Chennai teen hacks university site

Chennai teen hacks university site, bids for cyber course seat

Entrance exams are passe. A student from Tamil Nadu hacked into the admin pages of a cyber forensics centre at University of Madras to showcase his skills to the authorities and convince them to admit him to a course offered by the centre. The authorities said that the student later appeared for an entrance exam conducted by the centre, but had failed to clear it.

The youngster in an email in June to professors said he meant no harm but just wanted to tip them off about the inherent weaknesses in the university website and professed his passion to work in the field of INFOSEC (information security). The university's Centre for Cyber Forensics and Information Security offers an M.Sc degree, one of the most popular and in-demand courses with job offers from top banks and financial institutions pouring in for those completing it. For the 25 seats on offer, the centre received around 350 applications.

In the email, the student, even attached screenshots of the vulnerable admin logins he was able to break into, including the admin pages, library and the WiFi connectivity login. He also said he had found a small vulnerability that bypassed many login pages of the university's website. In the e-mail, the student said he had dreamed for long about studying cyber forensic sciences and that the attempt was merely to display the basic skills he possessed. He requested the authorities for a chance to be enrolled as a student in the course.

Amazon Prime to ramp up its India offerings

Amazon Prime plans to ramp up its India offerings, a year after it debuted the programme at an introductory price of Rs 499.

The subscription-based programme, which saw membership triple from January 2017 to June 2017, plans to include benefits such as event ticketing and cashbacks through the Amazon Pay wallet.

"We want to serve all your needs from shopping, family, video and any other entertainment needs you might have," said Akshay Sahi, head of Prime in India. The number of products under Prime has increased 70% to 2 million since the launch of the programme which guarantees one-day delivery in 100 cities.

ET had previously reported that Amazon Prime was on its way to launching music streaming services. The India platform has been in discussions to launch special previews for Prime members providing them limited tickets for third-party events, said Sahi.

At present, Prime in India offers four benefits, including fast and free deliveries, a 30-minute preview to lightning deals, Amazon Prime Video (introduced in December 2016) and Amazon Family (introduced in May 2017) which gives parents a year-long 15% discount on diapers. In the US, Amazon's home market, Prime provides close to 20 benefits including music, deliveries from preferred restaurants, membership sharing between family members and a 5% cash back on the use of Prime credit cards.

Sahi added that Pay with Amazon or third-party payments through the wallet is an India-specific benefit which Amazon is looking at.

"Wallet has a frequency game, Prime has a frequency game and we will leverage them together. Associating with external partners creates a lot of impact on customer experience. When it is cashback, it is easy to do," said Sahi while talking about introducing cashbacks and loyalty points for the Prime customer in India.

Prime users are likely to shop twice as much as non-Prime users on the Amazon India platform, according to Sahi, as the Seattle-based online retail giant looks to repeat the success of the programme in its home market here.

In the US, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated that the total number of Prime users in July 2016 was 63 million making up more than half of Amazon's customer base. The Prime members spent an average of $1,500 per year, compared to $500 spent by non-Prime users. With the bouquet of services, the price for renewal of Amazon Prime membership is also likely to go up.

"We declared a strike-through price of Rs 999 and cut it. The programme, as we see it, has a much higher value. Over time, the price will increase, I hope so. The price increase is to generate a lot more value from customers. We do think it is undervalued," said Sahi adding that increasing the benefits will also ensure that the value derived from it is higher.

While shopping and associated perks on the marketplace continue to be the biggest draw for customers on Prime subscription, 40% of the base also watches videos through the programme.

"The multiple services provided enhance the customer experience for Amazon, a key differentiator in the ecommerce market where many businesses compete on price only, which is not a sustainable strategy in the long run. Amazon can position it self as the destination for a variety of services, which increase the customer loyalty and its margin," said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner.

Orders from Prime customers contribute up to 30% of the orders on the Amazon India platform, with 50-60% orders for Amazon Pantry, the FMCG goods service.

