city02

Believe it or not, I finally registered for facebook 2 weeks ago since i could do it from my samsung corby txt. I tried out the much hyped farmville but found it quite boring. However i got hooked onto mafia wars [level 30] and vampire wars [level 10]. The fastest way to make progress is to have your friends join your gang or 'clan'. So if any of you are already playing either, do let me know via PM so we can team up...

Compared with BB 8703e design & price: Despite reconfirming with 3 different sales guys @ HyperCity before purchasing about 'push mail', they still messed up and failed to point out that push only works with gmail and NOT yahoo! In hindsight you would be better off with the slider CorbyPRO instead since the price was similar and it had a bigger keypad. Compared to my blackberry [8703e] this is thinner [+1], lighter [+1], and half the cost [+1]. Score: Corby = 3, BB = 0 But the BB has a bigger screen [+1] and keypad [+1] which is very important in any QWERTY handset since you start gettting thumb strain after 1-2 minute of continuous typing on the TXT. Score: Corby = 3, BB = 2 The TXT also has a 2 Mp camera [+1] but for some unknown reason the data settings do not work for Reliance GSM [GPRS] so you should watch out for the lack of support from some operators before buying. Score: Corby = 4, BB = 3 Push email works on the BB [+1] without much configuration while it only works for Gmail on the TXT. Score: Corby = 4, BB = 4 Far more 3rd party apps for BB [+1] than Corby. Score: Corby = 4, BB = 5 But despite all the problems with the user interface, the price just can't be touched by BB so that should get more weight [+1]. Score: Corby = 5, BB = 5 One nice feature when typing SMS on the BB is the auto cap [+1] for the 1st letter in each line which the TXT does not seem to have a setting for. Score: Corby = 5, BB = 6 The irritating feature about the TXT is that all SMS get directed to the SIM inbox instead of handset memory which is usually limited to just 10-20 msgs. The default should have been phone memory for all incoming SMS so we don't have to keep moving to folders constantly [archiving equivalent]. Score: Corby = 5, BB = 7 Upgrading your SIM will reduce this problem by providing upto 100 msg inbox capacity for a 64 K instead of just 10 msgs on 32 K cards. However, some operators like Reliance do not offer this upgrade yet [aug 2010]. The older BB restrict you to only 50 SMS capacity which is only slightly better. Its kind of stupid that a handset supposedly designed for SMS would have such a restriction with no option to change it easily. It does not seem to have a long SMS feature where your outgoing SMS is automatically broken up into multiple msgs that are sent sequentially as you type. The 'left' & 'right' menu softkeys are very badly placed unlike any Nokia and will take a few days to get used to since you will tend to press the 'call' or 'hangup' buttons if you are not looking. Score: Corby = 5, BB = 8 There is a flap or 'dustcover' for the USB charger which only gets in the way when plugging in - none of my earlier handsets including LG have these covers and have worked fine in Indian conditions so they should make it removable instead. Score: Corby = 5, BB = 9 I'm glad they provided a simple black cover [+1] for the back panel to replace the silly yellow which is meant for teenagers. Score: Corby = 6, BB = 9 The Mobile Tracker app [+1] is very useful and BB don't have that pre-loaded yet. Score: Corby = 7, BB = 9 But it requires and 8 digit NUMERIC password! WHY? It should have been left at alphanumeric instead and min 6 digits so its easier to remember. Most users don't remember 8 digits numbers unless its a date which is easy to crack like birthday or anniversary. The volume keys on the left side should have an option to be disabled when not in a call since they keep getting accidently pressed when holding the handset. There is no easy way to lock the phone with a PIN like BB - you can only individually lock the addressbook, messages, etc which is too irritating to use on a daily basis. Score: Corby = 7, BB = 10 There is NO ascending ring volume feature which was a bit surprising - something that handsets had even a decade ago so I have to keep it on min volume and hope I can hear it. Vibrate & ring is also needed badly since it seems to do either one but not both. Future upgrades need a flash for the camera and double the number of 'themes' [desktops] built in for those users who can't get data working with their operators. Also push webmail should work with the top 3-4 sites not just gmail. When copying my addressbook over, my wife accidently did it twice resulting in duplicate entries. There should be an easy way to remove duplicates instead of individually which is a big pain. Dual SIM would have been really helpful for those who have to roam a lot. Some kind of belt clip or case can also help boost sales.

i'm having a similar problem with my samsung corby txt b3210 RGSM is saying they only support Corby i have tried the settings mentioned for the 3 service mentioned but still nothing i have also sent the ALL sms as mentioned by WWE/RCO

my RGSM SIM only has a 10 SMS capacity can this be upgraded to a larger one [e.g., 100 SMS]? has anyone upgraded their RGSM SIM yet? I also can't find any setting on the Corby TXT to change the default from SIM memory to phone please help!

has anyone got email working on samsung corby yet with RGSM? i did the sms with ALL and reconfirmed all 3 manual settings but still i get server error when trying to connect both to gmail & yahoo mail

I'm looking for the following features form my gsm replacement and I have short listed Intex IN 6633: dual sim dual standby dual band qwerty push email camera mobile tracker under rs. 5 k does anyone know of a better handset? i'd like to be able to use it for international roaming so finding a compatabile charger abroad is a big issue. how does intex compare with micromax q7 or q55? both are available on a 0% offer with 0 fees for 12 emi on sbi card

i know the news media has also been hyping this development as 'joining' the elite club but its far from the truth a better analogy would be 'applied for membership' once the symbol is certified by the standards body and assigned an ASCII code it would be 'provisional membership' only when ALL keyboards sold in India have this symbol on them can we be really considered a 'full member' [no downloading required - like the $ symbol] As Indians we love the feeling of importance in the world [and many other countries also do] but we routinely get our butts kicked by dysfunctional states like pakistan [specially in the PR space] so in the eyes of the world we are both considered similar 3rd world countries but that's an entirely different debate... Only when you travel abroad regularly will you realise not only how little foreigners know about India but more importantly - how little they care we are virtually irrelevant compared to china i literally had to argue that we are asians too since many asian-americans [not just whites] think that only people who look 'chinky' are true asians! so people from the north-east would actually be considered 'more' asian than the rest of the country...

