Apps for the Heart - 5 Great iPhone Apps, to Celebrate Love

Here are five great apps from the Apple iTunes app store that keep the spirit of Valentine’s Day burning bright.


Iflirt, $0.99
In case you are still single, I suggest you get an iFlirt for your iPod. It cost $ 0.99, but is worth every cent. With an entirely user driven database of pickup lines, flirting and dating tips, you can think beyond those cheesy lines that everyone has heard before. But in case you want something cocky, go ahead and try something like “I am doing a poll and all I need is your name, your number and the directions to your apartment”. The application features separate sections for men and women and even a random idea generator. So if you are still trying get yourself a valentine, give this app a try; just make sure you are not peering into your iPod when you say the lines.

Valentine Radio, Free
If you do manage to pick up a date, then make sure you have the right music to play on special occasions. Love songs can bring out the mushy side of anyone, but sadly radio stations in India think there is no world beyond the latest Bollywood tracks. The free Valentine Radio app brings your favourite love songs from around the world under one button. The application features a line-up of 40 romantic channels and a stylish design that works with all versions of the Apple iPod software. All you need is a good wireless connection to stream the radio and enjoy your evening with your special one.

Absolut Drinkspiration, Free
So, we have a valentine and some great music, now for some drinks. Since none of us are masters behind the bar, just download Drinkspiration and let it come up with suggestions. The app can even tell you what is hot across the globe and suggest a drink by taste. You can also search for drinks that use the ingredients you have at home or something without any alcohol. So toast to a great night.

SpongeBob Jelly Fish Jam, Free
A few drinks down, you can check your agility by catching a few falling hearts. Play this Nickelodeon game right and you can have Sponge Bob dance for you. The sequence starts out easy, but this sure is no child’s play. There are even variants like the Bikini Bottom World to test your music skills. Give it a shot, and see which one of you can get Mr Square Pants to shake a leg.

The Story of Valentine’s Day, Free
Well, we all buy roses on February 14, but how many of us know about St Valentine. This app tells you his story in the most interactive way, backed by great visuals and easy-to-read text. The app tells how the third century saint got couples married off and how his death anniversary started being celebrated as the Day of the St Valentines.

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The above review appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 14 Feb, 2010, Yes the Valentines Day

SIX GOLDEN RULES FOR STRONG PASSWORDS

Waking up to someone asking you for help because their password has been hacked is an unpleasant experience. But such calls are becoming commonplace, not because hackers are becoming smarter (well they are), but because people are stupid enough to keep their passwords simple.
A recently released report from Imperva (http://tinyurl.com/iepasswords) highlights that the most common password used by people is 123456. Moreover, 30 per cent of people use passwords under or equal to six characters, only 60 per cent of them use alpha-numerics and nearly half use slang words, consecutive digits and so on. That’s why I have decided to share with you the six golden rules of a good password.

Rule 1: No personal information
Don’t use your child’s birth date, or a date from your life to make a password. If you can get a clue easily, so can a person who knows you well. Hackers can gain information to your accounts, computers and even to your Facebook page.

Rule 2: Use mixed case
Now that you know you are not allowed to use your child or spouse’s name or your anniversary as your password, try using mixed case in your password. There are some websites and programs that will require you to have one capital character and a special character, but mAkE it a HabbIt as it will make your passwords a bit difficult to crack at one go.

Rule 3: Replace characters
Replace a character with another one to make a password. A simple way is to use the hacker’s language called L33T — replace an E with a 3, an A with 4. But if everyone does the same, everyone will know how to solve the puzzle. So make your own rules and stick to them.

Rule 4: Use passphrases
Quite a few companies now do not restrict the length of the password. So use a passphrase, such as ‘I love you’. You can make it 1 l0v3 y0u, but then that’s one of the most commonly used phrases. I would really go in for something like, 1 w0uld r34lly g0 1n f0r s0m3th1ng l1k3. See how simple it is.

Rule 5: Use different passwords
Well, I agree that creating a complex password will mean, that you will want to use it across all websites you use. That is a big no. Use different passwords, maybe, use a phrase from a song you love, line one on one site, line two on the other. In case you can’t remember the various passwords, there are great free utilities like KeePass (www.keepass.info) which work on Windows, Linux and Mac.

Rule 6: Change your passwords often
A big problem with people is that they find one complicated password and use it over and over again. Eventually, everyone gets to know it and it becomes easier for an outsider to learn about it. It is not really important to go out and change your passwords every day, week or a month; just do it often and try not to use the same password again.

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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday Feb 07, 2010

The Big O - Review of Opera 10

Opera does it again with version 10

Opera has for long been a name feared by the other browsers, thanks to its cutting edge features. Recently, Opera announced its version 10, which is available online for free and is compatible with Linux, Windows and Mac OSX operating platforms. Like its predecessors, this one too has a whole lot of new features worth your time.

The now-popular speed dial was originally invented by Opera. The new version allows users to organise their bookmarks from a 2x2 to a 5x5 grid on the speed dial. Now, you can also add background image to the page. Using a feature called Opera Link, you can synchronise bookmarks, speed dials, notes and other browser data between all your PCs so that all your machines have the same feel. Safari and Firefox have add-ons that do the same thing, but with the function in-built, there is a lesser chance of the Opera browser crashing.

Opera also makes it easier to manage multiple tabs. Just moving your mouse over a tab produces a live thumbnail of what is on the page. On widescreens, this has the potential to become a great utility with users choosing the location of the thumbnail as per their liking.

