfollow: https://www.
or professional. You might be
an avid user of Facebook,
justunfollow.com/
Twitter, or Instagram, the
sin of blindly adding
Delete yourself from
numerous friends on
useless services
social networks might
Excited about a web
be getting to be botherapp or service that
some right about now,
just launched, you
filling up your News
instantly sign up and
Feed and mind space
dont bother whether in
alike. Fear not though,
the future you would be
there is a way to filter them
able to delete that account.
out. For Facebook by simply
For the ones who are quite sensiclicking on the top right corner of a post,
tive about their private data on the web,
you can hide them from your news feed
a service that lets you delete yourself
and even unfollow people (without letting
from the plethora of websites that you
them know, yay!), finally cleaning up your
had signed up to is the need of the hour,
valuable News Feed. For the ones who use
and JustDeleteMe is what youre looking
Twitter and Instagram,
a service called JustUnfollow, lets you manage
your followers and unfollowers (heartbreaking
arent they) on both the
social accounts. Though
it can be done manually,
it becomes really difficult
when you are following
people in the hundreds.
Brands that rely on social
media accounts for their
business should definitely
use this service. The service gives you a list of nonfollowers, recent followers
and unfollowers, inactive
users, and much more.
One place to delete them all

Industry connect

103

LG WiFi speakers

This month we talk to some big wigs from Ford

and Autodesk. Be sure to check out this section
to get a unique perspective.

LG has announced new WiFi speakers that

will start playing automatically as your phone
gets near http://dgit.in/WiFiSpeaker

Feature

head out to the Labs section under settings where youll come across many
plugins like Multiple Inboxes, Undo
Send and more. Email clients do offer
more services, where Gmail provides you
with most of them, but for other email
users and the enthusiastic kind, you can
give Mozillas Thunderbird for a spin.
Boomerang: http://www.boomeranggmail.com/

Thunderbird: http://dgit.in/MThunderbird

Saving links for reading later

Use unroll.me to quickly get rid of junk mail

for. When you visit the site it displays a

list of all the popular and not so popular
sites on the web, with lists where you
can delete your accounts. The service
also colour codes the sites, where green
is easy to delete, yellow is medium, red
is difficult and black is impossible.
Just Delete Me: http://justdelete.me/

Managing email subscriptions

Long ago you had subscribed to an
amazing newsletter that gave exciting
offers. But the subscription no longer
sends you any offers that matter to you.
There might not be just one subscription but actually hundreds of other
newsletter subscriptions, flooding
your inbox with annoying notifications every hour. UnrollMe prepares
a list of all your subscriptions, after
you sign up, and lets you select which
ones you want to stay with and those
that you want to unsubscribe from.
Unroll Me: https://unroll.me/

Stay organised
Once youre done cleaning up, it is time
that you start getting organised on how
you carry out your everyday tasks.
Technology can certainly help you in
this area

Making notes and to-do lists

The first step to getting organised is very
clear, you need to plan each day out, and
what could be a better way than creating a
to-do list. There are many apps to offer this
need, but we found Google Keep to possess
not many but the essential features for note
taking and creating to-do lists. You can
have normal text notes, lists with checkboxes, voice and photo notes and even
reminders, in a minimalistic interface. It
is available on Android and
also has a web application.
Link: https://keep.google.

When youre on your way to work or

simply reading the morning news online,
you always stumble upon interesting
articles that are too long to read for the
moment. You might shout out bookmarking as a solution but the problem
here is that they are restricted to browsers
only. Pocket (previously Read It Later) lets
you save web pages so that you could read
them later, and the distinguishing feature
here is that it has been integrated to hundreds of apps and services. So, if you come
across an article on Twitter or Flipboard,
you can add the links to your Pocket after
giving it access. Quite handy for people
who keep flipping through stories online.
Pocket: https://getpocket.com/

Tracking time spent on apps and

websites
It would be really difficult to guess the
amount of time you spend on certain

com/

Doing emails better

In our busy lives, most of
the day revolves around
email, which becomes
cumbersome if not handled
efficiently. There are many
ways to make it seem less
of a task and also making
it smarter by using add-on
services like Boomerang,
that lets you schedule and
track your email. If youre
looking for more services
to better manage your
email, Gmail especially,

Experiment a little. Its worth it.

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 95

3rd-party ban
Feature

Microsoft has removed all the third-party apps

for Snapchat from the Windows Phone Store
http://dgit.in/SnpchatClone

3D Printing win

3D printing is working wonders in almost every

field and now helping a dog run again
http://dgit.in/3DPrntLimb

completing them more efficiently.

Link: http://dgit.in/FocusBoost

Read better online

You do love reading articles online, but
arent really happy with the ugly links
and images surrounding the article.
Enter Evernote Clearly, which lets you
clear out everything and just present
you with the main content that you
solely wanted to read. It has additional
features too and is available as an extension to both Chrome and Firefox.
Link: http://dgit.in/EvernoteC

Extra takeaways
Pomodoro Technique
To boost your productivity, you can use
the Pomodoro Technique that involves
breaking down work in short intervals of
time called pomodori and taking breaks
in between. Traditionally, bursts of 25
mins followed by breaks of 5 mins are followed using a timer. After four pomodori,
you can take a longer break. Religiously
following this technique certainly
makes you more efficient eventually.
Yes we all know about Pocket but you cant underestimate how useful it can be

Listening to Music
websites and programs installed in your
system. RescueTime accomplishes that,
running in the background, tracking your
time spent on applications and websites. It
sends you weekly detailed reports of your
daily activity, enabling you to discover
where you are losing productivity.
RescueTime: https://www.rescuetime.
com/

Focus better
Distractions can find you anywhere,
and thankfully there are certain services that help you in ignoring them
and focusing better on your work.

StayFocusd: http://dgit.in/StayFocusdCh
LeechBlock: http://dgit.in/LeechBlockFr

Time your focus level

You cannot maintain focus for a very
long time, only because youre human.
Work can be made more productive if
they are carried out while you have you
are focused. To help you in managing
focus on certain jobs, Focus Booster is
a simple application for your desktop
and mac that has customizable timers,
letting you divide your work and

Block useless websites temporarily

You tend to drift away from work when
youre connected to the internet, ending
up wasting your precious time. StayFocusd is a Chrome extension that gets
really serious on making sure of that by
blocking a specified list of websites temporarily for a specified time. The Firefox
alternative LeechBlock also does the same
job, reminding you to get your job done.
96 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Time yourself and your breaks

Yes, after a considerable amount of

studies, it has been proven that listening
to music does increase your productivity. Obviously the genre of music
matters on the type of work youre
doing, where classical music goes for
work involving numbers and attention
to detail, ambient music for work that
needs accuracy and solving equations
and pop/dance music when youre doing
a data entry job or proof-reading.

