FUNNY IMAGES

किम ने अपने बचपन की और बेटी की फोटो पोस्ट की

 

अमेरिकी टीवी क्वीन किम करदाशिअन ने अपना और अपनी एक साल की बेटी नॉर्थ का एक क्रिएटिव फोटो टि्वटर पर पोस्ट किया है।

 

इसकी खासियत यह है कि इसमें आधा चेहरा किम की बचपन की फोटो से लिया गया है और आधा उनकी बेटी का है।

 

किम का कहना है कि उन्हें पता नहीं है कि यह फोटो उनके किस फैन ने बनाई है, लेकिन जैसे ही यह उन्हें मिली तो उन्होंने इसे टि्वटर पर पोस्ट कर दिया। इसमें किम और उनकी बेटी हू-ब-हू नजर रही हैं।

5 अजीबोगरीब मामले: किसी के पेट में बच्चा, तो कोई नहीं सोया 41 सालों से

 

Prev

Next

 

(फोटो- भारत के नागपुर के रहने वाले संजू भगत)

 

दुनियाभर में आए दिन कई ऐसे अजीबोगरीब मामले सुनने को मिलते हैं, जिन पर विश्वास करना बेहद मुश्किल होता है। इनमें कोई व्यक्ति पिछले 41 सालों से सोया ही नहीं है, तो कोई व्यक्ति साइकिल से लेकर मेटल जैसी चीजों को सब्जी-भाजी की तरह खा जाता है। सुनने में थोड़ा अजीब लगता है, लेकिन ये सच है। भारत सहित दुनियाभर में ऐसे लोग है, जिनकी जिंदगी अजीबोगरीब है। इनके बारे में जानकर किसी को भी हैरानी हो सकती है।

 

हम आपको इस पैकेज में दुनिया के 5 अजीबोगरीब लोगों के बारे में बताने जा रहे हैं। ये ऐसे लोग हैं, जिनकी जीवन औरों से अलग है। 

 

(ये भी पढ़ें- ये हैं भारत समेत दुनिया के 10 भुतहा रेलवे स्टेशन, जहां जाने से डरते हैं लोग)

 

पेट में जुड़वां भाई

 

भारत के नागपुर के रहने वाले संजू भगत की दास्तां कुछ अजीब है। सही-सलामत पैदा हुए संजू का पेट युवावस्था में धीरे-धीरे बढ़ने लगा और बाद में वह एक गर्भवती महिला के पेट की तरह दिखने लगा। इसके बाद जून 1999 में उनके पेट में अचानक दर्द उठा। वे इलाज करवाने डॉक्टर के पास गए। डॉक्टर ने ट्यूमर समझकर जब संजू के पेट का ऑपरेशन किया तो वे हैरान रह गए। संजू के पेट में उनका जुड़वां भाई था, जिसे डॉक्टर ने निकाल दिया। डॉक्टर का कहना था कि दुनिया में ये अपनी तरह का अनोखा केस था।

Year 2015 is longer by 1 second and it may break Internet .

Year 2015 is longer by 1 second and it may break Internet

 

Computers and networks are all logic. Unfortunately, the natural world operates according to its own laws and on some occasions there is no logic in them. This year, we are going to have one extra second of time. Yes, the year 2015 will have 31,536,001 seconds instead of the usual 31,536,000. And this, according to a report at The Verge , is a big problem for computers.

The Paris Observatory has announced that it will be adding an extra second to clocks on June 30. This extra second is popularly known as a ‘leap second’. While it doesn't a big deal for humans -- it is just one extra second of time -- for computers dealing with this extra time is going to be a huge challenge.

In fact, this extra second is going to cause problems for many computer systems and software companies are already preparing for problems.

While Atomic time is constant, Earth's rotation is slowing down by 2000ths of a second every day. This means 2015 will be longer by an extra second.

The extra second is added to something known as universal coordinated time (UTC) so that it is the same as atomic time.

The leap second is an oddball problem for computing systems on the lines of the Y2K bug that affected computers at the turn of the century.

Just like when computers, which were programmed to abbreviate dates of the 1900's struggled to transition to 2000's, the extra second will cause issues for many computing systems.

On June 30, 2015 the clock will read 11:59:60 and this will cause problems to many computing systems that are not programmed for the time. As many computing systems depend on precise time, using the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to be in-sync with the world's atomic clocks, issues are expected, as many systems are not programmed for the extra second.