The search bar is by default set to Google, but users can customise it to any search engine of their choice. You can also stretch the search bar in case your search phrase is too long.

But all this is not really new. Where Opera 10 becomes cutting-edge is with Unite. This function allows you to set up a Unite network with your machine as a server so that your friends and family gets authenticated access to shared files through URLs.
To do this you have to create a free account with Opera. You are given a URL preceded by your computer name. If you call you machine homepc, the URL will be http://homepc.username.operaunite.com . The application can be used to share anything from simple files to a mediaplayer. Plus it has applications like Fridge which act as a pin board where you can leave messages for friends and Document Courier which lets you upload a file to your PC from anywhere. It can even double as a live messenger.

You also have the option of making your shared files public or password protected, but I would have loved it to have multiple usernames and passwords. Since UPNP is enabled by default on most routers, there is no need to change setting to get this feature to work.

I have always liked Opera’s Notes feature, but would have loved the ability to attach the notes to specific websites. Also users have to configure their email in Opera or use a webmail service such as Yandex, Fastmail, OperaMail or Mail.ru to send the notes to a friend. It would have been better if there was direct integration with either Yahoo or Gmail.

I still believe Safari is the fastest on Mac and Chrome the best for Windows, but what Opera can do is still unmatchable and out of the box.
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The above review appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday Jan 17, 2010.

Shoot the message

From podcast to videocast and now video email, the evolution has been swift. Initially, video email was limited to a select few and was supposed to be the next frontier. But now your four-year-old can send you an email even though he can’t type a word with just a few clicks.
The solution I present to you is not for four-year-olds, but it is easy enough for my eight-year-old niece to send me a video mail every now and then. TokBox.com is not exactly new, but as soon as I discovered this free video messaging service I wanted to go out, jump up in joy and share it with you like a new toy.

How does it work? It uses the webcam and microphone built into your PC/laptop to record a video message and send it as an email to the recipient. Since the recipient could be on a slow connection or his mailbox of a limited size, Tokbox just sends an image grab of the video and a link inviting the recipient to check out the video message. There was no buffering or stopping on the 256 kbps broadband I checked it on and the videos played seamlessly. The interface is clean and simple; in fact, it took my niece just about 15 minutes to master.

The Tokbox site uses the Adobe Flash plug-in, which means you don’t have to install anything on your PC to use the software. To avoid having to go to multiple websites, you can shoot and share the video with your Twitter and Facebook friends directly from the website. You can also login to AOL Messenger, Google Talk, MSN Messenger and Yahoo using the Tokbox instant messenger, giving you a single screen to send and receive video emails. And if you want, you can video blog to Twitter, Facebook or MySpace all from the same page.

TokBox lets you invite your friends to use the site, but this is not necessary for them to watch your message. But they will have to register to send back a video reply. In case your friends are also online on TokBox, you can always do a video call.

TokBox even has some graphic templates in the greetings section that let you overlay your video with graphics to give it a greeting card feel.

On the flip side, the quality of the full-screen video playback is pretty bad. But that is a small price to pay for a brilliant free service like this.

So what are you waiting for, send me a video mail.
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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday Jan 10, 2010 (Yes, 01/01/10)

Staying invincible - Big Geek Brings You a Double Whammy on the Internet Explorer

Everybody knows that Internet Explorer is unsafe. But, trust me, though there are many good options, some corporations and governments still stick to Internet Explorer as their preferred browser and many applications do not work properly on any other. Also keeping in mind that IE is fully integrated into the Windows operating system and you just can't uninstall it. So, how do you make sure you are secured and have the latest updates to avoid a cyber attack?

Stop piracy
It is important to stick to genuine software. All of us want to run the prohibitively costly Adobe Photoshop to edit our pictures. But it is better to opt for freeware applications that let you do similar functions. The same is the case with operating systems. If you feel you do not want to spend on Windows, go ahead and give Linux a try. Or else, check out cheaper Starter Editions that offer limited functions but are good for home use. Anyway, make sure your OS is genuine and not pirated.

Antivirus
A good antivirus does not mean that you got it from your friend who bought a CD, it just means you paid for the antivirus or got one free from a great company like avg.com. With companies losing revenue to pirated software vendors, more and more companies are dropping prices. So it makes more sense to buy a paid version. Check with your friends and read some reviews if you can’t decide which antivirus is better. As we spend more time online and with the threats becoming more potent, it is advisable to get an antivirus with an inbuilt firewall to protect your computer from getting hijacked. While products like Bit Defender and Kaspersky are cheaper, high-end products like McAfee and Norton Antivirus will cost more. The choice is yours; just make sure you are buying a legal version.

Updates
Having a legal version of a software itself removes a lot of bugs, but it is also important to update your system regularly. Though most OS come with a built-in auto update utility, I have seen users disable this to save their bandwidth. If you want to disable the automatic update, it is suggested that you manually check for updates every fortnight. Update your OS every 15 days and your antivirus, antispyware and firewall everyday

Storage & file transfer
With the floppy drive era over, thumb drives, memory cards and Bluetooth file transfers have become the latest way to get a virus. In case you use memory cards or pen drives it is always suggested that you scan them immediately on connect. It might seem like a waste of time, but the first five minutes is when the virus enters the system. Try not to share thumb drives and memory cards. If your friend wants a file, email it to him.

