Li-Fi = 100 x Wi-Fi


Li-Fi, a super-fast alternative to Wi-Fi, is finally moving from research labs to the real world after an Estonian startup implemented the technology within a commercial context.It has begun trialing the technology within offices and industrial environments.

The Li-Fi technology is able to send data at up to 1GBps - more than 100-times faster than current Wi-Fi technologies. At these speeds, a high-definition film could be downloaded in just a few seconds.

While Li-Fi may not completely replace Wi-Fi, the technologies could be used in parallel to create more efficient networks. The success of the pilot projects could see Li-Fi technology rolled out for consumers within the next three to four years, allowing people to access the internet using the light bulbs in their home.

Before mass adoption of Li-Fi can be realised, techniques need to be developed to retrofit current devices with the technology.

The inventor of Li-Fi, Professor Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, has previously claimed that in the future every LED lightbulb could be used as an ultra-fast alternative to Wi-Fi. In a TED talk describing the technology, Haas said that current infrastructure was suitable for the integration of Li-Fi.

"All we need to do is fit a small microchip to every potential illumination device and this would then combine two basic functionalities: illumination and wireless data transmission," Haas said. "In the future we will not only have 14 billion light bulbs, we may have 14 billion Li-Fis deployed worldwide for a cleaner, greener and even brighter future."

What is Li-Fi?

Li-Fi is a wireless technology similar to Wi-Fi that allows data to be sent at high speeds using visible light communication (VLC). Invented by Professor Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, Li-Fi has several advantages over Wi-Fi.

Li-Fi allows for greater security on local networks as light cannot pass through walls, which also means there is less interference between devices. Perhaps the most significant advantage is the speed that the technology offers. Researchers have achieved speeds of 224 gigabits per second in lab conditions.

Source: IBTimes Co., Ltd. 

It's never too late to start

Self doubt has killed more dreams than failure.


Forbes looked at the life of the top 100 founders on it's most successful founders list. It shows that 35 is the most common age to start one of the top companies in the world. They excluded the companies that were inherited, and where governments were heavily involved. So does success come with a deadline? What's the best age to achieve success? BI India looks at some of the crisis periods one goes through in their life in their quest for success with some help from the guys at Funders and Founders.

'The Critical Period' - Do it Early
Musical talent is usually discovered in the first ten years of one's life. New languages cannot be learned without an accent after the critical age of 16. Most successful computer programmers started coding as children, and gifted athletes commonly celebrate their twentieth birthday as a celebrity. That can make you feel like a loser if you're 30 and can only boast of a College degree. However, that's a false impression.

The Mid-Life Crisis
In life, most people succeed mid-life. That's about 35 for the current generation. In our minds we expect major life achievements to happen around the middle age, otherwise - the mid-life crisis.

The Quarter-Life Crisis
With teenage CEOs making news headlines, one can feel like a late bloomer even at 25. Since today we expect to live longer than today's average life span of 78 years, at 25 you can reasonable think you are through a quarter of your life. This is a newer term than the good old mid-life crisis.

Late Bloomers are Not Losers
Is it better to be an early achiever or a late bloomer? For the world it does not matter. Is it too late for you at 60 to start a new company? Never.


Source: Business Insider

Google employee in San Francisco saves 90% of salary by living in a truck



A Google employee in San Francisco has decided to forgot the luxuries that come with renting a property -  such as heating, air conditioning and a bathroom - to live in a truck in the company’s car park, a move that saves him nearly 90 per cent of his income by not paying rent.

The employee, known only as Brandon, has been blogging about his experience, describing how he eats all of his meals at Google, showers every day at the company's gym, and charges up a battery in the office that helps to power his laptop and other items when he uses them inside the truck.

Brandon has been living in the 16ft truck for around five months and details in his blog how he came up with the idea. During an internship at Google last summer, Brandon spent nearly $100 (£65) a night in corporate housing, which he barely spent any time in.

“The summer starts, and I'm having an amazing time, but as I start to settle into a routine, I notice something fairly tragic: for all the money I'm spending on this apartment, I'm hardly ever there! I wake up, catch the first GBus to Google, work out, eat breakfast, work, eat lunch, work, eat dinner, hang out at Google, and eventually take a bus home, pack my gym bag for the next day, and go to sleep,” he writes.

