Mets Top Phillies in 13 for Seventh Win in a Row

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Daniel Murphy's offense and defense helped the New York Mets remain on a roll.

Murphy hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the 13th inning after making a spectacular defensive play to end the 10th, leading New York to its seventh straight victory, 9-5 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.

Reliever Carlos Torres led off the 13th with a single to center, went to second on Curtis Granderson's single to left and they both scored on Murphy's opposite-field hit off Hector Neris (2-2). Helped by two errors by Neris, the Mets scored two more runs in the inning.

"(Murphy) can stinkin' hit, flat hit," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "When he's swinging good, we're dangerous."

Murphy's defense also shined.

He sent the game to the 11th with a tremendous defensive play. Jeff Francoeur's hard liner deflected off Torres' leg toward first base. Murphy made a diving stop before flipping a no-look toss toward the bag that was caught by a hustling Torres, who beat Francoeur by a half-step.

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"You'll see it tonight if you turn on your TV," Collins said. "It will be shown many times."

Murphy credited Torres for staying with the play.

"I wasn't sure who was going to be there, but I flipped it anyway," he said.

Torres said extending his leg and running to cover the bag were just natural reactions.

"It just happened to hit my foot," he said. "I'm happy (Murphy) stayed at home."

Torres (5-5) pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Yoenis Cespedes, Kelly Johnson and Travis d'Arnaud homered for the Mets, who thrilled the large contingent of New York fans by sweeping the four-game series to give them nine straight wins over Philadelphia. New York remained 6½ games ahead of Washington, a 4-2 winner over San Diego, in the NL East.

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"The signs were pointing for us to win this game," Collins said.

New York has averaged 10.4 runs during their winning streak. The Mets outscored the Phillies 40-21 the series.

"I'm happy they're leaving town," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said.

Darin Ruf went deep for the Phillies, who have dropped 12 of 13 to the Mets this year and 29 of the last 36.

The game took 4 hours, 32 minutes.

Philadelphia had a chance to win it in the 12th, but third baseman David Wright made an excellent defensive play on Andres Blanco's chopper with two outs and Cesar Hernandez coming home from third. Wright charged the ball, fielded it on a short hop and then gunned down Blanco to keep the Mets' hopes alive.

Five Mets relievers pitched seven scoreless innings.

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The Phillies scored five runs in the third to open the game's scoring.

Francoeur's two-run single and Ruf's opposite-field shot off Jonathon Niese highlighted the inning. Niese entered 5-0 with a 1.61 ERA in his last seven games against the Phillies, but he got a no-decision after allowing five runs and five hits in six innings.

But the Mets came back with two runs in the fourth on d'Arnaud's opposite-field drive before tying the game in the fifth on Cespedes' two-run homer to right and Johnson's solo shot to right. All three homers came off Aaron Harang, who gave up five runs and nine hits in six innings. Harang entered tied for the most losses in baseball with 14.

CESPEDES STREAKING: It was the sixth homer in seven games for Cespedes, who tied his career-high with his 26th of the season. He has 15 RBIs in the last seven games and is batting .303 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs with the Mets since they acquired him from Detroit on July 31.

HOMER HAPPY: The Mets set a franchise record for homers in a month with 43.

NEW NETS? In the second inning, a woman sitting five rows off the field was hit in the forehead by a foul ball off the bat of Freddy Galvis of the Phillies. The team said she was evaluated and didn't need to go to a hospital.

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Commissioner Rob Manfred talked at Citizens Bank Park before the game and said there was a chance that extra safety nets could be put up around the majors as early as next season.

TRAINER'S ROOM: Phillies — Catching prospect Jorge Alfaro singled and caught three innings in a rehab start for the Gulf Coast League Phillies on Thursday. One of the prospects acquired from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade, Alfaro had been sidelined since June 11 with a left ankle injury. ... LHP Elvis Araujo left with a left groin strain after throwing one pitch to Cespedes, the second batter he faced, in the 11th.

UP NEXT: Mets — New York opens a three-game home series against Boston on Friday night with RHP Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.57) facing Red Sox LHP Henry Owens (2-1, 4.50). Harvey is 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA in his last 7 starts at Citi Field dating to June 16.

Phillies — Rookie RHP Aaron Nola (4-1, 3.59) takes the mound for Philadelphia in the first of a three-game home series against San Diego on Friday night. Nola pitched eight shutout innings, allowing three hits, in his last start in Sunday's 2-0 win at Miami. RHP Ian Kennedy (8-11, 4.01) starts for the Padres.

