iYogi Virus Alert: Porn Droid Locking Your Android Devices!

Android users are once again under threat. A new kind of malware, Porn Droid, is threatening the 950 million Android users by changing their device’s pin. It’s a new variant of ransomware, which hijacks your phone upon download and demands a ransom to release it.

Porn Droid is designed by Russian Hackers and they are using social engineering to spread it across. This is in the form of a pornography app reaching users via social media, torrent sites, and non-affiliated app stores. Hackers have added a new twist to this malware; they are sending an official-looking warning to the user masquerading as FBI. Read More...

iYogi Fraud Alert: Labor Day Weekend Travel Fraud!

As summer begins to draw to a close everyone is in the vacation mood. According American Automobile Association (AAA) Travel, an estimated 34.7 million Americans will travel this holiday weekend. With this, criminals and hackers too have activated themselves to cash in the name of vacation scams.

If you are also planning to book an end of summer getaway this Labor Day weekend, here are some important guidelines shared by iYogi to keep in mind before you start scouring the web for last-minute bargains and sorting your departure details.

While you plan your trip

While you’re busy finalizing the best online vacation deal, don’t forget to stay vigilant of fake vacation offers. Scammers often hijack legitimate listings for rental properties and impersonate themselves as legitimate contact persons for fake postings. Their goal is to get a person to pay a large security deposit or the full rental amount up front. Read More...

iYogi Scam Alert: Hackers Misleading WhatsApp Users!

WhatsApp has 800 million users all over the world; knowing this fact, hackers have decided to misuse the name of the brand. The latest ploy which scam artists have come up with to con WhatsApp users is is to carry out a mass spam email campaign.

Scam artists are using the WhatsApp name which users trust and love, as a way to enter your device and steal important credentials.  They are sending hoax e-mails pretending to be from WhatsApp and are attempting to install malware on your device.  Once you click on the link attached you can: Read More..

iYogi Security Alert: Moose Targets Social Websites!

Your home router connects you directly to the Internet and at the same time makes you vulnerable to hacker’s. Yes, your trusted routers have turned out to be the new route for cyber crooks to dip their hands into your pocket. This time they have once again turned their attention towards your love for social networking websites.

Social networking websites are undoubtedly a hacker’s paradise and a new variant of online worm named ‘Moose’ is infecting routers in order to fraudulently gain access to your accounts on social networking sites. This worm is shrewd enough to hijack your internet connections and like, view and follow posts, pages and accounts without letting you know about it. The most heavily targeted social networks are Instagram, Twitter and Vine. Read More...

iYogi Sets up its First Global Technology Services Center in North America

iYogi, the world's largest independent consumer tech support services brand is setting up its first Global Technology Services Center in North America, in Lewiston, Maine.

The center will employ 300 people and will support the company's product and services innovation strategy to address the opportunities arising from the rapid proliferation of computing and IoT devices.

iYogi has partnered with Argo Marketing of Lewiston to set up and operate the delivery center, and is being supported by the State Department of Labor and Career Center networks to design and implement recruiting and workforce training programs. Read More....

How to share photos in Sony Xperia Z

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Now capture all your special moments and share them with your friends on the go. With a few taps on your Sony Xperia Z, you can now share your pictures with any one you want to. Here’s how you can share your pictures with other contacts:

Step 1. On the Home screen,tap on the Apps icon to view all the apps.

Step 2. Tap on Album.

Step 3. Select the picture, you would like to share.

Step 4. Tap on the photo to view the options,and then tap on the Share icon.

Step 5. Tao on See All to View all the sharing options

Step 6. From the displayed Share to options,tap on the option you would like to use for sharing.

Step 7. For demo purpose, here we have selected Gmail.

Step 8. Enter the recipient's name or e-mail address in the To field.

Step 9. Enter your subject, and then compose your message.

Step 10. Once done, tap the Send icon on the top right to share the selected photo.

To know more on how to share pictures on Sony Xperia Z, watch this video below.

iYogi Reviews: HP Sprout –Ultimate Blend of a Great PC, 3D Scanner and Projector!

HP has always tried to do something different that actually makes it stand out in the crowd. It always came up with different products and the recent one to its kitty is Sprout – a Windows 8 PC with 3D scanning and a projected second screen. Isn’t the move by HP a commendable thing? The product developed is a result of a tremendous partnership between HP, Microsoft, Intel and 3M.

