CIOs, CTOs not ‘technical plumbers’ anymore

CIOs, CTOs not ‘technical plumbers’ anymore

In today’s fast evolving corporate world, technology and business are two sides of the same coin. Technology is critical to enable businesses’ to enhance efficiency and cut costs. For this to happen, CIOs/CTOs/Technology heads have to transform from being ‘technical plumbers’ to ‘business enablers’.
To address this change, TechGig.com, an online technology community, started a series of boardroom discussions on ‘The Evolution of Role of CIO/CTO: Information and Technology to Innovation’.
The first edition of the series was recently held in Mumbai. Amit Das, MD & CEO 3i Infotech BPO and global head-BI & Analytics, 3i Infotech Ltd; Nataraj N, CIO, Hexaware Technologies; Prameet Savla, CTO, AccelyaKale; Sanjiv Patki, COO, Allied Digital; and Rasesh Shah, SVP-key accounts and operations, Fractal Analytics, attended the session.
Is talent discovery and management a challenge?
Initiating the discussion, Nataraj N of Hexaware Technologies said, “We have to re-skill and re-engineer for innovation. Organisations should focus on tapping relevant skills in new talent and coaching existing talent for innovation.”
Sharing a product development company’s perspective, Prameet Savla of AccelyaKale said that to stay on the top of their game, product development companies need to have talent that can think out-of-the-box, which leads to disruptive products in the market.
Rasesh Shah of Fractal Analytics pointed out that being in the business of solving problems, they look for talent that understands business, technology and statistics and is able to do client servicing, all together. “Our biggest challenge is to find all these skills in one person and train them in a particular technology, which is changing by the minute.
According to Amit Das, MD & CEO 3i Infotech BPO and global head-BI & Analytics, 3i Infotech Ltd, technology has become like an assembly line. “Most companies are hiring the business person; the technology person; the statistics person, separately. To manage these people, they hire a client-servicing person. The biggest challenge is that our system is not designed to nurture or mentor talent as they grow.”
“Universally, the kind of skills required by tech companies cannot be imparted at the college level. Cross skilling in terms of business, technology, statistics and client-servicing is most important for them as they grow in the organisation. However, this is not easy to achieve as this will lead to efficiency loss,” added Sanjiv Patki of Allied Digital.
Driving Innovation
Rasesh Shah: “It is the power of social recognition that motivates employees to innovate.”
Prameet Savla: “People who can and want to innovate seek social acceptance from their peers and leaders.”
Amit Shah: “To foster innovation, we host ‘Idea Bulls’ camp where we ask employees what the next big idea/solution is where the company should invest. We then recognise the best ideators in the group.”
Nataraj N: “We provide funding for great ideas and innovators in our company and involve them in productisation of their idea.”
Sanjiv Patki: “We encourage team innovation over individual innovation. There are people who are shy and are not good communicators, but have great ideas. To tap their talent, we have introduced the practice of brain mapping/writing.”
Experts agreed that the business environment is changing rapidly, acting as a catalyst for many start-ups. Indian companies, large, medium and start-ups, are getting to a point where they will be leaders in the marketplace and organisational innovation.
Key Takeaways
• Job Rotation, re-skilling and rewards & recognition motivate tech talent to innovate
• Creating the next level of tech talent is the biggest challenge
• Institutes should move beyond curriculum and focus on innovation
• School and college curriculums should allow cross-linkages; so an arts student can become an analyst or an engineer
• CIOs should focus on building a culture of knowledge sharing to drive innovation



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BFSI sector to create jobs in Tier II & III cities

BFSI sector to create jobs in Tier II & III cities

 

