Category: Lookit!

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Tech

Saving time and lives of harried Mumbaikars

Traffline app upgrades to allow two wonderful new features – one helps report accidents, the other gets help in time.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A lot of Mumbaikars are already using the Traffline app – and why wouldn’t they? In a city increasingly facing traffic snarls and spending more than half of its travel time on the road, the app comes in handy when wishing to know which routes to avoid and which ones to take to reach their destination faster.

The app has now added two new features – and both will help Mumbaikars in crucial ways.

traffline logoSpeaking to The Metrognome, Brijraj Vaghani, Director of Birds Eye Systems that runs Traffline, says “We introduced two new upgrades to the app recently. These will introduce a ‘humanitarian touch’ to the app. One deals with road accident alerts and the other helps people in distress.”

As far as the ‘accident alert’ feature goes, it works like this: if a user witnesses an accident or is in the vicinity of an accident, he or she can immediately tag their location. “This information immediately forwarded to the concerned local police station and shared with fellow Traffline users who might be on the same route. Thus, others will be alerted on taking an alternative route, while it will become possible for rescue units to reach the spot faster,” Brijraj explains.

The other feature has been designed keeping in mind women’s safety in Mumbai. “While there are many apps that help women in distress alert their near and dear ones about their location, we go a step further. We have added a feature which will give the recipient an estimated travel time to the location, taking into account possible traffic delays. We also give a choice of alternate routes and estimated travel times to reach the location as fast as possible,” he says.

Additionally, Traffline is offering traffic information through SMS and email, such that users gets live traffic updates every day for a certain route. Users can also get a unique number ot call and learn about surrounding traffic condition. There is also a feature that indicates available parking space in the area where you wish to park your vehicle. The app is available on iOS and Android. 

If you’ve used the app, tell us what you think of it in the comments section below.

(Pictures courtesy www.socialsamosa.com)

Categories
Event

Colaba, Mulund schools make a mark at rugby c’ship

The recently concluded 8th Mumbai Schools Touch Rugby Tournament 2014 saw a great turnout and huge participation from city schools.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Like every year, the Mumbai Schools Touch Rugby Tournament was held in Mumbai, at Bombay Gymkhana grounds. And like every year, interest and participation in the event continued to swell.

The 8th edition of the tournament was held on January 29, 2014 with over 65 teams and over 500 students (both boys and girls) from across Mumbai (city and suburbs) participated. Participants compete in three categories – Under 12, Under 14 and Under 17.

Touch Rugby, the non-contact format of the sport, is a fast paced game that promotes fitness, teamwork, discipline and skills and is used universally to foster camaraderie. On the occasion, Nasser Hussain, Secretary, Rugby Association of Maharashtra (RAM) said, “We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm, participation and eagerness from schools across Mumbai (from international schools to Government schools) to participate in the tournament and are once again, grateful to the Bombay Gymkhana for hosting the tournament and being a forerunner in supporting the sport.”

He added, “Having the sport back in the 2016 Olympics and with Rugby’s recent inclusion in the SGFI (School Games Federation of India) there is immense potential for growth and development of the sport across the country. And with grassroots tournaments like this, we aim to provide a platform to identify young budding sports men and women who will potentially be the next breed of athletes that go on to excel at the elite level.”

Results:

St. Mary’s Girls (Mulund) – 1st and 3rd place in U-17, 1st, 2nd, 3rd in U-14, 3rd in U-12.

Colaba Municipal defended their titles at the U-17 Boys categories and secured 2nd Place in U-12 Girls and U-14 Boys.

NM Joshi defended their titles at the U-12 Boys age categories.

Podar International won the U-14 Boys and secured 3rd Place at U-17 Boys.

Yashodham School won U-12 Girls, 3rd in U-14 Boys abd 2nd in U-12 Boys and U-17 Girls.

Categories
Tech

Oppo arrives In India; launches the N1 at Rs 39,999

Chinese phone manufacturer Oppo, after making waves globally with its great hardware, is now an official phone seller in India.
by Manik Kakra

Oppo, the popular Chinese phone manufacturer, is now officially a phone seller in India. The company previously launched its phone in China and a few other countries, while shipping orders (made through its website) worldwide. Known for being the first handset manufacturer to officially support the popular custom ROM CyanogenMod, it has made some waves when it comes to hardware.

N1Oppo has launched its N1 smartphone in the Indian market. This Anrdroid 4.2 phone with Oppo’s own ColorOS sports a 5.9-inch full HD screen, which is coated with Gorilla Glass 3 on top. The N1 is powered by Qualcomm’s 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 SoC (Adreno 320 GPU), along with 2 GB of RAM. One of the USPs of this device is its 13 MP camera (with LED flash) which has a swivelling base, allowing the sensor to rotate 206 degrees, meaning it can also be used as the front-facing camera. For the camera purpose, including HD videos at 30 FPS), there’s also a dedicated Fujitsu chip under the hood.

Connectivity-wise, there is Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB (supports USB on-the-go), WiFi, GPS, and NFC. Another unique feature of this smartphone is its O Click accessory. You can use this gizmo to keep a check on your phone’s location. Apart from allowing you to control the phone’s camera remotely if it is not within 17 feet distance from O Click, the device will make an alarm sound. The N1 also has a O panel on its rear that can be used with your finger for scrolling on the device’s screen.

Available in 16 GB and 32 GB storage options, Oppo’s N1 comes in white, and has been priced at Rs 39,999 for the 16 GB model.

