Tag: Exhibit Tech

Whopper with a Side of Bitcoins: Burger King is Giving Cryptocurrency With Its Items

After McDonald’s, another fast-food biggie, Burger King, has jumped into the digital currency world. In a recent announcement, the company said that people who join their Royal Perks loyalty program and spend at least $5 using its app can win Bitcoin, Dogecoin, or Ethereum. interesting isn’t it?

After ordering, you should receive an email from Burger King featuring a link. Follow the instructions to claim your crypto. However, the offer is open only for US residents. The fast-food chain has partnered with online brokerage firm Robinhood to give away these digital currencies to a handful of winners. The eatery announced that they will give away 20 bitcoins, 200 ethereum, and 2 million dogecoins. To win, one has to open an account with Robinhood via the company’s app. The offer is valid till November 21.

“As a brand, we are always looking for ways to reward our most loyal guests with exclusive offers that are exciting, unique, and culturally relevant. Cryptocurrency (crypto) has been a hot topic of conversation recently, but we know it can be difficult to understand. That’s why we wanted to bring crypto to our guests in a way that was accessible and digestible (literally and figuratively) – through our food,” said the company.

A few days ago, McDonald’s had turned its item McRib into an NFT. They will be given away to 10 winners chosen as part of their sweepstakes. “Our McRib NFTs are digital versions of the fan-favorite sandwich – almost as saucy as the McRib itself- and we’re giving them away to a few lucky fans on Twitter beginning November 1,” said a release by the company. This offering comes on the occasion of McRib’s 40th anniversary.

Bringing NFT into the beverages space, a liquor company sold its own NFTs and it was a big hit. Glenfiddich Whisky sold 15 bottles of rare whisky priced at Rs 13.5 lakh each, with NFTs. According to PR News Wire, the brand partnered with BlockBar, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, to launch a series of 15 limited edition liquor NFTs. The tokens not only allow buyers to show off their whisky purchases but also act as proof of ownership. The bottles were reportedly sold out within seconds.

According to the Burger King Crypto website, the chain has partnered with investment app Robinhood Crypto for the promotion. Between today and Sunday, November 21, Burger King will be giving away 2 million Dogecoin, 200 Ethereum, and 20 Bitcoin. As of this writing, one Dogecoin is worth $0.27 cents, one Ethereum is valued at $4,356, and a single Bitcoin clocks in at $61,807. (Burger King puts your odds of winning a Bitcoin at 1 in 100,011.) .lets go get ours.

read more about the blockchain world: Everything You Need to Know About Anthony Pompliano!

Everything You Need to Know About Anthony Pompliano!

Anthony Pompliano is a founder and partner, at Morgan Creek Digital, a pioneering asset manager that invests capital on behalf of institutional investors in the Bitcoin and crypto ecosystem. He is also the founder of – Off the Chain, the most famous podcast and regular newsletter in the industry. Mr. Pompliano developed and sold a variety of businesses prior to his work at Morgan Creek Digital, before overseeing various Product & Development teams at Facebook and Snapchat.

He played football at Bucknell University prior to working in tech and worked on a duty tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His ability to think critically has greatly influenced his business: a multi-strategy investment company aimed at providing strategic customers with access to blockchain technology and digital assets. This has also enabled him to become one of the leading lights in the transition of cryptocurrency.

He even hosts The Pomp Podcast that covers interviews with venture capital and crypto industry superstars such as Chamath Palihapitiya, Mark Cuban, etc.

In 2021:

  • In Sep, a new investment fund focused on his individual and brand identity was introduced.
  • Morgan Creek is investing $50 million in BlockFi crypto lenders.

Best tweets by Mr.Pompliano:

  • “Blockchain is to the next 150 years what the combustion engine was to the last 150 years.

One changed the way we transported things in the physical world.

Blockchain changed the way we transport things in the digital world.

Don’t miss out on the revolution.”

  • “There are millions of people around the world who own cryptocurrencies. 10 years from now, it will be billions.”
  • “Goldman Sachs NASDAQ New York Stock Exchange Bloomberg JP Morgan. They’re all jumping into crypto. It’s happening. We’re going mainstream.”
  • Anthony Pompliano has spent much of his recent years singing the praises of cryptocurrency, with a special focus on bitcoin. In 2019 he admitted to holding half of his assets in bitcoin, which “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary lambasted him for, calling the move “crazy.”
  • Later, Pompliano revealed that he had even raised the percentage of his money that was invested in bitcoin to around 80 percent of his total assets. His solo firm Pomp Investments invests in early-stage companies and his estimated net worth isn’t known.

