Vebbler is Promising New Personal Social Network of Indian Origin

India is the number 2 market for Facebook after the US. A and thus a successful homegrown network could create stiff competition, that is why a Mumbai based web startup - Vebbler is a new promising personal + social network launched in beta that claims to have more meaningful conversations with different relationships in their lives without one aspect of their life spilling into another.

Today you will find that each and every member of society is having online social presence via different social networks such facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. our parents, teachers, colleagues everyone is on social media. There is a need for a more evolved way of connecting which can help people easily segregate every relationship into different layers and give them a personal space to share with each of them and Vebbler claims to address this.

The UI and look-n-feel of Vebbler resemble of  Google plus layout however the former is more intuitive and engaging and this is what a social network should have for its user base. Vebbler provides a 'layered' two-way relationship model as part of the 'core user experience' called as Crowd Layering Model and Vebbler is first social web startups in India designed on Crowd Layering Model (CLM).

There is also a growing echo among avid social media users that networks have become very impersonal, cluttered and privacy dead. As a product Vebbler offers an intimate, personal, clutter-free and privacy-aware platform to connect with the people who really matter. The portal has also launched a mobile-friendly version of Vebbler.

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Vebbler launched into beta on July 23^rd_, 2013. Here’s a sneak peek into what makes Vebbler different from other products in the market:

1. Social + Personal: In a big, open world of the Internet, here is a platform for you to connect with your true friends most valued relationships. If other networks are newspapers, Vebbler is more like a personal diary, a place where you can be yourself and express yourself freely.


2. Relationships beyond Friends: Today, our parents, teachers, colleagues and even bosses are present on social media. There is a need for an evolved method of connecting, which can easily help a user to layer their friends and other relationships, such as workmates and family.


3. Design by Discipline: A great product is not about what you make, it’s about how you present it’. With Clean typefaces, flat icons, simple two column layout and responsive photo galleries, Vebbler puts design at the heart of its user experience.

At launch, Vebbler will introduce with the following features:

 

• Clubs(for personal sharing): Clubs are a core element of Vebbler’s user experience. Today, two way relationships need to be layered in a seamless and user-friendly way. Clubs allows a user to add a person into different layers, such as friends, family, workmates and acquaintances. This enables a user to have an entirely separate space for sharing with each relationship.


• Followers (for public sharing): While keeping the closest 500 people in your Clubs, you can follow as many people you find interesting. This makes Vebbler a great platform for public conversations too, while keeping your private life intact.


• Bigger, Better Photos: Profile photos are big again and photographs are stored in high quality, making Vebbler a delightful platform for photographers and photography enthusiasts.


• ~Wavetags: Move over Hashtags. Now, start a ~Wave! Build conversations in real time, follow waves that interest you and see its popularity with the Wave-O-Meter.


• Search: Social search is beyond searching things by name. Searching interests, photos, waves and conversations around a particular topic creates a more intuitive search experience.

Vebbler is now have users from 51 countries and 370 cities and soon introduce new features such as - location-based sharing, automated and custom Clubs along with more features for photos.

Sphero: A New Smart Robot Toy for Smartphones

Sphero 2.0 which is actually a robotic ball is a new-gen toy that can be controlled with just a smart phone and is picking up pace in consumer market, Sphero along with your smart phone is a mobile game system that fits in your pocket. The robotic toy ball can roll at a speed of about seven feet per second and has size and shape of a tennis ball, and can be controlled with your phones & tablet which includes Android, iPhones, Ipod Touch, iPads and Windows based smartphones and tablets, in future Sphero can also be controlled with Google Glass.

Sphero comes with price tag of US $129.99 for US customer and for international customer like India it will cost around around RS.14700 (US$241.39) which includes $75 in shipping and around $37 of taxes. It can be ordered online from Sphero stores for international customers and via Brookstone.com for US residents

The world's first robotic ball with internal motor within can be controlled with a tilt, tap, or touch on your smartphone. It also has a built-in gyroscope, accelerometer and compass. You can weave in and around obstacles or feet, or just try to outrun the family pet. Test your skills in Sphero Drive - a smartphones game, challenge friends to golf, video your cat chasing Sphero with KittyCam, and more. Sphero can even be experienced with every new game app you download, and with single or multi-player games.



With multicolored LEDs Sphero ball glows in many colors than the human eye can detect. Latest of this robotic ball called - Sphero 2.0, comes with two ramps gear so you can catch big air right out of the box. With over 25 apps now available for Sphero robotic toy, you can turn your living room into a video game with augmented reality apps like The Rolling Dead, and upgrade family game night with multiplayer apps like ColorGrab.

Sphero robotic ball has been developed by US-based company Orbotix and by founders Ian Bernstein and Adam Wilson. Initially in 2010 Orbotix got seed-funding of just $12k, however after that and till May 2013 it has managed to get $15 million fundings from various sources.

Buy Online in India - HERE

8 Startups Selected in Microsoft Ventures Accelerator India Winter batch 2013

Microsoft Ventures India Accelerator have just announced the Winter batch 2013, which is also the third batch, for Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in Bangalore, India. Eight companies, namely AdSparx, ShieldSquare, Chance, Frrole, Native5, SignEasy, TommyJams and Whale Logix were selected from 1000+ applications received over two months and after several rigorous rounds of screening by a panel of judges comprising senior leaders from Microsoft and the industry. Scibler, the ninth company, is from the 2013 Summer batch, staying on to achieve more aggressive milestones.

The winter batch, hosted in the 8,300 sq ft state-of-the-art Accelerator facility in Microsoft’s Lavelle Road office, is currently undergoing a four month deep immersion program which will end with Demo Day in late November.

