Future Techworld

Top Categories to Watch out in Sale from 29th Sept to 4th October in Amazon

1. Top mobile phones & Accessories
2. Amazon Fashion
3. OnePlus
4. Beauty products(Up to 75% off : Beauty products)
5. Women's footwear(Up to 80% off)

According to data compiled by technology website Mobiles Unlocked, the iPhone 5S costs the Indians the most globally when compared with their purchasing power. In fact, buyers here have to shell out 22.3% of the national gross domestic product per capita (GDP PPP). The GDP PPP is a means of measuring how much each person earns in a country.

This means that Indian buyers shell out over 22.3% of their disposable incomes if they purchase the iPhone 5S.

China, another emerging country and Apple's fastest-growing market, stands fifth in the list and there it acosts buyers less than 10% of their purchasing power.

The study details the countries where the iPhone 5S is most and least expensive across 47 countries. It only included the basic 16GB model of the iPhone 5S and took the pricing via official channels, not grey market.

While iPhone 5S is the most expensive for Indians, it costs the least to citizens of Qatar, who only pay 0.76% of their disposable incomes for the device. The US, home market of Apple, stands fourth-last in the list; buyers only have to pay 1.36% of their incomes for the model, as per the data.

Despite the high price, Apple has enjoyed its best-ever sales for the iPhone 5S in India. The model has been out of stock ever since it was launched in the country and retailers are still struggling to meet the demand.

WhatsApp, the popular messaging service with over 350 million monthly users, has finally been redesigned for iOS 7 after getting an update that adds a number of other new features and tweaks.
Aside from the new layout, the app lets users send broadcast messages to specific lists — allowing them to reach specific work colleagues, friends, other people with a single status update message.
Changes to the app also include new notification sounds, larger thumbnail images, the option to crop images before sharing them, and more.
➤ WhatsApp for iOS

Safeguard your smartphones from loss due to theft or accidental damage using a third party service.

The smartphone market in India is growing rapidly every year. Along with that the number of mobile thefts or accidental damages has also risen.
What happens when you buy a mobile phone which gets lost, stolen or stops functioning properly just after warranty has lapsed? Rest assured, for now, there are enough options to deal with such situations. Several third party services and insurance companies have stepped into the picture to help consumers safeguard their smartphone against such events. Of course, all of that is offered at a price.
A typical smartphone ships with a one-year warranty from the handset maker and after that tenure expires, the customer is on his/her own. So if one keeps changing one's handset every year, it certainly is tedious and costly. Meanwhile, select telcos have tapped the growing opportunity to provide extended warranty and insurance to consumers.
Extended warranty can be purchased for proper repairs and ensure functional condition of the smartphone after the handset maker's warranty expires. Every company offers and adheres to different terms and conditions in the extended warranty. Thus we recommend that readers thoroughly go through their product documentation. Insurance is offered against a certain percentage of the cost of the smartphone when the handset is purchased, or after assessment of the handset.


These services can be availed at a nominal extra cost. For instance, if one buys a smartphone worth Rs. 30,000, then making the best of such services at a nominal cost of Rs 1500 or higher does make sense.
We recommend reading the terms and conditions of each service to avoid any kind of dispute. Most services require the user to buy the policy within 90 days of purchase in order to claim maximum possible value and minimal depreciation.
Here is a list of services that offer extended warranty and insurance worthy of mention.
New India Assurance

Earlier this year, Nokia along with New India Assurance announced insurance plans for Nokia devices against theft and damage. For this service, consumers are charged a minimum amount Rs 50 or 1.25 per cent of the handset cost. Available through Nokia branded retail stores, the service also involves free pick-up by an insurance broker. The insurance policy covers conditions such as fire, riot/strike/malicious activities, accident, theft, or fortuitous circumstances. Situations other than the aforementioned are not included in the policy. The insurance cover includes compensation equivalent to the cost of replacement of the handset with a new instrument bearing the same specifications.
The Mobile Store

