MTV, Swipe launch VOLT, a 6 inch Phablet for Rs. 13k

Looks like no one can stay away from entering the Smartphone / Tablet space. Now, MTV has gone ahead and announced launch of “Swipe MTV VOLT” a 6 inch Phablet (Phone+tablet). The Phablet has been bought into the market by Swipe in Partnership with MTV.

Although it has not been clearly mentioned, it looks like Swipe will be handling manufacturing / procurement and inventory of this phablet, while MTV has lend its brand name, making it quite appealing to younger generation.

MTV, the youth brand of Viacom18, will undoubtedly bring more weightage to this phablet. Even according to Swipe Telecom, MTV VOLT is a ‘made to order’ product for the generation that’s constantly communicating, entertaining and socializing.

The unique feature of this phablet is an exclusive in-built TV player that will offer Volt tablet owners on the go access to MTV content. It is not clear how this MTV content will be offered, but if it is through 3G data access, it may not be appealing given the data transfer costs that users will incur.

MTV VOLT Specifications

MTV VOLT is light weighing only 239 grams – Most of 7 inch tablets are 300 grams and upwards. It comes with 1 GHz Dual Core processor (MTK 6577) and has a HD Capacitive 5 point Multi-Touch Display. Although the display is good, the resolution of this phablet is a modest 854 X 480.

As is the norm now for such tablets-phablets-smartphones, it comes with Dual-Sim and has a 4 GB internal memory expandable upto 32 GB using SD card. However, the most disappointing aspect of MTV VOLT is its RAM. At 512 mb, it will not be sufficient for resource hungry applications/games needed by today’s younger generation.

Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, this phablet has a 8.1 MP rear camera with flash, a 1.3 MP front camera, FM with recording, G-Sensor and a decent 3200 mAh battery that should last a complete day at low to moderate usage. [See full specs here]

At Rs. 12,999/-, MTV VOLT should appeal to a section of young consumers who want to own a decent brand, but at the same time do not want to spend too much!

Software Suites need to go A-La-Carte…

There must be millions of softwares in the world. Some of these softwares are free or open source, on the other hand, some cost more than the computer they are supposed to run on. Some of them are made by individual programmers while others are made by large corporations and are more like commodities.

In these commodities, there are software systems that are called suites or Software Suites. These are a group of softwares that are in a similar field or serve similar purposes and are therefore companies tag them together for the people to buy them together.

The two best examples for this kind of suite are – Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite.

The first one is an Office application with softwares that range from Word (for writing) to Powerpoint (Presentations) and from Excel (data crunching) to OneNote (notes). Adobe creative suite consists of softwares like Photoshop (Image manipulation), Flash Builder (Flash), Illustrator (Vector Graphics) and many more. Basically, there are softwares for all the creative pursuits, be it web designing, pictures or videos.

There are many other suites as well- LibreOffice, Seamonkey, Corel Graphic suite, Microsoft Visual Studio etc.

All these have a few things in common-

• There are versions from light to heavy with heaviest containing all the softwares.
• Most of them are bloated, especially the heaviest (or pro) one.
• Those which cost really have steep prices.

With the coming of cloud, the numbers of services that can be offered have increased and so has the option of downloading the software online. Microsoft even has started its own Office 365 which it is promoting even more than its original Office suite. Add to that the fact that the last iteration of both Windows and Mac OS were downloadable and relatively quite cheap and we know that the physical distribution is soon going to become obsolete.

Why I am bringing this is because there was another flaw of physical distribution system. The different kind of softwares that can be added in the suite (the less costly or the lighter versions) was to be decided by the software developing company. They could not give the option of choosing to the user without giving away the whole suite in the CD or DVD and locking the rest of the softwares (this was also done sometimes).

With the internet distribution channel, this is not a necessity anymore. Thus, I think there should not be package systems like they currently are.

All the softwares can be given an individual price and buying more than one can get the customer appropriate discounts. This way, if a person wants a particular combo he can get that without having to buy extra software. Think of it like TV paid channels, you can either buy a single channel or have a pre-fabricated combos or create your own combo.

After all let me ask you- “How many softwares from a software suite does a person actually use?”No one uses all of them.

More importantly, people barely use half of them. For example, I need only the student edition plus Outlook. There might be a person who uses InfoPath, Publisher and Powerpoint only. Yet again, there might be someone who uses some other combo.

Same can be said about any other suite as well. Not everybody manipulate photoshop and design web. Some might just like to create videos. Yet again, there might be someone who uses a completely different combination.