The innovative and revolutionary step taken by HP is surely going to cost a little more. So, if you have been planning to invest a little more on your next desktop, then why not chose the one that allows you to do multiple things at a time. Need to know more about the product? iYogi brings a full review of this product only to make it easier for you to pick the best from the lot.

Sprout – a complete package of computing, scanning and projection

Sprout from HP is a perfect blend of great computing experience, 3D scanning and quality projector. It is basically a 3D scanner and a projected touchscreen attached to a Windows 8 all-in-one desktop.

The most stunning part of the Sprout is the built-in scanner, projector and a real sense 3D camera.

On top of the HP sprout, 23-inch monitor called Sprout Illuminator is fixed which carries LED lights, and a combination projector and quad camera. The best part, you don’t have to stress your eyes onto a projection screen as Sprout comes with a 20-inch, 1024x768-pixel display, which reflects onto a large capacitive touchpad, called a Touch Mat.

The Illuminator of Sprout carries 14.6 megapixels camera for clearer and specific identification of documents or objects that are placed on top of the projector. The third role of the HP Sprout is the scanner. You don’t have to look out for any other object here as the Illuminator projector only acts as a scanner. Since, the projector comes embedded with an Intel Real Sense 3D Camera, so the projector very conveniently determines 3D data. Sprout is very much similar to Kinect as it also holds the capability to view three-dimensional things. So, any item placed right below the projector is copied at the tap of the icon and both 2D and 3D items are reduced into flat graphic designs.

Top and Bottom parts of Sprout

HP launched Sprout with an aim to provide the users a product that not only allows them to work on a regular Windows 8 touchscreen, but also that lets them scan and work on the bottom projected screen. As a user, you can very easily work on the bottom projected screen and can use the top display as the application space.

Hardware

The Sprout from HP comes inbuilt with a fourth-gen Core i7-4790S desktop PC with Nvidia GeForce GT745A graphics and Windows 8.1 OS. This is surely a great package that has a lot to offer. It sounds interesting even for the game players, who love to spend quality time playing games. It is so, because Sprout carries 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive with 8GB of cache.

Conclusion

HP has definitely tried to offer something different to its customers through Sprout, which is a great combination of a PC, 3D scanner and a projector. Priced at $1,899, Sprout has already entered the markets of US. So, if you are ready to spend a little more and want to experience the latest invention by HP, pick the Sprout now through retail stores, including Best Buy and the Microsoft Store.

Here’s everything about Google Nexus 6 you should know!

For all you Android fans, the good news is that Google Nexus 6 has finally been announced!

Nearly a year after the Google Nexus 5 hit the stores; the newest version is now out and is promising the interested users better specifications at an interesting price range. From the very first-look of the device, it sure looks stunning and the next smartphone that you should upgrade to. For your quick perusal, here’re its features and advantages that you can look forward to enjoying with this product…

•   The Google Nexus 6 is the flagship device for Android 5.0 Lollipop
•    Smart operating system for smarter speeds and performance
•    It is powered by Snapdragon 805 quad core 2.7GHz processor
•  You have a choice of 32 and 64 GB storage space to opt from
•  Its display is nothing less than the 6 inch Quad HD display for better multimedia experience
•  For crystal-clear audio quality, it is fitted with dual front-facing speakers
•   A 13 MP rear-facing and a 2 MP front-facing camera with features such as:

o   Optical image stabilization

o   Advanced computational photography technology

o   2.0 aperture lens

·         Fingerprint scanner 

·         3,220mAh Battery for better power and better life… so, no worries of frequent charging!

These were the features that you get along with this classy handset; however, there are a number of advantages that you also get to enjoy with this product. The first one is definitely the simple payment plan that allows you to bring the device home as soon as it is released and not have to pay anything up front. Yes, you can split up the cost over a year or a two-year period and pay the $649 price of the device comfortably.

