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Tech

Facebook announces ‘Home’ for Android smartphones

Announces the advent of the launcher, which will allow users to check their Facebook right from their phone’s home screen.
by Manik Kakra

Yesterday, Facebook held an event at its HQ, during which Mark Zuckerberg announced new paths for Facebook’s mobile users.

First of all, Facebook has launched ‘Home’. What is it? Basically, it is a launcher for your Android smartphone. But there are plenty of launchers available from the Play Store, so what’s so different about this one, you ask? Well, we haven’t yet got our hands on the launcher, as it’s going to arrive on April 12, but what is clear from the event is that, the launcher will allow users to check Facebook right from their phone’s home screen.

This means you don’t have to go into any particular app to browse through your Facebook feed. You will also get notifications, messages, photo updates, etc. right on your home screen.

 

Chat Head is another feature of Facebook’s new launcher for Android; with chat heads you will get to see instant message on top of whatever app you’ve currently opened on your phone. Home is where you will have all the apps from the launcher, and it will be a unified hub for Facebook on your Android smartphone. So, this Cover Feed tries to make a deeper Facebook integration in your smartphone.

Next, Facebook and HTC announced HTC First It’s a new Android smartphone, which comes pre-loaded with Facebook Home. There are no official statements about the hardware specifications or Android version that power the phone.

The HTC first sports a 4.3-inch 720p screen, and is powered by Qualcomm’s 1.4 GHz dual-core Snapdragone 400 processor, along with 1 GB of RAM. The phone comes in black, white, light blue, and RWhat’s know and will go on sale on April 12.  It costs $99.99 (approx Rs 5,485.50, on the US’s AT&T network). Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook has signed with, apart from HTC and AT&T, Sony, and Samsung. This new launcher will be supported for HTC One X, One X+, One Samsung Galaxy SIII, Note II at the launch.

There is no news about the global launch of any device that comes preloaded with Home.

We can’t say how good or bad the launcher or its implementation is, but one bad thing is that it will soon have ads. Yes. Ads right on your home screen. Let’s see how the launcher cops up in day-to-day use.

Categories
Event

Osian’s Indian miniatures auction on April 13

Historically-significant Indian miniatures, modern art pieces include Mandi School works which had left India in 1960s before being purchased back.
by Osian

Opening its new annual calendar of auctions, Osian’s is bringing together a wide range of historically significant Indian miniatures and modern art in its Forty Masterpieces Auction to be held on Saturday, 13 April 2013, in Mumbai.

The opening preview exhibition of the Auction will be held at 7 pm on Friday, April 5, at the Osian’s Headquarters at G-2B Nariman Bhavan, Nariman Point. The Auction lots will be available for private previews at the same site from April 6 to April 12, 2013.

The auction comprises of 40 lots and is valued at the lower estimate at approximately Rs 5.6 crore (higher estimate Rs 8.4 crore; with average estimated lot price range Rs 14 to 21 lakh). Among the highlights in the section on Indian miniatures, there are some brilliant Mandi School works from the Ramayana and Devi Mahatmya series originally from the Royal Mandi Library Collection, which had left India in the 1960s and was purchased back by Osian’s from various Sotheby’s auctions to bring them back to India in 2005-2006. These works cannot be exported out of India now.

A few highlights among the masterpieces of the Modern Art Section include the works of Modern Masters of the Bombay, Bengal and Baroda School. The Auction includes a very rare and brilliant little work by early academic school modern master, Rao Bahadur MV Dhurandhar; rare and important paintings by Abanindranath, Gaganendranth and Rabindranath Tagore; a magnificent large oil on canvas painting by the master artist of both India and Pakistan, Ustad Allah Buksh; Jagdish Swamninathan’s  famous ‘Bird, Tree, Mountain’ Series purchased from the artist in 1979; the very best early etchings by master printmaker Laxman Goud on which his fame was established; leading British sculptor, Sir Jacob Epstein’s famous bronze Head of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru; Himmat Shah’s uniquely brilliant signature style terracotta heads; an impressively large commissioned portrait by Hemendranath Mazumdar and powerfully evocative paintings by the masters DP Roy Chowdhury, Ramkinkar Baij, Sanat Kumar Chatterjee, and Nikhil Biswas among many others.

