The Chinese Connection - Review Chinese Cellphones

I AM A bit wary of unknown brands, especially those stamped with the ‘Made in China’ tag. But it has to be accepted that they are hugely popular in India. For Rs 4,000, a Chinese phone can give you a 2.8” touchscreen with stylus, a good looking interface with graphics, a miniSD Card slot, dual SIM option, MP3 and MP4 players, a camera and some great speakers. Real value for money.

After I got to use one such phone during a recent visit to Jaipur, I decided to do a bit of research. All the shops I visited were keen to sell the cheaper option — their reasoning: why spend Rs 20,000 when you can buy the same for Rs 5,000.

CAMERA: Each model I checked had a different camera by a different maker, some even named after apparel brands.

But the fact is that all of them are horrible, with bad digital zooms.

However, they work, though you might not be able to take quality prints.

SCREEN: The 2.8” screen was clear and bright and good enough to display the vivid graphics. A colleague who owned a Chinese phone said his touchscreen had stopped working long back. He did go to get it fixed as the mobile was still on warranty, but the dealer had downed shutters by then. MUSIC: I loaded my Mini-SD card into his one such phone to play my Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan numbers. I must confess the the sound reproduction was quite good, a difficult proposition for most phone speakers.

VIDEO: It failed to recognise most DivX videos on the card — maybe some codecs were missing. I then used my phone to download some MP4 files from YouTube to my SD Card. The phone had no problem recognising or playing these.

USB: Most phones had a USB Port. I tried connecting one, but my PC did not recognise it as a mass storage device. But it will do, as USBs are becoming the de facto charge port option for phones and give frequent travellers like me more freedom.

DUAL SIM: Though only one SIM can stay active at a time, the phones give you the option while restarting to choose which of the two connections goes on standby mode. I was told by some shopkeepers that there were models which allowed incoming and outgoing calls on both cards. I liked this option as it gave me the freedom to use both CDMA and GSM in a single phone.

BATTERY: Both the phones I tried lasted through the day, with about one hour of talktime, which is good. But there are some serious negatives.

• am not sure whether stories of cheap phones exploding are true, but I would still not be sleeping with one of these charging beside my bed.
  
• 
  The keyboard will take some getting used to, as the keys are laid out awkwardly to accommodate the big screen.
  
• 
  Though you might not need it regularly, a touchscreen that doesn’t work can be a pain.
  
• 
  SD Card cannot be inserted without opening the phone.
  
• 
  The SD cards are usually unbranded and so it is better to change to a branded one for better performance.
  

But, overall, these phones, though called Nike or Mobichin, are good if you would like to have all latest features and still not end up paying a fortune for it.

--
The Above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 26th April 2009

Microsoft Launches: Exchange 2010 (Beta)

Unbelieveable, I am more of a Linux + Mac User, and I have done 2 Postings related to MS launches in one day.. Anyway going forward, just in time when we all managed to setup Exchange 2007, and get our teams ready to support it, Microsoft just announced the launch of MS Exchange 2010. Though still in Beta, this will be available by the year end.

Is Exchange 2010, all Fluff and UI. I think Fluff and UI is productive, and makes end user productive, it actually is a good thing - Rajesh Jha

Following is the Video Interview of Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President Exchange and Office Live.



Leaving other things to Trial, what I like about Exchange 2010, is the inbuilt archiving capability, a very important step. Though Microsoft Live has been selling Antispam + Archiving for Exchange users, but that meant that your mail was being routed through Microsoft Data Centers, which could only archive your incoming mail and not outgoing. This is a Big Thumbs Up. There are other features, that allow you to manage Inbox Overload, Reduce IT Costs etc.

Links:
Microsoft Press Release
Microsoft Exchange Home Page
Download Page for MS Exchange 2010 Beta

Microsoft Launches: Windows Server 2008 Foundation

Recently I had a chance to install Microsoft Small Business Server Enterprise for a Customer. This comprises of a 4 Server Installation (Microsoft Management Server + Active Directory, ISA Server Called Security Server, Data Base Server and Exchange Server called EBS Messaging). Though designed towards Small business's, there are a very few small business's that will put up 4 Servers, and spend that kind of money to implement the solution in India. With a high rate of piracy everywhere, and Microsoft and other Software makers coming out with versions, that are lighter in their features, at a cheaper cost, to fight piracy, Microsoft on Friday announced the Availability of it's Windows Server 2008 Foundation Edition.

