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THE RSS FEED | Robert Sovereign-Smith | Executive Editor
Forbidden fruit
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and also the smartphone. They made their comeback as a gadget hardware company, even if they are far more than that now. Heck, Apple made $1 billion in 2017 just from selling app ads on its own app store. In order to do that, Apple had to track you and your usage, and then create a profile of you, and then show you stuff you might be interested in… sound familiar? Facebook is supposed to be used in exactly the same way. No advertiser is supposed to have a profile of you and what you like, only Facebook is supposed to. They screwed up by being lax, and not necessarily evil. It’s the same way Google works. In all three cases listed above, the advertiser does not know that this guy called Robert who works at Digit saw his ad, he just knows someone who likes Digit’s Facebook page, or visit’s digit.in often saw his ad. You can be as precise with the targeting as you want, depending on what data the service collects about you. Google is the most successful at this because it has you hooked in many more ways, using many more services, but Facebook has you for the longest period per day, and perhaps knows you better. Apple is playing catch up here, and believe me, they want to and have to catch up. While people disagree about whether the collection of private data is evil, we all agree that we want our interface with technology to be a smoother affair. We want to think it and have it done… we want to carry a consciousness in our pocket, and have a truly smart phone… that’s not going to come from thumping your chest about privacy, though… Do you care what Google knows about you? Write in and let me know.
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I BOUGHT AN IPHONE XS. However, I assure you that I’m not going to be singing empty praises of Apple anytime soon, even if I have officially become an iPhone owner. What prompted this change of heart? The death of the home button on the iPhone (or whatever the fanboys call it). As a lifelong BlackBerry user, I had come to love swipe navigation – swiping up from the bottom of the phone to show open apps, swiping down from the top of the phone to show quick settings, etc. Over the years, Apple and Android have slowly but surely, arrived at the same conclusions about navigation as BlackBerry did, and this is a huge step in the right direction for me. That’s not the purpose of this column however. Recently I’ve found myself arguing with a lot of Apple users, and the one thing that they keep coming back to is the heroing of privacy by Apple. Tim Cook once said, “…we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer – if our customer was our product. We’ve elected not to do that.” I think it’s pretty stupid for any one company to mock the successful business model of another company and try and praise their own business model. Some consumers are willing to shell out an arm and a leg for privacy, while some just don’t care and want things cheap, or better yet, free. The tug of war between companies on both these sides is good for us. Free alternatives that are ad-supported define the industry. From paying for email space in MBs we have reached a point where you get GBs of free storage online. The entire concept of the cloud – cloud storage, cloud computing, etc – wouldn’t exist if such services hadn’t driven costs down. Apple’s model, on the other hand, made the concept of touch interfaces mainstream,
We’ve incorporated Amazon Smile Codes throughout this issue. Smile Codes make it easy to zero-in on the exact product that we’ve mentioned in the issue and avoids any sort of confusion.
“I think it’s pretty stupid for any one company to mock the successful business model of another company and try and praise their own business model.”
Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: editor@digit.in | facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo
To scan an Amazon Smile Code, follow these instructions
1. Download the Amazon App on your Android or iOS mobile.
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3. Look for the Scan icon. Tap on it to initiate the Smile Code scanner.
4. Align the scanner with the Smile Code and you’re done!
www.digit.in | October 2018 | Digit | 1
PARANOID ANDROID | Mithun Mohandas | Managing Editor
Regaining control
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Even my phone is a concern from the privacy perspective. While the UI on the POCO F1 is vastly different from most of Xiaomi’s devices, it’s still not great. That’s to say, it’s still not stock. I’ve stripped down most of the ‘niceties’ that shipped with the device and brought it down to near stock state. It was a painful process of manual elimination wherein I had to nuke packages on the device while hoping that it wouldn’t get bricked. At the end of a long and arduous process, I ended up removing 46 packages which were absolutely unnecessary for my use case. That’s not a small number by any means. There’s no telling how many of them were siphoning your data to unknown foreign servers. You might be wondering why I haven’t put a custom ROM or a GSI. Well, the only reason I haven’t put a GSI on it is because none of the images out there right now have both radios fully functional. I’m really glad that Google decided to implement Project Treble. This way users don’t have to deal with the unnecessary bloatware that ships with the devices out of the box. I don’t know about you guys but having control stripped away from any software or device ticks me off. In the pre-broadband days, this wasn’t a major concern but with the current level of internet penetration companies are getting a little too familiar with the average user. Not that operatings systems were awesome back then but you’d focus more on slimming the OS down for the sake of extracting every iota of extra performance you could. Now, you have to do that and strip all sorts of tracking and telemetry packages that are installed on your machines to siphon your data without your consent. Which is why I’m all for a GDPR-like regulation to be enforced as soon as possible because even these companies know that such a regulation is inevitable in the long run. Most of us couldn’t care less about how GDPR has stifled innovation. If your ‘innovative’ product is built on the basis of violating someone’s right to privacy, then I don’t think your product should see the light of day. So this is the best time to extract as much data as they can from countries with poor regulation before the doors slam shut. The government has set a nice precedent with Net Neutrality, I just hope that digital privacy is next on their agenda.
