The Gadget Freak

Nokia C7 + 2 Chinese Friends + 1 BMW Car = James Bond

2011-02-21T13:52:00.005+05:30

Two Chinese friends use a Nokia C7 and use it to control a BMW!! Its real and not a April Fool prank. Good to see some innovation coming from outside Nokia, now that we wont be seeing it from within! Video after the break. Thanks to my friend Naveen for sharing this video on fb!

Nokia's Stocks take a Hit after Stephen Elops "Win Mo" Announcement

2011-02-11T14:26:00.016+05:30

I have told yesterday here that this deal is a big mistake and sure it does seem so... Today as Stephen announces Nokia + Windows Mobile 7 deal, Nokia's shares are deep down almost 10%.

Its a sad day today as we see the open source platform loose to the closed platform - Windows Mobile 7.....

Lets see the statistics for Mobile OS marketshare as of Q4 2010 By Gartner

Now isnt it a pity that Stephen Elop thinks Windows phone 7 is better than Symbian??

The only OS in the world to have generated so many sales in its first 3 months - more than 5 million devices... Symbian^3 during Q4 2010.

If this Win Mo + Nokia deal is at the expense of Symbian or Meego it is a big fail for Nokia, I repeat BIG FAIL!!!

The dropping share prices show that Stephen Elop is going in the wrong direction!!

Windows Mobile in itself is a sinking ship - A SINKING SHIP! More than 50% down from last year.
Nokia - God be with you!

Image Courtesy: Bloomberg TV
Statistics Via Allaboutsymbian
Statistics Image: Gartner
Official News: Nokia Conversations

Nokia + Windows Mobile 7 (or) Android = Big FAIL

2011-02-10T10:35:00.003+05:30

The recent news of a possible Nokia + WinMo 7 based partnership is very disturbing to me. This is not Nokia, its sooo Microsoft. Stephen Elop is burrying Nokia - That is all I have to say.

Nokia and Microsoft are two different entities, namely open source and closed platforms. Will Microsoft ever goto Linux or a Mac? Never. Stephen Elop being a Microsoft guy is killing Nokia. Nokia were on the right path with Meego and Symbian with Qt. Its just a matter of time and Nokia had to get things done quickly. Now again a transistion means it will take loads of time. If this ever happens, I think its the mark of an end from the supreme reign of the mobile innovator.

Why do I say this? Lets analyse....

Symbian is still almost No: 1 today. With the features it offers and very less H/w requirement it brings smartphones to the masses. It offers stuff that even the iOS and Android dont, a fact that not many know. What it needs is a more polished UI and I dont understand why Nokia is taking so long to just polish the UI of a platform it created(mostly).

Meego - well Maemo is a perfect OS. Nothing comes close to it. Its a pity Nokia couldnt take the Maemo developement to a very good level. Come Meego, it is still a big question mark. But from the looks of it, it sure seems to be good. Especially when it has its roots from Maemo. I use the N900 and its been a fantastic device. Can any iOS user or an Android user boast of such power that the N900 has to offer even today(more than a year after its launch). Hence Maemo/Meego will be a perfect high end OS.

Qt can be a very nice icing between the cakes namely Maemo/Meego and Symbian. Does Stephen understand anything about Open Source?

Coming to greener grass or competetive ecosystem as per Stephen Elop

Android - is still an unfinished product and heavily fragmented.
Win Mo 7 - Windows is perhaps almost the last when it comes to Market share, compared to Symbian. Is there any more reason required why not to go Win mo 7?

Symbian is waaaay superior to win mo 7. Period.

Image and via

Sneak Peak: N8 Running PR 2.0

2011-02-09T12:53:00.005+05:30

Hot news for N8 owners and symbian fans. A short video of the N8 running what is most likely a beta version of PR2.0. The video clearly shows the portrait QWERTY and the home screen swipe without the percieved delay. A Pic and video after the jump.

Untitled from MoNoBrow on Vimeo.

Via howtoi

The Nokia E7 is finally available in Select Markets

2011-02-09T12:12:00.002+05:30

Gosh! The wait is over (at least for some select markets) for the E7. Guys at AllAboutSymbian and Intomobile could go hands on and proclaim their initial thoughts on the device.

Image Courtesy: AllAboutSymbian

Ipad is here: I Hate Apple for how it is Treating India

2011-01-28T21:33:00.010+05:30

I have expressed my feeling about Apples's view of Indian Market here. Now again this is a royal snub to the second largest Telecom market with more than 689 million users. Now when the world is looking forward to the ipad 2, Apple wants to dump its (soon to be old) ipad stocks in India. Is this fair? Now all the die-hard fans will throng the stores and get themselves an overpriced ipad. Let me make my point clear, I like their products but I dont like the way they are treating the Indian market, users(worldwide) and also developers in many cases. This is a serious issue and I think we Indians must take note of this. No other major company is doing like this, look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab - it came to India so early! Nokia releases its phones almost instantly but Apple - it is yet to release the iphone 4 in India when people elsewhere are waiting for iphone 5.... Whats your say??

MNP is here Finally Official in India!!!

2011-01-20T10:08:00.002+05:30

I've shared this news before but that was way long back here. Now Mobile Number Portability is no longer a dream in India, cos its launching today 20th Jan 2011(after 2 and a half years)... I've taken this pic from the local newspaper in Chennai. Way to go way to go India....

Dubai Aquarium @ Mall of The Emirates

2011-01-11T19:00:00.003+05:30

A fascinating Panorama view of the Dubai Aquarium at mall of The Emirates, Dubai. Fascinating because it holds the Guinness Record.... No no no... its not the largest and doesnt hold any largest sea creature...etc.... The whole thing that you see is not glass but acrylic and its just a part here. More details after the jump...

This aquarium has a single largest acrylic panel measuring 32.88m x 8.3m. And yea, you'll find most of the sea creatures here. Once you buy a ticket you get to go through a tunnel thats behind the picture you see above. There are several other packages, like you can ride on a transparent boat above or get a first hand experience by diving in. Dont worry, they'll put you in a cage sharks cant get past. This aquarium itself a cool gadget--- I think so, dont you....?? Housing so many creatures and maintaining them, in a desert--- imagine so much of water within that single largest acrylic panel!!!!

PS: This Panorama was shot by my N900 using the Automatic Panorama app....