The two advantages of this to the customer are-

1. Prices go down. You pay for what you use.
2. Bloat reduces. System resources are less used as not the whole suite is installed.

For the company also, there are advantages. They can know which software is used less thus can be given less focus. The bandwidth will reduce that is used for downloading.

It might seem that the profits will reduce for the company as people will not buy the complete (and costliest) version. That is true. But the company can still price the individual softwares in a way that this impact is minimal. Also, once the company knows where to give maximum focus the resources used will reduce as well.

I think this is a win-win situation for both the parties. With internet distribution increases, this type of choice should become a norm among the companies.

HP Hotspot Printer Giveaway!

Trak.in readers now have a great opportunity to get HP Hotspot printer that we reviewed a few days back. You will have to simply tell us how HP Hotspot can be an asset to your office and you might just own one!

Over the next 4 weeks, selected 5 best entries will get a HP Hotspot printer each.

Participants need to:

Tell us how efficiently you can use HP Hotspot in your office and how it may help increase your productivity.

With HP Hotspot printer, apart from regular laser printing, copying, scanning and faxing, you can actually setup your entire small office network wirelessly within minutes. It can replace all your networking devices for upto 8 users, making it ideal for small offices, home offices and startups.

3 features that stand out for this printer are ePrint, Airprint and Hotspot/Direct print. These 3 features make it possible for the user to print not only from within their office wirelessly, but from any where in the world. It is as simple as sending an email to the printer (yes, each printer has its own unique email ID).

To know about more the product please read the detailed review here.

HP Hotspot Printer Giveaway

To participate, please follow these simple steps:

1) Read the review to know more about the HP Hotspot printer.

2) Leave a comment with your name (and Business / startup name), email ID and your feedback on the printer. (The comment has to be left on the this page itself)

3) The feedback comment should talk about how HP Hotspot printer can benefit your business.

See screenshot below

Please be as detailed as possible and all fields have to be filled in properly. Your comment has to be honest and truthful. If you do not like something about the printer or you want to see some more features on this printer, just let us know.

HP Hotspot Printer Giveaway Rules

1. The giveaway will be offered to the best feedback / comment received.
2. Incase of more than one “best” comments, we will do a lucky draw to find a single entry every week.
3. Best selected entry will be announced every Monday.
4. Trak.in has the sole discretion for choosing / rejecting the entries (Be rest assured we will be as fair as possible).
5. We will get in touch with shortlisted entries on email / phone to check the authenticity.

The Giveaway will run for a period of 4 weeks till 11^th March 2013.

During the first 3 weeks we will announce one best entry each. On 11th March, we will announce the final 2 best entries of the Hotspot.

Android Fragmentation – The real issue is security!

We have all heard about Android Fragmentation. This is neither a myth nor as big a deal as made out. Basically, because of its open nature, the handset makers are free to upgrade the OS on the phones as per their convenience. [Current Android distribution percentages]

In contrast to that, as soon as a new version of iOS comes in the market, every iPhone in the market gets updated to it. Mind you, these iPhones (be it 4, 4S or 5) are the ones that Apple is currently selling. The support extends only so far.

All iOS updates are not the same as well. For example, iPhone 4 did not get Siri though it was updated to iOS 5. This might at first look feel like the update itself is useless if it does not give you the best thing about the OS. In many ways, it can itself be considered a fragmentation of the OS itself. Only the naming convention is kept but each phone is getting a different OS.

In this way, fragmentation is present in Apple too. There are two major differences though-

1. All the supported phones (by Apple) do get the latest iOS.
2. The time lapse between the release of OS and its update on the phone is less.

How does this change situation you might ask. Well, for first, an OS is not just the a few cool features that weren’t present earlier. In fact, most of the time, it is under the hood features that are more important.

For example, Windows Vista was worse than WinXP in a lot of ways. It was slower and what not. Despite this, it was definitely more secure than WinXP (which in turn was better than Win95 or 98). This is true for Mobile OS as well.

Now, a phone might not be able to run 60 fps that are up for offer in Jelly Beans but if the phone is in the market and is supposedly still supported, then it should at least get all the security features of the latest OS. Once, a new OS is launched, even with best efforts only patches can be delivered for the old OS.

In the (Android) mobile world, this issue is twice as bad. As the version 4.2 is in the market, it is quite difficult to maintain a 2.3 (Gingerbread). Ironically, it is the current most used OS. Worse, some cheap phones that are even launched recently have this on their phones. Security is a major issue in such cases.

With mobiles becoming the go to device for everything, they practically hold all the information about a person. In many ways, a mobile is a more powerful device to get hold of than a man’s computer. In such a situation, it is very important to have the phone updated to every security measure possible and not just a few patches here or there.

