effie: A machine that irons clothes so you don't have to

Most of us use a washing machine to do our laundry, instead of washing it by hand. Well, effie is an ironing machine. According to its UK-based creators, you just hang damp clothes up in it - straight from the washer - and they come out dried, pressed and wrinkle-free.

You can put up to 12 items of clothing in the device, hanging them up on special adjustable hangers. There's no need to sort the clothing, and materials such as polyester, cotton, silk, viscose and denim can all be handled.

After you press the Start button, those clothes are pulled inside effie, where a pressing system contacts the fabric in order to dry it and smooth out the wrinkles. It takes approximately three minutes to iron each item.

It's official, Windows Phone is dead

Windows Phone is officially dead. The company’s Vice President Joe Belfiore took to Twitter to confirm the news.

In the case of delicate items, the device can simply steam them without touching them. The water comes from a removable/refillable reservoir, so effie doesn't have to be hooked up to the household plumbing system. In fact, it has wheels, so it can just be rolled off into a corner when not in use.

Plans call for effie to be available for preorder starting next March. The early bird price will be £699 (about US$913).

Boeing advances autonomous flight aspirations with Aurora acquisition

Boeing has been in the aviation game for more than a century, but the company's recent moves suggest it won't be resting on its laurels. Following the launch of its $2 million personal flying machine contest, the company will acquire Aurora Flight Sciences, a company recently enlisted to work on Uber's flying taxi project.

Virginia-based Aurora focuses on building autonomous, electric propulsion aircraft, and its work in the area has attracted interest from some pretty big names. In 2016, DARPA awarded the company a contract to help develop its electric VTOL X-Plane. Then earlier in the year, Uber signed it up to work on its Uber Elevate Network, a bold scheme to add VTOL flying taxis to its on-demand transport service.

Idea Cellular tops Trai's 4G upload speed rankings in September

The regulator last week had said it plans to strengthen the MySpeed app and would also make its evaluation method more transparent after consultation with operators.

And it appears Boeing also likes what it sees. The pair have previously collaborated on prototyping for commercial and military applications, but now the aerospace giant is bringing Aurora's services entirely in-house. It hopes the acquisition will speed up its development of autonomous, electric flying machines.

"The combined strength and innovation of our teams will advance the development of autonomy for our commercial and military systems," said Greg Hyslop, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Boeing Engineering, Test and Technology. "Together, these talented teams will open new markets with transformational technologies."

The headphone jack is dead and I blame Google

By Dave Parrack

Google has unveiled the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. These new smartphones both run on Android, both share an aesthetically pleasing design sensibility, and both are missing the 3.5mm headphone jack. That's right, folks, Google has joined the Apple-led ranks and killed the headphone jack.

In September 2016, Apple launched the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. And while these devices won plaudits from journalists and fans alike, Apple's "courageous" decision to remove the headphone jack proved to be controversial. And now, 12 months on, Google has followed suit with the Pixel 2.

We love you, 3.5mm headphone jack!

In the time since Apple launched the iPhone 7, other smartphone manufacturers have removed the headphone jack from their flagship devices. But given how Google mocked Apple over its decision just 12 months ago, I expected the Big G to be the last man standing by refusing to follow the herd. Instead, the Pixel 2 has arrived, and the 3.5mm headphone jack is nowhere to be found.

Google knew that removing the headphone jack would annoy people. So the company won't have taken this decision lightly. In fact, as product chief Mario Queiroz said after the Pixel event, this is all about maximizing the size of the screen in future hardware iterations. He told TechCrunch:

"The primary reason [for dropping the jack] is establishing a mechanical design path for the future. We want the display to go closer and closer to the edge. Our team said, 'if we're going to make the shift, let's make it sooner, rather than later.' Last year may have been too early. Now there are more phones on the market."

This is the very definition of following the herd. Apple broke ranks first, others followed, and now Google feels comfortable enough to jump on board the edge-to-edge express. The problem is not everyone is obsessed with a bezel-less future. Especially those who have spent a fortune buying a decent pair of headphones.

The kicker is, of course, that Google has a ready-made replacement for you in the form of the Pixel Buds. Like Apple with its AirPods, Google's decision to kill the headphone jack has a positive knock-on effect for the company. Which is, in essence, millions of people buying Google Pixel Buds.

I'd rather have beefy bezels, thank you

So, in conclusion, while Apple sat the headphone jack down in the electric chair, it's Google that has flipped the switch.

And while I understand Google's desire to maximize the size of the screen by getting it as close as possible to the edges of the device, that shouldn't be as the expense of another feature most of us use on a regular basis. Especially if the ugly notch cut out of the new iPhone X is anything to go by. I'd rather have beefy bezels and my headphone jack back than that abomination.

