Author: Swadesh Parasher

Top 7 Gaming Headsets in India 2015
This is the experience which the gamers invest in; without it, the game wouldn’t be as much fun. Games like Counterstrike, Battlefield and DOTA2 are some games which can make you play constantly for hours with your fellow team mates. After a certain time, one does need to get a good pair of headsets to maximize the whole experience. In India, gamers are often confused where to buy good headsets from since most of them are quite heavy on the budget. Here we will talk you through some of the best gaming headsets available in India, popular among gamers that are also budget friendly.

We understand that each person’s preferences may be different and so we’ve tried to cover a wide range of headsets in different price ranges. What’s more, we’ve even made it easier for you to check out the product and buy it by including a URL from where you can buy them at competitive rates.

Disclaimer- Because of the nature of online business, the prices may keep varying. What has been quoted below is verified at the time of writing this article.

1. Lenovo P950

If you are looking for one that’s good at what it does without being too heavy on the pocket, Lenovo P950 cannot be ignored. With features like circumpolar design, noise canceling microphone and 27mm driver unit, it produces crisp and powerful sound. It also filters the ambient noise so that the quality of sound that reaches your ear is refined.

Some of the distinct features are:
- Microphone mute button
- 103 dB/mW headset sensitivity
- Padded earphones for long term, comfortable wear
- 30 mW maximum power input
- Circumaural headset design
Lenovo P950 has been priced at $45.99 or, INR 1149 only.

Buy [Amazon | Flipkart (India)]

2. Philips SHG7980

Even though it can be used for chatting, music and watching movies, it is best known for being a gamers’ headset. Indian gamers are buying this headset not only because of its quality, but also for its brand value and relatively cheaper price. It can be easily used at a stretch for 4 hours and more. It has more power input than the Lenovo P950.

Its features are:
- 500 mW maximum power input
- Digital tuning to give a better gaming performance
- Acoustic system – semi open
- Microphone Sensitivity of -44 dB
- Neodymium Magnet type for better performance
The Philips SHG7980 is priced modestly at $44.99 or, INR 1875 at 20% discount.

Buy [Amazon | Flipkart (India)]

3. Razer Hammerhead Pro Gaming Headset

Looking at this headset, it would seem like it is from the earphone range, but it is not. It has got this sleek look because it is really portable and needless to say, very popular among the gamer folk because of its superb sound quality.

Some of its features are:
- It works well with iPhone, Android and mobile devices as well
- Split adapter or extension for connection with PC
- Advanced noise cancellation
- Omni directional microphone.
The price of Razer Hammerhead Pro Gaming Headset is $51 or, INR 5,199 only with the current discount offer of 19%.

Buy [Amazon | Flipkart (India)]

4. Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Gaming Headsets

Razer Kraken has a series of good headsets, all of which are very popular. But if you are looking for the best among them, then the Kraken 7.1 is undoubtedly packed with the best features. With a price under 10K INR, it is still cheaper for all the features it provides– no wonder it is used by professional gamers, not only in India but around the world. Some of which are:
- Signal to noise ratio 63 dB
- Ergonomically suitable for hours of gaming
- Bass enhancement for clarity and precision
- 7.1 virtual surround sound engine
The Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Gaming Headsets are priced at $103.95 INR 8,650.

Buy [Amazon | Flipkart (India)]

5. Logitech G430

If you are looking for the most popular and commonly used gaming headset, then the Logitech G4360 tops the list. Its features are no less than the Kraken 7.1, even though it is cheaper in price than the latter. So what makes Logitech G430 so special?

Let’s have a look at some of its distinct features:
- Dolby 7.1 surround sound
- 3 years warranty from Logitech India
- Noise cancelling microphones
- Rotating ear cups
- On cable control
- Sports performance ear pad
- Light weighted design
The Logitech G430 is priced at $55.99 or, INR 6,799.

