There’s a very active Tech Tonic community on Orkut and every Sunday, the moderators pick a “Featured Thread of the Week”. The first ever FTW is:
Congrats Varun and if any of you are keen on following the excellent discussion on Orkut, do join the community!
After another frustratingly slow session of “Mobile Internet” using one of them USB data sticks, my thoughts drifted towards WiMax, which seems to be sliding downhill after a prolonged stay at the peak of the hype cycle:
I remember attending a live WiMax demo in Delhi as far back as 2004, though it turned out to be quite comical. The company had invited the tech press and some officials including the Wireless Advisor to the DoT. The latter was furious when he heard that the transmitter had been placed on the terrace of a building across the road and insisted that he had given permission only to place it on the terrace of the same hotel! The red-faced execs had to literally scamper after him with profuse apologies and eventually cooled him down with some hot chai!
Gartner (yup, the same guys who came up with the term ‘hype cycle’) has just come out with a report titled “Beware of WiMAX Hype in
“In the near-term, the Indian WiMAX market is not very promising. Gartner advises carriers to focus on the enterprise market and high end residential subscribers. At the present time, it is not clear if vendors would benefit from risk-sharing models with Indian operators. Overall, the long term potential of the Indian WiMAX market heavily relies on spectrum allocation, WiMAX ecosystem maturation, and the timeliness of WiMAX and 3G licenses.” more (Press Release)
Well, BSNL (which along with MTNL will get automatic allocation of spectrum unlike the private guys who will have to bid) seems to have massive plans for WiMax, but given its current state of connectivity offerings, it’s tough to be optimistic.
I wonder if anyone from BSNL attended the recent WiMax conference in Bangkok, where the CEO of Australia’s first WiMax deployer Buzz Broadband, slammed the technology in front of a global audience. Quick Summary:
“disaster… miserable failure… mired in opportunistic hype”
… you need another accessory - in this case a pouch from Case Logic - in which to keep all of them! This MP3 Kit was actually a god send. For those of you who really care, this is what my iPod kit currently contains:
Upper Left Side: USB connector cum AV cable (composite)
Lower Left Side: AC adapter plus two 2-pin connectors (one round & one flat)
Upper Right Side Left: Apple iPod Touch (8 GB), protective skin, cleaning cloth
Upper Right Side Right: Various jacks including audio splitter, airplane seat 2-pin connector, thin-to-fat audio jack convertor etc.
Lower Right Side: A pair of in-ear headphones
I admit, I’m a bit of an organisation freak, but you have to admit this case is pretty nifty. In fact I dare say it NEARLY justifies the outrageously inflated price that Case Logic slaps on its products.
Anyway, lest I be accused of being an iPod fanboy again, do see this very nice explanation of why iPods don’t support Bluetooth. One-line summary: “Apple wants to maintain a stranglehold over the accessory universe!”
It looks like my Eee PC column is already redundant!
The US’ FCC is currently in the process of approving the 2nd generation (9-inch screen) Eee PC and has put up lots pictures and documents. Bluetooth and a multi-touch pad seem to be the highlights of the new version.
My partner-in-crime Varun, was among the first to get hold of the new Eee PC at CeBIT earlier this month:
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
(Video Courtesy: www.tech2.com)
I was a bit surprised when iTunes tried to sneak a Safari installation along with my regular software update yesterday:
I just unchecked the little box next to the Apple browser and quit after installing the iTunes update. I imagine that most users will do the same, but Mozilla boss John Lilly is severely ticked off and lashed out at Apple’s obvious ploy to gain some ground on Firefox.
Of course, (Fake) Steve Jobs has his own hilarious take on the whole matter:
“…the real story here is that the Mozilla Foundation dresses itself up as a nonprofit but then runs a for-profit Mozilla Corp. that makes a frigload of money by sticking a Google search box in its browser.”
Spent the long weekend in Bangkok - lovely blend of ancient and modern (See inset of the pic below for view from my hotel room). The tech shopping didn’t seem too exciting though - prices were similar and often higher than India - the (unlocked) iPhone being the hottest selling item at around 25k Baht. Thats above Rs. 30k making it way more expensive than the going rate here…
(Note: I didn’t have explicit permission to take this pic so no faces!)
But the real tech surprise was my hotel room (see inset of pic below) which had a REAL antique AV setup that I just couldn’t get over! A good ol’ Sony Trinitron, now officially in its last month of production …
But hey! What’s that whacky looking Hi-Fi next to it??? Closer inspection reveals that it’s actually also a VCD player … check out them buttons!
I couldn’t find anything on this CMT-VC1 micro system from Sony’s retro-styled “Mezzo” range, except this (See last gadget on the page). If the archiving system of the site can be trusted, Sony apparently launched this in October 2001 - the very same month in which a struggling Apple launched another gadget.
Things were never the same for Apple and Sony since then, were they?
I’m not going to link to places where you can buy the “liability” gadgets from today’s column (that would kinda defeat the purpose!) but here are some tips on picking up the assets:
- Shower Radio: Surprisingly, nobody seems to be selling this online in India, but you should find it easily in your local electronic grey market (Lamington Road in Mumbai, Nehru Place in Delhi etc.). If you have a US address where it can be dropped off and brought back later by a relative/friend then Amazon.com has plenty of choice. Ditto for the Mini Wi-Fi router. Most Indian sites only seem to be selling the regular sized ones. Amazon to the rescue once again.