Profiles of Selected Startups

1. Adsparx : AdSparx is instream video ad platform which caters to internet video publishers & video content distributors. AdSparx uses patented server-side technology to serve device independent, high quality, targeted, pre & mid-roll video ads for linear TV, live events and videos on demand. It works with existing content delivery systems like Wowza, Adobe Flash Media Server, Apache and CDNs. AdSparx also acts as Ad Mediation since it allows the publisher to work with multiple advertisers and networks.


2. ShieldSquare : ShieldSquare innovative platform that provides invisible and comprehensive account breach protection to any internet or web app users' logins and help online businesses protect their users against account breaches.


3. Chance : Chance is an early age startup that solves the problem for people who seeks advice, solution, tips from people who are experts/influencers in their relevant fields. Chance platform allows people to schedule advice/tips from these experts/influencers and pay for advises and experts get paid for advises they give, Chance on other hand keep 30% of this money.


4. Frrole : Frrole is a social newspaper and intelligence engine that performs analysis across tens of millions of data units in real-time. It uses this analysis to build a 'local buzz graph', where Frrole knows what each neighborhood, city and country is talking about. Currently powering Frrole News - a news application that creates a universal view of news across cities and countries, regularly breaking news tens of minutes before professional media or other social news apps.


5. Native5 : Native5 is a next generation cloud platform that helps you create, distribute and monitor applications across desktops, mobiles & tablets.


6. SignEasy : SignEasy is an mobile app for Android and BlackBerry mobile platforms that provide businesses and professionals to legally sign documents from smartphones and tablets. With SignEasy app you go paperless and forget the hassles of printing, scanning, faxing and overnight shipping.


7. TommyJams : TommyJams is an inexpensive online community of Artists, Venues and Fans in India. Tommy Jams tries to act as a bridge between artists and venues gigs, and ensures that there is a degree of professionalism from both the parties. Venues, like restaurants and bars, can sign up for their service on their website and host an event by filling out a form.


8. Whale Logix : WhaleLogix is an innovative platform that will help online retailers revolutionize their customer experience and make more money. No further explanation is available of what WhaleLogix exactly do as it is in developing stage.

Apart from these nine, four more companies, HasGeek, Nanobi, Tookitaki and 1000Lookz will also be closely associated with the Accelerator during this period.

Announcing the third batch, Ravi Narayan, who recently joined the Microsoft Ventures in India leadership team, said: “I am very excited about leading this team. This is the first batch to join the Accelerator after we aligned all startup related activities under a single umbrella called Microsoft Ventures, to be able to engage with entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey from ideation to maturity. Microsoft Ventures Accelerator is a key element in that effort, bridging the gap between early-stage and mid-stage startups. We worked with several accelerators, incubators and industry bodies to source the best companies. We chose them very carefully, from a huge list of applications received across e-commerce, entertainment, digital media, education, enterprise, cloud infrastructure and mobile. Our aim was to make sure that they are at the right stage of their entrepreneurial journey to be able to benefit from the best in class and comprehensive resources the Accelerator provides, namely access to our huge network of mentors, technical experts, partners, early stage customers, investors and industry connections.”

Narayan is responsible for Microsoft Ventures Accelerator and its connections with other community initiatives in India. Explaining his vision, he said: “Microsoft Ventures, with its breadth of offerings, and its vast and varied resources is uniquely positioned today to guide the entrepreneurial ecosystem of India. The Accelerator has so much to offer that it would not be fair to restrict its benefits to only those startups which constitute our two batches every year. We are keen to help any highly motivated technology startup which we feel could benefit from our association. That is why we decided to work with HasGeek, Nanobi, Tookitaki and 1000Lookz, four companies that emerged from the BizSpark program in India. For the same reason we decided to retain Scibler for another four months--they are at a critical juncture of product development and would benefit from the technology mentoring at the Accelerator.

How iPhone Is Manufactured - Infographic

Apple reportedly sold 31.2 million iPhones in third quarter of year 2013, but talking about manufacturing of Apple iPhone's and its different parts that it is made of. You must be shocked to hear that among 70 million iPhones sold in year 2011 were not manufactured in US - a home-town country of Apple Inc. but were manufactured & assembled in china and Mongolia where Apple takes important & rare minerals used to make iPhone 5's essential parts such as - circuitry, screen, speakers, and glass.

The infographic prepared by FinanceOnline provide complete story of Apple's manufacturing history and how it is made in different geographical locations across the globe parts-by-parts.

Interestingly, 85% of all iPhone 5 are assembled in China. The reason for outsourcing the manufacturing of parts and assembling of Apple's flagship iPhones is not cheap labour in China or Mongolia but the the 'time', reportedly the chinese workforce make handsets faster than US workforce.

Another interesting story of this fastness factor is that, in year 2007 when Steve Jobs wanted a glass screen for the iPhone a weeks from launching, US suppliers said that the timeline is too short and impossible. On other hand in China, a factory constructed an office-in-residence for its employees even before signing a contract. Further when deal was sealed 8,000 workers were made to work for 12-hours shifts and given biscuit and tea and they brilliantly fitted glass screens into iPhone to produce 10,000 iPhones a day.

A French-Italian company STMicroelectronics is responsible iPhone's Gyroscope that allows iPhone's users to change the display from vertical to horizontal and vice-versa.

Notably Apple is rethinking to bring back the manufacturing units to its home country US, as in most of the iPhone version the chipset & screens used is made by its biggest rival Samsung. Apple's devices use other brands memory chips and processors even till now and even screens for iPad are not of Apple's own production.