Reducing eye fatigue

Staring straight into your screen all day
and especially at night could have harmful
effects on your eyes in the long run and
also affect your sleep cycle, making you
unproductive the next day. This is due
to the blue light emitted from screens,
which can be reduced by either wearing
filtered glasses, placing a warm filter
over your screen or by simply installing
the f.lux app. It adjusts the screen
warmth according to the time of the day,
keeping your eyes healthy as they are.
f.lux: https://justgetflux.com/

Australia wins yet again!

HWBOTs Country Cup also known as the World Cup of

Overclocking is done and Australia defended their title
by winning all stages. http://dgit.in/OC_WorldCup

Oil cooled PC

Ever wondered how can you use mineral oil to

cool your PC? If yes, then watch this video and
get inspired: http://dgit.in/OilCooledPC

Feature

Saving and making

money
Put your wallet on a high-fattening diet with these handy tricks
Mithun Mohandas
[email protected]

nless youve renounced the

material world and vowed to
devote the rest of your time
meditating in the Himalayas,
you are concerned about saving money.
And we arent talking about using coupons because thats too commonplace
in this day and age, not to mention that
its been done to death. Were taking it a
bit further so you might have to put on
your thinking cap for this one. Weve also
covered some really easy ways to make
some money on the Internet with relative
ease. While following these steps might not
earn you enough for you to give up your
day job, it is by no means loose change.

Saving Money
Chrome extensions
Price comparison websites
arent the only way to get
a better price. There are
numerous browser extensions available, some
of which were created
by these comparison
websites themselves.
And now that International Shipping has become
a lot more affordable you
should start looking at extensions
that check International sites as well.
Invisible Hand, one of the first extensions is still around and continues to do a
great job. In fact, some of the extensions

that cater to the Indian

audience is based off this
particular extension.
Some of the deals might
be so good that even
with shipping and taxes
it still ends up cheaper
than getting it locally.
Warranty, however,
might not be honoured
on such purchases.
BuyHatke is the most
popular browser extension for Indian sites. It
So is it really a good deal?
shows you alternative
sites with better pricing and even digs
discounts greater than usual but the site
through a sites pricing history so that youd
is less likely to bring such results to the
know if the deal is actually a good one or one
forefront since these discounted products
thats been preceded by a price hike.
offer lesser profit margins. But for you,
the customer, its the best darn thing.
Take this URL for example which is from
Manipulate to save
Amazon UK (http://dgit.in/AmznExmpl)
Open up a product page on one of
that has been modified to list out products
your favourite shopping webwhich are listed at 90-100% discount.
sites. Take a gander at the
Unfortunately, changing .co.uk to .in at
URL in the addressbar.
the beginning doesnt help. Some of the
Copy it to a good text
sections of the URL are specific to the UK
editor like Notepad++
site, so if you were to figure out the right
and set the language
keywords for the Indian site then youll
to XML. Immediately
have hit the jackpot.
a few things are going
to pop out keywords,
minimum and maximum
The careless seller
parameters, category codes,
People make mistakes while putting
modifiers like discount tags
up items for sale. The careless seller
etc. You can see where this is going.
is the careful buyers best friend. Lets
Most of the online shopping websites
say youre on the lookout for a gaming
are in fact platforms for multiple sellers
mouse. You might not find all the results
and some of these sellers may offer
if you search using the exact terms
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 97

Machine made candy

Feature

Everyone loves candy but do you know how

its made? Check out this sweet video to
know how: http://dgit.in/Mak_Candy

gaming and mouse. Searching using

the word maus or mose is likely to
throw up a few results. The icing on
the cake is that since lesser number of
people are going to come across these
the CMS is less likely to jack up the
price dynamically. Moreover, if this
were to be an auction then thered be
less bidders which means the price
wouldnt shoot up tremendously as it
would on a properly typed out listing.
http://dgit.in/TypoHnd and http://dgit.
in/FatFing are two websites that allow
you to list all all the common typos based
on a keyword and then gives you a compounded search link with all of the typos.
This saves a lot more time since you dont
have to manually type in each possibility
and reload the page.
Another thing to keep in mind would
be to not constrict your search with too
many filters. We know that filters are a
boon for hunting down exactly what you

database directly. This means you

can create a site that is very lean and
loads way faster than the actual site.
Cosmetic scripts involve those which
can colour code items in the listing based
on custom filters and so you dont have to
go through each and every entry. There are
also scripts that remove all unnecessary
elements from a page. However, ever since
Userscripts.org has tanked, it has become
quite difficult to hunt down these scripts
but a little bit of javascript coding is all you
need to come up with your own scripts.
Check out this link to figure out how to
hunt down keywords with greasemonkey
(http://dgit.in/KeywordGrease).
Monitoring multiple auctions and
bidding on them can be quite taxing on
your mind. To lessen the burden there
exist multiple tools which are paid as well
as free. Gixen (http://dgit.in/Gixen) is a
free service that manages your bidding
for you. Simply login and enter what all

Typing mistake = profit!

want but when sites make mistakes and

wrongly categorise something then youre
going to miss out on a few listings.

Enhance your auction experience

When it comes to online auctions the
only one that comes to mind is eBay
and since it has a global presence you
have a lot of people fiddling around
with the site either by using scripts
that produce cosmetic changes or by
using the eBay API to tap into the eBay
98 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

items(the previous section should help

you shortlist some really good ones) you
wish to bid on and the maximum amount
which you are willing to bid on that
particular product. Gixen steps in towards
the end of the auction period and snipes it.
It even has a mirror site which comes as a
paid service. This makes it equivalent to
two people sniping a particular auction.
Gixens forum is full of testimonials from
folks whove saved massive amounts by
sniping auctions.

TIL: Gift wrapping

Weve all been through a time when we had to gift

wrap irregularly-shaped objects. We wish we had
seen this first: http://dgit.in/GiftWrap_Boss

Wishlists
These serve a dual purpose. One is that
stores will notify you whenever products on
your wish list are slapped with a discount.
The other advantage is that friends and
family whove gone through your wishlist

Others can help you with a wish list

could either let you know of a good deal on

some other store or even buy it for you as
a gift. Either way, youre saving money.

Instant notifications
Now that you have a good idea about how
to snag good deals you need to worry
about actually purchasing the product.
Nobody spends the entire day in front
of the computer actively searching for
deals unless thats what your job is. So
you need a system in place to notify you
of the best deals. This is where IFTTT (IF
This Then That) comes to the rescue.
Lets say youve found a great site for
the best deals and youre on the lookout for
an Android Wear device. You now wish
to be notified on the go (via SMS or via a
notification) about any good Android Wear
device that pops up on the deals site. Were
assuming this site has an RSS feed (Eg. Desidime). In IFTTT, you can use Feed Rinse
to filter multiple RSS feeds for certain keywords. And then you activate the SMS or
Pushbullet channel on IFTTT to send to an
SMS or a notification to your mobile phone.
All that remains to be done is to create a
recipe on IFTTT that triggers the SMS or
Pushbullet service the moment Feed Rinser
comes across an Android Wear listing on
any of the deal sites RSS feeds. This method
can also be used to notify you if a product
that youve been looking out for suddenly
pops up on eBay. Check out this link (http://
dgit.in/WinWithIFTTT) which uses the
same recipe to generate notifications for a
filtered set of news articles.