Also, the phones that can be upgraded should get the update as fast as possible. Preferably, Google should work with the OEMs so that the testing occurs before the OS is launched. At least the flagships deserve a better response time. The launch of Android 5.0 is around the corner and many phones are still not on 4.1 let alone 4.2.

Cool features aside, the true reason for quick update to latest OS should be security. UI is important but with the amount of sensitive information a phone holds, mobiles should get the best possible security, be it any OS version.

Indian Government’s IT Spending pegged at Rs. 36,800 Cr in 2013 [Report]

Indian Government’s IT spending is estimated to be Rs. 36,800 crore in 2013 according to a forecast by research and advisory firm Gartner. Telecommunications will be the largest expenditure category while software will see highest growth in government spending.

Government of India’s UID program is seen as a key driver of increase in expenditure. Direct cash transfersand a revamped welfare system are some of the ambitious goals of the UID program.

The UIDAI portal reveals that nearly 27.5 crore or 275 million AADHAARs have been issued across India. After achieving 200 million enrolments in February last year, the government reportedly allowed authorities to approve the enrolment of a further 400 million.

Implementing and issuing AADHAAR numbers across a user base of 600 million Indians will presumably drain a significant sum out of the government coffers. Ram Sewak Sharma, Director General, UIDAI, said last year that the total cost of the project may be Rs. 18,000 crore.

“India goes to the national polls in 2014, and the GoI will aim to expand the UID operational infrastructure by speed tracking ‘financial inclusion’, allowing easy access to banking for poor & encouraging micro ATMs” said Anurag Gupta, Research Director, Gartner.

The Rs. 20,000 crore National Fibre Optic Network (NFON), electronic chip making and digitization of databases are also seen by Gartner as factors which will drive government spending and benefit the Indian IT sector.

In October last year, the Union Cabinet approved the National Electronics Policy which envisaged the incubation of a $400 billion Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in India by 2020. Large scale indigenous chip making facilities was one of focus points of the policy.

Apart from the highlighted government initiatives in the Gartner report, there are other programs that are set to increase penetration of IT in everyday governance. “In the second generation revolution what we are doing is transforming governance, education, health and many other things with the use of internet and web” said Sam Pitroda, adviser to the PM in September 2013. The ‘second generation revolution’ will reportedly see the government spending over Rs. 1 lakh crore.

Gartner expects government spending on desktop and infrastructure software to drive a strong rate of growth in expenditure in the software category. Telecommunications, the largest driver of the 10.5% forecast increase in IT expenditure will include government spending on telecom/networking equipment and related services.

Information and technology is seen by commentators as a vital anchor point for India’s growth story. Commentators are hoping that expectations of increased expenditure in IT will eventually be backed by efficient implementation for delivery of better governance to the common man.

HP Hotspot Printer: Setup a fully Wireless Office in Minutes!

Recently, I installed a HP wireless All-in-One printer at my Home Office primarily for my wireless printing and scanning needs. However, having used it for over a week now, I can say that this newly launched HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs MFP turned out to be much more than what I had expected.

HP Hotspot is first printer in the world to have hotspot and networking features built into it, making it an ideal all-in-one router/printing/scanning/networking/copying/faxing device for any small office environment. Infact, I can go to an extent to say that this will probably be the only device that may be required by startups or Individuals who are newly setting up their office.

The most impressive feature for me has to be the HP ePrint service. The HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs MFP printer is ePrint enabled, which means you can print to the printer from virtually anywhere in the world by simply sending an email. Lets look at these features in little more detail

Features of HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs

The printer obviously has all the traditional features that a LaserJet printer should have, including 18 ppm printing, document copying, scanning and also Fax (I doubt anyone uses it now). But the 3 other features – Wireless Hotspot, Airprint and HP ePrint – are something that are really useful especially for startups.

Wireless Hotspot & Direct Print

As the name suggests, the printer acts as a hotspot. Just plug the internet cable (RJ 45) in the provided port and you are ready to go. At initial setup you will just need to go through a simple setup process and install the driver, and you are nearly done. HP Smart Install automatically installs printer within minutes, without the need for CD installation. The HP Hotspot printer allows upto 8 wireless user connection making it an ideal networking setup for a home or small office.

Any of the hotspot connected devices can also directly print to the printer without any hassle.

Airprint

Airprint is more useful to iPhone and iPad users – where the iOS based devices can directly print anything on from their devices directly to the printer (without installing any software). Airprint is basically a feature implemented by Apple on their recent iOS versions for printing requirements on wireless LAN. See the video below regarding more details on Airprint.

