The fate of the much touted low-cost computing device Aakash looks uncertain with the government on Friday, 22 March 2013, conceding that there has been a "failure" in its production.Concerned over the tardy progress, the HRD Ministry has written to IIT Bombay (the executing body) to ensure the vendor (Datawind) meets the terms and conditions and the supply order by March 31 in letter and spirit, failing which action could be initiated against it.The ministry is also awaiting a report from a committee headed by Rajendra Pawar before taking a call about the prospects of the device on which many students had pinned their hope."... the other challenge is productionising it. That is where the failure has come. If the productionisation had happened on time, students would have accessed to it. The product exists but we are not able to productionise it as much as required," HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju told reporters here.The tablet was promised to be made available to students at a subsidised rate of Rs 1130. Datawind was asked to supply one lakh pieces initially, which never happened.Raju, though, maintained that the project has created an environment for similar other devices in the market which a students as well can go for instead of being too "obsessed" with the device."Aakash is a tablet which will enable you to access the content. But there are others who have come up...students will pick up whatever serves the purpose better and affordable. We will continue to work on the product as long as development of the product is concerned," he said, when asked if the tablet should be opened to market force which can determine which product can survive in the rather than focussing on it solely.He hoped in due course, other vendors could also chip developing the device.Raju said the ultimate aim should be to enable a student to access content at an affordable price through enabling environment and exploiting the 'National Mission on Education using ICT' platform.The project, a brain child of the then HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, was launched amid much fanfare in October, 2011, drawing adulations from domestic and international market. It was also hailed by UN with the secretary general Ban Ki-moon unveiling there last November.The government also prepared a cabinet note for procuring 50 lakh such pieces with enhanced specifications, amid indications that it would be placed soon.When asked about it, Higher Education Secretary Ashok Thakur said they would take a call on it only after receiving the report of the Rajendra Pawar Committee which evaluated the feasibility of the technology used for Aakash tablet."The day he is going to submit his report, based on that we will take further action on whether to proceed with the Cabinet note or to concentrate and look at the immediate thing that is connectivity," he said.A separate committee headed Goverdhan Mehta is also understood to have examined the feasibility of the device under the 'The National Mission on Education using ICT'."The idea was that once we have supply of one lakh tablets, we would be able to proceed further...there has been a setback, it seems that have not been able to supply, so therefore," Thakur said expressing his regret at the lack of progress.He said Datawind has been set a target of March 31 to comply with its supply orders, failing which "action will be taken against the company"."The company could not supply us on time, so we had to extend the date to March 31. We have written to IIT Bombay to ensure that the term and conditions and the supply order should be implemented in letter and spirit.So on March 31, we will come to know how much they have supplied but the information we got sometime back was that there was lot of gap. So in concern, we wrote to IIT Bombay to ensure that full supply are received," he said.(PTI)
Read More
When my book Buying and Drinking Wine in India was released in 2007, several people quipped that buying presented more difficulties than imbibing. They were right. Back then, a ‘wine shop’ was a humorous misnomer and bottles purchased at any liquor store came with the unspoken caveat, “Bottle may have been languishing here or under the sun, for an indeterminate period of time”. Fast-forward to today and things have changed drastically, even though, ironically enough, the problem remains the same. The choice has swelled to over a 100 different brands and, consequently, when it comes to selecting, we are, once again, truly stumped. Before I even begin to share names of wines that I have found to be great buys within a given budget of, say, Rs 4,000-6,000, let me tell you that there was only one way of selecting these: by picking up a bottle, uncorking (or unscrewing it) and taking a sip. In short, no point systems, no extensive grading sheets, just a group of fellow vinos who nodded their ayes or signalled their nays and, a few years on, we have our own little basket of wines that are ready for recommending. To kick off, the first wine would have to be sparkling, and champagne obviously cannot be ignored. My favourite would be Billecart-Salmon (pronounced beel-caar saa-maun). Krug, of course, is eternally awesome but it is also frightfully expensive. Both make some of the most elegant and distinct styles of bubbly but Billecart manages to remain characteristic. Its uniqueness of flavour and zing, with a marked fruity-toastiness on the palate, makes it one of the best champagnes out there. The next bubbly of choice would have to be either Cava (Raventos is the brand of choice) or Prosecco (Carpene Malvolti is the king of Proseccos). The only good Indian sparkling wine worth