Easy, isn’t it? All you will have to do now is wait for the device to reach a store near you; the earlier it will reach, the better it will be for you, right? If speculations and rumors are to be believed, the wait should not be longer than a month! For help to install apps, configure this device or set up its security settings, do not miss to call iYogi.

iYogi Reviews: Samsung Galaxy NoteEdge comes with Advanced Features

Samsung has recently announced the launch of its latest and curvy smartphone – Samsung Galaxy NoteEdge. This time, Samsung will not let your favorite apps to occupy the space of its front screen display as it has introduced a side display for easy access to apps like – Twitter, Facebook, News, Weather and other frequently used apps. Check out the below given features of Samsung Galaxy NoteEdge smartphone to find out how is it different from other smartphones:

Display

Samsung Galaxy NoteEdge’s front facing screen is 5.6 inches in size with QHD beauty and 1,600 x 2, 560 pixels at 524ppi. This single feature of this smartphone has made it to be a smartphone with the best ever screen features. The size of its curved edge is 1 inch where you have all your apps working.  It works independently and is not attached to the main display. Another added point with this feature is that when you have to check out your apps while your phone is asleep, you can operate only the side screen without disturbing the other displays. Isn’t it a battery saving effort?

Camera

The South Korean company has come up with an upgraded camera technology with 16-megapixel rear camera and 3.7 megapixels as front camera. With higher megapixels and quality lenses incorporated in camera, you can shoot brighter and clearer pictures in one go. The camera of this latest side featuring smartphone functions more like a stand-alone, point and shoot camera because the shutter button and other camera functions appear on top while the phone is held horizontally.

Advanced S Pen

The Samsung’s latest curvaceous smartphone includes advanced S Pen, which offers improved digital handwriting experience. It sounds quite different and better with enhanced pressure sensitivity. Now you can give your writing using this pen an entirely a different feel. 

Battery

Battery is the feature for which the Samsung has been screaming loudly. It has come up with a much developed battery life, which offers short time duration for charging while increasing the time of use. Now, you don’t need to wait for long to get your battery charged. With waiting time getting decreased, you just need 30 minutes to push the Galaxy NoteEdge battery from zero to 50%. The battery with a capacity of 3000mAh ensures you don’t get jerks in between your important task. You can also get on to use Ultra Power Saving mode in case you are running out of charge.  

These are some of the detailed features of the latest and curvaceous Samsung Galaxy NoteEdge. You can check out the other features below:

• Release date: September 2014
• Dimensions (mm):  151.30 x 82.40 x 8.30
• Weight (g): 174.00
• Battery capacity (mAh): 3000 
• Screen size (inches): 5.60
• Touchscreen type: Capacitive
• Colours: 16M
• Processor:  2.7GHz  quad-core
• RAM:  3GB
• Internal storage: 32GB
• Expandable storage type: microSD
• Expandable storage up to (GB):64

iYogi Partners with Spectranet to Boost Its Tech Services

Need help for Spectranet broadband services?  Call iYogi on toll-free number for instant support for all connected devices including computers and peripherals.

If you fall under the list of Spectranet’s home and business customers, you shouldn’t worry about the health of your broadband services. It is so, because iYogi has entered into a strategic partnership with Spectranet in order to provide round-the-clock solution for customer network management and technical support for Spectranet’s home and business customers.

Spectranet is known for delivering high speed broadband services for its individual customers as well as enterprises.

As per the partnership, iYogi will be handling the Spectranet’s Tech Assist, which is a technical support service for Spectranet customers powered by FOX (Fiber Optic Xperience).  With iYogi taking the onus of handling Tech Assist, customer can avail round-the-clock support for all connected devices, including computers, peripherals, smartphones and other digital devices.

As stated by iYogi, Tech Assist will be bundled with Spectranet Broadband powered by FOX products for existing as well as new customers.

The partnership with iYogi for technical support is expected to boost the Spectranet’s revenue by 12 percent and reduce its support cost by 15 percent in the nest 12 to 24 months.

IoT to Bring a Customer Service Revolution

Palo Alto, California, – On the second day of the IoT World Conference, Vishal Dhar will release a whitepaper titled: “How the Internet of Things is Revolutionizing Customer Service”.

 “The customer service industry is about to see an IoT tsunami change in the next five years. Just as consumers will experience a whole host of new applications; brands, service providers and OEMs will realize the full opportunity of IoT enabled customer services and support. One to one customer engagement practice can now become a reality, as a new layer of connectivity, customer intelligence and automation appear in the service conversation evoking a service delivery revolution,” commented Vishal Dhar, co-founder at iYogi – Digital Service Cloud, speaking at the IoT World Conference.

Some of the benefits of IoT in the Whitepaper cite-

Unified customer service management platforms:

A unified platform helps the service providers to monitor and manage all the interconnected heterogeneous devices across consumer and business applications. The centralized user interface of this platform allows for integrated support channels, apps, databases for a enhanced user experience.

