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|In: Events|Last Updated:

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SAP TechEd Bangalore, annual, premier technology, education & training conference, created expressly for developers, engineers & technologists will be hosted at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre from March 11~13.

Attendees can connect with experts from SAP and the community around topics of mutual interest, including in-memory computing & Big Data, Predictive analytics and data visualization, Cloud management and security, Platform-as-a-Service, Internet of Things, Open Source, SAP HANA & User experience.

Bernd Leukert, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE Products and Innovation, will deliver the keynote address on March 11.

What to look out for at SAP TechEd Bangalore

  • Demo-rich lecture sessions – SAP technical gurus share road maps, best practices, tips and tricks and code samples
  • Hands-on workshops – Expert-led exercises & classroom training.
  • Product Road Map Q&A sessions –  For detailed insights into SAP’s current product road maps
  • Code Review Sessions – Learn how to make bad code good and good code even better
  • SAP CodeJam [Mini-Editions] – An opportunity to meet one-on-one with SAP development experts, connect with other developers and share knowledge

On the SAP TechEd Bangalore show floor, participants will have a chance to experience the latest in SAP technology and meet face-to-face with some of the best minds in the industry at the Platform and Technology Showcase and Info Zone.

They can learn about the Internet of Things and get their hands on real code in the Hackers’ Lounge. Additionally, the event features a Guest Keynote by Vir Das, one of the biggest names in the comedy circuit.

The event also features SAP Techniversity, where 1500 university students will experience how SAP would drive Innovation to the Digital Enterprise and how they can be a part of the Next Generation for the Digital Enterprise. The students will learn how to build next generation applications on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform and how Industry 4.0 & Internet of Things is  going to fire-up the next business preparing them for the Future of Work empowered by SAP.

To register for SAP TechEd 2015, please visit the following link

|In: India|Last Updated:

Hike Messenger, India’s only home-grown chat application, announced the launch of the “Great Indian Sticker Challenge” [GISC]; inviting designers from all over the country to participate in creating stickers for the app. In August last year, Hike announced that its users were sending over 3 Billion stickers a month. Of the 10 Billion+ messaging volumes per month, stickers contribute to over 30% of the traffic. In its quest to scale up the choice of stickers & yet have the best content, hike launches a unique crowd-sourcing model that calls Indian designers to build for India.

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The design challenge offers a set-up similar to a design studio virtually, wherein illustrators, graphic designers, animators, caricaturist, cartoonist can come together to showcase their talent to over 35 Million+ users and also win cash prizes of up to Rs. 20 Lakhs.

In addition, every short-listed entry will be rewarded Rs. 10,000 and will be given artist credit on hike messenger for their respective sticker pack. Furthermore, they will be empanelled for future work of Hike Limited. India’s top design colleges and institutes such as NIFT, PEARL Academy, Arena Multimedia and MAAC amongst many others have encouraged their students to participate in this contest.

Commenting on the design challenge, Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder & CEO, Hike Messenger said

Stickers have played a significant role in transforming the messaging experience. Today we see 3 Billion stickers exchange on hike. We believe that the ‘Great Indian Sticker Challenge’ will not just bring together the crème la crème from the design industry for the contest but will also give a chance to thousands of talented designers to find a new way of earning recognition for their creative talent.

The Great Indian Sticker Challenge is a platform open to everyone who can design graphic illustrations, irrespective of their age or academic and professional credentials. The registration and submission is open until March 31, 2015 at http://gisc.hike.in. The winners can grab prizes up to Rs. 20 Lacs and the results will be announced on April 15, 2015.

Additional information

Participate in the GISC – http://gisc.hike.in
Download the app at – http://get.hike.in/
Hike Blog for more details on the new features – http://hike.in/blog

|In: Android|Last Updated:

Broadcom Corporation introduced a new smartwatch platform  at the MWC 2015 that reduces power consumption for Android Wear devices. The platform offers Original Equipment Manufacturer’s [OEM’s] more features including GPS with sensor hub processing & wireless charging support.

Broadcom’s new smartwatch platform reduces power usage by up to 40 percent over the previous generation, driving further improvement on the core challenge of battery drain in wearables. The platform improves function and performance by offering a smaller form factor, enabling OEM’s to add more features or include a larger battery inside their wearable to allow for even longer time between charges.

BROADCOM LOGO

In addition to an advanced Application Processor [AP] & Broadcom’s leading Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chip in the new platform, OEM’s can choose to integrate GPS with sensor hub processing, Near Field Communication [NFC], Wireless charging support & camera support based on their product needs. With smartwatches expected to account for more than half of wearable shipments in 2015, there is a significant opportunity for companies to integrate a variety of features and quickly bring products to market.

