The Gaming Console Debate

Are you one of those ardent fans of hardcore gaming? Then you must have taken part in the never-ending battle: PlayStation 4 vs. X-Box One. A majority of prolific gamers enjoy participating in this debate and the interesting part is that it doesn’t seem to head towards a solid conclusion. Moreover, new gamers and gaming enthusiasts aren’t aware of the features that distinguish Sony’s product from Microsoft’s flagship offering.

X-Box vs. PlayStation – the Face-off

The original and initial versions of PS4 and X-Box One are no longer relevant. We can call them as technically outdated models. However, PS4 Slim and X-Box One S will help us point out the differences. As far as the price factor is concerned, both of them are available for $300. Since it’s time for identifying the differences, let’s do that on the following basis.

1.     Technical specifications

To understand and evaluate the functionalities of both these models, the first thing we should know about are the specifications. While X-Box One has 13.1 × 10.8 × 3.1 dimensions, its counterpart displays 12 × 2.09 HW, in inches. Both the models have an 8-core CPU with x-86 processors. PS4 gains a beneficial edge in this context. PS4’s processor supports ‘AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next Engine.’

2.     Design features

Compared to its counterpart, PS4 has a sleek, unique, and stylish appearance. The device is lightweight and has a stunning light bar on its sides. The console features a sloping design on the front as well as the rear end. On the other end, the X Box One happens to be a bulky and heavy box which leaves you wondering about the weight. Although it doesn’t have an unimpressive appearance, gamers will still opt for PS4.

3.     Connectivity and Ports

Connectivity is an important requisite for high-quality gaming. Gamers will wish to have bigger and better experiences while playing their favorite games. With more ports, they can connect the console to multiple devices. It’s right here that X-Box One surpasses PS4. The wider and greater selection of ports makes it a clear winner in this case.

4.     Performance

When it comes to evaluating two of the biggest gaming models, performance happens to be a crucial factor. While both of them can play some of the similar games, PS4 is slightly better than its counterpart. With a resolution of 1080p, PS4 can ensure unsurpassed experiences for gamers. However, we can’t say that X Box One is far behind. In reality, the performance of the console depends on the device it gets attached with. Considering the performance of 1st party titles and 3rd party games, PS4 earns a few more points in this department.

5.     Gaming controls

The controllers launched by both the companies can deliver smooth performance. It’s definitely a step ahead than the previous models and even better than DualShock 3. However, the DualShock 4 controller is an innovative development from its predecessors. The controller is hardy, handy, and easy-to-operate. Therefore, PS4 wins in this department, even though by a small margin.

Considering these factors, specifications, and parameters, PS4 seems to be the better option for avid gamers. However, it’s too early to make a final statement as tech innovations are continuously improving the gaming hardware sector and who knows which of these gaming platforms might win the day.

The Ultimate Leader – MSD

Mahendra Singh Dhoni or MS Dhoni is one of the most successful sportsperson and an iconic captain of the Indian team. Many people believe that  he thrives 0n mere luck, good fortune and great timing but actually a clear pattern of skills and qualities can be observed in him.

However, entrepreneurs must be thinking how would it help them to flourish? Since, an individual can be inspired by any success story and what else can be better served than that of the great leader on the field.

Therefore, following are some lessons that a tech entrepreneur should learn for  better growth of business.

1. Dealing with failures

Failures can lower the morale of any person. It is an art: how to handle failure. After a chain of losses, MS Dhoni came back with a bang with the victory of World Cup 2011. All it requires is a great character with a healthy attitude. Entrepreneurs must be focused on the work rather than crying over the spilt milk.

2. Leading with example

Being a leader, it is important that you lead from the front. MS Dhoni has been an inspiration to not only the people outside the dressing room but also people inside the dressing room. Dhoni has crossed all boundaries of getting out of his comfort zone. He constantly ushes his abilities everyday.

He has been the best at keeping wickets and with the bat. He was the first Indian to be awarded as the player of the year by ICC. A ticket collector to an Indian captain, the story has surely been inspiring.

3. Absorbing Pressure

Dhoni might have ninety-nine problems but absorbing pressure isn’t one of them. In fact, there isn’t probably a man in the cricket world who can absorb pressure like Dhoni does. Dhoni has always been surrounded by pressure on and off the field, may be one of the prime reasons for his white beards at 30.

