Tim Cook Says Apple Watch Could Replace Your Car Keys, And That’s Just The Start

Apple CEO Tim Cook is doing a tour in part to help prepare the world for the launch of the Apple Watch, which is likely going to be the start of the show at a special event on Monday March 9 at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. He spoke to The Telegraph about the company’s first smart wearable and talked about what will motivate a purchase decision for the Apple Watch now, and why it’ll only get more attractive as time goes on.

Cook told the Telegraph that he suspects an initial driver for sales will be that consumers want the Apple Watch as a fashion statement, and the company has clearly been hard at work setting up the accessory in that light. The watch is also incredibly accurate, Cook reminds us, able to keep time within 50 milliseconds of variation. But the apps are the real story, and in the end the Apple Watch is still a convenience accessory – with the opportunity to become even more powerful in that regard once it’s present in the real world in a sizeable population, which will drive integrations with more of the other devices that we use on a daily basis.

In the Telegraph interview, Cook offers the example of the Apple Watch replacing your car’s physical keys or dedicated fob. It’s a powerful use case to propose because it’s immediately apparent that if one already has an Apple Watch for the benefits of notifications and communication it offers, migrating the functions of other dedicated gadgets with similar radio and sensor loadouts to the wearable makes a ton of sense.

Smartwatches are already pretty abundant, but the difference an Apple Watch can offer isn’t limited to just Apple’s ability to take existing concepts and refine the hardware and software experience into something people are actually going to enjoy and find indispensable. It also has the power to effect complementary changes in adjacent industries, thanks to its ability to sell devices at great scale. A car maker might not currently see why they should offer Android Wear compatibility, for instance, but once there are even 5 million Apple Watches in circulation in the U.S., as a blind example, such functionality becomes a value-added selling feature for potential owners.

A car key fob is low-hanging fruit, in that it would probably require very little work to make a reality, at least in terms of technical changes required. But you can easily see how appliance makers, smart home platform operators, public transit corporations, airlines, hotels and more might start to see the benefits of setting up communication with a device worn by a fair portion of their clients and consumers – and a group that’s generally more free with their spending than other demographics, on top of that.

The Apple Watch has enough hype, style and substance to be a success out of the gate, but the longer-term story that will be told once sales volume moves adjacent markets is the most interesting in terms of broader impact for our everyday lives.

ALL CREDIT GOES TO:-  http://techcrunch.com/

IOC to raise diesel, petrol prices from Sunday

(Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) said it would raise the retail price of petrol by 5.5 percent and that of diesel by 6.6 percent from Sunday, as global prices of the two fuels have risen since the last revision.

Retail prices of petrol will be raised by 3.18 rupees a litre and that of diesel by 3.09 rupees a litre, it said in a statement on Saturday.

India's three state-controlled fuel retailers: IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL.NS) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL.NS), tend to move their prices together.
($1 = 61.6489 rupees)

(Reporting by Meenakshi Sharma in Mumbai; Editing by David Holmes)

CREDITS:- THIS POST IS TAKEN FROM :- http://in.reuters.com

PhotoMath Brings Its Awesome Math Equation Solving App To Android

PhotoMath is a nifty little app. You point your phone camera at a math equation, and it will give you the answer and show you all the steps to solve this particular equation. Following its huge success in the App Store, the app is coming to Android.

When I first played with PhotoMath before the team took the stage in our Battlefield competition at Disrupt London, I was impressed by its design and overall user experience. Solving a math equation with a computer is nothing new WolframAlpha has been doing that for years. But typing an equation inside WolframAlpha’s app is a painful process. With PhotoMath, you point, you shoot and you’re done.

And now, in addition to coming to Android, the app now supports quadratic equations, inequalities and more. The app is faster and the solution screen has been revamped as well.

What I didn’t expect is that so many people would find it useful. In just 24 hours, the app rocketed to the top of the App Store, and people attending Disrupt London couldn’t stop talking about it.

MicroBlink, the startup behind PhotoMath, is a text recognition technology company. The company worked a lot on accuracy and speed so that scanning text only takes you seconds. PhotoMath is a great way to showcase its real-time text recognition engine.

The app has accumulated 11 million downloads on iOS and Windows Phone, and people are still using it. In January alone, it was used to solve 8 million math problems. And now, it is available on Android. It is still free and should resonate well with high school kids who have a cheap Android phone.

ALL CREDITS GOES TO:- http://techcrunch.com/

Twitter Will Crack Down On Serial Trolls By Tracking Their Phone Number

Twitter has a troll problem. Even its CEO knows it. And now the company is doing more to prevent its users suffering abuse and threats on its service.

In a bid to make improvements, Twitter has announced new measures to expand the process for reporting user safety concerns, and a system that uses phone numbers to prevent those who repeatedly harass others from creating new accounts.

The Verge reported that Twitter will begin tracking phone numbers for known trolls. The problem here is that serial trolls can easily (and quickly) open new accounts and resume their harassment if Twitter shuts their account down. Identifying them by their phone number can help track these efforts to start over, and ultimately keep them and their vitriolic behavior off of the service.

