Japan opts for modest Olympic stadium after dumping Zaha Hadid

The new design for Japan's upcoming National Stadium, intended to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, has been confirmed today by the country's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In an obvious reversion from the futuristic, alien-looking Zaha Hadid design that won the original contest for the stadium's construction, the present plan is very much understated and tries to blend into its bucolic environs. Made out of steel and wood, with the main playing area sunken into the ground, the new Tokyo stadium will stand a relatively modest 50 meters / 164 feet high.

Japan's Prime Minister has spoken in glowing terms of the approved proposal, describing it as an "excellent plan that satisfies the principle philosophy, construction, deadline and cost of the Olympic plan." There's a deliberate harkening back to traditional Japanese temple designs with the prominent use of timber, but the simplicity has also clearly been enforced by Japan's shrinking budget of both time and money. The scrapped Zaha Hadid stadium would have by now been under construction and might have been ready in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. That timeline will definitely be missed by the new project, however Prime Minister Abe says he's confident it will be finished well ahead of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A PICTURE OF REDISCOVERED MODESTY

The newly approved proposal is the work of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, reports the BBC, and is expected to cost ¥149 billion (roughly $1.2 billion). It's a higher price than the original ¥100 billion budget for the stadium, though it represents a major cost saving from the eventual ¥252 billion demanded to complete the Zaha Hadid design.

Now all that's necessary is an actual logo and maybe the Tokyo 2020 Games can finally get back on track.

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Startups in India: Why employees get sacked, numbers thereof in 10 points

Startups in India are grabbing all the eyeballs within the country and abroad (and most of the money on offer by venture capital firms and individual investors too), but the the reality on the ground is that they are increasingly the source of generating the greatest fear in their employees – the sackings have become far too common and this is driving staff unrest and even attempts to physically intimidate senior management. Here we explain why startups are increasingly terminating their staff's employment and the numbers involved:

1. In startups, as many as 3,270 employees lost their jobs in the past six months alone, as per a survey conducted by GrowthEnabler, an online mentoring and advisory platform for startups.

2. The survey says, on an average, companies let go 18% of their staff.

3. In 15% of companies, the staff retrenchment levels were above 30%.

4. 10% of companies in study closed ops.

5. If one looks at the funding pattern for start-ups, in the first 10 months of 2015 alone, 25 grocery delivery companies in India cumulatively raised over $160 million.

6. “The intense competition among funded start-ups hurts growth of all participants as they take business away from each other. Employees, hired on basis of growth projections, become redundant when start-ups fail to meet growth numbers,” says Rajeev Banduni, CEO of London-headquartered GrowthEnabler.

7. “It is a necessary correction in the market. It is a part of the start-up maturity cycle that will eventually make these companies and the entire start-up ecosystem stronger,” Banduni adds.

8. Reasons cited by companies to sack staff include potential acquisition - acquiring companies mandating startups to reduce workforce  before asset sale (5% of companies), need to streamline ops (10% of companies), automation (15%)

9. Among the top reasons for startups to sack their employees these three top: business model pivot (20%), inaccessible institutional funding for follow-up rounds, (20%), and unable to meet        growth projections (30%).

10.  As some reports suggest, start-up employees often live under a constant fear of being a ‘victim’ of this ‘market correction’ exercise, leading to undue performance pressure and higher stress levels.

The 6 Most Important Things That Happened in Virtual Reality in 2015

Though virtual reality is still far from mainstream, 2015 was a big year for the industry as new headsets were introduced—some full-featured and powerful, some simple and portable—and companies announced new ways to control and capture VR imagery, too. Throughout the year, investors poured money into companies developing the technology, content creators figured out how to make everything from films to advertisements in VR, and millions of Americans experienced virtual-reality technology for the very first time. 

With all that happened, it can be hard to sift out what’s most important. We cut through the virtual noise to bring you the six most significant events in virtual reality this year.

1. HTC and Valve show off the Vive VR headset

In March, smartphone maker HTC and video-game company Valve Software pulled back the curtains on their collaborative virtual-reality effort, the Vive headset. Vive has a tracking system that uses lasers to keep an eye on your location within a space as large as 15 by 15 feet, making it possible to roam around while using the headset. The Vive is slated for commercial release in April.

2. Oculus unveils its first consumer headset, Rift, and Oculus Touch hand controllers

In June, Facebook-owned Oculus trotted out its first consumer headset, Rift, and a pair of half-moon, button-bedecked controllers, both of which it plans to release next year (see “Oculus Shows Its First Consumer Headset, Circular Hand Controls”).

