iBall Slide 3G Q7218 Tablet Debuts in India, Priced at $102

iBall just debuted a new tablet, a model called iBall Slide 3G Q7218, that’s available in India, priced at $102. The new product is available on e-tailers like Flipkart and Amazon, as well as brick and mortar stores.

The tablet has a 7 inch WVGA display, a 1.3 GHz quad core processor and Android 4.4 as the OS. There’s 512 MB of RAM inside, a 2500 mAh battery and 8 GB of storage. I have to say that the RAM is not exactly impressive, but for this price it’s pretty OK. There’s also a microSD card slot included in the mix, plus a combo of two cameras, a 2 MP one at the back and a VGA front shooter.

iBall has included here dual SIM support, 3G connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB OTG and FM radio. The new tablet is not alone in the new lineup, since it joins the recently launched Slide Octa A41 in iBall’s product portofolio. The design is pretty basic with a rectangular format and rounded edges.

ASUS Transformer Book T100 Chi (07H) is Coming and There’s Proof About That

Apparently, there’s a new ASUS Transformer Book coming and the new model is dubbed T100 Chi (07H), plus it may integrated a new type of Intel CPU inside. The WiFi Alliance has certified a certain ASUS Transformer Book T100 Chi, as the document below states.

The product may be shown at next month’s CES 2015 and sold during the summer for around $700. The product is expected to offer WiFi dual band support, Bluetooth and 3G, as well as Windows 8. Rumor has it that the Llama Mountain device is related to this model, so we may be dealing with a 2 in 1 hybrid with Intel Core M Broadwell CPU inside. It will adopt a fanless format and a dock keyboard obviously.

The impressive part here is the size, since the slate is said to be around 6.8 mm in waistline and weigh 550 grams. The design of the product will probably be similar to the one of the Transformer Book T300Chi, one of the detachable units that were appreciated by connaisseurs at Computex 2014. The series also includes the Transformer Book T90 Chi, with Windows 8.1 as well and that one was certified back in October.

Expect a 10.1 inch screen on the T100 Chi.

Skype offering free US and Canadian calls to users in India

Skype has just announced an offer exclusive to users located in India. Indian customers can now call domestic landline or mobile number in the US or Canada absolutely free until March 1st 2015.

The offer applies to both existing and new users, all you need is a Skype account and an internet connection to make calls over. You can then use the phone dialler from within the Android app, along with accompanying national calling codes, to call US and Canadian numbers free of charge.

In the New Year, Skype users in India can connect with friends and family in the US and Canada without having to worry about call charges. Both existing and new Skype users can benefit from this offer,
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The offer is already up and running and will expire in March next year. Don’t forget that all calls between Skype users over the internet are already free. If you want to make the most of the offer, you can download Skype for free from the Google Play Store.

This startup will help you ride to work and back with ones you trust

Ah! The traffic in an Indian city. A scenario so lamentable that office goers justify why they were late in one word. “Traffic”.

Nevertheless, there are many ways to get to your office, you could drive or ride on your own, hire a cab or an auto rickshaw, avail the office cab facilities where available, and if you are really, really lucky, walk to your office.

RideIT, a Hyderabad based startup, offers an alternate solution. Or at least tries to address the problem. This is a ride-share matching service exclusively for working professionals could find people traveling the same route to work.

You choose a route, the point of pick up, and connect with other carpoolers. I cannot term it as a carpool alone, since motorbikes and auto rickshaws are also included. The users can refer to the price listed or discuss the cost-sharing beforehand.

The concept seems simple enough but the trend is yet to catch on in the country. “A major reason for this is because of no strong support/incentive from the government,” says Rahul Jacob, co-founder of the Hyderabad based startup. Besides, there is a grey area of the law, Section 66 of the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, which prohibits using private vehicles for hire or rewards.

Nevertheless, in the last two years many ride-share startups have sprung up in different cities, like Orahi, Rindingo, Let’s Drive Along, and the more recent addition, Tripda.

At a time when taxi operators have been facing the heat from the government, this seems like a viable option. But what about the safety of the users?

“It is a deliberate decision on our part to restrict the access to working professionals,” says Jacob. “The trust factor is higher when you deal with folks with similar backgrounds.” RideIT’s 5,100 users have been authenticated through his or her official office email address to ensure that the travel companion is an employee of an established company.

RideIT is planning a launch of the iOS and Android apps in January and expects to customize the app towards gated communities and colleges in the near future. The firm is also planning to expand to cities beyond Hyderabad. The idea which, was conceptualized at the Infosys Hyderabad campus, has won an award for its social initiative.

