The Static Page

Getting started
W
hen I tell people what I do for a But it failed.
living, most assume that I must For this startup, I had the support of a few
be an engineer. My geekiness of my batchmates. Having endured the admis-
does not help dispel that notion of course, but sions ordeal themselves only a few months
the fact is I studied business in college. And before, they were easily sold on the idea. We
having done that, like most of my batchmates, decided to approach the problem at the source
I thought I was either destined to be a suit or – the colleges themselves. We went to about
to start ‘something of my own’. 30 of the best colleges (which probably got 90
Quite a few of us were extremely gung ho percent of the applications anyway) and tried
about the idea of starting our own business. to convince the principals to put up the admis-
Our college curriculum even had a course on sion lists on our website. Being a frequenter of
that subject for glob’s sake – yes, we studied forums, I decided that the quickest way to do
entrepreneurship. Students, especially from this would be by installing a forum, creating
colleges like mine that were more focussed on admin logins for colleges, and allowing them
the liberal arts, were literally infected by the to upload their lists themselves. Siddharth Parwatay
idea that passions have to be pursued. Profits The colleges refused. We suspected they Assistant Editor
would naturally follow. weren’t comfortable with the transparency we [email protected]
This was the year 2006 and somehow, would inadvertently bring about.
we didn’t refer to these endeavours in entre- If this was present day, and had the colleges
preneurship as startups. At least the term refused, their reluctance to come on board “Students, especially
wasn’t as popular and ubiquitous as it is would seem almost idiotic considering the from colleges like
today. We’d say “business ideas” or refer to technology available at our disposal. Most mine that were more
them as “ventures”. students today have high-res cameras in their focussed on the
Either way, I did conceive one such “ven- pockets, and sharing those lists online would liberal arts, were
ture” and even executed it. It was a learning be just a click and tap away. literally infected
experience and if you bear with me, I’d like The idea would’ve sailed through to suc- by the idea that
to share a wee bit of wisdom with you. Before cess quite easily. passions have
that though, let me tell you why what I estab- The point I’m trying to make is that to be pursued.
lished was a “startup” (in the sense of what startups weren’t easy – especially a few years Profits would
the word has come to mean today), and not a ago, because the kind of technology ecosystem naturally follow.”
traditional business. we have today was lacking. Capital was scarce
To start with (no pun intended), it was and the idea of “dotcoms” still raised a few
a tech-based initiative. The website that I eyebrows.
launched aimed to streamline the admission Today, things are different. E-commerce is
process of Mumbai colleges. With literally a reality; the Flipkart-isation of the country
hundreds of colleges in the city, students had has begun. Most importantly, the primordial
to endure Mumbai’s punishing rains, first to soup consisting of venture capital, userbase
fill out admission forms, and then to physi- and talent is there. All you need is that one
cally go and check whether their names had spark and your story will begin.
appeared on admission lists. This list checking Get out there. Start something.
process had to be repeated more often than
not, because any given college could release as
many as four merit lists. This seems so futile
in today’s day and age, right? But, that’s what
was done back then. I was passionate about
the idea and it had all the right ingredients for
a good startup – a good idea, technology as the
backbone, a burning need, a large user base, Let me know at: facebook.com/
and scalability. staticsid | @staticsid | [email protected]

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 1

 Column

In pursuit of storage nirvana

L
ast month, just before the onset of Let bygones be bygones. What could I do to
the monsoon, I decided to do some ensure all data from this point on is preserved
late spring cleaning. As it turns out, I seamlessly, efficiently, and without pinching
chanced upon an old shoebox full of CDs and my pocket? How do you ensure that offline
DVDs from the early 2000s. After seeing data backed up in hard drives won’t need you
the silver and golden Moser Baer discs with to pay an arm and a leg to translate into the
handwritten scribbles for titles, I was lost, popular medium at that point in the future?
gripped by nostalgia. For a second, hope led Meanwhile, what happens when all your
me to wonder – what if these discs still held favourite social networks or cloud storage
data unscathed? I wasted no time, but alas, my providers start to go out of business? How will
data was gone forever - expensive recovery you migrate your terabytes upon terabytes of
techniques aside. With that revelation, my data from one source to another?
reminiscence too disappeared, and I was left Despite storage prices falling to record
with an overwhelming sense of gloom 1.0. lows, everything ultimately has a shelf life.
I’m sure that we’ve all gone through And that means your data in the cloud can
Jayesh Shinde this scenario while trying to hang onto our also “vanish” as long as that data sits with
Manager – Test Centre digital relics. businesses that need to make a profit. Cloud
[email protected]
The problem is that it’s not just CDs and storage providers are still using conventional
DVDs but even hard drives that fail after a spinning hard drives and are slowly starting
“As we produce and point. When I lived in Bangalore, for instance, to embrace SSDs. Despite announcements of
consume more data I purchased a 500GB external drive. Back then Helium drives and Heat Assisted Magnetic
than we’ve ever done in 2008, I used it almost daily for over three Recording, we won’t see them for many more
in history, paying for years till I left that city in 2011. The drive sat years. In the meantime, data is churned out
storage in the cloud neglected and forgotten in a cupboard of my left, right and centre, and there’s no way to
will be the way to home here in Mumbai for many months, until capture it for posterity – no way to archive and
go – free services I plugged it in in 2012 to copy some data. The freeze it forever.
will be unsustainable drive died on me after about a week’s sluggish M-Disc enabled optical media can appar-
for businesses and performance. History repeated itself, gloom ently last a 1000 years – a claim that only
inconvenient for 2.0 set in. future humans can verify, if they manage to
users after a point." Optical storage is limited, so is hard drive find the disc in our fossil remains. But nothing
or flash storage. They all fail after a point, else even comes close, even as far as tall
sooner than you think. True offline data marketing claims are concerned. For now, all I
storage isn’t a viable option, because what’s want is a way to be sure that whatever photos
popular today will be out of fashion tomorrow. or videos I shoot of my daughter growing up
Porting data from a legacy medium to popular will be easily visible in the next few decades
alternatives is ridiculously expensive today, off a storage medium I choose to invest in
and it will remain astronomically expensive in today, without too much trouble. I don’t think
the future as well. I will be able to handle gloom 3.0.
Our only immediate hope to store all our
data is to spread it across cloud systems.
This includes using Dropbox-like solutions,
uploading photos onto Facebook, videos on
YouTube, and distributed machines connected
through P2P networks. As we produce and
consume more data than we’ve ever done in
history, paying for storage in the cloud will be
the way to go – free services will be unsustain-
Let me know your thoughts on this
column at: facebook.com/jayesh.shinde able for businesses and inconvenient for users
| @jshinde | [email protected] after a point.

2 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 July 2015 • Volume 15 • Issue 07
To AdverTise ProducTs reviewed This monTh

Email: [email protected] Bazaar

LG 55UF950t
Sales Director:
Lalit Arun, Mobile: +91-9582262959 Goqii Band

South: HtC One M9+

Managing Director Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha Ram Sarangi, Mobile: +91-98864 06961
Printer and Publisher Kanak Ghosh
Xolo Chromebook
Publishing Director Vikas Gupta West: Intel 750 PCIe ssD 1.2tB
Chief Operating Officer - 9.9 tech Krishna Kumar Sajeed Momin, Mobile: +91-98192 44603
Suvarna Shringarpure, Mobile: +91-93249 28247 tP-Link Archer C2 AC750 router
Editorial
Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Benq W1070+
North:
Associate Editor Siddharth Parwatay Debleena Majumdar, Mobile: +91-98101 19492 ECs Z97 Machine
Multimedia Co-ordinator Abhijit Dey
Interns Anshumala Balu, Lavleen Bhati East: BoAt Pint
Purusharth Sharma Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Mobile: +91-93318 29284
Nikon CoolPix s2900
Test Centre
AsUs P452L
Manager, test Centre Jayesh Shinde
Reviewers Anirudh Regidi, Hardik Singh AdverTising index LG Music Flow H7
Mithun Mohandas & Prasid Banerjee
Assistant Vikas Patil Nikon Coolpix s3700
Brand ................................................................................ Page No

digit.in
comparison Test-smartbands
Online Editor Soham Raninga Apacer ................................................................................... 23
Xiomi Mi band
Assistant Editor Nikhil Pradhan
News Editor Kul Bhushan Benq .................................................................................... IFC Fitgen trek

Design timex Ironman Move X20

Brilyant ...................................................................................13
sr. Creative Director Jayan K Narayanan
GOQII Band
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D-Link .......................................................................................3
Associate Art Director Anil T Huawei talkband B2
sr. Visualisers Shigil Narayanan & Sristi Maurya
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Peterson PJ, Manjith PB & Pradeep G Nair
Acer Aspire E15 E5-571-593D
Gigabyte...................................................................................9
Acer Aspire E15 E5-571G-341R
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Associate Art Director Shokeen Saifi HP 15-AF001AX
sr. Designer Manoj Kumar VP
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Photography Lenovo U41-70
sr. Photographer Jiten Gandhi LG ...............................................................................................5
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Contributors Mediatek ........................................................................ 19, 21
Writers Kshitij Sobti, Rajat Motwani, Ronak Gupta, Samir
Alam Varad Choudhari
Prodot Antivirus............................................................... 111
Copy editing Infancia Cardozo

Production and Logistics Quantum............................................................................. 112

Make this
issue of Digit
sr GM - Operations Shivshankar Hiremath
Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay Quick Heal.............................................................................31

coMe alive
Asst Production Manager Vilas Mhatre
Production Assistant Brahmanand Nikalje RDP......................................................................................... 33
Manager Logistics Vijay Menon
Asst Mgr Production & Logistics M P Singh
tP-Link...................................................................................17
Executives Mohd. Nadeem Ansari
Nilesh Shiravadekar Step 1
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Brand Published, Printed and Owned by Nine Dot Nine Interactive DOWNLOAD
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Mgr - Online Shauvik Kumar Nerul, Navi Mumbai. 400706. Printed at International
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Cover Design Shigil Narayanan For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, much more!
unless specified otherwise.
In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final.

4 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

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 The RSS Feed

I’m too old for this shit!

I
’m quoting Danny Glover’s character from Twitter? We discussed something similar
the Lethal Weapon series of movies, of course. over pizza when stuck in office during the
I quote him because this issue is somewhat famous 26/7 Mumbai rains in 2005. Oh, and I
of a milestone for me. It’s the 150th issue of remember hating the idea then, and I still do –
Digit that I’ve contributed to – starting as a billions of dollars or not!
trainee copy editor, back in January 2003. We also discussed all-touch devices about
It’s crazy, the sheer amount of people I’ve six months before the iPhone was launched. I
had the privilege of working with for Digit remember that someone (can’t remember who)
in those twelve and a half years! I can’t even put up an impassioned debate as to why touch
remember the names of some of them, but then was the future, because of the LG Prada and
I’m terrible with names anyway. Before any- some Samsung model (but better software was
thing else, I just want to take the opportunity to needed). Being an old school Palm Zire user,
thank everyone who worked with me (and put I loved touch, and especially Palm’s software
up with me) for any of those 150 issues. You’re implementation, so I argued on behalf of touch Robert Sovereign-Smith
all truly special. that day. Then six months later, the iPhone Executive Editor
In the last 150 months, I’ve seen technology launched, became insanely popular, and proved [email protected]
truly metamorphose from something niche that that hypothesis correct as well.
only a few of us geeks used, to something the There are so many more times this hap-
world just accepts as commonplace now. From pened, but it’s pointless to try and remember “We also discussed
a time when students used to be just kids, to all of them. Besides, you get the basic idea, all-touch devices
present day when some kids these days already right? The point is that although many crea-
about six months
have titles of CEO! Technology has truly ena- tive Indians might have had ideas for products
bled India. that could be a global success, we had a totally
before the iPhone
Another reason for the headline is because defeatist attitude towards everything back then. was launched.”
at Digit, we’ve always had brilliant but lazy Perhaps with good reason, perhaps not, how-
people. From guys who could code a CMS if you ever it was what it was. I, for one, regret that
dared them to (before CMSes were common- of all the brilliant people who came and went
place) to gamers and misfits, we’ve had them all. through Digit, not one of us backed our ideas
We’ve also had the most interesting conversa- with faith and action.
tions here, especially during issue closing, Today, however, that opportunity exists in
when we’d spend days (weeks?) in office. Very India. You can actually get millions of dollars
often, those conversations would be about ideas of investment with an idea and a plan, because
that should be implemented in the technology someone will fall in love with your vision (and
world. Never once did it occur to us to go ahead the profits it can earn them). We know this
and try to turn those ideas into reality our- based on all past success stories, which were
selves, sadly. Every single current and ex Digit missing back in the day.
employee will testify to this…the sheer amount You can have an idea, and then decide to
of ideas that a group of creative people can come follow through on it. You can, really, be your
up with is staggering. own boss in today’s India. All you have to do is
I still remember wanting to build a software not give in to the defeatist attitude like we used
(app?) in 2004 that would help you recognise a to. And it doesn’t matter how old you are either,
song you heard, just by humming it – because so long as you have passion and belief, nothing
you didn’t know the name or the lyrics, just the else matters. Perhaps it’s why, at least when it
tune. This was back when music was worth comes to Digit, I’m still able to tell myself, after
hunting for, not the artificially created tripe all these years, “I’m not too old for this shit!”
people listen to because the artists are “cute”. Now go build something already!
Yes Beliebers and One Direction lovers, I mean
you! Anyway, SoundHound kind of does that,
though I think it would have been way more
successful back in 2004 when I first thought
Liked or hated this column? Let me
of it, because people actually needed it more know at: facebook.com/raaabo | @
back then. raaabo | [email protected]

8 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Website: www.gigabyte.in; Toll-Free: 1800-22-0966; www.facebook.com/GIGABYTEindia
Gujarat: 97250 59195; Mumbai, Goa, Vidarbha: 99677 18653; Rest of Maharashtra: 99677 18653; New Delhi & Uttar Pradesh:
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90405 06080; Tamil Nadu: 74117 74666; Kerala: 98950 99231
Contents
july 2015 volume 15 \ ISSue 07

quiCK
nAvIGAToR
001 EntEr

020 DGt
Desire
Greed
Temptation

039 WorlD viEW

056 triED
tEStED
&
Comparison Test
Bazaar

075 toolBoX
Q&A
Tips n Tricks
Workshop

096 StrEEt
85 Be
Smart
Recommended Buys Your own Boss
Killer Rigs
Price Watch
Find the next Big idea
Agent 001

103 tECH@WorK
SmartSoHo
Industry Connect

Had a wierd startup idea? We best it’s not

Esc
108
as wierd as these ones!

TRIeD & 70 71 72
TeSTeD InTel 750 PCIe SSD
1.2 TB
Intel regains its lead among
BenQ W1070+
Feature rich, offers great value
BoAT PInT
Pint sized performance

SSDs

10 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 On The DVD
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Pick from a comprehensive ESET NOD32
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Affinity Designer Google i/o 2015

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30 Desire > noodoe Audacity

Blender
things at their Google I/O
2015 conference that also in-
The most unusual smart watch DaVinci Resolve cluded the announcement of
Lite the new version of Android.
Make this issue of Digit coMe alive GIMP
Inkscape
We’ve included the entire
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Lemma Demo image for a Nexus
Quintet 5 device, or, you
36 Greed > roG Gr8
ASUS’s new ROG GR8 pc is your
Red Crucible:
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inspiration Batman: Arkham Night

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3 Full GAmeS +
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DvD GooGlE i/o 2015

73 74
ASuS P452l nIKon CoolPlIx S3700
For a businessman on a budget When your phone camera isn’t good
enough

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 11

 DGT Long live IPv6!
It’s back, and it’s inside Digit. It’s still a work in progress, but Finland celebrates National IPv6

Enter 20 send us feedback about it. We’re going to try and integrate
it seamlessly, so your feedback will be valuable.
day. Plans to make IPv6 mainstream.
http://dgit.in/finlandip

) Hi Siddharth,
Feedback for the June 2015 issue of Digit
I’m a new subscriber of Digit and am
just 14 years old. I’d like to ask you a few
questions.
1. Can you change the format of the CDs
you provide so that I can run it on a
Mac. If that's not possible, can I make
the CDs work by installing Windows
on my laptop using Boot Camp?
2. If the answer is yes, how do I install
Windows on my laptop?
3. Which console is better for gaming -
Xbox One or PS4?
4. Can you include a Captain Price poster
on Skoar!?
5. What are the minimum requirements
to play GTA 5 on a laptop.
6. I’d like to discuss Steam with you.
I don’t know anything about it and
would love to know what it's about
and how I should use it. Is it even
worth it and is it free? Does it require
a credit card? you'd like to play ‘Halo’, you'd have to ) Heya Team Digit! (Mostly, Siddharth!),
7. If you’ve played ‘Shadow of Mordor’, go for the Xbox. The PS4 is slightly I’ve recently started reading this maga-
can you send me a review of the game? more powerful in terms of hardware, zine from last year. Initially, due to its
8. I currently game on the Xbox 360 and so it gives slightly better graphics price my parents didn’t allow me to buy
want to know if there are any games performance. The PS4 also has more it every month. I somehow managed to
that I could try out. I’m seriously in RPG titles, so I'd go with the PS4 if I order it online. However, I’m from Jam-
need of some good video games to were you. shedpur and the issues reach me by the
play since I have nothing. I prefer FPS 4. Sure, we can do Captain Price, maybe end of the month.
games over RPGs. in a nostalgia special. I want to talk about the May issue
It would be very helpful if you could 5. Official minimum requirements: (which reached me on 18th of June). It was
reply to my questions. I’m a huge fan of Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU really interactive and I liked the fun facts
Digit magazine. Also, people come to me Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD instead of broken links. Also, I liked the
to borrow copies of the magazines but Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 pages which were carrying good knowl-
they like it so much that now they refuse CPUs) @ 2.5GHz edge of science rather than advertise-
to return them! Keep doing what you're Memory: 4 GB RAM ments. This issue came with Dmystify,
doing and I will support you. Also if you Graphics: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD which was just awesome. Really nice
could enable a Cash on Delivery option I HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11) work. This issue’s Skoar! was better than
would subscribe to the magazine. I hope 6. Steam is a digital distribution program any other previous issue. The cover story
you like my suggestion. for games. It makes acquiring games made lots of sense and was knowledge-
Thanks, very easy and manages your library able. The movies given in the DVD were
– Romil Agarwal as well. It's nice to be on Steam for its great. I’ve seen many readers complain
free-to-play games and the ease with about the UI of the DVD. As for me, I don’t
Hi Romil, which you can play multiplayer games. care how the data in it is presented, I’d
Nice to hear from you. The application itself is free and you cherish it just as much even if the interface
1. It should work on a Bootcamped Mac only need a credit card if you want to remained the same.
2. This link should get you started: buy games. Lastly, a suggestion, specifically
https://support.apple.com/en-in/ 7. I've not played it but we did review about the price tag. Due to the maga-
HT201468 the game here: http://skoar.digit.in/pc/ zine’s price, I can’t manage to get it every
3. Oh, you've asked a very complicated pc-review/middle-earth-shadow-of- month from a book store. Also, on the
question – one that entire FTs could mordor/ matter of its delivery, I get issues at the
be written about. To put it concisely, 8. I'm not a console gamer Romil but I'll end of the month. Many times, I thought
however, look at exclusive titles that ask around and get back to you. of writing a review on the issue, but
you're interested in. For example, if – Siddharth failed due to its late delivery. But this

12 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Why is your cat purring? Cleaning the oceans
Learn about how and why cats purr. No, This 20 year-old came up with a plan to halve
it’s not just because they’re happy. the plastic debris in the pacific within a decade.
Inbox http://dgit.in/catsprr Read more http://dgit.in/clnocean

LeTTer of The monTh

) Hi, Team Digit! Your magazine is amazing, but I 5. Please provide 32-bit software in the
Thanks to all of you for want to help make it even better, DVD as everybody doesn’t have a
bringing out such an awe- so I have some suggestions: 64-bit OS.
some magazine. Especially 1. Since it’s a techie-focused 6. Please provide some Autocad tuto-
Sid, Jayesh and Robert magazine, why don’t you rials in your DVD. Many want to
and Mad Zombie a.k.a. include some tech jokes and make their own 3D models.
Anirudh, of whom I’m a riddles. Make it a “Know, – Saurav Kumar
big fan. I’ve been reading Laugh Magazine” from a
it for the last 10 months. I “No Laugh Magazine”. As much as I dislike the term, in this
belong to a place where most 2. For the DVD UI, you can case I’m glad to have you on our side as
people think that modern tech provide only icons and labels as a true “evangelist” Saurav. Hope you liked
is nonsense. When I first bought it Android does for its apps. our joke poster this time – a small step
(September 2014 issue), I felt awesome 3. I don’t know whether you’ve done it towards making it a “Know, laugh maga-
after reading it and decided to subscribe previously or not. Can you bring out zine” as you call it. As for your OS wars
to it. I showed this magazine to the a Fast Track about dif- suggestion we did a “World
non-believers of modern tech and after ferent OSes? It can either War III” cover for our Jan
reading it they realised that tech isn’t be targeted at computer 2013 issue – so about a year
useless. I liked the snippets on the top of platforms or mobile. As an and a half before you started
pages. Thanks for providing such useful idea for its cover, you can reading Digit.
software, awesome game trailers and write “OS Wars”. A timeline of Prince of
games in the DVD. I haven’t come across 4. You gave a “Timeline of Persia sounds like a good
a magazine like Fast Track, which GTA” in Skoar! Can you idea. We’ll take that and
provides such useful info. And what give a “Timeline of Prince all your other suggestions
do I say about Skoar! It’s like a gamer’s of Persia”? There are many under consideration.
Valentine gift or monthly dose. crazy fans of this game too. – Siddharth

time I thought, “Let it be late, the email ) Dear Team, As I’m an old subscriber, I’m going
will reach in time”. Happy Anniversary to the whole team on through past editions of Digit and
One last complaint: Did the May issue behalf of all the fans around the world. sending you pictures of the same. Quite a
come bundled with a Fast Track? If yes, Coming straight to this month's edition, it nostalgic experience.
then the Fast Track has lost its track. I was quite evident from past anniversary
haven’t got it. issues that this time too you’d wave your
Overall, I’ll rate this magazine 9 stars magical wand and enlighten us. True to
out of 10. One deduction obviously for late this, the issue was indeed well crafted and
delivery. the two posters idea was quite welcome.
Thank You Team Digit for all your Coming to quick review:
efforts in every issue. Hats off to you! 1) Editors as usual are world class and
Sincerely, the addition of Nikhil is welcome
A Digitian… 2) The embedded Dgt is quite enter-
– Gaurav Kumar taining and helps me keep track of the
latest happenings around the world. Now quickly coming to suggestions:
I’m surprised you didn’t get the FT 3) The cover story on how you test prod- 1) First things first. Kindly include a
in the pack Gaurav. We sent you a copy ucts is very well organized and crisp. bookmark with your magazine. Yes,
as soon as we got your mail and till it 4) ‘How you test in retail store’ ensures you read that right, the volume is
reached you, I hope the PDF I sent man- smart consumers who can't be fooled increasing day by day which is wel-
aged to assuage your FT hunger. I'll get by any gimmicks. come, so to keep track of each booklet
in touch with our circulation team to 5) The DIY issue is something to pre- one needs a bookmark. Kindly check
sort out the delivery issues in your par- serve for ages, to pass on to the next feasibility.
ticular location. Hope you like this time’s generation. 2) In your ‘How you test smartphones’
dMystify – you can thank Robert for it. 6) ‘Learn anything’ and starting Crack section, you use the benchmarking
Happy reading. the Code was a chilling experience. techniques and rate it, however, I
– Siddharth think rating should include after

14 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Growing limbs Look out for spy planes
A rat limb has been grown in a lab FBI got busted by the US media for flying spy
in massachusetts! Check it out here planes and conducting surveillance over 30 cities
Inbox http://dgit.in/ratlmb in US. Read more http://dgit.in/fbiplane

sales service provided. For instance, considering everything that you pack in flawless and nothing has ever bothered
Micromax’s Yu series phones don’t a single mag. So just continue with the me. My mag is always delivered to me at
have any physical service centers, and good work. the right time with the right packaging
while they promise on-door service, is P.S. I'd be ready to be your brand and everything perfect inside. Just one
this on door service provided in every ambassador if only you’d provide me with question: are you going to continue
city of India? Similarly, with Xiaomi an XL size T-shirt. Counting on you. Dmystify?
phones. They have only one service – Jayant Jeet Tomar P.S. Stop sending posters, my room
center in the whole Madhya Pradesh is already full. (Just kidding, don't take
state. I suppose final rating should A birthmark eh? He actually does. Sepa- it seriously. I love them so much that I
consider this factor rated at birth? can buy a whole new house just for the
3) Kindly keep Digit T-Shirt as your – Siddharth posters.)
Letter of The Month gift rather than Hope this letter gets published. I typed
something else, as we fans love to show ) First of all, congrats guys and gals (as a really huge email.
our love towards you. I’ve seen that there are some) on turning – Abhigyan Pandey
Regards, 14. The issue was amazing and one of the
– Abhishek Kapoor best since my first Digit (July 2014 issue). Thanks for all the suggestions and
There was a lot to do (or just learn if praise. We’ve taken note of the copy-
Hey Abhishek, you don't really want to do!) - some useful editing issue you’ve noticed.
That’s quite a collection indeed. How to and some not so useful. I mean who’d – Siddharth
evaluate post sales services is some- want to build a 3D printer (no offence to
thing we’ve been trying to figure out those who want to)? ) Hello Digitians,
ourselves. The trouble is that there’s I’ve read the letters from readers in the First of all, wishing us all a very Happy
no way to empirically test after-sales past months and have seen a lot of them 14th Anniversary. I've used "us" because
service because there is great variance complaining about many things which I it feels like we’re a family, though this
from geography to geography. Even on a don't really care about. So here I would was the first issue I managed to buy. I
case to case basis users have different like to answer them all on behalf of Digit if used to read Digit in the college library
experiences. Maybe we’ll come up with a the team will allow me. every month as soon as the current issue
user-generated database or or continually 1. Glue on subscription copies (resolved came in, and then there fought with the
updated cloud based rating system which now): I understand your concern, but librarian the first few times asking for the
will figure as a component in our final why do you hesitate to tear the plastic DVDs that came with the issue until they
verdict. Stay tuned. which none of you keep. finally allowed me to see them (feeling
–Siddharth 2. DVD UI: I don't really understand nostalgic). Digit was the only reason I vis-
what’s wrong with the DVD UI. I get ited library (No, don't even think that. I’m
) Hi Team Digit, it that many of you are Android buffs good at studies but used to study at home
The CTC of the latest edition was good and don't like iPad, but why create a or with friends).
(it looked easy afterwards whenever I fuss? Even if there was a new UI, for Coming back to today, when Digit is
pondered on it). Everything was good. I'd the first one or two months that would in its 15th year. This may sound odd, but
have liked the Dmystify to continue. The be buggy as well and then these poor this was the first issue I ever bought and it
additional poster that was provided was guys will receive complaints about that was bought by my own money (it feels so
awesome as well. too. Just deal with the classic UI, it’s amazing!). What more could I ask for, you
Ok, let’s get informal now, shall we? A not bad. guys did an amazing job writing that anni-
big hug to your entire team. Mad Zombie 3. Typos: If you understand what the versary issue and the cherry on the top
always engrosses me with his articles. Our word is, then why care about a small, was including all issues ever published in
ideologies match in every sense (Please teeny-tiny, little mistake. If you don't the DVDs. That's what made me feel like
ask him if he has a birthmark on his understand what it is, then how do you being with family after a long time - all
back!). The editorials by Sid and Jayesh know it’s a typo? It can be a Farsi or your needs are served before you even
always get me thinking in other ways Mandarin or Arabic or whatever word. ask. The Fast Track issue on learning and
about tech and our lives. How do you guys Typos can never be completely over- mastering skills from the giant web was
ponder over these matters so deeply? Digit come, even with spellcheck, because no very informative.
is the best tech mag with no shortcomings, database will ever contain every word I wish you could do an issue on
and it seems like only non-subscribers ever invented, including tech words hacking (ethical, of course) and things
have issues with it. and phrases. And creating a database? such as courses, institutes, sites to learn
So continue with your efforts. I'd like Oh, come on guys! from, etc.
to have some coding-related content. To Team Digit now: Bye for now, as there’s a lot to catch up
However, I know it’s too much to expect My last one year with Digit has been on and many more issues to read. How

16 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 roam without roaming Stress relieving app
Its time for BSNL users to celebrate its Recover from the traumas of quake with this new app by
free roaming service. Read more: Allright? that promotes general well being. Read more:
Inbox http://dgit.in/bsnlroaming http://dgit.in/strsapp

could I have missed those? Did you pub- 2) Disappearance of a DVD: I was A big thank you for telling us what you
lish them when I was on another planet? really shocked when I realised that don’t like about our magazine, as it helps
Keep writing. Kudos. To infinity...and you’ve decided to send only one DVD. us improve. We’d definitely like more let-
beyond! The omission of one DVD is not at all ters like this.
P.S. I totally loved the poster including acceptable (and I think most readers To reply to some of the points you
all those geeky quotes. It stands in front of will agree with me). At first, you gave raised, we are deliberating on “refreshing”
me reminding me to appreciate the effort. us more than 16 gigs of data, but now the DVD user interface, however nothing’s
May the ma be with you, guys. only 8 gigs. Please revive our dead conceptualized yet. If you have any inputs,
– Kundan Tribhuvane DVDs (Alpha and Omega). do let us know. We would love to increase
The world is not at all mobile-centric SKOAR’s pages, fill it with more gaming
Indeed welcome to the Digit family. All (every person has a computer in their related content, and it will happen in good
our base are belong to you. house). If it’s not possible to send two time. We’re planning to hire gaming staff
– Siddharth DVDs each month, you can send two writers – can you write? Let us know. The
DVDs once every two or three months. dead links issue on our website is being
) Hi, Team Digit! And please give us some extra DVDs fixed, and we apologize for the frustration
This is my first feedback to you after (full of games) in the special edition. it’s causing you. Believe it or not, we hate
reading five Digit magazines. You all are 3) Issues with supplements: it ourselves when we spot typing or gram-
awesome (I know the word 'awesome' is Fast Track: It has no problem (It is, in matical errors in each of our articles (after
too short for you, but I can’t express my one word, awesome) it appears in print), and we are working
feelings in just 26 letters). I’m a 14-year- Skoar!: Please increase its pages. How hard to do a better job on this front.
old subscriber and fan of yours. Now, can one write about all the month's – Anirudh
you won’t have to bear with me for long, games in just 20 pages? I suggest ) Hi,
as I’ll come straight to some of your flaws increasing it to 40 pages. The red-letter day of my life was the day
and suggestions. Dmystify: Please publish this more when I started reading Digit. I've been a
First, the things I like about you: regularly as a series. great fan of Digit ever since. Hats off to
1) Good paper quality: Wow! You defi- 4) Lagging website and false links: The you and your team's work in bringing out
nitely use one of the best papers. I’ve website digit.in is too laggy. The new such a hot magazine and for exploring
seen very few mags with such paper website skoar.digit.in is also lagging new ideas every month. Love the way you
quality. and feels a bit cluttered. The other manage to put an entire world into the
2) Knowledge treasure: I’m amazed problems are acceptable, but finding magazine’s limited thickness.
how you manage to get your hands your links dead drives me nuts. Many The columns, comprising of wunder-
on so much information about tech, links in the magazine don't work kinds, charge me up when I’m wrecked.
automobiles, gadgets etc. and concisely either. Please look into this. The links mentioned on the top of the
disperse it to us. 5) Typing mistakes: I’ve noticed a few pages are a great way to open up into little
3) Dashing supplements: Your Fast typing mistakes and grammatical tidbits of fun.
Tracks are superb. Topics like errors in the magazine. Now, consid- Your concepts are truly new and
Arduino and Raspberry Pi were very ering your hard work for this magazine rocking, which makes you guys the best
informative. The booklet, ‘Dmystify’ these errors can be ignored but then “navigator” ever.
is too good. It helped me understand we’re talking about Digit. I’d like to wind up by telling you that
relativity very well (as Google offers I’ve already mentioned I’m a great fan if given the chance to award the Best
me only vague answers). Skoar! is like of your DVDs, so can I get all the DVDs Tech Mag of the Year, then I’d definitely
paradise for gamers like me. that were issued by you from the very first shout "Digit"!
4) Very good DVDs: I’m a fan of your magazine till December 2014 or can you Waiting to hear from you guys.
DVDs. I definitely like your soft- give the DVDs that were issued before – Jagrati and Geetanjali
ware, games and of course videos December 2014 (it may not be the very
and trailers. I want to mention that I first edition). If it’s possible, please let me Thanks for writing in you guys. As a
enjoyed ‘The Charlie Chaplin’ movie know how much it would cost me. team, we try to do things differently, and
very much (Thank you for the movie). Thanks for reading this (I know you have our own unique take on technology
Now, I want to mention the flaws that will definitely read it.) and how it’s affecting the world at large.
I’ve found: You rock, Team Digit (again I’m run- We think we are still far from where we
1) Age-old DVD UI: Please try to ning short of words). want to be, and through input from loyal
improve your DVD UI. I’m bored of And keep on Digitising. readers like you and others in this space,
seeing the old tablet. You can try some- – Shovan Bairi we want to find new ways in exploring the
thing cool like a sci-fi background or world of tech.
something new like modern gadgets. Thanks for your very detailed feedback. – Siddharth

18 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 section subsection

greed temptation
For those who just want more if you’re wondering what to do
than should be humanly with yourself or how to spend
allowed, we have enough to some time getting cultured,
satisfy your hunger... this section is for you...

This monTh: Gigabyte selfie This monTh: Crowd-

Assistant, ZoTAC mini PCs, foUndEd moviE - kUnG
curved 34-inch monitors, and fUry, AnimE insPirEd
lots of other latest peripherals moviEs, JUrAssiC world,
sighted at ComPUTEX 2015 and more...

technology with style

desire

ASUS Zenfone Selfie!

taking narcissism to sinful new heights

U nveiled to much fanfare

and quite a large crowd at
coMPUteX 2015, taipei, the
ASUS Zenfone selfie is one of those
Zenfone 2 rare examples of a phone that’s
built with a singular purpose in
The Zenfone 2 is the mind, that purpose being the
Snapdragon powered taking of selfies in this case.
alternative to the current the phone itself is nothing
Zenfone 2. A Snapdragon spectacular to behold, but it
[email protected] to be precise, does feel quite nice and the
accompanied by 2GB of hardware is powerful enough
RAM. The screen size is of to keep the Ui and experience
the 5-inch, 720p variety, fluid, which is all that’s really
but it must be pointed out required for most of us. launch, which was overlaid specifications
that despite the reduction the real stars here, as by a custom skin that didn’t soC: Qualcomm Snapdragon
in resolution, the screen is evidenced by the name, are seem to heavy on the system. 615 | rAm: 2/4GB | storage:
every bit as good as the one the two cameras which are, speaking of software, the 16/32/64GB | Cameras: 13MP
front/rear with laser AF and
on the Selfie. The cameras frankly, quite exceptional and camera software boasts of a
dual-tone flash | os: Android
are a step down, only capable of taking excellent “beautification” mode that is Lollipop | display: 5.5-inch @
offering 12MP/5MP for the images in the right conditions. purported to “beautify” your 1080p
front/rear cameras. the phone was running on selfies by removing blemishes,
Android 5.0.2 at the time of adjusting skin tone, etc. price: TBA

ASUS Zenpad 8 Dolby Cover ASUS Zenpad 10 ASUS Zen AiO

An 8-inch tablet this, it’s Also showcased were an The 10.1-inch Zenpad 10 is yet AiOs might be a dime a dozen
powered by an Intel X3 SoC assortment of covers and another 10-inch Android tablet, now, but the new Zen AiO puts
and is available in 8GB and accessories for the Zen series but this one comes with ASUS’s them all to shame with its
16GB variants. The screen itself of devices, the most notable Transformer series pedigree monstrous specs. It’s available
is “only” 1280x800 however, of which was the Dolby Cover and thus, is accompanied by a in an i7 toting variant that
but ASUS claims to have use which integrates speakers into proper Bluetooth keyboard case comes packed with 32GB of
what they’re calling “True2Life” the cover itself and claims to and you also get to choose from RAM, PCIe3 SSDs in RAID and
technology to enhance the offer 6 channel audio support an assortment of accessories an NVIDIA 960M GPU. Specs
image quality of the display. and 6hrs of audio playback. and cases. to die for.

20 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

20
 desire

APP WAtch
AsUs stRiX sound cards
stricken by the stRiX!
treehouse
Whether you want to learn coding

W e managed to get a peek

at a new series of sound
cards from AsUs. christened
or you want to start a business,
treehouse has a step by step
approach that lets you learn at your
the stRiX, the top-end variant own pace - it doesn’t matter if you’re
is called teh stRiX RAiD DLX a beginner or a pro. What makes this
and is a 7.1 channel sound app special is that all its courses are
card that boasts of a signal to efficiently organized in the form of
noise ratio of 124dB. Using an
streamlined tracks and are created
to meet a high standard of quality by
ess sABRe9016 DAc and a whole bunch of accompanying software
an in-house group of experts. it has a
tweaks, the stRiX RAiD will have the capability of powering 600Ω
diverse library with topics including PhP, Ruby on Rails, ios
headphones and supposedly improves immersion. the stRiX is also development, and much more.
available in the RAiD PRo and soAR variants and will cater to a
variety of budgets. Android: http://dgit.in/treehouseand
ios: http://dgit.in/1LiXrkW

AsUs PB328Qt Monitor lybrate - consult a doctor

ever self-medicated or asked your
technically sound!
pharmacist for a diagnosis? Lybrate is
an app lets you consult doctors, book

A sUs is known for it’s exceptional, professional series of

monitors and the PB328Qt takes this to the next level with its
technicolor certification. What is technicolor certification you ask?
appointments, contact ambulances
and get health related tips anywhere.
health queries can be put up in two
Well, a normal sRGB certification defines the colour gamut, but it ways - the first, free option is to post
doesn’t define tolerances for colour quality. in the case of sRGB a question that is open to any doctor
certification, there’s no 100% guarantee that every sRGB certified to answer and the second is a paid
monitor will display the exact same colour every time. feature to chat directly with the doctor
A technicolor-certified monitor on the other hand, is precisley of your choosing. in addition, the app
tuned to very specific tolerences that have to be very strictly lets you set contact numbers of your
doctors and will allow you to call or send an sMs of your
adhere to, ensuring that 10 times out of 10, the image quality will
location to them quickly, in case of an emergency. there is
be precise.
also a corresponding personal assistant app for doctors,
the only slight niggle with this called Practice Management.
monitor, if it can even be considered
an issue, is the fact that the monitor is Android: http://dgit.in/lybrateand
ios: http://dgit.in/lybrateios
“only” a 2K monitor and not a 4K one.
if you are a professional on the
lookout for a professional display, you’ll camcard
if you still move in a
be hard-pressed to find a better display
circle were business
anywhere, that’s for certain.
cards are exchanged,
specifications fret no more because
resolution: 2560x1440 | display Colour: 1073.7M (10-bit) | this is the app you have
Brightness: 300cd/m2 | Pixel Pitch: 92ppi been waiting for. After
using your phone’s
camera to snap a photo
of the business card or just selecting a photo of one from
ASUS Smart Home devices your gallery- lo and behold!- the app fills in the appropriate
fields in your phone’s contact list using optical character

C OMPUTEX 2015 was about

IoT and Smart Homes
and ASUS had a wide range of
Recognition. it also lets you merge the data in the photo
with an existing contact, useful in case of a double sided
business card for example. You can share these contacts
accessories on offer including through the usual sMs, QR code and emails but the app
Smart Door Locks, Temperature also lets you export them as vcards, excel sheets and even
sensors, Smart Meter Plugs, into your phone contacts. Go paperless, save a tree.
Alarm Sensors and even a Motion Sensor. All these devices are Android: http://dgit.in/camcardand
“elegantly” designed to fit snugly into any Smart Home and will be ios: http://dgit.in/camcardios
able to talk to each other in certain configurations.