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THERE WERE QUITE A FEW EVENTS THIS MONTH that managed to trigger the paranoia in me. The first was everyone’s favourite browser, Chrome. Update 69, the newest incarnation of the devil has begun logging you into the browser automatically without any notification or consent if you login to any of their webservices. Did you just sign into Gmail? Check your Chrome settings and you’ll show up as logged in. Now, I only use Chrome for a few applications but this is unnerving to say the least. I don’t want a customised SERP (Search Engine Results Page) nor do I want any of the value added services (read targeted advertising) that Google wants to push down my throat. With Google’s web service logins such as that of Gmail being merged with the browser, Google has effectively gained access to my browsing history. I realise that there’s no point in harping about privacy but witnessing a gross violation in such a blatant manner is unnerving. It’s not like I’m freeloading off of Google. I pay for extra drive space, so I don’t want Google selling me ads. So, I’m ditching Google Chrome as one of my frequently used browsers in favour of something new. If you’re wondering who the likely replacement will be, then good ol’ Firefox seems to be a good candidate. It’s not just my browser, even the OS has been problematic in the same vein. With every new update Windows removes some of the maintenance apps that I use without giving any notifications. Don’t even get me started on the telemetry services. There’s no telling when Windows will sneakily turn some of them back on. If it weren’t for all the games on Steam and some work related software, I would have made the switch to Linux already. In fact, the latest Ubuntu LTS release (Bionic Beaver 18.04.1) came out a couple of days back so I might as well give it a go and see how things have improved over the last two years. Yes, it’s been that long since I’ve used Linux on my desktop. Last I checked, gaming on Linux has improved by a huge fold. Also, most of the games that I play for the sake of reviews is on a test bench, so it’s not as if I’m married to using Windows. I can always have a dual-boot OS setup for when I absolutely have to use Microsoft’s spawn. So you’ll probably see a bit more Linux related content from us in the coming months.
2 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
“If your ‘innovative’ product is built on the basis of violating someone’s right to privacy, then I don’t think your product should see the light of day.”
Let me know your thoughts on this column at: @mithun_mohandas | mithun@digit.in
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OCTOBER 2018 • VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 10
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EDITORIAL Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Managing Editor Mithun Mohandas Features Editor Aditya Madanapalle Associate Editor Arnab Mukherjee Writer Manish Rajesh
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TEST CENTRE Reviews Editor Swapnil Mathur Reviewers Abhijit Dey, Subhrojit Mallick, Vignesh Giridharan
GAMES REVIEWED THIS MONTH
ADVERTISING INDEX
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Brand.......................................... Page No. ITC...........................................Inside front cover TP Link....................................Inside back cover
Seagate.............................................Back cover
Kaspersky.........................................................3
Marvel’s Spider-Man Shadow of the Tomb Raider
MOBILE MONTHLY Ping Pong King | Thunderdogs | Sneak Ops | Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn | Hungry Dragon | Valleys Between | Bendy in Nightmare Run | Super Starfish | Legend of Solgard
Amazon.............................................................5 SBI...................................................................7 iBall............................................................. 9,23 Brother...........................................................13
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READER SERVICES Team Leader Sudhir Patel +91-22-67899678 / help@digit.in 6 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
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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
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contents
COVER STORY PAGE 51- 61
The Blockchain Issue
The underlying technology behind bitcoin may turn out to be as revolutionary as the internet itself
TECH - PAGE 16-50
OCTOBER 2018
VOLUME 18 ISSUE 10
32 | DIY PUBG Controller
When none of the controllers we have fit our needs, we build our own
34 | Android web browsers compared
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In the battle for the top position, we pit every popular Android browser out there against each other
22 | A story in sound
From cylindrical tubes to portable music players, sound recording and playback has a long story to tell
24 | Must-try iOS 12 features
We show you how to master the latest update to iOS
28 | Blockchain vs Spam
How TRAI intends to use blockchain to tackle the problem of spam calls and messages
30 | Guide to growing your open source project So you think you can open source?
10 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
38 | Reviews
The latest products reviewed for you!
45 | PC config
Everything youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ever need to build your own PC. Whatever your budget
46 | A reminder about pre-ordering Agent001 takes a look at the new NVIDIA cards
48 | Teardown: iPhone Xs & Xs Max Taking apart the latest handsets from Apple
50 | Take My Money
From a lip-sensitive bottle, to a portable universal translator, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the best in technology that you can crowdfund this month
AND MORE
CULTURE - PAGE 62-68
ALT - PAGE 79-96
ON THE DVD 64 | Know your punk
90 | Future Feature
62 | Google AMP: Another walled garden
92 | Internet in a minute
Agent001 rants about why Google AMP is highly unfair to websites
Ever wondered what happens on the internet in a span of one minute?
94 | We are Venom
TECH PC detox software ActivityWatch Kimai ManicTime ProcrastiTracker stretchly TrackYourTime WatchMe Workrave
The most toxic substances on the planet. Stay as far away as you can
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66 | Boo smartwatches
The year is 2027 and we have discovered the first signs of life on Trappist-1
Boo-man isn’t fond of ‘smart’watches and he’s not shy about it
67 | 1000 words
Modern imaging techniques have revealed some astounding things hidden in plain sight
AND MORE
96 | Zowie and esports
We sit down with the MD of BenQ India to understand how Zowie is responding to an increasingly crowded gaming market
AND MORE
SCIENCE - PAGE 69-78
SKOAR! - PAGE 97-111
SA 70 | The Ocean Cleanup
The System 001 is a 600 meter long floater on its way to tackle the Pacific Garbage Patch
72 | Labs on a chip
An emerging category of hardware promises to revolutionise healthcare around the world
74 | Gaganyaan
India’s first human mission to space has been greenlit, and the preparations are on in full swing
104 | Blockchain in gaming A new revolution
99 | Zero2Hero
Meet the stars of the Indian professional esports scene
100 | Reevu: Shadow of the Tomb Raider A fitting end to the trilogy
76 | CRISPR vs. Autism
102 | Reevu: Marvel’s Spider-Man
AND MORE
AND MORE
An ethico-scientific debate
Action indie games Blow the Hen Down Handle With Care IIslands of War Package Man Super Science Friends
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A guide to subgenres in science fiction and how you can identify them
Your friendly neighbourhood spidey is back!