  • Since Snapchat had drawn him away from Facebook with the promise of a $240,000 annual salary plus $3.5 million in stock options that would be vested after four years, Pompliano claimed that he would have had $5 million at the time of the suit if he hadn’t been terminated so quickly.

    Pompliano also co-founded and became a partner at Full Tilt Capital, an investment firm focused on early-stage companies. Full Tilt Capital eventually was acquired by Morgan Creek Capital. Through Morgan Creek Capital’s backing, Pompliano co-founded Morgan Creek Digital Assets, which specializes in blockchain and digital assets.

    One reason Pompliano is optimistic about bitcoin is that it will hold value regardless of global instability. He said in a Squawk Box interview on CNBC that people might invest in bitcoin because it’s “controlled by software and cannot be manipulated by a single country or politician.”.He is marked as the crypto bull and enthusiast for bitcoin.

Read more about blockchain : Bitcoin: The Arbitrary Ruler!

 

Evolution Of Currency From Traditional Method To Security Token

What is the buzz about the term “token”?

The emphasis placed on the terms of “token” and “account” used by the cryptocurrency community and central banking community as mentioned above aims to capture the different ways in which these terms are used by different people about different concepts. Recognition of these terms can help identify areas of misalignment and create problems in the legal framework and supervisory system of digital currencies and so-called tokenized financial markets.

The term is part of an industry phenomenon known as tokenization, which transforms real assets into digital tokens. Security brands have been under discussion for some time, and at least one company wants to put them to the test. In the case of securities tokens, trading assets such as stocks and fixed-income securities are converted into digital assets using blockchain technology, the virtual book of activities that consists of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Are security tokens a novel form of assets?

securities tokens and tokenized securities are often mixed up in the new age of blockchain, but it is imperative to understand them not as separate concepts, but about each other. Security brands, in particular, are a form of digital assets that, like cryptocurrencies, act as a value transfer tool while maintaining regulatory protection for traditional securities. Security marks are programmable crypto assets that enjoy the regulatory protection associated with traditional securities. Tokenised securities function in the same way as traditional off-chain securities, except that they are stored and sold on an exchange or blockchain network. Simply put, tokenized securities are digital representations of traditional securities to expand their market reach and increase market liquidity.

Are tokens different from coins?

Blockchain tokens are valuable but are not considered money like crypto coins. Many crypto projects issue their tokens as a representation of an asset or as use-value. They give these tokens to their investors through public sales called ICO (Initial Coin Offering).

Blockchains allow tokens to be used in the community to vote on important business decisions or technical changes to the platform, giving them more functionality than traditional crypto coins. When we talk about tokens and cryptocurrencies, we should not associate the value of these tokens with public systems, such as Ethereum, which wants to introduce new smart contracts defined by tokens without explicit use or transaction value. For this purpose, the creation of tokens can be used to detect the difference between security tokens and tokens. Security marks are created for investment, while utility marks can be created to finance an ICO or create an internal economy on a project as a blockchain. An ICO (or OST offer) is made to sell digital tokens to the general public on a cryptocurrency exchange. The main difference that stands out is the fact that ICO tokens are offered as actual coins, which are digital and classified by utility value. With an ICO token, a new ICO currency is generated ad infinitum. An ICOs value is speculative and results from the perceived utility value that the buyer expects from him.

A better balance can be found in securities brands that are digital, liquid contracts for a fraction of an asset (e.g. A house, a car, a paint job, a company’s equity, etc.). Security brands are a natural bridge between the traditional financial sector and blockchain and benefit from both. The securities token ideas, which are based on partial ownership of real assets, are well structured, meaning that investors can expect their ownership share to remain on the blockchain register.

Although tokenized assets are a promising use case for blockchain technology, there are still some major regulatory hurdles. It is unclear whether ownership of blockchain-linked tokens remains unclear, and the terms may not have legal status.

A boom of startups

A few years ago, innovations in financial markets began to spark discussions about digital tokens and the tokenization of financial assets. Initial coin offerings (ICOs) played an important role in arousing interest in the cryptocurrency market. Startups in the cryptocurrency market produce coins or tokens that are offered to investors by an initial coin offering (ICO) in exchange for legal money or digital currency. Start-ups sell their shares to investors in an initial public offering. While IPOs trade directly with investors, ICOs trade through crowdfunding with eager supporters of their projects.

so this is all about security coins, also read more about:  How Can Blockchain Solve Problems Related To Senior Citizens?