California lags in vaccinating children, CDC says

It began in December at "the happiest place on earth": a measles outbreak that spread across the West, infecting more than 150 people.

The eruption at Disneyland occurred 14 years after health officials had declared the potentially deadly disease eliminated from the United States, thanks in part to childhood vaccination programs. The outbreak raised alarm that more scares could be on the way.

California lawmakers quickly moved to tamp down a growing resistance to vaccination that had been fostered in some communities by unfounded safety concerns. By summer, Gov. Jerry Brown had signed one of the nation's toughest laws to keep parents from opting not to inoculate their kids.

Nationwide data released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that although California children are immunized at a high level, the state's vaccination rate still lags behind the rest of the country.

The nationwide median vaccination coverage for kindergartners for measles, mumps and rubella as well as for diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis, or whooping cough, was about 94% for the 2014-2015 school year. And exemption rates remained very low, with a median of 1.7%, the report shows.

"Overall, the news is gratifying," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "Though they may not always get the headlines, the overwhelming majority of parents continue to protect their children with recommended vaccinations."

The national rates were calculated using data from 4 million children entering kindergarten in 2014.

In California, the picture was less rosy, though experts said that could soon change as the new state vaccine law goes into effect.

For California kindergartners entering school in fall 2014, the immunization rate for measles, mumps and rubella was 92.6%, and for diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis was 92.4%, the CDC found.

"There's still work to be done to raise vaccination rates in communities or local pockets where children aren't fully vaccinated," Schuchat said. "When a virus like measles reaches a group of unvaccinated people, trouble can follow."

Vaccination rates among California kindergartners declined between 2001 and 2013, particularly in affluent and coastal areas of the state. The decline was caused in part by an increase in waivers that allowed parents to refuse to vaccinate their kids. Public health officials said that exacerbated the measles outbreak.

Thursday's report found that the percentage of kids in California who claimed exemption in the 2014-15 school year was 2.7%. Though that's still higher than the national rate, it's a drop from the previous year's rate of 3.3% — a trend that health officials say they hope will continue.

California kindergartners are currently required to get vaccines, but can get medical or "personal belief" exemptions. The new state law, starting in 2016, bans philosophical and religious exemptions, making California the third state in the country to allow only medical exemptions.

Parents can still decline to vaccinate children who attend private home-based schools or perform independent studies off campus.

Two other states that also ban belief exemptions, West Virginia and Mississippi, have the lowest opt-out rates in the country at 0.2% and less than 0.1%, respectively, according to the CDC data. Together, the two states had 55 kids citing an exemption.

California's passage of the ban was controversial, drawing hundreds of protesters in Sacramento.

Brown, however, said he believes the science about vaccines is clear.

"While it's true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community," he said in a statement after signing the bill in June.

For several years until 2006, about 95% of California's kindergartners were fully vaccinated for measles.

The drop to 92.6% concerns health experts. Lower immunization rates, they say, can lead to a loss of "herd immunity," a situation in which the immunity of a crucial percentage of people drastically reduces the chances of a disease spreading. Experts say that conditions for an outbreak worsen when 8% or more of the population is not immunized.

The national data found that in the 2014-2015 school year, 32 states had vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella under 95%, and seven had rates under 90%.

A Simple Blood Test May Soon Predict The Return Of The Breast Cancer

Soon, an experimental blood test may be able to predict the chances of breast cancer relapse in women. According to a latest research conducted by a team at The Institute of Cancer Research in the U.K., the new blood test can help predict the return of the breast cancer, months before the actual appearance of the new tumor signs in the breast cancer scan.

According to the researchers, the new blood test works by detecting the cancer DNA circulating in the bloodstream of the breast cancer survivor. Using a specialized DNA technology, the researchers identified the key genetic fault in the faulty cancerous DNA found in the patient's blood sample.

The blood samples were retrieved from the breast cancer survivors, who have received a chemotherapy after the surgery. The blood samples were withdrawn at different intervals after the surgery. The researchers discovered that the women, who had faulty cancerous genes circulating in their bloodstream, were 12 percent more likely to suffer from breast cancer relapse than women with no faulty genes at all.

