So much happens in technology that you could look back at any given year in the past two decades and think: “Phew, what a year.” But far stronger words wouldn’t begin to describe 2012. It’s been the year that terms like ‘mobility’ and ‘cloud’ have leapt right off the slides of presentations and into our everyday lives. Like how I found a friend of mine using an app to keep track of his blood sugar. And another who wanted to know how to bank on her tablet to create and deliver presentations to clients. Such examples are no longer either surprising or countable. Mobility was the pulse for almost everything that happened over 2012 in technology. We always knew it would happen, but at the same time, tech has become more unpredictable than ever. You can say there’ll be lots of tablets and smartphones in 2013; there’ll be more and better apps, and there will be interesting ‘converged’ hybrid products and many more connected things. But you can’t tell who’s going to make them happen. Because if there’s one thing we’ve seen this year, it’s that the awareness of mobility as a driving force is no guarantee of a company’s success. In fact, even for companies that have been born into mobility, the challenges have been extreme and surviving them hasn’t been a matter of one single thing that the company can do. So look at the struggles that have plagued our favourite tech titans: Apple may have had a spectacular year but it’s shown that it’s not without competition; it’s not perfect after all; and it’s not assured a top-of-the-pack status unless it continues to innovate and surprise. For Apple, the bar of expectations is set higher than for any other company. The fabulous iPhone and iPad have been industry-defining and have the universe of an ecosystem tied into them, but the OS is showing its age as slicker and fresher interfaces come up to compete. Notice how you now rarely hear the phrase ‘iPad killer’ or ‘iPhone killer’ as often. Many choices besides Apple’s expensive products, including the MacBooks, exist. And of course, many of those choices come from Apple’s big rival, Samsung, which in 2012 toppled Nokia as the No. 1 phone maker. In a world where 1.2 billion smartphones and tablets are expected to sell in 2013, according to analyst firm Gartner, Samsung will be showing no signs of slowing. Reports from a Korean publication state that Samsung will ship half a billion smart devices. Riding a wave of success despite many costly skirmishes in court, Samsung probably has fewer challenges than others, although staying on top is a feat that takes a different set of measures than those needed to get there. Google has its own way of doing things, not many of them making sense to an onlooker, but in Q3 of 2012, Android mopped up 75 per cent market share on smartphones, according to IDC. Google’s Nexus smartphones and tablets have been much sought after, though one doesn’t know how well these actually did. Google, like Amazon, kept its prices low (in the US) but like its own fragmented but interesting Android system, Google faces the need to create some cohesion to put all it does together. It’s even supposed to be working on a secret phone, codenamed the X Phone. Both Google and Microsoft have tried, at the risk of upsetting their OEM partners, to use Apple’s formula of total control over all aspects of their ecosystem — hardware, software, marketing and delivery. It hasn’t quite worked as advertised. The giants have not only played nasty with rivals but also with friends and there’s no telling how this will play out in 2013. Microsoft’s particular challenges are no secret. The Surface didn’t take the world by storm and Windows 8 cannot be said to have either flopped or succeeded in its very first year and version. It’s just a new beast and the shift for users isn’t easy, particularly when it comes to navigating the system itself. Microsoft will have to play its cards right to sell its products at their high prices and get developers to build the apps ecosystem so critical to the company. Microsoft has to reorient the company, not just Windows, to meet its ambitious goals— including but not limited to being a service, being a seller of software, being a producer of hardware (perhaps) and becoming more of a search entity. For a bunch of one-time tech giants, 2012 has been nothing short of disastrous. What happened to HP? And why did Nokia lose momentum on its most-anticipated Lumia phone? And will Research in Motion’s BB10 bring it back into the race? Looking good as an OS and interface is no guarantee that there’s an entire compelling ecosystem and killer reason to choose the upcoming BlackBerry smartphones over Android, Apple and Windows 8 devices. But you never know. It would be nice to say “what a year” post 2013 too. mala(at)pobox(dot)com ,@malabhargava on Twitter (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 07-01-2013)
