Facebook

Facebook Inc said it erroneously disabled the personal account of a user named Isis Anchalee for about a day, an action the user claims was due to her name being spelt the same as the acronym used for the Islamic State extremist group.

Anchalee, a software developer in San Francisco, on Monday posted a screenshot of a Facebook log-in page that showed a message "Account disabled". She wrote to Facebook's Twitter page (@facebook), "why would you disable my personal account? MY REAL NAME IS ISIS ANCHALEE".

Anchalee said she sent Facebook her personal information three times to resolve the issue.

"Facebook thinks I'm a terrorist. Apparently sending them a screenshot of my passport is not good enough for them to reopen my account," Anchalee wrote on Twitter.

A researcher at Facebook responded on Twitter on Tuesday that her account was activated again.

"This was an error made as part of a fake account reporting process and we're sorry for the trouble it caused. It was not connected to the individual's name and her account has already been restored," a Facebook spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Many people with the name Isis - an Ancient Egyptian goddess of health, marriage and wisdom, have expressed concerns about the use of the acronym ISIS to refer to Islamic State, the group which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

An online petition on the issue calling for media to "stop calling terrorists (Islamic State) by our name" closed on 24 August with more than 56,800 signatures

Apple iPhone 6S, 6S Plus shipments surge after slow start in India

The smartphone maker shipped more than 413,500 of the latest iPhones in the first month of its launch to November 15, which is close to what Apple sold in the entire October-December quarter last year in the world's fastest-growing smartphone market.

Shipments of the new iPhones made up nearly 74% of Apple's total in the month and a half that began October 1, according to shipment data from Cybex Exim. Apple imported 562,500 iPhones between October 1 and November 15. That compares with 500,000 units it sold in the October-December period last year, its best quarter thus far.

"The initial momentum was not that strong, so Apple went in for a change and offered discounts on the new phones," said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. "But the overall demand for Apple iPhone still remains strong, thanks to the strong aspirational value attached to the brand." Research agencies estimate that sales for the quarter ending December may exceed 700,000 units.

Apple launched the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus in India on October 16 at Rs 62,000-Rs 92,000 depending on the memory and model, about Rs 14,000-16,000 more than in markets such as the US, Middle East, Singapore and Hong Kong. Apple admitted that the high prices may have discouraged buyers.

"We've adjusted some prices around the world for the launch of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus... Obviously when we increase prices around the world, it's normal to see some impact on sales rates," Apple's chief financial officer Luca Maestri said late last month on an earnings call about the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations in parts of the world including India.

The weak debut prompted a rethink by Apple and the announcement of a buyback programme offering discounts of as much as Rs 34,000 in early November, just before Diwali. That strategy seems to have paid off, said retailers and those in the trade.

"Our iPhone 6S and 6S Plus sales were very good primarily due to the buyback offer, which started a week before Diwali," said the chief executive of a leading retail chain in south India. "It started out slow but because of that offer, which we marketed very well too, we had a very good sale for Apple phones." The 413,500 iPhones shipped in the first month represents a trebling of the monthly average that Apple clocked for its fiscal year ended September.

During the fiscal year, the company shipped a record 1.7 million iPhones, or 142,000 units a month, to India.

"Apple has more reach now compared to last year, so they (Apple) would make sure that their partners have a level of inventory to manage demand," Counterpoint's Pathak said.

In line with the growing importance of India -- among the few growing markets in the world and that too at a scorching pace -- Apple has expanded distributors to five from two since the beginning of the year.

"Apple's strategy is simple," said Pathak. "They want to get as many people as possible onto their ecosystem in India and ensure deeper distribution reach within India. The platform stickiness of the Apple ecosystem will ensure that Apple's existing user base is going to be more robust in the coming one year." This includes the launch of Apple Music in India at a price of Rs 120 a month for individuals and Rs 180 for families (up to 6 users).

On an analyst conference call last month chief executive officer Tim Cook was positive about India's potential in the long run. Also, recent relaxations in retail policy could see the company opening directly owned stores in India.

the Finnish pocket computer that wants to take over the world

Three ambitious engineers from Finland are bidding to change personal computing with a new portable computer and operating system

 Solu is four inches wide and has an edge-to-edge touchscreen, but it’s not intended to be a mobile phone replacement.

computers, says entrepreneur Kristoffer Lawson, haven’t changed much in 20 years. It’s still a box, a screen and, if you’re using a desktop, a keyboardBut Lawson thinks that the era of cloud computing deserves its own kind of computing device. Portable, but more powerful than a mobile, designed to be plugged into any desktop screen and with a new kind of operating system that connects more fluidly to your contacts. And at a launch in San Francisco on 15 October, that’s what Lawson and the rest of the Solu team unveilSolu might look like a drinks coaster but don’t put your coffee on it; this is a four-inch wide block of curved, wood-encased computer with an edge-to-edge touch screen. Inside is a powerful 2.3GHz processor, battery and Wi-Fi capability. It can be used on its own or paired with a keyboard and a display up to a resolution of 4K. When paired in this way, the Solu acts as an input device instead of a mouse.

