Harley Davidson withdraws SuperLow and FatBoy Special from the Indian market

Harley Davidson India recently unveiled the 2016 line-up of motorcycles with upgrades for most of the products on sale under a new theme known as Dark Custom. However, what one didn’t notice that Harley Davidson also withdrew two of its models from the Indian market namely the SuperLow and the FatBoy Special.

Priced around Rs.6 lakh and Rs.15.5 lakh (Ex-Showroom) respectively, the SuperLow and FatBoy Special were withdrawn from the Indian market reportedly due to the low sales cost. Even though both the models were available in India for an estimated 3 years, they still didn’t manage to gain popularity. They were brought to the Indian shores through the CKD route.

The SuperLow is powered by an 883 cc V twin air cooled engine that produces 70 Nm of peak torque at 3,750 rpm. The V twin engine is paired to a 5 speed transmission. The SuperLow gets a decent share of chrome bits that makes its appearance as good as the bigger Harleys in the segment.

The FatBoy Special, on the other hand is powered by a 1690cc air cooled engine that produces 132 Nm of peak torque at 3,250 rpm. This engine was mated to a 6 speed gearbox. The sales of the FatBoy Special were so low that Harley couldn’t manage to sell even a single unit of the motorcycle in the last few months. Another possible reason for the low sales of these bikes could be the introduction of the Street 750 which is a comparatively affordable model and took the place of being the most reasonably priced motorcycle from the U.S. based manufacturer.

What in your opinion would be the ideal choice for a bike with the SuperLow and FatBoy Special being discontinued in India by Harley Davidson? Will Harley replace these models with something new?

Three variants of ASUS ZenWatch 2 launched in India, price starts from Rs. 11,999

After the recent launch of the Motorola Moto 360 (2nd Gen) in India, ASUS has launched its second Android Wear-based smartwatch in India. The ASUS ZenWatch 2, which was unveiled during Computex 2015 in June, will be available exclusively through Flipkart with a starting price of Rs. 11,999. The smaller screen variant is priced at Rs. 11,999, while the larger screen variants are priced at Rs. 14,999.

ASUS ZenWatch 2 Specifications

• 1.63-inch AMOLED display (WI501Q), 320×320 pixels (278ppi), 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.45-inch AMOLED display (WI502Q), 280×280 pixels (273ppi), 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Android Wear v5.1.1 Lollipop
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB internal storage
• Bluetooth 4.1 with LE, Wi-Fi b/g, IP67-certified with dust and water-resistant
• Accelerometer and Gyrometer
• 300mAh (WI501Q) / 400mAh (WI502Q) battery
• 49.6 x 40.7 x 9.4 ~ 10.9 mm (WI501Q); 45.2 x 37.2 x 10.4 ~ 11.8 mm (WI502Q)

The ZenWatch 3 is a second-generation Android Wear-based smartwatch, and comes in three colours; Blue, Khaki, and Taupe. The Blue and Taupe variants have 1.63-inch AMOLED displays with 320 x 320 pixels resolution, while the Taupe colour variant sports a 1.45-inch display (280 x 280 pixels), and is suited for women. There’s a 300 mAh battery in the 1.45-inch screen variant, while the 1.63-inch variants have a 400 mAh battery.

It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, and runs Android Wear 5.1 Lollipop. As most smartwatches these days, it is IP67 water and dust resistant, and feature Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The ASUS ZenWatch 3 competes with the Motorola Moto 360 (2nd Gen) and the LG Watch Urbane, both of which are comparatively priced quite high, but it misses out on a heart rate monitor

Facebook Makes Changes To Its Real Name Policy Enforcement Process

After over a year’s worth of controversy around Facebook’s real names policy, Facebook has announced a couple of changes to its process in order to better serve all of its members, including those in the LGBTQ community.

Last October, Facebook promised it would make changes to its real name policy after a number of false account flagging incidents led to the suspension of LGBTQ members’ pages. Facebook requires people to use the names their friends and family know them by. For many drag performers, for example, their drag names are the names people know them by, but that didn’t prevent the suspension of their accounts.

While Facebook is not getting rid of its real names policy, it is starting to test new tools to improve the policy in order for it to work better “for everyone, especially for communities who are marginalized or face discrimination,” Facebook VP of Global Operations Justin Osofsky and Product Manager Todd Gage wrote on Facebook’s blog.

For one, Facebook’s new reporting process requires people to provide more information and context around why they’re reporting that name in the first place. Before, reporting a potentially fake name was as easy as the click of a button.