 

Facebook Changed Its Name To ‘Meta’. But Why Though?

One of the biggest news of this year has to be Facebook changing its name. Since the company’s launch in 2004, Facebook has changed the way people interact on the Internet and connected people through all walks of life. It also purchased other social media giants such as Instagram and Whatsapp and further invested and broadened its reach in a digital wallet and Virtual Reality Systems.  

What is The New Name?

Facebook has changed its corporate name to ‘Meta’ as part of a major rebrand. The name, however, does not apply to its social media platforms like the Facebook app, Instagram, and Whatsapp, but only the parent company. It has also adopted a new logo that looks like infinity.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, announced the new name as he unveiled plans to build a ‘metaverse’. We will talk about the Metaverse part in the latter part of the article. 

Imagine telling people you are on Meta. They will be alarmed if you are on some sort of drug. They might even ask you to consider rehabilitation. Here’s the funny part, with all the legal abuses that Facebook has had under its belt, it should actually consider a rehab….there I said it. 

Why The New Name?

In a 75-minute online presentation, Mark Zuckerberg urged users to adjust their thinking about the company since he had outgrown its problematic social media network. 

The company has had multiple hits on its reputation. The move to change the name comes after multiple allegations over privately and meticulously tracking real-world harms aggravated by its platform, ignored warnings about the risk of their design decisions, and exposed vulnerable communities worldwide to a set of dangerous and harmful content.

The Washington Post also reported that internal documents leak suggested that Facebook hid facts and critical information of the vaccine during the Covid outbreak. The company also sat on research that found Instagram as a leading cause of harming the mental health of teenagers and its inability to remove hate speech from its platform. 

It’s like Rakesh committed all the crimes in the world, and when his secret was unveiled in front of the world, he announced that he would be called Mahesh from now onwards. Imagine someone confronting Mahesh for his heinous deeds, and he goes like… Nah bro, that was Rakesh.

However, these are the speculations and possibilities on why Facebook made this sudden move of rebranding its company. According to Zuckerberg, it is done because Facebook wants to create a Metaverse and that the company has grown above being just a social networking platform.

What is Metaverse?

Some are considering it as the future of the Internet. But what exactly is a Metaverse?

A few years back, did it ever cross your mind that a thing called Virtual Reality could allow you to experience games and movies in a way that was happening right in front of your eyes? A metaverse is just an enhanced version of this virtual reality. 

You could use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments. This virtual world could be used for practically anything- work, play, concerts, movie theatres, or just hanging out. It is like a universe in itself that is quite vacant but ships everyone virtually. You could have a 3D avatar – a representation of yourself – as you use it.

Quite exciting and scary. Isn’t it? Am I seeing a future where everyone has lost a sense of reality and is as good as their Internet connection? I don’t know. This is just an idea of this whole thing and contains no agreed definition of Metaverse.

Companies Changing Names

Interestingly, Philip Morris Co. Inc., makers of cigarette brands like Marlboro and Chesterfield, changed its name to the anodyne Altria Group to avoid press nightmares. The company was accused of rising tobacco-related deaths. Instead of making customers forget about Philip Morris, Altria’s new name just reminded them that the company wanted to avoid being blamed for the adverse health effects caused by its tobacco products.

ValuJet couldn’t shake the bad reputation it got after flight 592 crashed in the Everglades in 1996. All 110 passengers died in the horrific incident. An investigation revealed SabreTech, the airline’s maintenance contractor, was responsible for the accident due to unsafe cargo conditions. ValuJet merged with AirTran in 1997, giving up its name in the process.

In 2015, Google decided that it would change its name to Alphabet. The reasons provided had mainly to do with clarity for investors. Google’s more controversial projects, such as its efforts to expand its reach with accident-prone drones and sensitive health care technology, no longer have Google’s name on them. They’re now owned by Alphabet, an innocent-sounding company you’ve probably never heard of. If you pick up a random stranger on the streets and ask him what Alphabet is, you will likely receive all sorts of naive and dumb answers. 

Conclusion

The thing is, Facebook is not the first company that opted for rebranding after it was covered in a blanket of controversies. This has been done for ages, and sometimes it works, and other times it fails to save the image of the associated company. Only time will tell what lies ahead for Facebook, um, I mean Meta.