India's Invention Labs wins President Award for 'Avaz'

2010-12-10T23:48:00.004+05:30

Avaz - a touchscreen device that can be used by people who are unable to speak has been Nationally recognized by the Govt of India. Developed by Invention Labs, Chennai, India is a portable touch screen device whose software is developed in Qt. More after the jump.

"National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, 2010" for the category "Applied Research / Innovation / Product Development aimed at improving the life of Persons with Disabilities" which one of the awards was rewarded to Invention Labs for their product Avaz on 3rd of Dec 2010. More information about the product "Avaz" can be obtained from their website. Award details are available on the Social Justice website.

Ma Shiny New N900

2010-12-06T08:35:00.006+05:30

After waiting for the N8 and learning Qt.... I had to get a new touch to experiment Qt... I was hardpressed b/w N8 and N900 and finally decided on the N900. I dint get the N8 bcos N900 is a computer and N8 is not... U'll understand what I mean by this after the following pics. N8 may be better in terms of touch, battery life but.... nothing can beat the N900 not even Android or iPhone. By the way, if you are having a N900 and wondering whats this, its Easy Debian. Also, there's more like web with Flash..etc...

Hit the link for the pics...
PS: Pics taken from ma Nokia E72

Easy Debian Desktop:

Open Office:

Web Browser that supports Flash and Facebook chat :-)

True Multi Tasking on the N900:

Samsung Galaxy Tab Launched in India

2010-10-30T11:48:00.004+05:30

India is one of the first three countries in the world to get the Samsung Galaxy tab - a much awaited, android running tablet. But however, the sales will begin in the month of November for a whopping Rs 38000/-... It may be a balanced price point for some but naturally one may opt a Laptop instead--- wont you???

But given that the Apple ipad is not yet launched in India(Officially), this is indeed a good way for Samsung to capture the tablet market in India. Also, if Samsung is able to start the sales by Diwali, it may see some good sales in India. Whats your opinion on this neat device? Have your say...
Image and news courtesy: The Hindu

The Commuter: A short HD movie shot on the N8

2010-10-27T16:29:00.002+05:30

A fantastic example as to where future technology is heading. This short movie named "The Commuter" was shot entirely on a Nokia N8. It seems really surprising to me to even imagine that the optics on a mobile phone can shoot so good a video. The legacy of the w900i, N95..etc when we first saw movies shot on a mobile is truly being carried on.. Video after the bump...

ANd yes, this is yet another advertisement campaign by Nokia starring "stars"....:-) H eh... well they were Dev Patel, Pamela Anderson, Charles Dance & Ed Westwick. The video is a mobile HD video and was directed by the McHenry Brothers. Enjoy the video...

Microsoft India sets a Limca Record

2010-10-26T09:18:00.002+05:30

Good News India and congratulations Microsoft employees @ Hyd. This neat logo took 1056 hours and 7000 wooden dominoes. Wow, when did a company last invest time and money on such deeds. Windows 7 did see success and its a whopping successful anniversary. But I wonder all the time about the poor vista users.... Vista should have been the win 7 in the first place... but you see as they say "Failure is a stepping stone to success".

Image & Story courtesy: The Hindu

Nokia N8: My First Impressions of The Device

2010-10-11T10:41:00.003+05:30

As you all know the N8 is available in some places. I had a brief time to play with the phone. Dont worry, I wont type in an extensive review of the phone. This is just my initial impressions of the device.

Build Quality:
The phone is extremely sturdy and surprisingly light. The phone has the mettalic feel yet its light. The phone has no creeky sounds whatsoever. It feels rock solid. I heard that the screen is made up of Gorilla glass and it sure feels good. The touch was responsive enough though there is room for improvement.

Software:
The software is a boon for existing Symbian users but for people having the i's and a's might not find it very attractive. However looks aside, its got all the functions that the i's and the a's will not be able to offer - USB and HDMI, onboard photo and video editing to name a few. Having said that, I wont say the software is bad - its a great step ahead in the right direction and existing symbian users will welcome the change. The software is very mature I must say for an initial release. The upcoming firmware updates will surely make it robust. For almost any multimedia user, this phone will definately be a boon.

Its launching in India on the 14th of October 2010. However, you can prebook the device in any Nokia Priority outlet just by paying Rs 2000/-. I was told by the Nokia dealer that Prebook customers will get some goodies from Nokia. So if you are planning to buy the phone better prebook the device.

More Reviews: Allaboutsymbian: Part1, Part2

Nokia N8 starts shipping : Finally(Official)

2010-09-30T16:05:00.003+05:30

Finally the wait is over.... The much awaited Nokia N8 has begun shipping after all the fanfare... This is a good indication that the phone is soon to be available in our stores. And yes this news comes straight from nokia's official trumpet: Nokia Conversations

Nokia's new advertising campaign for N8: a new record

2010-09-29T20:27:00.003+05:30

Nokia makes yet another attempt for a world record. First it was worlds smallest movie character: Dot. Now its the worlds largest screen... But still, the phone is yet to arrive in the markets. Video after the break..

Blackberry Boys: Indian Ad

2010-09-29T20:04:00.003+05:30

A cool ad of the BB service by vodafone India. Makes sense cos BB is not anymore enterprise centric right? Video after the break...

WebOS 2.0: New Screenshots surface

2010-09-27T13:25:00.003+05:30

New round of screenshots of the long awaited WebOS 2.0 screenshots emerge. What does this mean to us in India? As you all know Palm is now Hp and Hp has an awesome presence in India which the Palm never had. Palm had a major comeback(before the hp acquisition) with its very important releases, namely the WebOS and Plam Pre which we could never see in the Indian market(Legally). As I mentioned this might have been due to the lack of the market presence or the demand for Palm based devices in India.

Hence we @ India can now expect a new series of Palm's WebOS based devices being released in India. As tipped by many, we might also see some Tablets being released by Hp soon in India - hopefully running WebOS also??Wont you want to check 'em out? Also, another late but good thing we will be able to see is the Palm's touchstone tech and similar tech being revealed in India... Lets just keep our fingers crossed... :-)

Source: Engadget

Firmware Update for Nokia E72 Available for India

2010-09-24T13:22:00.005+05:30

Hey ppl who have their E72's in India, today morning I was notified of the new firmware for our region i.e. APAC. I was able to update the firmware over the air with no issues. However, I notice that the time font was decreased as you notice in the screenshots above. All screen shots of the process after the break....

