Modi govt's austerity drive: No 5-star hotel meetings, first-class flights for bureaucrats

The government on Thursday unveiled an austerity drive aimed at cutting non-plan expenditure by 10%. It has barred bureaucrats from travelling first class on overseas visits and have been asked to use video conferencing as much as possible.

With an aim to restrict fiscal deficit to 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15, the finance ministry has barred officials from holding meetings in 5-star hotels and put a freeze on fresh appointments and filling up posts lying vacant for over one year.

"While officers are entitled to various classes of air travel depending on seniority, utmost economy would need to be observed while exercising the choice keeping the limitations of budget in mind. However, there would no bookings in the First Class," said the office memorandum.

The facility of video conferencing, it said, "may be used effectively".

The finance ministry said purchase of new vehicles to meet operational requirement of defence forces, paramilitary forces and security organisations are permitted but ban on purchase of any other vehicles would continue.

"Such measures are intended at promoting fiscal discipline, without restricting the operational efficiency of the government. In the context of the current fiscal situation, there is a need to continue to rationalise expenditure and optimise available resources," it said.

The government proposes to lower the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP by 2016-17. The deficit which had touched a high of 5.7% in 2011-12, was brought down to 4.8% in 2012-13 and further to 4.5% in 2013-14 by way of austerity measures.

"The task before me is very challenging because we need to revive growth, particularly in manufacturing sector and infrastructure," finance minister Arun Jaitley had said in his budget speech. He added that choice has to be made whether or not to be victims of mere populism and wasteful expenditure.

Oppo N3 with 16MP motorized camera and R5 the world’s thinnest handset outed

The Oppo N3 smartphone which is the successor to the widely popular N1, and the R5 handset have been made official at last. Both devices are pretty impressive ones with the former flaunting a rotating camera and other great features, while the latter has earned the title of the world’s slimmest smartphone.
Let’s start with the Oppo N3 which augments the rotating camera design launched on its predecessor. While the concept is still the same, the company has thrown in a better snapper which is an OmniVision OV16825 16MP sensor and dual LED flash. The module is also motorized and you’ll be able to move it around through simple gestures on the screen.



Other interesting features include a fingerprint reader on the rear and a dual-sided notification light on the bottom. The phone is made from an industrial grade aluminum alloy and offers VOOC rapid charge which juices up the 3000mAh battery to 70% in just 30 minutes.

The N3 carries a 5.5-inch 1080p display on the front, while the innards are comprised of 2GB RAM, 32GB storage and a 2.3GHz quad core Snapdragon 801 SOC amongst others. Coming to the R5, this handset is also designed from the same industrial grade aluminum alloy and it’s just 4.85mm thick, making it even slimmer compared to the Gionee Elife S5.1



Here’s an overview of the Oppo R5’s key specs:
- OS: Android 4.4 (ColorOS 2.0)
- Chipset: 1.5GHz octa core 64-bit Snapdragon 615 SOC
- Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB storage
- Display: 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED touchscreen
- Camera: 13MP rear, 5MP front
- Battery: 2000mAh
- Dimensions: 48.9mm x 74.5mm x 4.85mm
- Weight: 155 grams
The Oppo N3 is priced at $649 and the R5 will be available for $499. However, the OEM is still keeping mum about the availability details for both handsets.

Truecaller lanches new Truedialler app on Play Store

Truecaller has launched a new Android app called Truedialler, which provides details of a number you attempt to contact before the outgoing call is placed.
Available for free on the Google Play Store, the app is the company's attempt at making the standard phonebook app irrelevant, allowing users to see the name and profile photo of some they want to call, even if they don't have it saved locally. The Truedialler app is synced with the existing Truecaller data network, meaning users who have installed the Truecaller app will have their own details visible for others on Truedialler, and vice-versa. The company, however, says it has no plans yet to integrate the two apps into a single unit.

PM Narendra Modi browses internet at 34Mbps: Report

It is not a hidden fact that the Internet speeds in India are borderline abysmal, but that fact does not pertain to the Prime Minister's office. While the average broadband Internet speed in India is around 2mbps, the speed in the country's highest office is 34mbps, if a Times of India report is to be believed. Reportedly, this was revealed in an RTI application.