The question remains: will carpooling actually ensure that you reach your office in time? I doubt it. After all the pickup driver might show up 10 minutes late at your location and say: “Traffic”.

See: This intercity ridesharing startup wants everyone to save money, reduce carbon emissions

Google wants to make Shopping more like Amazon with one-click buy – report

Amazon is quite possibly one of the most impressive success stories in the hallowed hall of internet-based corporations. What started as a humble online bookstore with an unusual name has now expanded to encompass seemingly everything: shopping, media, cloud storage, remote computing framework, and even mobile devices. It has partially-automated shipping warehouses and wants to deliver packages via drones. Heck, its founder Jeff Bezos has even purchased The Washington Post. The only thing Amazon isn’t successful at seems to be making a killing in profits, as the company’s customer-friendly business model doesn’t lend itself especially well to Apple-esque financial gains. Still, investors are absolutely smitten with the company.

To say that everyone wants a piece (of Amazon) is an understatement, and though many companies hope to aspire to its level of greatness, none have truly succeeded on a multi-national level… yet. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, however, Google is actively seeking to become a more visible and vicious competitor.

Changes planed by Google would reportedly affect the way the Google Shopping portal operates: as things currently work, users are presented with links to retailer’s websites wherein they can purchase the desired item(s) they searched for. The drawback of the current shopping method is that users are less likely to complete a purchase because the third-party site would require registration, both of personal and payment information, in order to complete the sale. The more work that needs to be done, the less likely any given person is to do it.

The solution is therefore to simplify matters. Apparently the folks at Mountain View have offered online retailers to create a “buy” button for the Google Shopping site, thus serving to emulate the “one-click ordering” offered by Amazon: this will ensure potential customers go through Google to complete their purchase, and, as shopper’s information would already be on-file [with Google] the transaction would indeed be a one-click affair sans any kind of extra work.

OnePlus partners with Waves to bring MaxxAudio to the One

OnePlus may be in the middle of expanding into new regions, but the company is also focused on refining its flagship One smartphone too. Today, the company announced that it has partnered up with Waves to bring MaxxAudio software to the OnePlus One.

Waves may be a familiar named to audio enthusiasts, the company is a leading developer of studio grade digital audio plugins and professional audio hardware solutions. OnePlus is interested in the company’s MaxxAudio software suite, which is designed to enhance the quality of audio playback on your PC, TV, laptop, smartphone or tablet. Wave’s MaxxAudio has numerous other partnerships with big names the smartphone industry, including with ARM, Qualcomm, and Wolfson.

The full MaxxAudio suite contains familiar equalization options, along with surround sound, spatial imaging, noise reduction, and compression options, among others. OnePlus seems to be making partial use of the suite, absorbing MaxxAudio’s EQ, Phycho-Acoustic Bass Enhancement, High Frequency booster and Spatial Imaging technologies into the One’s AudioFX app.

Our team worked closely with MaxxAudio to perfect the software integration through the new version of the AudioFX app we developed. - Steve Kondik, CTO of Cyanogen Inc.
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OnePlus has also apparently tuned MaxxAudio specifically for the handset’s speakers, as well as Silver Bullet and JBL E1+ headphones. The app also includes a selection of 10 EQ presets, where you will find the usual array classical, jazz, metal, hip hop and other options.

These MaxxAudio improvements will be making their way to the OnePlus One via a “major” CyanogenMod update in January.

Pebble 2.3 Beta brings support for Android Wear-ready apps

While smartwatches, in one form or another, have been around for a number of years, Pebble is arguably one of the very first to have had any real mainstream appeal. Since its debut, Pebble has been pretty quiet on the hardware front (aside from the Pebble Steel) but they have consistently improved the software experience.

Just last month, Pebble introduced massively improved notifications for Android users, making it so you could see any notification from your phone on your watch. And now Pebble is taking things a step further by introducing actionable notifications to the platform — at least for those that sign up for the Android Beta and have at least Android 4.0 or higher.

To get the job done, Pebble is actually piggy-backing off Android Wear apps. In other words, any Android app that has been updated with AW notification support will now work with Pebble watches as well. That means you can now delete and reply to messages and email, Hangouts and so much more.



It is important to note that Pebble doesn’t have a microphone and so you can’t use voice reply, thus somewhat crippling actionable notifications when compared to Android Wear. Still, there’s no denying this is a solid step in the right direction and is a great way to up the number of apps that support the Pebble platform. For more details, check outPebble’s blog.

What do you think of this news? Is it a sign that the next-gen Pebble (whenever it comes) may continue to push forward by piggybacking off the efforts of Android Wear and perhaps even Apple Watch for those using it on iOS?