The leap second phenomenon is not happening for the first time. Back in 2012, Mozilla, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Reddit, and StumbleUpon all reported crashes when a leap second was added to time. Many systems, which were based on the Linux operating system and used the Java programming language, suffered the issue.

Back in 2012, Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux OS told Wired magazine that every time a leap second event happens a new problem is found. He likened the situation to untested code, which is never run, and often is found to be bug ridden when abruptly tested out of the blue.

To tackle this issue, Google has developed a system of its own so that its services don't suffer an outage. Instead of just adding the extra second, Google has developed a technique called the ‘leap smear’. With this technique, it breaks down the extra second into milliseconds, and gradually distributes the milliseconds to its clock before the official arrival of the leap second.

"When it became time to add an extra second at midnight, our clocks had already taken this into account, by skewing the time over the course of the day. All of our servers were then able to continue as normal with the new year, blissfully unaware that a leap second had just occurred. We plan to use this 'leap smear' technique again in the future, when new leap seconds are announced by the IERS," explains Google’s Site Reliability Engineer, Christopher Pascoe in a blog post citing the example of the leap second on December 31, 2008.

But Google's approach is expensive to implement and for many technology companies it is not a feasible solution.

According to the Telegraph, back in 2012, some US delegates wanted to get rid of the practice of adding the leap second to the UTC. It was argued that precisely timed transactions could go awry or vehicles dependent on the global positioning system (GPS) could be sent metre's off-course if their systems are behind a second.

However, delegates from the UK opposed this move citing the breakage of the link between the concept of time for humans and the rising and the setting of the Sun.

This would have also rendered the Greenwich Meridian useless, as the Greenwich Mean Time is measured by the time at which the Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian.

The leap second was first added in 1972. In fact, between 1972 and 1979, the leap second was added every year. It was added 6 times in the1980's and has been added only 4 times since 1999. Overall, it has happened 25 times.

As the Earth's speed of rotation becomes slow at times due to its relationship with the Moon a leap second is added. Concurrently, sometimes the speed of Earth's rotation also speeds up; there is a possibility that a negative leap second could be added to the UTC.

Later this year a final decision on the abolition of the leap second could be made. In the meantime, (no pun intended), the leap second will be a bane for many technology companies.

Buying guide: Best smartphones to buy in January .

Buying guide: Best smartphones to buy in January

 

After a brief lull, action is again intensifying in the smartphone industry. With the 2014 ending, we have seen new devices coming into the market. In December we didn't have too many phone launches but this month and then the next month we will see a lot of new phones coming in. So in anticipation of these new phones, retailers are slashing the prices of the older models. This is good because for consumers this means better options at more affordable prices.

This also means we are changing our monthly smartphone guide a fair bit this month. But rest assured, all the phones in this guide are tested by us and have been found to be real champ in their price bracket. All of them are safe buy. Just decide your budget and take a pick from the following phones.

Best phone for Rs.5,000

Earlier we have tried to limit ourselves to a phone that has a price of belowRs.5,000. But this time we are giving a nod to the ZenFone 4 (A400CXG), which sells for around Rs.5,300. Compared to other phones sold in this price bracket, the ZenFone 4 is better. It has a 4-inch display that is decent for the price, although it is a TFT display, which shows somewhat muted colours. The display resolution of 480 x 800 pixels is sharp enough. The display even has a layer of Gorilla Glass. The phone uses 1GB RAM and Intel Z2520 dual core CPU which is particularly potent for its price. The phone offers reasonable performance with no noticeable lag. The only drawback is its battery life which is on the sorter side (around 8 to 10 hours of use). But overall ZenFone 4 is the best phone to buy at a price of aroundRs.5,300.

Best phone under Rs.10,000

The recently launched Yu Yureka is our favourite in this price category. This is a powerful phone with a brilliant camera (for its price). The phone has a 5.5-inch screen, which may not be the best but is definitely one of the best we have seen in a budget phone. The phone performs well, clicks nice photos, shows vibrant colours, plays games with ease and has a relatively slim and light body. It also packs in powerful hardware in the form of Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and support for 4G (doesn't matter at the moment though).

