Until yesterday (not literally but almost) AI was a fancy word that was too far fetched to be true so soon. I mean robots and the likes were only a thing in the movies, right? Replacing humans? You must be kidding me!
No, we aren’t kidding you because not only has Artificial Intelligence – AI started rooting itself in our minds but has also begun to create waves in the real work world. Now, these waves are pleasant for some while a Tsunami for many others.
For instance and for news, Microsoft has taken over the job of taking everyone’s job. We mean that they’ve replaced dozens of journalists with artificial intelligence. This means that journalists have been fired. We are talking about the employees who maintained the homepages on Microsoft’s MSN website and its Edge browser. They have been told (indirectly, of course) that robots will most definitely do a better job than them. Is there really a subtle way to say this? We aren’t sure.
Around 27 employees at PA Media were told that they have only a month’s time to say goodbye after Microsoft decided to make AI the star employee of the month, year, decade and so on.. and to stop employing real people to select, edit and curate news articles on all the homepages.
Is this notice too short? Of course. Besides the fact that AI has been in the news since quite some time now and there has been a lot of talk around how it will replace humans in so many ways, employees didn’t expect it to happen this fast. They also didn’t expect Microsoft to give such a short notice. They’re not surprised as they knew this would come sooner or later but they’re startled because it’s too sudden.
Humans over Artificial Intelligence AI
In defense of humans over Artificial Intelligence, one employee deemed the decision extremely risky, as the AI might not be able to deliver results as per the “very strict editorial guidelines” which can only be adhered to by humans at all possible times. Use of AI could lead to violent or inappropriate content being presented on opening the browser and there could be an underage person sitting on the other end of the screen.
Well, only time will tell who beats whom but we know one thing for sure. The fight is real. With so much happening across the world where we have a fight against racism and a pandemic, here we are in a fight against tech too! Human beings or AI? Who do you think will be the real winner here?
We heard the Managing Directors, and now it’s time to hear the front line ‘Brand’ Warriors. All marketing leaders are facing challenges in generating demand and keeping the conversations salient. We speak to heads of some of the most influential brands in India today, understanding the challenges they face, how they overcame them, and what have they planned for the future.
Panelists for The Experts Roundtable Chapter 6
Vivek Srivatsa, Head Marketing, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors
Shreyash Sigtia, Head of Industry, FMCG, Google India
Pallavi Singh, Director, Marketing, BMW India
Siddhant Narayan, Head of Marketing, OnePlus India
Moderator: Ramesh Somani- Chief Editor & Publisher, BBC TopGear India and Exhibit.
[Ramesh Somani]: Pallavi, I have known you from Harley-Davidson, then MG Motor India, and now BMW India. These are the time when we can’t be silent but salient, what’s your marketing strategy going ahead, in these challenging times when both the demand and supply are restricted.
[Pallavi Singh]: I think the times are unprecedented, and they need extraordinary measures of course. Automotive has been very traditional for a long time, and we are trying to upscale the digital transformation. From a strategy point of view, I think the next few months are going to be very critical, we really need to understand how the consumer behavior is changing, we are looking at first-party data, third-party data and really looking at what’s happening on our own platform and tracking how the customer journey is changing.
Digital transformation is going to lead to digital commerce, and that is something we really need to put forward to our stakeholders, our dealer network, and our customers. I think this a time that requires new learning; there is a lot of skill that we require to live in the post-COVID19 reality.
[Ramesh Somani]: Siddhant, you have worked with some of the most prominent brands – Nike, Daniel Wellington, and Jio. So tell us, how does your previous experience merge with your current role with OnePlus?
[Siddhant Narayan]: I consider myself very fortunate to work with very consumer-centric brands, a lot of youth-focused names. From a personal standpoint,
I have to come to realize whether it’s an Indian consumer of a global consumer, the consumer actually has more similarities than differences.
Whichever industry you look at, these young Indian consumers have more similarities than differences. A lot of this starts from consumer insights, and that’s my approach as well – looking for customer needs and answering them with our products and marketing strategies.
[Ramesh Somani]: We know the markets for automobiles are opening up as the relaxations are rolling out, what are your top three priorities from a marketing standpoint?
[Vivek Srivatsa]: Priorities are pretty straightforward in times like these. The first is to ensure customers feel confident in visiting our showrooms once again, a lot of work is needed and not only from Tata Motors but from the industry as a whole. Second is the overall concept of safety and wellbeing, how this has significantly gone up in the customer’s minds and as an industry we need to talk to them. The third point revolves around the difficult 15-18 months that the automotive industry has been facing, and we need to work together and get the ball rolling at the right speed.