Cars may soon predict if the driver is about to have a heart attack

Scientists are developing a new system that can predict if a car driver is about to have a heart attack, a feature that would help avoid road accidents due to an unexpected cardiac event.

When a person has a medical emergency behind the wheel, fellow passengers and motorists also face risk of death or serious injury.

"A large number of traffic incidents are caused by medical conditions while driving, specifically cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction and myocardial ischemia," said Kayvan Najarian, from University of Michigan in the US.

"The medical event interferes with the driver's ability to safely drive and operate the car, causing the accident," said Najarian.

Researchers, in collaboration with Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota, wanted to move towards technology that can monitor and analyse the physiology of the person driving and predict if they are going to have adverse cardiac events.

"We identified the challenges, potential solutions, hardware options and algorithmic approaches that could be potentially used," Najarian said.

"We concluded that cardiac events were conditions that are more feasible to detect with technology in the vehicle," he added.

Researchers are creating a system that could be placed in the vehicle to monitor and predict an adverse cardiac event.

"We would like to test hardware we had previously identified, and improve and validate our algorithmic solutions to see what it will take to generate a system that could look at the physiology of a person, provided by high-density electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements, as well as other medical measurements," Najarian said.

Google is rewarding for finding Android Bug

Google will now reward $2,00,000 for finding an Android bug

Days after a malware called "Judy" hit over 36.5 million Android-based phones, Google has increased the bounty for finding a bug in Android OS to as much as $2,00,000, a media report has said.

According to cyber security firm Check Point, dozens of malicious apps were downloaded between 4.5 million to 18.5 million times from the Play Store. Some of the malware-affected apps have been discovered residing on the online store for several years.

"Judy" is one such case of how an open and free mobile operating system (OS) can be exploited by malicious app developers.

Most security flaws we hear about now affect old builds of the OS or require clever social engineering to get the user to weaken device security, technology website extremetech.com reported on Friday.

The versions of Android being released now are more secure than what Google was putting out years ago and as a result no one has managed to claim Google's largest bug bounties for Android.

Hoping to attract more researchers and engineers to the bug bounty programme, the company has increased the rewards to up to $2,00,000.

Google started the bug bounty programme for Android about two years ago in which the security researchers, who demonstrate an exploit, get a cash prize -- the amount of which varies based on the severity of the hack.

Unbreakable material for Smartphones

This material can make smartphones 'unbreakable'

DON: Scientists have discovered a new 'miracle material' with improved chemical stability, lightness and flexibility, which could be used to make smartphones and other devices that are less likely to break.

Currently, most parts of a smartphone are made of silicon and other compounds, which are expensive and break easily, but with almost 1.5 billion smartphones purchased worldwide last year, manufacturers are on the lookout for something more durable and less costly, researchers said.

Researchers, including those from Queen's University Belfast in the UK, found that by combining semiconducting molecules C60 with layered materials, such as graphene and hBN, they could produce a unique material technology, which could revolutionise the concept of smart devices.

The winning combination works because hBN provides stability, electronic compatibility and isolation charge to graphene while C60 can transform sunlight into electricity.

Any smart device made from this combination would benefit from the mix of unique features, which do not exist in materials naturally.

This process, which is called van der Waals solids, allows compounds to be brought together and assembled in a pre-defined way.

"Our findings show that this new 'miracle material' has similar physical properties to Silicon but it has improved chemical stability, lightness and flexibility, which could potentially be used in smart devices and would be much less likely to break," said Elton Santos from Queen's University.

Nasa to broadcast live 360-degree video of rocket launch

Nasa, in coordination with commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK and launch service major United Launch Alliance (ULA), is set to broadcast the world's first live 360-degree stream of a rocket launch on April 18.

The live 360-degree stream of the cargo resupply mission liftoff to the International Space Station may be viewed on the Nasa Television YouTube channel starting 10 minutes prior to lift off, the US space agency said.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft will launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket carrying more than 3,447 kg of science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory.

