BHIM APP - Can it suppress PayTM and Freecharge?

About BHIM AppThe neat, clean and simple interface of the app is a welcome departure from other apps from the government. This is in tune with its stated purpose of simplified payments.

How to Use the BHIM appTo make use of BHIM app you will need to have an account with any of the 32 banks that have joined UPi (list of banks at the end of the post). The app is currently available only in English and Hindi. Given the wide diversity of languages in India, more languages are expected to be added soon. Also the phone number you use for the app needs to be associated with your bank account. At the moment it allows only one phone number and bank account to be linked with the app at a time. However, there exists an option to change accounts.

Unlike many other apps BHIM doesn't need a plethora of permissions from the user. It asks for access to SMS (to verify mobile number) and to make and manage phone calls (they say they need it to verify your phone with UPI). And in case you want to scan a QR code, it will ask for an additional permission to access the camera. Unlike many other apps, this app doesn't fetch a verification code from an incoming SMS, but instead sends out an SMS for phone number verification.

ReviewThere is much reason to feel optimistic about the BHIM app launched yesterday. As soon as I came to know about it, I downloaded it and tried to register my mobile number and bank account. There were some errors at first while registering the bank account, but after 3–4 times, I was successful. It may be due to the server overload produced due to many registrations at a time. Other than being impressed by its simplistic interface, I was amazed how the Indian government has designed such a user friendly app. This is the same reason why Whatsapp has become the most popular messaging platform. BHIM app can surely become the app for the masses (even the people who are less inclined towards technology).

Here are a few reasons which can make you use the BHIM app instead of PayTM, Freecharge and others :-

1. While BHIM has all the benefits provided by other mobile wallets, the one big advantage is that the transactions happen directly from the bank accounts and there are no charges associated with transfers.
2. The transaction limits (maximum of Rs 10,000 per transaction and Rs 20,000 within 24 hours) are more flexible than that for the other apps.
3. It is government backed and the money is transferred directly from bank account to bank account without an intermediary.

However, BHIM app mostly won’t provide the cashbacks that the other wallet providers offer.These are early days for the app and more features and improvements are expected soon.

What happened to Ash Ketchum's original Pokemon in Indigo League?

I am a huge fan of Pokemon (mainly the Kanto Chapter- the Indigo League) . It was an integral part of my children just like many of my friends. Ash Ketchum’s original 6 Pokemon team consisted of Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, and an honorable mention, Muk. He caught them and their fates are as follows:

1. Pikachu - Given to him by Professor Oak, the bond between the two grew and grew, and Pikachu remains with Ash over 700 episodes later.
2. Charizard - Charmander was found abandoned by its trainer, but Ash rescued it and nursed it back to health. It would eventually evolve into Charmeleon and Charizard very quickly, but as a result lost its respect for Ash. After being frozen in an ice beam attack on the Orange Islands, Charizard would regain its obedience to Ash’s orders. Eventually it would be left at a special camp for Charizards in order to strengthen its skills.
3. Squirtle - Originally a member of the Squirtle Squad, a bespectacled quartet of delinquents, the leader would join Ash’s team early in the show. Eventually it would return to its squad, converted into a firefighting team, but can be called upon when Ash needs Squirtle’s help.
4. Bulbasaur - Bulbasaur was befriended by Ash, but Ash decided to capture him in a more conventional sense, in a battle. Bulbasaur would go on to resist evolution, preferring its current form, and live at Professor Oak’s laboratory, serving as a peacekeeper between all the different pokemon there.
5. Pidgeotto - Caught in Viridian forest, Pidgeotto served as one of Ash’s strongest pokemon. However when a flock of fellow Pidgeys and Pidgeotto’s was threatened, Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot in order to save them. Ash would subsequently release Pidgeot, who would serve and protect its newfound flock.
6. Butterfree - Caught as a caterpie in Viridian Forest, Caterpie quickly evolved into a Butterfree, and was one of Ash’s favorite pokemon. Upon meeting a female pink butterfree, Butterfree was released in order to live happily with her

Quora - 2016 Year in Review

2016 was an exciting year for Quora. In March, they announced that over 100 million people come to Quora every month to ask and answer questions, contributing to the dialogue on almost every topic imaginable. We also introduced new answer pages, started an ads beta, launched Spanish Quora, and more.