[Ramesh Somani]: What are the user trends you are seeing during the lockdown Google?
[Shreyash Sigtia]: To sum it up in a few words, we were going online till February, now we are living online. I’ll give you a very simple example of how the transformation has taken place – my dad now pays his electricity bill online, my wife now buys groceries via apps and my kids go online to get educated. We would have had this panel face-to-face with the audience sitting in front, but here we are doing it virtually with the audience now coming in as viewers. These are some of the most picked up trends in the past few months. The last two and a half months has forced us to learn new skills to be more relevant in the current times. And now that you have forced me to speak about some really big trends, there are a couple of interesting commonly searched things. People are now looking up groceries near them, and I’ll give one thing from the automotive industry –
people now want to know if it is safe to visit dealers and they are looking up ways on how to sanitize their cars. People will use their mobile phones for a lot more things, and smartphones will become their lifeline in the coming post-COVID-19 era.
[Ramesh Somani]: What’s your source of marketing ideas? Any books, website how do you come up with marketing ideas?
[Pallavi Singh]: One thing that I go back to is 9GAG, and secondly, I have started playing a lot of video games because there is a lot you learn when you look at Call of Duty or you look at Far Cry – how intense these games are but it’s a team’s work together. If you collaborate your spirit, you can implement any idea, especially in times like these when ideas aren’t all that different, they are generally the same ideas but how do you reinvent the idea, how you can communicate them with your customers, those are the most important things. I think it’s all about the team spirit. The idea can be great but if you don’t have a team that can work it through, then it can fall flat. Also, I read a lot of books by Malcolm Gladwell, he writes a lot about business strategies and ways to approach markets.
[Siddhant Narayan]: I consider myself very fortunate to be working with a young, energetic, and tech-oriented team who are always high on energy, extremely passionate, and very committed. A lot of my ideas are actually my teams and a lot of credit goes to them. I’m also in constant touch with my professors and my ex-bosses and we discuss ideas and market trends. Also, since OnePlus is a community first brand and we have a lot of discussions going on our forums, I just stay in constant touch with the conversations there and bring up ideas from these forums to work with.
[Vivek Srivatsa]: As marketers and people on the commercial side of the business, we have been through a range of books that teach us a few tricks but today there is so much happening around in the world, I consider myself fortunate to live in this world where information is freely available, and the way I approach is to train my mind better to learn from what’s happening around us. This kind of learning probably doesn’t come from books, but we should probably train ourselves on how to take these learnings from things happening around us.
[Shreyash Sigtia]: I would really want to agree with Siddhant, a lot of ideas and creativity comes from the team. Especially in the COVID-19 times, people really come up with ideas that would be otherwise considered wacky but they make so much sense in today’s era. A lot of ideas also come when you sit with your partners and brainstorm for ideas to tackle the challenges that they are facing. My bias would be towards actions, a few months down the lie
I don’t want to be thinking I had this idea but I never got around to try it. I would rather try a lot more things to move the needle.
[Ramesh Somani]: How effective is “Influencer Marketing” in terms of promoting luxury brands digitally?
[Pallavi Singh]: BMW is an experiential brand, a lot of our customers can vouch for that and we design and engineer our cars very thoroughly. A lot of our influencer strategy is built on real people, people who use our cars whether they are celebrity chefs or lifestyle influencers in the fashion space. We work with them because they truly understand the brand, and they personify the brand because they are also using them. Some of them have helped us sell cars within their circles, and that is the kind of relationship we build with our fans – we call them brand fans and they are not really influencers they are fans of the brand.
[Ramesh Somani]: We saw a few influencers being associated with the launch of the Tata Altroz. How was the engagement like, were there any lessons learned that you would want to share with us?
[Vivek Srivatsa]: The way we approached the influencer engagement with the Tata Altroz was quite different from what we would have done a year or two back. We have to extremely clear with what we require from the influencers, and we need to cater and align our content to what the influencer does, what’s the audience he or she caters to. Today we are far more nuanced in the way we approach influencer marketing, we align our products or an aspect of our product with that kind of creator or audience and that really helped us. It also helps us dive deeper into our product proposition and it’s been a very fascinating journey so far.
[Ramesh Somani]: Domin8 has been seeing really good traction, how has been the campaign response?
