Save Fuel Costs and Enjoy a Green Ride on the Stylish ME Scooter

With fuel consumption at an all-time high, the use of alternative sources of energy has opened up new avenues in the automobile sector. With many companies going green, Me Group is working on a modern electric scooter called ME Scooter. Established in 2013, Me Group is an Italy based company that aspires to revolutionize the electric scooter space.

Innovative and Electric

ME Scooter incorporates several modern concepts, that provide the scooter an aesthetic look while at the same time ensuring good usability. Using electrical power to move around, ME Scooter is a green solution in the highly polluted world.

• ME Scooter works on a 1.5Kw electric motor which is capable of offering a speed range of 80 Km.
• Me Scooter goes from zero to a top-speed of 45kmph in just 6 seconds.
• The scooter uses Li-ion Samsung batteries, which when charged fully gives a battery life of 5 hours.
• The batteries connect to a 220 volt socket that can be directly hooked up to the scooter.
• Users can also remove the batteries and carry them home to charge.

View Real-Time Fuel Consumption

The ME Scooter is equipped with a smart box that collects the charging statistics of the battery and displays them as a scrolling bar to the rider. As soon as the emergency power reserve threshold is about to be reached, the smart box display beings to flash and the ME Scooter goes into a recovery mode. Moreover, since the smart box has capability to gather real-time power consumption, it helps the rider configure the best riding style in order to boost the power reserve and drive more efficiently.

Crafted for Everyone

ME Scooter is fully customizable, giving users to personalize the vehicle as per their needs and requirements. While the start edition of ME Scooter is available in black and white, users can choose from a range of replaceable colours (around 10) which they can use in the future. Although ME Scooter makes a great vehicle for transport in the city with limited traffic, it is also perfect for people who do not want to spend money on fuel, for modern and efficient corporate fleets, for ethical local authorities and more – ME Scooter does not pollute, is noise-less and is a great to move around.

Made Using Light Weight SMC

The most important innovation of the ME Scooter is the use of an alternative material like SMC (Sheet Moulding Compound) to build the frame. SMC is thermosetting material made from glass, fibers, mineral fillers, pigments and unsaturated pollster resins. Once cured, the end product is perfectly homogeneous and stable, making it extremely lightweight and durable. SMC ensures users can get most of the engine and ensure performance, by additionally reducing the weight of the scooter. SMC makes the ME Scooter durable, corrosion resistant and offers amazing mechanical and thermal properties.

Looking for Funding

With worldwide sales of electric vehicles sky rocketing, there is immense competition in the electric automobile industry. The industry is offering new opportunities and the makers of ME Scooter intend to make the most from them. While the ME Scooter is entirely designed, produced and assembled in Italy, the company is on the lookout for more funding that will help fuel the production.

Enjoy a Fun Ride

The Italian make and the use of light weight SMC makes the ME Scooter fun to drive around and enjoy. The top speed of 45km/h is ideal for frequent trips inside the city. With super functions, and an aesthetic design, ME Scooter is the perfect mix of innovation and engineering.

Japanese ad uses samurai and ninjas to stop smartphone use while walking

Japan's mobile phone culture has always been a few steps ahead of the west, with the early emergence of emoji being the most famous example.

Now Japan's leading cell phone carrier, NTT Docomo, has used the tropes of the country's popular martial arts films to promote a tech culture correction we could likely see in the U.S. sometime soon: getting users to stop walking while using their smartphones.

The spot, titled "Samurai Smartphone Parade" (see video above), uses visuals common to feudal Japan, back when maintaining respect and courtesy in public could be a matter of life and death. Almost immediately the commercial shows legions of smartphone users carelessly walking while staring zombie-like into their smartphones, ultimately running into each other, suffering fatal accidents and even being taken out by ninjas.

Although mostly humorous in tone, the spot also cites some startling Japan statistics: 66% percent of people of have bumped into another person while using a smartphone and 3.6% of people have fallen from a train platform when texting while walking.

The commercial ends with a serious warning, advising users to "Please look forward when you are walking. Using a smartphone while walking is dangerous."

Docomo's warning to Japanese users is something U.S. smartphone makers might try emulating. A 2013 study by Ohio State University delved into the problem, suggesting that as far back as 2010 up to 2 million injuries in the U.S. may have been related to mobile phone use while walking.