This year hundreds of experts hosted Quora Sessions to answer questions and share their knowledge directly with the world. Some of our 2016 Sessions hosts included Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, Arianna Huffington, Thomas Friedman, Chris Anderson, Bill Gurley, Gloria Steinem, Glenn Beck, Lawrence Lessig, John Urschel, Eva Longoria, Bob Myers, and Elizabeth Warren.

So, naturally, 2016 comes to wrap here is a Year in Review.

One hallmark of the Quora experience is questions that matter to you personally—there’s a different Quora for every user, based on their unique interests and actions.
Lets start looking forward to 2017 for a more exciting experience!

Source - Quora.com

Inspiring story of the MAN in Man vs Wild

Everybody, at some point in their lives, has experienced failure. It could be something as simple as not getting the job you wanted, or getting fewer marks even after working your ass off. But what defines you is not your failure, but how you get back up after being hit. Here is the story of a wildlife presenter on the Discovery Channel

After leaving school, he briefly considered joining the Indian Army and hiked in the Himalayan mountains of Sikkim and West Bengal. Eventually, he joined the Territorial Army and, after passing selection, served as a reservist with the SAS in 21 SAS Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), for three years until 1997.

Changing Education Paradigms

    Every country on earth at the moment is reforming public education. There are two reasons for it. The first one is economic - people trying to work out how we educate our children to take their place in economies the 21^st century. Given that we can’t anticipate what economy will look like at the end of next week. The second is cultural. Every country on earth on earth is trying to figure out how we educate our children so that they have a sense of cultural identity and so that we can pass on the cultural genes of communities while being part of the process of globalization. The problem is they’re trying to meet the future by doing what they did in the past and on the way that alienating millions of kids who don't see any purpose in going to school. When we went to school, there was a story which is a child has worked hard and did well got a college degree. Many nowadays won’t agree to it.  You’re better having a degree than not but it’s not a guarantee anymore that you get a job particularly if it doesn’t teach us a few important things which we should have learnt. The problem is that the current system education was designed and conceived and structured for different age.

Schools are organised on factory lines, ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized in two separate subjects. We still educate children by batches. We put them through the system by age group. Why do we do that? The most important thing kids have in common is how old they are you. It’s not the most important about the day of manufacture. There are kids who are much better than other kids the same age in different disciplines or different times the day or bettering smaller groups. It is the need of the hour to stop the production line mentality and standardization procedures.

    We need to believe it on exact opposite direction that’s what I mean about changing the paradigm. Divergent thinking isn't the same thing as creativity. The definition of creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.  Divergent thinking isn't a synonym but it’s an essential capacity for creativity. It’s the ability see lots of possible ways to answer a question and interpret it.  In various longitudinal studies, it is observed that a child has the ability to interpret a question in many different ways as compared to a teenager and much more capability than an adult. We are told don't look and don't copy because that's cheating mean outside schools that's called collaboration in international schools. This is because teachers want it this way it just because it happens that way. It's because it in the gene pool education have to think differently about human capacity we have to get over this whole conception of academic, non-academic abstract, theoretical, vocational. We need to understand and recognize that most great learning happens in groups the collaboration is the stuff of growth. If the atomized people in separate theming judge them separately we form a kind of disjunction between them and the natural learning environment. It’s crucially about the culture of our institutions the habits and institution and the habitats that they occupy.