Click here for the Changelog

Review: Motorola Droid2

2010-09-24T11:46:00.003+05:30

Android fans in the US will rejoice over this. The highly anticipated Android based phone successor of the phone which started the Android buzz a year ago. The Droid2 which is the US version of the Milestone2 succeeds the Droid which we have as Milestone in India, that was sadly launched a little late in India i.e. a few months ago.

TechnoBuffalo reviews the neat phone and it is very impressive. The keyboard is neat and so is the Android 2.2 OS. The screen is also cool and the home screen - notice the water effect. My first impression was -- WOW! Check the video below.
PS: India Readers, this will be released as Milestone 2 in other markets like ours :-)

Source: TechnoBuffalo via Dailymobile.se

Impressive: Games on the Nokia N8

2010-09-24T11:22:00.003+05:30

Take a look at this video showing some impressive games on the N8, namely Asphalt 5, Avatar, GT Racing & Hero of Sparta. This guy was taking the video with one hand and playing with the other, so lets forgive him of the video quality and recognize the effort he has taken to film it... Hit the read link for the video.

Source: test-mobile.fr via dailymobile.se

Volkswagen: Worlds First Talking Newspaper

2010-09-23T20:43:00.004+05:30

Volkswagen in India thrilled everyone's hearts on 21st September morning in six major cities of India with this talking news paper publised in "The Hindu" and "The Times Of India" newspapers. I tried to capture the claim of the Worlds First talking newspaper by The Hindu the following day here... Hit the Read link for a video...

More Info at
The Hindu, Rushlane

Cadbury's Dairy Milk

2010-09-21T22:12:00.006+05:30

Nothing gadget related here, but I simply love the new series of adverts that are coming in these days on the Indian TV channels. Hit the Read link for the videos... I just love the bg music, goes so well...

Lewis Hamilton in Chennai

2010-09-21T21:44:00.002+05:30

An old news it may be, but I decided to publish it anyway. I should have attended this, but owing to some health issues I was at the hospital instead... :-)

Anyway, it was good to know this and to see the merc being rocked by him. He was here in India for a promotional event which is the Indian Grand Prix scheduled for next year at New Delhi(Noida). There were some contests by Vodafone and others of which the winners got a chance to accompany Hamilton's drive on the Madras Motor Race Track. Hit the link for more info

Via The Hindu Newspaper

Nokia Qt

2010-09-20T12:28:00.003+05:30

Qt all the way.. Qt pronounced as "cute" because its cute. Yes you heard that right and I am learning it now after a course at Blore. I may also continue working on what I used to work on i.e. - mainframe- Cobol-DB2. But for the next 2 months or so my target is "mission Qt".

So whats this Qt? Qt was developed by a company called Trolltech which was acquired by Nokia couple of years ago. Its a C++ programing platform using which one can target PC's(Win, Lin or Mac), Embedded and Mobiles(Symbian, Maemo & Meego). All this with the same code and without rewriting much of the code. Its an interesting thing and I believe this has a huge potential, just like how java is today - though its complicated it kinda rules just because of its device independence features... The below video might give you a gist of what this might be like

Happy Learning!

More Learning resources here:
http://qt.nokia.com/
http://labs.trolltech.com
http://qt.nokia.com/developer/learning/online/training/modules/

Dot. The world's smallest stop-motion animation character shot on a Nokia N8

2010-09-19T13:03:00.003+05:30

Nokia's marketing simply at its best to regain its lost glory in the smartphone biz... If you have been following the phone biz for some years, you may remember the N95, N82 microscopes...etc that created some buzz. Also some movies that were shot with the phones... etc and etc.. But this is totally awesome and incredible... Hit the read more link for the videos.

Via Intomobile

Nokia E7 Videos

2010-09-14T19:07:00.004+05:30

Nokia released the E7 today and this is the phone that everybody was waiting for since the N8 is a touch only phone. Check the videos after the break.

Nokia World 2010: Three New Phones The E7, C7 and C6-01

2010-09-14T15:27:00.005+05:30

Today at Nokia World, Nokia unveiled three new Symbian^3 based phones of which the most anticipated phone will be the E7.

The E7 is the same as the N8 but with a 8MP cam(No Xenon) a QWERTY(thankfully 4 row kb). It has all the goodies like dolby surround, HDMI..etc Also shoots HD video

The C7 is a 3.5 inch AMOLED screened device like the E7. It doesnt have a QWERTY. 8Mp cam

The C6-01 also seems to be like the C7 in terms of features... Only time will tell whats different...

For more info hop over to Nokia Conversations.

Nokia World 2010: Interesting Stat on Everybodys life

2010-09-14T15:17:00.003+05:30

Image Courtesy: Intomobile

Nokia World 2010: Nokia Just announced the E7

2010-09-14T14:38:00.003+05:30

Image Courtesy: Intomobile

Anssi Vanjoki resigns from Nokia

2010-09-13T17:30:00.004+05:30

If there was one hope for Nokia it was Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President in charge of mobile solutions. I thought he was the contender for the Nokia CEO race after OPK was seemingly loosing investors confidence.

Soon, days after Stephen Elop was appointed as the new CEO for Nokia this is a huge blow to Nokia I believe. All the best Vanjoki! I was really impressed with his recent article at the Nokia Conversations Blog. But this news has hit me hard, now its all in the hands of the former Microsoft head.

Its sad to see so many die hard Nokia fans, bloggers(Ricky, Stephan) and now employees leaving.... Nokia - wake up soon!!!

Nokia N8 Commercial

2010-09-13T17:08:00.005+05:30

This is a sweet(cos the music) commercial of Nokia N8. It describes the travel annoyances one may never wish to face! Its quite well made.....

And well, if you're wondering about the song, its Amy MacDonald- Road to home. I found the lyrics here with some beautiful art.

So many events --- Exciting Mobile Devices in queue!

2010-09-13T10:44:00.000+05:30

Hi all, Nokia world 2010 and Nokia Developer summit 2010 will kick off tomorrow. We may be able to see some new devices / services from tomorrow. Hmm we also have the Meego Developer Day event tomorrow.. Phew! So many events on a single day!

