The Static Page

Entering a post-device era?

W
hen the iPad 2 was launched, Jobs if not footprint). Where will this progression end?
famously spoke of it as a post-PC Until the device disappears entirely and the UI
product, heralding what many vanishes? This is exactly what Bob O’Donnell
believed to be the much hyped “post-PC era”. wonders about in the piece referenced above: the
Many industry analysts and commentators since age of device-less computing driven entirely by
then have at various points in time, rung the PC’s voice-based interactions which in turn off load
death knell (often prematurely). Every now and the heavy lifting to cloud based deep learning
then you’d have reports surfacing based on region- algorithms. A post-device era, so to say. There will
specific usage studies highlighting how PC usage be devices of course in this future but they’ll be
is declining and that smartphones and tablets dumb devices backed by a very smart and ever
are fast becoming preferred devices for people to evolving cloud brain.
connect to the internet. In developing countries We all saw the Google Home demo reel
such as India, this doesn’t seem all that surprising debuted at the recent Google IO and while it
because we really have a whole generation of seems promising, I firmly believe the post device
users whose first point of contact with the internet is a little far out. Its time just hasn’t hasn’t come Siddharth Parwatay
has been the ubiquitous smartphone. However, it’s yet. For that device-less future to be a viable one, Managing Editor
not just the developing world that is experiencing other ancillary technologies need to progress at siddharth.parwatay@digit.in
this shift. There was an Ofcom research study the same rate and be part of a combined ecosystem
conducted back in Aug 2015 which reported on that enables device-less computing.
poll data gathered in the UK. In this report for the I’m talking about technologies such as seam- “Outside of the
first time ever, Tablet + Smartphone usage went less eye tracking, locational awareness for devices, productivity sphere,
past the PC + Laptop usage, making these mobile and even brain-machine interfacing. It’s one thing most people are
devices the preferred ways for people to get online to tell your “always listening” voice assistant to indeed glued to
in the developed world as well. play the morning playlist but quite another to their small screens
As Digit readers, whatever I’ve said so far is say something like “display my Facebook feed rather than full
probably already known to you. What is new, how- on the living room screen” and have it actually scale PCs”
ever, is the cyclical nature of these developments mean something. Sure the tech today is at a stage
as discovered by Bob O’Donnell in his piece about where your feed will be displayed. But what next?
the same topic (http://dgit.in/PostPC-Era). He has How will you scroll without a device? (ans: eye
observed that the the PC market peaked in the tracking), how will you reply? (ans: a combination
last quarter of 2011 and has steadily declined ever of eye-tracking and BMI).
since. Similarly, despite the upbeat sentiment sur- Thankfully, there are real world developments
rounding this device category, tablet sales peaked inching us closer to this sci-fi horizon. For example,
and began to decline in the fourth quarter of 2013 at an IoT conference recently, I got to listen to a
almost exactly two years after the PC slowdown. fascinating keynote by Colin Angle, the CEO of
The story gets even spookier. There have been iRobot in which he said that Natural language
reports trickling in of global smartphone ship- processing has come to a stage where machines
ments declining or at least plateauing this year. can understand complex sentences like “Bring me
Obviously people aren’t renouncing smart- a beer from the fridge”. They just can’t do anything
phones, just like no one really renounced PCs about it because they don’t yet understand where
since Apple’s 2011 declaration of the post PC era. the fridge is. His little Roomba bots are doing their
In fact if you look at the fine print within such bit to map people’s houses and at least take care of
polling based reports, you’ll find caveats such that bit for when the ecosystem evolves.
as the data only relates to usage outside of work. When do you think we’ll see a post-device era?
Well, it’s kinda obvious that outside of the produc- Let me know.
tivity sphere, most people are indeed glued to their
small screens rather than full scale PCs.
Let’s do a thought experiment.
Let’s play along with the hype and imagine
what this post-smartphone world would look like.
Devices have been offloading the heavy lifting on
to the cloud for quite some time now. Maybe the
Let me know at:
smartphone and tablet will morph into something facebook.com/staticsid | @staticsid |
thinner and leaner (in terms of processing power, editor@digit.in

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 1

 Big Bytes

Use tech for good, not bad

L
iving on the fringe of Mumbai, I rely in arrival time estimates is done on purpose
completely on the public transport to reassure impatient customers and not lose
system to commute from and to work their business.
on a daily basis. I take the suburban train, I know this may not be a big issue, just
city bus and auto rickshaw to get to work, and some people cutting corners and what’s the
my commutes are fairly boring and without difference between a few minutes here and
incident. On days when we have to stay back there. But my primary concern is why engage
in office till the graveyard shift and close the in this deception?
magazine, I take radio cabs like Meru, Ola and Remember unsubstantiated reports from
Uber to reach home from office. On these long a year or two ago claiming how ecommerce
journeys, I try and have a conversation with and ticketing websites track users’ browser
the cab drivers, understand how technology is cookies to jack up fare or item prices. What do
helping them adjust to a whole new reality of they say about there being no smoke without
commuting in a megacity like Mumbai. a fire?
Technology was helping them – the cus- So far, we had spoken about how in certain
Jayesh Shinde tomer and the company – all right. In more cases access to technology was negatively
Technical Editor – ways than one. And not all of them good. Let affecting people, whether it involved staring
Test Centre me explain. too long at digital screens (like smartphone
jayesh.shinde@digit.in
Talking to several radio cab service drivers usage in the dark can render you blind for up
led to a revelation as to how consumers are to 15 minutes - http://dgit.in/PhoneBlind) or
trying to game the system. Two words: surge sitting at a desk without too much exercise.
“We see one set pricing – every app-driven cab hailers’ worst Initially, people were mesmerized by technol-
of people using nightmare. It’s a facet of the service that ogy’s appeal and later they knew for better or
technology’s has attracted a lot of consumer ire, but cab worse they were stuck with it.
benefits to services feel it’s their right to be compensated But now, we see one set of people using
shortchange a little more when a consumer’s assured a technology’s benefits to shortchange a dif-
a different set cab amidst surging demand. To counter this ferent set of people. Intentionally screwing
of people" practice, consumers have come up with a over people through technology malpractice
novel solution. While booking a cab they drop is a lose-lose for both the companies and
their location pin in an area which isn’t in the users, in the long term.
surge price zone. Upon getting a confirmed Companies need to be careful, as in the
cab booking, they then proceed to call the digital age any malpractice will not remain
driver and tell them that their phone’s GPS is under cover for too long, and at stake is the
wonky and that they’re actually located some- credibility of the so called sharing (/access)
where else altogether. This is really hard on economy. More than encouraging people to
the drivers as they often have to go out of their accept technology, such negative practices
way and burn extra fuel to pickup locations. will ensure people continue to remain skep-
Hope no Digit readers engage in this practice. tical of technology’s advantages.
Now an example where cab service com-
panies are being a little cheeky when it comes
to reassuring customers who’ve just booked a
cab. For example, if a customer sees that esti-
mated arrival time of a cab is is three minutes
on their phone app, the same pickup loca-
tions will appear as 15 minutes away on the
driver’s mobile dashboard. This incongruity

Let me know your thoughts on this

column at: facebook.com/jayesh.shinde
| @jshinde | jayesh@digit.in

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 3

Contents
JULY 2016 VOLUME 16 \ ISSUE 07

QUICK
NAVIGATOR
001 ENTER
014 DGT
Desire
Greed
Temptation

034 SCI TECH

Tomorrow’s Tech
Space Age
From the Labs

067 WORLD VIEW

071 DEVWORX
082 TRIED & TESTED
Comparison Test

44 Back
Bazaar
to School
101 Killer Rigs
STREET SMART As vacations come to an end and it’s time to head back
Top 3 to the classroom, here’s a tech guide to conquer the
Agent 001 academic year!
140 ESC
Unwind
Community
We need to talk
The next time you feel lonely, you might find that talking 26
to a machine is not such a bad idea after all, be it your
smartphone, PC or even your entire home!

TRIED &
TESTED 89
GEFORCE GTX 1080
95
ASUS ROG GL552VW
97
ONEPLUS 3
Make way for Pascal! Brilliant Budget gamer Gets it right

4 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 ON THE DVD
Swift 2 Final Fantasy XV
Tools to get started on Swift Forza Horizon 3
2, Apple’s programming Gears of War 4 Image
platform for all devices that Gran Turismo Sport
was open-sourced at WWDC Gravity Rush 2
2016 Halo Wars 2
HAWKEN
Swift Programming Here They Lie
Silver Horizon Zero Dawn
Swift for Linux Injustice 2
Swift for Windows Inside
Mafia III Gameplay
115 SKOAR! (Now inside Digit) Updates Mass Effect: Andromeda
Dive into the Indian cosplaying scene, plus all Ashampoo Backup 2016 Minecraft
the highlights from E3 2016 and much more Comodo Antivirus Prey
Comodo Firewall ReCore
Mailbird Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
MAKE THIS ISSUE OF DIGIT COME ALIVE NVIDIA Graphics Drivers
Virtual Box
Scalebound
Sea of Thieves
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Blippar app the Blippar icon next to video reviews, interactive Tekken 7 Image
to some images games, and much more! E3 2016 Trailers The Elder Scrolls: Legends
Batman: Arkham VR The Last Guardian
Battlefield 1 Image The Technomancer
42 Artificial Meat Call of Cthulhu
Days Gone Facebook F8 Conference
Your next burger might just Dead Rising 4 Facebook’s annual conference
come out of a laboratory, and Death Stranding for developers and
still taste really good! Detroit Become Human entrepreneurs who create
Dishonored 2 services and products around
Farpoint the website. The keynote is
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with Impress.ly
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One of the best around A nice, fun beginning

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 5

 The RSS Feed

Go back to school
A
s you’ve no doubt already gath- The point I’m trying to get at is that this
ered from the cover of this month’s might be the time when all the students go
issue, we’re focussing on going “Back to School”, however, if like me, you’ve
back to study – as students of schools or also long stopped being a student, perhaps it’s
colleges all over India head back after time to start being one again. Just because you
their summer vacations this month. How- work, or have kids, or have other priorities
ever, this column is not about that. right now doesn’t mean you can’t take some
This month we were all wiped out by sick- time out to do something just for yourself.
ness for over half the month, and this included Maybe it’s a DIY project you want to start,
even me, all the way on the other side of the or you want to learn a new skill, learn to read,
Indian Ocean. Sickness may make us geeks not write or speak a new language, maybe code in a
want to work, but it doesn’t cause our brains to new language, or read up on a whole new sub-
shut down. Thus, while my wife reminds me ject... whatever the case, there’s just no excuse
that I was pretty much a big baby for the better to not learn something new anymore. Thanks to Robert Sovereign-Smith
part of 15 days while I was down with the flu, technology, the internet, smartphones and apps, Executive Editor
I was also a big baby in another way – like a learning pretty much anything is well within robert@digit.in
baby, I decided to be wowed again, and learn, reach now. You can even do online courses,
and brush up on some stuff. or take up after work part time courses, all
It started with gaming first, obviously depending on how much time you have to spare, “Just because
– every good tech story should start with how much money you’re willing to spend and you work, or have
gaming, as far as I am concerned. First I went what kind of learning you want to do.
kids, or have other
back to relive 2004 as I fired up Half-life 2. I Maybe you just want to go through all our
also ended up playing Black Mesa (Half-life 1 past Fast Tracks and learn some new skills –
priorities right now
on the Source engine), all the while yearning we’ve given them away with last month’s June doesn’t mean you
for HL3, like every other Gordon Freeman fan anniversary issue. Whatever choice you make, can’t take some time
out there. Damn you Valve! no matter what skill you choose to learn, no out to do something
Then, however, I also decided to brush matter how arbitrary, technology is here to help.
just for yourself”
up on my almost nonexistent HTML5 and As someone who’s cooking skills never
PHP skills, and although I still suck at them, surpassed the ability to make really bad Maggi
perhaps I’m just a tad better than before. I’m (now Patanjali?), I also did some YouTube
currently trying to figure out how to write CSS. watching to learn how to make idlis and dosas.
I’m also going to be rooting my OnePlus 2 and They turned out pretty OK, and I’m pretty
trying custom roms and experimenting. The pleased with myself! I’m taking baby steps
darn home button on my OP2 died, and now with a lot of things, and keeping my mind open
I’m not at all bothered about voiding warranty. (like a child), so that I can also start this school
Why am I doing this? Does everything need a year with all the other “kids”, by going back to
reason? Can’t we just learn and try things for school. I suggest you do the same. Be shame-
the sake of learning or trying them? less, have no fear, openly admit that you don’t
So many of you will go (or have gone) know something, and then go back to school
through engineering and end up doing MBAs, and learn something new, it’s tremendous fun,
or being entrepreneurs, or even working in and very satisfying!
the family business. It’s not like everything we
learnt in school or college is needed. Some-
times we just want to learn things for fun.
I’ve been on a (re)learning science journey
for the past year, mostly because of writing the
dmystify books, but more because I love science,
and life and responsibilities just always got in
the way of me being able to do so. As if I needed
Liked or hated this column?
another reason to love my job at Digit – who
Let me know at:
doesn’t want to be paid to do the stuff they actu- facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo |
ally would have done for free anyway, right? robert@digit.in

6 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 July 2016 • Volume 16 • Issue 07
TO ADVERTISE PRODUCTS REVIEWED THIS MONTH

Email: sales@digit.in Bazaar

NVIDIA GeForce GTX1080

Sales Director:
Lalit Arun, Mobile: +91-9582262959 Tt eSPORTS Level 10 M Advanced

Circle Gaming CC 830

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Managing Director Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha
Ram Sarangi, Mobile: +91-98864 06961 HTC 10
Printer and Publisher Kanak Ghosh
Publishing Director Vikas Gupta Zebronics Unicorn ZEB - 522B
West:
Editorial Suvarna Shringarpure, Mobile: +91-93249 28247 LINKSYS N600 Pro Wi-Fi Range Extender
Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith
LeEco Le Max 2
Managing Editor Siddharth Parwatay North:
Multimedia Co-ordinator Abhijit Dey Debleena Majumdar, Mobile: +91-98101 19492 LG G5
Writers Arnab Mukherjee, Nikhil Punjabi
ASUS ROG GL552VW
Intern Mehul Bhagwani, Manish Rajesh, East:
Ankush Maiti Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Mobile: +91-93318 29284 Sony MDR-100 ABN

Test Centre Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI

Technical Editor Jayesh Shinde
ADVERTISING INDEX Sony Xperia X
Senior Reviewer Mithun Mohandas
Reviewers Hardik Singh, Souvik Das, Shrey Pacheco Brand .................................................. Page No. OnePlus 3
Assistant Vikas Patil
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Editor Soham Raninga
Assistant Editor Prasid Banerjee, Sameer Mitha Yu Yunicorn
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Design GPU Comparison:

Creative Director Tharakaram G Gigabyte........................................................Back cover
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Contributors Indian Oil ...................................................................... 21
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Production and Logistics RDP..................................................................................23

Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay
Asst Production Manager Vilas Mhatre
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ISSUE OF DIGIT
Manager Logistics Vijay Menon
Asst Mgr Production & Logistics M P Singh

COME ALIVE
Executive Mohd. Nadeem Ansari
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Co-ordinator / Scheduling Kishan Singh the owners, M/s Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt Ltd. Published BLIPPAR app
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In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final.

8 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

Contact us
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Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 9

 DGT iPhone 6 banned in China
All the latest lifestyle technology, gadgets to China has banned the sale of the iPhone 6

Enter 14 drool over and gizmo porn like never before.

Desire, Greed and Temptation ahead...
and 6s as they infringe on certain patent
rights http://dgit.in/ip6ban

) Hey Jayesh, I'm sad to have not met you

when I came to the Digit office. Siddharth Feedback for the June 2016 issue of Digit
said you were sick, I hope you are all right
now. I would like to thank you for letting
me visit the Digit office. It was a one of a
kind experience for me, and I have you
to thank for guiding me. I had lots of fun
conveying my thoughts and opinions to
the team at Digit. This visit just made me
realise the massive effort you guys put into
the magazine. Congrats for the 15th anni-
versary. You guys outdid yourselves with
this issue. No wonder you are so popular!
Thanks again
–Nishanth

We're popular because of fans like you

and we're glad you visited the office. Sorry
for not being able to meet you. Come back
again whenever you can!
–Jayesh

) Hi Adamya, The title of your column

“15 men & 1 woman” was pretty relevant.
The question you asked readers made As far as Agent 001 is concerned, his/ that with all of us, all of the time. About
me think: I have never known a woman her identity remains a secret to all of us. the Mac, we're not going to beat about the
(or a girl) who wakes up to the sound of Keep writing in. Apple tree – don't hold your breath. We
Tech YouTube videos. Neither have had – Adamya, Pepper Pots ;-) have no plans of making the DVD run on
a long conversation with a woman about Macs, but we may include a few software
the difference between active and passive ) I love Digit to infinity! On a dull day at for Macs. Sorry, but we really have to
3D. Heck, what is active and passive 3D? school I saw many of my classmates hud- balance the effort to reward ratio (too few
And yes, who is making the next iPhone's dled over the a table in the library. I asked Mac users) because we have very limited
processor? It's nice to know some offices one of them what was going on and he resources and a myriad things to improve.
aren't boring. (Come to my mom's office looked at me with astonishment and asked, –Robert
and you will know what I'm talking “you don't know Digit? It's the best tech
about.) It's nice to know that adults can magazine in the country!” ) Congrats Team Digit, for your fabulous
still be kids. And with summer holidays After a lot of fight over Digit in the and amazing 15 years. I started reading
ending, I'll be back to school soon with library, I finally got my hands on it and the magazine in November 2015 and I
our own Digit inspired gang, discussing after reading a few pages I was flabber- have to say, you guys just get better and
the latest games, computers, cars, learning gasted. I am a subscriber since then (Feb better everyday! The 15 apps story was
something new in tech everyday. Thanks 2016). I wait anxiously every month and brilliant and I downloaded 14 of them
for reading this. read it like it’s part of my curriculum. I (not #11) and it made my life easier as
PS. I don't have a Twitter account. Sorry am regularly in touch with Mithun: once well as adventurous. All of the 15-themed
for any spelling errors. I asked him about his phone and he says articles were nice and the camera phone
PPS. If you can reply, could you please he communicates telepathically and comparison helped me the most. Your
tell me what is active and passive 3D? sometimes uses a Nokia 3310! I love all the YouTube channel is more than amazing.
PPPS. Who is Agent 001? I promise not articles and especially the posters. Keep working Team Unbeatable, you are
to leak the identity :-) I am going to imitate Robert's style. The my new tech heroes, all of you.
–Marvin Nathan, CEO of Stark Industries Anniversary issue was (I am out of words). –Ark Aryan
One last thing: The DVDs don't work on
Dear Marvin, Thank you for writing in. Mac. Kindly look into this. Keep Rocking! I couldn’t quite understand which app
It's the enthusiasm of readers like you that –Tanishq Khare you were referring to, because strangely,
keeps us going. As requested, here is an both app stories had weird apps at #11.
article we did on Active 3D vs Passive 3D - I see you've already got a taste of Now I know which one. Think about
http://dgit.in/ActVPas Mithun's humour... he's pretty much like it, people maintain travelogues, create

10 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Google sued by Space Data Corp Mi Band 2 launched
Space Data Corp has sued Google for apparently Xiaomi unveils its third fitness band, the Mi
stealing their idea for Project Loon Band 2 that is fancier and tracks your activities
http://dgit.in/ggleloon just for $23. http://dgit.in/XMiBad2 Inbox

rockumentaries, write daily journals; why been the “white hat” kind. Favourite Bol- ) I have been an avid Digit reader since
not document your excretory prowess as lywood stars? I guess we all like Chitran- ages. I am 17 and consider myself a tech
well? A crapalog, a poopumentary, a fecal gada Singh… “she’s easy on the eyes” is enthusiast. I feel that the review quality of
journal, if you will. Worth thinking about eh? the unanimous Team Digit opinion. Cheers! flagship smartphones in digit magazine
–Siddharth –Siddharth has badly deteriorated since the last few
years. Most reviews follow the same pat-
) Hi Digit Dons! This is my first email to ) I'm writing this letter to let you know tern – start with a bold headline, expand
you. I just got my copy and was once again that I've completed 5 years of being a Digit the specs in essay form (and consequently
impressed by the sheer amount of content! reader. Cheers! I want to appreciate Digit's tell us things we already are aware of),
I liked the 15 related topics and also the delivery team: I receive my mag mostly in and make needless comparisons to other
Android Studio FastTrack. I know this all the first week of the month. But this time I products (Eg. A is better than B because B
might seem familiar to you all, but again, got it before the month of June even started! is worse than A?). I remember that once in
you the demi-gods of tech Some pages were missing from the SKOAR Moto X review you guys barely wrote two
I have compliments and complaints. mag, so I dropped a mail for replace- lines about its most amazing features like
First, the complaints: ment. Guess what? I've received the entire touchless control and active notifications. You
1. You only provide a single DVD package again!. I’ve decided to give it to my also often ignore audio quality ( headset
now-a-days. I have read that many school's library so that those kids can get and speaker), exclusive features like the
subscribers want you to do away some inspiration. ones in Moto X and most importantly,
with them, but many still need them I love how each and every member after sales support for the product. I know
because of our pathetic internet speeds. of Team Digit is always ready to help us that your reviews need to be compact, but
2. The ads spoil the reading experience. readers. I remember Robert and Siddharth we wait for your magazine for 1 MONTH,
3. Provide info about innovations and helping me out with my Resume back make it worthwhile please.
competitions in tech and science. in 2014. A more recent SOS session saw –Ayush
4. Include science fiction series Robert answer all my queries regarding the
5. Please change the DVD UI. industry (I'm a Blogger, thanks to Digit) and I totally understand your sentiments,
Some questions: helping me take a decision about a job offer and I have to (grudgingly) agree with you.
1. Do any of you hate iPhones? I do. I had. All this at around 1.15 am Australian Grudgingly, because it is I who is to blame.
2. Has anyone tried their hand at hacking? time. Who does that? Only the folks at Digit. We have a few processes at Digit:
3. Who are your fav bollywood actors? In these last 5 years, I've a learnt a lot 1. We have very rigorous and meticulous
At last, the compliments from Digit. Yes, the website isn't great test methodology, and HAVE to review
The mag is my source of tech and And the DVD UI is ancient, but, I feel all phones in exactly the same manner
programming info. I miss gaming (par- it's all about the quality of content that's in order to remove subjectivity and bias.
ticularly CS:GO) because my PC can’t run being served. It's because of Digit that I 2. Our site reviews follow a template, by
games properly, but I am looking to buy a got special respect from the professors design, because they are written with
new laptop, and I will ask Agent001 about and lecturers in the college, because I a lot of things in mind – SEO, ease of
that. Never stop the mag! DIGITise INDIA! was aware of the current trends in tech. reading, ease of comparing phones, etc.,
–Saksham Sneh Same applies to job interviews. I have only based on studies we have done to find
given two job interviews till now and was out how people read online.
Valid complaints and suggestions Sak- selected in both of them. The moment I said 3. Site reviews are slightly dumbed-down,
sham. About the DVD, like you said your- I read Digit, the Founders were like 'Oh you because they target a different audience
self, people with limited connectivity are read Digit?' (picture the “not bad” Obama (site visitors aren't enthusiasts like you).
fast becoming a minority, and even laptops meme). And then, the interviews were 4. These site reviews are then cut short
exclude optical drives these days. We super easy for me. later for the magazine and fitted into a
think one DVD should satisfy most of our Finally, I would like to say "It's good much smaller space.
readers, and we try to make that DVD as to have Big Bytes of The RSS Feed on The You are very right to point out that as
awesome as we can. Abhijit (the DVD guy) Static Page". These columns are something a result of this process, you are getting
is hard at work on the interface. About ads, I read first followed by Digit Diary. a magazine review that is essentially not
unfortunately there is a market-wide belief –Sagar Bakre written with an enthusiast like you in mind.
which makes advertisers seek pages at I promise to look into this seriously, and
the very beginning of the magazine, which Happy Belated Birthday Sagar! It's try and find a way to balance workloads,
is why you’ll find most of the ads bunched always a pleasure to hear from you :-) yet give you a more unique review, written
up in the first half of the mag. Great of you to share your extra copy specifically with enthusiasts like you in
While none of us "hate" the iPhone with your library! Here's to 5 more years of mind. We really appreciate candid feedback,
some of us do dislike the iOS UI. If we’ve being with Digit. Cheers! because it is the only way we improve.
done any hacking rest assured it’s always –Siddharth –Robert

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 11

 Droom to expand Redesigned VSCO
Droom - Indian used car selling platform startup VSCO, the popular image editing app gets a
plans to expand to Southeast Asian markets after it completely new app interface on iOS as well as
Inbox received Series B funding. http://dgit.in/DrmExp on Android. http://dgit.in/VscoRD

I must thank you guys for pouring loads

LETTER OF THE MONTH
of information from the tech field into my
) Dear Sir, I am a scientist at Regional issue that I needed. I even purchased a head. You helped me be the geek I always
Remote Sensing Centre - West, a unit digital copy of it on readwhere.com but wanted to be.
of Indian Space Research Organization was again disappointed that I could not I used to have to ask my dad to buy
(ISRO) in Rajasthan. I am an ardent download it as an offline file. me a Digit subscription, but now I will be
reader of Digit ever since my college Therefore, I would like to request working soon and will finally be able to
days and have ensured that our office you to send me a digital copy of the afford it myself. I applied for a big data job
library has a regular supply of Digit aforementioned FastTrack and grant without knowing a thing about it. Your
over the past decade. me permission to share it with my Fast Track on Big Data saved me. The Fast
Our centre conducts students so that they benefit from Tracks help me a lot. I remember how con-
summer training for students it. I promise to make sure that it is fused I was before starting my blog, again
of local Engineering colleges acknowledged on the forum as the Fast Track came to the rescue!
every year. This year we well as in the reports that make I do not find your website to be very
have received a fair number use of the book. good, however. You have been doing such a
of students from Electronics Looking forward to a great job that expectations shoot up. Once
related branches and I have quick and positive response. I wanted to post a question, I wrote it out
thought of a project (being Yours sincerely, and then it asked me to login. After logging
taken up by multiple groups) –Gaurav Kumar in, the page got reloaded and the whole
that entails the use of Arduino. question was gone :’( Another question I
I even created a forum for discussing Dear Gaurav, You just made our day posted after that went for moderation but
the projects and it can be seen at: http:// - in more ways than one: (1) a letter of has never been posted since then.
rrscw.nrsc.gov.in/TrainingForum appreciation from someone as qualified I am eagerly waiting for your e-mag, so
Unsurprisingly, I found that the best as you, (2) the fact that Digit content is that I can read Digit wherever I am. I keep
introduction to Arduino has been in being used in the service of the Nation, relocating, so I need to get Digit posted to
the FastTrack to Arduino For Everyone and (3) Digit content will be used in my home address, and have to wait 3-4
published by Digit as FastTrack Volume training the future scientists of our months to read them when I come back
09, Issue 12 (December 2014). I have a country. Thank you so much for your home. Accessing your mag on phone will
hard copy of the issue on my desk right patronage of Digit. We’ll be sending you make things a lot easier for me. I even
now and would love to share it with my the the desired FastTrack content. Please applied for the beta version test.
students. I was delighted to note that the free to share it with your students. ISRO I could go on, but I will stop now or else
DVD with the June 2016 issue of Digit is one of India’s finest institutions. As a you will delete my mail straight away for
had digital copies of the FastTrack, but fellow citizen, I thank you for your contri- wasting too much of your time. All the best
was disappointed to note that it was just bution towards making that happen. and keep up doing your good work!
for the past 15 months and I missed the –Vikas Gupta –Amita Shukla

Thank you for your email. We are finalising

) Hey Digit team! June is my birthday It’s a treat to read the articles by editors the new emag based on suggestions and
month, but more than that I am excited at the starting. Seriously, your write ups feedback from many readers who took part
about your anniversary edition. Every year spark a debate in my mind! Siddharth, you in the beta launch. It shouldn’t be long now,
I plan that I will ‘unwrap’ the magazine on are really handsome! ;-) I became your fan maybe in a month we will launch the final
my birthday, that is on 9th June, but I just the day you wrote that you find building version. We will let you know as soon as we
can’t resist it, and open it on the very day I your own PC quite meditative. That was do, and we hope you will help us publicise
receive it. soooo cool!! Jayesh, you always set that it by asking your friends to download it
So let’s come to this month’s issue. I nostalgic feeling and make me have a trip as well. About the website, do you mean
yelled, wow!! The magazine, Fast Track, of the past and I just imagine how the past you were trying to log into the forum and
DVDs! I am not into gaming, so I don’t has been from your article. I was surprised weren’t able to? Can you share the page
enjoy SKOAR!, But I do like Gangsta to see Adamya’s column. Finally a girl!! URL with me to check and try and replicate
Granny. Last year you sent a poster with Yippee! I always wondered how it felt to the bug you faced?
geeky quotes, that adorned my room’s work in an all boys’ team, and your article And don’t worry, “handsome” Siddharth
wall for a year. This year I expected a answers that greatly. As I am developer, I will also reply to you once he gets free from
similar one, but it’s OK, I will keep the enjoy the devworx articles, and the PHP 7 closing the July issue. The whole team is
old one up. The dmystify has made me article was really informative this time. down with the flu (and dengue), so we have
develop a love for the Universe, and your This year I passed out from college. I been really bad at replying this month.
DVD’s are a real treasure. did engineering in Computer Science, and –Robert

12 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 SECTION SUBSECTION

GREED TEMPTATION
For those who just want more If you’re wondering what to do
than should be humanly with yourself or how to spend
allowed, we have enough to some time getting cultured,
satisfy your hunger... this section is for you...

THIS MONTH: ASAP Connect, THIS MONTH: Movie Review:

UMi Super, ModMic 4.0, X-Men Apocalypse,
KENT Aura, Rolls Royce App Watch: Timeout,
103EX and a lot more... Mypoolin, Yumchek

TECHNOLOGY WITH STYLE

DESIRE SHOWCASE

AMD Radeon RX480

A power packed mid range performer

P olaris marks AMD’s

fourth iteration of GCN
(Graphics Core Next) and
that both cards are capable
of i.e. 3.5 TFLOPs and 5
TFLOPs, we see that the RX
process. The main aim of
these power-efficient GPUs
happens to be democratising
could very well be based off 480 has a compute VR. AMD mentioned explicitly
the rumoured Polaris 10 GPU. performance how getting a VR-
The AMD Radeon RX480 will ready PC costs
ASUS Zenbo feature 36 Compute Units and the RX 480 is
At Computex this year, (CUs), so cumulatively meant to change
ASUS stole the show when that makes it that scenario and
they unveiled Zenbo, a robot 2304 streaming make VR all the more
assistant with no mention processors. AMD affordable. In fact, AMD has
about its specifications. It has said that the teased certain benchmark
can be controlled by voice RX 480 is capable of figures which pit the RX
and has camera sensors more than 5 TeraFLOPs of 480 against higher-end
to detect its surroundings. compute performance, will be increment of graphics cards which cost
We can only speculate that available in two SKUs based 42.9%. That is a around $500. AMD notes that
Zenbo is running on Android on memory capacity (4/8 GB) tremendous bringing down the PC cost
for software on top of Intel which in turn has a bus width generational increment. considerably (we’re looking at
hardware. This is for now the of 256-bit. The not so surprising a reduction of more than $300
closest we’ve got to building A price tag of $199, change is the reduction in here) is paramount towards
R2D2 commercially. makes the RX480 a direct TDP for the card to 150W, attaining this objective of
successor to the AMD R9 which can be attributed to the making VR more widespread.
380. So going by the TFLOPS 14nm FinFET manufacturing We sure hope so!

Liva Core Z BRIX Gaming AsRock DeskMini Liva Core Pro

Based on the new
Intel Pentium
UHD Following up to
the new mini-
ECS has also
showcased their
and Celeron Gigabyte’s BRIX STX standard of iteration of a mini-
processors, the lineup saw new motherboards, STX based mini-PC
Core Z is the next in the line- devices on display, one of the Desktop Mini is a powerful and they are calling it the Core
up from ECS’s Core series, them called the Gaming UHD, mini-PC capable of housing the Pro. Directed towards the DIY
directed towards normal PC sporting a neat aluminium latest Skylake processor and community, they are open to
use-cases. design and packing both i5 and DDR4 memory modules. creative enclosures.
i7 variants in barebones.

14 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 DESIRE SHOWCASE

ASUS ROG XG Station 2

I f you’re crying over the poor graphics performance on your
laptop, either you need to buy a new one or you could invest on
an external graphics card box. Plugging this device into your laptop
won’t be universal since some have their own proprietary connector
or require a Thunderbolt 3 port (not all laptops have Thunderbolt
3 support). Recently, they have been getting a lot of attention with
Alienware releasing the first graphics dock back in 2015. The XG
Station 2 carries the design aesthetics from the ROG line and looks
far better than what others have to offer. It connects to your laptop
using a Thunderbolt 3 port while there’s another port available to
daisy chain more Thunderbolt 3 devices. It’s compatible with certain
ASUS laptops while other devices will require a BIOS update.
Powered by a 680W power supply, you will be able to install graphics
cards from both NVIDIA GTX or AMD Radeon cards. If you happen
to install one of the fancy looking cards, the box has a transparent
window to show it off to your friends, but owning the XG Station 2
itself will be enough to brag your heart out.

MSI Backpack VR
PC
T he hype for VR is real. In fact, Computex mostly deviated
towards VR devices and games. There’s still one caveat with
VR, for all the headsets including the Oculus and HTC Vive – the
long wires dangling and getting in your way while you move
around. We aren’t considering the mobile VR headsets since
they are far from the experience offered by active VR headsets
mentioned above. It’s a long way to go to develop systems
capable of handling the
huge exchange of
data generated
in VR and hence
packing a VR
Cooler Master
capable system
inside a backpack
MasterWatt Maker
seems to be the step
many manufacturers
have taken.
A fter teasing us for some time, Cooler Master has
revealed their top of the line MasterWatt Maker PSU
that brags 94% Titanium efficiency. The sweet efficiency
Simply called the of 94 can be achieved at 50% load while still getting
Backpack VR PC, it is 90% efficiency on full load. It has been planned for
designed to run the most two capacities of 1200W and 1500W. It also features
demanding VR games their digital platform Cooler Master Connect available
with an i7 6th Gen Skylake as apps on Android, iOS and Windows. These apps will
processor and a desktop grade let the users control and monitor parameters such as
GTX 980. MSI said that users power drawn and voltage with a bluetooth connection
will be able to game straight for 90 minutes and if this isn’t the to the PSU, and lets you switch between profiles like
capacity they are looking for, the battery can be replaced. The silent, gaming, overclocking and custom. The aluminium
backpack weighs in at around 5kg which isn’t actually heavy since body houses their own Silencio FP 135mm fans and is
few high-end gaming laptops are close to this weight. You might supposed to be very silent. The fans will adjust its speed
be wondering why MSI has used a GTX 980 and the company has according to the load or mode enabled. with support for
addressed this issue, announcing that they plan to upgrade to the custom settings. The MasterWatt Maker is modular with
newer GTX 1080 line. a new connector design enabling higher current.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 DESIRE SHOWCASE

Tt eSPORTS Ventus Z
A ny degree of customisation on gaming mice is a welcome
feature. But the more customisable they are, the costlier
they get. The Ventus Z mouse from the Tt eSPORTS line
of products is a newly launched ergonomic mouse from
Thermaltake. It features the familiar honeycomb grilled
designed seen on their other mice from the Level 10 M series.
The purpose of the grill is to maintain ventilation beneath
the mouse to prevent sweaty palms during intense gaming
sessions. The material used for the
body is neither a complete
matte finish nor a plastic
finish, and does give you
a premium feel while
holding the mouse.
The Avago ADNS
9500 laser sensor
Zotac Magnus EN980
will be capable of
pulling 16,000 dpi in
the overdrive mode through software and the Omron switches
I t was evident from Computex that PC component manufacturers
are pushing devices to support VR in full form. But Zotac has
gone further by turning a mini-PC into a VR rendering machine,
used have a 20 million cycle. Both these components will claiming to be the most powerful mini-PC. We’ve seen other
ensure that the mouse offers you accuracy and a long life. manufacturers pack the latest Skylake processors in their mini-PCs
Directed towards right-handed gamers, it beautifully fits for but hardly anyone else has tried to install a GTX 980 inside one.
a palm grip with your fingers easily reaching the necessary The device was announced long back and we got to spend some
buttons. It comes with 10 programmable buttons and using time with it. It features a special cooling system inside that has a
the software, you’ll be able to save up to five profiles. The 32- radiator at the center along with a fan that keeps both the CPU and
bit ARM controller along with 256KB of memory enables GPU unit cool. If it wasn’t for the cooling system, the device would
you to save these profiles which also includes various RGB have half the height. The Magnus EN980 needs a lot of power hence
lighting modes. it has two external 180W power supplies.

ASUS ROG GX800

A t the Computex show floor, the
search was on for the most
powerful device in every category.
1080 GPUs to push the
performance further,
making it more powerful.
And when we entered ASUS’ ROG The GX800 features a
booth, we knew we were looking at mechanical keyboard as
the most powerful gaming laptop well with the company’s
at the event. On close inspection, own switches called the
we learned that it was in fact the MechTAG (Mechanical
most powerful gaming laptop in Tactile Advanced
the world. Already popular with Gaming) switches with
the title of being the world’s first anti-ghosting technology
liquid cooled laptop, the GX700’s which are obviously
successor carries the same legacy RGB LED backlighting
and now it houses the most enabled. The laptop
powerful desktop grade GPU ever is set for launch by
made. It has a crazy 18.4-inch 4k interested in amping up their unlocked August with no mention of the price,
screen supporting NVIDIA’s G-Sync Intel processor and twin GTX 980 yet but we’re quite sure it could win
technology. The water-cooling dock is GPUs in SLI. We’re pretty sure that another title of being the world’s
mainly directed towards overclockers they’ll be upgrading to a newer GTX most expensive gaming laptop.

16 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 
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QNAP TVS-x71 Series TVS-471 TVS-671 TVS-871

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- 10GbE-ready solution with up to 2,300+ MB/s throughput & 151,000+ IOPS breakthrough performance
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Copyright © 2016 QNAP Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

QNAP India Office | indiasales@qnap.com www.qnap.com/i/in
 DESIRE SHOWCASE

Wooting One
M ost of the products on the Computex show floor were the
regular expected ones and only the good looking ones caught
our eye. It was completely coincidental to come across a couple
of guys who were working on a disruptive crowdfunded project
who achieved their funding goal in just seven hours! The Wooting

Corsair Lapdog
One is an analog optical keyboard that wants to change the way
we play games. On first look, it appears as a regular mechanical
keyboard and it’s beneath the replaceable keycaps where the
analog optical switches are housed. The current keyboards either
register a tap or don’t but these switches will actually measure N ot everyone enjoys playing games while sitting on their chair
with a hunched back. There must be many who would prefer
a relaxed and laid back option of gaming on their couch and the
Lapdog is exactly looking for such gamers. Mini-PCs have served
as great devices to stream content in the living room but they
don’t do much for gaming.
Although there are compact versions of gaming PCs coming
out, in this case the Corsair Bulldog, they still lack the feel of
proper gaming peripherals. The Lapdog is a barebone shell that
lets you install a keyboard in the area and has a mousepad on the
right. The mouspad area, at 11” x 11”, is quite spacious to say the
least, and so is the keyboard space.
It doesn’t ship with any peripheral and is only compatible with
the Corsair K70 and K65 keyboards. It connects to your PC using
how far do you press the key and register an equivalent function. a USB 3.1 cable and also requires power plug. The power hub on
This is measured using a light sensor by the change in light as you the device connects your keyboard, mouse, headset or other USB
press the key, sending the defined function. So, you would be able accessories, and these ports also support fast-charging for your
to walk by slowly pressing the key while further pressing the key smartphone or tablet.
will let you run. The keyboard doesn’t really require anything extra So that you can have long hours of a comfortable experience
to work on your PC, since the keyboard’s firmware will register on your lap, it is lined with memory foam pad on the bottom. The
it as a controller on your system. Another sweet feature added Lapdog is currently available for a price of $119.99 or around `8k.
is that the keyboard can be toggled between analog and digital Secret bonus - it has a hidden compartment for neatly storing
mode on the fly. It will be available in Flaretech mechanical switch away cables. No more cable management worries! So couch
options which are quite close to how the Cherry MX switches feel. gamers, time to rejoice!

Thermaltake
Core P3
A quick walk across the Computex show floor made it clear
that the Core P5 open air case from Thermaltake was the
most popular chassis because you would come across one at
almost every booth (except at their competitor’s booth obviously).
The company has now shrunk the P5 into the P3 and there are
a few important changes in this one. The P5 was huge and it
required custom cooling kits to be able to reach the components
but on the P3, you’ll be able to install AIO cooling units (up to
360mm). Earlier, it was possible to install a 480mm radiator and
now you’ll be able to install a radiator with a maximum length of
420mm. The last big change in the P3 is a hidden storage device
tray at the back panel.

18 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 DESIRE SHOWCASE

ASUS ROG
Project Avalon
B eing an enthusiast in building gaming rigs, you’re expected
to always have the latest hardware on your systems. Upg-
radability is limited since motherboards and other PC compo-
nents aren’t modular yet. ASUS has been working on Project
Avalon to bridge this gap and once implemented, it will highly
affect the gaming industry. The company has built its own
modular motherboard housing only the main components such
as the CPU, RAM and M.2 devices. This expands the possi-
bility of swapping out components when they turn obsolete
or if you want to upgrade. A few basic modules are available
now such as daughterboards for storage devices, I/O ports,
main power from the PSU and the PCIe slots. So if you want
to upgrade the back I/O ports to say a new USB standard,
you can simply swap it out with the new one. A sigh of relief
for rig builders will be of not having to deal with cable man-
agement since components directly latch onto the boards.
Currently, the board supports the X99 platform which means In the design displayed, only one graphics card was supported
only the 2011-3 socket CPUs are supported. It has a unique main while the other side was used for a liquid cooling radiator. All
board design hence all the modularity is dependent on the expan- the limitations aside, Project Avalon is still undergoing changes
sion modules manufactured by ASUS. This makes it impossible with feedback from enthusiasts and we hope the final product
to install a standard motherboard size (micro-ATX or mini-ATX). turns out to be a gold standard for modular gaming rigs.
 GREED

TAKE MY
MONEY!
Here is where we keep an eye on crowdfunded
projects that will make you go ‘Shut up and
take my money!’
I.dime
D ime size storage, guys! The i.dime magnetic storage expansion
is a nifty little gadget which expands your iPhone’s storage.
It comes with a lightning or micro-USB dongle, and a small,
magnetic, dime sized disc. It also comes with a i.dime case, where
you can connect the the magnetic disc onto the iPhone cover, and
you’re good to go.

ASAP Connect I.dime can be used across multiple devices. You can use it
on your phone, and take pictures or videos, and save it on i.dime,

I f you own any phone, and haven’t been frustrated while trying
to figure out the right way to plug the charging cable into it,
congratulations, you’re an alien! The ASAP connect cable is a
and then detach the disc, connect the dongle to a computer, iPad
or another phone, and attach the i.dime to that, and all your files
are good to go, on that device. The i.dime comes with a storage
magnetic replacement to your everyday USB connectors. It has a capacity of upto 256 GB, and has a read speed of 95 MB/s.
gold plated micro-USB connector (for Android devices) and Alpha
cable (for Apple devices). You plug the adaptor into your phone, and
to charge it, you just connect the USB.
The cable uses strong Neodymium magnets to connect to the
adaptor. Unlike other magnetic chargers, you don’t need to align
it perfectly with the adaptor for it to snap onto it. This magnetic
connector works the same, even if you flip it 180 degrees.
It comes with an 18K gold connector, and a 1.2 metre long
nylon braided cable. It is compatible with almost all phone cases,
except ones which have a micro-USB port cover. The project has
multiple backing tiers starting from the $5 discount tier upto the
$1050 Corporate tier.
The project has raised more than $200,000 on IndieGogo, and
will start shipping globally in October 2016.

Vitrima 3D
W hat do you do when you have used your GoPro in
all possible ways you can think of? You go 3D!
Vitrima is a 3D lens for your GoPro camera. What it
does is, it records two slightly different perspectives,
much like how the human eyes do, and integrates it
into one video. You can then use any 3D viewer to view
the video in 3D. The Vitrima lens comes attached to a
GoPro camera housing
It has a focusing range of 2 feet, and is IP67
certified water resistant. It’s made of light ABS plastic,
and aluminium. You just have to put your phone into
a 3D viewer, and you’re good to go. The project has
raised more than $40,000, and is shipping worldwide.

20 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 GREED

MOBILE
WATCH
Stylish, glamorous and interesting
smartphones are always on the horizon. We
take a closer look at what’s hot in this space...

UMi Super manufactured rear camera, the phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio
‘Super’ specs in a budget P10 octa-core SoC clocked at 2GHz with a dual-core Mali-T860 MP2
GPU. The UMi Super comes with 4GB LPDDR3 RAM along with 32GB

U Mi, the infamous Chinese smartphone maker has added another

‘super’ smartphone to its lineup, the UMi Super. This phone sports
a 5.5-inch IPS Full HD display that has been sourced from Sharp and
of eMMC inbuilt storage with microSD card support up to 256GB on
its hybrid sim card slot. The phone runs on stock Android 6.0 and has
a huge 4000mAh battery. With its UMi Super Quick Charging PE+
is able to deliver 95% NTSC colour gamut. In terms of looks, the UMi technology, five minutes of charging can give 2 hours of talktime and
Super sports a metal-clad design along with a fingerprint sensor on a full charge takes two hours, through its UBC Type C connector. With
the back that can register up to five fingerprints and a shortcut key on all of these high-end features, the phone is priced at $229.99 (approx
the left that can be assigned to launch apps. With a 13MP Panasonic 15,750) and ships internationally via partners.
 GREED USB and Y audio adapters
It ships with a 3.5mm to USB adapter and
will serve you great if the audio ports are
already occupied by your speakers. The audio

EXAMINED
Y adapter is meant for gaming consoles but
it will also let you use the mic with your
smartphone for amazing call quality.

Easy to carry
Some very cool products come to the Digit The hard shell pouch allows you to carry the
Test Centre which don’t really fit into the mic along with the accessories including the
standard product categories that we review in two base clasps (including an extra 3M clasp),
alcohol wipes and several cable clips to ensure
the Bazaar section. We write about them here
cable management.
mostly to make you turn green with envy.

Long and thick cable

The mic has a generous 3.3m cable length
and 2.5mm in diameter hence it feels more
premium. The boom pole for the mic is 175mm
long which is enough to catch your voice.

ModMic 4.0
A much needed accessory for gamers
Before you break your next headphone in the middle of a heated multiplayer battle because of your teammates constantly
complaining about your mic, consider going for the ModMic 4.0. For those who already own a good pair of headphones without
mics, the Modmic 4.0 is a detachable mic available in two variants – omni-directional and uni-directional. We received both
the variants and in no time, it was subject to several hours, or rather several rounds of competitive online matches. Using the
magnetic base clasp, it can be easily installed on any type of over-the-ear or on-ear headphone. The boom pole is quite flexible
but yet sturdy. In terms of quality, we used both the mics for voiceovers and it turns out that in a controlled environment, the
omni-directional records better audio than the uni-directional one. Currently it is priced at $54.99 (~`3800) for Mute and $49.99
(~`3400) for Muteless, both for omni-directional and uni-directional variants.

The 3M base can

be attached to any
surface including
metal, plastic
and even mesh
earcups in open
grill headphones.

The windscreen
The magnetic ensures that
clasp is strong your breathing
enough to hold isn’t caught by
the mic and the the mic.
zigzag design lets
you rotate the mic
upwards when not
in use.

22 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

KENT Aura
An affordable air purifier

L ately a lot of air purifiers have been entering the market and
we’ve been receiving several of them. Although it’s difficult to
recreate a room with a controlled amount of particulate matter
at our labs, the Aura air purifier had a handy tool. It displayed
the parts per million count of particulate matter in the room.
Like regular purifiers, the Aura has a HEPA filter that intercepts
particulate matter from the air, and additionally, this filter
apparently has an anti-bacterial coating. Another normal feature,
the carbon filter inside will be able to take out bad odour from the
room and cigarette smoke as well.
The device isn’t huge, standing at about 500mm in height, it can
take up a quiet corner of your room or office. It has a control panel
on the top for various controls such as changing modes, setting
fan speeds, and also houses an indicator alarm when it’s time to
change the filter. Along with the particulate matter meter shipped
along with the purifier, the device has an in-built air quality monitor.
Based on the quality displayed, you can either turn up or turn down
the purification speed. The Aura is available and can be purchased
for under `16,000.

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 GREED

DROOL
MAAL
Get your drool on and behold some
of the fanciest, ostentatious and drop
dead gorgeous things money can buy.
Droolworthy?

Sirin Solarin Fire Black Carbon Leather with Diamond-like Carbon, Fire Black
Carbon Leather with Yellow Gold, and Crystal White Carbon
Leather with Diamond-like Carbon. Talk about sounding futuristic!

H ere’s a phone that’s worth your entire college fees! The Sirin
Solarin launched in May 2016, pegged at a whopping $14,000
(`9.5lakhs). The phone boasts of military grade security features,
The Solarin looks impressive, and comes with a 5.5 inch
2K corning gorilla glas 4 display. It’s got a Snapdragon 810,
under the hood. It also comes with a 23.8 megapixel camera
and a physical switch on the phone which toggles a super secure with laser assisted autofocus and an 8 megapixel front camera,
mode for encrypted calls. . It also boasts to have military grade although we are quite sure the users will have more important
hardware level encryption. The company claims that the Solarin things to worry about than selfies. It has a 4040 mAh battery,
has more than 2500 components. At launch, the phone is available which supports super fast charging. The phone runs a heavily
in five variants namely; Fire Black Carbon Leather with Titanium, modded version of Android 5.1, which is optimised for security.

Rolls Royce 103EX

T he Rolls Royce 103EX is Rolls Royce
giving you a glimpse of the future
with the brand’s grandeur undiminished.
As it is, with Rolls Royce, the 103EX
oozes with opulence. It is a zero emis-
sion, fully independent, driverless car.
Rolls Royce calls the car a “she”, and
not without good reason. The Spirit of
Ecstasy is actually called “Eleanor”, and
she also doubles up as the AI of the car.
Eleanor can, like any good AI, learn your
routine, and adapt to it, even suggesting
restaurants, and reminding you of jobs to
be done. She can learn your favourite res-
taurants, your daily routes, and even your
taste in art, according to Rolls Royce. various varieties of super luxurious silks. The transparent roof provides as
Rolls Royce, being one of the most Oh, did we say that the 103EX comes much driving pleasure as Rolls Royce
luxurious car designers in the world, has without a steering wheel? In place of could cram in the car. Rolls Royce has
arguably surpassed their own standards. one, the front section of the cabin comes truly outdone itself by announcing
The interiors are made with some of the mounted with a OLED screen. It comes that the body of the car is completely
most luxurious materials in the world. with a 250Kw drive train, and shows that customizable, adding a whole new level
The body is completely handmade, electric vehicles are truly the future of of personalization, in the Vision Next
and the interiors are upholstered with the automobile industry. 100 series.