- The Nintendo Wii & Apple iPod Touch seem most competitively priced at Gadgetsguru.com - see links in the gadget picks box on the sidebar of this page. Also, apologies for the slight blooper in the column as far as scanner prices go. The HP Scanjet 2400 should have read 4k instead of 3k.
The REAL blooper though in today’s column (the HT Brunch version) is the fact that the layout person decided to swap the order of the gadgets from the original I had sent. No harm done … UNTIL one reaches Asset no. 4:
Multiple laptops and Wi-Fi gadgets (such as the previous two on this list) then easily share the single net connection at home.
Haha! This line suggests that the Shower Radio has Wi-Fi built in (instead of the Wii for which the reference was intended). Moral of the story: Don’t make references, in future columns, that are dependent on spatial orientation!
It’s the end of the financial year and while I collate my bills and claims, it’s also high time I audited FY08’s tech purchases. I bought lots of stuff, some cool, some junk so lets take a hard-nosed look and pass judgment:
ASSETS
- Shower Radio:
Technically I didn’t buy it since it was gifted but what a great gift! It really doesn’t get better than (a waterproof) FM Radio in the bathroom. This inexpensive cute chunky plastic box has just two knobs - one for controlling the frequency and one for volume.There’s a small digital clock and holes for the in-built speaker. It takes 4 AA batteries nevertheless highly recommended!
- Nintendo Wii:
This one was swung by WAF (Wife Acceptability Factor). There was no way an Xbox or PlayStation was entering the home and having me glued to it 24×7. The Nintendo Wii on the other hand is the most fun, stress-busting and yet addictive gaming experience I’ve had. We’ve thrown Wii-kend parties with friends who just can’t get enough of it. Whoever said gamers have no social life?
- iPod Touch
I bought this purely on a whim - no iPhone yet in India and I desperately wanted to “flick and pinch” (before dirty thoughts enter your mind) photos, songs and videos. But once this thing gets on the net, it’s the best handheld internet browser EVER made. Its also among the best resolution screens on so slim a device and my VCD collection is now being ripped for use solely on the Touch.
- SMC Mini Wi-Fi Router
It costs less than four thousand bucks, is incredibly easy to set up (just plug the internet cable in) and doesn’t require software installation. Multiple laptops and Wi-Fi gadgets (such as the previous two on this list) then easily share the single net connection at home. Just remember to password protect your router lest the neighbours decided they don’t need to buy their own.
- HP Scanjet 2400
I had no idea that scanners had become so cheap - less than 3k - though when I did order it, I questioned the need to pick up such a big dust collector. However, a little discipline from my side in scanning EVERYTHING to make life paperless has proven to make this the best decision of the year. I’ve not had to pull out anything from old files to xerox - just browse, attach and email/print!
LIABILITIES
- Skype Wireless Phone
This is nothing but a plastic “phone” shaped Wi-Fi device that has no software except on it except Skype. You connect to Wi-Fi, login to Skype, access your friends list and call them. Its basically a substitute for having to sit in front of your PC with headphones and mic. Nice concept, but not worth 5k considering I’ve used it less than a dozen times all year!
- Digital Photo Frame
I bought two of these as gifts, but was too tempted and opened one to keep for myself in the drawing room. The image quality is poor, it has an ugly cable for power supply that gets in the way and most importantly I haven’t had the time or “enthu” to replace the memory card with pictures that I slotted in, when I first opened it nearly a year ago.
- Onkyo Gladiator 5.1 Home Theatre
This one was heavily subsidized thanks to credit card points but took a dozen follow-ups over 4 months with HDFC bank before it landed up. It takes up tons of space and has created a wiring mess. Moreover there aren’t enough movies out there in the market with 5.1 Dolby sound to enjoy. White elephant alert!
- LG xCanvas 37″ HDTV
Its on the same table that the much bulkier “tube” was on, so the space-saving of the thin LCD is redundant. TV signal in India is not HD (High Definition) so my cable actually looks worse on this than on my old 29″. I don’t have an HD gaming console and I don’t intend to buy a Blu-Ray disc player till prices hit 10k ie. mid 2009! Early adoption be damned, this could have easily waited; I’m sure a 46″ will be the same price by next year!
- Sony Cybershot T-100
Never buy a digital camera which requires that the battery be taken out and charged separately. I have no issues with the camera itself; its only the painful charging that has ensured that I’ve never had it ready when I most needed it. In any case, in the future, I’m going either for a great mobile phone-cam or an entry level Digital SLR . The era of these in-between pocket “digicams”, for me, is over!
Wow! I don’t think I would have taken a fall for a Macbook Air … especially since the Tech 2.0 team wasn’t very impressed.
American TV journalism legend Charlie Rose is apparently quite a gadget nut but having to go on air with a black-eye is REALLY pushing it. According to TechCrunch, he slipped while walking and on realising that he had to quickly chose between his face and his Air, the Mac fanboy ROSE to the occasion!
Pic Courtesy Engadget.com
Lots of people after reading the last column seem to be interested in trying audiobooks though they’re even more interested in “free audiobooks”, which I guess is only to be expected. No wonder Chris Anderson’s next book (a preview of which is the cover story of the latest issue of Wired magazine) is all about the power of free! If it’s anything like his previous bestseller, then it’s surely worth a read! I wish though he’d practise what he preaches and give the book away FREE as an e-book or even better, as an audiobook…
So anyway, here’s a great list of free audiobook services. I listened to the samples on Librivox.org and lets put it this way … there’s a reason why people are willing to pay for Audible - there’s no comparison at all in the quality of narration! But then again, free is a tough proposition to beat so do give some of those sites a shot!