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The above article appared in the Indian Express on Sunday 24th of January 2010. The Above video was a part of the news builiten on CNN IBN

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

2009: When the PC changed

The new Mac OSX snow leopard and windows 7, along with the chrome OS, are sure to change the way all of us use computers
Wow, what a year! When you look back at 2009, you will see how technology has moved towards a world that is free from the clutches of old corporations, letting you do things the way you like to. 2009 was a year in which the alternatives became the mainstream.

There are thousands of things that come out each year, but two major releases and a major announcement this year changed the PC world like never before. Apple announced its OSX Snow Leopard while Microsoft moved on to Windows 7, by far the best Windows yet, optimised for speed even on the slowest of Atom machines and full of eye candy. The Mac OSX Snow Leopard took all Apple machines to the world of 64bit. Though there were teething troubles, this was truly a move that allowed use of the latest dual core and quad core processors. Windows, though still available as both 32bit and 64bit, also became a bit cheaper making its 7 the fastest adopted Microsoft OS till date. Though there is always a debate about who stole what from whom, both the operating systems are without doubt friendlier to the user. Meanwhile, Google jumped into the OS war announcing that its Chrome would be available in 2010.

Along with the operating systems, 2009 also changed the way we looked at PCs. People finally came to terms with the fact that a fast processor was not always what they wanted, but something that worked. Atom laptops, popular as netbooks, took over and everyone wanted to own one. While Lenovo and HP came out with stylish but slightly pricey Atom netbooks, Samsung followed with multiple colours and Dell with its own Mini.

Atoms made big sense; you could buy a laptop for as little as Rs 18,000 and get up to six hours of battery life with screens that started off at six inches. But that was before the 10 and 12 inch models started appearing on the scene, bridging the gap between notebooks and netbooks. Sony came up with the icing on the cake, its ViaoX, the thinnest and lightest laptop I have ever come across, though at a fat price of Rs 65,000

Finally, Amazon launched the international edition of their bestseller Kindle. However, Kindle still ships from the US and you still have to buy it using a credit card on the website and not at a store. But the launch definitely made the world flatter, with all serious technology players looking at India as a big market.

I think the most looked forward launch of this year was the Blackberry 8520 which you could buy own for under Rs 15,000 — you no longer had to get a home loan to buy a Blackberry. With service providers also making it cheaper by offering e-mail only plans at Rs 250 a month, more and more people were seen sporting Blackberries.
The other big thing was the aluminium body laptops. The war was started by Apple, before HP, ViewSonic and Dell followed suit with their own aluminium avatars. However, only Dell thought of a lighted keyboard while others are still wondering how they can manage the increased heat of the light under the keyboard.

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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 20th December 2009
Now, to see what 2010 holds for us.

The one-stop media centre - Review Boxee

Boxee plays all formats of video, audio and pictures. It can also play DVDs from DVD Rom drive, download info from IMDb on the fly

There are signs that things with your TV will improve. Despite over 200 channels streaming high-quality pictures using a DTH or an IPTV feed, you get to see what the broadcasters want to show. So the prime time slot is hijacked by all the saas-bahus of the world, leaving those who hate soaps with very few options. Broadband did come to the rescue, since they could stream videos from YouTube, download electronic content likes songs and movies and watch the content on demand. The iTunes store from the Apple even streams live television shows. So, if you missed Bart and Homer having fun in The Simpsons, you could always have it streamed on your computer. But this had a problem: the small computer screen. And, all said and done, most computers are not as user friendly as the TV. Though the front row on the Apple computers and the Windows Media Centre on the Windows PC made browsing media slightly better, a company called Boxee is improving things.

So, what is Boxee? As per Wikipedia, it’s a cross platform (it runs on a Windows, Mac and Linux) media centre with a 10-foot user interface— it’s designed to be run on a TV with a TV Remote—but built in social networking features.

Though Boxee is still in beta (it actually went beta on December 7), it is making heads turn, especially for features such as automatic album art download. It will run through your local library and download the album art automatically, so that you can see all what you have— right from the song, the movie it’s in, its singers, lyrics, reviews and the film’s trailer, depending upon their availability on the Internet.

Friend recommends a movie on a social networking site, and the movie is paid for, the Boxee will download and stream its trailer and other people’s review, so that you can figure out if the movie is worth your time. If it is available for free on the Internet, the Boxee will straight away stream the content for you. So, you need to no longer go hunting for that funniest video on YouTube, which your friends were talking about at the party. Just Google it and Boxee will play it for you.



The best part about Boxee is that it plays all formats of video, audio and pictures. It is your one-stop media centre. It can also play DVDs from your DVD Rom drive, download information from IMDb on the fly. It also has a built-in karaoke and many other audio visualisations (which I believe are a fancy only for the first few days). Besides, it can make multiple screensavers with your photo collection or the pictures you like on sites like Flickr, and your favourite music. And if you were always impressed with the Ken Burns (pan-and-scan) effect of photo shows, which only your friends with Macs could do, well Boxee does that also for you!

But there are limitations too. Boxee can’t play DRM (digital rights management) protected content. So, if you have bought music from the iTunes store, or maybe ebooks you bought from Audible.com, the boxee will not be able to handle these for you.
However, since Boxee is based on opensource software, it is only time before these hassles get sorted out.

This week, Boxee signed up with DLINK to make its hardware (expected to be available at $200 in 2010). So, if you are thinking of buying the next media centre for your home, wait and see how the market evolves in the next few months. And maybe you and I will get a chance to change our Idiot Box into something more fun, more useful and more interactive.
Just in case you don’t want to miss out on the action till the hardware is available, and are fine with using a 2-foot user interface (computer), go to www.boxee.tv and download the software and start enjoying media like you never did before.