24 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 TEMPTATION
APP WATCH

CRITIQUE
Timeout
If you spend a lot of time on your
smartphones (literally everyone
who owns one), and want to change
In this section, we put stuff through the that, Timeout is here for you. Once
grinder and closely examine what comes installed, it lists down all the apps
out; everything except gadgets, because from your phone and a toggle button
there’s more to life than just that lets you assign time limits for every
app. The limit applies right when you
start the app and once the time runs
out, a pop-up appears where you could
either continue using the app or close
it down. A more effective way would
have been to completely close the app rather than asking.
It also gives you a helpful analysis of the time you spend
on apps so you can assign the time limit accordingly.
MOVIE REVIEW
App Store: http://dgit.in/TimeoutiOS

X-Men: Apocalypse Play Store: http://dgit.in/TimeoutAnd

Some inter-studio collaboration, please? Mypoolin

Splitting bills is something you can
Don’t get me wrong, there lose friends over. So it’s good to have
were some brilliant perfor- an app that takes care of it in an
efficient way, and that’s what Mypoolin
mances in the movie. Oscar
wants to do. You can directly select
Isaac holds strong amid all the
from events around you or create a
VFX madness. Unfortunately, new one and split its bills by adding
the Apocalypse of the comics friends from your email list. Its
was a much more interesting partnerships with leading payment
villain and this one is ulti- providers like Paytm and Mobikwik
mately reduced to a parasite. along with the facility to receive the
Yes, Quicksilver did steal payment as vouchers and prepaid
the show again in a beautifully cards along with bank transfers make it a very useful app
shot slo-mo scene where he to keep on your phone.
saves the day, yet again. If only App Store: http://dgit.in/MypoolinApp
the same amount of attention Play Store: http://dgit.in/Mypoolin
was paid to giving power per-
formers like Jennifer Lawrence

A
are given very little screen Yumchek
fter the last time. Structurally, the first half There are several apps in the food
superhero outing atleast has some buildup and industry trying to bring in their ideas
being the highly appreciable nods to the stories to enhance a wide array of needs.
entertaining Civil of X-men comic books, but the Picking a restaurant for a quick snack
War, don’t blame me if I found second half quickly descends nearby or maybe a full meal can be
Bryan Singer’s latest dive into a mess of chaotic special quite a task, and sometimes, the price
into the previous generation effects relying too heavily on or the distance aren’t the only deciding
factors. Apart from only listing down
of X-Men a tad bit disap- the popularity of the charac-
most of the eateries with all their
pointing. To begin with, Days ters to drive the story forward.
details, Yumchek packs in the Dynamic
of the Future Past had set our Everyone was expecting the Pricing Engine. It enables the users to
expectations high from this awesome Phoenix scene! get offers with partnered restaurants
one, but when it finally arrived Quite average, definitely not based on the number of people, favourite cuisine and more
it contained too much chaos “Marvel”lous. factors. You’ll also be able to earn Yumies by uploading
and a villain too stereotypic Rating: bills and participate in their lottery.
for my taste. – Arnab Mukherjee App Store: http://dgit.in/YumchekiOS
Play Store: http://dgit.in/YumchekAnd

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 25

 Feature Origins
Can you really have a home that can not From Babylonians to today’s

Digital life 29 only take care of itself, but you too? Our
take on home automation. 32 cryptographers, we delve deeper into the
origins of algorithms.

Arnab Mukherjee different platforms, we need to stop and take cessing locally as well, especially for basic,
arnab@digit.in stock of what really facilitates the current repetitive tasks.

T
state of this technology. At a broad overview Although hardware improvements
here was a time when talking to level, everything from better audio formats have been crucial, the improvements on the
a machine in public might have to higher quality microphones have helped software side have been way more signifi-
resulted in you being declared in making digital voice interaction a valid cant. The field of artificial intelligence has
insane and taken to an asylum. and acceptable option. But the technology grown in leaps and bounds in recent years.
From that point in time, we have reached wasn’t really waiting for those parts. Rather than exactly catching the sound and
somewhere where it is totally acceptable When it comes to the hardware side, the transcribing it, modern day virtual assistant
to have long conversations with a witty growth of voice assistants on phones as a AI works on a predictive model where it
virtual assistant on your phone while platform is quite predictable, considering checks the probability of a certain sound
completely ignoring the people around that we have always been looking for ways being a certain word to guess what you are
you. Almost every major software platform to replace the hard to use phone keyboards, saying. And newer abilities are being added
now has voice recognition in one form or trying everything from larger screens to every day where the AI can do things like
another, be it virtual assistants or mere new ways for typing. Now, for voice recogni- understanding your mood and learning
dictation. We have achieved a lot on how tion to truly evolve on phones, there was a your preferences.
we speak to our smart gadgets now. But are need for processing power. Google started Although the innovations mentioned
we really there yet? with the voice search app, with the concept above are quite significant, let us not forget
of offloading most of the processing to it’s that necessity is the mother of invention. In
We’re talking more. But Why? servers. Gradually, smartphone processors the past years, the devices that can handle
Before we really delve into the quality of gained power exponentially and now we voice interaction have not only been limited
digital assistants and voice recognition on have phones that can take care of the pro- to phones and computers. A lot more catego-

26 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Car, destruct yourself Watch Netflix offline
Can self-driving cars self-destruct itself in It is finally (almost and maybe here). With the
extreme circumstances where a crash in next major update roll out, Netflix might allow
unavoidable? http://dgit.in/CrSlfDst you to watch offline. http://dgit.in/NetfOff Geek life

ries have been included into “smart” devices, Android - Google Now content (the Facebook page or Twitter
including smartwatches, smart homes and In the group of virtual assistants that are account of the movie, the YouTube trailer
smart cars. Each of these platforms have getting better and better at having conver- etc). Although this isn’t strictly voice, it is
different configurations, and hence need a sations with you, Google’s combination definitely one of the best ways a virtual
system complicated yet reliable enough to of Google Now and “Ok Google” is com- assistant can be used and activating this
function optimally with them. paratively silent. No, it doesn’t do that to through voice (“Ok Google” anyone?) is just
With a combination of all these factors, contemplate your personality better! As of one step away for the prolific developers at
it is quite evident that voice assistants now, Google’s virtual assistant relies more Mountain View.
have risen to their present level of effi- on Google’s own search power to solve Google Now supports speech recogni-
ciency. Let us have a deeper look at each of a host of queries. There are a number of tion in multiple languages including some
these platforms. ways you can access this depending on the regional Indian languages, but Now on tap
version of Android your phone is running. only supports English, Japanese, German,
Apple - Siri Lollipop detects “Ok Google” from any Spanish, Italian, French, Korean, Portu-
Since its introduction in October 14, 2011 screen and launches the search app, unless guese, or Russian. “Ok Google” has one of
on the iPhone 4S, Siri has virtually been you explicitly turn this feature off. We the best regional language detections and
integrated into the entire Apple ecosystem, should inform you that keeping this enabled offers really intuitive features without you
except OS X. Let us accept it, even if Google has reportedly caused some OEM phones having to explicitly enable or configure
got to voice recognition first, it was this to have microphone problems. Considering them. If only it could tell you a joke!
witty talking assistant on the iPhone that Special Note: Google Assistant,
suddenly made voice assistants popular. So announced at Google I/O 2016 aims to
much so, that Siri now has a pop-culture sig- be the spiritual successor to Google Now,
nificance with respect to virtual assistants, taking Google’s AI conversational. Two
enough to be featured in a Marvel movie! products have been announced with
Setting up Siri is quite easy, where it asks Google Assistant support - Google Home,
you to speak a couple of statements and also an Amazon Echo inspired home assistant
to set the voice gender, location and your speaker from Google and Allo, a whatsapp
nickname. Once that’s done you are good like messaging app that will combine bots
to go. Although Siri has a lot of interesting and voice commands.
features, we could not test a number of them
as they were unsupported in India. Keeping Windows - Cortana
that aside, Siri has a really high accuracy Due to the persistent comparisons between
when it comes to detecting english and the three, it might be hard to accept that
almost never mistakens what you said, even Cortana has been around for just two years
in a moderately noisy environment. and not more. Microsoft launched Cortana
Considering the richness of the conversa- at the Microsoft BUILD Developer confer-
tion, Siri does give natural replies especially Google hasn’t yet announced any services ence in April 2014, and if you really don’t
for common queries like the ones about that will be integrated with Google Home know the inspiration behind the name yet,
weather. But where Siri currently stumbles you need to reassess your gaming creds.
is understanding the context of two queries Marshmallow, the latest version until N goes The name was inspired by a synthetic
following each other, which is one more out of beta, “Google Now on Tap” is another intelligence character in Microsoft’s Halo
thing Google Now excels in, even up to more feature that allows the launching of Google franchise and the virtual assistant has been
than five queries. Only rarely were we able Now over any screen, giving relevant infor- voiced by the same voice actor for the US-
to get Siri to understand a reply that referred mation pertaining to whatever is displayed English specific version.
to something from the previous reply and on the screen at that moment. For example, Microsoft has integrated Cortana into
they were mostly from list results. if you are having a conversation with a its entire ecosystem, including Windows
If we were to look at the features show- friend about going to a movie, launching 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone
cased at WWDC, where Apple announced Now on Tap will show you the showtimes 8.1, Microsoft Band, Xbox One and even
the launch of Siri on macOS Sierra, the of the movie from theatres around you, the launched apps for iOS and Android
successor to OS X, it definitely looks like movie’s rating on IMDB, and allow you to (although the Android version is in early
Siri is set to be a lot more capable than it is set a reminder to buy the tickets, all within access right now for India). Cortana has
currently. The queries that were directed the cards that pop-up when you long-tap the usual features like its competitors
at it were quite complicated and contextual the home button. Clicking on the various do and can set reminders, show search
in nature and Siri did not falter with any of app icons (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc) results, read out the weather and more, all
those. If only Apple launched its features at will launch the particular app (if installed) in natural language queries. Apart from
the same time in India. or open the relevant webpage with relevant this, you have access to Notebook, where

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 27

 Airmail for Apple Livestream on YouTube!
Airmail is one of the smarter email clients You can now live stream videos directly
available on iTunes and the Mac App Store for from the YouTube app.
Geek life your Apple devices. http://dgit.in/iAmail http://dgit.in/YTLivex

you can specify your interests, and even Alternate platforms (Cars, announced Google Home, which sounds
remove those that Cortana detects on her Console) quite similar to Amazon’s Echo. It is yet to
own. It can also launch specific apps when Although the major focus of developing be seen what Google’s expertise with Google
asked and integrates into services like virtual assistants with voice recognition Now does to this product.
Foursquare to provide you information. capabilities has been on smartphone devel-
Cortana also lets you set contact specific opers, other product categories are also Beyond platform restrictions
reminders which pop-up when you’re com- heating up when it comes to incorporating Microsoft might have launched Cortana
municating with the contact or depending speech as an interface. One such category for Android and iOS, but there is no doubt
on location as well. And if the thought of a is connected cars, or more that it works best on Windows.
virtual assistant constantly listening to you appropriately, smart cars. Even Apart from that, neither Apple
does feel slightly unnerving to you, then moderate range luxury cars had nor Google have truly launched
you can set do not disturb hours. certain voice operated features their virtual assistants beyond
On PC, Cortana also integrates with since quite a while and the same their own ecosystem. So if
Microsoft Edge to provide you features like goes for Bluetooth connectivity to you are looking for a platform
Restaurant opening timings, reservations your phone. Now, major software agnostic virtual assistant to
etc., on a restaurant website, coupons on a giants and car manufacturers talk to, you might have to look
retail website etc. It has also been included are collaborating to create and harder. The Google Play store
into Skype as a bot to order food, provide incorporate operating systems for might have a few interesting
info, transcribe videos and schedule smart cars that enable them to be options. We tried Assistant
appointments. On the Windows Mobile much closer to the virtual assis- and it definitely has a sense of
app, there is a constant effort from Cor- tants that we are implementing humour. Even though it is quite
tana’s side to keep the interactions within on our phones. Android Auto, capable, the robotic voice and the
the app. For example, when we asked which works by connecting an multiple redirect to its internal
Cortana to book a cab, it showed us ten cab Android phone to a compatible browser with search results
providers around us within the Cortana car, allowing you to use Google was quite dull, compared to the
app itself, allowing us to ask Cortana to call Now in your car. Apple wasn’t far contextual results we get from
Amazon’s Echo
one based on their position on the results. behind and had launched Apple with Alexa will the standard voice assistants.
On mobile, Cortana does indeed keep Carplay with iOS 9 that essen- soon understand Dag Kittlaus and Adam
Microsoft’s reputation consistent with the tially gives you the same capa- your emotional Chayer, creators of the AI behind
discrepancy in performance and setup pro- bilities with your iPhone. Both state as well Siri, have recently shown off
cess between its Android app (in early pre- platforms have been picked up their newest creation. Viv, a
view) and the Windows Mobile app. While by a large number of manufacturers and platform agnostic virtual assistant is to
the Android preview for India did not need soon, you will be talking to more than your be launched with certain third-parties
co-passengers in your car. towards the end of the year. It’s more
Microsoft has also announced that similar to Amazon’s Alexa and Facebook’s
Cortana is coming to Xbox. This opens up a Messenger bots than Siri or Google Now
lot more doors for voice interaction. Maybe in its integration with third party services.
you can pause your next Halo game just by Their demonstration at the TechCrunch
asking Cortana to do so. This is in line with Disrupt NY in May this year showed Viv
Microsoft’s goal to unify the Xbox and the being able to handle fairly complex queries
Halo-inspired Cortana is relatively new into PC. And since Microsoft is doing it, we can both in terms of breadth of AI and depth
the voice assistant category expect Sony to catch up pretty soon. speciality. Due to their strength in AI and
A smart home wouldn’t really be smart if lack of a software giant’s pressure behind
any language configuration and automati- each time you had to interact with it. Or you them, they hope to get a large number of
cally started with an Indian english accent would have to deal with a mind boggling third party vendors on board and make
and even told us Bollywood inspired jokes array of switches on a highly complicated Viv something as ubiquitous as Bluetooth
in Hindi, although it refused to understand panel, would it? That is exactly what makes or Location tracking currently.
Hindi itself. The Windows Mobile app, home automation the perfect use-case for With all these developments, and the
on the other hand, wouldn’t launch with voice interfaces. Hence it is no surprise that opening up of Siri to third-party developers,
language set to English (India) and it had to Amazon’s online store is actually running we can only predict that speech as an inter-
be set to English (United Kingdom). out of Echo. Its smart-speaker can talk to face is headed towards widespread usage.
Cortana is expected to get a slew of new you, a number of apps and services and any Because once it gets easy to talk to your
features with certain builds of the Windows smart device that it is connected to, thanks devices from across the room, would you
10 Anniversary update, and we can fairly to Alexa, the onboard virtual assistant. really want to play with buttons anymore?
say that the grounds are heating up. Even Google has jumped into the fray and Do write in to us and let us know.

28 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Optimal buoyancy! 100 million WhatsApp Calls
For $1000, you can buy a swimsuit WhatsApp claims that more than 100 million
that makes you float better. calls are made daily using their platform.
http://dgit.in/Wetsuitx http://dgit.in/100mCalls Feature

Arnab Mukherjee display the attached images and the lights and established entrants, vying for the
arnab@digit.in in the room change colour to match the best seat in this currently popular field

I
multimedia content on the screen. You of devices and solutions. In fact, there
magine this – you are returning close the emails with a gesture, ask your might be too many options, not all of
from office in your self-driven car digital home assistant to turn up the which might measure up to the standards
and as you approach the garage, it music again. Finally, you get to relax and of the ‘smart home’ that you are visual-
recognises your car and opens the have some coffee that was just the right ising. So how do you go about automating
door. As you get down and are about to temperature, because you set the coffee your home? We’ve got you covered.
enter your home, your living room door maker via its app before you had left.
does the same. Behind you, it locks again No, we are not describing a scene from Automate what?
and the face scanner reactivates. As you a science fiction movie or the Jetsons It has been quite a while since we started
enter, your house has already cooled itself animated show. Albeit in fragments, but having apps for everything. We can say
to an ambient temperature because your home automation has eventually arrived that there is some degree of automa-
AC had already sensed your impending at a juncture where it is no longer just tion in a lot of things we already do. Be
arrival, while queuing up your favourite another crowd-funded or in-the-labs it a fully automatic washing machine
tracks on your connected music system. piece of technology – it is here and it is that knows exactly what to do with your
You ask your digital assistant to read ready, right here in India. From smart laundry automatically or automatic
out your personal emails, and at that lighting to smart switches, connected parking assistance where your car helps
very moment the music volume goes video door lock panels to connected you park it. While bringing this trend
down and your email is read out via the home entertainment systems, there are of automation to our homes, multiple
same speakers. Your TV switches on to already multiple players, both startups avenues of automation are being sought

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 29

 What is Brexit? Rejoice YT Creators!
Google search results analytics shows many UK With better creators support, YouTube has added
voters didn’t understand Brexit and started to look it many such new features to its Creator Hub
Feature up only after they had voted. http://dgit.in/BrexitGglT launched at VidCon. http://dgit.in/YtCrtr

and explored. An interesting story about a board to a smart switch mostly involves gies. It is a hub-based home automation
fully automated future home sounds nice, inserting a separate switch controller system that comes with a slew of smart
but before you automate your home, you module behind the switchboard. This switches of various power levels and
need to do some analysis and under- module can receive on and off com- dimmable options. The first thing that you
stand what actually can be automated mands from the hub, and some can will notice is the design on this device. It is
right now. You also need to determine to even support dimmer switches. A smart not just another bulky device that you will
what degree you want your home to be door lock would use image processing have to hide behind some box or panels in
automated. When it comes to devices, locally to identify a person at the door your home, you would want to flaunt this.
the essential categories are as follows - and control the locking mechanism Once you put that aside, this device does
• Entrance Management - Digital door accordingly. The lock can detect a forced have features that puts it higher than just
locks with audio/video support intrusion if any and send you an alert a smart switch controller. Air lets you lock
• Security - Panic buttons, sen- on your phone via the hub. It completely your appliances so that they can’t be used
sors that detect gas leaks, heat, depends on the implemented device as to if you are away and alerts you about any
fire, intrusion, motion how it will put the connectivity to use. intrusion once security mode is activated
• Device Control - Smart switches, (using its motion and presence detectors).
smart lights, thermostats, sprin- Infrared remote operated The switchboard also serves the purpose
klers, automated devices Almost every device around the house is of a surge protector with its internal fuse
• Scene and Entertainment manage- connected to a plug, and if it is not (like a and switches off devices when the hub
ment - Saving and using profiles for curtain) then the process of automation senses that nobody is in the room. Most
multiple devices (like party mode), might require it to be connected to importantly, the accompanying smart-
connected home entertainment system. one. And there are companies that are phone app tries to learn your preferences
manufacturing plugs and switches with and can schedule repetitive tasks.
Automate how? infrared sensors so that they can be There are a number of options avail-
Whenever the topic of home automation controlled via IR blasters on smartphones able which operate like Air, such as
comes up, one of the first topics of con- or proprietary remotes provided by Cubical switches from Cubical technolo-
cern is connectivity. After all, you aren’t the manufacturer. This method often gies. Devoid of the advanced sensors, they
replacing everything in your home with accompanies the Wi-Fi method as an are priced more flexibly between `6,000
completely new gadgets that have totally additional perk, also because it is often and `14,000 depending on the number of
new methods of operation! You’re simply the faster alternative. Although, this is not switches you choose and if you choose a
trying to automate the existing ones, and entirely applicable to devices that need cam at all. eGlu from Wizn systems takes
for that you need connectivity. There are more than a turn on/turn off functionality. this slightly further by throwing in smart
mainly two ways in which home automa- tags and panic buttons as well. It lets you
tion companies are approaching this. Let Indian automators figure out the connections by yourself if
us find out more about both of them. If what you’ve read so far makes you wish you want, although we cannot assure you
to visit your local market and buy some if it is truly DIY as it is not released yet.
Local Wi-Fi+Internet home automation stuff, hold onto your There are some providers who
connectivity with centralised horses! Some of the best home automation are doing more than smart switches.
hub solutions in India are being created by Silvan home automation solutions is
This approach usually involves installing startups. Take Air from Leaf Technolo- an overall home automation product
a central hub somewhere in your home that is designed to be incorporated
and allowing it to use your local Wi-Fi to right from the construction of the
connect to all the smart devices intended house. They have already worked with
towards automation. The devices, on Lodha builders and Tata Housing, so
the other hand, will also be connected to they have already bagged in big clients.
the same Wi-Fi network. The on-board They offer products in all four of the
receivers will receive commands and categories that we mentioned earlier,
the transmitters will provide status and although the pricing is only available on
usage data. And if the local network setup consultation. They are also into board
has internet access, most such setups room automation, hotel room automa-
can be controlled via an accompanying tion, school security etc. This might be
app, which more often than not forms the a good balance between comprehensive
basis of controlling your smart home. solutions and technical innovations, for
This Wi-Fi setup works in tandem instance, their smart camera can detect
with each device and its components. For Air from Leaf Technologies has the looks people loitering around your prem-
example, converting a regular switch- and the features to make it a good choice ises and send you alerts accordingly.

30 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Back to BlackBerry Not so creepy, Apple
Miss your BlackBerry OS? Here’s how you Following differential privacy, Apple will not collect
can transform your Android to look into one. any data secretly for its AI training, unless you allow it.
http://dgit.in/AndToBB http://dgit.in/iDiffPrv Feature

Another startup that is making

quite a lot of noise in the Indian home
automation scene is Inoho. Although it
doesn’t have a range of options, it does
what it does well. It specialises in remote
switches that can be controlled via an
app. It was founded two years ago and
has gone on to become one of the highest
funded startups in this segment. Inoho’s
products are also available on Amazon
at `11,999 for a starter kit that includes
a controller and a 5.1 switchboard and
`5,499 for 5.1 or 4.1 switchboard panels.
Apart from startups, some estab-
lished brands are also offering home
automation solutions and you might
just decide to go for reliability over Given the popularity of iOS devices,
other factors. Oakter offers kits at flex- HomeKit shows huge promise
ible price segments that include Smart
plugs, thermostats and switchboards owned by Google, makes some really well why Google has also announced Google
and range from `2,800 to `10,000 while designed products. These guys designed Home, their own version of the Echo.
letting you build your own kits. Anchor the iPod after all. The Nest learning Although Apple hasn’t launched or
by Panasonic offers a premium range thermostat, which, as its name says, announced a similar hub, what is has
of products with its Ave Domina fully learns your cooling and heating prefer- announced and released is Homekit. It’s a
scalable home automation system as ences over a week of usage. Its other two framework for home automation that lets
well as standalone products. Anchor’s products, the Nest smoke and Carbon you make your devices talk to each other
products are not being sold online and are Monoxide detector and the Nest smart and lets you control your smart devices
available at a store near you as of now. camera are equally intuitive. The smart using Siri. This will be possible even when
camera actually incorporates a feature you are away from home (if you have a
Global Standards called Nest Aware that you have to sign 3rd generation or higher Apple TV and
Almost every global software giant is up for, which allows the camera to use they are connected to the same network).
now gradually getting involved in home advanced algorithms to separate false Apple has also included a Home app on
automation, along with a number of alarms from tree branches and harm- iOS 10 for streamlined setup and control
manufacturers who have already made less objects from actual intrusions and of your home from any iPhone, iPad or
a global reputation in this field. Belkin, risks. It also does the same for sounds. iPod touch running iOS 8.1 or later, or an
with its WeMo line of products, can be Considering the number of good Apple watch with watchOS 2. According
considered as a global equivalent of Inoho, brands out there with a number of good to Apple, over 50 manufacturers are
with good reputation in whatever few end products, it is not feasible to list all of making accessories for Homekit.
products it is producing. Nest, currently them here. Rather, what’s impossible to
ignore is the rise of voice as the future of The Future Home
home automation. The idea of a perfectly We already have a lot of devices avail-
automated home is one where you don’t able that definitely seemed like science
have to figure anything out and the home fiction even 10 years ago. With the
does everything for you. Voice is a natural growing proficiency of the voice inter-
interface for that level of automation, face, the perfect smart home that we
as it removes the need for buttons and described in the beginning soon might
allows you to operate your devices with not be as imaginary as you think right
natural language commands. Amazon’s now. It will surely feel more natural to
Echo with the virtual assistant Alexa can just speak your plans out loud and have
interact with hundreds of devices and your devices work on them for you. For
services, and according to latest devel- instance, making dinner plans? Simply
opments, it will soon be able to grasp speak out, “I’m making Pasta tonight
your emotions and respond accordingly. for three friends with whom I’ll watch
Belkin’s WeMo line is quite popular globally No wonder Amazon is having trouble football” and watch your home spring
as home automation devices keeping these in stock. This is exactly into action to make life easier for you.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 31

 Wicks quits Motorola 4k projector under $3k
Man who worked on the designs of Moto X Epson launched 2 “wireless HD” 4k
and Moto 360 smartwatch leaving after 15 projectors which they plan to price at less
Origins years of service. http://dgit.in/jimwick than $3000. http://dgit.in/ep4kproj

Souvik Das
souvik@digit.in

B
y definition, an algorithm is a pre-defined, self-contained set of
instructions required to execute diverse functions. Such rules
date back to as far as 300 BC, found inscribed on Babylonian
clay tablets. The very basic algorithms were marking schemes
that the ancient folks used to keep track of their grain stock and cattle.
This was followed by the advent of the numeric system, and a subsequent
evolution of abacus, algebra and variables followed, giving rise to symbols
and rules involved in formulating evaluation systems.
Algorithms find their place in computer programs and mechanical
applications. The origin of the term is attributed to Persian astronomer
and mathematician, Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi
(c. 850 AD). His works included introducing the decimal positioning
within numeric systems to the Western world, along with the first ever
systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. In its original,
rudimentary form, algorithms, known as algorism, was regarded as rules
for computing calculations and performing arithmetic with Hindu-Arabic
numerals. Later, with the Latin translation of Al-Khwarizmi’s name, algo-
risms set definite standards for performing computations to execute tasks.
Algorithms, as we know today were only put into place with the advent
and rise of mechanical engineering and processes. In its original form,
algorithms gave a base to the algebra of logic, using variables in calcula-
tions. The earliest instances of algorithms include Euclid’s function of
greatest common divisor in numerics, Archimedes’ approximation of Pi,
and Eratosthenes’ calculation of prime numbers. However, the first

32 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Tesla SolarCity offer Electronic Persons
Tesla has offered 2.8 billion dollars to Motion passed by the EU classify’s robots
acquire SolarCity, the solar panel company. as ‘Electronic Persons’ with social security.
http://dgit.in/solartes http://dgit.in/robotpeople Origins

person to use the initial form of the term to Church’s Lambda Calculus (stated
algorithm was 12th century English earlier), was worked upon by Church’s
philosopher, Adelard de Bath, who used student and American logician, John
the term algorismus when translating Al- Barkley Rosser. Defining an “effective
Khwarizmi’s Arabic works. mathematical method”, Rosser stated
A major series of achievements in the that each step of an algorithm has to be
evolution of algorithms came during the precisely defined and not left to variable
1800s, the first of which was established outcome chances, with a finite number
by English mathematician George Boole, of steps to obtain the outcome. This, in
who also penned The Laws of Thought compliance with the foundation work laid
and established Boolean Algebra. In down by Alan Turing, led to the need for
1847, Boole unified logic with calcula- a computing machine that would operate
tions and formed binary algebra, the and execute commands without the need
basis of computing logic of today. In for human intervention.
1888, Giuseppe Peano established the This was followed by the establish-
axiomatization of mathematics (an ment of Stephen Kleene’s ‘Algorithmic
axiom is an empirical rule established in Euclid: The foundation stone for possibly Theory’ in 1943. Kleene stated, “ In setting
certain fields, and used without excep- the world’s first functional algorithm up a complete algorithmic theory, what we
tions universally). He used equations do is to describe a procedure, performable
with symbols to obtain results. These the algorithm, based on which a problem for each set of values of the independent
would later go on to become rules that would be solved. variables, which procedure necessarily
modern day mathematics and algorithms Turing’s logic of algorithms also laid terminates and in such manner that from
are based on. down the foundation for operations the outcome we can read a definite answer,
Decades later, algorithms of the present involving variable factors, wherein a sub- “yes” or “no,” to the question, “is the predi-
form came into being with Alan Turing’s sequent symbol would be altered based on cate value true?””
computing machine. Alongside, Alonzo the computation between two preceding Kleene’s theory set up the rule that
Church’s Lambda Calculus became symbols. In simpler words, when a func- algorithms of today follow - independent,
the calculating equivalent of Turing tion between two variables is executed, the self-sustaining computational functions
Machines, wherein a variable was bound resultant would be the figure that would that would execute operations within
to specific functions or executable equa- be used in computing with the next vari- a finite set of instructions. This made
tions to carry out operations. Turing’s able, thereby giving rise to progressive computing faster, and with the advent of
computer model was based on the notion algorithms that take into account changing personal computers from the late 1960s,
of a human computer and “states of mind” values to compute a code. If need be, these algorithms have seen improvements. Pre-
or environments, in which functions operations would also define the outcome, sent applications of algorithms are found
written down in symbols would find altering the “state of mind” or parameters in every single moment of our daily life.
application. This was further broken of a calculation. “We may now construct a For instance, on a smartphone, the colour
down into basic squares, with each con- machine to do the work of this computer,” balance of photographs captured by its
tributing to a specific operation. Each of Turing deduced in his theory. camera is defined by a set of algorithms,
these basic squares would hold a symbol, Meanwhile, the foundation laid which identifies colours and balances
and each symbol would be finite in its own by Alan Turing, and also applicable contrast based on a scene. With increasing
state and relativity. processing power, algorithms have grown
A computer’s action would depend in their complexity and level of computa-
upon the tally of logic - each of these tional prowess.
symbols acting as bits of data, and the The present generation is gunning
computer’s “state of mind” being the for quantum computing and artificial
condition or purpose of the function being intelligence. Machine learning depends
executed. Turing also imposed a limit on algorithms to “learn” from usage
on the number of symbols being tallied methods and prepare actions based on
at the same time, and computing more personal ways of operations. We are on
complex logic would require the machine the verge of time where ‘bots’ are looking
to execute similar, consecutive operations. to replace apps of our daily use. Algo-
Each of these operations, hence, would rithms are behind every nascent stage
be the simplest unit within the execut- of technology, having evolved in their
able ‘code’. A code would be the entire Alan Turing: The father of modern ability, while keeping the basis of opera-
compilation of the sets of functions, or cryptography and algorithms tions constant.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 33

 Space age From the labs
The symphony of the stars and how With cattle rearing contributing 18%

Sci-Tech 37 we can listen into the orchestra, along

with space shocks. 42 to global carbon footprint, it’s time to
develop food in our labs

34 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Boom with Siri Gameboy phone?
Ultimate Ears adds Google and Siri voice The Hyperkin SmartBoy allows you to
integration to UE Boom 2 and Megaboom turn your phone into a GameBoy.
Bluetooth speakers. http://dgit.in/UeSiri http://dgit.in/smartboyx Tomorrow’s tech

Jayesh Shinde researchers under him from the Univer- benchmarks, but it’s a chip that’s several
jayesh@digit.in sity of Washington (in Seattle) and even times more powerful and larger than

A
went all the way to fabricating an early anything researchers have tried to
n oft-abused term in the chip on which to implement the RFID tag power and program using only radio
technology arena, to achieve through the Intel Shuttle Program before waves (or ambient energy) so far. That’s
‘wireless nirvana’ meant it was shut down. In 2009, WISP was right, WISP chips are the only ones in
making wired electronic mentioned under the archive of innova- the world that can be wirelessly repro-
devices stay on and functional without tion at Intel. grammed, a feat that other RFID devices
wires. How naive of us that this gradual However, the project wasn’t completely that power themselves off stray radio
shift alone would rid us of our gadget on the backburner as far as the University transmissions like television and mobile
trials and tribulations, help us attain nir- of Washington was concerned, and with base stations still cannot do. And for that
vana. Pfft! Back then were the early days the help of TU Delft (the largest and oldest fact alone, this communication break-
of the digital age. We were easily swayed public university of technology) in the through is of great significance.
by delusions of technical grandeur. We Netherlands, they’ve really unearthed How does it work its magic? Well,
were too hasty in patting our backs by some breakthroughs in WISP. the group of researchers from America
merely eradicating wires than to compre- and the Netherlands who developed the
hend the limitations of two things that Wispy magic WISP5 sensor attribute the platform’s
propelled the wireless age – radio waves So far, RFIDs have always needed two success and its ability to operate at such
and battery – the latter of which continues things to work -- power (either in the form infinitesimally small packets of energy
to be the catalyst of many shattered wire- of battery or plugged into AC source) and to the use of a ferroelectric RAM module.
less dreams.
Not anymore, though. Not if WISP can
help it.
Well, imagine a microcontroller – a
chip – that for all practical purpose
powers itself without any batteries or
plugged in power source and be recep-
tive to programmable wireless instruc-
tions. Sounds something straight out of a
futuristic sci-fi movie, isn’t it? Not at all.
This is the power of WISP, a breakthrough
protocol that couldn’t have come any
sooner to rid us off our wireless woes! The
topic of this article – you guessed it – is
about looking into what WISP (wireless
identification sensing platform) is all
about and just why it is that it promises to
hold so much potential as far as revolu-
tionizing wireless communications in the The original Intel prototype developed before the Intel Shuttle Program was shut down
coming years.
wired connectivity for it to be reprogram- How’s it crucial? In comparison to NAND
In the beginning... mable in any way. And the same holds modules that make up conventional
The WISP project grew out of an Intel true for other wide-scale deployments RAM modules from pretty much every
Labs initiative nearly 12 years ago from of similar wireless protocol. Both these device you can think of – smartphone,
the company’s office in Seattle. What physical hurdles of battery and wired PC, gaming console, router, laptop, etc.
began as a project to make iterative break- connectivity are finally being overcome – a Ferroelectric RAM or FRAM module
throughs to steadily progress the cause through the latest iteration of WISP, requires just a tiny fraction of energy,
of wireless communication, J.R. Smith, a according to new research breakthroughs which is about a hundred times lesser.
lead researcher on the project, describes coming from the joint work of both the And in the realm of ambient energy pow-
how it quickly became “the first far-field American and Dutch university students ered electronic devices, this is again an
RF powered sensing and computational and faculty. important breakthrough.
platform.” Those early days of WISP No longer based fully on the Intel Where earlier RFID sensors relied
weren’t without successful failures and architecture, the RISC-based 16-bit upon dedicated batteries or power sources
lots of learnings, according to Smith, microcontroller that’s modestly clocked to be in an always ON state or turn ON
who recounts how he inducted more at 16MHz won’t break any performance (based on RF input) to establish a mode of

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 35

 IBM Deep Thunder The KiloCore chip
IBM claims that Deep Thunder can The KiloCore chip created by UC Davis
forecast the weather to the scale of a boasts being the first with 1000 independant
Tomorrow’s tech city block http://dgit.in/deepthunder processors http://dgit.in/kilocore

communication or to simply just receive times faster than a baseline, non-adaptive game, but it can track sensor data, do
instructions and act upon them, now shortest frame case, found in most RFID some minimal processing tasks, and com-
with WISP5-enabled sensors you don’t implementations. Based partly on this, municate with the outside world.”
need them to be connected to any power the team was able to successfully dem- And that’s exactly where WISP’s going
source or have them hooked into a battery onstrate how Wisent enables wireless to have an immediate impact. In the world
module. What’s more, the FRAM inside CRFID (computational RFID) reprogram- of sensors, deeply embedded systems for
them will ensure incoming (or down- ming, demonstrating the world’s first extremely long-term deployments, WISP-
stream) wireless data linkages operate wirelessly reprogrammable (software enabled devices will make a lot of sense
at nearly negligible power draw. In fact, defined) CRFID. to a lot of companies. The breakthroughs
because the WISP5’s FRAM module is so Not just that, although dimunitive achieved in WISP-enabled chips hold a lot
darn power efficient, the chip receiving and tiny, WISP-enabled chips have been of promise for the Internet of Things wave
external wireless instructions can power implemented in complex cryptography of devices.
on instantly, download data, power off in and security scenarios also, giving it a cru- Right now, probably a WISP-enabled
a blink if incoming signal wavers, then cial integrity layer which is essential for sensor can’t be more effective for sensing
power back on in a zap and continue from real-world deployments of WISP-enabled things like temperature, orientation, and
where it left off. devices and solutions in the coming years. acceleration, besides doing some low-
Also, a critical component of the work intensity calculations on-the-fly inside a
credited to the TU Delft part of this WISP Reality check Fitbit-like wearable device. In time, the
team is when they came up with a very Promising no doubt, but we need to put scale of computational prowess will only
fast downstream data transfer mechanism things into perspective about WISP5. If grow, and WISP-enabled devices will be
more prevalent. But this is looking really
far into the future.
Just think about it. In the field of
healthcare, where deeply embedded
sensors like pacemakers for the heart
and other sensitive organs is concerned,
WISP-enabled tiny, passive nodes
can be inserted. Unlike existing pace-
makers which need to be replaced only
through invasive surgeries, these future
WISP-enabled pacemakers could be
reprogrammed and powered effectively
through just radio waves. Similarly, in
the housing and infrastructure sector,
WISP-enabled sensors can be deployed in
structural beams of buildings to monitor
A chip that can doesn’t need external power sounds like Sci-Fi, yet here we stand! the structural integrity of a building
without the need of complicated plumbing
dubbed Wisent on to the WISP chip. In you thought you’d have WISP5 toting for routing wires or large-scale battery
their findings, they realized that a lot smartphone and smart home sensors installations on site. And wouldn’t it be
of work had gone into optimizing data come CES 2017 or MWC 2017, time to great to have a smartphone someday that
upstream from an RFID tag and its cor- curb some of that enthusiasm for now. isn’t constrained to the Li-ion battery it
responding client device. Curiously, how- There’s a long road ahead before WISP bundles with it and can work, in some
ever, the TU Delft found downstream data comes to an off-the-shelf device which you small capacity, completely through wire-
transfer from a client device to an RFID and I can purchase. less power harvested from radio waves?
tag (similar to a WISP device) severely The WISP5 module (pictured above) The possibilities are truly mind-boggling,
clunky with a lot of room for improve- is supposed to be a proof of concept at if you think of it.
ment. And that’s exactly what they got the moment. It can only hold 64KB of The researchers working hard on
busy with. memory and as you read earlier in the WISP and Wisent want to realize the
The research team attributes the nov- article its clock speed of 16MHz doesn’t dream of truly wirelessly reprogram-
elty of Wisent to its ability to adaptively really make it a candidate for use in even mable software-defined battery-less com-
minimize the transfer times at varying modest computing devices. According puters (not just sensor nodes) whenever
channel conditions between the RFID tag to Aaron Parks, development team lead and wherever we want. For their sake and
and client device. Their experiments show for WISP at University of Washington’s the rest of us digital natives, we hope that
that Wisent allows data transfer up to 16 Sensor Lab, “It’s not going to run a video day is not too far away in the future.

36 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

Lower-fat chocolate Google maps’ ‘Sea Monster’
Using electrical engineering physicists have come A ‘sea monster’ that was supposedly caught on
up with a way for even lower-fat in chocolates. google maps turned out to be just a rock.
http://dgit.in/lowerfatchoc http://dgit.in/monsterock Space Age

Ronak Gupta
feedback@digit.in Since both waves are different in nature,
they travel differently in liquids and sol-

T
he word Asteroseismology ids. In the event of an Earthquake, both P
can easily be broken down into and S waves are generated in the Earth’s
its constituents to reveal its body and by measuring the intensity of
meaning. ‘Astero’ most prob- these waves geologists have resolved
ably derives from ‘astro’ which relates the internal structure of the Earth upto a
to stars and seismology is the study resolution of a few hundred kilometers.
of the propagation of elastic waves, Asteroseismology uses a similar principle
‘quakes’, through the internal structure to study what goes on inside stars. In this
of a large geological body like the Earth. article we discuss how this nascent field
Asteroseismology hence is the study of helps physicists and astronomers obtain
seismic waves in stars. By studying these invaluable data about stellar bodies in
wave induced oscillations, scientists can our cosmos. We highlight how astero-
decode the internal structure of stars, seismology allows us to ‘hear’ stars and
making asteroseismology an invaluable what that truly means. The stars across
tool for astronomy. Seismic waves have galaxies pulsate and throb like a chaotic
long been used to map the structure of orchestra. What if we can tune into the
our planet’s interior. Waves that travel in cosmic concert and listen to the sym-
the interior of the Earth are of two types phony of stars? You better have a good
- p (pressure) waves and s (shear) waves. seat for this one.

How S and P waves resolve the Earth’s internal structure owing to their respective abilities or
inability to pass through solid and liquid layers

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 37

 64-bit ARM for Post-K super Youngest exoplanet
ISC Fujitsu has decided that it was use 64-bit ARMv8 The youngest known exoplanet discovered
cores for its 1000 PFLOPS super computer. so far, K2-33b can teach us more about
Space Age http://dgit.in/postksuper planet formation. http://dgit.in/k233b

Why Asteroseismology? star - including its composition, structural acoustic waves cannot travel through the
Stars have been guiding bodies for modern properties and evolution. vacuum in space (sound is longitudinal and
astrophysics. Much of what we know of needs a medium to propagate) they pro-
our universe is from observing stars that What are stellar oscillations? vide the perturbation that disturbs a star
pepper the multitude of galaxies. Most Stars, giant bodies of gas and plasma, from its rest equilibrium state, causing it
modern astronomical methods rely on de- usually exist in a state of equilibrium. The to oscillate.
constructing the light coming from stars. gravitational pull exerted on its elemental Spherical bodies have three degrees of
While classical methods have given us an constituents is balanced by the massive freedom and hence have multiple modes
idea of stellar physics, scientists have to amount of gas pressure inside the star. of oscillations, the simplest of them being
rely on simplistic models to unravel the Any small perturbation however can radial modes. Radial modes manifest
host of processes that dominate the world cause a departure from equilibrium and as a periodic expansion and contraction
inside stars. Internally, stars are charac- lead to a state of oscillation - short lived of a body in such a way that the stars
spherical symmetry is conserved. The
periodic displacement is hence equal in all
directions. Imagine squishing a soft ball
in such a way that the force used to com-
press and release is equally transmitted
in all directions. At any time during this
periodic motion, the ball retains its spheri-
cal shape with only its radius constantly
increasing and decreasing with time. Non
radial modes however don’t preserve such
a symmetry. The star oscillates in such a
way that it loses it spherical shape. These
non radial oscillations distort the star’s
surface in such a way that while some
areas are expanding, some recede, hence
leading to the formation of some exotic
shapes. Stellar oscillations essentially
refers to the distortion of a star’s shape.
Asteroseismology aims to study these
oscillations in ‘pulsating’ stars and from
it carry out a sort of reverse study to map
the acoustic waves, find their origin and
Artist’s impression showing the the radiation and convective zones in a star ultimately chart the composition of a
star. Some GIF animations of the various
terised by large scale convection, mixing, or controlled. Imagine a block of wood shape modes can be found here : http://
diffusion, and a host of chemical, hydro- connected to a spring system, left to fall dgit.in/Astroseismo
dynamic and magneto processes that are under the influence of gravity. Instead of
too complicated to be studied by ap- simply dropping the block, if we slowly What can make a star oscillate?
proximate parameters used to model such guide the block and leave it, it reaches a There are different mechanisms that
processes. Simply put, most techniques certain height (its equilibrium height). Now can drive the star to oscillate. One of the
offer poor precision. By studying stellar if we disturb the block from this rest state, most popular explanations is the kappa
oscillations, the uncertainty in current it begins to oscillate about that level. In mechanism that posits that certain layers
models can be reduced significantly, thus real life, because the block will face air within the sun have the ability to store en-
providing scientists a viable diagnostic tool resistance, the motion gets damped and ergy. In the stars compression phase the
to study stars in their full glory. The inside ultimately dies down. In an ideal scenario layers store energy and release it when
of stars are inaccessible via traditional however the block continues to oscillate the star is in the expansion stage of its
observation techniques. The advantage of about its equilibrium position. Transfer this pulsation, leading to the star to overshoot
using asteroseismology is that because one dimensional picture to the three di- its equilibrium radius. Energy is stored
stellar oscillations are almost uniquely a mensional spherical shape of star, and it’s again when the surface recedes and the
function of a star’s properties, and differ- not as easy to visualize these oscillations. cycle continues. This driving mechanism
ent modes penetrate to different depths in Stars are far from being quiet bodies, with is responsible for self excited oscilla-
a star, we can get high precision informa- sound waves being generated in plenty tions in pulsating stars. Stars that are
tion about the various internal layers in a due to its internal processes. While these stable, are excited by virtue of their outer

38 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Experimental Zika Vaccine Gravitational Waves Again
Researchers will be testing a new experimental vaccine The scientists at LIGO have claimed to have
for the Zika virus on humans for the first time. detected gravitational waves a second time.
http://dgit.in/zikavaccine http://dgit.in/gravitwave Space Age

convective layers. These convective layers measure the speed of sound waves in a classified into two modes - the p mode
are home to large scale turbulence that star. Sound waves propagate longitudi- that stems from pressure as a restoring
generate acoustic waves in a large range nally. In a gas this results in information force and g modes that originate from
of frequencies. These waves drive random transfer by compression and rarefaction gravity behaving as a restoring force
stellar oscillations and occur in stars that events, via collisions at the molecular for stellar oscillations. Different modes
have masses and evolutionary patterns level. This is important as it highlights penetrate to different depths of the
similar to the Sun. Since these stars are the dependence of the speed of sound on interior owing to difference in their nature,
intrinsically stable these random oscilla- how frequently molecules collide, which much like the s and p waves discussed
tions have small amplitude and generally in turn is determined by temperature. The in the context of earth based seismology.
short lived. higher the temperature of a gas, the more Because waves of a certain frequency and
mobile and energetic are the molecules propagation direction might be sensitive
Ok. So now we know what and this increases the speed of sound. to the physical conditions prevailing in
stellar oscillations are and At a given temperature, a lighter gas
how stars oscillate, but how moves more quickly than a more dense
does asteroseismology use this one. Speed of sound is thus critically
information? related to the density and temperature
Because sound cannot propagate in of a gaseous medium. Using observa-
space, sound waves remain trapped inside tion techniques like spectroscopy and
photometry scientists can measure sound
wave data within a star. Then, by making
use of standard models, the wave data
can be interpreted to give details of speed
of sound waves, which in turn can be used Much like an orchestra with different
to gauge density and pressure of the gas instruments a star oscillating with different
medium. Arguably the most important modes can be ‘heard’
physical relation in thermodynamics is
the equation of state, which relates the different regions of the star’s interior ,
temperature of a state to it’s density and by studying different and more pulsating
pressure. Armed with data of pressure modes we can cover a larger area of the
and density of the gaseous medium that stars inner structure.
fills up the star, along with some assump-
tions made of the chemical composition of Can we actually ‘hear’ stars?
the gas, a plot of temperature within the Music is essentially a combination of a
Owing to differential sensitivity of modes star can be derived. large number of instruments emitting
we can observing different regions in a star The many modes of oscillations also sound waves of a certain frequency and
have importance in decoding a star’s amplitude. If we stand in a concert hall
a star. But as we discussed these sound internal structure. Waves dominating the with a famous orchestra playing their
waves cause a star to pulsate, oscillate in interior of a pulsating star can be broadly famous score we can make out every
a combination of modes. These oscilla- individual instrument, while also appre-
tions provide us with an indirect way to ciating the combined effect of music as
listen to the sounds of star. As the surface a whole. Our brain is attuned to splitting
of a star recedes and expands the gas a signal into its constituent waves and
inside is compressed and then rarefied recognizing a unique sound, as it is capa-
in the process getting hotter and then ble of enjoying the power of music. When
colder. These changes are then reflected a star oscillates, its surface beats in a
in the light emitted by the stars. Thus, by unique rhythm, driven by the breathing
measuring the light output of these pul- in-out of the sound trapped inside. While
sating stars we can gauge the frequencies the natural frequency of stars is too low
of oscillations and the sound waves inside for humans to perceive the sound, when
the star. we capture the frequency, amplitude and
But, now that we have the frequency phases associated with stellar oscilla-
of oscillations and the frequency of sound tions, we can ramp up the necessary pa-
how do we map the internal structure of rameters to fall inside our audible range,
a star with that information? One of the A high fidelity numerical simulation thus listening in on the music of stars,
primary goals of asteroseismology is to showing the formation of a star (Credit : NASA) Here’s an audio byte: http://dgit.in/Stlrr

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 39

 X-57 Electric Plane Venus’ Electric Winds
NASA’s new funny looking electric X-57 plane Scientists have discovered that the electric
is carrying some amazing tech on it. winds on venus stripped it of water.
Space Age http://dgit.in/nasax57 http://dgit.in/elctrcwind

Ashwin Krishnan
feedback@digit.in
5 times that space totally
L shocked us
ooking up at the heavens on a
moonless night, the inky blackness
of the sky speckled with the few
stars that light pollution still al-
lows us to see, represents the vast depths
and we were caught tion of the universe itself. This radiation,
of human ignorance. Despite the best ef- completely unawares! called cosmic background radiation is the
forts of theoretical physicists and despite oldest light in the universe, dating back
what they might tell you, we are still only To visualise this, take a balloon and draw to the time of the recombination from Big
at the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the a few dots on the surface with a pen. Bang cosmology. This theoretical predic-
true nature of cosmology and astrophys- Now, as you blow into the balloon, you tion was a massive requirement for valida-
ics. Over the years theories have been are basically simulating the same kind of tion of the Big Bang hypothesis. More than
raised, proved, rebutted, brought down expansion that happens in the universe, that, it also provides a way for us to see
and reformulated and with every success- where the distance between the galaxies more in the universe, giving us a new pair
ful attempt, we get a little more insight seems to increase because the balloon of eyes with which to survey the skies.
of how space works. Yet, despite this it is itself is expanding. If we trace this back, Normally, when one looks at the cosmos
not the unknown that surprises us poor it implies that space(and consequently through a traditional telescope, the space
mortals, it is the disproving of the known, time) were concepts that were created at between stars is dark. However, through a
of theories that we assumed to be true; the moment of the Big Bang. Till date, this radio telescope, there is a faint glow when
so true in fact that we often didn’t even
bother questioning them. Time and again,
human complacency has been dealt a slap
in the face by some shocking observations
about space. In this article, we look at five
instances where space has shocked us
and given us much to ponder about.