Alternative web browsers Basilisk Cent Browser Crusta Browser Falkon Iridium Browser Opera Neon Otter Browser Sushi Browser Torch Browser Ungoogled Chromium
Third-party Windows file explorers Double Commander Explorer++ Far Manager Fileboss FileVoyager FreeCommander Midnight Commander muCommander Image MultiCommander OneCommander Saladin
CULT Podcast managers Clementine gPodder iTunes Juice Miro VLC Media Player
SCI Essential astronomy software AstroPlanner Celestia DeepSkyStacker Gaia Sky KStars SkyChart Stellarium
Nuclear and Particle Physics video lectures This course covers the basics of nuclear physics including nuclear models, nuclear decay and nuclear reactions. ALT Unity Game Engine Use Unity to build high-quality 3D and 2D games, deploy them across mobile, desktop, VR/AR, consoles, etc. environments. Jules Verne audiobooks Dick Sands, the Boy Captain Doctor Ox’s Experiment The Blockade Runners The Steam House
www.digit.in | October 2018 | Digit | 11
WHAT’S NEW
Amazon goes all out with 13 new devices launched
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E Alexa Microwave and an Alexa Clock were also launched. And if you felt that was odd, there’s even a speakerless Alexa Input device. https://dgit.in/13AmazonDev
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DOES THIS SECTION EVEN NEED AN INTRODUCTION? FROM COMPUTERS TO MOBILES, AND HEADPHONES TO GPUs, IT’S ALL HERE...
mazon held an impromptu event and launched several devices including a 75% Louder Echo Dot (smallest Echo speaker) and an upgraded Echo Plus. Echo Auto is a similar device for your cars. Amazon’s hardware weren’t known to be bass heavy, so what did they do? They launched the Echo Sub which takes care of all the boom-boom that you’d need. In a similar vein, Amazon also revealed the Echo link and the Echo Amp. The Echo Show received an upgrade in the form of a larger 10-inch screen. There’s a new Fire TV Recast which allows you to beam video wirelessly to supported devices. An
Apple Watch Series 4, iPhone Xs, Xs Max, and XR
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pple announced the next set of devices with the Apple Watch Series 4 coming off as a decent upgrade but the iPhones ended up being a disappointment. There used to be a time when articles about the new iPhones had all sorts of new features to talk about but not anymore. The smartphone ecosystem is so competitive these days that Apple is no longer the benchmark for manufacturers, and
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THIS MONTH IN TECH: Browse through the best iOS 12 features and find out how you can build your own DIY PUBG Mobile controller. Agent001 talks about the launch of the NVIDIA RTX graphics cards. Finally, take a deep look of what’s inside the new iPhone XS and XS Max in our teardown analysis.
US states fight back on Net Neutrality
California passed the strongest net neutrality laws in the US. Now, firefighters have joined the battle against ISPs who throttle data. The New York Times sued FCC for hiding evidence of Russia meddling in last year’s appeal process. https://dgit.in/ NYTsuesFCC
MIT grad creates leak-detecting robot You Wu, an MIT graduate, has created a robot called lighthouse which traverses through pipes and finds leaks by detecting suction forces. His creation could help stem the loss of 2 trillion gallons of drinking water annually. https://dgit.in/ YouLighthouse
16 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
it’s mostly centered around Qualcomm’s next-gen SoC and how manufacturers can make the most of it. We’re glad to see Apple working on adding AI compute capabilities to the A12 Bionic chip but with just
French schools ban phones for kids under 15
High school students in France will no longer have access to their phones as France passed a nationwide ban on smart devices including smartwatches, tablets and phones. They can access phones at the discretion of the teacher. https://dgit.in/LeNoFone
one company’s R&D team working on it, Apple is at a natural disadvantage. We have our eyes on Siri Shortcuts and the Apple Watch but everything aside from those have already started fading from our minds. This, however, did not stop Apple from jacking up the prices as the iPhone XS and XS Max start from `99,900 and `1,09,900. The more affordable iPhone XR starts from `76,900. https://dgit.in/2018AppleDevices
PlayStation 2 repair services end in Japan
After more than 18 years in service, Sony has finally shut down repair services for the PlayStation 2. Manufacturing of the PlayStation 2 ended in 2012 after the successor, the PlayStation 3 was launched. https://dgit.in/PS2RepDed
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.
Must try iOS 12 features USE A VIRTUAL TRACKPAD TO MOVE THE CURSOR
Traditionally, to edit text, you would have to tap the specific area and then begin typing again. On iOS 12, this process becomes a single step. Force Touch on the keyboard while typing and the keyboard will turn into a virtual trackpad. Now, you can drag your finger on the virtual area to move the cursor to wherever you want in the text body.
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Abhijit Dey | abhijit@digit.in
WhatsApp on Automatic, your text messages will have different stacks for individual users. If you switch that to By App, then all your text messages will be grouped into a single stack. You can switch off grouped notifications completely to go back to the old list.
the Notification Center and the second one will mute its notifications entirely.
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The new software update brings in a lot of tiny and big features to iOS. We take a look at some of our favourite ones.
SINCE IOS 12 WAS DEPLOYED to the public after sitting in beta, we are pretty sure most of you might have updated your iOS devices. Now that most of us are running our iPhones (and iPads) on iOS 12, let’s explore some of the most interesting features and a few tips on using the latest piece of software from Apple.
SET ADVANCED DND MODE
SET UP GROUPED NOTIFICATIONS
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All these years, every single notification on iOS devices would stack up and create an endless list if you were among the popular ones. iOS 12 onwards, your notifications will be grouped together just like Android. However, you will get much more control than what Android offers currently. Grouped notifications is a default feature and if you wish to tweak around with it, then you can do so by opening up the appropriate app and going to Notifications. The advantage here is that you get to decide whether you want all the notifications bundled together or based on individual users. For example, if you’re using
DISABLE LOCK SCREEN NOTIFICATIONS
Apple has also included quick settings for notifications right on those notification stacks. All you need to do is use Force Touch to activate the quick settings where you get two options to “Deliver Quietly” and “Turn Off…”. The first option will send the notification directly to
24 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
The Do Not Disturb feature got a tiny but useful update. Now, you can switch your device to the DND mode right from the Control Centre. You have to Force Touch the DND button that will pop up a list of options depending on the time of the day and location. For example, if it’s the night time, it will ask you whether you want to enable the mode for an hour or until morning or according to your fixed schedule. This can be added from the Settings app along with enabling or disabling other important options. You can also enable the new Bedtime feature that has been introduced in iOS 12 where the lock screen dims down and all your calls will be silenced while your notifica-
tions will directly appear in the notifications centre. Pro-tip, use the DND mode to keep notifications away when you’re recording your device’s screen.
