Tizen Developer Summit 2015 in Bangalore

The Tizen Developer Summit is a regional, technical conference for Tizen developers, App developers, ISVs, Platform designers, Operators, OEMs, Hardware vendors, Software vendors, Open source enthusiasts, and anyone engaged in Tizen. This is the first time a major Tizen event is happening in India. The detailed schedule of the summit is available here: http://tizendevsummit.com/schedule.html

The Tizen operating system comes in multiple profiles to serve different industry requirements. The current Tizen profiles are Tizen IVI (in-vehicle infotainment), Tizen Mobile, Tizen TV, and Tizen Wearable. In addition to that, as of Tizen 3.0, all profiles are built on top of a common, shared infrastructure called Tizen Common.

For application developers and ISVs, Tizen offers the power of native application development with the flexibility of unparalleled HTML5 support. Tizen also offers the potential for application developers to extend their reach to new “smart devices” running Tizen, including wearables, consumer electronics (TVs, gaming consoles, DVRs, etc.), cars and appliances.

Tizen Developer Summit 2015 is happening in The Ritz-Carlton which is one of the newest 5 Star hotels in Bangalore on July 30th and 31st. Do check out and register for the same. Register for the conference here – http://tizendevsummit.com/registration.html

PYPL - Second Innings

PYPL being listed for the second time on NASDAQ

Seldom is the case that you open an account twice for the same purpose and that too at NASDAQ. But PayPal is different in this case too. Paypal has been listed now on NASDAQ two times in as many decades. The first time was in 2002 and the latter was just yesterday. The celebrations were full throttle in its global offices including offices Bangalore and Chennai.Paypal has 1300 employees in India offices alone which is 10% of their entire workforce. People from all offices witnessed the listing with the tradition that been carried from a long time at NASDAQ, ringing the bell.

After riding along with eBay for more than a decade, Paypal got listed on NASDAQ Jul 20 2015. The numbers were impressive on its second opening at NASDAQ, Paypal is valued at over $50 Billion, higher than its former parent company eBay.

Collage from Chennai Paypal Office

PayPal is well-positioned to deliver the benefits of digital money to people around the world.  In 2014, PayPal processed $235 billion in total payment volume and generated more than $8 billion in revenues. Also last year, PayPal processed $46 billion in mobile payment volume.  The company serves more than 169 million active customer accounts in 203 markets around the world.

Paypal India senior leadership team raising a toast

“As the world’s open, digital payments platform and most trusted and popular digital wallet, we are excited to celebrate our listing day and embark on our next chapter,” said Dan Schulman, President and Chief Executive Officer of PayPal. “Mobile technology is transforming payments, making it easier, safer and more affordable for people to move and manage their money than ever before. As an independent company, we see a tremendous opportunity for PayPal to expand our role as a champion for consumers and partner to merchants, and to help shape the industry as money becomes digital at an increasingly rapid pace.”

Schulman continued: “We are focused on leveraging our strengths to drive long-term growth for our company and shareholders. PayPal is unique. We have a singular focus on digital payments, deep commitment to customer service, a drive for innovation and a technology agnostic platform that creates value for our consumers and merchants online, in apps, and increasingly in stores.”

The moment of joy for Paypal - PYPL

We got a chance to interact with Dhruv Sawhney: General Manager – Bangalore Technology, PayPal India. And on a question of how Paypal is driving the technological ecosystem, he said the following. "As one of the world’s largest start-ups, PayPal is committed to the development of a technology ecosystem. We have technology expertise and want to share that with the community. We actively partner and provide technology mentorship to startups, developers, universities and local communities to share, enable and drive innovation."

Paypal India is a great place to work at. 

• Diversity: The workforce at Paypal is as diverse as its customer base. Paypal has reduced the gender gap and gets its women technologists to the forefront.
• Maternity support: Paypal realised that they tend to lose a significant number of women in the workforce once they get pregnant and have children. Paypal ensures that women feel encouraged and support them during the time with following benefits:

1. Flexible work arrangements
2. Cab rides for women in their third trimester to and fro the office 
3. Top Gynaecologist in-house to see to mothers’/ women’s needs. 

