How Blockchain can be able to create a revolution in the mobile app industry?

In terms of the financial transaction the world has changed its way of paying money; starting from the barter system and now it’s moving to online payment. The app development companies took a step further into the digital world and created digital currency and this is where Blockchain technology comes into play.

App Approval

The major concern for any app developer is the issue of app approval with Google play store and apple apps store being the leaders they demand quality and integrity of the app.

With the introduction of Blockchain technology, the app approval system can be made easier because of the transparency of the app developer.  App developer’s financial transaction will be directly linked to the public ledger.

Advertising

Advertising has become a major concern in every industry especially in the Mobile application side there are more 2.2million apps. The mobile app developers must invest in CPI (Cost per installation) campaigns; these campaigns are very shady and risky and they are being controlled by middlemen.

With the Entry of Blockchain Technology, the advertising style can be modified by eliminating the middlemen and providing a new campaign based on the amount of time spent in application this is called CPA campaign (Cost per attention).

The In-app purchase

A recent report says that more than half the people in the world are using smartphones but among them, only a few billion people are using the in-app purchasing that are necessary for them to use the app. The main hassle comes into the situation is that both the user and developer are not happy with the payment process for in-app purchase.

Blockchain technology will help the user to use their CPA rewards even without the help of credit cards and other payment methods; Apart from this, the Developers can enjoy a benefit of 85% from the transaction value by evading the middlemen.

Infrastructure Security

Security has become a major concern in every digital platform because of hackers and malware problems most of the app developers are very serious about these issues.

Due to the issue of digital currency people worry that Blockchain may also face the threat of security problems, it will empower the app developers and give full control to them so no one can alter the data without their prior access.

Free From passwords

The use of passwords has become a bane in the digital world this may be a bit cryptic but passwords are cracked more easily nowadays by the hackers, but with the help of Blockchain technology there is no need for the use of passwords.

It has its best feature of network decentralization so there will be common consent among the involved people for the authentication of Blockchain based SSL (security socket layer) certificates. This will make the transaction method ease and there will be no issues.

Transparent and Secure Environment

Blockchain technology has the best transparent and secure environment for the transaction; why?  Because the transaction activity will be tracked and monitored in such a way that the users can easily follow the process and also reduce the risk of any fake transaction or security issues. The security concerns will be highly controlled in categorization and information storage and it will be tracked, verified, secured.

Entries can be increased so there won’t be any limits to feed the information. It stands as a strong verification and balancing system that will give the user full control over the digital process.

Your own digital identity

Every individual involved in the Blockchain will have a unique digital identity that is created specifically for them. It is created by filling out their details in the network of the public or private Blockchain domain. This unique identity will be strong and highly reliable so there won’t be any security problems.

The unique identity can be used for various purposes so there won’t be any confusion. This one can be shown to any government organization, Healthcare organizations and financial institutions as a personal identification proof.

For an App developer, this form of identification can be considered as Eden’s apple so that can use this method to create digital identification management apps for different sectors.

The boom of Digital Wallets

Digital wallets have become the state of the art transaction methods in various parts of the world; this form of change is due to the latest change in cryptocurrency advancements. All these are completely secured with the help of Blockchain technology.

Acts as a Complex digital ledger system

The blockchain is simply a vast digital ledger that is powered by an extensive computer network, to send and analyze the data in a seamless manner.

If there’s any change in the accounting records or data it automatically changes the other machines that are connected on the same network and above all the values are adjusted based on the changes.

This kind of methodical approach should be followed by the mobile networks as well normally the mobile networks exploit the client and server system. A major focus has to be in this because mobile networks are overburdened with millions of users trying to access the data, but with the help of this technology the problem can be solved as the Blockchain Facilitates increased storage space and uninterrupted data streaming services.

Safeguarding by multiple user access

Blockchain gives the users multiple accesses but it needs verification of adjusted information. With this technology, enciphering is a very difficult process and makes it impossible to duplicate the system without the decryption key.

In the upcoming years, Blockchain technology will grow parallel to mobile technology and it will be widespread. The mobile app development company is motivated on creating custom OS apps the Blockchain technology can safeguard the consumer to the highest level and confidentially secures all your app projects with new industry standard security and encryption.

How to choose the best CMS for your business? Open Source CMS Vs Licensed CMS?

