Nepali startups have started showing tremendous sparks, both in terms of creativity and utility. Khalti.com, a promising Nepali financial tech startup has won the Google Business Group’s (GBG) 2017 ‘Story Search’ Contest. The company not only won the contest but was declared the People’s Choice Winner.
Khalti is a digital wallet which allows instant, secure and hassle-free digital payment in Nepal. It envisions working to empower people in Nepal financially, by driving the nation towards a cashless digital economy.
Along with Khalti, three other startups from across the globe, namely, Café Yagam form the Philippines, Riliv from Indonesia, and Virtualahan from the Philippines were announced the winners of the very competition that was held in San Francisco, California.
The contestants were judged on three criteria namely, innovation quality, impact and innovative use of Google products. The entire process of winner selection happened within a time frame of six months in 2017.
“The winners who stood out will get the opportunity to travel to the Google headquarters in California and will get to meet with the tech thinkers, innovators, and business leaders. They’ll also be spotted in the videos that document their stories. “- Google
GBG, every year invites thousands of startups across the globe, to participate in the storytelling contest, in an attempt to tell everyone how the internet is facilitating business operations around the world.
Out of nine, three startups were selected from Nepal itself, which undoubtedly is something to acknowledge. The others, apart from Khalti.com who were successful in getting themselves out there, were, Khaalisisi and Eco cell Industries Nepal.
Back in 2014, Yellow Nepal, another start-up company had also added to Nepal’s pride by winning the GBG story search contest.
With entrepreneurship rising so prominently in Nepal, we hope to see other startups going for opportunities as such.
Video On Demand (VOD) services has been booming in the Nepali market. People want quick entertainment and what better source than the phone they carry with them. NTC recently launched the WoW Time TV app only for its users. Could Ncell just sit quiet and watch its competitor provide better service than them? Of course Not! Ncell teaming up with the Malaysian VOD provider iFlix has introduced iFlix Service for its users.
iFlix is currently providing its services in more than 23 countries including Nepal. The company has teamed up with more than 150 studios to provide their TV Shows and Series. It even has a dedicated kids section with cartoon shows and movies. Exploring the contents of the app, it has a broad range of some of the best movies and shows from the past to binge on. But I couldn’t find some of my favorite movies and shows like Hobbit Series, James Bond, The Flash, or Game of Thrones. Still, whatever the app provides is reasonable.
Register with your Name, email id, followed by your Ncell Number.
Confirmation Code will be sent by SMS and You’re in the app!
Things to Know about the iFlix app:
For Normal SIM users, using iFlix is free from 12 Midnight to 5 AM.
For 4G Users, iFlix app is free from 5 AM to 5 PM.
iFlix Services are free for 3months from the day of activation from your number.
Besides Free hours or after 3 months users buy a 1hour pack for Rs. 50 by dialing *17137#
iFlix App Overview
1 of 5
Services Offered by the iFlix app:
TV Shows: Top 200, Anime, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Reality, Sports, Korean and more.
Movies: Top 200, Action, Adventure, Crime, Documentary, Sci-Fi, Romance and more.
Download any content for offline view with the desired resolution from the app.
Connect up to 5 devices in your account.
Unlike NTC it doesn’t have LIVE channel support which is a bummer! Also, there is no Nepali content on the App. Everything is either English, Hindi, Korean or Japanese. So this app will not be everyone’s cup of tea. There might be Nepali content integration in the near future but that’s uncertain. The UI of the app is really intuitive and interactive compared to the WoW Time or NetTV. This is a really chill app for binge-watching movies and shows on weekends.
Note: You can use your registered email and password to login to a device with other Carriers and play contents using Wi-Fi.
Nepali customers have always wanted a plan-based SIM cards for themselves. While telecommunication companies are trying to impress their users by introducing different schemes and offers for calls and data packs, these services are far from what the consumers are actually looking forward to. Keeping this in mind, a new SIM meant solely for internet messaging has made its way into Nepal.