But most likely we may see some Meego devices come to light only on November during the Meego Conference 2010 that'll be at Dublin...

Expect some good Symbian^3 devices to be release tomorrow... May be the E90 successor?...

First Official Interactive Unboxing Videos of the N8

2010-09-13T10:11:00.000+05:30

Nokia is betting its fortunes on the N8! The PR team is doing all that it can.... Check out the cool unboxing videos of the N8. Enjoy!

Update(Comparison): WNDR3700: Lower 2.4GHz signal than 5GHz

2010-09-11T16:10:00.002+05:30

Hey guys, its almost been a week since I got the WNDR3700. While its been stable and I have had no problems with it. I am having a concern that is disturbing.

I have gone thru the netgear forums to learn that a weaker 5 Ghz signal is normal, but what about vice versa? My WNDR3700 produces a 2.4 GHz signal that is weaker than the 5GHz signal. I have tried changing the channel to 1, 2, Auto and 11 but could not succeed. Also, I have tried switching off the 5GHz then also changing the speed to 130Mbps(this was the default setting and then I changed to 300MBps). My concern is if the 2.4GHz performance is lesser than the way its supposed to be. Is anyone else experiencing this? And mine is the 01R21 H/W release(thats the latest I could find, WNDR37AV is not yet released in India). Please let me know if you have a fix for this... Thanks.

Update: I have tried changing its places, moving it here and there and also picked up my old router which is a Dlink G604T and I was shocked to see this. These screenshots were taken on my laptop 2 meters away from both the routers kept next to each other.

WNDR3700 - R21, Its Cool!!

2010-09-03T21:42:00.000+05:30

Hey guys, I've got myself the Netgear WNDR3700 dual band simultaneous a/b/g/n router. Its cool! As soon as I set it up, it automatically updated the firmware... These are some pics that I took while unboxing.

The iphone 4 Blends - Hilarious!!!

2010-06-26T19:57:00.000+05:30

You must be knowing Blendtec by now. There is nothing new in this video. Its the same fate that the previous iphones faced. But whats different in this video is ... c'on watch it... But, I assume you know the story behind this. The iphone4 story at the bar and gizmodo... You gotta know that before you find this video funny...

Good job Blendtec, really hilarious!

Maemo Masters

2010-06-26T19:12:00.000+05:30

Hey readers, do you want to be a maemo master?? Whats that? First let me ask you - are you in India and planning to get a N900?

If yes then head over to any of the four blogs listed at http://maemomasters.com/ and particepate in the contests to win a special Maemo masters T-shirt and a Nokia BH-214 BT headset ALONG WITH THE PURCHASE OF YOUR N900 for free.

Why is the E72 Annoying and why the E71 still rules?

2010-06-26T18:45:00.000+05:30

RAM, RAM, and RAM. Way too less on the E72. It gets on my nerves many times. On this occasion, I was trying to open http://www.intomobile.com/ which I do agree is a heavy site, but that doesnt justify a phone built on a strong past - the E71 which can easily take this site though it is acually E72's older sibling.... Sad, really sad.

All of these experiences make me really want the N8 or the N9. I'm really looking forward for these phones from Nokia that are going to be bang on target, hopefully :-) I'm drooling over the N8's youtube videos daily... Did you get a chance?

Update: More Pics - Is this the Hyundai i30 - Made For India? the Ford Fiesta Hatchback?

2010-05-03T23:12:00.000+05:30

~~The Hyundai i30~~ Two Ford fiesta hatchbacks were seen embracing open roads of Chennai in full freedom. In the mean time, I decided to capture 'em - on the camera that is... :-)

These cars were spotted several times on this road - that gave me enough opportunities to take some pics and a video also. This is ~~the Hyundai i30~~ a Ford hatchback with some design elements(chrome bordered window, side view mirrors) borrowed from Honda, isnt it? Enjoy the snaps and the video!

Update: A Red car was sighted today. Enjoy the Pics and the video. Looking at the last pic, the logo looks like it belongs to Ford!!

Some Videos:-

"Dhikhawe pe na jaa, apni akal laga" Heartburning facts about the Apple iPhone3G

2008-08-25T13:09:00.000+05:30

You read it right friends. The "half the price" tag is only for people living in U.S. You'll know it if you go and see these websites: Apple's US website and Apple's Indian Website and iPhone US site and iPhone Indian site.

Well, coming to the reality, face it. The Apple iPhone is just another phone or may be worse... Its like the sayings in the Sprite advert... "Dhikhawe pe na jaa, apni akal laga".

The apple iPhone is a result of a very good marketing hype made by Steve Jobs and clearly the iPhone doesn't deliver... Lets see the "FEATURES" that most people(I'm shocked to see even NDTV's Cell/Gadget guru included in it) praise on the iPhone3G.

Hyped Hardware:
The iPhone may be sleek, stylish...bhah, blah and blah...
I agree its a fantasy, its one of the best looking devices made.

1) Multitouch Screen:
Its multi touch screen is a revolution and an engineering marvel. Probably the only good and excellent part of the iPhone. But can it replace the real QWERTY keyboard?? Nope, not at all.. You cannot type on the phone without looking at it since you cant feel the keyboard.

2) Camera:
These days we have phones with great cameras.... not the iPhone. It comes with a crappy 2MP camera without a flash.

3)GPS:
Well come on, GPS is there since ages.... The initial iPhone lacked it. Most phones these days have GPS built in. Most phones that don't have GPS can also be connected to an external bluetooth GPS receiver and use the latest GPS software's/applications, which the old iPhone couldn't, initially.

4) The accelerometer:
The accelerometer which makes a phone decide the orientation of the display is being hyped as if it was introduced by Apple. The accelerometer was introduced in many phones before the iPhone, Nokia 5500 sport and N95 are some examples. The iPhone just makes full use of the accelerometer.

5) Bluetooth - Yes, but whats the use??
The IPhone 3g features bluetooth 2.0, but whats the use when it can just be used to connect to a mono BT headset, thats all. You cannot send files, no A2DP(Stereo audio over Blutooth).

6) Memory:
Well, you may think the iPhone beats other phones in this case, nope you are fooled again. Have you ever heard of mircoSDHC cards??? Hit a Google search and find out. These cards have a capacity of upto 32GB while 16GB ones will be available soon, 8 and 12Gb are already available. These cards will be compatible even on phones like the Nokia E51 which cost waaaay lesser than the iPhone. Check this. The Nokia N96 has an in built 16GB memory and can be expanded via a microSD card slot.. beat that...