By this method, the faulty genes in the tumor DNA can be identified months before the actual conventional diagnosis takes place. However, it will still take time to confirm that the test is practically feasible, according to Professor Jacqui Shaw of the institute.

“This important study suggests that looking for tumor DNA in a patient’s blood after they’ve been treated for early stage breast cancer could help monitor them, and even make predictions about whether their disease may come back,” said Shaw in a statement. “And it may be possible to do this before tumors become visible on conventional scans. But there is some way to go before this could be developed into a test that doctors could use routinely, and doing so is never simple.”

The test is still under experimental stage and has not been made available for public use yet. However, the researchers are hopeful that if the test is found to be successful and gets approved, it will eliminate the need to conduct a biopsy for breast cancer detection.

Data Show Solid Debut for Apple’s New Watch

 

Apple Inc. sold more watches in their first quarter of availability than it did iPads or iPhones.

Research firm IDC Thursday said Apple shipped 3.6 million Apple Watch units in the second quarter, after it began shipping on April 24.

The numbers are among the first credible indicators of Watch sales. Apple hasn’t provided its own figures, opting to keep its numbers secret to avoid tipping off competitors.

IDC said Apple’s sales placed it second among sellers of wearable devices behind Fitbit Inc. The research firm said Fitbit shipped 4.4 million units during the second quarter, although IDC distinguished between the Apple Watch and basic wearables like Fitbit that don’t run third-party apps.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the IDC numbers.

The IDC figures suggest the Watch has gotten off to a better start than the iPad or iPhone. Apple launched the iPad on April 3, 2010, and sold 3.27 million units in that first quarter. The iPhone went on sale in June 2007 as the quarter was wrapping up and sold 270,000 units. In the following three months, Apple sold 1.12 million iPhones.

Apple, which typically unveils new iPhones in the fall, on Thursday sent out invitations to a Sept. 9 event in San Francisco.

The Watch has battled negative publicity and lukewarm reviews since it appeared in the spring. No models were available at Apple retail stores until mid-June. 

In late July, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said Watch sales had surpassed Apple’s own projections, but didn’t say what those were.

A new version of Watch software is coming out in the fall. It is expected to address the sluggish performance of non-Apple apps. In the current version, all third-party Watch apps run on the iPhone and beam data to the watch, causing a lag in performance.

iPhone 6s to Sport 12-Megapixel iSight Camera With 4K Recording: Report

 

Apple has finally revealed its September 9 event, which was rumoured since earlier this month. The Cupertino-based tech firm is said to announce its new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus smartphones at the event, alongside the next-gen Apple TV and the formal launch of iOS 9. Until now, we have seen enough rumours and leaked images on the Web, giving an idea of how the final iPhone devices would look like and what features they might sport, and new reports have come in as well.

As previously reported, the rumoured iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s models are once again expected to sport an upgraded 12-megapixel rear camera along with the ability to record 4K resolution videos, says 9to5Mac. The current models feature an 8-megapixel rear iSight camera and miss out on the 4K resolution video recording. It is worth noting that, if the rumour is true, this would be the first time since the iPhone 4s that the iPhone series' camera resolution would be upgraded. Also tipped is an improved image signal processor, alongside the improved A9 SoC.

The report also talks about the handsets' improved FaceTime camera for higher quality videos and selfie shots. Furthermore, Apple is also tipped to add a front-facing flash along with the FaceTime camera. 9to5Mac says that while certain code strings in iOS 9 beta versions have hinted at the inclusion of a front-facing flash, its sources have denied such reports. Instead, the handset might borrow features from Snapchat or PhotoBooth where the handset display would flash a quick white screen when users press the front camera shutter. Other expected features include front-facing panorama shots and HD resolution slow-motion video recording.

Another 9to5Mac report has tipped the unannounced iPhone 6s handsets to share similar animated wallpapers to that of the Apple Watch. The animated motion wallpapers would come with 'jellyfish, multi-coloured butterflies, or brightly coloured flowers' options. The report adds the motion wallpapers could range from sets of animated fish to a koi pond and colourful arrays of smoke. Apple, in its iOS 9 beta version added a wallpaper showing coloured smoke against a black background, which is likely to come animated in the smartphone.

An image has also been posted online showing the alleged yet-to-be-assembled box cover of the iPhone 6s Plus. The cover shows a gold koi pond fish wallpaper, cementing the speculation. While the sources have said that the animated wallpapers might not make it in the final consumer version of the device at launch as they are still being tested, the wallpaper in the cover box hints that the feature has been tested completely and is ready to reach the market.