Laser for reference?

Chinese scientists fired the Mianyang Laser into

deep space to provide an accurate reference point to
calibrate a telescope. http://dgit.in/PewPew_Pew

Keyboard Waffles

We love waffles, and a kickstarter project to

make a keyboard shaped waffle has passed
its goal http://dgit.in/KeyboardWaff

Get notified whenever a good deal pops up

Making Money
Teach a language
Those Sanskrit lessons that your mom
made you take up in school are about to pay
off. Its no secret that you can monetise your
knowledge by teaching someone but there

Teaching pays pretty good

werent platforms that bought a student

and a teacher together. Now there are. italki
is where you can sign up to teach or learn
a language. Signing up to be a teacher is
simple, you can set up a profile and wait
for someone to approach to you. You then
schedule a time slot and the teaching
begins. There is a feedback system where
your students rate your abilities which if
positive would attract more students.
If you build up a good reputation, you
can easily earn anywhere between `900 to
`2000 with some teachers charging `4,000
per hour. Obviously, italki takes a cut which
is currently 15% of your hourly rate.

the other which can be monetised. In the

previous section, we looked at monetising
your language skills. There are sites like
Freelancer.com and Elance where you
can find some task or the other which is
ridiculously easy for you to take care of and
you get paid for it. However, its a sellers
market. Jobs are posted with a mention of
how much the job poster is willing to pay
and people bid on the posting. Whoever
bids the least does not necessarily get the
job, instead the job poster has full control
over who gets assigned so any referrals
that youd have got from previous assignments makes you a more reliable assignee.
Amazon runs a similar service called
Mechanical Turk which is a crowdsourcing
platform for HIT (Human Intelligence
Tasks). Though not as diverse as Freelancer,

Theres something for everyone

MTurk is no small fry. It gives a job poster

the option of having prospective assignee
pass a test before being given the job.

Its Flipping time

Take up freelance jobs
We dont need to go into much detail over
this one. Everyone has some skillset or

Flipping refers to the process of buying

something that can easily be sold off for a
profit. This is a high risk method of making

Feature

money, the risk being that you might

never sell a product to cover whatever
youve invested. Take for example the
recent exclusive sale phenomenon that
many shopping websites have started.
The Xiaomi Mi3 was available only on
Flipkart and it has great hardware for
the price. So the limited quantity and
the whole lottery mechanism around it
made it difficult to obtain. This meant
that a lot of people were willing to pay a
little extra to buy it from elsewhere so you
had people buying the phone just so that
they could auction it later. Some of these
units sold for as high as `24,000 which
is `10,000 more than the official price.
Step one in Flipping is to find something
you can easily refurbish. eBay has tons
of products which sell for a fraction of its
original price because it is no longer functional. A mobile might not turn on, or an
XBOX 360 has the RROD. A simple Google
search tells you that flashing the mobile
might bring it back to life and changing
the heatsink on the CPU of the XBOX 360
is likely to fix the RROD. The expenditure
involved in fixing either product is minimal
and selling it would net you a decent profit.
If you are unsure about a certain item
then there are plenty of forums where
you could ask how much people would
be willing to pay for it. And since these
are the opinions of those who regularly
flip items, its a better estimation than the
prices youd find elsewhere. But be careful,
its quite likely that theyd swipe that
product for themselves.
Once youve fixed it, all you have to
do is figure out how to market it and how
to price it so that it sells for a profit and
sells quickly. Trying to maximise profit
by playing the waiting game doesnt work
out often. So you need to set a price that
covers the cost price, shipping, taxes and
all expenditures involved in flipping it.
Weve essentially covered all the aspects
of shopping online from finding the best
deals, being first in the shopping queue
and even sneakily sniping that auction at
the last moment. Needless to say, youre
going to save an awful lot of money with
the aid of technology. Also, youre going to
be earning quite a bit on the side too. You
can thank us by shooting us an email and
letting us know how much you saved.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 99

Curing inferitility
Smart SoHo

Stem cells have many benefits, and now scientists

are researching jointly from UK and Israel to cure
infertility http://dgit.in/InferStmCell

Portal Basketball
Basketball is fun, but Portal
basketball? Out of this world!
http://dgit.in/PortalBasket

Technology
and Ergonomics
of Productivity
Win at productivity by learning about ergonomics and
how can it be beneficial to your workplace.
Siddhant Sharma
[email protected]

Introduction
We humans have an inherent tendency
to search for comfort in everything we
do, be it work or play. It is this tendency
that is single-handedly responsible for
the change in our moods and thus reflects
in our work. Since comfort matters to us
so much, it is only logical to deduce that
comfortable people are happier and as a
result better at whatever it is they may be
doing. But the problem we face currently
is that comfort is hugely neglected at the
place, and where do people spend most of
their time? Yes, at work.
Work is where we need to be on our
A-game both mentally and physically but
when you take the pillar called comfort
out of the support structure of employees
by making them use improperly
designed furniture such as uncomfortable chairs for example, theyre bound
to get tired, and automatically are less
productive. Plus there could be adverse
effects to their health, which results in
even more loss of productivity.
This is where anthropometry comes
into the picture as it helps in ergonomic
and industrial design by letting ergonomic
furniture manufacturers design products
that are perfect as far as the distribution of
body dimensions go.
Repetitive Strain Injury or WorkRelated Upper Limb Disorder is a growing
concern in workplaces and although we
do have the labour act which lays down
specifics of health related concerns for
100 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

How you sit at work and how comfortable you are affect your productivity

workers, it isnt very extensive or aggressive when it comes to actually enforcing

health and safety, or making sure that
companies use a certain standard quality
of ergonomic equipment for employees.
This is why, you need to think about
ergonomics and invest in appropriate
equipment or modify existing processes

in your workplace. So lets see how

ergonomics necessary in the workplace?
What are the puzzle pieces that make it
important and how should we go about
fixing them. Also, what kind of options
are currently available to improve
productivity of the employees as far as
ergonomics is concerned?