Government initiatives and new banking licenses are expected to create significant opportunities in the BFSI sector
With the government’s focus on financial inclusion and RBI initiatives to expand financial services to rural areas, creation of jobs in the next 5-10 years is anticipated in the banking, financial companies and the payments sector, reported the latest RecruiteX (Jul-Dec 2014) by TimesJobs.com.
Need for fresh talent
“The trends in hiring for banking, insurance and payment driven companies, building rural financial infrastructure, are expected to witness a boost. Owing to the requirements of creating this penetration, a large infusion of fresh talent is forecast,” said Meher Sarid, president corporate affairs, Oxigen Services (India) Pvt Ltd.
According to RecruiteX, many BFSI organisations are rationalising the number of sales branches and attempting to bring in more efficiency and productivity at the junior levels in metros, as growth moderates. These productivity gains in the metros are being utilised to invest ‘ahead of the curve’ in smaller cities, where opportunities for professionals with 0-5 years experience will go up. Employment for freshers will receive a boost from the public sector banks as well, as many retire in the next 5-10 years.
Skills in Demand
• Sales roles will continue to be in demand with a focus on need-based selling, putting the interests of customers at the forefront
• Selling skills related to mobile and app, e-marketing, hybrid channel distribution and partnership development will be in demand
• Underwriting, pricing and claims will rely more on data management and analytics, dynamic pricing and tailoring for specific      risks
Rural to drive demand
Despite the relative proliferation of banks in India, the truth is that 70 per cent of India’s rural populace remains under-banked. This points to the fact that demand is expected in the tier II and III cities. Banks and insurance companies are also expanding their sales and distribution networks to these cities, in search of mobile customers who tend to be more loyal and profitable. This is driving up recruitment in these categories, revealed RecruiteX.
Sarid believes that the payments infrastructure in India can only be strengthened by gaining the trust of people and by educating them about the financial benefits that advancement of technology brings. This will ensure job creation in support areas for the BFSI sector.
• Emerging job hubs in BFSI are Baroda, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Patna
• Among states, Kerala and Orissa showed a rise in demand
The BFSI sector will be among the top job creators in 2014, pointed out experts in TimesJobs.com RecruiteX. While demand will be strong for core roles, support functions will also be in demand.



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'Love' hormone to heat up your sex life!

'Love' hormone to heat up your sex life! (Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images)

Forget Viagra. High levels of 'Love' hormone oxytocin can ramp up your sex life like never before - by making orgasm more intense!

Those who took oxytocin before sex - especially men - reported slightly more intense orgasms as well as greater levels of contentment after sex, a fascinating research reveals.

"Our study demonstrates that oxytocin may alter specific aspects of sexual experience and partner interactions in healthy couples," said researchers from Hannover Medical School in Germany.

Previous studies have shown that oxytocin plays a role in relationship bonding.

But few studies have examined whether higher levels of the hormone affect sexual behaviour.

In the research, 29 healthy couples either took oxytocin nasal spray or a placebo spray before having sex in their home.

After sex, they jot down their experiences about their sexual experience as well as their feelings toward their partner in a survey form.

While oxytocin had no effect on sex drive or arousal for either men or women, it resulted in a more intense orgasm, especially men.

Men who took oxytocin said they felt more sexually satisfied after sex, the study noted.

Some women also reported that they were better able to share their sexual desires with their partners during sex.

According to the study, more research is required to see whether the hormone may help those with low sexual desire or erectile dysfunction.

The study was published in the journal Hormones and Behaviour.

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Google executive reveals why the company came up with its beautiful new Android design

Google executive revealed what led the team at Google to build Material Design.

Jon Wiley, one of Google's principal designers behind its Search and Maps apps, recently opened up about the company's design principles and mobile search strategies in an open ask-me-anything interview on Reddit.

Within that thread, Wiley revealed what led the team at Google to build Material Design — which has been billed as one of the biggest new features in Android L.

Material Design is basically an aesthetic overhaul that's meant to make content look similar across screens of all sizes, whether it be watches, smartphones, or laptops. Apps are also intended to look simpler, cleaner, and more colorful with fewer distractions.

Although Material Design was just unveiled at this year's Google I/O, Wiley said Google has been talking about the idea for years.

Here's what he had to say about Material Design in the AMA:

I'm one of the instigators of material design. It actually came about a couple of years ago when we were working on a design problem involving Google Search. I was looking at mobile results on cards and I asked "what is this made of?" People gave me funny looks, like "what do you mean? It's just pixels." But I didn't think that was a good answer.

When you physically interact with software — actually touching the cards and links and buttons, etc —you bring a lot of expectations around how physical objects behave. If the interface isn't thoughtful about those expectations — if it's just a bunch of pixels — it leaves you with a rather unsatisfying and inauthentic experience.

Material design came about when thinking how to make Google Search better on mobile devices. So we plan to bring material design to all of its products, including Search.