We have seen quite a few new Chinese entrants into the Indian phone market, and it will be interesting to see how Oppo is received initially in the Indian market.

Categories
Do

Blind men’s car rally flags off tomorrow

Head to Worli Sea Face tomorrow to cheer on 100 visually-challenged navigators and their sighted teammates drive a 45-km course.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The city will host a wonderful car rally tomorrow – 100 visually-impaired persons will be navigators to 100 sighted drivers as they traverse a 45 kilometre route in Mumbai together.

The ‘Blind Men’s Car Rally’ is an initiative conceptualised by Round Table India (RTI )in association with National Association for the Blind (NAB). Says Viral Kedia, convenor for the Rally, “The months of January and February 2014 are devoted to several such rallies all over the country. This year, 24 cities including Mumbai are hosting the rallies. Tomorrow, along with Mumbai, there will be 17 other cities hosting such rallies.”

The idea behind the initiative is a unique one – to create awareness about the grave consequences of ignoring literacy. The initiative focuses on eradicating illiteracy and highlights the challenges faced by the visually impaired. “We want to highlight the fact that a visually impaired person will show the way to a sighted one. It is a powerful message, and a much-needed one. The blind navigators will be armed with route maps in Braille,” says Viral, adding that the NAB screened and tested the navigators, while the RTI was in charge of registering drivers for the event.

The 45 km long route will start at the Police Ground behind Worli Sea Face, and end at the NAB, also in Worli. Designer and politician Shaina NC, ad man Prahlad Kakkar, Mumbai Mayor Sunil Prabhu and Shiv Sena’s Aditya Thackeray will flag off the event at 8 am.

“The rally is a time-distance-speed (TDS) event. Each car will be flagged off within one minute of each other, from the same starting point,” explains Viral. Apart from Mumbai, similar rallies will take off today in major cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Cochin and Ludhiana.

(Pictures courtesy Viral Kedia, RTI. Images are file pictures)

Categories
Watch

Chitresh Dash performs in Mumbai tonight

Known for the ‘fastest feet’ in Kathak in the world, the dance exponent will perform at NCPA with Vikku Vinayakram.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you’re in the mood for some divine dancing tonight, make your way to National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) tonight.

World renowned Kathak exponent Chitresh Das will perform at the NCPA tonight, with musician – Vikku Vinayakram. The show, titled ‘Dynamic Feet, Dynamic Rhythm’ is bound to create artistic history with two doyens from two ends of the world representing two corners of India (North Indian dance and South Indian percussion) as the two come together on stage for the first time. Das has very recently arrived in Mumbai – he works and teaches Kathak in the USA – and a documentary film made on him and Emmy Award-winning tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith was recently aired on PBS National Television in the USA on January 20. 

The show is bound to be an extraordinary one, what with Das dancing to the reverberating beat of Grammy Award winner Vikku Vinayakram’s ghatam. Three generations of percussionists – Vikku Vinayakram on ghatam, son N Ramakrishnan on mridangam and grandson Swaminathan on the kanjeera will play as Das’s performs his legendary take on the Draupadi vastra haran. Add to this the terrific Hindustani quartet, Biplab Bhattacharya and Satyaprakash Misra on tabla, Jayanta Banerjee on sitar and Debasish Sarcar on vocals, and the audience is sure to have a fabulous evening.

A representative for Das also revealed that while he is in India, there is also “a scientific study about to begin on him, to measure the parameters in his body that make him cross boundaries of age and race to achieve unparalleled speed and power in his dance technique.” Das is 70 years old and holds the distinction of having the ‘fastest feet’ in Kathak in the world.

Head to NCPA, Nariman Point at 7 pm. Tickets are priced at Rs 1,000, Rs 700, Rs 500 and Rs 300.
(Picture courtesy www.iup.edu)
Categories
Tech

Review: Eddy, children’s education tablet

The Android-based tablet allows parents to monitor their children’s usage and will later tie up with schools in major cities.
by Manik Kakra

Startup Metis Learning recently launched Eddy, an Android 4.2.2 tablet that is aimed at children aged two to 10 years. The device has a 7-inch 1280 x 600 screen, and has a 1.6 GHz dual-core Rockchip processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 32 GB via a microSD card.

The OS on the Eddy has been programmed to give Kid’s Mode, Parents’ Mode, which also has the usual Android launcher and other related stuff. You can put a password so that the child cannot access the Parents’ Mode. Using the Parents’ Mode, you can keep a close check on what and how long the installed apps have been used, or restrict the usage of a particular app to a time limit, preview reports of previously used apps, etc. The Kids’ Mode has a custom UI with large blocks for course content, learning games, and references.

Connectivity-wise, there is Bluetooth, WiFi, 3.5mm headset jack, 3G via an external dongle, mini HDMI port, and microUSB port. The tablet comes pre-loaded with about 150 apps and games, which can, along with Settings, can only be managed through the Parents’ Mode (using the Android OS).

Sporting a 2 MP camera, and powered by 3,200 mAh battery, the tablet comes bundled with bright green and pink coloured protective cases, which seem handy for protection against drops and sharp objects. Available for Rs 9,999 on the company’s website and Amazon India, it will later be available from various other online portals as well as retailers. Metis Learning has already tied up with several schools like DPS, Sansktriti for offering Eddy to students and are planning to do so with many schools in major cities.

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