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|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

With an aim to build for a largely sight and sound country that is India, Hike Messenger, India’s only home grown and second largest messaging platform, has launched video calling feature for its users.

Video calling, the beta of which was rolled out in September this year to a select set of less than a hundred thousand, will now begin to roll-out to the entire user-base starting with Android users this week.

Simple, Reliable and High Quality Video Calling Experience, Even In Challenging Network Conditions : Video calling on Hike is a simple and easy to use feature that works on a single tap that is integrated into chat threads with friends. The feature has been built for a reliable and high quality video experience that works even under challenging network conditions, including good quality 2G.

Live Caller Preview : Another interesting aspect of video calling on Hike is the ability for a user to see a live video preview of the caller before answering the call. It’s quite a neat feature and adds to the fun of video calling.

Available Immediately to All Android Users; iOS to Follow Soon : Hike video calling is available immediately on Android. If users updated their Hike Messenger in September this year, video calling would have automatically been enabled for them and will now be accessible!

The evolution of communication on Hike : Hike continues to be loved by its users for its chat experience with its 10,000+ hyper-localized stickers in 40+ languages. Hike also launched one-on-one and group (100 member) audio calls in September 2015. Introduction of video calls one year later, today, makes for an even better friction-free, sight and sound communication experience.

Commenting on the launch, Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, Hike Messenger said

This was an obvious one and we’re excited to bring it to the market so quickly. We’ve been in beta for a few months and the results have been really positive. We’re now excited to roll this out across our entire user-base.  We see India as primarily a sight and sound market-and we believe video calling will have a large impact on how people communicate inside of Hike.

In January 2016, Hike had announced that it has over 100 million users. 95% of Hike users are based in India and 90% of them are young and below the age of 30. Hike users, on an average, exchange 40 billion messages per month and spend 120 minutes per user per week on the platform.

Hike has been built for these young consumers around 4 key pillars:

1. Data Constraints in India
2. Local Expressive Content
3. Deep Emphasis on Privacy
4. The Platform

To use video calling on Hike

1. Download Hike Messenger, if you don’s have it OR update Hike Messenger if you haven’t updated it since September.
2. Select the chat thread of a friend you want to connect with.
3. Just tap on the call button on the top right that prompts you to further select Voice or Video and start off your call.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Accenture, in partnership with Yahoo, announced the winners of the fifth season of #Innovation Jockeys, the hunt for India’S most ‘Innovative Minds’. This year’s Innovation Jockeys contest was focused on finding the most promising technology innovations in three categories – detecting fraud and preventing business malpractice, creating an inclusive digital India, and empowering women – which could help drive a positive change in society.

The contest was open to students pursuing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate courses in India. The intense competition received 3,600 idea submissions from 800 campuses across India, of which the top 16 entries were evaluated in the Grand Finale round.

Accenture also conducted a fast-track selection process for eligible students at the Grand Finale round. Students selected from this process will shortly receive offers to join the Accenture workforce in India.

The Grand Prize was awarded to the team Devoted Dudes from students of BITS Pilani. The students developed an SMS-based mobile biometric authentication system to help people in rural areas securely authenticate the services offered to them by micro-finance institutions, addressing problems such as forgery and fraud, and overcoming barriers such as limited internet connectivity in rural India.

Grand Prize Winners of Accenture Innovations Jockeys Season 5, Team ‘Devoted Dudes’ from BITS Pilani felicitated by (L) Mohan Sekhar, Senior Managing Director, Technology — Delivery Centers for Technology in India, Accenture and (R) Raghavan Iyer, Managing Director, Technology Delivery and Innovation Council lead for Accenture in India. The team won the Grand Prize for their idea SMS-based Mobile Biometric Authentication System.

The award for the Innovation to detect fraud and prevent business malpractice category was given to the team IAFC from IIT Kharagpur, for their idea Crowdsourced Corruption Database with a layer of Artificial Intelligence. The idea aims to provide an open platform for sharing cases of corruptions through crowd-sourcing, and quickly predict, prevent and solve such cases through Artificial Intelligence. The idea takes crowd-sourced data as input, processes it and provides structured information as output to fight the reported case of fraud/corruption.

The award for the Innovation to create a digital India category, was given to the team AirPure from IIIT-Delhi. The team devised AirPure as a revolutionary surveillance system that monitors indoor and outdoor pollution levels. Their mobile application offers a personalized health risk assessment based on data around the user’s health, gender and age. AirPure will also provide valuable data for research to help the government form informed policies to reduce air pollution levels.

