Random Thoughts

Been a while and couple of my posts on the CWG and the some other thing(of which I even forgot on what) have gone right down the shredder, as unsurprisingly they’ve gone out of context.

And then there is this post, just to give an uptick on the things to get under way in this year. Part of the reason for not doing what I ought do might account for my being variably wired or even my own other indulgences not to mention the addiction to the microblogger.

Things do change, don’t they, off late with me wondering if there was anything that exists, that can be perceived to be present except for your own heart beat. For everything apart from you (as you form the tip of the cone) come under the famous past-future cone where in you always tend to perceive things always past.

Guess the blog is really missing on the real big picture and slyly incapable of framing some good ones must confess that must find some alternative to beat down the mutual idle time. Guess am being more subjectively abjected to the so called Stockholm Syndrome at my work place which considerably felt am finding hard to break.

With yet another iron-fist resolve of really putting something meaningful the next time, I just….

CLT20 is good for India Inc.!

As I start typing this one, can’t help but swap the tabs to get the heads-up on the latest score line. The Champions League is under way in South Africa, with 3 teams from India along with their entourage of brands participating in it. While my interest delves into a bit of cricket, was trying to decode how our marketing frenzy brands  were all by themselves establishing their visibility in a land of opportunities.

The BASIC as the world knows comprises of the world’s fastest growing and most promising emerging markets. Apart from BRIC, coined by the red knight Jim ‘O Neill BASIC forms a quadrant where things are happening and happening at break neck speeds.

The Indian cricket entourage not only consists of the coaches, physicians and et al but also the end less brands each of them endorse and with CLT they are provided a platform that can be exploited to establish a global foot print. As the teams are to a large part represented from big international brands that have huge visibility to small brands that are hitchhiking on the backs of some lesser known players.

This global event grandiose in its scale, does provide an opportunity for them to set up shop not only in the host country but also in the neighboring countries. On a micro scale this is good, as most of Africa is left open by international brands mainly due to their eco as well as cultural backwardness. If only smaller brands, stand and make themselves count to treat South Africa as the light at the end of the tunnel they will be opening up “easy markets” where capital inputs are not only low but can also get them large profit margins.

South Africa on its part is the torch bearer of the Dark Continent. With the success of FIFA ’10 and with CLT following suit, they are not only convincing outsiders to invest into their country but are also opening up the whole African market.

The poles are reversed, Misr used to be the trading point of Africa in the golden age of pharoahs, but now South Africans are the torch bearers.  The MTN-Airtel deal was followed very closely by the world, not only for the sheer size they ‘d be creating but also what  ‘d’ve been a nuptials of two independent business models that are aggressive and market leaders. But with the deal called off, owing to the ideological differences between the political mafia.

[To be Contd.....]

A Ride to Remember!

I heard my watch chime in which meant I had just 1 hour to reach Central, and was getting incrementally frustrated at the long queue at the Metro.

After what was a 35 day wait, the D-day arrived at last. Anticipating to see my parents and eat my Mom’s scrumptious cuisine once again I was utterly thrilled when the day at last arrived. (In fact was so thrilled, that I forgot to sleep).

Was something like 5th in the queue when I decided to end the frustration by breaking the law. Breaking the law, and traveling ticket less.  Though that was common place and a routine for a Hyderabadi, but suddenly felt odd. Somehow, with the resolution that I’d deal with any kind of maladroit situation, I jumped off the line and made off the elevator. After a 7 min wait, the train arrives, luckily empty seated.

Right from the time I read about the Gatesian adventures with his business trips, I’m being haunted with these kinds of things of reaching the destination at the last minute, with all the fun diluted. But this time, things were to change and something real surprise was in store for me.

The Metro somehow got me, with hardly 15 mins left with 10 mins of walk to the central, forget the rush hour traffic that includes pedestrians. After 8 mins of twiddling and twaddling and screams from people who were elbowed by me, I reached my destination, heavily gasping and panting. Imagine this on a typical day @ railway station in the screwed up weather that is of Chennai.

