Peek-A-Boo (A Boo Boo)

India’s first dedicated email device promises a lot, but the service lets it down
It was about four months back that I heard that the Peek, 2008’s gadget of the year, was being launched in India by Aircel. About two weeks back, this dedicated mobile email device was finally launched in India with a relatively low-key announcement. Thanks to the Rs 2,999 price tag, it didn’t take long for the units to fly off the shelf.

I finally managed to find a retailer who had an unsold unit, and decided to get myself a prepaid service as the post-paid account entails a lot of paper work. I was hoping to get my email configured and working as soon as I opened the box, but I was in for a rude shock, as it takes up to 48 hours for the handset to be activated. Though Aircel call centres have different excuses for this, it appears that the company has to go back to the Peek guys in Bangalore and get it manually activated.

I managed to get the unit activated after two days, but not without a number of phone calls. Once online, however, I was able to easily get my Gmail and Yahoo mails working. Though only Rediff Pro mails work on the unit, it can be configured for Windows Live Mail.

The box clearly stated that it had support for Exchange Server and all mail servers that had a Pop or an IMAP port available. This is where I got another shock. To get your office mail configured, your IT team will have to fill up an Excel sheet form and share your username and password with Aircel, which in turn will sent it to Peek to get the account configured. But, I was not going to share my password with anyone and it finally took a brilliant guy at Peek to find a way around it.

The handset design is really catchy, with properly spaced QWERTY keys ideal for typing. However, the keys are a bit hard and the spacebar somewhat smallish, though there are dedicated @ and number keys. The right hand side has a scroll wheel and an escape key, while the power key is placed on top. The 2.5” screen works decently in bright sunlight and has a welcome matt finish to it.

The metal rear has the Aircel and Peek Email logos etched on it. The handset can store up to 5,000 emails before it replaces the oldest with new mails. It also supports up to 1,000 contacts which can be directly downloaded from your Yahoo or Gmail account. However, I had trouble downloading contacts from my corporate server. You can configure up to three email accounts, though they will all appear on a single inbox. But you can choose the account for outgoing mail. Sent mails are also stored on the handset, and there is a search function too. While there is an auto-complete for email addresses, the unit does not come with a spelling checker or auto correct. The battery is great though, as a three-hour charge stays for around three days despite all the email usage.

There are some other issues too. Since the online self management portal is still not online, you will have to depend on Peek support often. Currently my Peek runs about 30 minutes delayed, so it is not exactly a push mail service or even live. But I think this is more of a service provider issue.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The device is still a good alternative for those who want access to email 24/7 but don’t want to spend on a BlackBerry. Sadly, Aircel charges Rs 300 a month for unlimited access, roughly what you would pay for a much better BlackBerry package. Rs 100 a month seems a better price point for the service on offer.

This is a dedicated email device and there is no way you can use it to make a call, which will appeal to many buyers. But it is unclear whether the units will work outside India. However, if you are that hooked to your mail, I suggest you invest in a BlackBerry.

How To Buy

To buy the Peek, you need to pay the Rs 2,999 handset cost, Rs 897 for the first three months service, Rs 25 for the SIM card. Later, you can buy a Rs 300 coupon every month from Aircel.

Services

You can check you account balance using the item menu, though it will take roughly 10 minutes to retrieve the information. The Ask Peek services let you fetch cricket scores, movie information and other information services by sending an email.

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The Above article / review appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 28th March 2010.

Click@2010

This promises to be an exciting year as far as technology is concerned. A look at what you can expect
3G in India
As the world moves towards 4G, let us hope India finally resolves the battle for 3G spectrum. We are all hassled by speed issues on our mobile phones, with the only good option now being the Tata Photon+ and Reliance NetConnect which manage about 1 megabit in the metros. It is about time we too got high-speed Internet on phones which will enable us to pull attachments as well as use value-added services and essential business apps with location specific data applications. Though 3G is unlikely to penetrate many sections of the Indian market, let us hope we still get the option this year.

Number portability
Most of us are unhappy with our service providers and are waiting for the day number portability will allow us to move on to another company with better services. Number portability will not only give you the liberty of choosing the right plan, but even the service provider that you feel suits your requirements. The move could open a Pandora’s box of problems for service providers — they will have a tough time retaining customers. Expect a price and features war across companies.

Multi-core processors
Users have always been a bit apprehensive about the processing power of netbook — whether the Atom has the speed to handle your daily usage compared to a Core2Duo? However, this cannot be answered without a long technical discussion. For those of us who are looking at power higher than an Atom processor, the new multi-core processors like the Atom dual core from Intel are likely to change that forever. But will we be calling them netbooks anymore?

