One Plus One - Review

After four and a half years with Google's Nexus phones (Nexus 1 - 2009-10, Nexus S - 2010-12, & Nexus 4 - 2012-14) I decided to give the latest entrant in the 'pure Android' world a try. Technically 'pure Android+'. One Plus One (OPO) is a high end Android smartphone manufacturer from China that came out of nowhere in 2014 and with incredible specs, state of the art Android experience, and unbelievable prices, has taken the geeky world of phones by storm this year.

Let's get the basics out of the way first. The 64 GB Sandstone Black phone at 5.5" screen, and 162

gms feels large, but not heavy. The unique "sandstone black" material at the back feels distinct (like hard velvet as many have commented) and comfortable to touch. The device is massively powerful with a quad core Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor (compared to Snapdragon 800, 2.3GHz of the Nexus 5), and to support that kind of power and large screen it comes with a 3,100 mAh battery which keeps the phone going on for an entire day, and sometimes more. Like the new Nexus line of phones the battery is not replaceable and inside the phone, and it doesn't have the option of an external memory card. However at 64GB of memory and more and more multimedia moving to the cloud I am not sure if anyone really needs more memory than that. Oh, did I mention it has a 3GB RAM? 3 GB. Your laptop may have a comparable RAM even today. In short, the phone is exceptional fast and has very nice touch sensitivity. Besides the great stuff inside, they've also paid attention to the details and have delivered a top notch packaging and branding experience (pictures below).

The "hard velvet" back

Because of the large size of the phone, the manufacturers have smartly placed the power and volume buttons mid way through the sides, so even someone with a small hand should be able to control those buttons. 

The camera is also a thing of beauty, with a 13 MP back camera and a 5 MP front facing camera. Of note is the 4K UHD video option. I have not seen such clarity in phone pictures so far. I maybe getting over my prejudice against the phone camera finally. Oh, it also has a Slow-Mo setting (60 fps) which does make for some interesting action videos - running, eating, crowds etc. And the OPO comes with some small but unique features such as switching on the flashlight by simply drawing a V on the screen, even when locked, or a circle to switch on the camera. Have shared some pictures clicked using the phone so far.

Green Lake, Seattle (HDR)

But the 3 things that have set the OPO apart so far are (1) the Cyanogenmod OS, (2) Invite Only distribution system, and (3) $350 price point.

Fall Leaves, Queen Anne, Seattle

If you've heard about the OPO then chances are you've also come across the term Cyanogenmod. While you can read the details right here in their own page, the description is precisely what they claim it to be "CyanogenMod (pronounced /saɪ.'æn.oʊ.dʒɛn.mɒd/) is an enhanced open source firmware distribution for smartphones and tablet computers based on the Android mobile operating system. It offers features and options not found in the official firmware distributed by vendors of these devices." Basically it provides the pure Android experience and enhances it by unlocking many features you won't get in the regular phones. An example will be the ability to set brightness at any level and not just 5 preset levels. Or adding options to the power menu. Or changing the navigation buttons at the bottom. Your Android, your way. Yes, you can install Cyanogenmod on any Android phone if you're comfortable with rooting, and updating the OS as and when they arrive. As this is the first "legit" phone to come bundled with Cyanogenmod you can get the latest Over The Air (OTA) updates to keep your phone and its features always up-to-date. As a long term pure Android user I am very particular against bloatware (unnecessary software that manufacturers add to their devices) and you can rest assured not to be bothered by them. And yes, it's as Android as it gets, you have full access to the Google Play store and all apps and services. They've also promised a 90 day update to the latest Android version, so that countdown for the Android Lollipop version has already started. 

Again, Green Lake, Seattle. HDR.

The 2nd interesting thing about the OPO has been the distribution system. Because of the extreme positive interest in the devices they have kept the distribution invite only, and getting the invites has been a matter of immense pride, fortune, and perseverance in the geek community. In fact, they opened the phone to pre-order on Oct-27 of this year and the demand brought their servers down. According to latest numbers they have sold 0.5M units since launch in May 2014 and have plans of touching the magic 1M mark with the holiday demand. The China based company has solid leadership with veterans from the industry and if the first six months are to go by you'll hear a lot more about them. They have famously spent $350 in marketing till date.

Finally, the price. This beast at $350 is something you could have only expected from the Nexus so far. But this year, after 5 versions of the ridiculously prices flagship phones at the $300-$350 mark, Google has joined the iPhone league and launched it at $649 (unlocked). The OPO on the other hand has taken up that sweet spot ($349 + shipping ($15) for their 64GB version). That's a price point very difficult to go wrong with the kind of specs they're providing.

