Author
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
What's On Your AgendaThe calendar app Agenda has made the journey from iOS to Android. It's not feature filled by any means but for those who want less complexity, this is a plus. Agenda is swipe operated. You switch from year view to month, week and day with swipes and the only buttons around are a plus sign to enter a new event and a navigation button to jump to today view. Creating an event is much the same as elsewhere. You set your date, time, location, contacts, and add notes. An annoyance is that to delete an event you have to scroll all the way down to press the delete button. One thing missing from the Android Agenda app is themes which are a nice extra on iOS, especially the white on black theme. Agenda is free though, so see if you like it for very basic appointments. Tap And Swipe To TypeFleksy is an interesting typing app for the iPad and the iPhone. It’s got limitations, but is nevertheless usable, as long as you edit and clean up your writing later. The app provides a bold high-contrast black and white keyboard and as you type on the keyboard, the app guesses and calls out your word. If you don’t get the right one, swipe and it will take you through options. This happens ratherfast so typing isn’t very slow , though, it’s not as fast as a real keyboard. There’s no spacebar here. You swipe left and it gives you a space. To get a punctuation, swipe for a full stop and then down for more options. This app is more suited to those who know the QWERTY keyboard layout well. If you need to look, you’ll only slow down and make errors. It has a free and a paid version. Butter With UtterUtter, still in beta, but available on the Play Store lets you take voice-charge of your Android phone.There’s a whole bunch of commands listed that you can give Utter to execute. Call, navigate, etc, Siri-style. More enjoyably, you can create your own commands or even questions and answers. For example, I say “let’s see the news,” and it opens up Flipboard. Or I say “Let’s read” and it says “Yes, let’s!” and opens up the Kindle app. Utter works very fast with the buttery Jelly Bean and it takes a mere heartbeat to get it to open apps like Gmail. It doesn’t interact inside the app, but gets you to it. Calling people is a challenge because the names are not native to it. Sadly you will not get information on movies and restaurants around you. There’s a choice of voices, but you have to download paid plug-ins for that which take up a lot of space. The app is still being developed and a lot of features are being worked on.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-05-2013)
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I could live with this. The very thin and light Acer S7 11.6-inch Ultrabook is one of the devices that comes from the first wave of hybrids and convertibles that appeared after Windows 8 launched. It's not exactly a hybrid in that it can't be used like a tablet, and it's not a run- of-the-mill laptop because it has a touch screen that can tilt really far back. But it's certainly one of the newer form factors. When I took the S7 out of its box, I was immediately struck by both its lightness and its looks. The brushed aluminium lid has an interesting and unusual pattern etched into it. The back is a white hard plastic and also quite nice and sturdy. For a while, you can't get over how thin this device is. It's comparable to the MacBook Air and no, it isn't teardrop shaped on the sides, something I get tired of seeing on MacBook Air clones. The S7 has a nice premium and professional look. So, open up and start up by using the button on the side and you'll see a really clear screen with great colours and contrasts. Viewing angles are fantastic. I picked up the S7 and looked from the extreme edge of the display and could still clearly see everything with no compromise. But be warned that because this is a high-res screen, text tends to be quite small and you need pretty good eyesight to use this category of device. The keyboard is extremely important on any notebook and on this device it’s particularly flush with the chassis to keep the overall form very slim. I’ve come across reviews complaining that there is too little travel in the keys but amazingly, I found this one of the best keyboards I've seen lately. I touch-type and found myself just flying with the keys and not for a moment feeling this was an unfamiliar keyboard. I think it may be actually better for those who know the QWERTY keys positioning and use the right fingers and go at a fast clip. The keyboard lights up a strange shade of green as you start typing and then fades quietly away when you stop. Rather nicely done. The sides of the base are slightly sharper than they should be. They curve inwards not round outwards so they aren't softened, but as you should be typing most of the time when you use the base, I didn't think it mattered all that much. It's on the sides that you'll find the ports and slots including two Bluetooth 3.0 slots and an SD card reader. Acer has a bunch of accessories for those who want more connections. The power adaptor needs to be mentioned — it looks very nice. It's a light white box of