When I forgot my phone in the cab

Once upon a time, mobile phone numbers could be saved only either on the phone or on the SIM. 

If the phone was lost or damaged all the numbers would be lost. Then, there would be frantic attempts to contact everyone who matters to us, in order to get their numbers.

If we were just replacing an existing phone, then the entire lot of numbers had to be transferred on to the new phone.

Then came the new feature of saving these numbers in the cloud -- either on iCloud/iTunes or on Google.

This was a huge relief. No phone number is ever lost, unless one lost access to the cloud account.

I always had an Android phone. So, I am not familiar with how easy or efficient it's to have the contact details backed up on iCloud / iTunes.

In Android it's pretty simple. Whenever a new contact has to be added, the default option is to save it to the Google account. If other accounts have been added, they too show up, besides an option to save it to the phone in the good old way.

The big advantage is that when I get a new phone, I just don't have to worry about the contacts. They are all there when I log into my Google account.

But recently it helped me on another occasion. 

I left my phone in the office cab that dropped me home after work.

I realised it when I entered home. 

There was a colleague of mine in the cab. I could call him or even the driver or the cab manager from my wife's phone. But I didn't know any of their numbers.

Google came to my rescue. 

All that I had to do was open my laptop, and go to my Gmail contacts. I took my colleague's number from there, and called him from my wife's phone.

After dropping my colleague home (luckily not too far from where I stay), the driver took the trouble to come back to my place, and handed over my phone.

(Image by Firmbee from Pixabay)

Online games and the idea of beauty

(Image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay)

The default perception about online games is that they are all bad. No, I won't say that. 

There are many that are good. Those are the ones that challenge you to solve problems and make you think. 

There are some others that improve your general knowledge; or language / mathematical / coordination skills.

They are all fine. 

But what's worrying are the games that play on emotions of children and young adults.

YOU CREATE YOUR OWN STORY

Many of these games are what are called fantasy games in which the player is allowed to create a story by choosing from options that the game presents at regular intervals. Some of them are called 'beauty games', targeted at girls.

I am not going to give examples of such games. Give a web search or go to the play store on your mobile phone. You will find plenty.

These are by no means new. They have been there for decades. 

More and more of them are being created; and the more we get dependent on the internet and phones, the reach and influence of these games too grows.

Many of these games play on the characters' beauty and style; and the story plot involves romance, dating, marriage, and sometimes adult themes and situations.

You as a player can choose things that you think are impressive. Or, you can dress up / glam up a character with the available set of clothes. Or, you can make these characters handsome or beautiful.

Though it is said that you are the protagonist and you can choose how the story develops, it's not exactly so. You don't have a free hand to build a story of your liking. 

Remember these are games, where there are winners and losers depending on your idea of what is beauty. It has to match the standard set by the developers of the games.

That's where the danger lies. 

WHO IS BEAUTIFUL AND WHO IS NOT

The developers of these games have decided who exactly is a handsome man or a beautiful woman; what sort of dress makes them attractive to the opposite gender; what you need to do to win a date; or to get married and lead a happy and successful life.

There is a lot of stereotyping in these games, and that's very harmful. Young boys and girls, by getting hooked on to such games, tend to develop totally falsified ideas of what is beauty, happiness, success, etc.

There is untold emotional damage these games inflict on impressionable minds of boys and girls, and colour their outlook as they grow into adults. 

SOLUTION

There is so much talk about the need for good mental health and well-being. But little is done to check the proliferation of these types of games. 

The only way is to have some sort of parental control. Limit, regulate, supervise children's interactions with games. 

It may not be possible to keep mobile phones away from children, or deny them access to the internet. 

But there is an inbuilt 'parental control' function. All major cyber security products have it. Play stores have it. Make use of it. 

Parents themselves have to be good role models for their children. They need to be careful when they make comments about situations or other people. 

It shouldn't look like they are reinforcing certain stereotypes or they are setting expectations or standards regarding beauty / happiness / success.

There should be a healthy environment at home that will make children feel emotionally secure and comfortable, so that they trust parents more than what they see / hear on the internet or the phone.

I know it is not easy. But parents have to take this important step, for the sake their children and other children.

The elusive phone

I am at my desk working on my laptop. I hear a voice -- someone is talking. It takes a while for me to figure out where it is coming from. 

It is from my phone! The Google Assistant has launched itself and is announcing the weather in Bengaluru and that I have no tasks scheduled for the day ...! 

The phone is acting up. I shut down the application. 

A couple of days later ... I am messaging a colleague on WhatsApp. Even while I am keying in, I hear a voice from the phone: "Hello, hello, hello ...." But I can't see anyone's name on the display, which is not responding to my touch either.