Low costs of service management

Service providers can easily automate service solutions while working on the real-time data. This will not only help to lower down the cost of service management, but also strive to give an overall amazing customer experience.

Improved customer manageability

The ‘Internet of Things’ allow to collect the big data. As more customer’s and end-user’s devices are interconnected, the service providers can easily comprehend the specific profiles and behavioral patterns of the customers to deliver more personalized customer engagements.

Digital Service Cloud

It is a unified platform for IoT customer management that monitors and manages the heterogeneous devices, which are interconnected. This enables service provides to easily manage the customer service deployments on large scale. Digital service cloud helps in transforming service delivery and enhances the end-user experience. Not only this, it also helps in generating revenue through support automation.

For more information, visit our website-

http://www.digitalservicecloud.com/ 

iYogi and Telephonica Jointly Ventured to Roll out SME Assistance

Ever since Uday Challu and Vishal Dhar joined hands and founded iYogi in Gurgaon, the remote tech support company was quick to become a prominent name in the industry. iYogi has delivered economical remote technical assistance to businesses as well as individual customers who can seek tech support at the convenience of their home or office. With years of rapidly growing popularity in tech support industry, soon iYogi started drawing attention of leading investor, Sequoia Capital, which has funded tech behemoths such as Apple, AdMob, Cisco, Airbnb, EA, NetApp, Google, NetApp, Nvidia, Paypal, YouTube and WhatsApp. After successful delivery of technical assistance to around 2.5 million subscribers across the world for over six years, it went on to become one of the fastest growing technology startups in India and to expand its wing in Spain.

iYogi expands in Spain with Telephonica

After years of operating and flourishing in major markets, iYogi teams up with Telephonica to spread out in Spain. The alliance between Telephonica telecommunication company and iYogi launched a company which was focused in catering technical support services to individuals to small and medium enterprises. Guru offers extensive range of technical support services to major Spanish mobile phone operator Movistar and other operators. Jorge Gutierrez, the new business manager of Telefónica, has expressed what made them tie up with iYogi to startup Guru. He revealed details on the alliance with iYogi to ITespresso-Marcet ny stating that

"At Telefónica we had been planning to launch a service like this for quite some time in order to cover the digital life. The technology has already become a lifestyle is not a fad. Last year Telefónica made a market survey to see which companies do this. And choose iYogi decided to give remote assistance in Guru".

Wide range of services offered by Guru

Guru delivers broad range of services for all different types of devices including Windows-based computers, Mac, smartphone, tablet and other mobile devices, printers, routers, digital cameras, media players and other peripherals. As Elena Gorostiza, the Vice President Marketing iYogi Europe explained to ITespresso that “The idea is to open the field everything and become a "hub of support. As there is a need for a new product or platform that is also widespread cover".

With Guru, “you try to resolve questions of third party applications (over 500 apps and programs) as WhatsApp, Office, Skype, and so on, even very specific queries or problems.” With this, iYogi also released a Youtube channel for Guru to offer simple how-to videos. The service offered by Guru is economically priced for 5 or 6 Euros per month for individuals, freelancers and small businesses who can use service for unlimited technical queries. Additionally, users can opt for online assistance for specific cases for 30 Euros a month or request for Home Care for 99 Euros. Customers of other carriers than Movistar can opt for an annual plan for 79 Euros per year.

At present, around 150 agents are working with Guru in San Fernando de Henares-based tech support unit of iYogi who are delivering technical support assistance for 8 to 22 hours every day of the week, including Sundays and holidays. 

Dell brings you Latitude 12 and Latitude 14 - the tough, sturdy, strong laptops

The Rugged Extreme notebooks in the market will compete with Panasonic neck to neck. iYogi reviews the new notebooks launched by Dell and convey its features into the attention. Here we go.

The new versions of notebooks introduced by Dell – Latitude 12 and Latitude 14; provides Dell with not only tough looks but also with strong and sturdy inner built.

The name 'Rugged Extreme' jells very well with the built of the two new versions of laptops. The 'Rugged Extreme' laptops are fully designed with shock-resistant feature. These laptops can survive and resist spurt of dust and even water. The improvised IP65-rated devices enable the laptops with this water and dust proof facility. 

iYogi reviews team gives you a quick highlight on the features of Latitude 14 and Latitude 12; the 'Rugged Extreme' laptops which are launched in the market to compete with Toughbooks from Panasonic.