Commenting on the launch, Bob Muglia (President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft Worldwide) said, “Microsoft's goal is to provide a Windows Server-based solution for every customer need, size and budget. We are proud to announce the India launch of Windows Server 2008 Foundation, our new low-cost server platform. This platform will empower small businesses with access to the power of server based business software at an affordable price – in the all familiar Windows environment. As businesses grow, customers can upgrade to other members of the Windows Server family - which provide additional functionality such as integrated e-mail, simplified management, virtualization and other advanced features”.

Microsoft has tied up with HP and Dell to provide servers preloaded with MS Windows Server 2008 Foundation Edition, and soon OEM Edition of the software will also be availble for you to buy with your new servers.

Though on Microsoft's website the pricing is still not available, but keeping in mind that the MS Windows 2008 Standard Edition ships for 999US$, this should be much cheaper. For Pricing, look at microsoft.com - windows server pricing

What is missing in the MS Win Server 2008 Foundation Edition is the Hyper-V (The Free Microsoft Virtualisation Platform) and the Server Core. The Following Feature Comparision will explain more for those looking at evaluating this server edition.



In the Next few days, If I can get time, I will setup a Lab and try out the installation, and the features and comment on it.


For More Details, visit microsoft.com

iWork Better This way - Review Apple iWork 09

A MONTH after reviewing the latest Apple iLife, I thought it is time I also wrote about its Office Application Suite suite called iWork. To start with, iWork comes with three different applications—Pages (the word processor and document editor); Numbers (the spreadsheet and number crunching application), and Keynote (the presentation application). All three write and read Microsoft as well as open formats, but for its native features to be retained it is better to save the files in raw format. However, if you want to forward a file to a colleague who uses either Windows or a Linux PC, you have the option of sending it in the commonly known Microsoft extensions or in PDF Format.



PAGES 09: Microsoft Word is brilliant with some features which others still have to catch up with. But Pages 09 goes a step further and lets you personalise documents by merging it with spreadsheets, allows you to work in fullscreen mode and gives options of templates. It also has two other unique features—it lets you make a dynamic outline of your document to review and work on ideas and also gives you the option to add equations or bibliographies to your document. It even comes with nearly 180 templates, ranging from brochures to invitations.



NUMBERS 09: I love spreadsheets, whether it is the Microsoft Excel or Open Office Calc, as they allow me to present my numbers, ideas, images and graphs together. Numbers 09 overcomes most limitations of Excel and Calc and makes interaction similar to that of a document. You can easily identify critical components of your calculation, change or edit layouts and insert multiple tables on a sheet. The idea of a workbook, with just one sheet in each page is passé as this allows you multiple tables on a sheet. The 30 templates make life easier, whether you are working on a travel planner, team organiser or home improvement project. Moreover, the table categories allow you to organise data in a way you could only do with stickies. Drag and drop formulae, advanced level charts and easy integration make this my favourite Mac feature.



KEYNOTE 09: Just the thought of making a Power Point presentation puts me off. That was until Keynote 09 came along. It lets me create a 10-slide presentation and make it look as if it was done by a pro. If we had transitions on Power Point, Keynote brings in Magic Move that lets you add Amazing Animations. Your charts can be now in 3D and with texture. Keynote gives more options in transitions plus a huge library of templates. It also gets rid of the hassle of having to stand near the PC to change slides or use a wireless presenter, by letting you iPhone or iPod touch access the presentation through Wi-Fi.

There is a downside though, you will still need a Mac to use iWork. Price Rs 4,320.

--
The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 19th April, 2009

Heart Touching - In Sickness and In Health, Till Death Do us Part

I am not sure how I came across this video, but it touched my heart, and brought a tear to my eye... True love defined. A snapshot from a news item on IBN Live



Reminds me of the Kenny Rogers Song - The Vows Go Unbroken *(lyrics)*

From the moment I met you,
you made my life complete.
This wave of pure devotion,
has swept me off my feet.