CREATE CUSTOM SIRI SHORTCUTS
Siri Shortcuts is aiming to save your time by using voice commands. Several apps including the system default apps already support this feature. Head over to Settings > Siri & Search > Suggested Shortcuts > All Shortcuts. Here you will find all the possible shortcuts from your installed apps listed. If you want to create a shortcut for view the latest headlines in Google News, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Google News > Shortcuts. You will find a few shortcuts listed including one to “Read the latest headlines”. Tap on the plus sign and record a
tech
Amazon Echo Wall Clock
Tor for Android
Amazon launched an Echo Wall clock that pairs with Echo speakers to take voice commands. https://dgit.in/oct-18-34-1
BROWSER WARS ANDROID EDITION
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20 Android web browsers tested
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s tech writers, we spend an incredible amount of time in the day scrolling through web pages while reading the latest news hitting the internet. Whether we are commuting to work or simply taking a break, the web browser is a highly used app on our phones. So you’re obviously expecting the best experience on mobile web browsers. We prefer a satisfying experience without any stutter or crashes. While most of us stuck with the popular ones like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox on our phones, we wanted to find out
34 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
Abhijit Dey | abhijit@digit.in
whether there was something better among the plethora of web browsers on the Play Store. In this pursuit, we decided to conduct a comparison test of Android web browsers including the popular ones and not so popular ones. Our list included the minimalist versions of popular web browsers as well. This would allow us to find out whether these mini-versions are enough to handle your web browsing needs. The objective of this comparison is to determine the best performing Android web browser in terms of speed, security, privacy and support for various HTML5 and web-based
applications. It will also be safe to assume that the winner will be the most favourable as a daily driver. In this comparison test, we evaluated 20 Android web browsers. They are as follows along with the version numbers of the browser we tested at the time of writing this article. • Brave Browser 1.0.58 • Google Chrome 69.0.3497.100 • Dolphin Web Browser 12.0.11 • DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser 5.10.4 • Ecosia Browser 3.5.3 • Mozilla Firefox 62.0.2 • Mozilla Firefox Focus 6.1.1
Imaging: Baiju NV
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HEAD-ON
Tor has finally released the official alpha version of the Tor browser for Android users. https://dgit.in/oct-18-34-2
reviews
THE LATEST PRODUCTS REVIEWED FOR YOU
For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a quick guide to our overall score to
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31
to
50
51
to
70
71
to
90
91
to 100
Extremely poor product. Keep away!
Strictly OK.
Not recommended
Decent product.
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10
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!
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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.
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INSIDE
40
JBL E55BT
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Lenovo Yoga 730 (13IKB)
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Redmi 6 Pro 64GB
38 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
42
Corsair STRAFE RGB MK.2
43 Fujifilm X-A5
PLUS
40 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX 41 FiiO FB1 41 GIGABYTE X399 AORUS XTREME 44 Linksys Velop & MORE...
Magic Leap gets audio
Magic Leap is partenering with Sennheiser to develop spatial audio products. https://dgit.in/oct18-39-1
Facebook smart home device
Facebook is likely to launch its own video chat device 'Portal' next week. https://dgit.in/oct18-39-2
Oppo Realme 2 64GB Value for money, well designed
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REVIEWS
The quality is more or less the same as the Realme 1. The colours aren’t super saturated and there are good details in the shadows. Indoors, the camera also consistently delivers clean images. The source of light does get a little overexposed, but the colours are fairly accurate. Details are also reproduced quite well for the price it’s offered in. Under low light though, the camera struggles a lot. The low-light images don’t have many details in the shadow regions and there’s significant Price 0 noise throughout the image. 10,99 The portrait mode isn’t as good as what Xiaomi phones offer though. The edges are inconsistently blurred and the resulting effect looks artificial and photoshopped.
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n its second attempt at making a budget smartphone, Realme has toned down the expectations a bit and delivers an experience that is at par with other budget devices in that price segment. Armed with dual rear camera and a fingerprint sensor, the Realme 2 does come across as a more wholesome proposition than the first one, but is that all there is to it?
tech
Design
The glass-based diamond-cut back panel is now offered in other colours as well. Additionally, there’s now a fingerprint sensor at the back. The Realme 2 has almost the same dimensions as the Performance and Realme 1, only that it’s a software FEATURE.......................76 little thicker because of the If you compare the Realme PERFORMANCE...........74 larger battery. The camera 2 with its predecessor, the VALUE............................96 unit and the fingerprint phone will seem underDESIGN..........................76 sensor are lined with powered. The Snapdragon silver accents, making 450’s performance is akin it one of the more premium looking to that of the older Snapdragon 625. devices in that price range. Because of In real-world usage, the phone felt the notch, the screen now takes up 88.8 reliable enough. There weren’t any per cent of the body. The notch itself noticeable lags in operating the phone. is fairly wide and houses the front Apps did take around 3-4 seconds to camera, proximity sensor and the earlaunch while games like PUBG Mobile piece. The back still retains smudges took even longer. This isn’t a gamer’s and fingerprints and will crack if phone of choice though. PUBG Mobile dropped from a considerable height, runs on the lowest settings and there for example, from ear-height. Realme are noticeable frame drops and lags. does provide a TPU case in the box for However, casual games like Subway added protection. Up front is also an Surfer and Angry Birds run just fine. unspecified version of Corning Gorilla The software also uses machine learnGlass. The Realme 2, as a result, stands ing to optimise power management. out for its premium design, in the Apps also get frozen after being idle budget segment. which sometimes breaks apps like Facebook Messenger.