Chatsim is world’s first SIM that lets its users connect to data connection anywhere in the world and use it for sending unlimited texts on selected internet messaging apps. It is currently operating in more than 160 countries through over 250 operators.
How Chatsim works:
Chatsim basically lets you send texts on Whatsapp, Messenger, BBM, Hike, WeChat, Telegram, Line, QQI and Kakao. The SIM users receive a phone number from Jersey – a British island. After popping in the SIM, customers will have to register their SIM number via Chatsim’s website. After registering, the SIM gets activated. Chatsim basically uses Nepal Telecom’s and Ncell’s network back and forth to provide their users a better network experience here in Nepal. So, you will never have to worry about it not working at a specific area.
Chatsim works with data roaming turned on. But if a user tries to make normal calls via the SIM card, an operator just lets them know that calls are blocked. As for sending multimedia contents, buyers will have to purchase extra credits just to make calls or send videos and photos through it.
It is, however, a bummer that Chatsim doesn’t support Viber – one of the most popular messaging platform in Nepal. But officials at Chatsim have confirmed that support for Viber is on the way.
Future Networks and Technology P. Ltd., authorized distributor of Chatsim in Nepal, has priced Chatsim at Rs. 3,500. As for its purchase, interested buyers can make a call at +977 -9801159640 or just register their details here. And yes, they accept cash-on-delivery.
Nubia, the subsidiary brand of ZTE resurfaced in the smartphone market with two new prolific smartphones. Dubbed as Nubia Z17S and Nubia Z17 miniS, the newbies come with four cameras: dual camera both on the front and on the back. Nubia Z17S and Nubia Z17 miniS are the upgraded versions of the Nubia Z17 and Nubia Z17 mini, which were announced six months back. The newbies include some nifty enhancements like dual selfie camera, thinner bezels, beefed up RAM and elegant looks. But what more it has to offer? Let’s dig into it.
Nubia Z17S is the company’s first smartphone equipped with four cameras. The smartphone comes with 5.73-inch display framed by thinner bezels on the top and on the bottom. The display used is LTPS display with FULL HD+ resolution having a weird and unheard 17:9 aspect ratio. The device comes with Snapdragon 835 chipset. Despite the Android Oreo release, the smartphone is stuck with Android Nougat (v7.1.1) with Nubia UI 5.1 on the top.
In terms of camera, the dual camera on the back includes 12MP camera assisted by a secondary 23MP camera. The rear camera setup can opt for 2x optical zoom and Bokeh effects similar to that of Z17. On the front too, there is a dual camera setup with each camera equipped with 5MP sensors. The fingerprint sensor on the device rests on the back and is capable of unlocking the device in mere 0.1 seconds. The phone is fueled by a 3100mAh battery. The battery supports 26W fast charging because of which the battery charge surges up to 50% in a mere 25minutes charge.
Nubia Z17S Specs
Display: 5.73-inch (1080 x 2040 pixels) Full HD+ LTPS display with Gorilla Glass protection
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
CPU: 2.45GHz Octa-Core CPU
GPU: Adreno 540 GPU
RAM: 6/8GB LPDDR4x
Internal Storage: 64/128GB
OS: Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) with Nubia UI 5.1
Rear Camera: Dual camera, 12MP Sony IMX362 Sensor, f/1.8, 1.4µm pixel size, 1/2.55” CMOS sensor (primary) + 23MP Sony IMX318 Sensor, f/2.0 aperture (Secondary) with dual tone flash
Front camera: 5MP + 5MP dual-front facing cameras with f/2.2, 80-degree wide angle lens
Connectivity: Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
Fingerprint sensor: Yes (Rear mounted), unlocks in 0.1second
Price: $455 (approx.) for 6GB + 64GB, $607 (approx.) for 8GB + 128GB
Nubia Z17 MiniS
Companying the Z17S, Z17 miniS is another smartphone in the Nubia family to feature quad cameras. As an upgrade to Z17 miniS, the smartphone comes with increased battery size, an upgraded version of Android (Nougat) as additions. Furthermore, the fingerprint sensor resides on the home button giving perfect space for the glass panel on the back. The rest of the features on the device is cloned from the Nubia Z17 mini.