1
The expansion of the universe
The expansion of the universe was An expanding balloon showing how A map of the cosmic background radiation
confirmed through many astronomical galaxies are moving away from each other in the universe
observations in the early half of the 20th
century. This was the period when the Big remains the most popular theory for the tuned to the right frequency and tempera-
Bang hypothesis was gaining popularity, origin of the universe, but this also poses ture that gives us a vast range of data that
a hypothesis that stated that the universe a problem as we can no longer reason- was unavailable earlier. A lot of predictions
originated from one single event, what ably study what happened before the Big were made about the exact nature of this
is scientifically known as a singularity. Bang. This observation had huge impacts radiation and the properties that it would
What was surprising, however, was the for cosmological models and continues to possess but the actual discovery was
observation that galaxies that are further serve to remind us that the universe works accidental. Working at Bell Labs in Hol-
away seem to be moving away at a faster in strange ways. mdel, New Jersey, in 1964, Arno Penzi-
speed. At first thought, this may seem as and Robert Wilson were experimenting

2
contradictory as it seems to imply that The discovery of cosmic with a 6 meter (20 ft) long, supersensitive
all objects are simultaneously the centre background radiation horn antenna which was originally built to
around which the expansion occurs. This Around 1950, it was predicted that detect radio waves bounced off satellites.
conundrum is resolved by hypothesising the entire universe is bathed in a radiation. These radio waves they were studying
that it isn’t galaxies as such that move This radiation is a remnant of the biggest were faint and required a lot of noise
away from each other, it is space itself. cosmological event of all time: The crea- cancellation and a reduction of tempera-

40 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 On Mars by 2025 Robot baby
SpaceX may be able to have people on the Klav, the robot baby looks disturbingly
Mars by 2025 says Elon Musk. realistic, and has feelings too.
http://dgit.in/Mrs2025 http://dgit.in/klavx1 Space Age

tures to 4K. However, their observations good approximations of how a binary star hypothesised that it may have had an alien
were different from their expectations: system works. However, for such a system origin. In recent years, the speculation has
They saw a low, steady noise that was to be created at all, you will need two died down as no further evidence has been
omnipresent and certainly not originat- stars of a particular mass to come close to found that the signal, nicknamed ‘WOW!’,
ing from our solar system. After clearing each other with a particular velocity. Yet, had an alien origin. In 2012, a response to
some pigeons nesting in the antenna and there are plenty of binary star systems in the signal was generated and beamed out
cleaning out the accumulated droppings, the universe. In fact, the recent observa- to the galaxy. The signal, a constant pulse
the noise remained. A friend (Bernard F. tion of gravitational waves at the LIGO that the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto
Burke, Prof. of Physics at MIT) told Pen- facility in the USA was because of waves Rico sends out into the universe has so
zias about a preprint paper he had seen emitted by a binary black hole system, far seen no response. In addition to the
on the possibility of finding radiation left which is a binary star system where the signal sent out by the Arecibo observatory,
over from an explosion at the beginning of stars have collapsed in on themselves. there exist entire organisations devoted to
the universe’s existence by Jim Peebles. These systems represent some of the best scouring the skies for signs of life. SETI
This made Penzias and Wilson realise the artistic work that one can observe on the or the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intel-
significance that their discovery had. The infinite canvas of the night sky. ligence is an organization and a worldwide
radiation detected by Penzias and Wilson effort spearheaded and supported by

4
and its characteristics fit exactly the Water on Mars individuals of worldwide repute such as
radiation predicted at Princeton University Despite the extremely vast size of Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner. For
by Robert H. Dicke and his colleagues. the universe, there are relatively many years now, SETI has been searching
This radiation was subsequently identified few planets that can potentially harbour for life in the stars, operating under the be-
as a signature of the Big Bang. For their human civilization. A lot of this has to do lief that any existing civilizations out there
accidental discovery and the ingenious with the fact that these planets are too far will emit some signal of communication or
interpretation, Penzias and Wilson were away. The question then is if there are any at the very least, respond to the scans that
awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978. planets close by that aren’t exactly ideal SETI does with its multi-million dollar
for human civilization but provide enough infrastructure, such as the Allen telescope

3
Binary star systems of the basic necessities so that technol- array at the University of California, Berke-
These are not shocking because of ogy can take care of the rest. One of the ley. The SETI@Home project, which uses
some obscure deviation from theory, most basic requirements for long-term idle operating power of computers and
rather these star systems are some of the habitation is water. Evidence of water (in
most breathtaking cosmological objects the form of polar ice) is being confirmed
in the sky. As the name indicates, these time and again by observations as well as
systems consist of two stars. These two by tests conducted on the Martian surface
stars orbit around each other, or to be by the NASA rovers that continue to roam
more precise, they orbit around their the surface. There are also proposals to
centre of mass. From plenty of science send the first team of astronauts to inhabit
fiction examples, we know that this leads Mars on a trial basis. All of these point to
to some extremely wonderful phenomena. the possibility of human civilisations on
If there were a planet associated with this the red planet at some point in the future, SETI receivers looking to the sky for any
system, one would witness two sunrises a statement which, 100 years ago, would sort of life
and two sunsets, one after the other. The have earned the writer a one-way ticket to
surprising part is that the equations that an asylum laptops around the world to scan for extra-
govern the motion of a binary star system terrestrial life in the cosmos has returned

5
are extremely simple to comprehend New- The mysterious WOW! signal no results either. This may possibly be
ton’s laws of gravitation alone will give and the search for alien life because alien civilizations, if they do exist,
There are some facts about the uni- may not be advanced enough to be able
verse that leave humanity both exhilarated to respond, but the fact remains that it is
and utterly terrified at the same time. a reasonable expectation that among the
The fact that we may, despite the nearly millions of planets that can hypothetically
infinite expanse of the universe, be alone support humanoid life forms, at least one
is one such example. For a long time, we of them should respond. The very possibil-
have been harbouring the hope that alien ity that we may be truly alone, a tiny speck
life may exist, yet we found absolutely no in this vast ocean, is about as shocking a
evidence to back that hope up. However, truth as science can throw at us. Yet, SETI
An artistic visualisation of a binary star in 1977, Earth received a strong radioband continues its search and all we can do is
system signal, a signal so strong that it was wait. And hope.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 41

 New vortex on Neptune. Measure the universe?
NASA’s hubble telescops discovered a new dark vortex Physicists create a quantum ruler to
on the surface of Neptune. the first on the planet measure the universe.
From the labs http://dgit.in/vortexx1 http://dgit.in/qrulerx

Artificial meat Lab grown vegan alternatives

Ashwin Krishnan it depends extensively on the way the that are used purely to feed animals; valu-
feedback@digit.in patty disintegrates. able pastures that could be used to grow

S
The challenge then is to painlessly, and grain for human consumption. Almost
ince time immemorial, the word without harmfully impacting the environ- 1,800 gallons of fresh water for drinking,
tofu has been met with scorns ment, produce meat with the same fibrous feed irrigation and processing go into
of sarcasm and looks of disap- texture in a lab. This also has varying one pound of beef, according to National
proval from regular meat eaters, levels of difficulty. There are some food Geographic. Lab-grown food, on the other
who consider the substitute a poor items that have very little complex struc- hand, requires far less land and water,
alternative to the taste and texture of ture such as processed foods. Sausages, and emits less greenhouse gas compared
actual animal in their mouths. In a lot of for example, can be grown by extracting to raising livestock, according to a study
ways, communities and individuals that cells or serum from cows and growing it in by the University of Oxford. Cows and
embrace vegetarianism have always been
excluded from a vast range of culinary
creations which hinge on the usage of
meat. For some reason, taste enhancers
never quite produced the same effect
of popping a whole chicken nugget and
savouring the flavour that explodes in
the meat eater’s mouth as he bites into
it. This, however, is a time of modern
science, and more importantly a time of
environmental consciousness. With some
studies showing that giving up raising Difference in texture: Chicken(left) and Beef(right)
cattle for beef production can have a
bigger impact on reducing our carbon the lab. Of course, this in itself is a tedious other livestock animals produce enough
footprint than giving up petrol based and complicated process that involves a methane to account for a staggering 18% of
transportation, it is vital that we start lot of biotechnological wizardry but it is total global greenhouse gas emissions.
looking for solutions. Armed with the still something that can be done reason- Above and beyond all these practicali-
latest in genetic science, artificial meat ably well. A steak, however, is made of ties, it is also a scientific challenge that
substitutes have sprung up in super- muscle tissue which is threaded through biohackers across the world are enthused
labs all over the world. In this article with extremely long, fine capillaries which by. Creating an entirely natural structure
we analyse how they work and see how transport blood and nutrients directly from scratch in a laboratory is a difficult
the staunch Brahmin can soon enjoy a to the cells. It is much more difficult to task but the intellectual obstacles involved
steaming hot plate of mutton biriyani reproduce such a complex structure as the are the kinds that scientists love to tackle.
process involves not only cultivating cells
What makes meat meat? but growing actual muscle fibre with the The science of meat making
To many people, the answer would prob- appropriate texture and flavour in the lab. Apart from a lot of money, a couple of
ably be taste. However, scientific experi- degrees, a doctorate and a superlab, these
ments and taste tests from the world’s Why do we need artificial are the components that you will need to
leading culinary experts show that meat? grow your own artificial meat substitute
capturing the taste alone is not sufficient. Apart from guilt free burger binging, con- • Starter cells: There are two extremes
It’s equally important to capture the structing artificial meat has a hugely posi- in terms of choosing starter cells. Stem
experience of biting into a piece of meat tive impact on the environment. There is a cells, the magic words in medical
and feeling the texture as it settles on your pressing need to reduce the environmental research at the moment, and differenti-
tongue. What differentiates a hamburger impact of rearing livestock; nearly 30% of ated muscle fibres. Stem cells are cells
from a chicken patty is not only the taste, the Earth’s surface is covered with pastures that haven’t decided what they want

42 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Robots refuel satellites! Pluto has an ocean?
NASA is making a robotic spaceship to refuel Pluto might still have an liquid or semi liquid
satellites, that might make refuelling much easier. ocean under it’s icy crust.
http://dgit.in/28SCsXJ http://dgit.in/294xPu3 From the labs

to be yet. These are extremely quick at The Dutch burger porate fat and to reduce costs. There has
proliferating but are unwieldy to use €250,000 can buy a pretty posh house, a been huge progress in the past couple of
because it is difficult to engineer these really fast car, or if you’re Google execu- years with the team able to reduce to cost
cells to take the structure we want. Dif- tive Sergey Brin and the person you’re to $12 per patty. This is still quite expen-
ferentiated muscle fibres have the exact giving the money to is a Dutch university, sive but at least the price is on the same
texture and flavour we need but do not it can buy you a hamburger. Sergey Brin scale as conventional burgers.
proliferate at all and can’t, as such, be was pushed to sponsor this project by
grown. A good compromise is to pick what he felt were erroneous ideas that Other lab grown vegan
cells that are somewhere in between. people had about the meat industry. wonders
• A growth medium: The medium must Encouraging people to not eat meat is Substitutes are being created for virtually
be able to support cell growth by pro- not a viable option as the tendency to eat all animal based products. One of the most
viding the cells with all the nutrients meat is ‘ingrained deep in our evolution’, interesting projects in this endeavour
it required directly. Of course, ideally, according to Prof Wrangham, primatolo- is titled Real Vegan Cheese, a group of
you would require this medium to not gist from Harvard University. With such biohackers that are looking to create milk,
be derived directly from an animal. severe constraints, growing artificial meat and consequently all diary based products
• Scaffold: This is potentially the dif- is a pressing need of our time and Brin is such as cheese and butter, directly from
ficult part. The scaffold is a surface one of the first people to recognise this. DNA of cow’s milk protein. One day, they
that the cells can attach to. Apart from The most expensive hamburger in hope to achieve the proficiency to be able
needing it to be edible so that the the world was a three month long project to make complicated cheeses from one
scaffold can become a part of the final headed by Dr Mark Post at Maastricht DNA extract.
product, it is also important that the University that began with the extraction
scaffold have the same kind of texture of stem cells from two cows, a blanc-blue
that we require our end product to belge and a blond acquitaine. Dr Mark
have. It is also a good idea to have a Post and his team at Maastricht Uni-
scaffold that can move in response versity used these cells to grow 20,000
to some kind of stimulus so that the muscle fibres in individual culture wells,
muscle fibres attached to the scaffold each one a tiny hoop of greyish-white
can stretch and elongate as required. protein suspended in a gel-like growth
The scaffold along with the cells medium that contained antibiotics and a
attached to it give the 3D structure that serum extracted from cow foetuses. The
goes into the final product. cells were allowed to grow for a few weeks
• Bioreactor: This is where all of the to gain some size. After this, each fibre The final burger. Not quite a whopper yet
ingredients are put together and was removed individually, cut open and
grown. There are many specific straightened out in a long string. These The lab-grown-food sector is growing
requirements that the reactor must fibres form the base of the final patty. quickly. Along with Brin, other big-name
satisfy, a high school petri dish will Compressed together, these fibres are then backers include Microsoft co-founder Bill
not suffice. coloured with beetroot juice to give it the Gates and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
There has been different levels of colour of ground beef, mixed with saffron, “The global food supply chain is a
success and progress in each of these cat- breadcrumbs and a few other ingredients multitrillion-dollar industry,” says Arvind
egories but so far there has been no major to bind it together. “It’s really just proof of Gupta, founder of IndieBio, an accel-
scientific breakthroughs but scientists are, concept right now, we’re trying to create erator that exclusively funds synthetic-
for the first time, aware of what exactly is the first cultured beef hamburger,” said biology startups. “That’s the market we’re
necessary to make artificial meat a reality. Brin in a film to mark the tasting event thinking about disrupting.”
in London on Monday. “From there I’m
optimistic that we can really scale by leaps The future
and bounds.” There is a lot of scope and funding for
This burger however, is pure protein lab grown animal product substitutes.
and has no fats, a fact that has not escaped Despite a few criticisms, notably from
the notice of tasters. “The texture, the activists who worry about the impact
mouthfeel has a feel like meat,” journalist that this may have on livestock farmers,
Schonwald put it. “The absence is ... fat. the industry is one that is set to witness
It’s a leanness. But the bite feels like a breakthrough progress in the next few
conventional hamburger. It’s kind of an years. The day may not be far when a
unnatural experience” The next test there- Maharaja Mac is grown in a lab and we’d
Artificially produced meat fore, for Post and his team, is to incor- be none the wiser.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 43

 Cover story

INDEX:
20 APPS + 10 SITES TO HELP YOU WIN AT SCHOOL THIS YEAR......................45
10 (BUDGET) TECH GIFT IDEAS FOR KIDS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL ....... 51
10 SKILLS YOU CAN LEARN FROM GAMES ......................................................................54
DIY PROJECT IDEAS FOR YOUR NEW SCHOOL YEAR .......................................... 58
TECH TO SPUR YOUR YEAR ..................................................................................................... 60
HOSTEL LIFE: THE TECH SURVIVAL GUIDE ......................................................................62
TABLETS VS LAPTOPS: A BUYING GUIDE FOR COLLEGE KIDS ...................... 64

44 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

20 APPS +
10 SITES
TO HELP YOU WIN
AT SCHOOL THIS YEAR
FROM CORRECTING YOUR GRAMMAR TO MANAGING YOUR
TIMETABLE, THESE ARE YOUR PERFECT CLASSMATES
PAANINI NAVILEKAR
feedback@digit.in

I
t’s the start of another school year, your work. Once you’re done, you can inherently bad, the barrage of information
which means you’ll soon find yourself export your work as a Word document, a can be quite overwhelming if you’re trying
facing an onslaught of tests, assign- PDF file or upload it to Google Drive. to grasp a new concept for the first time.
ments and projects! To aid your Instagrok presents information in the
academic campaign, we’ve compiled a list INSTAGROK form of a handy ‘concept map’, showing
of desktop, web and smartphone apps
that will give you a head start – whether
2 (http://www.instagrok.com)
The most common way to start
you key concepts and their underlying
relationships, helping you grok (nerd
it’s planning a study group, managing researching a new topic is to Google it, speak for understand) the material better.
your timetable or creating study aids. which will probably lead you to a Wiki- It also provides related links to educa-
pedia page. While this approach isn’t tional videos hosted on sites like Khan-
TOP 10 WEBSITES
WRITEWELL
1 (http://writewellapp.com)
The hardest part of writing an
essay or a research paper is getting started
– and staring at a blank page isn’t going
to make the task any easier. Writewell is
an all-in-one writing aid, that helps you
get started by providing templates for
academic papers, lab reports, essays, cover
letters and more. These templates contain
a number of chunks with a prompt to
help you get started, and you can rear-
range these chunks to suit your writing.
You can also add your sources to the app,
including other papers, links or audio
clips, and Writewell will automatically
generate a source list and append it to Instagrok helps you visualize new information, and can be a great research tool

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 45

 Cover story

Academy, should you wish to explore the banter to a minimum and focus on getting can access college rankings and college
subject further. The premium version work done. They can accelerate learning reviews across streams like Engineering,
features a Teacher Dashboard – a place and foster creativity by means of discus- Law, Management, Medicine, Hospitality,
where teachers can create assignments for sions with your peers, which also makes Retail, Media, Finance and more. Addi-
students and monitor their progress. it easy to get help on topics that might be tionally, the site has details about applica-
difficult to grasp. However, the logistics tion deadlines, fee structures, qualifying
WOLFRAM ALPHA of forming such a group may be complex exams required and in the case of MBA
3 (https://www.
wolframalpha.com)
unless you happen to live on campus.
OpenStudy is a great option that lets you
programs, even lets you contact current
students with your queries.
You’ve probably heard of Wolfram form online study groups with students
Alpha and dismissed it as an imitation of all over the world for a variety of subjects. MATHWAY
Google, but it serves a very different, very
awesome purpose. The ‘Computational
These groups also have Qualified Helpers
– members who are certified to be experts
7 (https://mathway.com)
If you grew up fearing Math
Knowledge Engine’ is a service that takes in their domain and who’ll be happy to like the apocalypse and still wince at
in a natural language query and spits out lend you a hand. You can also sign up to the thought of solving Math problems,
become such a Helper if you’re confident fear not – the Internet’s got your back.
about your knowledge and like explaining Mathway is a very powerful tool that
intricate concepts to your fellow students. takes the pain out of doing math by
solving problems from fields like Cal-
PLAGIARISM CHECKER culus, Trigonometry, Statistics, Algebra,
5 (http://www.plagtracker.
com/)
Geometry and even Chemistry. It also
comes with an easy-to-use graphing
As a student, one of the worst blunders calculator, letting you plot different types
you can make is to turn in an assignment of curves to get a better understanding of
or paper that contains plagiarised con- the behaviour of different kinds of func-
tent. Most professors will employ sophis- tions. If you upgrade to the pro account,
ticated anti-plagiarism tools to scan your you’ll also get detailed, step-by-step solu-
work, checking for any non-original con- tions to your problem, doubling up as a
tent. It’s usually a good idea to run your study-aid. It’s also a handy tool if you’re
work through a tool such as PlagTracker, majoring in Physics or Engineering and
which lets you upload your document would rather outsource your computa-
and sends you a plagiarism report. If tional heavy lifting so you can focus on
Wolfram Alpha can return some you just want to scan a short piece of text the task at hand.
interesting results for your whimsical instead of an entire document, http://
queries smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/ PIXLR PHOTO EDITOR

a factual answer, crunching data from

lets you paste some text into a text box
and check it for originality. Of course,
8 (https://pixlr.com/editor)
While photo-editing is a cat-
numerous sources along the way. The you might get a few false positives, but egory that probably warrants its own list
answers include graphical data, statistical better be safe than sorry. of apps, it’s quite unlikely that you need
information, mathematical computation access to a full blown editor like Adobe
and more. Want to find out how your dog SHIKSHA Photoshop. It’s expensive, it’s resource-
sees the world? Just enter the query and
you’ll be presented with two images – a
6 (http://www.shiksha.com)
Choosing a college after gradu-
hungry, and chances are, your photo
editing needs can be easily met by a free
regular one as perceived by humans, and ating from high school can be a daunting webapp like Pixlr Editor. You can easily
a slightly blurry one corresponding to task – there are several factors that go into use it to perform basic image editing –
canine vision. Other cool uses include the decision, not to mention
finding the Scrabble score for a given the dozens of entrance exams
word, interpreting the nutrition label on and application deadlines one
foods , analysing your social circle from needs to be aware of. Finding
your Facebook data, and even finding out this information isn’t always
if you’re too drunk to drive. (Though if easy, and college websites are
you have to ask, you’re probably better off often outdated or difficult to
calling a cab) navigate. Shiksha is a one-
stop shop for all your college
OPENSTUDY and career related queries,
4 (http://openstudy.com)
Study groups are a great idea,
with updated information on
more than 14,000 colleges
but only if you can manage to keep the and 40,000 courses. You Pixlr Editor is a powerful, browser-based photo editor

46 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

crop and resize photos, adjust brightness TOP 10 APPS CLASS TIMETABLE (IOS)
and contrast, remove red-eye in pictures
and even use the sharpen or blur tool
1
WUNDERLIST
To-do list apps are a dime-
3 / STUDIOUS (ANDROID)
Managing your academic cal-
to create interesting graphics for your a-dozen, which makes it endar, exams, homework assignments
projects and presentations. The interface imperative that you choose one and use and projects can be a daunting task
is quite standard, so anyone who’s used it diligently. Making lists and reminders and it’s all too easy to get bogged down
Photoshop or similar software should feel will help you keep track of your aca- under the weight of your courseload.
right at home. Pixlr uses Flash though, so demic and personal lives, ensuring that Class Timetable on iOS and Studious
if you need a Flash-free alternative, check you’re caught up with your classes, on Android are two great apps to help
out the Photobucket Editor (http://photo- assignments and deadlines. Wunderlist manage your schedule – just enter your
bucket.com/editor) has been around for a long time, and its classes and timings, and the app will
seamless syncing, cross-platform nature generate a timetable-style view, where
SPARKNOTES (it is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, you can enter details of upcoming
9 (http://www.sparknotes.
com)
Android, Windows Phone and the web)
and the ability to set recurring reminders
quizzes and assignments and even get
reminders when they’re due. Studious
We’ve all been there – it’s the night before make it our to-do list app of choice. You will even save you some embarrassment
your English Literature final, and thanks can make as many lists as you like, add by silencing your phone when you’re in
to weeks of procrastination, you haven’t due dates, reminders and attach files to a class. Additionally, Class Timetable
gotten past Chapter 1 of To Kill A Mock- each item and even add tasks via email lets you review the day’s schedule at a
ingbird. Instead of giving up entirely and (just forward the email to me@wunder- glance using the companion app for the
resigning yourself to a failing grade, fire list.com to add it to your list) The pro Apple Watch.
up the study guide on Sparknotes. The site version allows for collaborative features Android: http://dgit.in/Studious_Android
contains detailed guides, analyses, plot such as shared lists, comments and the iOS: http://dgit.in/ClassTimetable_iOS
overviews and chapter-wise summaries ability to delegate tasks. Of course, Wun-
of most literary works, including novels, derlist isn’t the only app out there – Tick ELECTRONICS
poems and Shakespearean plays. While
it’s best used as a last-minute revision
Tick, Todoist and Any.Do are some great
alternatives worth checking out.
4 REFERENCE APPS
For students of engineering,
tool, most students have come to recognise Android: http://dgit.in/Wunderlist_AndroidApp working with electrical equipment in the
it as a substitute for actually reading the iOS: http://dgit.in/Wunderlist_iOSApp lab involves a lot of looking up of num-
assigned texts. (We don’t recommend WP: http://dgit.in/Wunderlist_WindowsApp bers, figures and colours. Luckily, apps
this approach). The subject matter is well like Electronics Engineering ToolKit
organised and easy to understand, but QUIZLET
make sure you don’t directly lift sentences
from the site on your term paper, or you’ll
2 Smartphones are perfect for
reviewing your study notes
find yourself on the wrong side of a pla- before a quiz or an exam, and flashcards
giarism detector. are a powerful learning tool to that effect.
A flashcard contains a word, question or
MOOC AGGREGATORS a phrase on one side, and an explanation,
10 (https://www.class-central.
com, www.redhoop.org)
definition or formula on the reverse side.
Repeatedly going over a stack of such
The last few years have made education flashcards can be a very effective memori-
more accessible than ever – no matter sation or revision tool. Quizlet is one such
what you’re looking to learn, there’s flashcard app, available on both iOS and
a good chance it’s being offered as an Android that boasts a neat interface and a
online course that you can take from the huge library of over a million sets of flash-
comfort of your couch. Coursera, edX, cards, along with the ability to make your
Udacity and Udemy have, between them, own. Quizlet employs ‘spaced memorisa-
thousands of courses covering everything tion’ – showing you those cards that you
from literature to design, public policy to got wrong more frequently than others.
engineering. However, finding the right Teachers can use the webapp to make
course for your need can be quite a task interactive games and practice tests via a
– a task best left to an MOOC aggregator feature called Quizlet Live. Other notable
such as Class Central or RedHoop. These alternatives to Quizlet are StudyBlue
sites function as search engines for online (Android/iOS), Anki Droid (Android) and
courses, letting you filter by subject, lan- Chegg Flashcards (iOS).
guage, cost, duration and whether or not Android: http://dgit.in/Quizlet_Android
you’ll be awarded a certificate at the end of iOS: http://dgit.in/QuizletiOS Electrodroid is a handy reference for
your course. WP: http://dgit.in/QuizletWindows electronics enthusiasts

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 47

 Cover story

for iOS and Electrodroid for Android closely resembles your experimental time. Windows Phone users needn’t fret
provide a handy, pocket reference for data. You can slide your finger along a though, because Poki is an excellent
things like resistor and inductor colour plotted line to find points of interest such third-party Pocket client that lets you
codes, calculators for voltage drops, as local maxima/minima and points of access your saved articles offline.
low and high pass filters and frequency intersection with other curves. Android: http://dgit.in/Pocket_Android_App
and decibel converters. Both apps pack Android: http://dgit.in/Desmos_Android iOS: http://dgit.in/Pocket_iOS_App
close to a hundred small utilities which iOS: http://dgit.in/QuickGraph_iOS WP: http://dgit.in/Poki_Windows
can save you a lot of time when you’re
working on your next project in the FLIPBOARD / FEEDLY TRELLO
electronics lab.
Android: http://dgit.in/Electrodroid_Android
7 While RSS as a format for
received feeds from websites has
9 During your time in school
or college, you’ll probably be
iOS: http://dgit.in/Electronics_iOS waned in popularity (thanks to Google), required to work in a team for a group
getting your news from multiple websites project or assignment. Co-ordinating
GENIUS SCAN / has never been easier. There are dozens of tasks, documents and deadlines over
5 CAMSCANNER
As a student, you’re going to end
services out there. Feedly and Flipboard
are among the more popular feed readers,
email can be a pain – you’ll end up

up missing a few classes – and instead and with good reason. Feedly tries to
of running around trying to photocopy mimic traditional RSS aggregators by
notes from your classmates, use your sorting your feeds into folders. Almost
smartphone to create a high quality scan any website can be added to your list, and
of your lecture notes that you can save Feedly offers a number of display options
as a PDF. Genius Scan and Camscanner – from a newspaper style view with lots of
are two such apps that use your phone’s images or a more traditional, text-heavy
camera to snap a picture of a document, a format like Google Reader. Flipboard, on
whiteboard, paper receipts and more, and the other hand, adopts a magazine-style
convert them into a clear, sharp docu- approach and can show you content from
ment or photo that can be viewed later. your Instagram or Twitter feeds too. You
You can automatically have your docu- can’t directly enter a website’s URL like
ments uploaded to Dropbox or Google you can in Feedly, but Flipboard has a vast
Drive, and the Pro version of Camscanner selection of curated content, allows you
also comes with OCR (Optical Character to create your own customised maga-
Recognition), making your handwritten zine, and even lets you follow interesting
text instantly searchable. Windows Phone people to see what they’re sharing.
users have Microsoft’s own Office Lens Android: http://dgit.in/Feedly_AndroidApp
app, that integrates well with other apps iOS: http://dgit.in/Feedly_iOS
like OneNote and Word.
Android: http://dgit.in/Genius_Android POCKET / INSTAPAPER
iOS: http://dgit.in/Genius_iOS
WP: http://dgit.in/Lens_Windows
8 Read-it-later apps are perfect
for the procrastinator in us all, As far as project management apps go, it’s
because it’s truly impossible to keep hard to beat Trello
QUICK GRAPH (IOS) / up with all the interesting stuff you
6 DESMOS GRAPHING
CALCULATOR
find on the web. Pocket and Instapaper
are among the popular apps that let
with a lot of long and unwieldy email
threads. Instead, use a project man-
(ANDROID) you save web pages for later using a agement app like Trello that’ll ensure
Graphing calculators are great tools to browser extension. These articles can that everyone’s on the same page (both
help you quickly visualise the behaviour then be accessed later from your mobile literally and metaphorically). Trello is
of a function, solve complicated equa- device at your convenience, and the app based on lists – you can create a list for
tions and interpret inequalities. Quick will strip out all formatting, ads and your to-dos, for brainstorming, to keep
Graph on iOS and Desmos Graphing links to give you a clean, almost book- track of completed subtasks etc. Each
Calculator on Android are two apps that like reading experience. Both apps list can contain items with text, images,
do just that. You can enter functions in allow for organising your articles into documents and due dates, and you’ll
two and three dimensions and have them folders (Instapaper) or tags (Pocket), receive notifications when a teammate
plotted for you, switch between cartesian and both apps have a ‘Recommended’ updates an item. The Trello for Busi-
and polar co-ordinates and even find the section where they scoure out inter- ness upgrade will allow you to connect
roots of an equation easily. Additionally, esting content from all over the web. to external services such as Github,
Desmos also has a curve fitting feature, They’re perfect for reading longform- Evernote and Google Drive.
where you can enter a set of points and style articles when you’re commuting, Android: http://dgit.in/Trello_Android
find the equation for a curve that most waiting in a queue or just trying to kill iOS: http://dgit.in/Trello_iOS

48 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

SWORKIT
10 As a student, it’s easy to neglect
your health, what with the stress
of exams, deadlines and placements. But
it’s not that hard to stay fit – You don’t
even need access to fitness equipment or a
gym – use an app like Sworkit that’ll give
you personalised workouts that you can
do at home. Just select the type of workout
you’re looking for (cardio, stretching, yoga,
strength training etc.) and the amount of
time you have available, and Sworkit will
suggest the right workout, with proper
instructions and a demo video. The Pre-
mium version has access to some exclusive
features such as custom timer values, inter-
actions with a real fitness trainer and special
workouts for beginners or older people.
Android: http://dgit.in/SworkitAndroid
iOS: http://dgit.in/SworkitiOS

TOP 10 DESKTOP Freemind is great tool for creating rich, detailed mind maps.
APPS
FREEMIND cept. Freemind is a full-fledged, Java based Windows: http://dgit.in/Evernote_Download

1 Studying is hard work, and

there’s no getting around it if
application that runs on Windows, Mac
and Linux systems, and lets you create,
Mac: http://dgit.in/Evernote_Download
Windows (OneNote): http://dgit.in/OneNote_
you’re a student. Mind maps are a great edit and publish mind maps. You can add Windows
study tool that can help you organise and branches and subtrees, attach photos and Mac (OneNote): http://dgit.in/OneNote_Mac
memorise new information quickly. They use different colours to signify different
are essentially a visual representation of levels of importance. These mind maps MENDELEY
information centered around a single con- can then be saved in PNG or PDF formats,
Mac: http://dgit.in/Freemind_Mac
3 One of the most important
skills you’ll pick up in college
Windows: http://dgit.in/Freemind_Windows is the ability to do independent research.
Linux: http://dgit.in/Freemind_Linux Mendeley is a tool that helps you manage
all of that research. It collects all of your
EVERNOTE / ONENOTE papers, references and notes in one
2 Taking notes is an integral part
of the learning process. Whether
place, where you can search, highlight
and annotate your sources. Generating
you prefer taking notes by hand or on references is also easy, and Mendeley will
a computer, you can’t go wrong with a provide you with a citation in any format
robust note-taking app like Evernote or you like, compatible with Microsoft Word
OneNote. Both apps are free, and let you and LaTeX. You can also create groups to
take notes with images, audio and docu- share your reading lists or collaboratively
ment attachments. You can organise your work on writing research papers. Further-
notes into distinct Notebooks, and the app more, the app also lets you follow your
will sync your notes across its Android, friends and colleagues and share your
iOS, Windows Phone and web apps. published papers with your followers
Both have strong integration with cloud Windows: http://dgit.in/Mendeley_Windows
storage services: OneNote lets you save Mac: http://dgit.in/Mendeley_WindowsApp
notes into OneDrive, while Evernote can Linux: http://dgit.in/Mendeley_Linux
import files from Google Drive. A browser
extension allows you to clip any webpage DROPBOX
into your notebook for future reference,
and powerful OCR functionality lets
4 Cloud storage is a space
that’s been commoditised
you search text from within images and by the likes of Google, Microsoft and
scanned documents. Also, Simplenote is Apple, but Dropbox is still our choice
Sworkit offers customized workout an excellent plain-text note taking tool of file syncing and cloud storage on
to match your busy schedule with support for Markdown notes. the desktop. It’s the only app that’s

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 49

 Cover story

available on Linux, and while it only Google Docs: http://dgit.in/dgtGoogleDocs

provides 2GB of free space, it’s also Office for Windows: http://dgit.in/
the fastest at syncing files. Dropbox’s dgtOfficeForWindows
algorithm intelligently determines files Office for Mac: http://dgit.in/dgtOfficeForMac
that have been changed, and only syncs
that changed portion of the files. It can GINGER
also auto-save your screenshots, and
will offer to backup your photos if you
8 You’ll be surprised by the
number of grammar and
plug-in a digital camera to your com- spelling errors that sneak into your
puter. You can generate a shareable link writing, even if you’re a seasoned writer.
for any file in your Dropbox folder from Ginger is a tool that helps improve
your file explorer, and if you acciden- your writing while also proofreading
tally delete an important file, you can your text along the way. Available as a
always restore it from the web inter- browser extension for Google Chrome,
face. An upcoming feature in Dropbox Safari or a Windows app, it wil not
for Windows and Mac will now allow only correct any grammar and spelling
you to download files on-demand, F.lux will change the colour of your mistakes, but also suggest better ways of
so you can view the entirety of your computer’s display to match the time of rephrasing your sentences. The Pro ver-
Dropbox folder without having the files the day. sion will also analyse your errors and
take up disk space. Among the alterna- help you improve by giving you practice
tives, Google Drive is a great alterna- Ice Cream Apps are a free suite of small writing sets.
tive if you edit a lot of documents, utilities that let you work with documents Google Chrome: http://dgit.in/GingrDwn
while OneDrive and iCloud Drive come such as PDFs, photos, e-books and pres- Windows: http://dgit.in/GingerDownload
pre-installed with Windows and Mac entations for when you don’t have access
computers respectively. to a copy of Microsoft Office. The six STUDYMINDER
Windows: http://dgit.in/Download_Dropbox
Mac: http://dgit.in/Download_Dropbox
utilities provided allow you to merge and
split PDFs, convert to and from the PDF
9 Managing your academic life in
college can be hard, especially
Linux: http://dgit.in/Download_Dropbox format, create slideshows, view ebooks, if it’s chock full of classes, labs, assign-
convert and resize images or create a ments and quizzes. Traditional calendars
F.LUX screencast. The free versions of these can, at best, track your timetable, but that
5 Life in college is synonymous
with late nights – whether
apps come with a few limitations, but
we reckon they’re good enough for most,
leaves your assignments and homework
out in the cold. StudyMinder for Windows
you’re prepping for a final or just binge- though you can always upgrade to the Pro is a complete student planner that keeps
watching the latest season of Game of version if you need the extra power. track of your schedule, with reminders for
Thrones, you’re going to spend large Windows:http://dgit.in/IceCreamApps important events like tests and deadlines.
amounts of time staring at your com- Mac: http://dgit.in/IceCreamApps You can enter your homework assign-
puter screen. F.lux is an app that mini- ments into the app and it will suggest a
mises eye strain by changing the colour MICROSOFT OFFICE / block of time based on your calendar. It
temperature of your display, making the
colours warmer after sunset. It automati-
7 GOOGLE DOCS
While Office apps are definitely
also gives you an overview of your grades
and GPA.
cally fetches the sunset and sunrise time great, they’re expensive (unless your Windows: http://dgit.in/StudyMinder
based on your location (or you can enter college offers them through the Office
a time manually) and gradually changes 365 for Education program) and for most COLD TURKEY
the colour of your display as the evening
progresses. There’s also an option to
document editing needs, might be overkill.
Google Docs are a great and free alternative
10 If you need to use a computer for
your assignments and home-
disable it temporarily for an hour, until that should work for most of your college work, then rest-assured, you’re going to
the next sunrise, or for a specific app if assignments, presentations and reports, get distracted at some point of time. Cold
you’re doing colour sensitive work such with the added advantage of being always Turkey is a tool that lets you block websites
as editing photos or video. in sync on all of your devices. The collabo- such as Facebook, Reddit or Netflix for a set
Windows: http://dgit.in/Flux_Windows rative editing and revision history make it a amount of time, making it almost impos-
Mac: http://dgit.in/Flux_Mac great tool for teams (We at Digit use Google sible to circumvent the block. You can’t kill
Docs religiously) and you can even use the program via a task manager or even
ICE CREAM APPS them offline on Google Chrome. Having uninstall it while you’re supposed to be
6 Working with PDF documents
can be a pain – especially if
said that, Microsoft Office is the industry
standard, and some of the more advanced
studying. The Pro version lets you block
applications on your computer and even
you’re trying to split or merge multiple features offered by it give you fine-grained comes with a feature called ‘Frozen Turkey’
PDF files, or are trying to convert a PDF control over your documents, which may which completes shuts out the internet.
to another format like a .doc or a .xls. be absent on Google’s free offering. Windows: http://dgit.in/CTurkeyWin

50 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

GADGETS
ON A
BUDGET
10 GADGET IDEAS TO SOLVE EVERYDAY NIGGLES
FOR CASH-STRAPPED STUDENTS
SIDDHARTH PARWATAY
editor@digit.in

I
f there’s one thing students will agree on universally, it’s how cash strapped they all
are. Students are perennially looking for the cheapest alternative to get the job done.
Sure, quality matters, but sometimes price matters even more, and for those times
there’s nothing quite like finding the perfect jugaad. In this part of the cover story we’ll
give you our list of 10 best gadgets that will help you win this year.

LAPTOP LOCK CABLE

1 You got yourself a shiny new
laptop and you couldn’t be hap-
2
CHEAP HDMI
STREAMER
pier. You are by yourself in the library busily Access to screens isn’t very diffi-
hammering away that submission which is cult these days. In fact, many hostel room-
due the next day. Suddenly nature calls, as mates might even chip in for a 32-inch TV.
it always does, when you least expect it. You Though you could always connect your
say to yourself you won’t be long and pop laptop directly to the TV, but it tends to get
out to do your business. When you return cumbersome in the long run. A simpler
*gasp* your laptop’s gone! Now you could’ve solution is to get one of these Smart TV
asked someone to keep an eye on it while dongles or HDMI streamers. The one
you are away and while it might’ve worked featured here – EZCast – can even access
when you are in the library, but certainly not folder structures on an HDD that’s con-
in your canteen or common room. For these nected to your network and play files off
very situations it’s best to get one of these it! You can use your laptop to trigger any
Kensington lock cables. The one we have file you can access. You can even stream
suggested here is slightly longer than most YouTube videos from your phone. Quite a
of the listings out there. While the specs list nifty thing to have around for those short
it at 1 meter some of the user reviews say it’s (or long) study breaks. Plus, it’s certainly
longer – because, you know, length matters! cheaper than a Chromecast!
Buy: http://dgit.in/Laplok (`250) Buy: http://dgit.in/CHEzCast (`1,395)

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 51

 Cover story

DEDICATED VOICE RECORDER

3 You can’t always rely on the benevolence of the resident first bench note-
taker. Bribing him or her can be pretty expensive. Besides, some lectures are
really so good, or so confusing, that you need to listen to them again. Why not use a
phone? You certainly wouldn’t want to leave your phone in the front row, unattended,
while you sit somewhere else. Plus, there’s no way your phone can give you 15 hrs
of recording time. This voice recorder can, and it’s even camouflaged to look like an
ordinary pen drive. You can just place it somewhere close to your professor and then
snooze away... err... we mean listen intently without worrying about taking notes... This
M Supervision VM-22 4 GB Voice Recorder is small and light, and you just plug it into
your computer, and then copy the audio files off it, like you would from a pen drive.
Buy: http://dgit.in/MVoiceR (`800)

LAPTOP BAG / CASE

4 With Laptop bags either you
can invest in something like a BLUETOOTH SPEAKER
Samsonite or American Tourister and
have it last really long, or you can go in
5 Whether you want some back-
ground music for your study
for cheaper alternatives that you can keep time or you want to listen to that audio
changing about once a year. The advan- book you just downloaded on your phone;
tage of the latter approach is that you seem a Bluetooth speaker is an invaluable
to have a new bag every now and then, enhancement to the tiny speakers on your
plus it doesn’t hurt your pocket to shell phone. The Logitech X100 is a value for
our big bucks in one shot and then have money purchase and will give far better
to live off scraps from others. This HP quality and durability than other no-name
Laptop bag should be large enough to fit a brands. With 5 hours battery life, it’s more
15-inch laptop: than enough. Besides, the aux-in can let
Buy: http://dgit.in/HP15Bag (`550) you enhance your laptop output as well if
If you already have a shoulder bag and your laptop speakers aren’t loud enough.
are just looking for a sleeve you should Buy: http://dgit.in/LogiBlue (`1,583)
consider the AmazonBasics 13.3-Inch
Laptop Sleeve
Buy: http://dgit.in/AmznSlv (`799)

ALL IN ONE CABLES on mini USB (not even micro) such

6 With USB Type-C and
Lightning ports becoming
cables are quite useful to have around
Buy: http://dgit.in/10in1Chrgr (`159)
increasingly ubiquitous, these all- If you think having the Nokia and
in-one cables might start to seem like Sony proprietary pins is a bit much,
remnants of a bygone era. Though we consider this other Envy 2 in 1 USB/
shouldn’t be ringing their death-knell Data Cable. It has a Micro / Lightning
just yet. With so many of our legacy adapter for iOS and Android phones.
gadgets like Handicams still running Buy: http://dgit.in/Envy2in1(`279)

52 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

PENDRIVE
8 There can never be too many
pendrives. Especially if you
have quite a few friends who keep bor-
rowing them for ‘movies’. So the next
time you need another one and don’t find
any lying around, don’t go for an impulse
buy. Get one pendrive that you will never
share with anyone and guard it with
your life. And from our experience we
haven’t ever had a SanDisk Cruzer Blade
fail on us ever. It’s pretty reliable and
USB HUB / If you can convince your buddies to for `400 for 16GB it’s a pretty value for
7 CHARGER
If you are living in a dorm or
chip in, then go for the superior Aukey
Quick Charge 2.0 5 Port charger for
money purchase.
Buy: http://dgit.in/CruzrSD (`400)
shared hostel room chances are there `1,899. It features a Qualcomm certi-
will likely be a daily fight over who fied Quick Charge port and 4 Ai Power
gets to charge their phone (and other Smart Charging USB Ports which
gadgets) from the one lone charging deliver up to 2.4A even when all ports
point. Leave all those squabbles behind are used simultaneously
and go for this 6 port hub from Por- Buy: http://dgit.in/AukeyQk
tronics. It distributes 8 Amps among If the 5 port Aukey is too expensive for
6 ports, which isn’t all that great for you, there’s a variant with 2 Ai and 1
quick-charge but it’s good enough. Qualcomm port for `1,199
Buy: http://dgit.in/UFOChrg (`722) Buy: http://dgit.in/Aukey2

TRAVEL ADAPTER Though remember this is a clunky USB LIGHT

9 Even if you don’t travel around
much this travel adapter is a
product. You’ll probably have to prop it
up with supports because the pins won’t
10 Violating your
hostel warden’s
handy device to have around. If you decide have enough of contact / friction to keep lights out orders? Want to
to have someone get you a gadget from the adapter in place when you put in some be prepared for power cuts?
abroad, dealing with those godforsaken heavy plugs. If you have a bit of money to Having an outdoor camping
flat pins is a pain. If you are starting a spare go for the more expensive Targus trip? Just want to light up
school year abroad this is something you APK01AP-52 World Power Travel Adapter: your keyboard for a little
definitely need, at least initially. Buy: http://dgit.in/TrgsTrvl (`799) incognito surfing? Did your
Buy: http://dgit.in/TrvlAdap(`130) hostel electricity give up on
you right when you had to
work on that project that is
due tomorrow? No point in
waiting for the light to shine
upon you. We recommend
going for USB powered
lights that are both easy to
maintain and power. With
the abundance of USB ports
and growing use of power-
banks, these USB lights won’t
ever have a dearth of power
sources. And they fit into
your pocket!
Buy: http://dgit.in/USBLght
(`157)

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 53

 Cover story

10 SKILLS
YOU CAN LEARN
FROM GAMES THAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP YOU...
IN LIFE, COLLEGE, SCHOOL, ETC
MANISH RAJESH
feedback@digit.in

T
he reason you’re going to too far, you’d never get to read another and using the logic centres of your brain,
immediately start reading this Digit magazine again because we’d all be you’re being forced to do it within a time
story is because you want to see passed out at our desks from exhaustion limit. This translates to a very real-world
if it’s something you can show after playing games for days on end. skill that you will often put to use at work.
to your parents in order to get them to Enough preaching, however, because One of the things many new recruits
buy you a gaming rig, or to upgrade what this article will do from now on into the workforce struggle with is lateral
your existing one. Plus, you probably is focus on the several benefits that thinking (thinking outside the box), and
think this might get them off your back gaming can have for an individual, thinking fast, and on the job. Games cer-
when you want to play games instead and how it can enhance your skills, tainly seem to help in that aspect.
of doing chores... good luck with that. or even give you all new skills that
If your parents are frowning on your you couldn’t learn anywhere else! FOLLOWING
video gaming it probably has something
to do with the way your life is going. PROBLEM SOLVING
2 INSTRUCTIONS
This may seem like not a big
This article is not trying to justify
your gaming binges, or validate your bias
1 SKILLS AND LOGIC
Even when you’re playing
deal at first, but a lot of employers and
teachers complain about people not fol-
towards gaming, or even tell your parents games such as Angry Birds, or Cut the Rope, lowing instructions. Very often people
off for being so old school in their beliefs. and especially when playing complex don’t treat an instruction as an order,
This is a factual article that aims to take puzzlers like the Portal series, you’re and look at it as a guideline instead. This
a look at some of the benefits of gaming basically training your brain to think often means that you end up working in a
in moderation, and we want to specify: in logically in order to solve the puzzles. Not way that doesn’t please your employer or
moderation! There’s a good reason par- only are you indulging in problem solving teachers. When you play a lot of games,
ents try and regulate your gaming – it’s especially ones that have quests and
because it’s so darn addictive, and it makes missions, you pay attention and listen up
it so easy for us to procrastinate. However, carefully, because you know that success
you have to do it in moderation, or else it or failure is determined by how much
can cause serious problems. We should you follow the rules of the game. Real-life
know... if we didn’t have an internal is pretty similar in that sense because
regulator that told us when we were going sometimes it doesn’t matter how silly a

54 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

tion. Studies have shown that surgeons tasking – doctors, surgeons, paramedics,
can hone their hand skills by gaming... lawyers, field engineers, stock analyst,
So now you can tell your parents you’re etc. Actually, pretty much all jobs today
practicing to become a doctor when you’re have an aspect of this requirement, and
fragging people in CS: GO. with technology becoming all pervasive,
With gaming now going mainstream, the ability to work quickly, efficiently and
more and more people are taking it up, strategically with tech is a huge boon.
and games are becoming more challenging
as well. Plus, even simple games such as LEARNING TECHNICAL

rule sounds, success is often gotten by

Temple Run on phones or tablets have a lot
of us honing our reflexes on a daily basis.
5 SKILLS
There’s many games that actu-
following the set procedure for doing With VR coming soon, we expect that ally teach you a new skill. You actually
things. Yes, there is always scope for multitasking and hand-eye-coordination learn to play guitar with games such as
creativity, and gamers seem to abound are going to become even more important Rocksmith 2014, and of course you can play
with that, but we all know that we will in games, and thus we will improve our games such as Rock Band to get the idea of
follow instructions diligently if we know skills not just by sitting on our backsides, how to follow a song’s rhythm, and also
that success depends on it. but also while up on our feet and moving get interested in playing an instrument.
about. That should also help us shed a few You can improve your geography
pounds that we’ve put on from all the Red skills with games such as 80 Days, as you
Bull and junk food we consume during circumnavigate the world. You can use
our gaming binges. the realistic physics of space program
sims such as the Kerbal Space Program, to
STRATEGY, PLANNING learn a thing or two about physics. Even
4 AND MULTITASKING
Real time strategy (RTS) games
Minecraft helps you brush up on your
electrical engineering skills – you can
often require us to manage a ton of automate a home using redstone found
HAND-EYE resources, troops and units. Games such within the game to power devices and con-
3 COORDINATION
When playing fast-paced games
as Age of Empires, Warcraft, and Starcraft are
prime examples of this genre. Although
trol them via levers and switches. There
are games that help you improve your
– shooters such as Counter Strike, Battlefield, programming and typing skills, such as
Quake or Call of Duty, or a racing game such SpaceChem or Code Combat (programming)
as Forza or Need for Speed – a gamer needs and TypeRacer or TapTyping respectively. If
to keep track of a lot of things. You need you’ve got two left feet, you can improve
to aim and position yourself in shooters, your dancemoves with games such as Just
and in racers, you need to fine tune your Dance or Dance Dance Revolution. Actu-
steering skills and in all action games, ally, if there’s an activity that is popular
you need to have good reflexes. Of course, enough for more than a few humans to do,
we’re not suggesting that gamers would there’s probably a game dedicated to it.
make excellent sportsmen – because There’s no better or more fun way to learn
frankly that would be ridiculous. How- something than via a game.
ever, since gamers are already usually you may think that RTS games only need
geeky and the indoors types (exceptions for a player to become super fast at car- GET CULTURED
like you notwithstanding), it doesn’t hurt
for them to hone their hand-eye coordina-
rying out tasks and basically just have
faster typing and mouse skills, nothing
6 Games such as Assassin’s Creed
and Age of Empires (to name a
could be further from the truth. few) are set in the distant past. They are
Some of us here at Digit have beaten often set in historical times, and even refer
people at RTS games who were all about to events that are historically accurate. By
speed, simply by being better at planning playing the game, without even realising
and strategy. Put quite simply, a better it, you have picked up on some ancient
brain will always beat a faster hand in
an RTS. What this genre really teaches
you is to think of multiple things at once,
and not just type / execute commands at
the speed of light, but also quickly read a
situation, think ahead, and plan for pretty
much all outcomes. This is a very handy
skill to develop when you have high-stress
jobs, or jobs that require a lot of multi-

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 55

 Cover story

history. Gamers are always the ones who tion of broadband internet in India,
will surprise people at a get together with more and more people are starting to
their arcane knowledge of history or cul- play multiplayer games, and as a result,
ture because they learnt it in a game. they more and more people are learning the
know stuff about wars that were fought, valueable lesson of teamwork. As we’ve
famous generals, locations, names of learnt from our online gaming sessions
important civilisations and structures, etc. ourself, a good team average players with
Because big budget games are usually great understanding and willingness to
well researched and go very indepth into cooperate often beats a team of skilled
their relative subject matters, they are individuals who all go at it alone. So what
usually accurate. Of course we’re not sug- are you waiting for? If you’re a multi-
gesting that you believe a game over your player gamer, you better start updating in the Super Mario days. All of this makes
history book, but more often than not, the your CV right away and adding in all the gamers more prepared for real life prob-
two will agree. jargon we’ve thrown at you. Who knew lems, especially in work environments.
The surprise factor of this knowledge playing WoW and DOTA would allow you
is often worth it’s weight in pure gold. to add skills to your biodata, right? ENTREPRENEURIAL
There’s nothing like showing up a snooty
rich kid who pretend to be all cultured and STRESS MANAGEMENT
10 ABILITY
Tycoon games have been around
knowledgeable at a party – especially if it’s
in front of a girl or guy you have the hots
8 / LEARNING TO LOSE
If there’s one thing gamers are
for some time now. Our first taste of It was
Zoo Tycoon, and boy was that fun. At first
for... Or maybe we’ve just been watching really good at, it’s keeping their cool. PC it was just fun to put people in cages with
too many silly flicks with bad scripts that gamers especially are like Xen masters. gorillas (to soon?), and watch as they were
are written specifically to make geeks like No one knows how frustrating it can be terrorised, eventually we started playing
us feel good about ourselves. to try and then fail, and then try again, the game to win. Then things got really
and fail even more miserably, but never serious – from ticket pricing to choosing
TEAMWORK AND giving up, no matter how useless the goal the cost of snacks, managing the cost of

7 COOPERATION
Games like World of Warcraft and
seems, until at last you succeed. You just
cannot be a gamer if you can’t handle
the hired help and having to account for
maintenance costs, pretty soon we were
other MMORPGs require communica- frustration and defeat. We gamers learn thinking long and hard about every finan-
tion between a large number of people for from our mistakes like no other, and we cial decision.
successful raids. And games like DotA, do it (mostly) without losing our cool.
LoL and Counter Strike need good commu- Add to that the fact that PC gamers have
nication between teams of five members to put up with Windows bugs, dying
in order to function as a team. It’s not hard drives, constant upgrade cycles and
uncommon for gamers to make good buggy drivers... As if the games weren’t
friends over the internet these days. And hard enough on their own, we have to deal
thanks to the highly sociable environ- with a bucketload of other problems. It’s
ment that online games create, people who all worth it in the end though, because we
play online games are often found to be always excel, we always over come, we
sociable in real life as well. always win. PC Master Race ftw!
However, the most important aspect Oh we almost forgot. We’re supposed
of multiplayer gaming is that it teaches to mention a game name: try Keep Talking
us gamers patience, and the need to and Nobody Explodes if you want to try a
cooperate and work towards a common really stressful game. However, it’s not just business sense
goal. Thanks to the increasing penetra- from tycoon games, there’s also online
RISK TAKING RPGs for instance, which have little econo-
9 Going with the previous point,
you can’t learn to take calculated
mies of their own, and you have to learn
to master the rules of the game to succeed
risks unless you have both lost and won and gather resources. You learn about
in life. That’s pretty much the standard supply and demand, and how important
description of a gamer. Taking risks is it is to have what is in demand, etc. All of
part of games, and with the serious nature this adds up to gamers being really savvy
of a lot of games these days, there’s often money managers, and perhaps prepares
actual money or a large time invest- them for the stock markets. Of course, all
ment involved. If you fail, you stand to of the smarts we earn from games can’t
lose upgrades, or stuff you’ve bought, prevent us from splurging on something
or worked hard for... there’s “real” loss extravagant top enhance our gaming expe-
involved these days, not cute “deaths” like rience! We’re only human after all!