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What Samsung started with the Galaxy Note is threatening to become an epidemic. Few guessed that the 5-inch-or-so smartphones would become so popular. After all, they’re not that easy to carry and making calls on them is a different experience from using smaller phones. But the in-between size merged portability with screen real estate, which meant being able to do a lot on the go. With the battery life and hardware to support it — why not? Many companies have come up with their versions of the Note for around Rs 10,000. Minus the polish, minus the stylus, minus the hundreds of features— but pretty workable. Spiced Up With SpeedThe high-end feel of Spice Mi-500 Stellar Horizon quite surprised me. I had a look at the white version. The device was about the same weight as the Note II and didn’t look half bad. It was in a white flip case, which I’m told it ships with. All around the body is a metal-like skirting and a screen that is nice and bright (480 x800 with 187 ppi density), but compromises on viewing angles. Still, browsing was super fast. If I touched the browser button accidentally, it would be up and straight into Google in less than a fraction of a second. Spice, intex and micromax have come out with their versions of the phone-tablet hybrid The processor, incidentally, is a 1 GHz dual-core. There’s 512 GB of RAM and just 4 GB online storage, some of it for your use. There’s a microSD slot for expansion up to 32 GB. The Stellar is on Ice Cream Sandwich. You can get all the apps you want from Google Play and improve the experience of many things on the phone, such as inputting text and adding widgets. The camera is a 5 MP and has many settings including panorama and HDR. It does have a flash. There’s a 1.3 MP secondary camera. This gadget has a good music player app and watching YouTube videos on it wasn’t bad at all. There are many pre-loaded apps, including an anti-virus app NQ Security that can be upgraded to a premium version. Inside, when you take the cover off, you see a big 2400 mAh battery which takes you through a day. The two SIMs in its neat interiors are GSMs. And all of this for Rs 12,000 or so.Light And EasyThe Intex Aqua 5.0 also feels great to hold. It’s slimmer and lighter than the Stellar Horizon, but still has a high-end look and body. It’s easier to hold than the Note, which is 0.5 inches bigger. The back is again white plastic (I got the white to look at) and it’s sort of ribbed diagonally. Not exactly classy, but nothing you’d be overly bothered by either. The back panel comes off with a little difficulty, but this is a minor point since you won’t be repeatedly removing it — hopefully. Seen from the front, the Aqua is much like other Android phones, only much bigger — black bezel and screen, the usual slab form and some slightly rounded edges. Along the sides, you have a metal strip. Overall it reminds me of a big Galaxy SII, a phone I’ve lived with for over a year until recently. The Aqua has a 480x800 screen that is bright and has nice colours, but less-than-perfect viewing angles, like the Stellar. There are four buttons on the bottom: home, settings, back, and search. It felt a tad slower than the Stellar when watching videos but browsing and navigation were fast. In fact, it’s speedier than many smaller and more expensive phones we come across. Here too we have a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and a secondary 1.3 megapixel front-facer. The Aqua is running on Android 4.0 or ICS. We have the NQ mobile security app here too. And Flipkart, IRCTC, Nimbuzz, Skype, and more. The Aqua costs Rs 9,990. Five-Inch CanvasThe Micromax Superfone Canvas 2 borrows a bit from Samsung’s styling. It has the shape of the Galaxy SIII, especially in white, and the name Canvas may rankle with Samsung, which positions the Note as a creativity device. It, too, has a plastic back, but in matt finish, ensuring it doesn’t look cheap. The back peels off ever so easily. The 2000 mAh battery should last a day unless you use the screen for hours. The Canvas 2 echoes all the specs of the other two phablets except for the camera which is an 8 megapixel with a 0.3 secondary one. The settings on the main camera are ambitious with best shot, a selection of how many shots to capture, white balance settings, colour scenes, HDR and more. There’s a flash and a light sensor. The results are about the same as you’d get from a mid-range phone and not comparable to the top-end ones. The screen is marginally brighter, at 480 x 854 pixels with 196 ppi density. The software, such as on the camera for example, on all three devices is similar. The interior battery compartment in all them is neat and looks well made. On this smartphone too, browsing and navigation are fast. Dual SIMs (mini for all), microSD card slot, etc., are the same as well. There are pre-loaded Micromax apps and access to a Micromax store. This one is also for Rs 9,990.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 07-01-2013)
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G PowerIf you’re the ecstatic owner of an iPhone, make sure you upgrade everything Google on your device. After Apple threw out Google Maps, created its own messed up version, got egg on its face and, all embarrassed, it decided to let Google services back in, now Google Maps is back, better than ever before. You have turn-by-turn directions — by voice if you like — and you have the choice of getting directions on transport as well. The one word people use to describe the end of the whole maps fiasco is ‘relief’ because the dependence on Google Maps is so high that many users actually avoided upgrading to the iOS6 as that would have meant losing access to maps. In the end, users have less reason to give up on Apple as they now have all they need, so I’m not sure who won this round. Another