To reflect the pressure through performance and not through anguish is what Dhoni has mastered over the years. As a leader, you have to keep yourself calm when your team needs you the most. If  the leader breaks down, you can’t expect the team to sail through. No doubt he is called ‘Captain Cool’.

4. Delegation of work

A leader must delegate the work to lessen the burden. As Dhoni did, all entrepreneurs should give others a chance. If you are not capable of taking any decision in a certain matter, let it be and pass it on to the able one. A leader is not the best player necessarily, but he brings out the best from every single team member.

5. Trust

MS Dhoni shows great trust on his players. So being an entrepreneur, you must display confidence on your team members without any fear of failure. Your act of showing faith will improve the morale of the team as well as smoothens the functioning at the workplace. The employees will be blessed with a sense of responsibility.

6. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the team

In a match presentation against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup, Dhoni gave a detailed story of how he knew that Jasprit Bumrah was rather “weak” in the fielding department or that Hardik Pandya isn’t the best person to bowl a yorker. The fact that his decisions are spot on most of the times is because he knows how to use the right resources at the right time.

The ability to have the knowledge of the skills of each and every individual in the team gives an edge to any leader to use the right resources at the right time. That’s again a  sign of a great leader.

7. Believing in instincts and taking risks

A true leader is one who is never shy of taking risks. Taking risks has always been a part of the game for this man, be it the finals of the 2011 world cup where he promoted himself up the order or the Joginder Sharma over back in 2007. Though many of his decisions have come under the hammer but most of the times he has been spot on with his moves.

His ability to take risks and more importantly, backing them has fetched brighter results for the team. Moreover, the ability to believe in himself is what makes him one of the great minds on the field. Being a leader you have to analyse where you went wrong and have to take risks in order to achieve bigger results.

Be the leader everyone wants to follow!

The Game Of Tech Startups

“In the game of startups, you either innovate or you die”

The year long wait for Game of Thrones is finally over. The most globally watched series premiered its 7th season yesterday and the wait has definitely killed us. ( Or some of the characters at least!)

We know Winter Is Finally Here.

We all know John Snow is a Targaryen, & Sansa finally re-unites with him. Cersei is bitchier than ever before and Tyrion, we all know he will be more badass this time around.

What about the dragons?

Well, you will have to wait and watch it for yourself.

As of now, we asked ourselves this red wedding sort of a  question.

If all characters from Game of Thrones applied to a startup, whom would you hire?

And the answer will provoke the North.

Tyrion Lannister as Co-Founder

Well, no surprises there.

If you were looking for a knowledgeable, forthright leader executing your ideas, Tyrion as a co-founder is nothing less than perfect. He knows to work like a log and shed any inhibitions while doing so. You will find a great advisor, a loyal friend and an extremely calculated risk taker in him.

“That’s what I do. I drink and I know things”

He is famous for drinking wine and eloquent dialogues. Don’t be surprised if your company goes viral with just his epic public speeches. Also, avoid being a Joffrey and you are good to go.

Varys as Advisor

“Any fool with a bit of luck can find himself born into power. But earning it for yourself, that takes work.”

He is the greatest advisors of all times. Considering the dirty games of Westeros, probably better than Dumbledore.

Admit it. However diminished, it was only when Varys escaped with Tyrion, you finally lost faith in the future of King’s Landing. It was like a nail in the coffin because we know with his network of birds, spiders and whisperers, his word is the ultimate deal breaker. If this is not enough, his conviction to preserve the realm irrespective of who is in power, makes him the foremost candidate for this role. Having him by your side will open a door of opportunities considering he is outspoken when needed, encouraging in the right way and projects a future based on knowledge and data.

Daenerys Targaryen as CEO

“Freedom means making your own choices”

Perfect addition to your board of directors, Dany is CEO material through and through. Having built an empire from nothing but a couple of Dothrakis, she has leadership experience like no other.

Listening to advice, caring for her team, taking nothing and no one for granted and knowing exactly what works in the best interest of her people, she ticks off all the checkboxes and creates some too. For example, she will be great at promoting and retaining the right people thus, building a great team balanced with knowledge, skill and loyalty.