We have already heard much about the display panel of the iPhone 6s smartphone previously - namely, its Force Touch technology. However, a new set of images has reached the Web (via Macrumors) giving a closer look of the panel. No new details have been revealed in the images, but it does show us a close up of the much talked-about Force Touch feature that the smartphones are said to receive. The sources behind the leaked images claimed the display panel is slightly thicker and heavier than the ones used in iPhone 6. The thickness of the display panel added with a mysterious chip placed on the panel hint towards the inclusion of Force Touch feature.

Previously, we'd seen the purported iPhone 6s display panel in a video that was posted last month. It is worth noting that some Force Touch feature codes were also found in the iOS 9 beta codes when tested by 9to5Mac. The feature is being said to be used for several functions, one of which is said to be the keyboard trackpad scrolling. cnBeta, which leaked the unassembled iPhone 6s Plus cover box about which we mentioned above, has added that the two upcoming iPhone 6s handsets will be backed by a smaller battery than the ones in current generation. The iPhone 6s Plus is said to feature a 2750mAh battery, down from the current estimated 2915mAh offering.

As for the previously rumours new Pink colour variant, the smartphone is now said to be set to come in the specific Rose Gold colour variant already introduced with Apple Watch. Notably, the Rose Gold colour variant of the iPhone 6s would be more like the copper-hued variation instead of pink, which we saw in recent leaks. Also, mentioned, was that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus would reportedly be missing out on sapphire crystal display covers.

Painting the full picture, recent leaks had pointed to Apple using System in Package (SiP) technology for the new smartphones, and release the handsets in the same storage variants - 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. Besides a stronger metal casing, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models have been tipped to include redesigned wireless system powered by Qualcomm's Cat 6. LTE chipset.

Facebook Hits One Billion Visits in a Day

Rumours of Facebook's demise seem to be greatly exaggerated after one billion people used the social networking site in a single day for the first time ever.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hailed the figure as an "important milestone" for the site, which in little over a decade has become an integral part of the lives of people all over the world.

Facebook has nearly 1.5 billion users who log in at least once a month, but this was the most in a single day.

In a post on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg wrote "On Monday, 1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family."

"When we talk about our financials, we use average numbers, but this is different. This was the first time we reached this milestone, and it's just the beginning of connecting the whole world."

He said Facebook had blazed a trail in connecting communities globally and he is "proud" of the company's success.

Facebook was founded in 2004 by Zuckerberg while he was a Harvard student. 

David Fincher's movie The Social Network, starrring Jessie Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake, dramatised the events leading up to Facebook's establishment, though Zuckerberg said his ruthless portrayal in the film was inaccurate and said the only thing they got right was his on-screen wardrobe.

Vegan no Egg Mayo is not Mayonnaise: FDA

According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Hampton Creek's Just Mayo isn't actually mayonnaise because it doesn't have eggs in it.
The FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer of the vegan spread this month stating that their product name and label may be misleading.

According to a report by NBC News, the company had explained about their brand name before.

"We don't call our product just mayonnaise, we call it 'Just Mayo;' that's for a reason," Tetrick said on CNBC's "Closing Bell" last November.

However, the FDA, in its letter to the company, addressed that their product name uses the slang that could be misconstrued as actually healthier than it is.

"The term 'mayo' has long been used and understood as shorthand or slang for mayonnaise," the letter by FDA letter said.

In addition, Hampton Creek also claims that Just Mayo is also cholesterol-free, which implies that their vegan spread is good for the heart. The company's usage of the term "cholesterol-free" is "an unauthorized synonym" since the product contains too much fat.

"According to the standard of identity for mayonnaise, egg is a required ingredient," wrote the FDA on the letter dated Aug. 12 and signed by FDA director William A. Cornell, Jr., according to the report by Time. "[H]owever, based on the ingredient information on the labels, these products do not contain eggs. We also note that these products contain additional ingredients that are not permitted by the standard, such as modified food starch, pea protein, and beta-carotene, which may be used to impart color simulating egg yolk. Therefore, these products do not conform to the standard for mayonnaise."

The company is given 15 working days to respond to the letter and must include action steps to settle with.

Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick said the company will not be changing its name after talking with the FDA last Tuesday, Yahoo! News reports.