Hydrogen flagship car

After its first hydrogen car, Toyota is reportedly

working on building a higher, hydrogen fueled
Lexus LS limousine http://dgit.in/ToyotaLimo

So whits all this about

ergonomics anyway?
Also regarded as human factors, ergonomics is a certain scientific discipline
observed with the understanding of
human interactions and thus applies
the use of anthropometric data in order
to design objects or processes while
keeping human well-being and performance as its focal point. Basically, ergonomics is completely about designing
stuff better for people, so that their
interaction with products and
processes enhances or complements
them in a way that it improves their
efficiency while not forcing them to
adapt to these products or processes.
In todays day and age, ergonomic
design is of great importance as
better designed products reduce
unnecessary strain and help to keep
our health in check while keeping us
happy and productive.

Tesla Roadster upgrade

Elon Musk announces that the Roadster

upgrade will be able to travel 400 miles on a
single charge http://dgit.in/TeslaUpgrade
Smart SoHo

collaboration of employees is the

key to the success of any organisation and if ergonomics can help in
balancing the we and me aspect of
the workplace, it sure makes sense to
invest in well-designed workplaces.

expenses over a long term and is thus

a beneficial investment.

Decreased health issues and a

better safety culture:

Reduced costs:

According to reports from the Indian

Council of Medical Research (ICMR),

Improved productivity and

quality of output:
Bad ergonomics increases fatigue,
and fatigued people get frustrated
and dont work at their best which
can directly relate to a drop in the
quality of their output. Improvement in productivity is one of the
major advantages of ergonomics
and this reason alone should ideally be enough for upgrading your
workplace. Better ergonomic solutions will allow for better comfort,
good posture, decrease unnecessary
exertion and automatically make a
person more efficient at work.

Benefits of good
ergonomics in a workplace
Its often said that A happy employee
is a productive employee which is
true in every sense as good ergonomics can go a long way in keeping
people engaged and satisfied in their
work. There is often the misconception that investing in ergonomically
designed products or processes is
extremely expensive and would
do little to boost company profit or
overall output of the company. Not
only does ergonomic improvements in
the workplace make it a happier and
healthier environment, it also reduces
unnecessary costs related to health
and safety. Lets see some of the immediate benefits of good ergonomics:

Improved employee
engagement:

When a company is making visible

efforts to improve health and safety
of employees, it becomes easy for
employees to notice these efforts and
so theyre motivated to engage more
with their work. Ergonomic workplace design can be very influential
in stimulating collaboration while
also promoting learning. Efficient

Good ergonomics in the workplace

are directly responsible for decreasing
repetitive strain related health issues
which will help in keeping workers
or employees healthy and lessen
absenteeism from work. Also, a
well designed workplace boosts
employee morale and promotes
healthier and safer work ethics.

How can you transform

a workplace to improve
ergonomics

An ergonomically designed chair from

Herman Miller called Mirra 2

there has been a steady rise in the

number of people making use of
health services because of Musculoskeletal Disorders or MSDs and most
of these people are working professionals who are victims of Repetitive
Strain Injury. If a company reduces
ergonomic risk factors in its offices or
work environment, it can easily save
its expenses on medical compensation for employees. A one time investment on ergonomic improvements in
the workplace can thus save up a lot
of money on recurring health related

Transforming a workplace to better

ergonomics starts primarily from
creating and designing a job to fit the
employee instead of forcing him/her
to adapt to the ways of work. Apart
from this, there are a few steps that
you can follow to improve ergonomics to
create a more productive workspace.

Identify risk factors:

Take an account of your entire workplace and thoroughly identify the

existence of ergonomic risk factors.
Once youre done with that, broadly
categorise and differentiate them into
risks associated with force, instantaneous or quick motions, repetition,
awkward postures, static postures,
stress from prolonged contact and also
variation in temperature.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 101

LG HQ investigation
Smart SoHo

After allegedly sabotaging Samsungs

washing machines at IFA 2014, LG is visited
by prosecutors http://dgit.in/LGHQIn

Control risk factors:

Get professional help in finding ways

to eliminate or control each of the risk
factors identified. Redesign the key
affected work processes to incorporate
better ergonomics. This redesign can
range from making simple adjustments like changing the arrangement
or layout of office furniture to more
vast changes like completely redesigning an entire affected work process
from scratch.

Embrace ergonomic design of

workplaces:

If for example youve identified particular working risks associated with

the current height or width of desks
in the workplace, see whether you
can address these risks by somehow
increasing or decreasing the dimensions of the desk to meet ergonomic
criteria. If you cant, then allocate a
budget to get rid of this risk by buying
better designed desks.

Other changes:

It doesnt end there as you can also

improve a workplace by architecturally
altering it to create open offices instead
of individual cubicles. Research has
shown that open offices improve
employee collaboration. A bright
environment or even natural lighting
goes a long way in improving employee
productivity as it is known that natural

A room scheduling system

102 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

WiFi everywhere

More than 600 buses and taxis in Porto

(Portugal) have been packed with routers for
free WiFi - http://dgit.in/PortugalWiFi

light makes the work environment

stress free.

Interesting ergonomic
concepts
Various ergonomic furniture manufacturers have developed plenty of concepts
for use in workplaces over the years and
some of these concepts can redefine your
workplace entirely. We easily get irritated
sitting in front of a computer at the same
spot while working throughout the day
and since comfort is important in a productive workplace, we now have casual
seating options that can be deployed in
offices. Something as simple as a bean
bag to even a technologically advanced room
with casual seating that
can be digitally booked
or scheduled using a
scheduling system like the
Get productive and healthy with the Walkstation
Steelcase RoomWizard II and
timed for use through the office network
transformable and reusable cubicles made
are available. Digitally connected rooms
of panels that can be folded for sharing
like these can help break the monotony of
unused space thus making more room.
work and provide employees to think and
Then there are various ergonomic
work more freely while taking a breather
chairs like Gesture, Mirra 2, Zody and
and also provide an effective space for colGeneration available from manufacturers
laboration with colleagues.
like Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth
If you have a small workplace and your
and Knoll respectively. Ergonomic
employees have their designated cabins or
chairs like these are highly customisable
rooms but they frequently go on business
according to the needs of the user and are
trips, the cabins that they use waste a lot
excellent for maintaining a good posture
of precious usable office space. With the
while working for a long period of time.
advancement in technology, we now have
Active seating options like the SteelCase
Buoy that force the user to maintain
balance while sitting are also helpful
in keeping the employees active while
working and helps to improve productivity. We now also have height-adjustable
work desks for use while standing as
well as sitting and these type of desks can
make working on a desk-job more active.
The Steelcase Walkstation for example
is a height-adjustable active desk with a
treadmill beneath it.
Employees are the largest and most
important asset of any organisation and
Stephen R. Covey once said that Always
treat your employees exactly as you
want them to treat your best customers.
And according to us, ergonomically
transforming your workplace is the best
place to start.