Latitude 14 and its features –

• Provides you with a 14–inch screen.
• Light weight of 3.54kg.
• The notebook gives you the latest-generation low voltage Haswell Intel Core processors with a storage capacity of 512GB.
• 16 GB of RAM support.
• The notebook allows you to work 12 hours a day without plug-in.  The 6/9 cell battery gives the notebook a long durability.
• The laptop is also provided with a resistive touch screen comprehensive connectivity. 
• The laptop supports every feature as HDMI, PCMCIA and VGA. 
• The notebook also supports an optional Gobi 4G modem.

Latitude 12 and its features –

The look of Latitude 12 resembles with Dell’s XPS 12 version.

• The screen size is 11.6-inch.
• The laptop can also be used as a tablet. 
• The laptop arrives with a multitouch screen. 
• A rear-mounted camera comes handy with the tablet mode.
• 4-cell battery comes along with this laptop. The 4 cell battery backup may seem to be quite insufficient but Dell claims the battery backup to be enough for all the whole day.

The new docking system improvises the laptops in its functioning. Latitude 14 and Latitude 12 will be available with the OS - Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Pro. These two laptops will replace the existing semi-rugged Latitude E6430 ATG. Later this year Dell will be launching another semi-rugged laptop - Latitude 14. Surprisingly, the aforementioned features in the new versions of laptops have got many attention grabbing features in comparison to the previous Latitude rugged versions. iYogi reviews team finds that the update is packed with all the necessary features and the Dell users have nothing to lose with the new Latitude devices.

iYogi Conquers Newer Regions; Shares its Financial Plans for the Next Year

In just the six years that it has been in the industry, iYogi has managed to carve a niche for itself by successfully resolving millions of tech-related queries of their customers across the 10 countries where they have their footprints in. With a view to go on to the next level, iYogi is looking forward to expanding their horizon and capture newer regions in the coming year. They are also aiming at increasing the revenue, which currently stands at $100 million, every two years for the next five years. This is in addition to their planning to increase the headcount from 4500 to 7000 proficient tech professionals.

As per the latest updates, iYogi will raise $55 million from equity funds (approx. 340 Crore INR), and to raise this amount, the company will sell its 10 percent stake. This will also reduce the stake that the key management executives had by up to 30 percent. The remaining portion of the funds will be taken care of by PE funds such as SAP Ventures, Canaan Partners, Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Samaa Capital. iYogi is also in talks with several American and European investors to raise an extra fund of $20 million before the end of March 2014.

Uday Challu, co-founder and CEO of iYogi has shared that, “Led by Madison India Capital and existing investors, PE firms have already committed $35 million to the company”. This statement clearly affirms the expansion plans of the company and that they have already taken the first steps towards realizing this goal.

This planning is in sync with the company’s idea of venturing into newer geographical regions such as Europe, Latin America, and also Asia. So far, the company has already entered into partnership with Telephonica, a leading telecommunication brand in Spain, thereby flagging off the iYogi operations in the country. In addition to this, iYogi is in talks with several telecom companies across Australia, West Asia, and India to start off similar services in their regions of operation.

Going by the history of the company’s performance, it is just a matter of sometime before one could say that iYogi has indeed entered the prestigious $1 billion-revenue club. 

Business Nonstop Services – Offers Nonstop Growth to Your Business

iYogi Business Nonstop means do not let your business pause due to any specific technical issue, rather let it move on as iYogi is there to take care of all your business’s technology support needs. With iYogi Business Nonstop, you do not need to get into the complexities of working with multiple support providers associated with each individual brand and device or software manufacturer. Simply address your technical issues affecting your business to iYogi and get reliable and on time solution to your problem. 

iYogi Business Nonstop offers hosts of comprehensive services meeting your business’s tech needs. Check out the services that iYogi offers: 

MARKETING SERVICES

iYogi Business Nonstop offers unmatched  digital marketing services for small and medium business, to get online, stay online and prosper online. iYogi has successfully acquired over 3 Million users across 10 countries through their expertise in digital marketing.  Marketing services includes:

Website Designing

Online search has become dominant these days, so if you do not have your company on the WorldWide Web, you are certainly going wrong somewhere. You can solve your problem here with iYogi.  iYogi has a great team of expertise to develop attractive websites for services such as content, adding an online store, and marketing. 

Brand Building 

iYogi’s brand building services help your organization gain visibility beyond its regular target audience. It promotes your website via various mediums - Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Marketing and Online Reputation Management.