    The nation needs an education system that excites and stimulates children, providing them with the learning they need - and deserve - to fulfil their potential.  This means providing a curriculum of practical and vocational learning alongside theoretical study.  This need for change has never been more pressing.  It is not due to the fault of any individual, any school or even any one political party but due to the simple fact the world has changed - and our education system has not changed fast enough.  Indeed, it is largely based on a system developed over a century ago; a factory manufacturing model where children are placed on a learning conveyor belt, then sorted, packaged and labelled according to their so-called intelligence.

    We must recognise that young people are individuals with different talents and dreams.  As such, not all children learn in the same way.  We need to move towards a system of mass customisation, based on a strong common core of essential skills and knowledge, which allows young people to develop their own particular talents and aspirations. We must support young people in discovering what they enjoy and are good at - and who they want to be in life.  And we must encourage and support teachers and schools in responding to these different needs.  Young people will learn if they see learning as important, meaningful and worthwhile. 

    The seeds of change are sprouting - but they won’t automatically grow.  For them to flourish they need to be recognised and nurtured.  They need the support of the nation; from parents, to young people and the government.

“The function ofeducation is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”Martin Luther King, Jr.

15 Inspirational quotes from Elon Musk

Born in South Africa in 1971, Elon Musk became a multimillionaire in his late 20s when he sold his start-up company, Zip2, to a division of Compaq Computers. He achieved more success by founding X.com in 1999, SpaceX in 2002 and Tesla Motors in 2003. Musk made headlines in May 2012 when SpaceX launched a rocket that would send the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. Here are a few quotes which will inspire you forever.

1. “I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”
2. “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.”
3. “You want to have a future where you’re expecting things to be better, not one where you’re expecting things to be worse.”
4. “It is a mistake to hire huge numbers of people to get a complicated job done. Numbers will never compensate for talent in getting the right answer (two people who don’t know something are no better than one), will tend to slow down progress, and will make the task incredibly expensive.”
5. “Physics is a good framework for thinking. … Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.”
6. “If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic – being able to talk to people over long distances, to transmit images, flying, accessing vast amounts of data like an oracle. These are all things that would have been considered magic a few hundred years ago.”
7. “My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.”
8. “When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world. Now I am.”
9. “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better. I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”
10. “I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.”
11. “Don’t be afraid of new arenas.”
12. “Life is too short for long-term grudges.”
13. "I just want to retire before I go senile because if I don't retire before I go senile, then I'll do more damage than good at that point."
14. “The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
15. “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.”

Source - Quora

How Freedom 251 is a brilliant marketing gimmick

With the sale having gone viral and hopefully millions of potential buyers now aware of the brand, Ringing Bells has achieved what even a big-ticket ad campaign couldn't have got it 

But first, if you think the Freedom 251 pricing is too good to be true, give yourself a pat on the back for managing to stay rational. Yes, you very well deserve it, especially when frenzied buyers queued up so desperately that it ended up pumping traffic at the rate of 600,000 hits per second as per a notice put up by the website itself. Everybody, from an iPhone owner to a Samsung lover or a Xiaomi enthusiast or Micromax supporter decided to give it a try, even if just for the fun of it. After all, to many of the users, the price of the phone at Rs 251 is petty change, even after adding shipping charges of Rs 40 or so.

A huge debate is raging on in the mainstream tech media as well as on the social media as to how Ringing Bells—the maker of Freedom 251—is going to break it even, forget earning a profit. A lot of people are also suspecting that this could eventually turn out to be a bogus thing or a scam. Cellular Associations of India (COAI) has gone to the extent of saying clearly that it was not possible to sell a 3G phone at a price below Rs 2,700, and going by that estimate, Freedom 251 is indeed priced to sell at a loss of over 90 percent.

I’m surprised to see that that people are actually spending time and energy in trying to figure out how Ringing Bells would sustain selling the phone for Rs 251, plus shipping charges of Rs 40 or so. (It has stopped taking registrations on the website and to those who managed to get registered, the phone would be delivered after four months.)

