Digit December 2017 by 9.9 Media

To follow the latest in tech, follow us on...

digit.in/facebook

THE STATIC PAGE | Siddharth Parwatay | Managing Editor

...and so my watch has ended

Instead of beating these oddballs into submission or forcing them to conform, the work culture at Digit encourages offbeat thought processes. This is all thanks to the environment created and sustained by past editors, my bosses, and of course, the directors of the company. I’d like to believe that even I contributed to this distinct culture in a small way. And now, after nearly nine years, my watch has come to an end. I take away nothing but treasured memories and valuable lessons. I’m truly thankful for having a boss like Robert. Sure, that came with its share of hair-pulling moments – and I emerged a winner there with slightly more hair left than Robert – but I’d never have it another way. I learned so much and encouragement was never in short supply. We may have argued, fought, but at the end of the day, we never lost sight of the goal. The culture he inculcated was one of supreme devotion to Digit and technology as a whole – a culture that still remains strong, even when he works from the other side of the world. All of these fun memories and valuable lessons, I’ll keep with me forever. So what next? Just like the selection pressures of evolutionary biology, which Robert talks about on the next page, I need to induce some artificial pressures into my life in order to evolve. As they say “you cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore”. Perhaps I’ll go on a Eat Pray Love type of soul-searching journey. There won’t be much praying, but certainly a lot of the other two. Or maybe, this might turn out to be a mid-career gap year – the kind students take to crack an entrance exam. Whatever it is that I end up doing, the point is to feel awkward and uncomfortable again. To go back to being an oddball. What I’ll never lose though is the love for tech, my inherent geekiness, and the strong work ethic that Digit has inculcated in me over the years. In that sense, I am a thorough Digit-wala. While I am of course sad about leaving what has, for nine years, been my second home (maybe even my first one), I’m also happy in a strange sort of way. Because now, once again, I get to go back to being the most important member of the Digit family – a regular reader!

M PL

I REMEMBER my first day at Digit as if it were yesterday. As a young, just-out-of-college finance graduate, I’d worn formals to work – something I soon realised no one does at Digit. I didn’t have any tech educational background – just a love for gaming, peripherals, and technology in general. Having been disillusioned by the life of an analyst (excel sheets, financial models and pivot tables), I wanted to follow my passion. But quite frankly, I was intimidated when I stepped into this lair of tech geniuses. I’d been an on-and-off reader of the magazine since its Chip days (I still have a sizeable CD collection) and was quite thrilled when I was offered an internship at Digit. I was expecting a buzzing hive of activity in the legendary “Test Center” of Digit’s Mumbai office. Instead what I saw was just one awkward looking employee (later revealed to be Rossi) typing away at his keyboard. “Where is everyone?” I remember asking, confused about all the insane gadgets lying around, but no people in sight. “We just closed the December issue and everyone is exhausted and sleeping at home”. And thus I was innocuously introduced to the concept of issue closing – a fixture that would, for better or worse (mostly better), be at the center of my existence for the next nine years of my life. I didn’t know it then, but every issue of the magazine you hold in your hands has the sweat (and sometimes blood, I wish I was kidding) of each and every member of the team. The sleepless nights during closing, the stress of missing a deadline, and the final huzzah of it all coming together at the end despite the unexpected setbacks – I’m going to miss it all. Digit has always attracted the strangest of people and I’m proud to count myself amongst those weirdos. Over the years I saw many kindred spirits – wayward waifs, oddballs, and misfits to the world outside Digit – who beyond all their quirks and absurdities had one thing in common – a deep-rooted love for technology. Somewhere, I’d like to think that’s what forged a bond between the people who worked here and our beloved readers. As Digit evolved over the years, so did a unique culture that was quintessentially Digit. When you put a bunch of knowledgeable and passionate misfits in a quirky workplace cauldron, that peculiar magic is bound to happen.

“Over the years I saw many kindred spirits – wayward waifs, oddballs, and misfits to the world outside Digit – who beyond all their quirks and absurdities had one thing in common – a deeprooted love for technology.”

Reach me at: facebook.com/ staticsid | @staticsid | editor@digit.in

www.digit.in | December 2017 | Digit | 1

THE RSS FEED | Robert Sovereign-Smith | Executive Editor

Humans 2.0?

ruled the earth once, humans rule it currently, but there’s no reason to assume that we will always… it could just take one asteroid to wipe the slate clean. I’m on the fence a little. I don’t think it’s either one, but both in fact. Our long term evolution might in fact still be natural selection, but out short term evolution certainly is artificial (or basically of our own doing). Technology is no different than, say, some small flightless dinosaur developing feathers or flaps and then eventually using that to its advantage, and then later generations perfecting it and developing the ability to fly. Of course it is still somewhat artificial selection, because while natural selection takes a long time, technology enabled artificial selection is acting at unheard of speeds and changing us far faster than we have thought. And no, I don’t mean just making us fat and lazy. I mean technology is involved in many good things too, such as giving us bionic appendages that are actually stronger than our original flesh-based ones. Bionics certainly seems to be the way forward, and the stage is set for such products to exit the category of “disabled”, and enter the mainstream. For example, companies are researching and have developed prototypes of hearing aids that can give you superhuman hearing, allowing you to focus on what people across a room are whispering about by cutting out the rest of the room noise! Search for “Phonak” to see some of the stuff being done with hearing aids. Plenty of startups have come and gone in the space, but they may have been a tad before their time. Apple has tied up with Cochlear to design hearing aids or implants that will talk directly to the user’s iPhone, but it’s not the first (as usual). Plenty of products already exist that use Bluetooth and allow your hearing aids to connect to TVs, phones, etc. It’s not just about hearing someone’s voice anymore, and it’s not just about the disabled… and that’s just what’s changing in the field of hearing! At the rate we’re going, it will be just a few hundred years before we morph into something that we would consider unrecognisable. If space travel ever gets going, we might morph even more drastically as a species, and that will still always be a good thing. If you’d like to read more about the future of humans, we could do a more indepth article. Write in and tell me if you want us to do that.

M PL

AS SOMEONE whose job revolves around technology, I spend more time in front of a screen than anyone I know (outside of the Digit team). I’m far from healthy, get almost no exercise, and yet I’m part of a norm these days instead of the exception, when it comes to the average city dweller across the globe. I’ve watched all the talks given by experts, and been scared witless by their proclamations. As I sit shivering in fear in front of my PC with two large monitors showing me up to four windows at a time, I reach for a bag of chips – hey, I’m scared about my health… I need comfort, and chips are like a big hug in a bag! Oh well, I’ll take my mind of it by playing a game, and then a few conference calls and hangouts later, I’m back to reading on my PC in my super comfy gaming chair. Not just any chair, but one with excellent lumbar support, because although I may die of vascular disease or diabetes or something, at least I’ll avoid lower back pain! If there’s one thing that everyone criticises about technology, it’s the way it’s making us lethargic and inactive, and fat, and unhealthy, and killing us… but do we care? Heck no! For example, I developed a severe case of text claw (a severe pain in my left wrist caused from too much phone usage), and all I had to do was walk into a general chemist store here in Australia, and tell them about it, they nod their heads knowingly, empathising with me, even saying, “Oh, we’ve all been there hun!” and then they measure my hand and give me a perfectly sized support glove with a metal bar in it that’s designed to keep my wrist from bending. Problem solved! Or is it? Thanks to technology, our lives are going to become easier as we shift to more creative and thoughtful work. Doing things that computers can’t (yet), and letting robots and AI take over “menial” jobs. Humans have stopped evolving naturally, according to Michio Kaku, David Attenborough and others. Some scientists believe we’re not evolving at all, especially if natural selection is the only method of evolution, because we’ve overcome natural selection, and the pressures of our environment. They consider it all to be artificial selection now, or basically more of a cultural evolution that’s driven more by human society than by nature. Others disagree, saying that all of this is part of natural selection. Just as dinosaurs

2 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

“If there’s one thing that everyone criticises about technology, it’s the way it’s making us lethargic and inactive, and fat, and unhealthy, and killing us… but do we care? Heck no!

Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: robert@digit.in | facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo

PARANOID ANDROID | Mithun Mohandas | Asst. Technical Editor

Net Neutrality for the Nth time

YouTube and all Google’s services employ some sort of peering with regional ISPs to ensure that their customers get super fast services, regardless of the bandwidth that the customer is paying for. So under net neutrality, in its purest form, such fast lanes would be killed off. This would lead to slower response times across all these services, and should any of them be bandwidth heavy, then you’ll need to upgrade to a higher internet plan. And given how networks function, that might not even do the trick since higher bandwidth does not ensure good response times. There are three ways to look at this. Implementing net neutrality as defined currently will mean that these services will be hit in the short term. Internet companies will realise that they will have to invest in building new infrastructure across the regions they serve to ensure better service. Then the onus will be on consumers to opt for better internet plans to match their bandwidth needs. The second way is to have a gradual shift, i.e. take a look at current net neutrality laws and propose an intermediate period for companies to transition towards a fair system. This way, we’re giving Internet companies plenty of time to transition and that’ll lead to more jobs wherever these companies set up new facilities. And then we can have proper net neutrality. The third way is to rethink the net neutrality laws to ensure fast lanes are considered a special case and should be retained. I prefer the second approach over compromising on the principles of net neutrality permanently, because given their nature, corporations will find ways to screw the consumer over. So letting them get their foot in the door is something we should avoid at all costs. Which of these ways would you pick? Or do you have a solution of your own? You know how to reach me.