Finally, I restart the phone.

Once the phone rebooted, within a minute, I get a call from the person to whom I was keying in the message which didn't go. He asks me if I made a video call on WhatsApp to him. I say no.

He is surprised because I have never before made a video call to him. I then explain to him it could be because my phone is malfunctioning.

Not only is the device not responding to my touch but it is also doing things on its own. I also notice there is a vertical black line on the screen.

A LETDOWN 

The phone -  Moto G8 Plus - is only seven months old. It's made by Motorola Mobility which was once owned by Google before passing hands to Lenovo. It's a stock Android phone, without any add-ones by the manufacturer. 

Those were some of the reasons why I went for this brand. Besides, the phone I previously had was a Moto G4 Plus which lasted more than three years, until the battery began draining out too fast. 

Now I need a phone immediately. One, this one might conk off any time; and two, when I give this for repair, I will need another one. 

I scroll through Amazon and Flipkart. The good ones will take at least a week to get delivered. I can't wait that long. 

I go to the nearby mobile store to check what they have on offer. The storekeeper shows me Redmi Note 8, Samsung M21 and a few other 'A' series phones of Samsung; besides some Vivo models.

Some 10 years ago, a phone with features I want would be in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000. But now such a phone is available for half that price.  

I tell the storekeeper that I want to think over the models that he showed and I will be back in the evening or the next morning. 

Back home, I do some research. There are only two options - either a Samsung or a Redmi. Samsung is generally more reliable, but Xiaomi phones have good features and are popular. I guess, they can't be that bad. I have had Samsung phones before. So I thought I will go with Redmi for a change.

I head back to the store at 4.30 that evening.

BAD LUCK  

"I am so sorry we don't have that in stock," says the storekeeper.

"What?! I came this morning, you showed me one," I counter him.

"We just had one model, and he picked it up just now," the storekeeper says pointing to a gentleman at the cash counter. "But I can get you one in about half an hour, from our store in Marthahalli."

"Half an hour? It will take about half an hour one-way to Marthahalli." I am surprised.

"No, I will get it Dunzoed," he says with a smile. 

(Dunzo is a very successful Bengaluru-based startup that provides "pick up and delivery" service within a city.)

"Okay. That sounds good. So, I will come back by around 5.30."

I go back home, thinking I would have got that phone if I was a few minutes early.

BAD LUCK, AGAIN 

Around 5.30 the storekeeper calls me to say they have got the phone. So I head to the shop yet again.

He takes out the box from a bag and ... he looks embarrassed and annoyed and I wonder what has happened.

"I am so sorry ... Really sorry. They have sent us a Redmi Note 8 Pro, and not Redmi Note 8."

"Oh! ... Okay ... I am sure this will be a bit more expensive ... "

"Yes, about 4 to 5,000 more."

"No ... I would stick to Note 8, and not Pro ..." I tell him because I can't find any good enough reason to spend 5k extra.

"Okay, in that case, I will give you a call tomorrow morning after I get you a Note 8."

"Fine," I tell him and head back home for the second time in an hour empty-handed.

SIGNS OF HOPE

Back home, I do a 'factory reset' of my Moto G8 Plus, hoping it may solve the problem.

It seems to have worked, except that the vertical line on the display remains. The phone is dutifully responding to my touch and is not behaving in any crazy manner. 

No call from the shopkeeper nor I call him; since the Moto G8 Plus seems to be okay now, and I don't need a Redmi Note 8 immediately.

THE ONLINE SCAMBLE

However, I resume checking out phones online. Because I need a new one when I give this one to the service centre to get rid of that vertical line. I better do that before the one-year warranty expires. 

Amazon keeps notifying me about a 'flash sale' of the latest Redmi Note 9 Pro phone. It is at 12 noon.

What the shopkeeper had got by mistake was a Note 8 Pro which I decided not to buy because it was costlier than Note 8. And now I am being tempted with a Note 9 Pro! 

I have never attempted to buy anything during these 'sales' when only a limited number of products are on offer and prospective buyers in thousands will make a dash online to grab them. The chances are practically nil.

 

But I decide to try my luck. Because this has better features and is only marginally costlier than Note 8.

No, I am not fast enough and my web connection is not strong enough. I get edged out. I don't make it. 

I wonder who all were lucky to get that phone within about 30 seconds of the opening of the sale. And how they managed to get it.  

Now I find that there is another 'sale' coming up after a week or so. Who knows I might be lucky then. 

No, no chance. 'Sale' is definitely not my cup of tea!

COMFORT OF FAMILIARITY

I am not disappointed since my Moto G8 Plus is (seems to be) working well and there is no hurry to get a new phone. 

