How to check if your emails are being tracked

You might not realize it, but there are now email-tracking tools that make it easy for people to see when you open an email, what you click, and where you're located.

"Emails appear no different to your contacts, but you get data when, where, and how a contact interacts with your message," says a cheery video advertising Bananatag, an email-tracking service for Gmail designed for job seekers, advertisers, and those working in public relations.

In response, a handy new tool called Ugly Email shows you when your emails in Gmail are being tracked, and it starts working before you click anything.

When Ugly Email is installed, a tiny little eye symbol appears next to any email in an inbox that is being tracked by tools like Bananatag, Streak, or Yesware.

Installing Ugly Email is easy. First you'll need to make sure you're using Google Chrome as your web browser.

Next click this link to take you to Ugly Email on the Chrome Web Store, click the "Add to Chrome" button, and you're all set.

Any email arriving in your Gmail inbox will then be vetted for tracking tools, and the Ugly Email team promises that it is "actively working on adding more" email-tracking services to its list.

Ugly Email just showed up on Product Hunt, so if you're looking for a similar email-alert service that has been around for a while longer, you can always try out PixelBlock, which does the same thing.

- IndiaTimes

How to run Android apps on your laptop or desktop

Android has a large, vibrant ecosystem of applications. From Heartstone to Plex to Twitter, Google Play is home to over 1.5 million mobile apps, according to AppBrain.

Wouldn't it be great to run all these apps on your computer, too? Now you can, thanks to Android Runtime for Chrome.

What is Android Runtime for Chrome?
Simply put, Android Runtime for Chrome (or ARC, for short) is a software package that lets users run Android apps inside their web browsers.

Google announced ARC last summer, and initially designed it with Chromebooks in mind. The idea was to bring popular Android apps to Chrome OS, which is still largely limited to running web apps. And while many popular services, like Instagram, have Android apps, not everyone offers a full-featured web-app equivalent. This fact alone made ARC a potential boon for Chromebook owners.

Then earlier this month, Google released an update to ARC, which lets users run Android apps within the Chrome browser on OS X, Linux and Windows as well.

By some measure, using ARC is a little like running a Java app in a browser in that it's a virtual environment that lets users run a certain class of apps across multiple platforms. As it turns out, Java is the programming language of choice for Android app development.

For now, ARC is still in beta, so you may encounter bugs and some apps may not work properly. While the current release is primarily for Android developers to test their apps and see how well they run, any daring soul can download ARC and try it out for themselves.

How to get Android Runtime for Chrome
All you need to run ARC on your computer is the latest version of Google Chrome. If you're using a Chromebook, Google recommends using the latest "stable channel" (non-beta) build. From there, you can get the necessary ARC Welder add-on for Chrome via Google's Chrome Web Store, and installing it takes only a couple of clicks. The download itself isn't that big, either: it's a shade under 12MB.

Running apps
Once ARC Welder is finished installing, it's almost ready to run Android apps (called APKs) from your computer.

Getting the APKs is the hard part, particularly if you aren't a developer and don't have any apps of your own making to try. You can't readily download APKs from the Google Play Store directly to your PC, so you'll have to hunt down APKs using other means. APK mirror sites are one option, but that route is a risky proposition rife with potential security issues and other pitfalls.

Instead, your best bet may be to try extracting apps installed on your phone and then copying them over to your computer. Various options exist on Google Play; just do a search for "APK extractor." Many APK extractor apps are free, so you can try a few before you settle on one you like. We used the aptly named APK Extractor from Meher for our own testing and liked it.

You'll also need a way to get the APK off your phone and onto your computer, and you can do this either over a USB connection or via a cloud storage service like Dropbox.

If you're on a Mac and choose to go the USB route, you can use the free Android File Transfer app to access files stored on your device. However, depending on where your extractor app stored the APK, you may not be able to get to it this way. Instead, you may need to download a file manager app like Astro to locate the extracted APK. Once you locate the APK, you can transfer it to your computer via email or via Dropbox or other cloud storage service.