22 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 desire

CoolerMaster’s MasterCase
Masterfully done

E
asily the biggest announcement at COMPUTEX was Cool-
erMaster’s new Master series of products and accessories.
What’s different? The design philosophy. CoolerMaster is
going with a “Make It Yours” approach to design with its entirely
new, modular range of cases and accessories. The Master Series of
cases for example, boast of a standardised, modular chassis that
can be upgraded and customised with a whole range of add-ons
and accessories. Want a few additional HDD bays? Get yourself
an HDD adapter and affix it to the rail. Want more space for your
GPUs? Move the bays around and make more space. Want a 240mm
radiator on the top, or want to seal it off for that matter? You can
simply purchase the appropriate accessory and do exactly that.
These new cases will let you, as a PC user, build up the case over will even extend to 3D printing necessary parts and accessories, or
time, allowing you to create a uniquely personalised platform for releasing design specs for free, we don’t know. But we can say this
your needs. What’s interesting about this design is that now, you much, this is an interesting, user-centric approach to design that
can purchase a case in 2015, say, and in 2017, simply upgrade and we’re sure PC users the world over will appreciate.
exchange components within the case to suit your needs. The plans
specifications
for supplying accessories aren’t a 100% finalised yet, but Cooler- Cabinet Type: Modular Mid-Tower (CM Master Case 5) |
Master is planning to work with the community to figure out the Accessories: TBA
needs of the users and give them what they want. Whether this price: TBA

Noctua’s low profile

cooling fans
t hink case fans and the first name that should
pop into your mind will be noctua. At their booth
at coMPUteX, we got a chance to check out their
new A-series fans that run faster, quieter and more
efficiently than their predecesors, and also a look
at their L-typle low profile coolers that are ideal for
mini-Pc or htPc setups.
For those still waiting for the Anc fans (Active
noise cancellation) however, there is some bad news.
the fans are still not available for sale as of now and
there’s still some R&D to be done to fine-tune the
performance.
From what we’ve been told, we can expect
approximately a 2 ° c drop in temperatures accross
the board using the U-type coolers with the new
A-type fans.
specifications
5 inch 720p, Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC, 2GB RAM,
13MP rear, 5MP front, 2400 mAh battery
price: TBA

26 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 desire

secURitY WAtch
Dell inspiron 24 3000
the slimmest Aio in the world! nsa, gchQ spying on antivirus companies
the last couple of years have been bad for the secu-

D ell’s line-up at coMPUteX rity industry. thanks to

consisted, as expected, of nsA whistleblower edward
a completely revamped line-up snowden, we found out how
of inspiron and XPs devices. vast and deep nsA’s spying
capabilities are. no one is
An intersting new device
safe and privacy is just an illusion. Recently Kaspersky, one
showcased there was the
of the biggest names in the antivirus industry, revealed that
Dell inspiron 24 3000 series their network was compromised, attack allegedly originating
Aio that is claimed to be the from israel and the perpetrators looking for information to
world’s slimmest Aio (at 39mm). figure out ways to bypass the antivirus on the consumer’s
the Aio is powered by an AMD A8 APU and comes with upto machines. But the recently released documents by snowden
8GB of RAM, upto 1tB of hDD space and an optional touch screen. show that they were not the first one to do this, and that
We also got our hands on the Dell inspiron 20 3000 series Aio, nsA and GchQ have been doing the same thing for many
which, while obviously smaller at with a 19.5” monitor, is powered years. Read on to find out the whole story.
by an intel celeron n3150 or n3700 cPU. RAM and storage http://dgit.in/nsagchq
options are the same as on the 24” model and both devices come
equipped with a wireless keyboard and mouse, Windows 8.1 google slips, whatsapp falls in eff’s “who’s
upgradeable to Windows 10. got your back” ratings
“Privacy”, “nsA”, “leaks”, this is
all we have been hearing in the
Dell inspiron 11 3157 2-in-1 not-so recent past. We don’t
know how safe our data is
Flexible and well-built all-rounders!
and whether privacy is just an
illusion created by our govern-
W hile the Pc world still struggles to find the right combination
of tablet and laptop, Dell announced the launch of their
11” 2-in-1 devices. From our hands-on with devices, we can say
ments to fool us. every year
eFF (electronic Frontier Foundation) releases an evaluation
report of how well various companies are protecting their
that these initial models at least are quite well-built and despite users data, aptly titled “Who’s got your back?”. this year’s
being powered by celeron cPUs (new generation, Braswell), the report came with some very surprising and some not-so-
performance seemed to be adequate surprising ratings of all the tech giants in the market. With
for regular work. to top it off, you get a Google falling down the ladder for the first time in years, and
claimed 8+hrs of battery life, which is Whatsapp lying at the bottom rung, follow the link to find out
always welcome. which companies have your back and which don’t.
the devices will come with 32GB http://dgit.in/effrate
eMMc memory (loaded with Windows
10) and an accompanying 500GB hDD. decade long journey of the biggest malware to
You get the usual bells and whistles in hit the financial market
the form of intel Dual Band Wireless it all started somewhere
Ac 3165 802.11ac support, Bluetooth 4.0 and even WiDi support. around the year 2006 when
there’s a 720p webcam in-built and the connectivity options a new malware popped up
include a hDMi 1.4a port, 1xUsB 3.0 port, 1xUsB 2.0 port and a somewhere on the internet.
2-in-1 card reader. it wasn’t anything out of the
ordinary. hundreds, if not
thousands, of new viruses, malwares and trojan pop up al-
most every day online. Most of them are just poorly coded or
replicas of already existing malicious code that are easily de-
Dell XPS 13 tected by all your antiviruses. But Zeus wasn’t one of them

D ell’s XPS 13 was the star of and it was going to leave its mark. and that it did. it’s been
their booth, walking away almost 10 years since its inception and the software has
with one of only five prestigeous cost hundreds of millions of dollars to the financial industry.
With its creator still on the run, the story takes you through
d&i award (design and innovation)
almost the decade long journey of Zeus and how FBi and
at COMPUTEX 2015. This lovely,
investigators from 20 cyber security companies finally found
sleek device is a pleasure to out who was behind it all.
behold, exceedingly slim and designed to put every other device in http://dgit.in/hackbig
its class to shame. If there was only one droolworthy product at
the Dell booth, this has to be it.

28 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Digit is hiring.
If you think you have what it takes to put words onto this page, write to us at [email protected]
 desire

noodoe Smart Watch

“if Apple Watch is a Barbie, noodoe is LeGo” - John W.

O
f all the products at COMPUTEX, this was the most unu-
sual in that it seemed to offer so little on the surface, yet
promised so much. The noodoe watch, as you can tell from
the images, is very much like Nike’s smartband, a black strap with a
monochrome LCD display. What does the watch do? It shoes you the
time, an assortment of notifications and that’s about it. Why should
that appeal to you? The Apple Watch for example, offers so much
more. Well, as Mr.Wang, the founder of noodoe puts it, the Apple
Watch is like a Barbie doll, something special, a treasured totem in
itself, something to covet.
On the other hand, noodoe is like LEGO, a watch that is all about
what you can create. The focus with noodoe is on your creativity
rather than on the watch itself. You create the watch faces yourself novelty wears off after a few months and in the end, you’re only really
via the noodoe app (http://dgit.in/1IzxyrM) and upload them to your left using the watch for notifications and to tell the time. Which is
watch and there’s an entire social network around these faces that why the noodoe does exactly that, and only that. Nothing more.
you can participate in, creating and sharing watch faces. The creator and founder of noodoe believes his watch to be more
The watch is simple because John Wang believes that what people than a mere smartwatch, he believes it to be a way of life. Whether
really want from a Smart Watch is simplicity. As he puts it, even- you agree with that philosophy or not is a personal decision, but a
tually, you will get bored of things like the Apple Watch. After all, $100 smartwatch that is designed purely with functionality and
how many times will you share your heart-beat with someone? The creativity in mind has certainly piqued our interest!

ROCCAT NYTH
D id you ever want a mouse that was so heavily
customisable that it served you equally well
for MMos as it did for cs? A mouse with so many
buttons that you could assign photoshop macros
to it in one profile and then switch to WoW mode
at the press of a button? Look no further than the
RoccAt nYth. this intriguing mouse features a side
panel that’s made up almost entirely of buttons and
these buttons can be removed and replaced with any
number and configuration of buttons that you see fit,
whether you need 12 (at least) or none.
All this customisability is accompanied by a brand
new RoccAt software for Windows that will let
you completely customise and fine-tune the layout
of the buttons to suit your needs as a gamer. every
single of the 12+ buttons can be comepletely
modified and the profiles can also be saved on the
device and switched as required.

specifications
TBC
price: $130 (not final)

30 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 desire

MSI GT80 Titan SLI

Corsair Bulldog PC T he GT80s name, while misleading (there’s no NVIDIA

Titan to be found here), is indicative at least of the
performance that you can expect from it. The GT80 is

t he Bulldog Pc demoed by corsair is more than just any

other small-form-factor Pc for enthusiasts, it’s a case
and a Pc designed from the ground-up to be a tiny, high-
an exceptionally powerful device, powered by an i7 CPU,
NVIDIA 980M SLI, SSDs in “Super RAID3” and upto 32GB
of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM. If these specs aren’t enough to put
performance package for Pc users. With dimensions of just
your measly little desktop to shame, consider the fact that
121.2x99.8x62.6mm, this Pc packs in an i7 cPU, 16GB RAM,
the GT80 comes with a mechanical keyboard. Yes, the Cherry
an nViDiA titan X and, most interestingly, a 600W, 80+ Gold
MX Switch variety made by no less a reputable company than
certified PsU that’s at least half the size of your regular 600W
SteelSeries, and the keys are backlit as well. The price is
PsUs. if that wasn’t enough, the entire thing is also liquid-cooled
expected to be in the `2,00,000+ range. Considering the specs
and despite being so tightly packed, everything is very accessible
however, we wouldn’t mind spending life short one kidney.
and placed behind hinged and removable panels that make
customising this Pc so easy. truly the enthusiasts mini-Pc.

AsRock Beebox
s mall is big and the tiny little Beebox fills a lot of large shoes
with its surprising capabilities. Powered by an intel n3000
series soc, the Beebox would, on the surface, seem like just
about any other mini-Pc, but what sets the Beebox apart is
that the soc has been tweaked to support dual-channel RAM,
three display outputs (2xhDMi + DP) and because of this, is
claimed to be the only min-Pc in its class that’s claimed to be
capable of seamlessly
playing 4K content
and powering three
individual displays. if
Kingston HyperX
that wasn’t enough,
AsRock saw fit to
Cloud II headset
bundle a remote with
the device (a very
thoughtful addition)
k ingston has been known for their memory and
storage devices, not for peripherals. last year
however, kingston surprised us with the exceptional
and have also performance and reasonable price of their hyperX
incorporated a type-c Cloud gaming headset. This year they announced an
UsB port alongside upgrade in the form of the hyperX ii headset. This
the regular type-A new headset comes with a UsB sound card with virtual
ports. this is definitely 7.1 (we’ve never really liked virtual surround sound
the mini-Pc to look though), but everything else remains as good as the
out for this year. original, if not better.

32 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 desire

Antec Signature S10

Fine craftsmanship from a fine craftsman

A
ntech is a company with a long pedigree of great cases and
a reputation for craftsmanship and quality (though with a
price to match). That tradition still continues with the gor-
geous Signature S10 case. Featuring a “revolutionary” 3-chambered
design, the case isolates your PC components into 3-chambers and
each of those chambers is individually ventilated. allowing for better
heat management.
There’s one chamber each for HDDs, the motherboard and the
PSU and since they’re isolated, they each have their own set of fans to
manage the airflow. Right in front is the HDD chamber with support
for upto six standard HDDs in drive bays. The PSU chamber is at the
bottom and also has SSD trays and above this is the motherboard making accessibility a no-brainer and installation, particularly of
chamber with a provision for a 240mm radiator up top. HDDs, easy as pie (and they’re mounted on silicon grommets to
The motherboard and PSU chambers are one above the other with reduce noise).
the HDD chamber in front of them, but the HDD chamber is placed
at a small distance from the mobo and PSU chambers allowing for specifications
intake fans to be placed at the front of them. dimensions: 60x24x59mm | weight: 17.7kg | fans: 8x120mm fans
at least | hdd bays: 6 | ssd bays: 8 | motherboard support: upto
Built from 1.2mm cold rolled steel and 4mm brushed Aluminium E-ATX | Top io Panel: 4xUSB3.0. 5.25” bay for Control Panel, HD
side panels (with an option for glass or acrylic side-panels as well), Audio in/out, 1xPower/Reset buton (tap to power/hold to reset)
this case is well-built and very sturdy. Everything is also tool-less, price: TBA

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 GReeD

Misc.
Gadgets
While so far you’ve been looking at the
highlights from COMPUTEX 2015, here are
ome other interesting gadgets that deserve to
be mentioned.

Gigabyte Selfie Assistant ZOTAC MINI PCs

t his is one of those
things that you
never knew you wanted. Z otac unveiled an assortment of mini-PCs (from their Z-Box
line). These included a handful of devices that were powered
Gigabyte’s selfie by the new N3000 platform, but we also saw some devices that
Assistant is a device that were powered by Intel M series chips and NVIDIA M series GPUs.
attaches to your phone These devices are part of their gaming-centric line-up and will,
via Bluetooth and then some time in the future, be up for Steambox certification, which is
uses motors to track an interesting development. Most of the ZBoxes on offer seemed
ensure that your phone’s to offer M.2 support, which looks to be a trend going forward. The
camera is tracking faces option of a 2.5” HDD was also present on most devices.
or an iR beacon (the remote). now you can take selfies from just
about anywhere with your hands as far away from the camera as
possible. sweeet!

ECS at COMPUTEX
e cs’s Liva Pcs also made their presence felt at coMPUteX.
Running on the intel n3000 platform as well, these devices
were smaller than most of the mini Pc offerings that we saw.
ecs sought to boost the popularity of these devices and at
the same time, to demonstrate the capabilities of these tiny Pcs
by running a “how do you Liva” contest, getting participants to
submit videos that were edited and created exclusively on Liva
devices. the prize? `3,00,000.
We also caught a glimpse of a new line-up of l337 series
of motherboards.

G.skill accessories
G .Skill has been teasing DDR4 RAM since last year,
but we’ve yet to see any significant adoption rates
anywhere . In the meanwhile, G.Skill has started work
on a brand new, RIPJAWS line-up of gaming peripherals,
offering 7.1 headsets (real and virtual 7.1), mechanical
keyboards, gaming mice and even PSUs.
We managed to test the gaming headsets and mice
for an extended period of time and came away somewhat
impressed with the devices. We’ll hold off on a full verdict
till we can get them into our labs, suffice to say that the
devices seemed quite capable.

34 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 greed

Gigabyte Auros X7 Pro-Sync

G-sync, sLi, gorgeous design, need we ask for more?

G
igabyte claims that this, the Auros X7 Pro-Sync is the
“Earth’s Most Powerful 17” Slim Laptop”. Tall claims, but
once we look at the specs, we’re bound to agree, but only
because of the very specific wording. This is the most powerful 17”
SLIM laptop but not the most powerful 17” laptop. The laptop will be
avaialable in various combinations, but the most powerful of which
will offer three mSATA SSDs in RAID 0. Combined throughput? A
ckaimed read speed of over 1500MB/s. Oh, and you can throw in a
3.5TB HDD for your storage needs as well. You also get 4 memory
slots that you can choose to populate with upto 32GB of memory
running at 1866MHz (a tad faster than the regular, 1600MHz).
A new thermal design ensures consisting of six heat pipes and
two exhaust fans coupled with side and rear exhausts work to kep That’s enticing enough in itself, but you also get a 2.2 speaker set
the laptop cool under the extreme load of two GPUs and an i7. up! And no! that’s not a typo, two tweeters and two woofers is what
What’s even more impressive is that all this hardware has been you get. And did we mention that the display was G-Sync ready?
squeezed into a chassis that is just 22.9mm thick and weighs 3kg.
The keys aren’t as fanciful as the mechanical keyboard that we saw specifications
CPU: Intel Core i7 4870HQ | GPU: NVIDIA 970M SLI | rAm:
on the MSI TITAN SLI, but the keyboard does use scissor keys for 32GB (1866MHz) | display: 17.3” @1080p with G-Sync | storage:
better response and stability, is backlit and comes with an assort- 3xM-SATA slots, 1x2.5” HDD Bay
ment of macro keys to choose from. price: TBA

Curved, 34” monitors

34” of pure awesome!

I
f there was one thing that there was no dearth off at
COMPUTEX, it had to 34” curved, G-Sync ready moni-
tors. From what we know of G-Sync, NVIDIA certifies
certain panels as G-Sync ready and manufacturers can then
pick up these panels, rebadge them and sell them at a price
of their choosing and at COMPUTEX, everyone did exactly
that. We saw seemingly identical monitors from everyone,
Acer, ASUS, Dell, MSI and more.
Still, it’s not that such variety is a bad thing. These moni-
tors were gorgeous and the gaming experience on them was
something special. The curved display in particular, coupled
with G-Sync, was very conducive to immersion and we had
a blast trying out monitors from every manufacturer that
we could find. As gamers ourselves, these monitors were far
more interesting than any of the 27” and 32” 4K monitors
that we saw all over the place.
Honestly, we couldn’t pick a favourite. They were all at par,
all with unique and interesting stand and bezel designs. When
we finally get to test these monitors, we suspect that their
performance will be largely similar and that a purchase deci-
sion will come down to availability and your brand affinity.

specifications
display: 34” @3440x1440 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 |
Brightness: 300cd/m2 | Pixel Pitch: 0.2325
price: TBA

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 35

 greed

ASUS ROG GR8

console-sized powerhouse

A
s much as Microsoft and Sony would have you believe,
nothing beats a good PC when it comes to gaming and with
it’s GR8 PC, ASUS has shown that great power can come
in small packages. The GR8 PCs is powered by an i7 CPU and the
latest generation of NVIDIA desktop GPUs (960/970/980) or even
a 750Ti in certain configurations, both stuffed into a package that’s
about the size of an Xbox One or PS4, if not smaller.
Despite the size, cooling apparently is something that you needn’t
worry about because air the air is sucked in from the front and
bottom of the case and blown out the top and rear, encompassing
all the components within the PC. To top it off, the PC is claimed to
only consume less than 20W on idle.
PCs like this are the perfect companion to LAN parties, func-
tion as console-replacements when attached to your TV. The case GR8 PC, a STRIX headset with accompanying ROG Gladius mouse,
encases a volume of a measly 2.5 litres and (even a small case a rolled-up keyboard and an Xbox 360 controller. Now that’s how
usually holds 12 -15 litres). To make the deal sweeter, ASUS also you roll to a (LAN) party.
showcased an assortment of ROG themed accessories and carry
bags, including a particularly enticing looking, felt-lined PC suit-
specifications
case that was packed to the gills with an assortment of accessories CPU: Intel Core i7 | GPU: NVIDIA GPU | rAm: at least 8GB
that you’d need for any LAN party. These accessories included a price: TBA

ZOTAC NVIDIA
980Ti AMP! Extreme
n vidia’s 980ti is the holy grail of GPUs as far
as we’re concerned (the titAn X is awesome
of course, but it’s too fanciful) and everyone at
coMPUteX was busy flaunting their version of the
card. ZotAc went a step further by only offering
factory overclocked editions of their card from the
get-go.
Using a brand new cooler design, the 980ti
will be available in three overclocked variants, the
Arcticstorm, AMP! and AMP! extreme! editions.
the latter will be factory overclocked by a full 25%,
taking the base clock from 1000Mhz to 1253Mhz
(boost goes upto 1355Mhz). Does that translate to
a 25% boost in performance? We don’t know. Keep
an eye on this space for when we get our hands on a
review sample of this monster of a card.
specifications
memory: 6GB | memory interface: 384-bit | Core Clock:
1253MHz (1355MHz boost) | Cores: 2816
price: TBA

36 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 temptation

eargasm Film Review

Kung Fury
Here is a list of Indie and Alter-
native bands that you cannot
miss out on. Just cannot!
Alt J (delta) - One of our For an unadulterated ‘80s trip unlike any you’ve embarked upon...
favorite alternative rock bands.

I
Their music has a haunting t would be a travesty to call an experience engi-
ethereal feel that can some- Kung Fury a short film. It neered to feed your
times be delicate and some- transcends the very defini- basest instincts. And
times be pretty twisted. Yes, tion of the medium to achieve it does that compe-
delta is what you get when you much more. Most films can tently by incorpo-
press Alt+J on a Mac. be described as commercial rating the best ele-
Triangles are our favorite endeavours where the artistic ments from ‘80s pop
shape. side is only a small and largely culture and weaving
overlooked aspect. By that them together in a
definition, Kung Fury is less of heady montage that
a film and more of a love letter not only entertains
to what’s arguably the golden you, but leaves you
decade characterised by electro with what could be
synth-heavy music, badass best described as a
action films, 8-bit videogames, cinematic equivalent
and the mullet – the ‘80s. And of a heady climax.
The Black Keys - Our it nails that crazy concoction The plot draws
favorite new garage rock art- down to near perfection. inspiration from
ists. Listen to them if you want The closest that any recent various ‘80s action
a brilliant combination of the movie has come to doing that is film tropes. You
blues and rock. The Guest (2014), which pack- have Adam playing
Bon Iver - The unique ages a razor sharp thriller as a the chosen one and/or badass Blomkamp. The short was
vocals and soulful sound of thinly veiled homage to ‘80s. kung fu cop and the big evil created completely by one man
this indie folk band is why we Prima facie, Kung Fury may is a time travelling version of – David Sandberg – in his base-
have them on repeat. seem similar, but it eschews Hitler dubbed Kung Fuhrer. ment with nothing but a green
Bombay Bicycle Club - subtlety to deliver what can This recipe is garnished with screen, his girlfriend, and
The sounds that this band be best described as an ‘80s homage to the original 8-bit SFX as well as actors paid for
makes can more than a little experience in its purest, most Mortal Kombat, a tame T-Rex, by the $600,000 raised by a
intoxicating. It is a danceable unmitigated form. If The chaingun wielding Red Sonja, crowd-funding campaign. How
combination of the indie style Guest were to be described as Thor, hacking time with a Nin- good this really is, you ask?
and electronica popping an ecstasy pill, Kung tendo Power Glove, and most of Well, it’s a 12-gauge shotgun
The XX - This is a type Fury is more akin to having the pop culture action flick ref- blast of awesomeness to your
of music that grows on you. two big-bore shots of dopa- erences ranging from Predator face at point blank range. The
Although they have just one mine and endorphins injected to the Terminator. All this is set only conceivable problem is
album out, we cannot get intravenously. to a sublime and distinctly ‘80s the serious case of insatiated
enough of the indie pop band. If you’re an ‘80s kids, the electro synth soundtrack, with craving you’ll get after it ends
The Neighbourhood - film makes no pretence about the title song sung by another at the 30 minute mark. Wish
These guys mix indie rock, building a plot, character ‘80s icon David Hasselholf – there was more of this mania,
electronica and a little hip hop development, or any of that that guy from Baywatch. maybe a crowdfunded Part 2?
with soulful sad vocals is a hippy nonsense. The narcotics Kung Fury seems to have Rating:
diffusion that we want more of. analogy is fitting because this is given Hollywood its next Neil - Nachiket Mhatre

Lucifer The expanse Blindspot

Scheduled to premiere Based on the space opera It’s basically Memento
in 2016, the series novel “Leviathan Wakes”, turned to a series with
focuses on the lord of starting with a simple a female lead. An
the underworld who murder case and turning amnesic woman, with
abandons his kingdom to a conspiracy that body covered in tattoos,
after a girl from Los threatens the survival of on unravelling that the
Angeles and helps humanity, this series takes tattoos may be clues to
the NYPD in punishing the normal fantasy/action crimes, works with the
the criminals. Doesn’t genre to new heights. Out FBI in search of her own
sound too devilish. of this world. identity. Unmissable.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 37

 temptation

BlocKBusteR movie Review

Jurassic world inspiration

A
nimes and mangas may not be receiving the
Killing for sport in a prehistoric theme park respect that they deserve, but their stories
are chart topping in form of HOLLYWOOD’s

T
he new Jurassic movie takes place on the same island of huge, flashy productions. If you still don’t believe
Isla Nublar and delivers enough fun dinosaur action to me, here’s something that might convince you.
remind us why we love these beasts. The good news is that
the movie invokes the evergreen Humanity vs Nature theme along 1. Kimba the White Lion /The
with adequate amounts of the dino on dino action we were hoping Lion King
for. The bad news is that it panders heavily to Jurassic Park fans and Besides the characters and the
the fact that the whole film is built on topping the spectacle of the frame by frame recreation, The
previous films, apparent from the recurring “Bigger,Louder, More Lion King is so similar to the
Teeth” slogan. Oh, and don’t worry, there are plenty of dinosaurs 1950’s manga and anime ‘Kimba
here to keep all you budding paleontologists engrossed, and pos- the white lion’, written by Osamu
sibly scratching your heads. Tezuka, that Matthew Broderick,
Bearing witness to almost every kill are two brothers, Nick,16 and the voice of simba, originally thought that he was
Gray, 10 who figure out that their parents are getting a divorce right working on a different version of Kimba.
before the mutilation and dismemberment begins. They’re shipped
off to ‘Jurassic World’ by said parents to stay with their aunt Claire, 2. Brave Raideen/
who happens to be its Park Operations Manager. Twenty two years Transformers
after, no one seems to have learnt anything from the security fiasco The idea of transforming robots
that was Jurassic Park and it is Claire’s mission to see that the park is was first seen in the 1975 in the
updated with all the latest dinosaurs, because well, the CEO (Irrfan anime series ‘brave raideen’. And
Khan) and the investors say Money = Ferocious Monster Hybrid then there were transformers. Coincidence? Both
Dinosaurs. And so the Indominus Rex is concocted by the lab coats with a human protagonist working with the robot to
to be the ultimate predator. Suddenly, a wild Irrfan Khan appears fight against the forces that plan to take over earth.

3. Perfect Blue/ Black Swan

The 2010 american box office
success ‘Black Swan’ was inspired
by the 1997 animation film ‘perfect
blue’ by Satoshi Kon. Though the
director of Black Swan denies it,
the number of similarities in the scenes and the
characters can be no coincidence.

4. Neon Genesis Evangelion/

Chris Pratt sweeps us off our feet with former-fat-boy charms Pacific Rim
With gigantic robots with
and tells Claire she needs to enlist the help of Velociraptor specialist, drivers to control them, the only
Owen to inspect the Indominus’ enclosure before it opens to the difference between the basic
public. But alas! The dinosaur tricks all of the puny humans and concept of 2013 film ‘pacific rim’
unleashes itself on the very same public. Now, it falls upon Claire and the 1995 anime series ‘neon
and Owen to rescue Claire’s gallivanting nephews as well as make genesis evangelion’ is the number
sure that a certain manipulative military man doesn’t find a way to of drivers that drive the robots and telepathic
use the situation to turn velociraptors into super weapons. Of course, connection in rim.
there’s also the escaped genetically modified dinosaur to think about.
Watch the gruesome deaths of numerous dinosaurs, security 5. Paprika / Inception
personnel, dinosaur hunters, tourists and Irrfan Khan – that shiny While most people deny copying,
spark of Bollywood talent that’s burning bright over in Hollywood Christopher Nolan accepts that
land. Learn about the catastrophe that is greed and a few pointers the machine to dive into one’s brain
in the field of dinosaur evasion. What gory glory. Mildly exciting, in ‘Inception’ was inspired by the
but fails to recreate the magic of the ‘90s original. feature film ‘Paprika’.
Rating:
- Anshumala Balu

38 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Our pick Of the best tech articles frOm arOund the glObe

(Must reads)
[aeon corner]

Hive consciousness

FB and GooGle BuildinG

artiFicial Brains
ai is the future. at least that’s
what all the tech giants are
believing and want us to too.
both facebook and google have
been working on developing
“neural networks” of sorts, just
like our human brains, to power
their image recognition engines
and the results are amazing but
weird. follow the link to find out
what these two tech giants and
their artificial brains are upto.
http://dgit.in/fbgai

the untold story oF

silk road
“i imagine that someday i may
have a story written about my
life and it would be good to have
a detailed account of it.” this
New research puts us on the cusp of brain-to-brain communication.
is how the story of the big-
gest online drug marketplace Could the next step spell the end of individual minds? Do we
in the history of the internet really want to fuse our minds together? http://dgit.in/joindhive
started. With its creator recently
sentenced to prison for life, this
Wired post will take you through
the journey of the rise and fall
of the multi-million dollar drug
marketplace that is filled with
corrupt police, murder plots and
a lot of twists and turns
http://dgit.in/silkrdstry

don’t mess with

ms. swiFt
never underestimate the power
of internet, especially when Alien rights The science of wordplay The info moralist
The question is no longer about “if” Can metaphors be designed? Author A lot has been written about Aaron
used by one of the most famous
we’ll meet aliens, it’s more of “when”. Michael Erard is here to tell you Swartz. Persecuted little guy, or
person. this is what apple
And when that that fateful day comes, that they can, and are. For five years powerful revolutionary – what sort
learned the hard way when it
it won’t be a friendly encounter nor a he worked full-time as a metaphor of wunderkind was Aaron Swartz? Ed
decided that it will not pay royal- conquest: it will be a gold rush. Can designer at the FrameWorks Institute, Lake, deputy editor of Aeon takes a
ties to artists during the first we make sure it’s ethical? a think tank in Washington, DC. crack at retelling his story.
three months of apple music. http://dgit.in/alienethics http://dgit.in/metamanu http://dgit.in/whodatb
http://dgit.in/tylrswft

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 39

 (worldview)

stop BleedinG what exactly is say Bye-Bye to Glasses what iF we had

instantly dark weB? a scientist has invented a lens listened to them?
there has most of the stuff you know that will give you superhuman One fine day in the month
sHorts

been an about dark web has come from vision with just a 8 min surgery. of may 1998, 7 hackers ,
accident the news reports about people the new lens being developed they were there to bring
and people selling drugs there, terrorist gives humans 3 times 20/20 attention to how insecure
are injured. there is blood organisation starting their own vision, meaning that not only and unsafe the internet was
everywhere, on the floor, on kickstarter-isque campaigns, will it make your vision perfect, fast forward 17 years into a
the victim, blood gushing out and the increasing child por- but rather enhance it to up to 3 world where and privacy is
of the wounds. You apply a gel nography. but that is just one times. if this things does what just an illusion, we can’t help
and the bleeding stops almost side of the coin. read on to find it says then you could soon say but wonder-What if we had
instantaneously. read on out what it is and what it’s not bye bye to glasses listened to them?
http://dgit.in/stpbld http://dgit.in/drkweb http://dgit.in/spcleye http://dgit.in/lophtck

troubleshooting android:
the complete toolkit
Use these tools and remove Android niggles with ease – By Kishore Ganesh

O
ver time, all devices start to show restore your device, and is one of the most
problems. Be it due to their aging important tools to have if you feel like you
hardware or faulty software, bugs have soft-bricked your device.
start to pop up and you start to experience
problems with battery life and performance, Log Collector
among other things. Thankfully, if you have Just keep Log Collector (http://dgit.in/1QOiHnc)
an Android device, there are quite a few ways running in the background, and it will log
to remove these bugs or at least lessen their everything your phone does. Why would
effects. Of course, one cannot completely you want a running account of every event
reverse the bugs that occur naturally after that happens on your phone? Well, when
some time, but many are fixable with some something like a force-close or a glitch
tweaks to the software. Android has a robust occurs, you can scroll back to that exact
developer community that has tinkered with event, and you can find exactly what went
every part of the operating system, due to wrong. You can then proceed to fix the
which there are several programs that problem, and as you can see, logging makes
together form a complete toolkit for trou- this very easy.
bleshooting your Android device.
titanium Backup
adB A staple of a tinkerer’s toolkit for the ages,
Ah adb, where would we be without it? It is your device seems to be bricked, Fastboot Titanium Backup (http://dgit.in/1Ix0XD1) is
a part of the Android Development Kit, and just swoops in to save the day, with its array a godsend for those who regularly flash
thanks to an XDA developer, you no longer of troubleshooting tools. Fastboot can help ROMs or are just trying to be safe. As the
need to download the full kit to get adb. Now flash a new recovery and other images. You name says, it can back up every app and
what does adb do? Well, adb is a program can unlock your bootloader, and Fastboot even remember individual app prefer-
that, in a nutshell, can send commands to has quite a few commands that can help ences. It is more reliable than TWRP for
your phone. From pushing files to installing revive your device. Apps, and has a lot of other important fea-
applications and many more helpful com- tures, like the ability to uninstall system
mands, adb is extremely helpful to trouble- tWrP apps, freeze certain apps and more. You
shoot your device. It can reboot your device TWRP (http://twrp.me/) is a custom recovery can clear up your storage, or make your
into recovery mode, and even has a built in that replaces your stock recovery. What’s apps faster with Titanium Backup. It
logging tool, which may prove to be very a recovery anyway? Just press the correct is truly a must-have for your trouble-
helpful for troubleshooting. button combination for your device (usu- shooting toolkit.
ally volume buttons + power button) and
Fastboot the device should reboot into recovery setCPu
Fastboot too is a part of the Android SDK, mode. TWRP allows you to flash custom As software evolves, it requires more
and now is independently available. When ROMs, root your device, backup, wipe and resources, which is why older devices
40 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in
 (worldview)

how BiG a world can strictly For the no more animal testinG scientist will use your
we inhaBitate? math Geeks developed Butt, poop and smell to
With our current population soon the site may look like some- in harvard identiFy you
going to touch the 7 billion mark, thing right out of the 90s but university and if what these scientists are
the time when we will be looking what you get there is worth recently crowned working on pans out, then in the
for another planet to inhabit it. the post, by famous math- the “design of the Year” by future, fingerprint scanners will
doesn’t seem far away. but how ematician richard elwes, london museum, the lung-on- be replaced by butt scanner and
big a planet will we need? more consists of a list of 10 famous a-chip is a device that simulates the next mission impossible movie
importantly what is the largest mathematical achievements the biological process of the will see tom cruise coming up
inhabitable planet that can exist that happened in the last 5 lungs inside you. if all goes well, with a gadget to bypass the highly
for us? One man set out to find years and are a must read for then there will be no need of accurate poop scanner installed in
the answer to this question. all the math geeks out there. animal testing and human trials. some ultra secure facility.
http://dgit.in/lgearth http://dgit.in/math5yr http://dgit.in/aforgan http://dgit.in/buttscnr

aren’t able to cope. But there’s still one sure to get the perfect mix of battery life
trick up our sleeve: Overclocking, which and performance you always wanted. As
can help us to get rid of the limit set by the devices get older, batteries degrade, but you
manufacturer and let our device run unfet- can still salvage some life out of them by
tered. However, you must make sure to not tweaking some things and getting a kernel
push your old hardware too much, other- with an efficient governor.
wise you may damage it. Alternatively, if
your device is fast enough, you can under- safe Mode
clock to get more battery life out of it. And Okay, so this isn’t really an app, but a built
this can be done using SetCPU. Download in feature of most Android devices. By
from http://www.setcpu.com/. pressing and holding the Power Off option
that pops up when you press the Power
elementalX Button, you can boot into safe mode, where
ElementalX (http://elementalx.org/) is a only system apps are present and all the
custom kernel for your device, using apps you installed don’t run. Why does
which you can customize every aspect of this help? Well, sometimes one or more
your CPU, from clock speed to voltage. apps may run amok, destroying your per-
Undervolt, overvolt or overclock, you are formance and battery life. This helps you
know whether the problems you are facing
are hardware based or due to a fault in the
apps you installed.

ap Ops
When you are experiencing unnecessary
wakelocks, i.e your device is not able to
sleep properly, leading to battery drain, you kits are to be installed on your PC, and
need Ap Ops (http://dgit.in/1TLV9hI), which lets let you do just about everything under
you control what permissions an app can the sun, from unlocking to rooting
access. You can turn off location and the to restoring your device to stock. For
‘keep awake’ option for apps that don’t need example, there’s the Wugs toolkit (http://
them, and you will immediately see a mas- www.wugfresh.com/nrt/) for Nexus devices.
sive improvement in battery life. You can search for your device to find a
toolkit that may just be the solution to
GsaM Battery Monitor your woes.
The stock Android Battery Monitor isn’t
going to help you much to troubleshoot dead Pixel detect and Fix
battery issues. GSAM (http://dgit.in/1GxFhWe) A drawback of LCD Screens, a few pixels
is a comprehensive battery monitor that can on your phone’s display may not turn
help you find out what exactly is draining on as they are supposed to, which can be
your battery life. annoying. Thankfully, there’s a solution,
but it isn’t guaranteed to work: Dead Pixel
toolkits Detect and Fix. It basically flashes lots of
Developers have made comprehensive colors at once, that may just revive the
toolkits for popular devices. These tool- dead pixels.
Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 41
 (worldview)
(worldview)

loudwire (PrOduCt LaunChes)

With videos which include
“10 Weirdest Maynard meizu note 2 lenovo ideacenter the hp pro taBlet 608
James Keenan Onstage stick 300
Outfits” and a section
of videos titled “You

meizu unveiled the successor lenovo recently entered hp’s first tablet running
to m1 note, aptly called the stick pc market with its Windows 10 out of the box
the m2 note, which boasts ideacenter stick 300. the and powered by the intel
of a 5.5 display that has device is powered by intel atom Z8500 processor. will
contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a baytrail cpu and will run be released in august.
brightness of 450 nits and is Windows 8.1 out of the box. Price:$479 onwards (approx
powered by an Octa core 1.6 Price:$140 (approx Rs 9000) Rs. 31,000)
ghz mediatek mt6753
Price:$130 (approx Rs. 8,500)
think you know metal?”
which might put even p i c ture pu z z l e ABsolute
the biggest metal heads timepass
to shame, Loudwire is
the perfect place to get
your regular fix of eve-
rything rock and metal.

http://dgit.in/ldwire

Top 3 Picks make sure your boss doesn’t catch you goofing off with one
of these videos playing on your screen

To get all these links in one

easy to read page, make sure a matter of life and death Game or real? Is this dude a cyborg?
Duration: 5 mins 56 seconds Duration: 3 mins 22 seconds Duration: 3 mins 43 seconds
you blip these pages from your
What is the difference live action gta V. trust us declared as the world’s
smartphone. between the dead and living? this video is unlike anything first ‘recognised cyborg’,
easy question though it may you’ve seen before. he senses colour through
seem, it aint. Watch this: http://dgit.in/riyalgta sound.
http://dgit.in/lif3ee http://dgit.in/cybnot
42
42 Digit
Digit||July
July2015
2015||www.digit.in
www.digit.in
 > code / creativity / community >

Introduction to gdb
>>We open your eyes to the wonders of the GNU Debugger.
Arise, awake! > by Kshitij Sobti

I
f you write enough code, sooner or later need basic debugging, such tools might work
you’ll run into a situation where just well for you.
putting in print statements to figure out Since the GNU Debugger is the most
if there are errors won’t be enough. You’ll widely available and supported version, it’s
need a specialised tool to debug your code. If the command line that we’ll look at in this
you’re using the free GNU Compiler Collection article. So let’s begin!
(GCC), then there’s no better tool than ‘gdb’,
also known as the ‘GNU Debugger’. The basic gdb workflow
If you use Linux, chances are it’s already Before we move on to more complex stuff, let’s
installed and set up. But it isn’t limited only first get the basic usage of gdb out of the way.
to Linux and Unices. In fact, since it’s open To effectively use gdb, you must compile
source and runs in the command line, it’s been the source code with debug information
ported to all kinds of hardware platforms and included. This isn’t strictly necessary, and
operating systems. ddd is a popular GUI frontend for gdb, you can even debug commercial applications
If you’re wondering why you should use a although at this point the interface is for which you don’t have the source code.
command line tool in this day and age, well, quite dated. We can now launch gdb and provide the
firstly, that’s because it has an extensive fea- location to your application. For instance, you
ture set, combined with a price point of zero that’s hard to match. can run gdb myapp or gdb /home/user/code/myapp. This won’t
There are GUI frontends and IDE integrations available for gdb, immediately run your application in the debugger. Before doing
however, they don’t include all of its features. That said, if you just that, you may want to do things such as set up breakpoints.