Secondly, Facebook is testing a new tool for people to defend and verify their name if someone else flags it. So, if your account gets flagged, even though you’re using your drag name, or are using a different name in order to protect your privacy out of fear of abuse, harassment or stalking, you’ll have a week to be able to describe your situation before Facebook suspends your account.

“SF Pride is committed to our diverse community and is encouraged by the positive steps Facebook has both taken, and continues to work on, in addressing the reporting tools associated with their Authentic Names policy,” George Ridgely, Jr., executive director of SFPride, told TechCrunch in a statement. “We appreciate all of the engaged community leaders and Facebook for their contributions in this effort. It has been our priority to work closely with all parties to facilitate ongoing working-group meetings, as well as a forum that will bring together members of the community and Facebook to discuss these changes.”

Facebook has also received criticism around requiring people to provide forms of legal identification, which don’t always reflect someone’s preferred name.

Facebook has since expanded the options and documents that people can use to verify their name, and early next year, Facebook will look at ways to “reduce the number of people who have to go through an ID verification experience, while preserving the safety of other people on the site. We will also continue to work on making the experience itself more compassionate and easier to navigate.”

Xiaomi’s 15.6” Notebook To Cost Less Due To Older CPU & GPU

Xiaomi is, first and foremost, a smartphone manufacturer. This company tends to dabble in pretty much anything tech-related, and they will release their first notebook soon. Inventec has already confirmed that they’re working on (one of) the company’s notebook, and that the device is expected to arrive in April next year. Well, Inventec is working on one of the company’s notebooks, but three different ones have been mentioned, the 12.5, 13.3 and 15.6-inch models. Inventec is working on the 12.5-inch model, while Compal is rumored to be working on the 13.3-inch variant. The 15.6-inch notebook is the most interesting one here, read on.


The specifications of the 15.6-inch Xiaomi notebook have surfaced a while back, and according to that report, the device will sport a 15.6-inch 1080p (1920 x 1080) display, 8GB of RAM and will be powered by Intel’s Core i7 4th-generation SoC. Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 760M GPU is said to be included in this package as well, and Linux will reportedly going to come pre-installed here. On top of all this, the notebook is rumored to cost 2,999 Yuan ($466), which doesn’t seem all that expensive for this notebook. In order to keep the price at bay, Xiaomi is going to use the Core i7 SoC from the fourth-gen Haswell series, while the current sixth-gen Skylake chips probably are not going to be included in any variant of Xiaomi’s notebook. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 760M GPU is also not the newest graphics card, this GPU was released back in 2013.

Now, this notebook will be quite capable despite somewhat older components, the 4th-gen Core i7 SoC is still plenty powerful, and same can be said about the aforementioned GPU. Xiaomi simply had to do this in order to keep the price of this notebook down, which is always one of their main priorities. It is also rumored that Linux will come pre-installed here because Xiaomi wanted to avoid Windows because of licensing fees which would increase the price of the product. That’s pretty much it, keep in mind that this info is based on rumors, only the 12.5-inch variant of the device has been confirmed this far.

Xiaomi Launches Redmi Note Prime at Rs 8,499, Features an Upgraded SoC, Dual SIM 4G Support and Doubled up Storage

Xiaomi had us guessing last week when it teased a Prime Phone, while we guessed a Prime update for its existing line up, it seems Xiaomi had something else in its mind. Xiaomi has pulled the wraps from Redmi Note Prime, a second made in India phone that will be Priced at Rs 8,499 and will be made available exclusively on Amazon.in.

The first phone being the Redmi 2 prime, the Note Prime will be manufactured in the Sri City plant in Andhra Pradesh in collaboration with Foxconn Technology. As the nomenclature explains the Redmi Note Prime is an updated variant of the Redmi Note 4G which sold in India without an updated variant for more than a year.

The Redmi Note Prime will be powered by the Snapdragon 410 as opposed to the Snapdragon 400 in its predecessor and it will be coupled with a 2GB of RAM. The internal memory has however been bumped up from 8GB to 16GB which obviously comes with an expandable microSD card slot. Note Prime comes equipped with a 5.5-inch HD display (Still no FHD), which seems to be borrowed from its predecessor.

On the imaging front the changes are almost non existent, as it features the similar 13-Megapixel primary and 5-Megapixel secondary combo, though it is yet to ascertain if sensors have been upgraded. Xiaomi has not made any changes to the cosmetics of the phone and it looks pretty much like the Redmi Note 4G.