The launch is targeted for April 18 during a 30-minute window that opens at 11:11 am EDT.

To view in 360, you need to use a mouse or move a personal device to look up and down, back and forth, for a 360-degree view around Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Not all browsers support viewing 360 videos. YouTube supports playback of 360-degree videos on computers using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera browsers.

Viewers may use the YouTube app to view the launch on a smartphone.

Those who own virtual reality headsets will be able to look around and experience the view as if they were actually standing on the launch pad, NASA said.

While virtual reality and 360 technology have been increasing in popularity, live 360 technology is a brand new capability that has emerged recently.

Recognising the exciting possibilities opened up by applying this new technology to space flights, Nasa, ULA and Orbital ATK seized this opportunity to virtually place the public at the base of the rocket during launch.

The minimum viewing distance is typically miles away from the launch pad, but the live 360 stream enables viewers to get a pads-eye view.

Self-driving truck passes test in China

A Chinese-made self-driving truck has passed a navigation test, heralding a new era of intelligent, automated heavy vehicles, official media reported today.

FAW Jiefang, the leading truck manufacturer, debuted the self-driving truck at FAW Tech Center in Changchun city, Jilin province.

The truck, which FAW Jiefang plans to commercialize as early as next year, was able to recognize obstacles, slow down, make a detour and speed up, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The intelligent driving vehicle reacted correctly to traffic lights, adaptive cruise control, remote commands and successfully overtook, the report said.

Hu Hanjie, FAW Jiefang General Manager, said the company has built a whole industry chain partnership to develop, manufacture, sell and service self-driving trucks.

The participation of more firms across the sector will accelerate the technology's use on heavy-duty vehicles, Hu said.

Leading Chinese tech firms, including Baidu and Tencent, have invested in self-driving entities.

Baidu, for example, has tested driverless mini cars at the annual World Internet Conference for the last two years.

The technology may prove more practical when it is used on trucks than private cars as truck drivers are more likely to drive tired, the report added.

Paytm achieves another milestone

The popular mobile payment and e-commerce platform Paytm has announced that it is now 200 million wallets strong. The company is the biggest success story of demonetisation announced by Prime minister Narendra Modi in November 2016. Within hours of the PM announcing the banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Paytm user base jumped almost 150%. For weeks after that, the company's app ruled both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma tweeted the news of the company crossing the 200 million wallets milestone. Sharma also thanked Paytm users for the feat and said that he hopes that the company crosses 500 million-mark by the year 2020.

He also said in his tweet that the company is adding 7 lakh users per day and that the total balance in the wallets stood at Rs 899 crore.

The company also said in a press release that Paytm has become a preferred method of payment for use-cases ranging from mobile and DTH recharges to electricity and water bill payments as well as offline payments at grocery stores, pharmacies and parking among others.

"At Paytm, our goal is to help merchants and consumers transact digitally at zero extra cost. Reaching 200 Mn registered users and more than half a million users on a daily basis is a great showcase of the country's trust in our payment solution and reaffirms our belief in the need for a quick and easy cashless payment method. Going forward, we would continue to drive strong consumer-focused innovation in the category to reach the widest set of merchants and consumers in India," Deepak Abbot, senior vice president said.

Get Your Pan and pay tax via app

You may soon get PAN in minutes and pay your income tax via app, here's how

You may soon be able to get a permanent account number in minutes and also pay income tax through your smartphone.

As part of its drive to make life easy for taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes is working on issuing PAN on a real-time basis using Aadhaar's e-KYC facility, which allows an individual to verify his or her details such as address using biometric identification features like thumb impressions.

"If a SIM can be issued through e- KYC, then the same can be done for PAN," said an officer adding that the process may be crunched to five-six minutes from two-three weeks at present. While the number will be issued, the card will be delivered later.

The CBDT and the ministry of corporate affairs have already tied up to issue PAN to new companies incorporating through a combined form in four hours. The idea, again, is to move to real-time issuing of PAN, which will also become the business identification number for companies.