Buy [Amazon | Flipkart (India)]

6. SteelSeries APS 61053 7H Fnatic Edition Gaming Headset

You will like this headset more for its appearance than its feature, we swear. The black, orange combination makes the headset look more appealing. It has all combo features packed into one. Some of those features include:
- Impedance of 32 ohms
- Frequency ranging from 18 to 28000 Hz
- SNDBlock ear cushions for ergonomic sound
- Superbly portable – can be disassembled into 4 parts
- Retractable, unidirectional microphone
- Interchangeable ear cushions
The Price of this headset is only $69.99 or, INR 7245.

Buy [Amazon | Amazon (India)]

7. Roccat Kulo 7.1 USB Stereo Gaming Headset Asia

This is another headset which has awesome features to boot. Roccat has already given some powerful headsets, but this one seems to be the latest upgrade. It is definitely another professional standard headphone that seeks attention.

It has:
- 40mm Neodymium Magnet Driver
- In-line Slim remote control
- Noise filtering microphone
- premium 7.1 surround sound
The price of Roccat Kulo 7.1 USB Stereo Gaming Headset Asia is $49.99 or, INR 5499.

Buy [Amazon | Flipkart (India)]

What’s your pick? Did we miss out on anything? Please let us know in the comments below.
June 30, 2015
PC Sticks: Turn Any Display Into Working PC

PC sticks are something that are arguable the future of computing. The comfort of carrying your PC was a concept on which Laptop was constructed, and with the current trend of making everything smaller, PC sticks might well be the best way forward. May be that is why this concept is attracting most of the leading innovator over the globe.

Google ChromeBit

Google who along with Asus have launched a whole new series of hardware a dongle that basically when plugged into any kind of display transforms itself into a fully working PC. It is named as Chromebit and it isn’t something that can be only used when there are no other option available, but it is a full fledge computer which one can use to take care of daily tasks. Google Chromebit comes in three attractive colours black, orange and blue. By the look of it, Chromebit is a very small elegant and cute dongle but in totality it has some real hardcore stuff inside its funky exterior.

The device runs on a Rockchip Rk 3288 processor which is actually has a quad core Mali 760 graphic unit and has a 2 GB of Ram along with a 16 GB of internal storage. Along with this it has a 802.11ac 2×2 dual band WiFi, one full sized USB port and Bluetooth 4.0. Google have rolled out their own browser based OS with the device. The main area of target for the makers is first time PC users and they are hoping big results from Indian market. It is not the best PC Stick available in the market, but considering that it launched at $99, it certainly something that is very much worth for the price at which it been launched. This is only the device in the current market which will not possess Windows Operating system

Intel Compute Stick

This is probably the most expensive PC Stick of the lot and with a price tag of $150 it won’t offer anything different from the others. Compute Stick is also powered with the Intel’s Atom processor and has 32 Gb’s of internal storage and 2 GB RAM installed in it. Device has a Micro SD slot and memory can be extended up to 128GB. It will have a USB port along with wireless deskset. It will possess a Bluetooth 4.0 and a WiFi connectivity to connect to your internet. Stick will run on full version of Microsoft Windows 8.1 and can be upgraded to Windows 10 when the device will be launched. Compute Stick will have Intel Iris HD graphics that will enable the user to enjoy HD videos, photos and also all the leading HD games. The device will let the user view videos in 4K display and give a more vibrant picture. It will also have a integrated audio card installed in it.

