Meet The 7-Year Old ‘Google Kid’ Who Knows EVERYTHING

Seven-year-old Kautilya Pandit is an amazing child who knows everything.

Some people call him a walking, talking encyclopedia, because the boy has the capacity to absorb information ranging from geography to biology and current affairs. Within three months, the little kid managed to memorise information about 213 countries, their population, source of income, currency, religion, culture and heritage.

The boy, who is a resident of Kohand Village in India, is now a national celebrity. He regularly travels to schools across the country and answers live questions from other kids.
Due to his ability to absorb information and his photographic memory Kaytilya has earned the nickname “Google”.

Talking about his extraordinary mental abilities, Kautilya usually share the credit of his brilliance with his family.

“I guess the best thing is that I was lucky enough to have parents and teachers who realised I had a gift and who have helped me develop.
“I don’t have friends in my class … My grandfather is my best friend. I don’t know why I am different but I know I am curious about everything, and keep asking questions, but in my case the answers just remain there.”

Needless to say, that his parents are extremely proud of their child and his great achievements.
“Kautilya is God’s best gift to us. We noticed Kautilya’s unusual talent that was way beyond his years, but could never imagine that he is an ocean of knowledge. It all began in his summer vacation when he would spend a lot of time studying the atlas and other books. And then began the questions. All our answers were met with a fresh question! He understands things and that helps him retain them”, said the boy’s father.

When askeds about his future plans, Kautilya is just as confused as any other kid.
“I want to be an IAS officer… no, a scientist … an astronaut…” he said, before finally declaring, “I will first study and then decide.

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All You Need To Know About iPhone 6

The iPhone 6 was released yesterday, September 9. It has a bigger screen, more powerful processor and plenty more.

Apple has unveiled the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. A pair of handsets, one with a bigger screen to rival the monster Android handsets now on sale.

Read all you need to know about the new iPhone below:

iPhone 6 release date: The phones will be going on sale on September 19, and will be available for pre-order on September 12.

iPhone 6 price: The iPhone 6 will be available in gold, silver and space grey, with prices starting at $299 (N49,000) for a 16GB model, running up to $399 (N65,000) for 128GB.

Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus comes in the same colours, costing $299 (N49,000) for the 16GB model, $399 (N65,000) for 64GB and $499 (N81,100) for 128GB.


iPhone 6 display: The screen on the iPhone 6 is 4.7 inches in size, which is significantly bigger than the iPhone 5S’s. It’s 1334 x 750 resolution, which is basically equivalent to a 720p Android phone. Then there
is the iPhone 6 Plus, which uses an even bigger Full HD, 1080p, 5.5-inch screen.




iPhone 6 battery: One of the things you asked for most with the iPhone 6 was an improved battery life.
 Apple has bumped things up quite a bit here. You can see the headline stats below:

   

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How Your Technology Is Manipulating You (CLICK)

In his new best seller, A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention, New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Richtel explores the neuroscience of our obsession with our phones in the context of a deadly car wreck caused by a texting driver. Science of Us caught up with Richtel about the dark side of technology, its surprising parallels with food, and how we’re acting just like smokers — even if we’ve never touched a cigarette.

What first got you interested in exploring the dark side of our culture’s obsession with technology?
In Silicon Valley, the herd is going one direction very fast, kicking up clouds of dust. It was a simple journalistic impulse to say: Why are we going that direction so quickly? Then I also saw my own behavior: watching the certainly magnetic, if not magical allure of my device. I thought something’s going on here, and as I was saying it, scientists were beginning to ask the same question. So it was a pretty good holy trinity journalistically of an almost overwhelmingly conventional wisdom, science questioning it, and a gut instinct that my own behavior was changing profoundly.

