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|In: CloudComputing|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

DigitalOcean, the cloud for developers released High Memory Droplets (cloud servers) to continue to support more advanced workloads and applications at scale. While DigitalOcean’s standard Droplets make it easy for developers to deploy a healthy balance of RAM, CPU and local SSD-based storage, High Memory Droplets enable developers and businesses with specific use cases, typically running large-scale databases or distributed in-memory caches that require more RAM such as MongoDB, Cassandra and Redis.

This is another example of the company’s focus on ensuring developers and businesses can seamlessly launch, scale, and manage any size production application.

Yiftach Shoolman, Co-Founder and CTO of Redis Labs said

The next generation of applications need high memory to be intensely high performance, predictive and provide an exceptional user experience. In-memory, data structure platforms such as Redis can then take advantage of the available DRAM to meet a diverse set of processing and analytical needs, with the simplest possible developer experience.

Julia Austin, CTO of DigitalOcean said

We are constantly evaluating the service options we provide our customers to ensure they are getting the most value from DigitalOcean. By offering High Memory Droplets, developers now have an optimal solution for larger, high-performance databases that demand aggressive memory caching for data file management. High Memory Droplets also allow for scaling up vertically versus horizontally.

DigitalOcean is launching five new High Memory Droplets plans that start at $120 per month or $0.18 per hour and scale from 16GB to 224GB of RAM while maintaining an appropriate amount of local storage and CPU. The per-gigabyte cost of RAM is 25% less than DigitalOcean’s standard Droplet plans. High Memory Droplets are the first optimized Droplet type that DigitalOcean has released.

To learn more about DigitalOcean’s High Memory Droplet plans, please go here

About DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a cloud infrastructure provider focused on simplifying web infrastructure for software developers. The company is headquartered in New York City with data-centers throughout the world. For more information, please visit DigitalOcean

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Continuing its vision to create a sustainable ecosystem of innovation in the country, Intel India has announced the Intel & DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0, building off the success of the inaugural Challenge last year. Presented in collaboration with MyGov, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) and T-Hub Foundation, this year’s Challenge also aims to inspire grassroots innovation and harness local talent, by inviting makers across India to build solutions to accelerate India’s digitization and commercially develop their prototypes on Intel Architecture.

Based on the philosophy of Challenging India’s Challenges, this initiative adds to Intel India’s larger goal of enabling technology innovation in the country, for students, entrepreneurs, and any other makers, who are passionate about creating viable solutions to address everyday problems, related to sustainable access to healthcare, livelihood, and finance, faced by citizens.

On the sideline of this announcement, Mr. K. T Rama Rao, Minister of Information Technology, Government of Telangana said

It is heartening to see public private collaborations, such as the one between Intel India, MeITY, MyGov and T-Hub, driven towards building a long-term innovation culture in the nation. I am certain that this initiative will bring some breakthrough ideas and ingenious innovations to the table, and strengthen India’s position as a knowledge economy.

Ms. Debjani Ghosh, Managing Director, and Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Intel South Asia said

Innovation is the key ingredient for making the Digital India vision a reality, and we need a local, sustainable innovation ecosystem, to address the country’s challenges. Our goal is to foster innovation at every level-from school to colleges & from entrepreneurs to enterprises. With this announcement today, we continue to create a community of makers who build solutions to enable the scalability of technology adoption in India, and increase the impact of technology on citizens’ lives. Through strong public private collaboration, wherein MeITY, MyGov, T-Hub and Intel India are working together to turn ideas to solutions, disruptive yet sustainable technology innovations are now a reality.

Intel India has an end to end approach to advancing innovation & research. The company has created a strong innovation pipeline and ecosystem, based on public private collaboration that target K-12, researchers, and makers and provide them with not just funding, but also with consistent mentoring and market access.

Through its recent collaboration with think tank NITI Aayog, Intel India is working to establish tinkering laboratories for mini makers in ten schools across the country. Better known as Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs), these facilities will serve as an exemplar for 490 ATLs to be launched by the government.

In another recent project, Intel collaborated with Department of Science & Technology (DST) of Government of India and Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay to set up a new collaborative incubation program called Plugin, to support hardware and systems-based start-ups. In addition, through the Intel Tech Challenge, the company, in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has trained 10,000 children on ideation and maker skills.

According to Mr. H.K. Mittal, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology

Over the years, we have worked with Intel India to establish initiatives for the youth and professionals that give them access to technology and funding, in order to develop sustainable solutions that address challenges faced by Indian citizens. The Challenge is a model example of how great minds can come together and add value to India’s growth charter. It is with great optimism that we launch the next edition of the Challenge to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in India.