Twitter currently makes associating an account with a phone number optional, but The Verge said that in cases where a user is found to be harassing others, their account may be temporarily banned until they provide their number. That number (and the email address used to register the account) would then be checked against a list of known trolls to decide whether a full ban is necessary. It’s not a perfect solution the troll could abandon the banned account and open a new one without supplying a number but it is certainly a positive step forward.

Twitter is also expanding an initiative from last year that allowed bystanders to report abuse previously it was limited to the victim only. Now it is taking that same approach for instances of self-harm, impersonation, and the publishing of private information.

The company revealed that it has tripled the size of its support team in line with its increased focus on safety. In particular, Twitter said that it now sees five times more reports after it began allowing third parties to flag abuses.

ALL CREDIT GOES TO:- http://techcrunch.com/

Actor Leonard Nimoy Passes Away At Age 83

Leonard Nimoy, best known for playing Spock on the television show Star Trek and its movies, passed away in his home on Friday. He was 83.

The cause of his death was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which the actor confirmed he had last year.

Nimoy was born in 1931 in Boston. His parents were Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union in an area that is now part of Ukraine. He acted in several amateur productions as a child and then began his movie and TV acting career in 1951.

In 1952, he played the title role in the boxing movie Kid Monk Baroni. Although his acting was praised, the movie was a flop, and Nimoy spent over a decade playing largely bit parts in both TV and movies, including roles in Dragnet, Perry Mason and The Twilight Zone.

In 1965, Nimoy passed on a role in Peyton Place to take a part in Gene Roddenberry’s TV show Star Trek – and the rest was history. Unique among most TV shows, Star Trek actually had two pilots. NBC liked aspects of the first pilot, “The Cage” but had some issues and asked Roddenberry to shoot a second pilot. Mr. Nimoy’s Spock, half-human, half-Vulcan, was the only character to appear in both pilots. (Something that became a plot point for the two-parter “The Menagerie” which followed up on the original pilot.)

Nimoy’s Spock became a cultural phenomenon. Characterized by an emotionless devotion to the Vulcan ethos of logic, Spock was an inspiration to a generation of fans and became well known to the public at large. Nimoy had a large part in shaping the character into someone who was non-violent (Nimoy developed the Vulcan nerve pinch as an alternative to punching), ethical, intellectual, and compassionate.

Nimoy and the character came back in the Star Trek animated series, six Star Trek movies, the spinoff Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the two rebooted Star Trek movies directed by J.J. Abrams.

Nimoy continued acting after Star Trek with a starring role in Mission: Impossible and a number of smaller parts (including one of the best murderers on Peter Falk’s Columbo series). He also directed several movies, including two Star Trek films and Three Men And A Baby. He was also a prolific writer of poetry and a photographer, and published several works of each.

Mr. Nimoy is survived by his wife, Susan Bay Nimoy; his children, Adam and Julie Nimoy; his grandchildren; and legions of fans.

ALL CREDITS GOES TO:- http://www.forbes.com

Google Unveils Plans For Flexible, Biodome-Like Headquarters In Mountain View

Google just unveiled plans for a new headquarters in Mountain View that looks like a series of canopies or even almost geodesic-dome like formations.

This is the first time the company has designed and built offices from scratch, and it’s partnering with Bjarke Ingels at BIG and Thomas Heatherwick at Heatherwick Studio, which will lead to a better way of working.

Instead of very permanent buildings, Ingels and Heatherwick conceived of lightweight block structures that can be moved around as Google gets into new areas as it has in the past with self-driving cars and smart contact lenses.

Moreover, the company envisions a campus that more seamlessly blends into the surrounding area. Areas are open to the public as well as Google employees.

“It needs to be a neighborhood in Mountain View,” the video above says. That’s a contentious point, as Google has long wanted to build north of 5,000 housing units in the area, which the city council has resisted. The inability to co-locate or build housing in line with the company’s growth has put pressure on cities to the north like San Francisco.

The video also critiques a lot of the automotive-centric infrastructure that surrounds the area like Highway 101. Mountain View and other cities nearby came of age in the mid- to late-20th century when suburbs and highways were favored by federal policy and cultural tastes. This has shifted as younger tech companies have decided to begin life north in San Francisco over the last 15 years.

Meanwhile, slightly older companies like Facebook and Google have remained entrenched in the South Bay suburbs. Each is in the process of erecting futuristic new complexes from Apple’s circle-like headquarters under construction in Cupertino to Facebook’s new Frank Gehry-designed building in Menlo Park.

ALL CREDIT GOES TO:-http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/27/google-hq/?ncid=tcdaily#8sn9YK:OGR

Modi's frontal attack on Congress: MNREGA shows Congress failure

PM Narendra ModiPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attacked the Congress for its declining fortunes, saying it were schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) that has done the party in.

Modi said he will never scrap the scheme since it shows what the Congress has not done in so many years. "Why would I scrap MNREGA? I want that scheme to remain so that the world could see what India has done after so many years," he said as Congress president Sonia Gandhi sat in the audience.