Chrome OS
Till recently, Linux, Mac OS X and Windows were the only options on which to run your PC. But that was till Google announced its Google Chrome OS. For some people Chrome will be the best available option, but with Jolicloud already available for download, a lot of companies will move to cloud services. On it, your PC will no longer crash, get attacked by a virus or need to be backed up. As you live your life online, both paid and free services will ensure that your computer is actually a computer, and not your master. Chrome will run on both X86 as well as ARM chips and Google is working with multiple manufacturers to bring a number of netbooks to the international markets next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. All web-based applications will automatically work and application developers can develop and write new applications using their favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Boxee Hardware
The biggest news last month was the partnership between Boxee and D-link to manufacture Boxee hardware. This January, when the hardware becomes available, it is expected to change the way we look at television, enabling the idiot box to become an interactive social media platform. Though a lot of plug-in mediaplayers are available now, the simplistic interface of Boxee, with the integrated social media applications, will transform television into an interactive family entertainment centre.

Personal TV
REMEMBER the hugely popular Casio personal TVs that could catch Doordarshan signals. With newer technologies and full-fledged 3G on the anvil, personal TVs like FLO are sure to make it to the gadget wishlist, making sure your PMP now has live TV along with stored media feeds — so that you could watch what you want, where and when you want it.

Que e-reader
Sadly, the Nook and Kindle, which revolutionised the way we saw books, were designed for retail consumers. The needs of the business market to view presentations, graphics, Word documents and spreadsheets on a touch interface with e-ink capabilities were forgotten. On January 7, Plastic Logic will launch its Que ebook reader, the first for the business e-reader. With a 8.5x11” layout, 1/3” thickness and looks similar to an A4 sheet, the Que will have Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. Plastic Logic has also tied up with Barnes and Nobles to have their library of free and paid books available on the Que, but you can always download and read your own documents.

Dual-screen laptops
Those of us who have learnt that multiple monitors mean higher productivity miss the advantage of having an additional monitor when working on laptops. But various vendors are expected to release laptops with dual screens this year, making more ‘real estate’ available for high-end professional designers, filmmakers, programmers and just about anyone who feels the second screen is a much needed accessory even on the move.

Fujitsu LifeBook UH 900
While Fujitsu have already unveiled their LifeBook U1010UMPC for a fat Rs 85,000, what remains to be seen is when the recently launched LifeBook UH 900 makes its presence felt here. Along with a super sleek design, the UH900 boasts of full-fledged Windows 7 capability, a multi-touch support and a host of eye-popping features. The unit weighs less than 500 g and features a 62 GB solid-state drive storage, a sunlight readable WXGA display, an Intel Atom Z530 processor, ThinkFree Mobile software for easy editing of slides and word documents.

Asus T91MT NetBook
From the guys who gave the world its first small PC comes the Eee PC T91MT, a netbook that features multi-touch gestures and a Windows 7 platform. While the netbook, thanks to its slate form, is a wonderfully easy to use e-book reader, in the normal version it will be handy enough to be used for everyday presentations. The 8.9-inch screen features a highly responsive handwriting recognition touch screen which will also support tap, drag, pinch and flick. The T91MT also has a solid 32 GB hard drive and is compatible with the 500 GB Asus Web Storage programme. The best part is the swivel screen that can accommodate multiple users at the same time and the bundle of touch sensitive software that can be used to the user's satisfaction.

Asus AiGuru SV1T
Skype has given us a lot of liberty, the liberating ability to conference with family and friends across the globe. The Skype phone enables us to run the application anywhere in a Wi-Fi zone. But using Skype on iPod, iPhone or Skype phone means you can talk on it like on a regular phone. The Asus AiGuru SV1T available which is expected to hit Indian shores this month will enable video calls to any Skype-enabled PC or phone. Soon, at the touch of a button, you could have a virtual dinner with your family, wherever they are.

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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday, Jan 03, 2010. It was co-authored with Rohan Swamy and Shawan Sen

MUCH MORE THAN A PRINTER

A guide to help find the multi-function printer best suited to your needs

THIS week has been full of calls from friends and family on advice to buy a multi-function printer. It seems the falling prices and end of fiscal discounts are making people queue up to buy gadgets.

A year back I would have suggested home users to stay away from multi-function printers (MFP). The price per print was too high, and the units too expensive — a printer scanner combo came much cheaper. But restricted spaces and the need for privacy have prompted many to look for MFPs, though the huge variety of options leaves most of them flummoxed.

Earlier, the choice used to be easy; it was either Canon, Epson or HP. Now, with Brother, Lexmark and many other brands available in the market, things have become more complex. So, what should you look for in an MFP?

