Accentuating its commitment to innovative technology and redefining the visual experience with best-in-class products and solutions, ViewSonic Corp, a leading global visual and display solutions provider, announced its first-ever Experience Zone in New Delhi, India.
Spread across 1895 sq. ft., the experience zone aims at bringing all the products from entertainment, gaming, corporate and education solutions all under one roof to provide an unmatched experience to the consumers and channel partners. The Experience Zone aims to provide an engaging and immersive experience, making it easier for its users to access all its AV and IT products and solutions.
With the launch of its first experience zone in India, ViewSonic has also entered a new segment of LED Video Wall and pronounced the launch of its exclusive, impressive and innovative All-In-One LD135-151 Direct View LED Display.
ViewSonic’s experience zone also provides a first-hand experience for Hybrid Learning Classroom and strengthens the company as an EdTech solution provider as the education industry is undergoing a definitive shift, and hybrid mode is becoming more important with the need of the hour. The company also unveils a new range of display solutions such as ColorPro and ELITE Gaming monitors. Therefore, ViewSonic is actively seeking to develop their business and presence in India.
The company’s initial experience zone is divided into three different product ranges and solutions to provide its users with an unparalleled experience.
Mr. Eric Wei, General Manager, ViewSonic – Asia Pacific, said, “We are extremely excited to launch our first-ever Experience Zone in India. Our futuristic zone will create an outstanding and compelling experience for our users, exhibiting all our products and solutions. We aim to offer our users an experience of advanced technology, innovations and features embedded in our solutions. India is a key market for us, and we understand the diversified needs of our consumers and strive to provide them with our unmatchable range of solutions and services. We are positive that the Experience Zone will help our target consumers make a sound purchase decision. We plan to launch more experience zones in other key Indian market and strengthen our position in the country in the coming year.”
Corporate Zone
The corporate zone showcases all its professional products in one area. Entering a new segment, ViewSonic is creating its uniqueness by offering new innovations and technology. ViewSonic LED Video Wall Display – LD135-151 is truly one of its kind in India.
The newly released ViewSonic LD135-151 LED Video Wall is a unique All-in-One Direct View LED display that expands your vision with an amazing and smooth viewing experience. The products already available in the market possess several drawbacks, from being heavy, difficult to install and transport, and requiring a support system for display, power supply, and overall thick bezels that generate fuzzy images.
Understanding the limitations, ViewSonic is pioneering new trends in the presentation display markets and moving the development by implementing cutting-edge technology. Hence, the recently introduced display is a one-stop solution that addresses all of these issues by incorporating revolutionary technology, user-friendly features, and integrating several systems into a single display.
Available in 4 different sizes (108”, 135”, 163 & 216”), the large screen display is embedded with Gold Bonding Wire boosts easy installation, operation, and maintenance. The zone also included wireless presentation display ViewSonic CDE20 series. This display is surrounded by wonderful features such as 4K Ultra HD resolution, high brightness, and dual speakers, giving their users distinctive attributes such as remote management, immediate content sharing and an all-in-one display solution. Additionally, the product helps in reducing accessibility problems and making it simple to share content in person or remotely. These characteristics provide a diverse and exciting experience, resulting in increased efficiency in meetings or conferences.
“Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase” – Percy W Harris.
Photography can never be learned thoroughly; it comes by practice and perseverance. As one starts capturing images learning and unlearning happen daily. But some basic rules mustn’t be forgotten.
1. Rule of Thirds:
As the name suggests, the frame is divided into three equal parts horizontally and vertically. The intersection points of each square grid are essential to place the elements on those lines. This will help in a visual appeal and enhance the photograph.
2. Exposure Triangle:
ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture make up the exposure triangle in photography. A balanced triangle will give a more appealing image and sharp photographs. The ISO controls the camera’s sensitivity to light. Shutter speed controls the time for which the lenses shutter will be open while clicking a photo. Aperture controls the amount of light entering the camera lens.
3. White Balance:
To capture clear and accurate photos, the camera’s white balance should be adjusted. It is done according to the light being used to click pictures. Automatic white balance (AWB), Fluorescent, Tungsten, Daylight, Cloudy, Flash, Shade is the most commonly used white balance settings.
4. The Golden Ratio:
The focus is more on the centre according to this ratio. It is a ratio of approximately 1.618 to 1. It has been used for centuries by architects artists and can be found naturally in our surroundings.
5. Leading Lines:
These lines appear in a photograph showing the viewers’ attention from one part of the photograph to the other. The leading lines direct the viewers’ eyes to the main subject of the composition.