Also read: Full review of the Micromax Yu Yureka

Also Read: Yu Yureka vs Xiaomi RedMi Note

Best phone under Rs.15,000

Actually none of the phones underRs.20,000 are significantly better than the Yu Yureka to justify spending extra. But if you want to spend more, we suggest the new Moto G. This is the model that was launched in 2014. In terms of core hardware, the new Moto G doesn't match the Yureka. But in terms of experience, it offers something special that justifies its extra price -- pure Android. The new Moto G uses an almost unmodified version of Android and is expected to get the Android Lollipop update in India soon. The new Moto G offers an almost lag-free smartphone experience on a nice vibrant screen. It has good battery life and while the camera could have been better, the overall experience is good enough to make it one of the best phones in the market.

Also Read: The full review of the Motorola Moto G (2014)

Best smartphone under Rs.20,000

As we said the Yu Yureka is really good. It is as good as any other phone selling for less than Rs.20,000. In case you want the unique experience of stock Android, you can go for the Moto G. But if those phones don't meet your requirements and you want something for aroundRs.20,000, we suggest Lenovo Vibe X 2. It is a fairly powerful smartphone with a decent camera and decent battery life. Its 5-inch screen has fulllHD resolution which shows vibrant colours and crisp text. The phone packs in 32GB internal storage. A 8-core MediaTek processor and 2GB RAM pack in enough performance to make Android and apps work smoothly on the phone. The metal design, which uses a combination of colours, is unique and looks stylish.

Also Read: The full review of Lenovo Vibe X2

Best smartphone under Rs.25,000

With the old Moto X phased out, we don't have a clear winner in this category. But if you are good smartphone experience, you should take a look at the iPhone 5C in this price bracket. The 8Gb version of the iPhone 5C is available for less than Rs.25,000. At this price, with the iPhone 5C you get a phone that has smooth performance, a nice and bright screen, a good camera and decent battery life. The drawbacks are limited storage (around 5GB) and the smaller screen size. But if you are not going to play too many games or is not going to store a lot of videos or music on the phone, the iPhone 5C (8Gb) is a good choice.

The bigger screen alternative: What if you need Android or a bigger screen? Our choice in this price bracket is HTC Desire 820. The camera in this phone is a weak spot but otherwise it is a reliable and decent phone with a 5.5-inch screen. It is sold for around Rs.23,000. Important: Don't buy the Q version, which is sold for less than Rs.20,000. Buy the Desire 820 without Q.

Also Read: The full review of the HTC Desire 820

Best smartphone for less than Rs.30,000

There are two options in this category this month.

The Nexus 5 is what we recommend in this price bracket. It is a wonderful phone, especially with the Android Lollipop. It is also the fastest Android phone. No, it is not fastest according to benchmarks. But it is the fastest when you use it. Apps open within milliseconds, multitasking happens without any lags and gaming is smooth. The screen is nice, camera is above average and capable of clicking wonderful photos when used with steady hands, and the sound during calls is class leading. The 2GB RAM and Snapdragon 800 processor give the device enough grunt to handle all kinds of games and apps with ease. The only issue is below average (around 10 hours) of battery life. That is one compromise but it is worth making considering everything else in the phone.

If you don't want Nexus 5, we recommend the new Moto X, which was launched in 2014. Now available for around Rs.29,999, the new Moto X is a powerful phone with almost no major weakness. The camera could have been better but overall it is one of the best Android phones available in the market.

Also Read: Nexus 5 running Android Lollipop is the best phone available

Also Read: Full review of the Motorola Moto X (2014)

Best smartphone under Rs.35,000

Again we have two options here. The HTC One M8 Eye is our primary choice. This is a good looking phone with powerful hardware. The 5-inch screen of M8 is one of the best we have seen in a phone. The phone uses 2GB RAM and Snapdragon 801 processor, which is powerful enough to make sure that your Android experience is smooth. The Sense UI that HTC uses is slick, attractive and functional. However, the best about the M8 Eye is its design. The all-aluminium body is just gorgeous. Battery life too is very good though the camera, despite being better than what you get in the plain "Eye-less" M8, is a letdown considering what others offer in the same price range.

If you want better camera, we suggest the Samsung Galaxy S5, which sells for around Rs.32,000. At this price, the Galaxy S5 is a fantastic choice. It has a superb screen, features like multi-window and S Health, a fantastic camera and decent battery life. One downside is rather limited internal storage (only around 9GB in the 16GB phone). Though you can add more through a microSD card.

Don't buy other higher priced phones

Yes, there are a lot of phones sold in market that cost more than Rs.35,000. But they are not worth the money. None of them, except two more that we will list below, offer anything extra over the phones that we have listed in this guide so far.