The award for the Innovation to empower women category, was given to ‘Wayne Enterprises’ from CUSAT, Kochi for their idea ‘NeuroBuds’. NeuroBuds is a wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) device that acts as an interface between a user’s brain and a smartphone, and automatically detects panic in the user by analyzing brain wave data patterns and triggering an SOS call. It provides an automated and faster response time, replacing the need to manually trigger an SOS button.

The Jury’s Choice award was presented to the team Eyeluminati from students of Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad. The team’s idea ‘Griwaditi’ is an automated, non-invasive and easily accessible screening tool for Cervical Cancer. Griwaditi is a point-of-care portable imaging device which uses advanced optical techniques to produce high resolution magnified images of the cervix. It has a unique cervical cancer lesion detection algorithm to quickly screen cervical cancer. The remote diagnostic application allows images to be shared for consultation with experts around the world via a cloud-based tele-oncology platform.

The Employees’ Choice award was given to the team Warrior War, from Dronacharya College of Engineering, Delhi, for the idea Smart Farming System. This idea helps farmers who lack adequate knowledge in agriculture save water and increase crop-production by automating and digitizing farming techniques. It does this by using different sensors and techniques embedded in the application.

Members of the Grand Prize winning team each received an Apple MacBook Pro and an opportunity to visit either the Accenture Technology Labs (in Dublin or in Silicon Valley, California), or visit the Accenture Internet of Things (IoT) Center of Excellence in Singapore. Prizes for the category winners included Apple Watch, Bose SoundLink BT Speaker and Amazon e-vouchers. Participants in the Grand Finale round were assessed by a seven-member Jury panel

The entire awards ceremony was also live tweeted using #InnovationJockeys for all parents, college team mates and other contestants. For more information, please visit InnovationJockeys

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Intex Technologies further strengthened its LED TV segment with the foray into the Smart LED TVs today. With the commitment to provide ultimate customer satisfaction, this new category launch and its incredible features are sure to take the market by storm this festive season. Intex Smart LED TV range is available in four models and sizes: 32-inch HD (Rs. 27,999), 43-inch Full HD (Rs. 47,999), 50-inch Full HD (Rs. 54,999), 55-inch Ultra HD-4K (Rs. 89,990).

The lowest model LED 3201SMT is High-Definition (1366X720) whereas the 4301 and 5001 SMT models are FHD (1920X1280). The 5500 SMT model is the Ultra HD (UHD)/4K model with E-LED technology. The 55-inch UHD LED TV has an aluminum body giving it an ultra-slim edge look with 9.9mm thickness and is powered with 4K PRO 3 processing unit.

The key features in the Smart LED TV models include T-cast feature that builds upon WiFi to give users the freedom to display smart phone content of their choice on the big HDMI screen, be it, favourite video game or TV series. The N-Screen Wireless Mirroring feature uses WiFi connection to deliver audio and video content from smart phone to TV and also enables control on TV via smart phone. Intex Smart LED TVs have Digital Noise Reduction and a built-in Hi-Fi system that enables Sound Alone Effect where one can listen to the sound even when the display goes off.

Speaking about the launch, Nidhi Markanday, Director & Business Head, Consumer Durables & IT Accessories, said

Brand Intex is all about fulfilling aspirations, offering consumers the best of design & technology at very competitive pricing. We are excited to announce the exclusive launch of four new smart TV models this year. We are sure this will leave a lasting impact on our consumers and they will be delighted. With the upcoming festive season and so many auspicious days, we expect a great response to the new TV range.

Intex LED Smart TVs come with popular built-in applications such as YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter and up to 200 apps in the customised app store. The built-in WiFi, HDMI and USB ports make connectivity easy and quick. The smart TVs operate on various Android OS, allowing user to download apps from the Play Store and one can also access data on all other Android devices. The high end models have built-in high speed through 2T/2R i.e. Two Transmit & 2 Receive providing strong network and high speed access. So, now one can download apps, stream movies, browse videos and check emails – all on Intex Smart LED TV.