"After 60 years, people are being paid to dig the ground," Modi said, saying he has enough political instinct to know that the scheme represents the declining fortunes of the Congress. Modi also joined Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu in taunting the Congress over a series of defeats the party has received in the recent elections.

What had Naidu said about Rahul? 
The Congress led by an aggressive Sonia had almost stalled the presentation of Railway Budget on Thursday after it demanded that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu apologise for his remarks on party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Naidu had taken an apparent dig at Rahul's leave to introspect, saying if the Congress can't do it here, it should "go somewhere far" to do it. "My comments were misinterpreted. I respect all members from all political parties," Naidu later said.

Addressing Parliament after days of protest and disruptions over the controversial land ordinance, Modi however acknowledged the contribution of previous governments in India's development. "I said this from the ramparts of the Red Fort. This country would not have been here without the work done by previous prime ministers," Modi said as he presented the vote of thanks to President Pranab Mukherjee's address that inaugurated the Budget session of Parliament.

Why problems matter more than policy names: Modi

In his speech on Friday, PM Modi said the real issue is the problems that his "government has inherited" and not the names of various policies aimed at eliminating them. Responding to the opposition Congress's charge that the NDA government is only changing the names of the UPA policies, Modi said, "I have heard it said that previous projects have been picked up and their names have been changed. The issue is important. The names of the projects are not important. The problems have been the same."

On his pet Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Modi said, "When I speak of the Swachhta Abhiyaan, I keep in mind the poor who fall sick due to dirty or unhygienic surroundings. Cleanliness is a major issue, it is about our mindset. It's our responsibility to ensure cleanliness."

"We have forced nation to talk about black money"

Modi said the government had "compelled" the nation to talk about black money.

"We have compelled the nation to talk about black money. This is a big thing," said Modi.

"Our first decision in our first cabinet meeting was the decision on (forming) SIT on black money," he said.

Modi said corruption had "ruined the nation" and the issue should not be discussed through political prism.

ALL CREDITS GOES TO:- http://indiatoday.intoday.in

Railway Budget 2015: Mixed response in Mumbai

The Railway Budget on Thursday received a mixed response from Mumbai’s commuters and political parties as no big ticket announcements were made, but the impetus to the third phase of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) stuck since 2011, absence of hike in passenger fares, security cameras for safety of women were some measures welcomed.

“Though no new trains have been announced for Mumbai or Maharashtra, not increasing passenger fares and those of seasonal passes is a welcome move. The introduction of airconditioned local trains will make the daily commute better and reduce accidents as doors will have to be closed,” said Harshavardhan Patil, a government employee who commutes from Thane to CST.

“Passenger fares have not been increased. Soon after the Narendra Modi came to power, there was a sharp increase in fares for seasonal passes. That was not repeated. There is greater thrust on safety and customer service,” said Kalyani Kale, a travel agency executive, who travels on the Western Railway.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu briefly mentioned in his speech that the stalled MUTP III project would be speeded up, but he did not mention specifics. The third phase of MUTP envisages additional tracks for 517 km which could operate 266 trains at a cost of Rs. 52,000 crore. This includes 76 km of new suburban corridor linking Vasai-Virar on Western Railway to Diva-Panvel on Central Railway which could enable commuters in far western suburbs to travel to Navi Mumbai.

The project, stuck without much groundwork since 2011, also proposed two additional lines between Virar and Dahanu Road (65 km), two additional lines between Borivali-Virar (26 km), two lines on between Kalyan and Kasara-Karjat, a fast corridor between CST and Panvel on the Central Railway. However, it was not clear exactly how much funds have been allocated or which of these sections would be prioritised.

Describing the project as “progressive and pragmatic”, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “Though the budget avoids populist announcements, this budget will help railways achieve greater heights of developmental transformation. The allocation of Rs. 11,500 crore for MUTP III is a significant step for Mumbai, and I would like to thank Mr. Prabhu.”

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party slammed the budget describing it as a “missed opportunity”. “The thrust on implementing the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in railways is a dangerous trend. The concept of PPP model so far in the country has been that the public sector bears the risk and the private sector walks away with profit, such a model can spell disaster for the railways,” a statement from the AAP Maharashtra unit said.”

ALL CREDITS GOES TO:- http://www.thehindu.com

Moto E 2nd gen with selfie camera coming soon to India at Rs 6,999

Motorola will soon launch its second generation of Moto E smartphone in India. The brand which is now owned by Lenovo, will launch two variants of the new Moto E- 4G LTE and 3G version. The new Moto E (2nd gen) 3G variant will be soon launched on Flipkart.com at a price of Rs 6,999. The price of the 4G version is $149.99, but there is no information on the launch of the 4G variant in India.

Lenovo will have to carefully price the 4G verison in India to avoid cannibalization of the sales of its A6000 smartphone which is priced at Rs 6,999.

In the new Moto E 3G version, the 5MP rear camera now has auto-focusing but doesn’t come with flash. It also comes with a VGA front-facing camera for taking selfies.

The device sports a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Running Android 5.0 Lollipop OS, it runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 CPU with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which can be expanded up to 32GB. It is powered by a bigger 2,390 mAh battery. The 4G variant will run on a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 64-bit CPU.