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Display
The display itself is quite bright and vibrant. Realme 2's display has HD+ resolution. Combined with the lower pixels per inch, that makes content look a little washed out, but it's acceptable if you're watching a 720p video.
Camera The camera relies on Oppo’s AI Beautification algorithms to enhance images, and the results are more or less good for the price the phone is offered at. In daylight, you get good clear shots.
Battery
The Realme 2 touts a massive 4,230mAh battery. By the end of the day, we had around 30 per cent charge remaining. Although, if you like to play heavy titles like PUBG Mobile, the battery will drain even quicker. The phone also doesn’t come with a fast charger, so it takes a long time to top up the battery.
Bottomline
The Realme 2 is a handy phone for someone who isn’t a power user and looks for a device that looks good and offers a lot of features to explore. The company is promising good after-sales service by tying up with Flipkart. There is also the Realme 2 Pro right around the corner, so you might want to wait and see what comes with that. Overall, the Realme 2 shows promise, but in a competitive market like the budget segment, where every piece of hardware matters, it might just lose itself in the crowd. –Subhrojit Mallick
SPECIFICATIONS
DISPLAY: 15.8cm (6.2”) Corning Third Generation Glass, 19:9 | RESOLUTION: HD+ 1520 by 720 pixels | BATTERY: 4230mAh | REAR DUAL CAMERA: 13MP+2MP | AI FRONT CAMERA: 8MP |PROCESSOR: Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 | MEMORY: 3GB+32GB / 4GB+64GB, expandable up to 256GB
CONTACT
REALME | EMAIL: service@realme.com | PHONE: 1800-102-2777 | WEBSITE: realme.com/in
www.digit.in | October 2018 | Digit | 39
tech AGENT001
Windows stores written text
Training employees in VR
Windows secretly stores your written text via the Handwriting Recognition tool which takes stylus or touchscreen inputs. https://dgit.in/oct18-46-1
Walmart to use Oculus Go headsets to train its employees and give them instructions with simulation. https://dgit.in/oct18-46-2
A reminder about pre-ordering
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Agent001 | agent001@digit.in
h boy! NVIDIA’s new Turing RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti cards are … not what they were all made up to be. There’s something amiss about a presentation when benchmark numbers are not showcased. Then again, most launches don’t showcase benchmarks until the day of announcement so that when it does happen, the impact is maximised. Every major tech company does it. So, when NVIDIA was pulling the same old PR trick, no one felt that things were out of order. However, on the day of the announcement, the most expected element i.e. the benchmarks for the new graphics cards were missing. There was a ridiculously ambiguous excuse of a chart which indicated that the performance gap between Pascal and Turing based cards would be the same as the gap between the Maxwell and Pascal cards. So a 50 percent improvement in performance was expected, that too after two years. On top of that, consumers would be getting RTX (Real Time Ray-Tracing) and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) which are touted to be massive improvements in the graphics business. However, when the date of the launch date was close, another thing was missing from the scene. The review samples! Even North American
reviewers did not get their samples up until two days prior to launch. What usually arrives 1-2 weeks ahead of launch came 1-2 days prior to launch. As a result, reviewers were not even able to test the cards properly but whatever they could test, was enough to showcase that the new cards did not match up with expectations. The RTX 2080 turned out to be practically the same as the GTX 1080 Ti and the RTX 2080 Ti only had a 30% lead in most
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Agent001 takes a look at the new NVIDIA cards, and he isn’t exactly overjoyed.
46 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
“But... but Agent001! What about RTX and DLSS? Why are you discounting these features?” Frankly my dear gaming enthusiast, they’re non-existent. None of the games out in the wild right now have implemented RTX and none have implemented DLSS. In theory, these are groundbreaking technologies in the world of graphics. RTX is basically an ancient tech that’s been optimised to run in real-time and DLSS is going
Not up to expectations
benchmarks over the GTX 1080 Ti. So two years down the line and a completely new architecture later, we have in our hands one of the most underwhelming cards that I have ever seen. We know that Volta was awesome and if these RTX cards were made using Volta without all the fancy RTX and DLSS technologies, then we’d be looking at a pretty great gaming graphics card. Instead, we have in our hands a novelty token.
to do the same with anti-aliasing. Both technologies, in their current form are extremely intensive and with NVIDIA’s spin on them, they are promised to make graphics appear super awesome and almost life-like. We’ve all seen the RTX Star Wars tech-demo. Having a graphics card capable of running that in your PC is a big deal. But where are the RTX games? And why on earth is DLSS not available. The former, I can understand. It’s a
Designed by: Anil VK
SA cover story M PL E INDEX: 52 BLOCKCHAIN IN GOVERNANCE | 54 THE FUTURE OF NFTS || 56 BLOCKCHAIN STARTUPS | 58 BAD BLOCKCHAIN | 60 BRINGING THE GOODS www.digit.in | October 2018 | Digit | 51
cover story
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process of conducting clinical trials with new drugs. The system can be scaled and customised to cater to the required needs so that it can accommodate various diseases and conditions. Their system will take care of the complete process right from planning to implementation and even monitoring the finances. Using blockchain to handle the process improves the data accuracy, integrity and security of the system. Smart contracts can be further implemented in the system so that it becomes easier to implement automated deals when the drugs are deployed further from the trials.