essential that was refreshed is Gmail. If you’ve been staying clear of the app on your iDevices, check out the free revamped version. Now Gmail has support for up to five accounts, integration with Google+ and a better swipey and clean interface. If you’re not addicted to the mail app, you might like to check it out. Another Google casualty on iOS devices was YouTube and that too is back, slicker and more powerful. Seeing as Indians are particularly fond of watch-listening to music on YouTube and of course getting at all the videos, you should think of giving the new YouTube app a whirl instead of hunting for what you want via browsers. The new app looks good and lets you easily manage the channels you are fond of and make playlists. You can’t upload your videos from here though. For that, try Capture. Free and fullKingsoft Office is nothing short of shocking. It’s a full-fledged office suite — and it’s free. Available on Android and just perfect for all those using phablets and large smartphones. I mean it when I say this is a complete office suite. You get in and, after you’ve connected with whatever cloud storage you use, start a new document. This could be a word processor, spreadsheet or presentation. It’s not easy to input content into a smaller device when you’re used to doing this on a computer, but for quick bursts of work, it’s just fine. I’ve managed to write an article or two into the word processor, but that’s made easier than ever because I’m using the stylus on the Note II. If you travel a lot and want to do light work using this suite, invest in a stylus and see if that makes life any easier. Kingsoft is not a handwriting recognition program though, and you’d need to add it via an app like WritePad. You can also make input easy if you use SwiftKey. And once you upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.2, the keyboard has a predictive action. Getting into any of the three types of document creation modes, you’ll be amazed at the familiar features from Microsoft Office. For word processing, you have everything from text styles and footnotes, revision and paragraph settings to reading mode and web layout. That’s more than you get with most app-based editing apps. However, it’s less than what you’ll get on your computer, with Microsoft Office or Libre. Kingsoft supports some 25 formats including doc, docx, xls and ppt. You store files within the app or on Dropbox and other cloud services. It’s so intuitive that you don’t need to learn anything to use this app-suite.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 07-01-2013)
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Phew! Now that we've sailed past the Mayan nightmare scenario, we're all set to enjoy Christmas and the year-end, which by the sound of the cash registers ringing all over the country is going to be very tablet-y indeed! Everywhere you look, customers are picking up tablets with this one simple realisation - most of what they do can be done with a tablet. So this Christmas, go out and get a tablet for yourself or your loved ones (or both!). But which one, you ask? I break down the options for you! iPad mini: Launched just in time for Christmas, the iPad family has finally added a long overdue 7.9-inch variant - the mini. Like its bigger brother, the mini is made from the same high-quality materials and is every bit the premium product you would expect from Apple. At 7.2 mm thickness, it's easy to clasp in the hand and…it's gorgeous to boot! In a segment that favors plastic heavy construction, the iPad mini has taken the premium approach, a move that separates the device from its competition. Crucially, I found the weight and the smaller form factor quite the compelling proposition. At 308g, it's about half the weight of the regular iPad, and the weight difference makes the mini so much more a take-everywhere device. Even over prolonged use like a long subway ride, it's easy to hold in one hand, like you would hold a paperback. It also slips in easily into a small bag or a large jacket pocket, so it's always with you - not something one can say about the suddenly much heavier iPad. Yet, it can be argued that there's an element of compromise with the mini. It packs in the same dual-core processor and memory as the iPad 2, which in pure hardware terms was getting long in the tooth. It runs the latest iOS6 just fine though, so everyday tasks like browsing, YouTube and email, but you can feel the difference in demanding apps and games. And possibly the most critical omission - the mini doesn't pack in the high-resolution Retina display of the larger iPad, opting instead for a 1,024x768 pixel iPad2-spec display. The bigger iPad's screen is much sharper, and there's really is no going back once you have experienced a superior screen. Pit the two together, and text and user interface elements on the mini's screen appears a tad grainy and jagged. And like all current generation iOS devices, the screen is extremely responsive to all the taps, swipes and scrolls I threw at it, and there was never a stutter in getting things done. Another neat thing I noticed, which I hope will make its way onto the larger iPad, is a thinner screen bezel. Now, courtesy the larger screen that's now much closer to the edges of the device, it's entirely likely that the stray thumb will touch the edges of the screen when you're holding the