The-best-time-to-sell-your-used-iphone

        

It’s the worst-kept secret on the planet. We now know that Apple is announcing something on Sept. 9, and the smart money is that it will unveil a new iPhone (or possibly two new iPhones and a wearable, watch-like device).

As a result, prices for used Apple smartphones are steadily dropping — just like they always do prior to a new iPhone-palooza. In fact, according to gadget recommerce site Gazelle, over the past three years, prices for used iPhones have dropped roughly 20 percent in value during the month before a launch. NextWorth, which tracks average eBay sale prices for iPhones, says the drop is closer to 25 percent.

If you have an aging iPhone and you want to get the most for it before you inevitably upgrade to the latest and greatest, the time to sell is now. 

Like, right now.

And yesterday would be even better.

Buy here nowNot everyone agrees that used iPhone prices are tanking. Nik Raman, co-founder of uSell, says prices on his buying marketplace may actually rise slightly before the launch, because he’s temporarily dropping the commission his site makes on each sale. But he also notes that prices traditionally drop another 15 to 20 percentage points after the announcement. So that’s a potential 40 percent drop in how much you can get for your iPhone if you wait too long.

Gazelle, NextWorth, and uSell offer 30-day price guarantees, so you can lock in a buyback price and then hold onto your old handset until you have the new one safely in hand.

Here’s a snapshot of how prices among the leading gadget resellers compared as of Tuesday afternoon. All prices are for base model 16 GB white or silver iPhones in good condition.

There are several obvious conclusions you can draw from this data.

• If you’ve got a Verizon iPhone, you’ll get more for it. The reason? They’re easier to unlock in bulk, making them more attractive to buyers who make their money selling them to overseas markets, Raman says. 

• If you’ve got a Sprint handset, you won’t get very much. That’s because Sprint phones rely on CDMA technology that isn’t widely used abroad, Raman adds.

• Want to sell an older iPhone, like the 4s? You won’t make much. And you might as well give models older than the iPhone 4 to your kids or a recycling center — most resellers won’t accept them. (Though uSell will take your iPhone 3GS off your hands for $2.40.)

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Tips to use some hidden features in Gmail

Almost all of us have a Google account, but very few of us have any idea how we can use many of its hidden features.

It is time you use your Gmail like a boss.

Handling spam in Gmail

Did you know that the dots within your Gmail address have no significance?

So if your address is tyler.durden@gmail.com, it means that any e-mails which are sent to tylerdurden@gmail.com, or t.ylerdurden@gmail.com, or even t.y.l.e.r.d.u.r.d.e.n@gmail.com will also land in your inbox.
So, what's the use of this 'Gmail glitch'?

Well, you can use it to set up filter rules for your internet subscription services or one-time online registrations.

Consider, if you do not want to provide your real e-mail address to sign up for an online internet service, simply use an alias like t.ylerdurden@gmail.com and then create an e-mail filter to delete all messages that come to this ID.

Sorting through e-mail subscriptions

If you want to create a filter for your different internet subscriptions, you can use the '+' feature.

Say you want to subscribe to a newsletter from The Onion, you can use tyler.durden+theonion@gmail.com.

The newsletters will still come to your inbox, but you can now use 'theonion' as a keyword to search for all your tagged e-mails, and even set filters.

Managing contacts

Did you know that you can have your smartphone contacts synced automatically with your Google account?

In effect, you will only need to maintain the 'Contacts' on Gmail for your whole address book to be updated on your smartphone and tablet where you've signed-in with your ID.

To sync your contacts...

On an Android device, go to Settings > Add Account > Google and follow the steps to add your ID.

After this, every time you add a new contact, make sure you it is added to your Google account and not saved locally to your smartphone.

After you save the number to your Google ID, it will be synced to your Gmail address book and will be reflected on all other devices that have the same account.

Similarly, you can sync contacts on iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices, though the steps will differ slightly.

Finding duplicates

Click Gmail in the top left corner, choose Contacts, then More > Find & Merge Contacts.

You will get a list of all the double entries in your address book.

Choose the ones you would like to combine and click Merge.

Restore addresses

When you delete contacts from your mobile device, they will be removed from your Google account as well.