Another reason is I have figured out that some of the Samsung models are as good as, if not better than, Redmi models. 

The third reason is Samsung is a brand I know well. I always had their phones except for the two Moto Gs and one Sony. 

Also, I didn't want to push my luck too far with Redmi, going by my recent experiences.

TIME TO ACT, FINALLY

Sunday, June 21. Father's Day. Fête de la Musique. International Yoga Day. Summer Solistice. Partial Solar Eclipse. ... 

Wow! So many events?!

The day actually turns out to be quite eventful.  

The first thing I notice in the morning is that the phone is acting crazy again. The same problem. 

The screen is not responding to my touch; worse, the display is flickering and different apps are feverishly getting launched on their own. This time it looks much worse than earlier. I am not able to have any control on what is happening on the screen! 

After some struggle with the screen, I manage to do a 'factory reset' to erase all my data in the phone before the phone becomes completely inaccessible. 

I erased all data not with any hope of setting the phone right but when I give the phone for repair I don't want anyone to have access to my data. 

I head to the nearby store yet again looking for a new phone.

This time I ask for a Samsung phone. In the M Series, there was just one: M11. That doesn't seem to have good reviews. So weigh the options of the A-series ones. 

This time I have no doubts as which one I should buy. Galaxy A30s.

Finally an end to the struggle with the phone and indecisions. 

Back with Samsung after about four years.

The day is eventful in other ways too. My brother-in-law and his daughter come home. My son joins us on video. They all play games. Good fun. 

The day ends well.

Do you talk or type?

Credit: Apple

You can not only talk on the phone, but you can also talk to the phone.

It is common knowledge -- at least among people who regularly use smartphones and other handheld computing devices -- that there is an option to speak to the phone, instead of typing.

Ask Google

For example, if you are looking for something on the Internet, you don't have to key in words into search engines likes Google or Bing or Yahoo. You can tap on the small microphone icon, within the search box, and speak to your phone.

Actually, some mobile keyboards give you the option to switch to voice commands, which means you can actually dictate an email rather than type it out.

You can also unlock your phone by speaking into it.

What is the weather today?

There are also voice-based digital assistants. Google has one called Google Assistant, there is Alexa Echo from Amazon.

Alexa is particularly useful. You can get advice on what the weather would be for the day, so you can decide what dress you should wear; or you can ask Alexa to add cheese to your shopping cart.

Then, why type when you can talk?

Very often talking is easier than typing, is it not? But when I look around, most people are typing on their phones, and not talking to it.

If talking is easier, then why is everyone typing?

Android is king of operating systems, overtakes Windows for first time

Photo credit

Many knew one day this would happen, that Android would be the undisputed king among all operating systems. That has finally happened.

StatCounter, the well-known company that tracks how people access Internet, reports that Android has overtaken Windows as the world's most popular operating system, in terms of total internet usage across desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile combined.

In March, Android had 37.93% market share; Windows 37.91%.

Not quite surprising actually; because the use of mobiles to access internet has been growing at a very rapid pace. Also, the Windows operating system for mobile was way behind Android.

ESPN launches multi-sport India-specific website and mobile app

Sports websites are dime a dozen; and one of the popular ones is ESPNCricinfo. But it is only about cricket. Early today, ESPN launched an India-specific, multi-sport website and mobile application.

The website is branded SONY ESPN but the URL is http://www.espn.in/ and the app, available for now on Android and iOS, is called ESPN.

The ESPN mobile app existed before. What has changed today, with an update, is that it's got India-specific content too, besides the hitherto, predominantly American content.

It's like the ESPNCricinfo website, but it has got a much sleeker look, and has got a whole lot of content, drawn from the huge data repository of ESPN, which has only gotten much larger after its collaboration with Sony. So besides cricket, football, tennis, there are also NFL, NASCAR, shooting, chess, hockey, badminton, wrestling, kabaddi, etc.

Like all good websites and apps, this too can be personalized. Once signed in, we can choose our favourite  sports, leagues and teams. We can go to the favourites tab and follow scores, news, images, videos etc related to them. And like all the other good websites and apps, the selections sync across all the other devices -- mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop.

Besides all this, both the espn.in website and the app, will stream live sports events for which Sony has the broadcast rights. This is in association with Sony LIV. We can look forward to live video of the UEFA Euro 2016 on the espn.in website and also on the app, besides of course Sony ESPN TV channel.

ESPN International has 26 television networks and additional businesses like radio, print, internet, broadband, wireless, consumer products, and event management, in over 61 countries. Globally, it is headquartered in Bristol, and in India it is headquartered in Bengaluru, with offices in Mumbai and Delhi. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The rest is held by The Hearst Corporation.