[Siddhant Narayan]: We are still very fresh from the event that happened on the second. Summer is India is synonymous with cricket, this is the time when consumers are used to turning on their devices and watching the biggest premier leagues. A lot of these top cricketers also play computer games in their off-pitch time and while brainstorming with the team, the idea came up. It was actually something that we took a very big risk on, and as far as the measurement of all of this is concerned, we have got an incredible PR coverage around it. We also got a lot of organic engagement and coverage because something like this was never done before.
LIVE AUDIENCE POLL: – Will you go back to buying and reading print magazines?
RESULTS : 57 percent say yes, touch, and feel matters. 35 percent do it with e-mags and 8 percent are yet to decide.
[Ramesh Somani]: In this new normal, digital marketing has taken the front seat. How will events change shape the future?
[Pallavi Singh]: Well most recently it was Rihanna who did the live concert during the lockdown time, I think there has to be a hybrid model between online and offline. Traditional events like music concerts or even with automobiles where people come to look and feel the automobiles and hear it go for the first time – it’s always been about the physical touch but moving forward things will change. Hybrid models haven’t entirely been innovated in the COVID-19 scenario, they existed before as well. We will have to bring out more ideas and opportunities on the table, try combinations, and focus on technology integrations.
It’s too early to say how events will look like in the future, but we sure have seen virtual launches by various manufacturers using AR in the most recent times.
[Ramesh Somani]: Now local brands are being pushed to help recover the economy and many campaigns have been launched by the government. Do you have any marketing strategies aligned in line with this new #Vocalforlocal
[Vivek Srivatsa]: One point in that is that we don’t have to look for a slogan, it’s smartly ready. But I think as Tata Motors we don’t have to stress more on our local parts. As a brand, we are as Indian as it gets, and the community-building activities that we conduct need no introduction.
We do not wish to piggyback this slogan, we don’t want to push our cars to people because they are local. We want people to come to our showrooms or experience our cars from their homes and then want to buy them.
Our brand has the safest range of mass-marketed cars, and as a cost to features and value for money ration, we sit in a sweet spot. It’s a good sentiment that people have currently, but we do not plan on riding our products on those waves.
[Ramesh Somani]: Tata Motors was one of the biggest sponsors for IPL, with such a big percentage of your marketing budget parked towards it. Since the cricket league has been canceled for now, where else are you going to try and advertise your brand?
[Vivek Srivatsa]: I think IPL will probably happen later towards the year, but generally speaking in terms of the marketing budget, companies have shifted their focus on the digital space. That’s where customers are going, and that’s where the business lies. There are endless opportunities and possibilities in digital ways. Many companies have already broken the line of doing conferences online, rather than spending on those huge travel expenses which ultimately reduce the global carbon footprint. Opportunities are immense, and I am really excited about the times ahead as they are as challenging as ever.
Because of time Constraint – We could only take one Question from 565 Live Attendees :
Esha Mishra from MG Motor India & her question When the COVID-19 curve flattens, do you think the current marketing challenges will stay or completely fade away?
[Pallavi Singh]: The challenges will be there, digital transformation has to kick in really quickly. There were will huge challenges because there will be new skills and talent required to push the digital transformation. It is important to get the right people and work with them.
But one question to ask – who is it that bought the digital transformation to the industry –was it the CEO, the CTO or the COVID-19.
We really need to understand what a consumer wants, and not what the brand wants. It will be challenging, marketing will have to reinvent itself and it’s going to be a roller coaster ride ahead.
[Ramesh Somani]: That’s right, this is a one in a hundred-year phenomenon and while the challenges are difficult, they are also very exciting. Let’s try and work towards our goals better by reinventing each of our brands while riding the digital transformation wave. Thank you for your wonderful insights! I’m looking forward to seeing you soon, take care of yourself & Stay Safe everyone.
The Android 11 Developer Preview is out and we can’t even! First things first. If you have a compatible pixel Smartphone then you can get it right now. You’re all excited and waiting for the steps involved but a word of caution here. This is a beta version so expect a lot of bugs and incomplete features. Also, if anything goes wrong, your device might go Kaput. So, while you have all the anticipation of the great stuff it has to offer, be also aware of the risks you’re taking. It is advisable to try this on your second device. We advise you against downloading android 11 on your main Smartphone.
Which Android phones are compatible for Android 11?
Google Pixel 2
Google Pixel 2 XL
Google Pixel 3
Google Pixel 3 XL
Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 3a XL
Google Pixel 4
Google Pixel 4 XL
If you own any of these smartphones, you can go ahead with downloading Android 11. Here’s how you can do that.
