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April 09, 2015 ,
I want to buy a power bank to charge my mobile devices, but I'm confused about the technology, brands and pricing. Need your help urgently to help me make a right choice. 

— S Naga Malleswara Reddy
Before you buy a powerbank — aka portable battery charger — check for the mAh capacity mentioned on your smartphone battery or the specs in your mobile's manual (in the case of non-removable batteries). For instance, if your device has a 2000mAh battery capacity, buy a power bank with at least 2500mAh. If you buy a 4500mAh model, it means you can charge your 2000mAh phone at least twice. In any case, opt for the highest capacity that your budget allows. 

Also check 'current draw'. Older phones do not draw more than 1 Ampere to charge their batteries. However, newer handsets and tablets need a 2.1 Ampere input current. Check your mobile's original plug for details on current draw. If possible, buy a powerbank with two USB ports — 1A and 2.1A. Remember: When it comes to charging your gadgets, current draw is more important than capacity. 

Essentially, pay attention to the type of cells — Lithium-ion or Lithium-polymer — used in the power bank. Li-ion is cheap and easily available. Li-poly cells, on the other hand, are more expensive, but provide twice as much charge density per unit weight. 

Ensure that you buy from a reputed brand. Low-quality lithium-ion power banks not only effect performance, but are also a potential hazard. Many times, cheap battery packs — the type available on the streets — do not list the correct mAh capacity or the proper current draw. These batteries could also explode due to heating from over charging. For improved safety and performance, buy a model that comes with over voltage protection (OVP), over charge protection (OCP) and over-temperature protection (OTP) that ensure its longevity against spurts in current, and over heating during charging and discharging. 

Can consider these ...

* Mi Power Bank (Rs 999): 10400mAh; L-ion; 2.1A (and 1A through single USB); OVP, OCP and OTP
* Adata PV110 (Rs 2,450): 10400mAh; Li-ion; 1A and 2.1A; OVP, OCP and OTP
* Portronics Charge 2 (Rs 2,900): 12000mAh; Li-ion; 1A and 2.1A; OVP, OCP and OTP

If you're looking for something over and above a plain power bank, you can consider these ... 

* Adata DashDrive Air AE400 (Rs 4,500): This device comes with a 5000mAh battery to recharge your devices. Besides, it can connect to existing wireless networks and create an internet bridge connection for up to 10 other devices. You also get a USB port that takes input from pen drives and hard drives, as well as a MicroSD card slot, allowing you to share this storage wirelessly.
* JBL Charge (Rs 6,500): This is a Bluetooth speaker that boasts of a 12-hour playback time and frequency range of 150 20000Hz. Why is it listed here? Its 6000mAh Li-ion battery can also charge your smartphones via its USB port. 
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April 09, 2015

There you are, absent-mindedly dismissing notifications from your lock screen, when all of a sudden you think you might have swiped away something that was hugely important. Or was it? Here's how you can access your notification history in the most recent versions of Android. 

In Lollipop, press and hold on a blank part of the home screen to bring up the Widgets option and tap it — the one you want is labelled 'Settings shortcut'. Drag this to a spot somewhere on your phone's home screens and you'll be asked which settings screen you want to link to, so choose Notification log from the list. 

And there you have it. Tapping on your newly created shortcut will take you to a long list of notifications, with the most recent at the top-tap through on any entry and you'll be taken to the relevant App info screen. You might want to keep the shortcut widget in place just in case you ever dismiss an alert without reading it properly. 
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April 09, 2015
This is the only way we can make you stick to the pledge that you will no longer buy gadgets in blissful ignorance!

Have you ever thought why one power bank is costlier than another? Why hard disks are passe (almost)? Why you can still trust a cheating partner, but not a pirated anti-virus? How the dude who installed the `free wi-fi router' at your place made a fool out of you? How anti-radiation chips undo the harm done by the heap of devices around you? If you don't know the answers to the above, leave everything else that you are doing right now and read this buyer's guide.

Power Bank

Mobile makers have over committed and under-delivered on battery back-up, which is why power banks have become the new fad.Genius buys it like: I don't subscribe to the `I'll buy anything that's cheap and Chinese' school of thought because I want more than just the basics. My power bank should charge multiple devices simultaneously, not waste energy while charging the plugged-in device, and quickly charge itself and the devices. Then, it should automatically turn itself off when idle, should be certified for safety by safety certifications like EEE, 6 Way Circuit Protection or any other popular safety standard agency.



Techxpert: Sudip De, vice-president, Adata, says, "Unlike the power bank, your mobile device is not cheap, so, if you buy a faulty product, it will damage your device."