6. Depth of Field:
In photography, the depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest object in the foreground and the farthest object in the background. A shallow or a deep depth of field can significantly impact a photograph.
7. Avoid Camera Shake:
Avoiding pictures looking blurred is the most essential and fundamental aspect of photography. To make sure the photograph is sharp and clear, one’s hands must be steady at all times. Using a tripod stand is also a great way to click clear images.
8. Shoot in RAW:
Starting to shoot in RAW will give higher resolution photos and let one have more control in post-production. The RAW format will not compress the images.
9. Understand Perspectives:
Try and click a photo from different angles to give it perspectives. The more you click from various angles, the more perspective you will get in a single photograph.
10. Avoid Flash Indoors:
Using flash indoors can make the photo look unnatural and harsh. One can use a higher ISO to replace flash, select the required shutter speed, and use the widest aperture.
PLAY is somewhat a new player in the world of smartwatches but has garnered a lot of attention lately. The company recently introduced a finely crafted smartwatch, Playfit Dial, an affordable buy in the premium segment. Let’s see what the little dynamite offers!
Display
Playfit Dial smartwatch comes with a display of 1.75-inch IPS resolution in a square dial. The smartwatch offers 99 cloud watch faces to meet your moods and outfit for the day.
Build Quality and Design
The watch has a zinc alloy with a silicone strap and IP67 dust, sweat, and rain resistance. The gold metal finish makes it an aesthetic buy, blending design and comfort, protected by toughened glass.
Playfit comes with sports modes like walking, cycling, running, badminton, skipping, yoga, football, etc. One can also measure their heart rate and blood oxygen (SpO2), and calories on the go, along with monitoring your sleep. The PlayFit App will help keep a record of one’s activities and health data in real-time. A prominent missing feature for female users is the absence of a menstrual date tracker.
Other Essential Features
An exciting feature is its long battery life, i.e. five days long playtime with Bluetooth calling with a standby time of up to 30 days. It has a battery of 210mAh. The smartwatch lets you answer and make calls quickly and ensure you don’t miss a notification by displaying it on the smartwatch screen. Playfit dial comes with a camera button and an EBEL (Enhanced Bass Extra Loud) audio output to listen to music. One can easily pair it with both Android and iOS devices.
Conclusion
Overall, the watch is a decent buy with both pros and cons. The inbuilt audio speaker is a unique feature and an all-angle clear, and bright display. However, it takes a little longer to connect with your phone for a first-time user, but it would be an easy ride if you follow the user guide.
After almost a year, finally, ASUS launched its compact smartphone 8z in India today, which was postponed earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company dubbed the smartphone as a “perfect smartphone” due to certain features such as its easy to operate screen reachability, sleek design and, of course, the Qualcomm snapdragon 888 processor, which is one of the fastest processors out there.
While making the smartphone, the company made sure that it would fit in every pocket, be it jeans, tracks, shorts, jackets, leggings or even gym wear. The smartphone sports a 5.9″ inch screen and is priced at Rs 42,999 for a version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The newly launched smartphone by ASUS competes with the Xiaomi 11T Pro, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, and the OnePlus 9RT.
The smartphone arrives with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and has a glass back. ASUS 8z smartphone features a dual rear camera setup, a 64-MP Sony IMX686 primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens and a 12-MP Sony IMX363 secondary sensor with an f/2.2 ultra-wide lens. It has a refresh rate of 120Hz and is backed by a 4,000mAh battery.
The year 2021 went well, at least better than 2020. As of December, the pandemic situation was pretty much under control in India, but with the arrival of a new year, another variant (Omicron) landed here. As a result, many state governments added new COVID-19 restrictions, not allowing people to stretch their travel legs. However, the new variant turned out to be a faded rendition, and according to experts at WHO, it shall pass within a few weeks, and with that, we can hit the outdoors again. Going for a trip to popular places would be a bad move in current times, and it’s a pretty outdated move. That’s why we’ve come up with 16 off-beat travel getaways to take up 2022 in style.
Historical Places & Ruins:
Champaner & Laxmi Vilas Palace, Gujarat
The ancient city is considered one of Gujarat’s most fascinating historical attractions. The off-beat destination is as old as the 8th century, and it will hook you instantly with its heritage places, including a number of forts, mosques, monuments, tombs, arches, temples, and step-wells. The Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park located in Champaner is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that offers an authentic flavour of architecture. The famous Laxmi Vilas Palace – the Vadodara’s royal family residence is a must-visit place if you’re planning to explore around Champaner. The palace is built over 500 acres (four times the size of Buckingham Palace), and it is about 50 Km from Champaner.