Enable the developer options on your Pixel smartphone. How to do that? Go to Settings > About Phone > Tap on Build Number 10 times. This enables the developer options for your android phone.
Go back and tap System > Advanced > Developer options. Enable OEM unlocking here. After that, scroll down and enable USB debugging.
Now for the work on your computer. Open Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge version 79 or above, and visit the Android developer preview website.
If you’re using a Windows 10 computer, download the Google USB Driver for Windows for the flashing process. No additional drivers are needed for Mac.
Connect your phone to your computer and on the Android developer, preview website click on the Android Flash Tool Link next to your device name.
Click OK on the pop-up page that asks for permission. On your android phone, tap ‘allow’ for USB debugging. This will authenticate your device and your smartphone is now connected. In case your phone isn’t connected, click on Add New Device > a pop-up will appear, click on your phone’s name > click Connect. Tap Allow on the pop-up on your android phone. Your phone is now connected.
After your phone is connected, click on the box where your phone’s name appears. On the next page you’ll see the pencil icon that you need to click, next to Selected Build. Here you will be able to enable the Lock Bootloader option if you want to ensure that your phone’s bootloader is locked once the process is finished. And it’s finally time to hit install!
You’ll now be asked to avoid interacting with your phone. Confirm and click ‘I Accept’.
You’ll be asked to Factory reset your phone. Click ‘yes’ on your computer and Tap ‘Allow’ on your android phone.
Your Smartphone will now reboot to its bootloader screen. You’ll also see the current status of your phone on your computer screen.
While waiting you might see a pop-up on the computer screen asking you to reselect your device. This is a possibility if you’re flashing your phone for the first time. Click ‘Reselect device’. You’ll see another pop-up. Click Android > Connect > you’ll see one more pop-up asking you to unlock the bootloader, click Start.
On your phone’s screen, navigate to unlock the bootloader with the volume keys and select it by hitting the power button. The Android 11 download will now start. You can track the progress on your computer’s screen.
Once Android 11 is downloaded and finished installing, you’ll be asked to lock your phone’s bootloader. Click Start and select ‘Lock the Bootloader’ on your smartphone. Navigate with the volume keys and select by clicking the power button. Lastly, tap done on your computer’s screen.
Now you have to wait till your phone reboots. Once this is done, your computer shows a message that reads ‘Software successfully updated’. (Yayyy!!) You can then start setting up your device and unplug it from the computer.
Now that your device is set up, you now have a Pixel phone that runs Android 11 along with the latest security patch!
These steps might look like they’re a lot of work but believe it or not, the whole process is really simple. Once you download Android 11, you can enjoy testing it out! Are there any bugs? Are the features good? We will be happy to know from you! After all, you’re the early birds to enjoy Android 11 right now. Throw some light on what can be expected. We are waiting!
Well, the halt of Chinese products and the promotion of ‘Make in India’ was not just a hype after all. Looking at the current scenario, who would want to invest in Chinese businesses? We’d rather sustain our own economy right now. Since, China is very much the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons right now, we have another legit reason for you to say good bye to all things Chinese. These Chinese apps could be spreading a pandemic in your phone right now. Get rid of them, we suggest. It’s not only us but the government agrees too.
Caution: There’s not five or ten of them. There’s a whopping 42 Chinese apps that could be spyware or malware.
There are also some alarming and ironic facts that we will talk about but first let’s see which are the apps in your phone that need to go to trash right now.
Weibo (Time to say ‘We Go’)
WeChat (Time to sing We don’t Chat anymore)
SHAREIt (Shares more than you want it to)
UC News (gives your news to spies)
UC Browser (knows what’s happening in your house while you browse)
BeautyPlus (Minus privacy of course)
NewsDog (Don’t be the dog)
Viva Video (We ‘no’ video)
Parallel Space (And parallel spying)
APUS browser (Read again. It’s not ASUS)
Perfect Corp (with imperfect intentions)
Virus Cleaner (more like virus installer?)
CM Browser (Chief Malware browser?)
Mi Community (Of spies!)
DU Recorder (Ewww Recorder)
Vault-Hide (Sensitive Details SHOW)
YouCam MakeUp (You CAN’T)
Mi Store (of Malware)
CacheClear DU Apps Studio (Cash clear?)
DU Battery Saver (Data drainer?)
DU Cleaner (Wiping out your private data!)
DU Privacy (not so private after all)
360 security (against your info!)
DU Browser (click bait!)
Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile (Maybe, as fast as a Cheetah when it comes to compromising your data?)
Baidu translate (translating your data for cyber attacks)
Baidu Map (tracking all your moves)
Wonder Camera (makes you wonder where your info got leaked)
ES File Explorer (ES File Destroyer)
Photo Wonder (All those selfies aren’t private to you)
QQ International (International spies)
QQ Player (playing with your data)
QQ NewsFeed (feeding someone else with your news)
WeSync (Your data with our intentions)
QQ Security Centre (Securing Malware on your device)
SelfieCity (Selfish City?)
Mail Master (Malware Master)
QQ Launcher (Launching viruses on your phone)
Mi Video call (Your and everyone else’s video call is in trouble)
That’s a very long list there. These Chinese apps aren’t banned but it is advisable to delete them if you have installed them on your phone. If you haven’t, we have you reasons enough to not install them.
Do you see a strange and ironic finding?
Most of these apps are anti-virus apps. It definitely makes you less suspicious of them. Who can imagine that an app that’s supposed to rid your phone of viruses will end up infecting it instead? Now that you know that these apps could be a threat, there shouldn’t be a doubt.
The one that’s caught off guard in this controversial and factual news is Xiaomi. We all love Xiaomi and all its offerings to us but since this has instilled some amount of fear against the use of Mi apps, it could mean ‘crisis’ management time for Xiaomi. For those who trust the brand, continuation of use will be seen but it will be hard to instill the same trust in new buyers. Let’s see how Xiaomi handles the situation.
Another brand that everyone was shocked to see on the list is TrueCaller. However, before things got out of hand, Sweden based TrueCaller said in their defense: “In response to certain reports, we would like to clarify that we are a Sweden based company. We are not sure why the app is on this list, but we’re investigating. Truecaller is not a malware, and all our features are permission-based and are disabled by default.” This statement is believable because TrueCaller is a Swedish brand but it does make everyone wonder why it was on the list.
As of now, there’s no concrete evidence or proof for the public at least. However, the government has listed these as threats and we must avoid the risk unless we want our phones to also be hit by a pandemic. Just saying. I mean it isn’t that important to take Selfies with a SelfieCity, right?
There is so much talk about 5G across the globe. It has been in the tech news for quite some time but a lot of us still don’t know all the details. What is this 5G technology? How does it work? Let’s decode this next-gen tech and see how it will revolutionize forthcoming mobile phone generations.
For a simple start, 5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks. It is an evolution of the current 4th generation LTE networks. With the growing connectivity in the world, imagine billions of devices connected to each other with a network and mind of their own. The existing 4G network is fast enough already. Now imagine something faster than that, that too with a faster response time. Sounds cool! Doesn’t it? Now let’s see how all of it works.
First, let’s understand a term called latency. It is the time taken by devices to respond to each other over a wireless network. Now if you thought all the celebration and hype around 5G isn’t worth your while, check this out:
3G network response time – 100 milliseconds.
4G network response time – 30 milliseconds.
5G network response time – 1 millisecond.
Read that again. 1 MILLISECOND. Imagine an almost zero wait time, zero lag and everything happening in actual real time.
So what will this ultra small wait time help us with?
Internet of Things! Machine to machine communication will become unbelievably fast and imagine a whole world of machines interacting with each other without any human intervention!
Unbelievably reliable low latency communications.
Enhanced mobile broadband.
Imagine a world of smart farms, cities, schools, villages. 5G is about to shrink the world further and it seems to provide comfort to lives, businesses and communities like one has never imagined before.
Now with so much to offer, how do 5G networks work?
Initially, 5G networks will have to work with 4G networks to ensure a continuous connectivity.
Getting deeper into the technical aspects; a mobile network has two main components, the ‘Radio Access Network’ and the ‘Core Network’.
The Radio Access Network –
It comprises of an array of facilities that include small cells, towers, masts and home systems that connect mobile users and wireless devices to the main core network.
Small cells are a major feature of 5G networks especially at the new millimetre wave (mmWave) frequencies. Here, the connection range is very short. Small cells will be distributed in clusters to provide a continuous connection.
5G Macro Cells will use MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antennae which have multiple connections in order to send and receive more data simultaneously. The benefit to us is that more people can connect to the network at the same time while getting the same, rich output.
The Core Network
This is the mobile exchange and data network which has the job of managing all of the mobile voice, data and internet connections. Most of the advanced features of 5G including network slicing for various applications and services will be managed in the core.
Network Slicing
This enables a smart way to segment the network for a particular business or application.