Apparently, the National Informatics Centre is providing a speed up to 34mbps. While this number is good for India, in the US, Google's Fibre broadband service provides speeds up to 1gbps, which is almost 30 times faster. In fact, even in Kochi's 'Start Up Village', speed up to 1Gbps is provided.
The average peak connection speed in India is around 14.2mbps, and only 1.2 per cent people in the country enjoy speeds beyond 10mbps.

Earlier in the year, India was ranked an abysmal 115 in Akamai's 'State of Internet' report. The report ranked South Korea no.1 with its maximum Internet speed reaching 24.6mbps. Clearly, the state of Internet is not great in India, but Prime Minister Modi's Digital India plan intends to resolve this. He has dedicated a budget of 1 lakh crores so that high-speed Internet is offered in all villages and this plan is scheduled to be finished by 2019.

Fast Internet connections enable lower latency in streaming video, loading web pages and downloading files. India lags behind in this regard, something which has been even acknowledged by Google, which owns video streaming site YouTube. For India, Google has added an offline viewing mode in YouTube as the reach and speed of connectivity is limited in the country.

Android 5.0 Lollipop OS: 10 key features of Google’s latest mobile OS

 

Android L is finally here – and it’s not Key Lime Pie or Licorice. Google has named it “Lollipop”, keeping up with it’s dessert-name trend. The new Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system has landed first on the latest Nexus devices – Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player.
Android chief Sundar Pichai had earlier said this is the largest and most ambitious release on Android to date. Here are best features announced in the latest Android OS:

1. Pick up where you left off: Similar to Continuity in iOS 8, Lollipop lets you pick up where you left off, so the songs, photos, apps, and even recent searches from one of your Android devices can be immediately accessed across devices.

2. Multiple device compatibility: Lollipop will support devices with different screen sizes including wearables such as smartwatches, TVs and cars. According to Google, it is designed to be flexible, so that it can work on all your devices and customised for your needs.

3. Material Design: In order to maintain a consistent design experience across all Android devices, Lollipop uses the Material Design interface across devices it runs on.With Material Design, elements can dynamically shrink and expand, there’s more white space between elements, and gives a 3D appearance overall. While we are yet to try it out ourselves, Google claims that the new design is more intuitive and transitions between tasks are more fluid.

4. Updated camera: Lollipop makes it easier to support features like burst mode and fine settings tuning. You’ll be able to capture full resolution frames around 30fps, and shoot in raw formats like YUV and Bayer RAW. There’s also support for UHD 4K video playback, tunneled video for high quality video playback on Android TV and improved streaming. Lollipop adds professional features to control settings for the sensor, lens and flash per individual frame.

5. Battery settings: There’s a new battery-saver feature that extends the life of your device by up to 90 minutes—helpful if you’re far from a power outlet. It’s also easier to manage your power usage. The OS adds a feature which gives the estimated time left before you need to charge and, when it’s charging, it tells you approximately how much time it will need to charge before it’s ready to go.

6. Improved security: Share your device securely with guest user mode, create multiple user accounts to enable friends to log in on your device. In either case, no one will be able to access your private files. There’s Android Smart Lock to secure your phone or tablet by pairing it with a trusted device like your wearable or even your car. Google has enforced the SELinux security module for all apps to give better protection against vulnerabilities and malware.

7. Updated notifications screen: You can now view and respond to messages directly from your lock screen, or hide notifications for sensitive content. Turning on Priority mode through your device’s volume button will allow only certain people and notifications get through.You can also choose to avoid calls from interrupting the game you are playing or the movie you are watching.

8. New Quick Settings: The updated Quick Settings on the notification screen has new handy controls such as flashlight, hotspot, screen rotation and cast screen controls. While these settings were not on older stock-Android devices, they may already be present on other customised Android devices. Similarly, you can manually adjust the brightness for certain conditions, while adaptive brightness will kick in based on ambient lighting.

9. Smoother experience: Google uses a new runtime on Android (called ART), which claims to improve app performance, battery life and responsiveness. Google claims that the new OS improves Android’s performance by four times. It compacts background apps and services so you can do more at once. There’s also support for 64-bit chips now.