Basgo, Ladakh
Basgo is a historic castle town located on the mighty Indus River in Ladakh and is famous for its Basgo Monastery and Gompas. The ancient temples and structures around Basgo are part of the UNESCO world heritage site. The monastery is a perfect example of Tibetan architecture, and the Basgo Palace is among the 100 most endangered heritage sites in the world. The once proliferated town is now wrapped in ruins, with almost zero infrastructure. The Basgo town has been featured in many Bollywood movie songs, including Satrangi Re from Dil Se and Dil Dance Maare from Tashan.
Orchha, Madhya Pradesh
The name Orchha means ‘Hidden Place’, which is enough to pay a visit to this historic town. The beautiful city of Orchha is nestled royally near the banks of the Betwa River. The historical place is built with a vision that one can find historical landmarks every time a river makes a turn. The site is far away from the reach of regular tourists, making it a more peaceful destination. The place’s main attraction is the Orchha Fort, an architectural marvel of the town built on an island on the Betwa river and Chattris, memorials to the rulers of Orchha. If you decide to visit Orchha, don’t forget to attend the light and sound show at Orchha Fort, which starts at 6:30 PM in English and at 7:45 PM in Hindi.
Shettihalli Rosary Church, Karnataka
Ruins and forgotten structures are always fascinating, especially when connected with folklore and Shettihalli Rosary Church is one of such gems. The French missionary church located in the Hassan district of Karnataka is popularly known as India’s only floating church. Interestingly, this dilapidated church remains submerged in water during monsoons, and when the water level decreases, it slowly starts appearing as a full, allowing the tourists to witness its glory. The hauntingly beautiful church was built in the 1860s in the French Gothic style of architecture, but later on, in 1960, the government deserted the area to construct the dam, and the church lost the centre of attention.
Beaches & Islands:
Maravanthe Beach, Karnataka
Maravanthe is a uniquely positioned beach offering an incredible view with the mesmerizing Arabian Sea on one side and the Souparnika river on the other side. The beach is an ideal choice to hang out with friends and family. The place is about 105 km from Mangalore, and one must catch a lovely boat ride across the Souparnika River during golden hour and watch the sunset. You can visit the nearest Padukone village, birthplace of famous badminton star Prakash Padukone and Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone during your trip to Maravanthe.
Bhogwe Beach, Maharashtra
Goa and Gokarna are the places that made the Konkan coast popular, but the coast has much more to offer than these usual places, only if you’re willing to go off-road. The secluded, loneliest and pristine Bhogwe beach is one of India’s few cleanest beaches selected for blue flag certification. The picturesque beach is situated on the shores of Sindhudurg District and is famous for being the merging point of the Karli River and the Arabian Sea. The beach is located at the base of Nivati Fort, which offers majestic views of the Bhogwe beach along with the Golden rocks and a glimpse of Tsunami island.
Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu
Dhanushkodi – often referred to as India’s Ghost Town, is situated on the southeastern tip of Tamil Nadu’s Pamban Island (Rameshwaram). In 1964, a monstrous cyclone turned this once-bustling trade hub into an eerie ghost town. Except for a few fishermen folks, nobody lives in Dhanushkodi, and no tourists are allowed to enter the town after 6 PM. Dhanushkodi has extreme natural conditions, and it is a bit risky to get into the water due to high waves, but the experience you’ll have while driving towards the tip, walking on the beach and exploring the ruins is out of this world.
Majuli Island, Assam
Majuli, nestled amidst the mighty Brahmaputra River, is the world’s largest freshwater island. It’s a must-visit place for every traveling enthusiast because due to climate change, in the next 20-25 years, the lush green and pollution-free island may completely disappear from the earth’s map. The isolated island is over 420 square kilometres in size and home to several tribes, mainly the Mishings. The green fields and the water bodies of Majuli island will stay in your heart for a long time, and you’ll feel blessed for the rest of your life.
The Hidden Paradise of North-East:
Bhalukpong, Arunachal Pradesh
The Seven Sisters of India offers everything you’re looking for in a serene trip, but the beautiful town of Bhalukpong has its magic. The unexplored town is located along the southern reaches of the Himalayas in the West Kameng district, and it is surrounded by the evergreen forests of the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary. Due to limited connectivity options, Bhalukpong hasn’t been nourished as a proper tourist destination, but if you’re looking for a calm and cozy holiday destination, then the breathtaking town of Bhalukpong is the place for you.
Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh
If you’re a fan of independent music in India, you probably have heard the name Ziro Valley before. The underrated town is surrounded by untouched forests, offering unmatched scenic and wildlife grandeur. Zero Valley is located 15 kilometers from Itanagar and is one of the best places to visit in North East India. The photogenic valley is famous for hosting the Ziro Music Festival, rice fields, lush bamboo forests, scenic trails lined with pine and bamboo trees. The hill hamlet provides a sound and peaceful camping experience as it is home to 300 birds and 170 butterfly species.
Sandakphu
Sandakphu is the highest peak in the queen of hills – Darjeeling, which offers an incredible panorama of the world’s highest snowline. The town is named after a poisonous wolf’s bane plant that grows naturally around the peak. Sandakphu is famous for its treks and is popularly known as Trekkers Wonderland. The place offers excellent mountaineering and adventure sports possibilities due to its location. If you’re a mountain lover, you should consider visiting this place and going on a Sandakphu Phalut trek, as it is one of the best winter treks in the Himalayas.
Mechuka
Situated in the West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, Mechuka, Mechukha, or Menchukha valley is a must-visit tourist destination in North-East India. The Buddhist hamlet houses several tribes, including Libo, Bokar, Ramo, and Memba Tribes. The Valley is located 29 km away from the famous McMahon Line that separates India and China. The rhythmic sound of the river Siyom, snow-capped mountains, wooden bridges with colorful Buddhist prayer flags, vast grassland with grazing horses, and dotted houses can make Mechuka a perfect off-beat destination.
The Territory of Big Cats:
Jawai, Rajasthan
Jawai Bandh (Dam) is one of the few places where you can spot a leopard in the daytime, and that’s why the place has become one of the hot favourite tourist destinations in Rajasthan. The site has plenty of natural caves for leopards, and they live peacefully here without causing any conflict with humans. The big cats have been winning hearts here with their human-friendly nature, and tribes who live here consider these big cats the guardians of their local deity. Along with leopards, you can easily spot crocodiles basking in the sun at river banks and migratory birds, making Jawai a paradise for wildlife enthusiasts.
Hemis, Ladakh
Hemis is the ideal place for people who wish to spend some time in the lap of nature and to see the globally famous, rare and endangered snow leopard. The scenic hamlet is located between the snow capped mountain ranges of Ladakh and is bounded by the ever-gorgeous Indus river and the majestic Zanskar range. The Hemis Monastery is ranked as one of the wealthiest monasteries in India, and it houses an iconic copper gilded statue of Lord Buddha along with stupas made of gold, silver, and other precious metals. The Hemis National Park boasts about 200 leopards, along with other endangered species such as Asiatic ibex, Tibetan wolf, the Eurasian brown bear and the red fox.
Sundarban, West Bengal
Inscribed as a world heritage site by UNESCO, Sundarban is the kind of place where you’ll witness the true side of nature, a tale of survival. The place lies on the delta of three rivers, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. The mangrove forest is home to Royal Bengal Tigers. Once you’re on the boat to spot the Bengal Tiger, you’ll not feel less than you’re a guy from an episode of the national geographic channel. Besides Bengal Tiger, it is home to various wildlife species, including red-faced rhesus monkey, saltwater crocodile, spotted deer, crested serpent eagle, oriental honey buzzard, and Goshawk.
Nagarhole National Park, Karnataka
The rare species always attract the crowd, and if you’re a staunch wildlife enthusiast, especially the one who’s into felines, then you must have heard the name “Saaya.” The word Saya means Shadow, and it is the name of the elusive male black panther that wildlife enthusiasts and tourists often spot in the southern part of the Nagarhole National Park. The majestic park is quite picturesque with hills, valleys, streams and Kabini, a part of the park, has become famous in recent years for the sighting of a real-life Bagheera. The black panther is exceptionally confident, and it will hypnotise you with his appearance.
Back then, life was a bit challenging, especially in terms of dating because asking someone out in person is not everybody’s cup of tea, then and even now. About 25 years ago, entrepreneurs Gary Kremen and Peng T. Ong decided to come up with a solution and launched the first dating site in the form of Match.com. Since then, the online dating world has evolved dramatically, as it changed the course of dating and brought everything on our plate within one click.
We enjoyed the online dating phase on websites, going ahead with time, several marriage sites launched to help people find the right partner and then the app culture arrived, which turned out to be a milestone in the dating universe. We were swapping right-left all the time, and then the COVID-19 pandemic swapped right on us. So, dating companies started figuring out a solution to help singles and this time, they came up with something unbelievable.