device. What Apple has done is to ensure holding the device doesn't register the unwanted finger placement as a touchscreen selection/command. Compared to the competition, the mini does ostensibly offer more screen real-estate than standard 7-inch rivals, but its screen doesn't fare as well when it comes to sharpness - be it for everyday tasks like using the browser, email or looking at photos. Use it for multimedia and the difference doesn't seem as stark - in terms of video playback or game play, the mini holds its own with a strong colour palette and decent contrast ratios ensuring the device is a more than viable option for multimedia absorption. Of course, a Retina display akin to the iPad or the iPhone seems like a sure-fire inclusion for the likely second-generation update. Having said that, if you're a first timer at tablets and haven't used the Retina iPad extensively, the mini's display won't irk as much. So, which one will it be? The iPad mini or the bigger iPad 4th generation? Convenience and portability and a great Rs 21,900 (16GB) starting price vs. bleeding-edge hardware? Either way, you can't go wrong. …And The ContendersNexus 7: I've reserved nothing but high praise for Google's first tablet attempt, and had Asus kept India pricing somewhat similar to the rock-bottom $199 (~Rs 12,000) US pricing, the Nexus 7 would have been the no-questions-asked pick for a tablet to buy this Christmas. Just look at the hardware it packs in - a high-resolution 1200x800 pixel display, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and the latest Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system. At Rs. 19,999 (16GB), it's still a great buy if you're looking for the latest Android experience in a 7-inch package.Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201: If hammering away at a physical keyboard tops your list of needs from a tablet, the Asus TF201 is one to strongly consider, more so if you can score a deal on this tablet. Sit the tablet down on the slim keyboard dock, and you get a full keyboard, a USB port and a card reader and a big boost to battery life - an excellent choice for productivity-obsessed power users.Samsung Galaxy Tab 2: A sub-20K price tag, 3G and voice calling, the latest Android update and a nice portable 7-inch form factor - if you want a device which does it all without being remarkable in any one department, this is the device to buy.Micromax Funbook Pro: Want to buy big on a shoe-string budget? The Funbook Pro (Rs 9,999) from Micromax may not pack in the latest greatest hardware, but it will work for anyone looking for a device for casual web surfing and the occasional movie. Not recommended for gaming enthusiasts, though.Samsung Galaxy Note 800: This is the tricked-out 10-incher to pick up - besides the sizeable HD display and Jelly Bean, the Note 800 (Rs. 37,500) includes a S-Pen stylus for jotting your thoughts (or doodles) down, and it can run apps side-by-side. Five Questions to Ask Yourself before Buying a TabletDo I need one? Is the tablet allowing you to completely replace your laptop for your computing needs? Can you move over completely from the PC? If so, the tablet may be a great device to pick up. If not, consider whether it is a need, or a wantWhich Platform? So you have the Apple camp - the iPad and the mini, and the Android camp with its bevy of hardware choices. Also, Microsoft entered this segment with tablets running Windows RT, a slimmed down version of Windows 8 that runs on ARM processors, but the options are limited at the time of writing. It will come down to what suits you personally, but broadly speaking, Apple's iOS is clean and intuitive and has a fantastic selection of apps made for the tablet, while Android allows for an amazing amount of configurability and seamless integration with Google services such as Gmail, Maps and Google Talk. Windows RT will give you the closest thing to a desktop experience on a tablet, plus you get Microsoft Office with the OS, but it is really early in the Windows RT device release cycle for the platform to have truly matured.Where are the apps? If you want quality apps, the iPad is hard to beat with its nearly 300,000 made for tablet apps available in the App Store. Not to say Android hasn't made big strides in this department, but the sheer number and variety of tablet-optimised Android apps are lacking here.Screen Size and Storage? This may seem like an obvious choice, but it's an important consideration to make. Keep in mind what you intend to use the tablet for - a bigger screen is good for ebook reading, web surfing and movie watching, while a smaller screen means the device will be portable and may actually get taken along to places (and be useful) where a bigger tablet may not. As far as storage is concerned, remember that with the iPad, you get what you buy on day 1, no expandability. Sure, cloud storage is an option, but with the patchy Internet connectivity we have, on board storage is always better. If you're a media junkie with several memory cards worth of songs and videos you must carry along, many Android tablets let you expand storage via a built-in memory card slot.Wi-Fi only or Cellular?: If you largely plan to use the tablet indoors, or have a 3G plan on your cell phone that you plan to share with your tablet, save yourself some money and pick up the Wi-Fi only version of the tablet