And tonight when we kissed,
you still took my breath away.
It goes without saying,
but I'll say it anyway...

The vows go un-broken - and you still know I do.
Love, keep and honor - always true to you.

Though I have been tempted,
oh I have never strayed.
I'd die before I'd damage,
this union we have made.

The vows go unbroken - and you still know I do.
Love, keep and honor - always true to you.

I knew from the first - that for better or worse,
I'd stand by you all my life.

And the vows go unbroken - and you still know I do.
Love, keep and honor - always true to you.
Love, keep and honor - always true to you.

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT - NEW BAND CALLED SMOKE

While catching up on my daily dose of Music, I saw this video in the morning on one of the channels, a Band Called Smoke Signals, has Kailash Kher, who I absolutely love, singing with them. The Song is titled Summer Time Rocks

To know more about the Band visit their page at Blue Frog, the Independent Label they have their album out on.

Always believed Independent Music and Labels will be able to change the whole crap that bollywood has been feeding us with for all these years.. Rahman Sahib, think you are going to meet your match soon with these kids.

Great work guys.. Would love to see you live one day.

G

Netmagic Launches Cloud Computing

It is difficult when you have to write about a competitor, but then, hey the world needs information. Netmagic, one of the Leading Data Center Players (well actually currently the largest in India) announced the availability of their Cloud computing product line yesterday. This makes them the first to bring it to market, while we small players play with the technology and shape it, up, the product is out. For more details, check out the Netmagic Press Release by clicking here

Asus Takes the Lead - Offers Replacement on Brunt Motherboard

Asus, just announced replacement on Burnt Motherboards. In a country where people don't buy UPS's because they don't really see the sense of buying them, and think that the burnt motherboards were a fault because of a manufacturing defect, well Asus will soon be able to cash in on this market.

Keeping in mind the voltage fluctuation problem faced in India, Asus - a global leading manufacturer of IT products had very recently introduced the P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard with Anti-surge technology. This motherboard was especially designed for Indian consumers. Now going one step further, Asus has decided to offer Burnt warranty on the P5KPL-AM / PS (Anti-surge) motherboard.


Talking about this new warranty policy, Vinay Shetty Country Head Component Products, Asus (India) said, Offering burnt warranty on the P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard is another way of giving our customers total piece of mind when buying an Asus product. The P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard was conceived by our R&D team especially keeping the Indian environment in mind and under this new warranty policy, the company will replace the motherboard thats burnt due to power fluctuation. With this little step of providing a real solution to the loss a user could have had due to the power fluctuation problem we want make a strong impression in the mind of our partners in business and to the users at large that we are a brand that cares for our customers and work towards a real solution

Only motherboards with Model P5KPL-AM/PS will be covered under this scheme

Source: Asus India Website

Crash of the Internet - Airtel Announces 16 mbps Broadband Avaialability in NCR

Airtel, yes the same airtel, that can't get their phones, or IVR or customer service right, finally announced (I must share the voice recording of their IVR with you here, I have called, emailed, complained to them over a 1000 times, and no, they just won't listen, after all aren't the guys at the call centres the biggest tech experts you know)..

Anyway time to stop bashing. Airtel announced the Avaialbility of 16 mbps Broadband on Sunday. They are the leaders in the Broadband business, and I must say their Broadband performs the best, this is what brings me to the reason, I said, crash of the Internet.

Current Pricing in India for Leased Circuits is prohibitive, an E1 (2 MBPs) Line costs roughly about Rs. 6 Lacs (a 1000 USD Per Month) Per Annum, and the retail broadband has been announced at Rs. 4999 (for 50 GB Download Inclusive) or a Rs. 2999 (for a 20 GB Download Inclusive)

Announcing the launch of the service, K Srinivas, Joint President, Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel said, Airtel has constantly strived to innovate and deliver high quality products to its broadband customers. We are the leading private broadband service provider in the country and pioneered 8 Mbps broadband. It gives us great pleasure now to be able to introduce the fastest, wired broadband service on DSL. We will be able to offer 16 Mbps broadband to 70% of the households in the 3 cities of Delhi NCR, Chennai and Bangalore.