a thing which complements the whole premium feel of this ultrabook. The S7 is quite power packed. It has a fast processor and graphics capabilities enough to make watching videos quite a pleasure though it isn't meant to be gaming level graphics. It runs the full Windows 8 so you can install whatever software you're used to from earlier computers as long as they're compatible. Windows 8 makes little sense without a touch screen, and this one is as responsive as most others I've seen. The touch pad is a little less so, especially when triggering a movement, but nevertheless perfectly usable. The battery life is one big complaint with many reviewers. But there's an additional 1 hour battery back-up pack Acer has made to fit this ultrabook and it clicks to attach to the device. You also get other accessories in the package including a mouse and a case. The S7 is perhaps a little expensive for its size at Rs 88,579, though Ultrabooks aren't yet fulfilling their promise of being cheap. LG Optimus GIt’s a good thing I don’t own the Optimus G or I’d be spending a significant portion of the day justLG Optimus G : Rs 34, 990switching the phone off and on, just to see the beautiful water bubble animation that comes up when you swipe to wake the device up. It visually distorts the wallpaper and is a fun pastime all on its own, really. So are some of the other animations that are part of LG’s interface. You can see them straight off as you navigate the home screens: the app icons and widgets flow away in and back in smooth 3D motions, or disappear to let you see the wallpaper when you pan out. The home screens also go into landscape mode, which is not usual with Android phones. It’s really an unobtrusive interface. But most of all, it’s smooth as… well, melted toffee, since I’ve had enough of butter and this is smoother than butter. But otherwise, this phone is the usual LG —a slab (unless you see the back which is classy with a nice pattern) — until you turn the device on. Then you see the 1280 x 768 True HD-IPS + LCD 4.7" display and it’s sort of perfect looking. No problem with viewing angles on this one. Tilt it whatever way you like and you can still see everything without it being faded out. The camera is a 13MP and has all the requisite settings plus some low-light capability, but is for the most part,average. Everything happens fast on this smartphone. Navigating, browsing, video. It has a 1.5GHz quad core processor and Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with 2GB of RAM. But other than specs, it’s really been optimised and fine tuned to work like a smooth powerhouse. It's very much like the Nexus 4 but design wise a sharp-edged rectangle.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-05-2013)
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Let's face it, going to the gym is not everyone’s cup of tea. It certainly isn’t mine, as I discovered thanks to a short-lived stint at a nearby sports facility, complete with an over-zealous personal trainer. I’m of the firm opinion that we know our own bodies best and the opinion got firmer in direct proportion to the enthusiasm of my trainer. Sure I was getting stronger and fitter, once I got over the aches of the latest bout of exercise, but it wasn’t happening at my pace — and it was certainly no fun. So I told a big white lie about going off on a vacation and did the disappearing act. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t a white lie. For a while I did precisely nothing. Then, deciding that it was enough of that, I began to craft my own fitness programme. Oddly, I started with Pinterest, which I rediscovered while doing nothing. Dragging myself away from shoes, bags and trendy outfits, I tapped into the Health and Fitness category instead. And was I amazed to find the wealth of resources there! There are tons of workouts to choose from, both in written instructions supported with photos or infographics, or in videos. I went straight for the videos and selected a bunch to suit my needs. I picked a few 10-minute workouts for times when I’m lazy and just want to make sure I don’t have a zero-exercise day. And I selected much longer workouts in the styles that I’m used to and enjoy — based on ballet, light weights, cardio intervals and fitness or medicine ball. I pinned these for future repeated use. The shorter workouts help me make a gradual start with 10 minutes the first day, 20 the next, etc., until I make sure I have an hour of exercise at least four times a week. In all the pinning, I totally fell for a 40-minute cardio workout made up of modern dance and ballet moves; very easy to do and needing neither space nor equipment of any kind. Of course, there are many other kinds of workouts to be found, including many for yoga, which is nice to build into a routine. I also saved the ones I liked in my YouTube account for good measure. The convenient thing with these workouts is that if you’ve got your phone, tablet or laptop, you can just whip it out and work out wherever you think is convenient; including when travelling. Of course, no matter what, there’s always the danger of motivation taking a dip, specially if you’re exercising on your own and are not bound to