PRINTER
It is no longer about a black and white or a colour printer, as most home printers can print colour. The real choice is the cartridge: whether to buy a two cartridge (CMY + BLACK) or four cartridge (C, M, Y, Black) system. All vendors offer a four-cartridge system, though your dealer may not tell you so. If you would be taking a lot of color prints, it is best to choose the four-cartridge model which gives you the option to replace just the cartridge that runs out. (Printers use four colour inks — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. A two-cartridge system has one cartridge for CMY and another for black. If you take more prints of a redder tone, the chances are Magenta and Yellow inks will finish first, while the cartridge will still have decent amounts of Cyan left. However, you will need to change the whole cartridge anyway.) While two-colour cartridge printers are cheaper at the outset, the cartridge cost will offset the benefit in the longrun. However, it is better to choose these printers if a majority of your prints will be black and white.

STARTUP TIME
I have seen printers that take up to five minutes to power on, and get ready. So if you needed a print in a hurry, you will have to wait for the printer to warm up and initialise.

INK AVAILABILITY
Check ink pricing and availability when you buy a printer; and make sure you understand the costs involved. There is a problem of ink availability with some brands, so ensure the inks are easily available and that the company has a telephone order system.

PHOTO PRINTER
Most brands sell printers as regular small office/home printers and photo printers. Though a regular printer can print photos, they will not be as vivid as the photo printer. But photo printers will be expensive and with costlier inks. So if you plan to do a lot of photos, stick to a regular printer.

SPEED AND RESOLUTION
A resolution of 600x600 is great for documents, and a 1200x1200 resolution ideal for pictures. If you still want to buy a printer with a 3000 resolution, let me tell you that it will take longer to print, eat up a lot more ink and be expensive. So make sure you choose the resolution ideal for your nature of work — for basic photo copy and printouts a 600x600 resolution is great, a 1200x1200 should do for photo work. And don’t be bothered by the pages per minute speed if you are not going to spew out hundreds of prints every day.

SCANNER
If you are buying a multi-function printer, make sure you check the scanner. The scanning speed is of utmost importance. I have found Canon to be the fastest, scanning a colour page in less than four seconds and HP the slowest with eight seconds.

If you are going to store for online usage you only need a 150 or 300 x 300 dpi resolution. A 72 dpi scan is enough for emails. So anything above 600x600 will be a waste, unless you want to scan photos.

FLATBED OR DOCUMENT-FED
This is a complicated one. There are models that will only take documents fed as single sheets to do a photocopy or a scan. Though very fast, I would advise you to stay away from these models as they have limited use. The choice between document-fed and flatbed depends on the usage. If you run a small business from home, or are buying a printer for your office desk, the document feeder is a helpful option. But if you need to scan a stack of sheets at one go you need a flat bed.

Flatbeds come with two lid options—check if the lid is removable or expands with the book. If you are going to be scanning from fat reference books, you will need the lid to rise higher. Though there is literally no cost difference between the two options, this is an important feature buyers often overlook. Canon, Epson and Brother have expandable/removable lids on most of their MFPs. Some HP models don’t come with this option.

CONNECTIVITY
Some printers now offer either USB or wireless connectivity. Others will even offer you wired Ethernet connectivity, in the office series. The wireless option works great if a substantial chunk of your work is printing and not scanning, as most MFPs won’t support the scanner on wireless. To scan you will need to connect your MFP to a USB port. In case you have a desktop at home, buy the USB version, so that you can share the printer among your PCs and print from any laptop on the network. Remember, you will still need to pick up the print so the WiFi option may not be all that great.

MEMORY CARDS
Manufacturers still don’t allow direct prints from thumbdrives, or the option to save scans to one. But some models do come with slots for SD / MMC / MS cards. If buying such a printer, go for one which has a small LCD screen, like in cameras, to view what you are printing. Some MFPs offer PICTBridge connectivity to take prints from digital cameras.

PHOTOCOPIER
Though we buy MFPs for prints, the maximum usage will be to do photocopies. Most printers have a separate button that allows you to do a black or a colour photocopy, make sure the printer you choose has two (Color Copy /Black Copy) buttons instead of a complex menu.

WARRANTY
Most manufacturers offer at-home service — in case of a failure they will come, diagnose and repair the printer, if possible at home. Check the warranty if the service is on site or return to bench.

Since printers are used for years, check if there are options for an ex tended warranty.

TIP:Though you may be tempted to buy a photo printer, there are some online printing companies like itasveer.com, snapfish.com and zoomin.com which send home prints at cheap rates. So don’t buy a printer just for the photo prints.

Feature guide

• Will you print more in colour? Buy a model that has four cartridges


• Will you need a fax? Choose an MFP with a built-in fax


• Do you have a PC at home? Buy a USB-based device


• Will you get images to print on memory cards? Choose a printer with a card reader slot and preview screen


• Will you be printing photos? Choose a printer that can do 4”x6” borderless printing


• Will you be scanning books? Make sure the MFP has a lid that can raise itself to fit a book


• Will you be scanning a lot of single-sheet documents? An automatic document feeder will be ideal

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The above article was printed in The Indian Express, on Sunday 22nd March 2009