Separately, the tax department is developing an app that will help you pay taxes online and perform a host of other services such as apply for PAN or track your returns. While the department is offering several services online through its portal, the app is expected to make life simpler for seniors as well as young taxpayers.

The two projects are being done in-house with the directorate of systems coordinating with CBDT, said sources.

Apple iPhone 7 updates

Apple iPhone 7 Matte Black coating chips off, raises quality concerns

Apple's products are generally renowned for their premium build quality. But it seems that the company's newest flagship smartphone - iPhone 7, isn't exactly one of them.

According to several user reports on Apple's Discussion forums, several Matte Black iPhone 7 models are chipping off paint, exposing the silver aluminium underneath.

"At first I thought it was just the dust. I try to wipe it using microfibre cloth as usual. Until I look closely and see it is the metal part of the body. It seems that the black anodized paint had been chipped off from the phone body. I am really disappointed with what happened to the phone because I was using it very carefully," posted one of the users on the forum.

What's more disappointing is that after having a word with Apple's Customer Support, some users found out that the damage is not covered under warranty since it's cosmetic damage.

"I am in the UK and got my phone (Matte Black 7 Plus) on 1st Nov. I found first paint chip on the top left of the phone on 25th Nov... just had it less than a month," remarked a user.

Some even tried giving some cheap solutions. "Yours is quite visible. Try to touch up using Black paint. I use matte Black paint."

For those who are facing the issue, it is quite a disappointment that Apple is not covering it under any kind of warranty. This also raises questions on the product quality standards maintained by the company for its products.

At the time of launch, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus' Glossy Black version also faced some criticism by users, due to being immensely prone to minor scratches.

Payments Bank of Paytm gets Rs 218cr infusion

Paytm Payments Bank has received Rs 218 crore in fresh capital as it prepares to start operations this month from Uttar Pradesh. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm who holds the payments bank licence has infused Rs 111 crore, while One97 Communications and One97 India Communications, the parent of Paytm, put in the rest of the amount, as per latest regulatory filings sourced via business research platform Tofler.

Earlier in January , Sharma said he had managed to get the final nod from RBI to kick-start the bank. Paytm Payments Bank has issued 2,18,000,000 shares to the three shareholders.

The development comes on the back of two other payments banks -Airtel Payments Bank and India Post Payments Bank launching their operations.

TOI had reported its in December 9 edition, about Sharma selling 1% of his personal holding in Paytm's parent firm One97 Communications for about Rs 325 crore to invest in the payments bank. Sharma holds 51% stake in Paytm Payments Bank, as per RBI guidelines. Paytm had planned to start its payments bank last year but had to postpone the launch multiple times due to regulatory delays. After getting RBI nod, Sharma had said that about Rs 400 crore would be pumped into the payments bank.

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Here’s why Facebook needs to thank Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio's free data offer and subsequent moves by competitors to reduce data charges look to have had a dramatic impact on Facebook usage in India. The impact was so much that it took Facebook's global monthly active user (MAU) numbers to record highs.

In its December-quarter earnings call with investors on Wednesday, the social media giant said the quarter was a "fantastic" one for the "overall growth of the Facebook community." The quarter witnessed Facebook's "strongest absolute MAU and DAU (daily active user) additions year-over-year since being a public company", CFO David Wehner said.

In response to a question on where the increases came from, Wehner singled out India and said "India was our strongest growth market." He indicated much of that increase came on account of "third party promotional free data plans."

Asia saw a sequential growth in Facebook MAUs of more than 44 million in the quarter, said to be the biggest increase ever.

Wehner added that Facebook Lite for Android has also helped the social networking major to expand its usage and reach in emerging economies including India. Facebook Lite is a light app that allows for faster downloads on cheaper Android phones.

Facebook has its largest user base in India with around 195 million accounts, according to Statista, a data collecting platform. The US comes second with 191 million users. Other emerging economies like Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico follow.