56 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

DIY PROJECT
IDEAS
FOR YOUR NEW
SCHOOL YEAR
WANT DIY IDEAS TO WOW YOUR TEACHERS AND PEERS
AND JUST TO HAVE SOME FUN THIS YEAR? BEHOLD!
JAYESH SHINDE
jayesh@digit.in

V
acation’s over. You’re back in loon and launch it as high as 30 to 50 km damental building block yourself. Con-
school. Time to stick to the above the earth’s surface. Straight into sider it as a rite of passage. With just tools
curriculum, execute all your the stratosphere! available in your home or garage, you can
assignments on time, and Purchase the balloon (with a burst make your own PCB – yes, without a CNC
leave no stone unturned in your quest altitude of 100,000 feet) for as low as machine or the rest of the jazz.
to get good grades come examination `2,000 to `3,000 (like this one http://goo.
time. Is this all that there is to school gl/DeM2gR), go to a recreational space,
life? Well, here’s a little something find a balloon seller, pay him to fill your
we’ve put together to help you earn weather balloon with Helium, attach your
some brownie points and enhance your old smartphone to it with video recording
reputation on campus as a DIY nerd. turned on, attach a small powerbank to it
for good measure (make sure the whole
LAUNCH A PHONE INTO payload is under 500g), launch your bal-
1 SPACE
At first this idea may sound
loon. Also, read about NASA’s PhoneSat
initiative and ways to better protect your Just get a copper clad board, some
absurd, but think about it – if you have smartphone in extreme cold and hot hydrogen peroxide (the stuff ENT
an old smartphone lying around, you can weather (http://goo.gl/ztL78M), if you’re specialists use to clean your ears with),
attach it to a high-altitude weather bal- seriously planning this stunt. For a slightly a hand drill machine and a laser printer.
more serious minded project, check this Oh, and don’t forget the schematics of
out: http://goo.gl/28HVc3. an actual PCB for you to be able to test!
For detailed steps, go here: http://goo.gl/
MAKING A PCB UlN345. Piece of cake, right?
2 Whether you’re a student of
BUILD YOUR OWN
3
electronics or not, it doesn’t
matter. The fact that a printed circuit DRONE
board (or PCB) is inside of pretty much Don’t worry if you can’t afford
all our digital toys is reason enough to get the latest and greatest quadcopters
your hands dirty and try making the fun- launched in the market – DJI Phantom,

58 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

A PERSONALIZED AR GLOWING LIQUID

5 EXPERIENCE
Most of you reading the maga-
7 LAMP
Similar to a lava lamp that you
zine over the past year or so must have might have seen in stores, but this glowing
tried how we have hidden AR links and liquid lamp is built on a strict budget.
content animations wherever you see the How modest? Well, the colour inside the
Blippar logo. If you’ve ever wondered how glowing liquid is derived from highlighter
such AR implementations take place and pens, the lamp itself is made from a trans-
want to implement your own AR solution, parent plastic tube, and it’s powered by
we’re looking at you! With cost of elec- this is a great DIY that helps you do just just ten or so LED bulbs.
tronics parts as cheap as it can get, and that: http://goo.gl/iEQHDy. It’s fancy but not over the top – an
public interest in drones on the upswing, You need to have some working knowl- exciting addition to your nightstand or
there’s no better way to create a surveil- edge of Unity and dip your hands into a corner piece of your living room. See
lance drone and donate it to your college’s
security team. The process couldn’t be
any simpler than what one spirited DIYer
describes here: http://goo.gl/f1O8af.
The total cost of this project shouldn’t
be more than a couple of thousand
rupees. Connect an old smartphone to it,
keep it in range of a strong Wi-Fi signal,
and you will be forever in your college
security guard’s good graces. You may
rub the campus crowd the wrong way, Vuforia, an AR SDK, but it’s nothing too how to make the glowing liquid lamp in
though, be warned. difficult. Think of the possibility of doing this extremely descriptive, step-by-step
something like this in your college fest? YouTube video: https://goo.gl/K7fpfA
BLUETOOTH- Markers and AR descriptions on a real-
4 CONTROLLED LIGHT
SWITCH
life map? Come on, get cracking!
8
BUILD A RETRO
GAMING CONSOLE
A POCKETABLE
6
I’m sure you know that the worst thing All work and no play makes eve-
that can happen when you’ve finished RASPBERRY PI-BASED ryone dull, not just Jack. So while you’re
your chores for the night – you plonk COMPUTER hard at work at school this year, it’s impor-
yourself down into bed, and there’s that The champion of miniature computers, tant to relax and unwind from time to
dratted light that you forgot to switch driving a new wave of hobbyist com- time. And what better way than to unwind
off. Absolutely hate it when that hap-
pens, right? Well, here’s a DIY project
(http://goo.gl/AHsSHH) just for all us lazy
asses out there: program an Arduino-
based microcontroller that plugs into
your light bulb’s wall socket, a bread-
board, a small power switch to regulate
power, and a smartphone app. All this
to ensure you never have to get up to
switch off the light ever again! Insane,
but creative.

puting, the Raspberry Pi’s capable of playing some of the best retro, arcade
far more than people give it credit for. video games ever known to mankind?
According to this expert-level DIY project, This final DIY project that we’ve
you can run a full Linux distro on a Rasp- presented to you only needs four physical
berry Pi-driven pocket laptop made out components – a Raspberry Pi, a USB con-
of… a couple of portable hard drive cases! troller, Power adapter and a microSD card.
Seems too good to be true? Using a RetroPie image and downloading
We thought so, too. Until we saw this emulator ROMs on to the SD card, you can
project and felt our jaws drop and hit our unlock joys of gaming past right in your
work desks in a mixture of awe, embar- hostel’s living room, as you show off and
rassment and jealousy. Warning, this isn’t play games on your retro games console.
for the faint of heart: http://goo.gl/SI6u5n Enjoy! http://goo.gl/fsUSjl

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 59

 Cover story

TECH TO
SPUR YOUR
YEAR
WHEN IT COMES TO SUPERCHARGING THE
UPCOMING YEAR, TECH CAN GIVE YOU JUST THE
BOOST YOU NEED
ARNAB MUKHERJEE
arnab@digit.in

W
hether it be moving from distractions will be. The Pebble Classic, AUDIOBOOKS
school to college, or a currently at about `5,999, is a good choice Modern day cities are plagued with traffic
new class, every new for a simple smartwatch. problems that often leave people stranded
academic year brings with If a smartwatch seems like overkill, on the road for hours. School buses and
it a sense of change and fresh oppor- and you just want something for health students travelling to coaching classes
tunities. It might be the opportunity to reasons, you can opt for a smartband are not exempt from this, especially if you
perform well academically, or gain a instead. Current generation smartbands live far away from the classes. We know
new skill this year, or get your body back can track steps, sleep quality, heart rate how important time is to you students,
into shape, or all of the above! Whatever and detect gestures. There are a number especially around exam time. So what
anyone might tell you, the only thing you of really budget options but most of them do you do to pass the time? You read of
really need to achieve all of this is your have accuracy issues. We suggest you save course... however, Indian roads aren’t
own willpower. Of course, the problem up and cough up the money needed for exactly the smoothest in the world, and
is really how you can stop yourself from the Jawbone UP2. It’s more expensive than thus, with all the bumping around, you’re
being distracted from the tasks at hand the Pebble classic, but then you can’t put a likely to cause yourself eye strain if you
every 10 seconds... With tech obviously, price on your health, can you? try reading. Audiobooks are just what the
because This is Digit (say that in your head optometrist ordered for such situations!
as you would say “This is Spartaaaa!”). A good online source for high quality
audiobooks is audible.com (an Amazon
SMARTWATCHES AND company), with numerous categories
SMARTBANDS available including Language instruc-
Smartwatches might seem unnecessary, tions, Science and Technology and
especially when you look at their price Personal growth. It also has an android
tags, but they can be pretty handy (pun app that you can check out here: http://
intended!). Because they are extensions dgit.in/AudbleApp, as well as Audio books
to your smartphone, you don’t have by Audiobooks.com , which is another
to whip out the phone to check every good app for purchasing and listening to
There are a number of low-cost rip-offs
notification or message. The fewer times available in the smartwatch market. Buyer audibooks that you can check out here:
you check your phone, the shorter your beware, as usual http://dgit.in/AuBooks. Both audiobooks

60 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

and headphones have come a long way in

terms of quality and you might actually
fall in love with this mode of learning.

BROWSER PLUGINS
The internet is both the biggest source of
information as well as the biggest source
of distraction universally. It can literally
be a pain when you suddenly realise that
it has been 2 hours since your research
for the class project turned into a cat
video binge watching session on Youtube.
Install the StayFocusd browser extension
for Chrome and LeechBlock for Firefox.
They allow you to specify certain websites
as time wasting or unwanted websites.
StayFocusd allows you to set a particular
duration of time for which you can access
the site for the day, whereas Leechblock
allows you to block the websites entirely Walnut is one of the most highly recommended and used expense trackers out there
for certain durations of the day, say 10am
to 10pm. once you have trained it, and are offers you once you get started. Depending going to want to pay attention to your
honest with yourself, these are superb on what you chose, for example “losing finances. Almost every bank these days
time savers. weight”, it asks you a few questions to offers a junior Debit card that has limited
figure out more about your current status, risks when it comes to being stolen, but
GET FABULOUS! for example “when do you have lunch”. functions exactly like a proper Debit card.
No, that is not an abstract phrase we just Post that, it suggests you to add a few Some of them also have added benefits
threw out. Fabulous is a motivational app habits into your ritual for that time, for such as unlimited free withdrawals from
that helps you feel more energised, lose example “eat vegetables and fruits”, “drink other banks ATMs, which is pretty impor-
weight, sleep better and stay focussed. In water”, etc. Now once you have set that, it tant for students studying in more remote
fact, these are the four choices that the app will remind you at those particular times. areas. Also, if the card comes with an SMS
This is only one of the ways to use the app, update facility, you can use money man-
and we will let you explore the rest on agement apps such as Walnut or Monefy
your own. Go on, get Fabulous! to track, analyse and plan your spending.

COLLABORATION TOOLS SET UP MULTIPLE DESKTOPS

Big time corporate projects are not the OR MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS
only ones that need organising. Class- Not everyone can afford completely
room projects and group assignments different machines for different pur-
can be quite difficult to get done as well. poses. Yet, you don’t necessarily need the
Although you often can’t choose your internet to be distracted. Often a PC itself
teammates, you definitely can choose a can be a distraction. If you have a lot of
tool to collaborate with them. Basecamp is games installed, for example, you can be
a popular choice. It lets you create a new easily distracted by that beautiful icon on
“Basecamp” for a project, add members the desktop. If you have Steam installed,
to it and set timelines for the completion, you might get an update that a friend is
while providing instant messaging and playing your favourite game right now.
document management tools. Another A quick way around this is to set up
app that is quite popular for team commu- multiple desktops. Mac supports this via
nication nowadays is “Slack”, which, along the built in Mission control, and Windows
with a number of interesting features, has supports this on Windows 10. Plus, there
integration with a number of apps such as are free apps to do this for older versions
Google Drive, Dropbox, Twitter and more. of Windows. You can also set up a limited
access guest account into which you login
SET AND FOLLOW A BUDGET whenever you need to focus on getting
If you aren’t one of the lucky ones that work done. Now excuse us as we drop eve-
The four categories offer a host of have an unlimited supply of pocket rything to go off on a CS: GO session. You...
different activities money, and doting parents, then you’re umm.. go study or something...

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 61

 Cover story

HOSTEL LIFE
THE TECH
SURVIVAL GUIDE
DON'T WAIT FOR ALL ELSE TO FAIL. USE THESE TECH
TIPS TO SURVIVE HOSTEL LIFE!
ARNAB MUKHERJEE
arnab@digit.in

Y
ou must have a lot of memo- UNREACHABLE ROOMMATE PROTECT YOUR VALUABLES
ries from your school and We all know that one person who tran- Theft is wrong, but not everybody cares.
college days that you look scends reality the moment they start And hostelmates don’t understand the
back to from time to time. talking on the phone. They don’t care how concept of personal belongings. From
But if you lived in a hostel, we’re pretty loud they are, whether the topic they are clothes to gadgets, everything is fair
sure not all of those are fond memories yapping about makes you cringe, and game if it’s left lying around. Remember,
(shudder!). We don’t mean to scare all certainly they don’t care about anyone nothing ever gets stolen in a hostel, merely
of you newbies headed to college hostel else’s privacy or private space. With your “borrowed”. Most of us are still waiting
life... actually, to be honest, we do intend luck, this person will be your roommate! for this so called borrowed stuff to be
to scare you... be afraid, be very afraid, how do you save your sanity? You buy a returned, and for some of us college was
and heed the advice in this article, or else! cell phone signal jammer of course! Some many years ago! Besides, there’s no way
might claim a range of 100 metres or of telling who took what.. Or is there?
TERMINATE RAGGING more, but you just want a pocket one that A wireless camera is a bit heavy on the
Often, the first thing that happens when claims 2-5 metre ranges. Make sure to not pocket, but it will give you (and others) a
you move to a hostel is a bunch of older get caught though, or else you will never guarantee that nothing can be stolen from
people showing up, mostly late at night, hear the end of it – literally! your room, ever again. The accompanying
and bully you into doing tasks that may app will let you keep an eye on your room
be funny for them, but quite an ordeal for SURVIVE THAT FOOD even when you’re away. Just make sure
you. Fear not! Taser gun to the rescue! There are going to be days when hostel you have a way of securing the camera, or
Although we strictly advise against food looks (and tastes) like nothing short the first thing to go will be that!
violence, some threatening and some tools of nuclear waste. Although most students
to help you defend yourself might help develop cast iron stomachs after a while, MUTE THE WORLD
put bullies in their place. You can buy one your stomach has only ever felt the love If the jammer option didn’t work for
online quite easily, although before you of your mother’s cooking, never the hate you, you probably have roommates who
do that, check the reviews, the voltage and of a frustrated mess chef! You’re going to talk loudly and incessantly, phone or
the legality of the device. Not all tasers need to install food ordering apps such as no phone. Or if you are really unlucky,
available online are non-lethal – you want Swiggy or Foodpanda. If only there was the room next to you plays music at full
to scare them, not fry them. an app to teleport mummy’s food to you! volume right when you want to study.

62 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

the amounts anymore. Some of us would into an endless debate with someone who
have paid off our student loans a few years has already decided to kill themselves
earlier had we had these apps in our time. slowly, you need to get yourself a portable
air purifier. And, of course, rely on one of
TRACK THAT INVADER mankind’s most technologically advanced
Be prepared to learn some interesting architectural innovations to breathe – Win-
new smells in hostels. How does someone dows, not the Microsoft kind.
smell when they haven’t showered in two
weeks? What do socks used consecutively VISUALISE YOUR
for a month smell like? You will find out... DREAM HOSTEL
Get a UV light, so that you can check for With smartphones hitting the market
human “influences” in your room and all with integrated support for Augmented
over your stuff. Unless you’re the one who Reality, we can’t really say that AR is
doesn’t bathe or change clothes... still far away. And what better (and less
expensive) way to live in a hostel of your
JUGAAD! dreams? Although you might still have to
Both the Omega and it’s sibling Delta do Need to dry a shirt quickly? Turn the develop the necessary software that would
not look cheap despite being so trusty microwave into a dryer. You will change the walls, the ceiling, the fans and
need to use the lowest power setting, and pretty much everything around you to
Before you reach for the taser, you can take it out, shake it a bit and turn it inside make an AR environment, it would still
do away with the distraction by getting out about every 30 seconds or so. And be worth it. For some of you, it might be
noise cancelling headphones! You need to remember no metal, no elastic and no syn- the only way to stay sane, and prevent you
strike the right balance between budget thetic fabrics. No mirror in the hostel? Use from questioning the very purpose of your
and effectiveness, and we recommend the your laptop webcam to shave. Starving at life, and planning on running away to the
Brainwavz Delta, or it’s slightly cheaper midnight after the kitchen is locked? Get Himalayas for some serenity.
cousin, the Brainwavz Omega some instant noodles and cook it on your
clothes iron (figure out a safe stand for it SAVE SOME MONEY
DODGE THAT POWERCUT and call yourself jugaad king henceforth), We do realise that we have recommended a
Powercuts are a part of hostel life, and and behold! Your new cooktop! bunch of expensive ways to survive hostel
some of us may be rich enough to afford life to you. And being former hostelites
colleges where even the hostels have ourselves, we know the perennial state
inverters and generators, however, our of being broke quite well. Don’t worry,
guess is most of you won’t be those luck we’ve got your back there too. There are
few. You’re going to need lights, no matter a number of financial planning apps that
what, because you need to see to do almost integrate with your phone’s SMS applica-
anything that people do in hostels (What? tion to detect any transaction that gener-
We did say almost!). Cooling can also be ates a text message to your number. It then
a serious requirement, because it’s often categorises these expenses and generates
impossible to think straight when you’re reports to show you exactly where you
literally being fried in your own sweat... Not exactly Gourmet food, but often just are overspending and where you can save
Get a powerbank and some USB lights what you need! more. Even if you do not transact online or
and fans, and you will thank us for as long via card much, you still have the option to
as you live. Just remember to make sure FOOL THE WARDEN enter your spending manually. Do it at the
the powerbank itself is regularly charged. Sometimes, a strict warden can be a bigger end of the day and see those savings magi-
roadblock to your weekend plans than cally pile up! A few of the easy ones are
SOLVE THEM IOUS hail and hellfire. Rather than taking that Walnut, Mint and Monefy.
Hostel mates are super chatty and atten- as a disappointment, take it as a chal-
tive and fun to talk to, until the bill arrives. lenge. Download a voice modification app BUCKLE UP
Then suddenly everyone’s busy tying and pretend to be, well, someone who is Despite all we’ve said, hostel life isn’t all
their shoelaces, examining the menu, authorized to speak to the warden. Of bad, and some of the best memories and
staring off into space, and counting the course, be ready for a thrashing later! best friends you will ever have await you
amount of lines on the striped tablecloth! in your hostel. Just follow the tips we’ve
If you find yourself picking up the tab BREATHE SAFE given you and you will live through your
more often than you’d like to, which you More often than not, in your hostel life first year. It’s all down hill after that!
will, you need to get apps such as Split- you might encounter people who are quite Plus, never fear when you have tech by
wise or Mypoolin. These apps help keep significant contributors to...err... air pollu- your side. If there’s a problem you think
tabs of who owes who how much money, tion, even if you make it clear that you have we missed solving, remember to write in
and there’s no convenient forgetting about a problem with that. Rather than getting and tell us.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 63

 Cover story

LAPTOP OR TABLET:
WHICH ONE
TO BUY?
WHEN IT COMES TO CAMPUS LIVING, WHICH ONE OF THE
TWO MOST DEPENDABLE MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES
SHOULD YOU BANK UPON? WE HELP YOU DECIDE BY GIVING
YOU ADVICE YOU WON'T FIND IN ANY COACHING CLASS!
JAYESH SHINDE
jayesh@digit.in

N
ot just a buying guide on lap- hold it up and take a photograph of the lets, finding a keyboard that just simply
tops and tablets, this article’s chalkboard, preserving a visual memory works with your tablet is now extremely
going to outline scenarios that of whatever impromptu scribblings your easy. Whether it’s an iPad or Android
you might encounter in school teaching faculty has made (which may not tablet, you can find slim keyboards for
and suggest the best device for use in make into the class notes he or she hands either of them with OS-specific key
that situation. And in doing so, we’ll try out later). You can’t do that with a laptop, layout – for example, instead of a typical
to arrive at a device recommendation there’s no chance. Control, Alt and Shift keys found on a
that makes sense to splurge some of that With peripheral manufacturers QWERTY keyboard for PC use, Android-
hard-earned student loan money on. upping their game in terms of highly cus- ready keyboards meant to be used with
tomised offerings for Android or iOS tab- tablets have Back, Home, Multitasking,
BEST FOR IN-CLASSROOM etc, keys to make you feel at home while
USE = TABLET working in the OS. Bottomline, typing on
A couple of years ago, we would’ve a customised physical keyboard paired
strongly urged you to buy a laptop in with a tablet is almost the same as typing
this case, but now due to advancements on a laptop.
in tablet features and the availability of a
wide range of keyboard accessories, you BEST FOR UNCOMPROMISED
are better off with taking a tablet inside USE = LAPTOP
the classroom for note-taking. Here’s why: Sure, the tablet beats the laptop when it
There’s one distinct advantage that a comes to using it inside a classroom envi-
tablet enjoys inside the classroom over the ronment, but there’s no denying the fact
trusty old laptop of old. A tablet comes that as an uncompromised performance
with a rear camera, while a laptop doesn’t, machine the laptop beats the tablet every
and this makes a huge difference. When day of the week.
you’re sitting up there in the very first row For high-performance tasks such as
of your class, close to the blackboard, if HD video editing, graphics editing with
you’re fed up of quick notetaking, you can print quality artwork, 3D models ren-
swiftly just launch the tablet’s camera app, No, tablets aren’t dead... not yet dering and good old PC gaming, you have

64 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Cover story

tablet into a backpack, and it even fits into

large purses or handbags. Most decently
powerful laptops need a bag of their
own to carry them. Lastly, when there’s
a choice between carrying a laptop or
tablet on your daily commute to school,
usability and performance aside, just by
sheer weight alone, most of you would
prefer carrying the slimmer and lighter
tablet. Bottomline? Almost all tablets
weigh under 1 kg easily, whereas finding a
laptop under that weight limit is a rarity,
and when you do find a laptop that’s com-
parable in weight, you find out they cost
as much as two or three tablets!

TOUCHSCREEN VERSUS
Laptops for anything that has professional Tools Involved... always WIDESCREEN = HMMM
This one’s slightly tough to call as both
to have a laptop to work with at school, as gadgets to your laptop than a tablet. tablets and laptops can possess both
a tablet just won’t be able to cut it. Yes, a For example, if you need to connect an features. By default, though, all tablets
tablet will (in most usage scenarios) have external hard drive to your laptop, all support multi-touch input, whereas
better battery life in comparison to a Win- you have to do is just plug it in. You’d not all laptop screens are touchscreen
dows laptop (MacBooks are a different be hard-pressed to do this as easily and enabled. What’s more, laptops with touch
ball game altogether), but being stuck effortlessly on a USB-less tablet. screen support are much costlier than the
with a mobile computing device which non-touchscreen variants, obviously. If
simply lasts longer with zero productivity MOST ULTRAPORTABLE = you need the convenience of a touchscreen
isn’t a lot of fun, is it? TABLET without breaking the bank, then a tablet
However, if you play your cards right Come on, you know who wins this is the right option for you. However, a
and buy a laptop with the latest genera- category unanimously. Although they’ve word of caution when it comes to touch
tion of Intel chips, especially the ones shrunk in size over the years, laptops are screens – they’re great for consuming
which have a “U” in their model number, still thicker and heavier in comparison to media and information, but for typing or
which are sub 2-GHz in clock frequency, the sleek and slim tablets. Granted some frequent inputs an on screen keyboard
chances are you will get a Windows laptop 10-inch laptops (technically, netbooks?) can be a pain in the proverbial derriere.
that gives you between 6 to 8 hours of bat- can tip the scales at the same point as You can always opt for a keyboard acces-
tery life, which is definitely comparable to some of the thicker 12 or 13-inch slates or sory, of course, but if you really do a lot
a tablet’s battery performance. tablets out there, but in the more popular of typing (like we do), you’re not going to
Another area where the laptop doesn’t 7-inch and 10-inch form factors, tablets enjoy those keyboards too much, and you
feel as compromising as a tablet is when rule supreme in terms of offering unprec- certainly can’t dream of making do with
it comes to its connectivity features. edented ultra portability in comparison to the touchscreen!
Because a conventional laptop has a great a laptop. When it comes to widescreens, we aren’t
amount of physical connectivity ports – Just look at a tablet – you can hold just talking about resolution but actual
like a USB port, HDMI or DisplayPort, most of them in one hand and read books physical width of your device’s screen.
universal dock, etc. – life is a lot easier or watch videos on them. Laptops need Where most tablets come with 1200 x 600
when it comes to attaching additional a place to put them. You can just pop a screen pixel resolution and most laptops
default at 1366 x 768 pixels, laptop screens
are almost always larger in size in com-
parison to tablet displays. If you spend
more, it’s possible to get Full HD screens on
laptops and tablets both, and chances are
that between those two tablets are almost
always available for cheaper (because
they’re smaller in size physically). We don’t
know about you, but when it comes to
staring at your screen for long durations to
read something, a tablet seems to be the best
choice. However, you can’t beat that larger
You can’t beat the portability of a tablet real estate found on a laptop form factor. If

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 65

 Cover story

any of these luxuries on a tablet which is

one year old, which you’re about to list on
eBay, thus impacting its resale value far
more negatively. Also the price points that
tablets sell at are so much more affordable
than a laptop’s, people don’t think about
just flat out buying newer devices without
a second thought – which is not the case
with a laptop.

WHICH ONE?
Both laptops and tablets have their
strengths and weaknesses. The thing
about tablets is that they’re extremely con-
venient and easy to use. If you’re going to
be working on your web browser, Google
docs, listening to YouTube videos and
streaming movies and music off the web
If you can’t afford it all, you’ll have to choose between a widescreen and touchscreen – without having to take a lot of printouts
from your printer and other stuff for your
you need to collaborate and sit with others and support for latest Android updates. project, etc. – you’re better off buying
looking at screens, a laptop might be the But overall, as a product category, tablets a tablet. There’s no denying its highly
better option as they have physically larger is one of fast diminishing returns. ultraportable form factor and it’s great for
screens. It’s a toss-up though, and you’re Laptops don’t suffer as badly from one-handed use (compared to a laptop)
going to have to make up your own mind that problem. If, for whatever reason, you any given day. It can also double up as
here based on your unique requirements. plan to sell a laptop after just a year of an ebook reader, and is undoubtedly the
using it, in terms of percentage value, it more multifaceted device when you stack
BEST RESALE VALUE = LAPTOP will offer better returns than a tablet – if it against a traditional laptop.
Discounting iPads, most Android tablets both of them suffer from the same amount However, we can’t deny that a laptop
don’t have very good resale value – apart of wear and tear, presumably. Why this is definitely the closest to a PC in this
from Nexus tablets. Even flagship tablets dichotomy? The incremental updates wit- comparison, and therefore is the most ver-
launched by very reputable brands feel nessed in hardware platform on the laptop satile. When you need to run certain soft-
slower and sluggish after a year of usage, side differs less and less every year and ware, or need a larger HDD to store stuff
amounting to less than premium returns the line representing OS-level changes on, or need to fire up something to quickly
on websites such as eBay, OLX and Quikr, is largely flat as well. Also, you can run get work done, a laptop will always beat a
for example. Why do Nexus tablets do Windows 10 on a five year old laptop – tablet. When it comes to college projects
slightly better in the resale market than without voiding warranty or jumping and doing research with 50 browsers
the average tablet? Simply because of their through hoops or worrying about tabs open, you’re going to be yearning
longevity in terms of operating system “bricking” your machine. You don’t have for a laptop if all you have is a tablet.
Android or iOS just cannot compete with
full-blown Windows when it comes to
productivity. You’re going to also have
to consider your specific requirements.
If your college has physical LAN and
no Wi-Fi, you have to choose a laptop. If
you need to print a lot of stuff and format
documents, again, a laptop. If you need to
do video editing, image editing, and yes,
gaming, you need a laptop.
However, if you’re in a more creative
field, need to draw, don’t play serious
games, and yes, we’ll say it, want to show
off just a little, an iPad Pro just looks way
cooler than a boring laptop... We never
said the choice would be easy, we just said
we’d have you thinking about stuff logi-
cally... What’s it going to be? Write in and
You can sell a laptop for a decent price, but not a tablet let us know.

66 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 OUR PICK OF THE BEST TECH ARTICLES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

(MUST READS)
[The Verge Corner]

WHAT’S UP XBOX?

THE FLYING CAR FACTORY

In the neighbourhood of Google
(well, literally) there’s someone
designing, building and testing
newer ways of transport that
could take off and land vertically.
http://dgit.in/JetsLife

CHATBOTS ON LINKEDIN?
With Microsoft and LinkedIn
joining hands, several questions
pertaining to the reason of the
merger such as the new working
model along with various other
strategic changes have sur-
faced. LinkedIn’s co-founder
and Microsoft’s newest weapon
answers them all.
http://dgit.in/MSLIn In a fight to keep consoles and console gaming alive, Microsoft is
skipping no option to miss out on anything that can potentially get
them to turn more heads. With the unveiling of the Xbox One S and
THE WORLD OF NETFLIX features like XBOX Play Anywhere at E3, does the future hold merging
Expanding to 130 countries
of the PC with an XBOX? http://dgit.in/XboXPC
throughout the globe at once,
Netflix has definitely added a
large number of subscribers but
what do the revenue collections
say? Here’s Netflix unveiling its
future plans and its survival kit
for the world it has created.
http://dgit.in/NetfxWd

WHO IS BIG DATA?

The internet is full of definitions
for Big Data, but none of them Relaunching the App Store Daydreaming the VR Shift to the software
take into account its inherent Subscription or One Time Payment – Virtual Reality is oncoming fast, but the The year 2015 was not one of the best
humanness or provide the rela- how would you like to pay for apps? main concern remains the same – how that GoPro has seen. It has decided to
tionship between technology and Following the 70-30 revenue sharing equipped are current platforms to host route itself back to the drawing board.
model, is it about time for Apple to VR Content? Google’s Daydream for Adding to the software team, GoPro has
the newly defined human. Most
go the subscription way that might YouTube, for example is in a fix whether already launched two mobile editing
skip them. Here’s everything you apps this year. Looks like GoPro’s
also attract more app developers by to include comments (if yes, then how)
maybe didn’t know, but should. recreating its App Store? or give it a miss. betting big on the software front now.
http://dgit.in/WhosBD http://dgit.in/iAppStr http://dgit.in/DDrmVR http://dgit.in/GoSoftw

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 67

 (worldview)

AI STILL NEED TO LEARN CON-FUNDING? THE DIFFICULT SCRUBBING YOUR

Thought We’ve shared CANCELLATION ONLINE IDENTITY
machine enough rosy, App stores and With data
SHORTS

learning might successful developers are now miners tar-

put your job crowdfunding stories, but this adopting peri- geting every
at risk? Well, that might not is a cautionary one, which are odical subscription models in minute bit of your informa-
be the case entirely. Here’s becoming quite common these exchange for some conveni- tion out there on the internet,
a Robot’s attempt at writing days. Campaigns rocket-off ence. These apps are well on keeping a track of your
an article after being given a based on mere hype and their way to burning a hole in online identity has become
crash course in journalism receives huge amounts of our wallets making the ‘unsub- necessary with evaluators
and being made to learn from money without even concluding scribe’ button the most difficult giving more weight to your
an author’s past writings. if the idea is actually feasible. to reach. identity online.
http://dgit.in/AIWrites http://dgit.in/ConFnd http://dgit.in/AppSubsc http://dgit.in/IntIdnty

What is Sony’s Predictive

Hybrid Autofocus technology?
Sony wants to completely remove out-of-focus shots, but that day
may not be here yet. – By Souvik Das

W
hen Sony announced the subject tracking. While the Sony Xperia contrast autofocus mechanisms to present
Xperia X lineup at Mobile X Performance remains out of reach for theoretically accurate focussing of subjects.
World Congress 2016, the Indian market, the Xperia X has been It uses phase detection to gauge the frame,
much of its presentation introduced here at an introductory price of and based on a subject’s distance from the
revolved around the innovation the com- `48,990. And while it does raise a certain camera, determines its focus. Contrast
pany is doing with the smartphone camera. amount of excitement, it also raises an equal autofocus kicks in for more minute adjust-
Many rejoiced, proclaiming it was about time number of questions. ments, and the difference in contrast levels
Sony capitalised on its strengths, rather than Note: The following photograph sam- of chrominance (colour data) aids in fixing
trying to play along with market trends. A ples are by the Sony Xperia X to the left focus. In previous Sony devices (and the
few days back, we got to try the Sony Xperia (shot with Predictive Hybrid Autofocus) newly-launched Xperia XA and XA Ultra)
X and its camera, and see if Sony actually and the Huawei Nexus 6P to the right using only Hybrid Autofocus, the focussing
means business. (standard focussing). mechanism kicked in only after you pressed
Predictive Hybrid Autofocus, which as the shutter. Sony’s claim lay in the devices
of right now is present only on the Sony WHAT IS PREDICTIVE HYBRID being capable of shooting the photos within
Xperia X and X Performance, is Sony’s solu- AUTOFOCUS? 0.3 seconds. This is time span between you
tion to ensure photographs aren’t missed Introduced in the Xperia Z5 lineup, Hybrid tapping on the shutter and the photograph
because of slow focussing or inefficient Autofocus merges phase detection and being saved.

Sony Xperia X (L), Huawei Nexus 6P (R)

68 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 (worldview)

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AI IS THE WAY TO GO PAC MAN SCORE – TILL THE LAST MILE
CHANGE Facebook has 3,330,360 This one isn’t
It’s said that been adding Navigating about the wonders
‘change is good newer features and adopting through 256 of TCP/IP or the
for innovation newer algorithms like never levels and working of the
& survival’ and it’s probably before, it not only wants eating every pellet, fruit, and internet but about the technology
also one of the reasons brands to focus on embracing AI ghost, that too without dying, that goes into how stuff works,
choose to revamp regularly. but also excel in machine Billy Mitchell, the ‘Pac Man’ such as things with bigger infra-
This change however, has major learning, in order to build achieved this verified perfect structure like submarine cables,
effects on the psychology of its the world’s most powerful ad score on a arcade machine with landing sites, and data centres,
users every time these compa- platform, leaving its competi- a playtime of around five and a which play a pivotal role in hooking
nies bring in a change. tors behind. half hours. billions of us to the Internet.
http://dgit.in/PsyOfChg http://dgit.in/FaceBkAI http://dgit.in/PacManHS http://dgit.in/IntDataC

Unfortunately, the Hybrid Focussing

mechanism, coupled with its image pro-
cessor and Sony’s algorithm, was far from
being the fastest camera module around.
Hence, the rise of Predictive Hybrid Auto-
focus. What the technology essentially does
is provide a better, artificially intelligent
camera algorithm, a faster image processor
and better integration of the camera hard-
ware and software. Sony has essentially Sony Xperia X (L), Huawei Nexus 6P (R)
used an Exmor RS mobile imaging sensor
here, improving its algorithm and pro- focus (which you may often need) takes a precise focussing and marginal subject blur-
cessing capabilities. Sony now claims that longer amount of time than what you would ring. As you progress to dusk or low light sit-
in 0.6 seconds, you can go from idle to pho- expect. The predictive technology is par- uations, PHAF struggles to maintain its per-
tograph captured. Predictive Hybrid Auto- ticularly useful if you are shooting moving formance. It may work better on the Xperia
focus comes into play as soon as the camera objects, and the camera often struggles if X Performance with Qualcomm’s Spectra
module is switched on. It reads the frame, the subject of the photograph is moving ISP working faster in tandem with the Snap-
adjusts to the possible subject by phase too fast. In regular situations (shooting dragon 820, but we are yet to test that.
detection autofocus, and locks on to it. This landscapes or portraits, for instance), there
is particularly beneficial for moving objects, is little to no visible upgrade in the cam- THE POTENTIAL AND FUTURE OF PHAF
as you have very little time to adjust focus era’s speed of shooting. The company is To sum up, while the technology has poten-
or select the subject in such situations. Its attempting to bring the technology to its tial for majorly improving the experience of
predictive algorithms read the screen and smartphones from the Sony A6000 lineup shooting photographs at races, wildlife, or
assist fully in choosing the subject. This, of mirrorless cameras, and while it is much even shooting on the move, it has not been
till the time your photograph is saved, is better implemented and has more practical very well implemented yet, and almost cer-
expected to take 0.6 seconds. applications in a dedicated camera like the tainly not well enough to be a very notable.
A6000, its effect of promoting the Xperia X It is, however, an answer to what other
HOW WELL DOES IT WORK? to greater heights is marginal. OEMs are doing with their smartphones.
In real life, the implementation is a tad dif- In ideal situations, with bright lights and Samsung brought Dual Pixel to the table,
ferent from what it sounds like on paper. little to no background activity taking up pro- majorly improving focus duration and light
While the camera does set up its focus point cessing power, the technology works better and colour data processing. While the Pre-
almost instantaneously, manual reset of the and you get to take better shots with more dictive Hybrid Autofocus technology may
not be as vividly noticeable an upgrade as
what Samsung has done, it is a peg for the
future, and once developed to its full poten-
tial, has the ability to remove out-of-focus
shots and difficulties in autofocus in video
shootings from mobile devices.
As of now, the technology is not too
noticeable in the Sony Xperia X. As for the
future of smartphone photography, it may
be an important step to take, taking us ever
Sony Xperia X (L), Huawei Nexus 6P (R) so closer to dedicated camera phones.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 69

 (worldview)
(worldview)

LOUIS ROSSMANN (PRODUCT LAUNCHES)

Louis Rossman’s channel
is a dedicated DIY repair ASUS ZENPAD Z8 LG MOSQUITO AWAY TV LENOVO PHAB 2 PRO
channel and it’s targeted
towards DIY enthusi-
asts. It features videos

Asus’ ZenPad Z8 features LG’s new range of ‘Mosquito PHAB 2 Pro is the first phone
a 7.9-inch IPS 2K display Away TV series’ acts as a to come with Google’s Tango
and is powered by a 1.4GHz mosquito repellent in addition which can detect physical
Snapdragon 650 SoC. You to being an entertainment objects in an AR setup. It
also get 2GB of RAM and centre. Starting from 32-inch, runs on a Snapdragon 652
16GB built-in storage. It’s the TV is equipped with an Processor with a 6.4-inch
backed by a 4680 mAh battery Ultra Sonic device to keep screen along with other flag-
and a USB Type-C port. mosquitoes away. ship level features.
Price: `16,500 (approx) Price: `26,900 Price: `34,000 (approx)
describing how repair
stores get your tech back ABSOLUTE
to working so you can do
P I C TURE PU Z Z L E TIMEPASS
it yourself at home with
commonly available tools.
http://dgit.in/LRossmn

Top 3 Picks Make sure your bosses don’t catch you goofing off watching
one of these videos playing on your screen

To get all these links in one

easy to read page, make sure Gigabyte factory tour The Transit Elevated Bus The floating Tesla
Duration: 26:48 Duration: 01:00 Duration: 00:44
you blip this page from your
Gigabyte welcomed a bunch of China’s new Transit Elevated Thought the future electric
smartphone. vloggeers to one of its factories Bus (TEB) allows cars to pass cars would break down when
to show how it manufactures underneath, increasing utilisa- it came in contact with water?
all of those components. tion of road space. Think again.
http://dgit.in/GigabTour http://dgit.in/ChTEB http://dgit.in/TesH2O
70
70 Digit
Digit||July
July2016
2016||www.digit.in
www.digit.in
 > code / creativity / community >
Researchers build
1000 core processor
http://dgit.in/1000cores

Looking back at you

>>After years of you looking at the web, now the web is ready to
look back at you> by Koustav Ray
Introduction That being said, that is not the only way in which WebGazer
Eye and gaze tracking have been the domains of high end tech- tracks the gaze of the users. The second one treats the eye as a multi-
nology for a long time. But in the first week of June, computer dimensional feature vector and combines user interactions with
scientists from Brown University have released a javascript library regularized linear regression. This goes beyond the usage of clicks for
titled WebGazer developed by them that brings eye tracking within tracking, it also takes into account cursor movement and eye-cursor
the reach of anyone with a website. Using the webcam of the coordination delay as vital inputs to estimate the gaze accurately.
computer or front cameras on mobile phones, this could be used The relative simplicity of WebGazer might be its strongest suit.
by website owners to understand their users’ areas of interest It has no 3D capabilities that render it light and easy to implement
better and provide them content aligned with those interest areas into any browser and website. It makes up for the loss of accuracy
in real time. there by constant calibration. Along with that, the constant calibra-
The eye tracking model is based on self calibration by analyzing tion removes the need for any initial calibration session and lets
the pattern of where the user is looking when he clicks a particular the user be free to move during any tracking. Pretty soon, it might
location on the website. The entire development has two main become internet norm to have websites tracking your gaze, quite
parts - a pupil detector that can be used with any eye detection like the crawlers of today
library and a gaze estimator that uses regression analysis based
on user interactions. This allows the software’s self calibration Getting WebGazer:
to go on while the user is browsing the web. The images collected The entire WebGazer library is a simple javascript file available for
by the webcam during such browsing sessions can be analyzed to download on their website.
store what the user’s eyes look like. After this, similar interactions To get it, simply go to https://WebGazer.cs.brown.edu/#download
will also be stored and the two will be compared to understand the and download the file onto your machine. When using the library
relationship between eye features with respect to on-screen gaze on a webpage, do remember to include it by including it as follows:
location. This will allow the gaze to be tracked even when the user
is not interacting. <script src=”WebGazer.js” type=”text/javascript” >

*Coding Matters

*“Google and Udacity *“RedEye gives your *“ECMAScript 2016

launch Android course phone 24x7 vision approved
>> Android basics nanodegree >> New technology to give >>Also known as JavaScript 1.9 and
launched for beginners with zero computers intelligent vision that ES7, yearly release of ECMAScript
coding experience. remembers specific things. with couple of new features .
http://dgit.in/UdaAndroid http://dgit.in/RdEye http://dgit.in/ECMA2016

devworx> | July 2016 | www.devworx.in 71

 WebGazer Features: gaze tracking technologies, the lightness of this makes it ideal
for gaming, where performance needs to be optimum. Beyond
Eye Tracking: self analysis and improvement, gaze tracking in gaming can
WebGazer uses the already available webcam on laptops, and front be a completely new method of interaction. Consider this, you
camera on mobiles to track the eye movement of the user by calcu- are playing a highly detailed single player game and an object
lating the movement of the eye pixels at regular intervals. catches your attention. Gazing at it ingame brings up detailed
It includes a number of computer vision algorithms known as information and a zoomed in view of the object. These are
tracker modules. These are used to determine how the information only a couple of possibilties and there are endless new ways
of eye movement should be calculated. The three standard tracker to game with this.
modules that ship with WebGazer.js are .clmtrackr, js_objectde- • Virtual Reality - If there is one area that can benefit endlessly
tect, tracking.js. However, other algorithms can also be configured from gaze tracking it is Virtual Reality. Even though there aren’t
allowing for higher degrees of customization. really any mainstream websites that are completely VR ena-
bled , mobile VR already tracks the zone you are facing long
Machine Learning: enough to detect that as a click. With advanced gaze tracking, it
The library continuously tracks user clicks and mouse movements is highly likely that simple interactions like scrolling, zooming
and then uses the information to self-calibrate itself, improving the in, minimising and maximising can be done via gaze changes.
accuracy of prediction of eye movements. Also, since rendering VR can be quite tasking for most proces-
It uses a regression model to process the input. sors and GPU’s, especially when it is within a browser, it might
Just like tracker modules, a number of regression modules are make sense to restrict high quality renders to the area where
available for developers to choose from, like: the user is looking.
• ridge
• weightedRidge Disadvantages:
• threadedRidge Since this tool essentially democratizes tracking, there are several
• linear possible concerns:
• Privacy - We do not need to tell you explicitly that giving access
Browser Support to your webcam might open doors to hackers, letting them see
WebGazer uses the Stream API that is supported in most major you and your surroundings, but we still will. Unless you are
browsers. These include completely sure of the websites credentials, or a completely
• Chrome 47 and above. new and reliable certificate based on this is released, it would
• FireFox 44 and above probably be wise to grant access quite rarely.
• Opera 36 and above • Performance - Any device, irrespective of how light and resource
• Microsoft Edge 13 and above friendly it is, does have a lifetime. WebGazer essentially takes
control of your webcam continuously, constantly recording the
Applications: frames and analysing them to get a better estimate of your gaze.
An efficient eye tracking tools has many applications and it is only Unless you have a really high quality webcam, this might lead
limited by the capabilities of the hardware. Some of the significant to an early demise of that device.
ones are: • Accuracy - Technically, we do look at what we are interacting
• e-Commerce - Online shopping information is one of the gold- with online, but it is not always completely precise. WebGazer
mines that almost every e-commerce sites track these days using can at the most get an estimate of the general are we are looking
crawlers and other means. But that highly relies on you actually at for quite a while as of now. Even if it could precisely pinpoint
interacting with the website, which might not always be the the location of the user’s gaze, it might not necessarily be the
gaze. With this library, such ecommerce websites will now be exact thing we are interacting with and that parameter would
able to track where you are looking, which product holds your vary from website to website.
gaze longer, what are the things you notice first on a product
page and what gets ignored. Creating The WebGazer.
• Advertising - The principles of e-commerce also apply to Here we create a simple program that uses WebGazer to
online advertising in terms of tracking. An advertiser would generate a heatmap of the user over a period of one day
definitely want to know if people are even looking at his ads,
whether they are actually ignoring it or is it catching their STEP 1. Create a simple HTML Page with a button in it which
eyes. This also helps website owners to place ads better so onclick will call a js function named “stopTracking”.
that they receive more attention. With possibilities of dynamic
generation, analysing a gaze pattern over time might even lead <button onclick=”stopTracking()” > Stop Tracking </button>
to targetted advertising, with a website loading differently for
users with different gaze patterns. STEP 2. Include the WebGazer.js (https://WebGazer.cs.brown.
• Gaming - The ability to track the gaze opens multiple new edu ) and simpleheat.js (https://github.com/mourner/simpleheat)
doors for gaming. A player can analyze their gaze pattern over in the html file.
multiple matches to know where they are going wrong or figure
out weak spots. It would be handy if you can figure out your <script src=”WebGazer.js”></script>
blind spots in Dust II, wouldn’t it? Although there are other <script src=”simpleheat.js”></script>
72 devworx> | July 2016 | www.devworx.in
 STEP3. Now add the following snippets in a
script:
*pointers var cl = WebGazer.
>>Interesting PHP getTracker().clm;
developer videos
3a. Set the regression and tracker modules:
function drawLoop() {
window.onload = function() {
WebGazer.setRegression(‘weightedRidge’) requestAnimFrame(drawLoop);
//different regression modules can overlay.getContext(‘2d’).
be used.. Refer documentation clearRect(0,0,width,height);
.setTracker(‘clmtrackr’) //three trackers are if (cl.getCurrentPosition()) {
available by default, refer documentation *WebGazer Demo cl.draw(overlay);
>>A demonstration of WebGazer
.setGazeListener(function(data, clock) { by Alexandra Papoutsaki, one of
}
/* data: is an object containing an x and y the developers of the library. }
key which are the x and y prediction coordinates drawLoop();
http://dgit.in/WebGzer
(no bounds limiting) , clock: elapsed time in mil- };
liseconds since WebGazer.begin() was called */
}) 3c. Now let us check if Webgazer is ready and
.begin() call the setup method as defined previously:
.showPredictionPoints(true); /* function checkIfReady() {
shows a square every 100 millisec- if (WebGazer.isReady()) {
onds where current prediction is */ setup();
} else {
3b. The Setup with the video in a frame can setTimeout(checkIfReady, 100);
be done as follows: *Udacity Javascript }
>>Udacity’s extensive playlist }
var width = 320; on Object Oriented Javascipt setTimeout(checkIfReady,100);
covering basics as well as
var height = 240; moderate level concepts. };//The window.onload function
var topDist = ‘0px’; which we started in step 3a ends here
http://dgit.in/JSTutUda
var leftDist = ‘0px’;

var setup = function() { STEP 4. Optionally save the data into local web
var video = document.getElem storage or clear it as you wish...
entById(‘WebGazerVideoFeed’);
video.style.display = ‘block’; window.onbeforeunload = function() {
video.style.position = ‘absolute’; WebGazer.end(); //Saves the
video.style.top = topDist; data even if you reload the page.
video.style.left = leftDist; //window.localStorage.clear(); //
video.width = width; *Google I/O - V8 UnComment if you don’t want to save
>>Seth Thompson, Associate
video.height = height; Product Manager, Google data across different sessions
video.style.margin = ‘0px’; talks about improvements to }
Chrome’s V8 engine in processing
Javascript.
WebGazer.params.imgWidth = width;
WebGazer.params.imgHeight = height; http://dgit.in/Googlv8 Stopping the Webgazer and
Creating a Heatmap
var overlay = document.
createElement(‘canvas’); STEP 1.
overlay.id = ‘overlay’; Define the stopTracker function that is called on
overlay.style.position = ‘absolute’; clicking the button
overlay.width = width;
overlay.height = height; /*Helper Function*/
overlay.style.top = topDist; function get(id) {
overlay.style.left = leftDist; *Generators in JS return document.getElementById(id);
overlay.style.margin = ‘0px’; >>All about Generators, also }
known as co-routines, which are function stopTracking()
pausable functions in JavaScript,
var myCanvas=get(‘canvas’); used to manage async operations {
myCanvas.width=screen.width; WebGazer.end(); //Save Webgaze Data
http://dgit.in/JSGens
myCanvas.height=screen.height; var dataset=JSON.parse(window.
localStorage.WebGazerGlobalData); //
document.body.appendChild(overlay); Read Data from Local Webstorage
devworx> | July 2016 | www.devworx.in 73
 Inferences:
//create data in the form of “simpleheat” input • The tracking modules are a bit difficult to work with, clmtracker
var data=[]; was the fastest of the lot, while trackingjs was relatively slower
for(var i=0;i<dataset.data.length;i++) and less accurate.
{ • The different regression models tend to learn at nearly the same
data.push(dataset.data[i].screenPos); pace with the threaded Ridge model being the fastest (as data
} training was on a separate thread).
//Hide the Video Overlay • Even with 2-3 hrs of training we were unable to achieve less than
get(‘overlay’).style.display=’none’; 500 pixel accuracy of gaze prediction.