M PL

BEING OUTRIGHT PARANOID about most things under the sun makes one question and pass silent judgement on everything. While things haven’t progressed to the level that’d require being restrained in a straight jacket, there are events happening around the world that are not helping, at all. When corporations come forward claiming to fight the good fight on behalf of the common man, you don’t need to be even the least paranoid to realise that something’s definitely fishy. Yep, it’s time for another rant on net neutrality. The FCC is hell bent on axing net neutrality in the US and in a few weeks, Ajit Pai might just get his way. Wait, scratch that he will definitely get his way. Fortunately for us Indians, the Indian PM and IT Minister, both recently voiced their support for net neutrality, so we’re in the green for now at least. Back in the US, it’s interesting to see how the major ISPs are formulating their strategy around this polarising issue. On the one hand they have a good number of senators in their pockets, as we can see many echoing the same opinions as the ISPs. On the other hand, they’re going around claiming that they support net neutrality while their actions suggest otherwise. It’s gotten so bad that when the FCC opened the net neutrality issue up to the general populace to voice their opinions, a lot of bots were used to post fake replies on the website in favour of the ISPs’ stance. The Office of the Attorney General of New York found several hundreds of thousands of such comments which were posted by bots when the real folks complained that they never went to the FCC site in the first place. And when asked for logs to help sort the fake comment issue out, what did the FCC do? Deny them all logs, of course. How transparent and consumer friendly of them! Aside from the fake representation, there’s another issue that people are overlooking. The whole premise of net neutrality is based on ensuring that there is no discrimination against internet companies. What people focus on is that this means that there shouldn’t be any slow lanes to cripple internet traffic for smaller companies, but what people miss out on is that there shouldn’t be any fast lanes either. The problem is, fast lanes already exist. Heck, the internet is built that way. Companies such as Netflix, Akamai,

4 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

“And when asked for logs to help sort the fake comment issue out, what did the FCC do? Deny them all logs, of course. How transparent and consumer friendly!”

Let me know your thoughts on this column at: @mithun_mohandas | mithun@digit.in

M PL

contents

COVER STORY PAGE 62- 87

DECEMBER 2017

There are some things money can’t buy – the best performance. And with a Zero1 winner, you can only expect the best in its category.

VOLUME 17 ISSUE 12

Zero1 Awards 2017 TECH - PAGE 16-50

SCIENCE - PAGE 88-97

20 | The evolution of biometrics

92 | Defence against the dark asteroids

Biometrics has come a long way as a technology for identification. But it wasn’t always this efficient

Are we fortified enough to survive a potentially devastating asteroid headed towards Earth?

AND MORE

6 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

SKOAR! - PAGE 109-127

ON THE DVD Audiobooks of sci-fi stories After London Anything You Can Do Black Amazon of Mars Breaking Point And more...

TECH Ubuntu 17.10 (64-bit) Ubuntu retires its Unity desktop, moving to a GNOME environment, in its latest 17.10 “Artful Aardvark “update.

M PL

116 | Gaming for a better you

Gaming is the best self-help course you could ever sign up for

110 | The science behind loot boxes

What is it about loot boxes that has the gaming industry to enamoured by them?

AND MORE

ALT - PAGE 98-107

CULTURE - PAGE 53-61

104 | Does pop culture influence buying habits? Spoiler alert: Yes it does

56 | Careers in autonomous car technology Self-driving technology is cruising into India, but are we on-board?

106 | Find out how geeky are you

58 | To binge or not to binge?

Discover your geeky quotient with this vast flowchart

Join us as we look into whether or not our favourite pastime is making us dumber

AND MORE

Windows 10 customisation tools 7+ Taskbar Tweaker CustomizerGod Fences 3.05 (trial) Folder Marker Rainmeter And more...

Learn Blender Blender is a professional, free and open-source 3D computer graphics software toolset used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, and 3D printed models. You can also go through the beginner tutorials and resources included. YouTuber essentials Audacity Filmora Handbrake HitFilm Express SCI Fluid dynamics Science lectures from Khan Academy explaining the concepts surrounding fluid dynamics.

CULT Made in India Games (demos) Alter Army Raji - An Ancient Epic Switch Essential gaming software CAM Cooler Master Portal Discord Evolve GameSave Manager Launchbox And more... Game development software Clickteam Fusion 2.5 Construct 2 GameMaker Studio 2 (trial) And more... ALT GMAT preparation Sharpen your math and problem-solving skills through these video lectures from Khan Academy. Blender project Open movies made in Blender by the Blender team.

www.digit.in | December 2017 | Digit | 7

TO ADVERTISE

PRODUCTS REVIEWED THIS MONTH

EMAIL: sales@digit.in

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 12

SALES DIRECTOR: Lalit Arun Mobile: +91-9582262959 SOUTH & EAST: Jayanta Bhattacharyya Mobile: +91-93318 29284

EDITORIAL Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Managing Editor Siddharth Parwatay Multimedia Co-ordinator Abhijit Dey Writers Arnab Mukherjee, Manish Rajesh

WEST: Suvarna Shringarpure Mobile: +91-93249 28247

NORTH: Mayank Sharma Mobile: +91-8800661912

BAZAAR ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1070 Ti Samsung T5 OnePlus 5T Cooler Master MasterSet MS120 GIGABYTE X299 Gaming 7 Motorola Moto X4 Google Pixel 2 XL Coolpad Note 5 Lite C Acer Spin 1 JBL Flip 4

M PL

TEST CENTRE Asst. Technical Editor Mithun Mohandas Reviewers Hardik Singh, Shrey Pacheco, Souvik Das

DIGIT.IN Editor Soham Raninga Assistant Editor Prasid Banerjee, Sameer Mitha News and Features Editor Adamya Sharma Senior Sub Editor Karthek Iyer

ADVERTISING INDEX

GAMES REVIEWED THIS MONTH

Brand.......................................... Page No.

Gran Turismo Sport Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Divinity: Original Sin 2

GIGABYTE.................................Inside front cover TP-Link....................................Inside back cover

Seagate.............................................Back cover Toshiba.............................................................3

iBall............................................................9, 33

DESIGN Sr. Art Director Anil VK Art Director Shokeen Saifi Visualiser Baiju NV Lead UI/UX Designer Shri Hari Tiwari Sr. Designer Peterson PJ

Kingston.........................................................11 D-Link............................................................13 LIC..................................................................15

Subhash Banka book......................................17 Cooler Master.................................................19 Kaspersky.......................................................21

Corsair............................................................23

PRODUCTION AND LOGISTICS Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay Manager Logistics Vijay Menon Asst Mgr Production & Logistics M P Singh Executive Mohd. Nadeem Ansari

Circle..............................................................25

IOCL................................................................29 India AV.................................................. 41, 127

Published and printed by Kanak Ghosh for and on behalf of the owners, M/s Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx pvt Ltd 121, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Near Mandir Masjid, Delhi - 110091 and printed at International Print-O-Pac Limited, C/4-11, Hosiery Complex, Phase II Extension, Noida-201306 (U.P.) INDIA. Editor: Kanak Ghosh.

Quantum....................................................... 128 “We do not endorse or recommend any product or service advertised in the magazine. The advertisement’s in this magazine are for information purposes only. We do not, expressly or impliedly, warrant or assume any liability or responsibility for the quality, accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, usefulness or claims of any product or service advertised in the magazine. Our readers are strongly advised to carry out their own independent assessment of the product or services advertised in the magazine.”

CIRCULATION SALES Head - Circulation Samir Mehta Regional Mgrs Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Norbert Joseph

READER SERVICES Team Leader Sudhir Patel +91-22-67899678 / help@digit.in COVER DESIGN Peterson PJ 8 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

MOBILE MONTHLY Guns Royale | Geostorm | GoT: Conquest South Park: Phone Destroyer Heroes Evolved | MM Fingers 2 Middle Earth: Shadow of War

DISCLAIMER For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, unless specified otherwise. In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final.

CONTACT US TELL US WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT DIGIT If you have an opinion about anything published in Digit, or about technology in general, write to editor@digit.in or call at +91-22-678 99 700. To interact with the authors of specific articles, please write to the email address specified under the author’s name SOFTWARE ON THE DVDs To submit and suggest software or any other type of content, to be included in the Digit DVDs, write to dvd@digit.in or call +91-22-678 99 707

JOIN THE GROUP THAT SUITS YOUR NEED!

https://www.facebook.com/digitgeek Your favourite magazine on your favourite social network. When mainstream tech is not enough, come over to the geekier side.

Q&A If you’re having trouble with your PC or a gadget, our experts can help solve your problems. Just write in to sos@digit.in. Remember to include full system configurations in your email.