Hp ePrint

Like I mentioned before, this undoubtedly is my favourite feature and I am sure to use it quite frequently. ePrint allows anyone across the world to print to your printer just by sending an email.

Every ePrint enabled printer has a unique email address attached to it (which you can even customize after creating an account on ePrint website). A user who needs to print a document, image or anything else has to send it as an email attachment to that specific email address. Once the email is sent, generally within about 10 to 15 seconds the printer will out all the documents that have been sent to printer.

Imagine, how easy it will now be to get anything printed from anywhere. Know more about ePrint on their official page.

The goodies don’t stop there – and this is especially useful for people who are Google Docs users. The ePrint enabled printers can directly print from Google docs using the Google Cloud print platform.

Pricing

There is no doubt that HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs is one of the most complete printers I have come across. It can probably print anything from any device from any place. However, in my view, even with all these features, a retail price tag of Rs. 18,306/-, is higher than what I would have liked.

Notwithstanding the slightly higher price, I would recommend this printer to all startups and small businesses who are looking at a building an efficient, smart and connected office!

With Quad-core mobiles under 15K, What will the Biggies do?

You must have read the recent announcement from Micromax. They will launch a quad-core phone this February in the price bracket of 15K. You can read more details on the Micromax A116 canvas mobile, we published earlier. I am not going to repeat the specs here. They are as good as any phone above 20K have in the market and the quad core. Well, this baby was till now available in the 30K range only.

With this phone Micromax is not only challenging the big guns, it is changing the whole smartphone picture. Recently, I wrote an article about what new things will come in the smart phone market. Till then, there was always an option that the quad-core phones will become cheaper. I expected this to happen soon, but in all honesty, not this quickly.

This means that other companies will have to bring down the cost of their smartphones or bring the quad core in the 20K range if they want to fight Micromax.

Now, being an Indian company, Micromax will not command the same kind of elite aura that is associated with Sony, Samsung or HTC. Heck! Sony is even thinking about leaving the whole cheap smartphone arena to focus on the high-end phones. Even with all this, we have seen Micromax’ Canvas series phones selling like hot-cakes because they are such value for money. Now, this phone beats even its old predecessors.

How is current Smartphone Market placed in India

Let us look at the current market for a second. Samsung has its best phones with Quad core and anything below 30K is having a dual core. Same is the case with HTC.

HTC has yet to launch its 5” phone in the Indian market (Micromax Canvas A116 HD is 5”).Sony’s first 5” and quad core phone Xperia Z is just out and has similar specs as A116 (except the camera). Also, there is still time for it to be launched in India. Windows phones are still sporting Dual-cores…no quad-cores there yet!

This pretty much clears the fact that A116 is a high end phone without the “high end” price tag. Add the price tag and the competition it actually has (the lower end phones of high end companies) and there is no competition of any kind. It has a stock Android Jelly Bean 4.1 (upgradeable to 4.2) which is being praised and thus has no need of any skin.

What will the biggies do?

The question is- What do the rest of the companies do? They cannot launch the 4 cores in the midrange yet. That is their next upgrade and cash cow.

They can of course hope that because of its screen size and name many people will leave it even with its worth. They can reduce the current price of their phones. These things though are temporary solutions and also remember- Micromax is planning to launch nearly 30 phones in next 12 months, and it is quite possible that half of them would be high-end smartphones. If they have already reached a quad core, imagine what their next high-end phone will have!

Thus unless the phone has some glaring defect, it has the potential to turn hardcore fans of other companies to at least test this one out. Of course, unless you are not interested in the 5” screen!

One thing I can say with surety though – The Rs. 40k price-point will now become more of a Rs. 30k price point. What I mean is the top-of-the-line phones were generally commanding prices closer to 40k. With Micromax launching A116 canvas at Rs. 15k, I doubt anyone will not even think of buying a Rs. 40k phone. That price point will now be 30k. We will increasingly see high-end phones coming in bracket lesser than Rs. 30k.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD: A quad-core phone under 15k?

Micromax has just announced launch of its latest superphone – the Micromax A116 Canvas HD. According to news reports, this phone has a quad-core processor with a price tag of less than Rs. 15,000/-!

That is really a big deal, and something that will probably create lot of problems to Samsung, HTC and likes. Similar specification phones from them are nearly double the price range.

The Micromax A116 Canvas HD is expected to launch in the first week of February!

