Checking my Instagram feed and Snapchat used to be as vital as my morning coffee. A cursory Instagram scroll warmed me from within and Snapchat’s 10-second soundbites provided a caffeine shove into reality. Not any more. To use an analogue turn of phrase, a switch has been flicked in my mind: I no longer want to be so connected. A study of 5,000 students commissioned by Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference found that 63% said they would not care if social media did not exist and a whopping 71% had taken a break from social media. They join celebrities such…
Author: Loknath Das
Read More
“Old media” dominated headlines in the US last week – and the business pages were no exception. With the winners (Facebook) and losers (Snapchat) of tech earnings season settled, and investors seemingly unfazed by Silicon Valley’s troubling links to Russia, Wall Street cast its gaze towards looming consolidation among traditional media empires. Of most relevance to Australian readers were reports that the Melbourne-born mega mogul Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Group was in talks to sell its valuable entertainment assets (including film studios and some TV channels but not its sports or news assets) to storied media corporation Disney. On face value, this would seem like a shocking…
Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it has inked a deal to stream behind-the-scenes video of Britain’s Manchester City soccer club during its current season, in the online retailer’s latest push to draw sports fans to its website. The series will launch on Amazon’s Prime Video service next year in more than 200 countries and territories. Viewers will hear interviews with club manager Pep Guardiola and witness executive meetings and training for one of the top soccer teams globally. The long in-the-works deal sheds insight into Amazon’s video strategy. The company is after more viewers in the United Kingdom, one of its most important…
HIGHLIGHTS Jio users will get cashback vouchers on MyJio app, and wallets cashback Buyers will also get vouchers for fashion and travel sites This offer is available only for Prime subscribers Jio cashback offer has made a comeback for Prime subscribers, roughly a month after the operator announced cashback on the occasion of Diwali. The operator has announced it will provide total benefits worth up to Rs. 2,599, including both cashbacks and vouchers. While the Diwali offer was applicable only for the Rs. 399 recharge pack, the upcoming cashback offer will be provided for all recharges of Rs. 399 and above.…
People should worry about online data collection by technology companies because it gives them unparalleled insight into users lives, the creator of one of the biggest web browsers, Opera, said on Thursday. Jon von Tetzchner said the situation was already comparable to George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘1984’, since “everyone is being followed and everyone’s information is being collected”. Lack of awareness of the amount of data harvested is “a perfect storm of a really bad idea,” he told Reuters at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon. Von Tetzchner created Opera in 1996 and is now promoting his new browser, Vivaldi, that he…
Google CEO Sundar Pichai also unveiled a programme called ‘Grow with Google’ aimed at training Americans how to get jobs or grow their businesses. Photo: Reuters Pittsburgh: Google says over the next five years it will spend $1 billion on non-profit organizations helping to raise education levels around the world and commit its employees to a million hours of volunteer work doing the same. CEO Sundar Pichai announced the goal Thursday morning in Pittsburgh, the city where he arrived in the US from India 24 years ago. Pichai also unveiled a programme called “Grow with Google” aimed at training Americans how…
Delhi govt on Tuesday issued health advisory for high risk people, including children, elderly and those suffering from asthma and heart ailments, ask not to step out. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday announced that all schools in the national capital will remain closed till Sunday in view of the “unbearable” air pollution. The air quality in Delhi is turning worse, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said. “Can’t compromise with the health of children. All schools including private and government will remain closed till Sunday for all the classes,” Sisodia said in a series of tweets.…
Most of priority sector loans are supposed to serve a social purpose and they are meant to ensure that credit flows to those sections of society whom the banks may otherwise neglect. Photo: AFP It’s not just lending to the beleaguered corporate sector that has slowed—bank credit growth to the priority sector too has fallen considerably in recent months. The priority sector includes lending to agriculture, lending to micro and small enterprises in the manufacturing and services sectors, education and low-cost housing loans, loans to the weaker sections of the population and export credit. Most of these loans are supposed…
In 2015, Intel brought its Maker Lab hardware startup accelerator to India, working with 14 startups. Last year, the company partnered with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and IIT-Bombay’s startup incubator, Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) to create a program called Plugin, a collaborative incubation program for hardware startups. With four of the startups in the program already having reached market-ready products and several more having completed product development, Gadgets 360 attended a demo day at the Maker Lab in Bengaluru, where we got to see some of the new ideas in action. That said, most people agree that there isn’t a…
The 19.5:9 aspect ratio of the Apple iPhone X is not quite perfect for watching videos when the majority of content out there is at 16:9. Such content covers the equivalent of a 5” screen(a bit less actually) due to letterboxing. The latest YouTube update allows you to get rid of that and use the screen fully, horns and all. You lose a bit from the top and the bottom of the video while the sides lose bits due to the notch and the rounded corners. Still, if you want to, you can. All you need to do is a pinch gesture to…