What’s New with Moto E: Start connecting at 4G LTE / 4G speed

We took an already great smartphone and paired it with the best network in the world. Start browsing the web, streaming music, playing games and watching videos all at 4G LTE speeds. The new Moto E will also be available in a 3G version.

Do more, faster, with a quad-core processor

The new Moto E features a powerful Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processor with a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and advanced graphics. Start switching back and forth between your favorite apps without slowing down. Or listen to music and surf the web at the same time — without missing a beat.

Keep going with an all-day battery

With a 2390 mAh battery, the new Moto E is designed to last a full day. Dash to school or work in the morning. Meet up with family or friends. Then head out for the evening. All without worrying about stopping to recharge.

Take more shots with two cameras

The new Moto E comes with a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a second camera in front, making it perfect for selfies or video calls with family and friends. With two twists of the wrist, you can launch the camera with Motorola’s Quick Capture feature. Want to take a selfie? Just twist your wrist again to switch to the front-facing camera. All without touching the screen.

Start with the latest Android OS, Lollipop
The new Moto E runs Android Lollipop, the latest version of the world’s most popular mobile operating system.

Let the fun begin… just add color

Give your phone a splash of color with interchangeable Motorola Bands and Grip Shells. Start with a black or white phone and then choose from six Motorola Bands like turquoise or raspberry, or attach a colorful Grip Shell for added protection from scrapes and spills.

Make it easy with Moto software experiences

With the new Moto E, you get premium Moto experiences like Moto Display for notifications and updates without interruptions and Moto Migrate to quickly and easily transfer contacts, photos and videos to your new phone.

Starting today, the new Moto E will begin rolling out in more than 50 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. It will be available unlocked in the U.S. at www.motorola.com for $119.99 (3G) and $149.99 (LTE).

ALL CREDITS GOES TO:- http://www.financialexpress.com

14 bizarre and beautiful places to see in India

From haunted forts to snacking with the dead, here are some of the quirkiest tourist places in India.
Stranded house in Koteshwar, Kutch

 

Photo by:  nevil zaveri, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

A popular pilgrimage for Hindus, Koteshwar in Kutch, Gujrat is famous for the Shiva temple that overlooks the sea. When visiting this place, don't forget to check out this house in the middle of the sea. Surely someone is taking being anti-social very seriously.

Krishna's butter ball

The Hindu God, Krishna's love for butter is a known fact. It is also known that Krishna would steal his mother's butter jar to satiate his appetite. So when this huge rock, perched on a slope in Mahabalipuram (60 kilometres from Chennai) managed to stay on instead of rolling over, it was christened 'Krishna's butter ball'. Mahabalipuram is a historic town known for stone carvings and many other attractions but this one has to be the most curious one. While believers visit this place to get blessed, other's are drawn by it's unique position and physics-defying ability to cling on to the slope.

Paranormal activity in Rajasthan

 

Photo by:  A Frequent Traveller, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Often called the scariest place in India, the Bhangarh fort in Bhangarh, Rajasthan attracts tourists looking for some spooky thrills. While the Indian Government forbids entry to the fort after sunset and before sunrise as the place has been acknowledged to be haunted, one has the option to visit this place during the day.

Floating Stones of the Raam Setu Bridge

 

Credit: ShotIndia

A natural bridge that relates to Hindu mythology, the Ram Setu Bridge is a collection of limestone shoals that connects Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu, India to Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. This bridge is said to be built for the Hindu god Rama, who journeyed to Lanka using it. It is reported to be passable on foot till the 15th century and is even mentioned in the Sanskrit epic, Ramayana.

Frozen river trek

 

Photo by:  Sankara Subramanian, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Possibly the most unique kind of trekking one can opt for in India, the Chadar Trek in Ladakh is a trek that takes adventure-seekers over the frozen river of Zanskar that connects the villages in the Zanskar valley with Chilling (on the road to Leh). The best and most reliable time to opt for this trek is in February when the ice is relatively stable.

Magnetic Hill, Leh, India

The magnetic strength of this hill in strong enough to make cars and other vehicles gravitate to the top of the hill. In fact its magnetic force is strong enough to interfere with the transmission of passing aircrafts if they fly over it at a lower altitude

Rat temple in Rajasthan

 

Photo by:  Enric Bach, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Home to about 20,000 rats, who are considered to be auspicious, the Karni Mata Temple or the 'rat temple' is located in Deshnoke, 30 kilometres from Bikaner in Rajasthan. Dedicated to Karni Mata, this temple was home to the goddess who is believed to have performed several miracles here in the 14th century. Visitors to this temple include devotees who believe that making an offering to the rats here is a way of getting blessed and even those who just want to get a glimpse of this quirky attraction.

Snacking with the dead

This has to be the most curious tourist attraction in Ahmedabad. It began as a tea stall next to a cemetery in the 1950s and once it expanded, lack of space resulted in encircling some of the graves within. Today, the New Lucky Restaurant is a neat place for some tea and butter rolls, just don't trip over the graves which are scattered within the premises of this establishment.