Micromax A116 Canvas HD Specifications

• 1.2 GHz Quad Core Processor (Mediatek MT6589 quad core processor)
• 1 GB RAM
• 5 ” Full HD Display
• Screen resolution of 1280 x 720
• 16 million colour IPS Display
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• 2100 mAH Battery

Micromax’s 2 recent canvas series super phones, the A100 and A110 have been a huge success and have been flying off-the-shelf. The reason is plain and simple.

Higher specification at lowest costs.

The A110 was the first 5 inch phone that came in with a dual-core processor and 5 inch IPS display and that too around Rs. 10k range which made it possible for masses to jump the smartphone bandwagon without burning their pockets.

Now with launch of Micromax A116 Canvas HD, they are going one step ahead and taking on the super-high end phones. Except for Nexus 4, which is currently not available in Indian market, all other quad core phones are above Rs. 30,000 price range.

Getting same specifications for less than half the price is mouth-watering to say the least.

With A116, many consumers may even ditch their existing phones to experience the quad-core power on a smartphone.

We will update readers with further details as they arrive!

Aadhar Poll: Have you applied yet? If not, why?

This question has been on my mind for past few months – How many citizens, especially urbanites, have applied for Aadhar card as yet?I have been having discussions about Aadhar card with many people in past few weeks and I have met more people who have not even applied for a Aadhar card as yet. And, few who have applied for it, have not received it as yet. I have not come across a single person who has actually received Aadhar card.

According to news reports that have come out close to 300 million (or about 25 percent of population) people have been issued Aadhar cards. In states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh over 60 percent of population have already been issued with Aadhar cards [source].

Delhi has maximum number of issuance with 75 percent already having it (It is probably because the concentration of Govt. employees in Delhi is highest). The fact is, with direct cash transfers being implemented from January 2013, most of the Government Employees have been forced to apply for it.

It is clear that people from rural areas and Govt. employees will go for it… But what about the urban population. Are they also making a beeline to Aadhar centers ?

That’s exactly the purpose of this poll – To find out how many urban citizens have applied for Aadhar card, and if not, what is the reason they have not applied it.

While, the sample size may be very small for this poll, it will probably give us a broad idea about what urban citizen thought-process is about the Aadhar cards.

Citibank’s unveils New Paperless Payment Solution for Cardholders

Citibank’s Indian debit and credit card holders would be a happy lot! Citibank has made an announcement about launch of its paperless mobile payment solution that will help millions of Citibank customers do away with charge slips. Furthermore, this will be implemented on their worldwide global network.

According to Citibank, this is the first fully certified and secured payment solution and will help consumers to make payments using their cards on simple mobile devices across various points of purchases. Citibank has already partnered with 7 Indian brands that include Flipkart, Shoppers’ Stop, Bajaj Allianz and Bookmyshow who will be offering this paperless payment solution to their customers.

Citibank’s paperless payment solution has been launched in partnership with Ezetap, an angel prime company, that recently closed a 3.5 million round funding from US based investors.

How exactly does this New Paperless Payment solution work?

Although, Citibank has not given exact details as to how it works, here what we have gathered. Citibank’s offering is not a classic mobile payment solution where user can make payment through his / her mobile, but it is actually a point of sale card reader.

The user has to swipe his debit or credit card on a square shaped device (ezetap’s solution) and it will then get digitally signed and authenticated. Unlike traditional means, where merchant has to print the reciept  By electronically capturing the signature, Citibank’s solution will eliminate the need for paper receipts.

The new system can work through a dongle, which can be plugged into smart phones and tablets and is compliant with the global security standards developed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

How will help Merchants and Consumers?

Citibank’s solution will be especially useful to online merchants like Flipkart and others. The cost of this new device is expected is to be much lower than normal card readers – Less than Rs. 2000 as compared to over Rs. 12000 – making it possible for even a small roadside merchant to start offering Citibank’s paperless payment solution.

As per some estimates, there are 300 million debit and credit cards in India and only about 5 lakh card reading devices. With the cost of card readers coming down drastically due to solutions like these, consumers can have paperless card payment facilities at their door step.

Airtel launches Dynamic Mobile Exchange Solution for BYODs

BYOD, or “Bring Your Own Devices” is one of the biggest challenge faced by Enterprises in today’s world, especially from security point of view. While BYOD has many advantages, managing enterprise data securely on these disparate and fragmented smart devices is a nightmare.

Airtel, India’s leading Telecom operator, today announced launch of their Dynamic Mobile Exchange Solution, which resolves, atleast partially, some of the problems faced by the enterprise network administrators.

