Atul Karmarkar.Com» Gadgets

Up Yours, traffic “nawabs”!!

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:40:49 +0000

Doesn’t it kinda piss you off when you’re driving on the road, observing all rules, lane etiquette etc when some smartass in a hurry cuts across to go to the opposite side?

Or brushes past your vehicle ‘nudging’ your side-view mirror with a stupid grin / apologetic look?

Or keeps honking away to glory even when there’s no way forward?

Or is driving the wrong way on a one-way street and gives YOU a dirty look as you give a questioning look?

Or merrily continues at 15-20kph on a road with fast moving traffic, not allowing you to pass inspite of getting indications to do so?

I guess there are incidents similar to the above and many more that we all face during our daily commute. What gets to me even more is just sitting there helplessly in the car, being unable to do anything or even vent my frustration / anger at such people besides hurling abuse only me or my co-passengers can hear. (I’m not talking about road rage here, that’s totally different)

Wouldn’t it be great if cars had something like an instrument panel / console through which we could type out / say a message so that it shows up like a display or a 3D projection and the offender + others also see it?

This is something quite similar to the HUD available in aircraft cockpits, and could probably look like this…

Nothing like a good, witty message or rant to vent your feelings AND ensure your message gets across… especially during traffic jams.. or even a graphic, with the middle finger! :p

Would be good fun also, no?

3G auction – the usual suspects

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:15:21 +0000

In what seems like deja vu, only the existing 2G players have thrown their hat in the ring for the much delayed auction for all India 3G spectrum, which will *finally* begin next month, on April 9.

These nine players are

Aircel
Bharti
Etisalat
Idea
Reliance
S Tel
Tata Teleservices
Vodafone
Videocon

For auction of BWA – Broadband Wireless Spectrum, the DoT has got 11 applications of which four are new entrants – Augere, Tikona, Infotel and Qualcomm.

The reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum and BWA is Rs.3,500 crore and Rs.1,750 crore respectively.

The government expects to rake in around Rs.40,00-Rs.45,000 crore, though in the absence of any global player, bidding is likely to be muted and conservative and not aggressive, so I think this is a bit of an ambitious target given that it is also not all that clear who will bid for how many circles.

The Nokia E72

Atul Karmarkar — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:36:42 +0000

Ok, its been a month since I acquired the Nokia E72, and so far the phone has been a pleasure to use. The N70 finally had to be retired after over three years of meritorious service. (Btw, does it qualify for a Padma award too? :-p )

As I went hunting, two handsets seemed to be on the horizon; the Nokia E72 and the Blackberry Bold 9700. The Bold had yet to be launched in India and I wasn’t keen on a grey market piece at Rs.28K. Other options like the Apple iPhone were not feasible as there is a limit to what I’m willing to pay for a cellphone, and ~Rs.40K is a bit over that limit. Phones running Android were also an option, as was waiting for Google’s Nexus One, but finally, in terms of value for money, I settled for the Nokia E72.

Running on a fast ARM 11 600 MHz processor and based on the Symbian 9.3 Series 60 v3.2 UI operating system, the E72 is a slim phone weighing around 128 gms, with a 5 mp camera (not Carl Zeiss, unfortunately) with autofocus and LED flash, QWERTY keypad, inbuilt GPS receiver and digital compass, 3.5mm audio jack (finally), tons of features and a browser with full Flash support. It has a screen size of 320X240 pixels with a 16 mn colour display. Internal memory is limited to 250MB but it can support a memory card upto 16GB (mine came factory fitted with an 8GB one).

Initially, it took me some time to get used to the QWERTY keypad, being used to the standard 3 letters per key format, but within a week, I was back to my regular speed when typing messages or entering other data.

At 5 megapixels, the camera is one of the better ones out there on a business phone, but I can’t help feeling my N70 was better in some ways, both in terms of picture as well as video quality. What really bugged me were the camera options though, not to mention the time taken to ‘process’ each image after it was clicked. It has a second camera too (VGA) to support videoconferencing.