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This is what Microsoft's letter to Donald Trump

Microsoft on Thursday said it proposed a program to US President Donald Trump's administration allowing people from seven predominantly Muslim nations to enter and leave the United States on business or family emergency travel if they hold valid work or student visas and have not committed any crimes.

In a letter to secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Microsoft president Brad Smith outlined a program for case-by-case review of exceptions to a travel ban instituted last week.

Microsoft is the first major US company to press the government to create a formal program that would ease the ban for foreign-born workers who do not have permanent residence in the United States. Permanent residents, known as green card holders, were granted an exemption on Sunday.

The proposal argued that Kelly and Tillerson have the power to grant exceptions to the travel ban under the order issued last week by Trump.

Technology companies including Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet, Apple and Amazon.com have been vocal in their opposition to Trump's order, arguing that they rely on workers from around the world to create their products and services.

Amazon and Expedia Inc filed declarations of support on Monday in a legal challenge to the order by the Washington state attorney general. Microsoft said on Thursday that 76 of its employees and 41 dependants were affected by the travel ban.

Microsoft's proposal would cover holders of the H-1B visa, a temporary work visa that the tech sector relies on to recruit foreign talent. Kelly issued an order on Sunday saying that green card holders would be allowed to travel under the executive orders, but H-1B holders from the seven affected countries are still banned.

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130 million smartphones to be shipped in India in 2017

India's smartphone market is expected to witness a growth of 15% to 130 million units this year, accounting for almost half of the total mobile phone sales in the country, a report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) said today.

Total mobile phone shipments in 2016 stood at 262 million units, of which smartphones accounted for 113 million (43%), while the remaining 149 million were feature phones.

"Despite 'turbulence' in sentiments towards the end of year, the shipments did not see a proportionate hit as there was very little window for handset makers to realign the shipments through the value chain," the report said.

However, demonetisation did result in inventory build-up in the range of 25-35% for various brands in different categories of mobile handsets, it added.

"As a result of this, CMR expects contraction in the shipments for 1Q CY 2017. At the same time, handset makers will try to catalyse sales by offering discounts and schemes immediately after the Union Budget 2017 is announced, which in all probabilities is going to be favouring the handset industry to aid rejuvenation," it said.

The market is estimated to ship 270 million mobile phones in 2017, of which 130 million (48%) are forecast to be smartphones.

CMR said it expects strong competition in the sub-Rs 10,000 or the "affordable smartphone" segment.

However, for Chinese brands like Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi -- which have carved out a strong position in the Indian market -- 2017 could be a difficult year.

"2017 will be difficult for them from two fronts. One is about them being able to keep the momentum of magnitude of spend going to remain visible and impact worthy as before. The second and even important one is to strengthen in the affordable smartphone segment," it said.

These brands hit the 'value for money' segment which propelled Indian mobile users, especially the youth, to upgrade/replace in this segment of Rs 10,000 20,000. This is the segment that helped these Chinese brands expand their position in the Indian handset market.

Paytm's story now a case study at Harvard

The journey of digital wallet Paytm from being a recharge platform to a payments bank is the topic of a case study published by India Research Centre (IRC) of Harvard Business School (HBS).

The study titled ‘Paytm: Building a Payments Network’ will be available for teaching purposes within and outside Harvard.

Established in 2006, Mumbai-based IRC supports its faculty with research in emerging trends in the region. IRC has supported most of the case studies and HBS research projects focused on business in South Asian region.

“Paytm is revolutionizing payments in India and it is a shining example of India’s digital future,” said Professor Sunil Gupta, one of the authors of the study and Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and Chair of the General Management Program at HBS.

Professor Gupta and Professor Das Narayandas had also published a study on Flipkart’s decision to hive off its logistics unit Ekart as a separate company and the e-tailer’s move to a marketplace model in April 2016.

“We are on a mission to bring half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy and in turn build a business that India would be proud of. For us, the journey to enable fellow countrymen with digital payments and become a part of financial inclusion has only started right now. It is truly a privilege to have it become a part of the curriculum offered by the prestigious institute,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm.