"We feel good about where we are from a regulatory perspective, from a legal perspective," Tetrick explained.

The company behind Hellmann's mayonnaise and Best Foods mayonnaise, Unilever, filed a lawsuit against Hampton Creek last December for false advertising and fraud. According to The Guardian, the charges were later dropped less than a month later saying that the company believes Hampton Creek will make the necessary measures to address their labeling issues.

Do These 4 Things Before Bed to Lose Weight Tomorrow

While losing weight isn't something that happens overnight, doing some prep work the night before can make all the difference when you step on the scale. If slimming down and becoming healthier are two goals at the top of your priority list, here are four must dos to make part of your weeknight routine. 

Brown Bag It

Not planning ahead is one mistake nutritionists agree causes weight gain. You can avoid the temptation of eating countless calories at the local cafe by packing a lunch from home. When made right, salads are great because they're full of fiber and protein to satisfy hunger and keep blood sugar steady. Prepare a salad in a mason jar like this roasted sweet potato and quinoa salad, or make extra for dinner and bring along this sesame ginger quinoa salad. 

Whatever you choose, it's much easier to add up the calories on lunches you pack from home. And when it's made the night before, there's no morning stress or forgoing it altogether because you don't have time. Go the distance and pack snacks, too, and put everything in the actual lunch bag, so when it's time to head out for the day, you can just throw in an ice bag, grab it, and go.

Morning Time-Saver

After lunch is in the bag (literally), take a little time to prepare tomorrow's breakfast. Eating breakfast is one way to jumpstart your metabolism, and if it's full of fiber and protein, you'll feel satisfied all morning long — hunger- and energy-wise — which eliminates the urge to snack on more calories. Instead of grabbing a quick bowl of cereal, a sugar-laden scone at the local coffee shop, or (gasp!) skipping out on breakfast altogether because you're rushed, making breakfast at night will save time and calories. 

If smoothies are your thing, premake these freezer packs, so you can throw them in the blender and be slurping down your first meal at the kitchen table or on the go. Overnight oats are also extremely filling, or go for this apple cinnamon quinoa bake. In the mood for something different that has debloating powers? This chia seed pudding makes mornings delicious. Once breakfast is made, you're also more likely to wake up energetic and excited.

Hit the Hamper

 

Skip the fitness gear morning roundup by getting everything you need for your workout ready the night before. If your sports bra is drying over the shower rod from your earlier workout, grab that, your tank, shorts, socks, sneaks, sunglasses, iPod armband, earbuds — everything you need — and lay it out or throw it in your gym bag. Calorie-burning workouts are much more likely to happen if you deliberately take the time to prep for them. And if you make this a habit every night before a workout, you're more likely to get in the rhythm of a regular exercise.

Get Cutting

You don't want to undo all the good you did for the day by coming home tomorrow night starving and throwing together a quick and probably not-the-healthiest meal. So now that tomorrow's lunch, breakfast, and workout gear are all set, take a little time to prep for tomorrow night's dinner. 

Cut up some peppers, zucchini, and sweet potatoes to roast or grill later. Or make an enormous salad, cook up some whole grains like millet or barley, soak quinoa to make this quinoa pizza crust, or get this spaghetti squash "pasta" bake in a dish and store it in the fridge so it's ready to cook up for tomorrow. If you don't feel like spending anymore time in the kitchen, even taking 10 minutes to plan what you're going to eat is half the battle — here are dinner recipes under 500 calories.

Easy Ways to Lose Weight All Week

A little planning goes a long way, so here are some things you can do on Sunday to ensure you stay on a healthy path all week long.

Plan Your Workouts

Don't just think to yourself that you'll squeeze in a run here and a trip to the gym there — plan it out. Sit down with your weekly calendar and jot down every workout just as you would doctor's appointments and meetings. Use this time to call your fitness buddy or trainer to make dates, check out studio schedules to find classes you want to take, and check the week's weather to figure out which days will be best for outdoor workouts.

Hit the Hamper

Nothing puts a damper on a workout more than not being able to find a clean sports bra, so do a couple loads before Monday, making sure you have everything you need, from your running tights to yoga tops to the towel you use to wipe sweat from your brow. Lay out your outfits for each day's workout so you're not running around the house Tuesday morning trying to find your missing sock.