//Display The Heat Map Conclusion:

get(‘canvas’).style.display=’block’; Computer vision is a rapidly expanding field in the science of com-
generateHeatMap(data); puting with amazing potential.
} WebGazer seems to be a unique way to leverage it in an attempt
to better understand user interaction and interest ,that can in turn
STEP 2. help us to further enhance user engagement as well as interaction.
Define the generateHeatMap function that renders the heat map The possibilities for WebGazer seem to be endless, from better
and hides the video overlay understanding user choices and interest on an eCommerce website
to gaze based interaction in gaming. Even in mobile applications,
function generateHeatMap(data){ WebGazer represents an easy way for developers to harness a
/*A heat map generator using “simpleheat.js” (https:// new way of user interaction. It can prove to be as disruptive in its
github.com/mourner/simpleheat) to show your most innovation as VirtualReality and even more widespread because
viewed areas in a heatmap representation*/ of its simplicity. However the ethical concerns of allowing an appli-
window.requestAnimationFrame= cation to access your webcam to ‘see’ you and your surroundings
window.requestAnimationFrame|| window. are significant. Such permissions would only be reasonable for
mozRequestAnimationFrame|| completely trustworthy websites or apps and even then would be
window.webkitRequestAnimationFrame hard to acquire.
|| window.msRequestAnimationFrame; Although both Computer Vision and machine learning are pre-
existing technologies, this library is probably the first attempt to
var heat = simpleheat(‘canvas’).data(data).max(18), combine them in such a novel way. But above all it is the simplicity
frame; and ease of use of this javascript library that makes it a truly unique
function draw() { and democratized tool.
console.time(‘draw’); With the advent of dedicated vision processing units, this devel-
heat.draw(); opment might lead to interesting possibilities in the fields that we
console.timeEnd(‘draw’); discussed earlier. A computer that can actually see, might be able to
frame = null; do a lot more with the ability to estimate your gaze. From extremely
} realistic human-machine interaction, to machines that can actu-
draw(); ally tell when you are having trouble focussing on your work, the
} machines of the future can and will truly look back at you.

*Nodes of Interest

*“Coursera - IBM $2.4 *“JavaScript from *“Light tracking and Air

million funds for startups Beginner to Expert drawing
>> 20 entrepreneurs to receive >> 30 day course from Udemy to >> Tutorial for object tracking and
$120,000 in IBM Cloud credits become front end web developers. using light to draw based on webcam.
http://dgit.in/IBMCrsera http://dgit.in/JSUdemy http://dgit.in/AirDraw

74 devworx> | July 2016 | www.devworx.in

 Tips & tricks Drones deliver pills
Looking for ways to stay completely Activists in Northern Ireland used a

Toolbox 78 anonymous while browsing online?

We'll show you the way
drone to deliver abortion pills.
http://dgit.in/DrnDlvry

Linux for all, weird SMPS, and the

ever-popular SLI question
From simple fixes to expensive replacements – our readers have problems and we
have solutions.
Hidden Networks You'll have to go with “Connect to a 1) Recommended OS: We wouldn't
I am connected to the Internet via a Wi-Fi Hidden Network” and then proceed with recommend Arch. If you want a more
router. I need to make it visible to only my the WPA/WPA2 key for authentication. windows-like UI, you should also
pc. Other people keep trying to access my consider Lubuntu which uses LXDE.
Wi-Fi. So please tell me a solution to make Starting with Linux The successor to LXDE, LXQt is also
the Wi-Fi connection only visible to my PC. I am very interested in programming and a great lightweight desktop environ-
My Wi-Fi router is TP-Link. Linux and so thought about setting my own ment. Alternatively we personally use
–Avinash Sharma Linux machine using my old PC. Here are openSuse and would recommend it,
the specifications: but it will suffer from the same issue
What you’ve asked is one of the most • CPU: Intel Pentium 4 Single Core - of having slow download speeds.
basic steps that anyone should perform 2.66GHz Kubuntu / Lubuntu is still fine though.
while setting up a Wi-Fi network – hiding • RAM: 2 GB 2) You can also add a separate
the SSID. The make of your router doesn’t • HDD: 180 GB including Windows desktop environment for coding.
Partition + 1 TB external for For instancewe currently run KDE
storing important Files and Plasma and also LXQt, icewm, and
extra software backup. Openbox. We don't know about the
I had set up an Arch Linux default system used by Kubuntu /
installation but due to slow Ubuntu, but you can install LightDM
internet connection I removed or SDDM which allow you to pick
it and thought about Ubuntu which desktop environment you want
since we have an software to use while logging in. In this case
server cache which is quite you can use a tiling window manager
fast (about 5 MBps). So the separately. Plasma (KDE's desktop
Hide your SSID main requirement of this OS environment) allows you to select
will be Programming. The which window manager to use. So you
matter since this is a very basic feature secondary objective is for it to be easy for can use a tiling window manager like
that is present in all devices. Simply login my parents to use basic services such as Awesome with Plasma if you want.
to your router using the pre-defined IP internet and Skype as they have absolutely But 2GB RAM is a bit on the low side
address, provided you haven’t changed it. no tech knowledge. to be running Plasma 5.
It’s usually 192.168.1.1 and the user ID and I was thinking Kubuntu since it is very 3) For IDE: For Python we recommend
password are both usually “admin”, and Windows-like but I think it will take my Pycharm, it has a free open source
in some cases the password might be resources while coding. Do you think I can version as well. But 2GB RAM might
"password". Once you're logged in, you install a tilting windows manager such that
can navigate to the Wireless tab and right it won't cause the default KDE to act weird
there in the basic settings you’ll see the and it should only work in my session.
options “Enable Wireless” and “Hide Also can you point me to some powerful
SSID Broadcast”. Ensure that both these and lightweight IDE, I used Geany in
options are checked. Click on Save/Apply windows but I didn't like its interface but if
and you’re all set. Some settings might I can change its theme in Linux then I will
require you to reboot the router but that’s be happy. I am learning Python and would
pretty much all there is to it. Next time later want to learn C/C++ and Java.
onwards whenever you try to connect to –Asbin Dahal
your router, you will have to manually
enter the SSID as your router will no There are a couple of questions here so
longer be listed among the visible IDs. we'll tackle them one by one: Lubuntu - Windows-Like

76 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 NASA Apple TV app
NASA will let you check on the space
station and stream launches live.
http://dgit.in/NasaTvApp Q&A

not be enough. While it's more famous sufficient for a good 3-4 years. You might
in the scientific python community, notice stuttering and other artifacts every
Spyder is a good Python IDE. Other now and then with a new game but as
IDEs for Python are eric and NINJA. soon as the Game Ready Drivers are
For C / C++ you should consider released, you will have a much smoother
QtCreator. It's mainly for Qt projects gaming experience. However, if you are
but works just fine for plain C / C++ interested in VR then you might want to
projects as well. The KDE commu- keep an eye out for the AMD RX 480.
nity also has an IDE called KDevelop
which is quite good and can work with
Python and C++ among other lan-
guages. For Java I recommend IntelliJ
IDEA, they have a free open source
version available.
IDEs these days are quite RAM-heavy
though, so you might want to consider
something like Sublime Text, which is
paid mind you, or Atom. Or just go the
pure unix way to learn Emacs / Vim, Corsair VS450
they both have tonnes of plugins that add
support for code intelligence and syntax Weird UPS
highlighting etc, check out vundle for My computer sometimes shuts down for a
vim and spacemacs for emacs. fraction of second and then restarts at the
time of a power outage. The weirdest thing
To SLI or not to SLI that happens is that when I switch off the
Hey Digit! Thank you for answering that electric supply of UPS (ie. where the UPS
question about future-proof gaming is connected to socket), the power back-
machine. And here's another question for up function keeps running the computer
normally, I mean without any reboot hap-
pening. But when there is power outage the
computer restartwws, this issue has only
begun after I changed the power supply.
I’m using a Corsair VS450. What may be
the reason?
–Ben Ngaihte
2x GTX 960 in SLI
Hey Ben, since you mentioned that
you I hope you would answer this as well. your PC restarts whenever a power outage
Which would be best? happens, we’re assuming that you have an
• Using SLI With two GTX 960 (currently power inverter which is switching on.
I am having only one GTX 960) During such a switch, there is a slight
OR glitch in the power waveform which
• Buying new a graphic card (which one follows through into the PSU since the
to buy) UPS doesn’t switch to battery backup.
Thanks digit This matters because there are certain
–Yogesh Thakur SMPS that require a clean sine waveform.
Power supplies like the Corsair VS450
Since you already have a GTX 960, you have something called APFC (Active
can get another GTX 960 and SLI them Power Factor Correction) which requires a
together to get performance that nearly pure sine wave to function properly. There
approaches that of a GTX 980. As long as are certain power supplies that can work
you are playing on a 1080p display, this with stepped up sine waves but most
arrangement is all you need to go for. don’t. So you can either switch the inverter
There are very few games that will prove or the SMPS. Doing either should solve
to be taxing so this arrangement will be your problem.
Tips & Tricks

HOW TO STAY security while browsing. What

ANONYMOUS this means is that HTTPS is the
ONLINE encrypted and more “secure”
When it comes to our privacy version of HTTP. With a little
and security we’re all a bit para- help from a browser extension,
noid, as is our right. Our privacy you can force web pages to use
online can be compromised just only HTTPS, even if they are
as easily as our privacy in real designed to use the less secure
life. Being completely anony- and unencrypted HTTP.
mous in times like this can be a
struggle, but we’re here with a
few useful steps which you can Make your
use to stay anonymous online. money anonymous:
Using Bitcoins as a currency
How to stay anonymous online ...............................35
Choose the has become a trend of sorts,
right OS: Circumventing region restrictions ..........................36 but have we ever wondered if
When it comes to operating sys- it was trackable or invisible?

{ }
Tips & Tricks has its own page numbers, and does not follow the rest
tems the first two that pop into of the magazine’s page numbers. This is done to ensure that you can We highly doubt it. Darkcoin,
our heads are Microsoft Win- cut out and save T&T in a separate folder for later reference. which is now known as Dash,
dows and the Mac OS. However, is an open source digital crypto-
these aren’t the only operating
systems available in the market analysis is a kind of network
and they’re far from the most surveillance that compromises
secure. Switching to Tails can be personal freedom and privacy.
a wise move if you are concerned It is the biggest obstacle when it
about your privacy online. Tails comes to achieving total online
is a live operating system, which anonymity. They’re like those
can be started on almost any neighbours who keep poking
computer by means of a DVD, their noses in when they have
USB stick, or SD card. All con- no business there.Tor is a if you mean serious business graphic currency, and yes we’re
nections made through this OS free software which will help and want a completely anony- aware that Bitcoin also calls
you save yourself from traffic mous browsing experience, you itself the same thing but Dark-
analysis. Simply put, Tor is should get rid of those plugins. coin simply does the “crypto”
basically a system whose sole part better. Darkcoin is basically
purpose is to ensure that you Trust only anonymous Bitcoin. It’s based
and your internet connection HTTP/S: entirely on Bitcoin’s software
remain anonymous. For those who know nothing code, which is claimed to be the
Link: http://dgit.in/PrjctTor about HTTP, it stands for world’s first cryptocurrency.
are forced through the Tor net- Hypertext Transfer Protocol. However, finding merchants
work, thereby making all your Ditch Plugins: HTTP is the technology pro- can be a total pain sometimes.
connections considerably more It’s not something that’s tocol that decides how your web So here’s a link that might help
secure. This OS comes with pre- commonly known, but all the browser responds to commands you out
installed cryptographic tools for plugins that we use on a daily and the how messages are sent Link:http://tinyurl.com/qzo398u
emails and encrypts your files basis to enhance our day to day and received. HTTPS on the
and messages for that extra bit surfing experience often leave other hand stands for Hypertext Install a
of security. behind a track of clues or a Transfer Protocol Secure. That Cookie
Link: http://dgit.in/Tails-Install digital footprint. These digital additional S in HTTPS actually destroyer:
clues or footprints can then be makes a big difference when For those of you who aren’t
Adapt Tor: used to track your location and it comes to your privacy and familiar with what cookies are
If it’s secure online identity. While in most cases or are maybe thinking about
communication you want, then only harmless information is the wrong kind of cookies, let
nothing can beat Tor. Traffic tracked and stored, if you’re us make it clear right away, we
actually under threat or being aren’t talking about the edible
hacked by a professional, he kind. Cookies are tiny bits of
simply needs to track these code that are automatically
clues or digital footprints left downloaded to your system
behind by your plugins to gain when you browse a website.
more information about you. So It’s pretty obvious that your

| www.digit.in Vol 16 | 35 Digit | July 2016

 Tips & Tricks

phones. The browsing experi-

ence on a smartphone can be
completely different for some
when compared to browsing on
say a desktop or a laptop. Most
people aren’t even aware that
they can easily tracked while
browsing on their phones as
well and therefore don’t take
online activity can be tracked any precautions when it comes
with the help of these cookies. to privacy or anonymity. If you
Every website you visit down- seek a smartphone that boasts
loads tiny tidbits of data onto a completely safe and anony- or form of encryption, com- Use a VPN:
your system, and you can’t even mous browsing experience, the plete anonymity and privacy We have covered this
disable cookies as many web- Blackphone 2 is your answer. is not something they heavily topic very extensively in our
sites need you to allow cookies This phone will keep you invis- tend to focus on. If it’s privacy previous issues, but once again
in order to properly access them. ible from the prying world. you’re looking for, Hushmail for those who don’t know what
In most cases, cookies are harm- beats them all. Hushmail pro- a VPN is, it stands for Virtual
less and don’t really pose too Use the right vides you with a private email Private Network. What this
much of a threat. But every little browser: account, and as an added bonus, does is it hides your IP address
bit helps, especially if your goal We’re all familiar with the it’s completely ad free. The and runs all of your online data
is to be completely anonymous. mainstream browsers like email comes with unlimited through an encrypted virtual
Deleting all of your cookies is Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, email aliases and has built-in tunnel which has your data
one step closer towards that goal. and even Microsoft Edge. Let’s encryption. Another option secured. An additional benefit
Applications like CCleaner will would be use temporary email
help you delete all the cookies services. These will allow you
you’ve piled up in your system to keep your identity private or
from browsing, so it might be invisible and provide you with
advisable to delete your cookies burner or disposable email ids.
regularly. Deleting your cookies Some popular disposable email
can also improve your system’s services such as Mailinator are
performance, yet another reason worth checking out.
for you to make a habit out of it.
Check for
Find the right not forget Internet Explorer, Trackers: to using a VPN is it allows you
smartphone: we should respect our elders. Every websites you visit tracks change the location from which
Would you be able to live an But jokes aside, when it comes and collects data when you you’re browsing as well. So you
entire week or two without your to online browsing, everyone perform any online activities. can make yourself appear to be
smartphone? We’re all pretty uses one of these. But are they And the scary part is in most browsing from another country,
much hooked to this piece of secure enough? Or are you cases the user is can’t even or access websites that may oth-
technology and it can be quite leaving behind easily trackable detect when the tracking is erwise not have been accessible
tricky when it comes to being digital clues and footprints? In happening. Ghostery is a free in your own country. There are
anonymous while using our that case, switching to browsers several VPN services available
which primarily focus on online such as TorGuard, HideMyAss,
security and anonymity is what and CyberGhost to name a few.
you need to do next. Using
browsers like Comodo Dragon CIRCUMVENTING
or Dooble might be a wise idea if REGION
you want to live an invisible life. RESTRICTIONS
browser extension which shows The world’s favourite pastime
Tweak your you when a website is tracking of watching Television, isn’t
Emails: you. So you can keep track of the really much of a favourite right
Most of the popular email tracker, literally. With the aid now. We’ve all moved on to
services are not exactly pri- of this extension you can pretty online streaming. Most of us
vacy friendly. And while all much check on which web bugs now stream online, because of
prominent mail services, such are tracking you and which the advantages that come with
as gmail and yahoo mail for ones are or could be potentially it. Makes sense, it’s simply far
example, do offer some kind harmful and should be blocked. more convenient. However,

Digit | July 2016 Vol 16 | 36 | www.digit.in

Tips & Tricks

there is a problem that we’re to a legitimate website. There

sure most of us must have come are multiple websites which list
across at some point of time. proxies that can be used. Proxy.
The problem of content being org is a great place to start your
region-restricted. hunt. Proxies that are overused
If you happen to be in this and well known by everyone
situation, fear not, VPN is to get noticed and blocked often,
the rescue. If you want to access so be wary of the ones you use.
content that is US based you’ll Hidemyass.com is also a good
need to be able to access a example of a proxy service.
server from there with good
download and upload band- Install
widths. There are many who Browser
provide this service for free, Steps to implement Private Unblock-US to switch to third Extensions
however, they compromise on Internet Access: party DNS services. Hola Better Internet previously
bandwidth. You’ll have to pay • Register for a free account known as Hola Unblocker is
for the service if you don’t want • Click on ‘Go to Setup’ under Steps to take to switch your one the most popular services
to make any compromises. It’s the action menu. DNS: which provides free access to
also advised that you only use • Choose your operating • Click on “Open Network and geo-blocked websites. It pro-
them when needed and not system and router type. Sharing Centre” vides you with a browser exten-
while browsing casually. • A Step by Step manual will • Click on “Change adapter sion for Chrome and Firefox
pop-up. settings” through which you can change
Adapt Paid • Right Click on the icon that your country to the desired one
VPN Services- Switch your says Ethernet < Click on with just a few clicks.
Private Internet DNS ”Properties”
Access Changing the DNS server on • Click on “Internet Protocol Steps to using Hola:
You can go one step beyond your home router can get you Version 4” • Click on the Hola icon on the
VPN and try a Private Internet access to a lot of services which • Click on “ Properties” browser toolbar and then
Access. This is a paid service work through DNS. When you • Change the DNS to your select the desired country.
which will let you browse all access a geo-blocked website, desired one.
sorts of content without any your DNS will redirect the Link: https://chrome.google.
restrictions or worries about traffic through a tunnel, making Make use of a com/webstore/detail/unlimited-
regional restrictions. Private the server believe that you are Proxy free-vpn-hola/gkojfkhlekighikafc
Internet Access supports accessing the website from the With the help of web-proxy ser- pjkiklfbnlmeio?hl=en
OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP/ appropriate country. You can vices all browsing traffic is redi-
IPSec protocols. It provides use software like QuickSetDNS rected through a proxy server, Use Smart DNS
users with access to private to quickly switch between DNS tricking the blocking software Proxies on
DNS servers as well. addresses and use services like into thinking you’re connecting Chromecast
You can stream restricted videos
on Chromecast using Smart
DNS proxies. This allows you
to access unrestricted channels
and websites on your Chrome-
cast. Smart DNS only redirects
parts of your connection and
doesn’t slow down your internet
speed. This primarily works
best when you want to stream
US based Netflix content on
your Chromecast, this service
doesn’t change your local IP
address which means you still
have access to all your local web-
sites. Also Unlocator offers var-
ious tutorials and videos which
help you go through the whole
process of setting this up.
Accessing geo-restricted data on Chromecast Link: https://unlocator.com/

| www.digit.in Vol 16 | 37 Digit | July 2016

 Tips & Tricks

Changing the trouble. Just install the Set DNS 1) Sign out of your iTunes
DNS setting of app. This app forces your phone account. Scroll down to the
your router to use the custom DNS server. bottom of the store.
Your Android smartphone This will automatically enable 2) You will see a little flag rep-
extracts DNS service infor- each and every time you con- resenting your country. You
mation from your router, so if nect to a new Wi-Fi network. can click on that to change it
you’ve made changes to your Link: https://play.google.com/ to the desired country.
router’s DNS settings, your store/apps/details?id=uk. 3) Search for any free applica-
phone will start using the same co.mytechie.setDNS&hl=en tion you’d like to download
unrestricted DNS services. This from the store, and click to
is the easiest option to go with. Downloading purchase.
region- 4) You will have to create a new
Changing the restricted apps account and provide your
DNS setting on manually for each and every Let’s assume that you want to credit card credentials.
your Unrooted Wi-Fi network you connect to. download an application, such 5) Make a new account, at
Android phone as Spotify for example, which which point, you’ll be
If you are unable to change Changing the is available only to most of prompted to provide a local
your router’s settings, you can DNS setting on Europe, the Americas and Oce- address for that region,
try changing your Android’s your Rooted Android ania. If you want to have access which isn’t too difficult to
connection settings to use a phone to such content legally in India, do if you’re resourceful.
custom DNS setting, this can be If you happen to have a rooted here’s what you need to do. When asked for a payment
a bit irritating because you will android smartphone, you’ve Steps for downloading region- method, select “None”.
have to change the DNS settings saved yourself a boatload of restricted apps: Voila! You’re done.
 Bazaar See Translation on Instagram
All the latest and greatest products Instagram may offer automatic translation of posts

Tried & Tested 88 tested and reviewed so you make

an informed buying decision
and comments with its next update, soon to rollout
‘See translation’ button. http://dgit.in/InstaTR

VR's THE
WORD
Mithun Mohandas
mithun@digit.in

“A
nalysts” have declared every
year since 2014 as the year
of the VR and they’ve been
proven wrong each and
every time. Heck, that’s
what an analyst’s job is –
to be wrong 90 per cent of the time and be
correct 10 per cent of the time, partly due to
chance. We kid. But 2016 is truly the year start with their GTX 970 and GTX 980 is. And then it’s AMD’s turn. As the time
of the VR. AMD and NVIDIA have both which were even cited by multiple VR of writing this article, we know that the
come out with pretty strong offerings to capi- headset manufacturers as the bare min- RX 480 is priced at $199 which works
talise on the VR space. NVIDIA’s Pascal has imum and AMD’s offerings weren’t exactly out to `14,000 and for that price it will
already debuted with two flagships – the making the cut. AMD then swooped in be a remarkable GPU. Even if we bring
GTX 1080 and the GTX 1070 and by the and stole the show with Project Quantum taxation into the picture we are looking at
time you get this issue, AMD will have its which had dual Fury X GPUs. Unfortu- roughly `18,900 for the RX 480. Uncon-
Polaris based RX 480, RX 470 and RX 460 nately, we never saw the unit here in India. firmed leaks have shown the RX 480 to
out. The difference here is that NVIDIA’s So between the ridiculously priced 970s, be really powerful with two in CrossFire
offerings are really expensive and AMD’s 980s and and the Quantum that never even beating the GTX 1080 in certain DX12
aren’t so by the look of things, it seems that surfaced, 2015 was never cut out to be the games. So for `37,800 you’ll have, alleg-
AMD is going to sweep the mid-range seg- year of the VR. edly, a better GPU configuration than the
ment in the coming months. However, we’d Come 2016, and we saw Pascal getting GTX 1080 which costs `63,250. It sounds
rather not count all our chickens before they launched and it totally changed the eco- too sweet to be true and we’ll only know
hatch, so we’ll wait till the actual launch to system, at least, it did so overseas. The the full of it after the official launch.
opine on the subject. Meanwhile, let’s look ridiculous pricing in India pretty much Both AMD and NVIDIA have bigger
at what new technologies have come forth. ensured that the GTX 1080 was a normal bombs in their arsenal, NVIDIA has the
flagship launch and nothing spectacular. GP100 of which they’ll probably release a
More buzz words! The GTX 1070, on the other hand, is a GP106 or a GP204 and AMD has VEGA up
Let’s start with VR. NVIDIA had a head- lot more favourable priced, overseas, that its sleeve. There’s hardly ever been so much

82 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Panaroial Mark Couponhaat’s app
Spending millions on his security, Mark Zuckerberg Couponhaat’s new smartphone app
still chooses to tape his webcam, audio jack and on Android and iOS lets you access
microphones. http://dgit.in/ParanoMark discounts. http://dgit.in/CHtApp GPU comparison

excitement in the GPU arena than now. It’ll sizes, NVIDIA with its 16nm FinFET and tors can operate at lower voltages and also
be at least four or five months before we see AMD going with 14nm FinFET. NVIDIA generates a lot less heat. This means that
AMD and NVIDIA’s flagships but till then has been moving down the nanometer AMD cards might finally shrug off the hot-
we’ll have to settle for the GTX 1070 and the scale on a regular basis but this Polaris head label but that’s to be confirmed once
RX 480. (Well, not settle exactly.) was AMD’s transition after a really long we get the test sample.
Then there’s the fact that both NVIDIA time on 28nm. This has great implications Apparently, HDR is really blowing up.
and AMD have moved to smaller transistor on the power efficiency as smaller transis- Both NVIDIA and AMD are really pushing

How We Tested
W e test graphics cards for gaming performance,
compute performance and then assess their
build quality. With these three parameters quanti-
often called a power-virus which is not configured
properly before running can cause your graphics
card to heat up and go kaput. We use this to record
•
•
•
Total War: Warhammer
Witcher 3
Rise of the Tomb Raider
fied we then take the price into consideration to peak load temperatures and power consumption, • Fallout 4
determine the performance per rupee value. India for obvious reasons. • GTA V
being a price conscious market is quite keen on get- Given the fact that we have limited space in the
ting more for the money. Another reason why value LuxMark magazine, we only include one of these games for
for money matters is we endure a lot of taxation and LuxMark uses OpenCL framework to render a 3D showing FPS scores. The remaining FPS scores
price-gouging, so the price-to-performance ratio is scene and helps us benchmark a cards parallel can be found on the individual reviews when
quite different than what these cards were initially processing abilities. Each run takes 120 seconds they’re published online.
priced at by their respective companies. And lastly, and the maximum number of frames rendered is
we check the build quality of each graphics card. considered the score. Build Quality
With that done, we formulate scores and decide With changes in the GPU microarchitecture,
upon the winners across the categories. Read on API Overhead Feature Test the performance difference caused by a few
to get a more detailed explanation of the bench- Still in the nascent stage, 3DMark’s API over- MHz here and there don’t matter. Even minor
marks used. head feature test benchmarks the GPU’s ability overclocks rarely show a difference in perfor-
Here’s the configuration we went with for to handle DirectX11, 12 and Mantle’s API calls per mance. So manufacturers have increasingly
the test: unit time. Mantle may no longer be on the horizon started focussing on improving the build quality
• Processor: Intel Core i7 4960X but it gave rise to Vulkan which is the next big 3D of the graphics card to justify higher prices.
• Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme 11 graphics and compute API. We do not consider The cooler is of prime focus here. Having a
• RAM: 4x 8 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum the scores towards our final calculations. large enough heat sink, durable and silent fans
CMD32GX3M4A2133C9 bearings, improved fan fins, vapour chambers,
• Boot drive: 2x SanDisk Extreme II 240 GB SteamVR etc., all contribute towards a better graphics
SSD Steam’s own VR Performance Test is a good way card. Some manufacturers take the extra pain
• Cooler: Corsair H110i GT Liquid Cooler for you to allay your doubts over your graphics to add RGB which we consider purely cosmetic
• SMPS: Antec HCP-1000 Platinum card’s ability to handle VR devices like the Oculus but there are those who modify the PCB to
• Monitor: BenQ BL3201PT or HTC’s Vive. add more power phases to enable a precise
current flow for overclocking. Those are taken
Performance benchmarks Games into consideration as well.
Synthetic We’ve been testing graphics cards with a bunch of
3DMark games and we retain our older game benchmarks Value for money
No graphics card benchmark is ever complete just so that we can compare graphics cards across The total performance score generated by a
without a few runs of 3DMark. The all rounder has generations. The following games are part of our particular card is divided by the cost of the card
multiple benchmarks for testing graphics cards legacy suite. to deduce the performance/rupee factor. Often
from all segments, from flagships to entry-level • Bioshock Infinite this leads to the most cheapest card in the lot
kiddies. However, VR isn’t 3DMark’s strong suit • Tomb Raider being picked as the card that offers the most
owing to the fact that it doesn’t take the headset • Sleeping Dogs value for your money. However, this param-
into consideration. So we don’t perform VR tests • Hitman Absolution eter also helps decide between close competi-
using 3DMark. And then we have our updated suite which con- tions as cards with the same GPU often end up
sists of the following games: being very close in terms of performance. This
FurMark • DOOM is where the VFM comes into the picture and
Part of the OpenGL workload, this benchmark is • Ashes of the Singularity decides the winner.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 83

 GPU comparison
JULY 2016

GPUs ABOVE `15,000

NVIDIA GIGABYTE GALAX MSI ZOTAC GALAX GALAX

Model GTX 1080 GTX 980 Ti GTX 980 GTX 980 Ti GTX 980 GTX 980 GTX 980
XTREME TI HOF Gaming 6G AMP! HOF 4GB 4GB DDR5
Gaming 4GB DDR5 Extreme DDR5
Price `63,250 `59,250 `58,000 `54,875 `50,374 `48,000 `44,000
Performance 90 87 88 87 66 72 65
Value for money 54 56 58 61 50 57 56
Build quality 83 60 90 90 68 60 75
Warranty (years) NA 3 3 3 5 3 3
FEATURES
Chipset GP104 GM200 GM200 GM200 GM204 GM204 GM204
Engine Clock 1607 1241 1190 1279 1291 1304 1127
Memory Clock 1251 1800 1753 1753 1800 1753 1753
Stream processors/Shaders 2560 2816 2816 2816 2048 2048 2048
Texture Units 160 176 176 176 128 128 128
ROPs 64 96 96 96 64 64 64
Memory (MB) 8192 6144 6144 6144 4096 4096 4096
Ports - VGA/DVI/HDMI/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/
Mini-HDMI/DP/Mini-DP N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N
External Power 8-PIN 2x 8-PIN 2x 8-PIN 2x 8-PIN 8-PIN + 2x 8-PIN 2x 6-PIN
8-PIN
Physical
Temperature (C)
Idle 30 31 29 29 35 30 27
Load 73 68 67 69 65 62 79
Wattage (%)
Idle 5.4 5.8 5.9 5.7 5.9 5.6 8.3
Load 92 88.4 89.8 88.65 80.6 78.2 100
Synthetic
3D Mark
Fire Strike Score 16452 15940 16029 15863 12141 13164 11798
Graphics 21535 19688 19720 19766 14172 15735 13869
Physics 13420 12974 12973 12985 14038 12957 12977
API Overhead
DX11 Single Threaded NA 2528567 2522352 2528567 2533307 2533294 2542565
DX11 Multi Threaded NA 2431254 2447855 2431254 2442719 2442637 2446358
Mantle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DX 12 NA 19486312 19485978 19486312 19437793 19437752 17469704
Steam VR
Average quality 11 11 11 11 10 10 8.6
Frames tested 14058 13464 13479 13464 10218 10216 9590
Frames below 90 FPS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Frames CPU bound 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Games
Tomb Raider Ultra 142.2 127.9 127.9 127.9 104 104 104
Medium 426.5 373.8 373.8 373.8 330.7 330.7 330.7
Low 541.3 502.2 502.2 502.2 454.3 454.3 454.3

for HDR displays. Even at their respective before HDR monitors of that calibre end estate to go through all of them here, more-
conferences both companies demoed the up being affordable but that’s where we over, you can read what we’ve written about
HDR prowess of their cards. With 10-bit are heading. NVIDIA came up with Ansel, all of these technologies.
colour rendering for every workflow we Simultaneous multi-projection, FastSync And lastly, we have Async Compute.
are looking towards monitors reproducing and AMD has LiquidVR, TrueAudio Next In parallel processing, the best possible
images closer to real life. It’ll be a while and GPUOpen. We don’t have enough real outcome would be achieved if the GPU

84 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 GPU comparison
JULY 2016 JULY 2016

ZOTAC XFX Power XFX GALAX ZOTAC GALAX Sapphire GIGABYTE GALAX MSI
Colour
GTX 970 R9 380X R9 380 R9 285 GTX 960 OC GTX 960 GTX 960 OC R7 370 GTX 950 GTX 950 GTX 950
AMP! Black 4GB DDR5 2GB DDR5 Nitro Gaming- EXOC White Gaming 2G
Extreme Edition 2GD 2GB DDR5
`37,999 `21,300 `19,315 `18,375 `17,900 `16,275 `16,200 `15,975 `15,799 `15,500 `15,015
56 45 42 30 37 37 38 28 33 34 33
56 81 84 63 79 86 90 67 80 83 84
23 15 15 15 15 15 90 90 60 45 34
5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

GM204 Antigua XT Antigua Pro Tonga GM206 GM206 GM206 Trinidad Pro GM206 GM206 GM206
1203 970 970 1050 1190 1266 1190 985 1140 1203 1127
1800 1425 1425 1800 1753 1753 1753 1400 1653 1653 1663
1664 2048 1792 1280 1024 1024 2048 1024 768 768 768
104 128 112 80 64 64 128 64 48 48 64
64 32 32 32 32 32 64 32 32 32 32
4096 4096 2048 2048 4096 2048 2048 2048 2048 2048 2048
N/Y/Y/ N/2xY/Y/ N/2xY/Y/ N/2xY/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/2xY/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/2xY/Y/ N/Y/Y/
N/3xY/N N/Y/N N/Y/N N/Y/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/Y/N N/3xY/N N/Y/N N/3xY/N
8-PIN + 2x 6-PIN 2x 6-PIN 6PIN + 6-PIN 6-PIN 6-PIN 6-PIN 6-PIN 6-PIN 6-PIN
8-PIN 6PIN

29 32 31 42 39 37 25 34 23 21 39
59 81 79 77 65 75 68 76 61 47 61

5.8 7.2 7.4 8.2 8.6 8.4 8.8 8.1 10.7 12.3 10.8
84 97 98 99 90.3 98 93 89 102 96.4 101

10212 8248 7724 5515 6788 6687 6965 5143 6022 6127 6024
11638 9467 8703 5922 7688 7432 7888 5524 6654 6732 6670
14105 12934 13012 14042 12949 14078 12957 12857 12996 12896 13700

2534678 1335116 1385170 1278156 2500409 2542681 2542676 x 2545139 2521508 2545125
2442809 1316339 1407323 1294654 2423409 2442877 2442877 x 2454288 2445900 2454278
0 21928855 19919650 17825680 0 0 0 x 0 0 0
19437680 18044770 17285150 16023846 15318548 15151885 15151885 x 12893198 12366945 12893121

6.5 x x x 3.2 3.5 3.5 0 1.5 1.2 1.5

9390 x x x 9321 9324 9324 8270 9312 9307 9310
0 x x x 0 0 0 3310 0 0 0
0 x x x 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

94.7 54.1 48.4 42.9 60.2 60.2 60.2 36.3 49.7 49.7 49.7
290.4 158.1 142.1 125.6 188 188 188 108.6 156.9 156.9 156.9
397.5 230.4 193.4 176.5 273.4 273.4 273.4 153.9 237.9 237.9 237.9

could multi-task with ease, however, till longer have to wait and unused resources Winners
now scheduling commands in sequence could be dedicated towards getting more Best Performer
in the GPU pipeline was necessary. This number crunching done. That’s about eve- NVIDIA GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition
also meant that certain commands had rything new with the graphics world since This was no surprise since it’s the only one
to wait in line till it could be processed. our last comparison test. Let’s move onto in the flagship arena at the moment. AMD’s
With Async Compute, these commands no the winners. VEGA is a long way from hitting the fac-

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 85

 Bitcoin touches $719.85
Priced at $719.85, Bitcoin has registered
more than 20% surge, highest ever in the
GPU comparison past two years. http://dgit.in/BtcRise
JULY 2016

GPUs BELOW `15,000

GALAX ZOTAC GALAX ZOTAC MSI ZOTAC GALAX
Model GTX 950 OC GTX 950 GTX 750 GTX 750 Ti R7 360 GT 750 GT 730
2GB DDR5 Ti OC Slim 2GD5 Zone Edi- 2GB DDR5
2GB DDR5 tion 4GB
Price `14,500 `13,440 `9,900 `9,600 `9267 `9,083 `5,850
Performance 89 90 65 59 58 51 23
Value for money 83 90 88 82 84 75 53
Build quality 30 90 45 45 45 75 90
Warranty (years) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
FEATURES
Chipset GM206 GM206 GM107 GM107 Tobago GM107 GK208
Engine Clock 1114 1203 1072 1046 1050 1033 902
Memory Clock 1653 1755 1350 1350 1625 1250 1253
Stream processors/Shaders 768 768 640 640 768 512 384
Texture Units 48 48 40 40 48 32 32
ROPs 32 32 16 16 16 16 8
Memory (MB) 2048 2048 2048 2048 2048 1024 2048
Ports - VGA/DVI/HDMI/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ Y/Y/Y/ N/2xY/Y/ N/Y/Y/ N/Y/Y/ Y/Y/Y/
Mini-HDMI/DP/Mini-DP N/3xY/N N/3xY/N N/N/N N/Y/N N/Y/N N/Y/N N/N/N
External Power 6-PIN 6-PIN N 6-PIN 6-PIN N N
Physical
Temperature (C)
Idle 24 22 27 32 33 32 24
Load 61 62 52 60 78 65 44
Wattage (%)
Idle 10.5 10.9 3.1 4.3 8.6 5.2 11.8
Load 103.1 102 104 103 95 101 99
Synthetic
3D Mark
Fire Strike Score 6017 6067 4360 3957 3904 3415 1542
Graphics 6665 6715 4663 4129 4209 3520 1608
Physics 12976 13022 12983 14050 12891 14070 13001
API Overhead
DX11 Single Threaded 2545099 2545148 2495470 2495532 1401418 2153713 2539936
DX11 Multi Threaded 2454234 2454286 2447469 2447502 13521436 2112262 2443455
Mantle 0 0 0 0 13533617 0 0
DX 12 12892143 12893167 8534855 8534871 13521436 7365828 4109973
Steam VR
Average quality 1.5 1.5 0 0 0 0 0
Frames tested 9307 9312 7771 7770 7134 6706 2555
Frames below 90 FPS 0 0 6849 6847 6297 5909 2555
Frames CPU bound 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Games
Tomb Raider Ultra 49.7 49.7 29.4 29.4 28.7 26 x
Medium 156.9 156.9 100.2 100.2 97.4 83.3 x
Low 237.9 237.9 148.1 148.1 140.6 124.9 x

tory floor so for the near future, NVIDIA’s Value for Money in the sub-`15,000 category we have the
GeForce GTX 1080 will rule the roost. Also, We’ve broken down the cards into two cat- ZOTAC GTX 950 OC Edition which offers
we haven’t received any of the AIB cards yet egories, those that cost more than `15,000 the best value. This affirms what we’ve been
so there are better overclocked cards that and those that cost less than `15,000. In thinking of ages, that sub-`10,000 cards
give more value for your money compared the former category, we have GALAX GTX steadily offer lower returns. It’s the same
to the stock Founder’s Edition card out there 960 OC 2GB DDR5 priced at `16,200 pro- as the flagships, the more your pay, the less
which we will be covering in due time. viding the most value for your money. And you get. If you look at the entire gamut of

86 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Oldies Snapchattin Minecraft update
Research shows Snapchat is getting Minecraft’s ‘Friendly Update’
famous between the older demographics brings cross-platform multiplay
http://dgit.in/OldzSnapcht http://dgit.in/MCUpd GPU comparison

TAG ZOTAC GALAX GALAX

GT 730 GT 730 GT 730 GT 730
4GB DDR EXOC 1GB 2GB DDR3
DDR5
`5,850 `5,145 `4,900 `4,900
11 11 24 11 JULY 2016

25 28 66 30
38 38 75 23
3 3 3 3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition

GF108 GF108 GK208 GF108
700 700 954 700
667 667 1253 667
96 96 384 96
16 16 32 16
16 16 8 16
4096 1024 1024 2048 JULY 2016

Y/Y/Y/ Y/Y/Y/ Y/Y/Y/ Y/Y/Y/

N/N/N N/N/N N/N/N N/N/N
N N N N

GALAX GTX 960 OC

26 25 23 26
43 47 46 42

11.7 11.2 11.7 12.96

99 99 99 99
JULY 2016

728 729 1612 731

751 740 1686 744
12994 12943 12996 12920

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 950 OC Edition

1682432 1682344 2535185 1682647
1367523 1368014 2445195 1367853
0 0 0 0
NA 0 4282813 NA

0 0 0 0
1374 1378 1950 1384
1374 1378 1950 1384 JULY 2016

0 0 0 0

x x x x
x x x x XFX R9 380X
x x x x

GPUs, the mid-range is where you get the is paying through our nose for something went the best thing we have with us, the
best value for money. ridiculously expensive to just wallow in the XFX R9 380X.
60 FPS territory all the time. We had two cards around the `20,000
Editor’s Pick We believe that the GTX 1070 would price point, the R9 380 and the R9 380X
We like to game a lot and settling for a have easily won the Editor’s pick and even but the R9 380X gave better performance
graphics card that just about gives 30 FPS the Value for Money award, alas, we didn’t and has 4GB VRAM, making it the obvious
in most games is just not our cup of tea. Nor get the card for benchmarking yet. So we choice for Editor’s Pick.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 87

 INSIDE

Page 91
HTC 10

Bazaar
THE LATEST PRODUCTS
Page 95
ASUS ROG
GL552VW

REVIEWED FOR YOU

The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products Page 97
every month. Each of these products is put through OnePlus 3
a series of tests and is finally given a score. The
final score is arrived at after considering a number
of factors and evaluating them in terms of features,
performance, value for money, build quality, and, in Page 98
the case of software, even ease of use. UE Boom 2

For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a

quick guide to our overall score
10 to 30 Extremely poor product.
Keep away!
Page 98
LeEco Le 2
31 to 50 Strictly OK.
Not recommended Page 99
RICOH Theta S
51 to 70 Decent product. &MORE...
Go for it, but there may be better products out there.

71 to 90 Very good product.

Highly recommended.

91 to 100
Ground-breaking product.
We’ve never seen anything like it before.
A definite must buy!

88 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 New Emoji update Google fiber buys WebPass
The UTC has approved 72 new emojis Google fiber is buying a high speed ethernet
including a selfie emoji along with a bunch of provider, WebPass to beef up it’s business.
facial expressions. http://dgit.in/Emoji90 http://dgit.in/googlefiberx Bazaar

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080

Move aside Maxwell, Pascal is here to wreak havoc with the GeForce GTX 1080

N
VIDIA has certainly hit it out of the park
with the GeForce GTX 1080 and with VR
in its crosshairs NVIDIA isn’t leaving any
stone unturned to capitalise on the new
phenomenon. We’ve written quite a bit about the
new cards and their pricing already. The GeForce
GTX 1080, it’s based off the GP104 GPU with a
megatonne of CUDA cores and a lot more transis-
tors than the GTX 980 thanks to the new 16nm
FinFet manufacturing process it moved on to. The
competition chose to go with an even smaller 14nm Price50
FinFET manufacturing process so the power- 63,2
efficiency race is also heating up. Let’s take a closer
look at the architecture. the two pipelines. This solves the sync issues we
were having.
Pascal Architecture
The GP104 is based off the GP100 which is a Build and performance
datacentre-class Tesla GPU. With the increasing The Founder’s Edition is a reference card which
hype around the competition’s offerings it was only was till now not available in India but that changed
natural for NVIDIA to step up its game. And that, with the GTX 1080. Reference cards are generally
they have rightfully done. Packing 2560 CUDA built with durable materials. The shroud itself is
cores running at 1607 MHz, NVIDIA claims the machined from magnesium-alloy and the cooling
GTX 1080 to be 1.5x more efficient in managing fan seems like a dual-ball bearing BLDC fan but
power compared to the GTX 980. we haven’t ripped it apart to confirm. And NVIDIA
has added a more geometric design with the GTX
More Memory
The GeForce GTX 1080 now comes with 8 GB of
1080. In our benchmarks, we saw it hit 80 degrees
in 4K gaming which is a little too much. Gaming on 78
GDDR5X memory. That’s right, the GP104 doesn’t 1080p isn’t that taxing and we hardly saw tempera-
come with HBM like everyone else predicted. tures go past 63 degrees celsius. Performance................ 90
Needless to say this card pretty much aced Value .............................. 75
New features every test. We ran the GTX 1080 with the new Build ............................... 70
Ansel Hitman, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Witcher 3 and
NVIDIA’s new API is all about in-game photog- other games. We noticed an increment of 22-30 Specifications
raphy. Once integrated into your video game it per cent FPS scores compared to the GTX 980 Ti. Chipset: GP104; Base
allows you to freely move the camera around so you Even in synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark Fire- clock: 1607MHz; Memory
can take better screenshots ingame. Strike Ultra, it managed to maintain a similar lead. clock: 1733MHz; Stream
We didn’t have much time to overclock the card processors: 2560; Texture
Units: 160; ROPs: 64;
NVIDIA VRWorks Audio since we got out samples way late and we only had Manufacturing process:
NVIDIA want’s to give you full immersion through it for a really short time. So in a little quick session 16nm, PCIe 3.0, 7680 x 4320
a new set of APIs that work seamlessly with the with the card we managed to eke out 231 extra digital resolution support,
graphics card to apply path-tracing to audio. MHz over the 1607 MHz stock frequency with a 8 GB GDDR5X Memory;
power target of 110%. DirectX support: 12;
OpenGL support: 4.5;
Simultaneous Multi-projection Power Connectors: 8Pin;
Aimed at the multi-monitor junkies, simultaneous Pricing TDP: 180W; Warranty:
multi-projection ensures that individual monitors The card is exorbitantly priced in India and it is 3 years
from a multi-monitor setup retain perspective. quite unfair. For `63, 250 this card is way over-
priced. With the GTX 1070 out, it hardly seems Contact
NVIDIA
FastSync like the GTX 1080 justifies the price. Hopefully, the Phone: +91 022 4376 4567
FastSync decouples the render pipeline from prices will come down soon. Email: NA
display pipeline, so there is now a buffer between Mithun Mohandas Website: www.nvidia.com

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 89

 Secretive snapchat Google’s Uninstall Manager
To add to its computer vision technology, Running low on space? Google is testing a feature that
Snapchat has acquired Seene, a 3D selfies and tells you which apps you can remove based on how
Bazaar a 3D photo app maker. http://dgit.in/SecSC frequently you use them. http://dgit.in/UninsMng

Tt eSPORTS Level Circle Gaming

10 M Advanced CC 830
Unique craftsmanship meets Average build quality, impressive
performance performance

T C
he mean-looking ircle has been a
Price0
Level 10 M gaming known brand locally 5,69
mouse from to manufacture
Thermaltake has budget gaming
been upgraded, or rather peripherals and with the CC
advanced, with ergo- 830, they are trying to offer
nomic changes and RGB budget gamers with features
Price9
lighting. While main- 8,49 found in high-end cabinets.
taining an open design Externally, the case looks
concept on the Level 10 great with a mesh front panel
M series, here you’ll find a covering two 120mm LED
wing attached on the left side fans. With the transparent
for your thumb with hardly forward and backward button side window panel (made of
any other major changes in and the DPI switch. The DPI acrylic), you’ll be able to brag
the design. The mouse clearly switch is a 5-axis button (sim- about your components to
isn’t directed towards palm ilar to an analog stick) so it your friends. On the inside, It lets you connect any hard
gripped gamers, whereas claw can register up to five different the motherboard plate has a disk drive or solid-state drive
grip gamers will love how clicks and it’s size has been different colour than the and use it as a portable storage
perfectly they’ll be able to shrunk from the previous rest of the body which does device. Companies have
hold it. An additional advan- version. It also lets you switch look impressive. started shipping cabinets with
tage would be the adjustable between the five profiles saved An interesting feature that fan control, and you’ll find
palm surface that can be in the software. Using the needs to be highlighted is the it here for both the front and
screwed in and out according software, a maximum of 12 hot swap bay on the top panel. top panel fans. Removability
to tilt preferences. functions can be assigned to of the top panel is easy but
The mouse has six buttons all the buttons on the mouse. the front panel takes a little

67
including the regular right- You’ll also be able to define more effort. The installation of
click and left-click (Omron these functions to five profiles storage devices is child’s play
switches), the scroll wheel, on to the mouse, scaling the due to its tool less design.
possibilities further. One dis- The transparent side
Performance............................76
tinct upgrade to the mouse is window panel is susceptible
Features ....................................67
RGB lighting to three different to scratches and you’ll have to
74 areas. The Avago 9800 laser
Build ...........................................65
Value ..........................................60
take good care while han-
sensor has a raw maximum dling the case’s plastic parts.
DPI level of 8200 but with In terms of cooling, it does a
Features ....................................76 software, it has been scaled up
Specifications brilliant job by holding the
Build ...........................................77 Motherboard form factor:
to 16,000. The software lets ATX and Micro-ATX; PSU form 4960X at 61 degrees while the
Value ..........................................70 you set different DPI levels to factor: ATX standard; Front I/O: GPU runs hot at 62 degrees.
the four levels on the mouse 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0, Mic in and The fans on the front panel
Specifications and save them as profiles. This Audio Out, Fan control (top and keeps the temperatures of the
Dimensions: 130.75 x 87.35 x front panel), hot swap bay; Drive
40.53; Sensor: Laser (Avago 9800); is taken care of by the 32-bit options: 3 x 5.25-inch, 3 x 3.5-inch SSD and HDD below 31 and
Maximum DPI level: 16,000; Sonix SN32F248FG microcon- HDD, 3 x 2.5-inch SSD; Fans: 3 x 28 degrees respectively. Cable
Switch: Omron (50 million click troller onboard. 120mm (2 x front, 1 x rear) management is average, and
cycle); RGB lighting: Yes The mouse isn’t light and we were able to manage a neat
the presence of adjustable Contact setup. Despite the price men-
Contact weights on the mouse would
Circle
tioned here, you’ll find this at a
Thermaltake Phone: +(91)-22-66711234, 66712951
Email: CS@thermaltake.com have been great. Email: info@entercircle.com cheaper rate online.
Website: http://www.ttesports.com/ Abhijit Dey Website: http://www.circlect.com/ Abhijit Dey

90 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Future Wearable Tech CRISPR
So you thought smartwatches and fitness trackers CRISPR is a gene-editing tool that may
could be all the wearable tech? Here’s what can be soon be used for medical treatment.
expected. http://dgit.in/FutureWT http://dgit.in/crisper Bazaar

