44 Indians shortlisted for one way trip to the Red Planet

As if setting foot on the Moon was not enough, spaceflight agencies are now in a race to send people to Mars. This time, it is the Netherlands-based Mars One leading the pack, taking leaps ahead NASA who openly stated intentions of sending astronauts to the Red Planet.

The Mars One project makes it possible to live in a world beyond our grasp. It aims to establish the first human colony in a foreign planet by 2024, opening an exciting opportunity for anyone who wants to live in a world other than ours. There is just one catch, though. The mission is a one-way trip to Mars, which means there's no turning back for them.

Yet roughly 200,000 applications flooded Mars One. However, not everyone is fit to go there. When the company screened the applications in December last year, a tad 1,058 was shortlisted. This time, the pool is reduced even more to 705 aspirants and 44 of them are Indians.

"We are excited that 44 Indians have been shortlisted in round two. It shows that India is a major player in Mars trip and the chance of an Indian being selected for the final trip is pretty high," said Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and chief executive of Mars One, in an interview with Indian local paper Hindustan Times.

A total of 27 men and 17 women from India made the cut, outlasting the other 18 Indian hopefuls who got in the first screening. They made up the 32 percent of the 136 applicants from Asia and most of them come from the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, and Thiruvanathapuram.

After completing Mars One's tasks of providing a physician-approved medical statement of health and opening an online Mars One profile to the public, the 44 Indians, as well as the rest of the shortlisted applicants from the Americas (313), Europe (187), Africa (41) and Oceania (28), will now proceed to the Round 2 of screening where they will be interviewed by the Mars One selection committee.

read more

Now Karbonn Titanium Hexa smartphone to be exclusively available on Amazon

Indian handset firm, Karbonn has announced that it will sell its Titanium Hexa smartphone exclusively on e-commerce website Amazon India (Amazon.in) with pre-orders for the phone starting May 13 and sales commencing May 20. 

Consumers who buy the phone through the website will also get a free Plantronics Bluetooth Headset with the purchase of the phone as part of a promotional offer. 

The phone was launched last month at Rs 16,990. Karbonn Titanium Hexa sports a 5.5-inch full-HD LTPS display (1280x1920p) with scratch-resistant oleophobic coating. The phone is powered by MediaTek's new MT6591 hexa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and 2GB RAM. 

The dual-sim phone sports a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. It comes with 16GB internal storage and supports USB on-the-go. 

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and Wi-Fi. It comes with a 2050mAh battery. 

Karbonn also announced that it will pre-load the Amazon shopping app on its new smartphones, starting with its upcoming range of Titanium Hexa, Octane and Octane Plus devices. The phone will feature the Karbonn e-bazaar application which it says is reverse mapped to and showcases customer offers from the Amazon.in marketplace. 

It's not the first time that a device maker has announced an exclusive tie-up with an e-commerce retailer. Motorola sells its Moto G and Moto X smartphones exclusively via Flipkart.

read more

Flipkart confirms Motorola Moto E will go on sale May 14

We practically know everything about the Motorola Moto E now. The company’s newest Android smartphone is expected to slow below the already low-priced Moto G.

Indian online retailer Flipkart, which has exclusive rights to sell the Moto G and Moto X in India, has now started teasing the Moto E on their social media accounts.

The teaser images don’t mention the name but the outline of the phone matches all the leaked images we have seen. Flipkart is also suggesting replacing low-end feature phones with the Moto E, indicating a very low price point. The website says ’4 days to go for the new Moto’, meaning the phone will go on sale on May 14, even if the actual launch is on May 13.

read more

Nokia Lumia 630 launched in India for Rs 10,500

As expected, Nokia has finally launched the Lumia 630 in India with two models, starting at Rs 10,500. The dual-SIM variant of the phone will be priced at Rs 11,500. Both models will be available from May 14 onwards.

It has been a little over two weeks since Microsoft completed Nokia device and services acquisition , and the company has now forayed into the lucrative dual-SIM market in India, while also keeping a single SIM variant in hand.