• Happiness Fun culture to inculcate innovation:

1. Spice Club
2. Afternoon socials
3. Buses
4. Diet Kitchen & gyms

About PayPal

Paypal puts people at the center of everything we do. Founded in 1998, they continue to be at the forefront of the digital payments revolution, last year they processed 4 billion payments, of which 1 billion were made on mobile devices. PayPal gives people better ways to connect to their money and to each other, helping them safely access and move their money and offering a choice of how they would like to pay or be paid. With their 169 million active customer accounts, they have created an open and secure payments ecosystem that people and businesses choose to securely transact with each other online, in stores and on mobile devices. PayPal is a truly global payments platform that is available to people in 203 markets, allowing customers to get paid in more than 100 currencies, withdraw funds to their bank accounts in 57 currencies and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 26 currencies. For more information on PayPal, visit about.paypal-corp.com. For PYPL financial information visit investor.paypal-corp.com.

Packt celebrates International Day Against DRM, May 6th 2015

Packt Publishing firmly believes that you should be able to read and interact with your content when you want, where you want, and how you want – to that end they have been advocates of DRM-free content since their very first eBook was published back in 2004.

This year, to demonstrate their continuing support for Day Against DRM, Packt is offering all its DRM-free content at $10 for 24 hours only on May 6th – with more than 3000 eBooks and 100 Videos available across the publisher’s website www.packtpub.com,there’s plenty to discover, whatever you’re interested in.

“Our top priority at Packt has always been to meet the evolving needs of developers in the most practical way possible, while at the same time protecting the hard work of our authors. DRM-free content continues to be instrumental in making that happen, providing the flexibility and freedom that is essential for an efficient and enhanced learning experience. That’s why we’ve been DRM-free from the beginning – we’ll never put limits on the innovation of our users.”
– Dave Maclean, CEO

Advocates of Day Against DRM are invited to spread the word and celebrate on May 6th by exploring the full range of DRM-free content at www.packtpub.com - all eBooks and Videos will be $10 for 24 hours, including the latest hot titles.

Head over to the following link to avail the offer: http://bit.ly/1AEkYV7

As wisely said, "The greatest wealth one can amass is knowledge".

Mission A7000, Coming Soon to A Theatre Near You

So, I was lucky enough to attend a special private screening for the new #MissionA7000 movie. At first the movie starts with a slow pace. Its a cool new concept and set in a city of old times, but with the new age threats. You will easily recognise the city with Hagia Sophia as the backdrop, yes you guessed it right. Istanbul it is. 

The story starts with a millionaire names Louis Santiago from Silicon Valley, meeting a young French lady in the city. He has been keeping his life under wraps, as people getting to know about his White-hat ethical hacking capabilities can lead him into troubled waters. She invites him to her hotel, and the charm and beauty of this young French lady is irresistible for Louis to say no. They are walking back to her hotel and Louis is sensing trouble as they are passing thru a dark valley. In an instant, his fears turn true and he gets abducted in a city far from home and the lady betrays him. He is unaware of what is going on, and is taken to an old old warehouse where the security is electronically controlled and almost fool proof.

He gets his hands on an abandoned electronic gadget, which has an incredible potential to help him out. He studies and understands the gadget and comes across its unimaginable features, which can decide his fate; to be free or end up being caged. He takes advantage of the Dolby Atoms feature and sounds an alarm making the guards posted outside his enclosure run helter-skelter. With no one around, it’s now time for the 64-bit Octa Core processor pull some tricks out of it’s sleeves.

Louis, being an extremely capable hacker, makes the best use of the 64 bit Octa-Core processor and is able to crack thru the security systems. The gates fling open, he is now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. But there’s another unseen problem waiting to pounce on him. Yes, literally unseen as he is only able to hear the Dog barks.

To know, what happens next, head over to this link and grab the Preview invites. I am sure you will enjoy the nail-biting thriller, with what could be the thriller of the year.

Invites here: http://www.missiona7000.com/

An Evening dedicated to style,refinement and the spirit of individual expression - Blenders Pride Reserve Collection

Rahul Bose interacting with the audience

Away from the stereotypical definition of style, Blenders Pride Reserve Collection curated an evening amalgamating style with substance. A voice which has etched out a niche for himself in Bollywood, Rahul Bose mesmerised the audience with his unconventional idea of style that is born out of conviction. Sustaining the euphoria and the mood for the evening, Karakura Ensemble strung together a symphony paying ode to style which permeates the soul of the city.