After graduating with nearly $22,500 (£14,560) in student debt and knowing he would return to the company as a software engineer, he discovered the average cost of rent where he had wanted to live – the Mountain View area – was around $2,100. He instead decided to pay $10,000 for the truck instead.



Speaking to Business Insider, Brandon said he has already paid off a large chunk of his student loans with the money he saved on rent, and expects to be debt free within six months.

“I’m going for a target of saving about 90 per cent of my after-tax income, and throwing that in student loans and investments,” he said.

Brandon’s only financial responsibility is his monthly insurance payments for the truck, costing around $121 (£78), but he barely has any possessions – the sparsely decorated truck contains a bed, a dresser, and a self-fashioned clothes rack.

He has had one run in with the security outfit on the company’s property after parking up late one night on his return home from the cinema. But when the guards discovered Brandon was an employee, they let him go back to bed and complimented him on his “sweet set-up,” he said.

India-Pakistan border pictures shared by NASA



NASA on Sunday, 4th October 2015 shared some stunning pictures of the international border of India and Pakistan as seen from the outer space.

An astronaut from the International Space Station took photographs of the night time panorama of the border facing north across Pakistan's Indus River valley. The image is of one of the few international borders in the world which can be seen so clearly at night, especially due to the high security and several security lights across the border which have a distinct orange tint for it to stand out. 

The picture which was shared on NASA's Facebook page also shows the port city of Karachi which appears to be a bright cluster of lights in stark contrast with the black Arabian Sea.

There is another picture of the border zone between India and Pakistan as seen in daytime which was shared by NASA in 2011, The image shows the border zone looking south east from the Himalayas. 



Gi FlyBike: Electric bike that tries to include any feature bike commuters might want





As more people start to commute by bike, designers are trying to tackle the various pain points involved with riding in the city—whether that’s finding ways to help cyclists squeeze bikes on public transit, adding electric motors so riders sweat less, or preventing theft. A typical design might focus on a couple of features at a time, but the Gi Bike, a new design that just launched on Kickstarter, attempts to include every possible detail a commuter could want.

"There are no full-featured bikes on the market," says Agustín Augustinoy, the chief technology officer for Gi Bike. "If a bike folds, it has 20-inch, circus-like wheels. Electric kits look like DIY projects. No electric bike comes with lights, motor, and everything else integrated and working on the same battery with only one charging point."

The Gi Bike can fold up, so it easily goes on subway cars or elevators, and can be stored in a small closet. But when it’s in use, it looks like an ordinary full-size bicycle. Flip a lever, and in three seconds, it fully transforms into a compact folded shape that can be wheeled around like rolling luggage.

"The rest of the bike is basically made around the folding mechanism," Agustinoy explains. "For us it's the proper way to fold a bike. It's the only way you don't need to lift the bike from the ground."

For riders who live in hilly cities or have a long commute, the bike comes in an electric version that can carry someone 40 miles without pedaling. It’s also smartphone-integrated, so it can give directions and send alerts if there's construction or heavy traffic on your route. It hooks up with social media accounts in case you have the urge to auto-tweet your bike rides. The bike can even charge your phone.

Once you get wherever you're going, the bike can lock itself—both wheels and the folding mechanism lock automatically when you walk 10 feet away. Eventually, the designers hope to connect it with tracking technology as well.

To help keep riders safe, the designers added built-in front and back lights. Since their research showed that most cyclists are hit from the side, the designers also added LED lights to the sides of the front wheel. The lights automatically brighten at night.

It's a long list of features, but Agustinoy says the team thinks that each is necessary, despite the steep price (The electric version will eventually retail for $3,590 but is available on Kickstarter for slightly less). "We believe it's the perfect bike to commute to work," he says.

Source: giflybike.com

Sources say Apple car on the way in 2020




Apple is continuing its efforts to create a car, though some of the big questions around the project remain undecided.

The company is still working out whether it will make a self-driving car, an electric vehicle or a combination of the two, according to a person with knowledge of the product, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as Apple is known for its intense secretiveness. It is not unusual for Apple to work on several prototypes of a product at the same time, as it did with the iPhone and the iPad.

Other details of the car project are falling into place. Apple is committing hundreds of people to the effort, and meeting with officials of the California Department of Motor Vehicles and of a testing ground for self-driving cars, said the person with knowledge of the work. The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian previously reported on those developments. Apple is aiming to introduce some sort of car product around 2020, several people with knowledge of the project said.