The matte black headset has two OLED displays, a wide field of view, and a speaker over each ear; it will need to physically connect to a powerful computer, along with a separate sensor that tracks the user’s motions. The controls, meanwhile, enable hand gestures like dragging objects, pointing, and waving.

The company hasn’t publicly stated a specific release date for the headset, though it has said it will come in the first quarter of 2016. The hand controls are slated for release in the second quarter.

3. Microsoft shows off speedy progress with HoloLens, its holographic headset

Microsoft’s HoloLens, which is more correctly referred to as augmented reality than virtual reality since it is intended to blend 3-D virtual visuals with the real world, debuted in January. At the time, Microsoft invited a number of reporters to try out HoloLens, which it hopes could eventually be used to do things like play games and work on 3-D models. While Microsoft presented it as a sort of futuristic set of ski goggles, reporters were only able to test a much clunkier version that was still tethered to a stationary computer, and required a so-called holographic processing unit worn around the neck.

But at the company’s Build developer conference in May, Microsoft let reporters try out a fully self-contained prototype version of the device that looked much more polished (see “Microsoft Making Fast Progress with HoloLens”). This prototype gave a much better sense of the hard work required to fit a lot of technology into a compact, good-looking, untethered head-mounted display. It’s not clear when HoloLens will be released to the public; Microsoft has only said that a $3,000 developer edition will begin shipping early next year.

4. Cameras envision new ways to film virtual reality

At Google’s I/O developer conference in June, the company announced a new kind of camera for taking live-action 3-D virtual-reality videos. Called Jump, it includes 16 cameras in a circular array, making it possible to capture each point from three perspectives; software can then convert the footage into 3-D. Google released the Jump design for free, and GoPro started selling a fully assembled version of the device late this year.

Also this year, photography startup Lytro—which has struggled to popularize its camera for consumers that lets you refocus images after taking them—said in November that it’s working on a spherical camera for capturing live-action 3-D films for virtual reality, too (see “Lytro Is Building a Camera to Capture Live-Action Virtual Reality”).

5. Google Cardboard goes out to New York TimesSunday print subscribers

In November, the New York Times sent over a million Google Cardboard virtual-reality kits to its subscribers to promote its virtual-reality documentary “The Displaced,” which details what happens to children displaced by war. Though Google Cardboard—a foldable, handheld virtual-reality headset with plastic lenses that users must slip a smartphone into to power it—was introduced back in 2014, this move brought a simple, immersive experience into many more homes  (see “Google Aims to Make VR Hardware Irrelevant Before it Even Gets Going”).

6. Samsung starts selling its new Gear VR

Also in November, Samsung released the latest version of its Gear VR headset, a $100 headset developed with Oculus that uses a Samsung smartphone as its computer and display. The newest Gear VR costs half as much as its predecessor did when it came out in 2014, and supports more of Samsung’s smartphones (the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy S6 Edge+). It still lacks important functions like positional tracking, which means games and other VR experiences can’t track your head movements, but it shows Samsung and Oculus are serious about marrying virtual reality and mobile devices.

Why your next smartphone should be Chinese

It wasn't long ago that the phrase 'Chinese smartphone' conjured up images of dodgy iPhone rip-offs and an inaccessible world of strange-looking devices that we'd never be able to buy. But that's all changing now, with several manufacturers looking to conquer the American market and take on established giants Apple and Samsung. 

Chinese smartphones already account for more than a third of the global market and that number looks set to grow, with companies like Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi consistently featuring in the top 10 worldwide sales lists. So why are they becoming so popular and why should your next smartphone be Chinese?

They are cheaper than the competition

We're starting with an obvious reason, but the value for money offered by Chinese smartphones is undoubtedly the main reason for their recent success. You could pick up an Honor 7, which has comparable specs to the US$650 HTC One M9, for a shade over US$400. Surely there's no contest.

This isn't a one-off either. At almost every level of the market, Chinese phones are showing up the prices of their counterparts from the US or Korea. From the Xiaomi Mi4c, which we described as "the half-price Nexus 5X", to theHuawei P8, a genuine flagship phone at an incredible price, there is all sorts of choice out there. 

They offer something different 

Which brings us neatly on to our next point. Most of us crave a bit of individuality but when it comes to smartphones, individuality is becoming rarer and rarer. As a result, we've lost that element of shock and wonder when someone pops an unusual device down on the table.