Network Function Virtualization (NVF)
This is the ability to instantiate network functions in real time for any location within the operator’s cloud platform. Network functions that used to run on dedicated hardware will now be able to operate on software on a virtual machine. NVF is extremely important for speed efficiency to support new business applications.
This is all the basic tech that goes into operations of 5G networks.
Now imagine a world where you don’t have to wait for a page to load. That’s just the tip of the iceberg and that’s the least of the best that 5G can do for you. Let our imagination dream big. Now imagine a world where you don’t have to operate anything in your house and all of those machines work on their own as and when needed. That’s what we’re talking about. Maybe even bigger and better things are in store for us with 5G. Only time will tell if it’s a boon or a bane. After all, we are all going to become super lazy with so much tech at our disposal. However, with all those perks, we aren’t really complaining. Are we?
Since everything is revolving around Coronavirus, it’s treatment and the ‘new normal’, let’s think about what the world might look like if technology was to evolve too. I mean, if besides social distancing, we were to maintain a distance from gadgets too, yet operate them at the same time, how would it be?
While touchscreen technology has been around for more than a decade now, we can hardly imagine life without it. Touchscreen phones, tabs, laptops, everything. Since viruses (especially Coronavirus) and other microorganisms tend to live on surfaces, can we really control a breakout of the same by coming up with ‘touchless’ technology?
Fast-forward to 2025 and I’m leaving to buy some groceries. I simply wink at my car door to open it. A ‘wink and blink’ technology. Cool, quick and efficient. Isn’t it? I remember registering my eyelid for anti-theft certification. It was a long process and my eye did hurt but we have to be cautious. It is better to have my eye hurt than contract Coronavirus. Now I can be sure that neither will my car be stolen nor will I contract Coronavirus (at least not by touching the surface of my car). What a relief.
I am back home and it is time to check my phone. It is at my work desk and I only have to wave ‘hello’ to it for its screen to appear on my TV – the big screen experience! I feel super lazy for not even lifting my hand to touch the phone but that’s what all of this new Touchless technology is about! Besides, my hand already hurts from waving ‘hello’. And now that the display is on the big screen, I’d finish a few tasks and enter a Zoom call for my official meeting. Let’s go with checking my social media accounts first. To enter my Instagram account, I simply make a ‘duck face’, for TikTok I need to make an exaggerated dance move and for Twitter, I need to speak a strong opinion for a ’cause’. Touchless technology is that simple! Crazy, isn’t it? For the Zoom call thereafter, I simply make an ‘It’s Monday again’ face and there we go. I’m beginning to think that why wasn’t Touchless technology always a way of life?
The whole of my face and body hurt right now by making all those expressions and gestures so it’s a free workout session every day too! That’s quite a bonus. I’m not complaining. What I’m thinking about is just this, that if we were winking at our cars without this ‘touchless’ technology, it would be so odd. Think about making that ‘it’s Monday again’ face to login to Zoom meetings and getting fired by your boss.
Well, so much for avoiding pandemics. We’re afraid of the touch but I guess we should be more afraid of the ‘touchless’ unless we want to get weirder, looted by tech companies for the new technology and well, more susceptible to a mental care rehabilitation centre. We’re okay with building herd immunity for now, I guess?
While you all were thinking of all the controversies and downfall that Elon Musk must’ve seen in the last two years, he launched yet another milestone, literally. SpaceX successfully launched NASA astronauts into space!
Elon Musk and the team have been working on this dream for the last 18 years and on 30th May of 2020, the automobile tycoon’s SpaceX launched astronauts beyond the skies. The Falcon 9 rocket left Launch Complex 39A carrying two astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. This marked history for Elon Musk as SpaceX became the very first private company to have launched astronauts for NASA.
With all of this, if all goes well, SpaceX will also begin launching astronauts not only for NASA but other space agencies and private companies. The first operational Crew Dragon mission, called Crew-1, is expected to launch to the ISS on or around Aug. 30, with 3 NASA astronauts and 1 astronaut from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
A test dummy named Ripley was onboard Demo-1 that was launched previously in March 2019 with no real astronauts on board. This was for a week-long test. Elon Musk has been extremely overwhelmed with emotion and when someone’s hard work does pay off, it definitely is a victory worth all the emotions and celebrations.
While the return is more important than entry, Musk and team are geared up to ensure that the reentry is safe and only then will he consider it to be a true victory. Elon Musk has earned quite a reputation over the years. Tesla fans are many and now SpaceX is all set to create a wave of new fandom. He has shown remarkable resilience even during tough times and his crisis management skills have proven to be unparalleled. After all, courage is the true virtue that one must live by.