you like.technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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The concept is as elegant as it is simple. You take a phone, and plug it into the back of a tablet shell, giving you the large-screen tablet experience while still relying on that one phone for your 3G data connection and all your apps/files. Has Asus out-innovated the market with the Padfone? Let's find out. The key element, of course, is the phone powering the entire experience. It's quite a looker, though some would say it resembles the iPhone a bit too closely. It packs in a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 pixel display, which isn't bad per se, but it pales in comparison to the top smartphones of today. The 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor inside the PadFone powers a nearly lag-free Android 4.0 experience, nothing a shot of the latest Jellybean OS can't fix. What puts the pad in the PadFone is the Padfone Station, a 10.1-inch tablet exterior that converts the phone into a 1280 x 800 pixel-sporting Android 4 tablet. What's nice is that it adds a massive 6600mAh battery to the equation, which charges the phone while it's docked. The trouble is that even while it is docked, it is recognized as a phone by the Google Play store, which means what you get on the tablet are essentially scaled up phone apps. Add to that a keyboard attachment, which converts the phone-tablet into a laptop, and a stylus that does double duty as a Bluetooth hands free, so you don't have to pull the phone out of the dock to make a call. With a phone as jam-packed with innovation as the Asus Padfone, why am I stopping short of recommending it? First, the price is excessive for what is essentially a mid-range phone with some fancy accessories. Not to mention there's already a much-improved Padfone 2, which has already been launched in select markets globally. Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 64,999URL: http://bit.ly/WDVSFWWaging WarfrontYou know how they say "If it ain't broke…". Well, with Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software has done exactly that - taken the eccentric (but beautifully fleshed out) characters, the richness of the quests and the strong storyline that defined the original Borderlands game, and tweaked all of these up a notch. You're back at Pandora, where the evil Hyperion Corporation led by the easy-to-hate boss known only as Handsome Jack is out to remove all traces of all non-Hyperion personnel - that includes you - off the planet. You team up with a rebel movement - led by the four characters from the original game - who wants to stop Jack from unleashing weapons of mass destruction upon the planet's inhabitants. As you begin the game, take a bit of time to read up about the classes of characters available to you, and pick the one that works for your playing style. You then work your way through missions, improving on your 'talents' and picking up some incredibly useful (not to mention downright wacky) weaponry as you go along.All in all, this game's a labour of love - just look at the level of detail in the characters and in the world of Pandora, the amazing variety of weapons and enemies, and the movie-quality dialogs - and you realise all the hours ahead of you finishing the zany missions the game throws at you will be time well spent. This truly is a game to lose yourself in, and one of the best this year has thrown up. Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 2,499 on PS3 and Xbox360URL: http://bit.ly/10mM1V5 Ultra EdgyIt's telling that Samsung chooses to avoid using the term 'ultrabook' to describe the 2012 version of the Series 9 ultraportable notebook. Maybe the company wants to avoid the all-encompassing tag that the word brings with it these days. In any case, the new Series 9 is an ultrabook all right, and one that packs quite the wallop in its segment, much like its predecessor. Only that it's thinner, lighter and faster! Using the 1.9GHz Core i7-powered Series 9 is a revelation of sorts. You get a vibrant screen, a battery that lasts the good part of the day (approximately 6.5 hours) with regular use, and a super speedy yet roomy 256 GB solid-state drive. The attention to detail and the finish feels like no corners have been cut in making this product, and that shows in the pricing as well. At a tad over a lakh, the Series 9 is borderline expensive for what is unquestionably bleeding edge hardware. URL: http://bit.ly/UVYeu7Price: Rs1,02,990 technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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At nearly a billion users across the planet, Facebook is the quintessential party that never ends, with a never-ending stream of activity — likes, shares, tags, photos, and comments — each time you log in. The trouble is, with so many on board, you can never be sure who else Facebook’s invited to the party, and whether these are folks you can trust with the goings-on on your Facebook profile. While the social giant has put in a number of privacy features in place, very few users actually change the default security settings. Help is at hand though — here’s a five-minute primer to fix your Facebook profile. Your Public Persona: The first thing you should do is to see just how much you’re sharing out to the public via your public profile. Head to