Nubia Z17 MiniS Specs
Display: 5.2-inch (1080 x 1920 pixels) Full-HD IPS LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 653
CPU: Octa-Core CPU: 4 x 1.95GHz Cortex A-72 + 4 x 1.4GHz Cortex A-53
Razer has announced that it is going to announce something exciting on November 1. And we know for sure it’s going to be a handheld device, which, of course, hits at a smartphone. And knowing Razer, that device is going to be one hell of a beast.
Razer currently makes a lot of gaming-focused products, a lot except a smartphone. Read what the CEO of Razer said back in June,
Right now I don’t see any mobile device or software platform that really fulfills the needs of the [mobile] gamer … there is a huge opportunity to disrupt the mobile market.
I fully agree with what he said. The last time someone launched a gaming-oriented smartphone was Sony with the Xperia Play. However good that phone was, it never got a sequel. There was also the Nvidia Shield, which was more like a tablet than a smartphone.
Razer announced the news with a tweeted quote “WATCH for our biggest unveiling… ” with a picture of a person using a handheld device which definitely isn’t another tablet since it looks a little too small to be a tablet.
On a side note, Razer did acquire the Nexbit System Inc – a smartphone company which had launched the popular Nextbit Robin. We’ll have to see how much of an influence that will create for their new product.
The alleged smartphone will surely deliver a hardcore gaming experience its buyers. And going by their approach to the gaming laptop platform, we can’t help but hope for something really exciting.
If you want you can find the link to the Razer’s website here. The link to their unveiling is here if in case you want to sign up for their newsletters and be on top of the news. And finally, the link to the official twitter post is here.
The Kindle Oasis is a waterproof eBook reader from Amazon, a first for the segment in its 10-year history. Featuring a bigger brighter screen, a bigger battery and double the storage this eBook reader come for a price tag of $250.
Let’s dig into the history of Kindle first which all started with the original Kindle. Then came the Kindle Paperwhite, followed by the Voyage and finally Amazon has unveiled the Oasis. With every newer generation of the Kindle, the price has also grown at a sizable pace. While the first Kindle cost $80, and the newest iteration is carrying a $250 price tag.
Kindle is also one of the first hardware that Amazon ever made, although that number has now that has grown to a few devices. The Creators of Kindle quote that they have already sold “tens of millions” of Kindle units, which isn’t a vague number at all.
Coming back to the new Kindle Oasis, it features a bigger 7-inch screen with a pixel density of 300ppi. Amazon claims that a few extra LEDs have been added to the screen which has made it much brighter than before. It also has an ambient light sensor for automatic brightness control.
And yes, the Kindle is waterproof, letting you shower and read a book simultaneously. There is no battery improving case (you can still use a normal case) this time around so the built-in battery is what you get. But the company has added a much bigger battery in basically the same footprint.
On the software side, Audible comes built into the Kindle Oasis ebook reader, which is good. And speakers aren’t your cup of tea, Amazon hasn’t abandoned the 3.5mm headphone jack. The storage stands at 8GB, but you can opt one with 32GB of internal storage too.
The Kindle Oasis will go on sale from October 31 in the US. Availability of the device outside the US hasn’t been declared as of now.
To what extent do you believe in Cryptocurrency taking over the world? You don’t? You think it is going to run the world in the coming years? Hold your thoughts for a while. The world has already found a true believer of Cryptocurrency and Bitcoins revolution in a 39 years old Netherlands native: Didi Taihuttu.
Didi Taihuttu put everything that he owned up for sale- including his house, motorbike, electric bikes, children’s toys, clothes and shoes, his house up for sale; and went on to live in a campsite near Venlo in the Netherlands. What did he get in exchange of all this, you ask? Bitcoins and other crypto currencies is the answer. Yes, believing that bitcoins and blockchain technology are going to transform the role of money and banks in the society, Taihuttu took the leap. To quote him:
“People will say,’You’re crazy.’ But we are an adventurous family and are going to gamble for a moment to live minimalist lives. If you never take a risk, life is boring.”