Hardware Problems:
But do you know the problems the iPhone has??

1) Cracks on the body
Check this, this and this. There are many iPhone that are developing cracks.

2) Fixed Battery?
Just remember how many times you had to change a battery on your old phone?? After a year, or two?? For the iPhone, you will have to take it back to the apple guys and pay them just to replace a battery.

3) Overheating issues.
Again this is a fact, check this and this. These are issues you would have never expected out of a phone. Apparently this user's phone got so heated that the phone melted....

Software Features that are being Highlighted:
1) PUSH email:
PUSH email is the ability to "PUSH" all you mails instantly to your phone from your work or personal email. There have been many types of PUSH email like blackberry PUSH, Microsoft exchange, the new apple's mobile me and Nokia's email service. However there have also been third party providers like emoze.

This is a feature that is suddenly coming to limelight as a person who is brought back to life... This feature is a standard in all Blackberrys, Windows based phones and most Symbian based phones like Nokia, Samsung.

2) Maps without navigation
Now whats the hype being made about GPS with maps the fineprint here is that there is no navigation. Navigation is the most important feature of having GPS in a new place. It gives voice guidance to reach your new place.

3) Steve Jobs: "MobileMe not up to Apple's standards"
What more to say when Steve himself accepts the failure of MobileMe, which is hyped soooo much even today with the iPhone. Check it out right here.

4) Calendar and other games/apps:
People using blackberrys or Nokia's will simply laugh at this. These features were available in their phones for ages. Nokia had the calendar app even in some of its monochrome display phones.

Simple Software features that are lacking and hence not Hyped...

1) Cut, Copy & Paste:
When iPhone's enrterprise ability is being highlighed, where are the cut copy & paste features that even normal people, forget entrepreneurs use them in day today life.

2) Camera- Yes, but no video recording:
Clumsy and pathetic, a camera phone that cannot record video: thats the apple iPhone.

3) Safari Browser with no flash support:
This is a common feature in most Symbian based phones these days. The OSS browser on the Symbian phones these days have support for Flash Lite 3. Nokia N82, E71 are some examples.

4) Security: Encryption
I remember that in the all new Cell Guru, Rajiv was asking the audience about encryption in the phones and none of them were able to cite a phone that can encrypt their data. Well the apt example would be the blackberry's who also had a recent problem in India to share their security algorithms with the Indian Govt. Ppl pls do some home work on this. Other than this, recent phones like the Nokia E71 offer encryption built in as a standard in their phones... Well now whats your answer to this, Rajiv??

Conclusions:
The above points only suggest that the iPhone3G is not a tried and tested device. By this I dont mean that I hate the iPhone. Well, show me an iPhone that does the above and I may purchase one for myself... I do know that there are lots of Nokia's as well as blackberrys that have failed and for Apple to bring out a phone is a great success. The point I'm trying to make here is that its not worth the money.

Well, my dear friends. A phone that doesn't have most of the common features and yet is priced at a whopping Rs 31,000 for 8GB and 36,000 for 16GB only in the Indian market plus locking you to a single network is totally unfair. You have not paid a subsidised price, instead you have paid its full price but still the phone limits you.
The phone that costs roughly around 9000 bucks in the US, costs more than double here. Well again ppl on the TV say that its exclusive of the connection charges..etc. But is the Rs 31,000+ price tag in India inclusive of a contract..etc??? Phones that cost under Rs. 20,000 or may be even around Rs. 10,000 can do more than what the iPhone does.

Apple has created a history, yes it did. It has created History in making people buy a locked phone for the full price. If Apple does the same in the US, will anyone buy the iPhone??

JAAGO INDIA JAAGO!!!!

BIG Phones.... Whats the Take??

2008-08-21T21:17:00.000+05:30

Well here they are dear friends. The Apple iphone that will be launched tomorrow, the N96 that was first announced in India a few days back this weekwhich is yet to be launched, the blackberry bold which is yet to be launched and last but not the least the sleek E71 which was already launched and I had a preview of the device right here. So which one will it be???

Watch this space friends as we make a comparison of all the phones.

DELL Intros new PC/Laptops

2008-08-18T21:48:00.000+05:30

DELL Latitude E-series
Dells new E series Latitude Laptops promise 19hrs of battery life, not compromising on features for your business. Some models also feature WiMax. Made out of strong materials its a good buy for all you work maniacs....
Dell may also include its 10 inch E series models soon... Watch this space..

DELL Studio Hybrid Desktop

The all new sleek and stylish Dell studio hybrid is set to sparkle your desktop. Decent desktop features and top notch styling with many color options.

DELL Precision workstations
Seriously serious workstations for serious business. Made out of solid materials and rugged build quality. These goodies come with options for serious gaming also. Includes options for a 512MB graphics card and 17" displays. Check out dell's web page for more info.

Tight Schedules last 2 weeks..

2008-08-17T21:39:00.001+05:30

Ya, it hit me again. Busy schedules and work. So I missed news last two weeks... Here is a wrap up of the happenings during last two weeks.

Nokia launches 6210 Navigator in India for around Rs 18000/-.

3G auction to be finalized this September.. So gear up for 3G, India.

via the hindu newspaper

Iphone fans, ur wait for the iphone will soon be over. The iphone 3G will be realeased this Aug 22nd on Airtel and Vodafone. Airtel's site says it though. No updates from the Vodafone site.

ASUS updated its EeePc lineup in India. Models 904H and 1000H have been added in their site eeepc.asus.com(select country as India).

India celebrates 61 years of Independance

2008-08-15T17:43:00.000+05:30

Wishing India and Indians peace and prosperity. May God shower His blessings and Mercy to these people.

Wow!! 61 years and going..... India has not invaded any country in the past, but was invaded and robbed and even today its an emerging super power. Go India go....

Lot of technological advancements and growing. India has been a secret of success for many people and countries.... I'm proud to be an Indian.

Having said that, I believe that its the responsibility of every Indian to remove all the social barriers that we face. Stop being selfish and insensitive to your society and become a responsible Indian... Mera Bharath Mahan!!!