the routine that going to the gym offers. There’s a price to pay for the freedom to work out whenever you like, at your own pace and skipping it altogether when you’re not up to it. So I figured I would set an alarm or two on my phone, leading up to workout time. Not ordinary alarms, but sound files of my own voice asking me if I’d like to lose weight and get fit or like, forget it? I have to say the threat of hearing my own exhortations generally gets me moving pretty fast! But to reinforce the motivation, I use an app called BrainWaves. When my alarm goes off, I switch to headphones and get into a spell of deep breathing and listen for a session of “pre-exercise energy” brainwave training. I don’t know whether this works but it certainly keeps me focused and as no one brings a box of pastries near me, I’m more likely to spring up and go into my workout corner. I like that there’s very little preparation to be done: a bottle of water, clothes I can stretch in, and that leaves just plugging in my phone or iPad into big speakers. One only needs vocal cues once you watch the workout once or twice and know what’s being asked of you. I only ever stop to go over to look at the video when I find I’m confused about a move or have forgotten what it really was. Having sweated it out, I feel free to go back to lazing around, guilt-free. The next step is to make some tasty changes to my diet, replacing fat-filled nonsense with alternatives. I intend to explore some great recipes, also found on the Pinterest Health and Fitness boards, and get to Snapguide, an iOS app that not only has recipes but guides on how to make unusual dishes. There’s also trusted YouTube for that. Meanwhile, the one thing I make sure I do is consume a lime a day, either in my water (no salt or sugar) or squeezed on some salad or veggies. This is something I’ve been religiously doing ever since I heard a compelling article read out on Umano (the news reading-out app) extolling a huge bunch of benefits of a big squeeze of lime every day. mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)comTwitter: (at)malabhargava(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-05-2013)
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Here we are, stuck between leaving desktop PCs and fat laptops behind and making a beeline for smartphones and tablets. Most people need to work with notebooks that have enough processing power and good solid keyboards. And yet, the portability and flexibility of mobile devices that can do so many different things, is a big lure too. Netbooks didn’t quite cut it. So it’s only inevitable that in-between devices that do double duty as tablets and laptops should become available. The Acer Iconia Tab W510 is a creative hybrid in this category and an option for those who want something portable and ‘lean back’ plus sturdy and ‘lean forward’ to get some work done. Unpacking the Iconia W510 is rather a nice process because it’s so neatly organised in its box, all the parts arranged well for protection. This is a device that launched in 2012 and made its way to India later down the line. Essentially, it’s in two pieces — one part is the tablet and the other a keyboard dock. On the outside, with the tablet docked and closed, the W510 is a muted silver all around. It’s made of some synthetic material though and many people complain that it’s a bit plasticky, though by no means cheap or sub- premium. It does pick up scratches and marks, but it’s the rare laptop that doesn’t. You can wipe them off and this is in any case better than the rubberised soft materials that picks up oil. A solid, sturdy, white plastic slot takes in the tablet and I found it quite secure and tight — except when touching the screen in laptop mode. Then there’s a lot of play. You certainly don’t need the screen bouncing back when you touch it. Inside, the screen is adequately clear though not vibrant. It has great viewing angles. That’s important in smaller devices, particularly. When the tablet is docked, it also tilts far back to face the other way, enabling it to be used in a stand mode, for presentations. The keyboard is a mixed bag. It’s got nice clear separate keys, but because this is a small device, the keys on the left are condensed and that takes some getting used to. The Shift key especially took me a lot of time to use properly. The keys are also a little hard and should have had more spring in them. The trackpad isn’t the most responsive. The touch screen is responsive, but this isn’t a superfast machine like the ones running Intel’s Core processors. It’s good for light work that doesn’t call for multi-tasking. You can run Photoshop, but that plus a few more applications will slow things down. The W510 does, however, have the full version of Windows 8 and not RT, which means you can use software that you’re accustomed to from earlier machines, as long as it’s compatible with Windows 8. Rather atypically, the W510 has an 8 megapixel primary and 2 megapixel front camera. But the picture and video quality doesn’t quite match up to the results from top-end smartphones. I found the dock plus tablet together a little heavy. It’s not handbag material. But if you’re moving around in an office, it’s perfectly easy to carry. And it resumes very fast when you open the lid. The tablet alone is, of course, quite light. The W510 costs Rs 37,990 without the keyboard and Rs 49,990 with. I hardly think it’s worthwhile without the keyboard as you have many other options in keyboard-less tablets, including the iPad and all the Android tablets. Also, some of the ports are on the keyboard dock. Be aware that one can’t upgrade the RAM or other specs on this device. Check out the other models in the W- series as well.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 17-06-2013)