Credits: Make Use Of

Asus Zenfone V with 23MP camera launched in US

NEW DELHI: Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus has launched its latest smartphone Zenfone V in US. The smartphone is available in Sapphire Black colour option with a price tag of $384.

The Asus Zenfone V features a 5.2-inch full HD display with 1080x1920 pixel resolution. The display is protected with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass on top. The device runs Android 7.0 Nougat operating system and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.

The smartphone offers 4GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage which can be expanded up to 256GB by adding a microSD card. It flaunts a 23MP rear camera with Sony IMX318 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 4-axis OIS and dual tone LED flash. There's also an 8MP front shooter with f/2.0 aperture and wide-angle lens for selfies.

Measuring 146.5 x 72.644 x 7.62mm, the smartphone comes equipped with a fingerprint sensor placed on the front panel. The smartphone is backed by a 3000mAh battery with fast charging support. The company claims that the phone can charge up to 60% in 37 minutes. In terms of connectivity it offers 4G, VoLTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and USB Type C.

Recently, Asus slashed the price of its big battery smartphone Zenfone Max. The smartphone which was earlier available at Rs 8,999 is now available for Rs 7,999 after the price cut of Rs 1,000. The smartphone is available across leading online and offline stores in the country.

Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus has slashed the price of its Zenfone Max.

Apple reveals new emojis for iPhone and iPad with iOS 11.1

NEW DELHI: Apple previewed new emojis back in July this year. These emojis were the ones approved by Unicode Consortium as a part of Unicode 10. Now, the Cupertino-based tech firm has finally brought the new emojis to the iPhone and iPad. The new emojis will be coming as a part of iOS 11.1.

New designs include emojis from different categories such as food, animals and gender neutral characters among others. In addition to what the company showed off earlier this year, Apple is adding over 30 of its new designs.

"The new emoji are designed to reveal every detail and adapted from approved characters in Unicode 10. iOS 11.1 will also include characters announced on World Emoji Day like Woman with Headscarf, Bearded Person, Breastfeeding, Zombie, Person in Lotus Position and new food items such as Sandwich and Coconut. Also included in the update is the Love-You Gesture, designed after the "I love you" hand sign in American Sign Language," says Apple newsroom website.

iPhone 8 battery swelling case reported in China

The incident comes as Apple investigates similar cases reported in Taiwan and Japan of batteries in its latest iPhone 8 Plus becoming bloated, causing the device's casing to open.

Apple has not yet revealed when it will be releasing the consumer version of iOS 11.1 to the compatible iPhone and ipad models, or when will these be coming to the macOS or watchOS. However, the company revealed that the new emojis will come in the upcoming developer and public beta of iOS 11.1 next week.

Google has already started rolled out these new Unicode 10 emojis with its Android 8.0 Oreo. However, only Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and Pixel users are running the new OS version.

Apple last month rolled out iOS 11.1 first beta to developers. The version comes with some animation changes, new assistive touch custom actions and some updated camera icons.

The OS version is likely to arrive on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone 7 Plus , iPhone 7 , iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE and iPhone 5S.

Apple Music bot lets you stream music on Facebook Messenger

NEW DELHI: There was already the option to stream music on Facebook Messenger using Spotify and other apps. Now, users will also be able to stream music using Apple Music bot. An Apple Music subscriber will be able to stream full songs while those who have not yet subscribed, can still listen songs for 30-seconds and can share them with friends.

To get the Apple Music bot users would simply have to search for it inside the Messenger app and download it from the inbuilt store. Like with other bots, the Apple Music bot can also be added in a Facebook Messenger conversation by tapping on the '+' icon.

Furthermore, users don't even need to type the theme to get songs. They can simply type an emoji, based on which Apple Music will show the playlist. It is also possible to subscribe to Apple Music service from inside the bot.

It is worth mentioning that Facebook last month removed the instant articles integration from its Messenger app.

"As we continue to refine and improve Instant Articles — and in order to have the greatest impact on people and publishers — we're focusing our investment in Instant Articles in the Facebook core app and are no longer offering Instant Articles in Messenger," a spokesperson said to TechCrunch. "We believe that Messenger is an exciting channel for new and interesting news consumption experiences, including the opportunity to build unique messaging experiences in Messenger that many publishers (including TechCrunch) have executed successfully via the Messenger Platform."

Facebook Messenger, in a recent report by IANS, touched 1.3 billion monthly active users. The social media giant earlier this year introduced Facebook Messenger Lite in India as well. The app takes up less than 10MB of space and includes all the basic features of the Facebook Messenger app. 