But the step he took seems so much more than a risk, doesn’t it? Let’s delve more into how he has been living as of today.
Taihuttu and his wife shared that they had taken the decision to sell their possessions in the summer of 2017. He had been running his own company offering computer courses in Venlo for the past 11 years. Last year, after his father: John passed away, the family had a difficult time. Realizing that they had had enough, the family decided to go travelling. Hence, they sold the business and went on a nine-month world trip through Asia and Australia with their three daughters, from which they recently returned.
So, how did Didi Taihuttu come across crypto currency?
While he and his family were in the tour, they met a lot of people using digital coins. Didi added that in Bali, he had met a South African exchange trader who resigned after 17 years and went into crypto trading, and on the beach near Noosa in Queensland he spoke to someone from Dubai who was trading in bitcoins. Taihuttu said that he kept in touch with those people via Skype and analyzed the daily cryptomint trade. He added that these counterparts had a lot of experience in this sort of trading and also said that he himself had been aware of these coins since 2010, when it was worth less than one euro. In the current scenario, a single bitcoin is worth more than $4500 with the current valuation.
As he is an entrepreneur, he was encouraged to invest and work on bitcoins since the first time he learnt about them. He teamed up with a friend and set up a physical business to mint bitcoins after buying dozens of computers and video cards. And then, when the value of Bitcoins escalated to several hundred euros in 2013, he decided to sell the entire stock of coins. To this he says:
“If I had known then that four years later it would have been ten times more valuable, then of course I wouldn’t have sold everything. But then I thought: I have to make a profit.”
Afterwards, the value of Bitcoins plunged, his electricity and property rentals skyrocketed which prompted him to invest on Dogecoin, a smaller emerging currency. However, things became a bit different in the spring of 2017. Dogecoin’s value had soared to ten to twenty times its previous worth, Bitcoin’s value rose to $3,000, and other crypto currencies also followed suite. Also, the fact that he continued to meet so many Bitcoin traders on his family’s world trip was a sign for him to get back to minting crypto currencies.
Having to choose an entirely new lifestyle while pursuing his belief on crypto currency, the Taihuttu family had to get used to a chalet on a campsite instead of their luxury four-bedroom, 200-square-meter house. Taihuttu’s three daughters, who had a room each for themselves, now all bunk in together. The family says that they are still keeping other items on sale to buy as much Bitcoins as possible.
For how long will the Taihuttu family keep this going on?
The family will continue this way until 2020, at which point Taihuttu hopes Bitcoins and will be irreplaceable and his wealth will be worth three to four times as much.
But what if things go wrong?
To this, Didi Taihuttu says:
“Then we will be without money for a moment. But I don’t think that that’s the worst thing that can happen in life.”
A shout-out for his optimism and hope from my side!
What is your say on Bitcoin and crypto currency? Let us know in the comments below!
Apple announced three new iPhones, Apple Watch and an upgraded Apple TV in the new Steve Jobs Theater on September 12, 2017. Although other devices were released in the keynote this is a big year for the iPhone and the Apple as it is already a decade since the release of the first iPhone. The new iPhones have stirred up speculations of the tech industry regarding the choice of a single iPhone between the three.
The design of iPhone has not changed since 2014 when Apple had launched the iPhone 6 with an aluminum unibody design. Apple now looks a lot less innovative with every release, all while Android devices are getting more innovative with software and hardware. We are living at a time where it is hard for any iPhone user to say that iPhone is the best smartphone there is. If it was any other time, the new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus would have been called the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus with a few upgraded specs and changes up its sleeve, as they share the same design with the previous iPhone. With the release of the hyped bezel-less iPhone X that will probably shadow the sale iPhone 8, it begs a question – why does iPhone 8 even exist?