Here I go, seated in my reserved berth I start devouring my surroundings. The rest as they say goes into the anals of my cerebral cortex locked for eternity!

Just ‘d ‘nt hit the sack, how ‘d I with my thoughts wandering for one into the Hawking’s Black Holes, report of the structure constant variability I read early in the day, thought of time’s relativity and its effects on people in different time frames and the most idyllic view just right off me, Bliss!

As I end this post, the one thing I really want is to be freezed forever in that time frame, for they are serendipitous and surrealistic moments.  Can’t help but recant Dali’s  “The Persistence of Memory”.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™

Adventure: Act 1!

Guess, it takes two to tango. But then was always enthused with a kinda adrenalin rush at the thought of open air adventure, at the thought of the long trips with almost nothing with you but for your own conscience. Guess part of few which are being realised in the present time.
Wanted to always steal myself from this thickly covered concrete jungle, and land myself in some desertest place where it will be me along with myself. But then used to suffice myself with the thought that such a feeling is purely psychological bliss and no if one wants to feel isolated in a mob of a few million, one can easily do so with his own infernal predelictions.

And then there was me who used to get lost, deep into the wilderness of my own imagination and thoughts even in the densest places ever visited.
But then much of man’s loneliness is often tagged with some waterbody may it be sea or ocean. On the myriad accounts depicted in books or celluloid the loneliness is more often than not is abided by some sea rules.

And so it was when decided to filch myslef to the nearby coast of our house at the weirdest hour of the day. The feeling was that of unanticipated exhilaration coupled with a want with adventurism. Honest feelings that never seen the vast expanse of water so darkly spread across the entire eastern direction. Being a lifelong hyprophobe I was always abstractly attracted to the aesthetic sense of the sea than to its other factors. And here was I looking at nothing but white foams of waves marching towards me as  though I held the power of gravitation. At the very first sight I was utterly petrified at the very thought of seeing the sea in utter darkness except for a tiny speck of an array of lights coming from the far northern part where lies the whole city. The night sky bloated with far lesser stars than aniticipated with neither the moon light to bask in. The waves were getting stronger and stronger as the minutes ticked out with a gigantic wave springing to reach the sky.

Somehow felt that the tidal action was far above the normal scale. Little did I feel that time of the news that ‘d get falshed the day after.

Samsung’s Memoir comes loaded with 8 MP camera

Samsung has released a new brand of mobile called the Memoir code names the SGH-T929 that comes equipped with a 8 mega pixel camera that has a 16x mega zoom, allowing you to shoot videos and a touch sensitive mobile device that would lure the mobile freaks out there. The camera comes equipped with xenon flash and is to be released on T-Mobile’s 3G network.

Click Here!

Not an iPhone beater but is feature rich that comes with a HTML browser, a virtual keyboard and toting a slew of multimedia features. The 8-MP camera is the main draw on the mobile which allows you to share your pics on online networkin g sites like Flickr, Photobucket, Snapfish or Kodak gallery.

The let down is that its a Wi-Fi null device.

The specs include:

• 8 Megapixel Camera with Xenon flash and 16X digital zoom

• microSD slot for storage capacity expansion

• A-GPS for navigation and location based services

• 240 x 400 pixels touchscreen display (262k TFT)

• Full HTML browser along with POP3 e-mail support

• TouchWiz interface with customizable widgets

• 3G/EDGE/GPRS data access speeds compatible

• Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 technology (Stereo)

Its Dell’s turn to throw its hat into the ring!

Android has so fervently become the flavor of the season that even Dell is considering to pitch in to the Mobile market with its own branded mobile. And guess what we are up for a real treat in here. Plans are in the pipe line that they ‘d in no way be disappointing Microsft’s Windows Mobile OS as they would be launching one for that too.  So, its chilling time for all the Android and Windows Mobile users as they would be finding their mobiles sporting an alienesque look.

