Thursday, February 4, 2016

News

Google found a new way to keep you safe in its latest Chrome update

Exploring the sketchier regions of the Internet, you've undoubtedly run into sites so full of ads that it's nearly impossible to tell which buttons or links will actually take you to the content you're looking for. Yes, that one button might say “download,” but chances are that clicking on it will just take you to a site you really don't want to visit.

Thankfully, Google is stepping in to help.

DON'T MISS: Dollars and Sense: The iPhone is the only phone that actually still excites people

On Wednesday, Google announced via its Online Security Blog that Chrome has been updated to warn users when they're about to enter a site that features social engineering ads, i.e. ads that lie about what they really do when you click them.

Google will consider ads on a site to be social engineering when they:

Pretend to act, or look and feel, like a trusted entity — like your own device or browser, or the website itself.
Try to trick you into doing something you'd only do for a trusted entity — like sharing a password or calling tech support.

They've even included a few examples, which will likely look familiar to many of you (but don't worry, they're just image files, not actual social engineering ads):

Spend enough time on the Internet and you'll inevitably run into something along these lines. Many of you can probably pick up on a fake ad or download button by now, but it's nice to see Google stepping in to help those who can't.

News

Whatsapp Raises User Limits For Group Chats

Whatsapp, the popular messaging service recently made the news because it achieved a significant milestone, there are over 1 billion people using this app actively every month. Facebook acquired this service about two years ago and while the service used to cost $1 for one year, last month, the company mentioned that they were getting rid of this subscription fee, which could only help it become even more popular. Recent stats mention that over 42 billion messages are sent or received each day, users share over 1.6 billion photos and 250 million videos daily and it has over 1 billion group chats.

The app is updated constantly and sometimes it includes new features like voice calling, which just became available last year. In the latest update, Whatsapp is including a feature that could be very useful for those with large group chats. While before the app supported up to 100 users on a single chat, the updated app now supports a maximum of 256 users in a single chat group. This is enabled in Whatsapp version 2.12.367 or a more recent version. The app can be updated from the Google Play Store or those who desperately need that functionality can download the most recent version from the company's website, which is 2.12.437. The app is getting updated to include this functionality on iOS as well, and it is unknown if additional platforms like Windows Phone or BlackBerry would get support for additional users within a single group. After updating the app, users will be prompted with a notification in the group chat section to let them know about this change, but besides that, everything will still look and work just like it used to.

Since the number of group chats is quite large, this new feature could benefit lots of users, but let's face it, such large groups are hardly meant to be used by regular users. Businesses could benefit from larger groups, and it has been said that a way to monetize this service would be to charge them to use it, so businesses could end up creating focus groups and virtual get-togethers which certainly involves more people.

News

Google Engineer Shows Off Android Smart Mirror Prototype

We now live in a world where your bathroom mirror can show you the time, temperature, and news headlines as you're brushing your teeth in the morning. Well, one Google staffer can, at least.

In a recent blog post, Google software engineer Max Braun said at some point late last year he realized he wanted his basic bathroom mirror to be smarter — like the one from that 2000 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The 6th Day. After searching online, he couldn't find what he was looking for. So, he built it.

Using a two-way mirror, display panel, controller board, other components, and arts and crafts supplies, Braun rigged up something pretty fantastic. Now, when he's looking at his mug in the morning, Braun can glance over to the right and see the time and date displayed directly on his medicine cabinet mirror or look left for the current weather, a 24-hour forecast, and recent news headlines.

The code behind the user interface leverages some simple Android APIs like TextClock for the date and time, as well as Forecast for the weather and the Associated Press for news. He's also playing around with adding traffic and reminders to the interface.

"The idea is that you don't need to interact with this UI," he wrote. "Instead, it updates automatically and there's an open-ended voice search interface for anything else."

Braun said the project involved "quite a bit of experimentation and some dead ends" and his prototype is still a work in progress. The thing is currently powered by an Amazon Fire TV Stick, which runs an Android API that drives the UI. But Braun also experimented with using Chromecast and Nexus Player before putting together his "finished — yet by no means final" product.

Auto Expo 2016 - Polaris shows off its mantle with Stunning 2016 Indian Roadmaster!

Now that's what we call Legendary!! The Indian Chief Radmaster in the Blue Diamond clour shade!

Polaris India ruled second day of the ongoing Auto Expo 2016 at Greater Noida with the reveal of its thrilling range of automobiles. With brand and product portfolio with such diverse range of automobiles, the Polaris India stall beamed with its glorious offerings, made even more special by the presence of the new 2016 Blue Diamond Indian Roadmaster and Pearl White Indian Chief Classic along with the rest of the Indian Motorcycles 2016 range: - Indian Chief Dark Horse, Indian Chief Vintage along with the Indian Scout and Indian Chieftain.