Regarding the consolidation and re-strengthening of the Osian’s Group and the Auction House, Neville Tuli, Chairman, Osian’s Group says, “For the first time we have a fixed annual calendar for the Auction House, ranging from auctions for the antiquities, fine and popular arts, to film and sporting memorabilia, to rare books, prints and photographs. The Auction House has been separated from all other activities (eg. the film festival, the conservation laboratory, the museum, and the like) so as to make it a specialised leader once again and to start rebuilding the market for the India’s arts, culture and heritage. The last few years have seen immense pressures and challenges, and they have only made us recognise that the unique business model for the arts needs ever more diligence, buffers and care. A strong art market is pivotal for the growth of knowledge and the spreading of awareness and sensitivity regarding one’s cultural heritage.”

(Pictures courtesy Osian’s) 

Categories
Do

This Bulb has some bright ideas

Blue Bulb acquaints you with fun, sometimes OTT things to do. If you’re a Mumbaikar, you can de-stress with them.
by Medha Kulkarni

“Malls, cafes and bars. Meh. What else is there to do in Mumbai on weekends?”

An oft-heard lament of most of the regular office-going crowd who are too busy to do anything during the week, weekends become repetitive after a while. Joining structured classes, say for dance or art etc. is out of the question for mumbaikers, as work hours are long and erratic. This is precisely the problem that the founders of Blue Bulb saw and sought to fix it.

This is precisely the gap that Blue Bulb seeks to fill. Started in 2011 by Mumbai-based Regan Rodricks, Blue Bulb is a company that offers people in the city a plethora of things to do. They organise sessions for everything from hula hooping to Parkour to pottery and beyond. Most of these sessions are spread over a weekend, lasting from a few hours to an entire day, depending on the activity, and are designed to be taster or introductory sessions that give you the chance to try something new. Blue Bulb organises special activities for children and even has packages for couples. The best part about it? They’re all totally affordable!

“We look out for people doing interesting things and then try to see if more people would be interested in doing something like this. For example, I was introduced to a professional fire breather at a party. We got talking and before I knew it, I was on the terrace with fuel in my mouth about to breathe fire. And that’s how the Fire Breathing Experience became part of Blue Bulb. We also get contacted by instructors wanting to be part of Blue Bulb. But every experience and instructor is first tried by us to ensure quality. Our experience partners are individual instructors, clubs and professional performers who do this activity for a living,” Regan explains.

With over 50+ activities on at the moment (excluding a dozen-odd that they have as one-offs, such as the Hula hoop workshop) what is the most popular activity offered? “One of the most interesting experiences is the 1 Day Paragliding Training. We take absolute beginners, people who have never seen a paraglider before, and by 3 pm, they are flying on their own at 800 feet!” Regan says.

However, sometimes it can get difficult dealing with demanding customers. He recollects a parent who wanted to enrol their 10-year-old child for fire spinning. “We politely refused,” says he. “We get the most outrageous demands from parents, especially in the summer vacations. “

Priced in an affordable range, the rates vary depending on the activity. “But as a rule, we say ‘How much would you spend on a Saturday evening?’ and try to keep the price in that range. Ordinarily, a movie, popcorn and dinner would set you back by Rs 1,500/-. But most of our experiences cost less than that. And honestly, you will forget what you ordered for dinner a month ago. But you won’t forget the day you made your first clay pot or learnt to drive a bullock cart.”

For kids, they have a number of interesting sports like rock climbing, archery, and golf, and experiences like the cupcake workshop, doughnut baker experience, pottery, etc. One of Blue Bulb’s new experiences is the Pilot Simulator, where kids learn to fly a jet plane in an actual plane simulator. The simulator is a stationary cockpit which pilots use for training.

Each session is conducted by a trained professional and the team at Blue Bulb is very thorough and ensures that your experience lacks nothing. What I liked best about the way Blue Bulb organises these sessions is that they are never overbooked. Despite the steadily increasing demand, Blue bulb continues to retain its ‘First come, first serve’ policy and stick to their cutoff. This is good because a limited number of people per class means more personalised attention from the instructor and puts lesser pressure on resources.

Book an activity or experience with Blue Bulb here.