Another much welcomes change is the fact that unlike Redmi Note 4G the Note Prime does come with a dual SIM 4G slot. The device will be backed up by a 3100mAH battery pack and is expected to run Android Lollipop wrapped in MIUI 7. Xiaomi will be flagging off an even called“Very Mi Christmas” wherein it will launch the Redmi Note Prime along with some deals and lucky draws, the typical festival stuff! The Redmi Note Prime Sales registration will start on December 15 at 10am on Amazon.in and as a launch day offer Mi Protect will be made available at a discounted price of Rs 199.

Tiny baby forges adorable cross-species alliance with friendly corgi

Babies have a busy life. Many struggle with packed schedules of taking naps, watching TV, spitting up, and pushing things — including themselves— over. But babies also have important jobs as ambassadors of cuteness, so they frequently find a way to carve out some quality time for cross-species friendships.

The results are dependably adorable. Instagram user @ayako_0426 posts photos of a two-year-old Pembroke Welsh corgi and her friend, a smiley little baby. The two, it’s clear, are simply love with one another. And they do all the things best friends do: spoon each other, nap next to each other, and sometimes even smooch.

It’s a low-drama, silly, sweet friendship, the kind of relationship even adult humans aspire to. Check their beautiful little life together, below.

"Just stay there and look fluffy, please."

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM USER AYAKO_0426

"Watch and learn. I'm an expert."

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM USER AYAKO_0426

"The world is jealous of our love."

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM USER AYAKO_0426

"You are a beautiful friend, and a wonderful pillow."

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM USER AYAKO_0426

"Chilling."

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM USER AYAKO_0426

"Just two friends, enjoying a nap."

Tag Heuer Is Ramping Up Smartwatch Production From 1,200 To 2,000 Pieces Per Week

Tag Heuer’s chairman Jean-Claude Biver announced that the company is ramping up weekly production of their Carrera Connected Smart Watch from 1,200 to 2,000 pieces.

The watch costs $1,500 and features a nice titanium case and Android Wear. Buyers get the option to upgrade to a limited edition mechanical watch for another $1,500. Biver is also trying to move sales away from the web to brick and mortar stores, an effort that attests to the true market for the watch: folks who still buy watches at retailers.

The fact that this is seeing demand at all is a fairly interesting story.

The watch world suffers from a tough dichotomy. Watch sales have traditionally happened at brick and mortar stores all around the world with stratified pricing for “destination” stores like Bermuda and lower prices and specially targeted lower-end brands for less developed regions (Rolex vs. Tudor, for example.) Watch manufacturers would crow about the low number number of “doors” they had – a sign of exclusivity – and they were quite stingy when working with retailers, allowing only certain shops to carry certain items.

With the web, however, manufacturers began to lose control over the sales process. For a while they were railing against “grey market” sales – namely watches sold by jewelers who took advantage of the massive disparity between wholesale price and MSRP – and now they are realizing that the high touch watch experience still moves merchandise even if the web is the real money-maker. Selling watches at retail stores is wildly expensive but it’s clear that demand for the watch – at least for rich watch lovers who might want to try the Connect on a whim – is focused on stores.

So what is happening here? First, remember that $1,500 is small potatoes in the watch world. Watch lovers routinely spend more than that on branded watch bracelets. Price, in this case, is no real object and the Connect allows them to feel fancy while still trying the latest technology. Second, there is a dedicated group of collectors who will buy anything Tag offers and see this as an opportunity to buy a limited edition mechanical while messing around with an Android Wear. Collectors are obviously a subset of the world at large, but we can assume that Biver will manufacture about 20,000 of these or so in the next few months in order to raise perceived scarcity and reduce their chances of having to scrap these things when the hardware becomes obsolete. In short, they are selling smartwatches to their old customers who are primarily interested in the Tag Heuer brand rather than the technology.

So it’s nice that Biver is admitting that he is ramping up production but the fact that he announced it at all, even in passing, means even he didn’t expect things to go very well. His statement sounds like he is pleasantly surprised rather than all-in in the digital space, a fact that should help you understand just what the Apple Watch and Android Wear will do to his shrinking customer list.

Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland Dies at 48, Says Guitarist

Scott Weiland, the ex-frontman of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver who battled substance abuse over the years, was found dead on Thursday. He was 48.

Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro first reported the news on Twitter. “Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight,” Navarro wrote.

Weiland was found unresponsive on his tour bus in Minnesota, where he and his current band The Wildabouts were scheduled to perform at the Medina Ballroom, but the show was cancelled, according to TMZ.

It’s unknown what caused the singer’s death.

Weiland, who battled heroin and cocaine addiction over the years, was known for his flamboyant and unpredictable persona onstage.

Wielding a megaphone alongside his bandmates for sound effect, the fiery-haired frontman led the Southern California-based Stone Temple Pilots for two decades.