The name though is kinda let down. MePhone not so appealing a name for this phone. Hope this will change sometime soon, and be christened to something cool as the phone itself.

A Tumultuous year, that was 2008

I don’t know whether any one would remember 2007 or will remember 2009. But, 2008 would quite inadvertently go down in to the memory drain of the man kind as one of the most happening years in our history. 2008, saw the dawn of many things. It’s been a rocking year as far as technology was concerned and a rockling year for the economy. We saw interest rate cuts, budget cuts, GDP growth rate cuts for every single country on our planet.

As bad was the economy, so at its best was the technology that emerged in 2008. We saw few of the most memorable releases that would go down to play a major role in the coming years. Well, quite naturally the best thing that happened was the release of Android, Google’s foray in to the mobile industry with its flagship open source operating system. And, whenever a giant like Google sets its foot in to such a demanding industry as the mobile industry, we expect something magnanimous and Google never disappoints its supporters. Android, the very first day it was announced created ripples in the mobile industry which slowly transformed to waves that really hit the other players so hard that they were rather found to have magnetized themselves to become open source.

We saw the competition grow to the heights with the entire industry embracing the developer and user-centric attitude. According to their recent research report, Gartner said that Symbian still commands 49.8 per cent of the global mobile OS market and was pretty skeptical in its reports over Android. The very fact that, Android is being mooted in just less than a year of its release shows its on to something real serious in terms of apps and the user experience.

The stand out players of this year have been Apple, Google and HTC. Apple overcame its own jinxed sales record by recording a massive 327.5% YoY growth in its iPhone sales. Google itself completed a decade, it released its own browser, the Chrome and Android, which changed the entire perception of a mobile OS. HTC, has surely established its brand the world over by releasing the first device to run Android along with a slew of niche hand sets.

Microsoft and Moto were largely taking too much on to them this year. After the release of Android and even Symbian being evangelized to become an open source OS, Microsoft found itself to be short on fuel, resulting in a sling-a campaign. Moto though was on the economic side of the year, with it being nailed down with a massive loss that it ‘d love soon to regurgitate. We, though see the sunny side by expecting a breath-taking design from Moto in 2009, with their brand new OS, Android.

So, as 2009 is nearing everyone from a Tech geek to a bearish-economist is expecting the best of the year 2009.

India Breaks the Jinx, at last

The last test match between India and England proved to be a dullard following frequent interruptions from the weather. The match was always heading towards a draw, in the most unlikely case being, iff any of the two teams succumbs to a tame innings, which was quite an unlikely event as well. The contest between the two teams has been more than healthy, with KP really showing his mettle and at last playing his most notorious switch-hit in the sub-continent. But, in more was than one Dhoni has showed that he is on to become one of the most successful captains the game has ever produced. Though, he has to go a long way to break himself in to that exclusive phalanx of extraordinary captains that has Sir Don, Clive Lloyd, Steve Waugh and Hansie Cronje in its ranks.

But then England have learnt a lot of lessons from this tour. They’ve discovered a champion is Swann and Strauss proved his class once again by nearly dominating the entire English innings in the first match, before Sehwag blew it away for them. The first match was exhilarating and test match at its best. The Chepauk always produced master pieces and this time we could have the master himself sketching a master piece of an innings and dedicating it to the terror-strife country. The gesture really got everyone on their feet. 

And then there was this jinx, of the side that ‘ll lose the test series will go on to win the ODI. It happened to Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka which have all won the test series but eventually lost out in the ODI format. So, by conquering both the formats India made sure we were in the hunt for that elusive no. 1 spot.

2008 saw Gambhir rise to a level where he can really bet his position to become one of the greatest south-paw in Indian cricket. Whether he is going to carry that from is to be seen? 2009, has man things in store for us. India can surely place its ghosts to rest and open the race to become the no.1 team in the world. Though the proteas are also there in the chase, but guess India’s chances are much higher to succeed, following the differences between the teams being the batting line-up. India’s batting line-up guess is the most formidable in the entire world right now. And any bets on this eh!