Airtel has also setup a New Website, called ImpaitientOnes.Com, and the Product Details Website

New Pen + Pencil Set from Pierre Cardin

I am not sure if this Pierre Cardin pen business has anything to do with the famous designer, but I just got a Pen + Pencil set as a Gift from my Mother in Law. The Chrome Silver Finish is nice, though the Click Mechanical Pencil is a 0.5 mm lead, while I personally prefer a 0.7 mm, the Touch and feel of the whole set is nice. Some pictures to share with you.

For those of you with stationery fetish like mine, the Productwas made in China, and the box is a black corrugated paper box with silver embossing for the lgo. The Pen and Pencil are held down by a plastic piece with soft rubbery grips, and is screwed down to the back side of the Case.



The backside screw (See picture) is opened using a Coin (not a screw driver).

G

Finally - The Buddha Arrives

I have been wanting to get a Buddha Head for my office for a very long time. I was out buying some mugs for the office, and spending time at this pottery shop, and came across the head, I had to buy it, got it for a cool price of Rs. 180, and now it is sitting atop the speaker of my Mini Book Case system in the office.

Jai Buddha

Pac Man Lite on the iPhone

Another Lazy Sunday, well not really, this Sunday was a little tough, had a lot of errands to run at the house, finally was home for a Weekend after a long time, also planned to cook some Laal Maas, thanks to the recipe from SR Puri.

By the afternoon I was just poofed and realised I had not charged my DS console, and was in the mood to play an old arcade type game, what better than Pac Man, so browsed on to the App Store at Apple, using my iPhone, and lo and behold, found the free trial version of Namco's Original Pac Man. Downloaded and installed, I loved the Game.

Pac Man reminds me of a recent Joke I heard, "They say kids today are influenced by all those action games, if the games could influence people, my generation would be walking, with beep sounds coming off them". Anyway.. Pac Man just level 1 in the free version allows you to play the old Pac Man, with a DPAD controller at the bottom of the screen, though I would have loved if Namco used the Accelerometer to run the game, but hey it was fun, and a change. Though the full version costs about US$ 6, the missus would have been angry if I bought it.. so it's the free version for now, or the other arcade games I have on my DS

Must download this App.

Game Cost: Free / Version: 1.01 / Size 1.6MB / Current Average Rating: 4+

Looney tunes - Review Sony Walkman W705 Phone

I wanted to live with the Sony Ericsson W705 walkman phone for a couple of weeks before sitting down to write a review. Finally, I have spent my time with the phone and here is the review.

For starters, it is a great looking phone, but I had some trouble getting the Sim card and battery in without reading the manual. I had to give the manual a good read before getting this right.

The phone comes preloaded with a 4GB M2 Card. But since none of my laptops, or even card readers, take an M2 card, it was a bit of a pain to transfer music to it. Anyway, the phone supports Mass Storage Mode allowing you to connect your phone over USB as if it was a pen drive.

Sony, which still uses propreitory ports for USBs, headsets and chargers, now has a charger with a double-side port so that users can connect the headphone/USB and charger together. But you still need a convertor to use the 3.5-mm jack of your favourite headphone.

Another negative is that if an SMS lands while you are listening to music, your music goes into the background till you press a button to read or ignore the message. Though I agree calls should get priority, I found this very irritating, especially on a walkman phone.

The speakerphone is pretty much useless. Though the speaker has great voice quality, the microphone is really bad. The speaker too, though loud and clear, is awkwardly positioned on the back of the phone. Sony, like the iPhone, could have built the speakers at the bottom edge of the phone

The camera is good despite the bad focus. It even has some nice features like geotagging using Google Maps, if you have GPRS, that is.

I was, however, very happy with the battery time. I took the phone to Jaipur without the charger. It worked till the third day, even with my calls, the odd snap in between and taps on the calculator.