Anti-Virus Software

If you ever meet someone who has purchased an anti-virus and not downloaded a pirated version of it, most likely, you are hallucinating because such people don't exist, and this, when anti-virus is one of the most crucial computer tools.Genius buys it like: Does my system have the RAM and processor required to run the anti-virus? Is the software itself compatible with my system? Will I be able to erase the data if the system gets stolen and click pictures of the thief when he uses my system? Does it have bootable rescue?

Will the anti-virus be able to defend itself when a virus tries to disable it? If it does all of this, I will buy it.Techxpert: Pankaj Jain, director, Eset India, says, "Sadly, security comes last for an anti-virus purchaser; price is first. The biggest loss of a pirated anti-virus user is that they don't get the support from the developer, so if one fine day, the system crashes, the user will have no one to go to for help."

An anti-virus should be anti-virus, anti-malware, antiTrojan, antirootkit, antiphishing, give email and instant messaging protection, be certified by independent testing agencies and labs, be fast, scan cloud and have 24x7 support mechanism.

Mobile-scan app

With growing internet activity on smartphones, a mobile scan app will soon be a must.Genius buys it like: My scan app should not consume too much battery, it should provide add-on features like tracking over and above basic scanning, blocking inappropriate websites and prohibiting downloads from non-Apple and non-Android app-stores, Most importantly, it should let me completely wipe out the data on the phone in case of theft.Techxpert: Govind Rammurthy, MD & CEO, eScan, says, "The app should warn any transmissions of contact lists and should have the ability to block the same, detect transactions that use mobile-wallets andor other forms of mobile-money and store records, transaction details on the cloud."

Routers

Don't just blame your mobile operator for the snailpaced internet; your `free' router might be at fault.Genius buys it like: I will buy a router that is capable of handling high-speed, that lets me create small networks with limited use for guests, has parental control, is low in radiation and lets me manage media and connects multiple devices.Techxpert: Subhodeep Bhattacharya, regional director, India & SAARC, Netgear, says, "A router is the hub of the digital ecosys tem, and if it's built around an ignorantly purchased router, all the thrill that you expect from your high-end gadgets will come to a naught."

SSDs

These compact, superfast, durable and energy-efficient data storage solutions will change the way you store data.Genius buys it like: I'll buy an SSD as it's smaller, sturdier and faster than hard disks. It should preferably fit in the camera too, and have shockproof capabilities for accidental drops.Techxpert: M A Mannan, country manager - India, Corsair Memory, says, "No SSD is a poor performer but one with a 40,000 IOPS or more is better."

Radiation protection chip

With wireless gadgets starting to rule our lives, an anti-radiation chip, which protects you from electromagnetic radiation emitted by phones and other personal electronic devices, is a must-have.Genius buys it like: The chip has to be tested and approved for its capabilities at warding off the side-effects of benefits, by a medical institution in India.Techxpert: Pranav Poddar, MD, Synergy Environics, says, "A phone should not be used for more than six minutes in an hour and be kept at least 15-25 mm away from the body at all times. Since this is not possible, you need something, like an anti-radiation chip, that will let you use devices for extended time."

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April 08, 2015

You might not realize it, but there are now email-tracking tools that

make it easy for people to see when you open an email, what you click,

and where you're located.



"Emails appear no different to your contacts, but you get data when,

where, and how a contact interacts with your message," says a cheery

video advertising Bananatag, an email-tracking service for Gmail

designed for job seekers, advertisers, and those working in public

relations.



In response, a handy new tool called Ugly Email shows you when your

emails in Gmail are being tracked, and it starts working before you

click anything.



When Ugly Email is installed, a tiny little eye symbol appears next to

any email in an inbox that is being tracked by tools like Bananatag,

Streak, or Yesware.



Installing Ugly Email is easy. First you'll need to make sure you're

using Google Chrome as your web browser.



Next click this link to take you to Ugly Email on the Chrome Web

Store, click the "Add to Chrome" button, and you're all set.



Any email arriving in your Gmail inbox will then be vetted for

tracking tools, and the Ugly Email team promises that it is "actively

working on adding more" email-tracking services to its list.



Ugly Email just showed up on Product Hunt, so if you're looking for a

similar email-alert service that has been around for a while longer,

you can always try out PixelBlock, which does the same thing.
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April 08, 2015

Panic gripped Indian army officers over the last week after they were

unable to access salary details on the Principal Comptroller of

Defence Accounts (Officers) website which was allegedly hacked late

last month. All vital and sensitive data related to officers' service

and financial details are feared to have been stolen by suspected

Pakistani or Chinese hackers.