The battery in the phone is a standard battery - Li-Po 1500mAh (BP-4L). This is one of the best I’ve seen on a phone, and it’s capacity is amazing considering I’m a heavy user always running several apps, including the GPRS connection which stays on for a few days at a time. It is meant to support a stand-by time of upto 480 hrs and around 12.5 hrs of talktime before it needs a recharge.

Browing web sites is a breeze and the clarity as well as Flash support is fantastic, meaning that one can even watch a YouTube video without any hassles.

Listening to music is average though there is a tinny sound at times and the provided earphones are ok, but as mentioned above, the presence of a 3.5 mm jack means the choice of ear/head phones is left to the user. Ditto with the radio. However, as I prefer the iPod most of the times, this is not such a big issue for me.

The phone comes with the mandatory business apps like the Nokia Messaging app, QuickOffice, Adobe PDF Reader, a ZIP file manager, a wireless presenter, which displays presentations via Bluetooth, a text scanner which captures text through the camera, currency converter, calculator, calendar and a dictionary. I’ve yet to try all possible email syncing combos and will update this post as I do so.

Some of the minor irritants - The USB data cable, which could have been a little longer and there is a bit of backlight peeping out from the left navigation key, but all said and done, I think it is a value buy at Rs.21,000.

3G – The Wait Continues

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:27:15 +0000

So once again, the deadlock for allocation of 3G spectrum continues… All those in India waiting for high-end services such as super fast internet, video-conferencing, interactive gaming, mobile TV and high-speed downloads of movie and music clips on mobile phones will now have to wait for almost another year.

The government has said that though they would proceed with auction of the wireless 3G spectrum by Jan-10, actual allotment would happen only by Aug-10, causing even more delay considering the world has moved to 4G. To an extent, the delay has also been caused on account of the defence forces not willing to free up additional spectrum earlier, which they’ve now partially agreed to.

Airwaves will be alloted simultaneously to each of the four successful bidders, thereby giving them time to get their act together in time for the rollout. Their pockets will also find it relatively easy going, as they need to pay 1/4th the bid amount this year and the balance when the spectrum is allotted, a big change from the earlier plan where they were required to pay up the entire amount within 15 days of the completion of the auction.

A far cry away from the rest of the world, where TeliaSonera’s 4G network in Sweden and Norway is Europe’s first 4G offering, providing mobile broadband at up to 10 times the speed allowed by 3G technology.

Blackberry Bold 9700 – coming in November

Atul Karmarkar — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:11:49 +0000

I’ve been on the look out for a new handset for some time now. The one I’m using presently, the Nokia N70 seems to be giving way after superb service over the past 3-4 years. This was a phone that seemed to hit the sweet spot in terms of price and functionality and I’ve not really come across another piece that seemed just right to me.

HTC had some that were ok, and till now, I’d not really considered the Apple iPhone or any Blackberry, but am now seriously awaiting the Blackberry Bold 9700, due in November !!

In a press release, RIM said The BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone is expected to be available from carriers around the world beginning in November. According to President and Co-CEO of RIM, Mike Lazaridis,

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 builds on the success of the original BlackBerry Bold with new, state-of-the-art features and a smaller, lighter and highly optimized design that looks, feels and performs great.

Here is a short video introducing the phone.

Check out all the features on offer as well. Among the more notable ones is a higher resolution (480X360 pixels, 2.44 inches), and support for upto a 32GB microSD™ card for expandable memory. The battery is a 1500 mAh removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell with an estimated life as below;

GSM Talk Time: 6 hours
GSM Standby Time: 19 days
UMTS Talk Time: 6 hours
UMTS Standby Time: 15 days

Another enhancement is a 3.2 MP camera with auto focus, image stabilization, flash and 2X digital zoom, which is capable of videos at 480 x 352 pixels in normal mode and 176 x 144 pixels in MMS mode.

It is more sleek and lighter than it’s predecessor, the very popular Blackberry Bold 9000. You can also compare it to other Blackberry smartphones.