To build a brand new website or creating a web development project, absolutely the first choice is the content. With the right content management system, the business can be projected in an effective strategy. In nowadays world of digital communication, everywhere the works and actions are carried as digital derived options which are open source, e-commerce focused, and content focused. Thus to strive in this path of business right content is the needed fuel to ignite the business towards winning path.

CMS means Content Management System and it is used for effective use of content for the content marketing campaigns. It is not a matter of how great the content, the CMS should display and manage it in the right way; otherwise, it will not create the exact impact of the quality content.

Nowadays, content remains as the strong backbone to gain effective interaction with the customers and to get a great reach through different pipelines. Users are highly engaged with the content in various smart mobile apps and websites. If a website has to remain strong, then the ultimate thing to do is to regular update of different types of contents, blogs and even through the social media platforms. To handle all these things in a well-defined way, Content Management System is the mandatory option to get accurate managing of contents in an efficient way.

With prolific types of CMS in the market, it is a hard task to choose the best one to carry out complex tasks. It can be decided based on some preferred factors such as platform, market requirements, number of users and absolutely the budget. If it meets the business demands and satisfying the profit criteria then the right CMS option can be chosen wisely. Overall the CMS is categorized into open source and License types.

Following are some easy factors to be well analyzed before choosing a Content Management System,

1.      Cost

Source code availability is the only differentiating factor that exists between the licensed system and open source. Open source is totally available for free and the updates can be easily done by a huge number of users. But it lacks the other support and security guarantee features with the trusted providers. Open Source CMS is a freely available one and the frequent updates can be done by a huge number of users. But a licensed CMS is the one which is sourced by a third-party, and to avail that CMS one has to pay for it and also the support and maintenance features are all covered.

2.      Methodologies used

Licensed CMS is a dedicated paid option that offers a well-developed roadmap for the process executed and other developments which is based on planned schedules. It is easy to handle for the programmers as they have knowledge about the whole plan process of the CMS for the project. But Open source CMS is a peer production one with volunteers, where the source code is open to the public. It will be harder to find out the person who contributed to the software.

3.      Support features

To keep the CMS in a safe way is a very important aspect, as it is managing all the contents such as blogs, social media pages, intranet etc. If any issue is rising on CMS, it can directly impact the customer service. So it is better to have a quick support system for the CMS. With an open source CMS, anyone can take over the code and formal support options are not available for that. But for licensed CMS separate 24*7 support services are there. So CMS can be easily protected and maintained.

4.      Necessary updates

Without proper updates on time, the user experience can be totally affected. For CMS also, it is necessary to sustain technological changes and user demands. To satisfy the user with perfect user experience, updates are a mandatory one. In open source CMS, the codes are open and it can be modified. But that modification process will be a tedious one. But a licensed CMS has options of a clear upgrade at the regular time so that the services can be unaffected.

5.      Easy customization

This customization option is totally dependent on the type of business involved. To maintain the content management in a unique way for the audience, then the CMS should be capable of easy customization option. Open source CMS has an inconsistent user interface but a licensed one has add-on options and it is easy to customize the content on sites at regular intervals of time.

To summarize, whether choosing open source or licensed, it is based on the requirements. By proper consideration of the above-said features, one can get an idea to choose the right one to offer clear contents for the users.

How can a Website be Turned into a Mobile App?

In the primordial days of technological development, large size desktop computers were there and every operation was carried out in the intranets for the organization, as there was not such a bigger popularity and connectivity of internet among the people. Over the last 10 years only, the internet has boomed across the worldwide population and with the inception of smartphones and other electronic gadgets, the internet has grown to a sky-high level faster than ever.

Every business and normal user needs some kind of mobile app and internet to carry on their tasks in their day to day life.  So, it is a prominent fact to have an individual mobile app for all the website holders, as the mobile-driven traffic to the website page is higher than the actual computer website visitors. Nowadays various ways and methods are there to create a separate app to manage the website platform and the conversion process can be done in a shorter time.

Importance of mobile app in the current trends

Websites are always powerful assets to explore the audience and publish the brand. But to stay with the wave of current trends of exploding mobile device users, all the organizations are shifting their path of business to provide responsive mobile friendly web designs and individual mobile apps for the brand to develop a personalized connection with the users. As the number of handheld device users is damn too high, it is an advantageous option to develop native mobile apps with distinctive functionalities more than the websites providing.