The Mobile Store offers theft insurance and extended warranty on smartphones. As of now, theft insurance appears to be 'out of stock' on the online store but one can always check in physical Mobile Store outlets. Theft insurance starts at Rs 69 for a handset priced up to Rs 3,000. It is available only on devices purchased from the Mobile Store, and continues for one year along with the extended warranty. In case of theft, customers needs to file an FIR and submit a copy to the store or to United Insurance. Compensation on the stolen device is calculated based on the time for which it has been used and estimated value on the remaining period. The extended warranty is similar to that provided by the handset manufacturer and does not cover any physical damage. This is probably the only service that offers theft insurance.
MobileAssist

An offering by OneAssist, MobileAssist covers insurance and a variety of features beneficial for mobile owners. The MobileAssist package offers handset insurance of up to Rs 15,000 against loss due to theft. Three different plans cover a variety of options such as blocking the phone and SIM from anywhere, remote phone lock and data wipe, and emergency messaging to friends and family. Membership fee includes an annual plan with other services like mobile assistance, firewall, antivirus, and even automatic backup of critical data. The basic plan from MobileAssist starts at Rs 1099 for a year.
The Power or Privilege plan in 40 cities you get Doorstep delivery of temporary handset with all your contacts & data on the same day
Onsite Secure

One of those rare third-party services that offers extended warranty on mobile devices. Onsite Secure covers damage to the screen caused by liquid spills or shocks. The motherboard and screen are covered under the plan but battery is not. Offering pickup and drop facility, the Onsite Secure service is available starting at Rs 499 and the cost varies with the value of the handset in question. The service promises cashless quick service from authorized service centers and uses genuine spare parts. The snag is that the warranty plan can be bought only for devices purchased in the last 90 days.
GadgetCops

Just like Onsite Secure, GadgetCops too offers extended warranty with a promise to get the handset repaired with genuine spares from authorised service centers. The Extended Warranty protection pack includes cover against liquid damage or accidents for up to two years. The protection pack also covers mechanical and electrical faults for two years from the date of purchase. GadgetCops is a one time payment service and it offers free pickup-drop of the device. With physical presence in six cities, the GadgetCops Protection Pack starts from Rs 1100 and more details can be read in our news story here.
iSmart Secure

How about buying a new phone every year without having to worry about selling the old one? iSmart Secure bumps the manufacturer's one year warranty to three years. The user can also enjoy protection against loss or replacement for irreparable damage caused to the smartphone. Not only that, iSmart Secure also buys back a year old device at 65 per cent of the market value to allow consumers an easy upgrade with some moolah in hand. The iSmart Secure by Syberplace is offered as three separate plans for a monthly or yearly subscription service.
Warranty Bazaar

Warranty Bazaar offers extended warranty plans starting at Rs 125 to Rs 1750. The only condition is that the customer must purchase relevant plans within 90 days of the mobile phone purchase. The extended warranty plan starts a year from the date on which the manufacturer's warranty expires. However, one must note that the extended warranty does not cover accidental damage or liquid damage to the device. Just in case the device cannot be repaired, the service promises to replace it with sole discretion. The only glitch is that the user has to take the device to the authorised service center-no pickup and drop facility.
eTechies

eTechies offers two types of warranties - 1st Year Accidental Damage Warranty and 2nd Year Extended Warranty. The 1st Year Accidental Damage Warranty protects the user from the cost of repairs that are not covered by the handset manufacturer. These include damage by water spill, power burns, falls and more. The 2nd Year Extended is basically taking the warranty to the next year once the manufacturer's warranty expires. However, this does not cover accidental damage or the conditions that are offered in the 1st Year Accidental Damage Warranty. In both, eTechies promises free pickup and delivery of the product. eTechies currently offers the extended warranty only for Apple and Samsung products.
Here is a piece of advice from us: save the copy of your mobile purchase receipt carefully and buy relevant insurance as well as extended warranty plans to safeguard your phone.

Researchers have developed new technology that turns your self-made paper airplane into a smartphone-controlled flying machine capable of twisting and turning through open skies.

