little test from iPhone
iBook for iPhone
My office library – Kwench seems not to have books of my taste. iBooks came to my rescue. iBooks is an amazing way to download and read books. iBooks includes the iBookstore, where you can download the latest best selling books or your favorite classics. You can browse your library on a beautiful bookshelf, tap a book to open it , flip through pages with a swipe or a tap. You can also bookmark or add notes to your favorite passages…
Isn’t that neat?
New Android device
When Wifey’s mobile crashed, it was time for me to buy her a new one. Hours of review led me to narrow down on Samsung Champ. Later on I realized that my lil one loved watching her rhyme videos on my iPhone, whenever i had business calls to attend. So the onus was on me to find a cell that could play videos. Add to that some random requirements from wifey like – touch screen, a good camera, ability to check email etc all became P1 requirements. So after market researching, i found this android based cell – Spice MI 300. Now don’t go by the name. This VFM cell will blow your mind. I have managed to put some highlights of this cell for you.
* 3.2” HVGA Capacitive touch screen
* Android 2.1 upgradeable
* WiFi
* Bluetooth
* GPS & A- GPS
* HSDPA 3.5G
* 170 Mb onboard memory + free 2gb card – upgradable to 32GB
* 5 MP Camera with autofocus and LED flash
* Video at 30 FPS
* 600 mhz Qualcomm processor ( the same in HTC's)
* 3.2” 480 x 320 HVGA Capacitive touch screen
* Android and Spice Marketplace
* 1250Mah Battery
* Office Support
* Push Email
* G-Sensor, E- Compass , Proximity sensor
Iphone + MagicJack
It rocks!!!! For a very long time , i have been researching this. I know for sure that it was possible, but the smart guys at the Magic jack always release an update which masks the SIP info. And when i do sucessfully get the the SIP info, Fring or Siphone gives way and limits the password to 18 chars or less. Finally, thanks tweeter ( it’s good when you follow the Siphone releases). After spending close to 6 hrs on this, i finally managed to configure my Siphone on Iphone after unmasking the SIP info from the Magic jack. It was worth. All i need is Wifi or 3G to make calls for free all over US & Canada. What’s more interesting is – people in US can call me at my US number. Sounds cool right???. For those who were looking for this – try the below. If you need more assistance pm me. I’ll do what it takes to get that connection started.
BSNL 3G + Iphone
This works like a charm, I just got a BSNL 3G prepaid sim for 59 INR. I had to charge it with 120 INR to get the promotional part and what this gives me is a 6 months validity as well.
The BSNL customer care centers have improved by leaps and bounds, the whole process took me only 15 mins and the activation was done in a couple of hours.
Now, i am waiting for the 3G spectrum auction and the number portability by the DoT. Hope this is round the corner.
BSNL – 3G in Bengaluru
Finally, BSNL woke up and decided to give the Tech savy population of Bengaluru the 3G gift. The promotional 3G plan is very nice. You can see here. For starters , i had my Dad’s BSNL connection migrated to 3G plan( i was shocked, they charge only 25 INR for this to happen). After which i configured it on his E51 and boy it was rock solid. Browsing was pretty breezy. I would say 3G is here to stay.
I am off to the customer care to get myself a promotional 3G prepaid sim card for 59 INR. Will update you later.
Philips DVD recorder/player with DivX
I picked this one from US. I had a hard time recording my videos from Digi cam onto a disk. The ones that i enquired in India was way too costly foe me to invest. So i had this item on my mind.
I saw a good deal on the net and ordered this for $ 80. As far i was concerned this was a steal because it had – i.Link for connecting my Digi cam, played DivX, recorded directly on disc and most importantly it was philips. I had an earlier philips dvd player and it still rocks.
So finally, today i got it plugged and after a bit of circus ( trying to isolate my lil one from the electronic stuff), i got it working. I can now record anything that comes on TV directly and also anything recorded on my Digi cam can be burned as well. Sweet.. and all this with just one press of button.
The greatest fear i had was – will this play indian discs( or was it region locked)? But fortunately, any disc i threw in it plays. So i guess i just got lucky. Else i would have to spend sleepless nights for a unlock code or run around local electric repair shops to have the chip modded.
Currently, i am recording a Tom and Jerry to test it out and you won’t believe it’s stunning. So all in all – My sony bravia + Philips DVD player + set top box completes my home theatre system.
Whoppee!!!