SEO Services 

Here, iYogi enhances your company’s online visibility through Search Engine Optimization method. The tech expertise sitting at iYogi optimizes the existing content on your website using strong and the most popular keywords relevant to your company. 

TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

iYogi’s proprietary and proven technology Digital Service Cloud is totally into managing your company’s entire IT set up. Digital Service Cloud is everything that you can opt for your business to keep your company’s IT running nonstop. iYogi’s technology nonstop includes several services under it:

Setup and Install

iYogi technology nonstop offers comprehensive support for setup and installation of registered devices, peripherals with updated drivers, software installation and customization, etc. iYogi tech support is available on 24x7 basis, for 365 days throughout a year. 

Support for Software and Hardware 

iYogi provides support for  a wide range of software applications including Microsoft Office software, accounting software Tally, and all Operating Systems including Windows and iOS. With iYogi tech support, your business will never fall back due to any software or hardware crashes, errors or missing drivers.

Secure Business Data

The confidentiality of every business is high and to keep it safe and protected, iYogi expertise design secure data access controls. It basically enhances the level of protection for your business data ensuring that it is totally under control and safe from any unauthorized incoming traffic or software installation.

Website Server Management

iYogi ensures that the online presence of your business is maintained at all times, so that it witnesses nonstop growth.

Email Client & Server Management

The email client or server crashes can affect your business in many ways. iYogi ensures that your business performs nonstop without any jerk in between. 

Overall, iYogi business nonstop is a big boon to your business with world-class tech support services available 24x7x365.

Support Dock – A Complete Tech Solution App

iYogi, a global provider of software and technical support services has strengthen its presence in the market with the development of an android app called Support Dock. With Support Dock, an app especially designed for your android, you can easily get access to word-class technical support services from the team of iYogi tech experts for all your digital devices in home. 

Have a look at the below given options to know some useful features of iYogi Support Dock: 

LIVE CHAT: Live Chat is a quick and reliable way of getting tech support from iYogi experts. You can use this option and get directly connected to highly certified tech experts from iYogi, who will quickly diagnose the problem and provide quick fixes over the chat itself. 

PUSH TO TALK: Through Push to Talk feature, you can get connected to a tech expert over the phone. All you need to do here is, simply go to Push to Talk option on Support Dock app on your android and get connected to iYogi tech expert on the toll free number in just a few seconds. You can also schedule a callback option, if you want the iYogi experts to give you a call. 

MESSAGING: All communications sent by the team of iYogi tech experts, exclusively to you, are successfully stored under Messaging option. You can retrieve any communication as and when required by simply clicking on the mails sent by iYogi tech experts. You can also submit your feedback about iYogi services and plans.

PHONE HEALTH: Phone Health feature is the perfect health manager for your android which checks and manages the processes running on your phone. 

KNOWLEDGE BASE: It is a fruitful source of interesting technology related knowledge and resources by iYogi. You can access these facilities by going to the iYogi YouTube channel containing exclusive content as a solution to all your tech problems. 

PREFERENCES: This feature allows you to manage and control every setting related to your Support Dock app. It also manages the activation process and details.

So, what are you waiting for, just opt for Support Dock Android app on your mobile and free yourself from any sort of tech problem popping up in any of your digital devices at home.

iYogi Launches Digital Service Cloud

Global provider of software and technical support services, iYogi launched a cloud-based solution Digital Service Cloud to document the problem, solutions, and relevant hardware and software specs of the customers. This service is definitely going to help iYogi as it can capture the demographic information of each customer and creates a behavioral profile of them and help the tech experts in understanding the need of the customers. 

The Digital Service Cloud is a combination of powerful knowledge base with a comprehensive set of tools and technology that will help the iYogi Tech Experts to keep the information of their clients at the fingertips. iYogi launched the Digital Service Cloud to deliver quality tech support to the customers any time of the day and any time of the year. 

iYogi believes that starting Digital Service Cloud can empower OEM’s, Retailers, Telcos, and Global Service Providers to create high value customer relationships and it can also help the company in engaging to the customers at their point of need. By starting this service, iYogi can easily transform the method to engage the customer and provide Automate Support Deliver to the customers.

iYogi Research Shows Americans Spend More on Internet than Light

We love our gadgets. Today, number of gadgets usually tops the count of members in a family of four. The increasing use of gadgets is a clear indication of tech adaptation in our lifestyle. A recent survey by iYogi shows that Americans spend more on technology bills than on utilities like heating, cooling, light, hot water, gas. Does it mean that US consumers need to stay connected via technology more than maintaining insulation in their homes? Here are the findings of the iYogi survey.