So far, I like what I see but the deciding factor of course, will be the cost in India, and am keeping my fingers crossed on that front !

Update (January 30, 2010): And the Blackberry Bold 9700 is finally in India.. officially that is. It costs just a shade under Rs.32,000. Would I have bought this phone if it was launched a month earlier? Difficult to say, but my Nokia E72 is doing just fine, so Aal izz well

An 11 digit mobile number in 2011 ?

Atul Karmarkar — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:56:36 +0000

India reportedly added 10.81 million mobile subscribers in Dec-08. This has left telecom operators scrambling as they are expecting to run out of 10-digit mobile numbers pretty soon.

In 2003, the telecom dept had come up with numbering plan expected to last for 30 years but the spiralling growth in the telecom subscriber base has forced them to consider an 11 digit numbering system.

There are no technical glitches expected due to this, and it should be possible to roll this out in a couple of years. At the most, it is expected that it could take upto a month to upgrade and implement the necessary changes in the software.

The Blackberry Storm from Vodafone

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:01:04 +0000

Vodafone has announced the launch of the BlackBerry Storm in India, the first ‘clickable’ touchscreen phone it has developed exclusively with Research In Motion (RIM). With a touchscreen keypad, which can be done away with when not needed, the ‘Storm’ gives a lot of space for visual experience, an advantage over earlier Blackberry models. The SurePress touchscreen depresses slightly to aid in typing and navigation and to give users an experience they can actually feel.

Blackberry phones were in the news recently on account of security concerns expressed by the government as these phones use encrypted data for transmitting e-mails through servers located outside the country.

The phone has a sleek design with contoured corners, stainless steel back and chrome accents surrounding its large (3.25″) glass lens. Some features:

Crisp 480 x 360 resolution at 184 ppi
3.2 megapixel camera with variable zoom, auto focus
A powerful flash that provides continuous lighting when recording video
Built-in GPS supports location-based applications and services and geotagging of photos
1 GB of onboard memory storage and a microSD^TM/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 16 GB of additional storage
Media player that can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, has an equalizer with 11 preset filters
3.5 mm stereo headset jack, support for Bluetooth® stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP) and dedicated volume controls
Accelerometer that allows customers to view applications in either portrait or landscape mode by simply rotating the handset
Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery that provides approximately 6 hours of talk time on 3G networks and 15 days of standby time

It also comes loaded with a host of apps like

BlackBerry® Internet Service, BlackBerry® Unite!, BlackBerry® Professional Software and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support
Preloaded DataViz® Documents to Go® allows users to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset
Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Flickr Photo Uploader

Priced at Rs.27,990, the phone is set to be available in select Vodafone stores by January 15. When I tried to search the Vodafone site, vodafone.in had no mention of the Storm at all, whereas vodafone.com had the info. I guess there is no point in asking customer care, as I’m still waiting for someone to reply to my query (December 18) regarding the Blackberry Bold !!

Microsoft Zune 30 conks off on New Year’s Eve

Atul Karmarkar — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:15:38 +0000

Y2K revisited ?

Well, something similar, as several users realised they could not use their 30 GB Zune on New Year’s Eve. Apparently, there was a malfunction in the code due to which the internal clock could not handle the last day of 2008, a leap year which had 366 instead of 365 days.

This problem only affected the 30 GB Zune and other models did not face any problems.

Microsoft advised Zune users to let the battery drain out completely and connect only after noon GMT on January 01, 2009.

Those with a geeky bent of mind can view the source code (Drill down to line # 249).

Gmail for Mobile v2.0

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:36:48 +0000

For all those who can’t enough of their daily Gmail fix, say hello to Gmail for Mobile v2.0 for J2ME-supported and BlackBerry devices.

The new version, available in more than 35 languages, is faster and more robust, and supports multiple account management between Gmail and Google Apps accounts. It has smoother scrolling and no ‘hanging’ screens.

