6 Situations in Which Mobiles Come to Our Rescue

Introduction

We live in a diverse society in which good and bad things happen simultaneously. At one place, good things happen while bad things happen at another place in the same time. We do not have control over the behavior of people with whom we meet regularly during the course of the day. Some people take it in sportsman spirit while some others give back in the same coin after some time.  The most vulnerable members of the society are children and women. They have to move around independently at different points in time. Always the eagle-eyed predators are on look out for the vulnerable people in the society. Moreover, the untoward incidents happen at any point in time. That is why the companies have brought certain applications that help the users to convey the latitude and longitudes of their location when such an event strikes in their lives. Many of the applications have customizable features that anybody can use to his or her advantage without much effort. In this blog, we will see when users can make use of these installed applications in mobile to seek help from the authorities and local people whenever a distress comes in their lives.

1. Pool: While swimming in a water body near your house, sometimes you get entangled in an undercurrent. You can use the application to make distress calls to the people who are trained in rescuing life nearby.





2. Toddlers: When your child gets trapped in a room in your house not knowing how to open the door room from outside and crying for help. The mothers can make the distress call for help from nearby.





3. Girls: When young girls step out of their office premises, they can use the mobile applications to keep in touch with the people who are their well-wishers. This is true when they take cabs to reach their homes. They can use the applications to send their position to let know the people concerned about them whether they are being transported in the right direction.





4. Accidents: Sometimes while traveling, you might face with an accident. In such a situation, you need to get a number of the nearest hospital to seek help from the people working there. This time also the mobile applications come handy.





5. Travelers: If you are a frequent traveler, your car may become non-functional. You need a guy from the nearest workshop or garage to look into the problems afflicting your car at the earliest. This is more relevant if you are traveling with your family. Now, you can do this with the help of a button on your mobile.





6. Aged: If you have old people at home, there is every possibility that they fall ill. If the illness strikes in the midnight, you are left to go nowhere. In such situation, you use the mobile applications to reach out to the health authorities to arrange an ambulance to take your near and dear one to the hospital at the earliest.

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5 Ways to Survive When Internet Fails

Introduction

Think of a scenario wherein your Internet has gone out and it doesn't seem to come back anytime sooner. You don’t have to become upset and bewildered. After a little time of bewilderment, gather your senses and take a deep breath. Believe me, it really helps you stay focused. Just remember that the human civilization used to exist even before the advent of the internet. In those times, there used to be archaic physical media to entertain the audience. The contents in such media used to be updated less frequently. Yet, it was reliable. All you need to do is to familiarize yourself with the analog precursors to today's most popular mobile apps.

Old Things  that  We Used to Do

Do these informative and creative things to gain something useful when the Internet goes off the air. These things the people have been doing for many years. Only thing is that we need to recollect them. Here is the useful list for the readers' reference.

1. Ages-old Newspaper: If you have been reading the daily news blog to get the latest information happening in your countryside or around the world, don’t hesitate and sit at home if the internet fails. Just step out of your house and go to the nearest shop to buy a newspaper and shuffle through the pages to know about the happenings around the world.





2. User Generated Contents: If the internet blacks out, you can find solace in finding the user generated contents in the cable. So, you can forget about internet and YouTube for a while and some of the Bollywood-based programs the people have generated and posted in the cable.





3. Video Stores: When there is no internet service, all the live stream services would stop. You don’t have to worry. Just put your pants on and wear your shirt and march to the nearest video shop and just see some of the stored videos there. This is used to be the case some years back.





4. Social Media: With the internet going off the air, all social media sites become non-functional. You can still have social gathering offline. You just need to go to the nearest pub or restaurant to have drinks with your friends over the weekend. This is still a nice way of spending quality time with friends.





5. Offline Maps: Here's an easy one for anyone that's having difficulty readjusting to the offline world. Maps: they're just like the map on your phone except harder to read, don't tell you where you are, don't offer handy travel tips, directions to your destination, or real-time traffic updates. And don't even get me started on compasses.
   
   
   
   
   

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5 Outstanding Made in India Technology Products

Introduction

India has been a treasure house of talent. This can be easily understood if we look at the glorious past we had during medieval times. When westerners were looking for the clue to solve scientific problems, our illustrious ancestors had solutions in their mind. However, these solutions were not properly documented or got embroiled in controversies. When the time passed on, these solutions were rediscovered by our western counterparts and they applied for the patents. This has happened in case of many proprietary medicines derived from herbs. The current ruling dispensation under Narendra Modi has understood the need for giving fillip to the local brains so that they come out with outstanding products and technologies for the welfare of the community as a whole. In light of the new initiatives by the central government, let us look at the some of the outstanding Indian technology-based products we have come across. These products have made us proud internationally. In this article, let us look at some of the outstanding technology products that Indians have developed indigenous products.