What most officers of all ranks are deeply aggrieved about is that

while PCDAO and army brass as well the defence ministry are aware of

the hacking, no measures had been taken to restore the website.



"It speaks of the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities. There is

no urgency on the part of the government to plug the massive hole and

retrieve the data," said a disgruntled officer with the Southern

Command venting his discontent at PCDAO authorities.



MoD and the Army have started investigation into the hacking, but the

issue has been kept under wraps for fear of an uproar among officers

some of whom apprehend that key components of their salary - provident

fund or travel allowance/dearness allowance --might have been swept

clean by the online miscreants.







"We have no clue what might have happened to our salary because we are

not being able to access our salary slips. The hackers have hit where

it hurts the officer corps the most," said a major general who did not

wish to be identified.



Indeed, the PCDAO website is central to an officer's finances. He or

she can not only access information on the salary, but also audit and

details on allowances, including leave travel allowance, receipt of

claims, proof of IT returns. Officers also apply for PF withdrawals

through the website.



Officers' individual accounts which can be accessed through a username

and password carry other details such as their exact areas of posting,

the units they belong to, PAN card numbers and bank account details

among other things.



Many officers claimed these constitute sensitive information that

foreign agencies might be interested in getting hold of. Preliminary

investigations revealed that all data of officers across regiments

have been "stolen from the Mumbai server through a remote login port."



Several officers TOI spoke to claimed that when they tried to log into

the accounts at pcdaopune.gov.in, they found that few elements of the

original website were intact, but at the bottom there were screaming

adverts on call girls. And now the website cannot be accessed at all -

a clear indication that PCDAO and MoD officials have displayed

lethargy to restore it or, for that matter, probe whether data had

been lost or online miscreants managed to transfer out money from

officers' accounts.



The defence establishment initially put up on the PCDAO website that

it would "resume shortly", saying "salary upload is in progress".

Subsequently, the website shut down completely. When approached for a

comment, a defence spokesperson claimed he had no information that the

PCDAO website had been hacked.



A PCDAO spokesperson, when contacted, admitted that several officers,

alarmed by the disruption, have been approaching officers in Pune to

make inquiries why they were not being able to access their salary

details. The spokesperson, however, claimed that the website had

crashed because of "modification of the computer system" which caused

an erroneous transfer of data.
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April 08, 2015
I would like to watch online videos on my HDTV, but it doesn't support

Wi-Fi connections. I don't want to buy a new television yet. Is there

any way to add wireless functionality to my TV?



Rohan Fernandes, Kirit Mehta, Yashpal Singh







You can invest in a digital media player for your HDTV. Your set must

have a free HDMI port (and in some cases, a USB as well) to

accommodate the device. This set-up will let you wirelessly stream

content from the internet, or connected devices, and also has the

ability to play a wide range of digital formats. Now, depending on

your budget and specific needs, you can opt for any one of the two

types of players...



Ultra-portable: Google Chromecast (available online for Rs 2,999)

resembles a USB pen drive; connects to your TV via its HDMI and USB

port (for power), and is capable of streaming content — pictures,

music, videos — wirelessly from a PC, smartphone or tablet. You will

require the Chromecast app (available for Android and iOS) to help

with the initial set-up.



You can also consider the Roku 3500R Streaming Stick (Rs 5,000), which

can be controlled via the Roku app (for Android and iOS) as well as

the included remote control. While both devices will also let you

stream content from the web, they do not come with internal storage

that lets you store content.



Box-type: These devices also have to be connected to your TV via an

HDMI port. The added advantage is that they come with extra

connectivity options, including USB ports for flash and external

storage drives, Ethernet for a wired network, optical-out for digital

audio, a slot for SD cards, etc.



Here, you can opt for the WD TV Live (Rs 8,000), Roku 3 (Rs 8,500) or

the Amkette evoTV (MC, AC or XT) (with prices from Rs 6,000 to Rs

8,500).



The WD TV is ideal for personal multimedia content and to access

pre-loaded web services like YouTube and Flickr.



The Amkette players offer greater USB connectivity (four compared to

the two on the WD TV and one on Roku) and are Android-based systems,

giving you access to the apps on the Google Play Store.



The Roku includes a microSD card slot and a remote control that has a

convenient 3.5mm jack for earphones (these are also included). When in

use, audio is streamed wirelessly to it. However, it is handicapped by

a limited support for digital file formats.



It can play MP4, MKV, AAC, MP3, JPG and PNG, when compared to the WD

TV and Amkette players, which support a wider range of AV formats like

DVD (VOB files), high-def MT2S videos, Windows Media files and

high-quality audio standards like OGG and FLAC.

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