The Smart LED TV range will be available through company’s vast distribution network across India.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Intex Technologies expanded its Consumer Durables portfolio with the launch of environment and health friendly Air Purifiers. Christened Good Air, these air purifiers will not only keep a control on the harmful particulate matter especially PM2.5 that causes fatal respiratory disorders, but also remove bacteria and viruses from the surrounding. This is the fourth product category to be launched by Intex in the Consumer Durables segment after LED TVs, Washing Machines and Refrigerators.

Intex Air Purifiers come in 4 models – AP 215, AP 330, AP 380 & AP 450. They will be available exclusively on Amazon at a competitive price range of Rs. 11,999 to Rs 25,999.

Key features include UV Sterilization technology that eliminates bacteria and viruses, removes up to 99.99% of Pollen, Allergens, Fine Dust and clinging odors and purifies polluted air. The purifier comes with a Pre-Filter, which stops larger particles along with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Arrestor) dust collection technology and an in-built ionizer. In the high-end models, consumers can view real-time PM2.5 digital display to gauge pollutants levels in the room.

Nidhi Markanday, Director & Business Head, Consumer Durable & IT Peripherals, Intex Technologies said

Entering into the air purifier segment is driven by current environmental situation and consumer demand to live smart and breathe fresh. At Intex, we are always on the lookout for growth opportunities in the market which can be complemented with our consumer demand. We have been aggressively expanding our consumer durables portfolio and Good Air is one of the unique additions to this segment.Happy to partner with Amazon for bringing Intex Air Purifier exclusively to consumers and are sure of expanding our online reach.

For convenience, Intex Air Purifiers are pre-equipped with filter replacement indicators. Good Air, with four models, will cater to room sizes from up to 250 sq.ft. to 500 sq.ft. and can be operated through a remote control for convenience.

With air pollution levels in India touching alarming heights, Air purifiers are not a luxury anymore but rather have become a necessity. Air Pollution is the fifth largest killer in the world and due to leaks in windows and doors, the air in our homes is replaced by the hazardous outside air every few hours. This exposure causes problems such as aggravation of asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory symptoms. Air Purifiers are the perfect solution to fighting this menace and saving precious lives.

Good Air will be available Exclusively on Amazon

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

With the onset of the festive season, dreading to drive yourself on the roads due to crazy traffic and parking problems? Fret no further, Google today announced that users can now find directions and choose from a menu of ride service options straight from its Google Search App or through the mobile search browser.

Image Source - TaxiMobility
Image Source – TaxiMobility

This feature was made  available on the latest version of Google Maps earlier this year- featuring a dedicated tab with information for cab services in addition to the existing driving, public transport, or walking options.

Now with this integration, commuters across the country can ask Google for directions, and book ride services directly from Google Search. They will get to see a tab for ride services, both Uber and Ola, with fare estimates and pick up times if a car is available near their location.

On request for specific information such as Taxi to Bangalore airport or more specifically Uber to Bangalore airport or Ola to Bangalore airport, the app/browser directs the user to select a service and automatically opens the app to book the ride, all in just one tap. In cases where the app is not installed on the device, Google Search will show a link to install the app.

Sanket Gupta, Program Manager, Google said

Choosing the best transit option can be a task at times, our aim is to help users simplify their everyday travel. With this, users will be able to order, explore and make quick comparisons about the best estimated taxi fare directly from Google Search results on their mobile

If you have tried booking a cab through Google Search, do share your experience in the comments section.

|In: Embedded|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

National Instruments (NI), the provider of systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, successfully hosted the 13th edition of NIDays – an annual conference on graphical system design – in Bangalore. The event was attended by over 500 engineers, scientists, and experts from Industry and Academia who discussed the trends, opportunities and challenges that lie in the future of connected systems.

At the seminar, NI India launched the latest version of its flagship product, LabVIEW 2016, with enhancements in acquiring, processing and managing data from remote data acquisition systems. NIDays offered 21 technical sessions and tutorials along with a wide range of products and application demonstrations. Speakers and exhibitors from various industries joined the event. The diverse set of panellists shared their ideas on trends in communication systems, embedded electronics, security and automated test systems that address the challenges and opportunities for the next generation of connected systems.

Addressing the media at the event, Jayaram Pillai, Managing Director – National Instruments, said

Over the last 18 years in India, we have built a strong ecosystem of partners, proficient developers and successful customers and this ecosystem has enabled our customers to innovate. It’s inspiring to see the amount of innovation and true technological advancements at this year’s NIDays. The continuous dedication and leadership I’ve seen from the engineering community is awe-inspiring and I’m excited for the future of engineering.