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The RX1's pre-decessor, the RX100, was and still is quite a hit. It’s as small as point-and-shoots, though heavier, and yet takes quality photos, giving the user plenty of manual control as well as offering the novice ease of use and auto modes. But now we have the RX1, with which Sony has stepped up everything, most significantly, the Exmor CMOS sensor with a 35mm f2 Carl Zeiss Sonar T lens fitted where no one thought it could be fitted. With such a big sensor, the camera is about twice the size of the RX100 and many times its weight. But at the same time, it’s still almost pocketable (think rugged jacket or thick pants) and beats several DSLRs in performance and portability. With the RX1, it’s the first time that a full-frame has been squeezed into a body this size and for that privilege, the camera is gasp-worthy expensive at Rs 1.8 lakh. Even if you love taking good photographs, it’s difficult to get past that price. If you think of adding any of the accessories such as optical and electronic viewfinders, you can safely assume an even bigger budget as each add-on is also expensive. Full-fledged DSLRs are expensive too, but with those, you get swappable lenses and zoom and quality that can’t even be questioned. They weigh a lot, are very complex, and need a lot of involvement to use. So this is a strage tradeoff. Big, expensive, complex, capable vs small, good but limited, easy but just as expensive. I have heard that the successor to the RX1 will have swappable lenses — but I’m not looking forward to the price. Unlike the RX100, which, at Rs 34,000 or so, enthusiasts can consider, the RX1 gets into the realm of what professionals might want for their easy-carry alternative. The menu and hardware controls are easy to use (though I may be biased because of my use of the RX100 which has the same menus), but at the same time there is plenty of manual control, including being able to customise the use of buttons. The ISO range is large and the camera performs well without noise and softness, right up to high values. And so, yes, it’s good at low-light photographs. There’s an aperture dial for easy access to a butter-smooth control of light being let in. Image quality is crisp and clean, with good colour. Though not in the casual photography budget, you still can take casual shots with it — just go auto and no matter what the light, you still get beautiful images. Not an ideal macro camera, it can still shoot close objects when you adjust the focus distance from a ring around the lens. And you also get beautiful depth of field — the blurring out that makes the object focused on look clearer and more artistic. But focus can be slow. I mentioned that the RX1 was much bigger than the RX100, but it would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the RX1 has a solid and handsome build. It’s all black alloy and professional looking and the only bit of colour is the orange metallic ring at the base of the lens. It’s a solid lens extrusion and nothing by way of a rubberised or soft grip. There are no extras like moveable LCD screen, touch screen, or Wi-Fi. It’s a serious camera, in other words. One that takes seriously stunning images with as little or as much effort as you want. With the RX1, one really goes head-to-head against the bigger clunky DSLRs. Great for shooting pictures of scenery, people, things happening on the street, it won’t do the job for, say, bird or wildlife photography or even sports photos, but give it a few iterations and it just might. Fujifilm X 20Today, everyone fancies himself a photographer. And why not — photography is in the eye of the beholder. It’s also no less in the camera of the beholder. Fujifilm’s X20 is a little hunk of a camera that looks like conventional kit with totally classic styling. There are two versions, and the blacker of the two is the more serious and traditional. The X20 is a refresh of the X10, a popular Fujifilm camera for enthusiasts. It’s a sturdy metallic camera, for a compact, and has a texturised surface and grip. There are lots of buttons on both left and right sides — or it feels like it because some are quick-access ones. There’s an interesting way of switching it on: turn the lens ring. The lens extrusion comes out and the camera is ready for a shot. And to take that shot you have a 12 megapixel 2/3-inch sensor — not large, really — and 28-112 mm zoom range and aperture of f/2.0 to 2.8. Shutter speed is 30 to 1/4,000 per sec. The ISO range is 100 to 12,800. The X20 has a fixed LCD 2.3-inch screen. It also has a zoomable optical viewfinder with a digital overlay of information. You can also turn off the OVF from the settings. The X-Trans CMOS II sensor gives good sharp images, mostly at low ISO values. There’s a macro and super-macro mode, the latter lets you shoot objects close to you. You can get blurred backgrounds with this camera. Low-light performance isn’t bad either, even at low ISO levels. While the X20 isn’t a pro camera, it isn’t to be equated with 12 megapixel phone cameras which just don’t have the sensors and optics to shoot pictures like one of the ‘bridge’ cameras such as the X20. This is ‘casual-serious’ photography.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 17-06-2013)