Imagine you’re sleeping on a couch while your TV is on, and your dog is wagging his tail near you because your phone is vibrating. Suddenly, you woke up from a nap only to realize you’ve promised someone a date. Now, she’s already there, waiting for you, and you’re still in your shorts, thinking about a reason to convince her. Well, in real life, this kinda situation might lead to a quick argument, but when the metaverse dating arrives, you will endure the situation. Let me tell you how?
But first understand, what is Metaverse?
You’ve probably heard a lot about the metaverse already, but most of us didn’t care to know what it is actually? The term metaverse first occurred in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. In simple language, the metaverse is a shared digital reality where users can connect to each other, build economies and interact in real-time. It’s the future of the internet, where anything can be done, but it remains to be seen like AI and blockchain.
All the top companies worldwide are investing tons of money in the metaverse, from Facebook to Nike, everyone wants to be a part of it. If you ask about dating companies, tinder’s parent company Match Group is already working on building a dating metaverse. For now, I’ll suggest, don’t dive deep to learn more about the metaverse because it’s way too complex, and the term doesn’t refer to any specific type of technology.
What will dating be like in the Metaverse?
I hope you’ve visualized yourself in the above scenario where the guy in shorts is thinking about what to say to his date? You might suggest convincing her with truth or perhaps with a lie. Now, I’ll tell you how metaverse dating will help you duck a similar situation? First and foremost, such concerns will not even occur in metaverse dating because here, you’re a 3D avatar, and to activate it, you only have to wear the necessary Virtual Reality (VR) gear.
You don’t have to leave your couch, you don’t have to drop your dog at your friend’s apartment, and you don’t even have to take a shower because you’re going on a date in metaverse where none of these things matter. Your metadate will look like this: You both have to wear VR headsets to track eye movements and facial expressions. Besides VR gear, both of you will have to wear haptic gloves, a wearable device that mimics tactile sensations of virtual objects.
You can decide any place that exists in the metaverse to meet each other. Now, imagine you’re waiting for your date in an outdoor cafe, and then a date tracker notifies you that your date is about to reach. You put your headphones on to avoid anxiousness, but you’re having a hard time focusing. And then you look up and see a beautiful girl in a skirt with a button-up shirt walking towards you. She has what we call a perfectly toned figure and eyes like pearls that shine like stars. She waves at you and joins you for an ice-cream date. You both are having a good time, and then the waiter shows up with a bill. You’re about to pay, and then your subconscious warns you, “Split it bro! She might like it if you allow her to pay her part” And “What if she didn’t like the gesture?” says the other one.
Finally, you prefer to wait, and she puts her hand on yours, of course through the haptic gloves (don’t worry, you’ll get the same feelings) and says, “Let’s split it for now”, and then both of you pay your share of the bill with tinder/bumble coins. While walking her out, you plan to ask her for another date, this time – a real one, but again your subconscious stops you by saying, “Don’t rush the things, wait for her message and what if she’s not this captivating in real life?”, and you drop the idea.
The benefits of dating in the Metaverse
What do we do while preparing for a first date? We think, we think a lot and then overthinking kills us; sometimes, it even adds pimples to make it worse. We usually look for a nice outfit, we make sure that we’re behaving well, we rehearse all the table manners, and many more things. While in metaverse dating, you don’t have to follow these old-school rules. In meta dating, you set your own rules, you choose your looks. Basically, you have a right to do whatever you want!
When meta dating will come into our lives, please don’t overdo anything. Choose your avatars carefully, and try to create an avatar that really matches your persona. Otherwise, you might end up dealing with rejection on your actual date with that special someone. Metaverse dating is beneficial for every one of us as it will allow us to meet our date in a virtual world where you can get an unbelievable amount of information about how your date feels about you without them saying a word.
Did you know?
On 5th Feb, a Bhopal-based couple, Abhijeet Goel, a tech entrepreneur and Dr Sansrati Jain, a pedodontist, tied a wedding knot and became the first couple in India to marry in the 3D Metaverse. The couple created a scenic beachside environment to host their wedding, where the guests also joined in via their digital avatars. The virtual wedding took place on Yug Metaverse, an Indian company that creates a metaverse for marriages, virtual events, exhibitions, business meetings, and conferences. The wedding was associated with two media agency brands, Wavemaker India for ITC Ltd. and Matrimony.com. Who conceptualised, organised and executed the wedding.