It is now possible to save multiple drafts of messages, which can then be sent later as per your convenience. If your phone has or supports a QWERTY keyboard, you can use shortcuts like ‘z’ to undo, ‘k’ to go to a newer conversation, and ‘j’ to go to an older conversation.

One of the best features is that is supports offline usage, which means if you’re out of the network coverage area or if the signal strength is weak, you can still compose and read your emails. All outgoing messages get saved to your Outbox and are automatically sent once the signal is restored.

Not all phones will support this though, and you may need to confirm if your phone does. Check out and download the new Gmail for Mobile 2.0 at m.google.com/mail in your mobile browser.

iPhone finally hits India, should you buy?

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:00:43 +0000

Three months after Apple announced that the iPhone 3G would be available in India, the day finally dawned when an eager Indian junta managed to get their hands on a legit iPhone, with a 14 year old school boy among the first buyers.

The iPhone is being marketed in India by two operators, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel. While it costs $199 (~Rs.8500) in the US and just under Rs.10,000 in Singapore where it was also launched, it costs a whopping Rs.31,000 for the 8GB version and Rs.36,100 for the 16GB one in India. This is largely due to the low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) in India as compared to the US, which allows AT&T to subsidise the cost of the phone over there.

In a bid to garner a larger chunk of this pie, Vodafone announced an option allowing buyers to procure the iPhone via finance schemes. They have tied up with Axis Bank and Barclays to offer the phone on 6 or 12 equated monthly installments (EMIs). ICICI Bank could also be a part of this. The only hitch is that customers have to use a credit card issued by one of these banks to avail of this scheme.

Is it for you? Here’s a quick comparison with two rivals, the Nokia N96 and Samsung Omnia.

Storage

The iPhone comes in two flavours, 8GB and 16GB, with no expandable memory. A Nokia N96 offers 16GB of internal memory, expandable upto 24 GB. The Samsung Omnia is similar to the iPhone, offering an 8GB and 16 GB version, but unlike the iPhone, it has a microSD slot allowing users to expand memory.

Service Provider

The iPhone is locked to the service provider, presently either Airtel or Vodafone, which means you cannot switch the operator, though there are hacks to get around this. On the other hand, you can use the N96 or Omnia with any operator in India. This could be an issue soon, especially with number portability on the anvil, which would allow users to change operators while retaining the same number.

Camera

The iPhone comes with a 2 MP camera, which although good, does not compare to the Nokia N96 which features a 5 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash and video light. The Omnia also comes with a 5 MP camera, and supports auto focus, image stabliser, auto-panorama shot, wide dynamic range and face detection options.

Video

The iPhone does not allow video recording at all, whereas the N96 supports this at 30 fps. The Omnia too supports video recording, video editing and audio and live dubbing.

Bluetooth

The iPhone uses Bluetooth only for hands-free calling. The N96 and Omnia allow this as well as data transfer using Bluetooth.

Messaging

A real howler, this one… The iPhone does not allow forwarding of messages or sending messages to multiple contacts at once !! This is easily among the most common features supported even by low-end handsets. The iPhone also does not support MMS.

Battery

Another big problem area. You cannot change an iPhone battery on your own, and will need to take the phone to an Apple store for this. You may / may also not get your phone back immediately and could end up keeping it there for a day or two. Apple said this was done to reduce the weight of the phone, but considering that nowadays, it is unthinkable for people to be without their phones for more than a few minutes, I don’t think they will be too happy with this. The N96 and Omnia both support a removable battery.

So what have you decided to do? Buy the iPhone or let it pass? Personally, I’d prefer a good smartphone from Nokia, Ericsson, ASUS, HTC et al, and use that along with my iPod. Even though that’s two gadgets, I’d rather keep my requirements separate.

How about you?

Update: It seems video recording on the iPhone is possible. If you have a jailbroken iPhone running 2.0 software, head over here to find two such tools, Cycorder and Video Recorder for iPhone.

Atul Karmarkar.Com» Gadgets

Up Yours, traffic “nawabs”!!

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