Apple planning to open more than 130 exclusive stores in India by 2015

 Apple is planning to greatly increase the number of stores selling its products in India, with a target of 200 stores by 2015. According to The Economic Times, Apple franchisees have revealed that the company has asked them to scale up their presence in India by opening more stores selling its products. Currently there are 17 franchisees in India that are running 65 exclusive Apple stores, known as Apple Premium Resellers, and Apple hopes to triple that number in two years time.
                                

The Apple Store located at Fifth Avenue, New York

 

The franchisees also revealed that Apple would be sharing design specifics and manpower to build new stores in India, in order to make them similar to the Apple Stores that the company itself runs in many countries abroad including the United States and China. Apple has decided to fund the new Indian stores by reimbursing the total amount (estimated at Rs. 1 crore per store) to the franchisees over a year.

Although Apple Stores have been phenomenally successful abroad, the iPhone makers will find it very difficult to open its own stores in India because of Government regulations. According to these regulations, any product being sold by the manufacturer through its own single brand store should either be made in India or should at least have 30% of its components sourced locally. Since Apple products like the iPhone and the iPad are completely manufactured in China and imported into India, Apple will not be able to sell them through its own stores. The franchisee model, therefore, allows Apple to circumvent that rule by letting Indian retailers sell its products.

 

Apart from the exclusive stores, Apple is also planning on increasing its presence in multi-brand stores in India such as Croma and Reliance Digital.

Apple’s decision to ramp up its presence in the Indian market comes in wake of the newfound success that company is experiencing in India. With the help of retail schemes that offer premium Apple products to Indian consumers through installments, and a bigger marketing push, Apple has managed to rack up a 400% jump in its total sales in India, as revealed by an IDC report released in February. The report also showed that Apple had jumped to the second spot in terms of revenue in the Indian smartphone market. For a company that has been conspicuous by its absence from the Indian electronics market in the past, Apple has revealed a new India-focused strategy for the new year, which will mean that Apple products will be launched in India at around the same time that they are launched elsewhere.

 

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Samsung, Apple to fight for your wrist with 'smart-watches'

 In technology news, we’ve learnt that there are very few actual coincidences. So, excuse us if we can see a direct link between recent stories about Apple seriously working on a smart watch and yesterday’s reveal by a Samsung executive that the South Korean company was also developing a smart-watch. While speaking to Bloomberg, Executive Vice-President of Mobile Business for Samsung, Lee Young Hee said that Samsung had been working on a smart-watch for a while.

Just last month, we reported that Apple was taking the smart watch concept seriously enough to assign a 100 member team to work on it. Patents filed by Apple show that the watch could have a battery that’s powered by movement and solar energy, it could feature a slap bracelet-like mechanism to wrap around the user’s wrist and also feature a display that changed its surface area according to the size of the user’s wrist.

Samsung hasn’t revealed any details about its watch but this won’t be the first attempt by the Korean company in making a watch that does more than just tell you the time. The Verge points out that in 1999, Samsung released the SPH-WP10 a wristwatch that also had a built in mobile phone. Ten years later, in 2009, Samsung launched the S9110, a watch with a touchscreen display that was also able to sync Outlook mails and play music and came with Bluetooth 2.1 support along with voice recognition. However, since then, this is the first that we’ve heard from Samsung regarding a smart-watch.

Apple, on the other hand, has seen some (maybe inadvertent) success because, thanks to accessories, the new iPod Nano has seen somewhat widespread use as a watch.

Why Smart-Watches & Why Now?

The Bloomberg story points out that wearable computing devices may just be the next big thing in personal technology especially considering the fact that the mobile phone segment is supposed to hit its saturation soon with annual growth falling to 9.7% in 2017 from 27% in 2013. The global watch market, on the other hand is worth $60 billion and although that number may be a lot less than what the mobile segment segment is worth, it’s not exactly a segment to laugh off.

With Google also showing interest in wearable computing with its Glass project, and devices like the Pebble smart-watch gaining popularity, it seems likely that it won’t be only Apple and Samsung throwing their development behind smart devices that you can wear.

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ZyXEL launches N300 Gigabit NetUSB wireless router at Rs. 10,600

The NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router helps you share data with USB-equipped wireless devices without any tricky wiring.

 

ZyXEL Communications has launched the new NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router, with an MRP of Rs. 10,600. According to the company, the NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router has some excellent features, such as easily connecting to multiple laptops and PC's through the router, and wirelessly sharing files, etc. The router is already available on retail shelves.

Speaking on the launch, Mr Madhukar Swayambhu, Sales Head India and SAARC region, ZyXEL said: “ZyXEL’s N300 Gigabit Net USB Router would strengthen the product portfolio by delivering high speed connection with optimum streaming and gaming facilities. This router expands the ZyXEL’s reach to the SME and home users.”

Users will be able to share multiple USB-equipped devices with NetUSB support. The NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router comes with two built-in USB Ports which can be connected easily through a local PC. The user can enjoy enhanced gaming and multimedia through configurable QoS technology that ensures smooth delivery of gaming, video as well as downloading.

ZyXEL says users will be able to keep their private data secure with Internet-only access for guests. This ensures that a user's network data remains protected and confidential. Users can also configure the router through the "Easy mode" which helps you set up quick navigation. It also has an "Expert Mode" for expert navigation that gives a detailed configuration.