 

“This is something I’ve been thinking about for 15 years, but back then the technology that would have allowed us to do this would have been so complex and expensive – particularly the hardware – that it would have been impossible,” says Lawson in a disorienting Belfast-Finnish accent.

Lawson has been working on Solu’s hardware and operating system for the last 12 months, with a team that includes the former Nordic director of TMF Group Javier Reyes and Pekka Nikander, who founded IT security consultancy Nixu.

The team was, says Lawson, attracted to the leaping ambition of the Solu project: to disrupt the personal computing establishment. “When the challenge is big enough, the smart people will get inspired.”

Lawson draws directly on experience building Holvi, a simple online banking and accountancy service. Like banking, personal computing is a market that’s been dominated by major players like Microsoft and Apple for decades. The mobile revolution has given us computing power on the move, but the desktop staple – particularly the user interface – has remained unchanged.

Lawson’s biggest gripe with today’s computers is “how badly they use the internet as part of their whole experience”.

“Yes we have email but we’re still fighting with backups, hard drive space and downloading and installing applications,” he says. “The whole internet is not a natural part of the computer itself. If you run out of local resources, you’re screwed.”

With Solu, the hardware is linked directly to a cloud service the team has built, with data centres located in Finland. The cloud gives the user ability to scale up, while the local device acts as a smart cache with a capacity of 32GB.

The obvious comparison is Google’s Chromebook, but Lawson points out that this competitor “is basically just a web browser” and the “desktop experience is extremely limited”. Solu, on the other hand, is designed to work offline. Any changes made offline are synced as soon as the device goes online.

Zuckerberg gets hero rating in IIT-D, insists internet.org is not a villain

NEW DELHI: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said that he supported net-neutrality "100%", but added that he also strongly backed zero-rating.

Facebook's initiative, In ternet.org, rebranded as `Free Basics' a couple of months ago, has generated much debate on the subject. The service, delivered in collaboration with telecom operators, allows access to online content on "basics" such as health, education and employment and subscribers aren't charged for the data used.

Activists argue that such "zero-rating" pla ns go against the principle of net neutrality . But Zuckerberg believes that's "going too far". Answering questions at Facebook's first Town Hall Q&A in India, held at IIT-Delhi, he said: "Net-neutrality is a very important principle and we do a lot to support it in terms of pushing for regulation. This debate (exists) because countries are trying to figure out what their regulation should be." As loud cheers rang out at IIT-Delhi welcoming Mark Zuckerberg to the capital, cyber experts in the city voiced their concerns over Facebook's internet.org initiative. While the founder of the social networking powerhouse claimed that the views of people not connected to the internet were being ignored in the ongoing debate, net-neutrality advocate Nikhil Pahwa blamed Facebook for creating a "false choice".
"Zuckerberg is asking people to choose between universal connectivity and netneutrality ," Pahwa said. The principle of net-neutrality , he added, means that the opera tor shouldn't be giving a competitive advantage to any entity whether by manipulation of speed or differing pricing.

"Free Basics (the new name for internet.org) users will primarily get access to Facebook and its partners and this effectively discourages usage of the open web," Pahwa said, pointing out that internet penetration has increased dramatically in the past six months alone -rising by 52 million new users according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

We really don't have a problem, according to Pahwa. "There are ways to provide free access -it has been done in Africa, Bangladesh and the government free Wi-Fi projects are also on the same format. And none of these restrict usage to just a few sites," he said.

But, speaking at the IIT campus, Zuckerberg insisted that the line taken by net neutrality proponents may ultimately harm access to the net for the very large num bers who are still not online.

"Those pushing for netneutrality have access already ," Zuckerberg said."Those not on the net can't sign a petition pushing for access. We have a moral responsibility [toward] people who do not have access."

The type of content that'll be available through Free Basics is low-bandwidth, text and "not directly cannibalizing the operator's business".The platform "isn't a filter," Zuckerberg said.

Apparently Free Basics users -about 15 million across the world -tend to become full subscribers once they realise the benefits of being connected.