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I was thinking back to a time long ago when my dad gave me an enormous purple “GoGo watch” and I wore it to school thinking I’d get much admiration and envious attention. Instead everyone, aghast at the size, just gaped at it and kept asking: What IS that? It looked like a pet nuclear reactor really, so eventually I gave it up. And now, watches the same size as my GoGo are back. Just when cellphones all but made the watch obsolete, except for those people who have a fetish for pretty watches or wear them like a piece of jewellery, we hear that there’s about to be a smartphone battle. What’s changed is that now watches and mobiles can talk to each other, giving us the smartwatch. Actually we’ve had the smartwatch for a while, but everything has to be just right before it can even think of going mainstream. Response to smartwatch Pebble, which has made it to buyers delayed and with many glitches, a crowdfunded project on Kickstarter, seemed to indicate the existence of a segment that was keenly interested in such a device. So did Sony’s smartwatch and various fitness-oriented watches such as the one from Nike. Unlike the watches of old, today’s smartwatch is essentially a slave to the mobile phone, bringing any quick-glance data to your wrist, where you can see who’s calling, read a message, check your mail, or read a news ticker. Borrowing from the phone’s capabilities and apps, you can control music and more, as the gadget develops. I suppose you’ll be able to voice input to it since typing out anything on a small watch screen is going to be a nuisance that rivals typing on cellphone screens. After the initial few smartwatches, no one’s seen actual evidence of the bitter smartphone rivals making them, but Samsung says it’s been working on one since forever because it’s like that only. I just hope it isn’t made of Samsung’s favourite material. Or here’s an idea: maybe Samsung can make a wrist band that’s a flexible screen. Of course, Samsung is said to be interested in a smartwatch because Apple is rumoured to be making one. Apple won’t say, but that doesn’t stop the “iWatch” from having fans already eagerly holding their wrists out for the new Apple thing they can’t do without. They want the smartwatch to do practically everything the iPhone and iPod do but on a smaller scale so they can have wrist-access to their favourite activities. Apple already has the Nano wrist band but Apple fans want more. It’s obvious that an iWatch would be another way to cement the tie-in that iPhone users have with Apple’s ecosystem, but there are still those who feel that an iWatch is unlikely and wouldn’t be worth Apple’s while, especially as it would be a low margin product — an accessory in every sense. And there’s also the thinking that since smartphone growth is beginning to slow, it’s smartwatches that will open up new opportunities, re-whelming those who have been underwhelmed with both Apples’ and Samsung’s flagship phones for not being revolutionary. Besides, companies need to get into wearable tech as early as they can. That’s why the lot, including Google (which also has exciting plans with its Google Glass) are scrambling for a piece of your wrist and a share of a market estimated to be worth $60 billion this year itself. LG is also said to be making a smartwatch. No details on any of these are available, however. Among us will surely be those who believe we hardly need to complicate our lives further with smartwatches, which, together with smartphones that already take up a significant portion of our time, will only bind us into a technology for technology’s sake system. That’s besides making us all look like a bunch of humanoids with our eyes flitting from cellphone to watch and our conversations split between watch-Sri and phone-Siri. Imagine all the beeps and alerts enveloping us and demanding we do something. Would you get a smartwatch? Speaking for myself, I haven’t recovered from the GoGo watch. mala(at)pobox(dot)comTwitter: (at)malabhargava(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-05-2013)