 

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ORIGOSafe: A new system that helps prevent texting while driving

Developed by a U.S.-based company, ORIGOSafe costs USD 279. The system currently works only with the Samsung Galaxy S III. Versions for iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 are in the works.

 

Texting and driving together is dangerous. But, many of us are tempted to do that despite knowing the grave consequences. Well, there is no more need to risk your and others lives, as a company in the U.S. have come up with a system that will prevent people from texting while driving.

Before starting the car, driver needs to insert his/her smartphone in the system called ORIGOSafe. As a user drives the car, the device charges the phone, and only allows making and receiving phone calls via Bluetooth.

Users can remove the phone while driving, but the system will sound an alarm and alerts a system administrator, such as a parent or manager. Subsequently, the driver is prevented from restarting the car. But, that is until an administrator or parent punches in a code on the ORIGOSafe's keypad.

It's notable the system allows user to remove phone if the parking brake is engaged and the vehicle is idling. The device has been developed by a Virginia-based company is priced at $279, plus installation. Currently, the system is only compatible with the Samsung S III. The company is working to build versions that are compatible with the iPhone 5 and 4S. 

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Samsung Galaxy S4 benchmarked as 'fastest smartphone yet'

Benchmark scores of the Samsung Galaxy S4 have surfaced on the Internet, which suggest that the recently announced device is the fastest of the current crop of smartphones. The GeekBench score for the S4 has appeared on Android Authority, healthily beating other flagship Android smartphones (and even the Apple iPhone 5, BlackBerry Z10) available in the market.

As you know, the international version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is powered by the Exynos 5 Octa chipset. This particular chipset has four Cortex-A15 cores clocking to a maximum of 1.6GHz, and four Cortex-A7 cores clocking up to 1.2GHz. The graphics are handled by the PowerVR SGX 544MP3 chip from Imagination Technologies. There will also be a second version of the S4 that will only hit certain markets. This version will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset with its quad-core Krait 300 chipset (1.9GHz) and the Adreno 320 graphics. Both versions will have 2GB of RAM, and will get the LTE feature in certain markets. It will also feature wireless charging in some markets.

 

 

Interestingly, Qualcomm Snapdragon 600-powered Samsung Galaxy S4 scores a whopping 3163 in the GeekBench test, and the HTC One holds the second place with a score of 2687. The difference is quite a bit. The third place is held by Google’s flagship smartphone, the Nexus 4, with a score of 2040. We can’t wait to see what the Exynos 5 Octa-powered Galaxy S4 will score.

 

In terms of other specifications, the Galaxy S4 features a 4.99-inch 1920x1080 pixel Super AMOLED display, giving it a pixel density of 441 ppi. There will be three storage options – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. With such high scores, users can rest assured that the smartphone will be the smoothest fastest Android experience available – until of course, the next big thing comes along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Govt. mechanism to intercept phone calls, web data to be operational soon

The government's Central Monitoring System (CMS) meant to monitor phone calls and Internet data in the country is reportedly start functioning in a limited manner by April this year.

According to reports, the mechanism will help the authorities end all manual intervention during tapping exercises and also lessen the risk of leaking. It will also help reduce dependency on the telecom operators for phone interception.

The technical paraphernalia for the mechanism is expected to be announced by August 2013, but a pilot run will begin next month.

The government had decided to set up the Central Monitoring System after the much-talked about Niira Radia phone tapping case, which involved conversation of the political lobbyist Radia with journalists, politicians and corporate houses. 

                                

The CMS costs about Rs. 4 billion that will be connected with Telephone Call Interception System (TCIS) setup to monitor voice calls, SMS and MMS, GPRS, Fax Communications on landlines, CDMA, GSM and 3G networks, and video calls.

The mechanism's man hub will be established in New Delhi and will have direct electronic provisioning of target telephone numbers by government agencies. Other than its main New Delhi base, the system will have four hi-tech regional hubs.

The agencies that will have access to this system include Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Narcotics Control Bureau, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"Once fully operational, all phone taps will be put on auto surveillance mode," an official is quoted as saying. "Even the records will be destroyed automatically after a fixed period of time so that it may not be misused by compromising privacy of individuals."

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Sony PlayStation 3 becomes more colourful; with three new variants

Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3), one of the few popular gaming consoles in the market, has just released in three new colours.

After being available in “Charcoal Black” since its launch, the 500 GB console will now be available in “Classic White”, “Garnet Red” and “Azurite Blue” colours.

Not only are the console units coloured, but the DualShock controllers will also be of the corresponding colour, matching the body of the console unit.

All the three colour variants are based on the slim PS3 model which was released some time back. They have a curved body and smooth edges along with a sliding disk cover at the top. The top sliding cover has nice horizontal texture lines to it and the sides of the console are smooth and glossy.                        

 

                               

The best part about the slim version is that it allows users to place the console unit anywhere they may want to place it in their homes without running into too much trouble with space.

                                           
These new coloured models can be purchased from retail stores at Rs. 23,490 which Sony claims is a special price for the summer holiday season. However, Sony is also quoted saying that this new and slim PS3 model is not compatible with PlayStation 2 games.
                                            
But we think that, as the crop of next generation consoles, that is the PlayStation 4 from Sony (controller, eyecam and details revealed recently) and the Xbox 720 (name not confirmed) from Microsoft are about to be revealed soon, it doesn’t make much sense to go out and buy the older consoles considering they have been in the market for so many years now. Be advised that the PS4 as well as the Xbox 720 won’t come cheap and are sure to cost a bomb, at least when they launch later this year.

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