DIGIT FACEBOOK PAGES

AGENT001 Our very own secret agent will give you the lowdown on what to buy, from where and for how much. Send in all your buying advice or questions to the coolest agent ever. Write to agent001@digit.in

http://facebook.com/thinkdigit Join the conversation within a community of over 1.3 million tech enthusiasts. There is something for everyone.

M PL

HELP! For copy-related issues, delivery status or any other complaints regarding out service, write to help@digit.in or call +91-22-678 99 678 SUBSCRIBE Want to subscribe to India’s #1 Technology Magazine? You should, because we have exciting offers for everyone, and you save money in the bargain. SMS: <DIGIT SUB> to 92200 92200 or visit www.digit.in/subscribe

http://www.facebook.com/techkranti Let’s wake ourselves up and gather the tools of tech to change the future of our great nation. Join The Revolution!

PRODUCT TESTING Want your product reviewed by Digit? Contact our Test Center at testcenter@digit.in or call +91-22-678 99 708 NEWS & NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES To announce new product launches and press releases, email us at pressrelease@digit.in

ENDORSEMENTS / REPRINTS Interested in ordering article reprints or in using our logos? Get the requisite permissions by contacting us at reprint@digit.in BUSINESS ENQUIRIES Think we can help you grow your business, or maybe you can help us grow ours? Get in touch with us at business@digit.in CAREERS Want to work for Digit? Send us your resume at careers@digit.in

SPONSORSHIP Want Digit to sponsor your tech event? Send your proposal to sponsor@digit.in

http://www.facebook.com/ IThinkGadgets Community of People who love mobiles, laptops, cameras & other gadgets

http://www.facebook.com/devworx.in Community of software programmers who enjoy writing code and want to grow their career in software development

INTERACT WITH TEAM DIGIT

@digitindia

digit.in/facebook

digit.in/youtube

10 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

digit.in/forum

@digit.in

http://www.facebook.com/skoar What is life without gaming? Catch up on all the latest in gaming news, reviews and shenanigans from our test labs

INBOX

Inoperative FM radios?

China goes all out on IPv6

Your phone probably has an FM radio that you cannot use. Here’s why that’s so. http://dgit.in/2AEdRa3

2025, that’s when China plans to hugely increase its IPv6 adoption and put the old IPv4 to rest. http://dgit.in/2js9JPv

Feedback for the November 2017 issue of Digit

M PL

Send your feedback at editor@digit.in

We will hold you to that promise Kshipra. For your PC: According to FL Studio’s own benchmark process, anything better than an Intel Core i7 7700 or an AMD Ryzen 5 1500X should be capable of handling the largest projects in FL Studio. If you are going for the Intel System, then the ASUS Prime H270-Pro is a good board to start with. And for AMD, there’s always the Aorus X370 Gaming 3 or 5. As for the RAM, opt for 16 GB of DDR4 memory clocked at 2666 MHz or above. Depends on your budget obviously. For your phone I’d recommend going back to the stock ROM and then ensuring the heating is not a hardware issue. You’ll anyway need a stock ROM if you’re claiming warranty. Yes we hire all adults of any age, providing they display writing skills and a passion for technology. If we need anything written on those topics you mentioned, you’ll be the first one we contact. Thanks for writing in. –Mithun

opening

I am an old reader of Digit since college. I used to read every issue and it is the best magazine I have ever read, which covers all the latest and upcoming tech news throughout the globe. Yesterday I was looking for Nokia’s event for their new smartphone unveiling, and suddenly you came live on your FB page, thank you for that. Are there any career opportunities with you, I would love to be a part of your team. –Dev Chauhan

Dear Dev, Thank you for your positive feedback, we really appreciate it. We will let you know if there are any openings. Send your CV to careers@digit.in so it’s in our database. –Robert

the project sizes are getting way too large in FL Studio with lots of automations and samples, etc. My CPU just can’t handle the load. Here are my current specs: Intel i3 3220 processor @3.30 GHz, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB internal HDD 2. I know most Android phones are capable of RAM management, but my phone doesn’t seem to be able to. I own a Lenovo A6000 Plus with a custom ROM of Resurrection Remix Nougat 7.1.1 installed on it. Once I have more than four apps open, it can take 2 seconds after a down swipe for the notification bar to show up. The phone gets really hot as well when it’s charging. There’s a specific spot that heats up in the upper left corner just beside the SIM card slot. 3. Do you hire 20 to 25 year olds as testers? Just in case music production doesn’t work out for me? 4. Can 15 year olds like me write for Digit? I can write either of the three following topics: i. A column about the struggles of gamers like me who use a low-config PC to play high-config games. ii. Anything about Apple! iii. Anything to do with troubleshooting for Apple users. Finally, please provide all the links that you mention in the magazine in a text file on the DVD. –Kshipra Jadav

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing me a way of life. I have a career goal, which not too many 15 year olds have, all thanks to one software in your Alpha DVD. You guys provided the demo version of FL Studio 12.2, and I found my calling. MUSIC! I want to be a music producer like Martin Garrix, etc. and if I get famous, it’s you who I will thank. You have my word. Now for my queries. 1. I do a lot of music producing, but

12 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

I am a reader from Gujarat who works as an IT executive in a big company. I want to request the following topics for Fast Tracks: ERP, Microsoft Products, Virtualization, Cloud computing, Office365, Server technologies. Thanks –Himanshu Patel Hey Himanshu, we will certainly try and see what we can do about those topics. I can’t promise we will cover all of them but the team can certainly attempt a few. Thanks for writing in. –Siddharth Thanks for a wonderful magazine, but I have a complaint! I’d written to Agent 001 AND SOS last month, and got no reply. The redesign is great, but the contents page only has page numbers of the main articles. It should contain page no of each and every article for ease of use. Second is where are the tips and tricks? When readers ask for a Fast Track on a topic you say it’s already been done, but you don’t tell us when it was done. There are over 150 issues of your magazine, how can we

WHAT’S NEW

FCC vs Net neutrality

lack of competition is something FCC chairman Ajit Pai seems to believe does not exist. But either way, going forward with the FCC’s new policy means that such providers only become more powerful and are free to abuse their consumers in whatever way they see fit. It wouldn’t be too different from the somewhat recent Free Basics vs Net neutrality issue we had over here. Rather than being an open entity, the internet would end up breaking up into packets, where the user would have to pay to make use of otherwise free features. Net neutrality is important. The Internet as we know it right now is open to all, we’re free to access whatever sites we please and use whatever Internet based services we want. Killing net neutrality means that providers will be able to censor and block content from their users and only give them access to the content they want them to see. This also allows them to abuse their consumers by putting content behind paywalls, forcing them to pay to unlock the same. The result here has far reaching consequences, especially in developing countries that look to the United States for direction. http://dgit.in/fccNN

M PL

DOES THIS SECTION EVEN NEED AN INTRODUCTION? FROM COMPUTERS TO MOBILES, AND HEADPHONES TO GPUS, IT’S ALL HERE...

n what’s been going on for months now, this thanksgiving, the FCC went ahead and released their new net neutrality policies which they plan to put into effect this December 15. Many are pointing out that they specifically chose the holiday season to roll out the policy so that the masses would be too distracted to take notice. They released a fact sheet as well which explains what exactly Ajit Pai, Chairman of the FCC, has planned for the industry. The new rules roll back the Title II classification of ISPs as common carriers. What this means is that ISPs will now be able to govern and decide on schemes/plans/ prices of their services on their own. The FCC is giving up on its ability to enforce net neutrality. While all major players in the broadband industry are going out of their way trying to explain to consumers that the new policies will not kill net neutrality protections, several publications and articles have explained at length about how that’s BS. In the US there’s already the problem of giant broadband providers dominating the markets and abusing the lack of competition. This

IDENTIFY YOURSELF

THIS MONTH IN TECH: One look at this month’s tech section and you might suppose that we had an identity crisis, with Origins of biometrics and State of Face Detection. Also, build Alexa skills, check out India’s Agritech startups and more.

Firefox back to Google

Firefox’s latest browser, Quantum is arguably the best browser out there right now. Yahoo has been the default search engine for Firefox since 2014 but if you’ve made the switch, you will notice that the default is now back to Google. http://dgit.in/googonfox

Linux dominates supercomputers

Today, all 500 of the supercomputers on the TOP500 Supercomputer list are running on Linux. Linux first appeared in the TOP500 list almost 30 years ago in 1998, and it has evidently progressed by leaps and bounds ever since. Are you on Linux? http://dgit.in/lintop500

16 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Germany’s windy weekend

A stormy weekend in Germany led to a record in wind generated electricity with a whopping 39,409 megawatts being generated on Saturday. If you need a scale to comprehend that, that’s the equivalent to the energy output of about 40 full-fledged nuclear reactors. http://dgit.in/gerwind

Cryptocurrencies to be illegal in Vietnam

Starting 2018, the State bank of Vietnam has announced that it will be illegal to issue, supply and otherwise use Bitcoin or any other form of cryptocurrency. Doing so can subject you to a $9000 fine. Which, right now you can pay with one Bitcoin. http://dgit.in/vietbit

tech Did you download a fake WhatsApp?