After four days of usage I will give the phone a 9.5/10 (just had to deduct 0.5 points for the size, but you can say I purchased it knowing fully well). A fan already. Also a fan of the roasted chicken +Veni  cooked over the weekend:)

Google Love

Yet another easter egg from the big G!

Type the following in the Google search bar

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day, but found it cute nevertheless.

[Source: Mashable]

Thank You Moo!

A few days back I came across this article on Mashable that mentioned Moo.com, a speciality business card printing company, has partnered with facebook to make 'facebook cards' or fancy business cards made from your facebook timeline (including your profile and cover photo) with some of your personal information such as phone number, email ID, website and any quote that you choose. What's more interesting is that were giving away 50 such cards for free to the first 200,000 people who signed up for the service. Usually when words like free, facebook and startup come together I sign up before realizing what I'm signing up for and this was no exception.

This evening I received a package in the mail with a box of the most attractive business cards I have ever had. Here's what the cards and the package look like.

The package

Above: Front and Below: Reverse of the cards

Not only are the cards printed with the highest quality of paper, but also the customer service was impeccable with friendly notifications at each step of confirmation of ordering, shipping and delivery. 

Hooked on to Moo? Here's how you can get the cards, free and otherwise:

To get the offer, first click on “About” under your basic info on your Timeline. Then scroll down to “Contact Info” and roll over the little business card icon — you should see a rollover box that will direct you to MOO. In order to take advantage of the offer, Facebook users will need to have enabled Timeline.

To place a regular paid order on MOO.com, sign in through Facebook and check that the aggregated information from your profile is correct on the card. Then you can flip the card over to add a favorite quote or phrase before printing. Currently, the cards are for sale in 50-card bundles. Facebook Cards are available at $15 for 50, $30 for 100, $45 for 150 and $60 for 200.

And here's a big thank you to Moo! Will be handing out these cards to the next 50 new people I meet. And I start with the Kellogg Marketing Conference tomorrow morning!

P.S: If you're ordering your set of cards you can use the code G2MSCG and get a 15% off.

1955-2011, Steve Jobs

God blessed us with you. May God bless you.

Apple.com Oct-5-2011

Google.com Oct-5-2011

XKCD 

BoingBoing.net

Microsoft London's Flag Flying At Half-Mast

The iCon

The end of Jobs-Gates meme

Never Before aired ad of Steve Jobs from 1997








 Also tributes by the following people:

Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder Apple

Tim Cook, CEO Apple (letter sent to all Apple employees)

Barack Obama, President of the United States

Larry Page, CEO Google

Sergey Brin, Co-Founder Google

Eric Schmidt, Chairman Google

Bill Gates, Founder Microsoft

Jeff Bezos, Founder Amazon

A very moving tribute to Steve Jobs by Parminder Singh, my friend and Apple's 1st employee in India.

Scott Adam's (creator of Dilbert) ode to Jobs (thanks Manan for the link)

Stephen Fry at it as well.

Write-ups by Tech Writers who worked closely with Jobs.

Walt Mossberg (AllThingsD)

Brian Lam (Gizmodo)

Michael Arrington (Uncrucnhed, founder TechCrunch)

Stephen Fry, Writer (thanks Abhishek for the link)

[Will keep adding more articles to the list]

Google Music Beta Review

Last week Google announced the launch of it's online music service - Google Music Beta - at the annual Google I/O Conference. As expected, it received a lot of attention from the Tech media and also as has been the case with some of the newer Google products the beta is 'By Invite Only' to begin with. You can go to the homepage and request an invitation now. Someone from the team was kind enough to send me an invite last evening and I have been playing around with it since then.

In a nutshell Google Music helps you to upload and manage your entire music collection to/in the cloud, sync it with your Google account and then listen to it at anytime from any machine or mobile phone as long as you have access to the Internet through a browser or a mobile app. Some of the innovative features are listening to free songs available through the Music app and something called 'Instant Mix' which creates a playlist from your list of songs based on the kinds of songs you select. Also, if you don't have internet access at all times the Music app keeps some songs, the ones you listen to most often, cached so that you can hear them while offline.

I took screenshot of the steps involved in the installation process and producing it below. You can also find a video of the launch demo at the end of the post.

Though I am not the greatest music afficianado, a big, geeky thumbs up from my side to the product!

The email invite

Landing Page on music.google.com

Terms of Service

You can add free songs to your library at this stage

Prompt to download the 'Music Manager' app to be installed on the machine where you have your songs

The Android Market place which hosts the Google Music app

Unfortunately I couldn't install it on my Nexus S as the app is not available in India

Installing the Music Manager on the machine

Now you need to sign in using your Google account

You can select how you want to sync your songs

You have the option of updating the Google Music library automatically when you add new songs to your machine

Adding the songs to the Msuic Manager

And we're ready to listen to music on the browser!

