If BIG size is not an issue, Galaxy Note is for you

Yes. It is a phone+tablet (Phablet?). This is the fastest Android phone available till now with 1.4 GHz Dual Core processor and 1GB RAM. Amazingly beautiful Super AMOLED 5.3"(800 x 1280) screen with 2500 mah battery, 16GB built in storage expandable with additional 32 GB memory card. 

The 5.3" screen is not as big as I assumed it to be in the hand. Looks very slim and decent. This is the phone for the people

1. Who do not want to carry a laptop

2. Who do not want to carry around a tablet in addition to the phone

3. Who does most of their work with emails, spreadsheets, social media and android apps

4. Who do not mind the carrying around approximately 1.5x size of Galaxy S2.

5. Who enjoys convergence to the extent that the phone and tablet are in a single device. 

6. Who would love to use the special features by SPen.

This is definitely more than a smartphone and size wise less than a tablet. However the hardware and software are on par (may be more). 

I really like the special functionalities of SPen. There are plenty of things one can imagine to do with this SPen. Samsung seems to be very serious about their SPen and released a SDK for developers.

Display, Speed, Size and SPen are the specialties of this phone. Samsung also promised that they will be updating the OS to latest Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) by 2012. Looking at aggressiveness of Samsung it may release it in 1st quarter of 2012. This is available in Bangalore at Rs. 32,500. Samsung showroom (Mantri Mall) was selling at Rs. 31,900 as promotion offer. Samsung is also providing a designer cover along with the package.

The only feature that is futuristic and catching up rapidly is absent in Note is NFC (Near Field Communication). I think with the commercial focus on this technology this may come to India in a year, where you do not need to carry your Credit Cards with you but just tap your phone on NFC scanner to make a payment at shops. This can also be used to transfer files, photos, music, contacts from one phone to other as promoted by Nokia Lumia 800. The technology is catching up very fast. Google Nexus has the NFC antenna in its battery. In future it may be possible that a non-NFC phone can be converted by just inserting a NFC enable battery or Memory Card.

There are going to be rain of smartphones in the 1st half of 2012. If you can wait, you may consider Galaxy Nexus, Lumia 900, iPhone 5 etc.

Hi-Fi Home Theatre System

The desire that was in my mind from past 10 years suddenly became strong to buy a best home theatre within my budget. Started my research again. Visited almost all showrooms available in Bengaluru.

ProFX - Barton Center
Onkyo - Barton Center
Jamo - Infantry Road
Klipsch - Lavelle Road
JBL - Forum Mall
UniqueSys - Varthur Main Road

Contacted and discussed on Phone with many others.

The first and foremost thing I need to highlight about high end HT system is you have to focus on the speakers first. These are the expensive components of the system similar to lenses of DSLR. The technology has not changed much in Speakers but has been continuously changing in amplifiers and AV receivers. Most of the people who buy the HiFi systems expect the system to reproduce the sound as it is produced (mastered) in the Studio. Usually many of the systems either boost up Bass or Treble to make them sound "better" in showrooms. The sales person usually increases the volume to more than 80% of its capacity as if we are buying them for blasting them at loud parties every day.

In my experience you have to carry your own (CD's preferred over MP3s) to the store and test them with your favorite songs. Listen to them at sound levels that you listen at home. Also listen to them at low volume and high volume just to verify the clarity. Some of the speakers give away at high volumes with a lot of distortion. There are heated discussions on whether the HT system will serve for both Music as well as Movies? My suggestion is : if you have budget you can invest on both separately. However the balanced approach will save a lot of money.

Somehow the packaged HT systems will not give as much clarity as custom configured HT systems. The brands I have tested are:

AV Receivers: ONKYO, Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Sharewood
Speakers : Polk, Elac, Energy, KEF, Focal, Paradigm, Jamo, Klipsch, MK all series, JBL, Boston

Each person will have his/her own taste for the Low, mid & treble combination. You cannot judge a system as best for all. The best way is listen again and again and again to them and find out if they match to your way of listening. I did test all the above systems. It is not necessary that you have to buy all speakers from the same brand. The front speakers can be from different brand and centre+surround can be from different and Sub woofer can be of other. However if you think that a single brand is suiting to your listening taste you may buy all of them from single brand.

My opinion on the brands:
Elac and Energy lack a bit on Mids.
KEF, Klipsch and Paradigm are high on treble and bass.
Focal is good but could not find the model in my budget.
JBL and Boston did not taste good.
MK 750 series is best for movie viewing as it is also THX certified and are usually used in Studios. However not so good for listening pure music.

Happened to listen Polk RTI A7 series speakers. They sounded very good with right balance between Low, Mid and Treble for my taste. Could not get the black color and had to upgrade my purchase to A9 series.

Remember every new speaker has to run for a least of 100 hours to sound better.

Onkyo is value for money. However I read a lot of complaints on them.
Marantz and Denon are from the same company. Marantz sounds more melodious than Denon. Both of them are equipped with Airplay feature.
Yamaha has their own proprietary technology on their Aventage series.

I was more leaning to ONKYO TX-NR809 (THX) until I heard Denon-AVR 2311. Every store has their own agenda to sell the brands. I came across UniqueSys store while searching to test Paradigm speakers. Mr. Saif gave me a good demo and was very keen on meeting my requirement than selling a particular brand.

At the end came up with this combination:

Front Floor Standing speakers: Polk RTi A9 (2X500W @ 8 Ohms)
Centre Speaker : Polk CSi A6 (200W @ 8 Ohms)
Surround Speakers: Polk FXi A6 (2X150 @ 8 Ohms)

I have almost selected Marantz SR6006 and dropped because of 110W per channel output as my front speakers are 500W per channel and will be under powered.