Sony’s autonomous party bus

An official-looking version of WhatsApp appeared on the Google Play Store, and clocked more than a million downloads. http://dgit.in/FakeWhatsApp

FEATURE

The SC-1 is outfitted with high-res image sensors, displays, AI, 5G data connectivity, alternative fuelsand more onboard. http://dgit.in/SonyCar

Let’s

touted g in e b is n nitio Facial recog ut is the b , d r o w s s pa as the new world of e h T ? y d a e r technology says yes. h c e t n io it face recogn it.in

M PL

ooks matter. Now before we get into a debate of whether a person’s looks play a crucial role in the way they lead their life, from an aesthetic point of view, let us tell you that this one’s about technology. It is no secret that the world of technology is headed towards a situation where the way you look is really important, all thanks to facial recognition and its growing ubiquity in everyday tech. While Apple’s iPhone X is in no way the first application of facial recognition known to the tech world, it has, almost inevitably, thrown significant limelight on the rising importance of facial recognition as the new password. But at this point, does the tech available truly satisfy the use cases we are implementing it for? Let’s find out.

face it Arnab Mukh

erjee | arnab

@dig

FACE DETECTION VS. FACE RECOGNITION

ees, criminals, or even a single set that contains the parameters of the face of a phone owner. But in any of these cases, the median range of acceptance is a lot narrower. Which immediately establishes that face recognition cannot be performed by a digital system effectively unless images of a certain resolution are available. Thankfully, the tech in our everyday smartphones has reached a point where front cameras are powerful enough to provide such images. From this point forward it all depends upon the software.

Before we explore what (and how) face recognition can do what it can do, it’s important to understand the complexity of even the most basic face recognition systems. And the best way to do that is to compare it against a more rudimentary state of the technology – face detection. Detecting a face involves identifying the existence of certain parameters in an image – the eyes, a mouth, a nose etc. This identification involves looking for specific shapes that fit within a range of parameters. This technology has been around for quite a while – pick up any digital camera of the past decade and you’ll probably see

While there are a couple of different algorithms that are popularly used for face recognition, the overall process is somewhat similar across them and follows these steps, in order: • Face detection: Done via methods like Haar-cascade classifier or History of Oriented Histograms. • Face alignment: Using features like the eyes, the nose, etc. • Appearance normalisation: Removing unnecessary details like colour, extra objects etc. • Feature description: Parameters of the face are measured.

face detection as a feature. In today’s world, the ubiquitous face filters from Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and more are examples of face detection in your everyday life. Recognition, on the other hand, casts a much smaller net. A face recognition system not only needs to detect a face, but also needs to know who that face belongs to. It could be matching the data against a database of employ-

20 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Snapchat brought face detection to the mainstream users

ALGORITHMS

level

A COLLECTION OF PRO TIPS FOR EVERYTHING. Without being limited to a particular topic, these tips are from popular software, to coding, to browsers, search, storage rules, password rules, mobile device hacks, bios cracking, tweaks explained and everything tech under the sun.

IDENTIFY SONGS INSTANTLY ON PIXEL 2

One of the most interesting features on the Pixel 2 might have been lost in the

know, iOS has a systemwide autofill feature. That means, that any information that iOS has synced about you, it will fill on any forms across the system

M PL

These assorted hacks, ranging from the iPhone X to Gmail, will show you how to use your favourite day-to-day tech like a true geek

Pro-tips for everyday gadgets and applications PLAY YOUTUBE MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND

While the FaceID on the iPhone X might be a huge convenience for all its users, allowing them to unlock the phone with just a glance, there might be situations where you do not want it to work. For instance, in a situation where you’ve been forced to unlock it, you’d want a way to disable it. And that can be done quite easily – just press the power (“side”) button five times quickly to disable FaceID. It does get enabled once again after you unlock via PIN/passcode.

Without a subscription to any music streaming service, you might be reliant on YouTube for your daily music. But the mobile app is limited and won’t play the audio in the background. In order to bypass this, open up YouTube in the Chrome web browser in your Android phone. Tap on the browser on the top right menu and select “Request desktop site”. Now, start playing a song and tap on your phone’s Home button. The song will continue playing in the background.

DEACTIVATE FACEID ON IPHONE X INSTANTLY

debate about the screen quality and praise about the camera. Your Pixel 2 can actually identify any songs playing around you at any point of time and display the name on your lock screen. To enable this, go to Settings>Sound>Advanced and scroll all the way to the bottom to find Now Playing. Inside this menu, enable the toggle ‘Show on lock screen’ to enable this feature.

EDITING AUTOFILL INFORMATION ON IOS

As many iOS users would

28 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

by default. That can be a bit irritating, especially since it doesn’t exactly check with you before syncing the information. To edit the information, go to the Contacts app and tap on My Card at the top. This shows you all the information that Siri has read about you from across the system, along with where it has been read from. To make iOS ignore a particular piece of information, say, your email ID, simply tap on the information and tap on Ignore. But in case you want to edit it, you’ll have to go to the app

tech

> code / creativity / community >

FOR THOSE GEEKS WHO LIKE TO GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY IN CODE

DEVWORX

A guide to get started with Alexa Skills

might seem like something that has existed for a while now (yes, iPhone users, Siri is similar, we know), it would be a mistake to simply classify Alexa as another voice assistant. This is because instead of being targeted at phones and other mobile devices, Alexa is primarily relevant in a home / indoor setup. It can hear someone across the room and most importantly, the capabilities or ‘skills’, as Amazon calls them for Alexa, are open for the developer community to augment. This is perhaps the single most important part of Alexa as it allows developers from all over the world to ‘teach’ it new skills everyday. It also allows the cloud service to grow and augment its capabilities at an amazing rate. Of course this has also spawned a number of quirky and hilarious skills like the ‘philosoraptor’ skill which, when invoked, entertains the user with a number of pseudo-deep thoughts

like “If camera lenses are round, why do pictures come out rectangular?”. Now that we have some knowledge of what an Alexa skill is and how it is used, let us try to build one for ourselves. We will be explaining each component of the skill as we work on them hereon.

M PL

Arunava R.C | feedback@digit.in

How to train your Alexa

lexa is a cloud based service provided by Amazon that is at the core of their range of Echo devices. It is capable of translating an ever-expanding number of voice commands into actionable requests that the service can then take action on. There are already a number of impressive videos on Youtube highlighting the capabilities of Alexa, which include simply asking the device to “dim the lights” or “play some music” in a very natural and organic way of communication – that is then translated into complex tasks to be executed. Although this

SKILLS AND INTENTS

An Alexa skill can be broadly divided into two components: 1. Voice User Interface (VUI) 2. Programming Logic

VOICE USER INTERFACE

This is the translator for Alexa that translates the captured audio into one or more actions using a combination of speech recognition, machine learning and natural language processing. These ‘actions’ or ‘requirements’ that are output by the VUI are known as ‘Intents’, which are then supplied to

*POINTERS

*Comprehensive Alexa Skill Development

*Alexa skills for beginners

*Alexa Skills Training Courses

With this course from Udemy, you can learn how to develop Alexa Skills using Alexa Skills Kit (ASK). Add custom Skills to your Amazon Echo, Echo Dot devices. http://dgit.in/AlexDev

This course is for those who do not have any coding experience but want to try their hands on developing Alexa skills, and even build your own Alexa device. http://dgit.in/AlexBeg

An official learning hub from Amazon, that highlights courses and resources at multiple levels of expertise. Further, it takes you through the build process too. http://dgit.in/AmzAlxKit

38 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Digit is hiring. If you think you have what it takes to put words onto this page, write to us at editor@digit.in

reviews

For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a quick guide to our overall score to

to 100

Extremely poor product. Keep away!

Strictly OK.

Not recommended

Decent product.

Go for it, but there may be better products out there.

Very good product. Highly recommended.

Ground-breaking product.

We’ve never seen anything like it before. A definite must buy!

M PL

The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products every month. Each of these products is put through a series of tests and is finally given a score. The final score is arrived at after considering a number of factors and evaluating them in terms of features, performance, value for money, build quality, and, in the case of software, even ease of use.

THE LATEST PRODUCTS REVIEWED FOR YOU

INSIDE

ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1070 Ti

Google Pixel 2 XL

Samsung T5 External SSD

Cooler Master MasterSet MS120

44 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

50 JBL Flip 4 PLUS

46 Motorola Moto X4 4GB 47 GIGABYTE X299 AORUS Gaming 7 48 Coolpad Note 5 Lite C 50 Acer Spin 1 & MORE...

tech

Moleskine and Microsoft

REVIEWS

ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1070 Ti A different approach

How does marijuana consumption impact the teen brain in particular? Find out more here: http://dgit.in/TeenPot

Motorola Moto X4 4GB Are you a sucker for compact phones?