Commenting on the success of the event, Ajit Gokhale, Senior VP Global Marketing, National Instruments, said

As the world becomes more and more connected, the immense amount of data available today provides the engineers and scientists with a wide variety of insights, but getting the right insight can be a challenge! We continue to help our customers stay ahead of the curve through our platform-based approach and cutting-edge technology advances in application areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) or the development of 5G networks by creating tools that help engineers solve real world challenges, accurately, efficiently and rapidly.

NI’s tools have proven to be instrumental in the success of a lot of Indian customers and their applications. This year, NI added various new products to the list of these tools aimed at accelerating the productivity of engineers and researchers working in the areas of IoT, 5G, industrial automation, etc. Some of these tools enable applications that previously seemed too ambitious because of their complexities.

The new range of products launched at the event includes:

  • High-performance PXI instrumentation for processing and sensing at the edge
  • MIMO Application Framework which provides wireless researchers with a fully open reference solution to accelerate 5G prototyping
  • Early access technology platform for TSN which delivers mechanisms to create distributed, synchronized, hard real-time systems over standard Ethernet
  • NI Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Simulator which helps drive down the cost of test for customers
  • Software-centric NI PXI Digital Pattern Instrument used by semiconductor characterization and production test engineers to drive down the cost of their tests and ensure product quality

 

To accelerate engineering skills development in India, NI also hosted its annual Engineering Impact Awards 2016 aimed at recognizing the most innovative projects based on NI software and hardware and NIYANTRA awards 2016 recognizing the best graphical system design created by budding engineering students.

Engineering Impact Awards

NI’s annual technical application contest – Engineering Impact Awards, enabled NI customers to showcase innovative projects based on NI software and hardware. The contest this year had a total of 40 teams and the winners got a chance to participate in the Global Engineering Impact Awards held in Austin annually during NIWeek.

This year, Captronics won in the ‘Application of the Year’ and ‘NI Alliance Partner of the year’ categories. They developed an application to determine the location of a bullet on a target system using NI CompactRIO Platform. National Aerospace Laboratories won in the ‘Systems Category’ for their design and development of structural health monitoring system comprising of SyncVIEW, DiagnoseVIEW, QuickVIEW for aircraft composite structures. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad won in the ‘Academic Category’ for developing a closed loop control of three phase inverter voltage using NI LabVIEW FPGA and cRIO.

Niyantara Awards

In order to foster the spirit of innovation in engineering students and expose them to the essence of experiential education through a contest, NI hosted its annual student design contest NIYantra 2016. This contest, held over a period of six months, helped the undergraduate engineers design their project ideas and convert them into working models using NI hardware and software. 

This year, NIYantra 2016 witnessed submissions from more than 950+ teams, out of which 18 teams made it to the finals. The results of the competition were announced at NIDays 2016. Sri Eshwar College of Engineering won the NIYANTRA 2016 awards for creating an innovative path detector designed for visually challenged. Teams from Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute Of Technology and K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering were the runners-up. The team from Kumaraguru College of Technology was also recognized for their efforts.

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

IBM and Indian Angel Network (IAN) have partnered to accelerate technology innovations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India. As part of this strategic partnership, IAN portfolio companies and members will work with IBM to build thought leadership by leveraging design thinking workshops and IBM IX Studios program while gaining a chance to explore new dimensions of next-gen technologies like Cloud, Cognitive, Analytics, IoT and Mobility. In addition, IAN and IBM will work on various joint initiatives, to further technology innovation and offer mentorship and funding support to early stage start-ups, that will enhance their ability to scale business both in terms of technology and newer business engagements.

IAN is India’s largest angel network with 100 plus investments and has already made over 20 investments in the first half of 2016. The collaboration will spur transformation of technology startups across India and ensure they have access to the support they need to get their products/solutions into the marketplace. IBM along with IAN will organize knowledge sharing and enablement sessions, on cognitive learning, analytics and product design.

IBM and IAN will work closely with IAN portfolio companies across e-commerce, education, financial services, healthcare, retail, IT etc. IBM business leaders and technology experts will help IAN portfolio companies enhance go-to-market strategies, achieve market alignment and augment their technology road-maps. The product and design enablement sessions will give an opportunity to help start-ups develop a strong product portfolio, shape the tech deployment early on and embed Cloud and Cognitive into their development cycle and leverage Design Thinking for enhanced client centricity. Furthermore, IBM will be able to influence a broad sweep of business leaders from Start Ups and Corporate CXOs by working with them along with the IAN investor group to make them aware about the future of emerging technologies, IBM’s vision, strategy and capabilities.