Project Ara teased

The Spiral 2 board of Project Ara has been teased by

Googles Advanced Technology and Projects group ahead of
the Developers Conference. http://dgit.in/Spiral2PCB

Digital Licenses?

Iowa is planning on making drivers

licenses an app in your smartphone!
http://dgit.in/DigDriveLic

Industry Connect

Ford talks to us
about smart cars
We had the opportunity to speak with Fords
Senior Manager of tech and business
development and connected services
in Asia Pacific about how in-car
infotainment systems are getting
smarter and more intuitive

Kunal Khullar
[email protected]

ars are gradually getting smarter,

but its still been a slow process.
The in-car infotainment center is
gaining importance inside cars
and, from providing navigation routes to
information about the nearest coffee shop,
we are seeing a rise in smart consoles for
your automobile. David Huang, Fords
Senior Manager of tech and business
development and connected services in
Asia Pacific,spoke to us about how Ford
is working on bringing you a smart in-car
console, and what that will mean for you.
What is AppLink?
Huang: Ford realised that consumers are

using their smartphones everywhere; be it

messaging, social networking, videos and
a number of other services. As a consumer
you want to continue using these while
you are driving and it has become a natural demand. We looked at all the issues,
problems and the demands and came up
with AppLink which is a technology that
links the smartphone application to the
vehicle. Essentially the app is still running
on the smartphone but user interaction is
done through the vehicle. So as a driver
you dont have to use the handset, making
theexperience safer while still being connected to the world.

What does AppLink offer other than

connecting your smartphone?
Huang: AppLink also opens up vehicle

data, and allows third party applications

to extract data about the car itself, in a
manner that is well controlled and user
privacy is respected. Users are explicitly notified when an app is requesting
vehicle data.
What is your opinion on the adoption of
smart in-car infotainment systems in the
South Asian region? Do you think they have
still got a long way to go when compared to
Europe or America?
Huang: I dont think that Asian countries

are far behind in adoption. I think the

vehicle segments are totally different, US
has a lot of SUVs and pickups and Europe
has smaller cars and people in China

We have about 50-60

apps in the United
States, in Asia Pacific
we have close to 30
prefer big cars. In India its more of compact cars, thus putting a large system in a
small car is not practical, it obviously goes
with the vehicle. But the technology does
not say that it can only work in big cars
or expensive cars, it can work in all cars

David Huang, Senior Manager

Technology & Business Development and
Connected Services, Ford Asia Pacific

and it is just a matter of the positioning for

each market.
What do you think is missing when one
looks at smart infotainment centers for
automobiles in a country like India?
Huang: I think one major thing that is

missing is an open standard, and Ford

is on its way to promote that idea. We
had announced that AppLink is opensource, last year, and open to all developers. Open-standards are important as
they promote industry wide standards
and today you cannot develop only for
Android Auto or Apple Car Play. So, we
are providing a solution for developers via
the Smart Device Link.
We hope that other OEMs and car
makers will adopt this in the future.
How many apps are currently supported
by Fords AppLink system?
Huang: We have about 50-60 apps in the

United States, in Asia Pacific we have

close to 30, and in India we only have two,
MapMyIndia and ESPN CricInfo, but were
working on increasing that number. We are
working on something that will allow your
smartphone navigation systems and maps
to directly display on the in-car system.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 103

Industry Connect

Fireworks fly by
Watch this amazing video of a drone
capturing the Christmas fireworks
http://dgit.in/DroneFireW

Jaasta keyboard
A crowdfuned E-Ink keyboard that can morph
its letters into shortcuts to match software
youre using http://dgit.in/JaastaEInk

Futurist Dr. Jordan

Brandt on 4D
Printing, the Indian
Maker movement
and more...
Dr. Jordan Brandt,
Manufacturing Technology
Futurist at Autodesk

Siddharth Parwatay
[email protected]
What does a futurist do exactly? Tell us
about your Job at Autodesk
Jordan: I have an incredibly fun job,

thinking about the future of designing

and making things. At Autodesk historically we have been in the design and
simulation space, and now were quickly
moving more into the manufacturing
and construction side of things as well. I
see all of these aspects converging, so my
job is to look into this convergence, and
that involves following a lot of trends.
From robotics and automation to artificial
intelligence, 3D printing, the Internet Of
Things, all of these have influence on the
way we design and make things.
Tell us more about distributed manufacturing systems, what exactly does that
mean for regular folk?
Jordan: The idea is instead of having

centralised large factories, we can actually

distribute factories in a much smaller
compact version and enable more local
and regional production. An example
of that would be Foxconn building their
next largest factory in Indonesia. And it is
not because the wages are cheaper or the
regulatory environment is better, I mean
those are factors, but the biggest reason is
their next largest market is in Indonesia.
104 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Also from the ground up you have things

like the Maker Movement with increasing
capacity for people to design and make
their own things. You have 3D printing
which gives you the technology to now
design and make your own things. We
see the convergence again from the large
enterprise and from the individual maker
communities coming together and all of
this nets out at a more local design and
production method.
Where do you see the Indian maker
movement heading?
Jordan: Well, I think its incredibly

exciting now. This my first time in India,

and just travelling around Mumbai for the
last few days you see the resourcefulness
of people. Whereas the wealth distribution seems to be skewed, the resourcefulness of the people is absolutely amazing.
If you need something you cant afford to
buy it, you figure out how to make it or
how to modify something to enable you
to solve whatever problem that you have
at hand, you need to tap into that creative capacity, and a lot of that is access to
tools. You dont basically need the formal
education, thats what the internets for
right? You can learn the skill set you need.
I would think that you guys are incredibly excited about the future of making
in India, not to mention the fact that
the needs of the people here are unique.

Theres kind of been this truism since the

end of the Second World War and Industrialization that industrialised economies
produce a lot of the advanced products
for the rest of the world. And the truth is
that those industrialised economies probably dont know about the local needs in
Mumbai, for example, so it makes sense
for people to actually be empowered to
make their own things.
Weve been talking about 3D printing as
the next big thing for years now, similar to
the way people are talking about drones
today but it hasnt become a household
phenomenon yet. Will that ever happen?
Jordan: It will happen eventually, we have

to give it time. I mean, you think of the

typical hype cycle where we over-anticipate the growth and productisation of certain technologies, and about two years ago
we hit the peak of the hype cycle around
consumer 3D printing that is going to
be in every home and also these grand
expectations. Theres a lot of problems
preventing that from happening today,
one of them being the reliability of the
hardware. Anyone who has a 3D printer
knows that their reliability isnt there, the
repeatability isnt there. Personally I have
three 3D Printers, and two of them are
used to make spare parts for the third one.
Using them requires an Engineering or
kind of troubleshooting mentality, which

VR Temple Run
Swiping away Temple Run was quite amazing on
a smartphone, but will it be exciting on a virtual
headset? http://dgit.in/VirtTempRun