That's the inside look at the Google Music player, with the songs being constantly added.

Finally, here's an official video explaining and demonstrating Google Music.

Google Birthday Doodle For You

I was very presently surprised when I found this doodle on my Google homepage this Sunday, which was my birthday.

Got a lot of queries about this one as I put the picture on Facebook and so wanted to clear all doubts and answer the queries.

1) No, it was not visible to everyone in the world, however much I would have loved if that was the case! This was a personalised logo, visible only to me, only on my birthday.

2) No, Google did not do this for me because I am an employee. We do have a few lucrative perks, this is not one of them. Any Google user can get this Doodle on their birthday, and here's how:

a) Go to your Google Profile 

b) Update your birthday and you're done!

If you go to the Google home page on your birthday (when signed into your Google account) you should also find the customised Google Doodle, with the little mouse over "Happy Birthday [firstname]"

Go ahead, get your own Google birthday doodle.

P.S: This was announced in this Google Blog Post.

Amazon Kindle - Review

First things first, the Kindle is a reading device. So, if you're in the habit of reading - books, journals, magazines or anything for that matter, or if you like to read but cannot read as much as you would like to, only then should you think of buying one, or of reading this review for that matter. And if you belong to the category described above, I can assure you the Kindle will become one of your most trusted friends for years to come. I can safely say that even for a gadget freak like me it is one of my favourite devices of all time. Thank you Veni for the early birthday gift!

The Amazon site itself does a fantastic job of highlighting the key features of the device, posting a screenshot from there (click the image to enlarge)

Now for a more personalised review, I would like to highlight what I love the most about this gadget.

1. The paper like feel of the screen. It really does make you do a double take. I will go so far to say that it was love at first sight for me when I saw my friend Aniruddha's Kindle a few months back. It's e-Ink technology is very different from any electronic gadget you would have come across. The paper feel is also very comfortable on the eyes, and you can read for hours without endangering your sight. To top it all, you can read on your Kindle in direct sunlight which perhaps is it's biggest selling point. Unlike most electronic screens there's no glare. There is a flip side though, the Kindle doesn't come with backlight, so if you're planning to read in the dark you require an external light source, like a clip on light or something similar.

2. The lightness of the device is to be experienced to be believed. At 8.5 ounces or 240 grams it's lighter than most paperbacks. Also, the 6 inch screen makes for a seamless reading experience. And unlike with 'real books' here you can change the size of the font to your liking.

3. The virtually unlimited number of free ebooks you can download and read (legally!). While the Amazon store itself has a lot of books at $0.00 value, there are many other websites (notably Project Gutenberg) that distribute free e-books in Kindle ready format (.mobi). These are completely legal, as the copyrights for most of them have expired. And of course, nowadays almost all the books that are launched have a Kindle version launch as well, so you can buy the latest books right from Amazon store. It takes less than a minute for the book to be in your device. Here's a helpful post about downloading free ebooks for your Kindle. 

4. Battery life! This has to take the cake. Take a wild guess about how long does a fully charged Kindle last with 4-6 hours of usage per day? E.g. a laptop lasts 3-5 hours, iPad 8-10 hours, Smart Phones 18-36 hours, normal phones 36-72 hours. Correct? A Kindle battery actually goes on for more than 20 days! Some claim a month as well! Just think about it, add a bunch of books to your Kindle, by bunch I mean a few hundreds. Or thousands. And go off for a hike, trail what have you. After a month you may not have much to eat, or enough sleep but your Kindle battery still has life in it!

Coming to the most important question, what's the damage? If you buy the Kindle from the official Amazon Store you will get the Wi-Fi only version for $139 (Rs. 6500) and the WiFi+3G one for $189 (Rs. 8700). Important: These are US rates. You need to pay a heavy delivery fees + taxes to ship it to your address to India, this brings the total cost up by ~$70 (Rs. 3100). So, if you have a helpful friend in the US who is planning to come to India sometime soon, you may want to request him/her to get your shipment. A huge thanks to my friend Debarati who brought the package along with her already overstuffed bags!

Oh, yes before I end, some other points that come to mind. The Kindle can be charged through your computer using a normal micro USB cable that comes along with the package. They also send you a wall charger, however if you're in India you need to get a converter for the Indian electric plugs. Finally, it's highly recommended you get a cover for your Kindle. This is not a part of the standard package. You may want to order it directly from the Amazon store along with your device. And it's a good idea to get a clip on light along with it.