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The above review appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 13th December 2009

The ebook challenger - Preview of the Nook (B&N Ebook Reader)

Both Nook and Kindle have 2GB built-in memories, but in the former you can plug in an SD Card with ebooks in it
Kindle changed the way the world looks at books some years back. Since the launch of its international edition earlier this year, I have noticed a lot of Kindle in India, especially at our airports. Though the Sony Reader and iLiad have been around longer, getting ebooks that work on them have been a bit of a pain. Amazon answered the problem by integrating Kindle with their Whispernet network, which is now available in India. But since the charges are yet unclear and 3G still looks like a distant dream, the Barnes & Nobles Nook makes more sense for us.

So, what sets it apart from the Kindle?
Personally, I love anything with a QWERTY keyboard, so the first downer on the Nook was the absence of one. But that was till I looked closely and saw that the Nook actually has two LCDs — a touch sensitive colour LCD at the bottom and a monochrome e-ink display on top. The e-ink makes it easier to read the ebook and reduces strain on the eyes, while the 3.5” touchscreen display at the bottom adds some serious style. You can flip through the book covers in colour and go to the keyboard mode to search for a book or text.

But the second LCD also adds weight to the Nook, making it about 28 gm heavier, at 317 gm, than the same-sized Kindle. It is also a bit thicker due to the SD Card and built-in wireless adapter. Though the Kindle has a 9.7” variant for the American market, the Nook is available only with the 6” display. The built-in Wi-Fi makes it easier for you to download books on the Nook and this makes more sense till we get 3G in India.

Nook has some other unique features. It has Android as its Operating System, which means users will be able to add more applications down the road. Both Nook and Kindle have 2GB built-in memories, but in the former you can plug in an SD Card with ebooks in it.

The Nook is available in four replaceable back colours, unlike the all-white Kindle. My personal experience with white coloured gadgets is that they get dirty very fast, especially in India with our oily hands, the dust and grime. The replaceable covers let you add an identity of your own to the Nook. It also comes with a free software for your iPhone, Blackberry, PC and the Mac OS, thus letting you read the same book from the same page you left it at on any of these devices.

The problem with ebook readers was that you could buy books but could not lend them to a friend. The Nook lets you e-lend the book to a friend who can read it on any device.

Kindle supports Word documents, though not many people used it due to the costs involved, but it is surprising that even with the SD Card Nook has disabled this function. The lack of a text-to-speech (TTS) engine is also surprising, after all, the Android adds great processing capabilities and the TTS would taken the Nook to a larger audience. The company claims the Nook has about 10 days of battery time on it, but that will have to be verified.

The Nook ships with a number of accessories, including a reading light, covers that help you personalise your Nook, a travel adapter kit, device backs and protective frames and a matt film for the screen.
So, if you like reading, it’s time you went and checked out an ebook reader, and trust me it will change the way you looked at books. The Nook costs $299.

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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 6th December 2009

Let's start with Chrome - Preview Google Chrome OS

Google, after changing the way we look at the Internet, is now working on revolutionising how we see computers. As cloud computing and ‘computing as a service’ set the tech world abuzz, everyone is thinking of moving everything online. Gone are the days where your PC needed an Operating System with a multitude of applications, as most of what you need is already available for use online.
With Microsoft and Apple, which dominate the world of computing, charging a bomb for their software, Google is on a mission to change this by reworking Linux and making the Web truly free and friendly. It was towards this end that Google announced its Chrome OS on April 19. Though Google developers think their OS is at least a year away from a production launch, they have already given us a preview to show how they want to change computing.

NetPC manufacturers like Nivio already have machines that boot on the cloud, but Chrome is different for it boots on the local hard disk and, unlike Nivio, can work even if you are not connected to the Internet. Google’s Android OS, written for a phone with a touchscreen, is already available. But it is not that easy to use on a laptop. The Chrome, on the other hand, is meant for use on a PC.

Like its already popular browser, the Chrome is also designed with a minimalist approach and as a result boots up in seven seconds flat, compared to 45 seconds on the fastest machines today. But the real advantage of the Chrome OS is that you can stop bothering about managing programs, applications, lost files and settings. Your settings are saved online, files on the cloud and programs are available on demand. So, it won't be that easy to install a program and screw up your OS.
But the question everyone is asking is what happens to security when everything is on the cloud. While I don’t see a lot of corporates move to the cloud for now, on a personal level, I don’t mind if my spreadsheets or Word documents are stored online. However, I do mind that someone will be able to invade my privacy and get a hold of my data. So getting the right passphrase—remember passwords are passe now—is the key to protection.

Like its already popular browser, the Chrome is also designed with a minimalist approach and as a result boots up in seven seconds flat, compared to 45 seconds on the fastest machines today. But the real advantage of the Chrome OS is that you can stop bothering about managing programs, applications, lost files and settings. Your settings are saved online, files on the cloud and programs are available on demand. So, it won't be that easy to install a program and screw up your OS.
But the question everyone is asking is what happens to security when everything is on the cloud. While I don’t see a lot of corporates move to the cloud for now, on a personal level, I don’t mind if my spreadsheets or Word documents are stored online. However, I do mind that someone will be able to invade my privacy and get a hold of my data. So getting the right passphrase—remember passwords are passe now—is the key to protection.