your profile page by clicking your name in the top-right corner, and then select the ‘View As’ option. So…are you making too much information available to a casual observer? Read on… Privacy Settings: Locking down your profile, at least so that only your friends see your updates, is simple enough. Click on the arrow on the right of the Home link to bring up the Privacy Settings, where you can immediately see three choices under the Control Your Default Privacy section – Public, Friends and Custom. If yours it set to public, you’re sharing everything with pretty much anyone who cares to come looking for it. Change this to Friends, so that by default only your friends can see your posts, photos etc. Remember, this change applies only to stuff you’ll post going forward, and if you want to undo the sins of the past, you’re going to have to click on the Manage Past Post Visibility link to limit the visibility of your previous posts to your friends. How You Connect: While you’re on the Privacy Settings, you can change exactly who can connect with you on FB. Unless you’re a celebrity, you would probably want to limit who can look up your number/email or send you a message/friend request to your Friends of Friends at most. Change this under the How You Connect section. Timelines and Tagging: These settings can make the difference between being blindsided by a friend tagging a much inebriated photo of you on your profile and a profile that’s clean enough for colleagues and family to visit! You can set it up to alert you when a friend tags you in a post/photo and reject the tag so it wont appear on your timeline. There’s even a setting that enables facial recognition for photos – I’d keep it off permanently. Fascinating technology but borderline scary, if you ask me. And if you’re picky about what apps can post to your timeline (who doesn’t enjoy the odd Facebook game, but not every needs to know, right?), head over to the Ads, Apps and Websites section and limit the visibility of these app updates only to yourself. And that’s it! With these most essential of privacy features locked down, you can truly share your life with your friends, and ensure it stays that way! Security paranoid? Try the excellent LifeHacker post on Facebook privacy: http://bit.ly/OH9gRq A Tab On ValueBudget Android tablets have an all-too-familiar playbook to follow (unfortunate choice of works, I know!). Pack in plenty of connectivity options, round it off with a passable screen and price it low – and the user will make the necessary experience compromises for the price (s)he’s paying. Not so with the BSNL promoted Penta T-Pad WS802C tablet. I’ve been using it for the past couple of weeks, and I’ve got to say – while it is no Nexus 7 tablet, it isn’t a pushover either. Armed with capable specs under the hood, the T-Pad handles Android 4.0 ICS capably and even ran the full HD videos I threw at it. It packs in 3G and voice calling and while it is on the heavier side for a plastic-clad tablet, it’s not a bad option at all for the value-seeking tablet buyer. Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 14,699URL: http://bit.ly/UfngZttechnocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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The resounding thought in my head as I first held the iPhone 5 in my hand — don’t drop it, don’t drop it, don’t drop it! It’s unexpectedly slippery and glassy and drop it is just what a friend of mine did seconds after being gifted the revered gadget by a doting husband. It promptly responded with a chip on one side. It soon found a home in a case where its beauty will never be seen again. Think about it: once it’s all covered, it’s no longer such a piece of jewellery, is it? When not hidden in a case, the iPhone5 is crystal-perfect. Cool, clean, sublime. No one who holds it is immune to the classiness of its form and the satisfying neatness of its lines. They made it as light as they could, even letting go of a long-established connector in favour of a new one, and let me tell you: never has a mere connector received so much press as the “Lightning” as it was discussed threadbare for weeks. Turning the iPhone5 on, I found the familiar iOS interface, and I actually didn’t specially notice the five rows instead of four or the longer form factor of the device. This is probably because I’m accustomed to larger smartphones though I did not find the 4-inch iPhone5 feeling tiny. Of course it fit perfectly in one hand and was easy to use. It’s faster, taller, narrower, lighter, prettier, silkier, smoother than all previous iPhones… no one can argue with that. It also does have a great camera — among the two or three best ones on a smartphone. With fewer settings than on any other camera on a phone, it took shots that were almost artistic. While perhaps not a dramatic difference from the previous iPhone 4S, it is better with low light shots which are sharp even when there’s a bit of noise. This time, the iPhone frenzy galvanised Indians, the disposable incomes of whom I’m impressed with considering this smartphone costs close to half a lakh. But it’s often out of stock or out of sight and it’s rare to be able to walk into a store and walk out with one. I was amused at a story I was told about someone who barged into a store wanting to buy 10 iPhone5s. He certainly did not get them but in what was a nasty stroke