The distracted walking situation has gotten so bad in Japan that commuter train company JR East recently began posting bold warnings against walking while looking at your smartphone on station walls and even on toilet paper.

In the case of the train station warning, the signs indicate that most of Japan's major carriers, including Docomo, Softbank and KDDI are supporting the pedestrian warnings.

Now that the U.S. is as steeped in mobile phone culture as Japan, and the stateside injuries are piling up, it may be time for U.S. carriers to join forces to craft a similarly aggressive campaign.

Samsung Galaxy S7: Flagship smartphone to be priced 10 percent lower than the Galaxy S6

It was just recently that we heard about the Samsung Galaxy S7’s chipset and how it shattered AnTuTu benchmarks keeping the current competition in mind. Well, this time around there is some more news coming from an analyst, who states that the Samsung Galaxy S7’s highlight, apart from its features, would also be its pricing.

According to a report from the Times of India, China-based analyst Pan Jiutang states that Samsung will also play with pricing for its Galaxy S7 flagship. Expected to be announced in a few months, Samsung is expected to price its flagship smartphone for the coming year about 10 percent lower than the launch price of its predecessor the Galaxy S6.

This alone could give Samsung a much needed boost and head-start as pricing from other international smartphone brands like HTC and Sony are pretty high. In fact, Samsung recently gave its Galaxy S6 series a price cut and this comes all thanks to the Chinese invasion (Motorola included) that seems to have lowered the pricing bar and offering what appears to be, value for money products. For now, Motorola seems to be the only other international smartphone brand that has taken up lower pricing with its flagship, the Moto X Style that priced to compete with the OnePlus 2.

Samsung Galaxy S6 sales did not hit initial targets as expected when the smartphones were launched early this year in April. This was surprising, since both the smartphones packed in refreshing new designs (and not to mention, fast Exynos chipsets)with Samsung focussing on metal and glass for its flagship’s construction. Still then pricing was an issue and as reports in August pointed out, even the Note5 phablet drew in better sales. A second reason as to why sales were low could have been to do with the smaller display size, which Samsung seemed to have rectified with the Galaxy S6 edge plus.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 recently popped up on benchmarking website AnTuTu, showing off never before seen scores in the range of 103,692 points. In comparison, the closest that this year’s flagships have managed to pull off in the same tests were around the 80,000 mark (Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 950). So yes, Samsung will have plenty to show off at its Galaxy S7 announcement early next year.

Chennai flood: How tech companies are lending a helping hand

s Chennai suffers ravaging spells of rains, technology companies have proved that the city is not alone. Several tech majors, from global giants to startups, have started initiatives to ensure that the locals remain connected, safe and are not short of food. Here are the programmes announced by 8 tech companies to help the residents during the Chennai floods, steps that show the humane side of corporate India.

Google

Google has launched a Crisis Response tool called "South India Flooding" to provide Chennai residents emergency helpline numbers; crowdsourced list of places and people offering shelter; crowdsourced maps of flooded streets and other such important information. It also offers important tweets, updated news and videos on Chennai floods.

#ChennaiFloods Crisis Reponse. https://t.co/AvXqHGOsbV

— Google India (@googleindia) December 2, 2015

Along with this, a Google spreadsheet providing details about where city residents can find shelter, food, electricity and other basic necessities has emerged as a useful tool in this time of floods.

Facebook

Facebook on Thursday morning activated its Safety Check feature for the Chennai floods. This feature lets users notify their friends & family that they are safe.

Airtel

Airtel has chipped in to help the locals with an auto-approved talk-time of Rs 30, along with 10 minutes of free Airtel-to-Airtel calls. Prepaid customers will also get 50MB of free data. All three are valid for a period of two days.

For postpaid and fixedline customers, Airtel has extended the period to make bill payments. Service will continue uninterrupted for these customers, even they fail to make the payment by the due date.

BSNL

BSNL is giving prepaid users in Chennai free local and STD calls to other BSNL numbers. For landline users, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the calls will remain free for a week, and phones with unpaid dues will not be disconnected for a week.

Paytm

Paytm has announced that it will give residents of Chennai a Rs 30 recharge to help them stay connected during the floods. Residents need to call on 18001030033 and share the mobile number that they want to get topped-up.