Speaking at the occasion, Larry Olivas, Broadcom Senior Director, Business Development, Wireless Connectivity Combos said:

Smart-watches represent a big piece of the wearable pie & Broadcom’s new platform expands opportunities for Android Wear developers designing both high-end and affordable devices. As a company that is in a majority of the top smart-watches for 2015, we have the expertise and long-standing connectivity leadership to power the next wave of wearables.

By providing a complete smartwatch reference design including hardware, Android Wear-enabled software, an optimized Bill Of Materials [BOM] & a rich set of features, Broadcom empowers OEM’s to quickly develop robust consumer products to capture the growing market.

Broadcom’s Smart-watch Platform includes:

  • Broadcom wearable system-on-a-chip [SoC] including 4 A7 Application Processor & 2G/3G modem support
  • BCM4343 – Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2/Bluetooth Smart combo chip
  • BCM4773 – GPS SoC with integrated sensor hub
  • BCM20795 – NFC and secure element support
  • BCM59350 – Wireless charging support
  • Camera support
  • Support for Android Wear OS

Availability

Broadcom’s new smartwatch platform is now sampling.

|In: Analytics|Last Updated:

Announced at the MWC 2015, Ford launched a new app named MyFord Mobile that enables electric vehicle drivers to remotely connect their smartphone with the car to manage charging & even set a chosen cabin temperature before their journey.

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Drivers will be able to use the app and associated website to remotely manage the status of their car, check the range, and plan journeys to include charging.

Taking inspiration from gaming and personal fitness apps, MyFord Mobile shows CO2 savings as exercise balls, or hot-air balloons; reflects the energy efficiency of different driving styles through “Zen” and “Zippy” ratings; and offers tips on how efficiency might be improved.

Among the first vehicles to offer MyFord Mobile in Europe will be the zero emission new Focus Electric that will now feature SYNC 2 voice-activated connectivity, which Ford announced would be available in spring 2015. MyFord Mobile also is available for the C-MAX Energy plug-in electric hybrid vehicle.

Speaking about the app, Don Butler, executive director, Connected Vehicle and Services, Ford Motor Company said

MyFord Mobile makes owning an electric vehicle even more convenient. It displays CO2 savings in terms of objects everyone is familiar with, and shows how further energy efficiencies can be achieved in a way that is easily understood. Electric car drivers want to understand the environmental benefits their vehicle brings, and also to know how they could improve their contribution to help make a better future. MyFord Mobile helps them to do this.

MyFord Mobile

Supported by a dedicated website and available for iOS and Android, the MyFord Mobile app connects to the car via an on-board modem that sends data directly to a remote server.

2015 FORD MYFORD MOBILEAs well as informing drivers when they have made CO2 savings equivalent to that required to fill an exercise ball or a hot-air balloon, badges, pop-ups, and alerts also let drivers know when they have reached certain zero-emission distance benchmarks, such as covering a distance equivalent to one round-the-world trip. Personalized feedback advises how range might be improved, for example, by optimising regenerative braking. Drivers also can track driving habits over time, and monitor how changes in behavior affect energy consumption.

The Go Times feature enables drivers to prepare the car so that it is charged and ready to go with a pre-set cabin temperature, at a specific time and date. Plugged in, it will use energy from the grid, rather than the battery to heat or cool the car.

The app uses integrated HERE maps that can help drivers locate their car as well as plan journeys and locate charge stations. Drivers can personalize the app with car name & color, charge profiles and charge scheduling.

Available in English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish, MyFord Mobile is free for the first five years of vehicle ownership.

Download Links

Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ford.mfm&hl=en

iOS – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/myford-mobile/id599142823?mt=8

|In: Android|Last Updated:

Intel Security released its McAfee Labs Threats Report: February 2015, including assessments of the mobile threat landscape and the failure of mobile app developers to patch critical Secure Sockets Layer [SSL] vulnerabilities, potentially impacting millions of mobile phone users.  McAfee Labs also revealed details on the increasingly popular Angler exploit kit, and warned of increasingly aggressive Potentially Unwanted Programs [PUP’s] that change system settings & gather personal information without the knowledge of users.

McAfee Labs researchers found that mobile app providers have been slow to address the most basic SSL vulnerabilities: Improper digital certificate chain validation. In September 2014, the Computer Emergency Response Team [CERT] at Carnegie Mellon University released a list of mobile apps possessing this weakness, including apps with millions of downloads to their credit.