Twitter has always been a highly active social media forum where a single tweet can create a conversational conflict across the globe. The microblogging platform was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006, which means soon it will turn 16. Since then, the platform has emerged well, from allowing people to speak their hearts out to coming up with the breaking news before news stations. Over the past few years, the revenue of the ‘diary platform’ has skyrocketed, and it will only fly up in the future, thanks to the digital revolution.
Recently, when Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, announced his surprising move of stepping down from the position of chief executive officer, and Parag Agrawal took over his CEO position, everyone was in awe. The day Jack Dorsey announced his replacement, Twitter India flooded with thousands of memes on “Agrawal ji ka beta”, which shows how pleased Indians were after the announcement. The selection of an Indian-origin Parag Agrawal as CEO of Twitter creates a buzz in the social media circuit, causing us to pick Twitter for our How Big is feature.
How was Twitter Formed?
Evan Williams teamed up with his neighbour Noah Glass for a business venture and started working on a podcasting platform, Odeo. Later on, Williams convinced one of his Google co-workers and friend Biz Stone to join the team. Along the way, Engineer Jack Dorsey joined the trio and became part of the Odeo team. Unfortunately (at least for the Odeo team), in June 2005, Apple announced that they would include podcasting in one of the popular services, iTunes, cursing Odeo’s chances for success.
The announcement shook the management team of the Odeo, and Evan Williams told his Odeo employees to put their everyday tasks at Odeo on hold and work on whatever side projects they had. The results were outstanding, but the idea that Jack Dorsey tossed was the strongest one, and the management trio decided to go with it. A lot more happened in between, such as Williams firing Glass due to increased workplace tension, acquiring the majority of assets from Odeo’s investors and shareholders and then finally, in March 2007, the completed version of Twitter debuted and won the best startup honour at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas.
The Birth of the name ‘Twitter’
Every project starts with an idea, followed by a name, which identifies the brand. The original project code name was twttr, and then the founders of the company, mainly Noah Glass, came across the word Twitter for the first time and decided to go with it as it means “a short burst of inconsequential information” and “chirps from birds,” which sounds perfect for the platform. Initially, it was referred to as a social network as well as microblogging because it didn’t replace anything, but in a brief span, it became a popular social media network in the world with over 330 million daily active users.
The First-ever Tweet
Twitter co-founder typed out a simple yet effective message, “just setting up my twttr”, and posted it on Twitter. The message became the first-ever tweet, and after 15 years, it has gained over 172k likes and received over 121k retweets.
The Initial Years of the Twitter
In April 2007, Twitter became an independent company, and Twitter, Inc. was created as a corporate entity. Due to the Interactive conference at South By Southwest, Twitter gained humongous popularity, with about 60,000 tweets being sent on the day of the event. The prominent events such as election polls, FIFA World Cup, NBA Finals played a crucial role in the growth of Twitter, especially during its initial phase.
The platform was made for sharing thoughts, daily life ventures, and comprehending what people were doing based on their status updates. The company experienced rapid growth initially, from over 4,00,000 tweets per quarter in 2007 to a whopping 100 million tweets per quarter in 2008. The company moved up to the third-highest-ranking social networking site in January 2009.
The New Twitter
The company upped its game and rolled out an entirely revamped edition of twitter.com in 2011, often referred to as New Twitter in popular culture and also considered Twitter’s first big move in terms of redesigning. It features a complete overhaul of the interface and allows users to see pictures and videos, from a variety of supported websites, including Flickr and YouTube, without leaving the Twitter app website.
The new Twitter was formed to make money through promoted tweets, accounts, and trends as many brands were ready to pay considerable amounts to show their tweets at the top of search results pages. The new Twitter also introduced features like related content and mini-profiles. In late 2011, Twitter overhauled its website again to feature the Fly design, which was easier to understand, even for the new users.
Twitter Algorithm
Over the years, Twitter has established itself as a platform where brands can express themselves willingly, and that’s a selling point of the platform. The Twitter algorithm was introduced in 2016, allowing users to track tweets based on relevancy and popularity. The algorithm was criticized by many people when it underwent a significant overhaul in 2017 where it replaced the feature “while you’ve been away” with “in case you missed it.” The change is not taken lightly by Twitter users, and that’s why in 2018, Twitter allowed users an option to choose between an algorithm organized feed and a regular feed.
Twitter Valuation
Twitter ranks among the most prominent social networks worldwide, with over 330 million monthly active users. The company is funded by 36 investors, and as of January 2022, it has acquired 67 organizations. Twitter is a public, real-time, global platform, and as of 1st January 2022, its net worth is $34.37 billion.