People are spending 10x more time to the handy mobiles than opening their PC, thus the absolute realization is that a huge number of customers is engaged towards the mobiles. More than the websites, multiple functionalities can be included via apps such as push notifications, Camera, Offline access, GPS and so on. You can easily get help from a professional to turn your website into a separate mobile app.

Transforming the website into a mobile app

The biggest advantages of mobile apps than the websites are its ability to connect to individual device services and its hardware. The app is able to access the address books, camera, pictures, and microphones etc. The mobile device is actually a part of the user’s daily lifestyle and it is totally designed for individual use. Thus data catching and offline access capabilities are enabled through mobile apps easily.

Communicating with the database is totally different from a website and mobile app. Mobile app design may be a two-layered one or three layered. Two-layer apps are able to connect directly with the database. But in the three-layered apps, the server is the second layer which can handle the connection between the app and the database. If the server is already present and optimized for the mobile, it is easy to extract the data from the website into an app. Mobile apps work against a server layer using JSON APIs, but websites are using the HTML format. Other functionalities such as payments etc. are processed differently on the website than the mobile apps.

Multiple platforms are there, where your existing websites can be easily transformed into native android and ios mobile apps in a seamless way. With simple steps such as entering the URL of the website or web content, naming the mobile app, framing functionalities and finally publishing on app stores as per the preference. Many numbers of users are using these platforms to convert their websites into apps effortlessly. 

Multiple benefits

Easy accessible

After the download of the app on the user’s mobile, the brand icon is on the customer’s mobile. The services of the enterprise are just one tap away from the user. Apps eliminate the tedious process to remember the address of the website and take separate time to browse on the internet using the URL.

Augment Search Engine Optimization

Google promotes linking websites to the mobile apps in recent years, and they are also encouraging website owners to have a separate mobile app to keep an access with their visitors. Thus to keep the business on the cutting edge technological growth, and to reach out top on the Google results, mobile apps can help a lot.

Customer loyalty for the brand

By providing periodic offers, and special coupons and promo codes for the mobile app users, especially for the e-commerce sites, mobile apps allow more possible choices to gain customer loyalty that can lead to gain a number of engaging customers for the brand.

Push notifications are not rudimentary features; it can be a great marketing tool for the brands to promote their enterprise through sending timely messages through apps for the users. Thus it's moreover like engaging customers through advertisement campaigns, but totally at free of cost for the companies.

Mobile apps are absolutely a great destination for innovation where the developing technologies are effectively utilized. If the enterprise ultimate goal is to provide the customers a great user interface experience and to access the user’s mobile native functions, mobile app is the best option to sell the products and services ahead of multiple competitors.

Author Bio:

Dipanwita Murabayashi is a leading Content Marketer at Doxtar, where they work in developing mobile apps and websites for many services like e-commerce. She is an expert in Content Marketing and Content Developer, the mobile app development by covering all platforms of it. Doxtar is a web and mobile app development company, which develops e-commerce platforms for both desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

Tech companies face talent crunch in cloud, data

Cloud architects, data scientists, storage systems & management specialists, and software architects are the hardest to find technology talent in India

The demand for security engineers increased by 120% in the last one year, while supply has risen by only 14%Cloud architects, data scientists, storage systems & management specialists, and software architects are the hardest to find technology talent in India. And over the past year, the shortage of data scientists has increased dramatically because of a surge in demand.

A talent supply index (TSI) developed by recruitment company Belong puts the TSI for these roles at 0.2 — in other words, if there are 10, say, cloud architect opportunities, there are only 2 relevant cloud architects available. A cloud architect is an IT professional responsible for overseeing a company’s cloud computing strategy.

The TSI for data scientists has dropped dramatically from 0.7 in 2017 to 0.2 this year. Belong said the demand has shot up by over 400% while the supply has seen only a 19% increase. Data scientists are responsible for using computing systems to collect, analyse and interpret large amounts of data to identify ways to help a business improve operations and gain a competitive edge over rivals.

“Among all the roles analysed in 2017, data science has seen the highest increase in demand. Digital transformation along with setting up of global innovation centres (GICs) by telecom, retail, banking and manufacturing enterprises are contributing to this exponential growth. There has never been a time when so much data has been captured, processed, stored and analysed,” Belong said.

Rishabh Kaul, co-founder of Belong, said companies have to invest in data engineering and in experienced professionals who have worked on large data sets. The Belong study looked at 5 lakh candidate profiles across 1.5 million jobs from an exhaustive list of data sources including Git-Hub, StackOverflow, Behance, Facebook, Google and its own data base. Shortages typically lead to surge in salaries, till supply picks up. 