Pope Francis has a message for internet companies

Pope Francis told executives of leading internet companies to use "their great profits" to defend children from sexual exploitation and other dangers lurking online.

The pontiff, speaking at a conference in Rome, said the Catholic Church needed to accept responsibility "before God, victims and public opinion" for its own sex abuse scandals, but wanted to share the lessons it had learned.

Speaking to participants including representatives from Facebook and Microsoft, he said social media businesses had to do more than set up filters and algorithms to block harmful content.

The 80-year-old pope spoke out against the spread of extreme pornography, the dangers of so-called "sexting" between young people and between adults and children, and cyber bullying, calling it "a true form of moral and physical attack".

He said "heinous, illicit activities" such as the commissioning and live viewing of rape and violence against minors via the so-called Dark Web had to be stopped.

The Church-organised conference - called Child Dignity in the Digital World - was held two months after a monsignor was recalled from the Vatican's Washington embassy in August after the U.S. State Department said he may have violated child pornography laws.

Church officials have been caught up in a series of scandals around the world - two years ago, the Vatican put its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, an archbishop, on trial for child sex offences. He died before a verdict was reached.

"IMPRESSIONABLE MINDS"

The conference, held at a pontifical university in Rome, brought together experts from digital companies, law enforcement, medicine and academia to discuss online bullying, pornography and the preying on children by paedophiles.

The pope said social media businesses had to invest "a fair portion of their great profits" to protect "impressionable minds".

He said it would be a mistake to think that "automatic technical solutions, filters devised by ever more refined algorithms in order to identify and block the spread of abusive and harmful images, are sufficient to deal with these problems".

Businesses also had to address the broader ethical concerns associated with the growth of technology, rejecting the concept of "an ideological and mythical vision of the net as a realm of unlimited freedom".

He said that while the digital revolution had enormous advantages, "we rightly wonder if we are capable of guiding the processes we ourselves have set in motion, whether they might be escaping our grasp".

The pope acknowledged the Church's "own failures in providing for the protection of children: extremely grave facts have come to light, for which we have to accept our responsibility before God, before the victims and before public opinion".

Because of "skills gained in the process of conversion and purification," he said the Church felt "especially bound to work strenuously and with foresight for the protection of minors and their dignity".

Since the Church's scandals exploded around the world about 20 years ago, it has strived to put in to place so-called best practices to protect children.

It has defrocked priests, worked with local police and the pope has declared a "zero tolerance" where clerics could not appeal a conviction on technical grounds.

But victim's groups say the Vatican and the pope have not gone far enough, particularly in making bishops accountable for covering up or mishandling cases of child abuse.

A commission Francis set up in 2014 to advise him on how to root out sexual abuse has been hit by defections by two key members who lamented lack of progress and cooperation from Vatican officials.

The Rome conference's 13-point "Declaration of Rome" called on politicians, religious leaders, law enforcement organisations to help build a global awareness of the need to protect children from exploitation via the internet.

Buying Guide: List of Best 4G Volte Smartphones to buy in India

In the last five years the telecom industry and smartphone networks have evolved pretty much from 2G to 3G and now 4G LTE. While we have come a long way, today 4G LTE has become prominent in India.

However, with the launch of Reliance Jio 4G network, 4G technology has taken a big leap in India after the company introduced its own network that used dedicated LTE channel for routing calling. We now hear about VoLTE which basically means Voice over LTE and it comes with up to 3X the data and voice capacity of a standard 3G connection.

We further get to make HD calls and the quality is quite good with almost instant connection. In order to use the network to the fullest, we must have 4G VoLTE enabled smartphones. Hence, there's been a flurry of VoLTE enabled smartphones in India recently. Companies are further going out of their way to provide the feature on even the cheapest possible smartphone. Since there are lots to choose from we bring to you some of the best 4G VoLTE smartphones in India, ranging from budget to flagship price ranges. Here's a look at the VoLTE Android mobile phones in India without any further delay. 

4.7 Inch Retina HD Display With 3D Touch Hexa-Core Apple A11 Bionic Processor Force Touch Technology 2GB RAM With 64/256GB ROM Dual 12MP ISight Camera With OIS 7MP Front Facing Camera Touch ID Bluetooth 5.0 4G VoLTE Support Water & Dust Resistant

Google’s newly launched headphones translate foreign languages

The Google has launched a pair of headphones that translates foreign languages in real time. As per website independent.co.uk, the pixel buds are like equivalent of Babel fish, a creature from glide to the Galaxy. They not only translate but helps users to speak in foreign languages, the website said.The gadgets were displayed in a demo at the company’s launch this week. It helps an user speaking in English to have smooth chat with the person who speaks other language.