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Mastercard has set its eyes on India's growing e-commerce market

Identifying India as one of the "fastest" growing e-commerce nations, a leading global credit card company has said it will increase its investments in the country where it has already grown by 30% in the last two years.

"India is one of the top priorities in the region. We have increased our investments in India by over 30% in the last two years and we are going to increase it even more," Sam Ahmed, Mastercard's senior vice-president of marketing for Asia Pacific, told here.

Ahmed indicated that the company's investment plans were in line with the Indian government's "digital India" initiative and would help Indian consumers in digital payments in their daily lives.

He said the company was looking at a number of digital payment innovations which were to be launched in India in future including face recognition, Masterpass and other online payment methods.

He said mobile penetration in India was the highest and termed it as the key to get the user's access to such digital payment innovations.

Commenting on the flow of investments in India, Ahmed said the company was keen to support the digitisation move to help consumers understand about it.

The investments will also be channelised towards the digital and e-commerce engine giving consumers what they need. we are planning to do this by partnering with small businesses and merchants and outbound travellers, he said.

The company is eyeing to tap movie launches and sponsoring local sports as a part of its marketing campaigns.

"Movies are such a passion in India. The area we are looking at is movie launches," Ahmed said.

Currently, the company has veteran Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor and his daughter Sonam Kapoor as its Brand ambassadors.

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How Facebook profiles have come into play post Donald Trump's immigration order

The US border officials are checking the Facebook profiles of immigrants before allowing them into the country, a media report said.

The move came in the wake of US President Donald Trump's executive order to temporarily bar US entry to refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations.

The US officials are reportedly checking the Facebook pages of immigrants for their political views, The Independent reported on Sunday.

A Houston-based lawyer Mana Yegani was quoted as saying that several green card holders, who have the right to live and work in the US, were detained by border agents at American airports hours after Trump's executive order came into force.

According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (Alia), border agents were checking the social media accounts of those detained and were interrogating them about their political beliefs before allowing them into the US.

"I and my fellow lawyers had worked through the night fielding calls from people with legitimate visa being detained before entering the US or ordered back on flights to the Muslim-majority countries on the list," said Yegani, who works with the Alia.

"The ban has affected travellers with passports from seven Muslim majority countries and also green card holders who are granted authorisation to live and work in the US," a spokeswoman from Department of Homeland Security said.

The ban on Saturday created chaos and outrage around the world, while numerous travellers found their access to the US territory blocked and protests were staged at several US airports.

"In one alleged incident a Sudanese PhD student at Stanford University in California, who has lived in the US for 22 years, was held for five hours in New York and in another a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen was not allowed to board a flight in Ottawa," the report noted.

"These are people that are coming in legally. They have jobs here and they have vehicles here. Just because Trump signed something at 6 p.m. yesterday (on Friday), things are coming to a crashing halt. It's scary," Yegani said.

The executive order bans immigration from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen under measures to "keep radical Islamic terrorists out".

"I am establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US," Trump said on Friday during the signing at the Pentagon after the swearing-in of Defence Secretary James Mattis, CNN reported.

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Facebook launches security key to check data breach

To minimise data breach, Facebook has added a new login option with 'security keys' that requires a user to enter a special security code from their phone in addition to the password when they login from a new browser.

According to a Facebook blog post, though most people get security code for login approvals from a text message (SMS) or by Facebook app to generate the code directly on their phones, SMS is not always reliable and having a phone backup may not work well for them.

"You can register a physical security key to your account so that the next time you login after enabling login approvals, you will simply tap a small hardware device that goes in the USB drive of your computer," said Brad Hill, security engineer at Facebook.

Security keys can be purchased through companies like Yubico, a key manufacturing firm, and the keys support the open Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) -- an authentication technology initially developed by Google -- standard hosted by the 'Fast IDentity Online' (FIDO) Alliance.

FIDO Alliance is a group of big corporations that collaborate on ways to make sign-ins safer and easier online.