mentioning is Soirée by Zampa — they manage to make an elegant sip minus that awful aftertaste often found in other wines from the Nashik region.RED & WHITE: Piccini makes almost 12 per cent of the Chianti sold worldwide; Yering has been making wines for almost two centuriesWhite wines are perhaps the least sought after category on Indian shelves — it may have something to do with the notion that reds are better, not just for health, but also to climb the social ladder to being a savant. It would be hard to choose just one wine here as the variety on offer is tremendous. Among the dry wines, my pick would be a Riesling from Australia and Lindeman’s makes a highly affordable one. The only problem I have with dry Rieslings (the way almost all Australian Rielsings taste) is that they are very austere in taste; I much prefer the German variants. Clemensbusch and Robert Weil are two top houses that make Riesling in the Mosel and the Rhine regions, respectively. Riesling in Germany follows a simple geographical style definition: the more up north the region, the sweeter the wines may seem as they are allowed to have more sugar to balance the extreme acidity which also gives us the much-needed crispness to the wine. And, as another German winemaker, Reinhard Löwenstein (also from Mosel), recently explained to me, it is incorrect to judge sweetness in a wine simply based on sugar content because wine is a far more complex beverage to be subjected to such mathematical measures and comparisons. However, just to be safe, for those who like it dry with a hint of oak, Australian Chardonnay is the one to try. D’Arenberg and Yering Station come racing to mind. The former for soft, lightly toasted styles of Chardonnays and the latter for being one of the oldest houses in the country — it has been making fine wines for almost two centuries! They also come from different regions in Australia — as far apart as France and Bulgaria — so the wines, in spite of being Chardonnays, are quite different. Moving on to the reds and the variety is mind-boggling. My favourite countries would have to be Italy and Chile. Chianti is always a lovely and fun red to have and the versions by Piccini and Baron Ricasoli are absolutely fantastic. Piccini makes almost 12 per cent of the wine sold as Chianti in the world, whereas the wines of the Baron are much smaller in number. Yet, both the wines symbolise tradition and all that defines old-school winemaking. Chile is becoming quite the value-for-money region and wines from the house of Montes are second to none. Los Vascos is also a great producer with some very silky wines. Try and avoid Carmenere by most Chilean producers for I feel that they are doing a better job with their Cabernets and Merlots. Another country that I feel needs a mention is Spain and Tempranillo or Garnacha-based reds are seriously under-rated wines. Torres makes a lovely wine called the Gran Muralles with four autochthon Spanish grapes and as far as uniqueness goes, there are few wines in the world that can compete with it. And, in case you wish to drink local, nothing compares with Fratelli Sette. So much for recommendations; it is now for you to go forth and choose. Remember, in the end, when you are out there, it isn’t just about price or region, even aesthetics matter. So if you end up falling for a bottle with a pretty label, don’t feel any lesser of a connoisseur. I’m sure that’s how Picasso too would have picked ’em. The author is India’s first French-qualified sommelier.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 08-04-2013)
Read More
When i first held the HTC One in my hands, I wanted to dump everything and bolt off with it into the blue, never to be heard from again. The beautifully crafted gadget, in all its understated classy elegance, called out the gadget lust in me like few other devices. Most people will agree that the One is the best designed and built phone out there right now, except perhaps to say that it borrows something from the look of the iPhone, the device that’s been the benchmark of desirable design, globally. If only the troubled HTC could deliver and market this smartphone to the hilt, we’d have serious competition in the mobile space. Instead, the company is struggling because of its product cycles and marketing that doesn’t cut it. But — let’s see if the One can help HTC get back on track! This smartphone has to be held and beheld to be believed. Its smooth aluminium unibody is curved on the edges and back, and lightly bezelled to give the gorgeous screen plenty of space. It’s solid while still being light and very thin. Over the last few phones, HTC has been fine-tuning its minimalistic design skills, a fact that can be seen right away in the neat look of the HTC One. The buttons, in particular, are barely there. They’re so flush against the phone that you need to know where they are to use them. Yes, one will have to get used to that, but it takes a day or two and the effort is worth the while. The top-level specs of the HTC One go to power a beautiful high-res screen on a phone. I thought the HTC Butterfly had a lovely enough screen, but now there’s this as well. I do think the Butterfly is still a worthy contender, by the way. What’s nice about this screen is its crispness and colour and superlative viewing angles. It’s just a pleasure to look at. The screen needs to be nice to see because right on the home screen you have one of the differentiating features of this phone, the BlinkFeed. This is an endless scroll of content in all its picturesque glory for you to browse when you pick up your phone. You can set your social network feeds and content from other sources that have tied