But you can still recover them within 30 days of deleting.

Go to Contacts, click More > Restore contacts.

Choose the time you would like to revert to, and click Restore.

To create an e-mail filter...

Click on the gear symbol in the top right corner of your Gmail inbox, then, go to Settings > Filter tab > Create a new filter.

Choose your criteria - From, To, Includes the words, Has attachment, etc - for the filter.

Click Create filter with this search - and you can then choose an action like Skip the Inbox (Archive it), Apply the label, Delete it and more.

There! Now, all your e-mails will be sorted and dealt with according to the filter actions you have chosen.

 

Labs

Programmers at Google have created experimental stuff that can do wonders for your e-mail experience.

For example, you could use a Labs option called Right-side chat to move your chat list from the left pane to the other side.

Other interesting projects include Preview Pane that provides users with a panel that allows you to read an e-mail as soon as your click on it; Multiple Inboxes, which creates different panes for your filtered messages, and Authentication icon for verified senders that display a key next to authenticated messages from certain senders that spammers attempt to impersonate.

To access Labs, click on the gear symbol on the top right corner, then go to Settings > Labs tab.

Managing your dates

Using your Google ID you can create a planner using its calendar feature at calendar.google.com.

Here, you can add and view events and meetings you have scheduled by day, week, month, or as an easy-to-read list of your daily agenda.

You can create calendars and share them with friends by e-mail.

Similarly, you can access a friend's shared calendar.

This service can be viewed and edited on your smartphone as well.

Just make sure that the calendar, in your Google account, has been configured to sync with your device.

Moreover, you can also access your Calendar from within Gmail.

Click the gear icon in the top right corner, click Settings > Labs > Google Calendar gadget, select the Enable radio button and click Save Changes.

Now, you can keep a tab on upcoming events while you are going through your inbox.

You can quickly add events from here itself and also add more functionality by clicking on Options.

Google drive

If you work with documents, presentations and spreadsheets on a regular basis, you might want to try out Google Drive at drive.google.com.

Whenever you get an e-mail with a productivity file as an attachment, save it to your Drive account, and you can begin collaborating on these with colleagues.

1. To share a file that you have open in Drive, click the blue Share button at the top of a Doc, Sheet, or Slide.
Then add your colleagues' Gmail addresses and you can even decide how much access they get: view-, comment-only, or the ability to edit the file.

2. When collaborating on a single document, you and your colleagues can use comment bubbles to annotate paragraphs, and even suggest edits, which the document owner can then accept or reject with a single click.

3. When you add a comment in Drive, you can type + and the person's email address (e.g. '+tylerdurden@ gmail.com') and they'll get an e-mail letting them know that a comment has been directed at them.

4. If all your collaborators are online and accessing the same file as you, you can click on their profile picture at the top of the document to be taken to where their cursor is.

5. Want to revert to an older version of your document?
Go to File > See revision history to see changes made to the document. You can even restore to a previous version.

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6 ways to avoid high ATM charges

Here's how you can avoid the charges that are likely to kick in from 1 November 2014.

1. Your first weapon against ATM charges is the plastic in your wallet. Use your debit and credit cards so that you don't need too much cash. Be alert when you do this. Some establishments charge 1-2% of the amount as transaction fee, which will defeat the purpose of using the cards. There is also the danger of overspending if you use plastic money for every purchase.
2. Don't wait till you are broke to withdraw money from the ATM. Give yourself a buffer of 2-3 days by indulging in advance planning. In this manner, you won't be forced to use another bank's ATM. While withdrawing cash, take out more than the amount you need immediately. Take into account the expenses during the coming 8-10 days and withdraw accordingly.
3. If your bank's ATM is in the vicinity, avoid using another bank's machine. Even if you have to walk 50-100 feet, your first choice should be your own bank's ATM. Only if there is no ATM close to you should you use another bank's ATM. Some banks have apps that can help you locate their nearest ATM on the smartphone. Make a list of your bank's ATMs in the areas you frequently visit.
4. Keep some cash at home in case you run out of money due to unforeseen expenses. However, don't keep too large an amount in cash. In your effort to save Rs 20 in ATM fees, you could be losing out more in interest on that amount. Besides, keeping cash at home is risky.
5. The silver lining is that the ATM charges will help revive yThe cap on ATM usage includes non-financial transactions, such as balance enquiry or a mini statement request. Instead of using the ATM for this, take the SMS route. Most banks offer SMS facility for checking account balance, mini statements with last five to 10 transactions, and the status of cheques issued by you.
6. Our dormant bank account. Most banks charge a small annual fee of Rs 80-100 for a no-frill debit card. One debit card will allow you 36 transactions on other banks' ATMs and 60 at your own bank in one year. That is much cheaper than the charge imposed by your current bank if you exceed the cap on transactions.