Gather Your Gear

Collect whatever you need to work out — a yoga mat, sneakers, or earbuds — and make sure everything is set so you can easily grab the items throughout the week. Pack your gym bag, and put it by the door or in your car so you won't forget it when you leave for the day. If you exercise at home, put your favorite fitness video in the DVD player and lay out your dumbbells and resistance band. Sunday is also a great time to make a couple new playlists to inspire your kick-ass workouts (if you don't have time, subscribe to our workout playlists on Spotify).

Plan Your Meals and Snacks

Sit down and write out a weekly eating plan including all meals and snacks for the week. If you need a little inspiration, check out these healthy recipes. After making out a grocery list to include everything you'll need to whip them up, hit the health food store and stock up for the week. Since produce is best enjoyed within a few days of purchasing, note what fruits and veggies you'll want to pick up halfway through the week.

Make things even easier by prepping in advance: wash, cut, and store veggies to be used in dinner recipes, cut up fruit for smoothies or snacks, and cook up some whole grains and store them in the fridge. Cook some of these make-ahead breakfasts in advance, or turn on the crockpot to make something you can eat a few nights that week, like these under-400-calorie meals.

Pack It Up

If you'll be away from home during the day, cut down on the temptation to go out to lunch or grab a cookie by packing lunches and snacks from home. Making five salads for the week is easy and healthy, or you can whip up a big pot of soup and freeze small portions in glass containers to grab for lunch. Also set aside 10 snacks for the week (two per day) such as Greek yogurt, cheese sticks, and containers of carrots and hummus, or measure out 100-calorie portions of trail mix, whole-grain crackers, or cereal. It'll probably take about an hour to get it all ready, but it'll end up saving you time during the rest of the week.

Hit the Hay

Once everything is all set, take a nice hot bath, slip on your PJs, and hop into bed early. Unwind with an evening yoga sequence or a calming book, and you're more likely to have a good night's sleep and wake up refreshed for the week ahead. 

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Here are all the New Features in Xiaomi’s MIUI 7

At an event in New Delhi, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi announced MIUI 7, the latest version of its operating system based on Android Lollipop. Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s global VP, said that MIUI is now used by over 150 million users in 156 countries.

Barra didn’t actually announce a release date for the final version of MIUI 7 — that, we think, will show up in just a couple of months when Xiaomi launches its new flagship, the Mi 5 — but he did show off a number of new features in the new operating system.

Here are the highlights:

• MIUI 7 comes with 4 built-in themes: Rose, Pink Blush, Ocean Breeze and High Life. The Rose and the Pink blush themes are incorporate shades of pink and are inpsired by high-end luxury goods, according to Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra. The Ocean Breeze theme has blue pastles, while the High Life theme is the most elegant and sophisticated of the four with shades of brown and gold.Additionally, you can also download thousands of other themes from Xiaomi’s global theme store.

• To go with its colourful themes, Xiaomi will release limited colour editions of its Mi 4i smartphone in India on August 25. 
• There is now a brand new version of a theme-designing tool called MUSE that’s available to theme desginers. It lets people easily build detailed, animated themes that customise everything from the icons to the lock screen. Xiaomi released a special Shah Rukh Khan-inspired theme called Badshah Rocks that lets you change SRK’s outfit right on the the lock screen.
• MIUI 7 has a new feature called Daily Lockscreen, which puts a brand new image on your lockscreen every single day.
• Thanks to major behind-the-scenes optimisations, Xiaomi claims that launch apps on MIUI 7 is 30% faster than launching them on MIUI 6.
•  MIUI 7 gets about 10% better battery life compared to MIUI 6, said Barra.
• There’s a brand new font size called XXL font, which lets users bump up the size of fonts across the system and optimises the larger sizes to be usable in messaging apps. MIUI now supports a total of 5 font sizes. The new XXL size is also available for Hindi fonts.
• A brand new facial recognition feature identifies pictures of your children and puts them all in a single “Baby Album” tab in the MIUI 7 Gallery app. Additionally, MIUI 7 now has a Child Mode that lets parents whitelist specific apps that children can use anbd limit SMS.
• If you have a Mi Band, it will now automatically put your phone in the Do Not Disturb mode when it detects that you’ve fallen asleep.
• MIUI 7 now supports 10 Indian languaes, up from 6 that MIUI 6 supported. The new langauges are Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati and Punjabi.
•  Thanks to some smart integration from browser-maker Opera, MIUI 7 supports systemwide data compression, which means that phones running MIUI 7 use considerably less data than other phones.
• Messaging is now smarter. MIUI 7 will put messages from real people up front and everything else — texts from banks, advertisements, One-Time Password Codes, and more — in a separate tab.
• You will now be able to set a 5-second video loop as your profile image, which will be displayed whenever you call another MIUI 7 user.
• MIUI 7 will be availble as a beta download from Monday, August 24, 2015. For the first time, you can install the beta on every Xiaomi phone available in India.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ launched at Rs 57,900 in India; will hit store shelves on 28 August