Money no bar...

If you are willing to spend aroundRs.50,000 on your phone then we suggest the Apple iPhone 6. If you want an Android phone, don't spend more than Rs.35,000. Spending more on an Android phone won't get you anything extra in terms of user experience. In the iPhone 6, you will get a phone that offers reliable and smooth experience. It is a well-designed phone with fantastic screen and one of the best cameras we have ever seen in a phone. Battery life is decent and while iOS 8 is inferior to Android, particularly the latest Android 5 aka Lollipop, it does offer polished and reliable experience. Earlier, the iPhones had a smaller screen. With the iPhone 6 even that is not an issue. The 4.7-inch screen is good enough though resolution could have been better.

Also Read: The full review of the iPhone 6

Best phablet you can buy

Last month we put the Galaxy Note 4 here and we don't see any reason to change it. The Note 4 is a phenomenal device. It packs in superb hardware -- in fact the best hardware you can get in a Android phone at the moment -- and software that makes somewhat better use of this hardware compared to other top phablets like the Nexus 6 or the iPhone 6 Plus. The Note 4 comes with 5.7-inch screen which has an incredibly sharp resolution of 1440 x 2560. It is powered by 3GB RAM and Snapdragon 805 processor. The internal storage is generous 32GB. But the best features are hidden in software. The phone offers several ways to multi-task, including accessing multiple on the same window. It has comes with a handy stylus that integrates well with the software. However, the Note 4 is expensive at a price of around Rs.Rs.54,000. Buy it only if you need all the functionality it packs in.

Also Read: Full review of the Galaxy Note 4

Phone with the best camera

Asus has unveiled a new phone with super camera and Panasonic is showing a Lumix (which is a brand reserved for cameras) device powered by Android. But these are yet to hit the market. So we continue to suggest the Lumia 1020 to anyone who wants a smartphone with a superb camera. The Lumia 1020 has even improved as a smartphone in the last few months, due to the updates to the Windows Phone that have added a lot of missing functionality such as a proper notification centre to it. To summarise, Lumia 1020 is a decent smartphone at its current price of less than Rs.25,000 with a camera that can shoot images better than any other phone.

Phone with the best battery life

If you are just looking for a phone with the best battery life, we will recommend the Xiaomi RedMi Note 4G for you. The 4G bit here is very important because the processor used in the 4G version seems more energy efficient than the one in the 3G version. Overall, the phone offers decent performance and nice (though not-so-bright) screen and a very capable camera at a price of less thanRs.10,000. As far as battery is concerned, the 3100 mAh battery in the Note 4G can easily keep going for 20 to 24 hours even when used regularly. The fact that it is a road runner is evident from the scores it gets in the battery benchmark. In PC Mark battery benchmark, it lasts over 9 hours, which is 50 percent more than what the next best phone manages.

Far Cry 4 review: A beautiful game set in Himalayas .

Far Cry 4 review: A beautiful game set in Himalayas

 

It has been almost a decade since Far Cry debuted. And since then it has managed to attract gamers with its various iterations. But the latest addition to the franchise - Far Cry 4 - does a lot more than just attract. It engulfs gamers. The game still boasts of an open ended world and first person shooter tactics, but in a much wilder and untamed world of Kyrat -- a mountain area nestled in the Himalayas.

Graphics

We give full props to the developers for truly cultivating and adapting the wilderness, blustery weather and unconstrained terrains of the Himalayas. The fictitious nation of Kyrat -- the area of gameplay -- is a remarkable open world. 

It has gigantic, vast and dense open landscape that one would associate when the name 'Himalayas' pops up in the head. The graphics are visually so appealing that they leave you totally consumed with this title. There is so much to discover and traverse. You get to explore Kyrat on foot, in a wing-suit or in a personal helicopter, which definitely highlights the game developer's attention to detail and gameplay. 

The graphics in the land of Kyrat coupled with a plethora of new weapons, vehicles, wildlife and inhabitants give a new outlook to the pristine and beautiful Himalayan land. Even the characters feel more human-like with almost human voice, which is a respite from those squeaky, computerised voice-over laden characters we are familiar with.

