31772a6dd13fa30012a6de614c7ac0fc9734955e5797a33812 Money And Knowledge: March 2016

iPhone SE review: Good choice at a good price



If you've been clinging on to your 5S because you don't want a larger iPhone, now is a good time to upgrade.


Unless you take a lot of selfies or need a bigger phone, Apple's new 4-inch iPhone SE is a good choice at a good price.

You get the same 12-megapixel rear camera that's in the much larger iPhone 6S, but for $250 less, at about $400. You also get the same speeds and graphics capabilities.
Of course, you don't get everything. The SE isn't going to be right for everyone, especially power users. Now that Apple has started taking orders, with shipments due in a week, keep these differences in mind:
Most noticeable is the front camera. The SE has an older 1.2-megapixel camera _ not the 5 megapixel one in the 6S. But with software improvements, selfies taken with the SE came out better compared with the iPhone 5S it replaced. In addition, the SE's screen turns into a front-camera flash. That's more important than megapixels in darker settings.
Though you get the same rear camera as the 6S, you don't get an image-stabilizing feature found in the jumbo iPhone 6S Plus. This won't matter to most people, though. I typically have to blow up shots and look real closely for differences. You get the same options for panorama shots, slow motion and high-resolution ``4K'' video in all three phones.
The SE lacks a barometer, which means fitness apps won't record stairs climbed. The SE also lacks 3D Touch, in which you can press on an icon hard and harder for shortcuts and other options. Including it would have made the phone thicker. You can still perform the same tasks, but might need an extra tap or two.
The SE doesn't support "LTE Advanced'' cellular technology, which can be twice as fast as regular LTE. The iPhone 6 doesn't either, and frankly, I didn't even notice when I got the 6S. There's one SE model for Sprint and another for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. China has its own model, though both U.S. versions should still work there and elsewhere abroad _ data will just potentially be slower without LTE Advanced.
The SE doesn't come in a version with 128 gigabytes of storage _ just 16 GB for starters and 64 GB for $100 more. Many high-power users will probably want a bigger screen anyway, but if that's not the case, splurge for at least 64 GB. Your phone will fill up quickly _ especially as still images now come with three-second videos by default, doubling storage requirements.
Promised battery life for video and Web surfing is 13 hours _ a few hours better than the 6S. It helps that there's less screen to light up.
The SE largely retains the boxy feel of the 5S, so old cases will work, but you don't get a smoother feel from the larger phones' curved edges. On the other hand, the smaller size feels more comfortable, and had there been a curved design at that size, your phone might slip out of your hand more easily.
I ran 14 miles with the phone in my hand or pocket and forgot about it. Oh, I miss that size. But the screen now feels tiny for reading and typing, now that I'm used to a bigger one.
If you've been clinging on to your 5S because you don't want a larger iPhone, now is a good time to upgrade. A new wireless chip enables payments with Apple Pay. There's faster Wi-Fi, though not as fast as the 6S. You can also access the Siri voice assistant anytime hands-free, without pressing the home button.
Though your 5S might last a few more months, it's going to get tougher to run the latest software and apps. And the $400 price is $50 less than what the 5S sold for. If your 5S is in good condition, you can trade it in at an Apple store and get the SE for $240, in 24 monthly installments.

Many Android makers have shunned 4-inch screens in premium phones. You're stuck with mid-range phones that lack high-end cameras and speeds. I had expected older technology in the iPhone SE, as Apple usually has 2-year-old hardware at this price. Instead, much of what's inside is just six months old _ better than the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.


Sure, there are trade-offs, but at least Apple didn't try to pressure people into larger models by skimping on what matters most.

Google, we may not need you in future, here’s why!



It's difficult to think of a world without Google today. The search engine has an answer to every question - from the nearest Dominos Pizza store to how to tame that frizzy hair! It has made inroads into our lives so smoothly and swiftly.
With so much of dependence on the search engine, the need for it will only increase with a rise in internet penetration in the developing countries; at least that's what Google would want to believe.
We cannot speak for other countries, but Google, shocking as it may sound to you, India may not need you in future at all. That's because we prefer human brains that work as fast as you do and well, we have got that in plenty! 
Meet India's first Google boy Kautilya. He has an academy of his own, we're not kidding!
At an age when most children are just graduating from alphabets to words, Haryana's Kautilya Pandit could name every galaxy, reel off Australia's GDP and talk about Indonesia's politics. Kurukshetra University found his IQ to be around 130 points against 92-110 of a normal kid. He even left Amitabh Bachhan in awe of him when he appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Who learns periodic table at the age of 4? Meet Jaitra Sharma, the second Google Boy from Haryana after Kautilya
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Hasbro Patented a 3D Scanner For Kids That Uses a Smartphone to Digitize Toys

Hasbro Patented a 3D Scanner For Kids That Uses a Smartphone to Digitize Toys
Mattel might be the first to market with a 3D printer aimed at kids, but Hasbro isn’t sitting by and letting its main competitor have all the 3D fun. The company just patented a kid-friendly 3D scanner that can digitize small objects using a smartphone’s camera and clever software.