Since reports that Apple, the world’s most valuable company, was working on a car surfaced in February, the auto and tech industries have closely watched any progress, because Apple could transform the car industry the same way it did the mobile phone industry. Vehicles, which are essentially turning into moving computers, could be a huge new platform for technology companies. Google and Uber are both working on self-driving vehicles.

At the Frankfurt International Motor Show this month, carmakers were obsessed with what the nonauto companies like Apple and Google might be developing. Detroit has come a long way since the financial crisis, and advanced sensor-based safety features are available on many models of cars from Ford and General Motors. But none of them have the software expertise of a company like Apple, and they do not want to be stuck manufacturing the bodies of the vehicles while another company controls the more lucrative software.

“We do not plan to become the Foxconn of Apple,” Dieter Zetsche, the chief executive of Daimler, told reporters at the auto show in Frankfurt.
Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat Chrysler, has sought a relationship with Apple. This year, he met with Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, during a three-day trip to California. In an interview this spring, he called companies like Apple and Google “disrupters.” After a speech this spring, he said of the technologies they were inventing: “It’s not science fiction. They’re coming.”
Mr. Cook has sidestepped questions about a car.

Apple has about 600 employees working on the undertaking, called Project Titan, according to a person with knowledge of the project. Apple is deploying more internal resources to Titan, pulling people from other projects, like the Apple Watch, to work on it, said two people with knowledge of the plans.

Apple executives recently met with the California D.M.V., which in 2012 was tasked with promulgating self-driving car regulations. In a statement, the department said the “D.M.V. often meets with various companies regarding D.M.V. operations. The Apple meeting was to review D.M.V.’s autonomous vehicle regulations.”

Apple engineers have also met with officials from GoMentum Station in Concord, Calif., which is known as a testing ground for self-driving cars, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. The Guardian earlier obtained documents about the meeting.
Source: The New York Times Company

Facebook is working on a 'dislike' button




The company's co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg revealed the ongoing tests during a question and answer session on Tuesday held at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

"People have asked about the 'dislike' button for many years, and probably hundreds of people have asked about this, and today is a special day because today is the day that I actually get to say we are working on it, and are very close to shipping a test of it," he said.

The "dislike" button has been a subject of much discussion over the years.

The CEO said the company has been working on the feature—which would allow users to express emotions other than "like"—for some time because "we don't want to turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people's posts."

"That doesn't seem like the kind of community that we want to create: You don't want to go through the process of sharing some moment that was important to you in your day and have someone 'downvote' it," he said, using the lingo of popular online forum Reddit.

Instead, Zuckerberg said, the new feature will allow people to "express empathy" with their Facebook friends, explaining what many users of the social media platform already knew: "If you are sharing something that is sad...then it may not feel comfortable to 'like' that post."

Google’s Driverless Cars Run Into Problem

Google, a leader in efforts to create driverless cars, has run into an odd safety conundrum.



Last month, as one of Google’s self-driving cars approached a crosswalk, it did what it was supposed to do when it slowed to allow a pedestrian to cross, prompting its “safety driver” to apply the brakes. The pedestrian was fine, but not so much Google’s car, which was hit from behind by a human-driven sedan.
Google’s fleet of autonomous test cars is programmed to follow the letter of the law. But it can be tough to get around if you are a stickler for the rules. One Google car, in a test in 2009, couldn’t get through a four-way stop because its sensors kept waiting for other (human) drivers to stop completely and let it go. The human drivers kept inching forward, looking for the advantage — paralyzing Google’s robot.


It is not just a Google issue. Researchers in the fledgling field of autonomous vehicles say that one of the biggest challenges facing automated cars is blending them into a world in which humans don’t behave by the book. “The real problem is that the car is too safe,” said Donald Norman, director of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego, who studies autonomous vehicles.

Source: The New York Times Company

Android 6.0 : Now M for Marshmallow




Google has finally announced its next Android iteration will be named after the sweet treat Marshmallow. So, now M is for Marshmallow.

Marshmallow was one of the highly speculated name that fits Google’s nomenclature of sweet treats like  – Cup Cake, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat and Lollipop. It beat other probable names like mud pie, mousse, and our very favourite Malai Barfi.