The roots are alive in Cherrapunji

 

Photo by:  2il org, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Cherrapunji is said to record the highest rainfall in India which by logic translates to it being one of the most fertile places in the country. An unusual example of this would the root bridges which are almost 18 inches broad and 6 inches thick and serve as regular bridges that can be walked on.

The world's only floating lake

Located in Moirang, Manipur, the Loktak Lake is the world's only floating lake and the largest freshwater lake in the North-east. It is said to be floating due the presence of floating vegetation and decomposed organic mass called 'phumdis' that grow in it. The lake is big on biodiversity and 233 species of aquatic plants can be found here.

A lake that will make your heart skip a beat

 

Photo by:  Chandru, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

This heart-shaped lake in Chembra, near the town of Meppady in the Wayanad hill ranges in Kozikode district, Kerela is famous for its shape. To see this fascinating natural wonder, you have to climb 6,900 feet above sea level as the Chembra peak is the highest one in Wayanad. But the picturesque beauty of the place will only be worth the effort.

The floating Palace in Udaipur

 

Photo by:  McKay Savage, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

The Lake Palace located amidst the scenic Pichola Lake, on Jag Niwas Island in Udaipur, is popular with honeymooners looking for a romantic getaway. Built by Maharana Jai Singh II in 1746, this palace has now been transformed into a plush hotel managed by the Taj Group of Hotels. But one of the chief reasons why many tourists around the world want to visit this place is because it was shown as the 'floating palace' in the Bond film 'Octopussy' (1983).

The land of snakes

 

 Photo by:  Russ Bowling, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

India has often been called the 'land of snake charmers' but the village called Shetpal in the Sholapur District of Maharastra takes it up a notch. Every house in this village has a pet cobra slithering about, usually in the rafters of the ceilings. Believed to be an idol of the Hindu god Lord Shiva, the residents of this village firmly worship these reptiles and consider them to be sacred. The most fascinating fact about this place is that not a single case of snake biting has been reported here.

The world's widest tree

 

Photo by:  Abhijit Kar Gupta, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Located inside the Indian Botanic Garden or the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanic Garden at Shibpore in Howrah, Kolkata, the Great Banyan Tree has the Guinness World Record for being the widest tree in the world. Spread across 15,665 square metres and with 3,511 prop roots, this fascinating natural wonder is over 300 years old. 

 

ALL CREDIT GOES TO:- http://www.happytrips.com

Google Publishes Chrome Experiment #1000

Posted yesterday by Frederic Lardinois (@fredericl)

 

Google’s Chrome Experiments site, which highlights cool, developer-submitted interactive applications that run in the browser, has been online since 2009 almost as long as Chrome itself has been around. Today, Google is publishing the 1,000th experiment on the site and it’s launching a redesigned version of the site that is meant to showcase Polymer, Google’s web components library.

Experiment #1000 (that’s the official name) is a fun one: it’s a visualization of the other 999 experiments on the site. It’s not just a pointless visualization, though. Experiment #1000 also lets you check out the code for the other experiments and browse them by tags. So if you want to see how WebGL evolved over the years, just click that and take a look.

Unsurprisingly, given Google’s push toward Web Components, the new ChromeExperiments.com was redesigned using Polymer. If you are feeling nostalgic, take a look at the Ball Pool experiment from 2009. It was one of the original 19 experiments that launched the site. Then compare that to Google’s own I/O 2015 experiment or the ISS Photo Viewer. The web clearly has come a long way since 2009.

ALL CREDIT GOES TO: http://techcrunch.com

Google Acquires Facebook Marketing Startup Toro

Toro, a startup that helps developers promote their apps on Facebook, just announced that it’s been acquired by Google.

The company was originally known as Red Hot Labs, and it’s led by Amitt Mahajan and Joel Poloney. They previously co-founded MyMiniLife, which played a key role in the creation of FarmVille (and was acquired by Zynga).

Mahajan and Poloney told me last fall that the company’s aim was to make launching and optimizing a Facebook ad campaign as easy as possible for mobile app developers by automatically creating and testing “hundreds of variants” for each campaign.

In its announcement, Toro writes that joining Google will give team members access to more resources and distribution, allowing them to “continue our mission of making the lives of app developers easier.”

If you think this might shift Toro’s focus away from Facebook, well, looks like you’re right. The company says it will continue to optimize campaigns and provide reports for existing customers, but it won’t be creating new campaigns: “We recommend working with an alternative Facebook PMD for new campaigns going forward.”

The announcement does not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Toro had raised $1.5 million in funding from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, SV Angel, General Catalyst, Keith Rabois, Chris Dixon, Bill Tai and Guitar Hero co-creators Charles Huang and Kai Huang.

A Google spokesperson confirmed the news and said Toro will be joining the mobile ads team.

ALL CREDITS GOES TO: http://techcrunch.com

ICSI declares CS 2014 results: Check and download results on www.icsi.edu

The results of the Company Secretary (CS) 2014 examination have been declared by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). The CS 2014 examination was held on December 27, 2014. ICSI declared the results on its official website www.icsi.edu. Those who have appeared for the exam can go to the ICSI website and check their results. The official page will direct you to http://icsi.examresults.net/ to check your results as well as to download the e-marksheet.