Bonus No: 3 - Number Portability in India

2008-08-03T21:06:00.000+05:30

Number Portability is a concept of having a single number and an option for the consumer to opt for any telecom operator. This was actually planned to be implemented in April 2008 in all the Metros of India as per the press releases of DOT and TRAI. But lets see when its gonna be a reality.

With more mobile subscribers everyday, this is a good initiative. People will now be able to choose their number as well as their service provider. This will indeed gear up the competition and bring better services to the consumer. Already news has it that Bharati Airtel is supporting this.

Bonus: WiMAX coming to India soon too...

2008-08-02T23:12:00.000+05:30

While going through the Bharati Exhibitions site I came across this too... WOW!! WiMAX coming to India soon. So we can expect many WiMAX devices to pop in to India by the end of this year or early next year.

For those scratching their heads....

Wikipedia defines it this way:
"WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless data in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. It is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, which is also called WirelessMAN. "

In simple terms, its similar to Wifi but has a longer range like the 3G, so there may be a service provider for the same... I heard of WiMAX based modems also.... Anyone else who would like to shed more light on this???

You can register yourselves for the event here, which is going to be on Aug22nd 2008 at New Delhi.

India: 3G is finally here

2008-08-02T22:22:00.001+05:30

So its finally here. A dream come true for many Indians who were drooling over other countries.. India has finally decided to auction the 3G bandwidth on 17th October 2008 in the 4th International Conference at Mumbai, India.

"So does it mean I can start using 3G from August?" You may ask... Well.. not exctly... The services are expected to start by the end of this year(2008). Its upto the telecom industries to start. Lets hope the best....

I donno why India is like this... When ppl in other countries were using GPRS on their fone, a color fone In India was a distant dream. Then when 3G was polpular, India was stuck with GPRS on 3G handsets... Now HSPDA is in and India just brings 3G.....LOL..... Better late than never... Lets hope for the best...

You can visit the Bharati Exhibitions site to register yourself for the event.

Symbian Foundation

2008-07-28T21:31:00.000+05:30

I admit I'm late to publish this. I thought better late than never.... The main attraction to me was to see Indian companies on the list... Go India Go....

Well those wondering whats this Symbian Foundation.... Its an Open source Symbian OS and a universal standard which is likely to be followed by most mobile companies... Good to know that na???

Nokia has bought roughly €264 million worth remaining 52% of the Symbian shares that it does not own. This is to make Symbian an Open source platform and also a standard. Hats off to you Nokia for this effort. The first Symbian Foundation device also will be released once this starts operating in 2009.

Casio Protrek Watch

2008-07-22T06:54:00.000+05:30

As promised, I will introduce to you some of my gadgets that are a part of my everyday living.... Introducing the Casio Protrek watch.

Some of the Key features of this watch are
>Barometer
>Thermometer
>Digital Compass
>Altimeter
>5 Alarms
>30 World Time Zones
> Auto EL Illumination
>Tough Solar

The watch has a huge display and you can be sure to catch a glimpse of the time no matter what situation you may be and the AutoEL illumination helps you do the same at nights without pressing a button. I checked some reviews of the Protrek series of watches and I came to know that timekeeping is perfect and so did I also find it. I've been using it for the past 5 months. As you see its thick and huge and is an Eyecatcher. It will look like a wall clock on the hands. People around can know time without even asking you. Best of all its Tough Solar and doesnt need a battery change.

Now lets see the USP's of this watch.

Altimeter: Purely based on the barometer, this will only help you approximately know how high you are. When I compared it with the GPS values, it had a difference of 60m.

Barometer: The screen has a small graph which helps in predicting weather. This just gets the job done and one cant expect accuracy here.

Digital Compass: This is probably the most accurate which is great to see it work at.

Overall a good watch that helps you get loads of info....

Gadget freak...Where are the gadgets???

2008-07-18T22:51:00.000+05:30

Well all of you visiting my blog might be wondering why I'm posting only about symbian phones and software... You see, basically I'm a gadget freak, but for the past two years or so I started liking the advancements in mobile technologies very much.

Well, this week my focus would be on other gadgets. I will review some good stuff... Watch this space...

Global Race On Nokia E61

2008-07-18T22:34:00.000+05:30

Yes guys, you read it right. Global race works on the E61. It was great playing on the E61's screen. Its sad that Nokia dint bother to bring good games like these before for the E61. Though this game is not designed for the phone, it still works perfectly. You can download this game from the E71's software site here: http://europe.nokia.com/A41073165
The game works absolutely well and is smooth. You may be wondering how this works on the E61. The E61 doesn't have 3D support, also the E71 doesn't have 3D support and hence a separate version of Global Race was made for this phone, which works on E61 also. Check the screenshots :)

UPDATE: Works on the Nokia E61i also.

Nokia Email: Beta PUSH

2008-07-15T22:21:00.000+05:30

Nokia Email Service is a new beta service offered by nokia for free(until its in beta). All you need to do is sign up for the service here https://email.nokia.com/ . Installation is easy and so is the entire setup..... Once you signup you get a one year service for the nokia email.

The very good feature I found was that the Email creates a new plugin for active standby even in the E61(Screenshot below)

The interface is good and smooth, but takes lot of time to load, even the Inbox.

However I found that some special notifications were added to my phone after the software was installed. These notifications are displayed anywhere we perform copy, paste...etc operations.

However, on my E61 the OS now frequently shows error messages when I open Web or similar apps. Will post pics of em soon....

Iphone3G in India

2008-07-12T14:29:00.000+05:30

The iphone 3G is expected to be available in India in around september 2008 thru airtel and vodafone. You can preregister your iphone now at these sites. The pricing seems to be a mystery still.

http://www.airtel.in/iphone3g

http://vodafone.in/existingusers/iphone/pages/preregister-iPhone.aspx

Nokia E71 In India

2008-07-11T06:48:00.000+05:30

I got a quick demo of the Nokia E71. The Nokia Rep. brought this phone to my house, and I got a chance to have a good look at it.

This phone was released in India on 4th July and is priced around Rs. 22,949/-.

More impressions after the break....

For now, check out these pics that I quickly shot before the Sales rep left.