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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday November 29th, 2009

Lessons Not Learnt from 26/11 - How to Hack a wireless

Security is the utmost importance for all our companies. Recently CNN IBN Asked me to become their Citizen Journalist and show easy it is to hack into a wireless network. Attached is the URL to the Show that was aired on CNN IBN on Saturday 21/November. Do let me know your comments.

Smart print - Review HP Photosmart / Touchsmart C309G

If you are printing at home, you can use the photosmart to crop photos on the printer, apply colour effects, adjust the brightness, make a photosheet, or an album
Over the past two weeks I have been playing with a new printer from HP called the C309G Photosmart, launched in India a few days back. When the printer came in from HP for testing I was stuck with a lot of things and had to ask my wife to pitch in and do an end-user review, and this is what I heard: “Can we buy this? This is the best printer I have seen in terms of setup, usage and speed of print.”

Soon, I got to test it and this is what I think. The printer comes with built-in wireless and Bluetooth and it is really simple to set up. The touchscreen on the printer, where you type in your wireless password, is easy to use, but sadly it is an A-Z screen and not QWERTY. The large 3.5” screen is impressive, the touch functionality is great and the overall look, feel and the build quality even better.

The printer set up in about five minutes and the driver installation on the Windows PC was a breeze. I could not set up the printer on my Mac directly, but I know I can do this if I download some drivers.

If you are printing at home, you can crop the photos on the printer, apply colour effects, adjust the brightness, make a photosheet, or an album. It also prints office stationery directly using templates. There is even a free application for iPod Touch and the iPhone, so that you can directly print pictures from these devices. The printer also features smart web printing which realigns the webpages so that they printed properly and on the minimum number of sheets.

The Photosmart has an in-built Snapfish interface so that you can upload pictures directly to the website and get them printed, provided you have a Snapfish account.
The printer uses five cartridges, two blacks, a cyan, magenta and yellow. The first black cartridge is used for your documents, and the second for your photos so that they never end up with a bleached look.

The scanner and copier are fast and you can directly scan to the computer or to a USB memory stick or memory card—a feature becoming common on new HP printers. It can scan up to 4800x4800 dpi and use an enhanced scan resolution of up to 19,200 dpi. It can by default do duplex / two-sided prints and handle about 2,500 pages per month. The input tray takes approximately 125 sheets, and the output tray can hold up to 50 sheets before you have to pick them up. The printer has a Pictbridge / USB interface, and can read memory stick as well as SD and XD cards.

Though some home users might be put off by the Rs 13,350 price tag, I think the price is justified if you look at the built of the product as well as the effortless printing that it ensures.

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The above review was printed in the Indian Express, on Sunday 22nd of November 2009

Twin peaks - Review of the Sony Ericsson Aino and Satio

Phones these days have large screens with high resolution cameras and can double up as great multimedia devices too. But there seems to be no end in sight to the mad race for improvement. An ideal example is the latest high-end offerings from Sony Ericsson, the Satio and Aino.



The Satio is the more expensive of the two at Rs 35,950. The first thing that strikes you when you hold the phone is the 3.5” screen which is designed for a 16:9 format and is ultra bright. The 640x360 pixels make the display truly amazing. While the touch user interface did not appeal to me much, its response to touch was really good.

It features a 12.1 megapixel camera with a smile shutter, which means it will only take a picture when the subject is smiling — don’t ask me how you will click a frowning man. The camera also has touch focus and Xenon flash. It comes with Geotagging and face detection, and also has red-eye reduction, Sony’s very own Best Pic application and video blogging. The video light makes shooting videos in dimly lit areas error-free. It also supports 16x digital zoom.
The Satio runs on a Symbian OS and you can get a lot of other applications to use along with the built-in video calling, 3D games, FM radio and video streaming applications. Despite all the hardware, the Satio weighs just 126 grams. The phone, however, is available only in black and comes with a 128 MB in-built memory.

Still, the Aino, with its pristine white finish and the bundled Bluetooth stereo headset, appealed to me more. Interestingly, the phone and the headset are charged using a single docking station. Since the Bluetooth device is attached using a 3.5-mm jack, you can just pull it out and plug in your favourite headphones if you like it that way. The stereo sound and the clear bass made the sound quality really impressive.
But what appealed to me more than the Rs 28,950 price tag was the slide-up keyboard. The 3” screen seemed tiny in front of the Satio, but Sony claims it is scratchproof — I could not test this.



The Aino also has built-in Wi-Fi that allows it to synchronise media with Play Station 3 or a PC. The Aino also gives you remote play access to videos, television shows and photos at the press of a button.
And to top it all, it features an 8 megapixel camera with 16x digital zoom. The Aino, too, features face detection, geotagging as well as the send-to-web feature, which you can use over 3G or Wi-Fi.

But the Aino, at 134 gram, weighs more than its costlier cousin. The phone has an in-bulit memory of 55MB and comes with an 8 GB Micro SD Card included with the phone. Thankfully, Sony has finally given up its proprietary memory stick pro to switch over to Micro SD. While the phone has a GSM talktime of roughly 13 hours, the battery can last up to 36 hours if it is used purely to play music. Standard features such as Video calling (3G only), Exchange Active Sync, Instant Messaging, Auto rotate, FM radio with RDS and YouTube make this phone a real show-stopper.

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The above review appeared in the Indian Express on Sunday, 15th November 2009

WINDOWS 7 making the difference

Microsoft has rectified Vista’s mistakes, but XP still seems to be faster
I adore Linux, I love the Mac, but I live with Windows. And I have to make it clear that we just can’t compare the three, not just because Windows 7 is essentially an overhaul, Microsoft’s attempt to correct the mistakes it made with Windows Vista. How the latest edition will fare over time is for us to see, but for now the expensive, shiny new Windows 7, looks very interesting. So what is it that makes the 7 different?