Glad i spoke about this in my previous post. So the evangelists also think the same. Read it to believe it - Nokia Trumps Iphone with smarter E 51
Here is my comparison chart
| Manufacture | Nokia E 51 | iPhone 3G | My remarks |
| HSCSD | No | No | Who uses this anyway. I really don’t care |
| GPRS | Yes | Yes |
|
| Edge | Yes | Yes |
|
| UMTS | No | Yes | Wow!! What’s that? I don’t use that |
| HSDPA | Yes | Yes |
|
| Weight | 100 g | 135 g | 35g heavier |
| Battery | 1070 mAh | 1400 mAh | You must be kidding, the battery drains like tap water |
| Standby Time | 312 h | 300 h | kind off proved here right? |
| Talktime | 264 m | 600 m | I completely disagree these stats |
| SMS | Yes | yes |
|
| MMS | Yes | No | What crap!!! |
| | Yes | Yes | But E51 can support multiple Exchanges |
| Irda | Yes | No |
|
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes | Guess what!!!, Iphone can establish BT with only audio device not any other phone. BS!!! |
| USB | Yes | Yes | Iphone - Itunes to transfer |
| GPS | No | Yes | Like I care |
| Java | Yes | No | 3rd party apps ??? |
| FM Radio | Yes | No | I don’t use it anyways |
| Camera | Yes | Yes | But no zoom in iphone. E51 provides 4X |
| Video Recording | Yes | No | hahah, premature cam in Iphone |
| LCD | 2 inch | 3.5 inch | This is the winning part |
| Touchscreen | No | Yes | Hell, I can still touch my screen on E51 |
| Internal Mem | 130 MB |
| Even though Iphone comes in 8GB/16 GB, the internal memory alloted for apps is more or less equal to 50 MB |
| OS | Symbian | Iphone OS |
|
| Jailbreaking | Yes | Yes |
|
| Unlock | Yes | Yes | But sadly if your boot loader is above 5.09 you are doomed |
New possession - Iphone
Yeah, you heard it right!!! I now posses the Iphone. But not quietly for me, but for my Dad. Ran into a good bargain and got him an Iphone. Sadly, the newer models cannot be unlocked for him to use.I know there are plenty of reviews/comments about the iphone and i won;t bother giving you my copy paste version of this gadget. But I would like to summarize - a winning horse loaded with extra weight with no sense of direction. For those of whom it sounded like a riddle,
Wining horse : - you will never leave this gadget once you touch it
Extra weight : - Battery drains fast due to 3G, WiFi, large display and super UI
No sense of direction: Did not know which way to go - business way or entertainment way and in the process ended up losing on either front.
So with all these days of usage is only making me feel loyal towards my E 51. Right now the iphone is just doing only 50 % of what my E 51 does. Dad, here is my gift to you :-)
Running out of space
I am running out of disk space again. I don't really know if its data or metadata that's causing this issue. The real issue lies with me, i don't feel like deleting any data and add the phobia of losing my data coupled with laziness of not figuring out if i already backed up the stuff, I have been mounting data now. To come to think of it - every time my computer becomes obsolete , i retain the HDD. So in fact now i have - one 8GB, one 40 GB, two 80 GB, one 350 GB and one 500 GB. I am not including the innumerable pen drives & SD cards i have on purpose. The result ? It was time to invest on a Terabyte Hard disk. Enough of GB disks :-). So i looked around and found a neat little Westren Digital with 7200 rpm and 8 mb buffer cache, i simply picked it up. So far , I am impressed by its performance. It does not have a fan or so, but its pretty quite in its work and i like the way the blue light lights up when in action. I ran a quick stress test - over night and so far the response has been good :-)
E51 - my most used apps
The more i use my E51, the more i am discovering its unlimited potential. Here i am listing a few apps which i am using and looks like they have slowly made into my life
I use mail for exchange from Nokia and Road sync from datawiz to have my mails pushed from server to my cell. I can view, read, download attachments.
Best profile is good application, to switch my preferences while i am at office or at home. It helps me maintain the home-office balance
I am always short of words and this dictionary helps me be in constant touch with the english language to learn new words
Gravity is a wonderful application that lets me tweet directly from my mobile. So you expect the twitter to be in full swing :-)
IM plus - A good IM to stay in touch with friends on yahoo, gmail, msn and ICQ all at the same time.
Free call sprite: This is a good application for managing the way calls are being made. With this i no longer have to wait with phone near my ear till they pick up the call
Explorer - This is more like an file management explorer tool for all file management activities
Flash SMS: I use to send some important sms to friends and colleagues. The sms shows up directly on the screen of your cell. So there is no way you can miss
FolderPlay: I use this to play music after dumping all my fav songs onto a folder.
Phone pilot : This is a good call management tool . I can selective accept calls and also direct blacklisted people to voice mails
Phone wallet: Helps keep me secure my personal info. This is password protected
Quick office : Helps me view - word, excel, presentations and pdf docs right on my cell
S60 Ticker : Displays incomming sms, mails and any other text that i would want
Snaptu : Comprises of a lot of widgets - cricket, twitter are some of them
Youtube : No need to explain this. The streaming is pretty good.
In addition to these apps, the active standby screen is where some of these house so that i can access them from my finger tip.