All you need to do is click on the link called ‘Click here to view Result and Download E-Mark Sheet‘ and submit the required data; examination name and roll number. Candidates can download and take a printout of the same for their convenience. The CS 2014 results will also be dispatched by ICSI to the candidates by mail. Students can get in touch with the institute at the email address exam@icsi.edu in case they don’t receive it or for any further queries.

ICSI conducts the CS exam twice a year during the month of June and December. The exams are divided into three stages; Foundation, Executive and Professional examination. The ICSI is constituted under an act of Parliament. ICSI is the only recognised professional body in India to develop and regulate the profession of company secretaries in India.

Edited by Shweta Parande

CREDIT GOES TO: http://www.india.com

Unions, IBA agree on 15% hike in salaries; bank strike called off

The 15% increase in salaries agreed to on Monday between the bank unions and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) amounts to an annual increase of R4,725 crore primarily for public sector banks.

Several banks among them Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Indian Bank, United Bank, Dena Bank and Punjab and Sind Bank have provided for increases of close to 12.5% and were understandably against the hike. State Bank of India (SBI) and its associates have been providing for increases of 15%, Union Bank at 14% and Bank of India at 15% every quarter since Q3FY13.

The hike will be effective from November 1, 2012, when the last five-year bi-partite agreement expired and will benefit eight lakh employees.

Public sector bank workers call off strike after pay deal; 15% wage hike granted

Hundreds of thousands of bank employees, working largely for India’s dominant state-owned lenders, have called off a planned four-day strike after agreeing a 15 percent wage increase, a senior union official said on Monday.

The United Forum of Bank Unions, which says it represents nearly a million bank workers, had called for a strike starting Feb. 25, with demands including higher wages and a five-day work week. Banks in India operate on Saturdays.

A strike would have paralysed some of the country’s largest banks, crippling cash transactions and cheque clearances in an economy where card payments are still unusual. It would have dampened money market and foreign exchange trading volumes, potentially increasing volatility.

The protracted negotiation with unions is also a reminder of the complex task ahead as the government tries to reform India’s network of state-owned banks, which account for more than 70 percent of loans.

Unions reached the wage settlement after 18 rounds of negotiations over more than two years, Vishwas Utagi, a senior union official, said. The new salaries, applicable for more than 700,000 bank workers, will be backdated to November 2012 and valid for five years, he said.

Utagi said the estimated cost for banks as a result of the salary increase will be an annual 47.25 billion rupees ($758.7 million).

As part of the negotiation, the banks and unions also agreed that only two Saturdays a month will be working days. The Indian Banks’ Association, which was represents the lenders, confirmed the wage revision and the holiday agreement in a statement.

Bank strike called off; unions, IBA agree on 15% wage hike

Apple To Invest $2B Building Green Data Centers In Ireland And Denmark

ALL CREDIT GOES TO:- http://techcrunch.com

 

Amid deeper investigations into how Apple may be using its operations in Ireland as a means for tax avoidance on tens of billions of dollars in profit, the iPhone maker has announced that it will spend nearly $2 billion (€1.7 billion) to develop two new 100% renewable energy data centers in Europe.

The centers — which will use wind power and other green fuel sources — will be located in Athenry, Ireland, and Viborg, Denmark. Apple said that they will power services such as apps in the App Store, Siri and iMessage. Both locations will run on 100 percent renewable energy and Apple said they will have the “lowest environmental impact” of its data centers thus far. It will also be following in the footsteps of companies like Facebook, which has also built sustainable data center operations out in Europe.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the new developments, which are expected to come online in 2017 and will measure 166,000 square meters each, will create “hundreds” of new jobs in the local areas. 

“We are grateful for Apple’s continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent,” said Cook added. He and other Apple executives are currently on a tour of Europe, making a stop earlier today in Germany at the factory that is making the glass windows for Apple’s new campus.

Apple says it directly employs 18,300 staff across 19 countries in Europe, and “supports nearly 672,000 European jobs, including 530,000 jobs directly related to the development of iOS apps.”

Apple positioning itself as a leader in corporate social responsibility, and leading investor, in Europe’s energy and job markets is not just good business for Apple; it’s also coming at a key moment for other reasons.

UAE Announces Satellite, Vehicle Deals

ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces on Monday announced 19 arms purchases worth $2.58 billion at the IDEX show in Abu Dhabi.

The deals announced include the purchase of two Falcon Eye intelligence satellites, 500 armored vehicles, offshore patrol vessels and unmanned aerial systems.

The announcement made by IDEX spokesman Maj. Gen. Obeid al-Kitbi, highlighted that the Falcon Eye contract was for $1.02 billion. The contract, which was signed last summer with Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space, was for high-performance Earth-observation satellite system.

The contract also covers a ground system and training for UAE engineers, who will control the satellites once in orbit, Airbus Defence & Space told Defense News in December.

Another major contract worth $330 million was announced with Nimr Automotive, the UAE-based armored vehicle manufacturer owned by Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC), for the delivery of 500 4X4 vehicles this year.