*New languages

*The programming *Google’s ‘Go’ isn’t far *Facebook’s ‘Hack’ isn’t

language by Apple No behind too doing bad either
one’s talking about >>Google’s home brewn language, >>Facebook came out with its own
>>Apple has been known Go, has some ambitious targets programming language based on
for innovation, but one of its in mind with it’s project manager PHP ‘Hack’ quite a while ago. And
breakthrough that’s been aiming to surprass Java in the next it is making its name in the industry.
under the radar till now is finally 5 years. Whoa! That’s some tall Hit the link below to know more on
getting noticed. order right there, don’t you think? its recent developments.
http://dgit.in/applesPL http://dgit.in/goglgo http://dgit.in/fbhackpl

devworx> | July 2015 | www.devworx.in 43

 Once breakpoints are set up, we can issue the run command *sum = sumarr(arr, 10);
to gdb to run the application code inside the debugger. This runs printf(“Sum of array arr %s”, sum);
the code up until the first breakpoint is encountered. At this point, }
we can step through the code while examining how the value of
different variables change. We can step through the code source Running and viewing code
one line at a time, or even at the assembly level, one instruction at Once you’ve started gdb and provided it the path to your appli-
a time. We can inspect the contents of the memory and even low cation, you can run the application by simply typing “run”. This
level registers. And then even modify memory locations, if needed. will run the program as normal, producing output, asking for
Let’s look at how to do most of these things. input etc. You can also provide command line arguments (if any)
to the run command.
Example code If the program crashes while running under gdb, you‘ll notice
Before we start the debugging code, let’s take a look at the sample that you get a lot more information than you would if you were
buggy code we’ll be using. The bugs in this code may be obvious, running it directly. For example, it will tell you where exactly in
but remember that probably wont be the case when you’re using your program (or out of it) the crash occurred, and will even display
a debugger. the code for that line.
#include <stdio.h> If you want even more information, you can type the “back-
trace” command to get the exact chain of function calls that led to
int sumarr(int* arr, int len) { the crash.
int i, sum; At this point if you want you can type list to list the code around
for (i = 0; i <= len; ++i) { this area. You can even provide list a line number and it will print
sum += arr[i]; the code around that line.
} It can sometimes also be useful to see the assembly code gener-
return sum; ated from your source code, if the problem isn’t visible at a high
} level. To view the assembly code for your program type disas.
With disas /m you can see your own code interleaved with the
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { assembly code generated from it. It’s also a brilliant way to get
int arr[] = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}; familiar with assembly.
int *sum; Chances are you want to pause running your application before
it reaches the point that leads to a crash so you can diagnose the
state of the application there. For that you need to set breakpoints,
we look at those next.

Setting breakpoints
A breakpoint is place within your code where gdb will halt the
automatic execution of code and turn over control to you.
There are a number of ways that you can set breakpoints. The
simplest way to set a breakpoint is to specify a line number at which
the code should stop executing. You can use the list command
explained above to figure out what the line numbers are.
Another way to set a breakpoint is to set it using the name of
the function. In this case execution halts if that function is called.
Withbreak main you can halt execution when your program starts
Kdbg is a GUI frontend for gdb developed by KDE. It is quite executing its main function.
powerful and includes most of the features you’d need for debugging A more interesting way to set a breakpoint, is to have a condi-
tional break based on the state of the program. For instance you
might want to halt the code if a particular variable reaches a certain
value. You can specify such a break as follows:
break if i > 5

gdb includes a curses-based UI that might be more comfortable If an application keeps crashing on launch sometimes running it
for some. You launch gdb in this mode with gdb -tui under gdb can give you a hint as to why.
44 devworx> | July 2015 | www.devworx.in
 *pointers
dsaw
instance, step 4 will step through
four lines of code at a time.
>>Interesting If you’re inside a function, and
developer news
want to quickly get to the end of the
function and see the return value,
you can use the finish command.
If you’d rather just return from the function
without executing it, you can use the return com-
mand. Any value you specify after return will be
the value returned from the function call.
*Expert at ‘GitHub’ While breakpoints halt the execution of code,
>>Github has much more to it
than what meets the eyes and you can use the continue command to resume
this course teaches you how to use executing the program till it reaches the next
With a good understanding of assembly, you
GitHub effectively. breakpoint (or the end of the program). If you
can find bugs without even having access to the
source code http://dgit.in/githubexp want to continue executing the code till a par-
ticular line number use until <line_number>.
This can make it much easier to handle loops, The step and next commands execute your
allowing you to break only after a certain number program one line of code at a time, however each
of iterations. You can also look out of cases where line of code does not always correspond to a single
a variable is going out of its range. CPU instruction. If you want even more fine tuned
Another related concept is that of watch- execution you can use the stepi and nexti com-
points. With watchpoints you can have the mands that execute your code one assembly
execution of a program halt when a particular instruction at a time.
*You can learn Video
variable or memory location is modified, without game theory too now
worrying about what the exact value is. The way >>This online course offered by Inspecting program state
to set a watchpoint is to use watch keyword fol- MIT teaches you hoiw videogames The final thing you need to know (at least for
are built but also what cultural,
lowed by the name of the variable to watch. For the purposes of this basic introduction) is how
social and educational significance
examples: watch ctr to pause when the variable they carry. to actually peek into the running program and
ctr is modified. http://dgit.in/vgamethe display the values of various variables.
The most important command to inspect data
Stepping through code is the print <variable> command. Any variable
Once the execution of an application has paused, that is visible in the current scope of the program
you might want to take it slow and go through can be printed using this command. It tries to
your code one line at a time. There are number of display the variable in a format appropriate for
commands for exactly this purpose, but the two its type. So a char will display as a character,
most important ones are step and next, they are an int, short or long will display as an integer
very similar in functionality but the difference number, while float and double values will dis-
between them is important. *Make your own play as floating point numbers.
Let’s say we put a breakpoint on the main Google car It can also print character strings automati-
function using break main and then started the >>Learn how to program your own cally, however for other types of arrays, you need
AI powered car directly by Google
execution using the run command. At this point and Stanford’s autonomous driving
to be a little more specific. For instance if you wish
gdb will display the current line of code. In the team’s researchers. to display an array called arr of lenth 10, you can
case of our example program above it will be the http://dgit.in/AICarUDA use the print command as one of the following:
line declaring the integer array. Now when we
give gdb the step or next command it it’ll execute print print (int[10])arr print (int[])arr
this line of code, and then display the next line of
code to be executed. The third one above will try to automatically
Where step and next differ is in now they calculate the length.
handle function calls in your code. If you have you
main function call another function in your code
(like we have our main function calling sumarr)
then the next will treat this like a single instruc- *Master Office 365
tion and continue on to the next line after the
APIs
>>Want to learn how to use
function call. On the other hand, step will move the Office 365 APIs that let you
the execution of the code inside the called func- access the cloud from a variety of
tion and let you execute that line by line as well. platforms. Follow the link to find
the course that does exactly that..
Both of these commands can also take an http://dgit.in/office365api
optional numeric argument that specifies how Neither step not next will enter external
many times the command is to be repeated. For functions like printf
devworx> | July 2015 | www.devworx.in 45
 GDB Shortcuts
Most gdb commands can be abbreviated to just one or two letters.
Here are a few you might find useful:
• run – r
• step – s
• stepi – si
• next – n
• nexti – ni
The large hex numbers that “x” prints in the left-most column are
• print – p
the memory addresses of the printed rows
• list – l
• continue – c
If you want you can override the display format by specifying the
Often, you need to repeat the same command again and again.
format with print as print /format where format is x for hex, d for
For instance, you might want to step through code a couple of times.
signed decimal, o for octal, s for string. There are more format
Rather than type “step” repeatedly, or even type “s” repeatedly, you can
options available.
just press [Enter] to repeat the previous command.
Another command to display the value of variables is x for
eXplore, which takes a memory location rather than a variable
name. It can be quite useful for exploring pointers and arrays. If
you provide it an address, or the name of a pointer, it can be used
not only to display the value stored at that memory location, but
also of consecutive memory locations starting at that location.
The full syntax for the command is x /nfu <addr> where n speci-
fies how many consecutive memory locations to print; f is the format
of the data as explained for the print command, and u is the size of
each memory location. So x /5dw arr will print 5 decimal (d) words
(32bits) starting at the pointer arr.
Finally let’s look at the display command. Chances are you want
to continuously look at the value of a particular variable or memory
location after each step. Rather then using the print or x com-
mands again and again, you can use thedisplay /format <var/
With each step here gdb is displaying both, the value of i the loop
address> command. It will automatically display data using
counter and sum
the print or x command based on your parameters each time you
step forward in your code. For instance, gdb can also be used to debug a program that is
already running, and in fact it can even connect to a remote com-
Conclusion puter and debug programs running on it. It also supports reverse
The GNU debugger is a phenomenally powerful tool, even with debugging. It can even record and play back the execution of appli-
the basic introductory knowledge that you have gained from this cations and a whole lot more. We’ve only scratched the surface here
article. There is of course a whole lot more that you can do with gdb. but hopefully we have provided you with a good launching pad.

*Fun Facts

*Old is still Gold *A brief and absurd *An emoji programming

>>A list of programming languages, history of programming language
some of which go as far back as languages >>Someone on 4chan had
1950s, which are still used in one >>Read this man’s blog as he gives this absurd idea of creating a
form or the other. Maybe old is gold, a “Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly programming language out of
after all? Hit the link below to find Wrong” History of Programming emojis. And like most absurd ideas
out what these languages are... Languages. on the internet, it is being made.
http://dgit.in/isgoldold http://dgit.in/historypl http://dgit.in/emoprol

46 devworx> | July 2015 | www.devworx.in

 Feature From the lab
Your bucketlist of books for instant We take stock of the latest research

Sci-Tech 50 scientific gratification. Eureka moment,

guaranteed. 53 from the field of battery tech. After all,
we all want longer lasting phones!

What if there was never

a big bang?
What are the origins of the energy density. Of this, the stars (Hydrogen black hole would also have a event horizon
and Helium) are about 3.97 per cent, and all that cloaks it from revealing any information
Universe? And have we other heavier elements (planets, asteroids, just as in our universe. But unlike a 3 dimen-
been getting it wrong? etc., across the entire universe) a mere 0.03 sional black hole that has a 2 dimensional
per cent! event horizon, a 4 dimensional black hole
Samir Alam The remaining 96 per cent is made up of would have a 3 dimensional event horizon.
[email protected] 23 per cent dark matter and 73 per cent dark According to these researchers our universe
energy. But what is dark matter and dark is actually this very 3 dimensional event
The Universe is a machine for energy? To be honest, no one really knows. horizon surrounding a 4 dimensional black
creating gods. Read more about it and String Theory in this hole. And just as a 3 dimensional blackhole’s
–Henri Bergson month’s dmystify book. singularity is hidden by the 2 dimensional
event horizon, so is the 4 dimensional sin-

P
ondering the nature of existence is a Five dimensions? gularity hidden by the 3 dimensional event
fun exercise. It is at once the oldest A team of three researchers has floated a horizon (our universe) which makes the
pass time and the source of the theory about the origins of the universe that cosmic big bang of our universe completely
oldest scientific questions: “How did challenges the traditional understanding of impossible. A brain twist, isn’t it? Take a mo-
we get here? What is time? How big is the the Big Bang. Niayesh Afshordi, Robert Mann ment to read it all again.
Universe? What came before everything?
What is the meaning of it all?”.
The entire history of human civilisation
has been littered with various answers to
these questions. From religion to rational-
ity, the spectrum of thought tackling the big
questions of science and humanity have led
us inextricably to one answer - there had to
be a beginning. In science we call it the Big
Bang. But what if that isn’t it? What if there
is something entirely different? Something
we haven’t even conceived. Well it would
blow your mind, wouldn’t it?

Problems with the Big Bang Dark matter isn’t known but it’s gravitational effects tell us something is there.
Theory
Scientists have since been able to trace and Razieh Pourhasan have created a model Now before our collective brains explode
the origins of the Universe to within less of the universe wherein the Big Bang was with the idea of a five dimensional universe,
than a second after the Big Bang. However, in fact the implosion of a four dimensional consider the following - humans are used
scientists can neither explain what occurred star in a five dimensional universe. And the to the three spatial dimensions of length,
before the Big Bang nor can they theorise Universe as we see it is nothing more than breadth and height. Adding to it the dimen-
with any scientific reliability the nature of the cloak or wrapping around its singularity sion of time, we can establish that we live
the universal singularity at the time of the in three dimensions. Just as a black hole’s in a four dimensional universe. But what if
Big Bang. singularity is perceived to be two dimen- there was another spatial dimension that we
For a very long time, astronomers as- sional while in our four dimensional universe. weren’t capable of perceiving? In this model
sumed that the Universe was composed In their causal scenario, in a universe of four spatial dimensions (with time as a
of ordinary matter i.e. elements found on of four spatial dimensions (instead of our fifth) the researchers have proven, at least
the periodic table. However, we now know three), a four dimensional blackhole would mathematically, that the new idea fits better
that the density of ordinary matter only originate in the same way due to the con- with our observations of the cosmos than
constitutes 4 per cent the Universe’s total verging effect of gravity. This 4 dimensional the idea of the inflationary Big Bang. The

48 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 The hunt continues
The Large Hadron Collider resumes its
search for more unknown particles. Read on
http://dgit.in/lhcworks Space Age

mathematics behind this explanation has mysteries such as dark matter, dark energy
already been vigorously tested and is part of and so much more.
a field called holography. The new model was postulated by Egyp-
Unlike the popularised understanding of tian scientist Ahmed Farag Ali and Indian
holography such as in holographic displays, scientist Saurya Das. These two researches
the study of the holographic principle is re- used the foundation work of 1950s theo-
lated to string theory and quantum mechan- retical physicist David Bohm to replace the
ics. It studies the properties of strings and is use of classical geodesics (shortest path
also related to the study of quantum gravity. between two points on a curved surface)
Fortunately, like any good scientific with the newly developed method of quan-
theory, the theory of multi-dimensional tum trajectories between two points. They
brane universes is easy to test. Since the applied the quantum Bohmian trajectories to
fourth dimensional matter would undergo an equation by physicist Amal Kumar Ray-
thermal fluctuations due to the four dimen- chaudhuri of Presidency College in Calcutta
sional black hole it would register as small to arrive at their final model explaining the
but noticeable distortions in the cosmic design of the universe.
microwave radiation - a change we can Within their mashup work, by combin-
observe and measure. If these distortions ing the ideas and approaches of geniuses
aren’t in line with the new theory, then it across the world and time, the duo of Ali
would mean the new theory is wrong. Other and Das was able to derive an equation
which described the expansion and evolu-
tion of the known universe. Their equation
combines the properties of quantum theory
with general relativity which are expected
to hold true, if and when a unified theory of
quantum gravity is discovered.
Using the new variables and factors in
their equation, as a representation of the
universe, these scientists have posited that
the universe is of a finite size. This conclu-
sion also has the natural corollary that the
universe is of an infinite age implying that
time has neither a beginning nor an end.
Cosmic microwave background radiation The reason this theory really holds up is
lets us observe the very origins of the because it is consistent and closely congru-
universe. ent with the most recent observations
regarding the density of the universe and
similar aspects of the new theory can be the cosmological constant. So far it seems
tested and measured proving its veracity. All to check all the boxes making it a likely
it takes is a little time and a really big cosmic contender for the universe’s origin story -
radiation detector. We’ll know soon enough if which is that it has none.
this theory is right or not.
Unquenchable thirst
Ad infinitum The nature of reality is perhaps impos-
While the theory of a five dimensional sible to discover. What came before the
universe takes a while to digest - what about big bang? Perhaps we will never know.
the theory that the universe is infinite in Was there a big bang? We might be able
age with no beginning or end? In another to answer that eventually. What does it all
competing new theory that is coming to the mean? We don’t know, and perhaps never
attention of scientists the currently accepted will. That’s not going to stop us from con-
age of the universe - 13.8 billion years - may tinuing to ask questions, and when every
be off by, well, an infinity or so. According to answer throws up a whole new set of
this new model which uses quantum cor- questions, you can bet humanity is going
rections within Einstein’s theory of general to thirst for answers for a long, long time
relativity, we find an elegant answer to to come.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 49

 Freezing atoms Home security
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Science

Ronak Gupta
10
[email protected]
Books
every geek must read
Your bucket list for instant scientific
enlightenment. Eureka, guaranteed.

of a scientific concept and more like the

account of a curious kid amazed by the
flapping its wings can cause a hurri-
cane on the opposite side of the Earth.

B
grandeur of science. The book touches This theory was brought into
ooks in the popular science upon areas of science limelight in 1987 when Gleick
genre have the unique ability ranging from microbi- published ‘Chaos’. Gleick is
to awe, thrill and inform at the ology to cosmology and a masterful science writer
same time. In today’s application never once loses grip of and historian, and this book
driven world, Science books can give us the its motive – to generate is a brilliant example of his
highly underrated pleasure of discovery genuine interest in science. genius. He begins by giving
along with a slice of history. In this article, Bryson gives us accounts us an account of time when
we list down science books everyone of famous personalities chaos theory was one of
should read. The books on the list have in science and talks about those neglected theories,
a timeless quality about them – they’re their oddities. He attempts shunned by the bigwigs
lucidly written and brilliantly researched to show the range of sizes in of science. The book is
making them not only good popular sci- science to scale by using com- a story of the bravado
ence books, but great reads in general. parisons. Garnering multiple and triumph of those
awards and inspiring unheralded scientists who dedicated
A Short generations of kids (ourselves their careers to unravelling the mysteries
History to included) ‘A Short History to surrounding a theory that today is critical
Nearly Nearly Everything’ deserves a in predicting weather and understanding
Everything place on every bookshelf. patterns in various physical systems. The
by Bill Bryson book made ‘’Butterfly Effect” a house-
If you go through any list Chaos hold term and is largely responsible for
of popular science books, by James introducing the concepts of chaos theory
odds are that Bryson’s Gleick and fractal geometry to a broad audi-
wonderfully written book Chaos theory gained ence. Chaos theory is now a staple in
will be at the top of the list. acceptance fairly late pop culture and even played a large role
Bill Bryson is known for his compared to other heavy- in Michael Crichton’s bestselling book,
travel writing in which he weight theories such as ‘Jurassic Park’.
displays a brand of humour Quantum Mechanics
peppered with anecdotes. and Relativity, but grew The Perfect Theory
Because Bryson isn’t trained as rapidly in popularity. A term often by Pedro Ferreira
a scientist, his approach is fresh making used to describe the theory is ‘Butterfly Cosmologist Pedro Ferreira’s
this book read less like a drab description Effect’, which underlines that a butterfly book is the definitive biography of Albert

50 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 No more drunk driving Never go thirsty again
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starting if you’re drunk. Find out more you need to take a sip. Learn more here
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Einstein’s theory of general relativity. A Brief History of ical future on Earth. What’s
Considering that the subject matter is Time terrifying though is that the
difficult to explain and has been written by Stephen future he describes may not
about plenty of times before, there’s a Hawking be hypothetical after all.
certain novelty to Ferreira’s approach. Stephen Hawking is hands The landmark Copenhagen
He talks about the events that led to down one of the most pop- conference set the toler-
the development of the theory and ular physicists able limit for the rise in
describes, sometimes in ever. Not only global temperature to
detail, the great person- is he a brilliant close to 2 degree Celsius.
alities that pioneered its genius, he’s also At that tipping point,
use. The book also dives a fantastic writer some countries would
into the implications of the and this book flat out disappear. In an
theory, which are grand to is an example almost countdown-like
say the least. Einstein’s field of both. ‘A Brief fashion, Lynas breaks
equations helped scientists History of Time’ down the effects of global tem-
discover the very fabric of paints a large perature rise degree by degree. He sieves
the universe, the lives of stars canvas of the cosmos of through scientific evidence including
and stellar objects and the which the earth is just research papers, investigative reports
mysteries of black holes and the tiniest fragment. and computer simulations to present a
other singularities in space- Discussing the possibil- clear and concise account of how global
time. While this book might be ities of time travel warming can literally change
a bit too heavy for the general and existence the face of Earth.
reader, it’s practically gold dust of wormholes, Hawking
for anyone who has ever wondered why touches upon topics The Selfish
the theory of general relativity is the bordering on meta, such as Gene
most revered theory in the history of the beginning of time itself. by Richard
physics. It’s a wonderful Dawkins
book, short, crisp ‘The Selfish Gene’ has
Fermat’s and powerful influenced many debates
Last in its own right. and shaped scientific
Theorem Hawking fre- pop culture by intro-
by Simone Singh quently uses pic- ducing revolutionary
Based on a theorem in torial representa- ideas − relevant even
number theory that was tions to explain today, almost thirty
unproven for more than complicated years after first being
350 years, ‘Fermat’s Last concepts such as published. Among other things,
Theorem’ is a story of one particle spin and almost Dawkins, in the book, coined the term
man’s obsession with proving no equations. He writes ‘meme’ to describe a unit of human
it. Simone Singh excels at with flair and brings in cultural evolution that encompasses all
telling the story of Princeton his traditional British of human culture, fashion and fads and
mathematician Andrew Wiles, humour and excellent scientific quite analogously like a gene is selected
who struggled for close to six years to insight, making it a satisfying read. and passed from one gen-
solve a long standing problem in math- eration to another. Without
ematics. We’re sucked into Wiles’ tumul- Six Degrees: concentrating on scientific
tuous journey full of ups and downs as Our Future details of genes, Dawkins
he finds a chink in his proof and then on a Hotter talks about the role played
proceeds to finally correct it. The book is Planet by Mark by genes in evolution.
gripping and never loses pace, which is Lynas Using an approach
surprising since it’s based on a theorem The IPCC (International frequently referred to as
in pure mathematics. While the title may Panel on Climate Change has ‘reductionist’, Dawkins
dissuade most readers from picking up claimed that Earth’s global presents the idea that
this book, we strongly recommend it. temperature could rise by genes control the future
It’s a gripping story told with the right upto 6 degree Celsius at the by controlling informa-
amount of detail and an almost infectious end of the century. Lynas’ book tion transfer and that
enthusiasm. deals with mankind’s hypothet- organism exist simply

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 51

 Have a bite of Apple Making futuristic laser guns
Apple is making the transition from Android A teenager made a laser gun with a combined
to iOS easier with their Move To Apple service: power of 40W. Check it out here:
Feature http://dgit.in/appldroid http://dgit.in/1KSIdR3

as survival machines acting as a sort of entertaining read, the book diseases emerge and spread,
carriers for these genes. Dawkins’s ideas delves into the collapse and what’s next? Through the
are radical, to say the least, and led to of preceding civilisations book, we travel across the globe
much criticism but there’s no denying the such as the Mayans and meeting microbe hunters and
fact that his book, The Selfish Gene is an the developers of the Easter scientists on the way. It’s an
important contribution to socio-biology. Island statues. Diamond exciting and scary ride to say
In a time when not much was known then discusses the factors the least. While Quammen
about genes and DNA specifics, Dawkins that lead to the collapse of doesn’t write about dense
presented a model to explain evolution of a society in general and the biological details, he never
animal intelligence and altruism. ability of such a civilisation oversimplifies concepts.
to self destruct. Diamond, an The narrative is gripping,
The Particle at the End optimist, also remarks that our and we’re presented with
of the Universe civilisation, unlike anecdotes and stories
by Sean Caroll our ancestors, can about people working
This book by Sean learn from mistakes (very dangerously) in the field,
Caroll talks about the and a collapse can be prevented. dealing with deadly diseases as a part of
elusive Higgs Boson, Jared Diamond is a Pulitzer their profession. Spillover has the look and
the fundamental particle Prize winning author and feel of a science fiction book. Alas, zoonotic
that gives all matter mass. Collapse is a brilliantly con- diseases are real and alive.
Caroll is an accomplished structed piece of work. Jared
physicist and blogger and Diamond presents his argu- Bonus
does an excellent job dealing ments along with examples The Sixth Extinction
with some complex subject and historical evidence. by Elizabeth Kolbert
matter, coming up with a Rather than rely on the Earth’s history has been marked by five
thrilling account of a scientific generality of the causes of mass extinctions that led to sudden deple-
pursuit rivalled by no other. collapse, he notes that all tion in the diversity of living species. ‘The
Caroll writes not only about problems don’t fit into one Sixth Extinction’ refers to
the ideas and theories that pre- framework. One of the the ongoing current one, the
dicted the Higgs Boson − discov- ered longer and heavier books one caused by humans, the
at the Large Hadron Collider (LDC) in on the list, Collapse how- unnatural one. This book
2013 − but also the amount of lobbying and ever has enough content examines the previous extinc-
politics that were necessary in securing to intrigue you while tions and looks at the current
funding for the expensive experiments. He keeping you captivated one through a bleak and grim
addresses why the search for the particle is and informed. microscope. The author
an important one and how it adds another visits sites where species
piece in the jigsaw of discovering matter. Spillover have been wiped out and
Caroll knows how to condense the subject by David talks to experts in the field.
to the right amount. He explains the basic Quammen It’s an important book
physics in a way that’s never too heavy for ‘Spillover’ is one of those that everyone must read
the general reader. books from the science genre to fully grasp the extent
that has the pace of a typical to which humans are
Collapse airport novel. In his degrading nature. As ecolo-
by Jared thrilling book, Qua- gist Paul Ehrlich quotes, “In pushing other
Diamond mmen talks about a class of dis- species to extinction, humanity is busy
How did societies in the eases called “zoonotic diseases” sawing off the limb on which it perches”.
past collapse? What are that are animal infections and Kolbert writes in an almost poetic fashion,
the factors leading to the can be passed on to humans. and the prose is entertaining and beautiful
collapse of entire civilisa- SARS and HIV are two high at the same time. The book unfolds in
tions? Are we in danger profile examples of such dis- the fashion of a travelogue that carries a
of collapsing as a society? eases. Spillover is sprawling clear and concise message and an urgent
These are the questions Jared in scale and scope, but at warning. Although the content presents a
Diamond aims to answer in its heart has a couple of highly pessimistic view of the current state
his brilliant book, ‘Collapse’. important and ultimately of affairs, it’s a must read for anyone who’s
Almost written as multiple terrifying questions. had even a fledgling thought of helping
books combined into one How do these zoonotic conserve nature’s bounties.

52 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Bikes that don’t crash The apple is for everyone
Ducati has developed a system that ensures Apple is making Swift, their programming
their bikes don’t crash as much as possible. language, open source for iOS, OSX and Linux.
Read more: http://dgit.in/dcaticrsh http://dgit.in/applopen From the labs

Over time, more device categories

went portable. However, along with
becoming more powerful, they’ve also
gotten more power-hungry. Batteries
meanwhile are still playing catch up.
Better performing batteries with longer
life continue to evade us as we rush to
find the nearest plug point to recharge
this much needed life force at the most
inopportune times.

In search of the ultimate

battery
Meanwhile, scientists seem to have gone
through nearly all elements on our peri-
odic table to find more viable and efficient
metals for use in batteries. Is the battery
that we use today in our laptops and
mobiles the ultimate battery?
These scientists are now trying to
improve on the widely used battery of

More juice
today – the lithium-ion battery. This is
one line of work. Yet another group of
researchers is trying to develop recharge-
able batteries that will harness the power
of nature by way of sound, light and even

please
our own muscles. Others are trying to
make devices more power efficient.
Whatever be the method and approach,
all these endeavors converge into one ulti-
mate goal – developing methods to let us
work seamlessly without having to worry
With portable battery-powered devices still ruling about running out of battery.

our lives, it’s about time we cracked the battery code. Batteries of the future
Will we ever measure battery life in weeks and years The lithium-ion batteries that we use
instead of hours? today feature lithium cobalt oxide as the
cathode and carbon as the anode, sepa-
Lavleen Bhati facilitates the reaction between the metals rated by a very thin sheet of microperfo-
[email protected] at both ends of the battery, i.e. the anode rated plastic. Lightweight and with high

S
and cathode. In the search for better bat- power density, a LI-ion cell produces a
ince the 18th century, when man teries, the only thing that has changed is voltage of 2.7 volts, which is much higher
first discovered how to harness the material used for the cathode, anode than a normal AA alkaline cell, making
static electricity using metal and separator. it right choice for use in mobile devices.
electrodes and saltwater, the Science and Technology, on the larger However, there are a few downsides to
quest for improving batteries has become scale, has made tremendous strides. We Li-ion batteries. They begin degrading as
an important field of study for many. From have laptops, smartphones and tablets soon as they leave their manufacturing
those days of yore, battery tech has under- that are many orders of magnitude factories, are extremely sensitive to high
gone significant improvements, however, more powerful than the first computers temperatures and might burst into flames
the basic chemistry remains the same. A invented. And the best part: they’re not on failure.
basic battery today contains three major devices that are locked to a wall plug. Thus, arises the need for batteries that
parts: the anode, cathode and separator Thanks to batteries, they’re portable and can overcome these disadvantages while
(also known as “electrolyte”). The anode we’ve come to depend on them. Imagine increasing power density. Let’s take a
and cathode provide the electrons that the world today with landlines instead of look at some of the research underway to
conduct electricity, while the separator mobile phones! improve battery tech.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 53

 3 floors a day Who gaurds the guards?
A chinese businessman built a 57 storey One of the world’s leading Anti-Virus company,
building in 19 days. And that’s not all he plans Kaspersky was the target of a recent sophisticated
From the labs on doing. Read on: http://dgit.in/57storey cyber attack. http://dgit.in/1MKUUid

teries are lighter in weight compared • Graphene wraps

to the lithium-ion batteries since the By wrapping sulphur with a thin flexible
oxygen used is taken from the environ- sheet of graphene, scientists are trying to
ment and need not be stored in the the battery of the near future. Graphene,
battery. These batteries provide greater with its high conductivity, increases the
power density due to the porous speed of electron transfer in the batteries,
carbon cathode. thus increasing its capacity.
The produced lithium oxygen com-
pound deposits on the carbon but • Microbatteries
doesn’t form a lattice with it, making it Microbatteries, as their name suggests,
easier to recharge. are very tiny batteries and the develop-
Its drawbacks are the use of lithium ment of these microbatteries is another
Our devices are more power-hungry itself. As Li is extremely reactive, it growing field.
must not react with the electrolyte Scientists at the University of Illinois
• Designer Carbon while in contact with it. Also H2O at Urbana have created a microbattery
In their attempts to improve battery life and CO2 enter the battery along with that could charge 1,000 times faster than
and performance, scientists have come up Oxygen and form compounds that pre- a regular battery and, as claimed, can fit in
with a new pattern of carbon electrodes vent regeneration of Li on recharging. and power a credit card thin device.
that is said to boost a battery’s perfor- 2. Sodium air battery: These batteries
mance. The ‘designer carbon’, that’s versa- use sodium metal, and are more effi- • Semi-liquid battery
tile and controllable, has been developed cient than there lithium counterparts, Considered semi-liquid due to the liquid
by scientists at Stanford University. and but are less energy dense. They can be ferrocene electrolyte, liquid cathode and
is said to have exceptional energy-storage recharged to 93% efficiency and are a solid lithium anode, this battery, devel-
capacity, which will take the performance cheaper than the lithium air batteries. oped by researchers at the University
of the lithium-sulphur and other batteries Lithium, being highly reactive, of Texas at Austin, has working voltage
to a whole new level. converts to Li2O2 on reaction with similar to that of a li-ion battery. Its
Made by heating coconut shells to a oxygen which makes it harder to power density is comparable to that of a
very high temperature and then chemi- recharge it. Sodium, on the other hand, supercapacitor, has good energy density,
cally treating the result, this new activated forms Na2O as the major product on high capacity and a capacity retention
carbon has pores and holes in it leading to a nanoscale, which is easier to decom- of 80%.
greater surface area to store more charges pose, thus making it more efficient The reason for its high power density
and catalysing more reactions. 3. Aluminium oxygen battery: Some is said to be the high speed of ions in a
The only drawback of this ‘designer people claim that aluminium air bat- liquid medium as well as the increased
carbon’ is the limited connectivity teries are the ultimate alternative to the speed of electrons.
between pores, which may limit its lithium-ion battery as aluminium is
ability to conduct electricity. However, cheaper, lighter and less reactive. Also, Power-efficient devices
it’s gaining more popularity with each aluminium produces three electrons Besides trying to improve the bat-
passing day as people are trying to use on ionising as compared to lithium, teries, devices that use less power (thus
them to create new batteries with high which produces only one electron, increasing their battery life) are also being
power density. giving it higher charge capacity. researched. Technologies that can make
Lithium sulphur batteries are said to However, because of low discharge your device last longer can already be
benefit the most from the introduction of voltage the battery possesses a shorter found around us.
these electrodes which use chemical reac- lifetime than lithium batteries.
tions between lithium and sulphur to pro- • Ineda Systems
duce power,are lighter than lithium-ion A new chip, created by the startup com-
batteries and much more power efficient. pany Ineda Systems, works alongside the
main processor in a device to perform
• Metal-Air batteries various functions while allowing the main
These work due to the reaction between processor to spend much of its time pow-
metal and oxygen and use a porous carbon ered down, thus saving energy. This chip
electrode to trap the ions and catalyse the has two or three cores, one of the which
reaction. Their efficiency depends on the always operates with low power con-
metal used and its reaction with oxygen. sumption The other core/s will consume
Some such batteries are: more power, but will switch on only for
1. Lithium oxygen battery: These bat- What is the best material to make batteries heavier tasks.

54 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Atronomers rejoice! Choose the perfect handle
The construction of the world's largest telescope Want a l33t name for your online persona but
is finally under way. Read more about the Giant k00lguy6969 is already taken. This will help you select
Megallen Telescope here http://dgit.in/lrgscope the perfect handle http://dgit.in/1RMjCBx From the labs

• Eta Devices active, and less than 200 nanoamps of

Eta devices have tried to reduce power power when in deep sleep mode.
consumption by developing a new design Though this still isn’t sufficient to
for amplifiers. Power amplifiers use run an Ubuntu desktop, it has enough
power while sending digital data in two computing power and memory to run a
modes:standby and the output signal. real-time operating system with multiple
This new design will lower the amount of programs, handle physical interfaces and
power consumed in standby mode, while stream media from a USB device or other
preventing the distortions in the digital external storage.
signals that occur when moving from
the low power standby mode to the high • Texas Instruments
power output mode. While the design is Texas Instruments (TI) is developing
still being lab-tested, the company aims to chipsets for chargers that will increase the
target the smartphone market soon. The charging speed of your battery by almost
main focus is its work on a smartphone 30%, which will in turn help increase the
chip, which will ultimately lead to a single overall life of your battery. In short, you Natural batteries might be the answer
power amplifier that can handle all of the can expect a year-old battery to perform
different modes and frequencies used the same as a new one. TI’s system should Natural charging
work with any standard lithium-ion bat- Yes, we have been using solar, wind and
tery in mobile phones today. other natural sources of energy to power
our houses for a while. But scientists are
Eliminating batteries now working on using these to directly
What if you had access to technology that power our devices.
would eliminate the need for batteries?
Ever thought of technologies that can • Heat to electricity
power your devices 24x7? MIT engineers are creating devices that
Questions like these have fostered can convert heat energy to electric energy.
inventions as the following that will elimi- They can help charge our batteries with a
nate the need for storing power. temperature difference of 20 to 60 degree
Celsius. Not just MIT, many others are
• Self-powered devices also working towards the same goal and
Researchers from the Imperial College if it works out, batteries won’t need to be
London are trying to create self-powered plugged in for charging ever again.
Power efficient devices are the next step devices. By creating a material that can
power devices, they expect to create the • Smart clothing
by the various global standards. Once entire outer shell of the device with that We carry our phones in our pockets. What
this tech is widely available, we can soon material so that it can be powered by its if our pockets could charge our phone?
expect to find smartphones that consume body. Researchers are working to make Researchers are trying to integrate carbon
half the power they’re consuming today. it more durable, light-weight and energy atoms into different types of yarns that
efficient while still being cost effective. will be used for making clothes. These
• Intel smart clothing will have external powers
Merrifield and Moorefield, two new Atom • Wireless charging and processing while only the sensors will
chips announced by Intel, promise faster With the increase in the number of wire- be embedded in the clothes. Supercapaci-
performance and better battery life by less chargers, Ossia has added another tors will be used to power the garments,
powering down quickly after executing a one to the list, and it looks exciting. Ossia’s and the sensors and touchscreen will
task and are designed to work with many ‘COTA’ technology can charge devices power our phones.
different operating systems. upto 30 feet of distance away via Wi-Fi
or Bluetooth. The system needs a receiver • Muscle power
• SAM L21 32-bit ARM family of and a charger. Once the receiver detects Nowadays, flexible nanogenerators are
microcontroller (MCUs)  the charger, it sends signals to charge using our body muscles to power our bat-
Atmel, the San Jose-based company, the device. It is not only inherently safe, teries. A nanogenerator is a small, stamp-
introduced the new SAM L21 32-bit ARM but also highly efficient as the tracking sized patch that attaches to your skin and
family of microcontrollers, that consumes beacons use only 1/10000th of the Wi-Fi’s converts the energy produced by muscle
less than around 35 microamps of power power and avoid anything that might movements to electrical energy, which can
per megahertz of processing speed while absorb energy. then be used to power various devices.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 55

 Smartbands Bazaar
We scour the wearable All the latest and greatest products

Tried & Tested 61 landscape in India and compare

some of the top wristbands 66 tested and reviewed so you make an
informed buying decision

Laptops on
a budget

When you have around 40k to spend on a laptop,

which one do you go with? We test laptops from Acer,
ASUS, HP, and Lenovo to tell you just that...