When asked about the future of search in general, Wiley didn't cite any specific plans for Google but did elaborate on his overall outlook for where it's headed. For a mobile search experience to be truly intuitive, it needs to be so natural you wouldn't even have to think about it, he said in his AMA answer:

But broadly: I expect obstacles to drop away. Devices will get cheaper, smaller, lighter, longer-lasting, etc. You'll be able to connect anywhere, fast. And then what you get will be much higher-quality info: not just plain facts, but specific help for what you're doing at the moment. Also, in many ways I think the technology will become more invisible — it'll fade into the background. Think of plumbing — you just turn on the tap, and voila, water! I think information technology will start feeling that way too: on-demand but unobtrusive otherwise.

Material Design will roll out with Android L, which is expected to debut in the fall. In addition to a new user interface, Android L will include Google's latest effort to improve battery life called Project Volta and a revamped Chrome browser among other features.

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We were sleepy; now aggressive: TK Kurien

Wipro CEO T K Kurien

BANGALORE: The stock market slammed Wipro on Friday for what it viewed as subpar revenue growth in the June quarter, and guidance for the September quarter. The share price of India's third largest IT company fell by over 8% on opening trade and ended the day with a drop of 4.6%. But Wipro CEO TK Kurien says he's focused on the long term.

The stock market isn't happy with your performance?

To me the short term is immaterial. The long-term growth is what we worry about. Last year same time, the stock was running at Rs 380 (now it is Rs 550); the shareholders have made decent returns. Our year-on-year growth in revenue in the last quarter was at 9.6%, which is more than twice the 4.5% year-on-year growth in the same quarter of last year. The journey has begun, it hasn't ended yet. We have done a lot of work to change the culture of the company. We were a sleepy company, now we have become aggressive. The number of deal wins is a reflection of that.

You aspire to grow 4% sequentially, but TCS has pulled way ahead. What is it that they have done right?

TCS grows very well in the first two quarters of the year and the next two quarters, they slow down. The momentum in the first two quarters propels their full year growth. That's the trick we haven't yet got up to. Our first quarter is lousy and this is the one jinx we have to break. And the only way to break the jinx is through deal flow. We should have closed the Atco ($1.12-billion) deal in the first quarter, but it slipped.

Wipro has won significant deals like Atco and Takeda recently. But the revenue growth forecast remains below expectations?

It takes 2-4 quarters for the full value of the deal to start fructifying. When we went from $50 million contract sizes to $100 million ones, it was a big thing. Then we did $400 million in the last quarter, suddenly life changed and that was our new benchmark. But now, this quarter, it's become $1 billion (Atco deal). That's the progress we have made and that changes the mindset.

Talent management firm DDI evaluated 150 senior leaders in Wipro last year. What exactly is the end objective?

It's very easy to fool our bosses, but what's innate to you, you can't manipulate. A guy may come out looking fabulous in the interview, but if you send him to DDI, he may look like a complete washout. You get a sense of the candidate's reservoir of skills. DDI does a whole day simulation, they will put you into an environment, and they will see if you get angry, see how you react. We are using DDI also for all external hires because it's important for them to fit into the culture of the company.

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Apple admits iPhones let others access your personal data

Personal data including text messages, contact lists and photos can be extracted from iPhones through previously unpublicized techniques by Apple employees.

SAN FRANCISCO: Personal data including text messages, contact lists and photos can be extracted from iPhones through previously unpublicized techniques by Apple employees, the company acknowledged this week.

The same techniques to circumvent backup encryption could be used by law enforcement or others with access to the "trusted" computers to which the devices have been connected, according to the security expert who prompted Apple's admission.

In a conference presentation this week, researcher Jonathan Zdziarski showed how the services take a surprising amount of data for what Apple now says are diagnostic services meant to help engineers.

Users are not notified that the services are running and cannot disable them, Zdziarski said. There is no way for iPhone users to know what computers have previously been granted trusted status via the backup process or block future connections.

"There's no way to 'unpair' except to wipe your phone," he said in a video demonstration he posted recently showing what he could extract from an unlocked phone through a trusted computer.

As word spread about Zdziarski's initial presentation at the Hackers on Planet Earth conference, some cited it as evidence of Apple collaboration with the National Security Agency.

Apple denied creating any "back doors" for intelligence agencies.