• Presenting ESPN.in, the best of both worlds

Missing, last seen on WhatsApp

Recently, my friend from Kolkata narrated an anecdote that happened in his neighbourhood.

A 20-year old college student went missing. He had returned after studies, but went out soon after, saying he was going to meet a friend. But neither did he mention anyone's name nor people at home ask. When he wasn't back even after 10 pm, folks at home began to get worried.

They called him on his mobile. But the calls repeatedly gave an 'out of coverage area' reply. Friends too tried, but to no avail. Messages too evoked no response.

A friend thought of checking WhatsApp. The Last Seen time stamp was only 10 minutes behind the actual time. That meant he was active on the messaging app. But the friends couldn't figure out why he hadn't bothered to inform where he was, but "was happily" WhatsApping.

A quick explanation was he might have tried to call or message but the mobile connectivity might have been bad. He might have been online as his data lines were more stable or he was on someone's Wi-Fi.

No sooner his friend noticed the missing boy's time stamp change to 'online' than he shot off a message.

"Where the hell are you? All are worried."

To the delight of everyone, he replied.

"I am at (a friend's) house. Don't worry. It's raining heavily here. Can't step out. Will come once rain reduces."

"Then why the **** you didn't tell anyone at home ...."

"Chill. Nothing to worry. Call wasn't going through. Will call now. Or you also tell them."

Apparently it was true that in the other part of the city, it was raining, and he was genuinely stuck.

He was back home around midnight to a lecture on how he should remember to keep someone posted on his whereabouts if he wasn't where he normally should be.

But the other takeaways from this incident were: one, how internet-based messaging platforms can help when the default phone call and SMS don't seem to work; and two, perhaps, more significantly, the clue the time stamp on Last Seen can provide about your status.

The above anecdote was narrated by my friend during a recent dinner get together we had with a few of our common friends, when he visited Bengaluru. His story triggered a debate on whether the Last Seen feature is an invasion of privacy or it is helpful.

Here is a gist of the arguments: some on predictable lines, some new lines of thought.

Against Hiding

• Since when is WhatsApping a crime?
• Why should I care if someone knows when I checked WhatsApp last? How does it matter to anyone? I might check at 1 in the afternoon or 4 in the night.
• WhatsApp is not like Email. It is an instant messaging platform used for quick communication. So Online and Last Seen are important indicators, that show how easily I can be accessed.
• Hiding doesn't serve any purpose anyway, because the double tick will indicate that I have got the message. And the blue tick (if I haven't disabled that) means I have read it too. So, what is the big deal? What am I trying to hide anyway?

For Hiding

• Since it's an instant messaging platform, I am online most of the time. Then, why publicize additionally the precise timings too?
• It's a system prone to technical issues, and not reliable. One, if the app is running in the background, especially on Android phones, I might be shown as online, when I am not actually. Two, if I only opened the app, and not read or typed a message, sometimes the Last Seen gets updated. Three, when using the web version, sometimes you are shown online, even when you have minimised the browser. The Last Seen feature is flawed and misleading.
• Some people expect a reply from me immediately (on seeing that I have been online), when actually I haven't had time to type out a reply. 
• Suppose I was chatting late at night with my friend in the US, my mom wants to know why I wasn't sleeping, and with whom I was chatting late in the night! Mom I can handle, but why should everyone else too know that I was up late into the night. It's total invasion of privacy. A provision to make oneself invisible is what is actually needed.

All of these finally got washed down with a few drinks and a generous helping of some Continental and Chinese delicacies.

5.9 inch Nexus 6 on Android L launch expected in October

In the last 24 hours there have been more information trickling out about the much-anticipated next Nexus phone. (Though Moto G and Moto X created lot of excitement because of stock Android, Nexus still spells magic.)

An earlier post on the next Nexus phone is here.

One of the first things I look for is the screen size, because I read a lot. At 5.9 inch, Nexus 6 will be a giant phone. Incidentally, HTC One Max has the same screen size. A phone of this size will be difficult to hold. I would have preferred a maximum of 5.5 inch. May be reading experience would be better.

That reminds me: When Galaxy Note (now referred to as Original) hit the market end of 2011, an enthusisatic sales guy tried his best to make me buy one. But I found the screen size of 5.3 inch too big. I even remarked to that guy, who would buy such an huge phone!

In Jan 2013, at one of the elctronic stores, when I saw the same Galaxy Note, I was surprised seeing the size of the screen. I asked the sales guy, "Is this really Galaxy Note, the original one?" (By then Galaxy Note 2 was in the market.) He said, yes. I thought the size of the screen looked smaller than what I thought it was. Of course, it was just perception. 5.3 inch in 2011 was huge. The same 5.3 inch in 2013 looked quite normal.