DIRO
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Identity verification has been known to be a popular application of blockchain technology. KYC verification is implemented to verify your identity for banks and legal documents. The usual process is to physically handover the documents or by uploading an electronically signed copy of the same documents. However, these methods are vulnerable to instances of false identities and identity thefts that can cause serious damage to the individual. Currently, your identity is scattered all over and there’s no unified way to confirm whether it’s you at all these places. Diro is trying to use blockchain technology to develop a decentralised identity and access platform. It will enable users to be easily verifiable and instantly enable KYC formalities. The system relies on a crowdsourced directory since shared contacts are a more trusted source for real identities. Eventually, this will form a verified profile that can be accessed by anyone to verify your identity. If this works out, you wouldn’t have to manually go through the entire process of KYC before joining or subscribing to various services. Your identity will be accessible and verifiable via blockchain.
Abhijit Dey | abhijit@digit.in
The pharmaceutical industry has a layered system of logistics that primarily covers drug manufacturing and supply. They also deal with clinical trials of the drugs at different levels ranging from animal to human testing to ensure their quality and effectiveness. While blockchain technology is already being explored for the supply chain segment by several companies and startups, clinical trial management is also something that can immensely take advantage of this technology. Bloqcube is exploring this opportunity to streamline the
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hile several startups were heavily focused on cryptocurrency for the last few years, especially when the exchange rates skyrocketed, there were only a few who were building applications of its underlying technology – blockchain. Now that the government burst the crypto bubble, startups which were using this technology for different applications are surfacing, along with new ones also making an entrance. We had the opportunity to attend the International Blockchain Congress 2018 held at Hyderabad that claimed to be Asia’s largest blockchain event. Out of the numerous blockchain startups from various sectors attending, here are our favourites.
BLOQCUBE
56 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
WHAT’S NEW
Leaked photos from Joker
INSIDE
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GEEK CULTURE IS OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND ENCOMPASSES MOVIES, GAMES, COMICS, AND TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
expressions, especially that smile, even without Joker’s makeup, we are definitely excited to see more from the movie. Another set of leaks gave us a glimpse of Phoenix in a scene based at a subway station, in what looks like a Joker attire before his final transformation. Following the leaks, director Todd Phillips himself posted the first look of the actor with Joker’s name revealed to be Arthur Fleck. Joker is expected to release on 8 October, 2019. https://dgit.in/JksJP
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odd Phillips’ Joker picked up quite some pace with the casting while people waited for a first look of the characters. The movie is going to explore the origin of the Clown Prince of Gotham, showing his life before he turned into the Joker. With Joaquin Phoenix cast to don the main role, fans are quite excited. Recently, photos as well as a video leaked out from the sets that showed Joaquin and another actor talking on the street. Looking at how Joaquin passes off creepy
Marvel Studios releases Captain Marvel trailer
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fter Entertainment Weekly revealed exclusive photos from Captain Marvel, it was imminent that a trailer was soon going to drop. The photos gave us a glimpse of how Brie Larson’s costume was going to look like. It also showed the Skrulls for the first time, bringing back Ronan The Accuser from the first Guardians movie. Marvel pushed the trailer after a week and we got to see more of Carol Danvers suiting up to become
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THIS MONTH IN CULT: Do you think you know your science fiction? Try our handy guide to the various sci-fi sub-genres in Know Your Punk, before moving on to see BooMan rant about smartwatches. Talking about rants, there’s another one on how Google Amp is unfair. In 1000 words, see how tech led to some of the most startling revelations in pictures.
Cryptic photo from Russos
Infinity War directors, the Russo Brothers have posted a cryptic photo and asked fans to “Look hard”. By looking closely, there are many objects that resemble the letter “A”. Is this a title reveal for Avengers 4? https://dgit.in/RussosA4
Live-action Avatar
Original creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, are developing a live-action series for Netflix. While some fans are looking forward to this, there’s also quite a lot of apprehension regarding this. https://dgit.in/ATLANtflx
62 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
Captain Marvel. We get to see more of the Skrulls and Spaceforce with Jude Law playing Mar-Vell’s character. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had already revealed that the movie was going to
Space Jam reboot
It’s been years since talks of a Space Jam sequel are on and it’s finally happening. Lebron James will be taking the lead with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler joining as producer. The movie won’t be a sequel and will reboot the story instead. https://dgit.in/RyanCSJ2
be based in the 90s. The trailer also shows a young Nick Fury with both his eyes intact and there’s Agent Phil Coulson as well. We already know that Captain Marvel is going to be the strongest character in the MCU, who is capable of bringing down Moons. It will be interesting to witness exactly how powerful she is and how her powers work out in the movie. Captain Marvel comes to theaters on 8 March, 2019. https://dgit.in/CapMarTrlr
Disney exclusive series
As Disney prepares to launch its streaming service next year, the company is already planning a few limited series based on MCU characters including Loki, Scarlet Witch and other superheroes, retaining the original actors. https://dgit.in/LokiSWDsny
culture
Loki and Scarlet Witch series
T-Series vs PewDiePie
Loki and Scarlet Witch to get their own TV shows on Disney’s streaming service. https://dgit.in/oct18-64-1
FEATURE
The music production company is reaching dangerously close to PewDiePie’s YouTube subscriber count. https://dgit.in/oct18-64-2
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KNOW YOUR PUNK BIOPUNK
CYBERPUNK
Stains & Dirt as an aesthetic
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AI constructs & cybernetics
DIESELPUNK
Virus Outbreaks
Mega Corporations
Genetic Mutations
Biological Horror
Bizarre Machines
Diesel based locomotion
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Set in the future
Cyberpunk is considered the origin of all the punk genres. Typically, cyberpunk movies, games and novels are set in a dystopian future. There is plenty of hacking going on, which includes brain machine interfaces of various kinds. A common element is advanced AI constructs and robots that cannot be easily distinguished from real humans.