SPEED
The first thing you notice when you install Windows 7 on the same machine as a Vista is that it is fast. Though I thought it was not as fast as Windows XP, the start up and shut down is still much faster than the other editions of Windows.

SECURITY
Every new Windows release brings with it the threat of virus and bug attacks. But things are looking up with the 7. Though you would still need to separately install an antivirus, 7 won’t bother you with stupid non-critical alerts. It just queues up the alerts at the side of the task bar, so that you can check it out at leisure.

NETWORKING
The biggest challenge for home users earlier was to setup secure networking amongst machines, to share files, digital media and information. Though Microsoft had a wizard to set this up, Windows 7 makes life easier. It even lets Xbox users stream video and songs to the TV using the network at home; just make sure the network is well done, or else you will get shaky images.


MULTIPLE WINDOWS
Most of us like to keep scores of applications open and just blame one thing or the other when the machine fails under the load. But we still need our social networks, our email, our office applications and a few other things open all the time. On 7, by pressing the show desktop button at the right hand bottom corner of the task bar you see outlines of all open windows. Even better, if you hover over the icon of one of the applications on the task bar, it pops up real-time thumbnails of the windows and applications that are open at the time, thus helping you choose the right application and the right window to go to.

AERO SNAP
Screens 17" and above mean more windows, even parallel ones. Aero Snap lets you drag the window to a corner and show how it would look like parallel to the window you want. If you like it, leave the window there and you are done. Convenient if you want to copy things from the Net or another window.

AERO SHAKE
I just cant understand why no one else thought of this before. While using 7, if you think everything behind the application you are working on is clutter, just hold the title bar of the current window and give it a shake, all other windows will be minimised. However, shaking the window with a trackpad on a laptop would be tough.


SEARCH
The Start, or the Windows, button now has a built-in search engine. So the bar where you would type a program name and get the list of programs on the PC will now also find the list of documents and images. However, I would personally like to stick to the Google Desktop search.

COMPATIBILITY
Most of the hardware devices just worked out of the box and I don’t think there are going to be a lot of driver issues. Though I have heard of complaints already going to call centres, Microsoft will settles these issues soon. If it worked with Vista, it will work with Windows 7.

LIVE ESSENTIALS
Microsoft has moved Windows Mail and Windows Movie Maker out of the standard install. If you want Windows Mail, Movie Maker and the Live Photo Gallery, you need to download something called the Windows Live Essentials Pack. It is another thing that if it was essential, they should have put it in the CD in the first place.
Microsoft has worked very hard on 7, especially with a rather long Beta test. They also took user inputs seriously to make the Windows 7 look all shiny and nice.

But, will I move from Mac to Windows 7? No. Will I move from Windows Vista to Windows 7? Yes. Will I move my Windows XP Machine? No. I still feel the old Windows XP is much more reliable if you don’t need eye candy.
So is it the best Windows ever? Well, let’s leave that to time.

HOW TO UPGRADE?
WINDOWS 7 is available in six editions with the entry level Windows 7 Home Basic priced at Rs 5,899. There are also Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate available. However, the cheapest option will be the Windows 7 Starter which has not yet been priced. Surprisingly, you can’t buy Windows 7 online. The company has also not clarified how much existing Vista users, for instance, will have to pay for an upgrade. For those of you wondering, if you should do an upgrade or just do a clean install, I would suggest the latter. Backup all your data and install it fresh, that way the machines work faster.

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The above review appeared in the Indian Express, Issue Dated 1st November, 2009

Quickfix Art

The Internet is making it easier for all of us to try our hands at the arts, even create some “masterpieces” without spending an additional penny. This week I look at three websites, one that lets you create your own music without you having to learn anything and two others that help you create beautiful art, without having to pick up a brush.

Tone Matrix
Tone matrix (http://bit.ly/ie-music ) uses a simple Sinewave synthesiser triggered by a 16-step sequencer. Each trigger step causes a tone to be generated using a wave map, the tones in sequence sound like music. To generate music, you start off with a blank canvas which has a 16x16 grid. The click of a mouse turns on the component in the grid and another click turns it off. Click any one and you start hearing a single tone, click the second one and you have two tones. If you move up on the Y axis, you have a higher tone, moving down gives you a scaled down tone. The X axis movement does not change the tonal range, so in case you want two beeps of the same range, you switch on two lights on the X axis. Two lights in the same Y column will produce a chord like affect, which is similar to striking multiple notes at the same time. Trust me, making music on Tone Matrix is addictive. I found it interesting to write the characters of my name and generating music from them.
If you want to take it to the next step, or, as the author of the website says, make the music a lot more spicier, try your hand at the Audio Tool (hobnox.com/audiotool) and play around with beat boxes, baselines, splitters, delays, gates and compressors. Tone Matrix uses a pentatonic scale; don’t get into what it means, but what it will ensure that whatever you generate will sound good. I know this will sound like a toy to some of you, but try it on a day you are down and tired, and it will certainly perk up your energy levels.

Artpad & Strip Generator

Artpad (artpad.art.com) is very similar to Microsoft Paint, but has better brushes, a paint throwing bucket, a tex tool and opacity control.
You can also frame your paintings, and best of all you can playback your actions and see the “master painter” at work. If you think your work is worth sharing, the site allows you to directly send an email to a friend to view your masterpiece. You can also hang your painting in the websites public art gallery.