Power Up 3.0, built by US-based designer Shai Goitein, promises to give the basic paper model an
upgrade, using a small attachable propeller and rudder for a little more speed and steering control.

PowerUp 3.0's wireless communication is based on Bluetooth Smart technology.

Bluetooth connectivity allows the user to control the paper airplane via their smartphone with an accompanying app.

Tilting the phone to the left or right allows users to turn their airplane as it flies a whopping 60 yards. The app also includes a compass, controls for thrust and readouts for battery life and range, 'Mashable' reported.

To begin, a user has to simply fold a piece of copier paper into a paper airplane. Then, they have to attach the smart module to their paper plane with the patented clips underneath the Smart Module.

Starting the app connects the Smart Module with their cell phone.

Users can then push throttle to full and launch the paper airplane high up into the sky, according to the product's description on Kickstarter website.

A social media analytics firm, co-founded by two Indian-American entrepreneurs, has been acquired by Apple for over USD 200 million.
A San Francisco-based startup, Topsy Labs was co-founded by Vipul Ved Prakash and Rishab Aiyer Ghosh.
The company tracks trending topics on microblogging site Twitter and other social media networks.
Topsy has analysed all tweets since 2006 and recently announced a free search engine for tweets.
While neither company gave details of the deal's cost, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple dished out over USD 200 million for Topsy.
Among the features that made Topsy attractive to Apple is that it tracks what users are saying on Twitter as it happens, it also tracks how often terms are being tweeted.
While Apple confirmed to WSJ the acquisition, it did not say why it was interested in Topsy.
"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," said Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet.
She did not disclose financial details of the deal.
According to Topsy's website, chief technology officer Prakash is a pioneer in the field of collaborative filtering.
In 2001, Prakash co-founded Cloudmark to create an internet scale version of his open-source spam filter, Vipul's Razor. Cloudmark crossed one billion subscribers in 2009 and is the leading worldwide platform for messaging security.
Prior to Cloudmark, Prakash was an engineer at Napster and was named one of the Top 100 Young Innovators in the world by MIT Technology Review.
Ghosh, chief scientist at Topsy, started "First Monday", the most widely read peer-reviewed journal of the Internet, in 1995.
For its part, Topsy calls itself "the only full-scale index of the public social web," noting that it has analysed all tweets since 2006, and says it can "instantly analyse any topic, term or hashtag across years of conversations on millions of web sites".

For the third year in a row, Apple was named number one in a new annual survey of the top 10 most innovative companies.
Almost 80 percent of the respondents in the 700-company survey by management consulting firm Booz & Company named Apple as one of the top three most innovative companies in the world.
Google, which took the second spot overall, ahead of 3M, was listed in the top three by 43 percent of respondents.
"Apple's innovation focuses on bringing together different parts of an ecosystem and tightly integrating them together with meticulous attention to detail" Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin was quoted as saying by CNN
"They refine consumer capabilities in an approachable offering with broad appeal," Rubin told Wired magazine, a leading tech publication, via e-mail.
Samsung, number four on Booz's list, takes a different approach than Apple, making a point to incorporate the latest technologies into its products, like large OLED displays and NFC.
"Other companies, like Dell, focus on relatively unglamorous innovation in process and manufacturing," Rubin said. And then there are companies like Google, whose innovation is largely left to prototypes and concepts, things like Project Glass.
"I think Apple is a leading innovator among tech companies - but innovation comes from many companies, and it's easy to point to clear examples from many of Apple's competitors," Forrester analyst Charles Golvin told Wired.
Interestingly, innovation (at least in the surveyors' eyes) is not tied with R&D spending. Apple's absolute R&D expenditures rank it 16th within its industry, CNN noted.
Microsoft, the top R&D spender in the software and Internet area, was ranked as the sixth most innovative company.
Golvin thinks Apple will continue to be a leader in innovation in the coming years, despite doubts about the company now that Steve Jobs is out of the picture.

Dhoom 3 - The game, which was initially released exclusive for Windows Phone based devices, is now available for Android, BlackBerry 10, Symbian, and iOS platform based devices. The game is based on the theme of upcoming Aamir Khan starrer movie which also goes by the same name. It is a racing game like the Racing Moto and is available for free on all the platforms.