So, though now I think the Nexus 6 screen size of 5.9 inch is huge, may be I will have to revise my opinion a couple of years later, when most phones would be of around 6 inch!

Nexus 6 will have top resolution of 2560x1440.  LG G3, Oppo Find 7 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 have similar resolution. Galaxy S5 has 5.1 inch screen with display of 1920x1080. Galaxy Note 4 has 5.7 inch screen.

Another spec that I look for is the processor. Nexus 6 is rumoured to have Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset, and will pack 3GB RAM.

Some other features are: 13-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization and a 2-megapixel front camera. The battery will be a 3,200mAh one, and it's said, a mere charging of 15 minutes will give it a life of 8 hours. That sounds simply unbelievable.

Like HTC One M8, Nexus 6 is rumoured to have front facing stereo speakers.

But the best part is it will run on Android's latest operating system, now called Android L, the successor of Kitkat. That will kickoff the Android 5 version.

The launch of Nexus 6 and Android L is said to be in a couple of weeks, in mid-October.

Now, we just wait for more clarity on all these rumours.

Too much hype: Android One is not one of its kind

Spice Android Dream One
Photo from Flipkart

Yesterday at a much-publicized event in New Delhi Google unveiled its Android One phones in India. There is quite a hype about it. Understandable. Don't be surprised if Android One gets dubbed as the poor man's Nexus or Moto X, as it has stock Android.

But there are other phones in the Android One category.

To begin with there's nothing so great about stock Android. What it means is that, those phones with stock Android will get the software updates directly from Google as and when they are released. In all other phones, the manufacturer like Samsung or Micromax will have release it for you. Phones with stock Android are Nexus, Moto G, X and E, and now the Android One.

For all practical purposes, these updates and upgrades aren't going to make any huge difference as far as the routine uses of a smartphone are concerned. All the common apps function perfectly well even on an Android 4.1. There are some apps that run only on the newer versions of the OS. But now all phones give you at least a 4.3.

Even if you thought you needed a stock Android phone, there is already one for around Rs 7,000. That's Moto E.

Now, let us weigh some of the specs of Spice Dream Android One phone, with Moto E, Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 and Micromax Unite 2. All four of them are in Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 range.

* All four have dual SIMs. Spice Dream and Moto E have micro SIM.

* Spice Dream, Moto E and Micromax Unite 2 have Android 4.4 but the other has Android 4.2. But that should not really matter, unless you badly want to be with the latest version of Android, and you want to download some niche high-end apps.

* Duos 2 has 4 inch screen, Moto E 4.3, Spice Dream 4.5 and Unite 2 4.7 inches.

* Dream and Unite 2 have 1.3GHz quad core processor, while Moto E and Duos  have 1.2 GHz dual core. So, all are fairly powerful.

* All have 5 mega pixel camera. Only Moto E doesn't have front camera.

* All have 4GB and option to expand memory.

* Regarding battery, while Dream has 1700mAh, Unite 2 has 2000mAh, Moto E 1980mAh and Duos 1500mAh.

So, basically Android One is not one of its kind. I randomly looked at three phones for comparison, but any e-comm site will give you options of many other phones with good specs in the same category.

Shamu, Nexus 6 and Android Silver

If you say Shamu, most people will relate it to the whale that was captured in the 1960s. But for the few gadget geeks it's the name of the new Google phone that will hit the market later this year.

It's making waves because many people think Motorola Shamu, or Moto S, will be the successor to Nexus 5.

But what has added to confusion are reports that Google will discontinue the Nexus series, and that Moto S will be an Android Silver phone.

What is Nexus?

Nexus series (of phones and tablets) is Google's flagship Android mobile devices. These are informally called Google phones or tablets because though the devices are manufactured by Samsung or LG, they haven't been customized by the manufacturer. Additionally, since there is no third party intervention, so to speak, Android updates will flow in directly and immediately from Google itself, rather than being pushed by the device manufacturer. There are pluses and minuses of that.

What is Android Silver?

That is the new range of stock Android phones, which will replace the Nexus range. Reports say that these phones will have newer standards, different from what Nexus phones have, that will be of premium nature. What these standards are and how Google will enforce it is not known. For this range, Google is said to have tied up with Motorola, and the first device, Moto S, is expected to hit market in early next year.

A lot to watch out for in the coming days.

How smart are you with your phone?

All phones are now smart. If someone wants to buy one, and there are quite a few less expensive not-so-smart phones available, most people willy-nilly choose an expensive smart one. Nothing wrong in it.

But I wonder, how many people really make use of the smart features in their phone.

Everyone may not know all the interesting features a phone offers. So, if you have got yourself a smart phone, explore the device, and start making use of the smart features.