Best Laptops To Buy In 2021 For Less Than 50,000

 

There were times when spending Rs 50,000 wasn’t enough for a good laptop. With new technological innovations and price drops, times have certainly changed for the better. 

During the COVID 19 pandemic, people have been working mostly from their homes and hence the demand for affordable laptops have skyrocketed. 

The best of laptops have to offer a great balance between power, performance, and price. The laptops that we have compiled in this list may not be the fastest or the most powerful laptops, but they will get you through your day-to-day workloads without causing any issues. 

There are also few ultrabooks in this list that can be considered a decent gaming laptop. Let’s look at the options:

HP 15 15s- gr0012AU

The HP 15s laptop comes with a 15.6-inch display and a dedicated number pad. It is powered by the 3rd generation AMD Ryzen 5 325OU processor, which is paired with 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, and a 1TB hard disk. The graphics are handled by the Radeon Vega 6 integrated graphics. 

You can get an HP15s laptop from Amazon for Rs 41,990. 

MI Notebook 14

MI Notebook 14 XMA1901-FA is light but versatile machine and is powered by the 10th Generation Intel Core i5 – 10210U processor with 4 cores and 8 threads. The laptop offers 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD. 

MI Notebook comes with a scissor-switch keyboard and a multi-touch trackpad and is perfect for multi-tasking. It is powered by a 46 Wh battery and can run up to 10 hours of usage on a single charge. 

You can buy MI Notebook 14 from Amazon for 48,000. 

ASUS Vivobook 14

The ASUS Vivobook 14 features a 14 inch Full HD LED-backlit anti-glare display and is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor. The system is designed to be thin and light and is coupled with 8GB DDR4 RAM and 128 GB SSD. 

The display is a matte 1920×1080 IPS panel and you get a subscription to Microsoft Office 365 and Windows 10 Home with this laptop. 

You can buy ASUS Vivobook 14 from Amazon for 40,000.

Lenovo ThinkPad E15

The Lenovo ThinkPad E15 is a perfect laptop for multitasking. It comes equipped with the 11th Generation Intel Core i3 1115G4 processor and has a 15.6 inch Full HD display. The machine is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD. 

You can buy Lenovo ThinkPad E15 from Amazon.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Review: To Tab Or Not To Tab?

Samsung recently launched a bunch of Galaxy products, albeit in the budget segment. Among the lot was the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, which is expected to fall in the mid-range tablet segment. While we are yet to explore it fully, here’s a quick review of what we have learnt so far:

First Impressions:

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite comes in a simple white box. Apart from the tablet, its contents include a travel adaptor, a data cable, an ejection pin, and a manual. Samsung has also provided a book cover for the Tab, though I doubt it will be offered as a standard accessory. The cover itself is priced at 2199, which is still considerable, should a potential customer opt for it. 

The model we received gets 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage. There is also a higher version available with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage. Both models share an 8.7-inch HD Display that might not be the best in class, but it does its job flawlessly. The tab gets an 8MP camera at the front and a 2MP unit at the rear. Neither are excellent for photography, but a tablet isn’t supposed to be used for severe photography either!

Usage:

Being equipped with just 3GB RAM means the tablet is rather sluggish. Honestly, I felt a slight lag right from the time I booted it up. The interface is typical Samsung with nothing to admire, though Samsung loyalists will find no fault. The usual Samsung paraphernalia is included in the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, while it also gets an optional e-educator. It’s a nifty addition, especially in current times.

The tablet is not bulky to hold and feels more like an enlarged phone. However, its awkward dimensions mean that fluent operation is more of a habit than intuition. The display, however, is classic Samsung and shows all colours in vivid beauty. However, the lack of a suitable processing system and supporting hardware means that the Tab’s potential might be untapped, should it have any.

Verdict:

Samsung has given the Tab a 5100mAH battery. While it is not monstrous, it should suffice for a day’s worth of light or medium usage. It is clear that Samsung aims to market this Tab as a jack of all trades, and it is doubtful that it will be a master of any. That said, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a suitable pick for anyone looking for a multi-purpose utility tool without too high expectations and while also being reasonably priced. The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is available in 3GB + 32GB and priced at Rs 14,999 for LTE and Rs 11,999 for WIFI model.