Now that you have an APK to try, launch ARC Welder from Chrome's in-browser app picker, or through the Chrome App Launcher that appears in the OS X dock, Linux dock or the Windows taskbar. The first time you open ARC Welder, it'll ask you to pick a folder for it to store files. Once you do that, you're ready to rock.
Click Add your APK and find the APK you saved to your computer. Select it, then press Open. ARC Welder will ask how you want to run the app (in portrait or landscape mode, in tablet or phone mode, etc.). Select the options you want, then click Launch App.

A work in progress
Now, as for how the apps themselves work in the Chrome browser, we tried the official Twitter app, and amazingly enough, it works almost flawlessly. Until it doesn't, anyway. In our testing, we were able to browse our Twitter feed, post tweets, view pictures - all the usual stuff.

The app ran fairly smoothly on a late 2012 MacBook Air, and it looked good, although the typography was a little light compared to the regular desktop site, so some things were hard to read. It responded to mouse clicks as if they were finger taps, and even let us scroll up and down using OS X's two-finger scrolling.

We did encounter one hiccup though, when ARC Welder ran into a problem and forced the app to close. It is beta, after all. But still, it's neat to be able to run apps intended for a mobile device on a computer.

While it would be easier to run your Android apps on a tablet or smartphone as they were designed to be used, ARC could be a huge boon for Chromebooks and eliminate the web limitations of Chrome OS. What's more, this could be the starting point of a rich Chrome app ecosystem.


Where does ARC go from here? On some level, ARC seems a little out of place in a world where native mobile apps are the norm and web apps fill most compatibility gaps.

Still, it's unreasonable to expect all developers to hop on the web app train, and for our Chromebook-using friends, having an additional source of apps could be a godsend. Just don't expect it to completely remake the app landscape anytime soon.

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#Report: iPhone 7 may have Intel inside

You likely won't see Intel's infamous "Intel Inside" sticker plastered on the back of the iPhone 7, but that doesn't mean that future Apple smartphones won't contain Intel technology.

Citing people close to the matter, VentureBeat reported that Intel has as many as 1,000 engineers working on a modem that could be used in a future iPhone. The Intel 7360 LTE modem, which supports 4G LTE and 3G CDMA networks, could arrive as early as the iPhone 7, according to the publication.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said that the 7360 modem will start shipping to manufacturers by the end of this year and will show up in products ready for consumers in 2016, which could result in Apple getting its iPhone 7 modems from both Qualcomm and Intel. Currently, all of the iPhone modems are sourced from Qualcomm.

An all-for-one future
Although Apple won't be using Intel's mobile-based Atom processor on an iPhone any time in the near future, the goal would be to integrate the modem directly onto Apple's A-series processor in a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design. Integrating the modem, processor and graphics together onto a single silicon chip could lead to better battery life, improved performance and faster speeds for iPhone owners.

For Apple, this could also lead to thinner iPhone designs. Integrating components also means that less space is required for each individual component, so Apple could shed thickness or pack in a bigger battery on its next iPhone model.

Intel's role in the equation would be manufacturing these chips. Apple would design the rumored A-series processor, license Intel's intellectual property to integrate the modem directly into the processor design and then send the design to Intel's fabrication labs to be manufactured.

The Intel advantage
The A9 chips inside Apple's flagship iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones are manufactured by TSMC and Samsung. Even though the A9 chip is a 14nm processor, Apple's partners create the interface with a 20nm design, which isn't as efficient or advanced as Intel's 14nm design.

In addition to a 14nm design, Intel has begun work for an even smaller 10nm design, which could be ready in as little as two years. This puts Intel's timeline ready for production for an A-series processor for the iPhone 8, with the iPhone 7S likely succeeding next year's iPhone 7.

Intel's history with Apple
Infineon, the wireless company that Intel acquired, had supplied 3G modems for Apple's iPhone until 2011. Apple has since switched to Qualcomm as its modem supplier.

Since the acquisition, Apple has hired a number of top Infineon executives, including Intel CTO Bernd Adler. VentureBeat cites conflicting sources as to the reason for Apple's hire. Some speculate that Apple hired Infineon engineers to help collaborate with Intel, while others suggest that Apple wants to design its modem in-house, similar to how it currently designs A-series processors.