More on Science of Us: 5 Things Americans Fear The Most

You write of a powerful clash between technology and the human brain. What’s the root of the conflict? Are we just not hard-wired to keep up with all the information technology throws at us?
We’re creating stuff that is so powerful as to almost be supernatural. The pace of innovation is practically light speed and the pace of evolution is snail speed. We don’t change at the pace technology changes just as we have not changed at the pace that food has industrialized, so we don’t metabolize junk food any better than we did 50 years ago. We’ve just learned we have to be careful with it. Similarly we have to learn to adapt to technology in a world that is changing way, way faster than we can evolve.

Drawing on that analogy between the industrialization of food and the emergence of our omnipresent mobile devices, what lesson can we draw?
Things that have enormous power to serve us can also have enormous power to take advantage of us. It’s almost the way that when you love someone so fiercely, it can manipulate you in ways that you either don’t see or don’t want to see. It can steer you against your own interest in invisible ways or in ways you just don’t want to acknowledge. One of the lures of writing about this is the disconnect between what we say we’re going to do with our phones in the car and what we actually do.

More on Science of Us: How Text Messages Change After Marriage

So, 96 percent of people say they shouldn’t text and drive, and 30 percent do. I can only think of one other thing that a gap so profound exists — the gap between what smokers say they should do and what they actually do. There’s a reason smokers say one thing and do something else — they’re addicted, sometimes to the point of killing themselves. I think if you watch your own behavior, often you are going to your device whether inside the car or out of it, to get a little boost of dopamine in the same way that maybe smokers get a little boost of nicotine. What if some part of our interaction with our devices is not need, urgency, or even necessarily connection, but rather a kind of neurochemical fix?

If that’s the case, how deeply and permanently has technology affected our neurochemistry?
If I spend two or three days without my device, I can live without it and I kind of don’t want to go back. That says to me that while it might have addictive properties and be extremely habit-forming, it is possible for a lot of us to break that with some effort. But it’s harder for young people because the part of the brain involved in making good decisions — the prefrontal cortex — is not yet developed.

Even for those of us with mature brains, it can feel impossible to disconnect; the temptation to check our phones is too strong. So what do we do?
It sounds so silly, but the very first thing is to make a concerted effort to disconnect on a regular basis for a period of time. Because research shows, when you have a lot of information coming at you and you’re processing a lot of it, you’re diminishing your ability to make a decision. When you’re in the car texting or even talking on the phone, you compromise your ability to make decisions in both of those contexts. Get enough space to let your brain nap. That’s critical.

More on Science of Us: When Introverts Should Avoid Coffee

The second thing is, you deplete your brain over course of the day through things large and small; even choosing what to wear begins to deplete executive function. If every free second, you’re checking your device, you’re stealing resources from decision-making you may need later. You don’t want to bleed your brain to death tweet by tweet.

Did writing the book change your own relationship to your phone?
The biggest thing, and it’s changing by the day as I watch myself embody the very things the scientists warned me about, is that I turn it off when my kids are around. For two reasons: If it’s in my pocket, I feel a yearning to check it, even if I’m not expecting it. It’s like going outside to get a little fix. The other reason is I know I’m setting a very clear example for my kids.

More on Science of Us: You Should Power Pose In Your Sleep

Was it like going through withdrawal to start to “unplug”?
I’m intensifying my efforts to turn it off on the weekends. That’s hard, because I get an itch now and again. I play a lot of tennis, and someone’s going to text me since there’s no other way to communicate — no landlines anymore. Once you’re drinking the beer, why not have a cigarette? All of sudden I’m checking my email, my Amazon numbers. I think this is a very, very powerful device in the way it plays to primitive social wiring and our deepest reward systems, and we need to catch up to that understanding or it has a chance to enslave us rather than become the most powerful tool we’ve ever had technologically.

On that note, what is the biggest takeaway readers should draw from your work?
That your relationship with your device is not what it seems. You should scrutinize it so you can own that little monkey and it doesn’t own you.

his interview has been lightly edited. Read More at HuffPost

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Protect your computers y'all, Isreali internet spy company reportedly sets up in Nigeria

 

If new reports are to be believed, then Elbits System, an Isreali Electronic Defence firm, has finally arrived Abuja to begin the installation of a $40million internet facility...which will spy on the people of Nigeria on behalf of the Nigerian government.