Most of the phones may be Android, but Nokia's Lumia series phones are equally good providing a slew of smrat features. The photo shows Nokia's executive vice president of smart devices Jo Harlow posing with the new Lumia 925 at its launch in London May 14, 2013. -- Photo credit: Reuters/Luke MacGregor

Let's take a common example, of Google Search in Android phone.

In phones that run on Android 4.1 (released in June 2012) and above, Google Search is integrated with Google Now.

What is Google Now?

It's a personal digital assistant -- the Android counterpart of Apple's Siri. It helps you with a lot of information, by quietly doing a search in the background. For example, it gets you the weather, it reminds you of appointments, it will tell you how long you will take to reach your office etc.

If you enable the Google Now function, then these information show up in the form of cards. Information becomes more and more accurate as you continue to use it.

But the best part is you can search Google by just speaking into the phone. Look for the "Voice Search" icon in the menu of apps. Just tap it, and ask Google whatever you want to know.

The process is so simple and the results are amazingly accurate as well.

Ask questions like:

• What is the weather in Bangalore?
• Who is the prime minister of Australia?
• How much is 478 dollars in Rupees?
• What is the height of Barack Obama?

Google will tell aloud the answers to all these questions.

You can also get the phone to do some functions too. Like, set the alarm. make a call. Just tell Google, "Set alarm for 7am tomorrow." Or, "Call Ravi Kumar".

Or even "Take a selfie". Google won't click the camera, it will just open up the camera, for you to pose, and then you can click yourself when you are ready.

There are many other smart features a phone possesses. For example:

Getting directions using Google Maps. There is no need to ask anyone the direction. And using a very simple function called MapMaker, you and I can enrich the map contents by adding landmarks, or even suggesting changes. In fact much of all that you see in the Maps has been added by users.

Maximize the use of apps. There are definitely many apps that suit your interest. Just check them out.

On a Lumia phone of Nokia, there is a Kid's Corner function which I like a lot. You can activate that function when you give your phone to children to play. You can include in that feature only those functions of the phone that you think the child should have access to. It's great feature in these times when children play a lot with elders' phones. They sometimes accidentally call others, or even wander into unsafe areas of Internet or download unnecessary files.

You can do pretty much everything with your phone. One of my friends got herself a "very basic" phone, that will just let her make calls, text, take photos, and listen to the radio. But the phone was smart. So, she has ended up discovering many interesting features, she never thought she would ever use in her life.

So, get smart with your phone.

Not all autorickshaw drivers are bad

Autorickshaw drivers are a much-maligned lot. Very rarely do we come across one who is not rude or arrogant. But there are exceptions, which give us the much-needed hope.

The following is a Facebook post by Rita Senthil Selvaraj, who works with Cognizant Technology Solutions, posted in the last 24 hours.

I was for sure lucky today..
took an auto from koramangala to yemlur(my house), in between it started raining heavy. somehow i reached home safely and the driver u see in photo dropped me till the door step so that i don't get drenched. I was so excited to see baby that i made the payment and left my iPhone 4 (Gifted by my hubby on my birthday) in the auto..
after almost 35 mins I thought of making a call to my parents and here i don't find my phone. my hubby Senthil Selvaraj called from his cell to trace the phone n luckily the auto driver had kept the phone safe with him which he received.. he was dropping someone to whitefield but he promised that he will return the phone after the drop.. imagine heavy rain and the driver was so kind and honest that he dint think of his comfort.. he was not carrying any phone of his own. it took almost 1 hr for him to come back.. we generally dont trust auto drivers as they keep asking extra money, late night work and what not.. so with that mentality we used find friend and find my iPhone apps to trace the phone and the route of my iphone was sure to my house.. in that heavy rain he did come home and returned my phone..
We should seriously appreciate such people on earth.. and we do.. this auto driver's name is Zamir auto number KA 03 9847.. Thanks Zamir for being so honest and trustworthy.. and also to be a reason of making my day lucky.. 

Not all absent-minded people forget their phones in autorickshaws. And, rarely finders take the trouble to return the phone to the owner. Zamir's effort needs to be lauded. Hope we have many more people like him.

Be safe, your favourite app might be infected

Apps drive mobile devices. There’s one for everything, including one to detect a bomb! Apps are tricky in a sense, because they need access to your personal data in the device.

All apps ask for permission while downloading. Some are: access data network, call records, GPS coordinates, rights to modify contents of SD card, to start on reboot etc. On the face of it, they look harmless, and ordinarily most of us grant the permission. But problems crop when the apps have Trojans (a form of virus) hiding in them. With proliferation of apps, they are becoming a popular vehicle for viruses.