Gameplay

You wander in the shoes of Ajay Ghale, who has come back from the US to serve last rites to his mother's ashes in their homeland, Kyrat. Ajay's father was a rebellious leader in Pagan Min's (main antagonist) Kyrat state. Though Ajay as a protagonist brings the lead character alive on the screen, the edginess in the games comes from the way he connects and interacts with the world in Kyrat. 

The game revolves around how Ajay, essentially needs to get to Pagan, albeit, throughout the course of missions you'll need to join a few side missions. 

While on the go, Ajay is seen in various missions carrying out assassinations and hostage rescues. And as Ajay finishes each mission, he earns skill points that make him resistant to damage. Or he gets to use enemy's weapons against them. What add more fun to the game is that Ajay can use animals as his allies to take down terrorist zones. Though sometimes he needs to be cautious in how he deals with the wild beasts. 

Diversity in this open world title stands as the biggest asset of this game. Throughout the game you can see yourself using a sniper rifle to take down hidden, camouflaged enemies in a forest, or sneaking behind an enemy and killing him with a knife, or even burning down a house with a flame-throwing gun -- there is just no end to the weapons and the techniques Ajay can use while traversing through the wild land of Kyrat. 

Elements like taming a wild elephant give this game another ante to impress gamers. Well, not particularly for taming the wild beast, but to use it to kill the enemies is what adds a new dimension to this title. In addition, options like a wingsuit make this game whole lot of fun. How? Because, the next time you are pushed off the cliff, or purposely jump from it to escape undefeatable enemies, you can switch on the wing suit and fly through the wilderness. It also adds more of functionality in missions where you have to travel miles barefoot. Simply, jump off a cliff and glide! And maybe drop a rain of explosive while you are in mid-air to take out enemies on the land. 

This makes the gameplay extremely intriguing and gripping. If this doesn't satisfy you, then there are those go-to grappling cables that solve the purpose. Though, throughout the game you'll hardly have instances where you'll cross paths with Pagan, but that really isn't a big letdown for this title. 

Is it worth the money?

Far Cry 4 opens up a vast, unexplored terrain to players. This surely makes it to one of the best open-world scenarios I've seen till date. All along as you progress, you add up an arsenal of weapons and skills that make you more agile to take down your enemy. You also have vehicles and animals at your disposal that make this title more relatable to its open-world landscape. Far Cry enthusiasts might be disappointed with a weak storyline and character build up, but the world of Kyrat will charm many first timers of this franchise.

Game reviewed on PS4

Price
PS4/Xbox One: Rs.3499
PS3/ Xbox 360: Rs. 2999
PC: 1799

Rating: 7/10

 

Microsoft Spartan browser screenshots leaked .

Microsoft Spartan browser screenshots leaked

INDIATODAY.IN  NEW DELHI, JANUARY 8, 2015 | UPDATED 11:20 IST

 

For Windows 10, Microsoft has been rumoured to be preparing a new web browser, which has been codenamed Spartan. Now, the first screenshot of the browser has been leaked by technology website BGR.

The leaked screenshot shows the browser is loading the desktop version of Facebook's website. Clearly, there are some new user interface elements. It features a flatter design than Internet Explorer and has UI elements on the top left below the URL/address bar.

Notably, the design is cleaner and more minimalistic than what one has seen before. However, the screenshot is in line with what has been doing rounds. Previous reports have suggested that Microsoft was gunning for a lighter browser on the lines of Google Chrome.

Reportedly, the browser has been in development since September. Microsoft is said to have assigned a special team for the project. In September, Microsoft also unveiled the Enterprise centric features of Windows 10 and released the technical preview of the OS.

By Christmas, a third redesign of the browser was completed. The image leaked, though, is from the second redesign from November.

According to the report, the browser will have support for voice commands and users could run 4 browsers inside it.

"For example, users could split the browser into four windows that would be showing them four different ways to seeing a website or online application, as long as those browsers are also installed on the same device," explains the report.

Currently, it is not known if it's an overhauled version of Internet Explorer or an all new browser. Microsoft is expected to showcase the consumer preview of the Windows 10 on January 21. At the event, it is expected that Microsoft will publically showcase Spartan for the first time.

One is not even sure if the Spartan name will stick. Microsoft has shown a penchant for taking names from the Halo video game franchise, so the name could actually make it to the final build of the browser.  Previously, Microsoft's voice assistant Cortana was named after a character in the video game franchise.