Premium Times reports that the internet monitoring company was contracted by the Federal Govt in April this year to install a comprehensive spying facility that will help them monitor its citizens.

The installation will go ahead despite public outcry and an ongoing legislative probe of the project that followed the leak of the contract by this newspaper. The installation is also taking place in complete disregard of the National Assembly which ordered the government to suspend all actions on the contract pending the outcome of a planned investigation." Premium Times reports

The presidency had mulled cancellation of the contract after it summoned Elbit Officials, accusing them of not being discreet enough in the handling of the contract.
The Goodluck Jonathan administration secretly, and in open violation of lawful contracting procedures, awarded the Israeli firm, with headquarters in Haifa, a $40million contract to help it spy on citizens’ computers and Internet communications under the guise of intelligence gathering and national security.

Elbit announced it won the contract back in April, in a global press release, where its general manager, Yehuda Vered, opaquely announced that “Elbit Systems will supply its Wise Intelligence Technology (WiT) system to an unnamed country in Africa under a new $40 million contract … for Intelligence Analysis and Cyber Defense.”

Sources within the administration informed PREMIUM TIMES that the officials arrived Abuja over the weekend (two weekends ago) and had installed the “big brother” device at the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency in Abuja.

A team of about 20 Nigerian intelligence officers are currently training in Haifa, Israel – headquarters of Elbit Systems – and are expected to run the spying equipment after its installation.

The first batch of the intelligence trainees are due back in the country next week, our sources say.
Elbit says it will take it two years to complete the project, by which time it claimed, the administration will have “a highly advanced end-to-end solution, [to] supports every stage of the intelligence process, including the collection of the data from multiple sources, databases and sensors, processing of the information, supporting intelligence personnel in the analysis and evaluation of the information and disseminating the intelligence to the intended recipient…[that] will be integrated with various data sources, including Elbit Systems’ Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) solution and Elbit Systems’ PC Surveillance Systems (PSS), an advance solution for covert intelligence gathering.”

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Apple Is Now a More Valuable Brand Than Coca-Cola

In what could be seen as a defining moment for tech, Apple has surpassed Coca-Cola to become the most valuable brand on the planet.

An annual report published by Interbrand has listed the biggest global brands each year, since 2000. Coca-Cola has consistently taken the top spot since the survey's inception—but this year sees Cook & Co. snag number one.

Elsewhere, tech giants have put up a good showing. Google moved into second place—forcing Coca-Cola all the way down into third spot—while IBM and Microsoft fill out the top five. Samsung are at eight, Intel at nine, and Facebook is the biggest riser of 2013, ascending from 69th place to 52nd.

The report uses a combination of financial performance, customer loyalty, and the role each brand plays in a purchasing decision to calculate a brand's worth. Those calculations value Apple's brand at $98.3 billion, Google's at $93.3 billion, and Coca-Cola's $79.2 billion.

All of which points to a changing face of pop culture. While it's increasingly clear that technology is pervasive, it clearly also seeps into our psyche on a consumerist level, too. It's barely relevant to talk about technology in isolation any more; it's an ingrained part of our everyday lives. This report underscores that sentiment entirely.

Source : New York Times

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Free Download : BBM For Android From Playstore

Blackberry Messenger goes LIVE on Android smartphones.

FREE BBM For Android and you can download it below:

BBM For Android : Download Directly From Google Playstore

BBM For Android: Download apk file within

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Samsung Confirms BBM™ on Galaxy Smartphones

 

Samsung today confirmed that when BBM™, the mobile social network, launches for Android smartphones on the 21st September 2013, it will be available as a free download for Samsung Galaxy smartphones across Africa from the Google Play store.