The demand for security engineers increased by 120% in the last one year, while supply has risen by only 14%. Kaul said that security hiring is heating up, with banking & financial services accounting for nearly 35% of the demand.

The TSI data showed that for every 100 neural network specialists, there are only 40 available. Be it for self-driving cars, stock market prediction or fraud detection, neural networks can ingest large volumes of images, videos and words to offer desired outcomes. As a subset of machine learning, neural network is a set of algorithms that mimic the brain. Niraj Kumar, scientist at business process services firm Conduent, believes India has to up the game in neural networks. “This fundamentally boils down to core math skills,” he said, and noted that the Chinese trio of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent are at the cutting edge of AI work. “Recently, Alibaba’s neural network model scored over a human being, providing correct answers to 1,00,000 questions,” he said.

Facebook will now require pages with large followers as well as political ads to be authorized

AP Photo/Jeff ChiuPrime Minister of India Narendra Modi, left, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

• Facebook is changing how it manages Pages and ads on both its social network and on Instagram.
• The company will require political and issue-based ads and Pages with large numbers of followers to be authorized; advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location.
• The changes are aimed at increasing transparency and accountability and preventing election interference.

Facebook is tightening the noose on advertisers and changing how it manages Pages and ads on its social network and Instagram.

The company will now require Pages with large numbers of followers to be authorized and will require the same of political ads on its site and Instagram. The new requirements are aimed at increasing transparency and accountability and preventing election interference, Rob Goldman, Facebook's vice president of ads, and Alex Himel, its vice president of local and Pages, said in a blog post on the company's site.

"We know we were slow to pick-up foreign interference in the 2016 US elections," Goldman and Himel wrote. "By increasing transparency around ads and Pages on Facebook, we can increase accountability for advertisers - improving our service for everyone."

The company will require authorization for issue-based ads, such as ads around current political topics and debates. Advertisers will need to confirm their identities and location in order to get authorized. Facebook will ban those that don't clear the process from running political ads on either its social network or on Instagram.

Each message from an approved advertiser will be labeled as a "Political Ad" and will show who paid for it.

Anyone who manages a Facebook Page with a substantial number of followers will need to be verified as well. Page owners who do not clear the process will no longer be able to publish posts on them.

The new requirement is intended to clamp down on users with fake accounts running Facebook Pages. Going forward, visitors to Pages will be able to see more information about them, such as name changes they've undergone.

The changes are intended to prevent future abuse of Facebook's sites during elections, Goldman and Himel said in their post. They're also designed to give users all the information they need to assess the trustworthiness of both ads and Pages.

The move to authorize issue-based ads comes on top of the changes Facebook rolled out in October. It announced then that advertisers running federal election-related ads in the US would be required to verify their identities and include disclosures with their ads. Facebook said it was working with third parties to develop a list of key issues, which it would refine over time.

The new requirements follow a series of changes by Facebook to get control of ads and Pages

And the company has been taking other steps to prevent abuse of its services. It built a feature called "View Ads" that lets users see all the ads a Facebook Page is running, even ones that may not have been targeted at them. Facebook is testing the feature Canada and plans to launch it globally this summer. The company also is planning to release in June a searchable archive of all past political ads which would show not just their images and text, but also the amount that was spent on them and the demographic audience information that was used to target them at Facebook users.

With the US midterm elections coming in November and elections in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary, and other countries slated for this year also, preventing election interference is a huge focus for Facebook right now, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg said recently.

Indeed, it's one of his top priorities for 2018, and Facebook will hire more people to assist with the effort, Zuckerberg reiterated in a post on his Facebook account. He also voiced his support for the Honest Ads Act, a proposed law that would apply similar disclosure requirements for political ads that are placed on online services that are already mandated for those that run on television or in print. He said he hoped the steps would help raise the bar for all political advertising online.

"These steps by themselves won't stop all people trying to game the system," Zuckerberg wrote. "But they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the Russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads."

Best Over Ear Headphones in India

Over-ear headphones should be a priority if you prefer comfort, hi-fidelity sound, and excellent noise cancelling. While these headphones can be bulky, these are perfect if you are stationed at home or your workplace. There are numerous options available in the over-headphones segment, but we have identified the most suitable prospects as per sound quality, price, and user reviews.