If this was not enough, holding her dragons captive for the sake of her people put her on a different pedestal altogether. Forgiving yet ruthless, calm yet stormy, caring yet merciless, Daenerys is a perfect blend of character and class. Also, with her babies by her side, she can easily burn your competition into flames in no time.

Jaqen H’ghar as Developer

“Valar Codaeris. All men must code”

You barely know him. His name most probably might be an alias. Yet, his impenetrable aura makes you quietly respect and secretly revere him. Jaqen is highly skilled and extremely mysterious. With an ability to don lot of faces, this Faceless Man of Braavos is a perfect addition to your technical team.

He craftily crypted the passage to The House of Black and White and religiously followed the predefined syntaxes of Faceless Men. He built situational algorithms for his trainees and silently debugged the code of conduct of the world in an attempt to bring order to his world. He considers it his duty to serve through innovation.

Petyr Baelish as Marketing Manager/ Business Development

“Chaos isn’t a pit, chaos is a ladder”

Nakedly ambitious, cunningly resourceful and popular among his circles, he can easily pass off as a marketing manager or in business development. Creating favorable situations (killing Joffrey), running on a budget and finding loopholes to exploit, he is definitely the man you should be hiring for this role.

Being the popular man he is, resources and news come easy to him. Studying his character, will bring out the epiphany in age old adages like ‘make hay while the sun shines’ or ‘strike when the iron is hot’.

Tywin Lannister as Chief Operations Officer

“Do you really think the crown gives you power?”

If he were to send you a resume, it would probably begin with that.

And if you think this was impressive, wait to read his Experiences section.

Served as-

Hand of the King

Lord of House Lannister

Lord Paramount of the Westerlands

Lord of Casterly Rock

Warden of the West

Winning the Battle of the Blackwater, making Joffrey toe the line, befriending the wealthy Tyrells, conspiring the Red Wedding, thus, bringing order in King’s Landing was not easy; Tywin ensured control of this certified impossible task. If your sales, marketing, technical and directors need synchronization and smooth , it would be better if you expedite his hiring. Your Chief Operations Officer will be famous for being an untiring strategist.

Valar Dohaeris!

Debusting UX Myths

You have a stunning website out there to promote your services and products. You design it in a unique manner and wish to attract visitors thus converting them into leads. However, even with these efforts your site isn’t able to do so. One reason may be the UX design behind it. Unimpressive and ineffective UX designs can hit you hard! If your visitors don’t like he appearance of your site and don’t get the desired experience, they will simply move on. Here’s a stat to prove it!

A whopping 79% of visitors will abandon a site and move on to another if they don’t like its content or fail to find the desired information. UX design is of paramount significance, and there are no ways site owners can ignore it.

The ambiguity and misconceptions in UX Design

In spite of its widespread usage, the term ‘UX or User Experience Design’ often gives rise to confusion. Don Norman was the man behind the invention of this term, and he introduced ‘UX’ during the mid-90s. Although User Experience Design is at the core of numerous design processes today, some companies still haven’t opened up to it.

A lot of confusion and misconceptions have come up, which is challenging the true nature of the term. Here’s a small effort to demystify User Experience Design:

1.     Myth 1: UI and UX are identical

The complete process that determines the experience of a user is known as UX. While User Experience is the entire process, UI is just a part of it. User Interface design is a crucial element in UX which plays a major role in enhancing User Experience. Right from strategizing to design production, UX involves quite a few steps, and interface design happens to be one of them.

2.     Myth 2: UX is all about designing and not analysis

Although the term UX Design talks about ‘Designing,’ there’s a different side to it. UX designing involves critical analysis which is the reason why site owners need UX specialists. These specialists will perform market research and find out what makes user-centric designs.

3.     Myth 3: UX embraces fancy components

UX is not about how much you decorate and design your site. You might keep on adding fancy elements which will enhance the appearance of your website. However, if the operations aren’t smooth and functionalities aren’t streamlined, there’s simply no use of incorporating such fancy components and design elements.

4.     Myth 4: UX is always the second priority

No, it’s not! Whether you create UX designs for tangible items like an automobile vehicle or intangible ones like mobile apps, User Experience will be at the heart of the entire process. Knowing your consumers, their purchase behaviors, and preferences will help you nail down the right decision and make informed moves about UX design process.