It’s like you’ve got your own personal translator with you everywhere you go,” the Google said as per the website.

Earlier, the company launched  Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL at a special hardware event in San Francisco. According to Indian Express, Google Pixel 2 would  cost Rs 61,000 for the 64GB variant, and Rs 71,000 for the 128GB model. In the meantime, Pixel 2 XL would cost Rs 73,000 for the 64GB storage option, while the 128GB variant will be priced Rs 82,000.

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL would  be available online exclusively through Flipkart. Smartphones will also be available across retail channels with over 1000 stores in the country as well. The Pixel 2 will be available for sale from November 1, while the Pixel 2 XL will hit the market starting November 15, Indian Express added .

Google Pixel 2 has been made a bit sleeker. However, the phone looks like the original Pixel. It has the same two-tone finish and the fingerprint scanner sits on the back. Pixel 2 XL now comes with a 6-inch P-OLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio. On the other hand, Pixel 2 gets a 5-inch Full HD display and the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, the paper said further.

Airtel beats Reliance Jio in Opensignal 4G speed test; check out what your network offers

Airtel has yet again secured the top spot in terms of average 4G LTE speed chart in India. Meanwhile, upstart Reliance Jio has seen its numbers improve drastically, according to an OpenSignal report.

Airtel has yet again secured the top spot in terms of average 4G LTE speed chart in India. Meanwhile, upstart Reliance Jio has seen its numbers improve drastically, according to an OpenSignal report. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have been at loggerheads for a long time when it comes to the telecom market in the country. OpenSignal has shared its latest report on 4G, 3G download speeds based on 7 lakh devices across the nation. The speed charts are based on a study done between June 1 to August 31, 2017, according to the firm.

According to the OpenSignal report, Jio’s speed has soared a lot in recent times. One of the reasons for this, the company cites, is the end of the freebie offers by Jio. since March this year. When it comes to 3G and 4G speeds charts, Airtel is at the top of the list with 9.15 Mbps in terms of average download speeds. Meanwhile, Jio could manage only 5.81 Mbps. Also, Vodafone is ahead of Jio with 7.45 Mbps speeds. OpenSignal has calculated the average download speed on the LTE network as measured by its subscribers.

However, when it comes to the overall download speed, Reliance Jio has reached the top despite having an average of 5.81 Mbps. In this list, Airtel comes second with 5.05 Mbps and Vodafone was in the third position with 4.06 Mbps. Since this list includes with 3G and 4G networks, Jio has an upper hand as its entire network is built on 4G.

In the report, Opensignal said: ” At 5.8 Mbps, its 4G speed score was still the lowest of the four national 4G operators, but because of Jio’s enormous LTE presence throughout India, it topped our overall speed charts.” It added that Jio does not have the fastest LTE speed, but it “delivered the fastest overall mobile data experience.”

When it comes to getting a network signal, the Opensignal report says that 4G LTE is growing in India very quick as the 3 top operators have 4G in almost 60 percent of the nation. Reliance Jio LTE leads the way where users are able to connect to its network, 05.6 percent of the time. Meanwhile, Airtel found itself at the bottom of the table with only 57.2 percent.

Mahindra to roll out two new e-vehicles by mid-2019

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today said it is developing two new electric vehicles which it plans to roll out in the country over the next two years.

The utility vehicle major currently sells three electric models in the country -- e-Verito, e2o Plus and e-Supro.

"We are working on two electric products. The first one will be launched by the end of next year and the second one by the middle of 2019," M&M Managing Director Pawan Goenka said in a concall.

He, however, did not share details about the new products.

M&M has also earmarked an investment of Rs 600 crore over the next two-three years to expand its electric vehicle production capacity from 500 to 5,000 units a month.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei's sub-brand Honor today launched a new smartphone in India -- Honor 9i. Priced at Rs 17,999, the smartphone comes with a near bezel-less display and is also the company's first to sport four cameras. Another smartphone in the same price segment that was launched recently is Moto G5S Plus, which bears a price tag of Rs 15,999.

The capital would be also utilised to develop new technologies and come up with infrastructure to produce battery components.

The company is also looking to ink joint ventures in the field of power electronics and motors.

"We have already invested Rs 500 crore on electric vehicles segment so far. Over the next 2-3 years we will invest another Rs 600 crore," Goenka said.

He added that the company would stay out of battery cells manufacturing for now and just focus on module and other battery components.