“We are pleased to officially announce that BBM will be available for Samsung Galaxy smartphones across Africa,” said EmmanouilRevmatas, Director of Hand Held Products, Samsung Electronics West Africa. “We are focused on driving consumer experiences based on customisation to suit every lifestyle. By offering an additional messaging service through our Samsung Messaging Hub, it has never been easier to stay connected. This is another way that we are providing our customers with a more integrated lifestyle experience and a powerful new way of communicating and sharing. It’s really about giving the African market what they want – and what they want is choice.”

Samsung users will join a vibrant community of 60 million BlackBerry® smartphones customers who rely on BBM to stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues every day. Samsung GALAXY smartphone users will have access to an extensive range of BBM features, including BBM chats and multi-person chats with BBM Groups, as well as the ability to share photos and voice notes. BBM will form part of Samsung’s Messaging Hub as a complementary addition to the current slate of propriety and third party messaging services that Samsung customers enjoy.

"We are excited to welcome Samsung customers in Africa to the global BBM community,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry. “Samsung customers will enjoy the conversational immediacy that BBM offers with the distinctive ‘R’ that lets you know your message has been read. They'll also be pleased with the control BBM gives them over their contact lists and how they share their information. Every BBM customer gets a unique PIN, so you don’t have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact."

BBM for Android can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store on 21st September 2013 and is compatible with GALAXY smartphone devices that run Android 4.0 (Ice-Cream Sandwich) and above.  Data charges may apply, as determined by local operators and service providers.

To download BBM or more information, please visit www.BBM.com 

For customer service or technical assistance http://www.bbm.com/support/android

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Photos : Apple unveils two new iPhones.. the 5S and 5C

That is why Apple is releasing two new iPhones this month instead of just one, including a cheaper model aimed at less wealthy countries where new Apple phones have been desired but are out of reach because of their price.

The lower-cost model, the iPhone 5C (the C for color) comes in a plastic case and has the same features as the now-discontinued iPhone 5. The fancier model, the iPhone 5S, comes in aluminum and includes a faster processor and a fingerprint sensor for security, among other features. The iPhone 5S costs $200 with a contract, and the iPhone 5C costs $100 with a contract.

But at full price without a contract, which is how many overseas carriers allow people to pay for phones, the iPhone 5C costs $550 — only $100 less than the iPhone 5S. That is far higher than the range of $300 to $400 that many analysts believed could help Apple against lower-cost competition.

The iPhone 5S will come in three models: 16 GB for $199, 32GB for $299 and 64GB for $399, with a contract. The phone will go on sale on Sept. 20.

Source : nytimes

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Jonathan's Administration Buys 53 Gold iPhones For Independence Day Celebration

Nigerian government is purchasing 53 customized gold iPhones for the celebration of the next Independence Day on October 1, 2013. This information was disclosed by the founder of a British luxury products company Gold and Co, Amjad Ali, to the UK’s the Independent newspaper.

 “53 gold iPhones to mark the country’s 53rd year of independence from Britain next month,” Ali said, adding that the order from the Nigerian government “will [be] engraved them with [Nigeria’s] coat of arms, a shield and two horses.”

For the record, a gold-plated device costs between £3000 and £50,000 (N750,000 to 12.5 million), and the customized government's order is believed to be among the constant premium orders the company gets.

The company has not yet disclosed which Nigerian agency or official made the order and what the final price of the order would be. Joseph Mutah, the spokesman for the Information Minister, Labaran Maku, has been contacted to find out the details of the order by Premium Times, but has taken his time and said he would reply later. Ali’s Gold and Co clients include royal families, governments, and wealthy individuals from across the world.

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Apple Unveils Two New iPhones For World Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Apple on Tuesday unveiled two new iPhones, fielding a slick new top-end model along with one aimed at budget-conscious smartphone shoppers around the world.