Earlier this year, Sophos security firm detected a trojanized version of the Angry Birds game. These are infected apps that resemble the original one, misleading people.

Having such apps is a risk. "Trojans can come disguised as wallpaper applications. They contain the malicious package within it and may be hard to uninstall," says Ruchna Nigam, Security Researcher, Fortiguard Lab.

"Zitmo is a well-known banking Trojan (it has Symbian, Android and Blackberry versions) that can receive commands from the attacker to intercept SMS second-factor authentication banking tokens and forward them to the attacker, thereby exposing users to banking fraud," she says.

Some apps, malicious ones particularly, seek permission for activities unrelated to their function. When a music app seeks access to call records, you must wonder why, and check the credentials of the developer. For all that you know, it might be safe app. But it’s a call worth taking.

Juniper Networks’ Mobile Threat Center analyzed over 1.7 million apps on the Google Play from March 2011 to September 2012. It found that in the cards and casino games category, 94% of free apps that could make outbound calls didn't describe why they would use this capability. Similarly, 84.51% of free apps that could send SMS didn't specify why they should do so.

In the racing games section, 99% of paid apps and 92.42% of free apps had rights to send SMS, while 50% could use camera and 94.54% could initiate outgoing calls -- without any explanation as to why they needed to do that, says Ravi Chauhan, managing director, Juniper Networks.

The survey found free apps were 401% more likely to track location and 314% more likely to access contacts than their paid counterparts. Among location-tracking apps, 24.14% were free, while only 6.01% were paid.

This gives an impression that free apps access info to target ads. But out of the 683,238 apps examined, the share those with top five ad networks was much less than the total number tracking location (24.14 percent). “This leads us to believe there are apps collecting data for reasons less apparent than advertising,” says Chauhan.

How to be safe
1. Avoid free, unsecured wi-fi. Strangers can peep into what you are sending.
2. Download from official app stores like Google Play or iOS.
3. Check if access permissions sought are needed. Trojanized apps seek more permissions than are required.
4. Check who the developer is.
5. Install mobile security app from known brands like Kaspersky, Norton, McAfee or Avast.

(This article was published in The Times of India, Bangalore, today).

How to access internet via text messages

It’s not necessary to have internet connection on your phone to access the web. A mere text message sent to a particular number can get you basic data from sites like Google and Wikipedia. Text-based applications also provide information like live update of cricket scores.

Companies like txtWeb, Google and Innoz Technologies have such services.

At the heart of the technology is adoption of a different method to access the internet. These services are popular because of three reasons: one, majority of mobile phones in India are low-end ones with just ‘talk-and-text’ features; two, many people who have smartphones don't have a data plan; and three, those who have data plan, use it sparingly considering poor bandwidth and high cost.

In txtWeb, the keywords have to be sent to 9243342000. For example, to see the Wikipedia entry on Diwali SMS ‘@Wikipedia Diwali’. @cricket gives you the latest scores of cricket matches.

You can get the autorickshaw fare between two locations in a city -- for example, send ‘@auto fare Bangalore, Koramangala, M G Road’. Users can text ‘help’ or ‘txtweb’, to get a list of top apps, featured apps etc. The response sent to the user also contains many tips on how to make better use of the platform, says Manish Maheshwari, director, txtWeb.

Randomly sending a keyword also provides a list of applications related to that subject. Besides, a complete list of all the apps is available at ‘txtweb.com/ apps’.

Google has ‘SMS applications’, wherein simple queries can be answered by sending an SMS to 9773300000. For example, to know how much is one dollar in rupee, text "1 dollar in INR". Similarly, by texting "Bangalore weather", you get information like temperature, humidity, windspeed, sunrise time etc.

If you want the definition of a word, say, inflation, send an SMS ‘what is inflation’. Flight status and list of trains running between two stations too can be obtained by this service.

Another company working in this field is Innoz Technologies. It has developed an innovative operating system for mobiles that enables access to internet through SMS. All that users have to do is to send the keyword to 55444 to get the answer. The company is in talks with mobile phone manufacturers to have the Innoz OS preinstalled in basic phone models.

(This is article appeared in The Times of India, Bangalore, on Nov 20)

Personal computers are not dying

Desktops may be on their deathbed but definitely not any other personal computing device.

The original definition of PC referred to desktops, the complete set of CPU, monitor, keyboard, speakers, modem and voltage stabilizer. Now desktops have shrunk to laptops and netbooks (notebooks). PCs are seen different from smartphones and tablet; though mobile devices are highly personal and effective computing devices.  
 
The talk of imminent death of PCs is evidently prompted by the ever-growing popularity of mobile phones. Many people have two phones, or a phone and a tablet. But it’s no argument that personal computers, to mean laptops and netbooks, are dying.
 
