Diwali 2016: A semi-comprehensive guide to buying from abroad

By Videep Vijay Kumar /  18 Oct 2016 , 15:27

Buying stuff online? You’re already living in the right country. India’s e-commerce industry has exploded, allowing shoppers to get everything from stupidly large televisions to groceries and bubble top water cans online. Prices are largely competitive, and during times of festive sale, you’re likely to score better deals shopping on Amazon India and Flipkart than their equivalents in the United States, Europe, or even *gasp* China.

If there’s a downside, it’s that of availability. Not everything is available immediately, sellers are very conservative with their stocking, or India somehow skips a generation of products—electronics, for instance. And if you’re the sort who digs fashion (this writer merely knows how to spell the word, admittedly) or are an avid fan of all things trendy, online Indian marketplaces could be entire seasons behind. Yes, whole seasons!

But we have the internet, and world is at our feet. What follows is a list of obvious and not-so-obvious online shopping websites which will put stuff in a box and send it to you from exotic locations—as long you give them your credit card information.

Amazon.com

Let’s get the usual suspects out of the way first. While Amazon.in is fully capable of keeping Indian shoppers happy with its huge catalogue of products, inexpensive Amazon Prime subscription and one-day grocery delivery in some cities, there are going to be some unattainable products. This would be a good time to point out that Amazon.com ships a lot of products overseas (there are restrictions, of course). International shipping and duty charges (based on estimates) are applied at the time of

Flexible display smartphones have a long way to go; flexible batteries is a start in the right direction

By Nimish Sawant /  18 Oct 2016 , 16:03

Earlier this week, a video leaked online showing a Xiaomi flexible display prototype. The concept display leaked on Youku is a 30-second clip showing a display running MIUI skinned Android OS. The lower half of the phone is bent. The user is swiping smoothly through various apps.

Sense of deja vu?

This is not the first time that we have heard of bendable or flexible displays. LG and Samsung have released phones with curved displays. We have seen the LG G Flex and G Flex 2 phones, Samsung had also released the Galaxy Round some years ago. But we have seen with both these devices, the limit to which the flex could be applied. Barring the flexible displays, everything else in these phones was pretty much standard fare. With non-bendable internals and battery, there is only so much a flexible display can do.

From the prototypes seen this year, it looks like 2017 will see a fair share of flexible display smartphones as well. Lenovo had showcased its prototype which you can wrap around your wrist and Samsung’s concept is looking at a 2017 release, most likely at MWC 2017. We had seen this Samsung flexible display prototype ad three years ago, but have yet to

Google launches Firebase cloud messaging for desktop, mobile web

By tech2 News Staff /  18 Oct 2016 , 15:59

The newest announcement from Google reveals support for Firebase Cloud Messaging service to desktop and mobile web. This expands Firebase’s reach, which was earlier limited to Android and iOS. The service lets developers send push notifications for their app to the user’s device.

This has been made possible by the new Javascript Library which supports Chrome on desktop and mobile, Opera on mobile and Firefox on desktop.

“The technical aspect of web notifications is just a start. In order to make the most out of web notifications, you need to engage your users with the right content in the right manner. Check out our “What Makes a Good Notification?” post for best practices on notification content and “Best Practices for Push Notifications Permissions UX” post for tips on interacting with Web users to get permission for sending notifications,” a Google blogpost reads.

Talking about its partner, Alibaba Express, the blogpost says that the latter saw 178 percent higher conversation on implementing Firebase Cloud Messaging. “We were unable to find any effective solution for notifications until we found FCM. It is the best solution because of its rich features, stable performance, and easy deployment,” said Zou Yu, Director of Alibaba.com Mobile.

MIT researchers develop flexible optical fibre for medical implants in the brain

By tech2 News Staff /  18 Oct 2016 , 16:33

A collaboration of researchers between Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School has resulted in the development of highly flexible and stretchable optical fibre for use in biomedical implants within the human body.

The fibre can be used to measure strain, detect signs of disease, or directly treat cells in the human body, especially in the brain. The optical fibre is based on hydrogel, a material made up mostly out of water.