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In January, McAfee Labs tested the 25 most popular apps on CERT’s list of vulnerable mobile apps that send login credentials through insecure connections and found that 18 still have not been patched despite public disclosure, vendor notification, and, in some cases, multiple version updates addressing concerns other than security. McAfee Labs researchers simulated man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks that successfully intercepted information shared during supposedly secure SSL sessions. The vulnerable data included usernames and passwords and in some instances, login credentials from social networks and other third party services.

Although there is no evidence that these mobile apps have been exploited, the cumulative number of downloads for these apps ranges into the hundreds of millions. Given these numbers, McAfee Labs’ findings suggest that the choice by mobile app developers to not patch the SSL vulnerabilities has potentially put millions of users at risk of becoming targets of MITM attacks.

This crimeware package contains easy-to-use attack features and new capabilities such as file-less infection, virtual machine and security product evasion, and the ability to deliver a wide range of payloads including banking Trojans, rootkits, ransomware, CryptoLocker & backdoor Trojans.

Some of the highlights of the report are below:

Mobile Malware

McAfee Labs reported that mobile malware samples grew 14 percent during the fourth quarter of 2014, with Asia and Africa registering the highest infection rates. At least 8 percent of all McAfee-monitored mobile systems reported an infection in Q4 2014, with much of the activity being attributed to the AirPush ad network.

Potentially Unwanted Programs

In Q4, McAfee Labs detected PUPs on 91 million systems each day. McAfee Labs sees PUPs becoming more and more aggressive, posing as legitimate apps while performing unauthorized actions such as displaying unintended ads, modifying browser settings, or collecting user and system data.

Ransomware

Beginning in Q3, the number of new ransomware samples began to grow again after a four-quarter decline. In Q4, the number of new samples grew 155 percent.

Signed Malware

After a brief drop in new malicious signed binaries, the pace of growth resumed in Q4 with a 17 percent increase in total signed binaries.

Total Malware

McAfee Labs now detects 387 new samples of malware every minute, or more than six every second.

The full McAfee Labs Threats Report: February 2015 can be downloaded from here

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

CommonFloor, India’s leading online real estate platform introduced the CommonFloor Retina, world’s first virtual reality innovation in real estate that is available to the masses. This technological breakthrough offers ‘real’ property experience for the seekers allowing them to view/review/assess multiple properties from anywhere at any point of time.

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Commenting on the launch of the biggest technological innovations witnessed by the real estate world, Sumit Jain, Co-founder & CEO, CommonFloor.com said

As a new-age online realty player, technology and innovation are part of our core DNA. Property buying demands huge time & financial investment by the buyer and it is our constant endeavor to create tools and technology that makes property search easy for the consumer and gives them a wow experience. CommonFloor Retina is a result of one such quest that adapts technology smartly to the consumer’s advantage.

Lalit Mangal, Co-founder and CTO, CommonFloor.com said

We believe in making strategic investments in building cutting edge technology. This product is pegged to be a game changer in the real estate industry in India and globally. We will work closely with the builder community to scale-up the number of projects listed, thereby helping property buyers to choose from as many projects that may want to visit.

JC Sharma, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Sobha Limited said

CommonFloor has been instrumental in transforming the way we view properties. Their latest introduction, CommonFloor Retina is indeed commendable. This state-of-the-art technology product will enable our customers to take a virtual tour of the property they wish to see in the comfort of their home. It allows them to experience both the interiors and exteriors of the property in an interesting manner and saves a lot of time, especially if one need to choose between several properties.

Speaking at the occasion Vyoma Pandit, Senior DGM, Marketing, Brigade Group said

It is an interesting product that can help a home buyer visualize the building and apartment under consideration in greater depth. It should be useful to customers who cannot be physically present at the property location before buying, and also to people who have already purchased a property and want to share it with their family & friends.

Details on CommonFloor Retina

To use CommonFloor Retina, a user simply needs to sport the headgear to experience virtual tour of the property of his/her choice. This offers buyers an unforgettable experience & insights about the property from the perspective of space and ambience among other features.

The simple magnet on the headgear acts as a navigation tool. The App also saves the builders the cost and space to construct a model apartment.

The app works on the Android platform with the following phones

  1. Nexus 4 & above
  2. MotoG 2nd Gen
  3. Samsung Galaxy 4 & above
  4. MotoX
  5. Mi3

About CommonFloor.com

CommonFloor.com has the largest number of property listings with more than 1 lakh residential projects listed on their platform from over 200 cities. The platform has already mapped 10M homes and is committed to map every property in India on its platform. The Company has a team of 1000+ employees and their constant endeavor is to get the best talent to work with them.