of misfortune, he lost track of his money bag and was soon poorer by several lakhs. Beautiful as a piece of hardware it may be, but the sameness of its interface is no longer doing it justice. If there’s one thing I’d hope Apple does to the next iPhone, it is to completely overhaul the interface with the now boring row of icon after icon on every screen and make it, dare I say it, more Android-like. Now that users have matured a lot more in their use of smartphones, it’s time to un-wall that walled garden a bit and allow for something interesting to happen throughout the interface. With an Android device you can all but put our own interface onto it, if you know how to use some of the many launchers available on Google Play. You can have a different look every week, if you like — and I often do. Even Windows 8 has an interface that is often called ‘refreshing’, which really means that it’s a welcome departure from the grid of icons we’ve had for too many years. With some customisation and personalisation possible, the iPhone would combine nicely with its unmatched universe of apps, each bringing interesting experiences. My friend who’s just been gifted an iPhone5 never really wanted one. She wasn’t ready for the intense involvement she feels a high-end smartphone requires. But then, she’s quickly grown to be able to use it because, as she says, “It’s only a smaller iPad.” For those who’ve already been using an iPhone and are confirmed fans, all that will be in the way is finances to get the iPhone5. If that’s no bar, they will want any improvement to a device that’s been beloved to them. Another friend of mine owns the 3GS, 4 and iPhone5 and miraculously uses the lot. But for others who are just graduating to smartphones, consider that the cost must match the subsequent use and involvement to be worthwhile. If it’s a first smartphone, and you want the iPhone5 because it’s what everyone says is the best, it would be rather sad to waste it by feeding it and yourself with no apps — and hence no discovery of new ways of doing things. I have often thought that people are more ready for the hardware than they are for newer software and experiences — other than the usual chatting, videos, music and a smatter of games. That’s when half a lakh to make calls and SMS seems quite out of proportion. mala(at)pobox(dot)com, (at)malabhargava on Twitter (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 24-12-2012)
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Playing With PhotosThe photo-editing app Snapspeed has long been a favourite on Apple’s iOS. Users coughed up $5 for the privilege of using its enhancing and basic editing features. It’s not like what Snapspeed does is very unique, now that there are many photo editors to choose from. But it does what it does well enough and was early to the game, which is one reason why so many are dependent on it and loyal. And then Google bought it and now it’s finally on Android. It’s free on both platforms (which is making the iOS quite mad, but such is life). The Android version is pretty much the same as the iOS one. It’s simple and fast, letting you adjust image attributes such as brightness, contrast, saturation and white balance. You can use tilt shift to put in some artistic blurring, enhance ambience or sharpen the picture including making spot adjustments. A useful thing for those who deal with RAW files from more advanced cameras is that these files are supported by Snapspeed. That capability is not easy to find on many photo editors that are on mobile devices. If you’re looking for effects and filters, this isn’t the app for you, but if you want to clean up your photos right from your phone or tab you could try out Snapspeed and see if you’re as happy with it as early users of the iPhone and iPad have been. Plus it’s free. Information Made DelightfulSpringpad, often thought to be a competitor to Evernote, is a truly enjoyable app to use — on your PC, Android phone (where it looks really pretty), Blackberry or iOS. Like Evernote, the concept of Notebooks is central, but the whole usage is lighter. Hardened Evernote users may find Springpad superfluous — or they may want to use it in addition to Evernote for a different set of things. It’s not as heavy duty as Evernote, and doesn’t have as many add-on features and sub-apps, but it’s a delight in itself. You start by creating your account — or log in using Twitter or Facebook — and you’re ready to start noting, linking, taking photos and sound files and making beautiful looking notebooks out of the lot. Springpad can be used as a quick way of getting together your to-do list, or to collect interesting or important information. Your notebooks, tagged and organised, can be shared publicly, with select people, or kept private. For example, I keep a World War II notebook in which every book, video or article I read is linked. All I have to do is search for it and the item will show up, along with cover photos. I also review the items I’ve collected, and then I share it with others interested in the same subject. You could also document a holiday in pictures and notes or collect material to do with your work. It’s just a more beautiful and a more motivating way of getting things together. And it’s free. (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 24-12-2012
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