 

“The business has become so large that this year we are going to replace the iPhone 5 and we are going to replace it with two new designs,” Apple chief Tim Cook announced at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. The new iPhone 5C is displayed during an Apple product announcement at the Apple campus on September 10, 2013 in Cupertino, California.

 

The new iPhone 5C is displayed during an Apple product announcement at the Apple campus on September 10, 2013 in Cupertino, California. AFP Apple will begin taking orders on Friday, and on September 20 the two devices will go on sale in the United States, Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore.

The iPhone 5C is part of Apple’s bid to counter the flood of low-cost smartphones from rivals, most of which use the Google Android operating system. Apple designer Jony Ive said that despite the low cost, the polycarbonate iPhone 5C with a steel frame “is beautiful.”

“We took the same fanatical care with how the iPhone 5C feels in your hand,” Ive said. The iPhone 5C with 16 gigabytes of memory will sell for as low as $99 with a US carrier contract — half the cost of earlier iPhone base models. Analysts were keenly focused on the promise of an iPhone 5C to win over buyers in China and other developing markets.

“The 5C a no-compromise device,” Gartner analyst Van Baker told AFP after trying out Apple’s new phones.

“It is just in a plastic case instead of a metal case, and they basically reduce the price by the cost of materials.” Baker estimated the price cut allowed by lower-cost materials at around $100. He noted that the “open question” was whether iPhone 5C would be priced attractively for emerging markets at what could turn out to be a $550 price tag without subsidies from telecom service providers.

The top-line iPhone 5S, which starts at $199 with a contract for US buyers, “is the most forward thinking phone we have ever created,” said Apple vice president Phil Schiller. “It is the gold standard in smartphones.”

Schiller said the 5S model includes a speedier chip which brings up the computing power from 32 to 64 bits. “It has over a billion transistors in it,” he said, adding that the device will be “about twice as fast in graphics and computing power and about 40 times faster than the original iPhone.”

The 5S will also have improved battery life, with some 10 hours of talk time, or 40 hours of music listening, Schiller added. Apple introduced a fingerprint sensor for the iPhone 5S, as a new security measure in place of passwords.

“You can just press the home button to unlock your phone,” Schiller said. “You can use it to authenticate iTunes purchases.” Schiller added: “We have so much of our personal data on these devices, and they are with us almost everyplace we go, so we have to protect them.”

Reticle Research principle analyst Ross Rubin described Touch ID as a “show stealer” that addresses “a necessary annoyance that many consumers have to deal with many times a day.” Apple also broadened its color palette, announcing the low-cost phone in blue, white, pink, yellow and green, and the top-line model in silver, gold and a new “space gray.”

Apple said its iOS 7 software will debut September 18. It includes a free iTunes Radio Service featuring more than 200 stations “and an incredible catalog of music from the iTunes Store,” Apple announced earlier this year. The two new handsets keep the four-inch screen of current iPhones, despite some speculation Apple would boost the size to compete with larger phones from rivals like Samsung.

The smartphone market is now dominated by Android devices, with roughly three-fourths of all handsets, but a forecast by research firm IDC suggested Apple will increase its share this year to 17.9 percent from 16.9 percent. IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said that by introducing a lower-priced handset, “Apple is staking out its space in the lower-cost smartphone category.”

Llamas said Apple is seeking to fend off challenges from lower-priced devices while “it enjoys bigger profit margins and still maintains the aura of being an aspirational brand.” The event was a disappointment to some who were looking for a fresh device from Apple, such as a smartwatch or TV service.

“I think there was an expectation for that ‘one more thing,’” said Roger Kay at Endpoint Technologies. “People were looking for some pizzazz and they didn’t get it.” Apple announced separately a deal with Japan’s biggest mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo to bring the two new iPhones to that country.

“We’ve enjoyed tremendous success with iPhone in Japan, in fact it’s the top selling smartphone in the country, and we look forward to delivering iPhone into even more customers’ hands through NTT DoCoMo,” Cook said.

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