World’s thinnest, Sleakest mobile unveiled

So, here it is! Neoi 906E is being bandied as the world’s thinnest and sleakest smartphone.

Few of it specs other than the QWERTY key board include:

GSM/GPRS
MP3 Player
Micro SD card slot
Camera
And a few short cut keys on its hood.

Android loaded with Map Editor by Google

Brian Cornell, a software engineer at Google developed the My Map Editor app that allows Android phone users to create and share maps using their mobiles and also to synchronize them in to their PCs.

Tell you what, he has developed this app using just 20% of his time over a span of four months. The app sounds brilliant not only by the appearance but also application wise. The app is said to provide an excellent interface between the mobile and desktop.

The application lets users create, edit, share, and view personalized maps on their Android powered phone, as well as synchronize with the My Maps tab on Google Maps. “Create a map on your desktop computer using Google Maps and then take it with you on the go and update it on location. My Maps Editor by Google supports full editing functionality for markers, lines, and shapes on maps, plus the ability to mark your location using GPS or attach a photo directly from your phone. Your maps are automatically synchronized with your My Maps on the web.” —- writes Brian in his Google Blog.

The app is ready for download on the Android Market.

A Perfect Chase

I don’t exactly remember when was I disappointed when the team lost. Yeah I do remember now, it was in Sri Lanka. The Test matches proved too heavy that we just ‘d ‘nt fathom the guile of Mendis and Murali. And that was a long time back. Now, look what we have here. A match winning team which is slowly gaining momentum and ‘d we start calling them “Dhonis’ Invincibles”.

Ah, there it was. This match after England declared was inadvertently tilted in only one way. In England’s! And then there were the uber optimists like me who always expected something special from the God himself. Tell you what, guess he listened to us. And he did listen to the billions of Indians cadging him to produce a master piece, that match winning knock in the fourth innings of the test which is the only missing thing in his oeuvre.

387! It is always a herculean task to chase that on a pitch that has been used for more than 300 overs. But it was made to look awfully low score for the batting line-up that has the likes of Sehwag. Quite easily the most destructive batsman ever to wield a willow. He was the one who paved the best platform and let loose the horses and colts to have their day off. The way he batted, would ‘ve seriously dented any opposition Captain’s confidence let alone KP’s. I don’t think if there was any captain to have any plot for this kinda player. As, destructive was his batting on the penultimate day, so magnanimous was the master piece from Sachin. No hurry and no worry. There was no hurry in his batting. No sense of urgency shown. And till the meastro is there donning the role so are the billions of Indians with out even a fickle of a worry.

Quite aptly an innings can’t be as timely as this one as Mumbai’s own son scripts this victory after the scenes it went through the past couple of weeks, with never to be healed scars on its face. And scars on Mumbai, the financial capital of India is that it means that the every Indian’s pride is dented by that ghastly and heinous attack. Guess, the cricketers have given the perfect tribute to that.

Just imagine what ‘d happen if each of the billions of the Indians pay tribute to India and all the martyrs who have laid their lives to weed out the dastards, in their own way. That ‘d literally transform India free of everything. I hope that starts with me. As some one said Practice and Preach.

HTC S740 WinMo

This is the new offering from HTC. Very surprising to see the form factor. The guys who’ve given us the Touch Pro are reminding us that they can produce something shaggy too.

