OnePlus One Comes to India

Earlier, Indian tech enthusiasts were highly disappointed for unavailability of the OnePlus One smartphone in the country. Answering these enthusiasts’ grievances, the Chinese manufacturer has finally launched the phone in the Indian market exclusively through Amazon.in.

Sale and after-sales

Don’t get too excited. It is not as easy as choosing a product, placing an order and getting a home delivery. There are couple of hurdles here that you will have to cross. Firstly, the phone can be bought only by invitation. In other words, you will have to have the invitation to purchase it. Secondly, right now the company has made only 64 GB variant in the Indian market, which will cost Rs. 21,999, while 16 GB version is expected to be available only from next month.

Amazon has announced 10 days return policy. On the other hand, OnePlus has partnered with HCL for after sales service.

No Cyanogen

People who were looking forward to have OnePlus One with Cyanogen will be disappointed. Cyanogen has joined hands exclusively with Micromax to launch their operating system in India through its upcoming smartphone YU. Therefore, the same will not be available on OnePlus One in India.

Let us know

Cyanogen or no cyanogen, I am looking forward to hear from you how the phone works. If you get an invite and decide to buy it, let us know its review. We are keen to hear from you!

Motorola Finds a Keylink

Many of us have a habit of leaving our mobile or keys here and there. And then, we do not find it when we need it. Or even worse! When we are late for work, they would just refuse to appear. If it is the mobile that decides to hide, we can still track it by calling ourselves. However, what if the key gets lost completely?

To solve this problem, Motorola has showcased their unique Keylink, which can be connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. You can attach this small device to your keychain. Download the Motorola Connect app for your Android or iPhone. Press the button on the Keylink to ring your phone. If it rings properly it means your smartphone and the Keylink is now paired.

Now you can use the keylink to locate your smartphone. Just press the button on the Keylink and your device will start ringing even if it is on silent mode and help you locate it. Similarly, if your keys get lost, you can use the Motorola Connect to make the Keylink ring.

The small Keylink device is powered by a small coin sized cell. The battery is expected to last up to a year. You can easily replace it in case it is drained.

The great news is that the Keylink is already available for purchase. If you are in US, you can just walk in to the T-Mobile Store or visit Motorola.com to purchase it for $24.99.

Personally, I do not know how useful it is to use the Keylink. However, I am sure it has laid a foundation of a new thought of finding objects using technology using new-age technology. The day is not far when we will be finding our misplaced objects by just entering its name in the search bar of the app. Only time will tell the story!

P.S. - Not necessarily you have to attach the Keylink to your keychain. You can also attach it to the anything that you lose often e.g. a flashdrive, a TV remote, etc. 

Mind Your Head When You Are Texting

The new age smartphones help us carry our daily routine efficiently with its various functions such as GPS, games, alarm, reminders, e-mails, etc. However, as these devices are turning to be boon to the mankind, it has its own side effects. The study by Chief of Spine Surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, Dr. Kenneth Hansraj reveals that we tend to bend our head down as we are busy on our phones either texting, gaming or working.

The adult’s head weighs around 10-12 pounds (approx 4-6 kg) when in the upright position. However, as we gradually get involved in texting activity on the phone, due to gravitational pull, we tend to bend our head more and more towards the phone. This is where the problem lies.

Dr Hansraj’s research found out that by this way even if we bend out head at 60 degrees, the posture is putting the weight of up to 60 pound (around 27 kg). This is as good as a seven year old kid sitting on the neck.  

He further mentioned in the study that "The weight seen by the spine dramatically increases when flexing the head forward at varying degrees. Loss of the natural curve of the cervical spine leads to incrementally increased stresses about the cervical spine."

It further leads to a bad posture and further problems such as back pain and other neurological issues. Moreover, these stresses may lead to early wear, tear, degeneration and possibly surgeries.

Hence, while you are engaged deep in conversation or playing games on your phone, mind your head. 

REACHit: Lenovo’s New App

In order to find or access the particular file at any point and time, I use several services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive, etc. And ‘the same old story’ with me is, I do not find the required file or photo just when I need it. I log in & out of all these services. But alas! Few days later the same file emerges magically when I am searching for some other file. Huh! It is completely mind boggling to manage all this data. And frustrating too!

 

But now, seems like Lenovo has heard my prayers. The company has launched an app that will manage all these accounts. Lenovo REACHit has been designed to access, organize, search and share files from any of these data storing services.

Search it!

REACHit connects a user’s PC, Android or iOS device and multiple cloud storage accounts from Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and Box. Hence, it is easier to store, search and share. Using a simple search bar, users can search for a particular document across the devices and storage locations. If you wish to use it on your Windows, it integrates into Windows File Explorer for searching storage locations within the Windows operating system.

Move it!

That’s not it. You can also move files between devices and storage locations through REACHit. So that you can access and edit files while even on the go.

“We are extremely excited about launching REACHit but this is only the beginning. We have lots of cool ideas and features that we’ll be using to enhance REACHit’s functionality. But even more important than those we are looking to drive a model where our customers ‘vote’ on what we should do next and provide us with feedback to direct our future development,” said Vice President, Ecosystem and Cloud Services, Lenovo, Mark Cohen.

Availability

The REACHit is now available for free download on Google Play store and Apple Store. Lenovo’s devices will come pre-loaded with this app from early next year.

I have already downloaded this app. Until I review it, you do share your experiences with it. 

Asus Launches ROG Gladius – the Gaming Mouse

Whether you are playing on the console or on the PC, one of the necessary things to enjoy the game is the controller. Therefore, the keyboard and mouse play an important role in the whole PC game. The mouse has to give you the comfort, precision and match your speed. To offer you exactly what is needed, ASUS Republic of Gamers announced the ROG Gladius optical wired gaming mouse today.

The new mouse is bundled with various features for gamers such as a two-level in-game DPI switch and an exclusive easy-swap switch socket design for customizable click resistance. The main feature of the mouse is 6400 dots per inch (DPI) optical sensor that tracks up to 200 inches per second and 50g acceleration.

Furthermore, the Gladius features an ergonomically-designed chassis to fir into all types of grips such as fingertips, claw or palm. Tactile rubber side panels ensure that your grip on the mouse is secured even in the heat of the game. What is more attractive is its special sweat-resistant coating, which will allow you to play comfortably for long hours. Also, the mouse is equipped with six programmable buttons.

Also, don’t you worry about the excessive use of the mouse. Gladius comes with high-quality Omron mouse switches that are good for at least 20 million clicks. To add into it, the mouse also has a built-in flash memory to save your gaming profile.

Want to grab it? Hold on till the next month. The ROG Gladius will be available in India from next month. It carries the price tag of Rs. 4,500 and comes with 2 years warranty.