Taking things forward

January without a holy trip to Las Vegas is something that I am not used to for the last 14 years. Holy because of CES and for a tech addict like me, there can’t be a better pilgrimage than to be at CES – the hotbed of all innovation. The city of Las Vegas is just the cherry on the “Prasada”. But we all know the world has changed and 2020 has been a catastrophic year taking away all the sunshine. The clouds are now beginning to break and with 2021 we can see that ray of sunlight in the shape of the vaccine. Vaccine or no vaccine, life has resumed. Covid-19 has already pushed the human race to the wall and it is bound to rebound. There is no other way but to move forward and swapping places with Covid and plastering it to the wall now.

This is our Exhibit Tech Awards 2020 special. Again, we could not host all the stakeholders of the Indian Consumer Tech Industry, but we followed the process of public voting and for the first time had a virtual jury meet where Rakesh Biyani joined from London, Siddharth Sharma joined from Toronto and rest of us including Mr Brian Bade, Dj Aqueel, Nucelya, Avinash Gowarikar all through their screens “zoomed” in and together we picked the winners that you can meet in the following pages. Just to add some flamboyance in the Exhibit way, we booked the 38th-floor lounge of St Regis and laid out all the winning gadgets against the beaming Mumbai skyline and
a pompous setup and did a walkaround video that is now live on our Youtube channel. Next year hopefully, we will revert to the meeting, greeting and awarding in person and have perhaps a high decibel gala awards night as always.

It’s the start of 2021 and already from the automotive industry, invitations are trickling in for launch events and hopefully, the tech industry will follow suit and we will all get back to business as usual, perhaps with the masks on. Did you know that the face mask market is projected to grow from USD 737 million in 2019 to a whopping USD 22143 million in 2021 [Source: markets and markets research Pvt ltd]? No one could have anticipated that. We are waiting to see some interesting tech innovations coming for the masks and sanitization market, which will become a way of life even after the pandemic is gone. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone who has visited Japan anytime in 2019 or earlier, and they will tell you that people with masks on was a common sight in Japan even then and it just got more layered up in 2020.

There is plenty of anticipation and expectation from the year ahead, but don’t forget to take away all the learnings from 2020 which is to survive you need basics and we have to be there for each other because we are all in this together.

3 simple steps to switch from Android to Apple | Exhibit tech

It is not often that people opt to switch to smartphones with a completely different operating system. But for those who do, there is always the question of how to transfer data between Android and Apple! Well, we are here to answer just that today as we show you a quick and effective way of transferring your WhatsApp data from an Android smartphone to an iPhone.

Leadership Series | Shashi Arora – CEO, Lloyd

In today’s episode we talk about the changes in technology in the past 25 years, learnings from the pandemic & what are the upcoming launches that Lloyd is planning, with the CEO of Lloyd himself, Mr. Shashi Arora.

Sunil Jose | Top Leaders In Texh & Auto

Ex: Leadership quotes that you live by
Sunil: A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. – John Lenon John Quincy Adams, a former US president once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader”.

Ex: What is the biggest change in customer relationship management you have seen in the past decade?
Sunil: Computing is evolving. It began with systems of record, which hold your customer data in silos that are not user friendly nor easily accessible. It moved to systems of engagement, which are systems like email, collaboration systems, and new social networking and learning systems. More recently, we’ve entered an era of more intelligent systems, where artificial intelligence and reporting bring the data we need to life. Now, we’re in the era of a single source of truth. There must be one singular place that has all of your customer data, from your CRM and other parts of your organization to the data that lives outside your organization completely.

Ex: With e-commerce gaining prominence and WFH becoming the new culture, what changes do you plan to bring to your system?
Sunil: Over the last few months, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need to enable distributed and remote work almost overnight. Now, as we slowly but surely turn to recovery and ensure business continuity, technology will play a key role in enabling this transition while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of employees. With all of our employees currently working from home around the world, our top priority is ensuring their safety. To this effect, we have brought in some changes in our system. As employees continue to work from home, one of the biggest challenges for organizations will be to ensure productivity. With the right setup, individuals tend to be more available, more productive, and happier.

Ex: What is one truth you believe in that most people disagree with you on?
Sunil: This is indeed an interesting question. I would have to say, the ability to take risks and leap forward with conviction irrespective of the doubts that plague your mind while making an uncertain decision.

Ex: One book you keep coming back to?                                                                Sunil:  I have always been an avid reader. Two books which have particularly had a great impact on me are – Playing to Win by A.G.Lafley by Roger L Martin and Factfulness by Hans Rosling. Both these books have predominantly shaped my outlook on a professional and personal front.

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