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There are a thousand big and little ways in which Google is changing the very stuff of your everyday life. If we go back to their mission statement for a moment: “…to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful…”, we find that they’re sticking by it alright. But think back to the time when Google was just a simple and uncluttered search engine — and look where they are now. The extent to which Google is in charge of what information and content we get to see and how and when we see it was evident at the company’s recent I/O developer-focused event in San Francisco. Last year, they zoomed in with skydivers to introduce the Glass Project. This year, there was none of that. In fact, there was no hardware in sight, except for a Google edition of the Galaxy S4 running on stock Android instead of Samsung’s layers of interface and features. What Google outlined, in a multi-exec presentation that clocked over three hours, was a vision of a world in which Google serves up anything you need to know. Only thing is, it’s not a vision to be realised sometime in the distant future. It’s right now. And if you have a device that runs on Android 4.2.2, it’s even earlier. If there’s one overriding theme that stood out for me from the I/O event, attended and watched by millions around the world, it was personalisation. You will get information based on what you do — and you will do based on the information you get. Now whether that means being locked into a cycle that limits one’s world, I don’t know. Larry Page completely dismissed the idea that this would be limiting. In answer to a question, he said that it was all in our own control and there was little point in throwing random or serendipitous information at users. It was more important that they got what they need, when they need it. And so, in keeping with that theme, almost every Google product will be impacted, starting immediately. Take a look at your updated Google Now, one of Google’s most personal and personalised apps. You can set reminders there and geofence them so that they pop up based on where you are. If I only want my remember-the-groceries reminder when I’m home, that’s where I’ll see it. One point to note is that while there was a lot of worry, including from me, about the seemingly intrusive and pre-emptive nature of Google Now, everyone loves using it. Then there’s search. Google’s search geek Amit Singhal said that it was the end of search as we know it. That too will be deeply personalised and will be like having a real conversation with the Google lady (or man) who will understand context and previous queries. As an example, a lady demonstating interaction with search asked Google to show her photographs from her trip to New York last year — and in a second, there they were. Maps will also be so much more than just line drawings and driving instructions. A new version is gradually rolling out to users and it’s obviously more of an experience than a map. Not only does it look real and zoom right inside some places (users can put up 360-degree panoramic photographs of places) but it will learn from what you require and present information accordingly. It will also take into account recommendations from friends or just learn from their activities. As you seek, contextual and relevant information such as restaurants will come up. I highly recommend watching the I/O event on YouTube, skipping ahead if you don’t want the entire three hours, to see the full extent of changes Google is making to products you use daily. Without a doubt, these changes are empowering, making us waste less time on looking for things or even wondering what it is we need at a given moment. Without a doubt, they offer enough value for us to be perfectly willing to kiss our privacy goodbye. In fact, it already seems passé to be worrying about privacy in this context. But also without a doubt is that the world is increasingly one that is brought to you by Google. mala(at)pobox(dot)com Twitter: (at)malabhargava(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 17-06-2013)
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By now those who saw it will have recovered from the forced and peculiar Broadway-style show that was the launch of the Galaxy S4, Samsung’s flagship for the year, the 5-inch smartphone to give Apple a headache, the bane of Sony and HTC. Investors, customers and the tech media were unanimous in one lament — they could have done with a new look and perhaps something by way of a revolution. Seen instead by some as an iteration over the Galaxy S3 (which apparently sold about 50 million), the S4 caused a ripple of disappointment, prompting rival HTC to gloat over the lack of innovation, at least in design. But make no mistake, the S4 is no mere blip on the mobile landscape. With its release, Samsung is showing where it’s headed. First direction. It’s clear that Samsung’s focus was not on design. While they won’t ignore essential ergonomics for a minute, the materials used and the look remains the same. This is because they’re looking at scale and durability, they say. And usability. HTC may have the more beautiful phone, but it’s struggling to produce them for a multitude of reasons. The S4 has been empowered with the highest specs there are, including an octacore processor and a 13MP camera. But the real work has been on the software, to the extent that Samsung has been accused of having a bad case of featureitis. Why would one want to interact with a phone with a finger lifted off instead of going that extra millimetre and just touching it? Or resort to scrolling a web page with one’s