Europeans are always obsessed with the cars they make and the food they eat. Europeans are always obsessed with the cars they make and the food they eat. They always fulfil the quest of hunger of the gourmet and never fail to impress an auto enthusiast with its overall product offering. One such Swedish car accompanying is Volvo, and its latest offering is the flagship 7- seater luxury SUV – 2022 XC90. Just to spice things up, we invited Master chef Shipra Khanna on a 7-course meal to discuss a luxury palette and the luxury SUV over a hearty meal.
Shipra Khanna is one of the most glamorous Master chef from Shimla. Apart from making delicious food, she is also an author, TV Host, content creator and food consultant. She has achieved the milestone of earning the tag of “Youngest Female Celebrity Chef in India” and knows what goes inside to make great dishes. Along with Volvo XC90, we have come up here in the majestic and exclusive farmhouse restaurant, Saltt, a 2-hour drive from our suburban Mumbai. Well, if you own a chopper, you can land up directly here because this place also has an exclusive helipad. Still, we preferred the XC90. The drive is always more fun if the destination, company, and conversations are exciting.
The 2-litre mild-hybrid petrol-powered Volvo XC90 is an ideal choice for such weekend gateways. Whoever owns this car wears a badge of honour and respect in society. It is targeted and Built for an ambitious individual with an appetite for success and a taste for luxury. It is not just about simpler and sophisticated looks or the best family haulier; Volvo XC90 is way more than that. It is equipped with tons of mind-blowing features and unique characteristics. We are on our quest to taste the 7-course meal where the Master chef will talk about the dishes, and Editor-in-chief will throw lights on the Volvo XC90. Both experts in their own fields.
1st Course – Lets Soup it
On the Bowl: Minestrone Milanese Soup
Shipra: It’s the safest thing to start your meal and to warm up your system. Hearty root vegetable and tomato flavoured thick soup with pesto, Parmigiano and pasta. A good Soup acts like engine oil and gets you a good start that you need for the 7-course meal coming forward.
RS: Since it’s on safety, Volvo has always been known for providing its safety masala in the beautiful dish – we call it car. With best-in-class safety ratings, Volvo XC90 also gets an intelligent Driver assistance System that detects and helps drivers to avoid a collision with other motorists and pedestrians on the road. The car is smart enough to detect any danger on the road; the brakes are applied automatically without thus avoiding mishaps and further damage. Cool, isn’t it? It also gets a 360-degree camera, a blind spot Information System, and lane keeps assist features to keep you all safe and secure while travelling. Just like this Soup, it’s as safe as a car can get.
2nd Course – Lets get Healthy!
On the Bowl: Goat Cheese Ball, Rocket and Citrus Salad
Shipra: What we have now is the second course meal, which is a fresh garden salad. Freshly cooked vegetables are always good for your health. It has got a lot of antioxidants, and we have got proteins in the form of cheese. The salad also contains a lot of essential fibres and iron that are always good for health. Most importantly, it has got orange vinegar, which acts as a palate cleanser. It is one of the most exciting courses because it has got a different medley of flavours.
RS: Talking about health, Volvo has made the environment cleaner and healthier by providing a hybrid engine option in this vehicle. Not only this, but the brand has also committed to putting one million electrified cars on the road by 2025. Such initiatives make a great impact on decreasing the pollution level in the atmosphere. By the way, did I tell you that this Volvo xc 90 comes with an air-purifier system that filters the polluted air and allows its occupants to breathe clean and healthy air inside? It gets a synthetic fibre-based filter and ionization, which kelps the cabin up to 95 per cent healthier by filtering out PM 2.5 particles inside the cabin.
3rd Course – Lets make an appetite for the Appetizer
On the Bowl: Avocado and Goat Cheese on House Sour Dough Toast.
Shipra: This is the third Course. It’s an appetizer. The idea for an appetizer is to build an appetite or rather space for the Main Course. And this is Avocado on the Sovada Bread.
RS: Talking about the space, the boot space comes as an extreme necessity to carry all your baggage for long road-trip journeys. Despite being a 7-seater, the car has an expansive 397 litre of boot space to gulp your entire essential luggage.
4th Course – Lets dig on to Mains
On the Bowl: Parmigiana Eggplant Vol-Au-Vent
Shipra: This is the French dish – Vol-Au-Vent. It looks extremely beautiful on the outside. No Doubt. But on the inside, it is stuffed with vegetables, Primula Cheese, and many flavors.