10 Tap and Go: Tap and Go for NFC devices lets you set up your new Android phone or tablet instantly by simply tapping it to your old one. Whenever you get a new Android phone or tablet, you can sync your apps from Google Play automatically from any of your old Android devices.
As with all OS updates, there are minor improvements on the camera, video and audio experience, along with better multitasking, performance and battery life. Overall, Lollipop will provide a smoother user experience, more usable apps and services and help you manage bloatware. Google has also announced it will re-enable microSD card writing support and segmentation of firmware for older devices.

Full Mobile Portability from next year

Mobile phone users will soon beable to change their telecom operators and retain their numbers even if they are relocating to areas outside the service providers' operations.

At present, mobile subscribers have restricted facility of changing their telcos while retaining their number within same service area using mobile number portability (MNP). For example, a subscriber in Delhi NCR can switch operator within Delhi NCR only.

The Department of Telecom has set a target date of March 31, 2015 to implement the full mobile number portability (MNP), an official source said.

"The Telecom Commission has accepted TRAI's recommendations on full MNP," the source said.

The panel decision will now be placed before Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for the final approval.

Under the full MNP, for instance, a subscriber in Delhi
NCR will be able to switch to a telecom network in Tamil Nadu or in any of the state or place where he is relocating himself/herself while retaining the same number.

As per the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), about 13 crore people have requested for MNP facility as on August 31.

TRAI in its recommendation on full MNP had suggested to give telecom operators six-month time to make necessary changes in their network from the date the proposal is cleared. The source said that DoT will make efforts to get it expeditiously done in about five-month time.

source : hindustantimes.com

Google makes Android Lollipop official, details Nexus 6 phone and Nexus 9 tablet

 Is it even fun unwrapping your presents on Christmas day when you already know what they are? Of course it is! Today, Google let us unwrap the Nexus 6 phone, Nexus 9 tablet, and the official name for Android 5.0. There are no surprises, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. 

Android Lollipop

Android 5.0, operating under the moniker “Android L” since Google I/O, will be called Android Lollipop. It’s Android’s biggest release yet, with more than 5,000 new APIs for developers, new battery-saving features, better multitasking, and a brand new visual language called “Material Design.”
Google has been talking about the new features of Android Lollipop since its big summer developer conference, and didn’t share any major new features today. Instead, it focused on a marketing effort to promote the way Android gives customers lots of choice and individuality, while maintaining compatibility and core features. The tagline—“Be together. not the same”—was introduced with an aggressively hopeful YouTube video.

The Nexus 6 phone

It wouldn’t be a new version of Android without a corresponding new Nexus phone. Numerous leaks have spilled all the details of the Nexus 6 over the last few months, and the official announcement leaves no surprises: The Nexus 6 is essentially a giant 6-inch version of the new Moto X.
It features a 5.96-inch Quad HD display, so that’s 2560x1440, or 493 pixels-per-inch. Inside you’ll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor running at 2.7GHz, which is top-of-the-line for Android phones this fall. 

 


Other features are borrowed from the Moto X, including a 13-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera with “ring flash,” a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and dual front-facing speakers. Here’s hoping that they’re both active for stereo playback, unlike the Moto X, where the topmost speaker is only used for phone calls.
Connectivity is robust, as with many Nexus phones. Here in the U.S. you get GSM at 850/900/1800/1900MHz, CDMA band classes 0/1/10, WCDMA bands 1/2/4/5/8, and LTE bands 2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/29/41. In other words, it should work on every carrier and all over the world. It’s also packing 802.11ac Wi-Fi with 2x2 MIMO antenna, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, and NFC. 
Perhaps most impressive is the whopping big 3220mAh battery, which should give the phone lots of life. Google claims up to 10 hours of internet use with LTE, 24 hours of talk time, and 10 hours of video playback. Of note, it lists two figures for standby time: 330 hours with Ambient Display off, and 250 hours with Ambient Display on. Ambient Display is the nifty Motorola notification pulsing feature from the Moto X, and it appears to be included in the Nexus 6 as well. The phone will support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0, just like the Moto X, so 15 minutes of charging that nearly-dead battery will get you 6 hours of use.
The phone will be available in 32GB and 64GB variants, and, interestingly, the spec sheet does not list a micro SD card slot.