In addition to mobile, Intel's processors are also found on Apple's OS X products. Apple transitioned from a PowerPC architecture to Intel's x86 processor in 2006. Now, Intel processors span all of Apple's desktops and laptops, including the Mac Pro, Mac Mini, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines.

- IndiaTimes

Bengaluru company aims to beat Google, Facebook with tiny chip

BENGALURU: A tiny chip designed in Bengaluru, the size of a postage stamp, might hold the answer to connecting India's rural population to the internet, an ambitious goal being chased by the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

The chip, called Pruthvi, powers a system which can use television White Space — or wasted spectrum bandwidth — to beam internet to scores of households. This innovation by Saankhya Labs, is important in today's India, where on one hand the government is pushing its ambitious 'Digital India' programme and on the other, large technology companies are working on similar goals.

"World over regulatory authorities are using or planning to use this spectrum for their respective connectivity programmes. India can take the lead in both technology and the markets for TV White Space-based broadband delivery. And how long can the government not push the envelope... It's got to be expedited sooner than later," said Parag Naik, CEO and co-founder of Saankhya Labs.

Founded in 2007 by Naik, Hemant Mallapur and Vishwakumara Kayargadde, the company has developed a system called Meghdoot, powered by its Pruthvi chip, which can utilize the existing TV White Space bandwidth available in India to provide wireless broadband to remote areas. TV White Space refers to the unused spectrum between active TV channels that are traditionally used for over-the-air transmission using TV towers and rooftop antennas. In India, this mainly refers to the spectrum used by the likes of Prasar Bharti.

The Meghdoot product family consists of a base station and user-side modem that can together provide Wireless Rural Broadband using the TV White Space spectrum from 400 to 800MHz.

The technology does not require line-of-sight, thus ensuring longer range, and can serve up to a radius of 10-15km depending on antenna tower height and transmit power. The range can also be further increased with more powerful and taller antennas.

The company is soon set to conduct field trials across the country in collaboration with IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and IIT-Hyderabad. They are also in discussions with Microsoft to do trials at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh.

The Meghdoot product line is compliant to the Wi-FAR standard, making the device compatible for use in other countries too. The company is also engaged with partners for trials in the Philippines, the US and Singapore.

- IndiaTimes

How to Use Mobile Technology to Boost Sales

In the fiercely competitive world of sales, first impressions are everything and every meeting matters. If you don’t leave a mark on your client within the first 30 seconds, chances are you won’t get the sale.

To increase the probability of closing deals, employers across the globe are turning to mobile technology, which helps them professionalise their sales force, improve client engagement and ultimately win business, says a new report from SME Advisor Middle East, a publication with a focus on business owners and senior executives across the GCC.

Any profitable organisation is looking for ways to optimise processes, reduce time spent on administrative tasks and focus its resources on building client relationships. Mobile technology is a fantastic medium helping businesses achieve these goals. Latest market data shows that a large number of companies around the world are investing in sophisticated mobile technology – not just for internal operations, but for customer facing functions too. One area that has yielded significant results is sales – Aberdeen research revealed that “23 per cent more firms meet team sales quotas when employing a sales mobility strategy”.

Organisations are using mobile technology to increase the effectiveness of the sales function; helping their employees be organised, consistent and engaging in every meeting. More importantly, they are using such technology to create a seamless link between the sales rep onsite and the business home base. For example, a salesperson can simply access latest prices on a mobile device rather than having to wait to go back to the office and share a revised quotation to the client.

In fact, businesses using mobile technology are enjoying a multitude of benefits. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages that mobile technology offers:

Provides real-time information

How many times do you find that your salesperson has to scour internal sites, PPTs, Excel sheets and old e-mails to get valuable information? Using a mobile device, you can easily assemble and catalogue data into an organised manner. Mobile forms are another popular way of collecting and organising information; they can be used to update purchase orders, alter pricing, record inventory and close sales.