The implants are long lasting and can remain within the human body for extended periods of time. One of the major use case scenario is in a field of medical science known as optogenetics. Here, pulses of light are used to directly activate cells, especially neurons in the human brain. Very thin needle like fibers are used for this purpose. The brain is made up of jelly like material that can be easily damaged by stiff optical fibers. The flexible fiber can allow for therapy over longer durations of time.

Xuanhe Zhao, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Associate Professor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering says, “The brain is like a bowl of Jell-O, whereas these fibers are like glass — very rigid, which can possibly damage brain tissues. If these fibers could match the flexibility and softness of

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 woes continue; 5-7 million users may switch to iPhone 7

A burnt Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in an aircraft

By tech2 News Staff /  18 Oct 2016 , 16:42

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is dead! The new replacement devices began catching fire, and finally the company decided on a recall and provide users refund or other device options. This conundrum is believed to be beneficial to arch-rival Apple.

With slowing smartphone markets, everyone knew how important the new device was for Samsung. But, as luck would have it, Apple will be eating into Samsung’s share as prolific analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI (via 9To5Mac) says atleast 5-7 million ex-Note 7 users will switch to the iPhone 7, and majorly to the larger iPhone 7 Plus.

Kuo explains the new dual camera would prove to be an attractive feature for users. Moreover, the report adds that the intersection of users has shown very little loyalty to any particular manufacture, and many may choose to switch to iOS, who may have previously used the iPhone devices.

However, the analyst does add that the impact of Note 7 will not last for too long. But, Kuo does warn that repetition of such an event may destroy the Samsung brand. However, iPhone 7 isn’t the only alternative, and there are others in the queue too, such as the all-new Google Pixel and Galaxy S7 edge. In fact, Samsung is already known to be offeringalternatives like Galaxy S7, S7 Edge to appease India customers.

HTC Bolt leaks, will skip the 3.5mm headphone jack

By tech2 News Staff /  18 Oct 2016 , 18:23

HTC managed to survive this year with its flagship HTC 10 and struck a deal with Google to make the Pixel smartphones. Now it seems the next smartphone in line will be the HTC Bolt or so it seems from the leaks.

Thanks to profound leakster Evan Blass, we have a first look at the device. From the front it looks exactly like the HTC 10 with a curved glass finish along with a fingerprint scanner and capacitive buttons sitting below the display. It also seems to feature a full metal body finish with chamfered edges, although the back looks different.

The HTC Bolt could feature a 5.5-inch display, but the resolution is unknown. It could feature 3GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage along with microSD card support. There is also a USB Type-C port at the bottom and no headphone jack. So probably HTC’s first handset to omit the port. It won’t be the first handset to offer audio via the USB Type-C port as the HTC 10 offered the same feature, while still having the legacy audio port.

As mentioned above, the back is slightly different as there is no sign of the laser autofocus unit and the dual-LED flash has moved to the top. The camera could also see a bump with an 18MP F/2.0 unit. There is no confirmation as to when it will launch, but there is a chance that it could launch before the next year.

Potential class action lawsuit against Samsung in US over exploding Note 7

Image Credit: REUTERS

  19 Oct 2016 , 08:55

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s U.S. unit is facing a proposed class action lawsuit from three Galaxy Note 7 customers, according to a filing in a federal court in Newark, New Jersey. The complaint against Samsung Electronics America Inc seeks to represent a nationwide class of Note 7 customers in Nevada, Pennsylvania and California.The world’s top smartphone maker last week permanently ended sales of the fire-prone Note 7 smartphone less than two months after its launch.

The world’s top smartphone maker last week permanently ended sales of the fire-prone Note 7 smartphone less than two months after its launch. Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire in what could be one of the costliest product safety failures in tech history.

A spokeswoman for Samsung Electronics America declined to comment on the pending litigation. The complaint, filed on October 16, alleges that the consumers discontinued using the phones after the recall, but were asked to wait days or weeks for a replacement phone.

The complaint states that the consumers continued to incur monthly device and plan charges for phones they could not use. This comes after the company opened up Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exchange and return stalls on airports from South Korea to United states of America. The USA has made carrying Note 7 in flights, a federal crime to deter people from carrying the phones.

With inputs from Reuters