 

Apple iPad Air 2 review: the best tablet in the world

 

For many users the iPad is the very definition of a tablet. After all, it is a product that created the tablet market in 2012. However, over the last two years, the sales of tablets have slowed down. If anything, Microsoft’s Windows-based tablets have shown signs of taking off and Android dominates the low-end with tablets of varying sizes and prices.

So, where does that leave the iPad?

The iPad still outsells its rivals and on most accounts it remains a superior tablet. But Apple can't take its position in the market for granted. Every year it has to make sure the top iPad remains the best tablet in market. With the iPad Air 2, the aim is same. And we can say that Apple succeeds spectacularly. The Air 2 is not without its faults. But keeping in mind what Apple's competitors offer, these are minor faults. The iPad Air 2 is a fantastic tablet. It is so good that in its class it stands alone and unchallenged.

Design

The iPad has always been the most attractive and well-designed tablet in the market. The iPad Air, last year was a redesign of the tablet after 3 years of the same design, so we expected the same design this year too. However, the folks in Cupertino had different ideas. The iPad Air 2 boasts an all-new design. It is significantly slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. At 6.1mm it is the thinnest tablet in the world. Heck, it is thinner than a pencil! It is also one of the lightest large screen tablets at 437 grams.

The iPad Air 2 feels like an engineering marvel. In ways, Johnny Ive’s team has managed to blend design elements from the iPhone 6, and the previous iPad Air, in such a holistic way that the iPad Air 2 just looks beautiful. From a distance, it does not look radically different from its predecessor, but when you hold it, you realise the difference is massive.

The device has iPhone 5S like chamfers, but this has the rounded design of the previous generation iPad Air.

While Apple has not reduced the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the product, the fact that it is vastly slimmer and lighter makes it more usable with single hand.

For the first time, we feel, you can buy the iPad Air 2 instead of an iPad Mini and not feel it to be a burden. Though still, it will not fit in a trouser pocket. The compromise regarding portability is quite minimal in our opinion. And when one adds to the fact that the internals are superior on the iPad Air 2, then it becomes a no-brainer.

For the first time, the iPad also gets the touch ID fingerprint scanner, which is nice.

As always, the build quality of the iPad Air 2 is sublime. It uses a unibody shell made of aluminium. The finishing is top notch and despite its thin frame, the tablet feels sturdy and compact.

Display

The iPad Air 2 retains a 9.7-inch ‘retina display’ with 2048x1536 pixels resolution.

This time around, Apple claims it has fused the display panel and the digitiser in one layer, which makes the screen clearer and nicer to view.

While Apple uses an IPS panel, the screen shows extremely vibrant colours like an AMOLED panel. The display is very good and the viewing angles are superb. Visibility under direct sunlight is very good.

For any use-case – be it watching movies, gaming, viewing photos, or reading text -- the display on the iPad Air 2 is very good.

Camera

The iPad Air 2 has an 8-megapixel camera on the back. There’s no flash but it has f/2.4 aperture. While, the idea of shooting photos with a large device like an iPad is rather stupid, the camera on the back of the iPad is bloody good. Heck, it is better than cameras found on many top-of-the line smartphones. It is easily the best camera we have seen in a tablet.

Images clicked with the iPad Air 2 are sharp, with loads of detail and natural colour reproduction. The noise levels are also on the lower side. If we compare the camera on the back of the iPad Air 2 with a smartphone, then its performance would be slightly better than the camera in the iPhone 5.

Even in low light, despite the missing flash, the iPad Air 2 has a very usable camera. Apple has also included the slow-motion video capture in the Air 2 so you can shoot videos at 120 FPS with it. These videos are a lot fun.

The iPad Air 2 can also shoot 1080p videos at 30FPS while reliably maintaining focus and keeping everything sharp and clear.

The front camera has a 1.2-megapixel resolution. Despite, the seemingly low-resolution, the front camera performs admirably during video chats and while clicking selfies.

Software

While hardware in the iPad Air 2 is flawless, software is not such a rosy story. The device is powered by the iOS 8. It is simple to use and now has a number of new additions like inter-app communication, a better mail client, but still it lags behind Android and Windows on many accounts.

The biggest omission is a windowed-multitasking system, which one can have on Samsung's Android tablets and all Windows powered tablets. Microsoft calls this feature Snap, while Samsung calls it Multi-Window. This allows more desktop like multitasking, which obviously enables higher productivity.

It is even available on some large Android smartphones, so it is quite puzzling that Apple has not added this feature in iOS powering its tablets.