The Nexus 6 will go on sale in late October. Logos on the Google site suggest the phone will be available at Google Play, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular, and Best Buy. Oh, and for once, it will be carried by Verizon.
These specs put it on par with the very best Android phones on the market, but it looks like it will be priced up with them, too. The unlocked Nexus 6 is reported to cost about $650, but carriers will offer subsidized pricing, too.

The Nexus 9 tablet

The Nexus 9 is a device we knew was coming, but didn’t have as much solid pre-release information about. It’s an 8.9-inch tablet with a 4:3 aspect ratio and QXGA resolution. That’s 2048x1536, or 288 pixels per inch (not bad for a big tablet). 




It is the first mass-market device to feature the 64-bit dual-core variant of Nvidia’s Tegra K1 processor. This thing should be crazy fast. I was mightily impressed by the GPU’s performance in my review of the Shield Tablet, and this version should have even better CPU performance.
The Nexus 9 features an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, a 6700mAh battery, and will come in both Wi-Fi and LTE variants. 
The design is interesting. At 7.95mm thick, it’s a little thicker than an iPad Air, but it’s not quite as tall or wide. It even weighs a little less than Apple’s most popular tablet, at 425 grams for the Wi-Fi version. 




The biggest surprise is the optional official keyboard cover. Google really wants to make Android tablets into powerful workhorses for everyday computing use.
Pre-orders for the Nexus 9 tablet begin on October 17, and it will be sold in stores starting November 3. Official pricing has not been released, but the latest rumors suggest it will carry a premium tablet price: $400 for the entry-level 16GB, Wi-Fi model. Adding LTE or bumping the storage to 32GB will cost you more.









 

17,000 Candidates Qualified Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination

UPSC declared the results of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2014 on 14 October 2014. This year a total of 16,933 candidates out of 4,52,334 have succeeded the examination and are selected to appear for the main examination which is going to be held on 14 December 2014.

The prelims examination was conducted on 24 August 2014. The examination is conducted to select the country’s top bureaucracy. According to reports, this year a rise of 40% in the number of students has been witnessed as compared to last year. Last year about 3,24,279 students appeared for the examination.

This time the results for the examination are declared early so that students can get some more time to prepare well for the main examination.

The selected candidates have to fill up the detailed application form (DAF) available on the commission’s website from 18 October 2014 to 11 November 2014.

Xiaomi President To Jony Ive: Try Our Phones Before You Accuse Us Of Theft

The president of smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has hit back at Apple design head Jony Ive after he accused the Chinese company of stealing his designs.

Speaking at the Vanity Fair New Establishment summit, Ive was asked what he thought about Xiaomi. The Chinese smartphone maker has often been accused of copying Apple's latest smartphones and selling cheaper versions of them in China. Ive had this to say about his imitators:

I don't see it as flattery. I see it as theft. I have to be honest. The last thing I think is 'Oh, that is flattering ... all those weekends I could've been home with my family' ... I think it's theft and it's lazy. I don't think it's OK at all.

Now, Xiaomi President Lin Bin has hit back at Ive's accusations, defending his company's products. In a statement to the state-run China News Service, reported by The Register, Lin Bin addressed Ive directly:

Xiaomi is a very open company, which would never force anyone to use its products. However, one can only judge Xiaomi's gadgets after he or she has used them. I'm very willing to give a Xiaomi cell phone to him as a present, and I look forward to hearing his remarks after he uses it.

But that wasn't the only reaction from Xiaomi to Ive's comments. Cult of Mac reports that the company's VP for international markets, Hugo Barra, also responded to the accusation in an interview with the Economic Times:

If you look at the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 has been using the design language that has been around for a while. The iPhone 6 is using design language that HTC has had for 5 years. You cannot claim full ownership of any kind of design languages in our industry.