64 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
Biopunk realises the worst fears over biotechnology and genetic engineering gone rogue. There is usually a virus pandemic of some sort. One of the big questions that biopunk seeks to ask is when does the man end and the monster begin, exploring what it means to be human in the process. The human body is usually transformed or mutated in horrible ways.
Dieselpunk likes to get down and dirty, with over the top machines and eccentric gizmos. Dieselpunk fiction tends to be set on vast canvases, with huge flying airships, or even cities, and massive ocean liners. The word was coined by Lewis Pollak to describe his game, “Children of the Sun” in 2001, and has since then been adopted for other works of fiction.
WHAT’S NEW
Scientists find the earliest known animal
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THIS MONTH IN SCIENCE:
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From solving the ocean’s garbage problem to putting entire labs on a chip, science has a lot to enthrall you this month. Gear up as India plans its first manned space mission before you find out where the CRISPR vs autism debate stands.
confirms that Dickinsonia is the oldest known animal. Normally, scientists study only the structure of the fossils, and do not look for any molecular traces. However, this team of scientists had the crazy idea of looking for molecules, considering how well preserved the fossil was. https://dgit.in/eanim
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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!
cientists had found the fossils of an ancient creature 1.4 meters in length, called the Dickinsonia. However, they did not know what kind of an organism it was, a giant unicellular organism, a colony of simpler organisms, lichen, or the earliest known animal ancestor. For over 75 years, researchers did not know the true nature of this creature. A team of scientists studying a well preserved fossil from a remote area in the White Sea found molecules of cholesterol still in the fossil. The fat is a sign of animal life, which finally solved the long standing mystery. The discovery pushes back the current understanding of when animal life became common on Earth, and shows that large animals were prolific even 558 million years ago. The discovery of the fat molecules now
The international neutrino experiment prototype
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he International Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) has kicked off with the discovery of particle traces in the world’s largest liquid argon neutrino detector. The prototype detector is a three storey high cube called the ProtoDUNE, and has been built at CERN. The detector is filled with 800 tons of liquid argon, which keeps the temperatures below -184°C. The detector can be used to track
particles from both cosmic rays and neutrino beams produced by accelerators. The ProtoDUNE is the first of two tests, with the final larger detector, to be built in the USA. The final
DUNE detector will be built on the same lines as ProtoDUNE. The neutrino detector will be used to probe some of the most pressing problems in science, including why matter is much more common than antimatter, and more. The final DUNE detector will study the most intense neutrino beam in the world, and will be located 1,300 kilometers from the source. https://dgit.in/dunexp
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Circuits for living cells developed
Researchers from Caltech have developed a toolkit of proteins that can be assembled together like Lego bricks for various purposes. One of the proof of concept implementations was a circuit that was added to human cells to detect cancer. If cancer was detected in the cells, then the circuit would cause the cancerous cells to self destruct. https://dgit.in/cellcircuit
The Sahara can power the planet
Massive solar and wind power farms in the Sahara desert, built using existing tech can generate about 21 terawatt hours of electricity, enough to power the entire world. Additionally, such farms would increase rainfall and stop the desert from growing any further. https://dgit.in/saharafarm
Toddlers can weigh risks
New research has shown that even toddlers perform cost-benefit analyses, similar to how adults consider risks and rewards before taking an action. When asked to move blocks and hand it over, the toddlers would follow the request based on block weight. https://dgit.in/babyblocks
“Ghost Galaxies” discovered
A census of over 11,000 galaxies has detected a population of galaxies that have previously been considered to be unobservable. These ghost galaxies simply do not emit enough light to be detected using conventional methods of astronomy. https://dgit.in/ghostgalaxy
www.digit.in | October 2018 | Digit | 69
sci
Hardest known substance
Super-Earth found
Researchers calculated the strength of Nuclear Pasta found deep inside the crust of Neutron stars using simulations. https://dgit.in/oct18-74-1
SPACE AGE
The NASA’s new planet hunter found an evaporating Super-Earth orbiting Pi Mensae 60 light-years from Earth. https://dgit.in/oct18-74-2
THE PREPARATION
ogy of the entire country. Every one of the Indians can be proud that India is on par with the other developed countries.” With the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO hopes to make India the fourth country in the world to realise manned spaceflight. The other countries with a manned space program so far are Russia, the United States of America and China. Technically, India has already been part of a manned spaceflight mission. On Monday, 2 April, 1984, Rakesh Sharma, a pilot of the Indian Air Force, flew on board the Soyuz T-11 launch vehicle to the Soyuz T-11 space station. There have been three flights that have been significant steps towards the preparation of Gaganyaan, even before the mission was officially greenlit and named. The first was the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, which demonstrated ISRO’s capability of sending a orbital platform to space, controlling it, and recovering it. The module was successfully recovered after spending 10 days in space, in January 2007. The learnings from this experiment was applied at another mission, with an upgraded crew module. The Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE) mission blasted off in December 2014. The CARE module separated from the rocket 330 seconds after lift off, and began a guided descent into the atmosphere, successfully returning to the Andaman Sea in the Bay of Bengal. In July 2018, ISRO qualified its Crew Escape System. In case something goes wrong during the launch of the manned mission, and the spaceflight has to be aborted, the crew escape system ensures that the crew module separates from the rocket, deploys the parachutes, and returns the personnel safely back to the Earth. The test was successfully conducted in under 259 seconds.