Samsung has launched one of the most awaited device, the Galaxy S6 Edge+, in India at an event held in Delhi today. The company had launched the Galaxy S6 Edge+ last week during the its Galaxy Unpacked 2015 event along with the Galaxy Note 5. Going by the recent reports, the Note 5 is likely to be launched here soon.

The 32GB variant of the Galaxy S6 Edge+ has been priced at Rs 57,900 while the 64GB variant has been given a miss, for now. The smartphone will go on sale on August 28, while pre-orders open from Wednesday. The device is available in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, and Silver Titanium color variants.

In terms of specifications, the device sports a dual-edge display with a 5.7-inch QHD Super-Amoled display with a 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution along with a pixel density of 515ppi. It is powered by a a 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 processor paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM.

The device sports a 16MP rear camera with OIS along with a 5MP front facing camera. The Android 5.1 Lollipop-based smartphone will be offered in 32GB and 64GB storage variants and does not include a microSD card slot.  Samsung will also be providing 100GB of OneDrive cloud storage for free.

In terms of connectivity, the smartphone includes 4G LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/ A-GPS, and Micro-USB 2.0. It also includes a 3000mAh non-removable battery.

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10 Habits Of The Highly Successful People

In the entire history, no other person has managed to have personified the notion of the self-made man more than Henry Ford. Henry Ford is best remembered as the one who single-handedly created the US automotive industry. What Ford had only a limited formal education, born in a farm, and was expected to take over the farm when he grows up.

Instead, Ford left home at the age of seventeen and joined as an apprentice at a machinist in Detroit. A career choice that left him wildly famous and successful. Even with a sort of okay education, Ford managed to revolutionize the mechanized assembly line, Detroit was later known as the ‘Motor City’ because of his work.

What is it that makes the uber rich, famous and successful set apart from the rest? It is not they have got access to more resources than you, you’re seriously mistaken if you think they have got more resources than you. Many of the successful people did not even had the amount of resources that you have access to now. So what is it that makes these people build gold mines out of stones?

Everyone wishes if there were a handbook for success, a shortcut that would make you instantly rich. But there’s a good thing, and a bad one. The bad one is, there is no shortcut to success. The good thing is a change in your habits could make you more successful.

A wise man once said:

“We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle

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Excellence and success is an art that needs to be mastered by habituation. There’s a fine line between success and failure, and here, in this case, Habituation is the thing that separates you from the successful people.

 

What makes the human race so interesting is the vastly differentiating individualism. What is a sin to you might be a virtue to someone else? So, when the beliefs are diverse, the habits too are diverse. All the famous people had two things in common – their dedication to living up to their beliefs and sticking to their habits.

Do you have what it takes to be Successful?

Habits are what you are and what you become. Here’s a list of the Top 10 Habits of the Highly successful people. So do you think you have what it takes to be successful?

They start with the end in Mind

Your goal is where you want to end up. So, start from there. Average goals get you to average success. The highly successful people start with the end in mind. When you ultimate goal is ultimate success, you work much harder than you think you might ever think you could.

These successful people work with the bigger picture in mind and work daily on moving a step closer to their dreams. Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple, is believed to chalk out the ideas for iPad back from the 1980’s when the first tablet – Microsoft’s Surface hit the shelves in 2001. A long-term vision for themselves is what they were possessed with.

They are all about Here and Now

The successful people are not only all about the future, but they also work in the present. “Be here now” lingers throughout the book – ‘Here and Now’ by Ram Dass. Although all the successful people start with the end in mind, they completely never forget about the here and now. It’s no point scheming up plans for the future and leaving the present flow away.

They don’t wait to act. These people live in the present and do what they have to do at that moment. They do not always know the right direction, but that doesn’t keep them for setting their sails high and moving forward. Action will bring you to your answers.