source : businessinsider.in

credits : James Cook

Microsoft announces Diwali cashback offers on Lumia range

Diwali becomes sweeter with Lumia, or at least Microsoft Mobile Devices hopes so as it announced cashback schemes on two of its mobile devices -Nokia Lumia 530 dual SIM model, Nokia Lumia 630 and the dual SIM variant of the Lumia 630. Since the offer is Diwali themed it's on till the 23rd of October or till stocks last.
On the Nokia Lumia 530 dual SIM, the manufacturer is offering an assured cashback of Rs.1,001 which brings the price of the device down to Rs.6,198. The Nokia Lumia 630 and its dual SIM sibling have a cashback offer of Rs.1,501 bringing the prices of these devices to Rs.8,498 and Rs.9,498 respectively.
While the offer somewhat brings the official selling price from Microsoft a bit closer to what these devices are being offered for on e-commerce websites, the larger benefit of the offer for the consumer is that these offers will also be valid at offline Nokia Priority Dealer and Nokia Priority Partner outlets in the country.
Sweetening the pot further, Microsoft has also announced that 1,050 buyers will be chosen in a lucky draw for 100 per cent cashback on the purchase of the following devices: Lumia 730, Lumia 830, Lumia 930, Lumia 925, Lumia 1020, Lumia 1320, and Lumia 1520.
Participation in the lucky draw rests on submission of proof of purchase along with IMEI number and contact details at Nokia Priority Partner or Dealer outlets.
As a special deal for Tamil Nadu, Microsoft has packed 98 of the 100 per cent cash back scratch cards inside device packaging.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/microsoft-announces-diwali-cash-back-offers/1/395227.html

1,00,000 units of Xiaomi Redmi 1S to be available on October 14

If you have missed out on registering or pre-ordering the Xiaomi Redmi 1S, here’s another chance to grab one! 

Flipkart has once again opened registrations for Xiaomi’s most demanded budget handset, Redmi 1S, priced at Rs 5,999. Around 1,00,000 units of Redmi 1S will be available for sale on Flipkart on October 14.

Around 3,00,000 people have already registered on Flipkart. The online shopping website notifies that the ones who missed out on buying the smartphone on September 30 sale, need to re-register.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S has been in demand for quite a long time, which is why Flipkart gave away 1,50,000 units even for unregistered customers on October 6. Additionally, Xiaomi also surprised its fans by adding the handset to their shopping carT.

Flipkart Revenges Amazon!!

This week has seen it all. First Flipkart starting the proceedings for the week by dishing out the Big Billion Day sale, making big moolah, getting trolled by competitors and facing barrage from upset buyers. Round two of this episode, sees Amazon facing backlash from Flipkart which hardly comes as a surprise to anyone.


Anyone managing to sell products with hefty discounts (ranging up to 50% in some cases) are sure to attract negative and positive criticism. Making things a bit more interesting, Snapdeal and Amazon not-so-quietly managed to make a name for themselves amidst the confusion that was a constant feature of the Big Billion day sale on October 6.

Flipkart VS Amazon

Amazon went to the extent of buying the bigbillionday.in to troll Flipkart's misery in open sight and now, we have Flipkart paying back the favour to the US-based retailer with its purchase of diwalidhamaka.co.in domain that directly takes you to the Flipkart homepage. On the hindsight, Flipkart's deals were much more appealing to consumers with regards to their pricing, in comparison to the deals that were being offered by Amazon today.

At the end of the day, it's hard to comment on who came out as big winners but nevertheless, Flipkart managed to open up sales avenues for the e-commerce fraternity that could become a common sight in the near future.There are lessons to be learnt ( a lot of them) and now we'll have to wait for the next move to happen from these respective online shopping sites.

Press Club of India website hacked

Cyber hackers apparently from Pakistan have hacked the website of Press Club of India (PCI) and posted anti-India messages on its page.
"Last week the website was hacked but it was showing no message. It was completely blank. Today, it was again hacked and anti-India messages were posted on the website. We have filed a police complaint in the matter," PCI General Secretary Nadeem Ahmad Kazmi told PTI.

The hacker group called themselves "Team Cyber Warriors" and posted Pakistani flag on their logo.
The cyber criminals posted anti-India message and threatened to target Indian government websites and take down the country's Internet with the help of "Muslim Hackers".
The hacking of the PCI website apparently seems in retaliation to the reported hacking of websites in Pakistan from India ridiculing Pakistan People's Party politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's comment to take back Kashmir from India.