An article on marketingprofs.com explains: “Making pertinent information such as product details, prices, inventory, and Web demos available remotely enables the salespeople to easily access the most accurate and timely information when they need it most. The more quickly salespeople can get to information crucial to move their prospects through each stage of the cycle, the more they will stand out from the competition and ultimately make a sale.”

Manages a customer database

Use an advanced CRM system to manage customer information and update the status of prospective leads. For instance, as soon as a sales member has finished a meeting, they will need to add in all crucial details into the CRM database. This allows for proper client follow-up and a streamlined customer contact systems across the sales floor.

Facilitates account management

Most businesses have a VIP segment of customers who are essentially repeat or loyal clients and account for a large portion of the revenue of the business. These accounts are usually handled by ‘account managers’, who give them individual attention. Mobile devices can help automate the interaction of account managers with these elite clients ensuring that all their needs are fully catered to.

Tracks and evaluates sales performance

With advanced mobile software available today, sales staff can sign in when they start work on their mobile devices and keep a time log of all their meetings during the day. In addition, they can update the status of every meeting online. So, managers are fully up to date in terms of the time spent on a meeting, the primary discussion points and the outcome.

That’s not all. Managers can also track what information is accessed the most by sales staff when interacting with clients, and use this to improve their proposals in the future. In fact, many businesses take advantage of a customised dashboard feature on devices which provides an overview of the progress of meetings across the sales floor including number of meetings attended, number of calls made, number of deals closed, number of leads collected, and so on.

Improves sales productivity

The lesser the amount of time spent on collecting and assembling information means more time spent on selling. It’s as simple as that. Sales staff no longer have an excuse to spend huge chunks of time in the office doing paperwork or sending out e-mails. Experts suggest that the implementation of mobile technology essentially gives up to one extra selling day every month!

Seal the deal: best practices in mobile sales

It is important to understand that simply providing latest gadgets to your sales team isn’t enough to make a difference or give your business a competitive edge. In order to fully maximise the opportunities that mobile technology offers, sales reps need to be trained and informed about key best practices before they begin field work.

The following is a list of important guidelines to bear in mind when briefing your sales force –

 Create customised content

No matter what the medium of presentation is, content is still king. Create a content library with a variety of templates so that it is easy to plug-in relevant information and prepare a raft of proposals. One of the biggest mistakes sales executives make is that they use a standard version of their presentation for a raft of diversified clients.

When it comes to sales presentations, avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and create a customised template based on the client’s individual needs. In case of back-to-back meetings, ensure that your salesperson has prepared multiple versions of the presentations beforehand.

Produce consistent messaging

Although sales staff are strongly recommended to use different proposals for different clients, the underlying message you are sharing with the customer should be the same. This means that your brand’s value should be reflected consistently across all materials. Have one-on-one meetings with sales members to ensure that they fully comprehend the organisation’s mission and strategic principles.

Another good practice is to break down sales messages into different modules so that the client has time to digest all the information. So, instead of creating a PowerPoint presentation with 10 slides, try to offer one slide with text and one slide with animated infographics to engage the customer.

Stay prepared

Don’t rely on Wi-Fi connection at your client’s office or a public meeting place; make sure that your sales members have the sales presentation saved on their device, which of course should be fully charged. They should refrain from using multiple devices during one meeting or relying heavily on mobile apps to do the work for them – this can cause confusion and waste time. More importantly, this helps keeps the prospective client engaged throughout the meeting.

Be organised

Encourage your staff to research the client beforehand and have an agenda in place for the meeting. Knowing what the client wants and catering to those needs within the presentation is a great way to close a deal. Remember that simply having the information accessible through the device isn’t sufficient, it needs to be organised in a coherent way and be client-friendly.

Follow-up instantly

Sales members shouldn’t wait to get back to the office or until the next day to follow-up with a prospect. They should send a recap of the meeting along with a soft copy of the presentation and other discussion points straightaway.

Ultimately, integrating mobile technology into your sales department will not only boost your bottom line but will also help you build a sales force that is more prepared, confident and organised. Moreover, combining the ease and timeliness of mobile devices with your company’s communication network will give you a robust sales ecosystem, within which your business can prosper. – TradeArabia News Service

Flipkart invests in mobile technology startup Cube26

NGALURU: India's largest e-tailer Flipkart has invested in Delhi-based mobile tech startup Cube26. The company's part of the consortium led by marquee investment firm Tiger Global Management that is investing Rs 50 crore.