Amidst all the Coronavirus chaos that the world has been hit really hard with, there’s consolation here in this huge achievement that showcases what all a human being can do. It is all about setting goals and following through to achieve them. Elon Musk has set an example for all to follow.
Leaving you with a positive note by Adidas – ‘Impossible is nothing’.
A camera is one of the most used gadgets in the present time. We all have a small and capable camera with us at all times – our smartphones. Smartphones cameras have now evolved to be more capable than they were five years ago. Most of us love our smartphones which can carry out the day to day imaging needs very easily. However, if you are looking to upgrade to a different camera, it is a different ball game altogether.
Tips to Buying a New Camera
Buying a new camera is much simpler now. You have a lot of brands and types of cameras that are available within a wide price range. What becomes difficult is the process of choosing which camera to buy. There are many choices which usually confuse buyers. Megapixels, zoom, battery life etc, a lot to consider before putting your money on one.
Buying a camera is basically identifying what you would be doing with your camera. Are you shooting your regular life or doing something which required more control? In this guide, we have narrowed down the types of cameras according to their capabilities and uses.
The first thing you do is set a budget range. Your budget will depend on what you want to get. Needless to say, the higher your budget, the better equipment you can buy. So, set a budget which will enable you to narrow down the options available in the same range.
Now that your budget has been finalized, you can choose what type of camera to buy. For someone who would use the camera for his day to day photos, vacations etc, you can go for a small but powerful digital camera. Digital cameras have now become extremely capable and pack very powerful sensors and processors inside. Digital cameras are easier to operate and you do not need to be a pro to actually take pictures. Simply setting up it in auto mode will allow you to take pictures very easily. While portability and image quality is the advantage, the downside of digital cameras is basically the small sensor and limited flexibility that could be an issue for someone who likes more control.
Interchangeable lens cameras are making most of the noise. The name suggests, allows you to change the lens of the camera. An interchangeable lens camera could have various sizes of sensors. Micro four-thirds, APS-C or 35mm sensor which is commonly known as Full-Frame cameras. Interchangeable lens cameras have a major division now which is the DSLRs and the Mirrorless camera. While DSLRs are traditional cameras with big bulky bodies and a pentaprism mirror for their optical viewfinders, mirrorless cameras have ditched all the extra flab and become smaller and lighter which eases the handling.
The choice of the sensor size is an important factor when buying an interchangeable camera. While DSLRs will leave with the choice of either an APS-C or a Full-Frame sensor, mirrorless cameras can come with a micro four-third sensor which is smaller than the traditional crop (APS-C) sensor. In digital photography, the size of the sensor plays an important role, especially with image quality. Megapixels do count, but honestly, the megapixel roar is just gimmick. Any camera with a megapixel count above 20 is just good enough for the images that you would take. With a full-frame sensor, you will have more data which can be later processed if you are shooting for commercial purposes or need to make very large prints.
What about those who do not want the normal conventional cameras? Well for those who like to capture their adventures, an action camera is the way to go. Action cameras, do not get it wrong, are quite powerful when compared to their tiny size. Most of the top of the line action cameras can record 4K footage as well as large images. Action cameras are built very rough and tough and come with weather sealing, allowing you to take it anywhere in any weather condition. Images taken on action cameras are usually warped as the angle of view is very wide. However, you can choose different options of crop like the narrow-angle of view or the superwide.
Remember, you will use the camera to its best abilities if it actually suffices all the requirements you have. Buying a very expensive camera without the technical know-how makes it just as obsolete as buying a sports car for driving on the country roads. You know it is going to scrape its belly. Why not get an SUV and take advantage of the higher ground clearance instead?
If you are looking to buy a serious camera, you will probably look at some of the Canon, Sony or even Nikon DSLRs/Mirrorless cameras. There are some of the brands which dominate the camera market currently and offer a range of cameras for every budget. However, brands like Fuji have been working to get their crop-sensor cameras out in every budget range and every type of use along with their new mirrorless medium format cameras. Fuji has decided to skip on the full-frame and rather go ballistic with the medium format sensors.
Nikon has been at the end of the spectrum with its DSLR line-up which has a lot of catching up to do, especially if you see what Canon is doing. While Sony has been a monopolistic king in the mirrorless camera market, Nikon now has been forced to enter the mirrorless category with the launch of Z6 and Z7.