Strip Generator (stripgenerator.com) on the other hand uses comic set characters and bubbles, to let you make your own comic strip. So if you thought you had brilliant ideas on making a comic strip but couldn’t draw even a smiley, try your hand at the Strip Generator. Do play with the character generator—everyone ‘loved’ the Dracula I created— remember a few dialogues from an old Hindi movie and see your story come to life.
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The above article appeared in the Indian Express, issue dated Sunday 25th October, 2009

Unleashing the Snow Leopard

How do you make something that is good better? Well, you can ask Apple, for they have made this a habit. So it was no surprise when Steve Jobs and his bunch of innovators once again changed the landscape of Operating Systems with their latest Snow Leopard Apple OS X 10.6. Though a minor version upgrade that costs a lot—Rs 1,800 for the single-user pack and Rs 2,900 for the five-PC family pack—compared to Windows it is a small price to pay for great features.

To start with, Apple has managed to shrink the total installed size of the operating system by 6GB, which makes it not only smaller but also more efficient. Not a big deal for regular users, but this has made other software manufacturers think in terms of reducing their footprint.

However, the single biggest add-on is the 64bit compatibility. The earlier version of OSX was not compatible and thus unable to optimally use modern hardware. Native 64 bit compatibility assures that all processor cores can be used simultaneously ensuring better performance. It also allows for bigger RAM, 32GB instead of 4—you will still need to see if your hardware can support it though.

Apple applications like Safari, iChat, iCal and Mail are now 64bit, making everything from shutdown to backups faster. The new Apple Mail client, Calendar and Address Book can now work directly with Microsoft Exchange without installing Outlook. The 64bit has also made the new Safari 4 on Snow Leopard the fastest browser out there.

Apple has also added GCD (Grand Central Dispatch) for better multi-core computing along with new graphic engines and OpenCL technology to accelerate graphic cards faster. These tweaks are making all the difference and letting users like me use Mac in a better way. And, there is more:

QuickTime X: Remember the not-so-fancy QuickTime player? Well, the QuickTime X has more features and an uncluttered look that makes for a great movie-viewing experience. Quick Trimming lets you cut video, frame by frame, in a snap. You can shoot your videocasts and upload directly to YouTube. This is a great step forward, allowing all Mac users to start making online videos with the built-in webcam.

Preview: Selecting text from a PDF document with more than one column was always a challenge. However, the new Preview manages this with ease using artificial intelligence, and letting you select just the column or the page as you want it. The contact sheet mode lets users see all pages laid out as thumbnails, like the slide review mode in presentation software. Moreover, Preview can now directly import from your scanner without launching separate software.

Dock Expose: Multi-tasking and multi-window capabilities have resulted in a lot of clutter on the virtual desktop. There was always ALT+TAB, but it was still difficult to switch windows between applications. Expose, incorporated in the Dock, let you see all open windows and choose the one you want to go to with a single keystroke. It also displays open windows in a grid, letting you arrange them alphabetically or by application. For instance, if you are working on your mail application with the Inbox, a compose window and a couple of web pages and documents open, Expose lets you drag and drop and open the window you want to go to.

Universal Access: Since 2005, Mac has included the Voice Over software that reads out whatever is on the screen. Though a lot of Mac users were not very happy with the Universal Access (access for differently-abled people), the Snow Leopard has added Braille support, voice read out and voice-based web browsing.
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The above article was printed in the Indian Express, Issue dated Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Annother Android - Preview Galaxy i7500 Samsung

The Google phone is now a reality. Well, it’s not that I am waking up late; I just mean more and more phones are now adopting Google’s Android operating system. After HTC started the trend by ditching the Windows Mobile, it is now Samsung’s turn with its latest Galaxy i7500. Though available in India only on the Tata Docomo network for now, the i7500 gives a glimpse of what smart phones can be and will be.

At 11.9mm thick, featuring a 3.2” HVGA (320 x 480) screen with 16 million colours and an AMOLED based display, the Galaxy i7500 looks “uber cool”. The screen is bright, vivid and has brilliant colours. I actually loved playing with it in a dark room.

A large D pad replaces the track ball seen on the HTC Magic. On the front, there are five buttons other than the OK key and the D pad. The End and Receive buttons have a Home key, a Return key and a left Menu button. In fact, I did not like the layout, especially when comparing it to the HTC Magic.
The phone’s plastic finish is nice, but the fingerprint magnet surface tends to be a bit irritating as you keep cleaning it all day long. But thankfully, this Samsung features a 3.5-mm phone jack built into the top. But I did not understand the logic of placing the USB Port right next to it.

On the side are the camera button and a screen lock button seen on other Samsung touchphones. On the back is the 5 megapixel camera and flash.

The interface is the same as the HTC Magic, but I felt the Samsung was much more responsive to touch than the former. Standard Google services such as Google Maps, Gmail, Street View (not usable in India as yet), and the GPS-based Google Latitude, which let’s you know where you are and your friends are, come in-built.

The phone is Quad Band and has WiFi built-in so you can log into a network at home or office till 3G becomes available.

The 8GB internal memory is a welcome breeze and you will need it with the 5 megapixel camera and all that music that most of us carry around these days. The MicroSD Card slot can take cards up to 32 GB.