RS: Most of our time will be dedicated to experiencing the main Course, just like the one will spend most of its time inside the cabin of the car. Volvo xc90 feels like a posh European coffee lounge. It has got matte natural grain wooden inlays with a chrome strip running across the dashboard with the premium Nappa leather everywhere you touch. Xc90 gets a big tablet-like infotainment system and a massive digital instrument cluster. XC90 seats are best in class with ventilated front seats with massage function and four-way electric lumbar support. One would not complain about rear seats as there is plenty of legroom and headroom on offer. This car, on the inside, cocoons you with its luxury offerings.
5th Course – Still on the Mains
On the Bowl: Tofu meal
Shipra: This is our fifth meal out of our 7-course meal. Tofu meal is actually a complete meal. It is a total powerhouse loaded with energy and performance.
RS: Performance always excites me, and talking about performance, the new Volvo XC90 is now BS6 updated and gets a 2.0-litre engine churning around 300hp and 420 Nm of torque which is mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox powering all four wheels.
6th Course – Lets have some Desserts
On the Bowl: Vegan Berry Tart
Shipra: Vegan Berry Tart is the first of our desserts. The dish is made with almond flour, and it’s got chocolates and berries inside it, making it one of the classic desserts. RS: Classic! That is precisely the perfect way to describe the Volvo XC90. Volvo cars are known because of their minimalistic and simple design language. All new chrome grille, a restyled lower fascia, reprofiled rear bumper and beautiful looking 20-inch alloy wheels make it look sharp and simple.
7th Course – Lets end with Chocolates
On the Bowl: Chocolate Mousse
Shipra: Finally, we are on the last Course of our 7-course meal, and this chocolate Mousse is the perfect way to end our meal. You see, a good dessert is something that will give you a great aftertaste.
RS: You are spot on Shipra. The aftertaste is of great importance, and Volvo understands this very well. One can feel relaxed and totally accomplished if the external factors of owning a luxury car, such as after-sales service and warranty, are completely sorted. Volvo has come up with the scheme wherein it promises a lifetime warranty on the spare parts purchased from its authorized dealers. It is the first time in India that such an initiative has been offered to luxury customers. The company also cares about its customers by providing them with an interest-free monthly EMI for the service cost. Thus one can enjoy maximum coverage without having to worry about the cost. The car also comes with two year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. With around 29 dealers spread across pan India, Volvo provides a hassle-free and secure ownership experience.
Well, that was the 7-course meal with the Volvo XC90. Good food and a great car are 2-important factors in making any journey , destination or the journey of life beautiful. Isn’t it ?
We took the 7 seater Volvo XC90 on a 7-course meal with the Masterchef Shipra Khanna. What happened is a tasty conversation where Ramesh Somani explained seven features of the Volvo XC90 and learn about the Seven course Gourment meal from the Masterchef.
Gone are the days when the month of February was celebrated as a month of love, as this year it’s undoubtedly going to be a month of smartphones as several top players from the smartphone industry are in the pipeline to launch their newbies in the market.
Earlier in the month, we witnessed a launch of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Series & Galaxy Tab S8 Series at the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event, and today, another smartphone tycoon, OnePlus, launched their Nord CE 2 5G in India during a virtual event.
Alongside the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G, the company also launched two smart TVs – Y1S and Y1S Edge in India, which comes under a company’s affordable Y-Series smart TV lineup. The company claims that the new TVs will bring a more “accessible connected ecosystem experience” across different screen sizes at an affordable price point.
First Impressions:
The OnePlus Nord 2 exactly looks like its elder sibling Nord CE 1, but when you turn it around, it seems poles apart as it features an all-different camera alignment, though both the smartphones are pretty sleek and stylish. The new Nord features an AI triple camera setup, where the primary camera has a 64-megapixel lens, the secondary camera has an ultrawide 8-megapixel lens and a 2-megapixel macro lens.
The company unveiled the smartphone on the OnePlus India YouTube channel and the company’s website. Design-wise, the smartphone looks premium, and has the power to hold your attention. It comes with Android 11 out of the box and sports a 6.43-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz, HDR 10+ support, and Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
The handset comes with a 16-megapixel selfie camera on the front, which provides you with a prospect to shoot videos in 1080p@30fps. The 5G-ready smartphone boasts a MediaTek Dimensity 900 Octacore Chipset and 65W SuperVOOC fast Charging, which will fill the smartphone in mere 30 minutes.
The new Nord comes with two variants, 6GB/8GB of RAM, both in 128 GB of storage, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro SD slot that supports up to 1TB. The smartphone runs on Oxygen OS, and it will be available in two colours – Bahama Blue and Gray Mirror. The base variant of the smartphone is priced at ₹23,999, while the 8GB variant is priced at ₹24,999.
