TL;DR: Android One is huge news. Especially in Asia, where Google’s tie-in with local brands Karbonn, Micromax and Spice are driving waves of international interest towards Indian smartphone manufacturers. Every publication – from Engadget to the Economic Times of India – is talking about Android One and India. But what does this mean for us Sri Lankans? Firstly, what IS Android ...
ICTA’s eLibrary “Nenasala” Program recently received a $1 million boost courtesy of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their work in bringing technology to people. The eLibrary program (eNLP for short) operates out of some 283 Nenasala centers in rural areas across the island, providing free computer and Internet access to those in the locale. Initially begun in Kataragama shortly after the ...
Firefox may be overshadowed by Google’s juggernaut, but the open web browser hasn’t given up the good fight: Mozilla just pushed out the Firefox 29 upgrade (29 versions, that’s some massive history), bringing with it some refreshing new changes. Now we all were Firefox fans before Google Chrome arrived on the scene – it did everything that Internet Explorer did, ...
And upon that fateful day, 21 brave adventurers set sail for the horizon… Well, maybe not. In reality, we piled into the big, white A/C bus that idled outside the WSO2 office in Colombo on the 29th of January, armed with liberal amounts of submarines. Those who had made the journey before settled in to sleep. Those who hadn’t stayed awake. Meanwhile, inside ...
Free Wi-Fi for everyone! In an election manifesto filled with some rather radical promises, that was one which still stood out. Whether you were a believer or not, you’ll be happy to hear that ICTA (Information and Communication Technology Agency) in collaboration with all telecommunication operators announced that steps have been taken to provide Sri Lankans with free Wi-Fi ...
BBC Travel’s homepage, as of the time of writing. They take a storytelling approach to travel. One fine day in November, Allison Busacca took the stage at Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo. Allison, the Editor of BBC Travel, was in Sri Lanka for TBCAsia: a combination tour / conference that brought world-class travel bloggers together for the first time in Asia. Suffice it ...
Another day, another competition. Or was it? We were at the Taj Samudra attending a competition. But the funny thing was, it wasn’t exactly your everyday competition, or a competition for that matter. This was MIT Global Startup Labs. This programme, initiated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a global incubator that teaches university students from developing countries leading-edge ...
Great news for all techies: two excellent meetups are happening on the same day, and they’re both free. More to the point, they’re being held at the same place (the DHPL building in Nawam Mawatha – Microsoft territory) on the same day – Saturday, the 12th of July, from 9AM to 5PM. Food and drinks on the house. Interested? Click ...
Tantalize, the biggest Inter-University Talent Show in Sri Lanka organized by the Student Activity Club of APIIT is back in style for the sixth consecutive year. And how better can we describe it than say that it just keeps growing every year and never fails to exceed expectations. And why are we here? Because we adore Tanta and we’re back ...
The Dell Solutions Tour is taking place in a couple of days – and we mean that quite literally. Happening on the 7th of October at the BMICH, the Solution Tour is a dual event – part conference, part expo (“e-carnival”, to quote Dell). The entire event happens from 9 AM to 9 PM, with the conference lasting from 9 to ...
Finally after a month of anticipation, it’s here. That’s right, folks- the biggest Google event of the year: Google I/O Extended 2014 is happening right now at the Sri Lanka Foundation institute. For those of you who are unaware: Google I/O Extended is where everyone gathers together to stay awake through the night to watch the annual Google I/O press conference ...
We’re all excited to be going to Google IO today. Last time was a blast, and we expect this time to be better. There’s also free pizza involved, so what could possibly go wrong? However, we’re aware that not everyone who wants in has got a pass, because the event registrations hit the roof and closed a couple of days ago. To ...
The provincial elections are just around the corner and the news that’s making headlines is beauty queens, super models, actresses and singers trying to get nominations to compete in the elections. But what are the representatives that got elected for the parliament actually doing? Sanath Jayasuriya is more concerned about cricket or his constituents? Ranjan Ramanayake is spending more time ...
Somehow, somewhere, we all do it. On the couch, on the table, in the kitchen, on the bed. Young or old, boy or girl, everyone does it. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We all check Facebook. Facebook and other SNS (Social Networking Services) have become such a part of our lives, it’s hard to imagine a day without it. ...
As one of my friends said, “Life with a smartphone is inconsistent”. One look at the mobile phone industry will tell you everything you need to know (and a ton of information you don’t need to know) about smartphones. Manufacturers pump out newer models like there’s no tomorrow and we likewise end up buying them. We’ve scouted around the mobile ...
We’ve all seen the “Ello” tide. I’ve lost count of number of people who’ve messaged me asking about Ello and whether everyone’s switching over – and could I give them an invite, please? Now, this isn’t to say I’m popular (I’m not) but this latest addition to a veritable ocean of already existing social networks fired up the social media ...
Having already being ranked among the 15 Great Places to Work For in Sri Lanka, 99X Technology recently held its annual awards night to felicitate their employees’ achievements and the company’s own accomplishments during the course of the year. Aptly titled ‘Blaze 2013’, the event was set afire by the presence of industry heads, members of the academia, company partners ...
It’s not news today that apps are taking over the world thanks to the power of affordable smartphones. Yet to create an app, you still need to know how to code and a bunch of some other pieces of technical knowledge. Thanks to the power of the internet, things are getting easier. Say hello to the Windows App Studio, folks ...
Last month, I ran into yet another case of eye strain. It’s not all that uncommon with me – I spend a good part of my day in front of multiple screens, and at least once a month I go down with a blinding headache that prevents me from reading anything for a good twelve hours. I’d heard of Gunnars, ...
Last week the worlds’ eyes were focused on Google I/O. We in Colombo were focused on a ton of other tech events along with it, such as the Colombo Agile Conference, TEDx and Social Media Day. Meanwhile, across the globe, at smaller tech events (that got eclipsed), some amazing breakthroughs in technology made their debuts. MIT built a 36 core ...