The phone has an accelerometer built-in allowing motion gaming. This version appeared a bit immature, and some refinements will do the phone a world of good. Moreover, I had to keep the slider open to play the built-in bowling game with motion gaming, giving the impression that the phone would fly off from my hand.

This phone has some great connectivity options like WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, and even 3G. But, sadly, you still have to rely on GPRS to update phone software. It also supports Microsoft Exchange connectivity and SyncML to synchronise your phone with your office contacts server. Another good feature is the WiFi sharing that enable you to share files with the PC and browse the phone from you computer.

Overall, I thought the phone was a bit too costly at Rs 17,786.

--
The Above article appeared in The Indian Express, on Sunday 12th April 2009

Chat in Jaipur - Shri Ram Chat Bhandar

After I posted the above picture of Shri Ram Chat Bhandar in Jaipur, I got a lot of requests for the location. Since I don't know the address and we were walking when we went to this shop, I took some time out to draw a map out for any one visiting jaipur.

Please do go say my hello to uncle ji.

On the Johri Bazaar Road (this is where the Hawa Mahal is, try to locate the Citi Bank ATM, and ask around, or use the following Map as your guide)

Photos Taken with the W705

Pictures from my Patio at home on a Sunday morning. The pictures are decent enough keeping in mind this is a Regular Phone with a 3.2 Megapixel Camera. No Optical Zoom in it. All Pictures taken at standard settings (Auto White balance, 3 MegaPixel, no Flash)


Close up of the Fern from my Patio

The owner of Shri Ram Chat Bhandar with his wonderful world of fried stuff, kachoris, dahi bhalla, kanji wada, bhatoora choley and aloo chat, also yes, Mirchi. Wonderful and courteous guy, brilliant eatery. Must visit on next trips to Jaipur


Lovely Chat, called Chandramukhi at Shri Ram Chat Bhandar, Jaipur


The board for Shri Ram Chat Bhandar. Photo is very shaky, the camera has a lot of lag on taking the photograph.


Verrandah at The Retreat, Jaipur

Aberation in lens, I thought I had felt this, this is a Photo of a wall near the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur

Photos - Sony Walkman Phone W705 # 2

The top has a Camera for Video Calls, a white dot, don't know what that is for right now, but the walkman logo looks attractive from here.
close up of the Controls, end / call, next track / previous track, play pause and 2 function keys. The round dial (next track / last track) can be used as a short cut during the phone and is 4 direction.
The phone with it's slider open.

Walkman shortcut button on top of the phone

Lock for Battery cover at the bottom of the phone. The Battery cover does not open till you slide this grey lock to unlock position.
Speakers of the Walkman, wonder what made them put this at the back of the phone.
Camera on the Walkman phone. 3.2 Megapixels, pretty Bad. You can also see the microphone for pickup of voice in a Video. you can also see the flash (and yes, me thumb)

Photos - Sony Walkman Phone W705

I got the soon to be released Sony Walkman W705 Phone from Sony the other day to test it out. After living with it for 2 Weeks, I have the review ready that will be printed in the Indian Express on the Coming Sunday. Till then some pictures of Unboxing the Product and Also Pictures Taken with the Camera

The Box it ships in, the box is very attractive and the shiny Pink color just pulls you near it.


Open the Box and you see the phone in front in a tray. The Motif Design with the blobbed white dots looks very attractive.

The sad thing Sony calls a Headphone. This is a really bad quality Headphone. Though it comes with in-ear rubbers, but the sound quality was pretty bad, the cable length too short as it is designed to be used in addition to the Proprietary port to 3.5 mm converter


Properitory connector to 3.5 mm Earphone Jack Converter, why can't they just give the 3.5 mm jack on the phone ? The microphone and the Call end button is on the converter only.

Image of the USB Cable. On one end is the Sony Proprietary Connector, on one end the USB Port to connect to your PC

Sony's Proprietary Connector for Charging, Headphone, USB Cable Interface

The Phone from the Front, very attractive.

Charging connector already connected to the Phone. You can see that there is a connector on the backside of the charger connector also, helps you connect your at the same time.

3.5 mm jack converter riding on the charger converter. One of the neatest ideas I have seen, charge your phone while listening to music.