Security upgraded
Following the series data breaches worldwide,
South Korea has boosted its cyber security in
nuclear plants http://dgit.in/SecNucReactor

Industry Connect

most people dont have the time to deal

with. So the hardware needs to evolve.
What exactly is 4D Printing?
Jordan: The best analogy to 4D Printing is

in biological systems. Essentially we ourselves are 4D printers right? We are built

additively and we modify ourselves over
time, so the precedent is biology and the
living world. 4D printing in the modern
sense is being able to additively manufacture components that can assemble themselves or modify themselves over time.
You dont have static products now. Think
of products that can move and adapt, not
just in terms of their software interface
but in terms of their physical interface.
Would the analogy go further? Would
it be ok to think that such products would
multiply as well as mould themselves as
cellular organisms do?
Jordan: Lets say that they will at least

modify themselves. In a certain case they

may multiply if the need arises. Imagine
that this table was a 4D printed object and
it was made of smaller components and
imagine suddenly you had a need in this
room to have not one large table but five
smaller tables then they could reprogram
themselves to be five smaller tables, so
in that sense, yes, potentially they can

objects that look amazing. Often times

they look like something youve never
seen before. So on the consumer side, I
think technology is coming now, we have
been restricted largely to fused deposition modelling and extrusion technologies and that will advance a lot, I mean
theres post-processing and things that
you can do to make it look better, to make
it feel like a finished object, but theres
always ways to embrace the fact that it is
3D printed and maybe this is a new aesthetic of objects that we should embrace. I

The F-18 has had laser-sintered parts,

I think, for the last 12 years, commercial
aircrafts now have 3D printed parts as
well, and if you go into factories, you see 3D
Printing making its way into making fixtures,
so that humans are more efficient
multiply. But the material has to obviously come from somewhere, so we are
restricted by the laws of physics.
Right now the appeal of 3D printing is
only restricted towards faster prototyping
of products isnt it? 3D printed objects still
dont look as attractive as finished goods.
At least the ones we make as hobbyists, so
when do you think that would change?
Jordan: On the consumer side I agree with

you. On the industrial side 3D printed

mean the worst thing that you could do is

try to take a new technology and try to do
what you did before with it. It would be
like taking your mobile phone and plugging it into your landline and saying well
it doesnt work very well. So I think there
would be some change in perception and
adoption of the products being made by
3D printing because it wont look like
what we had before. The new Autodesk
printer Ember is using a DLP technology,
which is a liquid resin, its exposing it to

UV light and its continuously extruding

a form out of a liquid and the results
are very high quality. It doesnt have the
readable layers you typically see with
FDM, you get very high precision, and
you can make very small artifacts with it.
We are actually printing hair with it. It
feels like fur, thats the kind of resolution
that we can get. So as new technologies
come online, some of the perception of 3D
printing will change.
So do you foresee anything like the Star
Trek food synthesizer or things like that
happening any time soon?
Jordan: It will happen, it is going to be in

some time, because it has some chemical

issues that we have to overcome. At
the end of the day you will have to get
molecules to bind and so within a single
material system, were going to have a
lot of advances very quickly, in fact there
some very compelling work going on
right now around the world in metals
printing, ceramics, polymers and mixing
different materials within a family. But
trying to get metals and plastics to chemically bond, you know one is using ionic
bonding mechanisms, one is using covalent bonding mechanisms, thats fundamental physics, and we cant change that.
So we need to come up with some clever
ways to be able to mix material systems
to be able to print as the replicator in Star
Trek does, it will happen but its going to
be quite a ways down the road.
Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 105

Unwind

108

Esc

How we didnt unwind this month,

and really expensive holiday gifts
that you cant afford

Community

110

In these pages we feature great articles,

and other projects created by our Digit
community of readers

Trolling
Trolling, like most art forms isnt easy to master. Until now...
Mithun Mohandas
[email protected]

n the real world, throwing a nasty

insult was often dealt with by use
of physical violence. Sarcasm came
as a natural evolution to the insult
and it wasnt reciprocated with a punch
(sometimes it was). The Internet brought
along with it the gift of anonymity and
all of a sudden the playing field was
levelled. After a while, the insults were
simply ignored and word-filters came
became commonplace. The next step was
to circumvent this by either using ASCII
images or luring the victim onto a different domain, where the troll had more
freedom. Anonymity, circumvention and
baiting are still the pillars on which this
dastardly skill stands.

Plan
Read the rules
A proper execution of a trolling attempt
relies on you being aware of what could
go wrong. Every platform on the internet,
be it Facebook, Yahoo! Answers, Quora or
StackOverflow have their own set of rules
which if violated ensures a quick swing of
the ban-hammer. Take it from
us, being ejected from a
relationship and being
banned feel pretty
much the same, we
know *sniff*.

Pick your target(s)

Start small. Pick
someone or an audience
that you believe can be
easily trolled. This would
106 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

This could be you

mean that you need to beat these folks

at their own game. You cant come up
as a troll, rather you have to make them
believe youre one of them.

Prepare
Preparation for a prank should be
proportional to its scale. You cant troll
the entirety of a forum based on something you cooked up in an hour. Lets say
youve chosen to troll a popular anime
fan forum. Just putting up a post that
says, OMFG! D00ds Korra is totally
gonna die next season!1! isnt going to
elicit the attention you want. Instead,
if you took the time to photoshop the
character splayed on the floor
with blood everywhere and
posted that. Followed
by two or three fake
accounts (each in a
different browser with
a different proxy) all
attesting to your post
adds credibility. Then
engaging other members
and theory-crafting the
possible scenarios around

the photo slowly starts making it seem a

lot more believable.
For this prank, you had to:
1. Know photoshop
2. Create multiple fake IDs on the forum
with a time gap of a few weeks.
3. Spend time and energy learning the
lore and engaging your prey
You can probably guess that trolling
at this level takes quite the effort. Using
some esoteric term from the anime as your
user ID on that forum would probably
add weight to your opinion.

Learn
Your first few attempts at trolling are
probably going to fail, some of you might
not even bother after one or two tries. But,
stop you mustnt! Failure is but a stepping stone to success. Practise aside, there
are certain techniques which will aid you
on making people believe your magnum
trollus. Logical Fallacies are what you need
to perfect. Very few can see through these
methods and they always deliver. Dont
know what were talking about? Take a look
at our politicians, one wonders why work
never gets done. Its because they engage in
argumentum ad nauseam, this means to
repeat something over and over till nobody
cares. Then there is reductio ad absurdum,
reducing an argument to an absurd level
that makes its converse seem true(e.g. cattle
must fart or else theyd blow up from the
pressure). There are a lot more fallacies
which you can use to win arguments easily.