Price 9 22,99

(+Ta

M PL

hile you can start gaming on any third-party cards, it’s best to install the accompanying software to make the most of it. With PERFORMANCE...........84 ASUS graphics cards, that parBUILD............................78 ticular software is GPU Tweak VALUE FOR MONEY.....75 II. The ROG STRIX GTX 1070

5.2 inch screen on the Moto X4 with a Galaxy Note 8 like curved glass back (Gorilla Glass 3) makes for a truly compact smartphone. The Moto X4 doesn’t feel flimsy or breakable. The display brings impressive contrast and colours, and though they don’t particularly “pop”, it’s a pleasant experience. It’s adequately bright and 1080p works without fail alongside the 5.2 inch size. The display is also good to touch and resistant to fingerprints. Given that it has a SD630, Motorola may have a hard time explaining why the Moto X4 should make any sense FEATURE.......................89 over the G5S Plus and G5 Plus. PERFORMANCE...........74 With the Moto X4’s camera, VALUE............................40 the company took a shot at DESIGN..........................87 LG’s method, combining a 12MP sensor alongside another 8MP wide angle sensor. Wide angle here is an actual wide angle lens, unlike on the telephoto plus wide angle combos. Motorola offers 120 degree field of view on the secondary camera. Everything considered, the Moto X4’s camera really doesn’t belong in the 20k price segment. There are plenty of phones with better cameras, including the Xiaomi Mi A1, Moto G5 Plus, Moto G5S Plus and Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro. The Moto X4 has a good display, just enough battery life and dependable performance. For compact phone lovers, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro offers more value for money. –Prasid Banerjee

Price 0 43,0x0es)

Marijuana+Teen brains

The pair have announced a Windows 10 app for Moleskine's 'Smart Writing System'. http://dgit.in/MoleMS

Ti has multiple modes, the default 1070 Ti clock is what ASUS calls Gaming Mode, then there is an OC mode where the card ramps up to 1759 MHz and if you want a bit of silent operation, they have the Silent Mode which underclocks the card to 1581 MHz. The fan speed curve seems to be the same across all modes, so the silent mode is all about the lower clock speed. When it comes to the performance, the card scores about 310 points higher in 3DMark Firestrike and in Rise of the Tomb Raider running on 4K at ultra settings, it scores 43 FPS. Considering that the standard GTX 1070 Ti gives 41-42 FPS, the OC didn’t exactly make a huge difference. And then there’s the cooling, which consists of a triple fan setup that kicks in at 55.26 degrees and then ramps up to about 40% at 67.42 degrees. Running Furmark with the default fan curve didn’t make that big a noise as the Founders Edition did, so that’s where the value lies in getting one of these third-party cards. The street price difference is huge for this advantage, a Founders Card sells for 39K while this particular can cost you around 47-49K. Which means you're paying quite the premium for the third-party cooler and we're certain that it's worth the money. –Mithun Mohandas

SPECIFICATIONS

CONTACT

ASUS TECHNOLOGY PVT. LTD. | PHONE - +18002090365 | EMAIL: reachus@asus.com | WEBSITE: www.asus.com

46 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

SPECIFICATIONS

CONTACT

MOTOROLA INDIA | PHONE: NA | EMAIL: Messenger | WEBSITE: www.motorola.in

WHAT’S NEW

Zack Snyder supports a director’s cut for Justice League

M PL

INSIDE

Apart from amassing such a huge support, fans needed the attention of a prime member in this discussion and they finally got it. Zack Snyder himself has come forward to show his support through a tiny “like” on a post about the petition shared on Vero. http://dgit.in/SnyderCut

GEEK CULTURE IS OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND ENCOMPASSES MOVIES, GAMES, COMICS, AND TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

ust like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League received a lot of flak from the audience worldwide. Recent leaks suggest that a lot of scenes were changed and even deleted by Warner Bros. in order to reduce the running time. Going through the list of these supposed edits clearly show the wider scope of the universe that director Snyder is trying to build. For the complete experience, fans are now demanding a director’s cut. The same happened with Batman v Superman, so we know that WB is capable of pulling it off. A petition for it has over 100,000 signatures at the time of writing this.

Weapon H gets his own comic book series

new mutant has been in the works for some time and considering his popularity, a standalone series has been announced. The mutant-hunter organisation Weapon X had come up with a new mutant-killer, naming it Weapon H. The new hybrid mutant made from the DNA of Hulk and Wolverine is as crazy

THIS MONTH IN CULT: Can you have a career in autonomous cars? Is binge watching making us dumber? How important are rules in a fictional universe? Booman takes a chill pill, but still has something to say about smart home devices...

More of Wolverine in upcoming comics

Back in 2014’s Death of Wolverine issue, Wolverine had died until he reappeared at the end of Marvel Legacy #1 and got his hands on one of the Infinity Stones. Now, he’s going to reappear in “post-credits scenes” January onwards, revealing how he came back to life and why does he have a frigging Infinity Stone with him. http://dgit.in/WolvBack

Incredibles 2 trailer teased

The first Incredibles movie came out back in 2004 and after all these years, a trailer of the second was revealed. The first movie saw the entire superhero family take out the supervillain. This time, it’s the youngest kid’s powers that we’ll get to witness. http://dgit.in/Inc2Baby

as comic books can get. We haven’t seen the full potential of the insane character which primarily combines the infinite strength, size, and endurance of the Hulk, and Wolverine’s claw and healing abilities. Additionally, Weapon H also gets the powers of Domino, Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth and Warpath. The character was first intro-

Classic Pokémon characters are back

After coming across hundreds of new Pokémon all these years, Ash and Pikachu are going back to their home region of Kanto. In the ongoing Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon, Ash reunites with Professor Oak and his mom, where his journey began. http://dgit.in/PokemnOG

duced in the crossover series between Weapon X and Totally Awesome Hulk called Weapon of Mutant Destruction. The series is being taken forward by writer Greg Pak and artist Cory Smith who have been responsible for the character’s creation. Editor Darren Shan said that Weapon H will be going head-on against the biggest threats in the Marvel Universe and the first issue is expected in March 2018. http://dgit.in/WeaponH

New Crisis of Earth-X poster

An epic crossover episode is coming to the Arrow universe and The CW Network has revealed an epic poster for the two-episode special event. We’ll get to see superheroes from the Arrowverse taking on the villains from Earth-X. http://dgit.in/CrisisX

www.digit.in | December 2017 | Digit | 53

culture

Roman shipwrecks in Egypt

1Mn+ VR headsets shipped

3 Roman-era shipwrecks found off Egyptian coast, along with a crystal carving of a head. http://dgit.in/RomShip

FEATURE

One million virtual reality headsets were shipped in the three months ending September 30. http://dgit.in/1MnVRHead

Rules of Fiction? Prithvi Sudhan | feedback@digit.in

“You want seriously want us to believe that?”

Why do so many flicks not stick to the rules that they make up themselves?

M PL

scene where he falls from a window on to a car, he leaves a 3-inch dent, so if he’s heavy, he can’t ride arrows, and if he;s light, he can’t leave such large dents when he falls. Make up your mind Marvel! And since Balance must exist, we shall now take a look at DC aka the highly physics related superpower that coincidentally ALSO breaks the laws of physics– using the Speedforce. The Flash, technically, is the strongest character ever imagined. Over 9000 levels of OP doesn’t even cut it. Let’s start with the simplest one. The second most famous physics equation in the world is F=ma, i.e. force equals mass times acceleration. And the Flash being, well, the Flash, can accelerate quite a fair bit. Which in turn means that he can pretty much obliterate anything or anyone with just a single punch. And then building up on the acceleration thing, you can literally manipulate time. Make a mistake? No

hat’s the first requirement for watching a superhero movie? Tubs of popcorn and jugs of coke, obviously. What’s the second? Leaving your commonsense at the door. At least, partially. For example, the idea of a radioactive spider biting you and giving you superpowers is a bit preposterous, but we choose to roll with it for the sake of entertainment. However, since not all superheroes (and by extension, their fictional universes) are created equal, some make it easy to suspend logic, while others make you believe the director was on drugs during filming! So let’s look at a few examples of what we mean...

FLOUTING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

This is one the easiest things to overlook, as most superpowers basically fly in the face of physics. However, the one thing that’s just too far fetched is Ant-Man. Sure, Pym particles are great and all that, but there hasn’t been an accurate description of what they can actually do. There was some pathetic attempt at an explanation that spoke about knocking out the empty space between atoms and all that, but that still doesn’t explain how Ant-Man can shrink to smaller than an atom! How is he able to ride Hawkeye’s arrow when he’s tiny? A man-sized weight on an arrow would now work, and probably break the bow! In the

54 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

problem, just go back and fix it again and again until it works out. Added to super speed thinking and you can do some pretty great things, like save everyone in a collapsing building, before it finishes falling down and then go to a library and study all the important bits of construction, go source materials and finish rebuilding the building all in a couple of minutes. We aren’t even going to make comments on the speed that’s required for such a feat but safe to say there are plenty of illogical zeroes in that number.