Considering the deadline for the mission, Sivan said it was a “very very tight schedule.” He went on to explain, “This program is really going to enhance the science and technol-
The launch vehicle for the first manned spaceflight is expected to be the Geosynchronous Satellite
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GAGANYAAN
India’s first human mission to space has been greenlit, and the preparations are on in full swing to unfurl the Indian flag in space before the country turns 75. Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in
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he Indian space program was a big part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on 15 August 2018. The IRNSS navigation constellation, the Mangalyaan mission and the reliable satellite launches were all celebrated over the course of his speech. Then, the Prime Minister went on to make a blockbuster announcement. The address was given in Hindi, but the English rendering is, “we have resolved that by 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of Independence or maybe even before that, certainly some of our young boys and girls will unfurl the Tricolour in space. With Mangalyaan our scientists have proved their capabilities. I feel proud to
announce that very soon as a part of our Manned-Space mission, we shall be sending an Indian into space.” On 28 August, in a press conference about issues related to the Department of Space, ISRO chairman Dr K Sivan provided more details about the ambitious mission, including the name of the mission, “Gaganyaan”. Dr Sivan made it a point to note that as far as ISRO was concerned, that this was a “human mission”, and the crew could consist of either men or women. Just a few days later, at the 6th Bengaluru Space Expo, the star attraction of the show was a crew module and an indigenously developed “flightsuit” for the astronauts.
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Credit: ISRO
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The Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment
74 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
THE SPACEFLIGHT
WHAT’S NEW
Did volcanic eruptions kill off the dinosaurs?
over a period of 60,000 years led to a “tipping point”. The extinction is also gradual, and spread out over hundreds of thousands of years, with shrinking populations. https://dgit.in/dinogone
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ALT this month:
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THIS IS TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND SCIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE, AND THAT DIFFERENCE IS USUALLY ENOUGH TO MAKE MOST NORMAL PEOPLE GO “WTF?”
ne of the most hotly debated topics in science is what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The most accepted theory at the moment is that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by a 15 kilometre wide asteroid striking the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico with a force of ten billion atomic bombs. However, not all scientists agree with this explanation, which they say is too convenient, and cannot really explain the scale of the global extinction event. Instead, the alternative theory is that the extinction was actually caused by a series of massive volcanic eruptions in India. According to the theory, massive eruptions
How would detectives approach a murder on Mars?
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hen humans start colonising Mars, there will be a gradual build up of various facilities - propellant plants, launch complexes, mining facilities, greenhouses, habitats, communal areas and so on. With the build up of population and infrastructure, you can practically expect an increase in the number of crimes - including theft, sabotage and murder. The police and detectives on Mars have a lot of
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Ever wondered what happens in the span of a minute on the internet? Wonder no more, just head to the Infoporn section. And if the internet was not toxic enough, head to Geek-Key to learn about the most poisonous substances on our planet. Finally, take a break from the madness with our DGT section.
experience on Earth, but their approaches will have to factor in various minutiae of life on Mars. For example, since the atmosphere is hostile to humans, a murder can easily be disguised as equipment malfunction or
spacesuit integrity failure. The forensics and the disintegration of bodies in the alien atmosphere will also be different, similar to the coldest areas on Earth. Then there is the remoteness of the potential crime scenes, when humans are just starting to populate the planet. It would be trivially easy to dispose off a body on such a vast planet, where they would not decompose practically forever. https://dgit.in/2NvNg5K
The giant crawling brain Most studies into termites have centered around how to eradicate them, but some surprising new insights are exploring their usefulness. Instead of thinking of termite colonies as a hierarchy with queens, soldiers and workers, scientists are now thinking of them as parts of a single large brain. https://dgit.in/tbrain
Humans are destroying animal knowledge Like humans, animals also transfer knowledge from one generation to the next. This includes information on where food can be found, or migration routes. Thanks to shrinking populations, the individuals who can transfer this knowledge are disappearing off the Earth. https://dgit.in/animkno
Two temperatures at once?
Famous thought experiment Schrödinger’s cat implied that a cat in a box could be both dead and alive at the same time. Physicists at the University of Exeter in England have found that a state of limbo similar to the famous thought experiment may exist for temperatures. In this limbo state, objects at the quantum level could be two temperatures at the same time. https://dgit.in/dnd4eva
Is it the beginning of the end for Facebook? Facebook has been messing up a lot in the recent past. It has been used to interfere with elections, to spread weaponized disinformation, and incite violence against immigrants. The reaction? Users are spending increasingly less time on the social media platform. https://dgit.in/facend
www.digit.in | October 2018 | Digit | 79
alt
I N A R VAZI SHUL
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t, but that in no rs fi s k o lo s se ti ri o ri design p The Vazirani Shul’s in performace ck la l il w it s n a e m way
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t’s not an everyday business to build hypercars. Even the global giants renowned for it - Koenigsegg, Pagani, Aston Martin, McLaren and the gang spend massive amounts of money, ingenuity and manpower to build super-exclusive and extremely fast cars. The difficulties are many with R&D costs and engineering expertise being at the top. Still, if the early signs are anything to go by, homegrown newcomer Vazirani Automotive’s first hypercar concept, the Vazirani Shul, is quite an impressive start.
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INDIA’S FIRSTTIOUS UBER-AMBI HYPERCAR
WHAT IS IT?
concept car is its jet turbine-powered electric powertrain, which attempts to address the issue of heavy battery packs being deployed presently in allelectric supercars. This turbine is placed in a carbon fibre suit for heat dissipation and latency purposes, and is essentially an onboard generator. When in motion, this generator helps recharge batteries faster when on the go. It is this factor that Vazirani hopes will help the car reduce charging times required, and with the prospect of on-the-go charge regeneration, should not only maximise total range, but also
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The Vazirani Shul was born out of one man’s ambition to put India in the map of hypercars, and raise the standards of homegrown industries. The key to the
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Souvik Das | feed
82 | Digit | October 2018 | www.digit.in
provide more and uniform power to the electric motors that power the wheels. This turbine is placed in the same format as a mid-engine sports car, and the overall car is heavily inspired from the present crop of extreme supercars like the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918. The concept design of the Vazirani Shul is how the company wants the eventual production form of the car to look like. Additionally, special emphasis has been put on the romance of owning special breeds of cars, and as a result, the design is a tribute to legendary hypercars like the Jaguar F-Type. Further technical details are in the shadows as of now, but if it does make it to produc-
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