Chinese phones are becoming increasingly well designed. Just look at the Meizu Pro 5 or the Lenovo Vibe P1. Manufacturers are no longer taking their cues from existing devices but offering something truly different. And that has to be worth something.

The brands are growing and targeting you

The growth experienced by Chinese manufacturers over the last decade shows little sign of stalling and that could be good news for consumers. Traditionally companies like Huawei and Xiaomi have concentrated on their domestic market but, with some stagnation in China, they have their sights firmly focused on Western markets.

One big problem Chinese brands traditionally faced was a lack of brand recognition, particularly important in the UK and US. But in recent years, there have been attempts to counter this. One example is Lenovo buying Motorola Mobility from Google for US$12.5 billion in 2012 and then the Motorola handset business for nearly US$3 billion two years later.

Releasing its phones (the Moto G, for example) under the more-recognized Motorola name has helped increase Lenovo's market share massively – and has given consumers a much better choice at the lower end of the price scale.

But it's not just the lower end of the price spectrum that has been affected. Phones like the Huawei Honor 7 are definitely targeting the premium market, but still carry much more affordable pricetags. Could this lead to the established big guns in the US and the UK lowering their prices to compete? You'd have to think it's possible.

They look pretty damn good

Appearances are always subjective, but there are some good looking Chinese smartphones out there these days. TheHuawei P8 and the OnePlus 2 are up there with anything else on the market.

In addition, the build quality tends to live up to the design. A lot of foreign manufacturers have been making their phones in China for some time and that expertise shows.

They give you more freedom

As the rise of Chinese smartphones shows, the world is becoming a smaller place, and travelling is much easier than it's ever been. But while people can easily move between countries, their mobile phones often can't.

Most Chinese phones address this problem with a dual SIM slot, meaning that if you live in one country but have to travel to work in another, you can switch between two SIMs easily

In addition to this, virtually all the Chinese smartphones available abroad come totally unlocked and carrier-free. This means you can pick a phone tariff that works best for you and leave when you want, a big advantage for many people.

Are you tempted by a Chinese smartphone? Have we missed any advantages? Share your views in the comments.

In a self-serve world, startups bring back the human touch

The internet took off as a way to book travel because the human intermediaries were always a bit suspect -- their expertise questionable, their methods opaque and their allegiances unclear. At first, the machines seemed to improve everything. Booking online is now much easier than in the past.

And yet, you might welcome an emerging trend on the internet: Startups that are trying to put human agents, whether in travel, home services or shopping, back at the centre of how we make decisions.

"A lot of companies pushed hard on the idea that technology will solve every problem, and that we shouldn't use humans," said Paul English, co-founder of Lola Travel. "We think humans add value. We're trying to design technology to facilitate the human-to-human connection."

English isn't allergic to tech. He was chief technology officer of booking site Kayak, and often manned the customer service phone line. "I tried to create the best travel website," he said. "But as good as we thought our tech was, often I thought I did a better job for people on the phone than our site could do."

"At one time the internet scared travel agents because our customers didn't need us," said Joe McClure, president of Montrose Travel in California. But he said his business has lately been thriving. "What happened is information overload," he said. "People research themselves into a circle and get confused. Then they call agents and say, 'Would you help me out?'"

It's not just in travel that we're being asked to shoulder more work. Now, rather than consult an insurance agent, you search online. You never go into a bank, you use the ATM. You can buy stocks without a broker, you can publish a book without a publisher, you can sell a house without an agent and buy a car without a dealer. Slowly but surely, robots seem to be replacing all the middlemen and turning us into a self-serve society.

But, there remain realms of commerce in which guidance from a human expert works better than a machine. Consider the process of finding a handyman or plumber. "It's going to be a long time until a computer can replace the estimating power of an experienced handyman," said Doug Ludlow, founder of Happy Home Company, a startup that uses human experts to find the right person for your job.

It isn't feasible to get humans involved in all of purchases. Humans are costly and they're limited in capacity. The great advantage of computers is that they "scale": Software can serve more customers for ever-lower prices.

But one of the ironies of the digital revolution is that it has also helped human expertise scale. Thanks to texting, human customer service agents can serve multiple customers. They can access reams of data about your preferences, allowing them to quickly find answers for your questions.

As a result, for certain purchases, the cost of adding human expertise can be a trivial part of the overall transaction.