Lenovo Stick 300

Following the footsteps of Google Lenovo has launched their own bettered version of the Chrome Bit. This more slightly bigger device is powered by Intel’s Atom Processor Z3735F and has 2 GB of memory along with a 32 Gb of internal ROM. Lenovo has done a tie up with Microsoft and launched this device with a preinstalled version of Windows 8.1 which can be upgraded to Windows 10 once it gets launched. Lenovo has also launched a cheaper Linux version of the device considering that most of the use of it is going to be from the offices. The Device has capacity to connect to any display using a HDMI port and can convert it into a fully working PC. It can be handled using a 2.4 GHz of keyboard and mouse. Stick 300 will also have inbuilt speakers installed into it which will give the user liberty to listen to music. Lenovo’s Stick 300 is going to be launched at price tag of around $149 which is slightly higher price than the ChromeBit. The Linux version of the Stick 300 will be tagged at about $89 a piece. This is a whole new market of Lenevo as they are already No. 1 in worldwide PC’s and No. 3 in Smartphone’s.

iBall Splendo

iBall along with Microsoft have introduced this compact device that will come with a wireless deskset and will be powered by Intel Atom quad core Processor and will run on Windows 8.1. It will possess RAM of 2 GB’s and a 32 GB of internal storage space. There will be a SD card slot present to increase the storage when required. Along with this it will possess a normal USB slot, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. There will also be a Micro USB port for additional connectivity. It will be a fan less design and will be launched with a price tag of Rs 8999 in India.

See Also: Turn Your TV into Smart TV: Microsoft’s PC-on-a-stick iBall Splendo

The most premium use of these PC sticks is that they can straightaway replace all the poorly working conference room PC’s. They are sleek and are very easy to carry around which makes it a perfect choice for all of you who’s work profile involves a lot of travel. Replaceing them with laptops might not be possible but it can be effectively used to take care of all the daily work routines such as editing or creating any kind of document or surfing on the internet and much more. It can also be a effective device for multimedia use and can be perfect way to telecast photos, videos or can even be used to play games on TV.

June 28, 2015
Beats selling cheap plastic headphones at premium rate might not be true

Beats is a name that has achieved great credibility among the music lovers, the company also provides some of the top notch headphones which has been loved by its fans and widely accepted. That is what makes it so special, and popular.

Recently, the company was criticised for selling cheap plastic headphones at high price, which otherwise would have costed only $17 to manufacture — and definitely not worth the $200 that we spend on it.

See Also: Beats is selling cheap $17 plastic headphones at $200

The engineer who tore down the headphone, claimed that Apple Beats by Dr. Dre is simply a rip off. He performed a complete tear down of the said headphone and concluded that the company is using cheap materials in manufacturing process, which includes adding metal components inside the body to increase weight.

However, it is now being speculated whether the headphone that Avery Louie ripped apart might just be a Knockoff. He didn’t mention the model of the headphone that was dismantled, and core77 believes that it was a discontinued version of Beats Solo HD headphones.

According to the article posted on Core77, there are several reasons that points out the claimed teardown was based on the fake beats product.

A reddit user also posted a detailed comparison of a fake beats headphones and a real one.

Furthermore, the Redditor also explained why Beats headphones use those metal components.

“Those metal parts aren’t just to add weight; they serve a functional, structural purpose as both the headband extensions and the hinge,” vantt1 said.

The ripoff nowadays have packaging and overall design, which are very smilar to the read product. It often succeed to fool even a trained engineer into believing he or she is dealing with the real thing.

One thing that would have indicated that the product that Louie ripped off is a fake one is absense of additional speakers. The product that was dismantled has 4 drivers, while the teardown only had 2.

This particular detail seems to be a strong indicator that the pair of Beats headphones used to demonstrate how the company is selling $17 headphones at $200, is completly false.

However, if the price set by the company for a pair of headphone is justified is still unclear. Beats fans will always jump in favor of their daily companion of ‘beats,’ while others would still question the quality vs money they are paying for this product.

We would like to point out to the LifeHacker’s post about beats headphones again, which pointed out that it might simply be a garbage.

Don’t forget to watch the videos, explaining the difference between real and fake beats headphones.

Image: Flickr, aqeelkolla95

June 28, 2015
Oxford adds ‘arey’, ‘yaar’ and other hindi words to the dictionary

You’d think that the words that you frequently use to call out your friends and address someone in various instances of expressions ranging from “hey buddy” to “you got to be kidding me” in desi style, are now part of Oxford Lexicon.