The Delhi-based startup develops applications for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and software-based user experience for e-commerce companies to drive traffic and app downloads. It developed gesture technology -- blink to capture -- for Panasonic; the app maps the face and detects the eye of the user to send out a click command when the user blinks his eyes. It also developed the QuickLook application for Micromax that integrates feeds from social media accounts, weather updates and the latest news on a single screen.

"We are using the funds to more double our R&D he adcount to 120 people in the next six months and develop a robust technology platform that provides a faster and slicker mobile experience," co-founder and CEO Saurav Kumar said. The company, founded by Kumar, Aakash Jain and Abhilekh Agarwal in 2012 in California, relocated its headquarters to India in 2013 to leverage on the opportunities in the domestic market. "Mobile hardware is steadily becoming commoditized, and lot of device makers are focusing heavily on software-led user experience and monetization," Kumar said.

Nishant Verman, senior director and head of corporate development at Flipkart, said the company had put mobility at the centre of whatever it did. "Cube26 has a deep understanding of user behaviour on smartphones. Understanding the device experience is critical for flawless user experience on small screens," he said.

Verman said the company had made ten investments so far, but declined to comment on the specific investments. "We are not a VC firm to focus on IRR (internal rate of return), but on innovative offerings," he said.

In June, Flipkart, together with Accel, had invested Rs 38 crore in Bengaluru-based freight booking service Blackbuck, renamed as Zinka Logistics, demonstrating the company's appetite to invest in ventures that are complementary to its offerings. Cube26 software currently resides on more than 5 million devices. The company is set to unveil its first product in the internet-ofthings space, a smart bulb loaded with intuitive, experiential features.

- IndiaTimes

Wyoming's 2nd-largest health insurance company shutting down

CHEYENNE — Wyoming's second-largest health insurance company, which went all in with the new federal health care program, is closing down, forcing about 13,000 of its customers across the state to find new health insurance.

WINhealth, which has been in business since 1996, will shut down Dec. 31, the state Department of Insurance announced Wednesday.

The state will help people and groups covered by WINhealth plans to find new insurance by Jan. 1 and will see to it that outstanding claims are processed until conclusion, state Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause said.

People and groups with WINhealth should not panic, Glause said.

"We will see an orderly wind-down of the business," he said. "During that period, we will also be trying to do an orderly transfer of these policies to other carriers."

The annual open enrollment period for individual policy holders to sign up for health insurance or move to a different insurance provider begins Nov. 1.

Individual WINhealth customers should sign up with a new company by Dec. 15, Glause said.

Wyoming has just three other licensed insurance carriers offering individual coverage.

The news comes nearly two weeks after WINhealth announced it would pull out of the health care exchange program under the federal Affordable Care Act. About 8,400 people in Wyoming were covered by WINhealth under the program.

WINhealth spokeswoman Caitlin Rooney said the federal program both was slow and deficient with helping the company cover people who signed up for the exchange.

WINHealth was expecting about $5 million in federal reimbursements for medical care that the company covered in 2014 under the exchange program, but it was told Oct. 1 that it could expect only $638,000 through the Affordable Care Act.

WINhealth is one of two health insurance providers participating in the federal health care exchange program. The other is Blue Cross Blue Shield.

"We took on a big risk when we decided that we were going to participate in the federal exchange," Rooney said. "And we went all in on that."

WINhealth's main customer base before the federal program was selling health insurance policies to groups and employers, involving about 5,000 people altogether.

Glause said WINhealth almost tripled its customer base in two years by selling plans to individuals who signed up through the government exchange program. "The two biggest causes of insurance company failure are rapid growth and undercapitalization, and those are certainly both prevalent here at WINhealth," he said.

Glause said his department and federal officials are working to find another insurer to participate in the Wyoming exchange. It's also possible that WINhealth could be purchased by someone else, he said.

- TRIB