HTC 10
The HTC we know

W
hat started with the is because the phone’s camera is
HTC One, culminates still somewhat unreliable. It often
with the HTC 10. The refuses to focus, even in well lit
company that made conditions, and lights are often
the first Android phone has nearly turned into flares. The camera
perfected its flagship this time. often popped up a message saying
The best quality of the HTC 10 that the laser auto-focus was being
is audio. This is a phone meant for covered by something, at times
audiophiles. It creates profiles based because our finger was over it, but
on your hearing patterns, and you often when nothing covered it.
can do this for each headphone you The focusing issue is worse while
use. The settings for this show up shooting videos.
only when you attach headphone, The Snapdragon 820 covers
but it’s easy enough to set a pro- the performance bit for the HTC
file. The HTC 10 can amplify and 10. However, unlike other phones
improve audio quality on head- powered by this processor, the HTC
phone, thanks to the 24bit DAC 10 tends to heat up quite easily. To
attached in it. be clear, these aren’t heating issues,
The phone delivers tight audio, and we didn’t see any processor
that is clear and the right emphasis throttling either. It’s compara-
is placed on the important fre- tively easy to get the HTC 10 to 40
quencies. We tested the HTC 10 degrees, but the processor seems to
with a pair of high end Sony MDR cool down fast enough and speed
100ABN, a cheaper Mee Audio M6, and a Price90 isn’t affected.
51,9
similarly priced Mi In-Ear Pro. The HTC The GPU performance is in line with
10 delivered louder and clearer audio on all other phones with QHD displays. Com-
of them, compared to an iPhone SE. While the paring a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, LG G5
iPhone SE is still close, comapring the HTC 10 to a
OnePlus One shows huge differences. You should
and HTC 10, all of which have QHD displays,
performance is pretty much the same. The HTC 10
81
however, use high quality music tracks, 192kbps renders nearly 600 frames on the GFXBench Car
and above. Chase Test, which is similar to its competitors. The Features ........................ 66
While audio quality is great on headphones, HTC 1080p OnePlus 3 can render over 1000 frames on Performance................ 81
Boomsound also comes with a tweeter and woofer the same test. Design ............................ 90
this time, placed on the top and bottom respectively. High performance, though, comes at the cost of Value .............................. 77
However, the audio quality without headphones is battery life. The HTC 10’s 3000mAh battery lasted
nothing extraordinary. It is quite loud, but the HTC for about 12 hours at best, on regular usage. This Specifications
10 seriously lacks bass in this setting. includes about three hours of browsing, two hours Display: 5.2 inch QHD;
SoC: 2.15GHz Qualcomm
HTC has also greatly improved the camera. of continuous music streaming and seven phone Snapdragon 820 quad-core;
The 12MP ultrapixel camera combined larger 1.55 calls, accompanied by lots of texts on WhatsApp. In RAM: 4GB; Storage: 32GB,
micrometer pixels, with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS. general, you can get about 4.5 hours of continuous expandable to 256GB;
Under daylight and well lit conditions, the HTC 10 screen on time (at 50% brightness) with the HTC Operating System: Android
is as good as the best smartphone camera today, but 10. It lasts for almost 7 hours on the Geekbench 3 Marshmallow; Camera:
12MP Ultrapixel, 5MP front
the true improvement has been made in low light. battery test, with the screen dimmed. camera, both with OIS;
In fact, the phone sometimes takes better low light Overall, the HTC 10 is a great smartphone and Battery: 3000 mAh
shots than the Galaxy S7 Edge, our top smartphone the best flagship from HTC in a long time. It can go
camera today. The HTC 10 drives up ISO, pro- toe to toe with any flagship today, but still has its Contact
ducing some grains in low light, but also provides downsides. It’s definitely recommended for audio- Phone: 1800 266 3566
Email: http://www.htc.com/
better details. philes, but while the HTC 10 is a great phone, it has in/contact/chat/
While the camera is greatly improved, we’d its downsides and isn’t perfect. Website: http://www.htc.
still choose the S7 Edge over the HTC 10. This Prasid Banerjee com/in/support/

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 91

 Artifical SEO Smarter Alexa
The old rules of SEO may not be completely still In an announcement, Amazon’s Alexa has grown
applicable owing to rapid adoption in machine learning and to over 1,000 skills from the initial 135 skills it
Bazaar algorithms on major platforms. http://dgit.in/NewAISEO was released with. http://dgit.in/Alexa1K

Zebronics Unicorn LINKSYS N600

ZEB-522B Pro Wi-Fi
Impressive cable management, misses
out on efficient airflow
Range Extender
RE4100W
A
lthough full tower
cabinets offer LINKSYS makes a comeback in style
numerous advan-

L
tages, it demands a INKSYS has been on
lot of space near your the down low in India
table. The Unicorn for quite some time but
ZEB-522B is a Price0 it seems they’re about
compact form factor 3,40 to make a comeback. The
cabinet that’s only N600 Pro was just
PriceA
340mm in length launched in India
and height, both. And this though it had been TB
cabinet can fit a full ATX moth- announced way back
erboard inside. This was made in CES 2015. Powered
possible by separating the by a MediaTek MT7628AN,
interior of the cabinet into two The interiors have been the N600 Pro aims to occupy
compartments – one housing well thought out with cable the mid-range segment and the
the motherboard while the management in mind, and we feature set reflects the same.
other side has the storage hardly came across any set- The unit has three circuit
device slots and PSU cage. backs where we had to reroute boards on the inside for power, the usual 100 Mbps Ethernet
On the front, you’ll be able to the cables. With enough cable mainboard and antennae. port, indicator LED and
install two 120mm fans and tie slots and plate cutouts, we However, that’s not the case even a 3.5 mm stereo jack for
on the top as well. There are were able to achieve a neat because the MT7628AN is streaming audio. Plug in an
also slots to add 80mm fans on look that didn’t hinder with slightly more power-efficient. AUX cable and connect it to a
each compartment but the case the airflow in the cabinet. For The RE4100W comes with speaker and you can wirelessly
ships without any stock fans. a streamlined airflow, the stream music.
front panel was used for air To set it up, switch your
intake and the top was used
73 mobile Wi-Fi to the Linksys

73 as an exhaust. Even though

we didn’t add the extra 80mm
SSID and head over to
192.168.1.1 for a quick setup
fans, we were able to main- Performance............................73 guide. Performance-wise the
Performance............................68 tain 64 degrees on the 4690X Features ....................................74 N600 is quite decent. The
Features ....................................70 while the Radeon HD 7790 Build ...........................................72 signal strength held steady at
Build ...........................................72 maxed out at 65 degrees. Value ..........................................73 around -35 dB in our Zone1
Value ..........................................82 The biggest concern with of testing while as we moved
the case is the position of Specifications further away into Zone 2 is
Specifications the storage drives since they Wi-Fi SoC 1; MediaTek MT7628AN; dropped to -52 dB and then in
Motherboard form factor: ATX, kept struggling to stay cool. Wi-Fi SoC 2: Ralink RT5592N; our farthest Zone3 it fell down
Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX; PSU form We observed a huge jump Channels: 2T2R; Ethernet: 10/100 to -74 dB. Even for bandwidth
factor: ATX (160mm) standard; Mbps; Wi-Fi Protocols: a/b/g/n;
in the temperature (around it maintained the link in
Front IO: 2 x USB 2.0, Mic in and Bandwidth: 600 Mbps; Antennae:
audio out; Drive options: 1 x 5.25- 8 degrees) when the storage 2x Internal; WPS: Yes; Dual-band: Zone3 for longer periods com-
inch ODD, HDD 3.5-inch x 2 / 2.5-inch devices were subjected to Yes; Dimensions (LxWxD): 100 x 69 pared to most Wi-Fi repeaters.
SSD; Fans: 3 x 120mm, 2 x 80mm stress. It’s not much of a con- x 73 mm; Warranty: 3 years Overall, the RE4100W is a
(not included) cern in real world scenarios well performing mid-range
but the design of the drive Contact Wi-Fi range extender. What
Contact cages or their location could
LINKSYS
remains to be seen is if it will
Phone: 1800-102-0220 Phone: 1800-419-8899
Email: enquiry@zebronics.info surely have been better. Email: NA / Live Chat be priced competitively.
Website: http://zebronics.com/ Abhijit Dey Website: http://www.linksys.com/in/ Mithun Mohandas

92 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 S7 Edge Batman edition RIP Thunderbolt monitor
Celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Injustice: Gods Apple will discontinue making Thunderbolt
Among Us, Samsung has released a Galaxy S7 Edge displays, without announcing a replacement for it.
Injustice Edition. http://dgit.in/BtmnS7E http://dgit.in/thunderboltx Bazaar

LeEco Le Max 2
Tres Bon

C
hinese LeEco has managed You won’t get lossless audio with
to gain quite a following in these, though.
India recently. But while the Further, while the LeEco Le Max
company’s Le 1s smart- 2 has an improved camera, there’s
phone was widely appreciated, the still work to be done. The 21MP
same can’t be said about the Le Max. camera takes good shot, with good
LeEco has learned from those mis- dynamic range, and satisfactory
takes, though, making a much better colours. However, the camera tends
device this time. to dull photos down a little bit. It’s
Where the Le Max was a big also refuses to focus at times, which
tablet-like device, the Le Max 2 is is an issue. This becomes even more
more ergonomic, but still big. The annoying when shooting videos.
bezel size has been reduced, and the The phone sometimes refused to
display this time is a 5.7 inch unit, focus while shooting a video.
which reduces the overall footprint In terms of battery life, the
of the phone. It’s much easier to carry LeEco Le Max 2 lasts for about 12-16
around now and fits in your pocket hours on heavy usage, including
better. Of course, it’s still not meant a lot of gaming. The QHD display,
for single handed usage, but it’s a combined with the Snapdragon 820
more ergonomically built phablet reduces battery life, but for most
than its predecessor. It’s a solidly users, it should last for a work day.
built phone, which feels nice and LeEco’s content integration
there’s no misalignment or other plays a big role in the value propo-
nicks in the design. sition of this device. You get a year-
The Le Max 2 is also one of only long subscription to Le Live and Le
two phones in India, that come with Price99 Vidi, the two apps responsible for
6GB of RAM. We ran four heavy games, 22,9 delivering the content. This, in turn gives
shot and edited a 4K video, ran an audio you access to YuppTV and Eros Now.

80
editor, and a photo editor, but were unable to While the former brings live TV channels,
exhaust the phone’s memory. This is accompanied the latter brings an impressive collection of movies.
by the fast Snapdragon 820 SoC, which handles The apps have been deeply integrated into eUI,
anything you throw at it. making them feel like a part of the OS, with no lags
Design ............................ 78
However, the Le Max 2 tends to heat up quite in loading or beginning a stream. You will need
Performance................ 78
easily. Like the HTC 10, this phone also reaches a high FUP connection to make good use of this
Features ........................ 71
temperatures above 40 degrees quite easily, even phone, though.
Value .............................. 90
in an air conditioned room. Shooting a 4K video for The display lacks brightness, but is very good
10 minutes took the temperature up to 42 degrees, at colour reproduction, which is important for
Specifications
which isn’t abnormal, but also didn’t happen on watching videos and movies. It’s not ideal for out- Display: 5.7inch QHD;
phones like the LG G5 and OnePlus 3. To be clear, door viewing, but works fine indoors. SoC: 2.15GHz Qualcomm
we didn’t find any thermal throttling problems. Overall, the LeEco Le Max 2 is an impressive Snapdragon 820 quad-core;
The CDLA feature on the LeEco Le Max 2 is smartphone, offering very good value at its selling RAM: 6GB; Operating
System: Android
interesting. While lossless audio is good on paper, price. It would have scored higher had the OnePlus
Marshmallow; Battery:
LeEco’s self manufactured CDLA headphones 3 not come swooping in and raise the bar. It’s well 3000 mAh; Camera: 21MP,
aren’t very good. The audio is bright and warm, built and performs well, and the year long content 8MP
but there is no clarity across frequency ranges, subscription is a good deal, especially considering
and audio sounds muddled. CDLA technology that the content offerings will keep growing in Contact
LeEco India
itself has potential, but LeEco’s implementation coming months.
Phone: 180030101838
doesn’t seem to be the best. Fortunately, you get a It’s not the best phone in this price range, but it’s Email: NA
convertor in the box, which allows you to use your appreciable. It is not a bad buy. Website: http://www.
regular 3.5mm audio products with the phone. Prasid Banerjee lemall.com/in

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 93

 Bladeless fans! God of War beyond Greece?
Dyson’s newest, the Pure Cool Link, has an The new God of War 4, announced at E3, will
air purifier, and is connected to your wifi, be dabbling in Norse mythology.
Bazaar and has no blades. http://dgit.in/bldlsfans http://dgit.in/GoW4x

LG G5
Modular design FTW?

C
reating the most innovative The LG G5 also has a 16MP pri-
smartphone of the year is mary camera on the back, accompa-
a risk, but LG took it upon nied by an 8MP fish eye camera next
itself to do so. The LG G5 is to it. The 16MP camera on the G5
no doubt innovative, and opens up focuses on details, instead of bright-
opportunities for the market to take ness instead of details. Given the
a new turn. That said, LG’s execution right light, your photos will be great,
is less than ideal. We’ll start with the if a tad dim. Under low light, the G5
modular bit. provides good photos, with accurate
A button on the left side of the colours and good details.
G5 unlocks the bottom module of The 8MP camera is a fish eye lens,
the G5, and this is where the magic and achieves 135 degree wide angle
happens. You can slide in other mod- coverage. In doing so, it creates barrel
ules to enhance your smartphone. distortion, which is a property of fish
However, it’s anything but intuitive. eye lenses. You have to understand
Getting used to the button takes the lens well enough to take good
time, which is by design. You don’t photos with it. Your subjects will
want to press this button by mistake. also look distant, which is another
That said, after you’ve pressed it, property of fish eye lenses. The 8MP
you have to pretty much yank the camera is also not well suited to low
module out of the G5, which is dan- light photos, or videos.
gerous when in a hurry. Your phone Moving to the build and design,
may, and in the long run, will, fly out you come to another grey area. While
of your hand. the LG G5 is delightfully ergonomic,
The battery comes out with Price90 metallic phones usually feel more....
85 this bottom module and there’s no
reserve power in the G5 to keep it turned on.
46,9 metallic. This isn’t the anodised
aluminium you get on an iPhone or other
Imagine a situation where you need to click flagship devices. The looks unique, and is ergo-
Features ........................ 76 a quick photo and are switching to the Camera nomic, but it doesn’t feel as premium as a flagship
Performance................ 83 Plus module to it. You’ll miss the moment because smartphone should.
Design ............................ 92 turning on the G5 will take a few seconds. It’s not Lastly, the display on the LG G5 is a big strength
Value .............................. 81 that the G5 takes a lot of time to boot, just that for the phone. It has a QHD display, with 544 ppi
booting it again and again is annoying. Moreover, pixel density. It’s easily amongst our favourite dis-
Specifications there’s a locking mechanism inside, which raises plays in the market today. It doesn’t oversaturate col-
Display: 5.3 inch QHD; the question as to whether it’ll be damaged over the ours like an AMOLED display, and gives you double
SoC: 2.15 GHz Qualcomm
long term. the brightness that a mid-ranged phone would.
Snapdragon 820; RAM: 4GB
DDR4; Operating System: Lastly, the fact that the G5 has been launched On the battery front, the LG G5 lasts for about
Android Marshmallow; with only two modules doesn’t inspire confidence 10 hours on heavy usage, which is pretty much the
Battery: 2800 mAh; in the future. LG needs to sell large numbers of this industry standard today. This includes 4 phone
Camera: 16MP + 8MP (Wide device in order to get developers excited and create calls, 35 minutes of gaming, a few photos clicked,
Angle) Rear, 8MP front
enough modules. a short video and some more texts and emails. It’s
camera
Modularity apart, the LG G5 is a pretty great not the best battery life, and the Samsung Galaxy S7
Contact phone. The Snapdragon 820 is fast, and 4GB of Edge did last a bit longer, but only a bit.
LG India DDR4 RAM, combined with UFS 2.0 storage makes To sum up, if you’re buying a LG G5, you’re
Phone: 18003159999, it even smoother. Apps load fast, but browsing per- buying a very good smartphone. Yes, the execution
180901809999
formance is slightly lower than a Samsung Galaxy isn’t done right, but there are good qualities as well.
Email: http://www.lg.com/
in/support/contact/chat- S7 Edge (Exynos model). For instance, Facebook’s If LG does things right, you’ll have more innovative
email instant articles load after a split second stutter. modules to buy in the future, and this phone may
Website: http://www.lg.com/ We’re nitpicking, sure, but it’s also a flagship and at impress you more than any other.
in/support a 50K price point, most would nitpick. Prasid Banerjee

94 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Recieve calls from a Pip-Boy! Quake turns 20!
This $350 device pairs with your phone, and even The FPS which paved the path for every
doubles up as an alarm clock. other FPS turns 20, this month.
http://dgit.in/falloutx http://dgit.in/Quakex1 Bazaar

70
ASUS ROG GL552VW
Admirable gaming performance

T
Features ........................ 65 he ASUS ROG rently the best in the segment. We
Performance................ 67 GL552VW is more like played the new Doom, Tom Clan-
Value .............................. 71 repackaged and a little cy’s Division, Dota 2, Battleborn
Design ............................ 79 bulkier version of the and Call of Duty Modern War-
ROG G501 we reviewed earlier. fare on this laptop and all ran
Specifications It features a similar specification smoothly at 1080p, without
Processor: Intel Core-i7 sheet as the G501 with any major hiccups. The
6700HQ; GPU: NVIDIA some minor changes. only kink is, you end up
GeForce GTX 960M 4GB
GDDR5; RAM: 16GB DDR4; Design wise, this is playing most AAA titles
Internal Storage: 128GB a regular run of the mill at lower graphic settings.
SSD + 1TB HDD; Display: gaming laptop. While there is not Casual gamers won’t find the per-
15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080p; much to complain, we think the exhaust Price00 formance of the GL552VW lacking though.
Keyboard: Island type; OS: 93,0
could have been placed at the rear. The Games like DOTA 2 and CS:GO offered
Windows 10; I/O: 2 x USB
3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x 1080p display on the ROG GL552 is quite 60fps without any issues.
RJ45 LAN, SD card reader, 1 good. The laptop has a matte IPS panel, which The bottomline as far as the ASUS ROG
x USB 3.0 Type-C offers great colour reproduction and one of the best GL552VW’s concerned is that it’s one of the best
viewing angles in the market. Overall, in terms of laptops out there if you want to buy a gaming
Contact building quality, this ASUS ROG gaming laptop is laptop around a `1 lakh budget. Although, if you
ASUS India
Phone: 1800-2090365 certainly one of the better ones we’ve seen recently. are looking for something which is portable as well,
Email: NA Talking about gaming, the NVIDIA GeForce the ROG G501VW may be the choice for you.
Website: asus.com/in GTX 960M and the Intel i7 6700HQ combo is cur- Hardik Singh

Sony MDR-100ABN 82
Excellent, elegant, expensive

T
he Sony MDR-100ABN, also known as vibrant detail. The highs are promi- Features ........................ 91
h.ear ON Wireless NC headphones, nent but not sharp, which preserves Performance................ 90
are a pair of very well-crafted the overall sweetness and warmth Design ............................ 73
headphones. Sony has used the of audio further. Value .............................. 63
right fusion of plastic and metal to keep Sony has added AI-powered
the headphones sturdy, durable, and yet, Active Noise Cancellation here. The Specifications
bear a smooth, matte finish that feels very AI is aimed at learning your regular Driver Unit: 40mm Dome
premium. It has ample cushioning, environments and their audio signals, Type; Impedance: 32 ohms
(power on), 16 ohms (power
although its weight does affect in an to present highly effective noise off); Frequency Response:
irritatingly way if you’re wearing it cancellation. While the impact of AI 5 Hz - 40000 Hz; Sensitivity:
for over 40 minutes. is debatable, the noise cancellation Power off: 97dB/mW (wired),
In terms of audio quality, the works absolutely fine, ensuring no Power on: 103dB/mW (wired);
MDR-100ABN are amply loud, interference of ambient noise during Weight: 290g; Features:
Hi Res Audio, Active Noise
with a pleasant brightness to the your music playback times. Cancellation, NFC.
audio delivery. The excellent range of The MDR-100ABN lasts for about 19
audio delivery here leads to great amounts Price90 hours on full charge, and takes 4 hours Contact
21,9 Sony India
of detail and very well-balanced audio. and 30 minutes to charge to full. It is an
The low frequencies are tight and distinct, excellent pair of headphones, but at `21,990, Phone: 18001037799
Email:NA
but does not overpower the mids. The highs is also rather expensive. If you can afford it by all Website: http://www.sony.
and mids are bright, with particular emphasis to means go for it. co.in/electronics/headband-
mids allowing the headphones to express bright, Souvik Das headphones/mdr-100abn

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 95

 Facebook censored!? No surge pricing with Uber
Facebook and Google use copyright After uberPOOL, uberX may soon shift to the upfront
scanners to supress free speech! fares system where you won’t have to calculate
Bazaar http://dgit.in/freespeechfb your fares anymore. http://dgit.in/Uberupf

Gigabyte GA- Sony Xperia X

X99-SLI Typically Sony

T
An upgraded X99-UD4 for you he Xperia X is what
SLI / CrossFire fanatics you would expect
from Sony - well-
can still put on four built, compact, metal
NVIDIA cards if you fused smoothly with good
want to fiddle with plastic showing why you do
HPC. There’s no way not always need metal on a
you should look at smartphone. The 5-inch
a quad-SLI board Full HD TRILU-
as obsolete after the MINOS display,
introduction of the powered by Sony’s Price60
46,9
GTX 1000-series. X-Reality engine
We noticed that this does very well with
motherboard looks contrast and sharp-
eerily similar to the ness, and renders crisp,

Q
Price00
uad SLI is , 5
24 Tax) Gigabyte X99-UD4 vibrant colours. Viewing
what the (+ which we’d reviewed angles are good, and touch
Gigabyte GA- a few months earlier. response is fluid. Coupled
X99-SLI aims Aside from support for with Android Marshmallow,
to provide. Gigabyte might be higher RAM clocks and a Sony has added a few
feeling a little short-changed change in the order of the rear incremental improvements
since NVIDIA decided to not I/O USB ports thanks to an to enhance user experience, pricing makes recommending
offer 3-way and 4-way SLI ITE chip there seems to be no like smoother transitions and the Xperia X more difficult.
on their GTX 1000-series difference between the two. integrated Search. The Sony Xperia X feels
graphics cards. However, you However, if you peek at the Snapdragon 650, coupled slightly yet noticeably slower
can still slap on four AMD section around the ITE8792E with 3GB of RAM, ensures than Snapdragon 820-pow-
graphics cards and ride the chip, you’ll notice a lot of most operations remain ered devices. It is priced at
multi-GPU wave. Or you voltage regulators arranged in smooth. Unfortunately, the Rs. 46,900, about Rs. 34,000
two neat rows, these seem to more than Xiaomi’s Redmi
be used for powering the CPU Note 3, which has the same

75
socket. Well, not the whole of combination of SoC and RAM
it but the extra power pins in
the LGA 2011-3 socket that
78 as this. The highlight of this
device, Predictive Hybrid
helps achieve higher over- Autofocus, is meant to ace
Features ....................................74
clocks. Also, it does seem to Features ....................................75 smartphone photography.
Build ...........................................75
have a better ring to it when Performance............................78 While it does well in amply
you call it a X99-SLI instead of Design ........................................90 lit conditions with colour,
Specifications an X99-UD4. Value ..........................................65 sharpness, detail and speed
Chipset: Intel X99; Memory
support: 8x3333(OC)MHz upto Another difference we of focus, it isn’t consistent in
128GB; LAN: Intel Gigabit Ethernet; noticed was that signal traces Specifications low light. The camera module
Audio: ALC1150 7.1; SATA: 10x and SMD components have Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon is fast, only not the fastest
SATA III; Expansion: 4x PCIe now been moved slightly away 650, RAM: 3GB, Storage: 64GB, in competition.
X16(x16+x8+x16+x8); Dimensions Display: 5-inch 1080p, Cameras:
from some of the motherboard 23MP rear, 13MP front, OS: Android Heavy usage makes the
(LxWxD): 305 mm x 244 mm;
Warranty: 3 years mounting holes which is defi- Marshmallow, Battery: 2620mAh. Sony Xperia X last for about
nitely a welcome change. At 11 hours, or more, which is
Contact the end of it, the GA-X99-SLI Contact decent. Summing up, while the
Gigabyte Technology (India) Pvt. has made a few changes to the Phone: 18001037799 Sony Xperia X is a good stan-
Ltd. Email: http://support.sonymobile.
GA-X99-UD4 to bring you an com/in/contactUs/mail/?region=en_IN dalone smartphone, it does not
Phone: 022-40633222
Email: sales@gigabyte.in upgrade for a good price. Website: http://www.sonymobile. justify the price it asks for.
Website: http://www.gigabyte.in/ Mithun Mohandas com/in/products/phones/xperia-x/ Souvik Das

96 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Siri with OS Sierra Twitter v/s Snapchat
Have been waiting to use Siri on your Mac? Not Snapchat Inc. has 150 million people using
anymore. It sure looks like it, at least according to Siri. the service each day surpassing Twitter.
http://dgit.in/OSXSiri http://dgit.in/SnapVsTwt Bazaar

OnePlus 3
Gets it right

T
he third coming of the flag- amounts of RAM and a slick stock
ship killer is upon us, and the Android UI with no sign of bloat-
OnePlus 3 has a lot going for ware. Running on a full-blown Snap-
it. With the OnePlus 3, the dragon 820 SoC, the OnePlus 3 liter-
company has managed to preserve ally flies through any task you throw
the essence of a OnePlus smartphone, at it. Those six gigabytes of DDR4
while taking a different approach on RAM on the device ensures you
the design front. The biggest change, never really worry about memory
however, is the fact that OnePlus is utilization. Having said that, 6GB
doing away with the invite system. of RAM at this point is an overkill;
You can buy the OnePlus 3 directly it is nice to have as a specification,
via Amazon India, the exclusive but not something that you can put
online retailer for OnePlus 3 in India. to use right away. OnePlus 3 sports
The OnePlus 3 has gone all metal, a front mounted fingerprint sensor
and it reeks of the quality and class and as far as recognition and unlock
that one expects from a flagship speed is concerned, we can confirm
smartphone. At 158g, the OnePlus 3 is that the OnePlus 3 is as fast as any
slimmer and lighter than ever before, other Android flagship out there.
with an Aluminium alloy-based However, it doesn’t quite match up to
unibody build that gently curves the ‘Ninja’ of the fingerprint sensor
towards the edges for a comfortable kingdom, the Nexus Imprint, which
grip. The design elements do remind is still the fastest in our books.
us of HTC’s previous generation The 16MP rear camera on the
flagship smartphones, but it doesn’t Price99 OnePlus 3 will delight most flagship
27,9
take anything away from the fact that the smartphone buyers who are looking for a
OnePlus 3 is an extremely good-looking respectable imaging performance. Photog-

87
smartphone. Overall, the design of the OnePlus raphy enthusiasts and demanding power users
3 is tasteful, classy and very premium. But, it isn’t will have to depend on the manual mode (which
groundbreaking or unique, and it won’t attract also supports RAW shooting), to extract more out
second looks or beg for your attention. of the Sony IMX298 sensor, especially in low-light.
Coming to ergonomics and how the device feels The 3000mAh battery inside the OnePlus Features ........................ 73
on usage, we’d rate it high in terms of the ‘in-hand’ 3 is the least in terms of capacity of all the three Performance................ 84
feel (yup, we just coined that term). For a device OnePlus flaship devices till date. And, no amount Design ............................ 93
with a 5.5-inch screen and an all-metal body, the of wizardry can possibly make the OnePlus 3 Value .............................. 90
OnePlus 3 feels light and rather compact, and is shine in the battery life department. On regular to
definitely slimmer and easier to manage, when moderate usage, the OnePlus 3 will last you a day. Specifications
Display: 5.5-inch 1080p
compared to previous OnePlus flagships. Having Heavy users will have to resort to a quick midday
AMOLED display; SoC:
said that, the ultra-smooth metal back does make charge to keep things going. What really saves 2.15GHz Qualcomm
you wary of accidental drops, and the Sandstone the day for the OnePlus 3 is its super fast, efficient Snapdragon 820 quad-core;
finish on previous OnePlus flagships inspired more charging powers. OnePlus 3 uses ‘’Dash” charging RAM: 6GB; Storage: 64GB,
confidence in terms of grip. Coming to the display, technology that claims to fill up 60 percent of its non-expandable; Operating
System: Android
the AMOLED display is bright, offers good contrast 3000mAh battery in just 30 minutes. And, the
Marshmallow; Camera:
and great black levels. Unlike typical AMOLED claim is spot on (almost). We were able to go from 1 16MP with PDAF + OIS, 8MP
displays, OnePlus 3 display doesn’t suffer from too percent to 60 percent in 30.23 minutes front camera; Battery:
much of oversaturation, the color balance slider If you are in the market for a flagship smart- 3000 mAh
under settings provides the much needed control to phone, the OnePlus 3 is highly recommended, and
fine tune the colors on the OnePlus 3. in all likelihood, will tempt you the most.
Contact
One Plus
On the performance front, the core processing Soham Raninga Phone: 1800 102 8411
engin e of the OnePlus 3 is what Android enthu- Website: https://oneplus.
siasts dream of: Performance on tap, with copious To read full review: http://bit.ly/OnePlus3-review net/in

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 97

 Android on iPhone Indegogo is the way to go
Nick Lee’s case for iPhone does more than Got an amazing hardware concept in your head?
protecting it. IT CAN RUN ANDROID OS Indegogo might be better than Kickstarter for
Bazaar ON IT! http://dgit.in/iAndrd this one. http://dgit.in/HwIgogo

UE Boom 2 LeEco Le 2
One of the best around The next prodigal son

W
ithout a shred of
doubt whatso-
ever, the LeEco
Le 2 is the
presently reigning king of the
budget smartphone segment.
Powered by Qualcomm’s
Snapdragon 652 SoC with
Price90 3GB of RAM, the LeEco
15,9 Le 2 offers excellent Price99
performance, be it 11,9
heavy gaming or regular

T
he UE Boom 2 is a when it comes to using it day operations like music
prolific successor to in, day out. streaming, browsing, chatting
the widely appreci- The beauty and warmth and the likes. It trumps the
ated Boom wireless of the UE Boom 2’s audio Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 in terms
speaker. It looks almost iden- delivery hits you as soon as of overall fluidity of usage,
tical, with the stitched thread you start playing on it. The albeit marginally.
facade and rubber flaps and sound is rich, with great atten- All of this is contained in a
strip dipped in playful col- tion to detail. The presence of reasonably ergonomic metal
ours. The rubber strip down passive radiators enhances the build, with a 5.5-inch Full HD
the middle houses the volume bass delivery, which remains display offering great contrast TV services, free for one
buttons, and the USB and aux powerful, prominent, tight levels, good colour accuracy year. The Le 2’s camera is
ports are housed in rubber and very well balanced. Mids and an overall warmth that is better than the Redmi Note
flaps at the bottom rubber are amply pronounced, and great for consuming content. 3, only bettered by the Moto
flap. It is 10g heavier than the the overall clarity adds to the LeEco’s eUI comes with inte- G4 Plus. Details are reason-
original UE Boom, but that experience. The highs are grated content services like ably decent, and colours
barely makes any difference slightly sharp, but adds to the Live and LeVidi, which offer are vibrant and bright but
overall experience in a good on-demand movies and live slightly oversaturated. It
way. Soundstaging is excel- suffers with noise and details

84
lent, owing to the circular in low light, but is decent for
build of the UE Boom 2. The social media sharing.
clarity, warmth and sweetness
delivers a very comfortable
88 LeEco’s CDLA audio tech-
nology aims to provide loss-
Features ....................................87
experience, and in tracks that less audio through the USB-C
Performance............................86
require power, the UE Boom 2 Features ....................................85 port, and the 3.5mm audio
Design ........................................73
delivers aptly. Performance............................88 jack is missing. An adapter is
Value ..........................................83
The UE Boom 2 lasts Design ........................................85 packed in the box, and from
Specifications for over 20 hours, which is Value ..........................................87 what we could gather audio
Drivers: 2x45mm active, excellent for an outdoor wire- quality is pretty standard
2x45mmx80mm passive radiators, less speaker. It plays audio Specifications through it. You will last for
Max. Sound Level: 90dBA, via Bluetooth and 3.5mm Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon about 11 hours at best with the
Frequency Response: 90 Hz - 652, RAM: 3GB, Storage: 32GB,
20000 Hz, Waterproof rating: IPX7, analogue channel, and the Display: 5.5-inch 1080p, Cameras: Le 2, and the device charges
Weight: 548g. presence of water resistance 16MP rear, 8MP front, OS: Android quite fast when the occasion
simply sweetens the deal. At Marshmallow, Battery: 3000mAh. calls for it.
Contact `15,990, the UE Boom 2 is one Overall, the LeEco Le 2 is
Phone: NA of the best wireless speakers Contact the best smartphone to buy
Email: http://www.ultimateears. Phone: 180030101838
com/en-us/email-support
to invest in, both for home and Email: indiasupport@le.com within `12k price point. Just
Website: http://www.ultimateears. outdoor listening. Website: http://www.lemall.com/in/ don’t think of anything else.
com/en-us/ueboom2#intro-slide Souvik Das product/le2.html Souvik Das

98 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 BitTorrent TV News? The $2 increment
BitTorrent may soon launch its own TV news What can $2 increment in a service cost? Well,
network alongside its newly launched BitTorrent if its Netflix, it could cost the streaming giant
Live streaming platform. http://dgit.in/BitNws 480,000 subscribers. http://dgit.in/Ntfx2dlrs Bazaar

Yu Yunicorn
Not the flagship you deserve
69
T
he Yu Yunicorn looks nearly ference in performance and almost every other
identical to Meizu’s aspect between itself and the likes of LeEco Le
m3 Note, the budget 2 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. The only point
Features ........................ 82
smartphone from the where it excels is in battery life, where even
Performance................ 61
Chinese OEM. It does look nicely with heavy usage, the Yunicorn lasts about
Design ............................ 69
made, but the quality is nothing 19-20 hours, or practically, about a day
Value .............................. 58
worth noting. Additionally, the and half.
dimensions of the phone hamper The camera lacks contrast and
Specifications
Processor: MediaTek ergonomics. Delving deeper, the saturation, along with details. Colour
Helio P10; RAM: 4GB; Helio P10 SoC’s performance data is reasonably decent, and the
Storage: 32GB; Display: is barely acceptable, even Price99 app is considerably responsive. The
5.5-inch 1080p; Cameras: in regular tasks as multi- 12,9 5.5-inch Full HD display is amply
13MP rear, 5MP front; OS: tab browsing, chatting and bright, and watching movies is
Android Lollipop; Battery:
4000mAh streaming music, or light games not too bad an experience. Yu’s
as Skyward and Jetpack Joyride. latest UI, Android on Steroids,
Contact The Yunicorn is the ideal example to show has integrated services like cab
Phone: 18602122122 why 4GB of RAM is not solely enough to make and movies on offer.
Email: support@ a device perform well. Loading heavier games To sum up, the Yu Yunicorn is an
yuplaygod.com
Website: http://www. like Asphalt 8 make the device practically unus- overall disappointing effort and building a flag-
yuplaygod.com/product/ able, which is a major deterrent. The Yunicorn ship device. It is not one to buy.
yunicorn is particularly difficult to justify, seeing the dif- Souvik Das

Ricoh Theta S 73
A nice, fun beginning

T
he Ricoh Theta S is a very toggle with shutter speed, exposure, ISO Features ........................ 80
well-built camera, housing two and WB manually, but even the most Performance................ 68
wide-angle modules to capture optimal setting renders a lot of noise, Design ............................ 82
the 360-degree content that it unless you’re in a very well-lit environ- Value .............................. 55
claims to do. It is highly convenient and ment. It heats up a bit during operation,
easy to use, and the app it pairs with is but is not a major deterrent. Addition- Specifications
also reasonably well laid out. The only ally, the tripod mount will be helpful ISO sensitivity: 100-1600,
qualm you would have is the rather for adventure and action enthusiasts. Shutter Speed: Stills:
1/6400” - 60” (manual),
small viewfinder on your smartphone, The camera allows live streaming to 1/6400” - 1/8“ (auto), Videos:
within the app. The camera syncs with Theta360.com, which you can embed to 1/8000” - 1/30” (FHD), 1/8000”
your smartphone via Wi-Fi and control- social channels. - 1/15” (HD), Storage: 8GB,
ling it through your smartphone is as Uploading and sharing is difficult approx. 1,500 photos/25min.
easy as it gets. and cumbersome. You can only upload videos, Formats: Stills:
JPEG (Exif Ver. 2.3), DCF2.0
The Theta S is one of the first 360- 5MB videos via Theta360.com, or share compliant, Videos: MP4
degree cameras around, and under- your content to Facebook and then else- (Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264,
standably there are flaws, as is the case where, which is not an efficient method. Audio: AAC), Weight: 125g.
with most first movers. While contrast Overall, the Theta S is your ideal buy
levels are good in photos and videos, if you’re crazy about 360 videos. If you Contact
colours are somewhat oversaturated, Price00 aren’t too swayed by 360 degree content,
Phone: 18001030066

and the camera renders high levels of noise

39,0 stay put as better devices will surely follow.
Email: ril.info@ricoh.co.in
Website: https://theta360.
in amber to low light situations. You can Souvik Das com/en/about/theta/s.html

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 99

 Column

Rise and revolt my brethren

W
hen it comes to components, India Wait... so… taxation results in a 15%
has always had a poor track record increase in prices but at the end of the day we
of sticking to the International pay 35% extra?
pricing. If something launches Internation- Watson: Mr. Sherlock, something’s amiss!
ally for $699(`47,500), you’d expect to get it at Sherlock: No shit, Watson. No...shit…
the same rate but what you end up paying is Businesses don’t operate on simple arith-
`63,250 (that’s roughly 35% more). There’s the metic, so no, don’t grab your pitchforks yet. It’s
ever-prevalent import tax which by nature is obvious that a good chunk of this 20% is actu-
supposed to help protect the interests of Indian ally going to the sellers and logistics don’t count
hardware manufacturers. Then there’s the fact for that big an increase. How do we know this?
that these are considered a luxury item and Why, we handle logistics for a magazine and we
hence, the tax makes for an additional stream know how much it costs to get a magazine right
of revenue for the exchequer. However, when into the hands of the reader i.e. you. However,
it comes to silicon chips, there are no Indian here’s the thing. Internationally, these cards
companies whose interests need to be protected. are sold at their launch prices (say $100) which
Mithun Mohandas Wikipedia has an elaborate list of silicon fabri- includes all business expenses, production
Senior Reviewer cation plants of which there’s only one Indian expenses, logistics costs, the seller’s cut and
mithun@digit.in
fab, owned by ISRO. So obviously we should generates revenue. In India, the brand keeps the
have import taxes to ensure big companies like $100 and passes on every other overhead we
“For a device that Intel, AMD and NVIDIA should use ISRO’s just spoke of on to the consumer resulting in a
drives so much facilities for manufacturing chips, right? massive price rise.
revenue we sure Well, not quite. ISRO’s fab only has 180nm This in turn, leads to fewer sales in India
are very focussed lithography technology. And every computer which is, in my opinion, the most price con-
towards ensuring hardware component under the sun has scious market in the world. And brands then
that the industry migrated to, or is in the process of migrating to claim that India isn’t a key country for them
has a hard time 16nm / 14nm process. There’s no reason why owing to poor sales figures. Talk about shooting
thriving in India." ISRO’s facilities would be used by these com- yourself in the foot. And we continue to suffer
panies because if they did, not only would the in silence. Well, not anymore. With the newest
chip be the size of a 7-inch tablet but the cooling graphics cards hitting the Indian market, we
solution would end up being as big as full-tower noticed the same merciless pricing but some-
cabinet. So in this impractical scenario, we still thing was different. Every ecommerce site has
have import taxes against CPUs and GPUs. For a tonne of negative reviews for these graphics
what reason, I don’t know. cards because of this poor pricing strategy. And
What’s worse is that our laws don’t even better yet, brands have even dropped prices
have a category defined for GPUs, i.e. an 800 `3-4K below the recommended MRP to gauge
Million Dollar industry which in turn fuels consumer reaction. So there are two ways in
the gaming industry, another goliath that which this can go, brands might start selling at
accounts for 1.8 Trillion Dollars. Heck, we the proper 15% markup and reap the rewards of
contribute to a significant portion of the R&D increased sales or they might not bother at all
that these companies perform to generate since sales aren’t that high in India for this to
these very CPUs and GPUs. Every graphics make a difference anyway. I’m just happy to see
card imported into the country is filed under my brethren voice their opinions against this
Section XVI, Chapter 84, Entry 84733030 – “Other unfair pricing tactic and invoke change.
mounted printed circuit boards”. How descriptive! One small step for the Indian PC lover, one
For a device that drives so much revenue we giant leap for the #PCMasterRace.
sure are very focussed towards ensuring that
the industry has a hard time thriving in India.
Though there is no import duty, graphics
cards still attract Landing Charges @1%,
Countervailing Duty @12.5%, CESS @3% and
CEX (Education & Higher Education CESS)
Let me know your thoughts on this @3%. All these account for a 15% increment in
column at: @mithun_mohandas the product’s value.

100 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 KILLER RIGS
Everything you’ll ever need to build your own PC. Whatever your budget.

Basic rig = 29,851 Entry-level gaming = 51,039 Mid-range gaming = 75,372 High-end gaming rig = 1,17,209 Ultra high-end gaming = 2,65,427 Digit test rig= 4,76,663

BASIC RIG ENTRY-LEVEL GAMING

Processor Intel Core i3 - 6100 8,650 Processor AMD FX8320 11,800
Motherboard ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 8,299 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 4,899
RAM G-Skill Value F4-2133C15S-4GNT 1,237 ADATA AD3U1600C2G11-B 1600 MHz
RAM (2x 2 GB) 1,530
HDD Toshiba 1 TB DT01ACA100 3,440 HDD Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 3,769
Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 530 0 Graphics Card Sapphire R7 360 2GB 9,100
PSU Corsair VS450 2,365 PSU Corsair CX430 V2 3,031
Speakers None 0 Speakers Philips MMS4040F - 2.1 Channel 3,033
Optical Drive None 0 Optical Drive LG GH24NSD1 SATA DVD Writer 949
Mouse Logitech MK120 Wireless (Bundle) 760 Mouse Logitech MK200 (Bundle) 730
Keyboard Logitech MK120 Wireless (Bundle) 0 Keyboard Logitech MK200 (Bundle) 0
Sound Card None 0 Sound Card None 0
Sub-total (Excluding Monitor) 24,751 Sub-total (Excluding Monitor and Cabinet) 38,841
Monitor Acer P168HQL 4,100 Monitor BenQ RL2240HE 9,299
Cabinet OEM Cabinet 1,000 Cabinet Antec X1-T Gaming 2,899
Total `29,851 Total `51,039

MID-RANGE GAMING HIGH-END GAMING RIG

Intel Core i5 - 6402P + Cooler Master Intel Core i5 6600K + Cooler Master
Processor 14,949 Processor Hyper TX3 18,749
Hyper TX3
Motherboard ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 8,299 Motherboard MSI Z170A PC Mate 11,934
RAM Corsair Value Select (2x 4 GB) 2,915 Kingston DDR4 2133 MHz HX-
Seagate Barracuda RAM 421C14FB/8 16 GB (2x 8 GB) 4,954
HDD ST1000DM003 1 TB + Kingston SSD 6,307 Western Digital WD20EZRZ 2 TB +
UV300 120 GB HDD 9,549
Kingston UV300 SSD 240 GB
Graphics Card GALAX GeForce GTX 960 OC 17,500 Graphics Card ZOTAC GTX1070 Founder's Edition 38,937
PSU Antec VP650P V2 4,340 PSU Seasonic M12II-750 EVO 8,750
Speakers Sony SRS-D9 2.1 4,990 Speakers Sony SRS-D9 2.1 4,990
Optical Drive LG GH24NSD1 SATA DVD Writer 949 Optical Drive LG GH24NSD1 SATA DVD Writer 949
Mouse Logitech G100s (Bundle) 1,879 Mouse CM Storm Devastator (Bundle) 2,499
Keyboard Logitech G100s (Bundle) 0 Keyboard CM Storm Devastator (Bundle) 0
Sound Card None 0 Sound Card None 0
Sub-total (Excluding Monitor and Cabinet) 62,128 Sub-total (Excluding Monitor) 101,311
Monitor Viewsonic VX2263Smhl 9,738 Monitor BenQ GL2460HM 9,899
Cabinet Corsair Carbide SPEC 01 3,506 Cabinet Corsair Carbide 400R 5,999
Total `75,372 Total `1,17,209

ULTRA HIGH-END GAMING PRIMARY DIGIT TEST RIG

Intel Core i7-6700K + Antec Kuhler
CPU + Cooler H2O 650 30,699 Processor Intel Core i7 - 6950X (Extreme Edition) 1,29,500
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 16,625 Motherboard Gigabyte X-99 SLI 24,500
Corsair Vengeance (2x 8 GB) CMK8GX- Apacer Panther 2666 MHz 32 GB
RAM 4M1A2400C14R 5,200 RAM (4x 8 GB) 15,840
WD WD30EZRX 3TB + Samsung 850 HDD Western Digital WD40EFRX 13,050
HDD Pro 256GB SSD 17,363
SSD SanDisk Extreme II 240GB 34,000
Monitor Acer XB270HU 27-inch 144Hz 4K G-Sync 61,300 Intel 750 NVMe + Kingston HyperX
PCIe SSD Predator 480 GB 1,19,275
Graphics Card ZOTAC GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition 62,250
Cabinet Corsair Obsidian 750D 11,460 Graphics Card MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 60,300
PSU Corsair RM1000i 1000W 13,298 Cabinet+ Cooler Cabinet (NA) + Noctua NH-D15 8,199
Speakers Logitech Z906 5.1 17,990 PSU Corsair RM1000X 13,899
Optical Drive LG Blu-ray WH14NS40 RW 5,999 Monitor LG 29UC97C 40,000+Tax
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core 3,699 Optical Drive NA NA
Keyboard Steelseries APEX RAW 8,824 Mouse Mionix Castor 4,700
Sound Card ASUS XONAR Essence STX 10,720 Keyboard Corsair Gaming K70 RGB 13,400
Total `2,65,427 Total `4,76,663

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 101

 Twitter acquires Magic Pony Apple in India, finally
Twitter, just like its counterparts have acquired a Apple and other premium brands can now open
machine-learning startup called Magic Pony – its third flagship stores in India, owing to the changes in
Price Watch AI acquisition in three years. http://dgit.in/TwtMP the FDI norms. http://dgit.in/IndFDI

SPEND SMART
This time around, we search for the best smartphones under `15,000,
probably the most popular budget range. We also check out the best
gaming mice out there, not holding back on any price bracket.

SMARTPHONES UNDER `15,000

Brand Model Processor Clock Speed RAM Screen size OS Primary Camera Battery Rating Price (in `)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 1.4 GHz 2 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.1 16 megapixel 4050 mAh 11,999
Lenovo Vibe S1 1.7 GHz 3 GB 5.0 inches Android 5.0 13 megapixel 2420 mAh 12,999
Gionee Marathon M5 Lite 1.3 GHz 3 GB 5.0 inches Android 5.1 8 megapixel 4000 mAh 12,999
Motorola Moto G 3 1.4 GHz 1 GB 5.0 inches Android 5.1.1 13 megapixel 2470 mAh 12,499
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note 1.3 GHz 3 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.1 13 megapixel 3300 mAh 11,999
Asus Zenfone Max 1.2 GHz 2 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.0 13 megapixel 5000 mAh 9,999
LeEco Le 1s 2.2 GHz 3 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.0 13 megapixel 3000 mAh 10,999
Intex Aqua GenX 1.3 GHz 2 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.1 13 megapixel 2850 mAh 10,100
Acer Liquid Z630s 1.3 GHz 3 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.1 8 megapixel 4000 mAh 9,999
Micromax Canvas 5 1.3 GHz 3 GB 5.2 inches Android 5.1 13 megapixel 2900 mAh 8,785
Lenovo Zuk Z1 2.5 GHz 3 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.1 13 megapixel 4100 mAh 13,499
Huawei Honor 5X 1.5 GHz 2 GB 5.5 inches Android 5.1 13 megapixel 3000 mAh 12,999
OnePlus X 2.3 GHz 3 GB 5.0 inches Android 5.1 13 megapixel 2525 mAh 14,999
Meizu M1 Note 1.7 GHz 2 GB 5.5 inches Android 4.4 13 megapixel 3140 mAh 14,499
Infocus M530 1.7 GHz 2 GB 5.5 inches Android 4.4 13 megapixel 3100 mAh 10,999

GAMING MICE
Brand Model Type Max. DPI Buttons Sensor Type Adjustable Weights Grip Price (in `)
Dragonwar Leviathan Wired 3200 8 Laser No Palm/Claw 1,025
Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury Wired 4000 8 Laser No Palm/Claw 2,795
Razer Naga Wired 5600 17 Laser Yes Palm 6,400
Mionix Castor Wired 10000 5 Laser No Palm/Claw/Fingertip 9,166
Razer Deathadder Chroma Wired 10000 5 Laser No Palm/Claw 4,499
Logitech G900 Wired/Wireless 12000 11 Laser No Palm/Claw/Fingertip 19,872
Roccat Kone Pure Military Wired 5000 7 Laser No Palm/Claw 4,900
Corsair Sabre Wired 6400 8 Laser No Palm/Claw 4,699
Roccat Nyth Wired 12000 18 Laser No Palm 8,900
Steelseries Sensei Wired 5700 8 Laser No Palm/Claw 6,398
Cougar 550M Wired 6400 6 Laser No Palm/Claw 9,000
Razer Ouroboros Elite Wired/Wireless 8200 11 Laser Yes Claw/Fingertip 10,360
Razer Mamba Wired/Wireless 16000 9 Laser No Palm/Claw 10,480
Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired 8200 8 Laser Yes Palm/Claw 4,055
Logitech G302 Daedalus Prime Wired 4000 6 Laser No Palm 1,670

102 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 RECOMMENDED BUYS
From smartphones to graphics cards, here’s what we recommend for your next purchase!