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have glass bodies that feature wireless charging which looks like a fusion of the older iPhone 4 and iPhone 7. The new phones have what Apple calls the most durable glass in any smartphone with reinforced aerospace grade steel and aluminum frame. The iPhone 8 has 4.7-inch Retina HD display while the iPhone 8 Plus has 5.5-inch Retina HD display. Both the displays adopt true tone technology, which adapts the color temperature and intensity to ambient light. The devices feature the A11 Bionic chip, which is 20 – 70% faster than previous generation chipsets. The new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have improved cameras that can take brighter and more vibrant photos than the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The most noticeable change in iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus is the glass back to support wireless charging. Apple has chosen to go for Qi certified inductive wireless charging standard rather than for some proprietary standard charger.
Although the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus is considered as flagship devices by the Apple, the announcement of iPhone X with an edge to edge OLED display has cannibalized the sales and preorder of the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. The display on the iPhone X has a resolution of 2436 x 1125 pixels on a 5.8-inch diagonal screen. The iPhone X also has HDR, 3D touch and True Tone Display like its brothers. The entire device is covered by the screen except for a notch that houses camera and sensors for the Face- ID among others.
To incorporate the entire screen, Apple had to make some sacrifices. It ditched Touch ID for Face ID. The company has put lots of interesting technology behind the notch for Face ID. Its sensors have TrueDepth system, which has an infrared camera that creates a 3D map of the face that, in turn, can even unlock your phone even in the dark. Face ID is powered by a dual-core neural engine that adapts to your face and prevents the phone to be unlocked by a photo of you. However, at the keynote, Apple failed to show the demonstration in their first try.
Another problem that Apple fans have to deal with the new devices is their price. The price for the iPhone X is whopping $1000, around $300 more than the iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8. This price point has really confused customers whether to wait for the iPhone X that will be in store on November 3, go for cheaper variants of the iPhone or switch to android.
So, with the design that backs to 2014 and release of the more premium iPhone X, it is somewhat confusing. Why does iPhone 8 even exist and why should we buy iPhone 8 or 8 Plus rather than iPhone X?
Today Huawei announced the latest mid-range phone under its Honor series, Honor 7X. It is the first phone under Honor branding with elongated 18:9 display. Like the Honor 6X (GR5 2017), it holds a dual camera setup but in a horizontal alignment.
Honor 7X offers 5.93-inch Full HD display incorporating the new 18:9 aspect ratio standard. The display rests beneath a 2.5D glass sculpting a seamless look. Sides are almost bezel-less while the chin and top are minimal. It is 0.6mm thinner than its predecessor but carries a 165g weight. The device is powered by octa-core Kirin 659 chipset clocked at 2.3GHz. It comes coupled with 4GB of RAM. The device offers 32GB, 64GB, 128GB storage options with support for microSD card using hybrid SIM tray. It carries fingerprint sensor on the back but not placed too high like in the Note 8.
It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat despite being launched late at 2017. Huawei should be pushing the Oreo update but nothing official has been announced. Also, it offers micro USB port instead of USB C. For optics, on the back, it provides a dual camera in a pair of 16MP and 2MP sensor. Like in the Honor 6X, the setup is intended for portrait mode with bokeh effect. It also offers PDAF for faster focus. Up front, it offers 8MP selfie camera with flash.
Honor 7X will go on sale from October 17. The 32GB, 64GB, 128GB variants are priced at $200, $260 and $300 respectively.
Huawei Honor 7X Specifications:
5.93 inches (1080 x 2160) with 407PPI
EMUI 5.1 on top of Android 7.0 Nougat
Fingerprint Sensor (Rear)
HiSilicon Kirin 659 with Octa-core (4×2.36 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53) CPU and Mali-T830 MP2 GPU
4GB RAM
32GB/64GB/128GB storage, Expandable up to 256GB
Dual 16+2MP Rear Camera with Phased Detection Autofocus (PDAF), 1080p @30fps
8MP Front Facing Camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, micro USB 2.0
Non-removable Li-Ion 3340 mAh battery
Honor 7X will go on sale from October 17. The 32GB, 64GB, 128GB variants are priced at $200, $260 and $300 respectively.
Huawei Honor 7X Availability in Nepal
We can expect Honor 7X to be launched as Huawei GR5 2018. The expected price should be slightly higher than its international pricing. It should be available before the end of 2017.