The Challenge encourages the creation of easy to use, and scalable solutions to address the challenges of the country through automation and technology. It invites solutions that integrate IoT and Cloud technology to enable digital transformation experiences in the areas of agriculture innovation, healthcare access, financial inclusion, and sustainability. It is open to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, innovators, academia, designers, engineers and makers from diverse backgrounds.

Mr. Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, MyGov said

Last year, there were six ideas under the Challenge that completed the mind-to-market journey, and are already making their solutions available in the Indian healthcare and agriculture sectors.  We are proud to support the Challenge this year, by connecting the government with entrepreneurs and innovators on our platform.

This year, the Challenge will roll-out in five phases, with the grand finale taking place in April 2017. Shortlisted teams will be eligible to receive a INR 3,00,000 grant each, to create minimum-viable products (MVPs) based on Intel Architecture in an accelerator program at the T-Hub incubator in Hyderabad. The winning team will walk away with INR 20,000,00 to further their project development.

Jay Krishnan, CEO, T-Hub Foundation said

Startup ecosystems, world over have had a catalyst that has sparked their growth. In Hyderabad, T-Hub is pushing this with platforms that showcase and scale innovation as the primary lynch-pin. T-Hub’s partnership with DST & Intel to launch the Challenge this year, and provide a platform for aspiring innovators to showcase their ideas for building a Digital India from the grassroots level is a key cog and a start for us.

Besides the Challenge, Intel India is also accelerating hardware design & innovation through the Intel India Maker Lab. In fact, from last year’s Challenge, seven of the top 20 participants, including the three winners, used the Maker Lab to develop and test their prototypes. Currently, there are 17 startups utilizing the lab facilities for projects in the areas of education, sports, health, agriculture, BFSI and e-governance across IOT, Cloud and client compute.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

What to watch and Where to watch is the most common worry seen amongst the audience who prefer downloading movies online. Taking advantage of this, a team of technology enthusiasts figured a way to help ease out movie downloading with an innovative movie recommendation platform called Flickstree.

Being one of a kind, Flickstree will also be using popular platform Facebook via the Facebook messenger chatbot to give its users best movie recommendations. Flickstree is world’s first fully automated movie recommendation bot. It is also India’s first entertainment bot that will help users discover movies basis their inputs and will show them the availability of the recommended movie online.

Facebook’s Flickstree bot is extremely useful and intelligent as it uses the native AI features developed by Facebook itself to help users discover movies. Flickstree is all about watching movies at your convenience; anywhere, anytime and in the preferred language. It recommends movies to users on the basis of their tastes and preferences using advanced machine learning techniques. The technique is created for users to identify their dominant genres, preferred languages, movie era preferences, favourite actors and directors.

Flickstree’s vision is to be the global hub for discovering personalized entertainment content for each and every user across any format of content with best and honest reviews. In addition, Flickstree comes in with an array of fun elements like create your own playlist; connect with film critics, follow like minded people and also create a movie calendar to make your journey from downloading a movie to enjoying it hassle free.
All your movie related worries are now just a click away with Flickstree. Right from helping you select the right movie to conveniently downloading it, Flickstree is your way to go!

Do give Flickstree and leave your experience/feedback in the comments section..

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Mindtree and Conversable have announced a partnership that will enable brands to deliver improved customer service and open better paths to ecommerce by creating on-demand customer conversations via automated chat bot technology. Through the use of enterprise chat bots, customers receive a faster response from brands and more relevant, contextual conversations. Rather than finding and downloading apps and searching on websites, consumers can simply message their request to a company or organization, fostering quick resolution with no wait times or calls into a call center.

Mindtree is a leading digital transformation and technology services company. Conversable is an enterprise conversation platform for creating intelligent, on-demand, automated response flows through one-to-one conversations in any messaging channel. The partnership combines Mindtree’s industry-leading digital transformation consulting services and data integration capabilities with Conversable’s groundbreaking chat bot enterprise platform.

The Conversable SaaS-based platform re-imagines user experiences and brand engagement through messaging. Conversable is also the first social enterprise solution to create intelligent, on-demand customer response flows using chat bot technology. The intuitive interface allows fast deployment of conversational experiences through the messaging platforms and voice applications that are relevant to a brand’s customers. This includes Facebook, Twitter, SMS, Amazon Echo, Slack, Kik and more.

Many enterprise chat bot solutions can be unresponsive or lead to erroneous interactions. In an effort to solve these challenges, Conversable will leverage Mindtree’s in-depth digital knowledge and domain expertise to standardize back-end systems integration. Through Mindtree’s development and implementation of cost-effective API strategies, the partnership reduces the friction of adding ecommerce functionalities to existing systems and enable more intelligent messaging.

Paul Gottsegen, Chief Marketing and Strategy officer at Mindtree said

Companies seeking a competitive edge in today’s era of conversational commerce must implement modern communication technologies that deliver brand-defining, transparent customer experiences. Conversable is at the forefront of this revolution to transform the way Global 2000 brands interact with their customers.

Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO at Conversable said

Without an integrated back-end, enterprise chat bots are just basic bots which won’t meet customers’ expectations or drive meaningful business impact to a brand. Mindtree and Conversable align perfectly on this point of view, which makes this great partnership. Together, we will empower brands to reach their full potential and better understand their customers through conversational engagement.

About Conversable
Conversable is the leading SaaS platform for creating intelligent, conversational messaging experiences for customer self-service, conversational commerce, and on-demand content via major messaging and voice applications. For more information, please visit Conversable

|In: CloudComputing|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The best cloud storage providers simplify our digital lives. They make it easy to share files and photos and provide a secure place to back up our most important memories. We love the cloud and made it our mission to find the best cloud storage provider.

Note* : This article was previously featured on Reviews.com and content is reproduced here with author’s consent.

After exploring over 45 different options, interviewing power users across the nation, and personally testing 26 different apps, we are confident that DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Box are the best, most reliable cloud storage providers on the market today.

Image Source - Cloud Storage
Image Source* – Cloud Storage

All four of our top picks will provide you with roughly the same lineu of features and each has a freemium version, letting you take advantage of the cloud without paying a dime. So, picking your favorite cloud storage option will be a matter of how much space you need, how much you’re ready to pay, and which one is the easiest for you to use.

How We Found the Best Cloud Storage

We started by compiling a list of 45 different cloud-based software solutions and then we hit the books (well, the internet, that is). We read reviews from the top technology blogs, dissected user guides, toyed with a bunch of settings, and narrowed our list down to our top four recommendations using these five criteria:

1. We removed services that are focused primarily on media- and OS-level backups.

Of the active users we surveyed, 53 percent primarily use cloud storage for media and file sharing, so our best picks had to be well-rounded, and not focused on automated, system-level backups.

2. We removed services that are just for business and have no personal option.

Enterprise cloud solutions are technical, and include a plethora of features that most people either don’t need, or would find confusing, such as task management and user comments.

3. We cut all services without extensive support for OS X, Windows, Android, and iOS.

A huge benefit of cloud storage is that it bridges the gap between operating systems. We only passed services that support all of the most common desktop and mobile operating systems.

4. We cut any cloud storage services that did not offer a freemium version.

Offering a freemium version is obviously a great way for companies to win new users, but it’s also part of being the best cloud storage service. Not everyone is a power user, after all. And why pay when you don’t have to?

5. We cut any contenders that didn’t have an average of 3.5 stars or higher from the App Store, Google Play Store, and Windows Store.

If there’s one thing that should be indicative of cloud storage, it’s mobility. Filtering out low-rated mobile apps was a great way to find out which companies really catered to their users. Of course, app scores change with every update and release, but as of our latest update all of our top contenders had high marks.

Cloud Storage Reviews and Testing

After narrowing down the cloud storage contenders to our top recommendations, we spent a week testing them all on four different operating systems (OS X Yosemite, Windows 10, iOS 9.1, Android Lollipop 5.1.1) and on seven different devices. We updated files, shared a ton of pictures (maybe one or two selfies), and installed a bunch of apps. We even used Google Drive to write and edit this review.

We also tested the transfer speeds for each contender by uploading a leisurely afternoon’s worth of iPhone photos (about 30) from three different locations. As you can see below, Microsoft OneDrive consistently logged the fastest times, while Box and Dropbox duked it out for last place.

Speed Test : Save a Few Seconds on Every Upload

Packet Size: 393.6Mb (Note: Lower score is better)
Packet Size: 393.6Mb (Note: Lower score is better)

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

There’s a software solution for basically every question that you might have related to your business. There’s software that can track customers, manage your budget, help with your inventory. Customer service can be managed better through software too, so much so that it’s standard in the world of business today.

The newest customer service software enables companies to track service from any and every channel and touchpoint. Although automation is a selling point, so too is how use-able it is and how supported the software is once it’s installed. In addition, that same software must be adaptable to the individual uses of your company.

As companies analyze their options, cost is an essential element to review, as is the return on investment that the customer service software may provide. The below info-graphic can work through this complex decision for your company (irrespective of whether you are a startup or not) !!!

What to look for when reviewing customer service applications

via Salesforce

For more information, please visit Customer Service Software Reviews

PS : The content was reproduced with author’s consent.