The rise of computers is often portrayed as a great threat to all of our jobs. But these services sketch a more optimistic scenario: That humans and machines will work together, and we, as customers, will be allowed, once more, to lazily beg for help.

Selling used fashion brands becoming big business in India

Delhi-based designer Onika Oberoi had set her heart on a particular Gucci bag only to realize, after spending a few minutes on Google, that it had been discontinued -- but to her joy, she discovered a way to lay her hands on it. A second hand luxury website was selling a used one at half the price.

Selling old clothes to fund new purchases or buying little-used designerwear are no longer done furtively. Re-commerce sites, which sell pre-owned luxury and high-street apparel, footwear and accessories, are slowly catching on among fashionistas who want the best brands without burning a hole in their pockets.

As the desire to flaunt that Chanel or Burberry is curing Indians of their queasiness about wearing cast-offs, more than a dozen startups are tailoring businesses to suit a growing clientele.

Indian reselling sites and apps such as Confidential Couture, Elanic, Spoyl, Envoged, Zapyle and Refashion have drawn inspiration from international luxury second-hand marketplaces like Rebagg, Poshmark and Tradesy, and are challenging regular e-tailers such as Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon and Jabong.

"The market is as large as $2 billion a year and we have seen a surge in the user base as well as transaction rate," says Aditi Rohan, co-founder of Elanic, an app-based platform to re-sell "gently-worn" apparel, which was started this September. She says they have 30,000 users and get about 300 to 400 listings of items a day.

Elanic received seed funding from Rebright Partners, Traxcn Labs and angel investor Aneesh Reddy. "We are looking at extending our product line-up from just fashion to accessories for women and products for men," said Rohan, who is aiming to clock 2,000 listings a day by next month.

It's a fairly simple system: A seller posts clothes or shoes that she no longer wants online, the re-seller picks up the products, checks, cleans, re-packs and prices the items -- often at as little as 50% of the original cost (imagine a Burberry with a boutique price of Rs 85,000 going for under Rs 20,000) and puts it up for sale, where a buyer can negotiate further on the price. The site gets a commission of 15% to 20% on every transaction.

The challenge, though, is ensuring authenticity, quality and cleanliness, and making sure the clothes look as good as new. "Ensuring authenticity and quality is a big driver to sustain growth in the long term for us. We have 1 lakh registered users with average transaction size of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000, but logistics is a challenge as we have to pick up products from sellers, make sure they are in good shape and ensure smooth delivery," says IIT Kharagpur alumnus Anandita Singh, co-founder of Envoged, which sells pre-owned luxury fashion.

To the surprise of most founders, a significant number of sellers and buyers are from tier II and tier III towns, which is why many of them are planning to expand operations to cities like Ahmedabad, Ludhiana and Chandigarh.

The entrepreneurs, however, agree that the current user base is inclined towards sellers. "There is more supply than demand at present but that will change over time," says Singh. Some sellers are creating a whole range of products online and waiting for buyers.

Shubha V, 24, an IT professional in Bengaluru, for instance, has created a closet of 44 clothes on Elanic, and sold eight. She saw an ad on Facebook, downloaded the app and posted a photograph of a top she wanted to get rid of. Within 24 hours, it was approved by Elanic's fashion expert and her potential customers responded with questions. Shubha has since sold several other pieces of clothing at a 30-40% discount on the MRP.
Though she's made money off clothes sitting unused in her closet, Shubha says she's not likely to buy pre-owned clothes. "So many e-commerce platforms are selling branded clothes at discounts, so I don't see why I should buy pre-owned products. I guess some people don't have apprehensions about buying used clothes but I do."

Most startups in the space say this attitude will change. "The aim at present is to build the market and make consumers aware of it. Transactions will pick up as a normal consequence," said Bhargav Errangi, founder of reseller site Spoyl, which is considering adding renting options on its platform.

Alok Mittal, an investor in Envoged, says younger people have no inhibitions about pre-owned products. "A 20-something can't afford a Gucci on her own salary," he explains. "Once they have a good experience and as the inventory on these sites improves, buyers will return. It is a natural process of evolution."

Abhishek Goyal, founder of Tracxn and an angel investor in Elanic, says the market has potential to scale. "It could be even 10% of the overall retail market," he says. Both Goyal and Mittal say the companies need to generate users' trust by ensuring quality, especially since the model is in the nascent stage and is unproven.