After the Break
The E71 I got to handle was the grey metal color. I was greeted by Mr. Pradeep(the Nokia Eguru) at my house when I was coming back from work. My dad was playing with the E71 and I was surprised and shocked to see its size. Its extremely small, cute and sturdy metallic phone. I was amazed at what this small gizmo could do and what my hefty E61 couldn't....

The Hardware
The Keys of the phone are more raised so it was easier to type than the E61/E61i. No creaks and squeaks of plastic sounds. It was a great feeling on Hand. I had some quick views all over the phone and was rather depressed seeing the Nokia 2.5 mm Port. When will Nokia learn its mistakes?? Wasn't its POP PORT a huge let down in the most amazing phones?? C'on Nokia you have to have the standard 3.5mm headset jack on all phones. The other side the Mem-card slot and micro-USB were under independent covers made of plastic. Rest all were the standard volume buttons, mute button...etc The loudspeaker placement I thought was excellent. Its on the Top, so if you keep it in your pocket, the ring tone will be still loud as against E51 which has its loudspeaker at the back of the phone. The screen again is a pleasure to watch.

The Software
The OS was fast and I could quickly connect to my wifi router and check some sites on the Internet. It was fast enough I thought. The menu navigation was fast and the GUI felt similar.
Music playback was OK. It was in fact waaay better than E61(connected thru Ad-41 to my headphones) when I tested on Jabra BT3030 BT headset(With the same headphones). Actually I thought was the Bass was great, and so was Pradeep astonished at the sound. I dint have time to do any further testing....

Oh I almost forgot... The phone still needs a good firmware update. The bar code reader crashed again and again. The camera dint feel like a 3.2 mega pixel cam, the imaging algorithms need to be fine tuned.

The Best:
Great handy size.
In built GPS
Loads of RAM
Very fast
Flash Lite 3 Support
Upgrade upto 8GB(theoretically SDHC cards can be made till 32GB)
Wonderful Keyboard
Great screen, can be viewed under direct sunlight.(QVGA is enuf for me)

The Worst:
GUI looks sick, icons could have been more flashy or coloured. GUI does not match the phone.
2.5 mm Headset jack
No TV out.
No Accelerometer(I wanted this very much on a QWERTY)

I'm BBBBBAAAAACCCCKKKK

2008-07-10T07:07:00.000+05:30

Hi Everybody,

Sorry to keep everyone in gr8 anticipation!! I was tied up with my work and couldnt find time for blogging. However, I will make it a point from this time along that my blogs will be regularly updated.

Also partly to be blamed is lack of Nokia's commitment to the Indian Market and to people working in secure areas. I find that Nokia releases a lot of devices, but they are not available in India. Examples are Nokia LD-3w(I got Holux GPSlim instead), N810, BH-500(Got Jabra BT3030 instead). Also camera free version of Nokia E51 is not yet available in India... WHY NOKIA???? I almost lost interest in Nokia this time around until I saw the E71..:-) Hope they release a camera free version of it. :-(

I'm starting this new blog http://www.thegadgetfreak.net or http://thegadgetfreak.blogspot.com/ aiming at all types of gadgets and my experiences with them and will not be updating http://rockure61.blogspot.com/ anymore. Thanks ....

Nokia E90 Steps into the Market Officially

2007-06-14T14:21:00.000+05:30

Nokia launched the E90 officially on June 13th at Jakarta, Indonesia where its market is said to have sold the maximum number of communicators in the world. It was made available in the market from today i.e. 14th June and reports are in that its available in Finland also. You can find more snaps of the event at these links

http://www.e-series.org/archives/376

http://www.symbian-freak.com/reviews/previews/e90/e90_snapshot.htm

Here is a look of how the Invitation looked! :-)

The first 1000 E90's were sold for USD1198 each!! Which is approximately INR Rs. 55000/-. Now I donno what will be its cost when it reaches India!! Anyway a great phone and a great buy. Fantastic device and fantasic marketing by Nokia!!

S60 Bible Reader

2007-06-13T16:39:00.000+05:30

It feels great to have a bible that can get you all the verses at the blink of an eye. I use this software on my phone quite often and would suggest you to try it.

The S60 Bible is free and it has many features. Its ported from the palm Bible+ software and feels great. However its still in Beta phase and the formatting may not be to some's taste, but I like it very much.

I will update this post with some screenshots later, meanwhile you can go through the following links

The S60 Bible Reader can be found here
http://www.compactbyte.com/symbianbible/

For various Bible versions you can go here
http://thechan.com/

Symbian Freak giving away Nokia N73ME, Nokia N70 and Nokia BH-203

2007-06-08T10:38:00.000+05:30

Hey all you mobile photographers... note this...

Symbian-freak has this cool contest...

"Priceless Moments captured with your Phone"

And the prize winners can be anyone WORLDWIDE.... so hurry up and remember to stick to the rules :-)

All the best and remember the competition is only for pics taken on mobile phones and each person can post only one pic.... There are several other simple rules, make sure you follow 'em.

All the best Everybody!!

Here is the URL:

http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/007/06/symbian_freak_giving_away_n73me_n70_bh203.htm

Waiting for Nokia E61 Firmware V4

2007-06-06T15:18:00.000+05:30

I think its time that nokia releases the next firmware for the E61 with the low volume issue fixed. I guess the volume should be a little more louder, and I feel many will agree with me.

I did happen to come across some bugs with WIFI. It doesnt connect to an RSA secured network, not even the E61i... Nokia should consider this bug seriously. I also experienced sudden pauses and stops in the music player and sometimes the music player closes itself but the active standby shows its running... These are some rare instances that popup with the E61 sometimes..

The frequent problem I have is with WIFI. Just goto the settings of the web browser, and within the access point set "always ask". Now whenever you are near a known wifi hotspot and start the browser, the phone doesnt always scan for wifi hotspots. I guess many of you would have experienced this. Eventhough I stand next to the wifi router my phone many times could not scan for the network..thats sad. So I always set the access point as user defined and it always connects when I am within the range of that network... Well I will discuss more about some bugs on my later posts, but just had this thought in my mind to share it with you all! I guess you all might have encountered with many other bugs...Please feel free to share em here.

Nokia E61's Keyboard

2007-06-05T14:58:00.000+05:30

The E61's keyboard is a masterpiece and I do know many will agree with me. Hmmm I was rather astonished when I came across this article which terms it as a lousy keyboard... Hmmm and also furthur says that the treo 650's keyboard is better...