The Dynamic Mobile Exchange (DME) solution offered by Airtel allows employees to access data securely from anywhere on any device of their choice. The DME solution allows enterprise network admins to remotely manage security policies, device settings, certificates, applications and operating systems allowing them to control the flow of data to BYOD users.

Key Features of Airtel’s Dynamic Mobile Exchange (DME)

• Secure email – Email security across multiple device platforms
• Containerization – Segregatespersonal & official email, data, applications and other documents in separate containers
• Corporate App store (App Box)  – Allows any enterprise to launch its own corporate app store
• Remote Device Manager -Management, administration, remote management of users, devices and applications   of mobile fleet of any Enterprise user
• Bundled Offering – Offers mobile handheld bundled  with 2G/3G data along with mobile application and DME solution
• Turnkey deployment -  Provision, Installation & activation along with Enterprise call center. L1\ L2 and L3 onsite support handled by Airtel

One of the most appealing features of DME is compartmentalization of personal and official data. Incase of device theft or loss, admins can remotely wipe off entire data thereby protecting sensitive enterprise information.

Solutions like DME are becoming increasingly important because 7 out of 10 professionals now access official data on their personal devices and less than 20 percent of this data is currently well-managed.

Airtel has introduced DME at a very opportune time, as smartphones and tablets are now becoming a norm amongst professionals!

Among other Indian Telecom operators, Vodafone launched a hardware solution calledVodafone Secure Device Manager few months back. Other operators may soon follow suite as well!

CDMA Internet Dongles: The Future looking bleak!

In the present scenario, internet in India is in a dismal state. Especially, if we consider the condition of countries like Japan or even in Europe. Now, I do not see, in the near future conditions improving all of a sudden, but with the advent of 3G and 4G, good internet speeds are within our grasps at least. Broadband too has improved its speed along with the times.

The adoption of portable internet (if I may use the term) in India has been far greater than broadband though. CDMA dongles especially have found a lot of followers. In the era of GPRS, these gave high speed internet on the go and almost every company that provided internet was giving it, be it BSNL’s EVDO, Tata Photon Plus, Reliance Netconnect or MTS Mblaze. These are all CDMA internet services that have served India well over the past few years.

With 3G though, the fastest speed that can be provided on the go changed. While these dongles can give upto 3.1 Mbps speeds, 3G offers speeds of 3.6 Mbps and above. Also, Android added functionality called tethering (aka portable hotspot) which ensured that this 3G can be used by a person in the laptop while the phone is using 3G. I have myself used the 3G of my phone to use internet on my laptop on numerous occasions.

As the prices have fallen, 3G has become competitive enough with CDMA. For 4 GB of data for example, in airtel, I have to pay Rs.750. In Tata Photon Plus, for Rs. 850 one gets 5 GB.

I do not know about other areas but in my experience I have found that 3G services overall provide better speeds than CDMA in most of the areas I have tested. Thus, the charm of a CDMA connection fades. Even the companies have started providing 3G dongles. Also, one advantage of 3G over CDMA that I found was that because of tethering, more than one connection can be served by the 3G connection. This is in my knowledge not possible in CDMA connection. Even where possible (like making ad-hoc in Windows), it is shabby at best.

Additionally, today there are 3G routers available that can be used just by inserting the 3G sim-cards. I know of many small start-up companies who are utilizing this setup to get internet connection. It is probably the fastest way to get high-speed internet connection at your home or small office.

Recently, Airtel launched a shared data plan scheme which will ensure that families utilize the same plan which might push even the family members not using 3G jump the ships. The fear of expanding bills will after all be controlled by their more tech friendly family members.

Also, people who own tablets might use this as it will ensure that they do not have to pay twice for the two devices. These are just the uses that come to my mind. The point is that with such services coming along with better speeds, I see that soon, people will start forgetting the CDMA connections.

And now, we have 4G sniffing the air. It is nowhere near adoption but when it comes CDMA will only be a past.

Interesting Social Media Trends of 2013

The new year shall bring lot more happenings in the world of social media and otherwise. Scenarios will change, some for the better. However, what will be interesting is the transition of it all, from what has been to what it could be.

5 Social Media Trends for 2013

Ecommerce to go more social

With the number of E-commerce sites proliferating day and night and none really offering any significant differentiation, a change therein is inevitable. One area where consumers are looking for a better experience is seamless integration. As per the present scheme of things, the process of buying though happens in an integrated manner, the pre-buying process which primarily involves decision making has not been accommodated in the former setup.