"We have designed iOS so that its diagnostic functions do not compromise user privacy and security, but still provides needed information to enterprise IT departments, developers and Apple for troubleshooting technical issues," Apple said. "A user must have unlocked their device and agreed to trust another computer before that computer is able to access this limited diagnostic data."

But Apple also posted its first descriptions of the tools on its own website, and Zdziarski and others who spoke with the company said they expected it to make at least some changes to the programs in the future.

Zdziarski said he did not believe that the services were aimed at spies. But he said that they extracted much more information than was needed, with too little disclosure.

Security industry analyst Rich Mogull said Zdziarski's work was overhyped but technically accurate.

"They are collecting more than they should be, and the only way to get it is to compromise security," said Mogull, chief executive officer of Securosis.

Mogull also agreed with Zdziarski that since the tools exist, law enforcement will use them in cases where the desktop computers of targeted individuals can be confiscated, hacked or reached via their employers.

"They'll take advantage of every legal tool that they have and maybe more," Mogull said of government investigators.

Asked if Apple had used the tools to fulfill law enforcement requests, Apple did not immediately respond.

For all the attention to the previously unknown tools and other occasional bugs, Apple's phones are widely considered more secure than those using Google's rival Android operating system, in part because Google does not have the power to send software fixes directly to those devices.

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Apple acquires book analytics company BookLamp

BookLamp is a startup that develops book analytics and recommendations services.

NEW DELHI: It appears that Apple has quietly acquired Idaho(US)-based company BookLamp, a startup that develops book analytics and recommendations services.

The acquisition, which was first reported by TechCrunch, has been confirmed by Apple with its usual boilerplate statement.

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," the Cupertino giant said.

BookLamps did not confirm the acquisition. However, it had posted a statement on its website in April saying that the service will not be available any longer as the "company evolves its mission." It's possible that the acquisition deal was inked earlier in the year.

TechCrunch cites a separate source to report that Apple bought BookLamp's employees and technology for a price that falls between $10million and $15 million.

BookLamp had earlier developed the Book Genome Project, a platform that allowed users to find book suggestions on the basis of natural language analysis of other book titles.

Apple is known to acquire smaller companies and integrate their technology and people with its existing products. It's likely that Apple will leverage BookLamp's recommendations and analytics engine with its iBooks e-book service.

Last year, Amazon had also acquired book lovers social network Goodreads and had integrated it with its Kindle e-books service.

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Moto X+1 pictures appear online in new leak

The phone featured in the pictures looks similar to the Moto X in shape and also sports a wood finish back panel.

NEW DELHI: A near final prototype of what could be Motorola's Moto X+1 has appeared online in pictures.

Android focused website Android Police has published pictures of a pre-production Motorola smartphone that it claims to have received from a tipster. The tipster that the device in pictures is the successor to Motorola's Moto X smartphone.

The phone featured in the pictures looks similar to the Moto X in shape and also sports a wood finish back panel. The back features a circular Motorola logo and a camera lens that has a circular ring enclosing it. The ring has two LEDs on opposite sides, which will reportedly act as the dual-LED flash.

Interestingly, it also has a metal frame along the edges, which as per the source of the leak, is made of aluminium. The front panel of the phone is very similar to the Moto E with two chrome grills above and below the display for the earpiece and loudspeaker. The top-edge features the 3.5mm headphone jack and a sim-card tray, while the bottom edge has a micro-USB port. The power and volume rocker keys are placed at the right edge.

The alleged phone is said to sport a 5.1-inch display and similar to the Moto X will not offer a slot for a memory card.

In line with previous reports, the tipster also suggests that Motorola will also offer custom leather options in blue and purple for the phone's back panel.

Earlier, Twitter user EVLeaks had said that Motorola will offer 25 colour options in Cool, Neutral, Warm, Wood and Leather finishes for Moto X+1. Presently, Motorola offers 31 colour options but does not offer leather finish for the Moto X backplate.

Evleaks had earlier posted the alleged logo of the phone which revealed the Moto X+1 name.

According to rumours, the phone is said to sport a 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, Adreno 330 graphics and 2GB RAM. It will allegedly feature 32GB internal storage, 12MP rear camera and 2MP front camera.