Even a miniscule weight on the arrowhead can wreak Havok with the trajectory

M PL

Zero1 Awards

62 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Zero1 Awards

possible. So, for example, when you ask the question, “What’s the best performing gaming laptop in india” you need to check out our Zero1 Award winner, because that’s the only place you will get this answer. There’s another reason why the Zero1 Awards is so important. Because we don’t look at price, and pure performance, we get to showcase products that you might have heard about, but didn’t pay too much attention to because of budget restrictions. Yes, some have made the mistake of thinking this award only makes sense to rich kids with deep pockets, because all of the products here are usually expensive. That isn’t why we do it though. In fact, usually, a tech product that wins the Zero1 Award is considered the industry benchmark for the year. And what do brands love to do with benchmarks? Beat them of course. Think of the Zero1 Awards as a predictor of things to come in 2018. The new devices that launch in 2018 will have to better this benchmark, and not just compete in terms of performance, but also price! All of these Zero1 Award winners will set the tone for the high end segment in the next year, and show you what features and performance you can expect from more budget friendly products going forward! We want to thank all of the brands and their representatives for participating in the competition. Congratulations to them if they won, and commiserations if they didn’t, but it doesn’t change the fact that every single product that appears in the pages that follow are the absolute best in their respective categories, and often the margins of victory are so tiny, that it almost seems unfair... but such is life, especially in technology... Forgive us while we collapse quietly in the corner while you read this, because as always, the Zero1 Awards bring even the strongest amongst us to our knees in exhaustion. Enjoy, and remember to send us feedback at editor@digit.in.

CATEGORIES

Audio - Wired IEMs................................................................................75

Smartphones - Premium.................................................................64

Audio - Wireless IEMs..........................................................................76

Smartphones - High-end..................................................................65

Desktop - CPUs......................................................................................... 77

Smartphones - Mid-range...............................................................66

Desktop - NVMe Solid State Drives.............................................78

Smartphones - Budget.......................................................................67

Desktop - Graphics Cards..................................................................79

Smartphones - Android.....................................................................68

Desktop - Mid-tower cabinets......................................................80

Smartphones - Camera.....................................................................69

Desktop - Gaming monitors............................................................81

Laptops - Thin and light.....................................................................70

Networking - Wireless Routers....................................................82

Laptops - Convertibles........................................................................71

Peripherals - Mechanical Keyboards.......................................83

Laptops - Gaming..................................................................................72

Peripherals - Gaming Headsets...................................................84

Audio - Bluetooth Speakers............................................................73

Peripherals - Gaming Mice.............................................................85

Audio - Bluetooth Headphones....................................................74

TVs - Flagship HDTVs............................................................................86

IMAGING: PETERSON PJ

M PL

very year, for the past 16 years now, December is the month we announce our Zero1 Awards. While most of you already know this, and have probably skipped past this intro already, there are many who are just joining us as readers who we need to give the lowdown to. Digit’s Zero1 Awards are given out to the best performing products of the year, in an effort to remind you of what you should consider buying – if you’re the type that has to have the absolute best products. It’s also our way of rewarding brands for putting in tonnes of research and development, and coming up with the best performing product. Sometimes this could be a product that’s been in the market for most of the year, and sometimes that could be a product that’s launched as late as November! In order to keep thing’s fair, we accept products that were launched in the 12 month period between Zero1 Awards. Thus, for this year, these are the very best products that were launched between November 16 2016, and November 15 2017. Why such weird dates? Because we publish the awards on December 1 every year, and we’re not superhuman, we need time to test them. And when we say “test them” we mean putting all of the products listed here through the wringer that is our comprehensive test process. Each and every category we cover has a rigorous test process that’s followed for each product, and then a winner is calculated. It’s almost the same test process as all the other reviews we do, except that it has no scores being awarded for features, or price. This is unique, and nowhere else will you get a rundown of the best performing products of the year, because most others “review” products instead of testing them. This isn’t about the opinion of reviewers, this is about pure performance, and the ability of a product to just do the best job currently

www.digit.in | December 2017 | Digit | 63

Zero1 Awards

SMARTPHONES

PREMIUM L ast year we actually found the flagship category a little boring. Thankfully, that’s been fixed with a vengeance this year. From the “best iPhone ever” to the “return of the Galaxy”, and even something from Google themselves, we’ve got a showdown between phones that are again worthy of being called flagships. So one wins the coveted Zero1 Award?

The cream of the crop

M PL

Apple iPhone X Price: `89,000

2017 ZERO1 AWARD WINNER Apple iPhone X

This isn’t a surprise is it? Our Zero1 Awards have always been about performance and that’s where the iPhone X outshines its competitors. Sure, Apple wants to show off the edge-to-edge display and a new way to do things with iOS, but there’s a lot more about this phone that we’ve liked. Apple calls this the biggest change to the iPhone so far and we agree. For starters, the company’s A11 Bionic chipset (that’s A-eleven) is significantly faster than its Snapdragon and Exynos competitors. The iPhone X scores over 200,000 on AnTuTu’s benchmark tests. It’s also the only phone to have crossed the 10,000 mark on Geekbench’s multi-core test so far. Wondering where the closest competitors lie? Well, the best we had seen before the iPhone X scored about 6000 on Geekbench’s multi-core tests, while the AnTuTu scores usually remained around the 180,000 mark. If that wasn’t enough, Apple combined this performance with a best-in-class display and a top-notch camera. Speaking of notches, you may not like the one on the iPhone X. But that’s really down to personal choice. We don’t mind it.

ers, this is quite possibly the best phone to buy. It’s fast, smooth and you get Google’s assurance of at least two updates. Our review device didn’t show burn-in problems, and Google has assured users that it’s not something to be worried about. If you’re looking for good Android phones to buy, or want the best camera out there, the Pixel 2 XL should certainly be amongst your considerations.

BEST BUY

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Google Pixel 2 XL Price: `73,000

DECEMBER 2017

RUNNER UP

Google Pixel 2 XL

Google is really working hard to get its hardware act together, and as far as premium Android phones are concerned, it’s made a name for itself. With the new saturated mode, the Pixel 2 XL is much easier to use now, and no one can deny that this phone has the most excellent camera on the market today. For Android lov-

64 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Price: `67,900

In our opinion, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is the most complete flagship of 2017. It has a fast processor and it’s considerably smoother than any Samsung phones we’ve used earlier. We’ve had it for about 5 months now, and there’s been no lag or freeze on the phone that’s worth complaining about. Till the iPhone X came along, the Galaxy Note 8 also had the best display you could find on the market today. With AnTuTu scores just over 175,000, it is also one of the most powerful smartphones out there right now. There’s 6GB RAM to go with that, making the Galaxy Note 8 one of the few phones to sport that spec. On Geekbench, the Note 8 scored above 4000 and 6000 on singleand multi-core tests, repectively. This puts it at the absolute top of Android phones for the year. Does one need more? Oh, you do, do you? Well, the Note 8 is arguably the best looking smartphone on the market today. It also brings all the best features out there, from an excellent dual-camera to an 18:9 display. And if all that wasn’t enough, the S-Pen still remains a gimmick worth having.

WHAT’S NEW

Whales and dolphins have bigger brains because they are more social

social learning, and complex calls. The results fall in line with the idea that species that are comparatively more social have bigger brains. http://dgit.in/BrainBig

M PL

LET’S EXPLORE

SCIENCE IS THE PATH TO KNOWLEDGE, AND FINDING OUT ABOUT HOW OUR UNIVERSE WORKS. YOU CAN’T BE A GEEK AND NOT KNOW YOUR SCIENCE!

Humans are pretty smart, especially compared to the rest of the animal kingdom. While there has been debate over the primary cause behind this smartness, several theories indicate a correlation between the social nature of humans and size of their brains. While there’s similar results for primates and birds too, a new study indicates this to be true for whales and dolphins as well! The study took into account several factors, including the typical body size of the species being analysed, the typical social group and also the numerous social activities that whales and dolphins partake in, like group hunting, play,

No such thing as gaming addiction

hile many of us are proud of our bingegaming sessions, for some, an addiction to gaming can be a serious issue. However, a new study indicates that people in such situations aren’t really addicted to gaming itself, but are instead using it as a means to escape the other dysfunctional portions of their lives. During the course of the study, participants were

THIS MONTH IN SCIENCE: Deep dive into the new and exciting world of Quantum Biology. Sounds strange? We thought so too.

Mystery void in the Great Pyramid of Giza

Using equipment meant for particle physics experiments, researchers have discovered a previously undiscovered void in the Pyramid of Giza. This cavity is the first major discovery at the pyramid since the 19th century. While the particle-detector revealed the size of the void, it failed to throw light on any structures within it. http://dgit.in/GizaVoid

Heart surgeries go well in the afternoon

A study published in the Lancet indicates that heart surgeries carried out in the afternoon have a better rate of success. This phenomenon is attributed to the circadian rhythm of the cardiovascular system, which is at peak efficiency during the afternoon. http://dgit.in/NoonHeart

88 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

required to fill questionnaires about their lives and gaming habits. Over time, there wasn’t significant growth in intensity or instances of gaming addiction.