If you haven’t already figured it out, it’s futile to try finding out the ‘secret’ formula that would make this pricing work—there is none. It is also practically unthinkable that any potential stakeholder—be it a government or a telco—would subsidize to make it work, given that the subsidies would need to be as high as over 90 percent. And no economy-of-scale, by any stretch, could make the pricing work either.

So coming to the point that we started with—how do we solve this riddle?

I did say Aakash is a cue. Let me now elaborate. Aakash was touted as India’s cheapest tablet at under 35 dollars, though assuming a handsome government subsidy. That was then considered to be an ultra-low pricing (it still would be) and without getting into the details of it, the Aakash project in its second avatar was shut down for reasons well known to all.

Nevertheless, Datawind—the company that was initially associated with Aakash—managed to live on and do some brisk business. Its tablet models, under the Unislate brand, even went on to become some of the better-selling models at various points in time. None of these models, however, were priced in the $35-range. The lowest priced Ubislate 7SCX tablet featured on Datawind website at the time of writing this article carries a tag of Rs 3,799, which is around $56 at current dollar exchange rates. The higher end Ubislate 3G10 is priced at Rs 9,799, which approximates to $143.

So here’s the answer—the 35-dollar Aakash tablet turned out to be successful marketing ploy for Datawind, which helped sell its Ubislate tablet brand. However, to be fair to Datawind, Ubislate didn’t get the whole of the marketing brownies earned by Aakash, simply because Ubislate was not a sister brand of Aakash.

In case of Freedom 251, there are no brand gaps to be bridged for Ringing Bells and hence the rewards may be assumed to be manifold. With the message having gone viral and hopefully millions of potential buyers now aware of the brand, Ringing Bells has delivered a marketing and advertising masterstroke as it most likely saved itself millions in advertising money.  Now even if it gives away a few thousand Freedom 251 handsets to a batch of successful registrants (the number of registrants is not likely to be very high since the website was often down or functionally erratically due to heavy traffic), the company would still be spending only a fraction of the money it would have needed to achieve a brand awareness of such massive scale. It goes without saying that future models from the company are expected to be priced much higher.

This gives a glimpse of how start-ups like Ringing Bells could innovatively approach the market and create room for themselves in segments as crowded as the mobile phones. The company, however, will need to deliver on the value front also to be able to hold on to the space it created for itself, and, grow from there. Meanwhile, do expect more such branding and marketing experiments in future from some others as well.

Enter the era of start-up marketing!

Special Thanks - Deepak Kumar

Asus Zenfone Max - The BIG REVIEW

ASUS generated a lot of hype and interest in 2015 with its devices, especially the ZenFone lineup. Carried across by the ZenFone 2 and its variants, along with other smaller ZenFone variants like the ZenFone 2 Laser and ZenFone Selfie, ASUS created a lasting impression on the mind of the budget consumer. To bank upon the recent success, ASUS has released the ZenFone Max in the Indian market. This device was unveiled in IFA Berlin 2015, and is now available for pre-booking in India.

PROCESSOR

The ZenFone Max is powered by a quad-core, Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 410 processor that clocks at 1 GHz. With 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM, the processor pushes multitasking further, allowing users to play 3D games or edit HD videos seamlessly. The device features LTE Category 4 for download speeds of up to 150Mbps and Dual SIM standby.

DISPLAY & DESIGN

Interestingly enough, it’s not a 1080p display fashioned onto this one, but rather, a 5.5-inch 720 x 1280 IPS panel. Some people will lament over the reduction in its resolution over the Zenfone 2, but quite frankly, it doesn’t deteriorate its sharp looks and punchy color tones. Of course, the choice to go with a 720p screen means that it’s not much of a battery hog.

CAMERA

For the camera, the device features a 13MP rear camera with a f/2.0 aperture, laser autofocus and dual LED flash; and a 5MP camera on the front. The Zenfone 2 isn’t one we’d classify as being the supreme phone for hardcore shutterbugs, but its quality suffices for those who don’t plan on doing much with them besides sharing via social network site.