Consumers after considering buying a product need to go seeking opinions & recommendations of their friends & colleagues either online or offline, before they come back to buy it. This is a gap which seeks urgent attention and can be filled with the growing clout of social commerce. Introduction of websites likeKlip.in & Amazon Pages are likely to play an important role in helping E-commerce take that leap and pretty soon.

Visual Marketing will have more takers

A picture speaks a thousand words and a moving one at that, even more. The New Year & age shall belong to the visual form of marketing. Engaging video content that not just passes on the message of the brand but is also entertaining in itself is set to be in huge demand. With many such examples like Dumb Ways to Die, & Jo tera hai wo mera hai, that not just got views but went viral, social media commercials shall be the new trend.

Content Marketing will continue to be the deadly game

Content has been undoubtedly the king, more so in the world of social media. Thus far the challenge used to be creating content that is engaging enough, however, a recently concluded social media study indicates that number one challenge for 64% marketers in the bygone year was to generate enough content.

To overcome the same, brands will be seen pushing their budgets to a level higher, formulating sharp strategies, recycling already published content and looking for suitable platforms to market it all.

Marketers will have to make a choice

The social media marketing plans of companies have seen extension all this while. Any new platform that comes in gets an admission into the plan of communication. However, with the number of platforms on the rise & users getting choosy about which one to be active on, to portray a particular kind of an image, rather than being on all, marketers will have to make a choice too.

You just can’t be luring consumers on every platform & diluting your brand’s identity. Hence, equal importance to both the message & the platform will now be detrimental, more than ever before.

Social Media will see more industries and better spends

Many industries like General Insurance, banking & finance, that were nearly absent on the social media are likely to gradually step into the blue waters, with a few of them already taking a lead.

However, interesting it will be to check out the kind of content that they bring to the table and make engagement happen. Moreover, for brands that were already in the midst of a basic presence over social media will now aim for higher and better.

Entry Level Windows Mobiles Vs Cheaper Android phones: Which is Better?

One dilemma that most new Smartphone buyers have in mind is whether to go for a cheap Android phone or a entry level Windows Phone Like Lumia 510 would be a better choice?

We can safely say that last 2-3 years have seen a war of mobile eco-systems. Currently, there are 3 major mobile platforms in the market; Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone.

As opposed to Windows Phone, which is just 2-3 years old, Android and iOS have an added advantage of being mature. But we pretty much know that cheaper iPhone is only in the rumours and won’t be a reality very soon. Even if they come up with a cheaper iPhone, it won’t be in the price range of sub INR 10K, so what’s in the store for those who can’t afford such high prices?

We are left with only 2 valid smartphone platforms who offer devices below the INR 10K price point; Android and Windows Phone (with new entrant – Nokia Lumia 510).

Here, we are trying to compare how they perform in this low end price point. Let’s take the battle one-by-one of each important factor.

Applications & Games

Although Microsoft says that they have 46 of the top 50 applications, many useful applications and famous games are still missing from the Windows Phone Store. Take for example the applications such as Instagram, Pocket, Flipboard, Google Drive and YouTube.

Yes, there are applications similar to them from third party developers such as Lomogram (Instagram alternative), MetroPaper (Pocket Client) and MetroTube (YouTube Client) but they are not half as good as the applications from other platforms and they offer just the most basic functionalities in comparison.

It’s even bad when it comes to collection of games that is available for the Windows Phone devices like Lumia 510, there are no popular games except Angry Birds. There is no Temple Run and even the likes of Fruit Ninja are very poorly optimized for the platform. Let alone the games such as Nova and Modern Combat.

No matter how stringent Microsoft gets with the OEM on limiting the upper and lower boundaries to keep its platform safe from the fragmentation issue, it has already started to creep in.

Take the example of Nokia Lumia 510 and Nokia Lumia 610, both of them can’t run the Skype application properly due to low hardware configuration, so it has been barred from being installed on devices which have less than 512 MB of RAM.

On the other hand, the platform full of fragmentation, Android has more and better applications and games compared to the new kid Windows Phone. ONE UP – Android!

Camera & Multimedia

When it comes to multimedia performance, there is a problem in comparison. There are two kinds of cheaper Android smartphones; the ones from internationally well-known brands and the ones from local Indian brands which are in turn re-labeled Chinese branded devices.

When you compare with the ones from well-known brands, the Windows Phone devices offer better multimedia experience with better screen and streamlined interface. When you compare them with the Android devices from local brands, take for example the Micromax A110, you get better video recording and images with higher resolutions but the results may not necessarily be better.

In terms of multimedia playback however, a user can always install the third party players such as DoubleTwist and MX Player and get better results. Such third party players are not available on the Windows Phone platform just yet. It’s a TIE here!