Jayesh Shinde and give you some compelling because we always wondered etary service), and this is a great
[email protected] options to consider for your how good are AMD’s APU value add for consumers.
next budget laptop spend. compared to low-powered We received laptops from

S
omewhere around It’s good to see Intel’s 5th Intel Core i3 units. No need to most leading brands in the
the middle of every generation Core i3 processors wonder anymore, as you’ll see market, especially given the
calendar year, laptops being available on laptops the result for yourself in the price restriction we had placed
start getting refreshed selling under the 40k mark, mag table of this comparison. on them when we requested for
to newer platforms, and manu- something that we saw on a Other trends seen in this com- review units. Acer, ASUS, HP
facturers start rolling them out couple of laptop brands in this parison are the fact that 4GB and Lenovo wasted no time in
for consumers to purchase. It’s comparison. The latest itera- of RAM and 1TB of hard drive getting units to us. We received
also the time when students tion of Intel chipset is good for has become pretty much the 12 units in total, but had to drop
and young professionals are boosting the laptop’s battery defacto for laptops selling over machines from Acer, ASUS and
buying laptops, based on the life more than anything else, 30k, which is a great revela- Lenovo for either not fitting the
flurry of emails asking us for and good to see those SKUs tion. Also, almost laptops we criteria (price-wise) or malfunc-
laptop recommendations under available at an affordable tested here come with some sort tioning during the process of
30k and 40k. Through this fea- price point. We also received of cloud data solution (either our testing. We tried very hard
ture, we aim to address most an AMD-powered laptop for by partnering with Microsoft to secure a Dell budget laptop
of your concerns, dear reader, review after a long long time, OneDrive or their own propri- to feature in this comparative

56 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 How daredevil sees? WakeAndBake
Ever wondered how Daredevil climbs buildings and what happens when 3 college students decide
fights bad guys without his eyesight? This video might to start a startup called WakeAndBake?
give you some insight http://dgit.in/daredevilsees Find out: http://dgit.in/1H3rXOh Budget laptops

HoW We TeSTed
Initial setup: We tested these budget consumer catalogued. Weights are assigned based on the
laptops much like any other laptop we benchmark. perceived importance of the components. For
All laptops to be tested are first examined and eve- example, since gaming doesn’t really matter or
rything about them is catalogued, including bundled is all that important on a business laptop, gaming
software, accessories, etc. We then completely wipe benchmarks and scores from them are of lesser
all data on the laptops and install a copy of the importance here than they would be on a home
Windows 8.1 Enterprise Edition. Drivers and essen- entertainment or gaming laptop. Stuff like bat-
tial software are installed from the manufacturer’s’ tery life, screen brightness, CPU performance
website before running Windows update. This is will be of significantly greater importance in a busi-
done to ensure that the laptops don’t have any ness setup.
bloatware or trivial apps, only essential drivers that Features score: The features present in each
will help the device’s hardware to run at optimum laptop are tabulated and given weighted scores
performance without any software bottlenecks. depending on perceived importance. For example,
Finally, the devices are set to run in performance dedicated multimedia keys and volume keys are
mode in the BIOS as well as in the power options. given more weightage than those that are shared
All performance inhibitors are turned off, as much with Fn keys. An important note on features, we
as possible – stuff like hard drive idling to sleep, don’t rate CPU, GPU, RAM characteristics any
screen switching off, screen dimming on battery weight here, because we feel those characteris-
mode, etc. After this, the laptops are ready to go tics already surface in the performance part of
into the grinder of our performance benchmarks. our testing. Example - Whether a laptop has a
Performance tests: We conduct a whole series of dual-core or quad-core laptop doesn’t get lesser
review and to give our readers tests on the devices to measure the impact of every or higher points because both of these laptop’s per-
a great overall view of how good aspect of the system on overall performance – tests formances take those aspect into account. Features
or bad Dell laptops compare that stress the laptop’s CPU, RAM, GPU, hard drive, that directly impact performance are not counted
to the competition. However, screen, thermals, battery, and more. These tests or scored here.
despite repeated attempts and include industry standard benchmarks including Design and Usability: The scores for this param-
waiting for over a month, we (and not limited to) Futuremark’s PCMark 8 and eter are largely subjective as they indicate our expe-
failed to get any Dell laptop. We 3D Mark, MAXON Cinebench, and others. We use rience with the device. Items such as quality of the
still haven’t received a unit at PCMark 8’s Creative test suite to evaluate battery keyboard, responsiveness of the touch-screen, etc.
the time of going to print. Nev- life of each laptop, as well. Results are carefully are weighed and scored.
ermind, though, dear reader, catalogued. Final score: The final score that we arrive at is
we are on course to reviewing Screen brightness and contrast ratio is measured the sum of the performance, features and design
the machines that we couldn’t using the DataColor Spyder 4 Elite test unit – a color scores with a 30%, 20% and 20% weightage, respec-
in the next issue. So stay tuned calibrator. It’s essential to calibrate all laptop dis- tively. This is not a fixed weightage, and depending
for that. For now, let’s see how plays before objectively testing them, and we do just on the category of laptops we’re testing, these
these six budget laptops stack that. In dark rooms with little or no ambient light, weightages can be different.
up against each other. the laptops are tested with Datacolor Spyder Studio. A note on winners: The Best Buy laptop is
Brightness and contrast is tested at different lumi- awarded to the device with the best price to per-
TWo AcerS nance level, and an average of multiple readings is formance ratio based on a pre-determined formula.
None of the laptops tested in taken as the final score. We also test the screen’s This is the ideal, value for money product in the
this test are bad or not recom- gradient through DisplayMate and Lagom.nl. test. The Best Performer award is awarded to the
mendable, and that’s true even A series of subjective testing is also conducted device with the highest overall performance score.
for the two Acer laptops which that scores aspects such as a laptop’s keyboard, The Editor’s Pick award is awarded to the device
hit all the right check marks but touchpad, palmrest, screen readability, onboard that the reviewer feels is the best product that
didn’t do much to separate itself speakers, look and feel, watching movies, playing offers something extra or unique that none of the
from the pack. The Acer Aspire games (if the laptop is meant for gaming), among other laptops have. The Editor’s Pick is an entirely
range continued to impress us others. These tests help complete the gamut of subjective award, the decision for which is based
with their E5 range of laptops, objective benchmarks with real-world test sce- on the reviewer’s experience while testing the prod-
and we got two promising can- narios, allowing us to take a fairly homogeneous ucts. For this test, we withheld from announcing
didates from their stables. The look at the laptop’s overall performance. this award because there wasn’t anything special
fact that surprised us most The final performance score is arrived at which in any of the laptops that didn’t win Best Buy or
about these two machines is includes the weighted sum of all the scores Best Performer.
that right out of the box, where

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 57

 Home in a cube Helium atmosphere
Control your home with a just a tap. “Cube”, a little Planets with helium rich atmosphere may
box, acts as a controller for your smart house. outnumber planets with hydrogen rich
Budget laptops Read more: http://dgit.in/cubehome atmosphere. Read more: http://dgit.in/heatm

july 2015 july 2015

Brand Acer Acer HP HP Lenovo ASUS

Model Aspire E15 E5-571- Aspire E15 E5-571G- 15-AF001AX 15-AC030TX U41-70 X555LJ
593D 341R
Price (`) 41700 39945 31990 39990 41490 38399
Warranty 1 1 1 1 1 1
Performance (of 30) 21.14 20.20 22.56 23.43 18.30 24.52
Features (of 20) 5.99 5.99 6.61 6.06 8.41 7.70
Build and Design (of 20) 7.32 6.93 9.09 8.35 7.77 7.36
Overall (of 100) 35.44 34.12 39.26 38.84 35.49 63.02
Features
CPU Intel Core i5-4210U Intel Core i3-4005U AMD A8-7410 Intel Core i3- Intel Core i3- Intel Core i3-
5010U 5005U 5010U
RAM 8 GB 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 6 GB
Graphics Intel HD graphics NVIDIA GeForce AMD Radeon R5 AMD Radeon Intel HD NVIDIA 920M
820M R5 M330 Graphics + Intel HD
+ Intel HD graphics + Intel HD Graphics
Graphics 5500
HDD 1 TB 1 TB 1 TB 1 TB 1 TB 1 TB
Bundled OS Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1
Screen Size (Inches) 15.6 15.6 15.6 15.6 14 15.6
Touch Screen? (Y/N) No No No No No No
Screen Resolution (Pixels) 1366x768 1366x768 1366x768 1366x768 1920x1080 1366x768
(1080p=2, 768p=1)
Weight (kg) 2.5 2.5 2.1 2.3 1.7 2.3
No of USB 2.0 2 2 2 2 1 1
No of USB 3.0 1 1 1 1 2 2
Connectivity (LAN / Bluetooth Yes / Yes / Yes Yes / Yes / Yes Yes / Yes / Yes Yes / Yes / Yes Yes / Yes / Yes Yes / Yes / Yes
/ Wi-Fi)
DisplayPort / VGA (Y/Y) No / Yes No / Yes No / No No / No No / No No / Yes
HDMI out Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Headphone/Mic/Combo 3.5 mm combo port 3.5 mm combo port 3.5 mm combo 3.5 mm combo 3.5 mm combo 3.5 mm combo
port port port port
Wireless Keyboard & Mouse? No No No No No No
Memory Card Reader (Y/N) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fingerprint scanner? No No No No No No
Optical Drive (Y/N) Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Inbuilt Webcam (Y/N) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Recovery Discs/Media Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Docking port? No No No No No No
Benchmark scores
PCMark 8 (Creative) 2465 2364 2635 3490 2935 3138
3D Mark (Ice Storm) 42667 44634 35069 36148 36555 53695
Sniper Elite V2 (fps) 6.5 10 10.7 10.4 5 11.3
Peacekeeper 3612 2187 1699 3049 1490 2997
WinRAR (KB/s) 3404 3315 2114 2906 2659 3236
Battery (minutes) 246 min 217 min 163 min 236 min 213 min 205 min
Screen brightness (cd/m2) 181.7 181.4 226.1 212.7 213.6 187.1
Contrast ratio 80.00 80.00 70.00 70.00 100.00 70.00
Temperature (max) 61 ~ 70 C 61 ~ 70 C 61 ~ 70 C 61 ~ 70 C 61 ~ 70 C 51 ~ 60 C
Build and design
Keyboard 7 7 7 7 8 6
Touchpad 7 7 6 6 8 8
Tablet mode? No No No No No No

58 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Among the elite Who needs sleep?
Microsoft announces the Xbox One Elite With the increasing number of drugs that help us
Wireless Controller with elite features. to stay awake for longer, will the need to sleep be
Read more: http://dgit.in/elitecntrlr eliminated? Read more: http://dgit.in/notosleep Budget laptops

is exactly the same on both deserve special praise for

HP laptops, right from their its touchpad. These two lap-
external ports, weight, RAM, tops are the only ones in the
hard drive, even the presence comparison that come with a
of 2GB GDDR3 AMD Radeon touchpad that has a dedicated
R5 M330 graphics. However, left and mouse button – a fast
the price disparity is quite big disappearing trend. As a result,
between the two machines – the right or left clicking on the
AMD APU edition of the laptop touchpad is the best experience
is cheaper than its Intel coun- we’ve had on a budget laptop
terpart by a whopping 8k! in this test. Having said that,
While the Intel-equipped both these laptops don’t have
HP 15 laptop is overall the great screens when it comes to
second best performer in their contrast ratio which is the
this comparison, the AMD- worst at 70:1 among all laptops
powered HP 15 is close on its we tested here. That’s pretty
Acer Aspire E15 E5-571-593D is a good overall budget laptop! heel and ends up being third much the only overwhelming
on the overall list, comfort- negative in their case, apart
everyone in the competition prowess. Both 15-inch laptops ably beating the two Acer and from the HP 15-AC030TX’s
only managed to pack in 4GB are the most bulkiest off the one Lenovo laptop in this test. battery performance.
and 6GB of RAM, both the Acer bunch and carrying them any- Multitasking is much better on
Aspire E15 E5 571 and E15 E5 where is a chore. Multimedia the two HP laptops, especially, oF ASuS And
571G machines here came with experience on the Acer lap- when it comes to graphic- lenovo
a whopping 8GB of RAM built tops is strictly okay. And the intensive work and you can Where the ASUS offers great
in – that’s great for laptops feature set on both the Acer even consider doing some performance in a 15-inch form
selling at the 40k mark. Aspire laptops in this com- lightweight gaming on them as factor, the Lenovo is thin, slim,
The two Acer laptops also parison are quite good, and all well. The audio experience on 14-inch budget ultraportable.
have a well-arranged keyboard things considered they’re great the two HP laptops is also one Two very different laptops
deck, with a dedicated number machines to consider if you’re of the better ones we experi- here with two very different
pad, and chiclet-keys that are an Acer fan. enced among all the laptops we use cases. Let’s take a look at
nice to type on. However, reviewed for this comparison both of them separately.
using its single-slab touchpad TWo HPS – even though laptop audio The Lenovo U41-70 sports
isn’t as great as the two HP Easily one of the most attractive isn’t great, overall, but the HP an attractive shell and is high
laptops’ who have the best laptops of the comparison, the 15 laptops managed to perform on aesthetics, much like the two
touchpad experience across two HP 15-AF001AX and HP better than most others. HP laptops we wrote about ear-
all the laptops we tested in this 15 AC030TX have a textured As far as keyboard goes, lier. However, due to the Lenovo
comparison. Both machines screen lid with a dull silver there’s nothing much to write Y41’s slim trim finish and ano-
have almost the same screen finish which grabs eyeballs home about, but the HP 15s rexic dimensions – weighing
brightness levels at 181 cd/m2 from a distance. And when
but their contrast ratios aren’t you open them up, both laptops
anything to boast about, we’re sport a glossy palmrest and sur-
afraid. At 4 hours and 6 min- rounding keyboard deck with
utes, the Acer Aspire E5 571’s an attractive pattern like that of
battery performance is the best a plywood. Both machines are
across all the budget laptops we built well, just like the Acer lap-
tested this month, and with 3 tops, but they’re considerably
hours 37 minutes the Aspire lighter given their form factor,
E5 571G does pretty well, too. which makes them easier to
However, battery performance carry around.
only accounts for one-sixth of As far as features go, the
the total performance param- HP 15-AF001AX is based on
eters in our test, and on most a quad-core AMD A8 APU,
other fronts the Acer laptops while the HP 15-AC030TX
don’t do anything to make you comes with an Intel Core i3
sit up and take notice of their chip inside. Everything else Acer Aspire E15 E5-571G-341R looks similar to the 571-593D

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 59

 coded emotions Feel your prosthetic leg
Program your neurons and control “Sensory enhanced” prosthetic leg can help
how you feel with The Neural Lace. you feel the ground beneath you. Read more:
Budget laptops Read more: http://dgit.in/neulace http://dgit.in/prsthtcleg

ness, look no further than the And like the HP and Lenovo
Lenovo U41-70. laptops, the ASUS machine
The ASUS X555LJ is at the is also a looker, which is a
other end of the performance pleasant surprise. Overall, a
spectrum compared to the great machine, the ASUS one,
Lenovo U41. With NVIDIA at an attractive price.
GeForce 920M graphics and 6
july 2015 gigs of RAM, and commendable WinnerS
battery life of 3 hours and 25 No surprises for guessing the
minutes in our battery bench- Best Performer Award here as
mark test, the ASUS hands it goes to the ASUS X555LJ, a
down beats all other laptops in deserving winner. As far as the
this comparison when it comes Best Buy Award goes, the HP
to performance alone. Just take 15-AF001AX deserves it more
a look at the mag table and than anyone else, as it does a
Pictured here is the HP 15 AF001AX, but the HP 15 AC030TX some of its benchmark great job of offering so
looks exactly similar to its Best Buy Award winning brethren. Both
laptops dress themselves pretty well. july 2015

under 2 kg – the 14-inch laptop The Lenovo U41 offers a

actually ends up being the best decent feature set and a good
looking machine in our com- collection of pre-installed
parison test, at least to our software, too – no bloatware
eyes. It’s not only good looking in there, all good stuff that
but is also well-built, despite you will find useful. While it
being a budget laptop, and that barely does a good job in mul-
says a lot – we wouldn’t expect titasking with day-to-day apps,
anything else from a Lenovo the overall performance of the
laptop anyways. Though it Lenovo U41-70 isn’t greatest
lacks a dedicated number pad among all laptops tested for this
as some other 15-inch laptops comparison – in fact, it’s the
in this test, the Lenovo U41’s lowest. However, like we said,
keyboard sports curved keys nothing’s really wrong with it, The ASUS X555LJ beats the rest of the competition easily to bag
the Best Performer Award this month. A deserving winner!
that are great for typing, and and if you want a lightweight
for typing alone this laptop is 14-inch budget laptop that’s
simply the best among all lap- easily carried around, that can scores – great to see them in much at so little a cost. And
tops here. turn heads with its attractive- a laptop available for under the laptop is proof that AMD-
40k. Gaming capability isn’t powered machines, at least at
great but not too bad either on the budget end of the market,
this laptop. Watching movies are more than capable of
is great as well, largely due to taking on their Intel-powered
the SonicMaster audio built-in counterparts. We would defi-
that helps provide better-than- nitely like to see more OEMs
average audio experience, com- sporting AMD machines for
pared to most other laptops at price-sensitive customers. No
this price point. Its major draw- Editor’s Pick? That’s right. This
back is its screen’s contrast reviewer tried very hard to
ratio which, like the HP laptops, decide between the two Acers,
isn’t anything to boast about. HP and Lenovo laptops, to see
However, despite packing in if anyone of them deserved a
so much firepower, the ASUS special mention. But due to
laptop ran relatively cool with lack of overwhelming unique
temps averaging in the mid-50 features, we think there’s very
The Lenovo U41-70 is a great laptop for ultraportable fans, as it’s degrees at peak load, which is little to separate them, and so
easy to take around due to its lightweight. very good news indeed. rest our case.

60 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Buns not guns Literally Chimp
3D printed gun files are being kept a close eye DARPA’S robot ‘C.H.I.M.P.’ turns out to
on by some countries. Read more about the be dumber than it looks. Read more:
controversy here http://dgit.in/prntdguns http://dgit.in/drparbt Smartbands

Wear it right
Smart wearable wristbands are exploding in the market
all around us. We compare some of the top contenders vying
for your wrist.
Prasid Banerjee ened by what you love the viding good value. It does make like when smartphones were
[email protected] most — tech. If there was ever sense in some ways, why spend just starting out, you knew
a chance that we would go out 10k per year on the cheapest they were really cool, but you

Y
ou there. Yes you! an exercise, it is now, because gym when you can buy a fitness weren’t sure if spending your
The one who doesn’t of what tech companies are band for 4k and do it yourself? money on them was worth it.
go outside and play calling wearable technology. They’re not exactly perfect yet, While this trend may not pick
and prefers to give Yes, smartbands, fitness bands, but they’re getting there very up as easily, wearables will
voice commands to his phone smartwatches, GPS powered very quickly. make sense in the future, the
rather than actually press the watches and more. While a lazy With companies like Sam- very near future.
buttons. Traditionally we geeks lot we might be, we also drool sung and Motorola focusing
are known to be a lazy lot, after over the newest technology, and on smartwatches and so many The CompeTiTors
all, why spend years of stored guess what, you can’t really use more trying to capitalise on the Five smartbands were com-
energy for something that a a fitness band without working health and fitness craze, this pared, with their prices ranging
simple gesture can accomplish towards being fit. #Groan. has become the most opportune from `999 to `13,000. Namely,
right? No, don’t make a face now, What’s more, there’s actually time for a comparison like this. these are the Xiaomi Mi Band,
you know you’re one of us. a market beyond us here. There The market is just about to pick Goqii Band, Timex IRONMAN
We’re here to tell you that are tech savvy fitness enthusi- up, and things in this area are Move X20, Fitgen Trek and the
your way of life is being threat- asts who see these gadgets pro- still at the initial stages. It’s Huawei Talkband B2.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 61

 Batman, a vampire? story of a wave
Justice League: Gods and monsters chronicles QBism, a ‘story’ by Christopher Fuchs,
has been launched, with an all-new Vampire- solves quantum theory’s deepest secrets.
Smartbands Batman. Read more: http://dgit.in/btmnvmp Read more: http://dgit.in/qntmrlty

While most of you would smartband, but not if you really

already know about the Xiaomi plan on using it.
Mi Band, the other names may
not be as well known. That FiTgen Trek
doesn’t stop them from being The Fitgen Trek seemed like a
real competitors in an other- very promising smartband when
wise immature market though. we first heard about it. The band
Together, these devices form the has its own database of Indian
first generation of smartbands, foods, which earns a lot of points
and they’ve set the stage for from us. This means you can
future generations. They have input the food you eat into the app
their negatives and positives, and it then measures your calorie
and have defined what to do and Xiaomi Mi Band intake. It makes up for one of the
what not to do with wearables. biggest weaknesses of the Mi
aren’t yet sure if you want to features, like notifications, are Band, the fact that you couldn’t do
Xiaomi mi Band shell out the big bucks on just not available in the official anything with the data that you
Everyone’s favourite inex- such a device. It can give you app. We tried the tweaked apk got from that band. The Fitgen
pensive wearable device, the a very good idea of what more on the MiUI forums, but that Trek can count the number of
Xiaomi Mi Band is, in our advanced wearables can do. didn’t work either. calories you’ve burned based on
opinion exactly what the While the Xiaomi Mi Band The Mi Band is really light your steps, while putting it side
market needs for wearable can track your steps, that’s and unintrusive though, which by side with the number of calo-
tech to really come into the about all it can do. There are means you’ll more or less forget ries you’ve consumed through
mainstream. It’s USP is that it some issues here and there that you’re wearing it through your food data.
costs only `999, making it the as well, and the Mi Band app the day. It weighs only about 13 Unfortunately, the Trek’s
cheapest smartband out there. seems like a work in progress. grams and is made out of good database isn’t exactly effective.
The Mi Band is the device you The app crashed every time quality polycarbonate. So, like It asks for the user to input
buy when you want to just we tried to share progress on we said before, you buy this the exact amount of each food
try out a wearable gadget and social media and some of the if you’re just looking to try a they’ve had, which is difficult

how we TesTed
It’s important to establish a few ground rules To actually compare the devices, we used app is always running on the background and
first. With the prices that companies are them both separately and together. While eating up resources, then that’s a negative,
asking, should a fitness band be just that, or using them together draws direct comparison since having a smartband doesn’t necessarily
are additional features important? Of course between them, separately one can judge their mean you should also need a high end mobile
it should be the latter, which means that a individual merits and demerits. The performance phone. We judged the apps just like we do any
display, features like smart alarms, receiving of each smartband includes their performance other, while adding points for extra features
calls or reading texts etc. are important for individually and in comparison. We took into which the app was responsible for adding, like
smartbands. Of course, you must also be able consideration the various features each offered, smart alarms etc.
to use it as a watch, meaning it must show while testing the accuracy of their sensors by Finally, wearable tech has as much to do
the time. performing a variety of movements. The Timex with technology as it does with fashion. Any
Next, it is also important for a smartband IRONMAN Move X20 for example, tends to smartband needs to look good and should be
to have good battery life. You wouldn’t want measure steps when in a slow moving vehicle. able to seamlessly be a part of your overall
to charge such a device every day, especially Next comes the partner app, which none getup, just like watches are. Hence, the design
considering that they’re meant to be on your of these wearables can function without. The of a smartband is important.
person all the time. The band can’t track your Xiaomi Mi Band works using the Mi Fit app, Not only the looks, the kind of material used
data when it’s charging, and if you want it to while the Huawei Talkband B2 works using the to make the band is very important, too, as is
track sleep as well, then charging overnight Huawei Wear app. The compatibility of these the sturdiness of the device. Things like water
also goes out the windows. Of course, you have apps are usually on both Android and iOS, but resistance or water proofing can be important
to charge it after some time, but it has to be a some have also taken the jump to work on for something that will be on your person at
reasonable amount of time. The Xiaomi Mi Band Windows as well. Apart from the compatibility, all times. Like in smartphones, metal is also
for example, lasts for over a month, which is like any other app, these apps also have to be favourable here, but companies have to also
ideal for a smartband. That said, the battery simple, intuitive and easy to use, gentler the ensure that the device is light enough to not
life deteriorates as you add features. learning curve, the better. In addition, if the be intrusive.

62 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 need more emojis? a new hybrid dinosaur
Unicode is adding 38 new emojis to Indominus rex, shown in Jurassic World, turn out
the lineup of unicode 9.0. Read more: to be a combination of various other spieces of
http://dgit.in/msngemji dinosaurs. Read more: http://dgit.in/indrex Smartbands

to do all the time. In addition, TimeX ironman goqii Band

the database couldn’t find very move X20 Of the five smartbands that
common foods. The real deal That last problem in the Trek, have been used here, the Goqii
breaker for the Fitgen Trek for about the plastic shell, is some- Band without a doubt has the
us though was something else. thing that we faced with the most unique approach to fitness
Every time you sync the band Move X20 also. This smart- gadgets. Goqii looks at the Band
with the app, your phone loses band has a setup similar to that as a part of its ecosystem, which
its WiFi connection. Yes, you of the Trek, and it’s even more means you buy a subscription to
don’t have to sync the band with uncomfortable, since it’s bigger all its services, which includes
the app often, but this started and heavier than the Trek. Also, the Band. The Band here is the
happening every time we would like the Trek, the Move X20’s medium for data gathering,
open the app to log data. In display is accompanied by but- while Goqii also supplies you
addition, the Fitgen Trek isn’t tons for scrolling through infor- with a real life coach, who will
exactly accurate either, being off mation. There are two buttons be available for chats through its
by nearly 600 steps. At `5,999, here, one each on either side of app and will even call you from
that’s a big misstep. the display. time to time.
On the design front, the Trek As mentioned before, the Now this human coach is
is a very average looking device. Move X20 kept tracking daily what gives the Goqii Band its
It has a display, and a button that commute on a bike as steps, edge. The coach can help you
allows you to scroll through the which resulted in very inna- in setting goals, while they also
display. This button takes a lot curate data. At the end of the act as a food database. It’s not
of force to press, and you’ll end day, the Move X20 showed about numbers here. While the
up not using it because of that. that we’ve burned 3000 calo- Goqii Band can’t show you cal-
In addition, it isn’t very comfort- ries, which was more than four Timex IRONMAN Move X20 orie intake, the coach can them-
able. The plastic shell that holds times of the actual number. No selves judge what you need to
the display is rigid, which comes fitness enthusiast would ever do based on the kind of meals
in the way of the band taking appreciate a hurdle like this data from the Move X20 pretty you’re eating every day.
the shape of your wrist. As a would they? much useless. The Band tracks your steps
result, it wobbles around and The Move X20 costs `8,999, It’s a big green bulky looking throughout the day and is pretty
feels uncomfortable. and for the price, you would device that doesn’t quite fit the accurate at doing so, but it can’t
The only good thing about want a lot of additional features purpose of either the average do much more than that. There
the Fitgen Trek was that it runs – the Move X20 can show texts fitness enthusiast or the wide is an alarm feature, which every
for about seven days on a single and calls on the display, and that eyed beginner. The Move X20 other band, including the Mi
charge of the battery. This of about covers all the additional does have the best battery life Band also has. The Goqii Band
course is aided by the fact that features you get with this one. out of the lot though, lasting for can’t take calls or show texts,
we avoided syncing it with the The app isn’t very intuitive and about 8 days at a stretch. You neither does it support other
app often, so as not to lose our in fact looks quite incomplete. need to sync the Band to the apps. But as a fitness wearable,
Internet connections in the There’s no option to input food app once a day at most, which it does the job, at a starting price
middle of downloading a game data, which means it can’t track is when you will need the Blue- point of `3,999.
or streaming music. calorie intake. This makes the tooth to be on. The Band weighs about 23
grams, similar to the Fitgen
Trek, but unlike the Trek, the
Goqii Band can wrap around
your wrist just like a watch. It
shows you the time, so you can
replace your watch with this
as well. It’s not a bad looking
smartband either. It is made of
soft rubber, which feels nice on
the wrist, with the only problem
being that it started losing its
colour pretty easily.
The Goqii app is also quite
nice and easy to use. It allows
Fitgen Trek you to log food, water and even

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 63

 an obedient car The real virtual world
With BMW 7 series, BMW and Baidu are Palmer Luckey is making our virtual reality
planning to introduce their self driving car. experience more ‘real’ with Oculus Touch.
Smartbands Read more: http://dgit.in/bmwslfdrv Read more: http://dgit.in/occrift

7 wearaBLes To CheCkouT
moto 360
The Moto 360 smartwatch is still amongst
juLy 2015
the best looking smartwatches available in
India right now. It costs `12,999 currently,
and is one of the few devices in India that
run on Android Wear.

Lg g watch urbane
The LG G Watch Urbane is arguably the best
looking smartwatch available in India today,
but it’s pricy. The device costs R`29,990, but
if you want a smartwatch that resembles an
actual watch, you can’t get closer than this.
Oh and it runs on Android Wear.

asus Zenwatch 2
While Asus didn’t bring the first Zenwatch to
India, we expect its second iteration to make an
appearance. Of course pricing and other details Goqii Band
aren’t known yet, but the Zenwatch 2 was show-
cased in Computex 2015 and looked quite nice. other exercise, which is then built and most premium smart-
sent to your coach to analyse band out there in the market
huawei watch and give you advice on. It’s the today. The Talkband B2 has a
The Huawei Talkband B2 will be brought to human angle of the Goqii Band leather strap, which is similar
India alongside the Huawei Watch. Many say that makes all the difference to traditional watch straps, and
this is a Moto 360 look-alike, while others and makes up for almost all of it clasps onto your wrist. You
say it is the best looking smartwatch that its shortcomings. The company can adjust the size as well. The
you can buy today. also organises treks etc. for its brown leather strap is comple-
users to be involved in. mented by the copper coloured
Fitbit smartbands The Goqii Band’s biggest metallic shell, which doubles
When it comes to fitness wearables, you weakness is perhaps its bat- up as a bluetooth headset. It’s
can’t ignore the company that owns 85% tery, which lasts between two a really handy feature.
of the global market. Fitbit doesn’t have an and a half to three days with The display on top of the shell
official store in India, but the company is minimal syncing with the app. shows you the caller’s name and
reportedly working on a deal with Amazon It uses Bluetooth to connect to you can simply unclasp it and
for setting up an online store. the phone, but you only have to use it as a bluetooth headset to
switch on the Bluetooth when receive calls. There’s a button
pebble smartwatches syncing, since the Band has its on the side that can be used to
Pebble’s smartwatches have been revered own memory and can store data disconnect calls or turn on the
by many and is worth a try if you’re spending till it is synced. In general, you’ll display when needed.
on these devices. They look different, feel have to sync once a day. The TalkBand B2’s display
different and act different, and the company is also quite nice and is driven
ships to India. huawei by touch. When turned off, it’s
TaLkBand B2 almost impossible to tell that the
yu Fit There are two things you must device actually has a display.
At `999, the Yu Fit is amongst the most know about the Huawei Talk- You can swipe up or down to
inexpensive smartbands available today. band B2 — first, that it isn’t scroll through steps taken,
It is a direct competitor to the Xiaomi Mi available in India yet, but will calories burned or turn the run
Band and on paper, offers a number of extra be in a few months, second, timer on when going for a jog.
features over that one. Micromax’s Yu brand that it’s the most expensive of The closest any wearable, avail-
announced this a month or so ago and it should start selling any the lot, with an expected price able in India, can get to this kind
time now. above `11,000. That said, the of premiumness is the Moto 360,
Talkband B2 is also the best which is a smartwatch.

64 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 android with a blackberry Back in time
Blackberry planning to launch an android Taste Rewind, a feature by Spotify, can tell
phone with a hardware keyboard. Read more: what songs you might have liked from a
http://dgit.in/bbyandrd different decade. No kidding. Try it out. Smartbands

juLy 2015 juLy 2015

Xiaomi mi Band Timex ironman Fitgen Trek goqii Band huawei

move X20 Talkband B2
Battery Life 30+ days 8 days 7 days 2.5-3 days 3 days
Material Used Polycarbonate Polycarbonate+Rubber Polycarbonate+Rubber Polycarbonate+Rubber Metal+Leather
Connectivity Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth
Compatibility Android and iOS Android and iOS Android and iOS Android, iOS and Windows Android and iOS
Price `999 `8,999 `5,999 `3,999 `11,000 approx
Final Score out of
71.65 60.36 61.04 72.3 78.5
100 after testing

The Huawei Wear app, BesT perFormer: scratches on the display or on Smartbands can be like the
which partners the Talkband huawei Talkband B2 the shell in general. Microsoft Smartband or Fitbit
B2 though, is a little too simpl. It From the above, it should It’s expensive, of course, but Surge, neither of which are
shows you your sleep and steps be pretty apparent that the if a smartband is part of your available in India, but have a
and can be used to set alarms Huawei Talkband B2 is the best get up, then this is the one you lot of specialised sensors for
and event reminders, but there performer out of all of these would want to buy, hands down. measuring your activities. Basic
are no other features. It’s a very smartbands. As a basic fitness smartbands like the ones com-
good looking and easy to use wearable, the Talkband counts BesT Buy: pared here are what are selling
app, the best amongst the five your steps accurately and the goqii Band in India right now, and they
smartbands used here, but it bluetooth headset feature is Budget still matters though, don’t have the luxury of such
seriously lacks features. often really useful. It also looks which is why the Goqii Band’s specialised sensors. Instead,
The battery on the Huawei the best out of the five, with human coach is too hard to companies try to use things like
Talkband B2 is also somewhat its premium build and looks. ignore. If you’re a fitness enthu- motion sensors to provide the
weak, lasting only about three We’ve bumped it here and there siast then this is the best do it best that they can. Some have
to three and a half days at best. often, but there are no major yourself fitness gadget that innovative business models to
you can buy right now. Yes, fill the gap, while others rely on
you won’t be able to take calls additional features.
or see texts using the band, but If you’re buying a smartband
as a fitness wearable, the Goqii right now, then you’re what one
Band will be what you need. would call an early adopter, so
juLy 2015
We would have loved it if it was even though a smartband may
waterproof, but water consid- be good in comparison to others,
ering that none of the others you may find that it does not
provide that feature, water reach your expectations. In fact,
resistant works for now. This this should be clear from this
means it can power through a comparison as well.
few splashes or light rain, but The idea here is of course
you wouldn’t want to go swim- not to discourage you from
ming with this on. buying one of these devices,
but to inform you on exactly
whaT you need what your expectations should
To know aBouT be. Wearables in general aren’t
wearaBLes perfect yet, be it a smartwatch or
Wearables as a category cover a smartband. The ideal scenario
a lot of products, smartwatches is these products functioning
and smartbands being amongst as standalone devices, instead
them. What we’re comparing of needing support from your
here are smartbands, which are phone. There’s still a long way
predominantly related to fitness to go, but these little devices are
Huawei Talkband B2 and health. maturing fast.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 65

 iNside

Page 68
Goqii Band

Bazaar
The laTesT producTs
Page 68
HTC One M9+

reviewed For you

The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products Page 69
every month. Each of these products is put through XOLO
a series of tests and is finally given a score. The Chromebook
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 70
Intel 750 PCIe SSD

For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a

quick guide to our overall score
10 to 30 extremely poor product.
Keep away! Page 73
LG Music Flow H7
31 to 50 strictly oK.
Not recommended Page 74
Nikon COOLPIX
51 to 70 decent product. &More... S3700
Go for it, but there may be better products out there.

71 to 90 very good product.

Highly recommended.

91 to 100
Ground-breaking product.
We’ve never seen anything like it before.
A definite must buy!