If you want to be comfortable doing real work (and not just consuming content), it is likely Windows will be your operating system of choice even on a tablet as it offers more flexibility. In fact, on the iPad Air 2 even small things like transferring a video or an audio file is tedious because it happens through iTunes.

But when it comes down to the typical mobile use cases, the iPad reigns supreme as it offers the best selection of tablet apps on the planet. In fact it is the only tablet where you can get apps made by Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Performance

Powered by the new 64-bit A8X SoC, the iPad Air 2 packs incredible power. On many accounts it is considered to be the best ARM based mobile CPU in the market. The A8X processor is even more powerful than the A8 CPU on the iPhone 6 as it has 3-core CPU and 8-core graphics unit. In the A8 used in the iPhone 6, Apple uses 2-core CPU and 4-core graphics chip.

The iPad Air 2 also has 2GB of RAM, which is 1GB more than what we have seen in the iPhones and iPads so far. The processing power of the iPad is approaching what one would find in a personal computer four or five years ago. It is a pity that the iOS 8 does not take full advantage of it.

With iOS 8 being a very frugal OS in terms of resource usage, the iPad Air 2 with its new hardware feels like Lewis Hamilton's world championship winning Mercedes. The speed at which it opens apps and switches between apps is electric. It also runs multiple apps in the background without any trouble. We managed to have 33 apps open simultaneously and there was no issue.

All this sounds great, but the truth is that the last year's iPad Air is not significantly inferior. An iPad Air user will not find the performance of the iPad Air 2 life changing.

The graphics that the iPad Air 2 can push out in games border the quality found on consoles. Games like ShadownGun 2, Dead Trigger 2, Nova, and Asphalt 8 look beautiful. Needless to say, these games also run butter-smooth on this tablet.

Battery life

The iPad Air 2 offers the best battery life found in any large tablet we have tested. Consistently, over 2 weeks of usage, it offered 10-11 hours of battery life on a single charge. In some cases, the battery life would even cross 12 hours.  We tested the Wi-Fi only version and the cellular version will have slightly lower battery life.

Our usage included streaming music using iTunes Radio, 2 hours of web browsing, an hour of intensive gaming, 2 email accounts, 2 social media accounts, reading books on Kindle, writing stories on MS Word, and bit of photography.

Should you buy it?

In terms of hardware, the iPad Air 2 is the best tablet in the market. For normal tablet use cases, which include gaming, reading and consuming media, there is no better tablet than the iPad Air 2. However, if you need to get work done and need something that will run Adobe Photoshop, then a Windows based tablet or laptop will be a better bet.

That said, if your work revolves around Microsoft's Office apps, for example Word, then the iPad is a good option. We tested the Wi-Fi only version but if you need to access internet on the go, we suggest that you go for the 4G/3G version of the tablet.

With a price starting at Rs.35,900, the iPad Air 2 is one of the most expensive tablets in the market. But unless you already have last year's iPad Air, this is also the best general-purpose tablet in the market for you.

For most, the iPad Air 2 retains the crown of the best tablet in the world even though it does nothing to reinvent the wheel.

Google Glass may help moms monitor newborns

Researchers are testing whether Google Glass can help ease anxiety of parents temporarily separated from their newborns.

A new study at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston will test whether the technology of Google Glass, a hands-free, wearable computer device, can help foster the precious bond between a mother and her child.

Hundreds of babies are separated from their mothers after birth each year because one or both of them need immediate care, The Boston Globe reported.

Stephanie Shine, a nurse at the hospital, wants those mothers to see their newborns through the eyes of their partners: They will wear Google Glass while visiting the intensive care unit, and the images they see will stream live to a tablet computer in the mom's hands.

"I want to take this super-high-tech device and capture what could be thought of as one of the strongest and basic human connections there is," said Shine.

Researchers are seeking 250 mothers to place in one of three study groups: One group will use Google Glass, another will use iPads to video-chat, and the third, a control group, will not use technology.

Shine believes the use of Glass and iPads could help reduce maternal stress.

"For mothers who cannot touch and feel their babies right away, technology can help bridge the gap," said Dr Terrie Inder, chairwoman of newborn medicine at the Brigham.