“Today with the final Developer Preview update, we’re introducing the official Android 6.0 SDK and opening Google Play for publishing your apps that target the new API level 23 in Android Marshmallow,” Jamal Eason, Product Manager, Android writes in a blogpost.




What is New??

The latest version includes enhancements including fingerprint sensors and an updated power-saving mode.

Android M will standardise the fingerprint sensor support and it is working with various phones to make a standard API to go with their sensors. You can use your fingerprint to authorise an Android Pay transaction, unlock your device or make Play Store purchases.

Android M will feature a smart power-managing feature called Doze. This feature works by letting system optimally manage the background processes. The OS keeps a tab on the motion detection sensor and if there is no activity for a long time, the system shuts down some processes. Since it is in the Doze stage, the system can still get activated by alarms and high priority notifications. According to Google, this feature has helped increase the standby-time on the Nexus 9 by almost two times over the Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Android M will also support USB Type-C for charging. And considering USB Type-C is has a bi-directional port, you can use this port to either charge the phone as welll as charge another device.




Internet.org


Internet.org is a partnership between social networking services company Facebook and six companies (Samsung, Ericsson,MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm) that plans to bring affordable access to selected Internet services to less developed countries by increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business models around the provision of Internet access.
Facebook’s Internet.org program has become increasingly controversial and raises some pretty knotty problems about the meaning of “net neutrality” and the unusual nature of the market for Internet access around the world.
Here’s the basic idea behind the program. FB has developed a mobile phone app that gives users access to a small “walled garden” of Internet content — including a slimmed-down (no videos/photos/graphics, and no advertisements) version of Facebook itself. It then makes deals with ISPs in developing countries, under which the ISP agrees to eliminate its usual data transmission fees for all data that come in through this app — “zero rating” this content, in the current jargon. The idea is that there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who have cellphones who are not using the Internet because they’re unable or unwilling to pay the ISP’s additional Internet access charges, over and above the charges for basic cell service.
Source: The Washington Post

Brand Story : Lijjat Papad

Symbol of female empowerment

Brand Lijjat draws its strength from the simplicity of the idea, the collective power of its stakeholders and continued commitment to the core values of the organisation

Lijjat Papad, started by seven humble women, had a modest beginning and a journey filled with numerous struggles. But the power of the idea was so strong that soon the small start gathered amazing momentum and became a revolution that changed the lives of almost 40,000 women across the country. It has emerged as a powerful brand in the relatively obscure product category of papads (traditional Indian meal starters made of lentil, chickpeas, black gram, salt and oil).

Lijjat Papad started in 1959 as a small in-house venture with a paltry sum of Rs 80 and its growth to a mammoth Rs 5 billion successful business today is an amazing story of teamwork, simplicity and Gandhian idealism. Run by Shri Mahila Griha Udyog with more than 72 branches and 27 divisions spread across the country, this papad business was set up with the sole motive of providing employment to rural women instead of profit. The beauty is that despite the usual capitalistic fervour, this one tasted uncharacteristic success and, after initial hiccups, started raking in good profits. Today, the profits are shared between each one of its stakeholders, big or small.


Here’s how it works. Any unemployed woman may approach a Lijjat branch and join the team of Lijjat’s sister-members, earning in the range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 every month for roughly six hours’ work at home every day. The work can take the form of distribution and kneading of dough, weighing and collecting papad, packaging et al. Given the weight of its growing numbers, one would have expected the business to collapse under the weight of its manpower. But built on the seemingly impractical idealism of Sarvodaya and trusteeship, this small start up of the 50s has grown into a full-fledged corporate today. The vision to provide employment to unskilled women sans the pressure of shuttling between work and home can perhaps be counted among the key reasons for Lijjat Papad’s stupendous success.

While Lijjat Papad continues to hold fort with a dominant market share in the country in its category, the venture’s first product continues to remain the most successful as well as being the group’s mascot. This has been ensured by the undeterred focus on maintaining its quality through the years. A point worth noting is that although over the years technological advancements have touched new heights, Lijjat Papad has not let them dilute the core of its foundation even when the market is flooded with many factory-made versions of the same product. In contrast, Lijjat Papad continues to swear by the original manufacturing method for its product range – which is with the organisations members rolling and drying it at their homes.