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Asus ZenFone 5 review: Best smartphone under Rs 10,000

Expert's Rating(4)

NEW DELHI: Asus has entered the smartphone fray in India and launched five smartphones in one go. The Asus ZenFone 5 is the best positioned of the lot, offering a 5-inch HD screen, Android 4.3 and 2GB RAM and still keeping the price under Rs 10,000 for the base variant. However, unlike most Android phones today, the handset is powered by an Intel processor, not Qualcomm or Mediatek.

Does it fare well against the Moto G's base variant? Should you buy this smartphone or spend another Rs 4,000 and go for Xiaomi Mi 3? We answer these questions and more in our Asus ZenFone 5 review...

Design and display
Asus ZenFone 5 has an understated look, with the company opting largely for plastic construction with only a hint of metal. The plastic used here is not cheap and has matte finish that feels good to the touch. However, the look is rather plain and does not set the smartphone apart from the competition either.




In the front, just below the screen you will see a metallic strip featuring concentric semi-circles, taking up less than a centimeter of space on the front panel. Though this strip is not too bold, it certainly adds a little flair to the design character, which the device doesn't seem to have otherwise. Asus uses the same metal trim in its laptops.



ZenFone 5's removable back panel is curved, which make it easy to hold with one as well as two hands. However, the smartphone itself is a little big and, thus, a little difficult to operate with one hand. At 145gram, it is a little heavy, but feels solid.

One thing we don't like about Asus ZenFone 5 is the wide bezels, which make ZenPhone 5 unnecessarily large. The smartphone could have been much more compact, somewhere to the tune of Samsung Galaxy S4, but the wide bezels on all sides make it too large for comfort. The Home, Back and Task Switcher buttons have not been given on the screen as well, thus adding to its size.

Asus ZenFone 5 sports a 5-inch display with 720p resolution. The screen's colour reproduction is balanced, delivering accurate and balanced colours in most cases. Being an IPS panel, it offers good viewing angles, ensuring that colours do not wash out when viewed from the sides. Pixilation is not noticeable either.

Xiaomi Mi 3 vs ZenFone 5, Moto G and others

1 of 9

The Indian smartphone market has just got a new kid on the block: Xiaomi Mi 3. From the house of China's third-biggest smartphone maker, this new model features top-end specifications at an attractive price of Rs 14,999.

Want to know how Xiaomi Mi 3 fares vis-à-vis other top smartphones in its price range? Here's comparing Mi 3 against phones from the likes of Motorola, Sony, BlackBerry, Gionee and Asus...

Hardware
Asus ZenFone 5 comes across pretty well-equipped when it comes to the hardware. The smartphone has the Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core processor running at 1.6GHz; it features Hyperthreading technology, meaning that it can act as a quad-core CPU when too many processes are running.

The India variant of ZenPhone 5 comes with 2GB RAM, 8GB and 16GB internal storage options and microSD card support up to 64GB. Connectivity options are standard: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. The smartphone also sports an 8MP camera flanked by LED flash on the back, and a 2MP camera in front. It has a non-removable 2,110mAh battery.

The 8GB variant has been priced at Rs 9,999, whereas the 16GB model can be purchased for Rs 12,999.

Software
Software is yet another highlight of Asus ZenFone 5. Android smartphone makers try to set themselves apart via customized software, but most do not turn out well and make the phone appear cluttered.

However, Asus, despite its rather limited experience with smartphones, has done a very good job, giving us an Android launcher that improves the basic functionality of Android, is pleasing to the eyes and does not make you cringe when you look at the icons.

ZenFone 5 comes preloaded with Android 4.3, but the Android 4.4 update is around the corner. There is no word on Android L release for this smartphone.



Much like HTC's Sense UI, the Asus custom skin brings shortcuts to the lock screen so that you can open the apps that you use the most without unlocking the device. It also displays time, weather and upcoming events on the lock screen.

While you swipe downwards to open the Notifications Bar, a swipe from the left side of the screen opens your notifications whereas the swipe from the right opens all the toggles, just like it happens in Android tablets nowadays. Brightness, Flashlight, Memory Booster, Calculator and Quick Memo are permanent in the toggles menu, but you can choose the remaining toggles that show up in Notifications from Settings.



Another feature worth mentioning here is Easy Mode, which lets you choose and control those apps you may use most frequently. Much like the similar feature by Samsung, Sony and HTC, Asus ZenPhone 5 shows common apps like Dialler, Contacts, Camera etc by default, but also lets you set which other apps can be opened in this mode.