5.     Myth 5: Testing is not an important part of UX

While creating UX designs, specialists have to test the design, iterate it, and make alterations as and when required. The process undergoes stringent testing, where user feedback and initial experiences are taken into account.

These are some of the common UX design myths that every design specialist should know and be aware of.

GoodWorkLabs CEO opens up about his interests

Recently, ET Panache had a friendly conversation with Vishwas Mudagal, CEO, GoodWorkLabs. They featured his interest in music and movies to name a few.

Read the entire article on the Economic Times here.

GoodWorkLabs is now hiring Marketing Interns

What makes YOU get out of bed in the morning? Breakfast? Your favourite YouTuber’s video? Your future? Damn, that last one really #woke you up, didn’t it?

And now that you’re awake—

Announcing an exciting opportunity for college students and recent graduates: GoodWork Labs is now accepting applications for a marketing internship!

We want YOU:

Our ideal intern does not have to be well-versed in the world of marketing but someone who is:

• Self-motivated and able to work independently to meet deadlines
• Passionate about Marketing
• Able to multi-task and deliver results promptly (kind of like that time you completed your assignment while watching your favourite TV show)
• Willing to become an integral part of a small, tight-knit team

Here’s the 411,

Contribute to our platforms: We will mentor you in learning the principles of SEO along with guidance in designing & launching ads and conducting extensive research.

Impress us with your social media skills: Help us deliver engaging, relevant content via social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Build engaging Content: Create original content to be used in online and print marketing projects.

(If you have some background in producing videos or any video content, you get some brownie points!)

The best part? Fidget spinners are allowed at work 🙂

Hit us up with your resume at marketing@www.goodworklabs.com and we’ll be in touch soon!

Advanatges Of IOT

Today, companies across scale and size are pushing the envelope with IOT adoption to stay relevant in an intensely competitive environment. While this technology is at a nascent stage but market sentiments are increasingly being optimistic towards IOT as a success enabler. Market analysts like Gartner are highly optimistic about IOT growth and penetration – from 8.4 billion connected things in 2017 to 20.4 billion by 2020.

What is Internet of Things?

Let’s give you a cue: Think how your standard phone has turned into a smartphone? How has a TV transformed into a smart TV? How has a lock transformed itself into a smart lock? Well, the innards remain the same. The internet has hit our lives in a never before way. It is actually making us addicted and connected. This is IOT in a nutshell.

How are companies benefitting from it?

To encourage digitization and to provide uninterrupted services to the customers, today more and more companies are leaning towards this technology. In the next few lines, we will discuss about the benefits that it provides:-

• It elevates the customer experience

Today, the companies are taking unusual steps to increase the customer experience and one among them is IoT. In the hospitality sector, IoT technology is playing a profound role. Some hospitality chains like Virgin Hotels, offer an app that helps the guest to control the TV or regulate the room’s thermostat. “With the Internet of things we are looking at ways devices interact with basic functionality at the hotel, “mentioned the vice president of sales and marketing for Virgin Hotels. Other hotel chains like Mariott are planning to join the similar bandwagon.

• It simplifies business

The Internet of Things has been a buzz word for various industries including airport, theme parks and a lot more. This technology offers the chance to streamline the cost of operations and helps the company to refocus on what the business actually needs. Don’t believe?  Here’s an example of a company that needs no introduction, Disney. Recently, it has launched a Magic Band initiative in Orlando, a network of internet ready sensors inside every object in the park that further help to simplify guest transportation to lodging to itinerary planning to reservations to dining.

• It improves productivity

Productivity largely depends upon the kind of technology that you have deployed. At least, the largest manufacturer of paints, Asian Paints believes in it. In a recent interview, with Harish Lade, the general manager Systems confirmed that they have leveraged IoT technology for its packing lines. Through it they can keep a track of the containers-like whether they are packed optimally, under packed (against the norms) or over-packed (means giving the product for free), thus giving a check towards the productivity levels.

Conclusion

IoT technology is poised to bring a change in various industries like retail, logistics, FMCG, etc. It is rightly quoted, “The Internet of Things has potential to change the world, just as the internet did. May be even more.”