Marijuana creativity is a myth

Research indicates that the creativity commonly attributed to marijuana in is actually due to user’s openness to new experiences. To put it simply, the same personality traits compel people to use marijuana and be more creative. http://dgit.in/WeedNoGood

However, wherever the addiction was seen to be quelling, there was a corresponding rise in contentment with some other part of the participant’s life - be it career, personal life or other areas. So in effect those who game excessively do so because their life isn’t as fulfilling in other parts. Maybe we should volunteer some of our SKOAR! writers for the study! http://dgit.in/NoGameAddicts

Brain exercise for dementia prevention

New aging research has identified a form of mental exercise that greatly reduces the risk of dementia in participants. The training consisted of 10 one-hour sessions over six weeks initially and up to eight booster sessions after that. http://dgit.in/NoDementia

sci Scarab ransomware spreading

Airbnb for money laundering

An email campaign from Necurs is spreading new ransomware at over 2 million emails per hour. http://dgit.in/Scambot

SPACE AGE

Russian scammers are leveraging the service to launder dirty cash from stolen credit cards with the help of corrupt hosts. http://dgit.in/Airlaunder

Defence Against the Dark Asteroids Abhijit Dey | abhijit@digit.in

Monitoring hazardous asteroids

When it comes to monitoring for threats from space rocks, we are only interested in the potentially hazardous objects. Predicting or rather calculating their collision course is vital since surviving the impact would be on top priority if the object happens to be headed towards Earth. To be on top of the game, NASA pushed its asteroidDifferent groups of Near-Earth Asteroids hunting efforts under the Planetary Defense comet to complete one orbit around Coordination Office (PDCO). Their the Earth) of less than 200 years. primary responsibilities include NEAs are further classified into three early detection of PHAs, tracking groups – Atira, Apollo and Amor – and characterising them and issuing based on their distances explained in warnings about possible impacts. the image below. If detected, they are supposed to NEAs are redefined into Potenprovide accurate information about tially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) the PHAs periodically and coordinate based on whether they are capable of with the US Government to plan while making potentially harmful close apdealing with an actual threat. NASA proaches to our planet. The minimum has set up automatic impact detecdistance is around 0.05 au or roughly tion systems where Scout is used to 7,480,000 km and the minimum locate and alert us about incoming size of the asteroid is around 140m. threats from space rocks. The other Considering the infinite number program is called Sentry which looks of objects floating around space at bigger and potentially dangerous and orbiting the sun, you’d wonder objects. Apart from this, astronomers whether there are asteroids already across the world, whether amateur or on their way to hit Earth. According to professional are contributing to the a report by NASA’s Near-Earth Object discovery of asteroids Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer Defending ourselves from an (NEOWISE) in 2012, they identified asteroid impact about 4,700 PHAs, plus or minus Nihilists aside, most of us on Earth 1,500, and their diameters were larger want to live longer. Coming up with than 100 metres. And it is estimated

e can’t be certain which meal or train ride would be our last. But if there are space rocks drifting towards us from millions of kilometres away, we can certainly make efforts to identify them before they wipe us out. There are an infinite number of rocks floating in space, some of which are orbiting the sun. If our planet’s orbital path happens to cross their’s, we could have a problem (putting it mildly). However not all rocks can cause catastrophic damage – there’s a set of criteria that the bodies need to fulfil before being deemed as dangerous. Bodies the size of around 25 metres across are more likely to burn up before coming close enough to the surface to cause damage. Objects between 25 metres and one kilometer will most likely cause damage around the area of impact. Any object bigger than that or around one to two kilometres across might have global effects. Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are asteroids or comets that have a perihelion (nearest point of an object with the Earth in an elliptical orbit) distance of less than 1.3 au (Astronomical Unit which is approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, i.e., about 150 billion metres). NEOs are further divided into Near-Earth Comets (NECs) and Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). NECs are comets which have an orbital period (time taken by the

92 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Credit: Center for Near Earth Object Studies | NASA

M PL

Are we fortified enough to survive a potentially devastating asteroid headed towards Earth?

that only 20 to 30 percent of these objects have been discovered. To be completely sure about objects which are on a collision course towards the third rock from the Sun, we need to scour the expanse of the observable universe. Once labelled as potentially dangerous, such bodies are marked and continuously monitored.

sci This prehistoric shark still lives

Anti-ageing genes

IGNORANCE

m biology u t n a u q d e udy call is wrong... A field of st w o n k e w hing .in says everyt robert@digit

M PL

ell, more accurately, everything we know might be wrong, or might be right, or both, because, you know… quantum stuff. For the uninitiated, just in case you’re wondering what we’re on about, anything to do with the quantum world is just inherently confusing and cannot be easily understood or tested. And because everything in the quantum world is neither this nor that, or rather, both this and that, it’s pretty much impossible to know anything for sure until we can better understand quantum mechanics. The field of Quantum Biology is basically the joining of hands of quantum physics and biochemistry to mess with our minds even more than theoretical physics can. Of course some think that quantum biology is really just the typical quantum physicist’s ego acting up and wanting to show superiority in yet another field… but we’ll avoid this in order to prevent World War III.

Scientists discover these genes in a secluded Amish community living in Indiana http://dgit.in/AAGene

With 300 razor sharp teeth, this 80-million year-old “living fossil” looks like it’s pulled straight out of your nightmares. http://dgit.in/PHShark

ign-Smith |

Robert Sovere

Now, we’ve differentiated the science fields by using logic that made sense back when we didn’t know that quantum mechanics existed, and so we went by what was visible. Stuff to do with bodies and motion, and mass, etc. was all lumped into physics, anything to do with how elements react with one another by using bonds, and swapping electrons, etc, was lumped into chemistry, and of course, the study of everything living was dumped under biology.

WHAT IS IT?

So what’s the idea behind quantum biology? Well, as quantum physicists would remind you, everything is just quantum particles in the end. Whether it’s a single hydrogen atom or the entire visible universe (which is about a billion light years across), it’s all essentially made up of little quantum particles.

94 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Just a tiny, tiny sliver of DNA

Even with classical science, we have overlapping of sorts. For example, we learned that DNA was just a chemical (a really insane chemical compound, but a mere chemical nonetheless). Then there was always the physics of living things that invaded biology – when you want to know how fast the cheetah runs, it’s calculated using physics, even though the question might seem like a biology one. Because of the overlapping, we had biochemistry and biophysics; what we didn’t have was phemistry or chemysics, or whatever… Then, once we discovered that we could observe far smaller things, and then even tinier organisms, etc., we had microbiology. Now, going down to the extreme levels of zoom, and witnessing the tiniest of particles in the quantum world, we finally have the field of quantum biology, which is nothing more than physics, chemistry and biology meeting biochemistry and biophysics, and throwing in quantum mechanics and quantum theory for good measure. Only the string theorists are left alone in the corner wondering about infinite universes…

WHAT’S NEW

The Amish gene that protects from diabetes

looking into the processes of underlying cellular aging and how this can be used to find new therapies for chronic diseases. http://dgit.in/amigene

M PL

Visual Story

THIS IS TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND SCIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE, AND THAT DIFFERENCE IS USUALLY ENOUGH TO MAKE MOST NORMAL PEOPLE GO “WTF?”

t has been discovered that the Amish people (they’re a people who live disconnected from the rest of the world and live lives independant of modern technology) have a rare genetic mutation which protects them from Type 2 diabetes. The gene has helped increase their life spans as well. The gene causes them to produce unusually low levels of PAI-1, which is responsible for functions like clotting and aging of our bodies. Scientists have long suspected that it has other functions. The findings were published in the Science Advances journal. The discovery also has experts

The world’s first (possibly) images of dogs

n the Arabian Desert, carved into a sandstone cliff, you will find the image of a hunter with his bow drawn, getting ready for the kill. But that’s not what we’re interested in. It’s the 13 dogs accompanying the hunter, each with their own unique markings. Two of them even have lines running from their necks to the man’s waist. Could these be leashes used to rein in the dogs? If so, what we’re looking at

WHAT KIND OF A GEEK ARE YOU? This time around we take you on a complicated visual journey to discover what kind of a geek you are. Page 106

Apple’s Face ID is easy to spoof

A new video from FaceTec, a security company pushing out their own facial recognition app, shows that the iPhone X’s Face ID unlock system is apparently quite easy to fool. In the video, Face ID was successfully fooled by paper-eyes printed out and placed on the owner’s face, as well as various pizza toppings. http://dgit.in/ipxfaceid

Sheep can recognise faces

According to a new research by scientists at the University of Cambridge, Sheep can be trained to recognise human faces. Their facial recognition abilities are comparable to those of humans and monkeys according to Professor Jenny Morton, who led the study. http://dgit.in/baaface

98 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

could be the earliest depiction yet of man domesticating dogs. The engravings date back more than 8000 years, which suggests that humans may have mas-

YouTube flagged a Google ad

In an ironic turn of events, YouTube’s algorithm for flagging videos which has been taking videos down and demonetizing them for no reason, ended up flagging Google’s own Chromebook Pixel ad as spam. A taste of one’s own medicine eh? http://dgit.in/ytbangoogle

tered the art of taming and domesticating dogs thousands of years earlier than what was initially thought. However, it should be noted that more work and research will be needed to confirm the meaning and depiction of the carvings for sure. But if confirmed, it would be another indicator of just how deeply domesticated the species of dogs are. http://dgit.in/firstdoggo

Noise-cancelling fork

Otohiko is a noise cancelling fork, that looks something like an electric toothbrush. It works by emitting loud electronic noises that sound like a combination of waves and futuristic space sounds to drown out the sounds of slurping. Is this for real? http://dgit.in/otohiko

DGT DESIRE

The Moon

reated by Kyoto-based company Nissha, the same people behind the capacitive touch sensors in the Nintendo Switch, Mui is an interactive display that looks like, well, looks like a block of wood. It’s a very attractive looking block of wood though, in its defence, or it wouldn’t be here in the first place. But that’s not all. The Mui can do much, much more, from controlling your light settings, setting the temperature and showing you your messages. It’s a great, aesthetically pleasing addition to your smart home. And it blends in with most modern interior designs.