As obvious, the story of the game is quite simple: the cops are all out in full force and you have only one way - ride hard though the busy street. You have to collect coins during the race which you can later use to purchase newer bikes and to unlock other items.
As far as our experience goes, the game has awesome 3D graphics which does not pinch on eyes and looks a lot realistic. Moreover, it has got great controls which again feel natural.

Apple is the world's most valuable brand followed by Microsoft, Coca-Cola, IBM and Google, according to Forbes.Apple has topped the 'World's Most Valuable List' compiled by Forbes magazine with a brand value of $104.3 billion, nearly twice other technology major Microsoft, which has a brand value of $56.7 billion.

"... the Apple name is as strong as ever. Apple is the most valuable brand in the world for a third straight time at $104.3 billion, up 20 percent over last year. It is worth nearly twice as much as any other brand on the planet by our count," Forbes said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's brand value has remained flat over the past three years, as the company struggles to make a transition from PC to the mobile world, the magazine said.

"Growth has slowed, but it is still one of the most profitable brands in the world with operating margins of 34 percent in its latest fiscal year," it said.

With a brand value of $54.9 billion, Coca-Cola was ranked third in the list, followed by IBM ($50.7 billion), Google ($47.3 billion).

Among the top 10 brands, McDonald's, with a brand value of $39.4 billion, was ranked sixth, followed by General Electric ($34.2 billion), Intel ($30.9 billion), Samsung ($29.5 billion) and Louis Vuitton ($28.4 billion).

Brands from US-based companies make up just over half of the list of 100, with the next biggest representation from Germany (nine brands), France (eight) and Japan (seven).

No Indian company features in the list.
Samsung, which came at No.9, had the strongest one-year gain of any brand in the top 100, up 53 percent to $29.5 billion. The company's value soared 136 percent over the past three years.

"Sales for Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone have been on fire and the company also benefits from its market leading position with memory chips," Forbes said.

Forbes, however, said the value of a brand can collapse in the complex, fast moving technology world.

Forbes had valued the Blackberry brand at $6.1 billion last year, but this year it stood at just $2.2 billion and has come out of the top 100 brands list.
Forbes valued the brands on three years of earnings and allocated a percentage of those earnings based on the role brands play in each industry. The 100 most valuable brands span 15 countries across 20 broad industry categories. 

 Apple iPhone 5s

Apple iPhone 5s detailed specifications

General

Release date

September 2013

Form factor

Touchscreen

Dimensions (mm)

123.80 x 58.60 x 7.60

Weight (g)

112.00

Battery capacity (mAh)

1570

Removable battery

No

Colours

Space Gray, Gold, Silver

SAR value

NA

Display

Screen size (inches)

4.00

Touchscreen

Yes

Touchscreen type

Capacitive

Resolution

640x1136 pixels

Pixels per inch (PPI)

326

Hardware

Processor make

Apple A7 (64-bit ARMv8)

Internal storage

16GB

Camera

Rear camera

8-megapixel

Flash

Yes

Front camera

1.2-megapixel

Software

Operating System

iOS 7

Java support

No

Browser supports Flash

No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi

Yes

Wi-Fi standards supported

802.11 a/ b/ g/ n

GPS

Yes

Bluetooth

Yes, v 4.00

NFC

No

Infrared

No

DLNA

No

Wi-Fi Direct

No

MHL Out

No

HDMI

No

Headphones

3.5mm

FM

No

USB

No

Charging via Micro-USB

No

Proprietary charging connector

Yes

Proprietary data connector

Yes

Number of SIMs

1

SIM Type

Nano-SIM

GSM/ CDMA

GSM

2G frequencies supported

GSM 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900

3G

Yes

3G frequencies supported

1900, 2100

Sensors

Compass/ Magnetometer

Yes

Proximity sensor

Yes

Accelerometer

Yes

Ambient light sensor

Yes

Gyroscope

Yes

Barometer

No

Temperature sensor

No