Built on the latest Windows platform, the Lumia 630 comes with support for 3G. It sports a 4.5-inch display with 480 x 854 pixels of resolution. Under the hood, it is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm

Snapdragon 400 clocked at 1.2GHz and coupled with 512MB RAM. The Lumia 630 is the first Windows Phone 8.1 device, and is expected to usher in a new era of Lumia phones, under the Microsoftbanner.

On the camera front, it gets a 5 megapixel auto focus camera. The 8GB onboard storage is expandable up to 128 GB via microSD card slot. The connectivity options include Wi-Fi,3G, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS and GLONASS.

Windows Phone has suddenly got very interesting and with features like Cortana and Universal Windows apps, we finally have a three horse race in the smartphone market.

Nokia is throwing in a bunch of free goodies with the Lumia 630. Vodafone users will get free 1GB 3G data for two months, a two month subscription to Box TV and Flipkart e-books worth Rs 2,000.

Nokia has also launched the Treasure Tag Bluetooth accessory and a Bluetooth mini-speaker for the Indian market. The Treasure Tag, which can be programmed to perform various actions, and can also be used as a security device for your phone, is priced at Rs 2,099 and will be available from May 31.

The Bluetooth speakers will be available for Rs 5,499 from late June onwards.

read more

Apple to launch 8GB version of iPhone 5C in India

Apple is set to introduce the 8GB iPhone 5c in India.

The 8GB variant was officially unveiled back in March, and was initially available in UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China. Recently, the company launched it in additional countries, including Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Spain,

Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, and Norway.

Now, Apple is set to add to this list, with India amongst thecountries that is slated to get the cheapest current-generation iPhone.

The iPhone 5c was launched in India carrying a price tag of Rs. 41,900 for the 16GB model. 8GB variant is cheaper than the 16GB iPhone 5c by EUR 50 (Rs. 4,100 approximately), so a sub-Rs. 35,000 price tag for the 8GB iPhone 5c is likely.

While the 8GB iPhone 5c is not without its limitations aswe've noted earlier , the strategy of offering previous generations iPhone models at lower price points has worked well for Apple India in the recent past, so it's likely thagetales of the first 'colourful' iPhone will also get a push thanks to the price.

During the last earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted the growth in the India market, which industry insiders have attributed to the various cash backs and exchange offers that Apple has launched in the country.

read more

Smart Watch that alerts you if you're too drunk to drive

Engineers have developed a new watch, with a built-in breath analyser, that warns you when you're too drunk to drive.

The Kisai intoxicated's sensor is made from stainless steel and features an LCD display.

It reads the alcohol level in your breath and judges if you're too tipsy to climb behind the wheel. Users have to simply blow into the side of the watch after boozing and the screen turns red if they're over the limit.

"The display on the right of the screen shows 10 different levels of blood alcohol content. A green display showing 0.00 percent means you're sober. A yellow display showing between 0.41 and 0.60 percent means you're buzzing. A red display showing 0.61 percent or above means you're drunk," according to TokyoFlash, the Japanese makers of the watch. The snazzy-looking digital watch even features a sobriety game that lets you test your reaction time between drinks, The Sun reported. The gadget will cost 65 pounds. It uses a rechargeable battery which takes 3 hours to charge. Based on average use of the breathalyser, the battery should last for one month on one charge and has a lifetime of over 300 charges. As well as an integrated breathalyser, the watch has date, time and also an alarm mode.

read more

Spice launches Coolpad MI 515 smartphone at Rs 9,900

Mobile Internet Company Spice Group on Friday launched Spice Coolpad MI 515, priced at Rs 9,900.

Spice has tied up with Coolpad, a Chinese handset player, to launch MI 515, which is the first device in a new Spice Coolpad series.

The smartphone has a 1.2GHz quad core processor with Android Jelly Bean operating system. The 5-inch dual sim smartphone with qHD resolution and IPS display has a 5MP autofocus rear camera.

Packed with a 2000 mAh Li-ion polymer battery, the device has 4GB ROM and a 1GB RAM and external storage is expandable up to 32 GB through a microSD card. Spice Coolpad MI515 also comes with other features like Bluetooth 3.0, proximity sensor, 3G video calling among others.

The DTS-enabled smartphone have already been sold in excess of 1 million units globally, said the company.

read more