Via Settings, you can enable ZenFone 5 to open the camera by clicking the Volume Down key twice when the screen is turned off. You can also take screenshots by just tapping the Task Switcher haptic key twice.

Also worth mentioning is the design of the icons you see in several Asus apps. The icons are flat and minimalist, making the screen uncluttered even if it has several apps and widgets.

Of course, all this doesn't mean that Asus, like other manufacturers, hasn't preloaded its own set of apps in ZenFone 5. Along with Google apps, the Taiwanese manufacturer has put several apps on the device, and not all are useful.

Those worth mentioning are AudioWizard and Splendid. The former, as the name suggest, lets you control the phone's audio profile depending upon the functions you are performing. There are six modes in this app, namely Speech, Music, Recording, Movie, Gaming and Power Saving.

Splendid enables you to control the colour reproduction on the display, allowing you to make it richer or colder.

Asus has said that it will update ZenFone 5 to Android 4.4 (KitKat) in coming weeks, but there is no word on an upgrade to Android L release.

Performance
We have been fairly impressed by the software, hardware, design and display quality of Asus ZenFone 5. But what about the performance in everyday usage? ZenFone 5 did not fail us even once, delivering consistent performance without a single glitch.

What's more surprising is that the Intel-powered smartphone delivered a user experience that was as good, if not better, than that of its Qualcomm-powered counterparts. Apps opened quickly and switching between them was smooth. With 2GB RAM at its disposal, the smartphone did not give any 'out of memory' error as well.

The smartphone performs well as a gaming machine too, but resource-hungry games feel a little slow to start. The Power VR GX544MP2 GPU renders rich graphics without a hitch. The games we tried, Real Racing 3 and Dead Trigger 2, played smoothly and there were no frame drops.



In benchmark tests, Asus ZenFone 5 gave pretty good results. In fact, its scores were right up there with those of Google Nexus 4 in most tests we used, and decidedly better than that of Moto G.

Call quality on both sim cards, in our experience, has been fine, but nothing to write home about. Wi-Fi and 3G networks too worked smoothly in all environments.

As a multimedia device, however, Asus ZenFone 5 is not good. Though the display is great and all video formats play easily, the sound is just not enough. It is not loud enough, and thus makes playing songs or videos a poor experience. Due to the low sound output, using this smartphone in loudspeaker mode is also useless.

One problem we faced while handling the device is that the haptic keys are not backlit. Therefore, using it in the dark is a little difficult.

Battery life is also a concern. During regular usage, where we keep the brightness at 50% and always keep either 3G or Wi-Fi turned on, the battery drained in approximately 6-7 hours. Turning off internet connectivity helps the ZenFone 5 get through a day. The smartphone has battery saver modes, but they don't do help much unless the internet is turned off. It is, therefore, advisable to keep the charger with you for emergency situations.

Camera
The camera of ZenFone 5 is decent for an 8MP camera, and especially good for the sub-Rs 10,000 range. Asus has used also added several software feature to give users an array of image capturing options, such as Depth of Field, Miniature, Smart Remove.



In Auto mode, the lighter parts in photos are overexposed, while dark areas are underexposed. Colours in daylight photos are accurate and the white balance also okay. Lowlight photos come out pretty great and show a little less noise compared to rival smartphones.

You can make GIFs using the smartphone, much like Nokia Lumia phones' CinemaGraph. The Miniature feature lets you bring a single object in focus, while keeping the rest faded. The Depth of Field feature works well, but is a little slow and it took us several tries before we got a satisfactory photo.




Verdict
If you are looking for a smartphone under Rs 10,000, then Asus ZenFone 5 should easily be your first choice. Battery life is a concern, but a wall charger or power bank in your bag is a simple fix. The screen, software, camera and overall performance compensate more than enough for the small battery.

However, if you can stretch your budget to Rs 14,000, then you should go for Xiaomi Mi 3, which is a fantastic smartphone that does much more than what ZenFone 5 can.

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Exclusive: Sourav Ganguly's five tips for MS Dhoni to win

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MS Dhoni has been positive in England and must ensure the players remain hungry. 

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There are five things that MS Dhoni needs to do to keep the consistency going in the third Test match.