Overall, the i7500 is an impressive phone. However, if you were to compare this to the HTC Magic, which was available only on Airtel till a few months back, I would personally wait for prices to fall. If I wanted to spend Rs 30,000 on a phone I would still opt for the iPhone, which to a certain degree is more friendly when it comes to the touch and feel interface.

The Galaxy i7500 is priced at Rs 28,990, but available only through Tata Docomo for now.
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The above preview appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 11th October 2009

Wireless TV - Review Sony Bravia ZX1

I love the way this TV looks, and would seriously consider it for a wire-free home. If only they could power it wirelessly as well
40 inches | 9.9 mm thick | 15 kg |1920 x 1080 pixel HD display
LCD TV manufacturers have slimmed down the TV. Ten years ago, no one could think that TVs would be this thin. The next most uncomfortable issue with televisions today is the mess of wires and cables that they have to be surrounded with. These are the wires that connect the TV to DVD players, video game consoles and set-top boxes. Sony has now launched the Bravia ZX1 to disentangle just that mess.

This 40 inch TV is just 9.9 mm thick and weighs 15 kg. It needs no wires other than a power cable. It has Edge LED technology, Motionflow 100 Hz and Image Blur reduction. It has full HD display resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, two integrated speakers and a woofer that deliver 20 watt of power. Its Wireless HD feature allows the user to utilise the media library located anywhere in the house, via the bundled HD media receiver. The devices are connected to the HD media receiver through wires and the TV receives input signals from the media receiver. The connectivity of the Bravia ZX1 is distinguished with four independent HDMI inputs, a PC input, composite inputs, component inputs, USB connection and an RBG compatible Scart connector.

For More information see Sony website
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The above review was printed in the Open Magazine, Issue Dated 9th October to 16th October 2009

Review - Kodak Z915

This is one great camera if you are looking for a compact with a high zoom and usability features. And no, the price is not its biggest draw.

Voice notes | video grab | panorama mode | burst mode | Rs 10,999

I am not sure what made me fall for it, the retro looks, the 10x optical zoom or the price—but when I held the Kodak Easyshare Z915 in my hands, I immediately thought, now this is a camera I want. But there was more to it. The 10x zoom and the retro looks were definitely the first pull. I loved the way the controls were laid out and the fact that the macro mode, flash settings and custom timer buttons were dedicated and on top of the camera with the zoom controls. The manual mode is very nice and usable (though you don’t get manual focus).

The video quality is limited to VGA (640 x 480) but it can shoot videos at 30 fps. It also supports QVGA format (320 x 240) at 30 fps, so that you can record videos in a small file.

I like the fact that Kodak gave a 3V DC adapter input on the side of the camera. This is good when you are using the camera directly to print pictures or using it connected to your PC to download pictures, etcetera.

The camera ships in three colours: red, blue and black; has a 10 megapixel sensor (maximum print size of 30 x 40 inch), takes alkaline AA batteries; and has an additional 5x digital zoom that boosts the camera to 50x zoom (though I won’t use the digital zoom). Optical stabilisation is built into the camera. The 2.5 inch high-resolution screen is brilliantly bright in outdoor light, and the controls are neatly laid out. I love Kodak for the fact that they’ve stuck to SD cards for this camera.

The Z915 supports ISO settings from 100 to 1600 (though higher settings were very grainy, but when you are shooting in dark places these tend to be handy). Weighing in at a cool 220 gram, this is one great camera if you are looking for a compact with a high zoom and usability features.

To know more, see Kodak Website

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The above article was printed in the Open Magazine, Issue dated: 3rd October to 9th October 2009

For a better view of life - Review FARVIEW

Though we care a lot for the differently-abled in modern society, we often tend to forget about them as far as cutting-edge technology is concerned. This is why a show called Techshare held in UK in the middle of September caught my attention. Though I could not make it there to see things live, products from a company called Optelec did make an impression, especially a device called Far View.

While Far View might look like a regular digital camera, you soon realise that there is more to it than meets the eye. Far View is like any digital camera with a macro mode for viewing things up close and a tele mode for looking at things at a distance, up to 42x magnification. The 300-gram gadget has a battery life of approximately four hours and easily fits into any pocket. But here is why this gadget is special:

Firstly, it acts as a magnifying glass for those with impaired vision. For instance, if someone wanted to read a book with small fonts, the Far View can be used with a desk stand over the document and magnify the words on its 4.3" screen. It even has four LED lights to light up the area if you are in a dark environment. The screen switch to standard colour, high-contrast black and white, (also white on black), high-contrast yellow on blue and blue on yellow depending on the user’s requirements. Though the buttons on all four sides can be annoying at first, they are designed to ensure that the users remember what is where.

There is also a big LED on top of the device to show when it is on. It can also be switched from the macro to tele mode in one move. The tele view allows users to read things that are on display at a distance, like a blackboard in the classroom, or a display board at an airport.
The Far View can also be used to record information, be it a visiting card or an important notice. It is also helpful for those who find it difficult to write down everything on the board during a class.

The camera is positioned in the centre and the snapshot functionality allows users to capture close or distant objects, complete documents and multiple pages of a book or magazine, and then read through them later on the large screen with absolute clarity. Though the internal memory is designed for only 100 images, it can be extended using a memory card. The device also has a USB port for connecting it to a PC or a larger external monitor.

During my research I found that Optelec has a dealer in Mumbai called Barrier Break.
The Far View can be purchased for US$ 1,495 in the US; the special pricing for India is still not available.

For More information, please see Opeltec's Website

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The above review was printed in the Indian Express, Issue dated 4th of October 2009