eyeballs? Well, perhaps it’s much the same as why one wants to drop a phone onto a charging pad instead of taking the small effort of pushing the little cable into its place. Less effort. While we will have to see whether Samsung’s software innovations remain gimmicks or lead to interesting development, it’s not difficult to see that the Korean giant is paving the way for a future where it’s not dependent on someone else’s software — that would be Google. Just like with the Note 2 and the stylus, Samsung is building feature after feature to see what sticks and ensuring it is less reliant on Android and, in fact, is a rival to it with its own operating system Tizen, which is in the works. And that’s our second direction — total independence. And for that independence, Samsung is sowing the seeds of a whole ecosystem of its own. It’s getting into music, iTunes style, with Samsung Hub. It’s getting into gaming with the launch of a new game pad. It’s working on a smartwatch which will bring some of the one-glance stuff from the phone to the smaller screen. It’s also working with a whole set of accessories such as the S Band which you wear to sync with the health apps on the phone, having your activity tracked day and night. There are other fitness accessories such as a heart rate monitor. And this is only the beginning — more accessories will inevitably join these in a possible build-up of an ecosystem in which apps, the phone and its army of sensors and add-ons work together. With that, the smartphone is a far cry from something that used to just make calls. The aim — not even thinly disguised — is to get into every part of your life that matters. The smartphone is to be a “life companion” making everything easier, more efficient and enjoyable. Whether any of this will pan out as planned remains to be seen. In technology, there is no certainty, specially these days when fortunes can change in the blink of an eyelid. Smartphone growth itself is thought to be on the cusp of slowing down. But it won’t be for lack of trying. With all of this, Samsung is consolidating its own future. For us users, the privacy nightmare, already a complex mess thanks to Facebook and Google, gets even more incomprehensible as data about our every moment is being generated and used for something or the other. With the smartphone being able to “see” users via a camera all the time, there’s not much that will remain unknown. But, ready or not, here it comes.mala(at)pobox(dot)comTwitter: (at)malabhargava(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 22-04-2013)
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Battery CalculatorThe battery on my Android phone lasts me over a day, but that doesn’t mean I take it for granted. I like to know, at any point of time, how much juice remains, specially if I’m on the go. This bit of a preoccupation is the basis of why I really like Battery Widget Reborn — and the fact that the widget really looks good and has customisable colours and sizes. It puts a nice circular graphic on your screen and you can choose the colours for the battery remaining, battery finished, text, shadow, and other details. It’s rather fun to match it with a wallpaper and make your screen look like part of a nice theme. But that’s not all. Battery related info also shows up in your notification bar. You can see a graph of its usage and how many hours it will take for it to discharge — or charge, if you plug it in. Tap on the notification and you are led to many more details including discharge rate, long term stats, how long it takes to charge, typically, device temperature, and other details. A nice feature is the power saving night mode with which you can set the app to switch off wifi, data and other functions automatically for the night — times chosen by you. The app has four chunks of information on battery info, battery history, notifications and settings, over which you have plenty of control. Basics And BetterEveryone has become a photographer now that some kind of camera is always within reach, eitheron a mobile phone or a compact. Photographer Karl Taylor offers app micro courses to those who want to learn from the comfort of their phones and tablets. His app, on iOS, and titled by his own name, gives you a selection of courses, and even certification. But these cost upward of $200. There's a free part of this app as well. There are two courses that you can check out and then offload the app if you like. One of these deals with basics, and the other with better photography. These courses are small notes and videos and while you may want more, the bite-sized nature of this instruction ensures that you get the basic principles very quickly. What's News, Winston?What a luxury to have your butler read out the news to you as you wake up. Well, there’s an app on iOS for it and he’s called Winston. Ideally it should have been tied into an alarm clock function, but currently you have to open it to have Winston read out news briefs to you. There’s a selection of news sources, but you can’t add your own. Winston has a charming manner and a nice British accent. You can also add in your Facebook and Twitter. Winston summarises the news— after telling you of the weather so you know what to wear. The selection and summaries of tweets and statuses is a bit odd, but it’s still interesting to see where this app could go if it continues to develop. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 22-04-2013)