Blenders Pride Reserve Collection crafted an evening exclusively for the palate with a desire for the exquisite. Beyond glitz and glamour, the evening was infused with substance and unique self-expression for a definition of style that represents sophistication and hand-crafted details that only a connoisseur can bring to his craft. The evening set in motion as the multi-faceted actor Rahul Bose took center-stage as the style blender for Bengaluru and eloquently moved the audience with his avant-garde insights on style and self-expression. In tandem,musical notes by Karakura Ensemble consumed the audience in a rare experience of class.

Nikhil Agarwal 

Rahul Bose, a personality with multiple facets, elaborated on his expression of style saying, "Style is a unique identity that reflects the persona of one’s inner self which goes beyond the visible and Blenders Pride Reserve Collection brings this to the fore completely. My style is the relationship that I have with myself which outlines my personality. In my career path, I have divulged into diametrically opposite professions and discovered myself in the process. My voyage from a sportsperson to a man in-front of and behind-the camera and then starting my own non-profit foundation, defines me - I choose to call it my personal style. I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of Blenders Pride Reserve Collection, where I can redefine the stereotypical notion attached with style and go beyond the usual"

Mr. Raja Banerji, Assistant Vice President at PernodRicard India said, “Through Blenders Pride Reserve Collection the brand endeavors to celebrate style by creating an ecosystem where style is about a unique expression of an individual.”

The evening was a perfect blend of Style and Music, with Karakura Ensemble enthralling the audience with some sweet folk songs and musical mix.

Vasu Dixit immersed us all in some awesome music.

Karakura Ensemble combines soaring folk vocals with the beat of the world percussion creating a pacy rhythm which forms the vibe of the band. Check out the schedule for Blender's Pride next tours and cities.

DATE	CITY	MUSIC (STYLE BEATS)	SPEAKER (STYLE SPEAK)
12th March	Gurgaon	Hamza and Latif	Vishal Bhardwaj
20th March	Kolkata	Fiddlers	ParambrataChattopadhyay
28th March	Bengaluru	Karakura Ensemble	Rahul Bose
3rd April	Hyderabad	Fiddlers	Rahul Bose
11th April	Mumbai	Geeta Unplugged feat. Muxka Jar and Vency the Percussionist	Vishal Bhardwaj

It was truly a night to remember and if you enjoy some fine and smooth whiskey, you must try out the Blenders Pride Reserve Collection.

Unconditional Love - To me, from ....

This is the month of Love and what better than loving yourself. Asus ZenPhone has some coolest and lovely offers for the month of Valentine.

Watch this beautiful video and head to www.flipkart.com/asus and make the most of the campaign.

So what are you waiting for ? Pamper yourself in the season of love. #UnconditionalLove
Thanks to Asus and Flipkart.

Ride Along with MRF - An App for fans this World Cup

Most of us remember this. We all used to buy MRF labeled bats during our childhood because Sachin used an MRF bat those days. In this new digital age, it is seldom that we see people getting together and enjoying cricket matches unlike the good old days when people used to group together and cheer every run scored and every wicket that fell in the opposition team. Those were the times we used to discuss and argue over the shots played, left or how better the player could have reacted to the situation in game.

The beautiful welcome screen.

Now, MRF has brought an app which does the job of getting fans together right from their smart phones. There are various ways to interact with the fans and make some noise for the team you are supporting. I downloaded the app from Play Store and was impressed with the UI. It is kept simple but informative enough to help the user navigate within the app. You can connect and login with  either Facebook or Google plus and start using it right away.

The menu bar gives you 5 options, namely Witness Live, Schedule, How to Ride, Prizes and T&C. A feature I liked is it gives you the option to Set reminders for your favourite teams. The bottom pane has 3 tabs, Ride Along Live, Your Scorecard and Cards Gallery. 

Point scoring

You score points in various ways. Cheer for your team, wave the flag, pray for a century and clap when your team takes a wicket. The ways are numerous and the fun is unlimited. The Gallery has some very good interactions. Mainly polls, quiz and meme caught my attention.

Some of the conditions are here. Also, I liked the new concept of getting together with your team fans and cheering and enjoying the crunch moments of the match. The India Pakistan match is sure to make a lot of noise on this app too. You can download the app for Android and iOS from their respective markets. I am posting the links for you here. Have fun and enjoy the World Cup. Hope team India makes us all proud once again!

Links for Android and iOS devices. Do tell me about your experiences with the "Ride Along with MRF" app.