Over the last one year or so, Indian Motorcycle has been consistently expanding its Indian presence and speaking at the reveal, Mr. Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd. talked about the iconic American cruiser motorcycle makers India growth, he said, "India has become very important in our global plans and we are bringing in products that are built from the heart and have authenticity, grit and strength as additional bonus in its core and we have displayed the same attributes in this Auto Expo". At the reveal, he further said, "We showcased the best of today and tomorrow's automotive excellence through Polaris and Indian products and this has found resonance in discerning auto enthusiasts. Our showstoppers: The new Blue Diamond Indian Roadmaster and Pearl White Indian Chief Classic absolutely rocked the Auto Expo 2016 and generated a lot of interest. We are determined to bring the best to our customers in India.”

The star of the Indian Motorcycle display, the Indian Chief Roadmaster was originally manufactured from 1947-1953 and is known among motorcycling's most comfortable and durable touring bikes with an almost endless list of premium amenities for comfort, convenience and luxury. The other Indian Motorcycle display at the Auto Expo 2016 is the Indian Chief Classic is powered by Thunder Stroke 111 engine that churns out 139Nm@2600rpm of peak torque. The 49-degree V-Twin engine is the new heart of Indian Motorcycle and marks the first clean-sheet Indian Motorcycle engine design in seven decades.

Alongwith the display of the entire Indian Motorcycles Polaris India is also showcasing its range of world leading ATV's at The Auto Expo 2016. Among the listings some of them are, Polaris RZR XP Turbo and Polaris Sportsman 110.

The Polaris RZR XP Turbo tailor made to win rallies, is the most powerful bespoke product of Polaris and has the honors of bagging the pole position at several rallies like Rain Forest Challenge, Ultimate Desert Challenge. The Turbo is powered by the ALL-NEW! 144HP Polaris ProStar Turbo engine which has an integrated turbocharger and is specifically built to take extreme performance to a new level. The other Polaris ATV is the Polaris Sportsman 110, which is a recreational ATV intended for children of 12 years and above under adult supervision. The Sportsman 110 is a perfect option for thrill and adventure. With a host of safety features, the vehicle also offers electronic injected 112 cc engine, parent adjustable speed limiter, long-travel front and rear suspension and comes with an electric start.

Jabong may post $800 million GMV by December

New Delhi: Online fashion retailer Jabong, which is aiming to break even in the next three years, is expected to clock a gross merchandise value (GMV, or cost of goods sold) of over $800 million by December, the company's newly appointed chief executive and managing director Sanjeev Mohanty said.

The firm claims to have touched $66 million in GMV in January, with a 56% growth in gross orders and 59% in gross items. Jabong will be “within striking range” of the $1 billion GMV mark by year-end, Mohanty said on Wednesday.

The firm claims January 2016 has been its best month since inception in 2011. To be sure, January is among the best months for the entire apparel industry, thanks to end-of-season sales.

Mohanty is revisiting strategy and is putting in place mechanisms to cut costs and regain ground lost to rivals such as Myntra and marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart.

Jabong will increase its focus on the marketplace model from the inventory-led model, said Mohanty. Also, it will discontinue private labels and focus on increasing assortment across existing brands. Jabong currently gets over 10% of its business from private labels. The firm has private labels under Sangria, Lara Karen, Miss Bennett, Incult and Phosphorous brands. It plans to continue selling its Indian ethnic wear brand Sangria, which contributes about 70% of all private label sales. However, it will slowly pull the plug on the rest of its private labels.

“We plan to de-clutter the website and app, there will be fewer brands and we will focus more on curation and assortment across the brands. India has so many brands that we haven't tapped into,” said Mohanty. “Private label will be a strategy three years from now... We don't have the bandwidth right now for private labels.”

Jabong plans to introduce international brands from its owner Global Fashion Group's (GFG) portfolio within the next six months. Jabong also looks to increase its focus on its mobile app and website. According to Mohanty, the company in January saw 75% of its orders come from mobile and it expects to take it to 80% plus with in the next six to 12 months.

Jabong recently went through a senior management overhaul where the founding team of Praveen Sinha and Arun Chandra Mohan left the organization.

GFG is looking to pump in fresh capital into Jabong as it bets on the new team to turnaround the India business.

Jabong is one of the five fashion e-commerce companies operating within GFG, the fashion group for emerging markets that operates in 28 countries.

Apple must pay $625 million for infringing patents with FaceTime and iMessage

Apple must pay $625.6 million to a patent holding firm, a US court has ruled, for infringing on a number of its intellectual properties. A jury ruled unanimously in favor of VirnetX — which reportedly only makes money through suing for patent violations — agreeing that Apple had infringed communications protocol patents in its FaceTime, VPN on Demand, and iMessage services, as well as in the devices that used them.