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Sony has been doing quite an amazing job with its cameras lately, not only firming up its place in the imaging market but taking forward the compact camera category by adding advanced features. The NEX-6 is an affordable version (if you can call Rs 49,990 inexpensive) of the NEX-7, a mirrorless camera that has been received very well by photography enthusiasts and pros who want DSLR-like features in a portable and light body. That means some high-end components. You could get an entry-level DSLR for that amount, but not always the combination of advanced features and light weight. The NEX-6 looks solid, rugged and is very comfortable to hold. It has a textured grainy feel which makes sure you don’t find it slippery, and a deep groove into which your fingers can curve. Facing you is a nice 3-inch LCD screen which tilts up and down and extends — but doesn’t swivel.HIGHLIGHTSBuilt-in Wifi, 3-inch touch screen12.1 MP with 5x optical zoom 25mm wide angle f/2.0 lens Digic 5 image processorAdditionally, there’s an electronic view finder (EVF) for precise framing. I thoroughly enjoyed using it. Right on top, the hot-shoe now lets you use more than just proprietary Sony accessories. The one thing you’ll find almost straight off is that the NEX-6 is Wifi-enabled. Not only can you wirelessly transfer your photos but you can use apps via Sony’s Play Memories. But the process of getting this going is rather clunky and cumbersome. The 16.1 megapixel large APS-C sensor used in other models in the NEX line, which got a good response from those who are not satisfied with casual point-and-shoots but need more (read portability and accessibility), is on this model as well. These sensors are usually in DSLRs. It comes with a basic lens but supports optionally available E mount lenses. Sony promises firmware upgrades for more lenses. The NEX-6 takes great pictures (1920x1280p) and HD video. There are lots of manual controls. The ISO extends to 25,600. It has a built-in flash. The zoom is mechanised so it’s easier to use. Canon Powershot S110With the S90, S95 and S100, really tiny cameras went from mere automatic point-and-shoots to including better manual control and higher image quality. The S110 was launched a few months ago and is now available for Rs 29,995. Looking at the slim pocket-sized camera, you wouldn’t think it contains the features it does. The first surprise was that it has a 3” bright and vibrant touch screen — a pretty responsive one too. You can use the dials and knobs or just touch the screen for actions, including touch-to-capture, if you choose. This, of course, makes the device much more novice-friendly. The other surprise is that it has Wifi. Both these should become hygiene factors on cameras now. You can also print from this camera. The S110 has a sandpapery feel to it to improve your grip. There are no other aids except a little raised edge on the top right. The controls, mode dial, settings ring around the lens, and the usual controls on the back, are solid and clicky. That ring can, however, be set to whatever controls you need for different modes. And because this can be selected from the touch screen, the access is quick. The one true annoyance is a tiny hard power button that’s too close to the shutter release button. Check OutPrice: Rs 59,990BenQ GP10: Watch That WallTake the paintings off the wall and move the cupboard aside. You need some good clean picture space. If you and your family are movie buffs, photo enthusiasts or fond of music videos, you might like to consider turning a wall into a giant screen, ready for a show anytime. BenQ, an India-based company that makes projectors and sometimes cameras, recently launched a 720p LED HD-ready home projector, the BenQGP10. About the size of one of those tiny room heaters, this projector is designed to be portable and plug-and-play. It weighs in at 1.5kg, so it’s lighter than most laptops. So, whether you move it around at home or take it somewhere with you, this projector is meant to be very portable — though I wish it had a smaller footprint. You can attach it easily enough to anything, including a DVD player, which you can get optionally with it. It has the usual essential HDMI and USB connectivity and an SD card slot. Considering these tiny cards can hold 32GB, you can carry whatever content you need without feeling it when you’re on the go. There’s support for different file formats for movies, pictures and audio. The picture from the GP10 is nice and bright and vibrant at 550 ANSI lumen brightness. Its native resolution is 1280 x 800. The colours look rich and contrasts are good. You can move the projector back to fill the whole wall without losing out on the experience. It has built-in stereo speakers but, of course, it’s best connected to a sound system for impact. mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 22-04-2013)
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