Operating System Updates & Usage Flexibility

Smartphones and their features are not without their operating system updates and upgrades. Let alone entry-level Android smartphones, even some of the best-seller devices in mid-price segment fail to get proper software and OS upgrades. By the time they get the updates, the newer version of OS is already released.

Microsoft on the other hand promises faster and better upgrade processes with Windows Phone. Windows Phone is the WINNER here!

Flexibility is the second name for Android, we have seems Android doing numerous unbelievable stuff. Android is a lot more flexible when compared to Windows Phone. You can have dual SIM Android smartphones, you can have QWERTY and pretty much every possible form factor you can think of!

You can play with the files, ROMs and install applications from outside of the applications store. Microsoft, on the other hand, has put a lot of limitations on the OEMs so they can’t experiment much with the hardware and software. Even in entry level price range, you can get pretty much the kind of Android device according to your needs but not the same with Windows Phone devices. ONE UP – Android!

Battery Life

As Windows Phone operating system doesn’t allow true multitasking and just suspends applications in the background, it needs less processing, providing better battery life than others. You can expect much better battery life when compared to cheaper Android smartphones which if not used properly, can end up being terrible in the battery life. ONE UP – Windows Phones!

Conclusion

It comes down to the same conclusion once again, there is no clear winner as of yet. There is still a year worth of time when app developers start developing applications and games for the Windows Phone platform. Then people will start taking cheap Windows Phone smartphones more seriously.

On top of that, Nokia needs more devices like the Lumia 620 at nearly the price of the Lumia 510, only then can they even expect to compete with Android phones in the lower and mid-price range because mass market consumers just go by the specifications list when buying a phone.

50+ Awesome Tips to Make a Great Presentations!

I just came out of a day long conference, where I sat through over 10 presentations. 90 percent presentations were boring. Mind you, I am not saying that these presentations did not have great content to offer, but the way they were presented were very dull and boring. I am sure most of the other audience felt the same as well.

In the past 15 years or so, I have sat through most presentations and more or less the statistics turn out to be the same. 9 out of 10 presentations made are extremely boring and that too accompanied by run-of-the-mill bullets points. Yes, bullet points are boring, and more often than not they actually harm the presentation.

Here is an example of that: Lets say you are an entrepreneur and are trying to present your startup to a random group of people. See how you present it with bullet points. In second scenario, try to present your startup without the bullet-point presentation deck. In most cases, the latter would be more engaging. Yes, you may miss out on some points, but the listener would remember it more.

The reason being; when you present without bullet points, you generally give examples or come up with a parallel scenarios so that audience understands.

That in no way means that PowerPoint presentations are dead. Infact, they are great tool to enhance your presentations and make a lasting impact. Bullet-points though work the opposite!

So, how do you make a great presentation?

The first cardinal rule of making a great presentation deck is to remember that – A presentation is a story not a sequence of slides!

I came across this really excellent presentation on slideshare that I think everyone should bookmark and refer to whenever they are creating and making a presentation. It offers over 50 tips on how to make great presentations

A good presentation is one that should make audience relate to you and the characters in your presentation. Understand who the audience is, and remove the parts from yourpresentation story that will bore them. However, great your content might be, if it is not interesting and relevant to the audience, they will get bored.

Also, one thing you should always always remember – The PowerPoint slides are only a visual support for your oral presentation!

IIT-B launches Aakash App Development Contest for Android & Linux Developers

IIT Bombay has recently launched an app development competition in a bid to create a developer community around Aakash Tablets. This developer contest aims at developing useful Open Source applications and content on Android / Linux for use by students on Aakash.

To push interest in the developer community, IIT-B has announced cash prizes of Rs. 50,000 for winner followed by Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 10,000 for 2^nd and 3^rd places.

How to enter the Aakash Developer Contest

1. Visit Aakash Labs website at http://aakashlabs.org and read more details on the contest.
2. IIT-B has created a Github instance where Android and Linux developers can upload their developed applications.
3. All applications developed need to be based on Open Source License
4. The applications developed should be broadly come under educational category and should help students for furthering their education

Already there have been quiet a few applications that have been developed on Aakash. Scilab, the open-source version of Matlab has already been ported to Android, which is currently part of Aakash. Here are some of the other apps developed for Aakash Tablet.

Applications developed for Aakash Tablet

I think this is a great move by IIT Bombay to create a community around Aakash, however, I do not completely agree with contest prizes. I am sure IIT-B could have done better with the prizes to make it more attractive for the developers to dove in, especially because it is for Aakash, one of the most talked about government projects in recent times.