JBL T250SI Headphone (Wired, No Mic)

· Selling Price – Rs 999

· Features – Adjustable Padded Headband, Supra-Aural, Foam Cushion, 3.5 mm Jack, 1-year warranty

JBL is a revered brand in the audio equipment manufacturing industry. A JBL over-ear headphone guarantees terrific sound supplemented by thumping bass and crystal clear treble. The High-Performance Pure Bass Drivers are especially meant to produce superb bass. The fascinating design certainly grabs the attention of the onlookers. JBL offers one year warranty on the headset.

Sony MDR-ZX310APLCE Headphone (Wired, Mic)

· Selling Price – Rs 1099

· Features - Circum-Aural design, Gold-Plated L-shaped Plug, Microphone, 1-year warranty

This metallic headphone from the house of Sony is an asset for all the audiophiles. The metallic build imparts much-required durability whereas 30 mm driver unit supports variable sound frequency range without distortion. The four-conductor gold-plated L-shaped plug facilitates seamless connectivity. The foldable design is an advantage as it facilitates easy portability.

Motorola Pulse 2 Headphones (Wired, Mic)

· Selling Price – Rs 899

· Features – Tangle-Resistant 1.2 m cable, Supra-Aural, 36 mm driver unit, Microphone

If your requirements are style and affordability, we recommend investing in Motorola over-ear headphones for you. The 36 mm driver unit ensures high-quality stereo sound in a variable frequency range of 18 Hz-23000 Hz. Further, the tangle-free wire is a welcoming feature. You can communicate effectively, courtesy the presence of a microphone. This is one of the top selling and the best headphones in India.

boAt Rockerz 400 Headphones (Wired & Bluetooth-enabled, Mic)

· Selling Price – Rs 1599

· Features – Bluetooth connectivity, 40 mm driver units, 250 mAh Li-Polymer battery, 8-hour playtime

If you are seeking affordable, Bluetooth-enabled headphones, boAt Rockerz will serve your purpose faithfully. The dual connectivity options, wired and wireless, impart flexibility with respect to usage. Further, the foldable and ultra-lightweight structure is also a positive consideration. The noise cancellation technology and 40 mm driver units facilitate excellent sound production. boAt provides 1-year on-site warranty wherein the company representative will arrive at your place in case of any issues.

Sennheiser HD 180 Headphones (Wired, No Mic)

· Selling Price – Rs 899

· Features – Frequency Response 21-20000 Hz, Circum-Aural, 24 Ohms Impedance, Noise cancellation feature

For the brand specific aficionados, Sennheiser HD 180 over-ear headphone is a lucrative bargain. The presence of noise cancellation feature and circum-aural design ensures that you experience distortion-free sound even in the most incoherent environment. However, the absence of microphone may disappoint some of the buyers. 

While purchasing an over-ear headphone, you are accustomed to numerous options. The final decision is majorly influenced by your budget, connectivity option, microphone requirement, and build quality. Keep these considerations in mind to purchase the best over-ear headset for yourself. 

Silk Spun by Graphene-Fed Spiders Is One of the Strongest Materials on Earth

IN BRIEF

Scientists have found a way to increase the overall strength and durability of spider silk. After feeding a spider a small amount of graphene and carbon nanotubes, the creature produced webs that were five times stronger than normal.

DOES WHATEVER A SPIDER WEB DOES

Spider webs are already strong enough to restrain small insects unlucky enough to fly into them, and soon, they may be capable of carrying the weight of a person.

In a new study published in 2D Materials, Nicola Pugno at the University of Trento in Italy and his team detail how they cranked arachnids’ already impressive metabolic process up to 11 by adding graphene and carbon nanotubes to a spider’s drinking water.

Afterward, the spider produced silk as it normally would, but the silk was five times stronger, putting it on par with the likes of pure carbon fibers and Kevlar — the strongest materials on Earth.

“We already know that there are biominerals present in the protein matrices and hard tissues of insects, which gives them high strength and hardness in their jaws, mandibles, and teeth, for example,” Pugno told The Sydney Morning Herald. “So our study looked at whether spider silk’s properties could be ‘enhanced’ by artificially incorporating various different nanomaterials into the silk’s biological protein structures.”

ONLY THE BEGINNING

The enhanced webbing is still in the early phases of research, and Pugno’s results were derived from just a small amount of spider silk, so far more testing is required. If all goes as hoped, the research could eventually lead to millions of enhanced spiders producing webbing that can be used to make parachutes, rope, cables, and more.