up with HTC. It’s very attractive looking and a perfect showcase for the screen, but it’s greeted with mixed reactions because many don’t want to have their home screens decided for them. You can easily shove it off to the side and choose to customise another home screen with regular widgets and use that. The updating and refreshing can be set to happen on wifi. There’s some worry about this taking its toll on the 2,300 mAh battery but you can move it aside and turn off services. I didn’t find the battery draining out over the day but this was with moderate usage, not on 3G and not with gaming, though there was enough video and music. I did feel that the phone readily became a bit warm though. It takes a while to charge up. And while we’re on to music, the HTC One happens to have the best sound I’ve heard on a phone — you won’t need any of those little external speakers for personal listening, though hooking it up to a sound system is always nice. The sound has well rounded full frequencies and is quite pleasing, even if it goes by the silly name of Boom Sound. The HTC One comes with a refreshed version of HTC’s interface, Sense 5, with which the focus is to be smooth and not get in the way, a goal which it achieves. Everyone expected the One to be exorbitantly priced but at Rs 42,900, it’s the same as other top-tier phones —and it deserves to be. HTC One Camera: Up To 4 MegapixelsWith everyone moving up to 13 megapixels, HTC decided to reverse the megapixel race and actually drop the count to 4 megapixels. But they kept the sensor size the same as it is on higher megapixel cameras. They now have 4 megapixels, but bigger ones, and they call them ultrapixels. The idea is that now, more light will be let in for indoor photos. And yes, it’s true that this does happen. Taking pictures with a small lamp in a room, I was able to get light-filled shots which were not that grainy or noisy and not shaken up. This was with both normal and night mode — minus flash, of course. File sizes were just shy of 1MB. In daylight, pictures were okay but with slightly overdone colours at times. The camera has an f/2.0 sensor and focuses quite fast, though it’s awfully noisy. There are plenty of settings and effects. While this camera doesn’t have the capabilities of, say, the Nokia 808, it does work very well for people taking casual shots of friends and family. Video too is quite decent. A distinctive feature of the One’s camera is ‘Zoe,’ the results of which users may enjoy for casual sharing. Zoe takes a short video, going back a bit to capture a snap before you started. You can pick the best pic. But more than that, multiple Zoes can also be set to music in a longer little clip. Just a fun feature that comes out quite nice.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 06-05-2013)
Read More
Zip And ManageThree dollars is a little too much for this app, but if you’re struggling to find a way to control your Dropbox and iCloud files, you might consider the iFile Browser for the iPad and iPhone. It’s not the only file manager for Dropbox, which has its own file management as well, but it has the additional ability to zip and unzip files — and that’s a handy thing in a file browser. Once you install it, you connect to your Dropbox and iCloud. Your folders and files appear as they would in any file manager. Now, you can navigate to whatever files you want, rename, print, delete, cut and paste (particularly useful with photos) and you can zip them up and put them away to take less space. You don’t have access to system files and you can’t see any documents stored on your iPad as that’s not the Apple way in any case. But you can access files on a computer by connecting to the device and going through iTunes. There’s a pdf document to show you how to use the file manager and also some sample files. Of course, if you have files for which security is important, I wouldn’t suggest putting them through a middleman app or maybe not even on public cloud storage at all. But for photos, music, etc., iFile could be most helpful. Keep The NotesIf you're not an Evernote user and are looking for somthing simpler, you may want to consider Google's new note taking app, Keep. It is an Android app and free on the Google Play store. You log into it with your Google account and whatever notes you have will sync with Google Drive and also be available from the app's web version. The app is simplistic and doesn't have too many features. For instance, you can make a checklist of items but can't set reminders. You can't categorise note or lists though you can colour them in a handful of bright shades. You can also add photos and voice memos. Voice will convert to text. I rather like it, and although it doesn't compare to Evernote's entire ecosystem of functions, it's quickand easy to use. Caller HistoryYou know how it is when someone calls you and you go totally blank, unable to remember your last conversation with the caller? That's where the app Refresh Me comes into play — on the Google Play store. It lets you attach a note to a call. When you recieve or make a call, Refresh Me puts a menu of buttons in front to let you look at previous notes or create a new one. The app is free right now but expected to go premium with some much-needed features such as being able to attach a note to an SMS. The customisation settngs are also going to see some enhancement, according to the developer. For now, it may be limited but is still very usable. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 06-05-2013)
Read More