TOP 3 TOP 3
SMARTPHONES LAPTOPS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (32GB) 56,900 Dell XPS 13 1,34,590
LG G5 (32GB) 52,990 HP Spectre 13 1,19,900
Apple iPhone 6s (16GB) 47,999 Dell Inspiron 15 7559 1,18,888

TOP 3 TOP 3
GRAPHIC CARDS GAMING KEYBOARDS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
NVIDIA 950 13,800 Corsair STRAFE RGB 16,000
AMD R7360 10,500 Corsair K70 RGB 14,000
NVIDIA 750Ti 11,000 Roccat Isku FX 7,200

TOP 3
TOP 3 PREMIUM POINT AND
MIRRORLESS CAMERA SHOOT CAMERAS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Sony A7R 1,04,380 Sony DSC RX 100 III 52,990
Olympus OM-D E-M1 98,400 Canon PowerShot G1x 45,215
Fujifilm X-Pro 1 55,000 Nikon Coolpix P7700 23,204

TOP 3
TOP 3 BUDGET BLUETOOTH
TABLET SPEAKERS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (128GB, Wi-Fi +Cellular) 91,000 JBL Go 1,890
Apple iPad Air 2 (64GB, Wi-Fi + Cellular) 45,800 Logitech X100 1,550
HTC Nexus 9 39,990 Portronics Sublime 2 2,068

TOP 3 TOP 3
CPU LIQUID COOLERS FITNESS TRACKERS
Brand Model Price (in `) Brand Model Price (in `)
NZXT Kraken X61 9,799 Fitbit Charge HR 14,999
Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate 15,000 Fitbit Alta 12,999
Corsair H110i GT 15,300 Jawbone UP3 11,999

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 103

 Battlefield 1 gameplay New Netflix icon
Battlefield 1 will be releasing in October, but here’s No, Netflix is not introducing a new
how the newer weather and the explosions in the logo. But hey, here’s their new icon.
Agent 001 game look. http://dgit.in/Btlfld1GP http://dgit.in/NFXicon

Action Cams Magical discoveries the most go-to priority of an action cam,
captured videos (or images) often suffer
from the land of GoPros from a fisheye effect, which has become
sort of a signature trait of footage captured
from an action cam. The industry and
action cam enthusiasts have gotten used
to looking past this optical aberration, but
it may not go down too well among photo
and video connoisseurs.
Battery drain on action cams is also
something you need to know about.
While, yes, most popular action cams
easily offer between 1 to 3 hours of video
capture time (depending on the quality
of the video being captured, of course),
weather can impact battery drain more
acutely than you’d think. For instance,
in really cold environments (close to 0
Agent 001 ested), and easy to operate. What’s more, degree C), GoPro cameras have been
agent001@digit.in a wide variety of the most popular action known to not work for more than a few

W
cameras are waterproof, and almost all minutes due to its battery juices starting
hen have you ever used of them come with watertight cases that to freeze over. Even extreme heat – like
your DSLR or camcorder can be used in deep-sea diving scenarios. what some parts of Western India expe-
to shoot more than a few Action cameras don’t have a lot of physical rienced this summer with temps over 50
minutes of video clips in controls on them – no interchangeable degree C) – can throw sensitive action
a controlled indoor or outdoor environ- lenses, too – and that’s part of the point. cam batteries into a tizzy. I don’t know
ment? Chances are not too many times. With a fixed lens and aperture, action why this behaviour is so unique to action
As great as its video quality may be, try cams are meant for capturing a wide cams alone, or whether it stems from an
holding an iPhone while you’re standing angle shot in almost all video scenarios, observation bias restricted to the category
at the door of a Mumbai local (actually, and almost all of them have supported of these devices, but I’ll let you guys know
don’t try that, you’d be risking your life) companion apps on smartphones in case more as soon as I have more data to share.
just to capture what it feels like to be in you need advanced functionalities for any While battery replacements are available
the moment? If you want to record videos occasion. Despite being tiny and small, aplenty, popping them in (or out) isn’t
of your trekking adventures, would you action cams are built tough and meant to as easy on action cams in comparison to
hold a DSLR in your hand while you’re be used in an outdoor environment, and most DSLRs or camcorders.
roughing it out in the woods? Or if you’re therefore come with as little moving parts As far as which action cams to invest
going to go rafting or scuba diving, would as can be managed. in, GoPro cameras pretty much rule the
you carry a companion along just to hold Having read about all the glittering market. Checkout their Hero series of
the camcorder and shoot your videos positives of an action cam, time for action cams, offering versatility and func-
for you? If the answer to all these rhe- some cold hard reality. It’s important to tionality in a small, light form factor. I’ve
torical questions is no, then my friend remember that action cams can’t replace had a lot of fun playing around with one
you need to go buy an action camera. your existing DSLR or camcorder; they’re over the last couple of months, person-
An action camera negates all the meant to be used in scenarios where ally. Also checkout the Polaroid Cube,
inconveniences of a traditional camera. DSLRs or camcorders fail or become the tiny camera we mounted on the IO
It’s lightweight, easy to attach through a unwieldy. Therefore, despite being Walk hoverboard we tested a few months
wide variety of mounting stands (on your capable of crisp, high-quality 1080p ago. Its recorded footage seemed really
helmet, on your bike’s handle, etc), can videos, action cams operate within tight cool through that perspective but doesn’t
capture 60fps 1080p video (some can also optical constraints. For example, because hold up in comparison to the far superior
shoot 4K UHD videos, if you’re inter- capturing the maximum field of view is GoPro quality.

104 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Domestic Robots Trainer on fingers
After cars and rockets, Elon Musk’s next target BioRing is a crowdfunding campaign that
is home centred domestic robots for home use, may give Smartwatches and fitness bands
owing to OpenAI. http://dgit.in/HomeRobo a run for their money. http://dgit.in/FitRing Agent 001

Budget PC cabinet my parents for that budget. I don’t need in for review. Another good alternative is
Hello Agent 001, RGB lighting or extra buttons but if there’s Logitech X100. Hope this helps.
I had upgraded my PC last year but had anything falling under my budget please let
bought myself a cheap cabinet which cost me know. Thanks.
me around 1k so you can imagine how bad –Tarun Goel
the quality would be. I have been searching
for good cabinets but couldn’t make up my Hi Tarun, we’re happy that you’ve
mind. Please suggest me a good budget personally tried out a good quality
gaming cabinet where I can get good gaming mouse and understood the better
quality and have it last for a long time. experience. We always try to educate our
–Shardul Sharma readers on how effective your gaming
experience can be if you make calculated
investments on peripherals. A budget of
5k is quite flexible to buy yourself a really Phone under 15k
good gaming mouse, and our recommen- Greetings Digit. I’m looking forward to
dation would be the Logitech G502 buy either the Samsung Galaxy J7 or the
Proteus Core. You’ll be able to get it for Moto G Plus (32GB + 3GB RAM versions).
around 4k and trust us, it has a wonderful Which one should I go for? Any other
ergonomic design for right-handed better one in that 15k price range? I am
gamers. You would be delighted to know mainly looking for a phone for business
that the Mionix Castor is another purposes in terms of processing speed
beautifully designed gaming mouse and multitasking. Camera is of secondary
selling for a little more which has RGB importance. My previous phone micromax
lighting. Both the mice mentioned above android one had to be thrown since it went
offer great palm grip and brilliant build dead after a year...that’s something I want
quality. The advantage of the G502 is more to avoid.
buttons and adjustable weights. –Sanket Nikte
Hey Shardul, nice to learn that you
upgraded your PC. Along with the basic
components, your cabinet is something
you should invest properly since it
matters in the long run. It would have
been great if you had mentioned your
budget range but if you’re looking for
something around 3k, the Corsair Carbide
100R will serve all your basic needs
including radiator support (if you plan on
adding one). But again, it’s a plain looking Affordable and portable The Moto G4 Plus is definitely a much
case with no fancy design. If it’s a concern, Bluetooth speaker better buy than the Galaxy J7. That said,
then by adding a little more money, you’ll Hey Digit, I’m confused between JBL Go vs here are my recommendations.
be able to pick up the Antec GX500. It not F&D Swan 2 portable speakers. Which one 1) If power is of paramount importance
only offers good cable management but should I go for? Or any other Bluetooth go for the LeEco Le 2.
looks great to show off to your friends. If portable speaker in the same budget of 2) If it’s the camera, then Moto G4 Plus.
available in stock, you should be able to around 2000? 3) If it’s the battery life, get the Xiaomi
get it under 4k. –Aviral Singhal Redmi Note 3.
The Galaxy J7 is pretty much Samsung
Need a gaming mouse Hi Aviral, the JBL Go is pretty good. asking for brand tax for a phone that
Hi Agent001! My MK200 bundled mouse For it’s size, it’s loud and powerful. We’ve belongs in 2015. The Redmi Note 3 would
just broke down. After having used high not had a chance to review the F&D Swan be the best choice though. Good battery
quality gaming mice like the Steelseries 2 yet but the old Swan 1 was quite bad. life, respectable speed. The LeEco Le 2 is
Sensei RAW, I’ve understood the differ- This is not to say that all F&D products faster, but compromises battery life by a
ence and I’m looking forward to buy a are bad, but with the Swan they definitely bit. Fair warning though, it feels metallic,
good mouse. Budget isn’t an issue, but it went for form over function. Hopefully but isn’t a truly uni-body metal build.
would be great if you could recommend they’ve made improvements with version The only phone in this range that’s a solid
something below 5k since I can convince 2. We can tell you for sure after we call it piece of metal, is the Le 2.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 105

 special section
Advertorial

YOUR APPS
INSIDE A MEIZU
SMARTPHONE!
D igit organised a student developer event in Delhi
on Saturday, April 16th, which was powered by
Meizu to promote developer initiative and create
great apps that can be used in the Meizu ecosystem to
better augment the Flyme OS.
THE TOP 15
DEVELOPERS
FROM
ALL OVER
Mr. Leon Zhang, the Marketing and Product Head of Meizu
India then gave the keynote speech in which he briefed
the audience with the history and latest developments
at Meizu. This was then followed by all the developers
presenting their Apps detailing all the features and USP’s
The Top 15 developers from all over Delhi NCR were DELHI NCR and answering the jury’s and fellow developers’ questions.
selected and invited to be a part of the event which was held Lunch followed right after, which was followed by a group
in Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication in New
PARTICIPATED interaction session with the Meizu team. The event ended
Delhi. The event started with a video of Meizu’s dynamic IN THE MEIZU with a prize distribution ceremony to laud the efforts of
and unique manufacturing process, and how every detail EVENT all the developers and Meizu presented all the developers
on the phones are crafted by state of the art machines. with a Meizu m2 smartphone.

About 15 participants were selected to present

their App demos The audience listening to a participant

The Jury sharing their insights and feedback

with the participants Participants with the Meizu team

106 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 OUR TOP 5
APP PICKS
CODE WITHOUT A LAPTOP
I am thinking of developing an app with which users can code
anywhere on their mobile device. Apart from this, the app is going
to have some challenges and coding problems, user will have fun
to solve those. The supportive languages would be JAVA, C, C#,
Python and maybe some more! This solves the issues of students or
One of the particpants giving a Demo
of their App via voice recognition young professionals who don’t have a laptop to code, but still want
to. I have done some research and will be able to build the product
as I’ve started working on features like Syntax highlight, sugges-
tion bar and other complex time consuming tasks for the app.
–Ankush Chugh

HELPING HANDS
Across the world, there are people in excess who throw their stuff
because of the new trend and obsoleteness of the old goods. But they
have no idea that there are abundance of people who have never even
heard of that goods. People also don’t know that where to donate
One of the particpant explaining their that unused goods. For this problem an app can be developed which
app during their presentation will connect orphanages/ shelter homes/ organisations etc. directly
with the donors. People can provide clothes, toys, gadgets, money
etc. according to the need with the help of app. Food scarcity is also
a major problem so restaurants/food chains/Parties unused food
can also be delivered to the slum, orphanages so that the needy
can have better meal and we can be a helping hand for others.
–Akansha Marwah

BUSINESS CARD SHARING APP

In business meetings and startup weekend meetups, we have to
carry our business cards to network effectively. Carrying cards is a
pain, but with this app we can share our business cards virtually by
entering essential information like email address and phone number
Participants being presented with the
Meizu m2 smartphones and Round 2 without a hitch.
certificates –Dipesh Nagpal

ANONYMOUS
An app which lets you make an anonymous announcement
hyperlocally.
–Ashutosh Goel

ACCIDENT ALERT
My app will send an emergency beacon signal to prefixed numbers
on your phone (friends and family, and police and hospital services)
based on your location, average speed using GPS history, and acceler-
Participants being presented with the
Meizu m2 smartphones and Round 2 ometer and gyroscope sensors.
certificates –Vishal Jangid

Digit | July 2016 | digit.in 107

 Industry Connect PC or webcam?
We have interesting discussions This webcam is actually a PC, but

Tech @ Work 110 with executives from NVIDIA,

Intel and Akamai. Read on.
you can still record things with it.
http://dgit.in/webcamx12

Going mobile with

Impress•ly It is now super easy to make a website
on any platform. Here’s how…

Ankush Maiti moment you start creating your website, use it as you would use the desktop ver-
feedback@digit.in the builder asks you to provide your sion of the builder.

I
business’ facebook link. It then mines the
f you’ve ever visited the website of a internet for any other social media your What’s good:
less known organisation, you might business is active on, and pulls it all onto Impress.ly is stupidly easy to use. You
have been pleasantly surprised, or one page. You can then select which ones literally just have to enter your busi-
very, very frustrated. (Not including you want to have on your website. ness’ Facebook link into the editor, and
government sites. They have a penchant After that’s done, you have to select the builder “automagically” pulls all
for being very frustrating, and that is only one out of the ten templates (or skins) the social media related details to your
if they manage to work.) Most of this can provided by the builder, and the builder business, and creates an app-like mobile
does the rest. Seamlessly website, with ten different templates (or
melding all of your business’ skins) to choose.
social media into whichever It also provides a lot of customisa-
template you’ve chosen. tion options, and even lets business
You can then edit it how- owners add an e-commerce aspect to
ever you like. Add or remove their website. The builder has different
pages, create different pages, templates which are suitable for dif-
and links, and even add a ferent businesses, which makes it easier
blog onto it. It’s easy to do, to create websites for specific businesses.
but it is limited in what you The builder, as of now, is mostly aimed at
can actually do. There are restaurant owners, who want to have an
Create beautiful websites in minutes many customising options, app-like website.
but if it’s not something that Impress.ly is a quick and easy way to
be blamed on low-budget web design, the builder says it can do, you probably create a fully-functioning website, from
and in the case of government sites, non won’t be able to do it. any platform. Small business owners
functioning servers. Adding an online shopping cart to don’t have to pay a lot of money to website
Impress.ly is a website builder which your website is equally easy. You just developers to create a site now. They can
focuses on creating app-like websites click on that option, and
across platforms like desktop, tablets, and it provides you different
mobiles. The best thing about this builder themes and ways you can
is that it can be also be run on any plat- create one, by showing you
form. It is now possible to build a website sample products. It feels
on your mobile phone, in a matter of few smooth, and you can provide
minutes. No more extensive coding or all the products your busi-
paying web developers to make your sites. ness has for sale at whatever
time you see fit.
How to: On the phone, making
All you have to do is get onto the website, a website is equally easy.
and start creating your own website. The Simply download the app, and It adds details by pulling data from your Facebook page

108 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Good guy Oculus! Incipio buys Skullcandy
Oculus Rift lets Vive users play Incipio buys Skullcandy to expand its
Rift exclusive games. accessory line.
http://dgit.in/vivexrift http://dgit.in/skullcandyx Smart SoHo

easily buy a subscription to Impress.ly The site is slightly buggy, and it still be pulled down. It’s kind of a bummer,
and they’re good to go, with a professional has some support issues. The developers but that’s how it is. Although, hiring a
looking website, suited to their needs. claim that it is “capable to run on any web developer is cheaper, in the long
modern browser”. The mobile run, because you’ll only be paying a few
version of the builder comes in hundred bucks for hosting, after the initial
the form of an app, and is com- year. Over a period of five years, a web
patible with iOS and Android developer will cost you roughly around
devices. Although, even those `1,200 a year, after the first year, whereas
aren’t that good. It crashes fre- impress.ly will still continue to cost you
quently, and is quite buggy. the same amount, every year. That would
bring the total to about `14,800, for a
Pricing: web developer, and around `36,000 for
Hiring a professional web impress.ly, over five years. Not so cost
design company to create efficient now, eh?
You don’t need any coding expertise to create a website your website can burn quite
a hole in your pocket. There Conclusion:
It is an amazing tool, for non-coders, are designers who offer to provide SEO Impress.ly is a nifty little tool for entre-
because it picks up whatever you’ve put and hosting for a year for a cumulative preneurs on the go. You can have a
on your business Facebook page, and package which costs around `10,000. mobile website up and running in a few
puts it on the mobile site. One wouldn’t Impress.ly costs around $9, a month, minutes, and it’s cheaper than many web
have to spend hours of coding, making which roughly translates to around `600 designers. It helps you create HTML5
sure every single line of code is perfect. a month, which is around
Want to add a page to your site? Just drag `7,200 a year, for the Impress.
it onto your preview, and your website ly starter pack. This includes
now has a new page. hosting, some branding by
impress.ly, basic analytics, and
What’s not-so-good: social feed.
One of the major drawbacks of Impress. Impress.ly also has a busi-
ly is that the templates offered are simply ness package, which costs
not enough. Even if you were to create a around $14, monthly. This
completely custom website, from any of pack provides everything that
the provided templates, you wouldn’t be the starter pack does, without
able to visit a site created on the same tem- the branding, and also lets Adding an e-commerce module to your website is easy
plate without a creeping sense of deja vu. you add an e-commerce
Some of the categorisation doesn’t aspect to your site. It even lets you have a apps for your websites on Google Play-
make sense. For instance, a “blog” is listed blog, and lets patrons make reservations store and Apple App Store, as well.
under a business, and Google+, according online, if the business needs it. Although, The websites look clean, and are easy
to the builder is more suited under the closer to around `1,000 a month, web to create. The internal builder does a good
“basis” tab, rather than the “Social” tab. designers charge around double that job of making website building as sim-
It’s very easy to do, yes. But, there is amount, for a site which also has an plistic as possible.
a limit to what you can do with it. If it’s e-commerce aspect. The builder is created with a lot of
not something that impress.ly has in it’s Impress.ly also has a free version, different businesses in mind. Food busi-
menus, you simply cannot do it. which lets you play around with the nesses, and music businesses included.
builder and create your web- It has a lot of templates which are created
site. It won’t let you publish with these niche businesses in mind. The
it without any payment, but e-commerce add-on is truly a remarkable
they realise that patrons don’t feature, at the price it’s offered at, and it
exactly like being told to buy makes it that much more appealing to
features every few minutes. entrepreneurs on a budget.
It gently prompts you, every Although, it’s still in its early days, and
once in a while, to publish there are still many bugs and rough edges
your website, but doesn’t block that need to be ironed out, it’s still quite a
you from adding any features. good tool. It offers what it says it can offer,
Although, if your sub- and delivers a satisfactory product, most
By default, it gives you several templates to try scription ends, your site will of the time.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 109

 Valve on VR Apple returns money
About 1/3 of gaming mammoth Valve is Consumers are finally getting their money
devoted to VR and the future of their HTC Vive back after Apple was found liable for
Industry Connect VR system http://dgit.in/valvevr overpricing books http://dgit.in/iReturn

Siddharth cerns. We’re creating islands of intel-

Building
siddharth@digit.in ligence. As much as possible if you can
control and manage that island, you’re
When it comes to the Internet of Things actually doing yourselves a favour

Smart
(IoT) the theoretical aspects itself are very because you’re controlling the data that’s
exciting to us and our readers. What you’re moving back and forth, your security con-
into – implementation at that macro level cern is to some extent mitigated because

Cities with
such as smart cities – is an equally excit- it’s not going on to a public cloud, and the
ing but entirely different ballgame. Can you cost of the bandwidth is also reduced to
give us an overview of say what the archi- some extent. So that’s the essence of it.

Intel
tecture of such an implementation is likely A gateway solves the same things that
to be, or what the roadmap is? the IoT community has been struggling
Kavitha: When we talk about Smart Cities, with. Manageability: how do you manage
it’s a bunch of IoT solutions that are multiple devices? Interoperability: how
coming together, because for something to do you make sure that the different
be smart, it just needs a context. To define We speak to Kavitha languages spoken are understood? And
context let’s think of a bus going in a cer-
Mohammad, Director, then how do you manage Security. These
tain direction. If the bus also has an idea of three are very important anywhere in the
how many passengers it will likely pick up IoT & Smart Cities stack. If you look at the Intel architecture,
on the road and how well utilized it will be at Intel, Asia Pacific we have intelligence in the sensors. The
at the end of the day, it gives a better sense Edison that you spoke about for example,
resource management to the adminis- Japan to get a pulse it has intelligence built into it. There is
tration. Otherwise transport would be on how Intel plans to also a programmable chip that’s coming
running ten loops of the same bus every into play. You don’t need to program from
day without any knowledge of where the
build the technological a different operating system or console.
density is. Transport is at times underu- backbone required to The chip itself is a FPGA programmable
tilised for the simple reason that the last support the smart cities chip. The Gateway handles multiple sen-
man is not connected. It can happen that sors and it has an operating system built
the density of the population is elsewhere of tomorrow. onto it. The operating system will help
and the busses are plying in a different you program these and it has security and
direction. So the question to answer is analytics built into it. So the edge ana-
how can I actually get information on that lytics island I was talking about earlier is
population and the heatmap and marry it taken care of here. And at the next stage in
with the transportation logistics. the stack, many such gateways then come
We take solutions from you – the onto a communications network.
Makers community – put them together
and create an architecture around that. And these gateways are Intel gateways?
Next we also try to do some pattern ana- Kavitha: These are intel gateways yes. The
lytics between multiple data points that OEMs are different, but the underlying
are coming in. chip is Intel.
At the very basic level there are a bunch
of sensors sending in data. Multiple sen- And the OS?
sors are feeding information and they’re Kavitha: It’s a Wind River OS. I’m not sure
correlated. What Intel does is once we have if you’ve heard of it but this is the OS that’s
this first level technology built, Intel also being used on Mars.
has something known as Edge Analytics.
You don’t have to send all this data back How much of our critical infrastruc-
to city centre or a centralised command ture should we put on the grid?
centre or a data centre because this may be Kavitha: That’s where the security proto-
something that could be actually con- cols come in. It’s a given that there would
trolled right at the location. be one or two corner cases, which might
get missed. But the value that you’re
Kavitha Mohammad
What’s the advantage in not having it generating out of putting something on a
Director, IoT & Smart Cities at Intel
centrally analysed? Asia Pacific Japan grid probably far exceeds that.
Kavitha: Bandwidth and security con- (full interview at dgit.in/IntelIoTdgt716)

110 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Warcraft movie takes crown I Sea app pulled
Warcraft has officially become the highest I Sea, an iOS app was pulled from the
grossing video game movie ever, thanks to China app store after reports that it didn’t
http://dgit.in/wrcrftmv actually work http://dgit.in/appnowork Industry Connect

ARM’s RISC-y real

time computing
Lesser known than its speedier A series chips, there’s
a new star in ARM’s Cortex R lineup, the Cortex R8. It’s
a fast-paced CPU that can be deployed in a variety of
storage, networking and cellular data operations. We
spoke with Neil Werdmuller, Product Manager at ARM,
about what makes Cortex R8 so great!
Jayesh Shinde Is ARM playing an active role in defining
jayesh@digit.in future tech standards?
Neil: In some of the areas, we do take a
Any scenarios where all three Cortex A, reasonably active role. It depends on
M and R processors are working in unison? some of the standards. There are a lot
Neil: In a mobile phone, it’s the most of them. Some of the emerging IOT
complex example. But, often today, to run ones. We’re working with a lot of
Android, you have the Cortex A series operators as well, because in IOT,
processors running that OS, upto Octa there are lot of different com-
Core or even above, now. Behind all those peting options, at the moment. Neil Werdmuller
core, you can manage the power consump- From the LTE standards coming up, to Product Manager, ARM
tion very well, run it in Idle mode, with the LTE standards now, and LTM, and it’s
a single, small core, and fire up the big increasing quite rapidly. We understand we move into IOT and wearables, it’s really
cores, when you need the performance. what’s coming, and we make sure that the gonna have some major benefits in other
But, underneath that, the modem is Cortex processors are available at the right time areas, like health, and lot of those areas.
R, so even before Cortex R, the modems for that to be there. 5G hasn’t been defined,
were traditionally being using real time but we’re having to develop processors On behalf of our younger readers, what
processors as well. In total, in terms of now, that cater to 5G, because when we sort of skill set is required if you’re going to
how many cellular modems have used launch a processor, say in February this be employed in the next decade?
ARM technology is more than year, it will probably take a year Neil: I see that, by definition, these are
20 billion. It’s amazing when you before the processors are really embedded devices. So, whether it’s a fridge
think about it, it’s almost 3 times the in working modems. So, it’s kinda that’s connected, or whether it’s a sensor
number of people on the planet. chicken and egg. So, we make sure in a meter, it’s all about small and efficient
the egg’s available at the the earliest. code, making Cortex Ms very power
And we assume that number is efficient. I think (it is) at the moment one
only going to go up? What are some of the emerging trends of the areas that are all gonna require like
Neil: Yes, I mean, what we see, with that you see coming out, that are probably C programming. There is a really pending
more and more subscribers. But also, it’s at the inception stage? skill shortage in embedded, and under-
not just about having their own mobile ARM: Wearables, a diverse range of standing how to make all these small
phones, we’re also seeing their cars having wearables, are very interesting. Some of devices, make them really efficient, really
their own modems, laptops having the those are the obvious fitness trackers, but reliable. I think people can generate very
ability to have LTE and 5G built in. The I think in some of the areas, they already specific skillsets on how understanding
internet has things as well. I think the have dramatic changes. If you want to start how sensors work, and all these different
LTE, they’re clearly going to sync things monitoring diabetes, for example, just things. At the low level, i think it’s impor-
running on smaller technology like WiFi remotely, and you can manage that, So, tant to know how to bring them up and
or Bluetooth. I think you’re going to see probably, my personal view, rather than make them work. There’s gonna be huge
a huge growth in the number of modems ARM view, is today a lot of this high tech variety of devices, and there will be huge
that are there. It is exciting, and a very big is great with connecting people, playing opportunities, for anyone who under-
growth area. games, social networks, but I do think as stands the technology.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 111

 Live Vids on Tumblr Even the depths aren’t safe
With everyone else joining the fray, Tumblr The World’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench
has decided that it too wants in on the live is also reportedly full of garbage
Industry Connect video dept http://dgit.in/livetumblr http://dgit.in/trenchtrash

High-performance GPU compute

NVIDIA and VMWare talk about how they’re taking GPU-based
computing to a whole new level in the enterprise space
Jayesh Shinde protocol called Last Extreme. How exactly encoding and the decoding will be done on
jayesh@digit.in is it advantageous compared to the existing the software layer. Today, the reality is, we
protocols in the TCP/IP space? all carry mobile phones, when you want to
GPU virtualization is a tough cookie VMWare: You know that protocols in the download any application on your phone,
to crack. Could you shed some light past, like RDP, TCP/IP, these are all like the first thing that you ask is how much
on that? And is VMware’s decision to the proprietor protocols that they’ve built battery does it consume? Users want an
partner with NVIDIA based on the fact into it. What happens is, in these technolo- app which consumes less battery life, less
they occupy a dominant gies, we all think of Netflix battery, and is able to comfortably run for
market share, or is there as a company. In the US, many hours.
something in their tech- I see this trend of Netflix, Speaking of Codecs, we know that
nology that is better than you buy a $20 device, H.265 is now the upcoming standard in all
their competitors? which is Android based, low wattage devices. Even small 4 watts, or
VMWare: That’s a very and you can comfortably 6 watt embedded processors have support
good question, but from watch a movie on those for X.265. That’s one advantage of using
a leader standpoint, small devices. X.265 over X.264.
NVIDIA is the market
leader, when it comes to Do you know how is it NVIDIA: Moving on to the part where
graphics virtualization. possible to do that? graphics intensive apps are required by
There are other vendors VMWare: What they have the user. Here, in the market today, if you
also in the market, they done is, instead of creating categorize into 4 kinds of users – which
have also had support proprietory technology, is typically what we do – we start with
compatibilities, what Ramesh Vantipalli they’ve used a lot of this task workers. Task workers are basically
they’re creating with VMWare technology on these the users who use apps like SAP, Task-
VMware and our vendors. underlying platforms force, Windows, PowerPoint. These are
More or less, the moment you think about like Windows, Mac, or Android, and iOS, the things categorized as task workers.
graphics, the first name you think of is or any other device in So what is it, in VMware,
NVIDIA, and there is also the innovation. the market, today. One of three years back, before
Look at the amount of work we do, among the common thing in the NVIDIA, we were pres-
NVIDIA and VMware. It is phenomenal. It market today is the X.264. sured by consumers
is not about a product to product partner- The advantage here is, if who said, that they can’t
ship, we do co-engineering, between these you look into the TCP/IP, use a computer without
companies. We ensure that the technology or RDP protocols, these graphics. VMware is
seamlessly integrates into the virtualiza- protocols use coding and a known company for
tion technology, so the customer can get encoding, and encrypting virtualizations. Anything
the wonderful experience, when they’re and decrypting, because in the world you want to
actually working on this. We ensure, in at the end of the day, virtualize, we do it. We did
fact, we will talk more on the NVIDIA you’re rendering pixel something called software
side, we went into the extent of try grit. If form data to an endpoint based 3D around 3 years
you have a problem with something, on device. Decrypting is back. That’s the one that
the cloud, you can request for a desktop, done in the data center, Sundara Ramalingam basically help you with
it’s at your fingertips, and it can run the and you’re just seeing NVIDIA play-doh kind of apps to
most complex applications, whether it be the pixels, and you’re work on.
2D or 3D apps, and then you can look into actually interacting with that, and the When you move on to knowledge
the performance, and take a decision. execution is actually done in the cloud, workers, people use OpenGL, DirectX
in case of desktop virtualization. If you applications. The next level is power
I was going through your documenta- really see this, the protocols use a software users, people who use Adobe. Then in
tion, regarding VMware Horizon 7, and mechanism, that means you install a client the Designer levels, there’s Siemens,
seems you’ve implemented a new profiling software, on an endpoint, and both the AutoCAD, which are really high level.

112 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 PS Vue on Roku Mrs. Obama joins Snapchat
Sony’s PlayStation Vue TV service is not Michelle Obama has joined Snapchat and is
available on Roku on TVs set-top boxes giving her followers snaps of the white house and
http://dgit.in/vueonroku her activities http://dgit.in/MsObama Industry Connect

Akamai on gaming security

Gaming companies are a phishing attack, take over one of their
e-commerce passwords, and then they’ll
increasingly storing more use a tool called “Account Checker”. If you
information on the cloud go to YouTube, and search for “Account
and delivering content on Checker game”, you can videos in which
a requirement basis to the people are demoing their tools, and
recording it. They’ll take a list, and it’s
end user. With an influx of usually username or email, and then to get
new users, comes the need the password, they’ll look it up in the tool,
for more security which will go through a series of proxies,
and see which one those it can actually
Mithun Mohandas log in to. Then the tool reports back to the
mithun@digit.in attacker, and then they’ll publish these
on different sites, or they’ll log into the
We know that Akamai is primarily a CDN. account as the user, and find some way to
We recently also found out that Akamai has cash out the user’s account. So these are
a play in gaming enablement. What can checking out, gift all of the user’s goods
you tell us about that? Michael Smith, APJ Security CTO to someone else, they’ll see if the user has
Akamai: So, in gaming we do a lot of things. Akamai Technologies a card stored, buy material, find a way
Me, specifically, I’m the Chief Technology to have it shipped to them, then sell it on
Officer of Security for all of Asia. We have for whatever reason, and you actually eBay. Basically, whatever way they can
customers that get attacked all the time. need to have the resources to support that cash out of the account, they’ll go do that.
So we built a response team to go help particular game. After the holidays for But, we’ve seen that it’s almost a pandemic,
respond to such instances. Apart from example we see a lot of users have new at this point. It’s surprising to see how
that say you want a mobile game, we’re the devices, and suddenly they’re connecting heavily it’s happening within gaming.
ones that deliver it to you. There are lots them all, and downloading content. So, we
of games that have DLC (Downloadable have kind of this flash crowd, especially We’ve heard these hackers are a
Content), and even large updates to the around the end of the year, and some of tough bunch and they have an arsenal of
core game. Developers use us to deliver the other holidays. Ramadan and Eid for constantly evolving techniques – those
that, because, there’s no traffic to the sites example are becoming holidays in their that are run remotely and those that are
that have their downloadable content, and own right. You’ve got some attackers, out client sided. These client sided techniques
then they release it, and everybody wants there. There was one holiday, like five take effect before even the data reaches
it at once. We do quite a bit for the console years ago, where Anonymous decided that Akamai’s servers. So how does Akamai
manufacturers; things like the registration they were going to attack one particular combat these techniques?
process for the device, the management of game. But, it was just a casual, semi social Akamai: If you understand the way that
the user’s online account, all of that takes game. They were actually going to crash our servers work, users follow a DNS to get
place through our servers, depending it during the holidays, just with a simple to our servers, and then they make request,
on which particular platform it is. Then, DDOS attack, in order to force kids to so we function like a proxy. So, in line there,
pretty much a slice across all that. spend time with their families. I actually we have a web application firewall, we’ve
might agree with some of the spirit of what had it for about 6+ years, almost 7 years. It
What are the key challenges with the they were trying to do there. But, officially, basically adds a security policy, on top of
current ecosystem? I can’t. But really what it comes down to the delivery configuration. So you can look
Akamai: For India it’s definitely on the is: the resources required and the security at a source IP address, and then when they
mobile side. On the mobile side, there knowledge. Gaming publishers, for the send too many login requests, like say five
are lots of people writing games, and the most part, depending on which publisher, requests in 5 seconds, there’s not a human
barrier to writing games is very small. might or might not have dedicated security attached to that. There’s some kind of auto-
But you’ll have publishers that will write resources. So, a simple thing is just account mated program. So, you can lock them out
a large number of games, and they don’t take over. If you look at account takeover, for 10 minutes. Or you can require that the
know which ones will be successful. So, we see it in other places than gaming. request looks a certain way.
it’s really hard to figure out how much to Users reuse credentials across multiple (For full interview head over to
provision. If one game is very popular, sites. Attackers know this. So, they’ll do dgit.in/akamaidgtjly16)

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 113

PLAYED

Witcher 3:
Blood & Wine
Total War:
Warhammer
Battleborn
VOLUME 14
Homefront: * ISSUE 07 JULY 2016
*
A 9.9 Media Publication
The Revolution

MOAR
How hackers
shaped the video
games industry

D r e s s e d
to Pl a y
How to m
a ster the a r t o f c o splaying

E3 2016
The announcements that really mattered this year!
CONTENTS | JULY 2016

120 DOOM 122 Total War: Warhammer

132 The Art of Cosplay 137 Hacking: A gaming menace

117 | Mobile monthly 128 | Battleborn

MOAR 124 | Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

126 | Homefront: The Revolution
130 | E3 2016: What happened!

Bring SKOAR!
To life by following
these Simple Steps:

Original
Whenever we get espe-
When someone says HL3 is dead
Duration: 8 sec
The impenetrable shield
Duration: 2 min 14 sec
How pro gamers play CS
Duration: 21 sec
cially inspired by a gaming Say what you want to a PC The prophecy foretold the Team SKOAR’s busy leveling
moment, we try to share gamer, but never, and we presence of a Greatshield in up the CSGO competitive
it on our Facebook page. mean never, say that a certain The Division. We had high ladder. And they just recently
Take a look at some of the Valve game will never release hopes! Boo-hoo-hoo... learned how “pros” truly play.
stuff we’ve created so far. http://dgit.in/SKOorg1 http://dgit.in/SKOorg2 http://dgit.in/SKOorg3

116 | SKOAR! | JULY 2015 Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/SKOAR Follow us on Twitter: @skoar
 PHE ACH U R

Try out these games on your smartphone you must!

By Anusha ‘Trillian’ Sinha

Redcon Cars Battle

R I
edcon has been created by Hex- magine a dangerous demolition
age, a developer of some truly derby with a hundred cars where
awesome games like Radiant, each driver has only one objective: to
Reaper, Radiant Defense and Ever- kill all others and remain the only one
lands. Like some of the other strategy 8.8 standing. (Sort of a vehicular Hunger
games by them, Redcon too requires a Games, if you will) These drivers will go
rigorous application of the player’s to any lengths, chasing their opponents
analytical skills. Redcon is also availa- Sky Force into clouds of noxious gas to extinguish

Reloaded their spirit. And it’s not just ordinary

bumping into each other that they are

F
or anyone who hasn’t come keen on, they also have weapons, like
across the original Sky Force, the spectacularly modded cars in Mad
Sky Force Reloaded definitely Max. Now, stretch that imagination just
8.7 deserves your time and phone a little bit farther and remove all images
memory. of grit and gore and picture this derby
Sky Force Reloaded takes a classic happening in a sleepy little desert town.
scrolling shooter and makes it much Also, your truck is more of the ice-
more refined to create a game which cream variety than the monster. If you
ble on Steam.The aim of the game is to holds its own amongst a series of have been able to visualise this, you
ensure the continued existence of an almost identical games. The graphics have a pretty good idea of what Cars-
Empire State established by a ‘Fuhrer’ are top-notch, with incredibly detailed Battle is all about.
in an alternate reality where the First 3D landscapes and glorious boss
World War never ended. The major tanks which take up half the screen.
threat to the State are the rebellious The bosses are magnificent and
Krux forces led by the traitorous Gen- equipped with a range of weapons.
eral Kranz. This only heightens the pleasure of
The game features really distinctive taking them down.
graphics; with towers and military out-
posts silhouetted against gloomy, over-
For players of the original game, this
rendition might be enjoyable or an
8
cast skies reminiscent of Badland and utter disappointment based on the
bunkers and various supply rooms level of difficulty you prefer. If you’re Despite the existence of
which are more like those found in Fall- looking for a cakewalk, you won’t find it similar games like Smashy Roads:
out Shelter. Explosions are brilliant in the newer version.There is an incred- Wanted, CarsBattle still manages to be
flashes of colour and every new land- ible variety of enemies to face and this uniquely entertaining. There are plenty
scape is exquisitely designed. makes the game satisfyingly challeng- of weapons scattered about and these
Redcon is an absolute must for all ing. Sky Force Reloaded is an out- include a machine gun and a bazooka.
fans of tower defence, strategy and standing game which merits your CarsBattle is a wildly delightful gaming
brilliantly made games. attention. Period. experience that shouldn’t be missed.

follow us on: twitter.com/skoar JULY 2016 | SKOAR! | 117

 PHE ACH U R
9.4

Mekorama Mekorama features a dazed, dizzy

robot who must make his way to goals

M
any games after Monument Val- scattered across elaborately designed
ley tried to capture the charming levels or ‘mechanical dioramas’. These
storytelling and captivating levels feature blocks of water, movable
game design perfected in it but none parts activated by buttons, stairs and lit-
succeeded quite as well as Mekorama. tle patches of greenery built from the
This game not only does justice to the bottom up. The protagonist is adorably ly infinite. The level creator is immensely
aesthetics first exemplified by Monu- designed and his shaky steps as he fol- easy to use and anybody can make a
ment Valley but really raises the bar to a lows your directions make him even new level within minutes. The best part of
whole new level. And there is no need to more endearing. The graphics are gor- the game is that it actually challenges
worry about your phone memory while geous with crisp details and clean lines your mind. While the puzzles in Monu-
getting this one, the entire game is pack- adding a sense of solidity to its world. ment Valley were mostly based on optical
aged in just 5.2MB! There are no ads and An awesome feature of this game is illusions, those in Mekorama rely on sim-
no in-app purchases. The most you will the ability to create your own levels and ple interconnected mechanics. If you
encounter in lieu of ads is a request from share them with others using a unique play only one puzzle game this month, let
the developer to repay his efforts. QR code. This makes the game potential- it be Mekorama. It is well worth it.

Cosmic Challenge shut-off and press a button mindlessly which ends up yielding
an experience which, while not being very challenging, showers

C
osmic Challenge features an expansive world of asteroids the player with points for instant gratification.
and planets where the racing track is not just dangerous, Cosmic Challenge, however, does no such thing. You will have
it is interstellar. The tracks wind about asteroids and bar- to fight your way to the top rung of the extra-terrestrial racing
rel-roll near stars. The game controls are a ladder. There are plenty of ships and
bit iffy for a mobile game, however, you 8 upgrades available in the in-game store. A
might not take much time to become great plus point, also one that it share
comfortable with the new controls and with Mekorama, is the ability to create
when you do, you will relish how respon- your own levels. The game is almost as
sive the ship is to your every tap and tilt. fun as Riptide.
Cosmic Challenge is a rewarding game in Cosmic Challenge is the game for you
the long run because you will actually if you are tired of racing on just plain
have to build your skills to get better at it. ground. Why race on Earth when you can
Many mobile games require you to just race among the stars?

Big Hunter mammoth every day in order to provide

food to his tribe. Before going any further,
spear right into the mammoth’s head.
The health points of the mammoth

B
ig Hunter is a minimalist game we must address the elephant in the increase with every day and it becomes
about hunting down a mammoth, room. Yes, the premise is fraught with progressively harder to kill. Along with
not a task to be undertaken very historical inaccuracies but who cares as this, the game adds different restrictions
lightly. The story behind Big Hunter is long as the game is fun. Which it is, inci- like time or limits the number of spears
that the leader of a Bushman tribe has to dentally. If you thought to fight with a big, you can use to add some more intrigue
venture into the outback and hunt a hairy pachyderm would be boring, you to the game.
were wrong! The brave tribal leader ven- The tricky part here is timing the
tures into the outback every single day retreat and the launch of the spear care-
and faces the murderous beast with a fully so no weapon is wasted by getting
cautious smile on his face. deflected by the tusks of the woolly
The design is minimalist, and the beast. The mammoth gets more and
soundtrack is upbeat and lively. more enraged the lower its health goes
There are only two controls, a tap to and comes charging after the hunter. If
7.7 make the hunter retreat and another pull you are not quick to retreat, the mauled
back and release mechanism to aim the mammoth tosses you around. What fun!

118 | SKOAR! | JULY 2016 follow us on: facebook.com/SKOAR

 PHE ACH U R

Nonstop Knight Air Attack 2

N A
onstop Knight is about a knight ir Attack 2 is another scroller
who is relentless in his crusade shooter but with a difference.
to rid the dungeons of its careful The scrolling is not just vertical
assortment of monsters and the like. 8.5 and the plane veers around corners
The cinch or the benefit (depending on
perspectives) of this game is that it
MMX Hill and in circles automatically. The player
still retains partial control during these
requires you to do very little. The only Climb times. The lack of control during turns

M
control that you have over the knight is MX Hill Climb is the successor is more than compensated for by the
limited to choosing upgrades and spe- to MMX racing, the hugely added layer of movement brought by
cial attacks. The knight keeps on slash- popular monster-truck racing it. Instead of just moving forward in the
ing through the various monsters and game. MMX Hill Climb features mon- single file, now your plane barrel rolls
all you can really do is observe as your ster trucks as well, but this time around over European cities in a bid to bring
tiny protagonist rakes in the moolah the objective of the game is to guide down the Axis powers. Another major
and continues fighting without much them up tracks built into a treacherous difference between Air Attack and Sky
assistance from you at all. hilly terrain. There are a huge number Force Reloaded is the addition of a his-
The game has splendid graphics, of tracks available for you to try your torical context to the former.
with bright colours accentuated by skills on. The controls are super Air Attack 2 is easily one of the best
neon ones and cartoonish monsters smooth and guiding the truck across designed mobile games out there. The
which include mummies and trolls. The tricky roads is almost a breeze. The attention to detail is singular. Entire cit-
focus of the game is collecting roads themselves are filled with all ies with ornately designed houses and
manner of objects and hurdles like cathedrals lie far below the planes and
beach balls, traffic cones, abandoned the continual dogfight in the skies. The
piles of pipes and whatnot. explosions are highly pleasing and tow-
There is a lot of choice available as ering buildings are destroyed in a

7.5 to which vehicle you can choose and

these are unlocked by the standard
vibrant flash of light and you can actu-
ally watch each individual part disinte-
mechanism of using in-game coins or grate. Planes careen down into the city
paying actual money for them. The after being shot and slowly become
vehicles include the Big Rig, a tank and smaller, accurately conveying the illu-
the Muscle Classic, among many oth- sion of depth.
armours and weapons and building ers. Each race in MMX Hill Climb pits The game is filled with little surpris-
‘skills’ to kill bosses. Depending on how you against another player who is es. For example, in one level the plane
much you like clicker games, Nonstop either a friend or a random player from actually enters a factory building and
Knight is just the game for you or anywhere in the world. You witness the
something to steer clear from. other player navigating the tortuous
You can constantly upgrade your track along with you in real time. This
knight and climb up your way to the way, the competition is always fierce.
top of the leaderboards. One advan- There are only two controls, one for
tage that this game has got going for acceleration, which lends the vehicle a
itself is that it can be played without an right tilt while in the air and another for
internet connection. This makes it ideal the brake, which makes it turn left.
to be played for really short durations The game has a robust physics
on a fairly regular basis. engine and this makes its presence felt
Another feature is that your knight is in the way the car bounces over the 9
nonstop in the true sense of the word; tracks or bumps into the obstacles.
he does not rest even when you stop The graphics deserve special mention
playing. As a result, there will always be and are as good as that of MMX Rac-
a lot of loot to collect every time you ing. The cars are bold, bright and outra- proceeds to take out the guns and
come back to the game. The game’s a geous and even the backgrounds are flamethrowers contained within it.
lot of fun because who doesn’t love pretty detailed. However, despite its Although Air Attack 2 does have a
watching a knight courageously take cartoony feel, this game is no cake- small advantage with its spellbinding
down the bad guys? Time for some walk. It’s a true racer’s game, with just graphics and tiny innovations, both
medieval fun! the right amount of zing to it. games are pretty amazing.

follow us on: twitter.com/skoar JULY 2016 | SKOAR! | 119

 9

The FPS genre has a new king and it has Doom written all over it
By Abhijit “babumoshaaye” Dey

fter suffering a disappointing crisis by trying to harness demonic damage. Thanks to an upgrade, you’ll
response from Doom 3, Id energy. Having played through several be able to shoot double shots with the
has completely replaced all levels, it’s not difficult to realise that twin-barrelled shotgun, something
the scepticism from the fran- the story is hardly the focus of the unusual but so are the other weapons
chise with its new title, and developers but more about the bril- in the game. Doom’s single-player
boy, it’s been a long time since we liant gameplay. mode isn’t short, and having the
loved a first-person shooter so much. upgrade system brings in a new mech-
The biggest contributing factor to New weapon system anism every time. This ensures that
this joy is the return of the fast-paced Already mentioned earlier, big guns the game doesn’t become monoto-
gameplay where you go berserk on are back including the popular Super nous as you progress in the story.
demons with all the classic weapons Shotgun and the BFG, rocket launcher You’ll have two modifications for most
making a comeback. But will Doom and plasma rifle. The new upgrade of the weapons to be switched in-
stay the reigning champion for first- system adds a lot of additional func- game. These modifications can be
person shooters, the way it did back tionality to rip apart demons which upgraded through Field Drones spread
in the 90s? aren’t essential since you’ll still be out across the map, not necessarily in
As you start up the game, it doesn’t able to mow down enemies in the plain sight. You’ll also come across
feed you a long background story and barebone mode. But at higher difficul- upgrade points for your primary suit
in no time, you’re already crushing ty levels, it becomes incredibly easier to increase your maximum health,
demons with your bare hands. The to die and these upgrades become armour and ammunition. In order to
story is set on Mars where a corpora- advantageous. We spent most of the hit new weapons early, you’ll have to
tion successfully makes contact with game with the Super Shotgun do a lot of exploring since some of
Hell, in an attempt to solve an energy because of the satisfying recoil and them are hidden away from the basic

120 | SKOAR! | JULY 2016 follow us on: facebook.com/SKOAR

 RE E V U

path to your next location. But the your health and ammo bar always ing every crevice you find on the map
developers have gone easy on us by filled up. Movement feels smooth is coming across their hidden (not too
placing the weapons later in the game. throughout and they have incorporat- hard to find) rune trials. The rune sys-
The weapon system is rewarding when ed nostalgic Easter eggs in the game tem gives to access to special abilities
you kill using the chainsaw since it that you wouldn’t want to miss. One of and power-ups that can be equipped
drops a lot of ammo. them includes small areas from the from the inventory.
original 1993 Doom game preserved Blowing up demons and pulling
G(l)ory kills with the same graphics. One such area their limbs apart is a gorily beautiful
To break away from just letting you put is available in every level and you’ll affair because of the way it has been
bullets into the demons, Id has imple- need to keep a lookout on a lever that implemented. You’ll come across a
mented the Glory Kill system, and they opens up a wall somewhere on the new demon at every level, and once
are a treat to execute and watch. map. After a quick breeze through a you’re aware of their abilities and
Essentially, when you’ve dealt a lot of couple of levels, you’ll be convinced movements, they appear in hordes
damage to a demon, they start glow- how the game encourages you to look later and show no mercy. Further in
ing blue and as you near them, they around every corner of the map, since the game, you’ll also have boss fights,
glow orange, which is your cue to tear at times it becomes your only hope to an essential part of a DOOM game.
them apart with your bare hands in a stay alive. Another advantage to enter- When waves of demons attack, your
grotesque way. These kills aren’t only best bet would be to never stop mov-
for your viewing pleasure but they TESTING RIG ing. You’ll be losing health drastically
have an added mechanic of dropping MOTHERBOARD: AsRock Z170 Extreme7+ and while you shoot them down, you
health that has managed to save our CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K will need to keep collecting health and
lives several times while facing demon RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR4 (2x16GB) ammo on the way. Horde fights occur
waves. Glory kills are different for each GPU: Zotac GTX 980 AMP! Extreme at huge arenas which can be scaled
demon and trust us when we say that (Graphics), Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme vertically and once you collect the
you won’t get tired of using it over and (PhysX) Jump Boots, double jump highly
over again. There are multiple anima- STORAGE: SanDisk Extreme II SSD affects the gameplay. Some levels do
tions for them, dependent on the loca- PSU: Corsair HX1050 include a lot of jumping over to plat-
tion and body part you aim before MONITOR: BenQ BL3201PT forms and stone slabs, especially in
going for a glory kill. Hell, but once you’ve mastered dou-
MOAR ble-jumping, it becomes easy.
Levels and demons DEVELOPER: id Software
There’s a lot of verticality to the game, PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks Performance
and double jump enhances explora- PLATFORM: PC, PS4, Xbox One Speaking about the performance,
tion. The levels are huge, with a lot of PRICE: `2,999 (PC), `3,199 (PS4), `3,499 Doom doesn’t fall short anywhere. At
area to cover, and the more you (Xbox One) times, you’ll be surrounded with
explore, the better chances of having hordes of different types of demons in
rich dynamic environments but we
didn’t witness any stuttering or tear-
ing. “PC gaming is in our DNA here at
id”, says a blog post from Bethesda
and they have rightfully delivered. We
ran the game on an i7-6700K machine
with the GTX 980 pushing graphics
and a GTX 970 tackling PhysX. On
maxed out settings, we were able to
achieve about 160 fps at 1920x1080
resolution while we hit a maximum fps
of 40 on 4k resolution. Sometimes, we
observed the framerate capping at 60
fps even though V-sync had been
turned off. Upon investigating online,
the temporary fix was to switch
between windowed mode and back to
fullscreen mode. Other than that,
there weren’t any qualms.

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 RE E V U

8.5

The marriage between Total War and the Warhammer universe has
given birth to arguably the best Total War game yet. Here’s why...
By Manish “Trigger-Happy” Rajesh

T
he Total War games have tions in the game, i.e., The Empire (or These aspects also hugely change the
been around for quite a the humans), The Greenskins (or approach and playstyle a player would
while now and they’re well Orcs), the Dwarves, and The Vampire have to use when playing as each of
known for their historical Counts (or the undead), and there’s these factions, ensuring that no \two
accuracy when it came to Chaos as well but they’re playable via factions feel alike.
replicating war campaigns of the past. DLC. But unlike previous Total War Take the Greenskins for example,
In fact, all these years that has been titles, there’s a huge disparity between they have a separate meter that meas-
their primary selling point. Naturally, each faction’s units and skillsets. They ures the “Fightiness” of their armies.
when it was first announced that next even interact with each other differ- To raise your Fightiness you need to
Total War would be set in the Warham- ently. Humans can be more prone to keep on fighting and winning. Stop
mer Universe, many doubted about the fear inducing units of the Undead fighting or lose too often and it goes
how that would turn out. All we can or Chaos factions than the Green- down. Once your Fightiness is high
say after playing it though, is why skins. At the same time, while the enough, the Orcs will actually band
wasn’t this done sooner?! Humans would never form an Alliance together and form a bonus army
with the Chaos faction, the Undead called a “Waaagh!”. While maintaining
Factions don’t really mind too much. and raising multiple armies is a huge
What you’ll immediately notice when Each faction has some unique expense for other factions, the Orcs
you pick up Total War: Warhammer is aspect about itself that makes playing can get them for free, which encourag-
the factions. Well in this case, it’s more as them all the more enjoyable, if you es players to continue their attacks,
like races. There’s four playable fac- figure out how to utilise it that is. keeping true to the nature of Orcs.