In spite of all the advantages, mobile devices have their flip side. One, small user interface, because of the screen size. A 14- or 16-inch monitor of a laptop is definitely not the same as a 4-inch mobile screen. Higher dimensions of 5, 7 and 10 inch screens are a shade better. Besides, wider screens are easy on the eye.
 
Two, mobile devices generally work well for quick work on the go; a multitasking device that lets you talk, text, check mails and Facebook, send a one-line reply, do a web search, etc. But if you want to watch a 3-hour movie or live streaming of a sports event, or read or type a long document, the wider screen and broad keyboard of a laptop is more comfortable.
 
Three, screen navigation is easier when it comes to keyboard and mouse. Be it opening multiple tabs or copy-pasting text or working on photos or playing games, the superior user experience of a laptop is undeniable.
 
PC shipments in India grew by 4.9 per cent to 2.99 million units in July-September period of the current year over the previous quarter, according to global market intelligence and advisory services provider IDC. Even the netbook with 10-inch screen and much lower processing capacity compared to the laptop, was supposed to have flopped but that’s not the case. Many people possess both netbook and laptop, and use each for different purposes.
 
But it is a fact that PC shipments have slowed over the past few years. One, most people have a laptop. So the boom-time, first-acquisition numbers have tapered. Two, with tablets and other options, use of laptops have reduced, making them last longer. So, the replacement-buy is delayed.
 
Personal computers will be around for some time. Multiple devices is the norm -- each being used for a specific purpose. Nevertheless, a time may come when the nascent convertibles, a cross between mobile phones and laptops with detachable keyboards, would replace laptops. But that is quite some time away. At least now, it’s too premature to say PCs are dying.

(Crossposted from Kaleidoscope)

Mobile TV apps

Mobile TV Applications let you watch live scores of TV channels like NDTV and BBC to Asianet and Cartoon Network on your mobile phones. For some apps, you don't even need the much-hyped 3G connection. It works well on 2G.

It's amazing how you can now watch the serials and news while travelling in car or while lying on the bed!

Here is the link to my article in The Times of India

http://goo.gl/cwHno

Gaming company Zynga aims high on mobile phones

From playing alone, to playing against a computerized opponent, to now playing against real people, be they friends or strangers: it's a whole new genre of social games. The biggest boost it got in recent times was arguably the epidemic spread of Farmville over Facebook. And Zynga can claim some credit, for it was their creation.

He can't send an SMS!

SDR, who is a scientist in the US, is in Bangalore on a two-week holiday. The other day, we were standing at a roadside tea stall at Indiranagar (in Bangalore) and sipping tea. A casual labourer standing nearby and sending a text message on his mobile phone immediately caught SDR's attention.

“Look at him sending an SMS…” he exclaimed.
“So what…” I remarked.

“You think he has enough knowledge of English…” he asked.
“Obviously he has some knowledge. May be broken English,” I said. “As if we all text error-free top class prose…”

“But I don’t know to send or receive an SMS…” he said with a shrug and a smile.

That was a bombshell to me. My friend is from the IIT. They guy used to write codes for computer software, and he presently deals with some high-end research in Washington DC.

I just froze for a couple of minutes lost in a whirlpool of thoughts. Around me were two guys: One a scientist who doesn’t know to send an SMS and another, an apparent illiterate who is sending an SMS. And in between we have lots and lots of people who are literate but who don’t seem so, with or without modern gadgets. I just didn’t know what to make out of this…
And, I thought SMS was the most quick and convenient method to pass on an information.

The report that India has overtaken China in the growth of mobile phone subscribers seemed to be making sense. Each month, 66 lakh people are getting a mobile phone connection in India: which means the daily growth is 2 lakh 20 thousand. I am sure this includes renewal of prepaid subscriptions besides fresh connections.

In India as on Oct 31, 2006, there are 13 crore 33 lakh 25 thousand 611 mobile phone subscribers. But, that’s less than the number of people in China with a mobile -- 44 crore.

Anyway, India’s mobile phone march is astounding. This is one single revolution that has touched every human being, rich, poor and those in between. Affordable rates and the ease with which one can get a connection are two factors which have catalysed the growth.

The increased speed of transmission of information has had its cascading effects on business relations and personal relations. And, that has made this world a different place. And, mind you, it’s changing still. And, changing fast.

Mobiles also have been a great leveller. And, it has turned on the head some of our existing concepts. Like that incident at the tea stall a couple of days back revealed.

Figures give you an impression that all people have mobile phones. No. There are still people -- working men and women -- who don’t possess one… They don’t need, perhaps. Obviously they aren’t very mobile; plus, they have good and continuous access to a landline.