Troll
For a more comprehensive guide on how
to troll people like a boss, go to http://dgit.
in/winattroling

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Unwind

Seeking ony donations, Cicret is a bracelet

that can turn your arms into a touchscreen
display http://dgit.in/ArmTouch

Mechanical change

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the mechanical keyboard at the Switzerland
testing facility http://dgit.in/LogiMech

Happy holidays!
While most of us would be happy with a puppy for Christmas, the well-heeled are going to be
needing a lot more than that. Heres are some of the most outrageously expensive Christmas
presents of the year!

Neiman Marcus Racing

Gold Shoelaces

We will admit, this one made us drool.

Just slightly, very slightly. The Neiman
Marcus group makes these excruciatingly well-detailed, 1:32 scale models
of some of the most epic race tracks
in the world, including the famed Nurburgring, and you can race slot cars on
these tracks. The only real problem?
Each track will set you back $300,000.

Celebrity Robot
No, this is not a robot version of your
favourite celeb, but it is a robot that is,
by itself, a celebrity and is the only robot
thats been admitted to the Screen Actors
Guild. Also, this isnt exactly autonomous
either, requiring a remote to control it.
But hey, when can you ever really claim
to actually own a celeb? Youll need to
shell out $345,000 though.

Mr.Kennedys Gold shoelaces. These

things are supposedly made from pure,
hand-woven gold thread and will be handdelivered to you (by a security guard of
course) and laced up at a location of
your choice, anywhere in the world. Oh,
and they cost a little under $20,000. If
thats a little over budget, you can go for
a cheaper, pure silver option.

Amour Amour Collar

Diamond pacifiers?
All parents love their babies and most
do their best to pamper them silly, but
few will have the wherewithal to actually
spend $17,000 on a diamond-studded
pacifier for their wee girl. These pacifiers are covered in 278 pave-cut white
diamonds embedded in a 14 carat white
gold base. The cheapest part on this pacifier is the genuine silicone nipple.

108 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

Christmas isnt just about you, its about

your family as well and that includes
the small and furry kind. The Amour
Amour Dog Collar is perfectly designed
for that pampered pooch of yours. Featuring a 52-carat collar thats covered
in over 1600 diamonds and a 7-carat,
flawless, colour-graded centrepiece
diamond. Price? $3.2 million. Only.

The smell of money

Well, not money exactly, but when a perfume sells for over $475,000, it better
be worth the price. But its not just the
perfume, your money gets you a first
class ticket to Paris, 5-star accommodation and service, a meeting with master
perfumer Olivier Creed wholl learn your
tastes and provide you with over 330
litres of a tailor made perfume.

Net neutrality in trouble

Telecom provider Bharti Airtel will soon start charging

its subscribers extra money for using free services like
Skype and others. http://dgit.in/Neut_Net

Even Tor isnt safe?

Read this to know all about Tor - the anonymous

network and browser and how it isnt safe from
hackers anymore. http://dgit.in/Tor_Trouble
Unwind

How we [didnt] unwind

Partay! Not!
Jayesh, Regidi and Ant celebrated their
birthdays this month. Or rather, didnt.
Since nobody came to office, nobody
celebrated anything. Sid had to do his
best to keep himself busy for many a
long, cold night and while were sure he
found something to entertain himself,
hes now quite depressed.

WFH

Gaming?

Work From Home was the buzzword

of the month. Everyone found some
excuse or the other to not come to
work. Jayesh claimed to be working
in the U.S.A. Regidi claimed to be sick
and Mithun supposedly charged off to
study. All in all, a very relaxing month
for all but one of our team.

Nope. No gaming either. Sid had SM[H]

ITE to keep him occupied and Regidi did
eventually shell out for Elite: Dangerous,
but between work and coordinating with
a designer in another time zone, neither
of them really had the time to spare for
games or anything else. Its been a very
unusual month indeed.

diary
screen, with not a soul to talk to and only introspection or the
After the madness that was last month last year now we
Internet for entertainment seem to have pushed Sid over the
fully expected this month to be much worse. This months issue
edge. Food lost all meaning, serving only as a means of sustewas going to be pushed out, for all intents and purposes, by
nance. He caught himself eating out of a dabba and was slightly
Sid and Regidi. Jayesh was in the US, Mithun on study leave,
repulsed by the smell of the curry, only later realising that the
Ant was doing we dont know what, and even though we did
dabba was a day old when the dabbawala wandered upstairs
have Abhijit, hes still fresh meat. Unsurprisingly however, this
in search of the container. Lined with iron his stomach is, for he
month was even worse than we expected.
suffered no ill effects. Thankfully Mithun
First, Jayesh was in the US, which
and Ant decided to drop in at the nth hour
you might think is a good thing, but
and save him from himself.
when he ends up getting a peek at one
The Digit SKOAR!board
In better news, Creepicheep has
of the routers that forms the Internets
Difficulty level: http://dgit.in/1D0J7Ya
been caught! If you dont remember, this
backbone, gets to meet Wireds editor
Rats killed:
1 (Creepicheep I)
ravenous rodent has been raiding the
and gorges himself on the most delicious
Skills learned: Inner Peace Lvl.2 (Sid)
editorial teams food supplies for the past
of food, well, stalwart geeks and upright
Quote of the
few months, escaping with Regidis last
citizens we might be, but we do tend to
month:
Why cant I review
slice of pizza and this month, scavenging
get jealous. The curses we hurled in his
Far Cry 4 on an
Nvidia 210?
an entire croissant off Sids plate. This
direction were, for the most part, unfair,

Ant, the Clueless
pestiferous rodent finally met its doom
but we also just kept begging for more.
at the hands of an underpaid office boy
On a side note, Big Daddy did manage to
when it gave in to the tempting aroma of
drop in on the venerable Vijay Bhai (our
3-day old McChicken in a strategically
star offsite designer in NY) and as far as
placed mouse trap. Unfortunately, Creepicheep had fathered
we know, they spent quite a wild night in New York (the police
offspring before his joyous demise, and now we must hunt
reports are still coming in).
down his progeny before they decide to seek revenge. Raaabo is
Secondly, Regidi caught a severe cold, dehydrated, shrivespecially freaked out as he has a rat phobia!
elled up like a prune and then went into hibernation for the
An unusual month, even by our standards and given the
winter, leaving Sid by his lonesome with a magazine to get
challenges we had to overcome, you ingrates should be thankpublished, surrounded by the beeping and humming that is the
ful that you have an issue in your hands. We demand tribute,
true heart-beat of our test centre. Time loses meaning in our
preferably in the form of high praise (we do blush, you know)
office, all the windows are blackened, and none of the other
and a sacrificial minion. Write to [email protected] for either.
staff enter without permission. Long hours spent staring at his

Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in 109

Ocean Energy
Digit Squad

Toshiba and IHI are working together on

building a ocean energy power generation
system http://dgit.in/OceanEner

Kim to the rescue

Kim Dotcom offered hackers vouchers for his

Mega service in exchange to restoring PSN, Xbox
Live services http://dgit.in/KimVoucher

Every month we highlight some aspiring tech

writers and their spirited attempt to get published
in the magazine. Lets have more!