Padmaja Ruparel, Cofounder, President IAN said

IAN and its portfolio companies has been associated with IBM in the past and this partnership has helped nurture high growth startups. We believe this synergistic partnership will breed innovative technologies and grow global footprint companies from India.

Nipun Mehrotra, Vice President, Growth Initiatives IBM India/ South Asia said

IBM and IAN can bring about a significant transformation to the start-up ecosystem. IBM will engage, influence and mentor the early stage start-up ecosystem and additionally nurture an IP led start-up ecosystem focused on IOT, Artificial Intelligence, Security, Commerce etc and influence by design thinking.

IBM’s collaboration with IAN is an extension of IBM’s commitment to the Indian start-up ecosystem, and builds on the company’s previous announcements, including its cloud data in Chennai and partnership with industry forums and investor community.

The IAN portfolio start-up companies will also have the opportunity to apply for the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program, which provides business mentoring, technical support, networking opportunities with enterprise clients and apply for up to $120,000 credits to build their applications on IBM Cloud.

About Indian Angel Network

The Indian Angel Network is the world’s largest business angel group. With more than 400 investors from 10 countries, comprising the who’s who of successful Indian entrepreneurs and businessmen. They not only invest in innovative startups but also provide valuable inputs on strategy, in addition to providing access to their vast global networks. IAN’s presence spans 7 locations, which includes cities in India and UK. IAN has invested in startups from diverse industries/sectors. For more information, please visit Indian Angel Network

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Few weeks back I was in Mumbai for an event and to my surprise it was raining heavily like rainy season. There used to be occasional sunlight but most part of the day & night it used to rain like crazy! No wonder couple of my friends and neighbours had Dengue because of the mosquito menace. In fact, mosquito bites could also cause diseases like Malaria, Chickungunya that are equally dangerous diseases. To my surprise, they were not using any mosquito repellents in their house and there was a debate as to whether these repellents are effective or not!

85% Indians are aware that Dengue can be life threatening. 90% Indians are unaware that the mosquitoes that bite primarily during the day cause Dengue. Only 8% Indians use repellents during the daytime when the Dengue mosquitoes are the most active. Armed with this insight, Good knight has embarked on a journey to raise awareness of the Dengue mosquitoes prevalent during the daytime which will help the people to take necessary precautions in the day time as well thus, protecting themselves and their families from Dengue [Source]

Since this blog revolves around technology, we decided to look into mosquito repellent online and take a look into their offerings. Each one of us would have definitely used mosquito repellents, but rarely dug deep into how mosquito killer machine function! The categories that we searched for were electric mosquito repellents that can be used in-doors and some effective solutions that can be used while we are out-doors.

When we discuss about mosquito repellents, there is a synonymous brand that comes to mind –Good Knight. It has a very good brand-recall! We have been using Good Knight products since a long time and like the fact that their products cater to all the three important segments, namely In-Home: Electric, In-Home:Non-Electric and Outdoor Solution. They also have the first mover advantage and were the first company to launch Good knight Mat way back in 1984! Good knight products can be safely termed as mosquito killer for home and your family’s happy moments are always protected at home, with no interruptions, no tensions 🙂

Talking about Product categories, Good night advanced Activ+ system is an exceptional product in the Indoor-Electric category where there are two operating modes – Normal mode and Activ mode. Modes can be easily switched by using the push of a button available on the repellent machine. It not only kills deadly mosquitoes but also oozes out lovely fragrance.

It is very important to address every segment of the market. Hence, Good knight also has In Home:Non-Electric products like Fast Coil, Lavender-Jasmine Coil etc. Entire list of products are below:

Ain’t we all worried when we have to take our kids out and there are mosquitoes around. Well, there is an outdoor variant of Good knight in the form of Roll-On and with just 4 dots applied on clothes, your child is mosquito-safe! And the product can also be used by adults, though the amount of time it keeps them safe from mosquitoes might vary. Last but not the least, it always helps if there is constant information published about various mosquito borne diseases since prevention is always better than cure!

Would close the article with the tag-line

Push Karo, Khush Raho!