The deal has been made for five variants of Nimr's AJBAN 4x4 vehicles. 

A second agreement provides for the upgrade of 500 Nimr vehicles deployed by the Armed Forces of the UAE across the country. 

Another EDIC company, Al Taif Technical Services, has signed a contract valued at $640 million to provide maintenance services, supply management and technical training for the UAE Land Forces. 

World Cup, India vs South Africa: Men in Blue grab 'Mauka', thrash Proteas by 130 runs

Shikhar Dhawan smashed 137 off 146 balls as defending champions India whipped mighty South Africa by 130 runs to step closer to a quarter-final berth in the World Cup on Sunday.

A boisterous crowd of 86,876 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground saw India pile up 307 for seven after electing to bat and then bowl out the Proteas for 177 with almost 10 overs to spare in the day-night Pool B match.

Faf du Plessis top-scored with 55 but India made regular dents in the South African batting, with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin taking three wickets and seamers Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma sharing four wickets.

With two wins from as many games - India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 76 runs last Sunday - Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will move into the quarter-finals if they beat the unfaniced United Arab Emirates in Perth on February 28.

South Africa, one of the pre-tournament favourites who beat Zimbabwe in their first match, have two points from as many games.

Dhawan, the left-handed opener who resides in Melbourne with his British-Asian wife Ayesha and three children, hit 16 boundaries and two sixes during his seventh one-day international century.

All his seven hundreds have come in a winning cause, but it was the confident display against Dale Steyn and company that would have pleased retired batting star Sachin Tendulkar who was present in the packed stands.

Steyn, one of the most fearsome fast bowlers in the modern game, was clipped by Dhawan over backward square-leg for six and driven over his head for another six by Ajinkya Rahane.

Steyn finished with figures of one for 55 from 10 overs.

Philander injury

South Africa were hampered further when seamer Vernon Philander hobbled off the field with a hamstring injury after sending down just four overs.

Dhawan, who made 73 against Pakistan, put on 127 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (46) and 125 for the third with Rahane (79 off 60 balls).

The 29-year-old Dhawan fell in the 44th over when Hashim Amla, who had floored a difficult chance off Wayne Parnell when the batsman was on 53, picked up an easy catch at fine leg off the same bowler.

India lost five wickets for 41 runs after being strongly placed at 261 for two, but they still managed to score 80 runs off the last 10 overs.

India broke through in just the fourth over of South Africa's innings when Quinton de Kock, who had hit centuries in each of the last three one-dayers against them, was caught at mid-off for seven.

Dependable opener Amla had made 22 when he top-edged a pull off seamer Mohit Sharma and Shami, who had claimed de Kock's wicket, took a well-judged catch at long leg.

Skipper AB de Villiers made 30 in a 68-run stand for the third wicket with du Plessis when he was run out as Mohit Sharma rifled in a throw from deep cover for Dhoni to break the stumps.

South Africa slipped to 133 for four in the 29th over when Mohit Sharma, returning for his second spell, had the dangerous du Plessis caught at mid-off by Dhawan.

Ashwin, who came into the attack in the 22nd over, had JP Duminy caught in the slips and then trapped Philander leg-before.

In between those two dismissals, David Miller was run out for 22 to leave South Africa gasping for survival at 153 for seven in 34 overs.

The tail folded up as Shami dismissed Steyn, Ashwin bowled Morne Morkel and Ravindra Jadeja claimed last man Imran Tahir leg-before to spark wild celebrations in the stands packed with India supporters.

 

ALL CREDITS GOES TO:- http://www.hindustantimes.com

Pakistanis stage mock funeral for cricket team after defeat - World Cup 2015

MULTAN: Pakistani cricket fans in the southeastern city of Multan held a mock funeral for their national cricket team on Saturday after a record-shattering World Cup defeat at the hands of the West Indies.

Full Coverage: ICC World Cup 2015

Residents of the city organised a symbolic funeral procession, replete with a coffin with several cricket bats placed over it, directing their anger at the Pakistani national team after a poor start to the tournament that has also seen it defeated by arch-rivals India.

READ ALSO: West Indies crush Pakistan by 150 runs

"This time we were really hoping for Pakistan to win," Shama Bibi, one of those taking part, said.

"We don't want to watch this anymore."

Another demonstrator who gave her name only as Rafia blamed the Pakistan Cricket Board for what she said were poor selections and politicisation of the game.

Cricket fans elsewhere in the country, meanwhile, staged their own protests to show their frustration with the national side.

Chasing the West Indies's first innings total of 310 runs, Pakistan gave up its first four wickets for just one run -- the worst start in one-day international history -- before eventually losing by 150 runs.

Pakistan, winners of the 1992 World Cup, now sit at the bottom of Pool B and will resume their faltering campaign against Zimbabwe in Brisbane on March 1.

ALL CREDITS GOES TO: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

A Year Later, $19 Billion For WhatsApp Doesn’t Sound So Crazy

Messaging is the center of mobile. Snapchat is raising at around a $20 billion valuation. And no one cares who owns apps. On February 19, 2014, we didn’t know any of these things for sure. So when Facebook announced it would pay $19 billion to acquire WhatsApp an app most American pundits had never used it seemed ludicrous. Zuck had to be crazy, right?