Thank you to my Kindle savvy friends - Kalpana, Juhi, Pavan & Sid for convincing me to get this magnificent piece of art and technology.

If you have any further questions about the Kindle please feel free to leave them as comments or write to me at suhel.banerjee@gmail.com

Here are some photos of my Kindle.

The Kindle with the charger and manual

Side shot of the Kindle

The paper like feel of the screen

An Innovative, Labnol-esque Calendar

Just received a most thoughtful and innovative New Year's gift from Amit (better known as Labnol) - a calendar!

Cover page of Amit's Calendar

As you can expect, unlike normal calendars, something from Amit (he personally designed every page of it) has to be innovative and it starts with the envelope which it came in - it has this QR code along with Amit's address. Use a QR/Bar Code scanner if you have one (easily available in the Android Marketplace, in case you're using an Android device) to read what it says:)

The QR code on the envelope

The most interesting part of the calendar is that it doesn't have any months, 'days' or year on it! Yes, it's just 16 pages with numbers 1-31 on either sides which makes it an eternal calendar! And there's more, every page has the 'Date' or number on it and along with that there's a couple of tech tips:) Each page has tips on any particular topic, e.g. RSS, Fax & Snail Mail, Wolfram Alpha etc.

Page 1, with tips on 'Connecting with your loved ones'

Page 8, with tips on  'Music Online'

Thank you very much for the wonderful gift Amit! And it is now enjoying pride of place on my office desk:)

P.S: The QR code says "Digital Inspiration wishes you a very happy and productive 2011."

What Did You Search For In 2010?

For the past 5 years or so Google has come up with it's annual Zeitgeist, at a global and also national level for different countries (e.g India). The Zeitgeist is the list of the most searched terms of that year. Of late this has been getting a lot of media coverage as well with television channels having dedicated programs discussing what the country has been looking for. 

In fact this year Facebook & Twitter with their large repository of data also came up with the most commonly used words in status updates and tweets. All making for a most interesting read.

Earlier this year in February I had come up with a list of the most 'hatke' or 'different' keywords people have searched for to reach my blog. In fact the post became quite popular and encourage me to continue blogging a little more regularly than the 2-3 posts a year I was doing before that. So, at the end of the year I decided to announce my own little Zeitgeist results, in 2 categories - (a) most popular keywords searched to reach my blog and (b) most 'interesting' keywords search to reach my blog.

I must say there has been a large dip in the 'interesting' category since my February post, and most queries can more or less be tracked down to the post which triggered them and also the rationale behind those searched. However, I did manage to come up with the 10 'wackiest' queries that got some traffic to my blog. So, without much further ado, here are the 'Mind At Work' Zeitgeist results.

Top Queries for 'Mind At Work'

1. Kingdom of Dreams Gurgaon Review (related post)

2. Johari Window Test (related post)

3. Reverse Image Search Engine (related post)

4. May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss Review (related post)

5. Twitter (related Post 1, post 2, post 3)

6. Abbey Road Gurgaon (related post)

7. Android Market (related post)

8. Puzzles (related post 1, post 2)

9. Pista House Haleem Recipe (related post)

10. Biryani Gurgaon (related post 1, post 2)

And now coming to the more popular awards - the 'hatke' queries Zeitgeist.

These keywords brought me visitors to the blog, so a big thanks to whoever searched on them. And a quick note behind your thought process will be most appreciated:) [unedited, uncensored data. Could be NSFW]

'Hatke' 'Mind At Work' Awards

1. best fake nickname for a god

[Suhel speak: God's on an espionage mission, eh?]

2. bulging tummy in girls

[SS: Not a pretty sight. Stop searching, immediately]

3. how to deal with a 69 year old male that is not happy about being given a surprise birthday party

[SS: someone's gonna get hurt real bad]

4. night rate of a cheerleader in delhi or gurgaon

[SS: T20 or ODI?]

5. prabhu chawala character traits

[SS: After that Rajnikanth editorial should you really bother?]

6. should i be working at 69 years old

[SS: I for sure hope I will not]

7. software engineer tummy

[SS: Mostly empty. Or so I'm told]

8. things u can do with rs 100 in kolkata

[SS: A little more than what you can do with Rs. 5000 in Mumbai]

9. what is it like to work for guidebook?

[SS: Much like an NGO I will assume]

10. wear glasses"" or ""wearing glasses"" or ""wearing my glasses"" or ""wear her glasses"" or ""wearing her glasses"" or ""wear contacts"" or ""wearing contacts"" or ""wearing my contacts"" or ""wearing her contacts"" or ""wearing contact"" or ""wearing my contact"" or ""wearing her contact""

[SS: Contact your ophthalmologist. If you could read that, that is]