And those are just a few of the potential applications of this research. Pugno believes it could eventually be applied to creatures beyond spiders. “This process of the natural integration of reinforcements in biological structural materials could also be applied to other animals and plants, leading to a new class of ‘bionicomposites’ for innovative applications,” he asserted.

Regardless of where Pugno’s work takes us, it provides yet another example of graphene’s versatility. In the last month alone, the material has been used to make health-tracking tattoos, construct unbreakable rubber bands, and cause electrons to flow like water. The super material is now giving living creatures arguably super abilities, and who knows what could be next?

Engineering student develops electric bike which run 400 km per battery charge at a maximum speed of 75 km per hour

‘Radham’, awaits certification by ARAI


: Are you looking for an environment-friendly and cheap-to-run motorbike or scooter, then ‘Radham’ could be an ideal option, provided it is certified and cleared by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

V.R. Manikandan, a mechanical engineering student who hit the headlines two years ago for inventing ‘Ladies safety shocker,’ a handy self-defence device for women to keep trouble mongers at bay, has unveiled ‘Radham,’ an electric bike (scooter) designed and developed by him.

Demonstrating the ‘prowess’ of the alternative fuel vehicle at a function here on Wednesday, the budding engineer claimed that ‘Radham’ had better features compared to internal combustion engine motorbikes and scooters and could be run at nine paise per km without polluting the environment.

As the existing electric bikes and scooters had failed to take off due to a variety of problems, especially low power and pick-up, less running range and less motor and battery life, he had designed ‘Radham’ to match and exceed the features of existing IC engine two-wheelers.

“I have designed the electric bike after two years of hard work. I am extremely satisfied with the outcome and performance,” says Mr. Manikandan, final-year mechanical engineering student of Kalasalingam Engineering College.

Powered by 10,000 watt high-capacity lithium ion multiple batteries, with battery management system suiting to the local temperature and humid conditions, ‘Radham’ could run 400 km per battery charge at a maximum speed of 75 km per hour, he said.

The battery could be re-charged in three and a half hours at home at a cost of 12 units and the fully charged battery could serve for one lakh km or up to five years. It had quick charging option facility and could be charged in 20 minutes at the solar quick charging stations, he claimed.

Mr. Manikandan has applied for patents for the chassis of the new bike, motor and controlling system that he had designed with Intellectual Property Office, Guindy. He plans to apply for patents for battery, belt drive technology and to design battery-run motors for auto-rickshaws, share autos and cars.

He has spent about Rs. 2 lakh for designing and developing the electric bike by mobilising funds from family members.

Flipkart's PhonePe forays into offline space

The Flipkart-owned payments platform PhonePe is venturing into the offline space where it faces competition from market leader Paytm.

The Flipkart-owned payments platform PhonePe is venturing into the offline space where it faces competition from market leader Paytm.It will offer short-term loans and credit to customers along with installing point of sale (PoS) machines for midto large-sized offline merchants for a smoother payments process.

PhonePe, which was acquired by Flipkart last year, is one of the first companies to have got on board the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) where it says it has a market share of 40% of overall transactions. PhonePe started its offline foray from Bengaluru and will go to the top six cities by the end of this quarter. At present, a majority of its transactions come from Flipkart group companies, but it plans to on-board 30,000-40,000 offline merchants this quarter.

“We are looking at large players in the offline space and also at merchants who are usually small in size (like tea sellers, etc). We have already partnered with brands such as Barista, Cafe Coffee Day, KFC, Freshmenu and Metro Cash & Carry, among others. We have also enabled interoperable UPI quick-response (QR) code-based payments,“ said Pradeep Dodle, head of business development at PhonePe.

Paytm, which recently raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank, has been aggressively expanding in the offline space coupled with discounts for customer acquisition and repeat transactions.

Apple Patents Secret 911 Calling Tech for the iPhone

HIGHLIGHTS
- Technology would allow users to call 911 using their fingerprints
- The feature would look for a sequence of fingerprints or applied pressure
- Apple was granted 54 patents by the USPTO on Tuesday

In a bid to enhance security measures on iPhone, Apple has patented a technology that would allow users to secretly call 911 using their fingerprints. Separately, a report notes that Apple was granted 54 patents by the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) on Tuesday.