From searching for an apartment to facilitating interactions within an apartment community on the ‘CommonFloor’ platform, to connecting one to relevant service providers, the platform is dedicated to meeting all aspects of consumers’ needs around their home. With over 5 lakh active property listings from over 200 cities, it has over 1 lakh residential projects listed with it. CommonFloor.com has been funded by Accel Partners, Tiger Global and Google Capital.

|In: Software|Last Updated:

Web services provider ResellerClub has launched a slew of promotions across all its hosting products and security add-ons all through February to mark its birthday. According to the terms of the offer, both existing and new resellers of ResellerClub can take advantage of fantastic discounts across a wide array of products like servers, shared hosting, website security & backup, website builder as well as popular gTLDs, emerging new gTLDs and ccTLDs.

ResellerClub

Shridhar Luthria, General Manager & Business Head of ResellerClub said

We’ve come a long way from where we started and over the past couple of years have focused aggressively on providing our resellers with a comprehensive product portfolio of hosting and domains as well as consistently rolling out new feature upgrades.

These discounts are our gesture of thanks, a salute to the dedication and acumen of our Resellers who have made it big in the domains and hosting business and helped us complete yet another fruitful year. We welcome each one of you to be a part of our big birthday bash! We hope resellers make the most of these promotions and grow their businesses even further.

Well, if you are a startup or SMB, there are some deals up for grabs:

  • Servers : Upto 30% off, starting at Rs. 600/month
  • Shared Hosting : Upto 50% off, starting at Rs. 160 per month
  • Codeguard & Sitelock Website Security : Upto 33% off, starting at Rs. 45/month
  • Comodo SSL Certificates : Upto 40% off, starting at Rs. 750/year
  • Website Builder : Upto 20% off, starting at Rs. 100/month

In addition to these products, the company is also offering fantastic discounts on popular gTLDs and New gTLDs such as .PW, .HOST, .CO, .GLOBAL and more.

About ResellerClub

The ResellerClub platform powers some of the world’s most popular web hosts, domain resellers, web designers and technology consultants. ResellerClub provides scalable and secure shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS solutions, dedicated servers, managed servers as well a host of website security products, in addition to a comprehensive suite of gTLDs, ccTLDs, new gTLDs & other essential web presence and website security products.

Current Partners : Over 200,000
Domains Served : Over 5 Million
Server Locations : US, United Kingdom, India, Hong Kong, Turkey

For more information about these and other promotions that ResellerClub is currently offering, please visit http://india.resellerclub.com/promos?hosting

|In: startups|Last Updated:

Hike-Messenger

Hike messenger, India’s only homegrown chat application, introduces free ‘HikeCalls’.

The introduction of this feature will allow hike users to call each other for free, over 2G, 3G & Wi-Fi and across the globe in over 200 countries. The introduction of hike calls has come in within a month of hike making it’s first acquisition – a free calling app – Zip Phone.

Hike calls are optimized to consume very little data, giving its users more calling minutes per MB of data. Given that a majority of the mobile-internet users of India are still experimenting with data & are not on a high-bandwidth connection, this optimization becomes critical for the Indian market.

Commenting on the launch of the calling feature, Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, Hike messenger

While building free hike calls, we kept two things in mind. Firstly, India is a very cost sensitive market and as a result we have ensured that our service is extremely efficient on data. It means our users can pack in more minutes per MB when calling on hike.

We have made hike’s free calling service available globally in over 200+ countries. Hikers from India can now speak with their loved ones in India & across the world for free.

The free hike calling feature has been launched in beta on Android, which contributes to over 90% of hike’s user base. The iOS and Windows versions are slated to release by the end of this quarter.

Some of the screenshots of “Hike Calls” are below:

HikeCalling

Current User-Base & Funding

Launched in December 2012, Hike has over 35M users as in August, 2014 and has raised $86M from Tiger Global & BSB till date. The app also boasts of a fairly young user base with over 90% of its users being under the age of 25 and residing in India.

The chat application has localized features, which are developed keeping in mind the infrastructural and cultural requirements such as Hike Offline – lets you message your friends even when they’re offline, Hidden Mode – allows users to hide their private chats with a password, Regional Stickers – helps users express more in their own language, amongst many others.

Do give “Hike Calls” & share across your feedback in the comments section…

Additional information

You can download the app at – http://get.hike.in/

For more information, please visit the Hike Blog