(Pictures courtesy Blue Bulb)

Categories
Event

Walk of art

Artist Renu Mital is showing her work at The Trident, Nariman Point, starting from today. Do check out her interpretation of ‘Survival’.

Too often, we complain of the city not hosting enough art events every week. For a city teeming with talent, and teeming even more with people wanting to see the work of young artists.

Since 1996, The Trident, Nariman Point, claims to have recognised these needs, and put up the Trident Art Walk for lovers of art in the city. The Art Walk claims to showcase “talents evolved by the magical triplet of brush, paint and canvas,” and takes place every fortnight in The Oberoi Shopping Arcade.

Starting today, artist Renu Mital is showing her work at The Art Walk, till April 14. Titled ‘Art Treasures’, Renu’s work deals with the theme of survival, through oil on canvas. Check out her work below.

 

 

Categories
Tech

Book your next holiday at a kiosk

MTDC to install touch screen kiosks to help users book holidays at MTDC resorts; first one installed at Marine Drive.

It is summer time and everyone’s heading for a holiday. To make the process of booking accomodation for your holiday easier, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has hit upon the idea of installing touch screen kiosks at various spots in Mumbai and the State.

To this end, the first such kiosk was installed a couple of days ago at Mumbai’s Marine Drive. The kiosk and others like it will enable users to get information about tourist destinations in Maharashtra, in both Marathi and English. Plus, once you browse the information and make a destination choice, you can book your stay at an MTDC resort in that destination, as well as book train tickets to get there.

As per a release from MTDC, the plan is to “set up 300 such kiosks at various tourist destinations in Maharashtra, at Government offices, railway stations and airports. Within Mumbai, the kiosks will be put at CST, Dadar, domestic and international airports, Sanjay Gandhi National Park etc.”

(Picture courtesy MTDC. Image shows Jayant Kumar Banthia. Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra and Dr Jagdish Patil, Managing Director, MTDC, inaugurating the kiosk at Marine Drive)

Categories
Do

A rubber stamp existence

Reena Kallat’s ongoing exhibition at the Bhau Daji Lad museum has literally stamped its authority all over the building’s façade.
by Medha Kulkarni

An off-the-beaten-track thing to do this Sunday – if you haven’t already planned a movie/outing with family and friends/a booze party/ all of these would be to head to a museum. Not just any museum; specifically, the Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla.

Why? Because it’s hosting a stunning exhibition by artist Reena Kallat. Titled ‘Untitled (Cobwebs/Crossings)’, the exhibition is a part of ZegnArt Public/India, an international project created by Ermenegildo Zeg

What it’s about

‘Untitled’ is an impressive work that captures the attention of the viewer with its sheer presence. Several rows of rubber stamps are strung together to create a cobweb that covers the entire façade of the museum (see featured pic). The work seeks to invoke ideas of bureaucracy and the passage of time; thus each rubber stamp actually has the name of a street (in the city) that has since been renamed.

According to Kallat, the work is “a visual representation of the cobwebs of the past and of memories that clutter our spaces and will eventually fade away with time.” The project was chosen out of a group of seven artist proposals (by artists like Gigi Scaria, Sakshi Gupta, etc.) by the museum and ZegnArt Public. A separate gallery space is devoted to the other artists’ ideas and works, for the benefit of the viewer.

ZegnArt Public believes that the public space can be inhabited in several ways to facilitate negotiation and exchange and encourage critical thinking and dialogue and thus aims to explore this possibility within diverse contexts. India has been selected as the first country for this intervention and thus ZegnArt has partnered with the museum to put to test this notion of public space vis-à-vis the urban fabric of India’s most dynamic city,Mumbai.

On view till April 14, the museum also organises curated walks every Sunday that seek to create a dialogue between art and the viewer. Kallat has referenced old street names and forgotten histories as nodal points in her exhibition, and these are used as a starting point for the walk. The walk covers the length and breadth of the exhibition and then continues on through the Museum’s permanent collections that highlight the faded memories and the constantly changing identity of the city.

The best part about the walk is it is organised in English and Hindi/Marathi and the price is included in the Museum entry fee. Walk timings are 11.30 am for the English walk, and 30 minutes past noon for the Hindi/ Marathi one.

(Picture courtesy blog.saffronart.com)

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