Starting with the 911 calling patent, the feature would allow users to call emergency services when a conventional method may not be practical, USA Today reported on Tuesday.

The feature would look for a sequence of fingerprints or applied pressure to trigger a 911 call which could be programmed to bypass the screenlock authentication and may also send user's location to the authorities.

"The user may programme the electronic device to recognise input entered with a particular sequence of fingers, such as 'pinky-ring-pinky', as a command to make an emergency call," the patent was quoted.

This will keep the potential attacker unaware of device owner's action and additionally, the feature could pull live audio or video directly from the iPhone.

The patent also includes a method that could erase or hide sensitive information of the user, the report added. The patented technology, if realised, could be very helpful in improving an individual's safety.

Now, we come to the Patently Apple report that notes Apple was granted 54 patents by the USPTO on Tuesday. Major patent applications include an iPhone Smart Dock with Siri, the ability to detect exit from a vehicle, as well as design patents for various products (earpiece, portable display with cover), VoIP and Wi-Fi patents, and more.

Jio vs. Rivals Theme Continues at TRAI’s IUC Open House

HIGHLIGHTS

- Airtel, Vodafone said low incoming call revenue will hamper rural service

- Jio promises to provide 99% coverage by the end of this year

- Telcos shared their concerns at the ongoing open house discussion on IUC

The warring parties over interconnect usage charges are digging in their heels.

Established operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Thursday contended that telecom infrastructure in rural areas largely depends on revenue from incoming calls, and lowering or removal of such charges will hamper services.

The new entrant, Reliance Jio, brushed aside the logic, claiming that it will provide 99 percent coverage by the end of this year even if mobile interconnection charges are dropped.

"Poor people in the country are subsidising inefficient network of telecom operators. There is very less cost of carrying calls on 4G network, but still incumbent operators are making people in rural areas use 2G network. We will install network in the village very next day if any operator wants to leave a village," a Jio representative said on IUC at TRAI's open house discussion on Thursday.

TRAI in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in 2011 had said telecom operators should be given time till 2014 to move to the bill and keep regime. Under this, operators only keep record of incoming calls on their network, but do not raise any demand from other operators.

The official held that continuation of IUC beyond 2014 has resulted in incumbent operators benefiting to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh crores.

Telecom operators levy interconnect usage charge (IUC) on incoming calls from the network of the other operator. These charges are passed on to subscribers by service providers.

"IUC in rural area is not for subsidy, but to recover charges because terminating operators (on which a call is made) cannot charge for incoming calls," a Bharti Airtel representative said.

He made the point that IUC is not meant for availing gains, but a way of recovering cost.

"Going by the growth rate, if the subscriber base of a new operator goes up to 400 million, it will push the cost burden of Rs. 2 lakh crores on the industry," the Airtel representative said. "Airtel's 4G rollout is at par with that of Jio and the new entrant should not give the impression that they are the only saviour of data services in the country."

The reasoning the official gave was that when a customer makes a call to a different network, he authorises his service provider to pay IUC to the operator on whose network the call has been made.

Vodafone said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its report has mentioned that there are a number of incoming calls made in rural areas compared to outgoing calls and IUC provides revenue to support telecom infrastructure at such locations.

"We have our 54 percent of sites (mobile towers) in rural areas. One can say it is very easy to put a site next day, but we know how much hard work we have done," the Vodafone official added.

Another representative from Vodafone felt that maintenance of rural network should not be jeopardised by removal of IUC.

Idea Cellular, which is batting for a higher IUC, on its part, argued that the industry is under financial stress and needs reason to support future investment.

Video discovery platform PressPlay TV raises funding from SD Ventures

Delhi-based video discovery platform PressPlay TV has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SD Ventures.

Last year, the startup raised $ 2.2 million from Sequoia Capital and angel investors, including Jason Hirschhorn, Jarett Posner, and Amit Bhatiani. Earlier in August 2014, it had raised $500k in angel round of funding.

The fresh round of fund will help the company expand its hotspot services and accelerate further development of its content discovery and distribution platform.

The inception

PressPlay TV was founded in August 2014 by ex-Zomato employees Anand Sinha and George Abraham. With 150 content partners and channels, it offers movies, TV shows, trending or viral internet videos across news, fashion, comedy and high quality curated content. It has one million monthly active users. Anand said,

Over the last two years, we have been working tirelessly to get the two industries – entertainment & distribution-– married together in a meaningful way. This investment will support our continued growth, as well as the ongoing development of new features and products.