The specs include:

Procesor: Qualcomm MSM7225, 528MHz
Operating System Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard
Memory ROM: 256MB
RAM: 256MB SDRAM
Dimensions (LxWxT) 116.3 mm x 43.4 mm x 16.6 mm (4.58 in x 1.71 in x 0.65 in)
Weight 140 grams (4.94 ounces) with battery
Display 2.4 inch TFT-LCD with backlight LEDs and QVGA resolution
Network HSDPA/WCDMA:
. Europe: 900/2100 MHz
. Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
. 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Device Control 4-Way navigation control with Enter button
Keyboard Slide-out 4-row QWERTY keyboard
GPS GPS and A-GPS ready
Connectivity Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for stereo wireless headsets
Wi-Fi(R): IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
Camera 3.2 megapixel color camera with fixed focus
Audio Built-in microphone, speaker and FM radio
Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery
Capacity: 1000 mAh
Talk time:
Up to 300 minutes for WCDMA
. Up to 350 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
. Up to 400 hours for WCDMA
. Up to 260 hours for GSM
Expansion Slot microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

Lenovo’s Android mobile to sport iPhone-sque look!

China Mobile’s new initiative to support the Open source mobile operating systems seems to be gaining momentum as Lenovo is planning to break in to the smart phone segment with its OPhone. The OPhone is based on Android plus the home grown TD CDMA.

OPhone, the name seems to sound familiar. China Mobile had been for a long while in talks with Apple over the iPhone market in China. But the talks proved futile as China Mobile was not ready to partook with its share of the profit. And now, it found in Android, a best possible option of getting its hold on the hand set makers.
Modmygphone has got the information from a well-placed source who was quoted as saying:

“Given these(iPhone, Android, Symbian) developments, it is becoming very clear that developing a proprietary handset operating system is essential for dominance of the mobile Internet market in China. At the moment, China Mobile is in a comparatively weak position without its own operating system. With its own operating system, China Mobile will be able to commission customized phones from handset makers and keep its hand strong in negotiations over profit sharing. There is even the possibility that China Mobile may move into manufacturing handsets itself.”

The device looks an iPhone look alike and the specs are still not known. What ever might be the fate of the other Android based devices in China, OPhone will surely have something to it and with two of the leaders riding behind its back, it might cover a huge ground!

G1 ogled as Google gives them away for devs!

Google is trying to make things simpler as it tries to woo the developers by giving away the G1′s with SIM and hardware unlocked from today. You need not now purchase the T-Mobile G1 and begin your endless countdown to have your device unlocked. Instead Google has come up with a sweet alternative.

What you need to do is just sign in as a developer on to the Android Market site by paying the nominal one-time registration fees of $ 25 and shell out the $ 399 price tagged to the G1 and Lo and Behold you have your G1 totally unlocked. According to Mobile Crunch, the bootloader this version also doesn’t restrict the device to officially signed firmware builds.

The device would be initially be available in US, UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary with plans to expand to more regions.

Google though further goes on and clarifies that these are just the kinda phones for the devs and not for the general consumer. So, I don’t think one need to be a dev precisely to get his hands on to this one. Do you?

Android: The Evangelizer

So, Everyone expected this to be coming. The world’s largest mobile operating system company Symbian, is slowly moving towards becoming a completely open source. Though not wholly, but its code will be made available to the developers of the Symbian foundation, a consortium of companies comprising of Nokia, NTTDoCoMo, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, AT&T, Texas instruments, Motorola and others, a conglomeration of 64 companies promoting the soon to be open sourced mobile OS in 2009. The plans in the pipeline include the amalgamation of S60, and its followers the UIQ and NTTDoCoMo’s MOAP.

The emerging competition among the various open source operating systems is catching on as Android is growing older and older. And as Nokia, buys out the remaining part of Symbian, speculations are ripe that this could add fuel to the competition among the open source operating systems. With the existing market being ruled by the iPhone and Android making its presence felt, with critics riding on its back for being too Luddite-like, Nokia is trying to fix things up by making its flagship OS, an open source.

Nokia recently launched its new smartphone, the N97, bandied as the most advanced smartphone available.

Unboxing vid of Vodafone Black berry storm

Is this RIMs’ answer to Apples’ iPhone. If you want to know is it, then Check out this video.

Google’s voice based search Live demo