Its an old article though, but just cought my eye...

http://www.zdnetindia.com/cstech/cellphone/reviews/stories/164919.html

Well I would say that the Keyboard of this phone is one of the best and is not at all lousy, but has a very firm and solid feel. What do you say?? How many of you agree with me??

Some pics of the beautiful masterpiece. I googled and got 'em:

UPDATE: Alfa989 was kind enough to share his E61's pics on Flickr. You can find them here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alfa989/526015492/

Nokia E90 Already available in India??

2007-06-04T17:40:00.000+05:30

Slightly off topic but this really took me off... Have a look yourself. I dont know how they are doing it..but.... Have a look

http://shopping.rediff.com/shop/productdisplay.jsp?prrfnbr=10183521&source=browse&frompg=New

Too much to HaNdLe!!

2007-06-04T16:28:00.000+05:30

Well hi everybody. I am Ajit from Chennai, India. My Passion for gadgets got me gain many friends at almost every place I go. I have been into computers, gadgets, electronic circuits, software programming, hardware tweaking and benchmarking. I also had passion for the Linux OS. Then last year the Symbian Series 60 OS was a new platform for me to learn in terms of developement... Then days went by, I had to start working which made me change to this beautiful E61 from the 6260 although I wasnt happy initially as I was aspiring for the N80. Later blogs like the www.e-series.org made me really interested in the device and I kept hunting new tricks for the phone from then on. Now I am a proud owner of the E61!!

These blogs really inspired me to start my own blog dedicated to the E61. I am finding it hard to manage posting as I am new to this and I find very less time for blogging. I always take enough pics to post on the blog but since I am at work most of the time I am not able to blog frequently. However I have lots and lots to share with you all. Right from the way I listen to music, GPS in India, Music from E61 in my Car...etc. I was really overwhelmed by the support I recieved from Ed of www.e-series.org... Thanks Ed! I also would like to thank all the visitors of my blog and I will try my best to keep up my job. You all have encouraged me a lot, otherwise this blog would have been a single post blog! Anyway, I hope that I would be seeing many more visitors in the future.... in other words many more well wishers of this blog :-)....

E61i Unboxing

2007-06-04T06:45:00.000+05:30

Its been three weeks since I purchased this phone..... Finally I could find enough time to post the unboxing pictures...

I bought this at a priority dealer in Chennai. I was not able to find the phone at the Ritchie street which is famous here in Chennai(It is available now though!). I also happened to know that its available for a lower price in Mumbai... But I was in a hurry and couldnt wait :)... Got it for Rs 19,500(India).

PS: My E61 is going to stay with me... I work in a place where cameras are strictly prohibited... This fine device is for my Dad after his 9300 breathed its last.

Nokia had a bug already... This was very funny to me... Guess what I found on the box!!

For the benefit of those who dint see anything funny here...
The picture shown above is that of Nokia LD-3W Bluetooth GPS Reciever....

Saling Clicker V3.5

2007-05-13T19:01:00.000+05:30

Finally a working and fully supported version of Salling Clicker for the E61.... Presenting Salling Clicker V3.5...

As seen in the screenshot.. this includes my favourite feature...which is
Connect with WiFi...

For more details visit
http://www.salling.com/

Keeping Your Screen Scratch Free without digging a hole in your Pocket

2007-05-06T21:32:00.000+05:30

I have a cost effective solution to keep your phone's screen free from scratches...

WARNING!!!! PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AND DO NOT BLAME ME IF IN CASE ANYTHING GOES WRONG!!!

This was how my phone looked before removing the cellophane tape...

I guess now you can find the defference

My E61's Scratchless screen :-)

Make sure you clean the screen properly with a soft cloth

The apparatus required are

Water(Yes you are reading it right)

Paper Cutter

Scissors

And most important is the cellophane tape which is big enough to fit the screen as shown below

First switch off your phone and if you are not sure of yourself, remove the battery also.

Then carefully put drops of water on the screen alone, making sure that it does not fall on keyboard and other places which may penetrate through the body to the inside

Water is required to avoid the airbubles while placing the tape.

Make sure you place the tape slowly and spread the water droplets to avoid air bubbles, However this is an advanced task and needs practice. I followed the same procedure for all my phones and so I can do this without switching off the phone.. :-)

Then carefully cut out the tape using the paper cutter, by slicing it through the screen's border.

At first the screen may look a little blurred because of the water, but carefully wipe the screen and switch on the phone... However the blur may dissappear after an hour or so since the water has to evaporate...

Enjoy with your new scratchless screen...

Please note that this procedure needs practice and you may end up with air bubbles...etc.. Trial and error method is the only solution... :-)

The E61 Displays Vanity Numbers----only DISPLAYS!!

2007-04-15T21:05:00.000+05:30

How many of you thought your E61 could do this??????

Pretty wierd huh??? I said this phone could just DISPLAY a vanity number..... Read on.....

These screenshots would suggest of what I just did to get it displayed!!!

This is the trick...!!! Just keep the menu button depressed and select Tel.

HA HA HA...Got it???

Unfortunately...It Doesnt work!!!

One more shot...

Hope you had some fun with this new idea!!!

Get The Taste Of Actual Volume On Nokia E61

2007-02-10T22:13:00.000+05:30

I saw many blogs where people share a common problem with the E61(so do I) which is low volume on the headphones, when playing songs or any music(After Firmware Upgrades) from the built in or third party music player(OggPlay trick didnt work for me even after setting the volume boost to various levels).... Anyway this post is not a trick or solution to the problem(sorry to disappoint you guys...).....but you can listen to the actual volume that your E61 can pump out... Wanna know how??? Read on...

Note: The Screenshots are from my E61 which has the firmware v3.0633.09.04 ...

1) Connect your headphones, open the standard music player and play a song

2) Make a call to a number...this pauses the music

3) During the call, switch back to the music player(by keeping the menu key depressed) and play the music( Make sure you reduce the volume a bit, cos the intense volume may hurt your ears!!!!...)

4) However comming to the saddest part, the volume returns to normal once the call is disconnected.... Neway have a look at this Equaliser setting, which I had to use since the volume was way too loud....

I hope I helped you get the actual taste of the Nokia E61's sound output... The sound you get at the output is two times more than normal....(May be more than that...)