Mark @India’s first minorities’ cyber village

Mark Zuckerberg on Friday visited Chandauli, the country’s first minorities’ cyber village, 20 km from Alwar, and said he wanted to connect all Indians through the Internet.
Zuckerberg, who reached the village around noon, asked the children few questions about the Net and how much time they spent on its usage.


The cyber centre was inaugurated by the then central minister for minority affairs, K Rahman Khan, on February 19, 2014. Twenty-five laptops were installed for training purposes at the Centre, where people between the age group of 15 and 59, were invited to explore the Internet. Till date, over 1,400 people have learnt to use the Net against the targetted 2,500 per year.

The centre is run by the Digital Empowerment Foundation under the public private partnership model funded by the government

Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi share Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for risking their lives to fight for children's rights. The decision made Malala, a 17-year-old student and education activist, the youngest-ever Nobel winner.

The news set off celebrations on the streets of Mingora, the main town in Pakistan's volatile Swat valley, with residents greeting each other and distributing sweets. At the town's Khushal Public School, which is owned by Malala's father, students danced in celebration Friday, jumping up and down.

When she was a student there, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago for insisting that girls as well as boys have the right to an education. Surviving several operations with the help of British medical care, she continued both her activism and her studies.

Is this 15-year-old Australian the next Mark Zuckerberg?

Ben Pasternak was so bored one day during science class he decided to design an iPhone game.
Careful to not let his teacher see what he was doing on his laptop, he enlisted the help of his whiz-coder friend Austin Valleskey,15, who lives in Chicago, to build a game app in a matter of hours.
Much to the boys' surprise, Impossible Rush has become a big hit on the App Store both in Australia and overseas.

It peaked at number 7 in Sweden, 16 in the US and 18 in Australia, above apps such as  Vine, Google, Gmail and Twitter, and has clocked up 300,000 downloads in the six weeks since it launched.

Like other popular games such as Flappy Bird or Tetris, Impossible Rush is a minimalist affair: the player simply taps a wheel to match colours against balls which fall faster and faster.
For Ben, a year nine student at Reddam House's Woollahra campus in eastern Sydney, the game's success is vindication that his dream of becoming the next big tech entrepreneur is achievable.

"Everyone I tell has the attitude that there are a million-plus apps out there, [they say] 'what are the chances of your app working out? You're just a 15-year-old kid'," Ben told Fairfax Media.

The boys weren't even planning to release the app, but Austin told Fairfax Media that another friend, Carlos Fajardo from New York City, gave them $US200 to take it off their hands and invest in marketing it - to great success. Mr Fajardo is listed as the app developer on the App Store, while the boys are listed as creators.
Ben said Mr Fajardo made $1500 from paid advertisements within the game in one day, but says he isn't bothered that he hasn't seen any of the money himself. His mother, Anna, said he boys did the app as an adventure and from Ben's perspective it wasn't about money on this occasion.
His greater goal is to create the number one app in the world. After that he wants to start something, not just toil for a big tech company like Apple or Google where some of his newly made contacts work.
Since February, he has been working on another app called One, to be launched by year's end. It puts a person's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds all in one place.
Anna said she and husband Mark had invested "thousands" of dollars into the project, although she described it as "relatively inexpensive".
Mrs Pasternak said her son's passion for technology began around the age of eight, when he became "obsessed" with Club Penguin, a social gaming site now owned by Disney. He soon turned his attention to Apple products.
"He's a devotee – he used to queue up all night to get the latest product," she said.
At 14, Ben was the first customer in the world to buy the iPad Air, filming the event with the help of a friend to post on his own YouTube channel, where he reviews Apple products.
He quickly established himself as a social media darling, and now has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, and more than 40,000 on Facebook.
But it was a family trip to Apple's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California, in January that spurred Ben beyond the world of selfies and into something far more ambitious.
While he wasn't allowed to tour the building, just visiting the on-campus Apple store was enough to inspire Ben to start making his own apps.
Mrs Pasternak said Ben's father Mark gave him the idea for One, but the work has been all his.
"I don't think Mark expected him to just take off with it like that," she said. "He hasn't dropped the ball since."
While Mrs Pasternak described her son as "busy" and "obsessive", she likened it to having a child prodigy in the house, such as a gifted musician.
"He's channelling it in such a creative and beautiful way," she said. "It could be just gaming – so many kids his age just sit at home and play games, but he's not interested in that. He's interested in creating new technology."
The tech obsession isn't genetic. Mrs Pasternak is a trained psychologist. Mark, however, is an architect - which might explain Ben's love for design.
Ben's parents are insisting he finishes school, and they want him to get a degree. His mum is suggesting a gap year to test-drive his entrepreneurial ambitions first.
"We won't count our apps before they hatch," she said.
Reddam House principal Dave Pitcairn said Ben had proven his detractors wrong with the success of Impossible Rush, and had "absolutely no doubt" the teenager was headed for great things.
"He's awfully intelligent," Mr Pitcairn said.
Mr Pitcairn said Ben was "very popular" and "charming" at school, and that his people skills were "going to be phenomenal" out in the professional world.
"He's got that twinkle in his eye and a naughtiness about him that is both endearing and frustrating," Mr Pitcairn said.
That much is plain: Mrs Pasternak said she thought her son was out at the beach with friends during this week's Labour Day holiday - in fact, he was busy spruiking his successes to Fairfax Media.
"From our side [Reddam House], we wish him all the best and we'll support him through this," Mr Pitcairn said. "But he must make sure his school work is also up to speed!"