Stay Safe Chennai! Call on 18001030033, recharge your friend's phone for freehttps://t.co/JKiolmpBHw #ChennaiFloods pic.twitter.com/nHNnvB2FLU

— Paytm (@Paytm) December 2, 2015

MTS

Telecom operator MTS is providing 1GB of free data to all users in the Tamil Nadu circle (both prepaid and postpaid) for a period of three days.

Zomato

Zomato has started a meal scheme wherein the company will provide a meal for Chennai residents for each meal purchased via its website. The meal scheme resulted in over 55,000 people across India buying meals and Zomato adding 55,000 from its own side for the people of Chennai. The company had to halt the initiative due to "distribution backlog."

Help get food to those affected by #ChennaiRains. We buy a meal for each one you buy here: https://t.co/YdkHUShX4w pic.twitter.com/956WZg6GuJ

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) December 2, 2015 Ola has joined hands - and resources - with the Chennai fire department to help residents reach their homes safely.

#Chennai If you're stuck in rain and need assistance please contact us at 04428294121. We'll do our best to get you home safe. RT#StaySafe

Best utilities apps for iphone

Here are some

AVG Family Safety 

$19.99 per year; free for users of AVG Family Safety for desktop
AVG Family Safety for iOS is a powerful family-friendly browser that blocks all sorts of inappropriate content from young eyes: porn, malware, scams, phishing, and much more. It's an Editors' Choice parental control app for iOS. Parents have two sets of controls, monitoring and filtering, to configure from a remote Web interface. However, if you'd rather not go through the setup, just choose presets from one of four age categories and you're good to go.

Converter Plus 

Free
This all-in-one calculation app, Converter Plus, delivers numbers on nearly everything, from currency conversions to loan interest figures. It converts metric to imperial measurements for temperature, cooking volumes, length, and more.

Dashlane 

Free; Premium account from $29.99 per year
Password manager Dashlane puts your login credentials at your fingertips with this iPhone app—and literally if you have an iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, or iPhone 6 Plus, as the TouchID can be your authenticator. With iOS 8, it has an added capacity to communicate with other apps, making for easier logging in. If you're unfamiliar with Dashlane, it's a password manager with both desktop and mobile apps for syncing your passwords across devices, keeps all your username and password combinations safe. It can generate strong passwords for you. As with any password manager, all you have to remember is one strong password to unlock your Dashlane account, and all your other passwords will be accessible to you to unlock all your online accounts.

Dropbox

Free
If your files live all over the place—your office computer, home desktop, laptop—having a dependable syncing program is a must. Dropbox, the service that lets you store your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere you have a signal, fills that role nicely with a Dropbox iPhone app. It has a simple interface, easy uploading, and swift syncing across all accounts.

LastPass

$1 per month
The venerable password manager LastPass—a favorite here at PCMag—is one of the top 100 iPhone apps because it lets you access, manage, and create unique passwords wherever you are. The app syncs with other installations of LastPass, such as those on your laptop or desktop computer. Granted, it's a bit clumsy to use, but that's more an issue with the limitations of iOS than problems with LastPass.

Google Drive

Free
Google is going full steam ahead releasing iPhone apps, and Google Drive is one of the latest. If you use the free service, there's simply no question that you will want to download the iPhone app so that you can get at your files even faster when you need them.

My Days 

Free 
Ladies, keep track of your most private calendar—that of your menstruation cycle—in the My Days app. This free app helps you track ovulation, intimacy, and periods. Push notifications are optional, but if you want to know when the "flowers will be in bloom" next, this app will send you subtly worded reminders.

RedLaser – Barcode Scanner and QR Code Reader 

Free 
RedLaser, an app that turns your iPhone's camera into a barcode scanner, has long been on every new iPhone owner's list of free apps to download. Overtime, the app has only improved, and it's now a multi-functional scanner that works on QR codes, too. When shopping, scan any item with a barcode, and RedLaser delivers detailed information about the product, including whether you can buy it at a better price nearby.

Repeat Timer Pro

$1.99 $2.99 at iTunes
If you frequently find yourself firing up the iPhone's built-in timer to measure or track units of time, then the Repeat Timer Pro is a must-download. The $1.99 iPhone app is packed with functionality not included in the default iOS clock timer—a whopping 26 alerts, three independent timers, background functionality with notifications, an interval timer, and more. In short, if you need to time anything—a yoga session, meal preparation times, etc.—this is your app.