Increased rate of technology adoption 
A recent study conducted by iYogi reveals that Americans spend around 6% to 12% of their income on energy and other utility bills. However, when it comes to technology costs, Americans shell a greater amount of their income on it. With the advent of technological advancements, an average couple owns 7 devices while families of four members own about 11 electronic devices combining television, computer, Smartphone, tablets among others, as studied by iYogi Insights. Earlier, one household would own one TV and the entire family would share one computer. Now, every family member has his or her own computer. But it is not only the computer, there is one Smartphone or tablet per family member and often one member posses extra Smartphone or computer as Smartphone devices are emerging to become a ‘must have’ devices to simplify and organize their life.

Types of costs included in technology bills 
In order to make use of these Internet enabled devices and media streaming services on television, Americans take up plans that combine TV, Internet, fixed phone and mobile phone services. In addition to Internet and DTH services, many households incur expenses on cloud services for data backup services. Combining all these costs, their technology bills are found out to surpass their utility expenses. Around 63% of Americans have admitted to spend 35% more on technology bills than utility bills.    

Type of electronic devices rule technology costs

• Desktop PC 
• Notebook and netbook computers
• Smartphone
• Tablets and E-readers such as Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble nook among others
• Gaming consoles including Microsoft XBOX 360 and Kinect, Sony PlayStation 3 and Vita, Wii 
• Printers, scanners etc. 

Expenses on Internet based services of a family budget

• Cable television services 
• VoIP plans connected to fixed phones 
• Data, voice and text plans for mobile phones and Smartphone 
• Internet service provider (ISP) service to connect your PC to computer at home, office, restaurants 
• Media streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, Hulu Plus, iTunes etc.  
• Data backup subscription plans of Apple iCloud, Microsoft SkyDrive, Dropbox among others. 

Which devices Americans make utmost use of to stay connected?
The research done by iYogi has shown that mobile phones and Smartphone top the chart of devices used to stay connected. Hence, their monthly expenses on mobile phones trump all other electronic devices in use. iYogi carried out the survey on about 1100 iYogi subscribers to analyze their technology usage  and a large percentage of survey respondents have revealed their upmost dependence on mobile phones to stay connected via chat, messaging, video conference, or calls than computer or other devices.

Spending on mobile phones of a household 
iYogi survey has revealed that Americans spend about $94 on their mobile phones every month. Their highest share of technology costs take in mobile services. In addition to the $94 spent on the mobile services per month, they spend extra of about $19 per month on downloading mobile content such as games, music, movies etc. About 60% of iYogi survey respondents have revealed to use voice and data services for mobile devices.

What kind of voice and data plan packages people subscribe for? 
When surveyed by iYogi, half of the 1100 iYogi subscribers have revealed to use Triple Play packages. Triple Play packages include combined voice and data services for Internet, TV and phone. Remaining survey respondents use different types of voice and data plans with –

• 17% respondents use combined plan for Internet and TV
• 16% choose two Internet connections for two devices and phone service 
• About 1% said to use TV and phone services

Triple Play packages may not offer best quality connectivity service, but offer the convenience of combining connectivity services for multiple devices from a service provider. Thus, Triple Play packages subscribers can avoid the complexity of maintaining and tracking separate bills from separate service providers. That’s why Triple Play packages are more in demand than other voice and data plans for enabling users to enjoy diverse types of connectivity options including TV, phone and Internet.

More people depend on cloud service for data backup 
According to the iYogi survey, about 30% people started adopting online cloud based data backup services even though cloud services are still relatively a new concept. And the adoption rate continues to increase as users feel more comfortable in using cloud computing services. An extraordinary increasing rate was witnessed last year with the release of Apple iCloud Amazon’s Cloud Drive, and Dropbox which are steadily becoming popular. 30% of iYogi survey respondents who are using any of these cloud computing services spend about $10 per month.

However, messaging services used to stay connected is still very much in use. iYogi survey shows that about 30% spend in Instant Messaging applications which dominate the chart of app downloads, music download, movies download and downloading games. What do you think of this iYogi survey on surpassing expenditure on technology bills than on utility bills? Do you agree with these figures and explanations? If your technology costs are eating up your family budget, what strategies have you adopted to check technology expenses? Share with us below.