In pics: Samsung unveils Infinity Flex, the much-awaited 'foldable' phone

Samsung's foldable phones promise the screen of a small tablet in a pocket-sized device

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unveiled its much-anticipated foldable phone in San Francisco on Wednesday, urging Android developers to start writing apps for it.

Samsung needs to get the foldable phone right to reverse steep declines in profit for its mobile division and restore some of the cachet its brand has lost to Apple Inc .

Samsung Foldable Smartphones promise the screen of a small tablet in a pocket-sized device.

Justin Denison, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics America's Mobile Product Strategy and Marketing, showed a prototype with a screen he said measured 7.3 inches diagonally.

Read our full coverage on Samsung

 

This girl became the Instagram queen of Iraq. And then was shot to death

Ms. Fares's likeness remains repeated in this internet hall of mirrors: swathed in a hotel robe, getting her hair done on Eid al-Fitr, playing video games, flaunting her intricate tattoos

On Oct. 9, the Iraqi author Sinan Antoon tweeted, “Killing those who are other/different has become a ritual/hobby, practiced by individuals for fun, after having been institutionalized by the state, political parties and militias for years.” His tweet referred to reports that an Iraqi teenager had been butchered on a Baghdad street by an assailant who thought he looked gay. But Mr. Antoon could have been referring to any of the young Iraqis who have tried to break free of the rigid social codes governing both genders only to suffer vicious reprisals.

The most famous of these victims has been Tara Fares . When she was killed in September, Ms. Fares, who had 2.8 million followers on Instagram, was the sixth most popular person on Iraqi social media. At 22, she was a self-created celebrity who mixed sexy fashion shoots with video diaries in which she fired back at her conservative critics. Ms. Fares was shot dead in Baghdad’s Camp Sarah neighborhood while riding in her Porsche.

When I read about Ms. Fares’s murder, recognition hit me like a punch. Though I am 13 years her senior, when I was her age, I also worked as a scantily clad internet model. I also reinvented myself on social media, posting endless photos of myself, trying to build a following that would somehow translate into something more. Back then, qualified only for menial jobs, I also saw my looks as a fast-closing door to freedom and used them as best I could. But I am in the United States, and she was in Iraq. The stakes for Ms. Fares were far higher. Her courage was of a different magnitude from mine. Read More

 

What ails Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved?

According to a recent IIFL report, sales of Patanjali products have halved from two year earlier levels.

After clocking in sales of Rs 120 billion in financial year 2017 – 18 (FY18), Baba Ramdev – led Patanjali Group could now enter the slow lane. According to a recent IIFL report co-authored by Percy Panthaki, Avi Mehta and Sameer Gupta, sales of Patanjali products have halved from two year earlier levels.

The report, based on on-ground channel checks in Mumbai, suggests the development, could prove to be a boon for listed players like Dabur and Colgate Palmolive (India).

“Dabur is expected to benefit in categories such as oral care and hair care. We have already witnessed market share in honey rebound to earlier levels for the company. In other personal care categories, Patanjali sales were never material, but in these categories, Patanjali may have witnessed a decline and hence positive for the FMCG space in general,” the report says.

From humble beginning as a pharmacy in 1997, Patanjali has forayed into core FMCG products like toothpaste, shampoos, cornflakes and instant noodles over the past 20 years. Recently, it announced a foray into the dairy segment by launching milk and milk-based products, including curd and cheese, targeting sales worth Rs 10 billion from the segment.

Here are five key issues that Patanjali is grappling with, according to IIFL:

Distribution system

Splitting distribution by product vertical has created an unwieldy system with poor servicing levels, says the IIFL report. That apart, the ordering process has become more complicated now. Gaps in timely servicing have resulted in an increase in the frequency of stock outs in certain categories, which has eventually led to the retailer not keeping that product at all.

Read More On → Patanjali Ayurved

 

Statue of unity: Sardar Patel was synonymous with trust and integrity, writes PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, offering a special tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, says the great unifier was also responsible for building India's great cooperative sector

The first half of 1947 was a critical period in India’s history. The end of colonial rule was certain and so was India’s partition, but what was uncertain was whether there would be more than one division. Prices were rising, food shortages were common but over and above everything else, the unity of India was under severe strain.

It was in these circumstances that the States Department came into being in June 1947. Among the chief aims of this Department was to give impetus and top priority to negotiations vis-à-vis India’s relationship with the over 550 Princely states, which were as diverse as they could get, be it in size, population, terrain or economic situation. No wonder Mahatma Gandhi remarked, “The problem of the states is so difficult that YOU alone can solve it.”

In vintage Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel style, he went about his work with precision, firmness and administrative efficiency. Time was less and the task was herculean…but this was no ordinary person, it was Sardar Patel, who was determined not to let his nation down. One by one, he and his team negotiated with the Princely states and ensured that they all became a part of free India.

It was due to the round-the-clock effort of Sardar Patel that the map of India is what it is today!

Read More On → Statue of unity

Article Source : Business Standard / BS

Kohli fastest to reach 10000 runs; Tendulkar, others pour in wishes

Virat Kohli broke icon Sachin Tendulkar's record, becoming the fastest player to reach 10000 ODI runs

Virat Kohli broke icon Sachin Tendulkar's record, becoming the fastest player to reach 10000 ODI runs. Kohli took just 205 innings to achieve the feat.

Click Here To Read More On → VIRAT KOHLI 10000 RUNS

 

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, dies of cancer at 65

Microsoft said Allen's 'contributions to our company, our industry and to our community are indispensable'

Billionaire Paul Allen , who founded US software giant Microsoft with Bill Gates in the 1970s, died Monday after his latest battle with cancer. He was 65.