Hasbro Patented a 3D Scanner For Kids That Uses a Smartphone to Digitize Toys

Given how the company has already embraced 3D printing when it comes to some of the its most popular properties, it’s not surprising to see Hasbro move more into this market space. But it’s important to point out there isn’t a Hasbro-branded 3D printer—at least yet.
Hasbro Patented a 3D Scanner For Kids That Uses a Smartphone to Digitize Toys

So what good is a 3D scanner without a 3D printer? The 3D models produced by this device—which uses a hand-crank to spin the object being scanned while a smartphone snaps photos of it from multiple angles—can still be used on a non-Hasbro-branded 3D printer, or even uploaded to 3D printing sites like Shapeways.
Kids could also use the scanner to turn a favorite toy or stuffed animal into a 3D avatar for a video game, or bring it into virtual reality. The quality wouldn’t quite compare to what a laser 3D scanner would be capable of. But presumably Hasbro is also targeting a kid-friendly price tag if and when this eventually shows up on toy store shelves.

(source:gizmodo)

Apple’s March 21 iPhone launch event: 5 things to expect



Apple has announced that it is hosting an event on March 21, without giving much information on what to expect from it. However, the rumour mill has been active for months about this event and we have a fair idea of what it will be about. The primary theme will be going ‘small’, for both the iPhone and the iPad. But there will be a few other things to look forward to on March 21.
Take a look at the 5 things to expect from Apple’s March 21 launch event...
iPhone SE
The highlight of the event is expected to be iPhone SE, or Special Edition, which is said to feature a 4-inch screen and sport the design of the iPhone 6/6S series. Powering the smartphone is the A9 chipset, the same processor that keeps the iPhone 6S running. Other key features of iPhone SE leaked so far are 8MP camera setup of iPhone 6, support for Apple Pay and Live Photos.
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Ranking the 10 Best Smartphones You Can Buy Right Now (March 2016)



Some of the newest smartphone of 2016 are just now starting to hit shelves, so if you’re interested in upgrading to a new phone, there are some new options to consider.
We are still waiting for phones like the rumored iPhone SE and LG G5 to launch, so keep that in mind on this list. However, for now, this is our ranking of the 10 best smartphone you can by right now.
Nexus 5X: Nexus phones have always been for hardcore Android fans, but this year Google wanted to change that by bringing a budget-friendly phone ($379) to the market that just about anyone would want to pick up and use.
It’s made out of plastic and has a pretty basic design, but it’s really light in the hand and has a nice textured feel. Furthermore, it has just a 5.2-inch display, so it’s quite a bit smaller than most other Android smartphones out there. Most importantly though, Google (in partnership with LG) has made one of the best budget phone out there and pretty much erases the notion of ever buying a “midrange” smartphone ever again. It’s not the absolute best value (see the OnePlus phones for that), but if the stock Android 6.0 experience for cheap is what you want, get the Nexus 5X.

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Facebook just bought the popular face swapping app that's dominating the App Store right now



Facebook acquired Masquerade, the maker of a popular mobile app that lets people swap faces and add other special effects to their videos.
Facebook acquired Masquerade, the maker of a popular mobile app that lets people swap faces and add other special effects to their videos.
The app will make Facebook a bit more like Snapchat, which has become increasingly popular with young users thanks in part to filters that add special effects to pictures and videos.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off Masquerade in action by posting a video to his Facebook page on Wednesday in which he sports a digital Iron Man mask.
Facebook has said it will bring the Masquerade features to its main social network. So take a look at Zuckerberg's video - it's only a matter of time before you start seeing similar antics from all your Facebook friends:
Taking a break from coding to welcome the MSQRD team to Facebook!

WhatsApp Introduced Document Sharing for Android and iOS



With over 1 billion user bases, WhatsApp is the world’s leading online cross platform messenger commonly used as a colloquial messaging app, which lacked the file sharing function. For more work oriented communication, the leading cross platform instant messaging client introduced a new update for Android and iOS that allow users to share locally stored documents with individuals as well as groups. The latest WhatsApp update version 2.12.453 for Android and 2.12.14 on iOS has a new documents icon to the paperclip attachments list. But for now the only type of document that can be added is PDF, where both the sender and receiver must be on the same version of WhatsApp to use this latest feature. However, this update has not been released to all Android users via Google Play.
To share the files in new version of WhatsApp, tap the attachment icon on the top right of the screen in the chat window and select the ‘document’ option, this opens a list of PDF files stored in the local drive that can be shared. But the navigation has limitation in opening specific folders in the local drive.
Founded in 2009, WhatsApp Messenger is the world’s leading proprietary cross-platform instant messaging client for smartphones. After months of being at beta stage, the application was eventually launched in November 2009 exclusively on the App Store for the iPhone. In January 2010, support for BlackBerry smartphones was added, and subsequently for Symbian OS in May 2010 and for Android OS in August 2010. With over 1 billion active users, WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook on February 19, 2014 causing a considerable number of users to move, or try out other message services. In late January 2015, WhatsApp was officially made available for PCs through a web client, under the name WhatsApp Web.
WhatsApp uses a customized version of the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). Upon installation, the app creates a user account using one's phone number as the username to login. The app has a score of 2 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's secure messaging scorecard for having communications encrypted in transit and having completed an independent security audit.