Happy now? Those demanding a sound mobile strategy from Facebook should be pleased at this latest move from the House of Zuckerberg. Or should I say, Home. Instead of making a Facebook phone, which would have just been a risky reinventing of the wheel, Facebook cleverly decided to ride piggyback on the biggest mobile player — Android — and set up home there. In any case, it’s hardly in business of hardware. Instead, it came up with another solution. ‘Facebook Home’ is an Android launcher and for those not familiar with that, it’s an interface that sits on top of the operating system on the device. The launcher determines what you see on your home screen and to some extent the immediate access you get to apps, settings or other items depending on the design of the launcher. There is no dearth of launchers, and Android power users are constantly trying them out for customising the look of their phones and tablets. And now, there’s an all-Facebook launcher that makes an Android smartphone look like a Facebook phone. And I’m dismayed. The Facebook launcher actually looks very nice, from what we can see in pictures and videos in demos. It takes up the lockscreen and home screen and turns it into a “cover feed” of big pictures and statuses of whatever your friends are posting. Better hope they post good-looking content that you can swipe through contentedly every time you reach for your phone. To begin with, only some devices such as the HTC One, One X+, top Samsung Galaxy phones etc., can get the Facebook Home launcher and perhaps only in the US. HTC has partnered with Facebook and come up with a phone called First wearing this launcher, but that too isn’t announced for India yet. In any case, you neither have to buy the phone nor get the launcher if you don’t want to. That’s not the problem. What worries me is that Facebook Home now opens the door for Facebook to build on a mobile strategy to get further enmeshed into users’ lives. The possibility of creating a launcher has existed for years since it’s something any developer can do, so it’s surprising it took so long for Facebook to get to. Mark Zuckerberg says it’s all about putting people first, but that bit of marketing cliché is something of which we’re surely growing weary. With a Facebook-oriented phone, a user will certainly be hyperconnected with friends all the time. You’d never miss a cat photo or baby snap. You’d get your dose of useless life-changing quotes, you’d know who ate what and you’d get our fill of people moaning about it being Monday again. Luckily, my feeling is that not very many people will want this. It’s one thing to have the choice of getting to your Facebook app when you’re good and ready and spending however long you want catching up. It’s quite another to have the entire device, which we use for so many things, all Facebooked. Reception of Facebook Home has sparked off fears of how even more access to user data will be in the hands of a company which has figured out how to fine-target ads to users. But as long as these are not intrusive and getting in the way of what I want to do, I don’t see that as a big problem. I worry more about how users will be projected in search results and future features on a platform that is mobile and growing faster or even crushing the PC industry. Do I want my face popping up on someone’s phone screen when he or she does a search for something? Do I want my location, which may be public in some place, to be further known where I did’t expect it to be? Facebook makes reassuring noises about that sort of thing now, but have they really gained the trust of users so far? If I were to be optimistic, I’d hope that Facebook will learn that it has to quit surprising users with changes that they didn’t ask for and assuming that all anyone wants to do is Facebook 24/7. Yes, it’s become a verb. mala(at)pobox(dot)comTwitter: (at)malabhargava(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 06-05-2013)
Read More
The Japanese electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, also known as Panasonic, revealed its new line of rugged mobile computing devices for the Indian market on 15 April’ 2013. Extending its Toughpad portfolio launched in October’ 2012, the 2 new tablets individually support the Windows 8 and Android platforms, and are broadly designed to provide reliable and secure access to the user’s data as well as applications. The 10.1-inch Windows 8 tablet Toughpad FZ-G1 has WUXGA display with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels. Powered by 3rd Generation Intel Core i5-3437UvPro Processor comes with 4GB RAM (expandable upto 8GB) that is dust and water resistant and can bear 120cm drop shock as well. Priced at Rs 1.75lakh (excluding taxes) it weighs 1.1kg, supports 3G with a battery life of 8hours and has got USB 3.0 and HDMI ports. “Panasonic India now has a renewed focus on the B2B and B2G business. We further aim to capture 40 per cent of India’s rugged devices market,” says Manish Sharma, MD, Panasonic India. With a 7-inch daylight readable multi touch display, Toughpad JT- B1 has an Android (Ice Cream Sansdwich) interface and a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. With a 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor and 1GB RAM, it boasts of a 16GB built-in storage (expandable upto 32 GB) and a 5720mAh battery. It can bear 150 cm drop shock with a battery life up to 8 hours. Priced at Rs 69,000 (excluding taxes), it also has a 13MP camera with LED flash and a 1.3MP unit front camera. These devices(already in market) mainly cater the industries such as automotive, aviation, telecom, utility, retail, manufacturing etc. Other than these tablets, Panasonic also revealed its two handheld computers called the Touchbook JT H300HT and Touchbook JT H320HT catering the logistic industry.