1.       Artificial Heart Valves: These were developed as spin off of the material research for the development of low weight materials for Indian space satellites. It was developed in Trivandrum-based Sri Chitra Thirunal Institute of Science and Technologies.

2.        Artificial Limbs: Traditionally, the artificial limbs have to be imported from foreign countries. Moreover, using them was a nightmare. Couple of years back, some Indian entities have started making tailor-made artificial limbs for Indian conditions. These have provided much needed relief for the differently-abled people.

 

3.       Natural Mosquito Repellents: Some of the CSIR-based research institutes have developed herb-based natural repellents. They have already started marketing them. Just Spray, Just Out are some of the classical examples of insect repellents brought out by these research agencies.

4.       Hib Vaccines: An Indian pharmacological company by the name Bharat Biotech has developed first indigenously made Hib vaccine against Heamophilus Type b microbe.

5.       Shanferon: Noted Biotech Company Shantha Biotechnics had come out with first indigenously made interferon that costs about 40% less than the imported interferon. This compound is used in the treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, Chronic Hepatitis B and Chronic Hepatitis C.

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HDFC Bank Rolls Out Watch Banking

Introduction

Recently, one of the reputed private service banks in India HDFC has come out with a banking application that can be used in Apple Watch.  This is the first bank in India to come out with a watch-based banking application. It aims to provide banking services through all wearable devices working on iOS and Android platforms. More strikingly, its availability for use in Apple Watches has carried it forward as a striking deal for customers who are staunch followers of Apple products.  Launching the application meant for watches, the HDFC bank officials stated that the functionalities of the new application were selected keeping in mind the features made available in Apple Watch operating system and what its owners are expected to do with it. 

Features of Watch Banking Application

Through the wearable device platform, HDFC is going to provide a total of 10 banking transactions in the first phase. Those applications that have been included are recharges, bill payments, viewing account details, hot listing of facilities, request statement, location of the nearest ATM or branch, and cheque book issuance.  This application need not be downloaded and installed on your wearable device. Instead, if they have the older version of the application, they can go for free upgradation. Later, the customers can activate the watch banking functionality from the upgraded version of HDFC bank’s mobile application itself. In connection with the launch, the HDFC bank’s Digital Head Nitin Chugh has laid a claim that the new application has the same depth of security as seen in its mobile banking application. He further added that the enhanced features and better security environment are expected to provide different kind of banking experience to the wearable device users, especially the owners of Apple Watches. He further explained that the developers of application have addressed the requirements of the wearable device users to improve its appeal among the customers.

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SoftBank Teams Up With Other Companies to Sell Humanoid Robot Pepper Worldwide

Introduction

On June 19, 2015, the Japanese electronics major SoftBank Corp announced its partnership with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba and electronics supplier Foxconn Technologies to jointly market humanoid robot Pepper across the world. Subsequent to its launch, it is being used in Japan as a babysitter, party companions or medical worker. Outside Japan, it is going to be given to the overseas customers from June 20, 2015.  Each of these Roberts is going to hit the shelves in the online retail market with a price tag of 198000 yen or $1610.54. The conglomerate currently handles mobile phone and Interest business in the region. Through this business, the conglomerate wants to become a number one company in the robotics field and shore up the advantages of the early bird in this business.

Launching of Worldwide Sale of Robot Pepper

The robot maker SoftBank has teamed up with the online shopping company Alibaba and electronic supplier Foxconn Technologies to sell its new humanoid product Pepper in the worldwide market. The joint venture has chosen to charge monthly and insurance fees apart from the cost. Excluding the other bills, it is going to cost somewhere in the range of 198000 yen. Currently, the robot Pepper is being manufactured at the facility owned by Foxconn Technologies in Japan. The Japanese conglomerate envisions their robot to serve in various capacities in various situations. However, the sales on the large scale require a large backup.  That is the reason why three companies across various verticals have come together and raise the corpus to fund the marketing and sales of these humanoid robots. About 60% of the corpus would be given by SoftBank and rest 40% is equally shared by other two partner companies. Foxconn Technologies and Alibaba are investing 14.5 billion yen or $117.94 million each to raise the amount.

Important Features of Robot Pepper

It is a wait-high robot with a human-like appeal. It is designed to quickly learn and express human feelings and interact with them accordingly. It tries to use the natural language to interact with the human handlers. It even makes the right guess when it sees the emotions of people with whom it interacts. For this purpose, the robot follows an advanced algorithm that lets the robot to understand the emotion and the mental state of the people before it. Currently, it is being used at the mobile phone shops owned by the company SoftBank.