SignNow 

Free
This simple productivity and business app can spare you countless headaches. The next time you have a document that requires your signature in a hurry, just open it with SignNow, place your John Hancock, and be done with it. The app can open files from email, Dropbox, the Camera app, and other sources.

SugarSync

Free; requires account from $9.99 per month
One of our favorite file-syncing services, SugarSync, added an iPhone app to its offering in 2011. SugarSync gives you access to your files from a multitude of devices, no matter if you store them on your laptop at home, desktop computer at the office, tablet, and so on. You can use SugarSync to stream music, back-up photos, collaborate on projects, and more.

SwiftKey 

Free
With the release of iOS 8, Apple iPhone users can finally install custom keyboards. One of our favorites is SwiftKey. It lets you type with swiping gestures. You drag your finger around to or near the keys you want, and it figures out what you're trying to say. Typing this way is faster and easier than doing individual key presses. You'll lose the dictation microphone with this keyboard, but it's easy enough to swap back to the stock Apple keyboard by tapping the globe icon in the lower left.

Microchip Technology (MCHP) Roof Leaking Today

Trade-Ideas LLC identified Microchip Technology ( MCHP) as a "roof leaker" (crossing below the 200-day simple moving average on higher than normal relative volume) candidate. In addition to specific proprietary factors, Trade-Ideas identified Microchip Technology as such a stock due to the following factors:

• MCHP has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume multiplied by share price) of $64.2 million.

• MCHP has traded 1.5 million shares today.

• MCHP is trading at 1.54 times the normal volume for the stock at this time of day.

• MCHP crossed below its 200-day simple moving average.

'Roof Leaker' stocks are worth watching because trading stocks that begin to experience a breakdown can lead to potentially massive losses. Once psychological and technical resistance barriers like the 200-day moving average are breached on higher than normal relative volume, the stock may then be subject to emotional selling from investors that can continue to drive the stock lower. Regardless of the impetus behind the price and volume action, when a stock moves with weakness and volume it can indicate the start of a new, potentially dangerous, trend.

 More details on MCHP:

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products for various embedded control applications. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 3%. MCHP has a PE ratio of 28. Currently there are 4 analysts that rate Microchip Technology a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 4 rate it a hold.

The average volume for Microchip Technology has been 2.2 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Microchip Technology has a market cap of $9.7 billion and is part of the technology sector and electronics industry. The stock has a beta of 0.92 and a short float of 9.2% with 13.17 days to cover. Shares are up 7.5% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

TheStreetRatings.com Analysis:

TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Microchip Technology as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance and expanding profit margins. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Looking at where the stock is today compared to one year ago, we find that it is not only higher, but it has also clearly outperformed the rise in the S&P 500 over the same period, despite the company's weak earnings results. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.
• Despite the weak revenue results, MCHP has outperformed against the industry average of 11.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 0.9%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC's earnings per share declined by 28.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has suffered a declining pattern of earnings per share over the past year. However, we anticipate this trend reversing over the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC reported lower earnings of $1.66 versus $1.81 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.61 versus $1.66).
• The gross profit margin for MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC is rather high; currently it is at 62.30%. Regardless of MCHP's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, MCHP's net profit margin of 11.98% is significantly lower than the industry average.
• The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. Despite the company's weak debt-to-equity ratio, the company has managed to keep a very strong quick ratio of 6.14, which shows the ability to cover short-term cash needs.

Apple will not create ‘converged’ MacBook and iPad, says CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook in a recent interview stated that the company has no plans in creating a “converged Mac and iPad.” He believes that there would still be a market for such traditional personal computers for the future.

In conversation with Independent.ie, Cook said that, “We feel strongly that customers are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad. Because what that would wind up doing, or what we’re worried would happen, is that neither experience would be as good as the customer wants. So we want to make the best tablet in the world and the best Mac in the world. And putting those two together would not achieve either. You’d begin to compromise in different ways.”

The company CEO strongly believes that he is not looking to bring together its MacBook or iPad into a single product like Microsoft’s computing device. He added, “It’s true that the difference between the X86 [personal computer] and the A-series [Apple iPad architecture] is much less than it’s ever been. That said, what we’ve tried to do is to recognise that people use both iOS and Mac devices.”

When asked about the iPad sales, Cook says he’s ‘bullish’ on reversing iPad sales declines of recent years. He also declined to comment on any plans related to an electric car, that the company is rumoured to build.