According to a report in Fortune, "a security key ensures that only the person in possession of it (and password) can access accounts so protected," the report noted.

Users can set up a security key to protect their account by buying one online at an e-commerce shop and then go to the Facebook 'settings'.

Click on 'security', where they can see an option for 'security keys'.

Simply select 'add key' and the account is secured. To add a security key from computer, users need to use the latest versions of Chrome or Opera browser.

However, security keys have their own limitations currently.

It requires users to plug the device into a laptop or desktop through a USB port and sign on from a Chrome or Opera web browser.

Mobile users need buy a key that supports near-field communication, a wireless tech that involves radio waves.

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will be the world's first trillionaire, claims study

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be world's first trillionaire in the next 25 years, according to a new research.

According to research firm Oxfam International, the world would get its first trillionaire in the next 25 years, when Bill Gates becomes around 86 years old.

A report by Oxfam International said that considering that Bill Gates' fortune is growing at 11% per year since 2009, he could become the world's first trillionaire soon.

When Gates left Microsoft in 2006, his net worth was $50 billion, according to Oxfam. By 2016, his wealth had increased to $75 billion, "despite his commendable attempts to give it away through his Foundation," the report said.

In addition to the charitable work Gates does through his personal foundation, he is one of the founding members of The Giving Pledge, a commitment from some of the richest individuals in the world to give away more than half of their worth. 

For the hypothetical analysis, Oxfam researchers applied the rate of growth he has been enjoying, 11% per year since 2009, to Gates' current levels of wealth (over $84 billion, according to Forbes).

"In such an environment, if you are already rich, you have to try hard not to keep getting a lot richer," Oxfam noted.

Another report by Oxfam had found that eight billionaires, including Bill Gates, from around the globe have as much money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world's population.

As per the report, the eight billionaires, according to the Forbes billionaires list published in March 2016, include Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, Carlos Slim, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Oracle's Larry Ellison.

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Google Pixel sales have been low due to high price and tough competition

Pixels are not adding up to make a perfect picture for global technology giant Google. Certainly not in India, the world’s fastest growing and second largest mobile phone market after China.

Google’s Pixel smartphone was launched in India with an advertising blitz in October 2016. And given its super premium positioning, November 2016’s demonetisation wasn’t an inhibiting factor. But sales have been tepid at best, say retailers and analysts.

Comparisons with the failure of Google’s low-end smartphone project, Android One, are beginning to be made.

Retailers and industry insiders say Pixel sales have not taken off mainly thanks to very high prices – Rs 57,000 upwards – and the greater brand pull of Apple’s iPhones and Samsung Galaxy variants in the super premium category.

Sales data are not shared by Google or retailers. But shipments are an indication. Google has shipped around 30,000 Pixel phone units during the initial launch period and around 10,000 more subsequently, industry insiders said.

They added that Apple and Samsung shipments over the same period came to lakhs of units. Analysts said Pixel had captured the No. 3 spot, behind Apple and Samsung, in the first two months after launch, in the Rs 40,000-plus category, getting a 5% share. But since then Pixel has lost substantial ground, they told EToff the record.

But a Google spokesperson said Pixel sales were as per the company’s expectations. “Over the last few months, we have received very positive feedback from consumers. Excitement continues to be high for the Google Assistant, camera and the overall speed and responsiveness of Pixel phones, and sales have been in line with our expectations,” the spokesperson said, in response to queries from ET .

Pixel is lagging globally too. The smartphone has sold around 2.5 million units since its October 2016 launch, Counterpoint Research says. Analysts say Apple would have sold over 70 million phones while Samsung’s numbers would be over 80 million in the October-December period despite the latter’s trouble with flagship Galaxy Note 7, several units of which exploded or caught fire. Apple and Samsung are yet to report the numbers for the period.

“Because Google was coming for the first time on its own, there was a hype initially, but there hasn’t been happening much since. Sales have not been good,” said Subhash Chandra, managing director of Bengaluru-based Sangeetha Mobiles.

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