"My brother was a remarkable individual on every level. While most knew Paul Allen as a technologist and philanthropist, for us he was a much loved brother and uncle, and an exceptional friend," Allen's sister Jody said in a statement.

"Paul's family and friends were blessed to experience his wit, warmth, his generosity and deep concern... At this time of loss and grief for us -- and so many others -- we are profoundly grateful for the care and concern he demonstrated every day."

Allen died just two weeks after publicly revealing that the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma he fought into remission nine years ago had returned. The incurable cancer affects white blood cells.

Allen managed his business and charitable endeavours at Vulcan Inc.

He was also active with the Allen Institutes of scientific research and owned professional US sports teams the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers. He was part owner of the Major League Soccer team the Seattle Sounders. Read More

 

Sexual harassment: Why #MeToo storm before Lok Sabha polls, asks M J Akbar

Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have decided to back Akbar despite RSS second-in-command Dattatreya Hosabale coming out in support of the #MeToo movement

Union minister M J Akbar , facing charges of sexual harassment that go back to his time as newspaper editor, has not only refused to step down but insinuated that the approaching Lok Sabha elections had a bearing on the allegations.

Speaking on Sunday after his return from his official visit abroad, he said he would take legal action against the women who had alleged sexual harassment by him.

Akbar’s holding out, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, stemmed from the seeming support he received from the party leadership. However, the sources also said Akbar was likely to be dropped as minister.

Though there is little political cost to the BJP if Akbar goes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a track record since his time as chief minister of Gujarat of backing his ministers even when they have faced criminal charges and have been chargesheeted. For the time, Akbar has been given an opportunity to defend himself, party sources said.

Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have decided to back Akbar despite Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) second-in-command Dattatreya Hosabale coming out in support of the #MeToo movement. Party sources said support to Akbar had yet again underlined that Modi and Shah thought little of the mainstream English language media and did not want to be seen to have succumbed to pressure mounted by it.

Read More On → #MeToo Movement

 

Google Plus is shutting down after massive data exposure of 500K accounts

The technical bug was detected as part of an effort called Project Strobe started by Google early this year

Tech giant Google is shutting down its social networking site Google Plus after a technical glitch was found to have compromised accounts and personal information of over 500,000 of its users.

The announcement in this regard was made by Ben Smith, Google Fellow and vice-president of engineering, in a blog post Monday, in which he noted that the Indian-American headed company could not confirm which users were impacted by the bug.

"However, we ran a detailed analysis over the two weeks prior to patching the bug, and from that analysis, the profiles of up to 500,000 Google+ accounts were potentially affected. Our analysis showed that up to 438 applications may have used this API," he said.

"We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any profile data was misused," Smith said.

The technical bug was detected as part of an effort called Project Strobe started by Google early this year. It is a root-and-branch review of third-party developer access to Google accounts and Android device data and of our philosophy around apps' data access, he wrote.

"This project looked at the operation of our privacy controls, platforms where users were not engaging with our APIs because of concerns around data privacy, areas where developers may have been granted overly broad access, and other areas in which our policies should be tightened," Smith said.

The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report about it said that a software glitch in the social site gave outside developers potential access to private Google+ profile data between 2015 and March 2018, when internal investigators discovered and fixed the issue. Read More

Article Source : Business Standard / BS

Google Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL launch on Oct 9: Know expected specs, features

Although, there has been no confirmation around the specifications and features, let's take a look at the leaked specifications and features of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

Search engine and technology giant Google is gearing up to launch the third generation Pixel smartphones on October 9. Touted as the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the upcoming smartphones are expected to be designed similar to their respective predecessors -- Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. However, as a part of upgrade, the upcoming phones would get new format screens, an improved operating system, enhanced camera modules and support for wireless charging.

Although there has been no confirmation around the specifications and features, let’s take a look at the leaked specifications and features of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Business Standard

Design and Display

The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are reported to continue with the design of the Pixel 2-series. However, due to new format screens, both the devices would have a new outlook. The Pixel 3 is reported to get an 18:9 aspect ratio screen, possibly of a 5.5-inch. The Pixel 3 XL, on the other hand, is reported to get a notch-based screen, possibly of 6.7-inch. BS The notch in the Pixel 3 XL is also reported to be bigger than any other smartphones with the same screen format. The bigger notch could be due to a dual camera module on the front, details of which are still unknown. On the back, the phone is reported to get a glass body with a matte paint job on the lower side, as seen in the Pixel 2-series smartphones. The glass body would enable wireless charging capabilities in the phones, making them first Google-branded smartphones to support this feature.

Imaging

This is one area where Google has shown how important algorithms are and what could be achieved by optimising them. Even with a singular primary camera in the Pixel 2-series, the phones managed to outclass some of the best dual camera phones.

Read More On → Google Pixel 3 , Google Pixel 3 XL

Facebook hack: Why you must avoid logging into sites using a single account

If you found yourself logged out of your Facebook account last week, it's likely you were affected by the hack

Facebook announced on Friday that its engineering team had discovered a security issue affecting almost 50 million accounts. Due to a flaw in Facebook’s code, hackers were able to take over an account and use it in the same way you would if you had logged into the account with a password.

Business Standard : The company says it has now fixed the problem in its code and reset access tokens for those accounts – along with 40 million other accounts that were vulnerable to the flaw. If you found yourself logged out of your Facebook account last week, it’s likely you were affected.

Beyond that, little is known about the extent of the security breach. In its security update, Facebook said:

Since we’ve only just started our investigation, we have yet to determine whether these accounts were misused or any information accessed. BS We also don’t know who’s behind these attacks or where they’re based.

What it means

This is not the worst data breach to date. That accolade belongs to the credit bureau Equifax, which had personal data stolen from the accounts of 147 million people. But, unfortunately for Facebook, there are several flow-on effects from the recent hack.

Read More On → Facebook Hack