How to create your

own blog
Blogging isnt dead, its just become less frivilous, and the wheat has been separated
from the chaff. If youre serious about what you do, this guide from our now regular
Digit Squad writer Praneet will help you get started
Well, whats a blog? Its also a website, the only
difference is that, you use it to share things
with public that you love to and to earn money.
Starting a blog doesnt require a team or a lot of
investment but it does require dedication and
a little time. Ive seen tons of people starting
Praneet Sah
off with their blogs with great enthusiasm but
within 2-3 months, falling apart.
Now before we go on, I assume that you have decided
the topic on which youll blog and also a good name
for your blog.
As of now, the most popular blogging services
are Blogger and WordPress. Both of them serve the
same purpose, but with different powers. Blogger is
made for beginners and for those who cant afford
expenses. Whereas WordPress is made for advanced
users and for those who have money (a little would
also do). Ill explain more ahead, but before that,
you would want an address like someblog.com
or someblog.in; and to get this address youll
need to buy it (and theres no way to get it for free).
I personally use bigrock.in and theres a little trick
to get a .com domain name for `99. All you need to
do is, open google.com and then search for .com for
99 and look out for the ads where one would say
something like .COM Domain Names @ `99. Check
that the URL is from Bigrock and then click on it and youll land
on a special page which will give you a .com domain for `99.
Now think of a good domain name for your blog, search for its
availability and then buy it.
Now the next thing is to decide which blogging service you
will go with. Let me give you an introduction to all of them and
the steps to set them up.

Blogger
This is a service offered by Google and the best part about it is
that you dont ever need to pay for hosting and this really saves
110 Digit | January 2015 | www.digit.in

a you a lot of money. In general, hosting a domain would cost

you anything about 2-10K a year. There are specialised hosting
services too, with tons of complex settings, but with Blogger
you really dont need to care about all the back-end programs.
But, it compromises on a few aspects. Limitation of plugins and
flexibility to customise is the biggest drawback. There are just a
handful of plugins available for Blogger and it also doesnt have

those premium themes which WordPress has to offer. Apart

from all this, Google is free to use your articles and your content anywhere. But all this shouldnt let you not choose Blogger,
because here youll never face any downtime and your blog cant
be hacked easily since Google is behind you. And just because
its free, I personally use this for my blog and recommend this
service to anyone who cant afford hosting or maybe who dont
want a lot of bells and whistles.
So now how do we get started with it? Thats easy and all
you need to do is to go over to blogger.com and sign in with your
Gmail account. Now click on New Blog and a pop-up will

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French postal service La Poste, will be

delivering packages to rural areas using drones
http://dgit.in/FrDroneDel

appear. Fill in the required details such as the blog title, blog
address and of course, choose a template and click on Create a
blog. And now you have your own blog which would be live at
blog_address.blogspot.com. Now probably you would like to
remove the .blogspot part from your blog address. To do so, you
need to go to your blogs settings and under Basic settings, click
on something which says + Set up a third-party URL for your
blog. Now enter your URL/blog address that you bought earlier
from bigrock or any other service and press save. But wait, an
error would occur which will then ask you for additional steps
to follow. Open a new tab and go to your Bigrock Dashboard and
select your domain name. Under your domain name, check for
DNS settings and choose CNAME and enter two records as
displayed in the error which appeared on bloggers setting page.
Save everything on the DNS settings page and now wait for some
time (10mins to 24hours) and try again to save the URL on bloggers setting page and it should be saved. If it doesnt, then try
again after some time. And now you can start writing posts and
share your blogs address.

WordPress
WordPress is meant for those who can afford the hosting and
require great professional-looking themes and plenty of plugins
to power their blog. WordPress may seem to be typical for beginners but with experience, youll get used to it. It has the best
customization tools and plugins than any other blogging service.
There are so many options that a beginner may get confused in
WordPress and therefore its recommended for those who are
confident or have a past experience. The only con of WordPress is
that it may not be affordable for all, especially students.
There are two options to start off with WordPress, either
you can opt for WordPress own package (which is not recommended) or you can have self-hosted WordPress (which is
recommended and popular too!). If in case you still want to go
with WordPress own packages then go to wordpress.com and
follow the on-screen instructions but this method isnt advised
since the Free package isnt worth having and the rest of the
packages starts from $99 per year (6.2K INR). So the option is
to go with a Self-hosted WordPress, which wont be free since
youll need to purchase hosting. I wont go into the details, but
in short, youll need to buy hosting which offers good amount of
space and bandwidth, from somewhere like hostgator or bigrock.
Now youll probably get a welcome email and in there the Name
Servers (ns) would be specified, copy them and put them in your
domain names settings and wait for 24 hours for propagation
and proper linking of host and domain name. Now youll be able
to open www.yourblogaddress.com and would be greeted with
the default page.
Now youll need to download WordPress for which you can
go to https://wordpress.org/download/ and download it. Open
your hostings cPanel (details of it would be given in your welcome email) and go to File manager and upload the files from
WordPress-4.x.x.zip > WordPress > (The content to be uploaded).
After the upload is completed, go to www.yourblogaddress.com/
wp-admin/install.php and follow the on-screen instructions and

WarSting Blue

This little sword lights up when it is

near a WiFi network, an unsecured one
http://dgit.in/WarSting

Digit Squad

youll be good to go. Read the readme.html file if you face any
problem during installation.
Now anyone can visit www.yourblogaddress.com and it will
open up your blog. But wait, it looks ugly and empty. So now go
to www.yourblogaddress.com/wp-admin/ and log in with the
credentials that you registered while installing WordPress. Now
to post the articles, check the top bar and mouse over something
which says + New and then choose Post from the list. And
there you go. But dont you think that the blog still looks a little
ugly? Well you need to get some themes and premium themes
look much better. You can get premium themes from WordPress
itself, or a better option is to try out http://themeforest.net/. To set
the theme, you need to open your WordPresss admin panel and
then from the left sidebar, mouse over appearance and choose
themes; then click Add new and upload the new theme. Now this
is a *little* of WordPress to get you started off, but still there are
a lot of things which can only be learnt with experience. And in
any case dont feel low if you cant understand WordPress quickly,
always remember that every professional was once a newbie.
Getting a blog for the first time is definitely an awesome feeling,
but the truth is that a blogs success is measured by the number of
visitors that it gets and not by which blogging service it uses or the
premium theme that it has. Having the best content is preferred
and the frequency must also be good. Keep blogging.

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