Watch trailer: Saif Ali Khan, Govinda in Happy Ending

If one were to purely go by first impressions, Saif Ali Khan and Govinda's forthcoming film Happy Ending promises to be a fresh, fun and non-traditional take on romance as we know in Bollywood.

The tagline of the film, which releases on November 28, says it all: 'break the rules while playing by the rules,' it says. A romantic comedy, Happy Ending also stars Ranvir Shorey, Kalki Koechlin, Ileana D'Cruz and Preity Zinta.

From the first trailer of the film, released on Thursday, we know that Govinda plays a struggling filmmaker looking for ways to his business from single screen to multiplexes. His solution? Approach an author (Saif Ali Khan) and ask him to write two parts for his films -- "Meet parents and Meet f****rs"!

Happy Ending promises to be a fun-filled ride. Sample some of the dialogues:

Saif: Fame, ladkiyaan, paisa, sab kuch toh hai mere paas. To ab kaam karne ki kya zarurat hai?

Govinda: Public khush honi chahiye yaar, apni akal ke loop me mat phans.

Talking about the film, Saif said in an earlier interview, "Happy Ending is a romantic comedy. She (Kareena Kapoor) has done a scene in the film, which is against (her) type. It's
something you guys must not have expected, you all will be surprised."


Watch trailer:

Elaborating on his role in the film, he added, "There is a lot of talking in Happy Ending. Even that's too difficult! You need control over that... I think I prefer different kind of roles and I must say I love my role in Happy Ending."

The film is directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, who earlier gave us films like Go Goa Gone, Tusshar Kapoor-starrer Shor In The City and 99 (which featured Soha Ali Khan and Boman Irani).

SOURCE: http://www.hindustantimes.com/

When Modi meets Zuckerberg: Will they 'like' and 'poke' each other, jokes Twitter

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in India for two days and will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow. During the first day of his internet.org summit he spoke about making Internet affordable to all and being accessible even in the remotest of places. Zuckerberg called for an internet service equivalent to 911, access to basic health, education services. Modi and Zuckerberg are scheduled to discuss the collaboration between Facebook and the government for offering better services to the public.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. AP

Indians on Twitter had interesting reactions as to how the meeting between the tech-savvy and social media-loving Modi and the creator of Facebook would be:

Mark Zuckerberg's coming to India. I can bet Mr. Narendra Modi will tell him the "We play with a mouse, not snakes" story at least twice.-@AksharPathak


Modi is so influential that Mark Zuckerberg is flying in personally to give him a friendship request.-@madmanweb


Did Mark Zuckerberg like Modi for PM page yet? #ZuckerbergInIndia-@chaddi_chikka

SOURCE: http://www.firstpost.com/

Apple launching iPhone 6 in India for Rs 53,500, 6 Plus for Rs 62,500

Following the announcement related to availability of the new iPhone models, Apple's sales partners have also announced the pricing details for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

The 16GB version of Apple iPhone 6 will be available at Rs 53,500, while the 64GB version is priced at Rs 62,500. The 128GB version of the phone will sell for Rs 71,500.