(source:techgig)

You could go to prison for having a Facebook account that's not in your real name

Image

Internet users who create fake profiles could face criminal charges, according to new guidelines.
People who use social media accounts under other names to harass and attack others should be charged, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The new rules could allow for the prosecution of people who create a profile "under the name of the victim with fake information uploaded which, if believed, could damage their reputation and humiliate them", the CPS said.
"In some cases the information could then be shared in such a way that it appears as though the victim has themselves made the statements."
Authorities said that the new rules were a response to the changing nature of online crime.
"It is vital that prosecutors consider the bigger picture when looking at evidence and examine both the online and offline behaviour pattern of the defendant," director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders said.
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Seriously? That Ancient Greek Statue Does Not Depict a Laptop

Greek statue with a "laptop"

There's a new conspiracy theory out there, but instead of invoking big government or aliens, it questions whether there's a laptop carved into an ancient Greek statue.
That's right — there's a theory out there saying that a funerary statue of a woman, dated to about 100 B.C., shows her looking at a modern laptop or a handheld digital device. The theory, proposed by the anonymous YouTube user StillSpeakingOut, ventures that the ancientOracle of Delphi may have foreseen the invention of laptops, and told people about it.
"Just so we are clear, I'm not saying that this relief was depicting an ancient laptop computer," StillSpeakingOut said in the 100-second-long video

.
In fact, the object depicted on the statue does look something like a laptop, said Jeffrey Spier, the senior curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California, which owns the statue.
But, of course, it's not, Spier said.
Instead, the object may be a jewelry box, a shallow chest or possibly a hinged mirror, as "we have hinged mirrors from this time period," Spier said. Perhaps it's a box containing incense, although there's no incense burner in the scene, so that may be a stretch, he added.
Another historian debunked StillSpeakingOut's idea that the so-called laptop has USB ports in its side.
"The 'USB ports' are drill holes for the attachment of a bronze object, or perhaps a separate piece of marble," said Jeff Hurwit, a professor of art history and classics at the University of Oregon.
Grave artwork
The statue, officially called "Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant," depicts a well-dressed woman lounging on a cushioned armchair and reaching out "to touch the lid of a shallow chest held by a servant girl," according to the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Funerary reliefs, fashioned out of marble like this one, were common inancient Greece, going in and out of style over the years, Spier told Live Science. Such reliefs start occurring in the archaeological record in the sixth century B.C. and continue until about the first century B.C.
These funerary statues would have sat above graves of the deceased, and are called naiskos, which are small temples dedicated to the deceased, Spier said. This one would have likely had a triangular top, and probably had the departed woman's name painted on top, he said.
"We have a number [of naiskos] in the museum," Spier said. "They show young girls with their toys or with pets. They are very nostalgic and sympathetic."
However, guests won't see the "enthroned woman" naiskos anytime soon at the Getty. The museum lent the statue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where it will go on display April 18 for an exhibit called, "Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World."
Guests visiting the Met can decide for themselves whether they think the statue shows a laptop, but the experts have already made up their minds.
"Seriously?" Hurwit said. "The 'laptop' is in fact a shallow box or lidded tray from which the woman is about to select a piece of jewelry, as is commonly shown in grave reliefs like this one."
However, this isn't the only conspiracy about modern technology showing up in yesteryear. In 2010, a similar flurry arose concerning a woman in a 1928 Charlie Chaplin film holding an object that looked like a cellphone. But that mystery object was likely an ear trumpet, used to help the woman hear, experts said.

(source:livescience)

Vivo Xplay5: The world's first 6 GB RAM phone announced; comes with Samsung S6 Edge-like curved display



Vivo has just introduced its new smartphone- the Vivo Xplay5 - that offers a 6 GB RAM (Ultimate Edition) making it the world's first phone to come with double the RAM currently on offer in some smartphones.
However, from the exterior, the Vivo Xplay5 Ultimate Edition looks like a cross between Samsung S6 Edge with a spilling side display and an iPhone due to its rear designing.
The Vivo Xplay5 comes with a 5.43-inch super AMOLED HD display offering 2560 X 1440 pixel resolution and at its heart is a 2.15Ghz Qualcomm Xiaolong 820 quad-core processor.
The phone is being offered with a single internal storage choice of 128 GB. In tune with the current trend of offering device security, the Xplay5 Ultimate Edition comes with a rear fingerprint sensor.
Powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Vivo's own Funtouch OS 2.6 layered atop, the phone features a 16 megapixel Sony IMX298 rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, and flash. The rear camera is complemented with an 8 megapixel front snapper with f/2.4 aperture. The phone offers 4K recording and playback option.

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