M PL

f you’ve started going smart with your home then maybe you’re looking for a cool hub to go with your smart home. Here’s one you might be interested in, The Moon from 1-Ring that we came across on Indiegogo. What makes The Moon so cool? Well, for one thing it’s levitating. Yes, levitating! It’s a 360-degree smart camera which has both day and night vision, it charges wirelessly, it comes with cloud storage, and it’s got a host of other sensors to monitor the happenings in your house. It’s got voice recognition built into it as well. Thanks to the fact that it’s floating(!) it can quite smoothly rotate around and get a full 360-degree scan of its surroundings. It’s a smart home hub, so it integrates with your other smart home devices and is compatible with Google Home and Alexa. They say that they’re bringing in support for Apple’s Homekit soon as well. The Moon comes with a speaker and three microphones as well, so it can be used for voice chat. Its wide-angle lens can detect and record automatically if its sensors pick up sounds and motion in the room. The Moon’s expected to be available in March next year at $330; it’s still live on Indiegogo. If things go well, this is a pretty neat hub to have.

Nissha Mui

SHOWCASE

alt

Curious Chip Pip

he Pip by Curious Chip is a handheld device which allows you to create games and apps on it. The device is powered by Raspberry Pi and the device itself packs a touchscreen, speaker, control buttons, different ports and coloured LEDs as well. There are certain options that come with a camera as well. What’s cool about the Pip is that it not only looks like a handheld console, it actually is one! You can play classics on the Pip like Snake and PacMan, you can even play Minecraft.

The word Mui comes from the Japanese word meaning ‘silence’. It’s quite apt for this block of wood which blends in till it’s needed. It integrates well with current smart home systems, i.e., Google Home and Alexa. It also contains a CO2 censor to get a report on the weather. But the 1.2kg weight might be an issue to some. With a max power consumption of a mere 50W, Mui is also economical if you decide to go for it. It is expected to launch sometime in June next year, i.e 2018 at the $900 - $1200 price range.

This is in addition to being able to code and create games on it from scratch. There are a selection of games and apps that are bundled with the Pip and if you want more, you can go check out their online arcade. Pip uses a platform called Curiosity, which gives users access to tutorials and projects, complete with step by step instructions so kids can learn to code at their own pace. It’s a neat way for kids to learn to code in multiple languages. The Pip isn’t restricted to just kids, you can work on more advanced code as well using the Pip. Pip is completely open and is made using off-theshelf materials, leading to it’s fairly cheap price as well, with it retailing at £269 (`23,150). It’s estimated to start retailing sometime later next year.

www.digit.in | December 2017 | Digit | 99

alt Game cheating lawsuit GEEK-KEY

Critical flaw in Exim

Epic Games suing 14 year-old for allegedly modding the game and causing the developer to lose profits. http://dgit.in/FNCheater

Flaw that allows remote code execution and DoS attacks found in popular mail transfer agent (MTA) software Exim. http://dgit.in/EximFlaw

Does Pop Culture Influence Buying Habits?

does. it s e Y : t r Spoiler ale @digit.in

a | feedbac

Prithvi Vels

Now this scene wasn’t actually in the script and ended up being an improv by Robert Downey Junior – It has quite the interesting story behind it. Read more at http://dgit.in/ShawarmaStory. But what wasn’t imagined was the huge surge in popularity that the hitherto, largely unknown-to-the-masses shawarma received. Local shawarma joints all across the world all received a huge boost in

that was often worn by one of the main characters, Sheldon Cooper – typically relating to superheroes, mainly the Flash from DC comics. While fandom merch has been a staple in the West for a long while now, from band t-shirts to t-shirts with esoteric quotes and references on them, it was generally rare to see them in India just a few years ago. And when it caught on, several specialized stores opened up shop just

M PL

et’s face it, popular media has been slowly, but surely becoming an integral part of your daily life. Memes and obscure (or not so obscure) references are now part of common parlance, fashion trends are created and killed every few months and even the things you buy are subtly influenced by pop culture. No, we aren’t talking about celebrity endorsed products – who falls for that anymore? *nervously hides Being Human shirt* No, what we’d like to tackle here is products that people tend to buy just by virtue of their appearance in popular media. It doesn’t even have to be an outright plug in a movie or a show – just a product that is mentioned/ seen/used by the characters. Say… the humble shawarma. Everyone who saw the 2012 blockbuster The Avengers (Reality check, it came out over half a decade ago people!) will definitely remember the scene near the end, where Tony Stark/Ironman selflessly almost sacrifices himself to save the world, passing out in the process and plummeting back down. The Hulk saves him from quite a nasty fall but it seems too late – until of course, Tony comes around with a sarcastic quip of “Please tell me nobody tried to kiss me” and mentions that there’s this new ‘Shawarma’ food that’s around and the Avengers team needs to try it. This leads to the iconic post credits scene of the team sitting around a table in a shawarma joint and tucking into it.

104 | Digit | December 2017 | www.digit.in

Just some colleagues enjoying a meal after you know, saving the world

interest and popularity after the release of the movie, with some joints in the US getting almost an 80% increase in sales! (http://dgit.in/MoarShawarma and http://dgit.in/NoMoShawarma), and this isn’t confined to food either! Again, near the start of this decade, the show Big Bang Theory was taking over India’s geek scene. The quickest way to identify a fellow geek at a party or a gathering was to look for a t-shirt

to cater to this need. One such retailer sells up to 250 shirts every day, mostly catering to the 18-23 demographic. (Read more about the economics at http://dgit.in/SuperMerch) And it’s not all material goods either. According to a study conducted by Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (seejane.org), female archery participation more than doubled in 2012. The institute which is

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

. DURATION

COVER PRICE

ASSURED GIFT / YOU SAVE (on cover price)

YOU PAY

Money Saver offers (With Fast Tracks & DVDs)* � 6 Months

` 1,250/-

` 999/-

Cash discount of ` 251/-

(20%)

� 1 Year

` 2,500/-

` 1,899/-

Cash discount of ` 601/-

(24%)

� 3 Years

` 7,500/-

` 5,499/-

Cash discount of ` 2,001/-

(27%)

` 1099/-

Cash discount of ` 401/-

(27%)

Magazine - Only Package (Without Fast Tracks & DVDs)** � 1 Year

` 1,500/-

*Includes regular issues of ` 200/- each and higher priced special issues per year ** Includes 12 regular issues of ` 125/- each per year

Start / Renew my subscription from

m m

Name ______________________________________________________________________________________________ (First Name)

(Middle Name)

(Last Name)

Occupation_______________________Company___________________________Designation_______________________ Delivery Address _____________________________________________________________________________________ City _______________________ Pin Code ___________________ State ________________________________________ Telephone_____________________ Mobile_______________________ E-mail ___________________________________ (Please mention an active email-id to receive your copy dispatch details)

(STD Code) (Phone Number)

Subscription Number ______________________________________ (Only for existing subscribers)

Payment Details

Mail this form alongwith your cheque/DD to: Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt Ltd B-205, Arjun Centre Station Road, Govandi (E), Mumbai 400 088 Board line: 022-67899666 Fax: 022- 67899667

Subscribe online at www.digit.in/subscribe OR SMS “DIGIT SUB” to 92200 92200 For quick customer service, email us at help@digit.in OR call (022) 678 99 678

TERMS & CONDITIONS: This is a limited period offer | Rates & offer valid in India only | Allow 5-6 weeks for processing of your subscription | Free assured subscription gift will reach you within 8 - 10 weeks of commencement of your subscription | Orders once placed will not be terminated or transferred | Specific colors and features of the guaranteed free assured gifts are subject to change depending on availability of the stock with the manufacturer | Destinations not covered by courier will be serviced by post under a certificate of posting | Replacements will be made upon receipt of the damaged goods within 30 days of sale | Above schemes are valid till 31st December 2017 | Price of assured gift may vary, but specifications will be unchanged.

SUB DEC 17

Enclosed Cheque/DD No.________________ (Kindly add ` 50 for cheques not payable at par in Mumbai) dated ______________ favoring Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt Ltd from Bank_____________________