Thought of buying Yamaha RX2067 then found the latest Yamaha RX-A2010 Aventage series with 140W per channel @ 8 Ohms. Bi-Amped the front two speakers to theoretically getting 280W per channel. The only thing I have to change in the setup now is my 5 years old Samsung 40" LCD to some 3D LED. I am waiting for this excitement to settle down so that I can focus my next research on TV.

***You have to listen to the system again and again and again before finalizing. Do not go by brand value or word of mouth or sales person's hidden agenda***

Palm Top Mini Projector - Joybee GP1 from BenQ

Recently I had to conduct a Training Session for 10 people for 4 days with very tight budgets. To get a projector on rent it was costing around INR 12K to 16K. So, decided to buy one for my self. Researched a lot on them and found BenQ gave a reasonably better value for money. Almost decided on BenQ 525p recommended by the vendor.

For the first day the vendor was kind enough to give a standby projector till he picks the new one from distributor. When I saw the size of 525p, I felt it is more for 'portable' in my terms and less for a big projector. Then I was also thinking of their "Short-throw" projectors in case I have to use it for a small meeting rooms.

I came across Joybee GP1 projector and started reading about it. This is so cute and small and fits in the laptop bag, weighs around 640 grams with 100% mercury free 3LED technology. SVGA (858X600) resolution and with PC/Laptop will project up to 1280X1024. This is more than sufficient in many cases where the presentation has to be done in a small meeting room with maximum of 10 people. The colors are good. It starts up very quickly and when you double press the power button it shuts down very quickly. It also has USB port. You can also buy an iPod/iPhone Universal dock. I have completed the remaining training with this projector and participants were happy with this.

I strongly recommend this for the road warriors (typical Business/Sales persons) who don't want to carry a lot of weight and would not want to wait for the systems to boot up and adjust a lot of things before the projector shows the slides on the wall/screen. Also ideal for home projector if you are not a videophile.

In India it costs you around INR 36K including taxes. However in USA it is selling around USD 400 as per amazon.

It comes along with a soft carry case & remote (looks bigger for the size of projector) in addition to a quick start guide, power adaptor, power cable, CEA 30pin Cable & a manual CD.

For more details visit www.benq.co.in/product/projector/joybeegp1

You may also look at Acer C110 or Viewsonic PLED-W200.

The New TATA ARIA

Recently test-drove TATA Aria. I must say if I remove the TATA badge and ask you to drive you will not think in any wild way that it is TATA vehicle. The build is very strong. It feels like a tanker. The pick up and gear ratios are very smooth. You will never feel that you are driving a beast of 2720 Kg. I must say TATA engineers have done an excellent job here. For the sake of mentioning the specs, it is 140PS@4000RPM and 320NM@1700-2700RPM that makes it very peppy. The space inside is huge. You have AC vents on the pillars for rear passengers. The seat configuration can be changed as per your requirement. For such a huge vehicle the turning radius of 5.6m is very decent. I test-drove the 4X4. It is all wheel drive unless you choose to make it 4X2. A 4X2 version is also available now. The higher end 4X4 version has automatic climate control, cruise control, 6 airbags, ESP and Traction control, navigation system & 17" alloys.

The things I did not like: a whole row of roof pockets, slippery steering wheel (not the drive) and the last row plastics. However one of the pockets on the roof can be an LCD and a leather cover stitched on steering wheel will work with better grip. The last row plastics may create a rattle sound in future.

Aria really surprises you with its strong feel. The highest being priced at INR 19.65L and base at around 12L on road (Bengaluru).

www.tataaria.com

Good one until you see the XUV500 from Mahindra & Mahindra.

Facebook Stole every contact and phone number in your phone ?!?

TATA Sky Mobile Access

Recently I saw an ad on TV, Ameer teases his friend about the program he is watching. Updated my Tata Sky+ app on iPhone. First thing I noticed is how the TV watching can become instant social networking (facebook/twitter). I can see a lot of people following "serials" will have a lot to socialize. The second thing I observed iPhone can be your universal remote.
Read few details about it and ordered the accessory online. Next day I received a call from call centre confirming the order and saying it is free as a promotional offer. After 3 days I received the accessory. Looks neat and inline with iPhone design. Plugged into the 3.5mm jack.

Now the fun started. Opened the app and tried tuning it with my TV, DVD & HD box nothing happened. Called call centre, the guy on the phone with half english and full hindi tried his best nothing happened (was expecting it). Then went little more deeper and found two tips on the app : 1. In the settings, ipod settings - Off the 'volume limit'. 2. In settings, General, accessibility Off the 'mono audio'. Thats it. All my devices are configured. Now I can control my HD set-top, Samsung LCD & Sony Hometheatre with my iPhone. Just remember to keep the LED of the remote facing downwards when you hold the phone facing towards you. Somehow the volume controls are not working.

One thing that shows on the ad and doesn't work actually is keeping the accessory plugged into the 3.5mm jack and talking to your friend on phone. You cannot hear other person's voice as it thinks the head phone is plugged-in (unless you are on speaker phone). Surprisingly on TV both Ameer and his friend talk to each other with the accessory plugged-in and keeping the phone to the ear.

Visit www.tatasky.com/mobileaccessapp/index.html for more details.

If customers cannot reach Store, the Store reaches customers

Virtual Mobile Grocery Store

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaVFRzTTP4

Online shopping may not be an unique idea. But if it can utilize your (the most boring) waiting time to shop for your convenience then it is superb. You can shop while waiting for your transport simply by using your smartphone. By the time you reach home the items arrive at your doorstep.

Hopefully the infrastructure and most importantly the public sense of people reaches to this stage very soon in India.