The Z6 and Z7 had been launched in 2018 and the first two models were aimed at professional. Now with the arrival of the Nikon Z50, Nikon has managed to capture the attention of the more casual buyers. The Z50 has quite a few advantages over the previous generation od Nikon DSLRs, one of the biggest being silent shooting. This comes in handy at situations where you cannot really fire off shots with clunky mechanical shutter rattling.
Coming to the autofocus system, it is much more improved and can now track moving objects. Not only this, but you also get the ‘eye focus’ which will retain focus at the eye of your subject.
Video quality has also been drastically improved and there are new settings which allow you to tweak and make the videos look professional and can further be tweaked. Image quality is on par with the Nikon cameras. Nikon cameras have been known to produce nice and pleasing images with great colour and contrast. The quality of images from the Nikon Z50 is satisfying and the ISO sensitivity can hold well even when bumped up. Overall, the images are nothing to make you worry about.
The only drawback about this other wonderful camera is the lens mount. Nikon has used the Z mount which allows the crop sensor to let in more light. You can use your Nikon DSLR lenses on the Z50 but you will need the FTZ adapter which is available separately for purchase. Nikon only has a handful of lenses in its Z mount line-up but hopefully, they will release more lenses in the time to come.
So, if you are looking for an up to date camera but not in a mood to spend a bomb to get a full-frame mirrorless camera and a full system of lenses. You can upgrade from your existing Nikon DSLR and use the FTZ adapter to mount the DSLR lenses on the Z50. What you get is professional quality photographs at a much cheaper price
2020 has been a disaster. The first quarter of the year is almost over and people have no other option but to sit inside their homes, while a China originated human-killing virus wipes a considerable amount of the world population. While ‘Thanos’ was an imaginary being in the Marvel Universe, his aim was no different. He wanted to relieve the world of half its population and restore balance. The COVID-19 is no different situation apart from the fact that killing innocent humans is not going to restore the balance on earth, not after it has been subjected to all the malicious atrocities that it has been subjected since the arrival of mankind.
The virus which is also known as coronavirus is said to be originated in the city of Wuhan, China and suspected to be contracted from animals to humans. As people kept mingling and travelling all over the world, the virus too was spread. The current situation is so bad that most advanced countries like the USA and healthcare dominant countries like Italy are on the verge of giving up. All the global leaders, dignitaries and citizens of most of the infected countries are just asking the same question. When will this end?
In the fight against coronavirus, artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML) have all of a sudden great role to play. While doctors, physicians, pharma companies and scientists are directly engaged in this duel of humanity against the virus, AI and ML are now being used as human allies for the answer to we all looking to hear.
How will AI and ML fight the disease?
For most of us, AI and ML are just boxed in computers. Apart from seeing AI and ML suggest products from our last google search, none of us has actually seen AI work in real-time. What most people would know AI as just a bunch of codes which work behind the scenes to make things easier in front of the screen. However, if you think so, you are wrong. You can not physically see AI and ML do its job, but AI and ML are contributing to this fight, a whole lot more than you can imagine.
AI and ML can effectively track the disease spread and the trends which points out where the medical help is most needed and where the virus is most likely to spread. This helps medical professionals to quickly act and helps to curb the spread of the disease. AI or as we know artificial intelligence is beyond normal human learning and use its past learning patterns to quickly identify where the things could go wrong. Based on its learning and combining its previous knowledge with insights, it can predict where the disease could go next based on the population flow and density.
Artificial Intelligence can also match the symptoms of COVID-19 and the required treatment or any other therapy that is required. AI is also streamlining the best treatments for the disease which we still await an effective vaccine. Not only this, but AI and ML are also being used to analyse millions of drugs, elements and formulas with high speed to develop a vaccine. AI might seem to be working at its full speed, but a vaccine is still a year or more away from being developed.
Now coming to the other side, AI and ML must also contribute to risk management. AI is as good as 95% correct most of the times. With more and more learning, AI continuously improves and thus corrects itself. However, it is quite dicey at this point to depend on AI alone, especially when the data samples (available data on COVID-19) is very less. Will AI still be that effective when it comes to less available data and also predict the failures? This is still to be understood at large unless there is a huge amount of data available for artificial intelligence to learn from.
For any organisation or company using AI and ML as a tool in the current crisis, it is clear that AI and ML are no more proprietary or experimental technology anymore. The current situation has help demonstrate AI and ML have far more usage and applications, especially when human knowledge and efforts seem to have seen a dead end.