They don’t Hear; they Listen

In his book – ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Stephen R. Covey says that people are concerned with talking that they never listen. There is a lot of difference between listening and hearing and you ought to figure out that yourselves.

All the successful people were great listeners in their very own sense. They listen to understand, not just to reply.

And the widely celebrated author writes:

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

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– Stephen R. Covey.

They understand first, then they are later understood.

They are Proactive

The no. 1 habit listed on the book – ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is about being proactive. What does that even mean? The successful people realize that they are responsible for their choices. You choose to be happy, or either you choose to be sad.Your life is not ‘happening’, you are making it. These people don’t go around blaming genetics, circumstances, or conditions for how their life turns out to be.

Instead of worrying on what you can’t control, focus on what’s controllable. The successful people spend their time and efforts on things they could do something about.

They don’t fear Failure

 

How could you be successful at anything, if you are afraid of everything?

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The fear of failure is the worst of all. Sir Richard Branson might not have become what he is now if he feared to drop out of school. These people care the least about failure and work hard to avoid it at any cost.

“Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s OK to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.”

– H. Stanley Judd

The fear of failure shouldn’t pull you from having fun.

They embrace Change

Do you know what humans are the most afraid of? Yep, you guessed it – Change. Most of the people might just go ahead and claim that they are not afraid of change. But when under a complete overhaul of conditions and circumstances, people loathe change.

The successful people have embraced winds of change and sailed through them. A change is difficult to deal with, but could be the most rewarding thing in your life. Walt Disney is a great example of people who embraced change. He started out as a newspaper editor, where he was fired as he “lacked imagination and had no good idea.”

They Work harder than you thought

You might have heard this by now over a million times from hundreds of your sources. But they are working hard from hours before you wake up everyday and more hours after you are off to bed at night. These people get up insanely early. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook wakes up daily at 5.30 am. Then there’s Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous author, who woke up everyday at 4.30 am to write.

• 10 Tips to improve Time-management Skills for Young Entrepreneurs

Successful people clock in long hours, not because they have to, but because they want to. What sets apart these from the rest is that they work hard for the love of it, not just for the sake of it.

They do not follow the crowds

Conventional wisdom yields conventional success. Most of the highly successful people are well known for their unconventional thinking. ‘Think Different’, as Apple shouts out to people; these people do not simply follow trends.

Even the person who leads the orchestra needs to turn his back on the crowd. The successful people are all about following their following their dreams passionately and they don’t worry about where’s everyone headed to! Be yourself and follow what your heart and your gut says, not just because some bloke is doing the same.

They take ‘power’ Break’s

You don’t need to completely unplug yourselves from life, but a little refreshing and quick ‘power’ break’s would help you better. Even the successful people are humans and even they care about breaks. Breaks are an essential to refocus on your work.

Here’s what they said about American writer and Humorist Mark Twain:

“On Sundays, Twain skipped work to relax with his wife and children, read, and daydream in some shady spot on the farm.”

Padmasree Warrior, the CTO of Cisco systems says taking time to meditate and unplug helped in her previous job as head of engineering, which required her to oversee 22,000 employees. “It’s almost like a reboot for your brain and your soul.”

Power breaks – short, yet effective breaks would steer you clear of your obstacles and make you much relaxed and focused.

They show humility

Humility is the essence of life. Success doesn’t always mean it should lead to ego. Although there are many successful people who weren’t too good with others, there were also people known for their humbleness. A true successful person doesn’t come with an ego.

The remarkably successful people are almost as humble as fearless they are. These people never hesitate to admit that they have made a mistake or to apologize for the things they have done wrong. To admit their mistakes, to ask for help, to say they are sorry, to say they owe their success to others; these are the signs of a true successful person.

Bonus

Now that you have spent a good amount of time reading through this long article, I would like to add something which would be of great use to you if you are more interested about the habits of successful people.

Here are two books that would be the best few bucks you would have ever spent.

• Daily Rituals: How Artists Work – Mason Currey
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change – Stephen R. Covey

Now that you know the secret ingredients to the habits of the highly successful people, make them your daily habits and see yourself become the better version of yourselves.

Here are more hand-picked posts from our LIfe-hacks category:

• 10 things you must give up to move forward
• 6 ways successful people spend their weekend
• 7 Body language tricks to become instantly likable in the first meet

What do you think about these habits of the highly successful? Would you like to add your thoughts and ideas? Feel free to share them below.