Wrong.

Without WhatsApp, Facebook’s international situation would look a lot dicier. And if a competitor like Google acquired it instead, it could have been disastrous. Instead, Facebook possesses the most popular messaging app, and has neutralized the biggest threat to its global domination of social networking.

Why?

Chat Is The Mobile Portal

No apps get opened as often as messaging apps. While you might spend longer in total scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest, the frequent short sessions with chat apps make them a vector for other experiences. That means they’re more valuable than they might first appear.

How do you monetize chat? It’s a tough question. Sure there’s stickers, but there’s too much competition to charge much upfront for an app and it’s too disruptive to show ads. But platforms, hubs, portals  whatever you want to call them hold plenty of opportunities to cash in.

The messaging apps from Asia are proving this as we speak. China’s WeChat also lets you call a taxi, pay friends, search, shop, buy movie tickets, and more. Japan’s Line hosts Line Pay, Line TV, and an identity platform for games. Why fumble with a bunch of different apps, passwords, and payment methods when you can do it all while you chat?

 

Even Snapchat is expanding far beyond messaging. Its Stories product for broadcasting sequences of photos and videos is a hit with star content creators. Its Snapcash feature lets you quickly pay friends through Square Cash. And its new Discover portal collects Snap-formatted content from premium producers like Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN and Vice. A lot of critics wondered how Facebook could earn money from messaging on WhatsApp, considering it’s vowed not to show ads and only charges its skimpy $1 subscription fee in a few markets. The answer is it doesn’t have to. By taking a cut of commerce, or charging for promotion of content, it could keep chat lean and clean while monetizing other parts.

It Missed The Boat On Snapchat

Facebook famously offered to buy Snapchat for somewhere around $3 billion. With 20/20 hindsight, we know that was a short-sighted low-ball. Snapchat rejected the offer, and all of Facebook’s efforts to clone it since have failed spectacularly.

Now Snapchat is trying to raise around $500 million at a $20 billion valuation. Its Stories feature has grown into a competitor to Facebook’s News Feed. And Discover could make it all quite monetizable if it gets popular. Snapchat is constantly cited as where teens are ditching your parents’ social network for.

Snapchat has become one of the banes of Facebook’s existence, and I’d imagine Facebook wasn’t willing to let it happen again abroad. So rather than trying to pay what WhatsApp was worth a year ago, it resigned to pay what it may be worth one day.

Parent Companies Don’t Matter

Whenever a tech giant buys a popular startup, there’s always some immediate backlash from users, and worries that people will jump ship. But time and time again, we’ve seen that if the acquired startup is allowed to run at least somewhat independently and can simply carry on its mission with more resources, fans stay loyal. Instagram had around 30 million users when Facebook bought it for $1 billion. Now it has over 300 million users and Citigroup values it at $35 billion.

Some Kickstarter backers and early developers moaned when Facebook acquired Oculus. But it’s since flourished into the premier virtual reality platform. CEO Brendan Iribe told me the acquisition helped by boosting confidence of big devs because they knew Oculus wouldn’t run out of money and shut down.

The Parse developer platform has grown from 60,000 apps to over 500,000 since Facebook bought it. Flurry flourished with Yahoo. Twitter’s ownership didn’t deter people from Vine. Facebook buying WhatsApp wasn’t going to ruin it, and it didn’t. It’s kept growing from 450 million monthly users a year ago to 700 million last month.

The Scary Alternative

More risky than Facebook not buying WhatsApp was what would happen if a competitor did. Most obviously, Google could have used WhatsApp to jumpstart its late-to-the-game Hangouts messenger. Suddenly, Facebook would be battling a deep-pocketed competitor to replace SMS as the way the world chats.

Without it, Google has seemingly surrendered in the messaging war. Since WhatsApp runs independently, Facebook has been able to focus on its Messenger app in its home market, which has risen to 500 million users.

WhatsApp has achieved massive popularity in the developing world where SMS fees are hard to swallow. That’s because discretionary income is less common, which also makes monetizing these users with ads difficult. That’s a problem for Facebook that WhatsApp can help solve. Through mobile payments that are widespread in places like Africa, WhatsApp could monetize where it’s tough for its parent. 

And whether it stayed independent or sold to someone else, WhatsApp could have challenged Facebook’s iron grip on social networking. It’s not just chat. WhatsApp offers a status update feature reminiscent of AOL Instant Messenger’s away messages. But if you squint, those statuses look quite similar to what people post to the Facebook feed.

Since messaging is the core feature of mobile, WhatsApp could have wedged its way into becoming a full-fledged social network starting with statuses. We won’t know for sure until WhatsApp starts bringing in serious revenue. But in the age of the desktop web, AOL and Yahoo grew huge by using their frequent use to become the portals to everything else. Messaging apps are the portals of mobile, and Facebook owns the biggest one.

ALL CREDIT GOES TO:-http://techcrunch.com