Words like ‘arey’, ‘yaar’, ‘churidar’, ‘bhelpuri’ and ‘dhaba’ are added to the dictionary, depiction as words being used in English language as well.

You’d be surprised to know that these words has been used in English since a long time. While the word ‘arey’ was first used in English in 1845, ‘churidar’ was first used in 1880. ‘yaar’, which has been defined as ‘friend, mate’ saw its first English Usage in 1963.

Dr Danica Salazr, consultant editor, Oxford English Dictionary said that:

Our large and wide-ranging language research programme has found sufficient evidence that these words are being used in English for reasonable amount of time and with reasonable freqiency, and are of specific cultural, historical or linguistic significance. Arre, for instance, has a quite a long history in English, with its first quotation dating back as far back as 1845.

The Oxford dictionary defines churidar as “tight trousers made with excess material at the bottom of the legs, which falls in folds around the angles, traditionally worn by people from South Asia.,” dhaba, has been included as nound thich explains India context as “roadside food stall or restaurant,” yaar, has been defined as noun to address “friend,mate.”

Oxford also included some interesting popular words in the dictionary which includes FLOTUS (first lady of united states), lipstick, twitterati (first spotted in 2006, used to address the users of twitter).

Image: Flickr, emdot

June 28, 2015
Watch this guy beat Super Mario Blindfolded [Video]

YouTuber PangaeaPanga uploaded a video yesterday, featuring his Twitch stream which features him playing Super Mario World — “BlindFolded.” Yes, you read it right – not only he did played the game without even looking at the screen, but he did complete it in the record time.

It is obvious that he relied on the iconic retro music that was playing in the background and matched the timing when he had to press the right button, to perform the activity required. Even if you get to rely on the sound, most of us can’t even go over the first obstacle, without being eaten by the turtle or dog.

He did die several times, but this video still amazes us.

Watch the fraction of the video in animated gif below:

June 27, 2015
ATOM v1.0: Stable Version of This Revolutionary Modularized Editor is Out

Today world is ruled by open source application and which is why this ATOM editor by Github which was available in the beta feature for about a year now has gained a lot popularity. Since the beta version got released it has been downloaded as many as 1.3 million times and as many as 350, 000 users are currently using this application on regular basic.

The catastrophic success that this editor has experienced can be judged by the fact that even developers at Facebook have used this editor to create their own editor named as Nuclide which is capable of coding numerous codes across the platform. The need for a brand new editor came while coders at Facebook were creating their application for iPhone. Their old editor Xcode which was used for purpose stitched the code so huge that even the whole operating system of Microsoft Windows was smaller then it. This was when they decided to get themselves equipped with a brand new editor which was built using ATOM.

There have also been many different plugins that have been created by this application. The best part about the ATOM is that it is an editor that can create a editor which can in turn create another editor and so on and so forth. This is exactly what Facebook did, they just put their editor into the open market and those outside the company bettered it and gave it back.

There are many different kinds of editors available in the market, So what makes ATOM so special? Well to answer this question it is important to put a light on the working of editors. Most of the editors that are available in the market are build up using C which enables them to gain good speed and so, all these editors can also be customised using one or the other coding languages. But with all these editors the coder does not have the permission to access the core engine of it. ATOM is completely different in this manner. It is completely coded in Javascript which permits the coder to use it to build whatever kind of editor they require. Chris Wanstrath while describing this editor tells that” its one thing hacking your own editor but with ATOM you can use plug-in that others have created.”

The current version of ATOM 1.0 is stable cross platform and gives the coder completely controls of what they want to achieve. The new update boosts up a lot of packages that can be downloaded to make the experience of coding a lot better. The auto competition update is very useful and makes the job a lot simpler. Along with these the makers have also added some more impressive features such as multi-folder projects and pan resizing to the newly launched version.

June 26, 2015