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Intex Technologies in collaboration with DragonTrail has enriched its 4G portfolio with the launch of its latest feature-rich, powerful and stylish 4G smart phone-Aqua S7. The marshmallow smart phone comes with 3GB RAM, powerful DragonTrail glass, Fingerprint Sensor and a big battery. All these high-tech features will be available at a price of Rs. 9499

The 4G-enabled Aqua S7 comes with 5-inch HD IPS display supported with a 2.5D curved glass display giving a smoother touch & swipe experience along with a premium and elegant look. The display is well protected with the super tough DragonTrail glass, one of the best for protection and sturdy usage, being six-times tougher than conventional glass. Aqua S7 with 8.7mm thickness and weighing just 150gms, sports a sleek look and design that anyone would flaunt.

Keshav Bansal, Director, Intex Technologies said

The Aqua S7 is our latest tech marvel, a symbol of style, strength and performance for the ubiquitous users and the market. With 4G picking up pace in the country, we have enriched are already diverse 4G product portfolio to stay ahead in time and offerings for our discerning consumers.

Takuzo Mikawa, Asahi Glass’s Deputy General Manager of Applied Glass Division said

Asahi Glass’s Dragontrail as already been adopted as cover glass for most of the global major brands. We believe damage-resistant Dragontrail glass is perfectly suited to INTEX Aqua S7. As the world’s largest glass company, we will offer more and better products in the Indian market.

 The Aqua S7’s 4G network is enriched with the VOLTE feature (Voice Over LTE), enables users to enjoy crystal clear high quality HD voice calls. Aqua S7 is powered with 3GB RAM and a 64-bit Quad Core Mediatek processor, ensuring smooth performance while playing high-end games or watching videos and multitasking, coupled with latest Android Marshmallow OS 6.0. The smart phone is equipped with the latest bio-metric security – finger print sensor at back panel. The scanner will scan and verify authority, making the smart phone completely secure.

For photography enthusiasts and selfies lovers, Aqua S7 has 13MP Rear AF Camera with single LED flash and 5MP selfie camera. The device comes with multiple navigation features, gesture controls and emergency rescue. The 4G dual-SIM smart phone has a big battery of 3200 mAh Li-Poly, which offers a talk-time up to 22 hours along with a standby time of at least 10 days.

Aqua S7 has an in-built 16GB ROM with an expandable memory of up to 64GB. It has Matrabhasha service that enables communication in 21 regional languages including Hindi. Also features other pre-loaded apps such as FOTA, Intex Service, Follo, OPERA MINI, Clean Master, Daily hunt etc. The elegant Aqua S7 will be available in three premium colors – Champagne, Rose Gold and Dark Blue. For more information please visit Intex India

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Now you dont have to run to any state-run bus counters at the last minute to get your preferred seats. State Bus booking is now available on Via.com

Via.com, Asia’s largest travel network of flights, hotels, buses and holidays has announced real-time online booking for a range of State Road Transport Corporation bus services.

The company has partnered with state-operated corporation buses to offer service on the company’s website, mobile app and its agents’ outlets. Currently, it has tied up with seven state corporations, including Gujarat, J&K, Odisha, Patiala and East Punjab, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Kadamba-Goa.

With this move, VIA is expecting an increase of 30 per cent in its overall bus bookings by the next quarter. Currently, VIA sells bus tickets worth of Rs 10 crore every month. Apart from the state-run buses, Via.com offers bookings across categories such as Volvo, air-conditioned, non-air-conditioned, deluxe, semi deluxe, sleeper and semi sleeper buses.

VIA will offer competitive prices on bus tickets through over 5000 bus operators and more than 75000 routes across India, the company said. The portal enables customers to search, compare and book bus-tickets with complete transparency. To increase its presence in the land transport sector, the company is also looking at tying up with other state-run bus operators, including Himachal Pradesh, Rajashtan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharastra in the near future.

Swaminathan Vedaranyam, Chief Executive Officer, VIA said

We are seeking to strengthen our portfolio of offerings and ensure that we remain the one-stop shop for travel solutions. With this integration, we aim to open this channel for a section of travellers who are loyal to state-run buses to make life hassle-free and easier for them.

The ticket prices for most routes range from Rs 650-1500. From April-July 2015 to April-July 2016, the growth in terms of sale bookings from the bus segment has grown 3X on Via.com, the CEO added.

About Via.com

Via.com is Asia’s leading omni channel travel, retail & fin-tech company. Its distribution strategy includes enabling small businesses with an intuitive tech platform which helps them with best in class content, closed looped wallet and a range of CRM & accounting functionalities to run their business effectively. Through its global network of over 100,000 independent re-sellers in the travel, retail & fin-tech space, the company provides access to a broad array of  products including air travel, train tickets, hotels, holiday packages, buses, car rentals, insurance, mobile recharges and money transfer.

Established in 2006 as flightraja.com, Via.com was incorporated in 2007 and has since dramatically disrupted the Indian travel space with its innovative offerings that became hugely viral in multiple markets. IndoUS Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital are the primary investors in Via.com. For more information, please visit Via.com