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Probe Philae Wakes Up from Slumber

Introduction

In a first of its kind, the scientists manning the Rosetta Orbiter were able to drop a tiny probe called Philae on the surface of a comet with great precision. The probe landed on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 17, 2014. Due to the malfunctioning of the anchoring mechanism, the lander fell into a small ditch on the surface of the comet. Being a shady spot, this ditch had shut off the sunlight to the solar panel of the lander, forcing it to go into a slumber. After it’s touching on the surface, the lander had worked only for about 60 hours.

Change in Comet Climate

After slipping into the standby mode, the landing device was contacted at least 3 times in the past. Nothing seemed to work as the lander could not replenish the charge in the batteries from the attached solar panel. That time, the comet was moving away from the sun. Since April this year (2015), the comet seemed to have changed the direction and is now fast heading towards the sun. That is the reason more light is percolating down the gorge to reach the solar panel that powers the probe. This started happening my May 2015. With this change, the scientists working with European Space Agency (ESA) have started to pin hope on its revival.

Probe Comes Back to Life

In June 2015, the Operations Centre of ESA situated in Darmstadt, Germany, has started suddenly receiving signals from Philae. After proper recharging of the batteries, the probe on the comet has started sending signals to its parent craft Rosetta Orbiter. The parent spacecraft has in turn re-transmitted these signals to the ESA Operations Centre in Germany. After decoding the 300 data packets received from the probe, the scientists at Lander Control Wing of the German Aerospace Centre has announced that it has emerged from its 7-month slumber with a message “Hello” from space. The jubilant Philae Project Manager announced that the lander’s vital parameters are reported normal. He further elaborated that it has begun operations at a temperature of -35 degree Celsius.

Slight Delay in Work Resumption

With the available charge of 24 watts, the probe is ready for its designed work. However, it will take some time. This is because the scientists have to check all the scientific instruments on board. The scientists are working round-the-clock to check whether the complete charge drainage has had any impact on these instruments. After this checking, the work of the lander would resume. The scientists are waiting for that day.

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Why Should We Ensure Net Neutrality in Cyber World?

Introduction

Till a few days ago, there has not been a single case reported on the discrimination or charging differentially for the service that is rendered out to different people. Hence, the cyber space in India was reflecting the working of true democracy. On a fine day, then suddenly came the report on telecom operators like AirTel and Vodofone charging additional levy on voice calls from its networks using some of the common communication applications like WhatsApp, Skype, etc. Only these telecom operators charged for their services whereas their peers remained net neutral. What came as the surprise to the people was the formulation of certain rules by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which clearly aim to help certain telecom operators in India. If implemented in the current form, it would lead to the selective serving of contents in the cyber world.

Net Neutrality

This is an unwritten rule that people using cyber resources have been following to ensure equal opportunities for all, irrespective of origin, caste or financial status. This principle states that the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Government agencies should treat all the data on the Internet equally without charging or discriminating people based on users, sites, contents, platforms, types of equipments or applications. This term was first coined by Columbia University Professor Tim Wu in 2003. This principle was formed by him as an extension of the common belief that Internet is a common carrier that binds everybody in this world.

Issues Relating to Net Neutrality

The whole issue of net neutrality came into the fore when mobile operators like AirTel and Vodofone tried to charge their subscribers who started to use calling apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, etc. to contact people using their Internet network. To milk the existing customers, these telecom operators started to levy additional charges on calls made from December 2014. At that time, there was a hue and cry from people who wanted to keep this data medium free of such distortions. Everything seemed to have died down for a while. Again the whole issue started cropping up when the TRAI released a formal consultation paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services. Through this paper, the telecom ombudsman sought to get suggestions from the general public by April 24, 2015. The analysts in the field tried to highlight the one-sided approach taken by the ombudsman through this paper. They also highlighted the confusing statements that could in future misinterpreted by the telecom operators to fleece the ordinary citizens in the cyber world. This would lead in the long run to the killing of creativity and the airing of independent views in the cyber world. If the power is given to the telecom operators, they can selectively provide services to people, favouring somebody who pays for them.

Widespread Condemnations

This consultative paper drew condemnation from all around the country. This time around even the politicians joined hands with hapless citizens in condemning the telecom ombudsman for bringing out with such a vague and watered down the paper on Framework on OTT. They alleged that the TRAI is trying to help some telecom operators who have started levying additional cost on VOIP services given through their network. To channel the call data into a funnel, they even made separate data packages. This forced the netizens to speak out openly against this move in the social media network. Adding to the fire, the TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar told the media that there was no rule in our country to dissuade the telecom operators from charging for the call through the Internet. Instead of framing the rule to ensure the net neutrality, the TRAI Chairman tried to take sides with the telecom operators like AirTel and Vodofone. This is the time for all of us to come in unison to fight for our rights and freedom in the cyber world. Hence, please send the email message to TRAI asking him to stop from making rules that favour certain players.

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