66 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 The new “old” corsair logo Google+ dead?
Corsair finally listened to its customers Google+ profile links have
and has switched to its old logo. vanished in thin air! Read more:
http://dgit.in/corsairlogo http://dgit.in/1M6C199 Bazaar

LG 55UF950T
Quality at a price

I
t’s very difficult to recommend a television
that costs `2,94,000, but if you’re going to
spend the money, this is quality indeed. The
55 inch LG UHD TV looks uber premium
and can add to the looks of any media center. It’s
well built and there are four HDMI ports, accom-
panied by one USB 3.0 port and a couple of USB
2.0 ports. We wish there were more USB 3.0 ports
though, since they are required to play 4K content
from external media. In a TV that costs this much,
it’s not wrong to expect more such ports either,
maybe even at the expense of a 2.0 port.
This TV may also be the first place where LG’s
WebOS platform can be successful. The
remote on this TV functions very much like
a PC mouse, and WebOS is arguably the Price 00
,9
smoothest TV interface available right now. 2,34
There are dropdown menus that allow you The upscaling engine on the LG UHD
to tinker with the TV settings or change the 4K TV though really kicks in when viewing
input source, while their built-in apps come in from Full HD content. In today’s world, that is also the
the bottom on pressing the scroller on the remote. kind of content that is most readily available. The
Of course, apps like Netflix, Deezer etc. don’t work colours pop with really good blacks and whites
in India, but that’s about the only downside to and the television has no backlight bleeding issues,
the OS. However, if you’re interested in which speaks volumes about its panel quality.
accessing US-only services, there’s nothing That leaves us with the audio quality on this
that a good VPN can’t let you do, so don’t be television. The LG 55UF950T has a built in 4.2
disappointed completely on that front yet. channel system, with 60W output. The TV offers
As mentioned before, the remote functions like six different audio modes, including Cricket,
a PC mouse. You will have to pair it with the TV at Game, Cinema, Standard, News and Music. There’s
first, and then the cursor moves on the screen as also a surround option, which is more useful in
you move the remote. It takes a little getting used to, slightly larger rooms. The TV is not extra loud, but
but it isn’t as steep a learning curve as you’d think.
In addition, once you do get used to it, you wouldn’t
it’s loud enough that you won’t need an external
speaker system with it. For small to medium sized
70
want your TV to function any other way. There’s rooms, the TV alone should be enough. Of course,
a wheel, which lets you scroll through the various audiophiles will still want a good speaker system to Features ........................ 80
menus on the TV, and it also makes scrolling that ensure the best sound quality. Performance................ 81
much simpler. With all that said, there’s really no denying Design ............................ 78
You will have to play around with the settings that the LG UHD 4K TV is a good television. But Value .............................. 40
a little bit, in order to get the best picture quality then why don’t we recommend buying it? Simply
out of this television, but with a contrast ratio because most people can’t afford to spend nearly Specifications
of 650:1 at 50% brightness, the LG 55UF950T is `3 lakh on a television. Sure the price will be Screen: 55-inch, LED, IPS;
really good. The upscaling engine does well with somewhat lower when you’re buying from the Resolution: 3840x2160,
UHD; 3D: Yes; Smart TV:
SD content, but you’ll have to tinker the settings a store, but that still doesn’t make it very affordable. Yes; Remote: Smart, Air
little bit in order to get the best the TV can do. For So, like we said at the beginning of this review, if remote; OS: WebOS 2.0;
PC and other similar input though, where we were you have the budget, then knock yourself out, you DLNA: Yes; Weight: 19 kg
sure of the quality of the source, we turned off all won’t regret it. But if this is the price of quality,
of the tweaks that the TV offered. Also, a very big then the Micromax 4K TV and similar versions Contact
LG India
advantage that this TV has over budget 4K televi- from Vu are worth the compromise since they cost Phone: 1800 180 9999
sions from Vu and Micromax is that it can play 4K about 10% of this. Email: goo.gl/Fq3AYD
content at 60Hz. Prasid Banerjee Website: www.lg.com/in

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 67

 a new set of windows worth the dime?
Microsoft is launching Windows 10 SanDisk has unveiled a USB flash drive which is
globally on the 29th of June. More here: as small as a coin and has a capacity of 128GB:
Bazaar http://dgit.in/1AHYGaN http://dgit.in/1Q2ln00

Goqii Band HTC One M9+

Man and machine come together A veteran playing catch up

U T
nlike most other he overdose of metal
smartbands in the on the HTC One M9+
market right now, allows for a really
Goqii is looking well built and sturdy
at its Band as a part of an smartphone, but in many
entire ecosystem. On ways, the M9+ is a veteran
purchasing the band, playing catch up. The Medi-
you pay a minimum of Price9 aTek X10 Helio processor
3,99
`3,999, which gives you performs also most as
the Band and a real life well as the Exynos 7
Coach, who will talk to you Octa in the Galaxy Price58
through the Goqii app and call S6, but coupled with 45,4
you to help you with setting the QHD display, it’s
your goals and going about really power intensive.
your activities. This human the calorie intake based on The GPU performance is also
coach makes up for a lot of the what you enter. The band quite weak.
band’s shortcomings. also doesn’t need to connect Speaking of the display,
For example, the Goqii to the app all the time, which in adding a QHD display,
Band lacks specialised sen- means you don’t need to keep HTC lost what was arguably
sors, depending on a sole the bluetooth on and the app the most balanced display
motion sensor to detect your doesn’t need to run in the on smartphones. There’s a
steps etc. You can input your background. pinkish hue on the display, phone. To work it properly,
food intake, which determines The major problems with which though visible from you need to tilt your finger and
calorie intake, but there’s no the Goqii Band lies in the fact only some angles, is not some- place it horizontally, so as to
database of food products. that its battery lasts for three thing you’d expect from HTC. cover the entire sensor, which
This is one shortcoming that days at best, depending on Another thing you wouldn’t is not natural, and hence the
the coach fills in for, judging how often you sync with the expect is the obvious design sensor doesn’t register your
band. It is also not waterproof, flaw in placing the narrow fingerprint sometimes.
which a fitness tracker should oval fingerprint sensor on the The 20MP+2.1MP duo

72
always be, and the colour on camera on the back is also
the Goqii Band fades away pretty mediocre, especially
very easily. Despite all its when compared to the
Features ....................................75
shortcomings, the real reason
for recommending the GOQii
76 Samsung Galaxy S6. For a
phone that costs over 50k,
Performance............................65
Band is the human coach that it’s really not enough. The
Value ..........................................65
you get. It’s the tech equivalent Features ....................................87 camera overexposes images in
Design ........................................85
of having a trainer and the Performance............................68 bright sunlight, while indoor
human angle makes up for a Design ........................................84 images are also pretty average.
Specifications
Display: OLED, touchscreen; lot of the product’s shortcom- Value ..........................................59 It’s a passable camera at best
Battery life: 7 days on a single ings. For example, even if you and not something a flagship
charge; Features: Motion sensor, don’t get the time to log your Specifications should have.
Vibrate, Humm mode, sweat meal, you can always tell your Display: 5.2 inch QHD; Processor: 2.2 If you’re going to buy a
proof and water resistant feature; GHz MediaTek X10 Helio; RAM: 3GB;
Monitor: Calories, sleep, number of coach what you ate later and Storage: 32GB, expandable to 128GB; flagship smartphone, then the
steps walked, and more; Warranty: they can gauge your activities Camera: 20MP+2.1MP rear, 4MP HTC One M9+ is really not the
1 year accordingly. For now this is ultrapixel front; Battery: 2840 mAh one to buy. Except the build
a good first attempt by Goqii, quality, there’s no area where
Contact but it needs to work a lot on its Contact the One M9+ can beat its
Goqii HTC India
Phone: 1800 313 0390 next iteration, which I’m sure Phone: 1800 266 3566 competitors and the Samsung
Email: [email protected] the company’s looking into. Email: NA Galaxy S6 is a better option.
Website: www.goqii.com Prasid Banerjee Website: www.htc.com Prasid Banerjee

68 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Typegram poop alert!!!
This addictive web app turns Instagram’s Acer demonstrated a new gadget called the
photos into creative typography: DiaperPie that detects the condition of a baby’s
http://dgit.in/1ERHqux diaper. Read more: http://dgit.in/1ddE3Ik Bazaar

Xolo Chromebook
The Alternative
Build & Design
The Xolo Chromebook has a good plastic build and
an understated design, one that makes use of flat,
smooth surfaces and gently angled edges in con-
junction. However, the keyboard is surrounded by a
glossy transparent plastic panel which looks really Price99
cheap. The Xolo Chromebook’s 11.6-inch matte 12,9
display means that you aren’t subjected to unneces-
sary glare and reflections. On the other hand, it has
mediocre viewing angles.
Moving to the keyboard, it is solid and every
chiclet key has sufficient travel. One issue is that
some of the keys tend to slightly jam when they’re
not pressed on the centre. A bigger issue is that
while the Chromebook keyboard is very similar to
the Windows keyboard, there are some big differ- delays in terms up startup or booting time. Even
ences as well. The most noticeable changes include if you shut down the Chromebook, it’s back to a
no delete, caps lock or function keys, and while usable state in a matter of seconds.
their functionality can be unlocked with the help of In our battery test, the Xolo Chromebook was
shortcuts, you’ll need to learn a whole set of such able to last for just over 7.5 hours while playing a
new shortcuts. full HD movie which means it will be able to just
The Xolo Chromebook is relatively heavy at about last a day of regular use.
1.5 kgs but small enough to fit into most knap- I know I shouldn’t expect from a device that
sacks or satchels. costs this little but when looked at as a primary
machine, the Xolo Chromebook’s performance falls
Chrome OS: A new way to OS short by a some distance.
As opposed to the many myths that surround
Chrome OS, it isn’t merely a browser masquer- Bottomline
ading as an OS. Yes, the Chrome browser is an
integral part of the OS, but it’s not the only part. For
For `12,999, there’s a lot that the Chromebook does
well, but there’s also plenty of gaps that it should 61
e.g. Chrome OS has its own file system (accessed have ideally filled up.
with the help of the ‘Files’ app) and default video If you’re looking for a laptop to replace your pri-
Performance................ 56
and music players (again apps). These apps may mary Windows machine, look at budget Windows
Features ........................ 63
not have the features or capabilities of Windows options like the HP Pavilion 14 or the Lenovo G50
Design & Build ............. 72
software, but they do exist and they are ‘offline’ by instead. If you don’t want to go for a large laptop
Value for Money .......... 57
every definition of the word. The Chrome App Store then look at the Asus Eeebook X205ta.
also has a number of quality apps that can work If you want a really inexpensive machine for
Specifications
offline. You may not find the exact offline Windows school or college and you only intend to use it to Operating System:
app for the Chromebook, but chances are you’ll be access Google’s productivity tools and some light Chrome OS; Screen Size:
able to find a decent alternative. browsing, then a Chromebook would be ideal for 11.6-in at 1366x768 pixels;
you provided you have a reliable wireless connec- Built-In Storage: 16GB;
Performance tion but rather than the Xolo, I’d suggest you go for MicroSD Card Support:
Yes; RAM: 2GB; Battery:
In terms of day to day use, the Chromebook is a the slightly more expensive HP Chromebook 11. Li-Ion; Processor: 1.8GHz
stickler to the term “budget performance”. You Want a second machine to complement your Rockchip RK3288 Quad-
can browse the Web with it but open a slightly main desktop or laptop? You can opt for the Xolo Core Cortex-A17
heavy website (for instance pixlr.com) and you can Chromebook if you’re already invested in Google’s
immediately make out a dip in performance. One ecosystem and use Chrome as your primary Contact
XOLO
of the best things about the Chromebook is that browser. If not, then just buy an iPad. It will be Phone: NA
unless you switch it off, it will remain in an “always more comfortable to use around the house. Email: goo.gl/PwVh2x
on” state, which enables you to use it without any Nikhil Pradhan Website: www.xolo.in

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 69

 Nintendroid? spare the tan!
Could Nintendo’s upcoming system, pHin is a device that will let you know if
codenamed NX be Android’s OS? your swimming pool is ready to use or not:
Bazaar http://dgit.in/1GVbknE http://dgit.in/1G0YmnC

Intel 750 PCIe SSD TP-Link Archer

1.2TB C2 AC750 Wireless
Intel regains its lead among SSDs
Router
A worthy upgrade over the C20i

S
july 2015
ix months back we’d
tested the Archer
C20i AC750 router
which has the same Price9
hardware as this one but there 3,48
quite a few improvements
that caught our attention. The
Price00 C2 and C20i both have the

E
ver since the 98,0x) Intel makes no same MediaTek MT7620A
(+Ta
early days of sacrifices when it processor so performance wise
SSDs when the comes to build quality. you won’t notice any difference
X-25 ruled the roost The 750 PCIe SSD has a PCB if you’re on a wireless connec- across your home network
followed by the 520 series, that’s way thicker than what tion. If you were to face issues then you will thank your stars
Intel’s offerings have always the competition runs with. with the wireless signal then for having gotten the C2 over
been the one you’d go with Even when it comes to heat the C2 brings some amount the C20i.
when reliability mattered. dissipation, the 750 has a of relief given the adjustable We noticed that the newer
And this reliability was a huge aluminium block that antennae that it sports. And antennae being supplied with
tradeoff against competitive runs across the front of the the moment you switch to the C2 is comparatively lighter
pricing and now-a-days Intel’s PCB covering every single a wired setup, you’ll imme- than those that were supplied
SKUs aren’t the best per- chip. The 750 makes use of diately savour GbE speeds with earlier models like the
formers. All that is now in the quad die packages on the across all WAN ports thanks WDR-4300. The difference
past thanks to the 750 series front while the rear only has to Realtek’s RTL8367RB makes it seem less premium
which is Intel’s NVMe SSD for single die chips. So the huge switch. If you have the habit but there is a silver lining in
the consumer market. aluminium block is actually of transferring huge sized files the form of metal threaded
warranted. This arrangement inserts. While the official
of have quad die packages on documentation doesn’t specify
the front allows Intel to up anything about the antenna

73 the capacity while sticking to

the same form factor sans any
63 gain, we’ve found out that the
gain on each band might be
daughter boards unlike the different; i.e. 2 dBi for the 2.4
Performance............................90 OCZ R4. Performance............................66 GHz band and 3 dBi for the 5
Build ...........................................75 Performance-wise, the Features ....................................62 GHz band.
Value for Money ......................55 750 blows everything out of Build Quality ............................62 The glossy finish of the sur-
the water, thanks to NVMe. face coupled with geometric
Specifications The only competing device Specifications undulating ridges makes gives
SSDPEDMW012T4R5, Form is the Samsung SM951. Wireless LAN Chip: MediaTek the C2 quite the premium look
factor: SFF-8639 PCIe Kingston’s HyperX predator MT7620A+MT7610E; Memory: 64 and feel. One oversight that
Cost/GB: `66; Dimensions: though being an M.2 SSD MB; Protocols: 802.11 b/g/n/ac; could have been easily taken
168x56x19 mm; Controller: Intel Bandwidth: 750(433@5GHz+300
CH29AE41AB0 does not make use of NVMe. @2.4GHz) Mbps; Ethernet: 4x
care of was the absence of wall
Intel-Micron MLC NAND; Warranty: With read speeds peaking LAN, 1x WAN, GbE Ports, Without mounting holes on the bottom
5 years at 2331 MB/s and write modem; Warranty: 3 years. but you can make do with the
speeds capping out at 1339 ventilation slits. Since the price
Contact MB/s, there is nothing in the Contact difference between the C2 and
Intel India Pvt Ltd TP-LINK India Private Limited
Phone: 802 854 2105 280, market that even comes close Phone: 1800 209 4168,
C20i is meagre, we don’t see
Email: [email protected], to the Intel 750 PCIe SSD. Email: www.tp-link.in, any reason to pick the latter.
Website: http://www.intel.com Mithun Mohandas Website: [email protected] Mithun Mohandas

70 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 robots know your pain a good omen from hp
UC San Diego researchers have developed HP has launched the Omen, a high-end
software that detects a person’s levels of pain. gaming laptop in India. Find out on it here :
Read more: http://dgit.in/1Q8TSlr http://dgit.in/1cz0mHK Bazaar

Benq W1070+
79 Feature rich, offers great value

T
Features ........................ 86 he Benq W1070+ is a nice portable short- kit, neither did it come with 3D glasses to test its
Performance................ 76 throw projector that weighs just 2.5 kg. inbuilt 3D capability. However, 3D tests conducted
Build Quality ................ 75 It is encased in a white enamel shell that on the W1070 (its older brethren) was pretty good.
Value for Money .......... 80 makes it appealing on the eye and the The projector comes with 10W speaker which is
projector’s plastic exterior feels well not earth-shattering, doing an average job of
Specifications put together, right from its front pumping out audio at best.
Resolution: Full HD; stands to its heat dissi- It performs a notch
Native Aspect Ratio: 16:9; pating grilles. Adjusting below the Epson
Color Light Output: 2200
Lumens; Connectivity: its lens for zoom, focus EH-TW8200 which is
RCA, Component, VGA, and tilt is intuitive and twice as costly. Gaming,
2 x HDMI, RS232c, MHL on-body menu controls Full HD movie playback,
(shared), Wireless HDMI; are also easy to navigate, stills, or text, the Benq
Power: 353W); 3D: Yes, no problems whatsoever. W1070+ did a good overall
Glasses not included;
Speakers: 10W; Weight: 2.5 The projector has a bunch of job – but it’s certainly not the best
kg; Warranty: 2 years features, including keystone adjustment, Price 00 in terms of video performance. Apart
MHL (shared through HDMI), and Wire- 1 ,10,0 from a slight hint of moire on full white, the
Contact less HDMI – which is an optional feature, projector suffered from no artefacts or dis-
Benq India Pvt. Ltd. supported by a kit, basically allowing you to tortions. It’s quite bright and has a very good
Phone: 1800-419-9979
Email: Sales.EnquiryIn@ connect the projector to any source and beam fully contrast ratio. The projector runs fairly cool at full
BenQ.com uncompressed 1080p video wirelessly. Unfortu- load, peaking out at 64C, which is quite good.
Website: www.benq.co.in nately, the projector we tested didn’t come with this Jayesh Shinde

ECS Z97 Machine

An optimal board for budget Z97 configurations
68

O
ften we tend to over- between the two cards. It even has
look the Z97 chipset an M.2 port that can accommodate
when coming up with a 42, 60 and 80mm SSDs. Another Features ........................ 60
configuration for gaming aspect where this board shines Build ............................... 76
machines. The two factors that is that it comes with a Realtek
drive the decision to go in for a ALC1150 audio codec which you’d Specifications
Z97 is that it supports SLI/Cross- generally find in boards that sell Chipset: Intel Z97;
Memory support:
fire and overclocking. Now the for a lot more than what the ECS
2x3000MHz upto 32GB;
Z97 Machine isn’t an enthusiast Z97 is priced at. LAN: Intel I218-V Gigabit
board but if you are relegated to The Z97 Machine only has 4 Ethernet; Audio: ALC1150
pick between an H97 with a lot of SATA ports which should be more 7.1; SATA: 4x SATA III;
features vs a stripped down Z97, it than sufficient for most gamers. Expansion: 2x PCIe
X16(x16+x16); Dimensions
ends up giving you a good tradeoff Another thing we noticed was that
(LxWxD): 305 mm x 244
between features. For example, the CPU mounting holes had a mm; Warranty: 3 years.
gamers rarely bother with COM Price2 few exposed contact points on the
ports and Intel’s Trusted Platform Modules 8,95 rear. This will not be a problem with the Contact
which ECS have removed from this board to stock Intel cooler which uses plastic tabs but Elitegroup Computer
bring down manufacturing costs. aftermarket coolers with metal fittings might Systems Co. Ltd.
Phone: +91-9820357713,
Being an ATX board, it has made a good use of end up short-circuiting whatever has a PCB trace Email: bhattrajshekhar@
all the board space available. The two PCIe x16 slots running across the mounting hole. ecs.com.tw
are spaced wide apart to allow plenty of airflow Mithun Mohandas Website: www.ecs.com.tw

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 71

 plasma tubes above you “watson” in civil war?
An Australian Undergrad student recently After benedict cumberbatch, It’s Martin
confirmed that giant plasma tubes are floating Freeman a.k.a. John Watson who has joined
Bazaar in the sky above you. http://dgit.in/1KOfFLO the Avengers cast now. http://dgit.in/1cz0dEj

BoAt Pint Nikon COOLPIX

Pint sized performance
S2900
B
luetooth speakers are Decent, cheap, but ultimately
just the right thing
to have around you
unnecessary
when you want to

A
listen to something, s with the
without plugging in Nikon S3700
Price0
your headphones. before it, the
They’re also great 2,99 COOLPIX
companions if you S2900 is a 20.2MP
want to play music point-n-shoot camera
on the beach during your that’s cheap, light-
holiday. Enter the Boat Pint – weight and made of
yet another small Bluetooth plastic. It’s a handy, Price0
speaker in this already packed pocketable digital 6,45
segment. Let’s take a look at grip. At the lower bottom there camera for budget-conscious
just how good or bad the tiny is a microUSB charging port customers. On paper, the
wireless speaker really is. and a 3.5mm audio-in jack. COOLPIX S2900’s sensor is turing similar scenes under
The Boat Pint is a small cup Catchy name aside, how the same as that of the S3700, similar lighting conditions
sized Bluetooth speaker which does it perform? the features are the same and and with identical settings for
can be easily held in one hand. We ran our standard cache you only seem to be losing out ISO and zoom.
It has a simple design with the of test tracks comprising on 3x zoom (5x on the S2900 The colour accuracy and
driver facing the top protected different genres and found vs. 8x on the S3700) and VR white balance remain the
by a plastic mesh. There is the highs and bass rather for a price reduction of `1000. same as on the S3700, as does
button ring integrated in the mediocre. The clarity too was The devil is in the details, the sub-par video quality
the speaker mesh which spots average at best. Increase the however, and the difference (720p @30fps), but we can’t
the play / pause and call recive volume above 70 percent between the cameras is more help but wonder why this
button as well as the volume and we could hear the sound apparent when you compare camera even exists. It’s just
keys on either sides of the ring. cracking. To sum it up, while their performance. The S2900, a worse, cheaper variant of
The whole body has a rubber- reasonably loud, the speaker’s for whatever reason, displayed the S3700 at a price differ-
ised feel which offers a decent audio performance is just slightly more noise when cap- ence that doesn’t really matter
about average. The battery life except to those on the tightest
is where perhaps the only area possible budgets and even
in which the Pint shines. The then, the S3700 can be had for
49 Boat Pint has better battery 64 the same price as the S2900
life than any other comparable provided you know where to
speakers we have tested till look (Amazon, Flipkart, etc.).
Performance............................50 date. The small speaker gave Performance............................60 The problem with the
Build ...........................................58 us about 15 hours of playback Features ....................................65 S2900 is that in isolation, it’s
Features ....................................59 before giving out the ‘battery Build ...........................................65 not a bad camera, especially
Value ..........................................30 low’ cry. Value for money......................65 at this price. It does a good job
At `2,990, we find our- at the price. But, overshad-
Specifications selves hard pressed to recom- Specifications owed by the S3700 as it is, we
Rated battery life: 10 Hr; Sensor size: 1/2.3”; Resolution:
Features: Speakerphone with Mic; mend it, due to its various 20.1MP; Video recording: 720p
see absolutely no reason for
Additional: Interactive prompts flaws. If you want an afford- @30fps; Optical zoom: 8x |; recommending this camera
able Bluetooth speaker that Shutter speed range: 1/2000 - 1s over the latter when all you
Contact performs as per its price and need to do is spend just a little
Imagine Marketing Pvt. Ltd sounds better than the Pint on Contact bit more for a much better
Phone: 02242102403 Nikon India
email:info@ most occasions, we recom- Phone: 1800 102 7346
camera. So, definitely go for
imaginemarketingindia.com mend you get the JBL Go. Email: goo.gl/GnrUpo the S3700 over the S2900.
Website:http://boat-lifestyle.com/ Hardik Singh Website: www.nikon.co.in Anirudh Regidi

72 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 “silicon valley selling you out” dietbook for hackers
At a recent dinner event in Washington DC, Tim Cook “The Hacker’s Diet” is a guide book to loosing
takes a jab at Ad-driven companies including Google “wieght and hair through stress and nutrition” for the
and Facebook. http://dgit.in/1KFWmB6 hackers, by the hackers. http://dgit.in/1eRcGoD Bazaar

61
ASUS P452L (2420)
For business on a budget

T
Features ........................ 60 he ASUS P452L ments, whether it’s typing on the keyboard
Performance................ 74 is a budget busi- for extended time, working on spread-
Design ............................ 50 ness notebook sheets, or playing multimedia. Nothing
Value .............................. 60 and it unasham- to complain here. In fact, it has pretty
edly dresses for the part it amazing battery life clocking 4 hours 45
Specifications plays. Its shell is all-black mins in our battery test, which is pretty
Screen: 14-inch, 1366x768; with a matte finish and much its standout feature – and its
CPU: 2GHz Intel Core that may appear boring to matte screen, too.
i3-5005U; RAM: 4GB; HDD:
500GB, 5400 RPM; GPU: common consumers, but for The ASUS P452L
Intel HD 5500; Webcam: office use or boardroom meet- also comes with
HD 720p; Fingerprint ings, black is chic. The laptop business-centric
sensor: Yes; Wireless: does very little to distinguish itself security features like
Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth from most 14-inch laptops in terms of its a fingerprint sensor just below its
Price99
4.0; Ports: Ethernet, VGA,
build and design, as it’s plain jane clamshell keyboard. There are HDD and BIOS locking
HDMI, USB (2.0 & 3.0), SD
through and through. However, despite 39,9 features built-in, too, for maximizing the
Card; Weight: 2.5 kg; OS:
Windows 8.1 64-bit being 2.5 kg and feeling bulky, the laptop security cover over the laptop’s data.
exudes confidence in its build quality, capable To sum up, the ASUS P452L is just your
Contact of surviving minor knocks and bumps on the desk. average laptop with good features, performance,
ASUS India Pvt Ltd
Phone - 1800-2090365 On the inside, the machine sports budget com- and a few business features thrown into the mix. It
Email - goo.gl/0P4fsv ponents and nothing wrong with that given its sells for an attractive price.
Website - asus.com/in price tag. The laptop perform wells in all depart- Jayesh Shinde

LG Music Flow H7
Empty Rooms

T 65
he LG Music Flow H7 is a wireless exceptional at playing any particular type of music.
speaker that supports playback over Blue- The best thing I can say about the H7’s audio
tooth, NFC pairing, wireless Google Cast performance is that it’s very loud and manages
streaming (over a Wi-Fi network), a wired respectable clarity even when the volume is turned
Performance................ 68
network and a regular 3.5mm jack. all the way up.
Build & Design ............. 78
The H7 is also part of LG’s new Music Flow Playing music over the H7 using any-
Features ........................ 68
multi-room audio series. What this means is that thing other than the tried and tested Blue-
Value for money.......... 40
theoretically, you can place multiple Music Flow tooth pairing method is rife with bugs and
speakers (LG has launched the H7, annoyances. Specifications
H5 and H4 speakers in India) in If you have money to Drivers: 4; RMS power
different rooms in your house spend and live in a house output: 70W; Dock
and you will be able to enjoy with more rooms than you connector: None;
seamless audio playback off know what to do with, then Connect: 802.11n Wi-Fi,
Ethernet, optional
one/many sources. you should consider the Bluetooth; Dimensions:
The H7 is solid but for a Sonos Play:1 instead of the 370x110x232mm; Weight:
speaker that costs above 50k LG Music Flow H7. The Play:1 4.1kg
to come to the party with an all may be less powerful but it’s
plastic build is a big no-no. also priced lower by `21,000, Contact
On its own (with the price-tag a heavy Price90 sounds great, and is capable of fitting into
LG India Pvt Ltd

cross to bear), the LG Music Flow H7 comes 52,9 a multi-room audio setup.
Phone: 1800 180 9999
Email: goo.gl/UthdE5
across as an average speaker that’s not really Nikhil Pradhan Website: www.lg.com/in

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 73

 video Game high school space ain’t all pretty
A web TV series about a high school where The EU’s Philae Lander returned spooky images
you “don’t study physics but physics engine”. of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. See
Bazaar take a look at http://dgit.in/1M6Z5UA them here: http://dgit.in/1FVtAva

Nikon Coolpix S3700

When your phone camera isn’t good enough
very apparent in the S3700 as well. Trying to snap
Price0 a picture of a dog running in a field for example,
7,49
is almost impossible because the focus speed is so
slow and you can’t zoom into an image too much
because the small sensor means that not enough
detail is captured.
Video recording was disappointing with sup-
port only for 720p@30fps and again, quality drops
drastically when you start shooting in low light.
Despite the lens-shift IS that’s embedded in this
camera, the handheld videos that we took were
quite shaky and barely of any use.
In terms of white-balance and colour accuracy,
we have no complaints. Images were sometimes a
little bit overexposed, but overall, skin tones and
colours were spot on and with none of the exces-
sive post-processing that’s apparent on a great
many cheap p-n-s cameras and smartphones (we’re
looking at you, Samsung).
An ideal use-case for this camera, and all budget
point-n-shoot cameras in general, is a scene where

F
or those of us who’re lucky enough to own a all the elements are in good lighting and nobody
good smartphone, even the thought of pur- is moving around. In such a situation, this camera
chasing a point-n-shoot camera wouldn’t will give you very decent images. If you understand
cross your mind. For everyone else, there’re this much, you’ll be satisfied with the S3700. Just
cameras like the Coolpix S3700. We were a bit don’t expect miracles from it.
sceptical of the S3700 at first, it seemed like a tiny, In terms of settings, there’s really not much to
lightweight plastic toy, but the performance was set your pants on fire. You get the usual options to

71 surprisingly good for the price.

For someone who doesn’t own a fancy camera,
manually adjust white-balance, adjust ISO, etc., but
all you really need are the assorted scene modes
this 20MP camera wit 8x optical zoom does that should take care of most of your needs.
remarkably well for itself provided you’re shooting A nice bonus here is the addition of WiFi sup-
Performance................ 65
in good lighting (broad daylight) and don’t use the port, allowing you to instantly transfer your images
Features ........................ 75
zoom any more than you have to. The moment you and video to an Android or iOS device (via an app).
Build ............................... 65
try taking pictures in low light (twilight) the noise This is really handy when you’re travelling because
Value for money.......... 80
levels ramp up to atrocious levels, but you can’t it means that you’re not worried about carrying
really expect more from a budget p-n-s camera. a laptop or other similar device along to transfer
Specifications images on the move, and you have the freedom to
Sensor size: 1/2.3”; Aggravating this problem very slightly is the fact
Resolution: 20.2MP; that the aperture is very small, further limiting low- share the images instantly online if you so desire.
Video recording: 720p light performance. The best way to sum up this camera’s perfor-
@30fps; Optical zoom: 8x You do get decent image quality (but forget mance would be to say that image quality will
|; Shutter speed range: about cropping out more than about 25% of the rival that of a Nexus 5, but something like an HTC
1/2000 - 1s; Features:
4-Axis Hybrid VR, Lens- image) and an assortment of scene modes that M8 will soundly trounce it. That said, the Nexus
shift VR, Wi-Fi, multiple aren’t half-bad if you don’t like tweaking the set- 5 seems to offer faster focus and does offer much
scene modes tings of your camera (limited as they may be in better video quality. This camera offers great value
this case). for money if you’re on a budget and we’d heartily
Contact The real problem with all p-n-s cameras is two- recommend it if so (Psst! You can find it online for
Nikon India
Phone: 1800 102 7346 fold, the first that the sensor sizes are very small much less than the stated MRP, further sweet-
Email: goo.gl/GnrUpo (though larger than that of your smartphone) and ening the deal.).
Website: www.nikon.co.in the second is that AF isn’t very good and that’s Anirudh Regidi

74 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Tips & Tricks Workshop
We give you the skinny on Google Photos and File types and systems explained

Toolbox 77 the latest multimedia plugins to make you a

pro in no time. Seriously. 81 here; not only that, tips on accessing
file types and systems across OSes

Android One low memory issues,

budget gaming rigs and a tough decision
between a PS4 and a gaming PC
Our readers never run out of tech issues and we couldn’t be happier to help

Quick fix needed

Hello Big Brother, I’m Stevin and I’m
writing to seek your help to reconstruct
my PC. Here are my system specifications;
• Processor - Intel Pentium (D) CPU 3.0
GHz
• RAM - 1 GB
• Operating System - 32bit
This is my historic PC and it seems
that my father will only help with repairing
the existing machine and not about buying
a new one. Please guide me to make some
changes so that I can put together a
better computer with your help.
–Stevin Martin

Hey Stevin Martin, Disable C6 and C7 states to avoid any issues with older power supplies
One thing that you should always men-
tion when asking for help regarding a have a 24-pin ATX motherboard con- my internal phone memory is getting filled
PC configuration is the budget that you nector. The only problem is that the new up because of frequent updates.
have to work with. Otherwise, we can Haswell Processors like the G3240 that Is there any code or way by which I
only work with estimates. Going by your we’ve suggested has new low power states can clear these files after having installed
configuration we’re going to assume a (C6 and C7) which require power supplies updates? And please don't tell to clear
budget somewhere between 15-20K. Since to support the new power states. A work cache since this is what I’ve been doing to
you mentioned that your dad’s going to around is to disable C6 and C7 states in update my apps.
help with repairing it. We assume he talks the BIOS. Or you can go about purchasing Here are my phone’s specifications:
of an upgrade so we’ve put together a a new power supply as is suggested above. • Micromax Canvas A1
configuration that you can go through in The power supply will be necessary if • OS: Android 5.1.1
two stages. The first stage would be when you are going in for the graphics card –Ravikant Joshi
you get a new motherboard, CPU and which we’ve put in the configuration as an
RAM. All of this can be accomplished in add-on that can be left for later. Hey Ravikant,
about 10K. • Graphics Card AMD R7 240 `4190 There are some phones which simply
• Processor Intel G3240 `3800 • SMPS Corsair VS350 `1949 don’t have the hardware to handle a lot
• Motherboard ASUS H81M-CS `3400 Do let us know if our assumptions of apps so you need to be a little careful
• RAM DDR3 - 1333MHz 4 GB Hynix what you wished to imply. with how many apps you are installing.
`1300 You should have 400-500 MB of internal
• HDD Existing "Insufficient storage" memory at any given time failing which
• Monitor Existing Hi Digit, the Android OS will start acting up. If you
• Keyboard Existing I am having the same problem which was wish to continue with having a lot of apps
• Mouse Existing referred by Mr. Himanshu Kumar in the on your phone then you might as well
Your existing keyboard, mouse, letters section of June issue. I am also invest in a good memory card that gives
monitor and hard drive would be enough facing the error of insufficient storage while a sufficient transfer speed. A Class 4 or
to last you for quite a while. Since you updating my apps from the Play Store. Class 6 card seems to be the bare min-
haven’t mentioned what kind of SMPS I would like to know where the update imum. Then transfer apps to your SD card
you have, we’re assuming it happens to file is downloaded in my phone because using one of the many apps that enable

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 75

 Boost productivity 50 years of spacewalks
Become a better leader by making NASA celebrated by making a 30 minute
fewer decisions. Read more documentary on its spacewalks called "Suit Up".
Q&A http://dgit.in/leadrshp Watch it here http://dgit.in/nasadoc

this. AppMgr III is one such which accept second-hand Hey Satyaraj,
app. If you find that even after games and offer good deals You’re hoping for quite a lot in a limited
all of these steps you’re still on returns. So unless such budget. However, it’s nothing we haven’t
facing issues then switching a scenario develops in India been able to solve before. Programming
to CyanogenMod is another the PC is the better option to and MS Office are very low resource
thing you can do to alleviate go with. consuming processes, especially the kind
your problems. of programming you’ll be doing as part of
Upgrade needed your coursework. Photoshop works well
PC or PS4? Hello, with mid-range configurations. So we
Hello Digit, I am a student of class 10th. were thinking of suggesting an i5 for your
My name is Aditya Khilari and CyanogenMod is a My old PC seems to be going needs but your budget makes an i3 seem
I want to play some of the lot leaner than stock bonkers all the time and stut- suitable. AMD’s FX-6300 offers the same
latest games that are coming Android ters very often. It even crashes computing performance as the i3-4150
out so what should I go in for? A every now and then. I use my but lacks an IGP so the Intel processor
PS4 or a gaming pc? Please enlighten me. pc for programming, graphic design on seems to be more appropriate. Here’s what
–Aditya Khilari Photoshop etc, using MS Office and most we came up with.
importantly, playing games. My PC needs • Processor Intel i3 4150 `7950
Hey Aditya, to be on 24x7 for official and unofficial • Motherboard ASUS H81M-CS `3400
PIcking between a PS4 and a Gaming use. So I would like to upgrade my pc and/ • RAM 2x 4GB DDR3 - 1600MHz `5146
machine comes down to how much you or build my own rig. Here are my current • HDD 1 TB WD Blue `3650
are willing to spend. A PS4 is quite system’s specifications (I know it's terrible • SMPS Corsair VS350 `1949
expensive to begin with and each game but I could play some games on it):
costs a bomb too. So unless you are • A Monitor from Dell Company
getting your PS4 for cheap the initial • Intel 2.4 Ghz Pentium 4 Processor
investment is quite high. Then getting a • 512 MB RAM
Playstation Plus subscription is a good • 76 GB Hard Disk space
way of getting games within a budget. • NVIDIA GeForce 210 1024 MB
However, the latest games don’t end up graphics card
on a Playstation Plus subscription for • A LG Super-Multi DVD Drive
quite a while after launch so if you wish to • An ultra idiotic cabinet and an even
buy those then each game is often priced worse motherboard which states "AMI-
at thrice of what the same game can be BIOS" on booting up.
purchased for on the PC. Although I like the performance
The PC on the other hand is very ver- of my graphics card and my DVD drive, Gaming on a budget isn’t always
satile when it comes to picking a gaming everything else is crap. I am always in disheartening
configuration. Moreover, you can get a lot need of space as my pc packs very, very
more done with a PC than just gaming. less storage space. I am being allowed Eight gigabytes of RAM should
Need we mention that PC gamers also to buy 1 or 2 parts every month for this be appropriate for gaming and media
end up getting the best deals amongst project. This is my very first build. So editing. Also, the 1TB HDD will be more
I would like you to kindly suggest an than sufficient given that you are coming
upgrade for my PC as I need to run many from an 80 GB hard drive. For your first
different types of applications and games month’s purchase, you will have to get the
on it. It should be near `23,000 and be motherboard, CPU and the RAM if you
able to do mid range gaming, run latest wish to get the machine running. Hope-
software ( like the ones I get along with fully, your existing power supply should
your awesome Digit magazine) and other be sufficient. If it’s an old one then you
An expensive good stuff. Thanks in advance. might have to switch off C6 and C7 power
gaming console P.S. - If there is a need for a new states in the BIOS to run the PC without
graphics card, please inform me about it any issues. However, it would be better to
all major gaming platforms? The only so I may buy it if I get the chance. Please wait it out a bit and put the entire thing
place where you lose out are on exclusive don't recommend any speakers as the together to avoid any hiccups. As for
titles. The scenario is quite different if ones I have work just fine. The same can gaming, you can check out some of the
you happen to be in a country where the be said about the monitor as well. Hoping games that have been tested and found to
consoles are sold for half the price as for your reply at the earliest. work without any discrete graphics card
compared to India. Also, there are stores –Satyaraj Sharma here – http://dgit.in/IGP42004400

76 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Tips & Tricks

GooGle Photos function of the pinch-in and

With Google Photos, it’s evi- pinch-out feature is to zoom in
dent that Google plans to bridge and out of a picture, but there’s
the gap between cloud storage, more to it with Google Photos.
image hosting and image sharing By default, the app shows
services. Giving stiff competition your images in a daily view,
to Flickr, Google Photos packs with thumbnails arranged
some of the most powerful fea- chronologically, but there are a
tures that have yet to be intro- number of other options such as
duced in any other image hosting monthly view and comfortable
application. Though most of the view. You can move between the
features and services bundled views simply by pinching in or
with this application have been out on your device’s screen. You
discussed about for a while, we’ll can even pinch in on an image
move beyond basics and dig into in a view to open it in as an
some of the advanced features of individual image. Regardless
this application. Google Photos ...........................................................23 of the view, pinching out on a
full-screen image will bring
Search for you back to the native image
people, places Multimedia Plugins ...................................................25 list. Swiping up or down on the
and objects full-screen image will have an
It’s Google, so the search is
{ }
identical effect.
Tips & Tricks has its own page numbers, and does not follow the rest
of the magazine’s page numbers. This is done to ensure that you can
bound to be good. But, it’s much cut out and save T&T in a separate folder for later reference.
better than what you’d imagine. Upload faster
If you’re looking for all photos using the
of your dog, a simple search for a car, but also of a car engine. run out of memory. This feature desktop client
“dog” in the search bar will get Evidently, this application has is helpful especially if you don’t It’s preferable to use the
what you want. You can search a powerful AI backend. care about the resolution and desktop client if you are
for color, people, animals, loca- quality of the image. The app uploading a large number of
Auto-delete photos to the cloud. Not only
local copies is it hassle-free, but also gives
If Google Photos can automati- you a coherent upload speed.
cally upload media to the cloud This option is also preferred if
then why can’t it automatically you wish to import images to
delete media from your phone your computer from a camera
when it’s done uploading or or SD card and want them to
you’re short of storage? Google automatically get backed up to
Photos can be set to automati- Google Photos when you con-
cally remove images and videos nect your device
from your smartphone once
uploading is finished, hence Select multiple
eliminating identical and photos
redundant copies of the image. Imagine having to select 100
But there’s a catch: this feature photos from your gallery and
can only be activated if you’ve tapping on your screen a hun-
set the app to back up “Full dred times. Sounds tedious,
original resolution” images. If right? Here’s the hack: while
Advanced image search in you’ve chosen to opt for unlim- Assistant prompts to delete viewing images in the Photos
Google Photos ited storage, Google will com- images in case of low memory app, long-press on any photo to
press these images and upload start selecting the photos. Then,
tion or any other wild object them to the server, hence the will keep a cached copy of the without lifting your finger, drag
that comes to your mind. Google local and server copy of the image in low resolution for upward, downward or side-
Photos searches through your same image won’t be identical quick viewing and save your ways. This process will allow
gallery using advanced image and Google will consider them phone memory. you to quickly select a series
recognition techniques and as two different images. of photos without having to
search algorithms. The Google Photos app will Pinch to lift your finger. Holding down
Note: The search term “car” also prompt you to delete images change view [Shift] works the same way in
not only returned images of from your phone whenever you You may assume that the only the browser client.