SOFTWARE

This phone is running Android 5.0 Lollipop. It combines rich personalization of the interface of Zen UI and some productivity features – albeit, it just doesn’t have the true multi-tasking features found on other interfaces.

MEMORY

ASUS Zenfone Max has 2GB RAM and will comes with 16GB internal storage option; it will support microSD cards of up to 64GB capacity.

BATTERY

The phone packs a long-lasting 5000 mAh lithium-polymer battery. It boasts a standby time of 38.1 days. With up to 37.6 hours of talktime on 3G or 32.5 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing, the device has enough juice to keep up with any power user. The ZenFone Max can even be used to charge other compatible devices.

PRICE

It is priced at a budgetary Rs. 9999/- and available via Flipkart and Amazon as pre-orders.

The ZenFone Max looks like a very ordinary device that would exist in the low-mid range. There isn’t too much to talk about in this phone that isn’t in every other phone, save for one feature: it’s large battery. Powering the ASUS ZenFone Max is a large 5,000 mAh Li-Po battery. To make use of the sheer capacity of the battery, the ZenFone Max can turn into a powerbank and be used to charge other devices.

Detailed Specifications

GENERAL FEATURES
Brand	Asus
Handset Color	Black
Form	Bar
Call Features	Loudspeaker
Model Name	Zenfone Max
Touch Screen	Yes, Capacitive
SIM Type	Dual Sim, LTE + WCDMA
Model ID	ZC550KL-6A023IN
In the Box	Handset, Charger, User Manual, Warranty Card

IMPORTANT NOTE
4G connectivity and phone features depend on the carrier and the location of the user.

MULTIMEDIA
Video Player	Yes
FM	Yes
Music Player	Yes, Supports MP3

CAMERA
Video Recording	Yes
Flash	Dual Color LED
Other Camera Features	Laser Auto Focus, f/2.0 Aperture, Back Light (HDR), Real Time Beautification, Night Mode, Depth of Field, Selfie Mode, Photo Effects, Panorama Mode, Miniature, Time Rewind, Smart Remove, All Smiles, Time Lapse, f/2.0 Aperture, Selfie Panorama (Upto 140 Degree), Real Time Beautification, HDR Mode, Lo...View More
Rear Camera	Yes, 13 MP
Front Facing Camera	Yes, 5 MP

INTERNET & CONNECTIVITY
Preinstalled Browser	Android
Bluetooth	Yes, v4, Supported Profiles (A2DP)
Navigation Technology	GLONASS, A-GPS, BDS, with Google Maps
Wifi	Yes, 802.11 b/g/n
Internet Features	Email

OTHER FEATURES
Sensors	Accelerometer, eCompass, Proximity Sensor, Hall Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor
Call Memory	Yes

WARRANTY
Warranty Summary	1 year manufacturer warranty for Phone and 6 months warranty for in the box accessories

DIMENSIONS
Weight	202 g
Size	77.5x156x10.55 mm

DISPLAY
Resolution	HD, 1280 x 720 Pixels
Other Display Features	IPS Display Upto 178 Degree Viewing Angle
Size	5.5 inch

BATTERY
Removable Battery	No
Type	Li-Polymer, 5000 mAh

MEMORY AND STORAGE
Expandable Memory	microSD, upto 64 GB
Memory	2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM
Internal	16 GB

PLATFORM
Operating Freq	GSM - 850, 900, 1800, 1900; WCDMA - 850(5), 900(8), 1900(2), 2100(1); 4G LTE (FDD) - 2100(1), 1800(3), LTE (TDD) - Band 38/39/40/41
User Interface	Asus ZenUI 2.0
Graphics	Adreno 306
OS	Android v5 (Lollipop)
Processor	1 GHz + Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916, Quad Core