Number one, he needs to do is to keep his players hungry. Indian teams in the past have been in this situation and got carried away with the euphoria of a win, the accolades and slipped from there. The most important thing for Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher is to keep everyone on their toes. I hope they're practicing and training in Southampton. I know they needed a three-day break, which is absolutely fine; get your bodies fresh and come back hungry for the Southampton Test match. That's the first and foremost criteria for India at the moment.

Secondly, the pitch will be a very important one. I've always said that India have done well on pitches that help the bowlers. If you look at the wins around the world - in Perth, Durban, Headingley and Nottingham - those pitches were green and that made our bowlers capable of picking up 20 Test wickets. I think England will have no other choice but to prepare green pitches in Southampton and the next two Test matches. The reasons are, firstly, that they don't have a spinner.

Although Moeen Ali has done a good job, they know that the only way they can pick 20 wickets is to prepare pitches that will help their seamers. That's a good thing for India. For MS Dhoni, it's important to assess the pitch. I know that Dhoni over the years has stuck to his XI and I don't see him changing the team. It's the right way to go. It's a policy that helps players develop and flourish and be safe and pressure-free and perform in an environment in which they know that the captain backs them. It's important that Dhoni continues with the same side. Yes, there are questions about Stuart Binny, but looking at how Dhoni goes about his job I don't see any change in the side.

Number three: I don't consider this as something Dhoni must do, but something he can ponder. On flat pitches, Dhoni at No 6 is fine, but on pitches that are green he may just get the feeling that he's a bit higher up. So is there a case for Rohit Sharma? Make him bat at No 6 because Stuart Binny hasn't bowled enough in this Test series. Bring in Rohit Sharma at No 6, bat Dhoni at No 7 and then play four bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja. You've got Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan to bowl a few overs.

When you look at this English top order, other than Ian Bell who is struggling for form, none of the batsmen, whether it's [Alastair] Cook, [Gary] Ballance, or [Sam] Robson, will take the game away from you. They are accumulators, people who bat, bat and bat to get runs in Test cricket. There's no [Kevin] Pietersen, no [Marcus] Trescothick, no [Andrew] Flintoff who can take the game away from you in a session. So Dhoni as a captain will always have control of the game. From that point of view, he can always consider bringing in Rohit Sharma to bat at No 6. India need to get ahead of this Test match, to get 450 in one of their innings.

Fourth, which is very important for MS Dhoni, is to make sure he gets Mohammed Shami back on track. Ishant Sharma has been splendid and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a revelation on this tour. His attitude has made the dressing room a lot stronger, gutsier. It's a very infectious thing in the dressing room, that if the players start to believe that 'if he can do it, I can too' and that helps players get better. More than Bhuvneshwar's bowling, its his batting that has made the players believe that if he at No 7 or 8 can bat against the new ball, then we can as well. And that's a big boost for the Indian batting line-up.

The last and most important thing is that Dhoni should have learnt from the Lord's Test. If you look at the Test in Johannesburg when Dhoni went out and batted first, India almost won. Here, India were forced to bat first but they would have probably bowled first on that surface, because they lost the toss. Here is a lesson for Dhoni in overseas conditions: if you take pressure early on, it goes back on the opposition when they bat fourth. So even if it's a 50-50 or a doubtful pitch where you feel that it may seam or bounce or be a bit more helpful for the bowlers - bat. That's the only way you can win Test matches. It's a risk you have to take early on, but it can bear fruits on day four or five. As it did at Lord's.



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4 answers you are getting wrong in your interview

4 answers you are getting wrong in your interview

Mismatch between the candidate responses at an interview and the recruiter’s expectations can lead to loss of time and effort. Here’s how to avoid this.

After a failed attempt at an interview, one often wonders what went wrong? HR professionals tell us what kind of responses they expect from candidates and how they would like them to prepare for the interview questions.

What interests you about this job?

What prospective employers are looking for here is a match between the candidate’s natural inclination and acquired skills and how they match the job they have applied for.

“In their enthusiasm to get the job (any job) candidates often drop jargon to cover a generic answer about what they assume the job would entail,” says Sainul Abraham, HR head, AGRE Technologies. “What companies really look for is how much research has the candidate done about the job and the skills required.”

Did you go through our website? What do you think of it?