Zuckerberg's in India to interact with its Facebook community -population roughly 130 million -and a tiny part of it, about 1,100, attended Wednesday's Town House on the IIT campus.

"That's the second largest Facebook community in the world," Zuckerberg said."Our mission is to connect the world and India is the world's largest democracy . For every 10 people who get access, one gets a job, one gets elected out of poverty . It is a big opportunity to develop the economy here, one of the things you can do for the world."

Speaking on social tools from the Facebook stable, Zuckerberg said the safety tracking tool was used by millions to reassure family and friends after the recent earthquake. There's also Amber Alert on Facebook -a missing child alert currently available only in Canada and USA -that was launched in January this year and "at least one child has been found using it." "In 5-10 years, we want to build computers that are better at main human senses -that can see better, hear better," he said.

India and Africa are two bright spots of hope, opportunities: PM Modi.

“Africa and India are two bright spots of hope and opportunities in the global economy,” Modi said in his speech to the heads of 54 African countries at the India-Africa Forum Summit.

The Prime Minister also emphasised on the importance of youth and said that it “something precious that unites us”.

“Two third of India and Africa is under the age of 35. And, if the future belongs to the youth, then this century is ours to shape and build,” he said.

“It is not just a meeting of India and Africa. Today, the dreams of one-third of humanity have come together under one roof. Fabric of this world is richer because of the 54 sovereign flags of Africa,” he said.

Modi will speak to delegates, including heads of state or officials, from all 54 African Union nations, with announcements aimed at jump-starting bilateral trade and burnishing Indian investment in the continent.

BlackBerry Priv Android Apps Hit Google Play, 'Productivity Edge' Leaked.

   

BlackBerry's much-anticipated Priv Android slider smartphone is now up
for pre-orders at $699 (roughly Rs. 45,500), and is slated to begin shipping in the
 US starting November 6.

   

Ahead of the release, some highlight features of the Priv are making it to the Internet and the latest in the series is the handset's 'Productivity Edge' or notifications on the curved edge display. In the meanwhile, BlackBerry has released Priv-specific Android apps to the Google Play store. These include MicrosoftexFAT, Notes, BlackBerry Calendar, Contacts, BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry Keyboard, BlackBerry Services, Tasks, BlackBerry Device Search, BlackBerry Password Keeper, BlackBerry Launcher, BlackBerry Camera, and DTEK. Some of the apps are brand new, while others have been updated. The apps listings were first spotted by BlackBerry Central. Also new, is the release of the BlackBerry Content Transfer app for BlackBerry Priv users, available on BlackBerry World.

The Content Transfer for BlackBerry app will allow users to switch to the new Priv by moving data that is saved on an old BlackBerry 10 device (running 10.2.1 and later).

Data that is associated with a web-based account, such as contacts and calendar events, is transferred when you add the account to your new device. Your data can be transferred with password-protected encryption using Google Drive, your media card, or a private Wi-Fi network," explains the app listing in the Store.

BlackBerry previously revealed updates for its device roadmap for the year which primarily included Priv Android smartphone. Notably, BlackBerry has been pitching its first Android smartphone as a flagship slider device.

Getting back to the leaked Productivity Edge, to recall, the BlackBerry Priv sports a 5.4-inch Oled QHD (2560 x 1440) display with curved edges, something we have already seen on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge+. However, the Canadian company has so far not detailed the function of the Priv's curved edges.

Meizu rolls out Flyme 5.0 update for MX5.

Meizu has released a stable version of its Flyme 5.0 OS for its new MX5.Launched in August this year, the smartphone ran Flyme 4.5 that is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Those who haven’t received the update yet will have to be patient as Meizu rolls out the update in batches. Though it’s for China, it is also expected to roll out for users in other markets gradually. A Meizu fan page lists the new changes that the new update will add to MX5’s desktop, notifications and so on.

The all new Flyme 5.0.1.1A will add new changes to desktop such as split screen mode, multitasking, floating notice, folders are automatically and more.

The changes also include new music locker screen, select whether to display notifications in lock screen and a new customer assistant and online chat support to help users facing any issue.

Besides, you will view new call floating notices, suspended dial plate design, independent online yellow pages, energy management, new search function support for use of text and voice category management and more. A new weather search 4 x 2 widget and new home search, tool box app and loss reporting mode. You can view the complete changelog here.

In our review, we found that the MX5 is a good phone, resemblance to the iPhone notwithstanding. It is responsive, performs well in most tasks, has minimal bloatware, a good camera for daylight shooting, good build and battery life. Read the complete review.