The 16GB version of Apple iPhone 6 Plus will be available at Rs 62,500, while the 64GB version is priced at Rs 71,500. The 128GB version of the phone will sell for Rs 80,500.

Apple aims to sell 200 million iPhone 6, 6 Plus by Q1 2015: Report

Just three days after its launch, Apple had announced that it sold over 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units, which was a new record for the world' second-largest smartphone manufacturer. But this seems like a small number compared to the sales figure Apple is estimating from the new models.

According to a report by Taiwanese website Digitimes, Apple has asked its hardware partners to prepare 200-250 million units chips for the new devices. Of this figure, 30-40 million are supposedly reserved for the production of Apple Watch, which will be launched early next year. Therefore, the remaining chips are expected to be used in production of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

This is a huge number even for Apple as it announced in March 2014 that total iPhone sales (since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007) had crossed 500 million. According to Forbes, Apple has already sold as many as 20 million iPhones till now.

Apple recently announced the official prices of its smartphones for the Indian markets - iPhone 6 will be available at starting price of Rs 53,500, while the base variant of iPhone 6 Plus will cost Rs 62,500. Pre-orders for the two models start in India on October 7, while they will hit the market on October 17.

With both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple is entering the market of big screen smartphone for the first time, which is said to be the reason for the shoot up in the demand of the new models.

'Blood Moon' Photos: Total Lunar Eclipse Thrills Skywatchers

The full moon took on a spooky red hue in a pre-dawn total lunar eclipse Wednesday (Oct. 8) to the delight of skywatchers who managed to snap stunning photos of the "blood moon."

The total lunar eclipse of Oct. 8 was visible to observers in North America, western South America, parts of East Asia, Australia and other parts of the Pacific, weather permitting. The  lunar eclipse is also the second iof four consecutive total eclipses of the moon that make up a unique "tetrad."

During the eclipse, the moon passed into the darkest part of Earth's shadow, which caused the moon to glow with an eerie copper color. This color shift has caused some people to dub the natural satellite a "blood moon" during total lunar eclipses. The moon's temporary color also created an incredible, unique sight to behold for photographers on the ground.



"The moon was a brownish red color," Christina Ryan told Space.com of her view of the eclipse from Elkhart, Indiana. "Very beautiful lunar eclipse. I am happy to have been able to witness it."

Some intrepid observers might have also been able to capture the planet Uranus near the eclipsed full moon as well.
The lunar eclipse reached totality just before dawn for observers on the East Coast of the United States, but well-placed skywatchers on the West Coast may have seen the lunar eclipse rise in a totally dark sky during the wee hours of Oct. 8.
Some astrophotographers in California captured stunning views of the blood moon. Thomas Warloe took an incredible photo of the moon in the middle of totality glowing red in a sky dotted with stars from Berkeley, California.



Photographers from Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii also snapped images of the total lunar eclipse.
"I am lucky to have such a clear night to observe this eclipse!" Jared Kizer told Space.com of his view of the eclipse from Queensland, Australia

If you missed this total lunar eclipse, you might have another chance to see a blood moon rise 2015. The next eclipse in the tetrad series is set to grace the skies in April 2015, with the final in the tetrad occurring in September 2015.
Lunar eclipses occur when the full moon passes through Earth's shadow. Instead of blotting out the moon entirely, the moon turns a rusty color because of the way light from the sun seeps through the planet's shadow.
The color of the moon during a total lunar eclipse is also a good measure of what's happening in Earth's atmosphere at the time. If the moon is a darker shade during the eclipse, it could mean that the atmosphere is polluted from volcanic activity or other events.
This total lunar eclipse is only one in a series of amazing skywatching events happening in October. On Oct. 23, observers in most of North America will have the chance to see a partial solar eclipse. Comet Siding Spring is also set to make a close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, and the Orionid meteor shower is expected to peak overnight from Oct. 21-22.