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 Similarly dwarves have a “Book of
Grudges”. They won’t be forgetting
anything or anyone who’s wronged
them anytime soon, and exacting
revenge on anyone in your Book of
Grudges will get you bonus rewards. At
the same time, letting too many
grudges pile up will cost you with a
drop in public order..
The Vampire Counts primarily want
to spread their corruption across the
land. Other factions suffer attrition
damage when traversing over corrupt-
ed lands. Similarly, undead armies
also suffer from attrition damage
when not on corrupted land. This basi-
cally ensures that players will want to
expand in order to spread corruption MOAR
and move farther without suffering PLATFORM Windows, Linux, Mac OS
attrition damage. Furthermore, the PUBLISHER Sega
undead can instantly replenish their STUDIO Creative Assembly
numbers by raising dead without hav- PRICE `2,499
ing to wait or spend turns recruiting CONFIG Intel Core i7-2600k, 16GB RAM,
like other factions, however they cost Nvidia GTX680 (2GB), 55GB SSD, 1TB HDD,
more than the traditional method and Logitech G105 Gaming Keyboard, Dragon War
they’re limited to a weaker tier of ELE-G9 Thor Gaming Mouse
units. But in provinces where large
battles have taken place, a more pow-
erful tier units is available to raise, you story in there as well. The story of the and its camera. While the AI is com-
know, because of all the corpses. Lord you picked to lead your faction. paratively much smarter than previ-
The Empire faction is where old Story markers which represent battles ous Total War titles, they could be
time Total War players will feel most at will pop up on the map as you pro- exploited, especially when it came to
home. They have recognisable units gress with your Lord, and will offer diplomacy. Another thing was the
that players will feel slightly more powerful items to aid your Lord deci- camera, you can only zoom out so
familiar with, such as knights and mate his foes. These aren’t easy bat- much before it took you to the tactical
spearmen, than compared to say a tles and often times these markers view. While it’s tempting to zoom all
Vargheist or a Hexwraith. Also they’re may appear half way across the map, the way in and watch the action up
better at diplomacy than other fac- so you might actually miss out on the close, one needs to keep an eye on all
tions, naturally. It’s not surprising to story. Which kind of sucks since armies and that was hard to do when
see The Empire forming alliances with they’re actually quite gripping and the the camera could only zoom out so
neighbouring city-states and estab- rewards aren’t half bad either. much. Despite this the world of War-
lishing trade routes and such. Next we have the battles. You hammer looks amazing. You can easily
What we can derive from all of this should note that this is a fantasy distinguish parts of the map and while
is that each faction is unique and war- game, so expect to see Giants tossing it is a large map, factions are limited
rants a different approach and play- armies aside and magical spells being when it comes to expanding.
style in order to succeed. Unlike previ- hurled about. Each faction have their
ous Total War games, your Lords, own advantages and disadvantages, Overview
Heroes, Generals, Agents, whatever and magic did not have as much of an It’s rare when a strategy game keeps
you want to call them, actually feel rel- impact as we thought it would in this you vested right from the start all the
evant and impactful. game’s universe. way to the end, but Total War: War-
hammer has managed to pull it off.
Story and Battles Technicalities Any who doubted that a marriage of
It’s a Total War game, of course it has a Total War: Warhammer suffers from Total War and Warhammer would not
campaign, but what’s important to some of the usual quirks that most work, well you can clear those doubts,
note here is that there’s an underlying Total War games suffer from- its AI as it has worked splendidly.

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 9

Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine packs more action in an

expansion pack than most full-priced games
By Videep “fr4k” Vijay Kumar

ne thing’s for certain: immersive world of Toussaint, emergent character into Blood and Wine, but a min-
we’re not going to be systems and consistent evolution of imum level of 35 is recommended to kick
seeing much more of gameplay over the years reaches its peak off your journey. Like the game’s previous
Geralt after Blood and in the latest expansion, while some minor expansion, you will be able to create fresh
Wine, and arguably, annoyances do make appearances. But in character at level 35 as well—a good
that’s the most disap- the end, series fans have several dozen option if you feel you need to re-spec all
pointing thing about hours of Witcher content to sink their your stats and abilities. Your journey then
The Witcher 3’s second teeth into, and for those of you who begins in the noticeboard at Mulbrydale—
and final expansion. This is CD Projekt haven’t played The Witcher 3 at all, this is a quick chat and skirmish will ensue, after
Red saying goodbye to the monster the perfect time to grab the game and its which you are taken to the wonderful,
slayer who has stolen many hearts and expansion to experience the complete charming new area of Toussaint, a pictur-
minds (literally, on occasion). story in one shot. esque, high-fantasy take on the south of
Blood and Wine is not necessarily a France, untouched by war.
game changer as it is a relative high point The masquerade It doesn’t take long before you’re
in the execution of The Witcher formula. If you’ve played the base game before, thrust into action once again, and it’s
The combination of powerful storytelling, you will be able to carry forward your this sort of pacing that sets Blood and

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 RE E V U

Wine apart, even from the base game. much as anything. There will still be plen- mies which will require a fair bit of tacti-
There are beasts to hunt, mysteries to ty of time to laze in your own vineyard, cal play (pro tip: invest in Igni and Yrden
solve, gear to acquire and more RPG ride around aimlessly on horseback, or this time and don’t rely on Quen as
stuff to do. Toussaint is the quintessen- more importantly, get some Gwent prac- much), ranging from hard-hitting
tial Witcher realm—beautiful on the out- tice in before the standalone game comes brutes, crafty arachnids to fast-paced
side, with a dark underbelly. out. There’s an all-new Skellige deck with invisible apparitions.
over 40 cards, and a tournament to test Blood and Wine also introduces a new
The lazy detective your card playing skills. skill system which revolves around Muta-
Geralt is tasked by the duchess of Tous- tions. Once you’ve completed a second-
saint to eliminate the mysterious beast The fashion-conscious soldier ary quest, a new upgrade system will be
terrorizing her lands. Investigating a While it has been argued that combat is available to Geralt. Unlock new skill slots
series of murders is his first goal, deci- a weak point in The Witcher 3, I’ve and 12 mutations in total by using ability
phering a pattern and playing Sherlock always felt that it was easy enough to points or mutagens. Gain passive abilities,
Holmes to predict the next victim. During not feel too casual and complex enough empowering melee attacks, sign intensity,
the course of twenty-or-so hours, expect to reward strategy. If you dislike The offering speed boosts or dismembering
to spend a fair amount of time doing a Witcher 3’s combat, Blood and Wine is foes with fatal blows. While only one
Witcher’s work for meagre pay, but keep not going to change your mind, howev- Mutation can be active at a time, combin-
in mind that this is a sandbox game as er. Expect to encounter a variety of ene- ing it with mutagens can give Geralt some
crazy damage buffs.
An additional armour tier (“Grand-
master”) is also introduced. These are
not cheap to craft and diagrams are not
easy to come by, but they have the best
stats of all armour pieces. There’s no
other way to describe the visual appear-
ance of these new armour sets other
than “badass”. So if you want to look like
one, there’s a bit of wandering to do, but
it’s worth it in the end. Blood and Wine
also features armour dyes—some of
which can be purchased at shops, while
others can be crafted from diagrams.
This was clearly a much requested fea-
ture by the community (plus the fact
that a lot of us were running around
with dumb-looking mismatched armour
sets because of their stats), and it’s
good to see that it’s in the game.

The Verdict
The Witcher 3 is one of the greatest
RPGs ever made, and Blood and Wine
is a fitting farewell to everyone’s
favourite pale monster slayer.
The story is superbly written
and Toussaint is a wonderful
MOAR setting for such a dark story.
DEVELOPER Thanks to a combination of new
CD Projekt Red Studio
features, improvements and
GENRE refinements, the game hasn’t
Single Player, Role-Playing
been in a better state. Overall,
PLATFORMS
Blood and Wine offers tremen-
Windows, Xbox One, PS4
dous value for its price as it takes
PRICE
you on a gritty yet unforgettable
`740 (PC)
magical journey.

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 RE E V U

omefront: The Revolu- framerate drops. We reviewed this on rators who will report you to the author-
tion is a game which the PS4, and it never gave us a con- ities, if you do any mischief, in the so
puts you in the shoes of sistent framerate. It ran jankily, and called “Yellow Zones”. The atmosphere
a revolutionary, in the the only relief our eyes got, were the is tense, throughout the game, and it
dystopian future, where cutscenes, where the framerate doesn’t feel like the game is trying to
America has been somewhat stabilized. force the situation on you. You just sort
taken over by the North Other than that, the game has com- of sympathise, with the cause. Yes, it’s
Koreans, after a shady weapons deal bat mechanics which would immediate- that immersive.
orchestrated over decades with them ly remind one of FarCry, with the con- It has no PvP multiplayer, but it does
went sideways. stant looting, and scarcity of resources. have Co-Op multiplayer, which might
That’s enough about the story, lest I The game does a very good job at make a few potential buyers a bit shy of
spoil it anymore, for any of you who setting the atmosphere. People on the buying the game.
may want to buy the game after you’re streets, the broken apartment buildings, You’d find it relatively easy to avoid
done reading this. and the general sense of gloom in the fights in this game, so in some instanc-
conflicted zones, where the revolution is es, the game forces you to look for trou-
Gameplay in full swing. Which was in stark con- ble. To show off its gun mechanics, or to
The game is not without flaws. It plays trast to the clean, and pristine streets, show how dumb its AI really is? We
inconsistently, and gets frequent with well dressed civilians, and collabo- know not.

Homefront: The Revolution does many things right,

but it falters where it counts. Sigh.
By Ankush “ChunkyMunky” Maiti

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 Some of the missions require you
to do a lot of pointless, and some-
times repetitive grinding. It almost
gets too much, at one point, and we
were this close to giving up on com-
pleting the game.
None of the story missions are really
very remarkable, or memorable, and
you can easily complete the game in
around 3-4 hours, if you don’t do any
side missions, and if there wasn’t any
grinding to be done. It’s not like the
game doesn’t have any side missions. It
does, but it just doesn’t give you any
incentive to do them. If you’re a diehard
fan of the series, you might consider some of the really cool, but unneces- Even textures rendered really late,
doing all of them to get the 100% com- sary perks and gadgets. and sometimes, we had textures ren-
pletion achievement, and to unlock The gun customization is one strong dering a few units away from the player
point about this game. You can turn pis- character model. We assume that these
tols into smgs, at the quick press of a issues are inexistent on the PC version,
button. You can add, or remove scopes, but as mentioned before, we reviewed
and barrels, according to the need of this on the PS4.
the moment, and even do some crazy
things, like turn a shotgun into a flame- Value for Money
thrower. You can also turn a sniper into For the amount of content it gives, and
a freedom launcher and it shoots red, the quality it delivers, at `3,299, the
blue, and white sparks! (Murrica!) game is overpriced. If it’s priced like
other AAA titles, it should give you the
Graphics quality and finesse of the same.
Before we say anything bad about it, the Although, if you can pick it up for
game has amazing visuals. Some of the lesser, and the developers manage to fix
vistas are truly breathtaking, and Deep some of the glaring issues the game
Silver has done a really good job of has, go for it. If not for the gameplay, for
making a war ridden Philadelphia look the pure eye candy that the game is.
really, really gorgeous. However, it is not
all fine and dandy. This is also the point Conclusion
where the game severely falters. We As of now, we wouldn’t recommend you
played it on a 65 inch, Full HD monitor, to buy this game, but if you managed to
and the amount of screen tearing and pick it up for a dirt cheap price, and you
slow texture rendering that we got was need something to do for a few hours,
MOAR
STUDIO: Deep Silver, Dambuster abysmal. Most of us got a headache, go ahead. It has a Co-Op multiplayer
PUBLISHER: Deep Silver just watching the gameplay. mode, so if you, and your friends own a
PLATFORMS: PS4, Xbox One, Win, The framerate was inconsistent PS4, (Or XBox One, or a PC) you could
Mac, Linux throughout the game. It got worse dur- team up with your friends, and waste a
PRICE: `3,299 ing the more graphically intensive few hours killing North Korean peace-
PROS scenes. At any point, if there’s more keepers, and exploring the vast expans-
Good atmosphere than 6-7 NPCs on your screen, don’t es of a barren, war ridden Philadelphia,
Good graphics expect any framerate above 20 FPS. On which, again, looks gorgeous. Even
Gun customization a good day, the game does barely 30 though the game does very little right,
FPS inconsistently. We realise that con- whatever it does do right, it hits it right
CONS
Not very intelligent Artificial soles are not exactly capable of han- out the park. It’s the little things that
Intelligence dling graphics heavy games, and run- make it good enough to be played, but
Inconsistent framerate ning them at anything above 30 FPS is a not at the price it’s pinned at, and defi-
Lots of grinding and filler material Herculean task for them, but games nitely not, with the glaring framerate
should run at a constant framerate. issues it has, as of now.

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 RE E V U

BORN FROM THE ASHES

7
OF FPS & MOBA
Similar to Team Fortress 2 with a dash of Borderlands’ crazy fervour,
Battleborn works wonders at times...
By Hardik “fluffyVader” Singh

attleborn is a fast paced, All this makes Battleborn a little Drawn by a kindergartener
action packed FPS title with complex and far more fun to play. The The first thing you will notice about the
the potential to take on Team game comes with a fairly steep learn- game is its cartoonish look and feel. It is
Fortress 2. At first, it seems ing curve. You will have to devote hours full of bright colours. From the in-game
like an advanced version of understanding the intricacies of each menus to the actual gameplay, Battle-
Borderlands in a new, online-only pack- of the 25 playable characters, unlock- born consistently reminds you that it is
age, but it is not that simple. There are ing them by spending countless hours made by the same people who made
tanks, healers, and supports, and thus in-game, either playing story mode or Borderlands. The game starts off with
each team member will have a definitive multiplayer. Gearbox has done a fan- an Aeon Flux-like intro which is a bit
role to play. The characters themselves tastic job as the game’s core FPS long, but the intro song is mesmerising
are not that easy to kill, as is the case in mechanics are bang on, given the Bor- and gives you a glimpse of some of the
FPS games usually. No one shot kills in derlands pedigree. characters from the game. However, the
this game. Oh no, sir! in-game animations are not consistent

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and make you question wheth- movement while exploring
er they lend to the storyline. areas of the map or farming
Sometimes, there is a proper for shards. While you end up
3D cutscene and sometimes it pursuing these objectives to
just ends up like a comic strip, clear a particular level,
with static images and dia- waves of spongy enemies
logues in the background. If are thrown at you. In Battle-
you’ve played the original Max born, all the MOBA style ele-
Payne, you’ll know what we ments, though replicated
are talking about except that well, don’t add anything
Battleborn isn’t that dark. noteworthy to the gameplay
The confusion doesn’t end except for some rare nail-
there, the level design looks biting moments.
bizarrely overdone. There are Out of all game modes,
too many things to destroy ‘Incursion’ is the only game
and loot. Some levels have mode which is able to stand
pathways over you, below you out by offering Quake III
and some just don’t lead you MOAR Arena style gameplay.
anywhere. Some worlds are DEVELOPER
bright, full of neon-like colours Gearbox Software Characters
and some look pale compared PUBLISHER Previous Gearbox games,
to the others. 2K Games especially the Borderlands
GENRE franchise, had well-polished characters
The MOBA element Online FPS + MOBA which the players could connect with.
The level design becomes even more PRICE While Battleborns (Yes, the characters
complicated with the addition of `999 are called that only) do not have that
shards. These glowy cacti like things same connect, they are still pretty inter-
serve as in-game currency, which you esting. Unlike any other game we have
are required to collect in order to spend your teammate’s position, enemy’s played in the past few months, the 25
them on turrets, sentry drones and position, game timer (to assess spawn characters in this game offer one of the
more. Now, in true MOBA fashion, these times), cooldown counters and so on. most unique gaming experiences.
can be obtained by destroying stuff like Instead, Battleborn wants you to play Coming from a DOTA 2 background, I
shard boxes, exposed shard pieces as the game in split-screen with a friend, felt a bit uneasy and even frustrated ini-
well as by killing bigger enemies. which is certainly fun in an FPS fashion tially as I adjusted to the mixed game-
Adding to the MOBA gameplay, each but not fulfilling as far as the existing play style of Battleborn. However, once
of the 25 characters has a helical skill MOBA style of gameplay is concerned. I was able to understand the abilities
tree with 10 levels. This does require and experience different characters of
some getting used to in the match-lev- Mindless killing the game, I felt hooked. All 25 charac-
elling system but once you have famil- This brings us to the actual gameplay of ters, in true Gearbox fashion, are dis-
iarised yourself with the gameplay and the Battleborn. It is different, repetitive, tinctive, well designed and deliver dia-
the characters, these level-ups feel far fast-paced and full of forgetful NPCs. All logues which are sometimes funny and
less intimidating and comes naturally. gameplay modes require you to kill sometimes just there to fill in the gaps.
However, in the heat of the battle, keep- enemy NPCs, it doesn’t matter if you
ing in mind, the mechanics of each are playing a co-op campaign or trying Verdict
character especially with the three abili- your hand at multiplayer. The storyline Battleborn is a game with an identity
ties, the levelling system can become a is about saving the galaxy, if you care crisis. It’s too loud and over the top,
little overwhelming. about those things. which might not go down well with
Furthermore, the FPS style of Battle- Comprised of eight loosely linked either the FPS or MOBA community.
born’s MOBA element may not go down missions and three multiplayer modes, The gameplay is repetitive, the story
well with players who like the MOBA Battleborn struggles to maintain a bal- missions lack cohesiveness and the
genre. All major MOBA titles such as ance between FPS and MOBA. All multiplayer mode has no team vs team
Dota 2, LOL offer an isometric view of game modes with the exception of mode. Having said that, the game is a
your character and the map. It gives ‘Incursion’ are filled with objectives ton of fun, if you are in for a Team For-
you the sense of awareness over the which direct you to ‘kill this’ and ‘save tress 2 mashing up with Borderlands.
different aspects of the game, such as that’, leaving you with little-to-no free Definitely worth checking out.

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 E E V U NT

E3 2016
Highlights
E3 had a LOT to offer this year, it looks like us
gamers will go broke at this rate.

E
3 had a lot to offer this year. So
many titles, so many surprises,
so much to look forward to. Ohh
the coming years looks good for
gamers, we can smell it in the air (figu-
ratively of course). There was so much
going on it was hard to select a few
good highlights, so we picked many! :D
Let’s take a look at the best E3 had
to offer this year~

PS4 The gameplay showcases some of the Battlefield 1

A new God of War?! features in the game such as dialogue EA revealed some sweet sweet game-
God of War fans rejoice! Or don’t, what- wheels, a crafting system, and mounts. play for Battlefield 1 which featured
ever. Sony gave us a whole 10 minutes some ground warfare with tanks and
Crash is Back! stuff, a few dogfights here and there,
Everyone’s favorite bandicoot is mak- oh! and a zeppelin being pumped full of
ing a comeback. Remastered versions bullets and going down in flames.
of Crash Bandicoot 1, 2, and 3 are com-
ing to PS4. Crash will also be making an Quake Champions
appearance in Skylanders Imaginators. The Quake Champions cinematic trail-
er had us all very excited and reminisc-
The Future of Star Wars ing of our old Quake 3 days. While it
EA’s got several Star Wars games in maintains it’s arena-style first-person
the works at several studios such as shooter combat, it looks like there’ll be
Visceral Games, BioWare, Respawn, unique characters and abilities as well.
and DICE to name a few. We got a
of gameplay on their new God of War glimpse at the latest Star Wars game Mass Effect: Andromeda
title and it looks gorgeous. Is it a by Visceral Games, which is still unti- We finally got some more info about
reboot? Is it a sequel? We don’t know. tled but will feature an “original narra- Mass Effect: Andromeda. We got to see
tive and new characters”. a little bit of the game in action with
Death Standing some snippets of gameplay and even a
If you’ve been wondering what Hideo PC
Kojima has been up to since his depar- Dishonored 2
ture from Konami, well now you know. We finally got an extended look at Dis-
And it’s got Norman Reedus in it. Looks honored 2. We’re big fans of the first
like Kojima took a page out of Bender’s game and we have big expectations
book and made his own game with from this one. We got a good look at the
blackjack, Reedus, and hookers. landscapes of Karnaca, the place
where most of the game is set to take
Horizon: Zero Dawn place. We also get a better look at Emily
We get to see some more of Horizon: Kaldwins abilities, who will be a playa-
Zero Dawn and its gorgeous open world. ble character alongside Corvo Attano.

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 E E V U NT

glimpse at the new Mako! We’re also title will be launching sometime this
introduced to a few of the new September. The tale of the girl and her
characters. robot dog looks like an innovative and
creative piece of work and we’re defi-
Watch Dogs 2 nitely looking forward to it.
Ubisoft also showed off their new
Watch Dogs 2 trailer – Hack Everything. Final Fantasy XV
We got to see some gameplay and the Square Enix were generous enough to
various approaches and choices a play- gives us a peek at some Final Fantasy
er has when it comes to completing a XV gameplay at E3. And wow. The guys
mission. They also announced that at at Square Enix sure do pay attention
Watch Dogs 2 owners on the PS4 will to detail, it’s crazy how good the game
get their DLC a full 30 days before any- FIFA 17 looks. We swear if the Square anima-
one else. Lucky them. So FIFA 17 will have a Story Mode. No, tion team ever decides to make movies,
not Manager Mode (you’ll have that too we’d gladly pay to watch those.
Halo Wars 2 of course), a Story Mode. And it actual-
Halo Wars 2 gets some gameplay foot- ly looks good, like really good. Step into Dead Rising 4
age and a confirmed release date for the shoes of Alex Hunter as he makes We got confirmation about Dead Rising
February next year. They also his way to the top of the EPL. However, 4, with a new gameplay trailer for the
game. We’ll be getting Dead Rising 4 for
PC as well thanks to the Xbox play any-
where initiative by Microsoft, unlike the
previous title which was an exclusive.

Forza Horizon 3
Forza’s next title, Forza Horizon 3, has
been confirmed as well. And of course
it looks gorgeous AF. And what’s more,
you can now play the game with your
friends across Xbox and PC, once again
thanks to Xbox play anywhere.
announced the Multiplayer Beta with a story mode will not be available for the
trailer which of course featured some Xbox 360 and the PS3, so you better Tekken 7
multiplayer gameplay. get yourself a current gen console if We see some Tekken 7 action, with Hei-
you want to play Story Mode in FIFA. hachi and Akuma going toe to toe. Tek-
Xbox One Yes we realise how absurd that sounds ken 7 will be coming out for both PC
Xbox One Slim but that’s just how it is. and Xbox One early next year. Yep you
Microsoft confirmed their new Xbox read that right, for PC as well. And yes,
One Slim or Xbox One S at E3. The new Gears of War 4 again, Xbox play anywhere.
console will be priced cheaper and will We got a look at some Gears of War 4
also be 40% smaller than the Xbox One gameplay which looks like it will be
console. Furthermore the Xbox One S returning to it’s roots with old school cov- And Finally let’s not forget Ninten-
will support 4k gaming with up to six er-shooting and some chainsaw action. do who showcased their new Leg-
teraflops of performance. end of Zelda game, Legend of
Scalebound Zelda: Breathe of the Wild along-
Titanfall 2 Platinum Games’ latest at E3 shows us side an announcement for their
Titanfall 2 was all up in our faces at E3. the co-op play in Scalebound with a new newest console, the Nintendo NX.
EA have confirmed that Titanfall 2 will gameplay trailer where you work togeth- Oh, and incase you missed it,
indeed have a single-player campaign, er as a team to take down big ass boss- Ubisoft announced that starting
something that was direly needed in es with your dragons. Sounds like fun! June, they’ll be giving away a free
the first title. They’ve also improved game every month this year. The
upon the multiplayer aspect of the ReCore occasion of course being their 30th
game, which was already pretty decent. We also got a look at some Recore anniversary. Happy 30th Ubisoft!
Furthermore, mechs have personalities gameplay in their first ever gameplay We’ll take them free games, thanks.
now. Whaaat? trailer. The Xbox One and PC exclusive

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PHOTO IMAGING: PETERSON PJ
 KUVAH STORY

From Japan to the West and now gathering pace in India,

cosplaying is far more than just nerds being nerds
By Manish “Trigger Happy” Rajesh

you’re a geek or belong vention, in fact if you aren’t wearing some of the best cosplayers in our
to any kind of geeky fan- some sort of costume at these events, country to find out more about cosplay
dom, you’re probably you’re probably the one who’s in the and what it entails.
familiar with or have minority. Cosplay has become a huge
heard of the term cosplay. Cosplay first subculture in the geek world and is THE ORIGINS
started or originated in Japan, the cos- now essentially synonymous with the So we asked them why it was that they
play culture there is huge and became idea of any gathering of geeks or a cosplayed and what was it that inspired
extremely popular throughout the geeky convention. them to start. Rhea, one of the cosplay-
country come the 90s. Ever since Japa- Cosplay is a play on words and is ers we got in touch with said that it had
nese culture took the world by storm, derived from two words – costume and always been her dream to “meet a fic-
their music, their anime, their manga, play. Which makes sense because that’s tional character”. Well that’s a dream a
and yes, even their cosplay have pretty much what it is. You play the role lot of us shared, we’ve all wanted to
become a phenomenon of sorts of the fictional character you’re meet Superman or Batman at some
throughout the world. attempting to portray with your cos- point in our lives. Of course it’s not limit-
Cosplay right now is in a rather tume. It’s a pretty simple concept. You ed to just Superman and Batman, it
unique position. It’s something that aren’t just dressing up as the character, could be Goku from the Dragonball
many look down upon and shun, but at you’re becoming the character. series, or Naruto from.. err Naruto, or
the same time it’s something many We’ve got a surprisingly large num- Dante from Devil may cry, it could be
people love. There’s those that live and ber of geeks in our country. We’ve got anyone really, we don’t judge. Just like
breathe cosplay and there’s those that every kind of geek, from avid comic Rhea we’ve all been through that Peter
despise it and think it silly and childish. book readers, to hardcore anime fans, Parker phase where we’ve thought up
Then there’s also those that accept it TV show buffs, and even a gaming imaginary superhero names for ourself
for what it is, because whether you like community that’s growing fast. So and designed ourselves a neat little cos-
it or not, cosplay is here to stay. It’s a we’re bound to have a few cosplayers tume in our head. We’ve imagined our-
fundamental part of every geeky con- as well, right? So we reached out to selves with superpowers and what we’d

Tricks of the trade

T he SkunkWorks guys specialise in
building props, and as you’ll soon
find out, props are a fundamental part of
won’t be too crowded. Also keep in
mind whether you will be travelling with
it over long distances or not (Does it
any cosplay. So if you want to dip your need to be dismantlable?).
hands into the world of cosplay, you’d Quality of the Prop - The choice of
better figure out how to make yourself material will greatly affect the life of the
some props and what it’ll entail. Scythes prop. So if you spend a little more on
Skunkworks were kind enough to give us better quality, your prop will last longer.
some pointers in the art of prop building, Monies !! - The time, the tools, and
so pay attention if you’re hoping to do the materials, including travelling
some prop building of your own. expenses to acquire those materials,
Using the Prop - Think ahead, do needs to be taken into consideration
you think you’ll be using it in a crowded when planning a budget yourself. You
place? Or are you maybe using it for a can be creative and save yourself on
more private event or location which some spending.

follow us on: twitter.com/skoar JULY 2016 | SKOAR! | 133

 Here are some popular characters being cosplayed
by our very talented cosplayers. We have Aorin as
Lina, Pracheta as Inu Yasha and Rhea as Killer Frost
and Froslass.

as much attention as it does now, and

now with more and more people being
more open to trying new things and wel-
coming different cultures, surely the
number of cosplayers will be on the rise.
While cosplaying itself is a young
hobby, the guys who’ve been doing it
since then have been doing it for a long
time. What inspires them to continue to
pursue this hobby? Pracheta was initial-
ly inspired by fashion magazines, and
the cosplay featured in them, which
do if we ever got those because who give up even before trying. She takes keeps her going. The guys at Scythes
knows, there could be a radioactive this as a challenge and her main reason SkunkWorks say that the hours of time,
accident just around the corner and we for cosplaying is, “to simply bring out blood and sweat they put in to prepare
should be mentally prepared for the the fact that our looks aren’t limited”. and create their costumes and props in
aftereffects right? Cosplaying in a way, As for what inspired them to start, for order to bring their character to life and
is literally living the dream for some of the guys at Scythes SkunkWorks it do “justice to their heroes”, is what
these guys. At the core of it all, they do it came in the form of “a Facebook invite keeps them going. Furthermore, they
because they enjoy doing it and have from an old acquaintance, and a news- said, “the community, the support and
fun when they do it. paper article (divine intervention?) in encouragement we get, all of it keep us
For others it’s a hobby that lets them 2013”, which was when they first heard inspired and motivated to go on.” In fact,
explore their creativity. Syrinx and Aorin about the Mumbai Film and Comic Con- for most of the cosplayers we asked it’s
enjoy the process and work that goes vention (MFCC). For others it was their friends, the community, and their
into cosplay as much as the actual cos- something that fascinated them, some- fellow cosplayers who encourage them
playing itself. Cosplaying isn’t just sim- thing that they could enjoy doing with and inspire them to continue doing
ply donning a costume and playing friends, and something that would help what they do. Afterall, we geeks are a
make believe. These guys enjoy the them meet new people. And the rest are close knit community and we support
effort that goes into making their outfits inspired by their love for the characters each other whole-heartedly.
and pushing the bounds of their creativ- that they choose to cosplay. Just enjoy-
ity. According the Aorin, “The whole pro- ing what it is they do and finding inspi- THE FUN
cess of creating something and then ration within that. Everyone derives their own kind of fun
being someone else is amazing and Cosplaying is a relatively young from cosplaying, it could something
truly magical”. hobby, with most starting out within the specific, such as wigs, as is the case
Pracheta Banerjee feels that a lot of last 5 years. Most of the cosplayers we with Aorin (she’s made it very evident
people don’t even try. They feel like they reached out to had first started cosplay- that she loves wigs so we had to men-
can’t look like a certain character and ing back in 2011. Back then it didn’t have tion it). Or it could just be entire process

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 KUVAH STORY

itself which is fun, which we’ve men- to show you the dedication these guys
tioned quite a lot throughout this article put into the details for their costumes.
so far. What the heck once more doesn’t A lot of research goes into building
hurt and we’ll probably mention it again. props, the original character, other’s
But nevertheless, we asked the cosplay- interpretation of the character and so
ers what they found was the most fun on. A lot of time goes into the detailing
aspect of cosplaying. The majority said and accuracy of props, even acquiring
that it was simply the fact that they the tools needed for the job is an impor-
could be a completely different person, tant aspect of the whole process. And of
take on the traits of their favorite char- course speaking with your fellow cos-
acters, and transform themselves. The players also helps, as they’re more than
feeling of satisfaction they got from cre- willing to share their techniques!
ating their costumes and having it turn Budget is also an important factor,
out the way they envisioned it was the along with the availability of materials.
most fun aspect for the guys from The amount that is spent on costumes
Scythes SkunkWorks. Pracheta got her can vary as much as the time taken
fun from having people guess the char- does. In some cases it could be as little
acter she was cosplaying as. as `250 and in other cases it could be
Now when one thinks cosplay, our well over `15k. It depends on the com-
minds immediately shift to all things plexity of the character you intend to
geek. So naturally we had to ask the cosplay. You can be smart about it and
cosplayers whether they would still cos- save up on a lot of money. Additionally,
play if they weren’t associated with any the photo shoots, or hiring a photogra-
geekdoms. Aorin says that she’s not too pher can also be expensive. What you
sure about that. Her main reason for can decipher from this is that cosplay-
cosplaying is because she loves the ing is not a cheap hobby to have and
characters, the games, the anime, and can take quite a toll on your wallets.
the comic books. Similarly even Rhea So if you’ve got the budget, desire,
cannot imagine not being an anime fan and the determination, naturally the
or comic book lover. Syrinx says that next step is to find a place where you
she probably wouldn’t even have been can showcase your cosplay. And there’s
introduced to cosplay if she weren’t On the top we have Syrinx and Vijay Singh no shortage of events in the country
and below we have the guys from Scythes
part of the geek world. However there where you can cosplay to your hearts
SkunkWorks struttung their stuff.
are some exceptions. Some are simply content. Some of the events held
in awe of the process itself and just add a personal touch to the character. around our country such as the World
enjoy the many aspects of it, such as Rhea for example, usually cosplays Cosplay Summit, the MFCC, the Cool
the photo shoots and the work that characters she can connect with. All Japan Festival, and IGX are great places
goes into costumes, so you don’t neces- she needs is to see a very small part of for you to meet with fellow geeks and lit-
sarily need to be familiar with the char- that character in herself to get going. erally spread your prop wings.
acter to dress up as them. And for oth- Famous international cosplayers: Lucia
ers it’s simply a hobby to escape from THE WORKS Cosplay, Mon夢 and LALAax, Kamui (Svet-
their boring daily schedules. In order to cosplay you’re going to need lana Quindt), Sosenka, Enji Night, April
We asked the cosplayers what kind an outfit. And an integral part of the Gloria, Yuegene Fay, Reika, Eve Beaure-
or type of cosplay they most did. We cosplaying process is making or prepar- gard, Leon Chiro, Elffi, Konomi Akira, Miss
found that most didn’t limit themselves ing your costume. And this is something Hatred, Dustbunny and Alodia.
to any particular geekdom. We found a that all cosplayers agreed upon. Making
majority cosplayed characters from a costume can be extremely time con- THE SCENE (IN INDIA)
anime and video games, closely fol- suming. Some character designs are, to Cosplaying seems like a fun thing, so we
lowed by comic book characters. be frank, downright absurd and it takes wondered why there wasn’t more of it
SkunkWorks have a variety of cosplay a whole lot of props to pull them off. And happening around here. We got a mixed
genre’s under their belt, with characters props are an integral part of most cos- response of sorts. Like gaming, cosplay
from games, to movies and even car- tumes. The time that goes into creating is a growing culture. There’s still some
toons and web series. Cosplay allows costumes can be anywhere from less taboo in our country over anything geek/
you to interpret your favorite character than 20 minutes to over a hundred nerd related. However, it seems that this
in a way you like best. It allows you to hours. Yes, a hundred. Wow! Just goes hasn’t deterred anyone at all. According

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 KUVAH STORY

Comic Con: Are you part of the revolution?

N ot quite in the league of the original fan fest held at

San Diego, California, every year, but the Comic Con
movement (the largest gathering of fans of comics,
games and movies dressed as their beloved characters)
has received good support in India over the past couple
of years. Comic Con events take place in Delhi, Mumbai,
and Bangalore every year, to the best of our knowledge,
and we’ve attended the Delhi and Mumbai editions on
more than one occasion.
We had a ton of fun attending the 2015 edition of
Comic Con Mumbai, for example, as it saw a good turn-
out of attendees dressed in a variety of characters (http://
dgit.in/ComicC2015). Not only was the crowd interesting
but also the various booths and guests of honour talking
about their love of all things comics, video games and
movies. What’s interesting to note is that last year’s event
was definitely better than the year before last, and this is
evident at all Comic Con events happening across India.

to Syrinx, “This is a very common mis- player, who at the crux of it all just want change and maybe it could become a
conception. Every year, comic con gath- to enjoy himself or herself and have a viable profession in the future, but as of
ers over 200 cosplayers, each day for 3 good time. Sure, being acknowledged right now, it’s still just a hobby, and an
days in every city it has an event in. We for it and having more like-minded peo- expensive one at that. However, that
are definitely not lacking in numbers”. ple is never a bad thing. doesn’t mean that certain aspects of
Even Pracheta agrees that it’s not the So what’s the scope for cosplaying in the cosplaying process can’t be used to
numbers that are lacking, but rather the India? Can we do it professionally? Is it create viable professions. Being able to
recognition. Cosplay has only recently a viable full-time job? The short answer, make your own dresses and props isn’t
gained popularity in the country, accord- no. The long answer.. is also no. Very few a joke. Also other industries such as
ing to SkunkWorks, and this is only the cosplayers actually make a living out fashion and entertainment media will
beginning as it’s growing at a rapid rate. cosplaying. And that’s around the world. welcome you with open arms.
Then why is it that cosplay isn’t too So when it isn’t a viable profession Lastly we asked if they had any tips for
mainstream despite the numbers? worldwide, India has a long ways to go. anyone who was maybe inspired by this
Awareness is the key. Despite how But you can never tell, times can article to take up cosplaying. And boy did
awfully kung-fu-master cliched they have a lot to say! The first and
that sounds, it’s true. There are foremost thing every one of them
many people who don’t even had to say was not to be afraid of it.
know what cosplay is or aren’t If it’s the budget that’s intimidating
familiar with what it is and what is you, there’s always cheaper alter-
involved in it. Some suggested natives and if you’re creative you
more events across the country, can always find a way. Overall it’s
and perhaps even broadcasting it definitely an expensive hobby to
for others to see. This way people have but there are always worka-
can even observe the amounts of rounds. Don’t be afraid to make
hard work that goes into the mak- mistakes, accuracy is not what’s
ing of these costumes. important. Don’t let anyone tell you
Others however believed that who you should or shouldn’t have
cosplay didn’t necessarily need to cosplayed as. What’s most impor-
be mainstream to be enjoyable. tant is that you have fun doing what
That’s not the primary goal of cos- You can never have enough deadpools at any convention you’re doing!

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 PHE ACH U R

HA C K
YO U ! T H E I N D U STRY
N P L A GUING
C K E R S H A VE B E E
C A N R E M E MBER.
HA A S A N YONE
O N G
FOR AS L D O R F O R BAD?
FOR GOO h “Chun
kyMunky”
Maiti
s
By Anku

follow us on: twitter.com/skoar JULY 2016 | SKOAR! | 137

 PHE ACH U R

ver since video RISE OF THE HACKER Hackers haven’t just stopped there.
games have been NATION Many times, people have been
around, people have Ever since computers started getting scammed out of their Steam money, or
done everything they more secure, people have been trying all of their money on their Steam
can, to get better at to look for ways to bypass the various account had been used to buy pointless
them. Many people security measures introduced by devel- stuff, and all the goods bought with
have put hours, opers. There is no definite date to when money were sent to a different account,
even days, or hacking really began, but it’s safe to and from that account, to another, and
months, into a assume that the day computers were so on, so that the original recipient
game, just to get invented, people started thinking of could never be traced down.
better at a single game that has ways to take them over.
taken over their lives on such a level, Hacking in videogames, as well, has no CRACKDOWN
where they choose to forsake any definite timeline. Nobody knows exactly Once this problem started growing from a
human interaction, except for the inter- when it started, but it boomed around few isolated incidents, to a full blown epi-
action with in game enemies, or team- the ‘90s, with multiplayer games coming demic, developers started stepping in.
mates, when it comes to online multi- around. People who couldn’t get better at Obviously, nobody who logs into their
player games. a game through practice, went onto the game wants their experience, and time to
Although, not all of us gamers are on internet, and bought a few hacks from a be ruined by some person who has no
the honest to Gaben side of things. not-so-legal source, booted up the game, skill, and is winning solely on the basis of
Many of us, from the gaming communi- and they were suddenly playing better hacks. People started getting ticked off,
ty, decide to switch to the dark side, just than professionals, who had been playing and complaints about rampant hacking
to get better at a game. Or at least, look the game since it came out. started flooding in, and that’s when devel-

better. People resort to downloading a It started off small. Simple DDOS opers treated it as a serious problem that
few hacks from the shady part of the hacks, which just lagged the entire serv- needed to be looked into.
internet, and boot into a game, run their er, making it impossible for anyone else To try and limit this cheating epidem-
hacks, and ruin the game for their to play, while our not-so-beloved hacker ic, developers set up many softwares
teammates, as well as their opponents, racked up kills, by killing immobile, help- which detected hacks, when anyone
for the amount of time they’re in the less opponents. To the other players on used it on a secured server. In Valve
game, just to make themselves look the server, the hacker in question games, one of the methods used, to
better, and rank themselves, or their appeared to be teleporting around, or curb cheating is VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat).
friends up. whooshing around the entire map, while Games like Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2,
The weird thing is, people who buy they just stared at him, speechless. Counter Strike: Global Offensive use
these hacks don’t realise that the peo- As of today, there are many hacks, in this to identify, and permanently ban
ple who make these hacks are actual various games. First Person Shooters hackers from playing the game on VAC
hackers, who make hacks for a living, are the worst hit, with Aimbots, Wall secured servers.
and that the hacks are not only limited hacks, silent aims, spin bots, the list Another popular FPS, Call of Duty,
to innocent videogame hacks and goes on. Even in MOBAs, there are enforced their Anti-Cheat technology
mods. These hackers are also in the many hacks. Hacks which reduce the under the name “Punkbuster”. It does
business of making much more mali- cooldowns of certain spells, or eliminate exactly what it says on the cover; busts
cious programs. The kind which ruin it altogether. Or map hacks, which pro- li’l punks who think they can hack
people’s lives, and start wars and stuff. vide vision of the entire map to our around, and win games, and ruin every-
No biggie. friendly neighbourhood hacker. body else’s experience.

138 | SKOAR! | JULY 2016 follow us on: facebook.com/SKOAR

 Although, these aren’t very effective,
because hackers always find new ways to
bypass all of that. They just tweak their
hacks a bit, and make it undetectable to
the new standard, and voila, their hacks
are good to go, for a few months, at least.
Valve got scent of this, a year or so
ago, and introduced a new way of con-
victing hackers in Counter Strike: Global
Offensive. They rolled out Overwatch.
Now, Overwatch takes help of the com-
munity, something which Valve is
famous for doing. What it does is, when-
ever someone is reported for cheating in
a competitive match of CS:GO, Valve
sends a video of the match, from the
perspective of the suspected hacker to
someone on the Overwatch community,
which consists of experienced players,
and professionals. The Overwatch com-
munity then reviews the video, and
decides whether or not the suspect had
an unfair advantage over the opposition,
or if the suspect was just a very good
player. It’s more effective than VAC, allowed to play if you buy another copy of forced to buy another account, and
because player perspective would give the game. Or in case of Steam, only if you another copy of the game, which
away undetectable hacks very easily. buy it from a different account. ensures that the sales of the game don’t
Some developers went and even As of today, there isn’t much to deter stop. It’s backed by the fact that after a
decided to have fun with some of these hackers from hacking, at all. Permanent massive VAC ban wave, in 2014, CS:GO
hackers. Rockstar games decided to give bans are easily bypassable, if you buy sales rocketed. Which meant that all the
hackers a taste of their own medicine. If another copy of the game. hackers that got banned, just went and
you were convicted of cheating on Max Getting a VAC ban is the gaming bought another copy of the game.
Payne 3 multiplayer server, your account equivalent of being thrown into Davey Personally, we, at Skoar, really liked
would be blacklisted, and you’d only be Jones’ locker. Only, it’s easy to buy your the community run servers in CS 1.6,
allowed to be matched up with other way out of it, if you just buy another where the Admin would take prompt
convicted hackers, in a “cheaters pool” of copy of the game. action against suspected hackers, and
sorts. Now, hacking against other hack- The gaming community, at large, has kick them from the server. In games like
ers is kind of pointless. So, you’re con- been baying for blood, about how easy CS:GO, you’d have to play an entire
stantly stuck in a loop of never dying, it is, for a hacker to return to a game. If match, even if the hacker is up to his
even though you’re hit by a million rock- they’re banned on one copy of the mischief since round one, lest you get a
ets, and other people who never died game, or on one account, they could matchmaking cooldown.
either, and had unlimited ammo, and no just easily make another account, or
reload hacks. If you were nice enough to buy another copy of the game, and WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BE
apologize to Rockstar, they’d allow you to they’re back. There’s many theories HACKING
be pulled out of the cheater’s pool. explaining exactly why many develop- Well, if you’ve ever played against a hack-
Although, if you were convicted of hack- ers won’t introduce a permanent way of er, you’d know. But just to drive the point
ing again, you’d be permanently banned. making sure hackers stay out of a home, it ruins everyone else’s game as
game, or at least make sure that it isn’t well. You’re fuelling potentially criminal
AFTERMATH easy for them to return to a hackers, who wouldn’t think twice before
If you were wondering what it’s game in which they’ve been wiping your bank balance clean, if they
like, getting banned, look no convicted of hacking. One of thought they could get away with it. You’re
further. Well, mostly because the major speculations also turning away millions of people away
nothing much happens. Your being, developers do it to from playing competitively, and finally,
copy of the game becomes keep up their sales. A hacker you’re a massive, massive butt, if you
obsolete, and you’re only who has been convicted is hack or cheat.

follow us on: twitter.com/skoar JULY 2016 | SKOAR! | 139

 Community The Rock on YouTube
Find all sorts of contributions from The Rock is now on YouTube, and he’s
Esc 142 our community and constructive
arguments from our forums
made a movie trailer to announce it
http://dgit.in/TRockYT

Back to School Jugaad

We’re an ingenious nation. The term “where there’s a will, there’s a way” probably
originated here. If you don’t believe us, take a gander at these...

Shower in style
Your bathroom missing a shower faucet?
Difficult taking a bath with one single
stream of water pounding away on your
head? Fear not, with this simple trick you
can now bathe in style. Okay maybe it’s
not thaaat stylish but it works so who
cares. Right? Function over form we
always say.

For your noodle needs Mirror mirror on the wall

Instant food is a staple in the diets of Or rather, the lack of a mirror on the wall.
almost every college goer and hostel We understand, mirrors can be expen-
dweller. It’s like magic food, pop it into sive. Just get yourself a laptop to fulfil
hot water and voilà! Edible food! But your mirroring needs. A laptop comes
without a gas stove or a microwave with some mundane added benefits as
where are we going to get ourselves hot well, such as internet browsing and being
water? Well, this is one way you could able to listen to music.
go about it...

Who Needs A Spoon Anyway

Ever been in a situation where you
needed a spoon but all you had was a
fork? Well, to be completely honest we
haven’t either, but these guys clearly
did. But they were also smart enough to
come up with a neat workaround. Jugaad
to the rescue!

Tangle free No Fridge? No Problem

We’ve all been there, scrambling for the Have an AC but for some reason can’t
nearest socket to charge our phones or afford a refrigerator? Or maybe your
laptops or whatever gadget it is we have accommodation comes with an AC but
that needs charging. And in most hostels no fridge? Fear not, with this simple
there’s a shortage of sockets as well, so technique you can ensure your water
it’s first come first serve. Or you could be and beverages are always chilled. Well,
smart and use something as simple as a maybe not chilled but cold enough. And
hanger to create a tangle free portable in the hot summer months that’s all
extension for yourself and your buddies. you need.

140 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Don’t be a killer Age old farmers
You can play and finish all of Watch Turns out we weren’t the first farmers,
Dogs 2 without having to kill anyone t’was termites, 25 million years ago
http://dgit.in/WDog2 http://dgit.in/TrmtFrm Unwind

How we unwind

Geek romance
Sid is trying to expand his romantic hori-
zons beyond Tinder this month by actu-
ally trying to understand how technology
has changed the human courtship ritual.
This book by Aziz Ansari examines pre-
cisely this subject area and it quite nicely
written. We’re not very sure Sid needs
any help on this front though.

Con-fury Facebook feuds

Everybody in office took a crack at the A lot of time was spent observing and
PS4, playing SF-V and Homefront and sometimes participating in ongoing
puking later on at the horrible gameplay. feuds on social media. Posts on Trump,
This was in part due our incompatibility feminism, atheism, and every other ism
with controllers; we just can’t get our we can think of. And while most of us
heads around how you guys aim with wouldn’t really last in an actual fight,
this thing. Give us a keyboard and mouse we’re pretty sure we can hold our own
any day. when it comes to wordplay.

DIARY
This month began with everyone going abroad. Well, almost real-time strategy fun. Arnab definitely seemed to be more into
everyone. Siddharth and Jayesh headed off to the States. Abhijit this than Counter Strike and managed himself pretty well despite
went to Taiwan, and Mithun went to Macau. Nikhil also decided it being his first time. He even managed to beat Abhijit the second
he needed a vacation and headed off to North India with family. time around, who supposedly already knew how to play the game,
Even Arnab wasn’t around during the start of the month, having but we have our doubts now. Siddharth on the other hand, despite
just recovered from dengue he was at his all his bragging managed to have his ass
hometown in ‘Khadakpur’. What this means handed to him twice by Manish (the prodi-
is that there was little to no supervision for gal son who returned).
half the month. And no supervision means The Digit SKOAR! board Of course this was only a short break
more slacking off, which is exactly what Difficulty level : Slacker Nova III and once Jayesh was back, we were back
ended up happening. That is till Jayesh Rats Incarcerated : 0 (Where the to playing Counter Strike in no time. In
and Siddharth came back bearing gifts. heck are they?!) fact, one could say we came back with a
Skills learned : Surviving at
And by gifts we mean chocolates. So the 512kbp/s bang and even clinched a 16-0 win. Not
trip wasn’t a complete waste after all. Quote of the month : “I’m AWPing at
meaning to brag or anything but that’s a
However, along with them also came the mid!” *dies*
big deal. Just kidding, totally meant to brag
realisation of looming deadlines and the about that. We’ve all been bitten by the
–Siddharth
daunting task ahead of us. competitive bug and have been working
But it seems our already tight dead- on upping our games. And while some
lines would only get tighter, as everybody of us have been advancing up the ranks
decided this was the right time to fall sick. First our intern Ankush pretty fast, some of us *cough*Mithun*cough* haven’t advanced
fell victim to the sickness. He didn’t show up for an entire week too much. And yes, despite our deadlines creeping up on us and
citing “viral fever” as his reason, but we’re suspicious of anything the delay thanks to all the slacking off, we still somehow always
he says after his shenanigans last month. Jayesh was next to fall manage to make some time for a round or two.
and was quickly followed by Siddharth who joined them in the sick In other news, we thought Arnab had found himself a new
bay. Things were not looking up, but as closing crept ever closer flame, or rather many new flames. He’d get up and leave often,
everyone pulled themselves together for a final do or die effort to and someone even swore they heard him talking to himself
the finish line. at some point. After further investigating it turns out that the
While Jayesh was still down, we decided to take a break from “flames” were just Siri and Cortana and he was just working on an
Counter Strike and brought out Warcraft 3 for some good old article. Oh well.

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 141

 LoL buys CoC Crops on Mars?
Tencent, buys Supercell, the company Crops grown on Mars are safe to eat,
that made Clash of Clans. says a simulation conducted by a team
Digit Squad http://dgit.in/LoLxCoC of scientists. http://dgit.in/marscrops

Every month we recognise the best contributions

by our community members and publish it here.
Keep up the good work, Digitians!

Community Creations
Head over to forum.digit.in, for some of best discussions, buying advice, and user
reviews. Of course, you will meet like-minded (and not so like-minded) geeks, leading
to some of the most constructive arguments you’ll ever have.
Check out the thread below. E3 2016 saw a smorgasbord of video game title announcements from studios and publishers, one of them including a new Quake game called Quake Champions.
Already popular among us and our community as well, the members took to the forums where we witnessed a healthy discussion (or maybe otherwise) between FPS and MOBA games. To read
the entire thread, follow the link: http://dgit.in/qcdtf2016

142 Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in

 Xiaomi Redmi 3S Apple File System
Xiaomi has unveiled an updated version Apple has a new uniform file system
of the Redmi 3 with a fingerprint reader. for its called ‘Apple File System’.
http://dgit.in/RedMi3s http://dgit.in/AFsystm Digit Squad

Here are a few images sent by Digit reader Suvhradip Ghosh who loves to capture his journey. If you want to be featured here, send us your images at community@digit.in

Did you know we are on Instagram too?

Follow us @digit.in

PC, Laptop
Tablet, Mobile
Saur(aa
92.72.70.70.50
98.22.88.25.62

Digit | July 2016 | www.digit.in 143

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