CES 2015: Toshiba announces the world’s first SDHC card with built-in NFC and FlashAir III wireless cards

 CES 2015: Toshiba announces the world’s first SDHC card with built-in NFC and FlashAir III wireless cards


Toshiba has made some interesting announcements at this year’s CES, the latest being an SHDC card with built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) which lets you view thumbnails of the images and check the storage space on the card. Toshiba claims that this is a world first.

Toshiba has launched three cards across capacities of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB and these cards will start selling from February onwards. Instead of putting the card in your card reader to transfer images, you can get your NFC-enabled mobile phone close to the card. You will need a companion app called Memory Card Preview, which lets you see thumbnails of 16 images and check for available storage. Unfortunately, that is all you can do with the card. There is no provision for image transfer.

It seems a bit handicapped considering it just gives you a preview of 16 images and storage space available, two things which seem quite redundant as you already can preview images on your camera itself and the number of images which can be shot, is always indicated numerically on your camera display. Also these are Class 10 UHS cards, which is not the best in terms of speeds. Pricing details for these cards weren’t out.

Toshiba FlashAir III wireless card creates its own Wi-fi hotspot for image transferToshiba FlashAir III wireless card creates its own Wi-fi hotspot for image transferToshiba also announced its third generation of FlashAir III wireless SD cards at CES, which lets the card act as its own wireless LAN access point for sharing images to smartphones, tablets and laptops. These cards seem more useful than the SDHC cards with in-built NFC.The FlashAir III SD cards are expected to come in capacities such as 16GB priced at $80 or approx Rs 5,100 and 32GB priced at $100 or approx Rs 6.350. Just like the NFC based cards, the FlashAir III  cards are also come with Class 10 rating.Toshiba offers a FlashAir Mobile app for iOS and Android-based devices for image transfer. The FlashAir III cards come with a 5-year warranty period.

#APPLE WATCH LAUNCH

Apple Watch expected to go on sale by March
#APPLE WATCH LAUNCH

 

We’ve been hearing for sometime now that the Apple Watch is coming this spring, after the Chinese New Year. Now, sources familiar with the matter have told 9To5 Mac that Apple is finishing work on the software and the device will ship to the United States by March-end.

The report also states that Apple is ‘planning an extensive testing program’ for its Apple Retail Store employees. This training will help Apple employees get acquainted with its latest product.

In fact, a few representatives from Apple Stores in the United States will be sent to the company’s offices in either Cupertino, California or Austin, Texas to learn about the smartwatch. The training programs are expected to take place between February 9 and 16, adds the report. These employees will then train other employees in their respective stores, just when the devices are ready to hit store shelves.

Currently, Apple is believed to be polishing the OS and testing the battery of the device. The smartwatch was announced in September, but the company didn’t reveal much about its availability, except that it would come in ‘early Spring’. Later, Apple retail chief, Angela Ahrendts,was more specific and revealed the Watch will come only after the Chinese New Year. She had also disclosed how Apple had started planning marketing strategies and all retail employees would be trained to help customers try out the new watch and its features.

The Apple Watch sports a squarish design instead of a circular one popularised by Motorola’s Moto 360. The Watch is crafted from custom alloys of polished or space black stainless steel (Apple Watch), space gray or silver anodized aluminum (Apple Watch Sport) and 18-karat rose or yellow gold (Apple Watch Edition). Going by the demo during its launch keynote, the Watch can do a lot of stuff. Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple Watch.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G to go on sale today on Flipkart at 2PM

#FLASH SALE

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G will go on sale today on Flipkart. Users who have registered can buy the device at 2PM.

A few weeks ago, the Delhi HC had ordered Xiaomi as well as online e-commerce site Flipkart to stop selling handsets of the Chinese mobile maker that run on the technology patented by Ericsson. It had also barred the assembling, import and sale of Xiaomi devices in India after Ericsson accused the company of infringement on its patents.

It directed customs authorities to prevent the import of Xiaomi phones that infringe the patents of Ericsson.

But now, The Delhi High Court has permitted Xiaomi to sell and import its smartphones that run on Qualcomm chipsets until January 8.

Priced at Rs 9,999, the Redmi Note 4 sports a 5.5-inch HD IPS display and comes powered by 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8928 processor. Other specs include 8GB onboard storage, microSD card slot up to 32GB, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front shooter for selfies and 3100mAh battery. It runs Xiaomi’s MIUI OS.

The Redmi Note, if you recall, is something of a record breaker in terms of sales, with Xiaomi having sold 10,000 units in just a second in Taiwan.