“This is often mistaken to be a check on the candidates’ knowledge about the clients or services provided. This is true only to a certain extent. A detailed talk about some of the stuff like a case study or even a service/product launch is a better way to take the discussion through so that the interviewer knows you have done your homework,” says Abraham.

Can you solve this problem?

This question is clearly to gauge the candidate’s problem-solving abilities.
“We are not expecting a fresher to come up with a solution to any of our problems. What we look for mostly is how he handles himself and the situation,” says Shiv Kumar, CEO, eNetworths. “I often ask him or her to think aloud, with the aim to understand their thinking process. Interestingly, I was once able to hire a candidate as a BD even though he had applied for a programmer’s job.”

What salary are you looking for?

“Freshers make two fundamental mistakes here – either they get enthusiastic and think they can bargain or get too desperate and say ‘anything’,” says Kumar. “What we are really looking for is how does the candidate handle this question. How much does he/she talk about the job vis-à-vis the salary? Above all, does he or she come across as someone who will stick around for about three years atleast.”

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Flipkart eyes 1.5 million sq ft office space

This will be the biggest office deal involving an internet company, and possibly the largest by a single occupant after Goldman Sachs mopped up 1.6 million sq ft in Bangalore two years ago.

BANGALORE: E-commerce juggernaut Flipkart has approached real estate developers for 1.5 million sq ft office space to consolidate its rapidly expanding operations in Bangalore.

Flipkart needs 4 lakh sq ft soon and would opt for staggered occupation of the rest to become one of the top office space absorbers in the tech city turned startup capital in recent years, said people directly aware of the matter.

This will be the biggest office deal involving an internet company, and possibly the largest by a single occupant after Goldman Sachs mopped up 1.6 million sq ft in Bangalore two years ago.

The e-tailer's office leasing plans are aggressive but also reflect investor confidence in a seven-year-old company with breakneck growth plans, despite a running battle with Amazon. Flipkart, with a rocketing valuation of over $6 billion currently, could raise $3 billion in the next three years to lead India's internet consumerism.

Flipkart currently runs 12,000-staff operations from seven office buildings spread across the Koramangala suburb, from where Infosys started three-decades ago. The Sachin and Binny Bansal co-founded company is in discussions with southern real estate giant Embassy Group for an office space deal.

Embassy TechVillage, located in the city's IT corridor, is one of the identified locations. Flipkart's request for proposal is just out and discussions are still in early stages. The proposal has been floated with most of the city's big developers. The TechVillage has around 500,000 sq ft of space that is yet to be leased, and another 3 million going into development very soon.



Top embassy officials, travelling abroad, could not be reached immediately. Mekin Maheshwari, chief people office, Flipkart said, "The search for a new office space in Bangalore is to consolidate our current offices under one roof and more importantly to make room for future growth. We are looking at a 1.5 million sqft office space with future expansion possibilities. Our focus on hiring has stepped up and are looking to increase our team strength from 15,000 to 25,000. With regards to Flipkart and Myntra offices being together, we are yet to decide on that."

The e-commerce poster boy is raising $1 billion in the next few days from a consortium of investors led by US fund Tiger Global, which would invest over $250 million in the current round. Other existing investors, South African internet giant Naspers and Accel Partners, too, would participate along with a set of new marquee names.

The latest investment is happening at a valuation which has more than doubled in the last quarter, when Russian investor DST Global valued it at $2.8 billion.

"The growth spike in the past six months completely rearranged the prospects for most e-commerce players, and more so for Flipkart, which has grown even faster after Amazon entry," a source involved with the matter said. Flipkart said it would hire 12,000 people this year to bolster its support and technology operations, taking total roll call to 25,000.

The investor confidence is also running high on the fact that that Flipkart has halved its monthly losses from $5 million one year ago, as it bucks up efficiencies and taps better monetization of the delivery model. Tiger Global has invested more than $600 million in Flipkart and could take its exposure to $1 billion, surpassing what it invested in Facebook.

Bansals are accelerating growth fully knowing "there's scope to raise another $2 billion" in the next three years, a timeline by when the investors hope for a possible US listing at a valuation in excess of $20 billion, said a second source directly familiar with the developments. Flipkart has consistently said it has no readymade plans for an IPO as investors continue to pour money at valuations topping public markets, for now
.

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