Read More
Judging by all the launches, it's the season for smartphones, but the BlackBerry Z10 isn't just another new smartphone. It symbolises the Canadian major's big push to salvage one of the most famous brands in mobile history, and the Z10 is the flagship on which rests the fate of the company. The question is - does the Z10 deliver or gets crushed under the burden of expectations? Will it work for the faithful who've clutched their 'berries, held them close through these trying times and avoided the obvious lure of iOS/Android? Read on to find out! From its revised physical design to its built-from-scratch BB10 platform, there's very little of the old BlackBerry in the Z10. Lines are clean and design is industrial, albeit a little iPhone5-esque, and the form factor is well suited for single-handed use. Build quality is good, and the phone feels durable enough to take everyday knocks and drops. The front is dominated by the 4.2-inch 1280x768 display, and there's a lack of any buttons whatsoever - not surprising given how touch-gesture oriented the BlackBerry 10 platform is. Touch screen responsiveness is very smooth, and text and images on the screen are sharp and rendered beautifully, although I wish the display were a tad brighter. Using the new BlackBerry 10 platform on the Z10 is a mixed bag. Getting started with the gestures isn't nearly as intuitive as it should be for first time users, especially for folks hunting for that home or back button to get their bearings around the device. That said, once you figure out your way around the device, where everything is and how it works, you can move from app to app or from one activity to another with the kind of efficiency that is rare to see on the leading platforms. Oh, and the touchscreen keyboard is in a class of its own, it's that good. Can't say I'm quite as sold about the suggested text options - they seem like a neat trick for showing off the device, but at least for me, swiping up for a certain word ended up being more a distraction. Performance wise, apps load fast and multitasking between open apps is fluid, which shows that when companies optimise their software to their hardware, the experience is so worth it. Battery life is acceptable by smartphone standards. The trouble is that the apps situation is leagues behind the market leaders, and while some big name apps are coming in the near future, it's going to be a while till you find all your favourite apps on this platform, if at all they come. The BB10 platform has its fair share of rough edges as well, which is okay given that this is a v1 product. At its price, you can buy a flagship iOS/Android device - sadly, BlackBerry has priced the Z10 too high to be a worthwhile alternative. For current Blackberry users, the package is a huge step up, but the world has evolved to a point where what's right for an average BlackBerry user is no longer what's right for everyone else in the world. Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 43,490URL: http://bit.ly/YDeiV4Also Read: Mala Bhargava's review of Blackberry Z10 Turning Touch FriendlyWindows 8 works like a charm on the new touchscreen laptops, but what if you're stuck with an older non-touch-enabled laptop and in no mood to spend more money on a new laptop? The Portronics Handmate could be the answer for you - the device attaches to the side of your laptop screen and converts your existing laptop screen into a touch-friendly display. It's worth noting that this approach doesn't allow for touchscreen use with your fingers; instead you have to use the included pen to interact with the screen. Installation is pretty easy, and once you get past the calibration, the device works like a charm. I installed this on my ageing laptop which had gotten a new lease of life with a fresh Window 8 install, and soon enough, I was swiping my way across the screen, making handwritten annotations on documents and using Windows 8 gestures. Impressive stuff this, and well priced too. Just bear in mind the Handmate works with screen sizes up to 17 inches, which makes it ideal for laptops but rules out many larger desktop displays. Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 4,999URL: http://bit.ly/YCgjOXtechnocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
Read More
After its success with Lumia, Nokia has added two more smartphones, Lumia 520 and Lumia 720 in the Windows phone series. With a tinge of curve at the corners and similar features, both the smartphones appear to be succesors of their earlier Lumia 510 and Lumia 620 respectively. Priced at Rs 10,500 approximately, Lumia 520 will be available in the Indian market from 27 March’ 2013 whereas Lumia 720, priced at around Rs 17,460 approximately, excluding the taxes, will be available in mid-April. "The launch of the Nokia Lumia 720 and Nokia Lumia 520 reflects our commitment to build a winning ecosystem that will enrich people's mobile experience and help them connect with each other at newer price points," says Vipul Mehrotra, Director - smart devices, India Middle East Africa, Nokia. Nokia Lumia 520The high-end smartphone comes with a 4-inch screen, 9.6-hour talktime, 1-GHz dual core Snapdragon S4 processor, 512MB RAM and 8GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. With a 5MP camera, the motion animation feature enables the user to make any element of an image active and moving. Apps like Big Flix (Movie app) and Photo Beamer (sharing photos through an embedded QR code) also makes the smartphone unique. Nokia Lumia 720With a 1 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, Lumia 720 possesses a 4.3-inch LCD capacitive display, 13.4-hour talktime available in many colours. A 6.7MP Carl Zeiss camera and a 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass 2.0 display also responds to nail and glove-on-hand movement. Lumia 720 boasts of a 1.3-MP front camera and captures HD videos at 720p at 30 frames per second. Lumia 520 offers 1GB 3G service and 2GB 3G service for all Idea users. Nokia also extended its GPS and mapping service that will soon be available for other Window supported devices.
Read More