This does not however mean that the group has been impervious to technology and innovation. Diversification in fact has been a core attribute of the group. Apart from papad, the Lijjat group also manufactures khakhra, appalam, masala, vadi, sehu, atta and bakery products. The khakra division came into being in 1974, the flour mills came up in 1975 and the masala division started in 1976.

Lijjat also branched out in to the detergent category with its SASA brand of detergent powder, detergent cake and liquid detergent. Though not comparable to its papad, the SASA ranges of products are quite popular in some pockets. SASA has 6 production units, a research and quality control division an d a sales and purchase office. Lijjat Group has tried to toe the line of its papad business with SASA and the success mantra is the same – keep the cost low and maintain quality.

Like the core of the product, Lijjat Papad also kept its advertising strategy pretty simple. Remember the cute bunny occupying your TV screen nodding his head to the tune of ‘Khurram Kharram? The advertisement communicated the essence of the product in a direct, easy to understand way. By the 80s, Lijjat had also started taking part in myriad trade fairs and exhibitions, which not only helped in improving its bottomline but also spread the Lijjat Papad brand buzz among people. Sponsored programmes on vernacular television and radio added to the overall brand imagery.

And the brand flourishes on smashing word-of-mouth publicity. Brand Lijjat Papad was built on certain core values: make sure that the process runs smoothly, ensure highest quality standards, value pricing, ensure good corporate governance and share profits.

Initially, when the seven sisters set out on their journey to make and sell papads, they did not meet with success. However, as the cost overheads for running the business were low and the procedures were restricted to being in-house, they continued with their efforts. A few months down, they managed to create a demand for the product and the movement also grew simultaneously – from seven they became 25 members in just three months.

What also helped Lijjat Papad in becoming a household name was the fact that the group was agile enough to reinvent itself quickly as and when it realised it was faltering. Take for instance the fact that earlier papads were rolled and dried under one roof only. However, as the business grew and space starting becoming a constraint, the organisation decided that each worker of the organisation would take the base material from the headquarters and carry out the rolling and the drying of papads in their own homes. This solved two issues – the paramount one of limited space and the other being that workers could now remain within the comfort of their homes and work in peace. However, quality was not compromised and procedures were introduced to ensure that every papad rolled met standards.

Effective delegation of work and timely payments to workers has ensured supreme brand loyalty among its 40,000 strong workforce and distributors. Moreover, the fact that the brand is consistent with its quality, price and availability has kept its customers loyal to it with minimal advertising and marketing overtures.

Being socially aware, Lijjat also rehabilitated Chincholi, the 1993 earthquake affected village in the Latur district of Maharashtra. The institution financed the construction work for the people of the village. Member-sisters also donated a part of their daily wage. Post the 2001 Gujarat earthquake; all the branches of Lijjat gave a combined donation of more than Rs 4.8 million. Today Lijjat is regarded as one of the most noteworthy entrepreneurial projects by women-for women that is identified with female empowerment in India.


Source: Genesis

BMW Developing Racing Wheelchair


BMW of North America, the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), announced its plans to develop a new racing wheelchair for use by athletes of the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field Team in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The latest endeavor marks the fourth vehicle technology transfer project developed by BMW as part of its six-year partnership with Team USA, and in support of its long-standing, global commitment to performance-driven sports.

As with the development of its previous technology projects for Team USA, BMW has enlisted world-class designers from Designworks, its global creative consultancy headquartered in California, to collaborate with the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field team in identifying and addressing the need for potential improvements in the team’s equipment – namely the racing wheelchair. Although still in its infancy, the wheelchair’s significant improvements will include a complete redesign of its chassis, application of BMW’s signature aerodynamic efficiencies, enhanced athlete restraint, carbon fiber durability, as well as steering and braking advancements.

Over the course of our partnership with Team USA, we have been committed to advancing athletic performance through technology transfer initiatives which help to address their training and equipment needs,” said Trudy Hardy, Vice President, Marketing, BMW of North America. “This one is special not only because it presents a unique design challenge, but it helps solve a bigger mobility challenge for our Paralympic athletes.”

Nearly one year in development, the wheelchair is slated to be delivered to U.S. Paralympics track and field elite racers in early 2016. In the months ahead, BMW will continue working closely with athletes and coaches to integrate further enhancements and refinements as needed.


Source: BMW of North America, LLC.