Also known as “STP” by their fans, the quartet first broke out in 1992 with hit single “Creep” before going on to become one of the most popular rock bands of the 1990s and 2000s with power ballads like “Plush,” “Big Empty” and “Interstate Love Song.”

Their music still plays in heavy rotation on alternative rock stations alongside ’90s grunge acts Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.

But it was Weiland’s rock star ways that often got him in trouble offstage.

After spending five months in prison for possession of heroin in 1998, he was later charged with domestic abuse for assaulting his wife.

In 2008, he checked into rehab after being arrested for a DUI and once, after a fight with his wife, leapt from a moving car to score heroin.

“People have this misconception about me,” he said in an interview with USA Today in 2011. “OK, I struggled with heroin and cocaine and I was a big rock star. But music is not what defines me. I’m a brother, a father, a son.”

Weiland later split from Stone Temple Pilots and formed supergroup Velvet Revolver with ex-Guns N’ Roses rockers Slash and Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum. The band eventually split up, again because of Weiland’s substance abuse.

“I’m still on the verge all the time,” he said of his fight to remain sober. “My brother passed away [from a drug overdose in 2007], and that’s something that will always stay with me.”

In 2008, Weiland reunited with STP for the last time before leaving the band again and embarking on a solo career. But not, of course, without Weiland storming off in dramatic fashion.

After ex-members of Stone Temple Pilots sued the two-time Grammy-winner in 2013 for playing their material during his solo shows (STP was later fronted by Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington), Weiland countersued, calling his ex-bandmates’ claims “ridiculous.”

The group eventually reached a settlement out of court.

“I apologize to those fans out there who are, feel like they’re caught in the middle of it,” he said at the time. “‘Cause I sure feel like I’m caught in the middle of it emotionally, and all I want to do is play music.”

Known for his baritone vocal style, Weiland has also performed with the remaining members of The Doors for a VH1 “Storytellers” special.

He is survived by his two children, Noah and Lucy.

A hero recreated his twin sister's Instagrams by replacing her baby with a cat

One man wanted to give his twin sister the best birthday gift ever, so he recreated 28 of herInstagram photos — starring only himself and a cat.

The twins have very different lifestyles; Gordy Yates lives the single life, partying and traveling, while his sister Meredith is married with two kids, he wrote on his blog.

Meredith "is so great and I am so bad [at giving birthday gifts]," he wrote. "No matter where I’ve lived, she’s always either sent the gift in a package or saved it to give to me later. [...] It’s like I feel that I’m not quite an adult so I don’t need to give people things but they should give things to me."

So this year, Yates decided to even the score for his sister's 28th birthday by re-enacting 28 of her photos to make up for his years of dropping the ball. He enlisted help from a cat that belonged to someone at his church.

He started out simple, by recreating shots of just Meredith...

...and then moved on to slightly more involved poses.

The best photos are the ones in which Yates tries to recreate Meredith with her kids.

This cat was not psyched about her crown...

...but was clearly game for some smooches

Yates told Babble that in his eyes, cats and kids are pretty similar, so the photos weren't too much of a stretch.

“They both like to eat off of and crawl on the floor, they both like to bite me, they’re both really small, they’re both really hard to control, and I can’t give birth to either of them.” Yep, sounds about right.

Panasonic Eluga Mark puts the focus on security, now available in India for 11,990

Panasonic India has announced its latest smartphone, the Eluga Mark, positioning it as a security-oriented handset for young professionals and the enterprise segment. A fingerprint sensor at the back allows for an added layer of security, and Android for Work support ensures that the device is compatible on secure corporate networks.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Pankaj Rana, Business Head – Mobility Division, Panasonic India, said:

"With the growing use of smartphones for a wider range of high-risk activities such as access to cloud data and private information, mobile security is a top priority for users. This control-sensitive device, which achieves complex tasks with the press of a finger or a swipe of the thumb, is personalized for the user and protects the smartphone investment."

Powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC, the Eluga Mark features a 5.5-inch 720p display, 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal memory, which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. The 4G LTE smartphone sports a 13MP rear camera optimized by an LED flash, 5MP front-facing camera and a 2,500mAh battery along with Android 5.1 Lollipop. The Eluga Mark comes with the FitHome user interface by Panasonic, which enables single thumb-flick access to applications on the home screen. The fingerprint sensor can also store up to eight fingerprints at a time.

Panasonic has mentioned that it launched 16 devices thus far in the country in 2015, and that it intends to launch a few more before the end of the year. The vendor has stated interest in the "Make in India" initiative for 2016, along with targeting international markets and regions with 4G-enabled devices.

