'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.

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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.

Technology

In this October 29, 2014 photo, people are silhouetted as they pose with mobile devices in front of a screen projected with a Facebook logo, in this picture illustration taken in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Of the total number of active daily users, 745 million (84 per cent) logged in to Facebook through mobile devices.

Facebook has exceeded analysts’ predictions with annual results of double the net profit posted by the company a year earlier — thanks to good business growth through mobile devices in 2014.

The company earned in 2014 a net profit of $2.9 billion, nearly double the figure of 2013, while Facebook’s income last year amounted to $12.4 billion, representing an increase of 58.4 per cent compared to the previous year.

The results presented on Wednesday showed that the business branch of Facebook grew more last year and confirmed the success of the company to make the network more mobile-based.

In December 2014, the number of Facebook subscribers reached 890 million which meant a growth of 18 per cent compared to a year earlier.

Of the total number of active daily users, 745 million (84 per cent) logged in to the network through mobile devices, which accounted for a 34-per cent increase compared to the previous year.

In addition, revenues derived from advertising on mobile phones during the last quarter of 2014 accounted for 69 per cent of total revenue, 16 percentage points more than in the same period in 2013.

To take full advantage of this trend, Mark Zuckerberg’s company presented Facebook Audience Network last year, a network that puts in contact exhibition platforms — mostly mobile applications — with advertisers.

Facebook Mobile aims to penetrate emerging markets such as Latin America and Southeast Asia where not everyone has access to computers but where the use of smartphones is significantly increasing.

During the three months of October, November and December, Facebook shareholders earned profits of $0.25 per share, compared to the $0.20 in the same period the previous year, while the company had a turnover of $3.8 billion, marking an increase of 48.6 per cent, with $2.58 billion for the last quarter of 2013.

Facebook’s results, however, did not meet investor expectations and the share price slipped by 1.81 per cent to $74.87 per share in electronic trading after the close of the markets in New York.

New Technology

Microsoft launches new Outlook app for iOS, Android users

Taking Gmail and other email apps head on, Microsoft has launched a new Outlook app for iOS and Android devices.

The new app is basically a replacement for San Francisco-based email startup Acompli that was acquired by Microsoft for $200 million in December last year,New York Daily News reported.

Outlook will support Office 365, Exchange, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, iCloud and other key email services.

The app will also help users manage calendar and fetch attachments within the same app.

Users will be able to attach files from Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or the user’s mailbox right from the app.

“Our mission is to bring the best mobile email experience across platforms, in a way that is as familiar and functional as Outlook itself,” Javier Soltero, Outlook general manager and former CEO of Acompli said in a statement.

The new Outlook app will be a similar experience to the Acompli.

Microsoft also announced that it is removing the “preview” tag from its Office for Android apps.

Keywords: Microsoft, Outlook app, iOS, Android users, Acompli