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Google offers Rs 1.4 crore pay at BITS-Pilani

JAIPUR: Technology and e-commerce players have taken the lead over companies in core industries during the campus placements at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani. And Google has offered an annual package of Rs 1.40 crore to students selected this year, sources said. The institute hopes to break its last year record of Rs 1.44 crore, offered to one of its students by Facebook

With companies such as Linkedln, Microsoft, Flipkart, Schlumberger, Goldman Sachs and Amazon also visiting the campus, students eye big offers. All these companies have increased their compensation offer by 5-25%, indicating a better job scenario.

The BITS placement session for 2014 started off with Google, which conducted its first round (written) on August 18 at the Pilani campus. The company's HR team is slated to visit India in the first week of September.

A good number of students sat for the first round. We hope that a few of our students will make to the final selection," said G Balasubramanium, chief placement officer at BITS-Pilani.

This year, 2,300 BITS students are eligible for campus placements — 53 were placed in two days, with the highest domestic package of Rs 23.5 lakh. Microsoft and Schlumberger have also shortlisted students. Both have offered more than Rs 70-lakh annual package to BITS students.

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Google to assist Narendra Modi to develop Varanasi as national hub for culture and heritage

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi won his Varanasi Lok Sabha seat with a massive majority and now the prime minister wants to say thank you to the people of the temple town. All election winners pledge sincerely to work for their constituency, then promptly forget about it.

But Modi aims to be different — he's already kicked off the process of developing Varanasi as a national hub for culture and heritage. Among those said to be working on the project is Google, apart from professionals and consultants engaged in identifying tourism hotspots in and around Varanasi, beautification, landscaping, mapping the city for better movement and security.
That should hopefully ease some of the congestion that chokes the city besides reducing pollution levels and making Varanasi a nicer place to live in and visit. After Modi announced his interest in the development of Varanasi in May, many companies have come forward with proposals to assist the government in projects related to cleanliness, tourism and infrastructure.

Many are in talks with Modi's team. The PM himself discussed the prospects of using social media for projects on cleanliness and governance with Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg during her visit to India last month.

Google declined to comment on whether it's undertaken any work specific to Varanasi but a spokesperson said, "As part of our ongoing initiative with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to bring India's national monuments online, we continue to explore opportunities to collaborate further. We have nothing more to share at this point."
People who have attended two meetings held by Modi to draw up a development roadmap for Varanasi say he has stressed the need to preserve its "pauranik swaroop" (ancient ethos) while implementing the socalled Kashi Vision that is expected to get a high-power launch on August 20. Kashi is the ancient name for Varanasi.

The municipality has been asked to go full steam ahead on a cleanup programme. Besides this, Modi also wants a tourist help centre, an upgradation of the local airport and visas on arrival for eligible international passengers in the next few months.

He also wants to establish a stateof-the-art music academy of global standards in what's being seen as an attempt to revive the city's ancient traditions, such as organising the kind of concert festivals that Varanasi was once famous for. Modi wants the proposed institute to act as a patron for musical families from Varanasi, said mayor Ram Gopal Mohale.

A team is working on plans for the institute featuring an auditorium, for which land has already been acquired. Singers Channulal Mishra and Girija Devi have been suggested as the institute's resident musicians, Mohale said. Some pointers are being taken from PM's home state of Gujarat.

"The survey and makeover of ghats along the Varuna river on which the old city stands has started and is likely to get over soon," says Varanasi Development Authority secretary SR Mishra. "They are being modelled on the Sabarmati river front development."

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