In its statement, the company said that PressPlay TV is aggressively tying up and getting into licensing arrangements with leading developers across genres to increase the depth of their offering from large media houses and production houses to individual content developers, from news channels to stand-up comedians.

The startup has added licensed content from some of the top companies in India which includes Lehren TV, Sun Network, Sony India, and Fever 104. It claims to be one of India’s leading video discovery platform from across more than 100 of India’s top content creators – Bollywood, web series, fashion, food, travel, comedy, Indie music, news and more.

To make the video content easily accessible, PressPlay offers free video content ‘on and off-line’ using a hybrid delivery model. Moreover, to maintain the consistency of broadband across various geographies, PressPlay TV hot spots have been deployed at malls, buses, railway platforms, coffee shops, trains, and other high traffic areas along with online streaming over the internet (3G/4G).

PressPlay TV’s current revenue model is based on advertising. The video ad of the clients comes before the actual video starts. The app is free for users who spend an average time of 45 minutes on PressPlay TV, said Anand. By this fiscal year, the company intends to increase the number of content partners to 500 and users upto 10 million. Ivan Pakhorukov, Investment Director at SD Ventures said,

PressPlay TV has experienced tremendous growth over the last year and is establishing itself as a leading platform for content discovery and distribution in India.

Market opportunity

In her 2016 report, Mary Meeker noted that over the past decade video consumption and evolution has gone from live (TV), On-Demand (Netflix), Semi-Live (Snapchat) to Real-Live (FB Live, Periscope). But there is still a big demand for on-demand content globally and in markets like India where 3G adoption is increasing. Snapchat raised $1.81 billion in May this year.

There are many players in the on-demand market like Eros Now, HOOQ, Spuul, Lukup Media, Hotsar, and some others which are launching this year. Star India has been offering original content on Hotstar since 2015 and had also signed a deal with HBO to stream popular sitcoms like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘True Detective’ in India.

India Just Broke a World Record With Its New Solar Farm

In Brief

• India is now home to a 10 square kilometer (over 6 square miles), 648 MW solar farm, the largest in the entire world.
• The country has one of the fastest growing economies and is getting increasing amounts of energy from renewable sources.

China may be the largest producer of solar energy in the world, but neighboring India is no less ambitious when it comes to renewable energy. Expected to become the world’s third-biggest solar market after China and the USA, it is putting its money where its mouth is. A case in point: the country has just put the world’s largest solar power plant into service.

This is good news not just for India’s future energy security but also for its people’s short-term energy needs.

Beating Records

The Adani Group’s new site in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu covers an area of 10 square kilometers and has a capacity of 648 megawatts (MW). This is nearly 100 MW more than the previous record-holder, the Topaz Solar Farm in California.

The plant was built in only eight months, comprises 2.5 million individual solar modules and cost $679m to build. It is estimated that it will produce enough electricity to power about 150,000 homes at full capacity.

Made up of five plants in a single location, the solar photovoltaic project has helped push India’s total installed solar capacity across the 10 gigawatt mark, which only a handful of countries can claim.


Installed solar capacity and cost in India. Image: Bridge to India

 

Leading the World in Renewables

A signatory of the Paris Agreement, India is forecast to meet its renewable energy commitments three years early and exceed them by nearly half. The country is aiming to generate nearly 60% of its electricity from non-fossil sources by 2027.

Solar is a particular focus: it makes up only 16% of renewable energy capacity now but is set to contribute over half of the renewables target by 2022: 100 gigawatts of 175 GW. Large installations will be key to achieving this, and the government is planning 33 solar parks in 21 states, with a capacity of at least 500 megawatts each.

Plugging a Gap

Prioritizing solar is not just an investment in the future, though. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and its energy use has doubled since 2000, according to the International Energy Agency.

Last year, the country declared that it had a power surplus for the first time ever, though The Hindu reported that 300 million people still don’t have access to electricity and power cuts continue to be ‘rampant.’ The issue, it appears, is that capacity remains unused in the grid because some state power companies simply cannot afford to buy sufficient electricity.

The Indian government has recently launched an energy ‘blueprint’, and raised its investment target for solar energy to $100 billion in an attempt to address both these near-term issues as well as securing its energy supply far into the future.

This will be important even if China is about to overtake India with an even larger solar power plant which is capable of producing 850 MW of power, enough to supply up to 200,000 households.