| www.digit.in Vol 15 | 23 Digit | July 2015

Tips & Tricks

Undelete Utilise
photos unlimited
Let’s say you deleted the storage
wrong photos while rapidly Ideally, Google Photos will
deleting a set of images using give you unlimited storage
the aforementioned multi- space if you choose to upload
select gestures. Or perhaps at “High Quality”, however
you changed your mind after there’s a condition that these
hitting the delete icon. Don’t images will be compressed to
worry, Google Photos has your 16MP resolution. In addition,
back. It will hold on to those always try to upload/sync your
images for at least 60 days in images from the Google Photos
the trash. All you have to do app or its desktop client. Using
is navigate to the trash folder Google Drive to upload your
from the menu and rescue images inside the “Drive\Google
those images from the trash. Photos” folder will eat into your
If you’re absolutely sure about 15GB Google storage.
deleting the pictures from the Takeout is a handy tool to export your Google Photos data
trash, just mark those you want Preserve your
to get rid of and select the delete google.com/settings/takeout, Check “Automatically put your original work
icon again. select “Google Photos” and Google Photos into a folder in If you’re keen on preserving your
either select all your albums My Drive”. And voila! Now all original images in their native file
or the albums you’d like to your photos and videos reside format, resolution and size, you
download and you can down- inside your Drive in a folder can save them in Google Photos.
load all your media without named “Google Photos” which Additionally, you can save RAW
having to tediously select each can be accessed and synced and PSD extension files here,
individual image in the Google across all platforms. hence preserving the original
Photos gallery. details of your work. However,
Send images/ these types of files formats will
Make Google videos directly have a storage cap, since they’ll
Drive and from Google Photos also be stored under Google
Photos work together By default, Google Photos isn’t Drive storage space.
Intercloud compatibility is a accessible from Gmail, however
major issue when it comes to if you’ve linked your Photos to MultiMedia
different cloud applications. Google Drive as mentioned PluG-ins
However, Google Photos and before, you can easily attach Every one of us uses at least one
Google Drive function in per- any of your Google Photos in multimedia software every day.
fect sync, and apparently Google email messages. Simply click For some, it’s a media player,
Photos can even reside inside the “Insert from Drive” option while for others it’s photo edi-
Retrieve images from the trash, your Google Drive root folder and then navigate to the Google tors or video editors as a part
which is located in the main and function just like a regular Photos folder. You can similarly of their day jobs. Since it’s such
menu folder of Google Drive. upload files to YouTube from the a crucial part of our everyday
To enable this feature in Google Photos folder in Drive by computer usage, why not make
Quickly export Drive, navigate to Google using the “Import from Google the most of it? Keeping this in
photos Drive settings from a browser > Photos” option. mind, we’ve curated a list of
Unlike Dropbox, Google plug-ins for the most popular
Photos’ desktop uploader is a multimedia software to enhance
one-way client. and you can’t your experience.
directly download all your
photos from it. If, however, Adobe Photoshop
you want to download all your Convert pixel(s)
media from the Google server, into vector in a
this can be achieved by using a single click
very simple hack. All you have ‘Pixel2Vector’ is a handy Photo-
to do use ‘Google Takeout’ (a shop plug-in that converts any
data export project by Google). pixel into a vector. It’s explicitly
Log in to your account from made for the purpose of saving
a browser at https://www. Saving Google Photos in Google Drive (Google Drive Settings) your time creating a vector

Digit | July 2015 Vol 15 | 24 | www.digit.in

 Tips & Tricks

image. You can convert eve- The tool accompanied editable vector QR.It’s available
rything including your paint by the plug-in needs for free at http://dgit.in/VectorQR
brush or pencil designs, pat- to be used on each
terns and texts to vector images face of the 3D object. Export each
with a single click which can It unfolds each face as layer as a
later be modified easily. After you select it with the document
you’ve drawn an object and it’s tool. To convert the Extracting content from a single
ready to be converted into vector entire object, you must layer in Illustrator might be
art, select it and hit the Vector repeat the process for difficult. However, this can
Shape button located in the Pix- every face. Although be simplified using the ‘Layer
el2Vector panel. time-consuming, it’s Exporter’ script. It automati-
Pixel2Vector supports Pho- still simpler than Check if the plugin is active cally exports data from each
toshop CS3+ (Action set), CS5, redrawing. layer to a PNG or PDF file. Once
CS6, CC and CC-2014, and is Google Sketchup and there are a glut of programs that the script has been installed,
available for free. Download it Sketchup support Flattery, will offer you this functionality, you can find it under File >
from http://dgit.in/Pixel2Vector which is available for free. very few among them are avail- Scripts > Other Scripts.
Download it from http://dgit.in/ able for free. The exported file is saved in the
Create guides FlatteryDownload Kerkythea is a light-weight same folder as your original file.
from your rendering system that sup- Download Layer Export
selection Push/Pull ports Sketchup. To render your from http://dgit.in/LayerExport
‘GuideGuide’ is a neat plug- multiple curved Sketchup model, firstly set the
in that makes creating guides surfaces angle you want. In the menu Adobe After Effects
hassle-free in Photoshop. It lets Sketchup is based entirely on bar, navigate to plug-ins Animate
you create guides based on your Push/Pull architecture. All > Kerkythea Exporter > OK objects (with
selection or size in pixels. The models within it are generated > Save the XML file. In inverse-kinematics)
plug-in panel has a plethora of by extruding the surface. It Kerkythea, open the saved XML Animating a character requires
self-explanatory features. You works flawlessly on plain sur- file and hit the render button intensive rigging and inverse
can set the guides from the left, faces, however it doesn’t work located at the top. You can also kinematics (IK) to make it more
right, top or bottom margin and as well on curved surfaces. To modify color, camera, and tex- realistic. However, After Effects
can also set the column and row work on such surfaces, you can tures as per your requirements. doesn’t offer this functionality
count, width, and gutter. If you use the ‘Joint Push Pull’ plug- Kerkythea is available for natively, thus producing unre-
don’t want to rely on the pixel in. Single and multiple curved free. Download Kerkythea and alistic character animation. This
system, use the selection tool surfaces can be extruded with it. the Sketchup plug-in from http:// functionality can be added to
and the quick guide buttons Joint Push Pull is sup- dgit.in/Kerkythea After Effects by the ‘DuIK’ plug-
provided at the bottom. ported by Google Sketchup and in. It allows you to create com-
Pixel2Vector supports Sketchup, and is available for Adobe Illustrator plex rigs that simulate muscles,
Photoshop CS5, CS6 and CC, free. Download it from http:// Generate vector bones and IK.
CC-2014, CC-2015 and is avail- dgit.in/JointPushPull QR code in a Download DuIK from http://
able for free. Download it from single click dgit.in/DuIKDownload
http://dgit.in/GuideGuideDownload Create high- Generating a QR code in vector-
quality photo- based format in Illustrator is Adobe Indesign
Google Sketchup realistic renders made easy with this script. Once Quickly create
Convert 3D High-quality rendering isn’t installed, open it from File > e-books and
models to 2D possible with Sketchup. For this, Scripts > QR > Enter the apps
plane you have to rely on third-party text information > QR size For the author inside you,
Building a 3D model with rendering programs. While > OK. That’s it! You’ll get an there’s a way to create a com-
Sketchup is not rocket sci- plete digital publishing suite
ence. However, converting it without needing to know about
into an orthographic model any of the technology involved.
(2D model) might be time-con- ‘Aquafadas AVE’ is a free add-on
suming. Enter ‘Flattery’, the that lets you create custom-
Sketchup plug-in that takes on ised e-books and apps, which
the painful job itself and lets include videos, sliders, audio,
you create 2D models from 3D interactive buttons and more.
with just a few clicks. While it’s free for these basic
Flattery, as the name may features, premium features have
suggest considers your 3D a fee. Download it from https://
model as a box and unfolds it. Various FX Foundry tools bitly.com/a/bitlinks/1IYKnPe

| www.digit.in Vol 15 | 25 Digit | July 2015

Tips & Tricks

Create vector know how painful it is to add exactly an add-on, but a tool you’ll have to memorise their
barcode from textures to the planes. Unless that allows Google Earth to timestamps. The ‘Moments’
ISBN number the texture has exact 1:1 ratio, the work offline by saving the cache Tracker’ plug-in saves you this
Instead on relying on third- image won’t place itself perfectly contents while they’re in a pre- hassle by creating multiple
party software to create bar- on the plane. and have to resize the dictable state. With this, you can bookmarks or timestamps
codes, you can have the function- plane to match the image. ‘Image fully use Google Earth’s cached for a particular media file and
ality built right into InDesign. as Planes’ will not only cut down data when not connected to the allowing you to jump to any of
Called ‘BookBarCode’, this on the task of resizing the plane, internet. A free trial of the $19 them. Download it from http://
script allows you create vector but also allow you to add image tool is available for download at dgit.in/MomentsTracker
barcodes from ISBN numbers. planes of any size. Get it from http://dgit.in/cachege
After installing the script, use http://dgit.in/ImageAsPlanes Automatically
the Rectangular Frame Tool to Once you’ve installed the Gimp remove
create a barcode zone. Then, run plug-in, go to Add Menu > Enhance stock duplicate files from
the BookBarCode script from Image as Planes > Select image your playlist
the ‘Scripts’ panel. Enter your the image. processing Cleaning your playlist of dupli-
ISBN number and customise GIMP’s stock image processing cate media files could be a chore,
the barcode according to your can be enhanced by ‘FX Foundry’ especially if it contains too
needs. The shareware version – the plug-in that adds more than many media files. You’ll need to
of BookBarCode can be down- 100 separate image processing invest considerable time better
loaded from http://dgit.in/Book- scripts. Ranging from Alpha to spent elsewhere, cleaning it.
BarCodeTrial Logo and Animation, it contains To avoid this, use the ‘Playlist
all the necessary scripts you’ll Cleaner’ plug-in which auto-
Bukkit need. Download FX Foundry matically removes duplicates
Add objects to from http://dgit.in/FXFoundry and deletes files that have been
Minecraft removed from the source. To
‘Bukkit’, the open source soft- Create quick clean your playlist, go to Play-
ware to extend Minecraft Multi- focused list > View > Playlist
player Server, has a plug-in called Save your cache for viewing animations Cleaner > Check “Delete
‘CraftBook’ that enables you to offline Abbreviated as ‘GAP’, ‘GIMP Duplicates”, “Delete
include additional mechanics to Animation Package’ adds ani- Orphans” > OK. Download
Minecraft. By editing the config Automatically mation functionality to the Playlist Cleaner from http://dgit.
file, you can enable any item you render tile size native image editor. Not as in/PlaylistCleaner
want to use – be it Redstone ICs, Tile size is the portion of the powerful as other full-fledged
elevators, cauldrons for cooking, image rendered at a time. The animation programs, it’s works Play a single
custom crafting recipes, togglable larger the tile size, the lesser is well for focusing and defocusing media file on
areas and switches or chairs, the time required for rendering, animations. Download GAP multiple PCs
among other mods. The plug-in but greater is the CPU usage. from http://dgit.in/gapgp simultaneously
file and details on the installation However, it’s always recom- ‘Syncplay’ is an interesting
process can be found at http:// mended to use smaller sizes Make use of plug-in that lets you play a
dgit.in/CraftBookplug-in since doing this allows the CPU GIMP Paint single media file on multiple
to focus on a smaller portion of Studio PCs simultaneously. To set
Prevent the scene, eventually saving The GIMP toolset might be it up, you need VLC and the
problems in memory and reducing crashes. limited in number and func- Syncplay plug-in installed
Minecraft Server To do this, however, you tionality, but you can enhance on every computer which are
‘Grief Prevention’ is a ready-to-use must always keep a look at the it with the ‘GIMP Paint Studio’ connected to the same server.
plug-in that will prevent build/ tile size when changing the ren- (GPS), a plug-in that offers more Then, you’ll set up the VLC
break, theft, spam, fire, spawn dering mode. The ‘Auto Render brushes, gradients, patterns, executable file, username and
camping and lava in Minecraft. Tile Size’ plug-in automatically and tool presets, among other media file location in the con-
All you have to do is install the selects the tile size depending on things. Download GPS from figuration window. Once this is
plug-in without the hassle of CPU, GPU or border rendering http://dgit.in/GIMPPaintStudio done, you’ll be able to see the
managing a database. The plug- and can be downloaded for free same file playing on every PC
in file and installation process can from http://dgit.in/AutoTileSize VLC connected which can be moved
be found at http://dgit.in/grprvt Create multiple forward, backward, paused
Google Earth bookmarks and or played from any of these
Blender Use Google jump to them devices which will be reflected
Import images Earth while If you love to rewatch some on every PC.
as planes offline of your favourite scenes from Download Syncplay from
If you’re a Blender user, you’ll ‘Cache for Google Earth’ is not your favourite movie repeatedly, http://dgit.in/Syncplay

Digit | July 2015 Vol 15 | 26 | www.digit.in

 Robot hurdler Galaxy Map
The MIT Cheetah, which previously broke Find out how NASA is mapping our
speed records, is now an expert hurdler too. Milky Way Galaxy, from the inside out!
Read more: http://dgit.in/hrdlrbot http://dgit.in/glxymap Workshop

Become a
File Ninja
No longer will you be bewildered when you encounter an exotic file type. Or be left
befuddled when your Mac drive won’t open on your laptop running Windows. This
is your ultimate guide to becoming a file ninja

Purusharth Sharma
[email protected]

I
n an ideal world, which might
probably exist in some parallel
universe, there would only be one
operating system with one universal
file type. People in this utopian world
would exchange software and other files
on pen drives and hard disks without the
slightest consideration for OS and file
system compatibility issues. Also, in that
world, printers would work perfectly and
people would eat “Breakfast food” all day.
Unfortunately, we live in a less than
perfect world, where we have a number of Fuse can open ext partitions on OS X
different operating systems, file systems
and file types. And more often than not, changed in the past decade. Macbooks chical File System) with HFS+ being its
we’ll encounter some problem related to have become a lot more affordable and latest iteration. Each file system is incom-
incompatibility. So, what do you do when commonplace. The Linux community, patible with operating systems they’re
you encounter a Mac formatted pen drive meanwhile, has been working hard to not meant for. There’s another common
on your Windows PC or a file type you make the OS more user friendly, and a file type which, even though outdated, is
have no idea how to open? Don’t worry, number of distros including Ubuntu are still commonly used. It’s called “FAT32”.
we’ve got you covered. Read on, and hope- making their mark in the mainstream Mostly used on external storage devices,
fully by the end of this article you’ll have market. Though this provides the user it’s one of those rare file systems sup-
become a file ninja, with your own arsenal with a number of options to choose from, ported by most devices (including Xbox,
of tools to slay any file related problem it also greases the wheels for incompat- Playstation and the latest Full-HD LED
you may encounter. ibility issues that the users end up facing TV you just bought) and operating sys-
– especially when it comes to the file tems in the market.
Open various file types on systems being used by each OS. In the following paragraphs, we’ll
different operating systems Windows, OS X and Linux use com- introduce you to a number of tools and
There was a time in a not so recent past pletely different file systems. Windows tricks of the trade to access different file
when Windows was the most popular has been using NTFS (New Technology systems on all the platforms.
operating system in the consumer market. File Systems), since the days of NT, while
Linux was used mainly by geeks, while Linux has been using the ext standard NTFS (Windows)
Apple was restricted mainly to the “Apple for a long time with ext4 being the norm Windows’ preferred file format, NTFS,
fan boy club”. However, all this has these days, and OS X uses HFS (Hierar- has been part of its family since the first

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 81

 Watch those moles The modern woman
Use this medical grade smartphone accessory to detect New discoveries show that women in the
skin cancer in the comfort of your own home bronze age were actually very cosmopolitan.
Workshop http://dgit.in/watchml http://dgit.in/mdrnwmn

version of NT came out in the year 1993 ‘NTFS-3G’. Both these software install To do it, follow these steps:
and has since been used by all successors. the necessary drivers to read and • Open the terminal and enter sudo
Most common Linux distributions, write NTFS drives on your Mac. But apt-get install hfsprogs
including Ubuntu and Fedora, have you may face a slight problem. Once • Once the installation is done, remount
in-built support for the NTFS partitions you restart your computer, you’ll be the drive.
and can, both read and write to it without bombarded with a number of errors • Type in sudo mount -t hfsplus
any hassle. All you have to do is mount because NTFS-3G won’t be able to read -o remount,force,rw /mount/
the NTFS partitions the way you’d mount your other HFS+ drives. To make these point and voila, you’re done! Now you
any other partition and you’re done. The errors go away, all you need to do is should be able to both, read and write
problem arises when you try using the download a nifty little software called to the file in Linux.
NTFS partition with OS X. By default, you ‘fuse-wait’ and you’re all done.
can read NTFS partition in OS X but you Ext2, 3 and 4 (Linux)
can’t write into an NTFS partition. If you HFS+ (OS X) Linux uses Ext partitions, with Ext4 being
want to write into an NTFS partition, use HFS and HFS+ are the file systems the latest iteration. Neither Mac nor Win-
one of the following methods: preferred by Mac OS X, and they aren’t dows can natively read and write to Ext
1. Paid software: There are a number of compatible with Linux and Windows. So partitions, however, there are a number of
paid software available in the market what do you do when you have a HFS+ third-party software available that let you
that make it quite easy to read and formatted pen drive that isn’t opening on do this. In Windows, you can access ext
write to NTFS partitions in OS X. The your Linux/Windows computer? Don’t partitions by downloading and installing
most commonly used paid software is worry, we’ll tell you what to do. ‘Ext2fsd’, which is basically a file system
‘Paragon’. The software costs around Linux, by default, supports HFS and driver that provides you with read only
$20 (`1,271), and after installation you HFS+ file systems in read only mode only. access to the HFS+ partition. Though you
can mount NTFS partitions just like However, there’s a way to change that too. can enable write support for ext2 and ext3
you’d mount a native partition. (using ‘HFSplus’) partitions, we recommend against it since
2. The terminal: Another way to mount
the partition and read and write to
it is by using the terminal. Open the
terminal and follow these steps:
• Enter sudo nano /etc/fstab
followed by your password.
• A new program called ‘nano’ will
pop up that doesn’t look much
different than the terminal. Enter
LABEL=drivename none ntfs
rw, auto, nobrowse where you
need to replace “drivename” with
the name of the drive.
• Press [Ctrl] + [O] to save the changes
and [Ctrl] + [X] to exit the program.
• Unmount and unplug the drive.
• Once you plug it back in, you won’t Paragon lets you open HFS+drive in Windows
see the drive pop up in the finder
anymore. To see the drive, select While Linux can at least read the format, you risk your data getting corrupted.
‘go to folder’ in the Windows can’t even do that. There are a Another popular alternative is the ‘Dis-
finder’s menubar > Enter / number of software in the market, both free kInternals Linux Reader’ that comes with
volumes > Press [Enter]. and paid, that let you access the HFS drive. its own in-built file explorer and lets you
• Once inside the hidden Volumes One such free software that lets you read the ext partition. There’s unfortu-
folder, you’ll see your drive access HFS+ partitions in Windows is nately no free and stable way to write to
mounted and ready to be accessed. ‘HFSexplorer’. It lets you read and copy ext partitions. But look online and you’ll
You can also pin the drive to favour- the contents from the partition, but sadly find hacks that may or may not work.
ites for easy access. won’t let you write to it. ‘Paragon’ and The best bet, if you really want to write to
3. NTFS3G and FUSE: Another tech- ‘MacDrive’ are paid alternatives that let an ext partition, is ‘Paragon ExtFS’ that
nique that lets you read and write you do both tasks. retails for around $20 (`1,271).
NTFS drives uses these two software. To write to a HFS+ drive in Linux, you There are two ways to open it in OS
Download and install ‘OSXFUSE’ and must install a program called ‘hfsprogs’. X. The first way being buying a paid soft-

82 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Status update PS4 to space
Struggling with your Facebook status? Kerbal space program, with its construction and
Why not ask Facebook for one? Read space flight simulation, is now coming to the Play
more: http://dgit.in/statusupdte Station 4. Read more: http://dgit.in/kspps4 Workshop

ware like Paragon ExtFS. Another way you won’t be restricted by your OS and enough computing power to run a
you can do the same thing requires a bit of wouldn’t have to worry about down- complete operating system inside
patience, but it will save your hard earned loading a particular software either. All another one. Not only this, with
money. Download ‘OSXFuse’. While you’d need is a decent internet connection enough computing power, you can
installing, make sure that you install the and a web browser. run a virtual machine loaded with
‘MacFuse compatibility layer’ too. Once Linux inside another virtual machine
you restart your Mac, you’ll be able to read Open video or audio files running OS X which itself is running
the ext partition. Audio and video files don’t depend on inside a Windows machine (Incep-
By default, the write privileges are the operating system either, but rather tion much?). There are a number of
turned off due to stability issues. However,
if you want to write data to the ext parti-
tion, at the risk of probably corrupting it,
you can turn it on by downloading and
installing a package called ‘FUSE-EXT2’.
Once done, restart your machine and enter
the following command in the terminal:
sudo sed -e ‘s/
OPTIONS=”auto_xattr,defer_
permissions”/OPTIONS=”auto_
xattr,defer_permissions,rw+”/’
-i .orig /System/Library/
Filesystems/fuse-ext2.fs/fuse-
ext2.util
You should now be able to write to
the partition.

Open various file types

across different platforms
There are thousands of file types in exist- VMware running Windows inside OSX
ence, some platform independent and
some not. So how do you ensure that the on the codecs that are installed on your software in the market to enable you
file you’re sending to your friend run- machine. You can do one of two things to run a different OS inside your
ning some other OS will work on his/her – either install the codec manually or current operating system with the
system? Don’t worry, we’ll help you out. install the ultimate solution, ‘VLC media most popular ones being VirtualBox
player’. Available for all platforms, the (free) and VMware (paid). Install any
Open document files software supports almost all audio and of them and get a copy of the OS you
Document files depend on the software video codes. want to use. You’ll have it up and
and not the operating system you use, so running in no time. You can do almost
you don’t have to worry about inter-OS Open applications everything on these virtual machines
compatibility. But what do you do if you Say, there’s an application available only that you can otherwise do on the OSes
don’t have the software that your friend on Windows that you want to use on your natively, including installing and run-
used to create the document file? There Macbook or vice versa. What do you do ning applications.
are a number of software available in the then? There are a number of ways to run 2. Use software like WINE and
market that will help you with this. Most this application, with the most common CYGWIN without having to run a
people use Microsoft Office for all their being dual-booting your machine so that virtual machine directly: To run a
document needs, however if you don’t you have both the OSes running at the virtual machine, you need to have a
have it and don’t want to spend your hard same time. However, dual booting is a copy of Windows. Don’t worry if you
earned money on it, you can use any of tedious job – it requires you to partition don’t want to spend thousands of
the free and open source software in the your hard disk, install the operating sys- rupees to just run a virtual machine.
market. The most popular software in this tems separately, change the bios settings You can install WINE on your Linux
category is ‘LibreOffice’ which can open and much more. Don’t worry. There are or OS X machine and it will let you
all files created by MS Office. a number of other easier ways to open run a number of Windows software
Another option is to do all your applications as well. without the hassle of creating a virtual
document-related work on a cloud-based 1. Use a virtualisation software: machine. WINE doesn’t create a virtual
platform such as Google Docs. In this way, Nowadays our computers come with machine and is aptly called “Wine Is

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 83

 Walk like a boss Smart cars
Among the infant robots that fail to even stand, SRI’s robot Imagine a car that detects potholes and
‘DURUS’ successfully walked for 2.5 kms in just two and a warns you beforehand. Now see it come to
Workshop half hours. Read more: http://dgit.in/robowalk life. Read more: http://dgit.in/smrtcars

Not an Emu- Imaging. If you are on a Mac, all

lator”. Another you have to is drag the file onto
popular alter- the printer icon on the desktop.
native for Mac • .cbc/.cbr/.cbz: these files are the
users is the paid most common file types comics
software called books are distributed in. .cbc
‘CrossOver Mac’. (comic book collection) con-
The software sist of .cbr and .cbz file zipped
uses WINE’s together which can be easily
open source code extracted using WinRar, or 7z
and adds a GUI or some other similar software.
interface to it. It There are two popular ways
also officially sup- to open .cbz (comic book zip)
ports a number and .cbr (comic book rar) files,
of Windows-only the simplest one being, using
software, hence WinRar or any other decom-
you wouldn’t pression software to extract the
have to worry Playing Counter Strike using Wine on a Linux machine images out of these files. If you
about stability want to read the files directly
issues. Similarly you can install viewer” which can be used to view then use any free software like
‘Cygwin’ on your Windows machine, the email and also see the attach- CBR reader.
which will provide you with a ments, if any.
Unix-environment. • .prn: a prn file is created when What do you do when all
3. Use software to extract data out of instead of clicking the ‘print’ hope is lost?
executables: If you don’t actually button when you are printing So you came across a file type which we
want to run the file but just take a look something you click the ‘print to haven’t listed and you don’t seem to have
at the multimedia and other files it file’ button. A .prn file consists of a program installed that will do the job for
contains, you don’t need to run a vir- number of pages, the printer to you. You can spend some time googling
tual machine or anything, all you have be used along with the text and around for the solution and the chances
to do is use a software like File Juicer
which extracts all the data it can get
(including images, audio, video etc)
from the application file.

Obscure file types

• .eml: Chances are you might
encounter this filetype in some
email. .eml files are basically
archived email files created by
Microsoft outlook or outlook
express. There are a number of ways
to open it. The simplest one being
changing the file extension to .mht.
.EML files are similar to .MHTML
files and can easily be opened by any
browser. Though the email might
not be formatted correctly and you fileinfo.com maintains a list of extensions including many obscure ones
won’t be able to access the attach-
ments, but you’ll still be able to see the information to be printed. So are you’ll find something or the other. But
the text quickly. If you want access what do you do when you come the fastest way to find out how to open
the email along with the attachment across it? If you are on Windows, a particular type of file is to go to www.
and in a proper formatted fashion, you can either open the file fileinfo.com. Fileinfo maintains a huge list
open it using outlook. And if you through command prompt or of file types and software, both paid and
don’t have outlook, then you can also by right clicking it and selecting free, that can be used to open them on dif-
download and install “ free EML file Microsoft Office Document ferent platforms.

84 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

Cover story

O
K! Look, we’re not going to pull any punches here. If we’re encouraging you to
think big, create a start-up, and risk your livelihood, it would be unfair for us to be
anything but blunt. What follows takes balls (yes we said it, and don’t drown us in
semantics if you’re woman, it still takes balls...). You have to have passion, commitment,
a really good idea, friends in high (and sometimes low) places, a more than average intel-
lect, great networking skills, and a whole range of other skills that are too numerable to
list here. You also need a good support system at home, encouragement and a generally Index:
positive outlook on life. Now hang on, we’re not trying to discourage you, we’re just saying
that all of the above is required, and more. Thankfully all of the above can be learnt or 86 meet the traIlblazers
might even come naturally to some of you. We’re here to give you that 5 per cent extra 91 eureka!
that can make all the difference in the world. Keep reading, if you dare... 93 de-stress to Impress

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 85

 Cover story

is
ur own boss d To
o i
ds becoming yTher people d
r o
ir sT sTep Towach as To whaT ul
The f TTle resear me success f
li beco
To do a
Digit
By Team
is certainly going to be easier. The IITs,
IIMs and other big colleges have in-house
world has its eye on India and is looking incubator programs that have supporting

U
towards the young generation to carve VCs monitoring ideas from students.
nless you’ve been living under their own success out of the pie. A 2014 Also, yes, if you live and study in one
a rock, you will have noticed NASSCOM study found that India was of the big cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Pune,
that the past few years have the fastest growing startup ecosystem Hyderabad, Bangalore, etc – for startups,
seen a whole range of start-ups in the world. The number of startups it does make life a little easier. However, in
come into the limelight in India. From the in India is expected to grow from about no way does this mean that living in any of
large and obvious ones such as Flipkart, 3,000 in 2014 to over 11,000 by 2020. these cities is necessary. There are many
SnapDeal, Meru, and the likes, to smaller, incubation programmes to be found all
sometimes localised start-ups, more and Help! across India, and meetups are organised
more businesses with interesting new Thanks to the positive outlook for by VCs across the nation. All that really
ideas or unique ways of doing things are startups in India, many incubation matters is that you have a great idea and
popping up. Yes, there’s churn, and com- programmes are being conducted with a very good plan for how you’re going to
panies seem to come and go, or be bought more cropping up every month. If you’re implement it.
over by larger companies, but the pipeline graduating from a big college, your battle
for new start-ups seems to always be full. Timing is everyTHing
Does that mean stagnation? Too many Like Silicon Valley in its heydays, India
people, too crowded in every possible is now ripe for the tinkerers to pluck suc-
category, and thus perhaps pointless? Not cess from nothingness. The technology
at all! savvy, globally exposed (thanks to the
If it takes balls to build a startup now, internet, if not in person), creative and
it took beach-balls to do it five years ago well-read generation has arrived in India.
(or really deep pockets). The pioneers, and And no, we aren’t only talking about
the Indian rags to riches (or at least cheap people who create startups, but also the
hostel to expensive hotel) stories that have Indian consumer!.
already taken place have paved the way The old foggies who were too scared to
for you to arrive on the scene. Your time use technology, or refused to, and prefered
is now, because those who’ve gone before the “old way” of doing things have finally
you have proven that startups work here died out or retired. If you’re still working
in India, and not just in a handful of cities today, you’re using technology in some
but all over the country. form. Period. Technology is the fabled
The all-important ingredient to success enabler. And almost all the startups you
for you is venture capitalists (VCs), and
Achitra Borgohain know or have read about are tech startups.
the funding available now is huge thanks Founder, BinBag Meru, for example, offers transportation
to all the previous success stories. The services, but it’s their technology compo-

86 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

nent that sets them apart. Uber too. All of

Vc speak with
these are tech startups.

alok goyal of helion

The success of e-commerce across the
nation is in itself testimony to Indians
having burst on to the technology scene.
Your user base for that company you want
to start has just hit critical mass! Every-
Ventures d to suc-
ut the pitfalls on the roa
thing from here on is a chain reaction that Who better to tell you abo se are the guy s who’ve
italist? The
will ensure your user base keeps growing. cess than a venture cap fail. Bet ter tha n learning
ps start and
seen a thousand startu er peo ple ’s mis-
However, we ourselves are the old is learning from oth
from your own mistakes k’s 7 sins for tech startups:
e are Alo
guard; the established business, the brand takes, we always say. Her
everyone already has heard of. What the
heck do we know about startups? A very
valid observation. That’s why we spent
the better part of a month talking to the 1 The first pitfall is something that’s
been documented in a book called
4 “Kill mistakes quickly” should be
your experimentation mantra. An
people who actually started something… “The Founder’s Dilemmas”. The peril talked experiment is not an experiment if it has
So let’s take a look at what we found out about has nothing to do with the market, been continuing for the past two years and
when talking to startups. the product or any of the common still not working.
problems you may anticipate. It is to do
eUreka!
Like we’ve said before, the idea is a huge
with the founders not being able to get
along through the journey of the startup. So 5 Don’t put the cart before the horse.
“Often I find that entrepreneurs are
part of most success stories. When it distribution of equity, clarity of roles, putting in a lot of money in scaling when the
hits you, you just know that the idea is governance processes in case of a product market fit doesn’t exist,” says Alok.
worth following through on, however disagreement – all these squishy topics
this involves a whole lot of work. Shaping
your idea into something actually work-
need to be discussed and documented at an
early stage. 6 Many entrepreneurs, especially
tech-based startup guys, have the
able is your next step. Let’s take a look at nothing that once they build a product, people
how some of the startups we interviewed
2
You can’t think you have a “unique” will buy. Unfortunately the world doesn’t
arrived at their ideas. product because you have one or two work that way. Sometimes even a not so
Sometimes an idea strikes you whend different features from what’s already great product can win the story because the
you have a need, and realise, after much available. That doesn’t fly. Your product founding teams have a very strong marketing
searching, that there’s no one fulfilling should at least satisfy two conditions: First, and sale side. Don’t ignore marketing.
this need. For example, Achitra Borgo- it needs to be a “must-have”, and second, in
hain, Founder BinBag.com, a startup that
helps you recycle your waste responsibly,
needs to be 10x better than the existing
products in the market. 7 Managing your growth capital is very
important. Don’t under raise or over
was frustrated when trying to dispose raise. Similarly hiring decisions are tricky.
of household items herself. He says, “I
tried calling recycling companies when 3 Don’t believe in your Kool-Aid too
much. It’s good to have a hypothesis.
Many startup founders will either not hire
for a long time or will hire people who are
I wanted to dispose of my old stuff (PC, But it is more important to use the not truly upto the mark. It may be either
Geyser, etc), and was told they don’t pick hypothesis with real data and customers’ because of the fear that people will not
up anything under 200 kgs! You can get feedback. Do not be married to what your come in or because of the fear that they
new phones delivered to your doorstep, opinion was when you started the company. will lose too much in the process.
but there was no one ready to come and
take away a phone you want to dispose
of.” In just eight months, BinBag has do more. We developed ways to involve `15,000 per month and under category.
diverted over 3,000 kgs of waste to recy- buyers more in propagating their passions “In 2006, I came across a Duke University
cling plants; this is waste which would through unique concepts. The idea of the study that the primary path out of poverty
otherwise end up in landfills and poison crowdfunding platform thus came soon for rural Indians was income diversifica-
the land and ecology. after, as the necessary next step, nearly tion, usually by securing another job,”
Some ideas just come to you while still three years ago,” says Yash. says Sean. We all know this facet of India,
in college, or through a college project. Some others just want to do some when it comes to jobs for delivery boys,
Take the example of Jack of all Threads, good when they’re already in a position of drivers, maids, etc., we want a reference,
a platform for crowdfunding T-Shirt power. Sean Blagsvedt came to Bangalore and job information often spreads only
designs started by Yash Vardhan Kanoi, to help set up Microsoft Research India, through word of mouth. Sean continues,
Pratibha Nair and Apoorvaa Agarwal. but ended up trying to bring the power “My immediate thought was if only we
“We started out as a t-shirt printing of technology to those who wouldn’t nor- could digitise all the jobs, seekers and con-
service for college students, and knew mally benefit from it. The result, BabaJob, nections among people, we could catalyse
in our first few weeks that we wanted to a platform to help people find jobs in the the escape from poverty.” Today, BabaJob

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 87

 Cover story

has over 30 lakh job seekers and 2 lakh ious stores directly into the price table. So
registered employers. users don’t need to go to another destina-
Sometimes already successful people tion to find the best coupon for the product
also get bitten by the frustration bug, they are buying. We also show delivery
as happened to Beerud Sheth, CEO of and payment options such as COD, avail-
Webaroo, the messaging company behind ability of EMI etc, all in advance.”
SMS GupShup. While trying to message You can also be unique by totally
people in his company using an existing rethinking things inside a niche. All of us
enterprise messaging app, he got so run in seach for C.A.s to file our returns
frustrated, he broke his phone. “That’s come tax season, and the founders of
when I decided to launch a product which MeetUrPro.com already had experience in
enables clutter free communication in an running web sites for people like us, with
enterprise,” says Beerud. That’s how their two successful sites that helped people file
product Teamchat was born. tax returns. However, as they sat around
Not all problems are local however; thinking what the next steps in their
some are global. Livspace, an end-to-end Anuj Srivastava growth might be, they realised that they
décor and home design provider, was had to go beyond the people they could
started because all three of its founding Co-Founder and CEO hire. Instead of trying to provide services,
members (Anuj Srivastava, Shagufta
Livspace they decided to become the platform itself.
Anurag and Ramakant Sharma) were “As we deliberated on the possibility of
frustrated with a lack of trying to design expanding the delivery team for multi-
their homes. Let Anuj tell you in his It’s also important to understand local disciplinary consultation – we thought of
words, “The idea of Livspace was inspired needs, which may differ wildly from those bringing in multiple professionals as part-
by our combined frustrations in India, abroad. MySmartPrice is a popular price ners similar to a market place – hence the
USA, and Singapore while getting our comparison platform with 10 million users thought of MeetUrPro.com,” says Divakar
homes designed and realising that instead across India. Sitakanta Ray, Co-Founder Vijayasarthy, Co-Founder MeetUrPro.com.
of it being a fun, enjoyable experience — and COO, says, “The product we built Then there are enterprise-level players
it’s a nightmare!” was in part inspired by Nextag (US) and who strike gold with an idea. Take
Shopping.com (UK). However we tailored JunoTele, a mobile payment technology
Be UniqUe our product to the shopping needs of the company with solutions deployed in
It’s not enough to go “Eureka!”, and then country. For example, MySmartPrice has India, Sri-Lanka and Thailand. Most
just do something that’s already being integrated the offers and coupons of var- mobile micro payments happen using
done or can be easily copied. Even when
you see the need for something, and find
that people in other countries are already where do eurekas come from?
doing it, you need to tailor fit your solu-
tion to the place and the people who will
use it.
Let’s start with the real world exam-
w hile there’s no magic formula, it doesn’t mean that there’s no formula at all. For
a headstart, read Paul Graham’s brilliant and detailed essay titled ‘How to get
startup ideas’. To read it, head over to http://dgit.in/GetStartupIdeas
ples again; first up, Karthik Ramachandra,
co-founder TripHobo. In the age where Straight from the horse’s mouth
machines replace humans on a regular Learn directly from other entrepreneurs and successful businessmen on websites such
basis, he saw value in doing the opposite. as ‘Quora’, where asking a broad question in a relevant category (such as ‘Startups’) can
At a time when most travel portals try and reap some very high-quality answers. Meanwhile, due to the fact that so many successful
offer you a things to see list and try and tech industry figures are members of Quora, you can ask questions directly to them, or
throw up algorithm generated itineraries, about them, and with a bit of luck you’ll get an answer right from the horse’s mouth.
tripHobo decided to focus on making ‘Mixergy’ is another website where you can “learn from proven entrepreneurs” like
user generated content more accessible. Paul Graham and Jimmy Wales. These aren’t five minute gloss overs, they’re in depth
Karthik says, “People talk to other people and detailed descriptions of how these successful people got to where they are today.
to discuss and debate when they create a
trip plan. This is something we’ve tried If you can’t be bothered to come up with your own ideas
to replicate on the portal. With a massive Ideaswatch.com: Lets users share ideas and what they’d like in the market. You can
repository of itineraries created by real even form a team of like-minded individuals to pursue an idea.
travelers, one can easily find something Springwise.com: Provides a collection of proven successful ideas from many countries
that suits them. Users can edit and cus- to try out on your own.
tomise itineraries already on the portal, Killerstartups.com: With over 15 new startups submitted everyday, the site is popular
and then those get saved as more sugges- among early stage entrepreneurs looking to promote their babies.
tions for other users.”