Bitcoin is a decentralized electronic currency transacted over the internet and serves as the Universal form of money. Just like the money we use are pieces of paper, Bitcoins are just bits of data. Bitcoin system works based on people’s belief that it is worth something. Bitcoin is just a ledger with amount assigned to an address which goes up and down based on the transactions you do.
History:
Bitcoin came into existence in 2009 with the need for a secure and transparent transaction system. When people transacted money over the internet, they go through some centralized system like Banks and they used to take a fair amount of the money for the transaction. If the transaction was international it could take days and cost more. Also, you had to completely trust the bank for your security which stored all your transaction details.
How do Bitcoins work?
Bitcoin users peer-to-peer network which is same as how Bit-Torrents work. Bitcoin isn’t controlled by any central authority, it’s a community managed network. Trading Bitcoin, on the surface, is as simple as sending text over the internet, but the underlying crypto measures make it much safer, faster and efficient.
An individual’s Bitcoins are stored in Bitcoin wallet, and anyone having hold of the Bitcoin wallet has a private key which is kept secret. That key is used to sign/encrypt the transaction. For every transaction, the users have a unique public address which is just a random hash. One can have as many addresses as they want and it’s always a good thing to change addresses for different transactions to maintain anonymity.
When a transaction is initiated, the sender creates a packet of data which has the sender’s public address, amount sent and the receiver’s public address. The packet is encrypted by the sender’s private key which signs the packet with a digital signature(different every time and adds a mathematical problem to it.
When a packet is sent, it is broadcasted to the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin network is full of Miners who manages the Blockchain.
Blockchain: Public Ledger that keeps the record of all the bitcoin transactions.
Miners: People who verify the entry in the blockchain.
The package needs to be verified first by the Miners to get through the network to the receiving end. This includes checking of the transaction standard and solving mathematical problems attached to the packet. After the transaction is verified and done, then the transaction record is saved as a block of data in the block chain. It takes an average of 10 mins to verify the transaction.
The Blockchain doesn’t contain cumulative transaction record of a single public address. It just has the record of each transaction.
Bitcoin is divisible. You can divide a single bitcoin into multiple pieces and use them separately.
Example:
If you have one Bitcoin which is worth Rs.10,000 and you need to pay for a USB Drive that is Rs.3,000. Then you can break the single bitcoin and take Rs.3,000 out of it to pay for the USB Drive.
Bitcoin Mining
Source: Bitcoindaily
When users transact in Bitcoin, there’s mathematical problem attached to it and if someone can solve that problem, they are awarded Bitcoin. This is the basics of how Bitcoins are created. There cannot be more than 21 million Bitcoins and as of June 1st, 2017 there are already 16,366,275 BTC in existence. We’ll reach the 21 million mark by the year 2140.
Bitcoin mining ensures the authenticity of the transactions being carried out. More the Bitcoin miners, faster the transactions will take place. Mining requires powerful computers to solve the mathematical problems. Usually, high powered GPU’s were used for solving problems but they require a lot of electric power. And Power consumption is one of the major cost of mining bitcoin. If the cost of your power consumption is higher than the reward you get from mining bitcoins, then it’s a loss!
But now there are Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC) which are made for solving these mathematical problems faster and they consume less energy.
Bitcoin in a technical sense is just an application running on top of Blockchain protocol. There are other currencies being generated that use the Blockchain protocol like the LiteCoin, PeerCoin, NameCoin and much more. Even if the Bitcoins run out or become unpopular these coins will hold the legacy and thrive towards a digital finance system that is transparent, cheaper, secure and faster.
Bitcoin is changing finance in the same way the web has changed publishing. Bitcoins are being accepted by a lot of big businesses and even governments now, which is helping to make Bitcoin mainstream. Once they become mainstream, it’ll ensure its other derivatives get the shed of light they need. So, it is almost certain that the Digital Currency or Crypto Currency is the future of finance. And work is being done on the protocol to make it more secure and autonomous to prepare it for the future.