The Panasonic Eluga Mark will be available in Royal Gold or Metallic Grey color variants for ₹11,990 ($180).

Don’t Panic! Your Instagram (Probably) Wasn’t Just Hacked

About two hours ago, I got a flurry of text messages from my family.

“My Instagram got hacked!” one read.

“I can’t log into Instagram! I got a notification saying I’d been logged out!”

You too?

Don’t panic. A bunch of people got those alerts — and no, it wasn’t a big ol’ mega hack.

It’s unclear exactly what happened, but Instagram says it wasn’t the result of something malicious. Just “a bug”, they say — and one that should be fixed now.

Carry on posting pictures of your coffee, shoes, and things perfectly centered from above.

How to Remove Unwanted Objects from Images

ven the most experienced photographers can sometimes make mistakes and that perfect shot can be turned instantly in an almost perfect image, thanks to a small leaf winded in front of the camera or two. For this kind of scenarios, and even more, image editing applications will always prove as friends.

While most people opt to use Photoshop, Fireworks and other expensive tools, there are several other services which can easily remove unwanted objects from pictures. In the following lines we will talk about the most relevant and easy to use.

How to Delete Unwanted Elements from Pictures

There are more ways to skin this cat. While most users have pricey tools like Adobe Photoshop to do the work in a fancy, but highly efficient way, there are several others which can do it for less. We’re going to explore the best options at hand, be it free or paid.

Using Photoshop

Most Photoshop versions come with a pre-built tool which can be used to effectively remove unwanted objects. Depending on mode and most of all, on the hardware configuration of the computer (yes, it seems that more RAM you have, the better results you get), users can delete entire objects out of an image. In this little explanation, we are going to use a Spot Healing Brush tool, which basically paints the designated area with pixels from all around.

Offering excellent results for small objects and able to do the same with bigger tasks, if there’s enough muscle, the Healing brush can be applied as such:

1. Open Photoshop and open the image you want to modify.
2. From the left bar, select the Spot Healing Brush Tool, which basically looks like a band-aid (this can also be done by pressing J on the keyboard).
3. Now, from the Tool Options Bar situated in the upper side of the screen, choose the Content-Aware feature.
4. Paint over the object that you want to remove from the image, using small brush strokes at a time, to ensure good results.

For smaller imperfections, such as a dimple or a scar, you can use the same Healing Brush tool, but now paired with a Proximity Match or Create Texture option, from the Type menu of the Tool Options bar. The first tool will match-up nearby pixels to recreate the object’s colors, while the second will use what’s found under the scope.

Another option would be to use the Clone Stamp Tool, which takes a sample from a certain photo part and clones the pixels wherever the user needs it. Although in theory this works pretty much as the Spot Healing brush, the tool does not calculate the lightness and color values from the actual surrounding. It’s a sort of a legacy feature, mainly used in older Photoshop versions (under 7).

Using the Clone Stamp can be started from the left-side panel, by clicking on the stamp like icon, just above the eraser. Then, you will have to opt for the Aligned attribute from the Tools menu and then start working. The working principle is rather simple, and you will just have to manually choose an area to replace the deleted object with, by pressing and holding the ALT button.

PhotoWipe

Beginners can also make use of another interesting and free tool, called PhotoWipe. As the name suggests, this software allows people to actually select all the undesired elements within a photo and delete them, with a single-click of a button. Although the process is rather simple, the end-effect is not that classy.

PhotoWipe uses an algorithm to automatically fill the missing space with the same colors as the background. Even though it’s a pretty nice idea, removing an object will still leave some scars on the photo which will surely be detected even by those not so tech-savvy. Still, it’s a nice tool, but don’t expect any miracles.

Now here’s how to use it:

1. Download PhotoWipe.
2. Open the software and choose an image from File -> Open.
3. Choose the objects you want to remove by painting them black. This can be done through a wide range of tools, from the upper menu. Also, to remove any mistakes, use the eraser.
4. Press the left Preview button to check how the photo will look after editing and if it’s that suits you, save the file.

A word of advice: there’s a high quality option in the left panel, which will dramatically increase results. Unfortunately, using it will highly increase the editing time.

WebPaint

Magic can also be done online, without installing any software at all. Webpaint is one of these services and it many aspects it functions just like Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill feature.

All you need to do is navigate to the official website, load the desired image using the left side button and then paint over the object you want removed, using the mouse cursor. To complete the action, press the blue Inpaint button and transformation will begin. In case you’ve covered anything that you weren’t supposed to, use the big X button and undo the action.

I was surprised how well WebPaint actually works, leaving images almost untouched after editing and actually finishing the photo in just a couple of seconds (depending on how big is the surface erased).