88 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

The dos and donTs of establishing tech startups

Dhruv Agarwala Yosha Gupta

Co-Founder and CEO, CEO & Founder, LafaLafa
PropTiger tells you some points out the DONTs
of the fundamental DOs

Be different: Be clear about why your business is different Don’t be a perfectionist: Waiting to launch the perfect
and what you can do differently from others. PropTiger.com, product, will never happen. launch your MVP (Minimum
for instance, is an advisory firm which helps home buyers at every viable product)
level of the home buying process right from searching for
properties to registering their homes. This is the full stack of Don’t launch too soon: I know this sounds like Paul
services only we offer. Graham’s list now but I’ve actually seen it as I was with
mobile payment startup PayMate 8 years ago and a lot of what we
Find the right investor: A number of founders tend to accept did is similar to Paytm and Mobikwik now but it was just ahead of
investments from anyone and everyone. But before getting its time as ecommerce hadn’t taken off there was no smartphones
investors on board, it’s important to talk to other founders of while we were trying to do mobile payments using IVR and SMS
businesses they have invested in to get a sense of what working which wasn’t convenient for customers.
with them is like. It’s also important to think about the time horizon
for their exit and to also assess if they are in sync with the market Don’t take the technology lightly: Not having a Tech
and prospects of your business. Co-Founder, even with 10 years of Product background, it
gets hard for me sometimes. It’s quite unimaginable how people
Raise money intelligently: Raise as much as you would need with no tech background think of launching tech startups without
and then spend strategically. And, what works in favor of a tech co-founder
technology-based startups is that they don’t need much to build.
Don’t underrate commitment as a trait: While everyone
Find the right people: It’s very important to partner with talks about hiring good programmers and how one
people who complement your skills. However, avoid getting good programmer is better than five OK programmers, my
too many people on board, as it might become tough to find experience has been that hiring the initial development team only
common vision. Above all, ensure that whoever you work with based on skills is not always right. For the initial set of hires,
aligns with your values and your vision. commitment and resilience rank way higher on the scale than
pure skills alone.
Be sure and flexible: Be sure to constantly test your idea in
the market and seek feedback. When the feedback suggests Don’t ignore Opensource: Spending too much development
changes to the original hypothesis, do have the courage to modify it time in building features which might be available via open
without compromising on the fundamental vision. source or through other startups is counterproductive. Before
building any features check if there are other startups which
Meet everyone you hire: This may sound outlandish but specialise in providing features as a Saas product for e.g. At
do make the effort of meeting everyone you plan to hire LafaLafa, we use Zopim for customer Chat, WebEngage for
for your company. Don’t make the mistake of outsourcing hiring website engagement and feedback forms, Parse for app push
to others. notifications, MAT for app attribution tracking. Use companies like
Targetting Mantra for recommendation engines instead of
Be creative: Often, founders make the mistake of spending building your own.
too much money to grow business. One doesn’t need to
spend a fortune. One needs to be creative about businesses and Not documenting anything: Well documented and com-
how they can solve problems of customers. There is no substitute mented code is extremely important, especially when new
for creativity. members join the team.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 89

 Cover story

publishers to try and make an enriching

e-learning experience. they faced a lot of
challenges though, especially with hard-
ware. Tablets were either very expensive
or very poor quality when IGNITOR
was being developed, and they had to
design it with very low processing power
in mind. They also had to consider that
most schools across India will have little
or no IT infrastructure, and thus had to
keep that in mind. Publishers are another
problem, as they hate the digital medium,
because of piracy, so a lot of time was
spent on securing the content. Ram Golla-
mudi, CEO and Founder Edutor Tech-
Divakar Vijayasarathy nologies, is still thrilled with the possibili- Sitakanta Ray
ce
Co-Founder, MeetUrPro Co-Founder – MySmartPri
ties, despite the hardships: “The current
trend includes rapid innovation and lot of
ideas on how to transform the antiquated
education system in India with new tools
mobile data. When on Wi-Fi, carriers and pedagogy styles. Exciting times ahead lists the cream of the crop (roughly 10 per
in developing countries find it hard to for Ed-tech 2.0 in India!” cent) and finds them job offers from a range
capture the mobile number, and thus they Of course you could always startup of companies. Most job portals are targeted
found that 30 to 45 per cent of transac- a startup whose clients are startups, at keeping the recruiter happy, but Talent
tions were failing. That’s a huge loss for and thus have a startup in a startup- Pad gives both equal importance. The can-
telcos and a huge source of frustration to loving market that takes advantage of didate chooses which offers he or she wants
users like us who wouldn’t understand the startup boom! (That’s about as many to consider, and then Talent Pad lines up
why transactions failed. B Sekhar Rao, times we can say “startup” in a sentence interviews. Over 6,000 interview job
founder and CEO JunoTele says, “No pay- and still make sense…) offers have been made to candidates, worth
ment gateway in the world (Credit cards, We’re talking of Talent Pad, a job mar- over 1000+ crore (in salaries) by over
wallets, PayPal, carrier billing etc) has the ketplace for both recruiters and candidates 200 companies. Says Mayank Jain, CEO
ability to authenticate the validity of the that’s aimed specifically at technology jobs. and Co-founder Talent Pad, “The current
mobile user or the transaction without the Why? Because all startups today need trends in the market reflect on the talent
availability of an active data connection. good resources (especially after a round of supply gap and a shift of power towards
JunoTele has the ability to do that as long funding) and that means that technology candidates rather than the recruiters.
as the voice network of the Mobile user and product management personnel are Factors such as competition of talent
is enabled. This opens up significant pos- always in short supply. So what does Talent between firms, premium talent having
sibilities for any payment mechanism in Pad do? It curates thousands of CVs, short- multiple options and most importantly the
the world to complete a transaction even change in approach towards job search by
in remote areas or data offline areas.” Yes, candidates who are giving preference to
you read that right, JunoTele figured out personal growth rather than hefty salaries
a way to even authenticate transactions are some of the trends driving today’s job
where there is no data coverage at all! market. We understand this demand, and
have customised our platform to address
CHange is THe only ConsTanT the need for a robust, premium, trans-
Not everything will go as you want, and parent recruitment platform.”
it’s important that you realise that some-
times you have to look ahead and solve geT sTarTed
for problems that aren’t even your fault So what are you waiting for? Quickly
to begin with. Or else, market scenarios finish reading the rest of this cover story
might change overnight, and you will and get started on your startup. Fortune
need to rethink strategies. favours the brave and all that… Remember
Edutor, a digital learning company to write in to us ([email protected]) as well,
that wants to educate India using tablets, and give us feedback, tell us about your
and has already reached 40,000 stu- Yash Vardhan Kanoi startup idea, or lament with us, if you,
dents across India. Edutor’s product is reads
Co Founder, Jack of all Th
like us, have had wonderful ideas before
IGNITOR, and they work with principals, someone else implemented it. <insert sad
students, teachers, parents and even smiley here>.

90 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

y are elusIve
e
k a n d call. ththey come, sod.
c s a
m e at your bed Incubated a ea you just h
on’t c o red a n sane Id
Ideas ds, to be nurtu down that In mIllIonaIre.
thIng re you wrIte t make you a
s
make su It mIght ju a la Balu
s h u m
By An
huge hit. He named the accidental inven-
tion ‘Epsicle’ after himself. Eventually,

A
when his kids started calling them “Pop’s
spontaneous idea can hit you ‘sicles”, Epperson officially changed the
like a bolt from the blue. It can name to ‘Popsicle’ in 1923.
come to you anywhere, any
time – while hiking, napping, VelCro
socialising and indeed, while bathing. In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mes-
Fortunately, most people who stumble tral and his dog went for a nature hike,
upon an idea resist the urge to run out after which the man and his best friend
into the street yelling “Eureka!”. However, returned covered in burrs (the seed sacs
there’s a common trait among most of these plants use to pollinate). Being an engineer,
unbidden startup ideas, and that is how de Mestral grabbed a microscope and the
audacious, stupid or crazy they initially Oh, Archimedes rest is history. He saw the small hooks vig-
sound. While executing these in the Big Bad orously clinging on to the tiny loops in the
World is a whole different ball game, hope somewhere between 20 to 50 of them, fabric of his pants. We hope he remem-
presents itself in the form of potential. however nobody was interested in them at bered to brush his dog after. His idea for a
Inspiration is everywhere! All you have the time. It was only 300 years later that the hook-and-loop fastener was initially met
to do is keep your eyes peeled. Like these calculator became all the rage and he was with condescending scepticism by the
guys did. established as one of the two early inven- European fabric industry, but the inventor
tors of the mechanical calculator – the other “stuck” by his decision. It took another
The CAlCulATor being Wilhelm Schickard. 14 years to patent the “zipperless zipper”,
In 1642, French prodigy Blaise Pascal and in 1999, de Mestral was inducted into
designed the first counting machine at the The PoPsiCle the USA’s National Inventors Hall of Fame
age of 18. The contraption, a device that One cold evening in 1905, 11-year-old for being the founding father of a multi-
Frank Epperson left a mixture of pow- million dollar industry. The word “velcro”
“my ideas usually dered drink mix and water with the is derived from the French words “velour”

come not at my desk stirring stick in a cup on the porch of his

house. Given the frigid temperatures
(velvet) and “crochet” (hooks). So essen-
tially, Velcro just means “hooked velvet”.
writing, but in the midst in San Francisco at that time of year, he
of living.” woke up to find a frozen treat on a stick. lAmborghini
– AnAis nin Excited by his invention, he continued Ferruccio Lamborghini was a farmer
to make these ice pops for friends. It was turned entrepreneur, who originally
could perform all four arithmetic operations only a matter of time before he realised owned a tractor company and was already
without relying on human intelligence, was their commercial viability. They were a one of the wealthiest men in Italy at the
created to help out his father, who happened time. Being a car lover, he owned many
to be a tax collector. Called the ‘Pascaline’, sports cars including the Ferrari 250
the machine relied on geared wheels and GT. He noticed that the clutch in his car
could add and subtract two numbers was the same one he had put in his trac-
directly as well as multiply and divide by tors. Over time, he grew tired of recur-
repetition. It was basically an early form ring problems with the car’s clutch and
of the now standard calculator. He made Pascaline – the first calculator decided to approach Ferrari himself.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 91

 Cover story

Enzo Ferrari’s haughty response was, FACebook to highly complicated algebra and calculus,
“The problem is not with the car, but the ‘The Social Network’ is a commendable Khan Academy tutors its users on topics
driver!” He went on to advise Lamborghini drama film, but how does it hold up to that include a wide array of topics in science,
to go back to taking care of his tractors reality? The basic plot line is fairly accurate, economics, finance and humanities. It even
(*gasp*). For Ferruccio, this was not only an but Mark Zuckerberg himself said that the has test prep help. Khan is one of the fore-
insult but also an open challenge, and it was movie “made up stuff that was hurtful”. runners in the coming overhaul of the global
the reason the world now has Lamborghini Mark, a keen computer programmer, at education system.
super cars, heralded by the Lamborghini the age of 23, had already created websites
350 GT in 1964. like Course Match and Facemash. The snAPChAT
former allowed users to view others taking Formerly called ‘Picaboo’, the company
PeT roCks their courses, while the latter allowed now valued at $800 million gave everyone
Gary Dahl was a 38-year-old advertising ranking of people based on their “hotness”. a hard time getting their minds out of the
executive from California when he invented In February 2004, Zuckerberg created a gutter during its infant days. It’s absurd that
the pet rock. He went out drinking with website called ‘The Facebook’. The name an app that simplifies sending lewd, profane
his buddies one day in the April of 1975. was taken from the sheets of paper detailing or even innocent photos only to self destruct
The conversation turned to conventional the profiles of students and staff that was after a few seconds could be such a huge
pets and how they required so much of an handed out during his freshman year. hit. Snapchat was launched in 2011 by two
owner’s time and energy. They conjectured Within 24 hours, 1,200 Harvard students Stanford grads – Evan Spiegel and Bobby
how conversely awesome it would be to own had signed in and after a month it was half Murphy. It allows users to send images
a pet rock – they’re easy to maintain, cheap the undergrad population. In September and texts privately, away from prying eyes.
and had a great personality. 2006, the reach of the website had extended Looks like pictures speak louder than
Dahl spent the next two weeks to anyone with a registered email address. words. Originally, the idea was to create
writing the ‘Pet Rock Training Manual’ Till date, the site remains free to join, with a website that required users to upload
with step-by-step instructions on how to the welcome page declaring: ”It’s free and
have a happy relationship with your geo-
logical pet. He included an actual rock
always will be”. Although the birth of the
site was marred by legal cases by various
“Ideas are like rabbits.
(A beach stone from Rosarita, Mexico) individuals claiming ownership, both you get a couple, learn
in the gift box shaped pet carrying case, Yahoo! and Google expressed interest in a how to handle them, and
buy-out. Zuckerberg has decided that he pretty soon you have
will not, in fact, be selling. a dozen.”
– John steinbeck
khAn ACAdemy
Salman Khan (not the actor) has proved photos and set a timer before sending them.
that his crazy mission for free, world class Then an Aha! moment occurred and the duo
education for anyone, anywhere is well decided to turn it into an app, since phones
on its way to becoming a reality. However, already have a camera.
this isn’t what he had in mind when he
initially started out. In late 2004, Khan The brighTen APP
began tutoring his cousin Nadia in 7th In 2013, while studying abroad in South
grade mathematics using Yahoo!’s Doodle Africa’s Bucknell University, junior Austin
notepad. When other relatives and friends Kevitch was devastated when a friend tragi-
sought similar help, he decided it would be cally died in a rock climbing accident. He
Man’s more convenient best friend more practical to distribute the tutorials was heartened, however, by the wonderful
on YouTube. The exponentially increasing comments being posted on his friend’s Face-
complete with air holes for breathing. popularity and the testimonials of apprecia- book page. The comments inspired him and
A million rocks sold for $3.95 (~`250) a tive students prompted Khan to quit his another friend to create a “compliment box”
piece in a few months and Dahl became job in finance as a hedge fund analyst at at their campus house, into which people
a millionaire. Connective Capital Management in 2009 could write and submit anonymous positive
“Place it on some old newspapers. The and focus on the tutorials (then released messages on sticky notes to roommates and
rock will never know what the paper is for under the moniker ‘Khan Academy’) full- friends. Reading the notes became such
and will require no further instruction.” time. From basic addition and subtraction a daily highlight that Kevitch decided to
spread the good vibes beyond his circle of

“I can think of several heuristics for generating friends. His Brighten app lets users anony-
mously post uplifting messages and words
ideas for startups, but most reduce to this: look at of encouragement to people they know. Its
something people are trying to do, and figure out simple mission was “to make the world a
how to do it in a way that doesn’t suck.” happier place by improving the way people
– PAul GrAhAm interact and view one another.”

92 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

p you need toiques

rt u hn
g a gr eat stame proven tec
n
ablishi e are so
For esth an idea. herp you ideate
p wit to hel
come u Mhatre
c h i k e t
By Na

chievers tend to get considerably less

I
amount of sleep than an average person.
t’s said that the human brain may These resourceful individuals don’t neces-
not have any iota of muscle fibre in sarily tend to achieve rest by the means of
it, but it still tends to behave like sleep, but rather through naps – or rather
a muscle to some degree. Like the power naps.
weak and practically useless muscles
of a new-born human child, the infant RestIng smaRt: PolyPhasIc
brain is a smoother and tiny version of sleeP cycles
the large and wrinkled adult brain. Just Before we dissect the other means
like a muscle, the brain needs exercise for of rejuvenating creativity, how
growth. A child’s overactive imagination the pioneers approach the concept
makes it rapidly expand and fold upon of rest warrants further investiga-
itself forming wrinkles and dramatically tion. Sleep, for most individuals, is a
increasing the grey matter. And again single uninterrupted session of rest.
much like a muscle, the brain tends to get This is academically described as
fatigued with overuse. monophasic sleep. Interestingly,
This isn’t just a minor inconvenience, research conducted on the sub-
but a big problem. That’s especially ject reveals that like anything
the case in an age where billion dollar large and continuous, mono-
corporate entities are erected from the phasic sleep is effective but it
foundation of winning ideas. While brain isn’t quite efficient.
fatigue or mental block may be a non- Military research
issue for a regular blue-collar worker, groups belonging to
it has much serious implications in the various countries
cutthroat world of startups. Anything that as well as NASA –
impedes the startup think tank is a matter or in other words,
of serious concern in an economy that’s any organisation
driven by ideas and deals in the currency with a pressing
of innovations. need to squeeze
The good news is that although the the most amount
brain behaves in ways similar to muscles, of productivity in
reinvigorating the soft grey mass of jelly the least amount
floating about in the cranium thankfully of time – have found that polyphasic versions of polyphasic sleep cycles
isn’t a one-track affair like its muscular sleep significantly reduces the amount of ranging from four to just two hours of
counterpart. Rest is the ultimate reset time lost to rest. This approach to sleep total sleep, showed no noticeable decrease
switch that replenishes creative juices, but essentially splits it into a multiple short in mental alertness or memory capability
it isn’t the only means of doing that. That’s naps with a view to minimise the total when compared to a normal eight-hour
a godsend considering how most overa- time spent sleeping. Tests with various monophasic sleep cycle.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 93

 Cover story

Historical overachievers such as own brain rejuvenating chair. If you don’t but there’s a method to this apparent
political and military masterminds such mind spending upwards of `80,000 on madness. Dr Nakamatsu believes that
as Winston Churchill and Napoleon Bona- a chair, you can choose between recliners the sudden rush of oxygen to the brain
parte as well as prolific inventors such as with built in massage function and reinvigorates it, which in turn helps with
Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Leon- full-blown massage chairs. They lack creativity and inspiration for killer ideas.
ardo Da Vinci have been known to prac- the fancy sonic massage feature of Dr Yet again, there’s a much better and
tice polyphasic sleep. That pretty much Namakatsu’s Cerebrex, but an increasing more importantly safer way to do the same
explains how these individuals managed number of corporate executives employed thing. Just visit a bar. Not just any kind of
to get so much done in their time. How- in high stress jobs are lapping up these bar – mind you – but an oxygen bar. Yes,
ever, the long term effects of reduced sleep comfortable recliners. This isn’t just need- these bars serve oxygen and they were
are yet unknown, so try this at your own less extravagance. It’s a great investment introduced in Indian metros as far back as
risk. Having said that, polyphasic sleep that could go a long way towards reducing 1998. Like all things eccentric, this concept
makes perfect sense during crunch times stress and increasing productivity. too emerged out of Japan in the early ‘90s.
when increasing productivity is a do or These bars were set up as a means for
die affair. FuellIng cReatIvIty WIth health conscious individuals to combat
oxygen oxygen deprivation caused by increasing
de-stRessIng thRough If you thought sonic chairs for stimulating pollution in cities. An hour long session in
technology the brain treads the territory of weird an average oxygen bar costs between `300
Now that we have figured out how to rest, and eccentric, you ought to hear what Dr to 1000 depending on whether the gas is
it’s time to notch that a few steps further in Nakamatsu does for creative inspiration. delivered through a cylinder or inside a
a more relevant manner – through gadgets The inventor has a penchant for coming specially designed chamber.
and technology. But before we get to that, it Regular sessions are touted to deliver a
must be noted that so far we have conclu- host of benefits ranging from anti-ageing,
sively learned that genius-level military boosting immunity, and improving sleep
tacticians and prolific inventors evidently cycle to curing various medical ailments.
know how to work their brains long and However, there’s no medical proof to back
hard without fatigue. Therefore, it makes up any of those claims. This concept is
perfect sense to take cues from their nevertheless derived from hyperbaric
present-day counterparts. Although the oxygen chambers used by the military,
absence of wars in the modern world rules diving industry, and even in hospitals
out the former category of geniuses, thank- to treat burn victims. Supplying injured
fully inventors aren’t in short supply. patients with 100 percent oxygen at high
Meet Dr Yoshiro Nakamatsu. Widely atmospheric pressures has been found
known as the Edison of Japan, this prolific to rapidly accelerate the body’s healing
modern-day inventor is credited with listening to your process. The veracity of the medical ben-
inventing the floppy disk, CD, DVD, and
favourite tunes can, efits notwithstanding, breathing scented
over 3000 other patents to his credit. Like
his historical counterparts, the eccentric
for a short time, boost oxygen at one of these places should be
refreshing enough to kickstart your brain.
genius doesn’t sleep as long as regular your brain power, even
people. He augments his four-hour core (*ugh*) for beliebers! all WoRk and no Play
sleep with twenty minute power naps. In a distinct departure from bizarre
He takes these power naps on a specially up with his best ideas under water. He means suggested thus far to refresh the
designed chair dubbed Cerebrex. does that by diving underwater without brain, videogames definitely rank as the
The chair is yet another one of his any artificial breathing apparatus and most popular and fun way to de-stress
inventions that is a cut above the rest. just a specially designed plexiglass tablet after a long day. This widely practiced
Nakamatsu claims that the Cerebrex to jot down his ideas. The logic behind hobby is generally associated with all
employs technology to improve mental this exercise is the inventor’s theory that the negativity in the world thanks to
acuity by boosting memory and math oxygen deprivation is a great catalyst for an attitude borne out of the belief that
capability in addition to stimulating creativity and that the best ideas conjured if something is enjoyable then it must
creativity. The chair achieves this by when you’re at the verge of drowning. be bad. For example, the most common
subjecting the body to sonic frequencies “You must dive deep and allow the refrain of concerned parents about vide-
to stimulate blood circulation and make water pressure to deprive the brain of ogames is that it makes their kids go blind
the brain perform better. The Japanese blood,” explains the 86 year old inventor. and dumbs them down.
inventor claims that just twenty minutes “Zero point five seconds before death, I Research has found that playing
of rest in his chair has the same effect as visualize an invention.” This may seem twitchy FPS games actually improves
eight hours of sleep. an awful lot like the weird and potentially vision and the ability of the brain of
Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have fatal fetish of autoerotic asphyxiation that process visual information. Far from
to make a beeline for Japan to get your claimed David Carradine of Kill Bill fame, dumbing gamers down, videogames

94 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

achieve the exact opposite – playing vide- irrespective of gender, race, or socio-eco- impressive with pop music. The upshot
ogames makes them smarter. Research nomic background. It’s definitely the most is that cognitive improvement manifests
conducted by University of Rochester accessible form of electronic entertain- simply by the virtue of listening to music
shows that they improve decision making ment medium. Furthermore, its ability to that you enjoy. So technically, even Yo Yo
skills, perception, and boost creativity. evoke strong emotions makes it an inher- Honey Singh fans can potentially become
Tests reveal that those who play action- ently cathartic experience. Listening to smarter by listening to his music – rela-
oriented videogames have better cognitive your favourite form of music is undoubt- tively speaking, of course. Even though
capability than those who don’t. edly the easiest and the most effect means the improvement is only temporary, it can
The difference is stark, with gamers of de-stressing yourself. still be considered as a power up of sorts.
being able to make decisions 25 percent However, the many virtues of music go Got stumped by a particularly devious
faster and with greater accuracy than beyond mere stress relief. A popular study problem? Just listen to your favourite
those who don’t play videogames. On an featured in the journal Nature back in the tunes and re-approach it with the cogni-
average, gamers can pay attention to six ‘90s established a link between western tive equivalent of Quad Damage.
different things at once, as opposed to four classical music and brain development.
for non-gamers. The study found that listening to classical de-stRessIng at an
What’s more, playing Real Time music tends to improve brain power. The endocRInal level
Strategy games significantly improves media attention surrounding the study Stress is often erroneously considered a
cognitive flexibility according to research was large enough to warrant a catchy psychological phenomenon, but it’s more
done in UK on the subject. “Previous new term capturing the mind-enhancing psychosomatic in nature. It causes the
research has demonstrated that action powers of music. The Mozart effect even- endocrine system to secrete cortisol – a
video games, such as Halo, can speed up tually caught on and prompted parents to primary stress hormone responsible for
decision making but the current work play western classical tunes to infants in elevating the risk of diabetes, weight gain,
finds that real-time strategy games can the hopes of making them smarter. suppresses the immune system, damages
promote our ability to think on the fly and Does that mean you have to give up organs, and increases blood pressure
learn from past mistakes,” says Dr Brian your Cannibal Corpse playlist in favour of among many more potentially hazardous
Glass from Queen Mary’s School of Bio- Beethoven and Mozart? Well, not really. physiological effects.
logical and Chemical Sciences. “Our paper It was later found that the original study Before you worry and elevate your
shows that cognitive flexibility, a corner- wasn’t exactly very scientifically sound. It cortisol levels, you might want to know
stone of human intelligence, is not a static didn’t have a large enough sample size and that exercise is the best way to burn
trait but can be trained and improved the cognitive improvements lasted only away cortisol. Moreover, physical
using fun learning tools like gaming.” for a short amount of time. More thorough activity also causes the body to secrete
So do yourself a favour and unwind research on this phenomenon confirmed endorphins – the body’s natural
with a round of Super Meat Boy or that the positive effect on brain function painkiller that also induces a feeling
StarCraft II the next time your mind goes was only temporary. Furthermore, it was of euphoria. That’s right – working out
blank after some serious brainstorming. also found that this effect wasn’t solely not only kills stress and prevents your
Science says that not only will you come restricted to western classical music. body from harm, but it also makes you
away a little bit smarter, cognitively faster, When the tests were repeated on genuinely and manifestly happy.
and with improved eyesight, but doing children, they performed well with That explains why working out for
so will also get rid of mental fatigue and Mozart, but the results were even more just ten minutes a day puts people at risk
help you approach work with a fresher of spamming inspirational gym quotes
perspective. Getting these benefits doesn’t through their Facebook feeds. But jokes
necessarily entail staring into a screen. aside, nothing can reset your brain and
Tabletop Role-Playing Games require get you in an upbeat mood as effectively
a great deal of creativity and imagina- as pumping iron in the gym or simply
tion and stimulate the brain. Although heading out for a quick jog. Doing that
they aren’t quick or convenient means of will not only get rid of your mental block,
unwinding, it’s lot more satisfying to get but it can potentially unblock clogged
invested in epic adventures with your arteries as well.
friends and co-workers. So there you have it – half a dozen
ways to de-stress and get your creative
musIc: cognItIve Quad juices flowing. Some of these are prac-
damage tical whereas others sound improbable.
The videogame industry categorically you can rejuvenate your The easier ones may seem good enough,
shadows the music industry in sheer
scale, but it still doesn’t enjoy the uni-
brain by taking a power but the really challenging ones promise
greater rewards. You might want to try
versal acceptance as a pastime. Music, on
nap in your favourite the ones that seem most approachable, but
the other hand, is the common denomi- chair, and just a 20 when the idea is to de-stress it’s best not to
nator that appeals to practically everyone minute nap or so sweat it and give them all a shot.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 95

 Recommended buys Price Watch
Top products across most popular We list out Gaming Monitors, CPU

Street smart 99 categories, so you don’t have to scratch

your head and wonder 100 coolers, cabinets and graphics cards in
this month’s Price Watch

A VRy
tough decision
With all the big VR
devices nearing launch
day, which one would
you buy?
Agent 001
[email protected]

A
t first, 2014 was purported to
be “The year of the VR” and
then 2015 has been called the
same. Given all the release
news around this new segment, I now feel
that I too must add my voice to the chorus
except for one minor difference. The year
will be 2016. And this isn’t a prophetic
declaration, we know that all consumer HTC VIVE a.k.a. SteamVR
VR units will finally be available in the
coming year. Valve and HTC’s VIVE is to have the lead here, there’s the fact considered, a Rift capable system coupled
slated for a November 2015 launch which that the hardware that has to drive these with the Oculus Rift itself should set you
we Indian’s might not be able to get our devices will require quite the horsepower. back by about $1,500 (or `95,000). That
hands on for quite some time. Sony’s Moreover, since Morpheus is restricted to price is a bit steep indeed.
Morpheus will hit the shelves sometime the PS4, something that Sony rules over For years upon years, I’ve been clas-
in the first half of 2016, and if Sony’s PS4 with an iron fist, you can rest assured sified as an early adopter but this is one
launch in India is anything to go by then that your experience will be uniform thing that seems way too much for the
we might end up seeing the device a few across all titles that support VR on Sony’s money. I have the GTX 970, 16 GB of RAM
months after the international launch with console. The Vive and Oculus don’t have and an i7-3770K, so hardware isn’t a
a hefty price tag thanks to the “current it easy, not only is the hardware require- concern for me, but it is a concern for most
Indian tax structure.” And lastly, we have ment for either unit astronomical, the two gamers. Few gamers have access to any-
the Oculus Rift which finally has a release ecosystems aren’t as controlled as Sony’s. thing more than integrated graphics and if
date in the first quarter of the coming year. Valve might take a few steps to ensure a the Rift was niche before, the requirement
You can see where I’m going with this. good experience for the games released of a 970 (OK, it’s only the “recommended”
Technology wise the three giants on the Vive but Oculus is playing on a hardware, but still...) makes it even more
will try to match each other. Oculus’ completely open playing field. On a recent niche. I’m almost tempted to get the DK2
consumer version is expected to come blog post they’d outlined the recom- and would have gotten one already if it
out with a 2160x1200 display running mended specifications for the consumer weren’t for the glaringly painful draw-
at 90Hz. On the other hand HTC’s Vive version of the Rift. An Intel i5-4590, backs. It’s quite heavy, has latency issues
will have 1200x1080 panels for each eye NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 and 8 and a noticeable screen-door effect owing
and they’re both running at 90Hz. Lastly, GB of RAM will cost you about `40K and to the lower resolution.
Sony’s Morpheus will have 960x1080 the remaining components should jack There are cheaper VR devices, but
panels for each eye. While the Vive seems the price up by about `20-30K. All things most of them have partnered with some

96 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Killer rigs
A PC can be of any configuration and

102 price point. We do exactly that, list out

set combinations at different prices.

content provider or the other and have become exclusive – a

word I’ve come to hate for quite some time. What you
learn from
So I’m not going to jump the gun this time. All three
competitors seem to show promise but within the first few

making games
months of their release we will see the market starting to
favour one among the three. And I’m hoping it might be the
SteamVR and most probably I can kiss goodbye to all the
new upgrades I’d planned.
Games bring out the best in people. Their problem-solving
P.S. - The year might be 2017...
skills are put to the test. If there was ever a challenge
players of a good game relished, it was finding out the
answers to a problem posed to them by another human
being. A system built by other people proves far more
Gaming laptop for `40,000 engaging than beaten-up forms of linear mental stimulation.
Hi Team Digit,

A
I have a mid 2011 MacBook Air and am thinking of getting a s a designer, the skill set lies in posing new challenges
gaming laptop. My budget is around `40,000. Please suggest creatively and in posing existing fictional and real-world chal-
a good laptop. Also in the May issue of SKOAR! The article on lenges differently. This skillset had already been perfected by
the death of gaming consoles had a table comparing the next the time games were being considered for use in solving real-world
generation consoles to a PC. Could you please send me the rig issues - at first to train commercial jet pilots in being attentive to
and the price. Thanking you in advance. take-off, landing, in-flight and radio procedures; then to train regular
– Dhimant Ananmay people to drive, and enforcing civil behaviour among drivers by giving
them immediate feedback on their
Gaming at `40k is not an ideal scenario at all. Laptops performance in simulated environ-
being a more portable package than desktops, offer a lot less ments; and finally to achieve
in terms of performance for the same price. Moreover, major scientific breakthroughs.
laptops available at this price point aren’t designed to Through hours spent in play,
withstand the generous amount of heat generated during a 2010-developed app called
gaming. So you’ll be reducing the life of your laptop by a Foldit gave scientists the data
sizeable margin if you run resource heavy games for they required to solve a medical
extended periods. You can game as long as you are careful problem that baffled them for over
about temperatures. Run a temperature monitoring utility 13 years. In three weeks, players
in the background like RealTemp or even Speccy for that resolved the structure of an Gaming teaches you lots
enzyme causing recurring HIV in of things
monkeys, all by puzzles translated
from protein-structure to on-screen spatial problems. The human
mind has the innate ability to recognize patterns and solve what
doesn’t sit right with its logical side. Taking advantage of these puzzle-
solving intuitions and encouraging competitive gameplay to fold the
best proteins, they were able to reach a cure in a short span of time.
Another such example, Planet Hunters, has players interact with
the universe to discover and explore entirely new solar systems in
search of planets. The collaboration of scientists and gamers has not
only allowed them to accelerate research enough to spend time on
the right things, but it also gave them the work-force they needed to
make consistent breakthroughs for the good of humanity.
When designers let go and watch their games at work, they find
ASUS X555LJ-XX177H many immediate fixes and improvements that would otherwise not
have been possible. So if you’re a designer or are looking into the
industry as a student or a non-gamer, this is what you need to know.
matter since it records temperature over time. If the average Forget pressure and panic, and embrace play with open-mindedness.
temperature recorded during your gaming sessions are way As gaming flourishes in the fields of astronomical and scientific
higher than 60 degrees then you need to ease up on the research, game designers will soon internalize the skill of creating
graphics settings. This process may be a little tedious but it compelling games that push players’ problem-solving capabilities to
Advertorial

will help. As far as recommendations go, there are very few the next level.
For more visit www.dsk.digit.in.
Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 97
 Trial by combat More drone than rocket
Who would you have picked to fight the Mountain on a Airbus just offered a peek at “Adeline”,
Trial by Combat? Check out these interesting answers its reusable rocket! Read more
Agent 001 to the question on quora http://dgit.in/1APrii0 http://dgit.in/1GwiwrL

options to choose from. The ones we have warranty in India. Is it still safe to use? buying a GPU like ZOTAC GTX 750 Ti 2 GB
seen for ourselves are the ASUS X555LJ- Please clear my doubts. or a Zotac GT 730 2 GB because my budget
XX177H, Lenovo G50 and Acer Aspire – Jatin Wani is `10K but I came to know about a huge
E15 E5-571G, all of which come with problem as I went about researching for
barely more than a basic discrete mobile Almost every power bank available a suitable card. My older GPU, the NVIDIA
GPU chip. The ASUS X555LJ-XX177H has does provide an output of 1-1.5 Amp GT 620 2 GB is quite small in size (15 cm x
shown to be a bit better than the others in which is more than sufficient for all your 9 cm x 1.8 cm) and the same goes for my
our tests. If you can’t expand your budget, devices. As for your concerns over safety, cabinet. Sadly, I cannot buy a new cabinet
it’s a shame, because you will be a you need to check if the power bank has so I thought you’d be able to help me with
disappointed laptop gamer, my friend. For protection circuits like Over Charging this problem. I hope you can suggest a good
Protection, Short Circuit Protection, GPU under `10K - 12K but small in size like
Over Current Protection etc. These are NVIDIA GT 620 2 GB as I’m dying to play
more of a secondary layer of protection these games. :( I even looked up Sapphire
since phones these days do come with GPUs like R7 250, 260, 260x but they didn’t
similar circuits inbuilt so both the even match that small size. It’s okay if I can
powerbank and the phone take care of play these games on playable or medium
the charging process. settings but please suggest a GPU that
The choice of brand is up to you. Ide- meets the size constraints. Thank you.
ally, you’d go with brand that you trust – Sagar Sharma
and has a service centre in your vicinity.
You don’t have to buy the same brand as
your phone. The only outlier is Apple
Mi Powerbank 10400 since their devices only charge properly
on Apple certified chargers. Any other
a little more insight, do remember to check charger will be considered incompatible
out this month’s comparison test that and the charging will take place at a very
starts from page number 66. slow pace.
Power banks, like any technology in
One powerbank for all existence, are always evolving and the
I’ve been reading your tips in the magazine question of perfection is moot.
so I thought I might as well write in to ask Simply, pick a power bank from a GALAX GTX 750 Ti OC Low Profile
about a good Powerbank for my devices. I known brand with all the protection
am seriously confused. I will put forth my circuits mentioned earlier. The longevity We understand your concerns about
questions, but before that a noteworthy of the device depends completely on the having to upgrade a Slim Form Factor
mention:- I have the following devices way you use it. Follow proper charge and computer. And graphics card manufac-
Xperia E, Xperia C and an Zenfone 2(no discharge cycles and be careful of han- turers do too. The keywords you’re
boostmaster, normal charging). dling them since they’re all Lithium-Ion looking for is “Half-Height” or “Low-
My questions: batteries these days. From our tests, we’d Profile”. There are plenty of half-height
1. Which is the best Powerbank according recommend CyberPower, CoolerMaster graphics cards on the market but they
to you for the devices listed Above. I am and Mi. Even ADATA is a trustworthy tend to be low-end cards and very rarely
hunting for a 10000 mAh powerbank. brand if you wish to go with them. mid-range cards because the higher up
I’ve decided to go for Sony powerbanks, you go along the GPU family, the heat
but the reviews on online stores disap- New GPU for a SFF PC generated becomes a tad too much for
point me. Plus the cost is ridiculously Hey Digit, It’s a pleasure to have gotten in half-height coolers to manage. So you’ll
high compared to the others. Zenpower touch with you. Anyways my PC Configura- never see anything upwards of an R9
too is a good option I guess, but will it tion is: from AMD or GTX 760. You have to
charge the sony devices properly? • Intel Core i3 3220 3.3 GHz settle for an R7 250 or a GTX 750 Ti.
2. From what I’ve researched so far, Pow- • NVIDIA GT 620 2 GB Given your budget, you can go for the
erbanks are still evolving. No powerbank • RAM: 4 GB GTX 750 Ti which offers much better
is perfect. It’s basically a DELL INSPIRON 660s performance at the `12K mark. You can
Please guide me through this. I seri- manufactured in 2012-2013. I’ve a very easily find low-profile SKUs from ZOTAC
ously want a good powerbank quickly as I serious matter at hand... I’m looking to and Galaxy on most ecommerce stores.
will be traveling in the coming month. upgrade my PC as I’m not able to play Here’s one that we found that’s low-pro-
Another mention is the Adata P100. It’s some games like GTA V, Watch Dogs AND file and within your budget -
for `999 on Amazon. But they don’t offer Assassin’s Creed Unity. I was thinking of http://dgit.in/HH750Ti