This is the second time VirnetX has sued Apple for the use of these specific patents, after the company previously won a judgement of $368 million from the tech giant in 2012, and almost scoring a "running royalty" of one percent of iPhone and iPad sales. Apple was forced to redesign FaceTime after the jury ruled in favor of VirnetX, but that verdict was later thrown out in 2014, when an appellate court stated the decision was "tainted." This time around, VirnetX — regularly described as a "patent troll" — wanted $532 million, but bumped that figure up during legal proceedings as Apple continued to use the protocols in question.

Both cases were tried in the East Texas Federal District Court, a region notoriously friendly to patent owners. The company has used courts in the district to go after other big tech firms in the past, suing them for infringement of its wide range of patents — in 2010, the company scored $200 million direct from Microsoft in an out-of-court settlement, and in 2014, it successfully sued for $23 million from Skype.

Karnataka is the only state we are investing in: Kamal Bali, MD, Volvo India

At day two of the 'Invest Karnataka 2016', Global Investors Meet, Kamal Bali, MD of Volvo India, as a part of the 'Auto and machine tools' panel spoke about Volvo Group's journey in India and how Bengaluru (and Karnataka) has played an important role in it.

Karnataka – the obvious destination

While giving an overview of Karnataka's growth that had contributed 5.68 per cent to India's GDP in 2014-15, Kamal highlighted that Karnataka was the obvious choice for Volvo to setup and continue its operations because of the investor-friendly government that is quite accessible and supportive at all levels.He said,

Karnataka is the only state we are investing in. Bengaluru's X factor is its cosmopolitan nature, climate and access to great talent pool and educational institutions. Presence of leading IT, telecommunication and heavy machinery companies along with excellent telecommunication network and optical fibre connectivity through the state add to its appeal.

17 years in Karnataka

Volvo Group had established its 'Group Truck' factory in Bengaluru in 1998 and expanded its operations with a new value truck in 2014. The company also established a Volvo bus factory in 2007 and in 2013 had expanded its footprint by 100 per cent. For their progressive industrial policy for 2014-19, the company aims to achieve an industrial growth of 12 per cent per annum.

It also aims to increase its GDP contribution to the manufacturing sector of Karnataka from 16.87 to 20 per cent by the end of the policy period. The company's other goals include attracting investments to the tune of five lakh crore and creating employment opportunities for 15 lakh people.

Success in Karnataka and in the Indian subcontinent

Volvo believes that their success in Karnataka (and India) is because their goals were aligned with the national and state priorities such as developing environment-friendly products, helping urbanisation, ensuring safety standards and contributing to skill development. With their logistics, telematics, truck technology and IT services, the company aims to create a 360 degree footprint and 'Make in India'. Volvo currently has manufacturing setups in Hosakote, Peenya, Bengaluru, and Pithambar in MP supported by 3,500 employees and 400 sales and services personnel.

Apart from manufacturing and distributing in India, Volvo also exports its construction equipment to Latin America, South America and other parts of Asia. Their buses are currently being exported to South Africa, South Asia with Europe in the pipeline. Volvo aims to enable quicker superior quality infrastructure development by building better road technologies. They also help power the Indian navy and coastguard.

Through different competitions like 'Volvo Operator Idol competition' and 'Volvo fuel watch challenge' the company aims to improve safety standards and fuel efficiency among its operators and drivers.

Through its Volvo-GMR partnership, the company helps trains unemployed youth to become operators at sites in Hyderabad, Delhi and Volvo CE demo centre in Bengaluru. RAASTA Academy provides consultation in better road building and offers postgraduate programmes and trainings in road technology.

Future plans

Volvo believes that the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. Their long-term vision is to become the leader in sustainable transport solutions. To achieve the same, the company is keeping cognisance of five trends they believe will shape the future:

Digitisation.

Economic power shift from west to east.

Widening economic disparity.

Changing relationships between us and the planet.

Pace of urbanisation.

Volvo's future plans for Karnataka include utilising hybrid technology in buses that can potentially save 40 per cent fuel, decrease emissions and carbon footprint by 50 per cent and provide passengers a more enjoyable journey. Kamal ended his session with some proposals that could make Karnataka an unmatched global destination.

Ease labour laws and related compliances to promote a spirit of fairness in employment generation, productivity and sustainability.

Augment infrastructure availability by decongesting roads, improving infrastructure of airports and sectors like power and sanitation.

Reduce tax-related compliances by facilitating introduction of goods and services tax (GST) and simplifying transfer pricing (TP).

Enabling skill development through better public-private partnerships and improving effectiveness of single-window clearance.