Emirates flight from Thiruvananthapuram crash-lands at Dubai airport

All 300 passengers and crew evacuated safely; All departures halted after the accident.

An Emirates flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai crash-landed in Dubai on Wednesday, with the authorities saying the 282 passengers and 18 crew on board were evacuated safely and no injuries reported.

More info

'Hoverboard' Scooter

Self-balancing "hoverboard" scooters, once lauded as trendy electronic skateboards, are now the subject of an ongoing safety investigation in the United States. Some online retailers are pulling certain brands off their virtual shelves following several incidents in which the futuristic devices caught fire or exploded. But it's likely not the boards themselves that are causing these flare-ups, but rather their energy sources: shoddily made lithium-ion batteries, experts say.

FOLLOW TRENDINGUPDATE @Facebook & Google+

3D-Printed Sneakers

Adidas' new running shoe has a 3D printed midsole.

Credit: Adidas

ZenFone 2 Laser.

     A marvel of craftsmanship and engineering that combines the beauty of Zen, unprecedented       performance, sharp vision and a seamless and intuitive UI, designed to be your best companion.

     More details..

The ASUS ZenFone 2 – designed to compete, out-perform, and out-price most mid-tier phones out in the market today – has just started selling in one of the fastest growing markets for smartphones today, which is India. Three variants of the smartphone were released, showing a gradual increase in pricing as the specs go up but still, on the whole, a very affordable proposition.

The top-of-the line model is the big dog of the group – the ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML, with the dual channel 4GB RAM, the 2.3Ghz quad-core Intel Atom processor, the full HD (1080p) IPS display, and 32GB of internal storage. This is the same one we featured in a real life, multitasking performance test and passed with flying colors. This one is priced at around USD$314.00, still very affordable for what you’re getting.

The second variant, curiously coded with the same model number (ZE551ML) has less RAM at 2GB, half the internal storage at 16GB, and a less speedier proc – still an Intel Atom but is at 1.8Ghz quad-core. It retains the full HD display, the same 3,000mAh battery, and the same 13MP/5MP camera combo. This one is priced at around USD$235.00.

The most basic variant, the ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE550ML, will feature a 1.8Ghz quad-core Intel Atom processor supported by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The display is still an HD (720p) screen, which is still a good spec at this price point. This one will be around USD$203. All of the variants will run ASUS’s ZenUI, which is based on Android Lollipop. All of these are for the India market, as of the moment.  

FULL SPECIFICATION

Xiaomi Mi 4 launched, set to go on sale from Feb. 10

The 5-inch device is powered by a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.

Chinese handset-maker Xiaomi on Wednesday launched its new flagship device, the Mi 4, for Rs.19,999 in India, a company statement said in New Delhi.

Mi 4 will be on sale February 10 onwards, and pre-registrations for the device will start at 6 p.m. on January 28 exclusively through its e-commerce partner, Flipkart.

“The Mi 4 reaffirms our commitment to bringing more Mi products to India. We will continue to work on offering our Mi fans incredible value as we introduce even more great devices in the coming year, and the best user experience ever,” Manu Jain, operations head, Mi India said. Xiaomi is also known as the Apple of China.

This 5-inch device is powered by a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM. It has a 16GB of internal memory and runs on a 3080 mAh battery.

It also includes a 13-megapixel rear camera, and front-facing camera of 8 megapixels.

“The Xiaomi team has put a lot of effort into designing a gorgeous device packed with powerful specifications, and I trust that Mi 4 will be warmly welcomed by all our Indian fans,” Hugo Barra, vice president, Xiaomi Global, said.

The company also announced the availability of MIUI 6 operating system for its Indian users.

The Chinese handset maker will start selling smartphones in India later this year through its own portal as it looks to beef up its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing devices market.

Xiaomi, which currently sells devices in India through homegrown e-commerce major Flipkart, will bring in its website ’Mi.com’ to India in the latter part of the year.

“We are currently looking for warehousing and logistics partners in India, as well as deciding on a payment mechanisms like cash on delivery. It may take anywhere between three to nine months,” Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain told PTI.

He added that the the Beijing-based firm will continue its association with Flipkart.

Currently, the company sells devices through its website in most countries of operations, except India and Indonesia.

 

Technology

Hike Messenger introduces free voice calling

Home-grown chat application firm Hike Messenger has rolled out free voice-calling Hike Calls, a company statement said Wednesday.

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

“While building free hike calls, we kept two things in mind. Firstly, India is a very cost-sensitive market and as a result we’ve ensured that our service is extremely efficient on data. It means our users can pack in more minutes per MB when calling on hike,” Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder and chief executive officer, Hike Messenger said.

“Secondly, we’ve made Hike’s free calling service available globally in over 200 countries,” he added.

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