98 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

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

top 3 top 3
Budget SmartphoneS SmartphoneS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Asus Zenfone 2 14,999 Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 48,474
Xiaomi Mi 4i 12,999 Motorola Moto Turbo 41,999
Micromax Yu Yuphoria 8,999 Apple iPhone 6 42,599

top 3 top 3
gaming LaptopS uLtraBookS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Alienware 17 R2 (2015) 1,79,900 Acer Aspire S7-392 1,15,565
ASUS ROG G750 JX 1,49,990 Dell Inspiron 14 7437 58,990
MSI MSI GE60 2PE 1,39,400 Apple MacBook Air (13.3 inch 256GB) 79,494

top 3 top 3
WireLeSS routerS graphicS cardS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
NETGEAR Nighthawk R8000 AC3200 18,900 XFX Radeon R9 295X2 90,999
ASUS AC2400 21,950 NVIDIA GTX Titan X 85,099
Linksys AC1900 16,100 ZOTAC GTX 980 AMP! Extreme Edition 50,744

top 3 top 3
Budget taBLetS taBLetS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Lenovo A8-50 (16 GB Cellular) 16,850 Lenovo Yoga 2 (32 GB Cellular) 48,290
Apple iPad Mini (Wi-Fi) 16,700 Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (32 GB Cellular) 47,369
Xiaomi Mi Pad 12,999 Apple iPad Air 2 (32 GB Cellular) 42,900

top 3 top 3
Smart BandS dSLr cameraS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Huawei Talkband B2 11,000 Nikon D4 356,024
Goquii Band 3,999 Canon EOS 5D Mark III 176,490
Xiaomi Mi Band 999 Nikon D800E 160,850

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 99

 the wrong kind of message Want to be a guinea pig?
A Harvard student found out that your exact Find out what it's like to be a test subject
location can be pinpointed due to an exploit in for brain a.k.a. neuroscience experiments.
Price Watch Facebook Messenger: http://dgit.in/1FxD7X4 http://dgit.in/brainexp

Spend Smart
This month we bring to you the best Gaming monitors, CPU coolers,
Graphics cards and Cabinets in the market

GAMInG MOnITORS
Response time Screen Size Price
Brand Model Panel type Connectivity options
(in ms) (in inches) (in `)
ASUS PQ321QE IGZO Display Port 1.2 NA 31.5 2,17,392
ASUS Rog Swift PG278Q WQHD 3D NA Display Port 1.2/ DVI/ HDMI 1 27 64,603
ASUS PB278Q PLS Display Port/VGA/DVI/HDMI NA 27 41,491
ASUS VG278H 3D NA VGA/DVI/HDMI 2 27 36,300
BenQ XL2420Z TN VGA/DVI/HDMI 1 24 32,349
Dell U2410 IPS VGA/DVI/HDMI NA 24 31,499
BenQ XL2411T TN VGA/Display port/DVI/HDMI 5 24 25,145
BenQ XL2411Z TN VGA/Display port/DVI/HDMI 1 24 24,999
ASUS VG248 TN Display port/DVI/HDMI 1 24 22,000
AOC G2460Pqu 16 MP VGA/Display port/DVI/HDMI 5 24 18,390
LG 25UM65-P IPS Display port/DVI/HDMI 5 24 16,990
BenQ RL2455HM TN VGA/DVI/HDMI 1 24 14,499
BenQ RL2450H TN VGA/DVI/HDMI 2 24 13,990
BenQ RL2240HE TN VGA/DVI/HDMI 1 21.5 9,890

GRAPHICS CARDS
Display Outputs (DVM/ Price
Brand Model Memory Size Memory Type
HDMI) (in `)
XFX XFX R7-240A-CLF2 2048MB 2 DDR3 5,759.00
ZOTAC ZT-61001-10M 1GB 3 GDDR5 8,650.00
XFX FX-779A-ZNJ4 1GB 3 DDR5 10,280.00
ZOTAC ZT-50205-10P 1280 MB 3 GDDR5 18,725.00
SAPPHIRE TOXIC R9 280X 3GB GDDR5 3GB 5 GDDR5 26,999.00
ASUS R9 290 R9290-4GD5 4GB 4 GDDR5 33,499.00
ZOTAC ZT-90201-10P 4GB 5 GDDR5 44,999.00
Leadtek Quadro 4000 2GB 3 GDDR5 53,500.00
ASUS GTXTITANBLACK-6GD5 6Gb 4 GDDR5 75,528.00
ZOTAC ZT-90401-10P 12GB 5 GDDR5 83,430.00
ZOTAC ZT-70901-10P 12GB 4 GDDR6 235,599.00

100 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 multitasking made easy Hip Hop Orchestra
iOS 9 will come with a split screen Orchestrated and conducted by JIMEK,
multitasking mode. here is a medley of 30 of your favorite hip
http://dgit.in/appleios9 hop songs. http://dgit.in/coolorch Price Watch

CPU COOleRS
Brand Model Radiator size Cooler Type Price (in `)
Swiftech H320 360 Liquid 13,649
Swiftech H220 240 Liquid 11,799
NZXT Kraken X61 280 Liquid 9,529
Antec KUHLER H2O 950 140 Liquid 8,640
Cooler Master Seidon 240M RL-S24M-24PK-R1 280 Liquid 8,084
Noctua NH-D15 120 Air 7,299
Corsair Hydro Series H80 120 Liquid 6,853
Noctua NH-C14 140 Air 6,257
NZXT Kraken X31 120 Liquid 5,899
Corsair Hydro Series H70 120 Liquid 5,404
Noctua NH-L12 120 Air 4,419
Corsair Hydro Series H60 120 Liquid 4,248
Cooler Master TPC 612 RR-T612-20PK-R1 120 Air 4,066
Corsair Hydro Series H40 120 Liquid 3,708
Cooler Master Hyper 412 Slim RR-H412-16PK-R1 120 Air 3,651
Noctua NH-L9a SSO2 92 Air 3,129
Cooler Master Hyper 212X RR-212X-20PM-R1 120 Air 2,899
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU RR-212E-20PK-R2 120 Air 2,515
Antec C40 120 Air 2,078
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO RR-TX3E-28PK-R1 120 Air 1,532
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Rev. C 120 Air 1,100
Antec A20 80 Air 799

CABIneTS
Brand Model Size Dimensions Drive Bays Price (in `)
Silverstone SST- PS03B-W Mid Tower 200 mm(w)x 472mm(h) x 471mm(d) 12 2,499.00
Cooler Master MIN-110-KKA200 Slim Mini-iTX 268 x 70 x 290mm 3 4,605.00
NZXT CA-PH240-W1 Mid Tower 195 x 530 x 529 mm 15 5,247.00
Corsair CC-9011012-WW Mid-Tower 20.5” x 8.1” x 20” 10 7,711.00
Antec Skeleton ATX Mini Tower 33 cm(H) x 37.6 cm(W) x 41.9 cm(D) 4 10,200.00
Cooler Master SGC-5000-KKN1 ATX Mid Tower 250 x 605.6 x 578.5 mm 30 14,137.00
NZXT NZXT Phantom 820 Full Tower 235mm (W) x 650mm (H) x 612mm (D) 10 17,489.00
Corsair 800D Full-Tower 609mm X 609mm X 229 mm 11 20,563.00
Corsair Corsair Obsidian Series 900D Super Tower 27.2” x 9.9” x 25.6” 20 24,292.00
CoolerMaster RC-1200-KKN1 Ultra Tower 344 x 704 x 664 mm 16 26,000.00

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 101

 killer rigs
Everything you’ll ever need to build your own PC. Whatever your budget.

Basic rig = 23,669 HTPC = 28,514 Entry-level gaming = 54,827 Mid-range gaming = 65,448 Ultra high-end = 2,61,179 Digit Test Rig= 3,85,793

Basic RiG HTPc

Processor Intel Pentium G3240 3,490 Processor Intel Core i3-4150 6,990
motherboard ASUS H81M-CS 3,400 motherboard MSI B85M-G43 6,180
G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)
Ram Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB 1600MHz 1,019 Ram 2,983
PC RAM (F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL)
HDD Hitachi 500GB DT01ACA050 2,695 HDD Western Digital WD30EZRX 3TB 7,999
Graphics card None 0 Graphics card None (IGP HD4400) 0
PsU Corsair VS450 2,190 PsU Corsair VS450 2,190
speakers (2.1) Creative SBS A120 1,219 speakers None 0
Optical Drive Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS 1,049 Optical Drive Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS 1,049
mouse Logitech MK200 (Bundle) 762 mouse Logitech MK220 Wireless Combo 1,123
Keyboard Logitech MK200 (Bundle) 0 Keyboard Bundled 0
sound card None 0 sound card None 0
sub-total (Excluding Monitor and Cabinet) 15,824 monitor None (your TV) 0
monitor Dell E2014H 19.5 inch LED 5,495 Silverstone Sugo Series SST-SG02B-
cabinet 3,750
cabinet Antec ASK-4000B-U3 2,350 F-USB3.0
Total `23,669 Total `28,514

EnTRy-LEvEL GaminG miD-RanGE GaminG

Processor AMD FX8320 9,690 Processor Intel Core i5-4460 11,490
motherboard Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P 5,290 motherboard ASUS B85M-G 5,290
ADATA Premier DDR3 4 GB (2 x 2 Gskill SNIPER F3-12800CL9D-
Ram 2,799 Ram 8GBSR1 5,233
GB) PC RAM (AD3U1333B2G9-R)
HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3,333 HDD Toshiba 1TB DT01ACA100 3,450
Graphics card SAPPHIRE R7 265 2GB 10,990 Graphics card HIS R9 270X 2GB 12,190
PsU Cooler Master Thunder 450W 2,790 PsU Seasonic S12II 620 Watts 5,623
speakers Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II 6,999 speakers Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II 6,999
Optical Drive Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS 1,049 Optical Drive Samsung SH-224DB/IDDS 1,049
mouse Logitech MK200 (Bundle) 762 mouse E Blue Cobra Advanced Combo (Bundle) 2,999
Keyboard Logitech MK200 (Bundle) 0 Keyboard E Blue Cobra Advanced Combo (Bundle) 0
sound card None 0 sound card None 0
sub-total (Excluding Monitor and Cabinet) 43,702 sub-total (Excluding Monitor and Cabinet) 54,323
monitor Dell S2240L 8,276 monitor Dell S2240L 8,276
cabinet Antec X1-T Gaming 2,849 cabinet Antec X1-T Gaming 2,849
Total `54,827 Total `65,448

ULTRa HiGH-EnD GaminG PRimaRy DiGiT TEsT RiG

Processor Intel Core i7-4790K 22,490 Processor Intel Core i7 - 4960X (Extreme Edition) 70,159
motherboard ASRock Z97 Extreme6 13,762 motherboard ASRock X79 Extreme 9 27,846
Kingston HyperX Predator 2x 8GB Corsair Dominator 2133MHz (8GB x
Ram 16,298 Ram 4) (CMD32GX3M4A2133C9) 48,500
KHX21C11T2K2/8X
WD WD30EZRX 3TB + Samsung 850 HDD Toshiba DT01ABA100V 3,704
HDD Pro 256GB SSD 19,598 SanDisk Extreme II 240GB (x2 for
ASUS PB279Q 4K UHD ssD HDD testing) 24,078
monitor 62,500
Graphics card ZOTAC NVIDIA GTX 980 46,491 Pcie ssD Kingston HyperX 480GB 28,999
cabinet Corsair Obsidian Series 750D 12,049 Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 85,099
PsU Antec HCP-1000 Platinum 1000W 18,480 cooler Intel RTS2011LC - Stock AIO NA
speakers Logitech Z906 5.1 18,790 PsU Corsair HX1050 16,059
Optical Drive LG Blu-ray WH16NS40 RW 5,885 monitor ASUS PB279Q 62,500
mouse Razer Death Adder 2013 3,399 Optical Drive NA NA
Keyboard Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB 12,637 mouse Razer Ouroboros Elite 10,750
sound card ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1 8,800 Keyboard Tt eSPORTS Poseidon Z 8,099
Total `2,61,179 Total `3,85,793

102 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Industry Connect Private Business
We talk to executives from Microsoft indicated possibilities of

Tech @ Work 104 MediaTek and Newcall Telecom.

Read on.
keeping its browser for Windows 10,
to itself. http://dgit.in/1c21XWm

Critical tech for

critical business needs
Intel’s new E7 servers are high on tech, geared for 5-10 times better performance per dollar
business, meant for mission critical services that compared to traditional IBM Power-based
systems. Go here, for more info: http://www.
businesses can’t do without intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/
xeon/xeon-e7-details.html
Jayesh Shinde already power efficient processor even
[email protected] more optimized by allocating power only Who needs these chips?

I
where it is actually need. Also added is Any business that’s dependent on big data
n the age of the Internet, where all of the new multiple rank sparing and DDR4 analytics on a real-time basis, sensitive to
us are hooked onto content consump- addr/cmd parity error recovery which scaling needs, develop unique insights in
tion portals, indulging in ecommerce, has led to an improved uptime, increased your business, drive customers, and create
and uploading humongous amounts system robustness and reduces the overall new business models to transform organi-
of data in the cloud, powering the backend service costs. Not only is the number of zational processes should look for servers
of all the services we love is a herculean cores increased but also the performance running on Intel’s new Xeon E7 v3 proces-
exercise. Data center farms with servers per core has been significantly improved. sors. According to Intel, seventeen server
processing millions of instructions per This has been possible because of the manufacturers are slated to start shipping
second, crunching petabytes
and zetabytes of data. And
where traditional CPUs have
dual-core, quad-core configura-
tions, imagine a processor with
18 dual-threaded cores. Quite
a powerhouse, which is what
the new Intel Xeon E7 v3 chips
are essentially. With these new
server chips, Intel has taken
x86 computing to new heights,
beating traditional POWER8 and
RISC-based servers in over 20
new performance benchmarks.

What’s new?
Aimed at higher end of the
market meant for mission
critical computing needs, the sparkling addition of two fully buffered rings, which Xeon E7 v3 systems later this year, and
new Xeon E7 v3 Haswell processor comes have increased the bandwidth per core, especially with a large server refresh cycle
with a number of improvements over and TSX, that not only allows transactional taking place in 2015, that should present
its Ivy Bridge predecessor (the E7 v2), execution without locking but also Fine lots of businesses an opportunity to make
which include increased number of cores, grain behavior at coarse grain effort. The use of Intel’s offerings. For IT managers
increased cache size and support for the v3 also comes with integrated IO hub that and hardware technology vendors who are
latest DDR4 memory which has faster has increased both the PCIe bandwidth cost-conscious, sure these new Intel Xeon
speeds and lower power consumption than and latency tolerance, and also has better E7 v3 chips aren’t available for cheap. But
the older DDR3. virtualization capabilities thanks to the if time is money, and depending on your
Intel has made a number of small but adaptive LLC allocation policy and the unique business needs, it may be a worth-
significant improvements to the processor Cache allocation monitoring. What does all while investment to consider. If there’s one
which include separate clock and voltage of this translate to? Performance boost of thing about silicon in the realm of com-
domains for each core which make the 40 per cent compared to Xeon E7 v2, and puting – newer is almost always better.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 103

 Google maps easter eggs Drive for Uber
Now choose among your favorite public transportation Uber’s new mobile game UberDRIVE lets you
on google maps. Ride a train, tube, bus, boat, dragon or be the driver. Is Uber trying to lose its bad
Industry Connect the lochness monster http://dgit.in/gmapdragon image? Read more http://dgit.in/Uberdrv

Growth, 14nm
chips and taking
down Qualcomm:
MediaTek talks
to Digit
MediaTek, the chief competitor to Qualcomm in
the market, has found a very rare chance to dig
into the American chipset maker’s market lead.

Finbarr Moynihan, General Manager,

Corporate Sales International

Prasid Banerjee it’s a big population, I don’t want to say it’s What other top brands except HTC are
[email protected] a homogenous market, but it’s at least one using Helio?
country right? If you think about Africa, FM: Right now only Chinese brands have
Everybody is talking about R&D in India. Europe, Latin America, the problem is announced Helio devices.
What’s really different about India, from the those are not one country. There are so
market side? many countries, all with unique import/ But to truly go global, you have to enter
FM: I think in some sense it’s not that dif- export duties, government taxes etc. and the US market right? And for that you need
ferent, while in some senses it’s different. it’s much more fragmented. The only a solid tier I brand, or you’re looking at
If you look at it, India tends to lag behind other market that has that kind of scale as the Chinese manufacturers penetrating the
China. What’s interesting is, in India, the a single market is India, I think. US market?
percentage of mobile Internet access is FM: Both. One of our customers, Alcatel,
higher than anywhere else. It gives India Getting to the chipsets that you make, just launched an LTE phone in the US
the potential to be very much a mobile MediaTek has till now been associated with market, so we’re already shipping LTE
first Internet community, which I think the more affordable range of mobile phones, to the US market. But the US market is a
creates some interesting use cases. do you plan to get into a flagship range? different market. It’s a heavily operator
FM: Yes, absolutely. It’s very much a key subsidised market, but operators are
Is there a difference because of the focus for us. While yes, historically on starting to test the limits of device sub-
maturity of the market? Like China is mobile we’ve been more associated with sidies. They’re starting to unbundle the
largely considered to be a more mature entry and mainstream products, the not price from the contract. It’s early, and
market than India. so well known part of MediaTek is, we isn’t a big part of the market, but I think
FM: Perhaps. You know, it moves. If you also have a very strong business in the it’s inevitable over time. That I think it
think about the mobile industry, it to home entertainment space. A lot of that favours us, because then it becomes the
some sense started in Europe, with Nokia, capability is now coming into mobiles, like device on its own, with the features and
Ericsson, Seimens etc. Now, Nokia is part 2K displays, 4K video etc. So we’ve been the value proposition.
of Microsoft, Ericsson is part of Sony and able to bring a lot of that technology and
Europe is more about the infrastructure. integrate it into our mobile platforms. You Yes, they ship in those markets, but like
The mobile platforms have moved to the see us starting with Helio X10, we just you said, LG is going to launch MediaTek
west coast with Apple, Google, Microsoft. announced X20, which brings a whole driven devices, but the inexpensive ones. So
That’s not the whole story, but that’s the new set of innovations with deca core, it’s like when an OEM wants it’s devices to
way it’s going. Where next right? tri-cluster etc. And then the exciting thing be cheaper, they go with MediaTek.
is that we start to see brands like HTC, FM: No I wouldn’t say that’s the case, I
Is India the obvious answer to that? and you’ll see more, launching flagship would say it’s about the right features
FM: It seems to be right? It’s a big market, products based on Helio. at the right power and performance.

104 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Eat a brain a day
How eating the brains of their dead relatives led to the
people of a once-isolated tribe develop immunity to
various brain diseases? http://dgit.in/eatabrain Industry Connect

I think to categorise it as cheaper is a

mischaracterization. I think a lot of those
brands that you mentioned, tend to have
one flagship product, which tends to be
today, Qualcomm. That decision tends
to be driven by the fact that it’s pivoted
on having one platform that supports all
the features globally. Today, MediaTek’s
modem technology isn’t as advanced as
Qualcomm’s, the X20’s modem is up to
that level, but it’s going to sample later
this year, so we’ll see what happens in
2016 with devices based on that.

Moving on, like you said, calling it ‘cheap’

is a mischaracterization, don’t you think
that’s because MediaTek doesn’t market
itself enough?
FM: Yes it’s a factor for sure. MediaTek
started to rebrand only a year and a half
ago, at Barcelona last year. And you’ll see
us doing more. But to me, Snapdragon
is almost synonymous with Qualcomm. time, and there’s a longer cycle. So they higher. I think all you can do then is work
For us though, Helio is going to define an tend to promote earlier as well. on all of the aspects that can reduce the
experience, we’ll have Helio and non- power consumption. For example, we
Helio products. Both Intel and Samsung have worked on would argue that with our Corepilot algo-
the 14nm processes already. Are you also rithm in the Helio X20, if properly used,
And this would be the right time to do working on the same? you use the right core for the right job. So
that right? You have your Helio X10, P10 and FM: Yes, of course we do. Next year some- it can reduce the power consumption by
X20 right now. How else would you charac- time. We announced X20 recently, so you about 30%.
terise them? can expect what comes next to be on the
FM: Like I said, we’ll concentrate on 14nm process. In terms of the brands that are associ-
making Helio a sub-brand of MediaTek. ated with the MediaTek, how big a role do
I personally think that with the X10, We’ve got feedback from a lot of people Chinese brands play in your future?
P10 and X20 in that high and premium that MediaTek SoCs don’t get custom ROMs. FM: Six of the top 10 smartphone brands
range, we now have the products that Why is that? Is it because of something on today are Chinese brands, so inevitably
give a pretty good run for their money MediaTek’s end? they are an important factor in the
to Qualcomm. FM: I don’t think so. We’re very open to market going forward. But you know,
working with that community if they now Micromax starts to bubble into that
But it seems like you’re still waiting for want to, and we’re open to supporting top 10-12 level, so it’s like watch this
the products to prove that? that. I think it’s something on the ROM space, right? I think for anybody in this
FM: Well, the P10 and X20 haven’t developers’ end. business, the Chinese brands are going
shipped yet, so yes that’s true. Those bat- to be a big factor in this market globally,
tles are being fought now, and the devices Coming back to the SoCs, heating is a big that’s just how it is.
won’t show up till next year. I think we’ve issue in India. But if you look at processors,
changed a lot, in the past we wouldn’t they are still developed based in colder Do you see a Samsung losing its grasp
have told anyone about the P10 and X20 regions, which means automatically there’s on the market in say 5 years?
before they actually came to the market less headroom for India. So if you’re setting FM: I can’t predict what’s going to happen
on products, but now we’re talking about up R&D Centers in India, then why is this in the market in a year, let alone five
it six months in advance. not being researched? Is it because it isn’t years. I expect more growth from the
That’s also a reflection of our changed possible at the moment? China brands, at the expense of who, I
position. Because if you’re only focused FM: That’s a good observation. Of course can’t predict.
on mainstream and entry devices, they it’s possible, it’s ultimately physics. If
move pretty quickly. But focusing on flag- your base is 45 degrees instead of 25 To check out the complete interview either Blipp
ships, the development cycles take more degrees, then you’ve already started this page or visit - http://dgit.in/mtek-moynihan

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 105

 This is electrifying
Venezuela experiences a natural phenomenon
of lightning-only storms that occurs 160
Industry Connect nights in a year. http://dgit.in/lghtning

Trends in telecom,
acquisitions and more
Nigel Eastwood, CEO, New
Call Telecom shares his
thoughts on trends in the
Indian telecom industry.
Supplementing New Call’s
growth strategy, we’re also
privy to insights from Vikas
Saxena, CEO, Nimbuzz
and Sanjeev Bobby Sarin,
Founder, Ozone

There seems to be a resurgence of VoIP

in the industry now that WhatsApp has
jumped on to the bandwagon as well. What
are your thoughts on that? From l-r: Nigel Eastwood, Vikas Saxena and Sanjeev Bobby Sarin
Nigel: If you think about it, VoIP’s been
around for a decade. In fact, some of the What will be the top trends in telecom that suming video data is now called “snacking”.
first VoIP technology was launched in will affect users in the near future, either So you take a little bit of data at home, you
2006 – it’s not a new phenomenon. Actu- positive or negative? jump on the metro, you view your favourite
ally, in the west, VoIP has been utilised Nigel: As we’ve seen in India, e-commerce soap opera on the train for 15 minutes while
quite a lot for business over the last 3-5 or as I call it “the flipkart-isation of India” you get to work, you get to office and at
years. Suddenly, these big tech giants think almost over the last two years has led to lunch continue watching. It’s all synced.
they’ve found the new great thing when it’s people finally awakening to the idea of The viewing media has gone down from 32
been around for ages. acquiring goods over the internet. That inches to less than 10 inches. This model
If you actually review the way that has led to a whole new range of business will be very dominant moving forward.
people communicate via Facebook, models – from furniture to lingerie. No matter what we’re doing in the dig-
WhatsApp or other messaging platforms, Areas that I see trending are also com- ital world, we leave our digital thumbprint.
it’s been about replacing SMS over the mitted to disrupting the traditional busi- Things related to Big Data, data security,
last 3-5 years. But suddenly now people ness models, i.e. banking and fintech with national identification, all of these e-govt
realise voice isn’t going away. If you look the emergence of things revolving around initiatives will start to create more jobs,
at emerging markets now, you’ll realise peer-to-peer lending and mobile wallets. more opportunities as we move forward.
that people still want to talk. Also, look Fintech has just started to take a good Collaboration, the Dropbox-type interface,
at the average small business operator, foothold across the world – so that’s one is becoming more and more apparent as
voice is still the way they do business to watch. businesses seem to want to drive more
and will continue to for many years to Content, in all its forms, is now being virtual operations, to have virtual teams
come. Even the average SMB (Small and driven more and more online. In the west, working across India in collaboration
Medium Business) here in India – there we see lots of platforms really starting to without the cumbersome overheads of
are maybe 50 million of them – has a challenge the big goliaths – the big cable occupancy of offices. The home-working
mobile number associated with its retail operators. The Netflix model (the video-on- phenomenon is certainly there and the
outlet. There’s no hashtag or mention of demand model) is certainly the new trend. types of collaborative software that are
Twitter or Facebook. It’s all on voice. It’s Traditionally, the millennial generation being released really help. We’ve seen big
the same in Africa, and generally across isn’t at all interested in set-top-boxes or valuations over the last few months.
emerging markets in Asia – that trend viewing content via satellite. These models If we look at India and the Modi govern-
isn’t going away. will proliferate again. The process of con- ment focusing on areas to really improve

106 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 What is Snapchat? From running to twitter
After 4 years of its launch, Snapchat CEO Sonic the Hedgehog now has an official
released an extra low quality video expalining Twitter handle where he posts funny replies
how it works http://dgit.in/snapchatvid to fans. See more: http://dgit.in/snctwttr Industry Connect

the lives of 800 million people from the we tinker with the issue of net neutrality, and keep logs for five years. So, the security
less well off bracket, e-healthcare and when will they ever get online? When will measures in India are a lot more stringent
e-education are two big, mighty subjects. they have a voice? No. The Government than they’re in the West. If I were to ask
Lots of entrepreneurs are innovating needs to look into that segment of entrepre- myself “are the regulators doing what
around these, and certainly there are neurs in India that contributes over 50% of they should be doing?” I think they are.
several billion-dollar businesses that are GDP today in India. We’ve got to look after That makes life a little complex for us, but
sure to be created in the coming years. them. Net neutrality and tinkering with after terrorism incidents in Mumbai such
Finally, and particularly important for net neutrality will be fatal for that segment as when a terrorist sent a message from
India is Utility Management and Machine- that really underpins 50 million traditional an open public network, I think they’re
to-Machine communication. SMBs. There’s hundreds of millions of necessary. For two years after that incident,
Demand side energy management is entrepreneurs in India who will want to I had to fight an argument in the market
particularly important for markets that come online, at one point or another. It’s got that Wi-Fi is not associated with terrorism!
find it difficult to produce their own energy to be fair and equitable to all. We can’t give I think the regulators are learning fast,
and have infrastructure problems to preference to others that can afford to pay, they’re putting more checkpoints in place,
deliver energy. in my opinion. but it’s healthy for the market.
To answer your question fully, the
negative trend that kind of troubles me is Vikas: I think the apps which would start Speaking of acquisitions, when will we see
around net neutrality. This whole issue has saving money or give you better data speed huge startups coming from India?
come to the forefront in the last month or would be something that might come up. Vikas: You’re now seeing the early days of
so in India. I’ve been very vocal about this And right now, there would be businesses that happening. Engineering and product
from New Call’s perspective around how that would tinker with the overall data mindset was lacking in this country for
we view that in the global context. I look at business that is being carried out in the a long period of time. We were largely a
the traditional telecom model, and it’s got country or anywhere in the world. services-oriented company wherein we
to change. did work for clients. This mindset is now
Let’s look at what happened in the Bobby Sarin: Just to add to what Vikas has rapidly getting developed, both – because
early 1800s in England where people said, there’s also a new solution that we’re of the successes that you see here (because
were moving from transportation which launching in India with a partner company success births success) and because a lot
was canal-barges to move coal around the around entertainment. It’s about micro- of people who lived in the Silicon Valley
country, to trains. Can we stop progress? caching content at locations. So imagine primarily are coming back to India and
No. Was there an uproar? People embraced this scenario: you can go to a McDonalds, they’re bringing their skillset with them.
change. It’s an unusual analogy, but, download a two-and-half hour movie So these two or three big trends are coming
similarly, telecom companies in India and without any broadband costs. This would together. First one is Venture Capitalism.
across the globe need to embrace change. normally take you about 60-90 minutes at Some people say it’s just a bubble, but it’s
They have to embrace over-the-top ser- home and you’d still have to pay for your available. Earlier it wasn’t. Second, the
vices. They either have to acquire over-the- broadband. But here it would take you number of users who will take your service
top services to complement their future merely 5-10 minutes. So, these disruptive fast has gone up. I have been in a company
roadmap, develop over-the-top services or type of solutions coming into the market before Nimbuzz also. One of the biggest
partner with OTT service providers, rather will be key to changing the trend. constraints you had with the internet
than try to tinker around with a funda- in 2006 was that when you launched a
mental norm in the global marketplace of What’s your take on regulated markets service it took a lot of time to scale. By that
net neutrality. So, I think that is one nega- like India. Is the TRAI’s framework support- time the employees lose interest, investors
tive side effect of the emergence of the app ive to new initiatives or is it an issue dealing lose interest and so on. That’s completely
era and digitalisation. with them? changed now. I gave you the example of
Bobby Sarin: I think they’re also learning Hola with 10,000 downloads a day, but
I’m not sure I understand your analogy along the way. There are more challenges there was a time when we didn’t have
because, what you spoke of is an entire in India than other markets in terms of pro- 10,000 downloads even in six months.
paradigm shift in a technology. There was tecting the consumer, protecting connec- And third, like I said, a product-oriented
no way but to migrate to that other form. tions and knowing what the consumer is mindset is coming in. This is the primor-
Here we’re talking about telcos giving pref- doing. For example, in the US, McDonalds dial soup: Market, capital, talent – every-
erential treatment to some entities, or some can provide its own Wi-Fi without any vali- thing is there.
applications – creating pathways that are dation checks. Starbucks does the same.
better for certain kind of people. That is In India, if you want to provide public For the full interview covering aspects such as the
something that… Wi-Fi you need an ISP license, you need ubiquitous Wi-Fi, the Hola app and more, visit
Nigel: Well, we’ve got 50 million small to register the user’s mobile number and this shortlink: http://dgit.in/ncallnbz or Blipp
to medium-sized businesses in India. If you also need to monitor the user’s activity this page.

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 107

 Community Morality in Machines
Our forum members help each other How do you stop the robots from turning
Esc
Unwind 110 when it comes to buying advice. Take a
look at some good samaritans!
against us in the near future? By instilling/
installing morals. http://dgit.in/moralrobot

Weird Startup Ideas

All successful startups started off with ideas that seemed absurd at the time of their inception. Here
are some more startup ideas which we came across that ended up being a little more than absurd,
some of these are outright ridiculous.

Meet Pen
Imagine a device shaped like a really
think pen with a bulging head that you’d
point at someone you wanted to meet.
Did we mention that it was flesh col-
oured? Apart from its ridiculous design,
the Meet Pen was to act as a socialising
device that would let the person you’d
pointed at know that you wanted to meet
them, i.e. if they too owned a Meet Pen.
Layoffspace Shweeb
Launched in 2007, Layoffspace wanted How cool would it be if you could reduce
to capitalise on the ongoing recession by your carbon emission, get a work out,
starting off a social network for jobless cook breakfast and get a good tan, AT
people. As if this was exactly what job- THE SAME TIME!? Look no further, the
less angry people wanted, a social net- Shweeb is a monorail concept which has
work to while away one’s time that too a single rider enclosed in a clear trans-
when Facebook was in its prime. Need- parent enclosure (read Solar Oven) pedal-
less to say, it couldn’t take on Facebook ling away from point A to point B. Despite
on its own. getting funded, it has yet to take off.

Throx
Throx hasn’t come up with anything inno-
vative. Instead of two, Throx offers three
socks in one package – one for your left
leg, one for your right and one for your...
well if you ever lose one then you have
a spare. We know one thing for sure, if
not the general populace, this thing will
end up being ridiculously popular among
teenagers who’ve just hit puberty.
WTF Prank Candles Yo Bit*h
You set up a nice dinner date with home- Aaron Paul’s infamous line from
made food and to set the mood you light Breaking Bad got old pretty quickly but
some scented candles that’ve mysteri- not before Aaron decided to eke out a
ously arrived in the mail. Halfway into the few extra miles out of the new phenom-
date while you’re canoodling with your enon. What arose was a rip-off of another
date, your new lavender candles start absurd instant messaging app which only
spewing out the nastiest farts. Available allowed users to insult each other with
scents include Dirty Fart, Sweaty Gym variations of Aaron’s famous catch-
Socks, Stank Breath and more. phrase. To this we say, No way Bit*h!

108 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

 Higgs-Boson solved? Sleeping soundly
Three physicist, who have been working together Does an ideal sleep soundtrack exist? Nope,
for the past one year, might have found the answer it differs from person to person. Find out
to Higgs-Boson http://dgit.in/higsbos more here http://dgit.in/soundslp Unwind

How we unwind

Black Mirror
Despite having been in the limelight for
quite some time we’ve been neglecting
this TV show. So when we finally got
around to watching the first episode we
were pleasantly unpleasantly surprised.
Abhijit’s young and impressionable mind
has been soiled forever thanks to what
happened in the climactic scene.

ZigZag Witcher 3
We’re pretty certain that half the team Needless to say, Witcher 3 was the game
members might end up with sprained of the month with Anirudh, Jayesh, Nikhil
thumbs thanks to this addictive game. and Mithun hacking away at Griffins,
While Siddharth started pondering about Harpies and even the pesky li’l wolves
the psychological implications Jayesh with little care. Unfortunately, Jayesh
tapped his way to score the highest couldn’t experience all the graphical
amongst all but little did he reveal that goodness since he’s on a PS4.
he did so on a tablet. That lying cheat!

diary
Oh, what a month it was. We’ve had a bevy of interns line up,
their minds fresh and uncorrupted by the ways of the tech-
nologically insane. It wasn’t going to last long, Abhijit and
Mithun instantly took to the roles of cruel puppet-masters
with reckless abandon.
Abhilash, Anshumala, Lavleen and Purusharth soon

PC, Laptop
learnt to ignore the trolls and get on with the Intern Enrich-
ment Programme. Jayesh and Purusharth bonded over
many a nights spent at the office, leaving the other interns

Tablet, Mobile
seething with jealousy. Any attempts to break their new

Saur(aa
found love was rebutted by Jayesh who’d then put Daft
Punk’s Instant Crush on an endlessly painful loop, much to
Mithun’s chagrin.
Abhilash left half-way into the month leaving Anshumala,
Lavleen and Purusharth fighting for the crown. Hopefully,
another month down the line we will have a winner!
Creepicheap’s progeny have decided to take it up a notch,
them nasty buggers have wisened up and are putting up
quite the fight. They now mock us on a daily basis by snatch-

92.72.70.70.50
ing the bait without triggering the mouse traps and going so
far as to run amok during the day with impunity.
Regidi and Abhijit decided that they’d had enough of work
and rushed off back to school. But school didn’t agree with
Abhijit who was bitten by a cursed Aedes Aegypti and ended 98.22.88.25.62
up hospitalised. Here’s to hoping that the Bengali Babu
makes a steady recovery.

Quote of the month:

The dumber you are, the more you get.
- Raaabo

Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in 109

 The afterlife The easiest language?
What happens to your body after you die? A “Esperanto” is an artificial language invented
mortician herself describes how breakdown gives in 1887 and is finally gathering attention. Learn
Community birth to new life. http://dgit.in/dthprocess more about it here. http://dgit.in/esplang

Head over to online communities for some of the best discussions, buying advice and
user reviews. Of course, you’ll meet like-minded (and not-so-like-minded) geeks and of
course, get help when you’re stuck.

Hello everyone,
To begin with I am absolutely raw regarding SLR. And so i need your help on this:
1. My budget is anything between 20K-30K.
2. I am more into panoramic shots, I use the android photosphere most often but am not intending to buy a fish eye lens. (https://www.360cities.net/image/pano-20150131-070816)
3. I am not into zooming: am more interested in landscapes and near vision shots than clicking a bird situated in some distant tree.
4. I need a cam with very good focus.
5. Good battery support is also welcomed.

Please guide me to converge to some good models.

Thanks in advance!

1. Best bet for that price is 1200D with 18-55mm,55-250mm,a good tripod
2.Panaromic shots in dslrs are highly manual much like the other dslr features,theres no predefined software to click panaromas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znT-kzOXf-A
3. 18-55mm is more than enough for it, but pls do buy the dual lens kit even if you dont want the 55-250mm,its an absolute steal at the price and buying it later will mean much more $$$
Next logical lens after you become familiar with dslrs is either 50mm prime or 17-55mm f2.8
4.first off “good focus” isnt something thats reliant on the camera,its purely on the lens. Secondly kit lenses are sharp enough,prime lenses are sharpest but you should only buy one after getting used to
the kit lens as prime lenses arent good as your only lens,most of the time youll end up using the widest lens-18-55mm
5.All dslrs have amazing battery life,Ive taken a whole tonne of shots on my 1200D during my 2 week trip to turkey and I only charged once in between because I wanted to be on the safe side
I suggest reading,watching videos etc before buying a dslr,dslrs arent for everyone .

Deciding on getting an e-ink reader? Have a chat with some of our forum members, they
might have a better insight than most reviews on e-commerce product pages.

Hi guys/girls,
I am looking for an ebook reader under the budget of 7000 rupees.
I found a link for a Nook Glowlight online on ebay:
Nook Glowlight BNRV500 Barnes Noble Ereader 6” Kindle Paperwhite Alternative | eBay
Since I wanted an ebook reader with a light and a long battery life, is this a better option or should I opt for the basic Kindle with an external light or something?
The Kindle Paperwhite is over my budget.
I could also consider the Kobo if I could get it at a reasonable price.
Open to all kinds of suggestions. Please Comment!
Thankyou.

Get the kindle and an external light such as this-

[LED Light]Xiaomi India Lifestyle Items details
and to power it,get a powerbank(unless kindle supports otg,to power the light)
I suggest this powerbank(any powerbank should do,just suggesting this because its cheap and good quality)
Mi Power Bank - Mi India

Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion. Could you also look at the ebay link I sent and check if it is dependable. Because it is the same as paperwhite and much cheaper.

If you’re concerned about the brand, its a competitor of kindle and a brand of repute. i have a tab from them. Another good option is the Kobo glo available on ebay. Sadly, the black model has been OOS
since sometime but the reader in itself is good. There’s a whole thread dedicated to it. If you may be willing to buy a used one for cheap, you can try there. Here’s the ebay link to the product:
Kobo GLO N613 KBO S 6” Ereader White Silver | eBay

edit: just read your OP in its entirety now. so you are aware of kobo.

110 Digit | July 2015 | www.digit.in

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