You are unlikely to get a 2 bhk for rs. 8 k / month you should consider yourself lucky if you get a 1 bhk in belapur for that amount. but as mentioned earlier look at the top 3 sites and start calling since you never know if a good deal comes along in your budget assuming Rs. 15-20/sq ft monthly rentals, you should expect to get about 600 - 800 sq ft max 'super built up' that's below 500 sq ft carpet area in your budget do keep us posted after you find something...

not if your budget is rs. 8-9 k!

I saw a Philips BR player for rs. 9,000/= at vijay sales does anyone know of a cheaper HD in navi mumbai? [branded with warranty] are there any plans to launch HD recorders in the future?

Here are my predictions for Michael's earliest milestones: bahrain - DNF [mechanical or accident] Oz - finish without points malaysia - earliest points finish china - earliest podium finish spain - ealiest gp victory These will be revised after each race if needed... What do you guys think?

OK, here is an update so far: based on my predictions below, Schumi would have scored about 41 points [8 points / race]. He actually scored only 18 points in the first 5 races. Since he has had no podiums so far 2 of the 5 statements below came true. My next guess is an avg of 6 points / race in 10 races = 60 points after round 10...

My wife's normal airtel bills are about rs. 500 - 750 monthly but last month they jumped to over rs. 2,750 which was a bit of a shocker since I had just changed plans over a quarter ago to reduce costs. Now since she had gone to Kolkata for a week and we spoke a lot daily, the roaming came to rs. 1706 / 2502 = 68% of the net bill. Looking at the details, roaming incoming was just 190 leaving rs. 1483 for outgoing. This was for 12 hrs 25 min = 745 min over 116 calls. Assuming all her outgoing were STD [which they were not] the max rate was rs. 1.50 / min. But when you divide back, you get rs. 1483 / 745 min = rs. 1.99 / min instead. That's a difference of rs. 364 or paying 33% more for per minute billing while roaming! So even a rate of 3p/sec would work out cheaper than rs. 1.50/min. hmmm ...

My wife refuses to change her number or nokia handset! that's brand loyalty for you [at least until MNP]. so we are stuck with airtel...

Has anyone had this weird error before? My wife's Vaio has multiple user profiles in Vista. On Sat, I used my profile to browse a website [bookmyshow] and install Yahoo messenger. The next day my wife's profile started getting an 'Error 623' dialog box when trying to connect. Now my profile was still able to connect properly without any issues so as a precaution, I uninstalled Y! Msngr. As I expected, the problem persisted with the other profile. I don't think any Yahoo install should mess up the connection settings but can anyone confirm? How can HSD work in one profile but not in another? Since my wife's profile was an admin, I tried the compatability option for XP but that did not help. However when I selected 'run as admin' it was able to connect but no browser could startup. Firefox does not even open while IE opens a blank window with a flickering mouse pointer. It almost feels like its in some kind of loop. You can't even close IE, you have to kill it from task manager. When you go into the 'connections' tab under properties for IE, its blank in the admin profile. But there is a 'reliance' entry in my profile. I tried to add a new dial up connection but got an error at the end of the wizard. something like 'sorry, unable to create ...' which was not helpful either. My wife is very upset with me because she thinks I 'broke' her laptop! How can I fix this problem? Is there any way to share data like docs from one profile to another so she does not have to copy all of them to a new profile that works? I don't want a workaround which is what the CC will probably suggest from HSD.

there is no handset on the planet which is 'future proof' at any price in fact that probably applies to PC and consumer electronics in general the most you can hope for is 'future resistant' which could be upto 5 years before its outdated http://www.financialexpress.com/news/qualcomm-says-no-to-cut-in-royalty-rates/163578/ the CDMA royalty rates are below 7% of wholesale prices NOT retail rates so if we assume wholesale rates of Rs. 7,500 the max royalty is about rs. 525/= only

I have heard employees complain about the 'tyranny of 9.30 am'. If they are even 1 minute late, their CL [casual leave] will get cut. Once CL is 0, then it goes to salary cuts directly! For the thousands of people not working in call centres, it seems like a draconian way to enforce punctuality. Forget revenue share, most employees are simply focussed on avoiding being late rather than contributing to the bottom line. I think there is a big disconnect between the CEO's perception of how to empower employees and the ground realities of treating them like school children or factory workers. Even absurd steps like curtailing the timings of the cafeterias [earlier open all day] have been taken under the guise of 'productivity enhancement' measures since the VC observed that too many employees were hanging out and socialising outside regular meal times! On one hand the company pays hundreds if not thousands of employees over a lakh monthly yet these same people apparently cannot be trusted to decide when they should eat! Why not focus on keeping the employees constructively engaged and fully utilised on new projects that actually improve the company's financial performance? What's next? Limiting toilet breaks since they also 'reduce productivity'! Some employees have simply started going out of the office for lunch since non-veg is prohibited in any case. For every stupid rule there is a smart loophole...

its like seiko kinetic for watches but its unlikely to generate enough power for a mobile its still better than nothing when your phone is almost dead riding on buses / autos should help the recharging more than walking... finally some postive use for mumbai potholes!

Rs. 40 lakhs for only 100 BB? Sounds a bit expensive @ Rs. 40 k / phone... maybe they should have gone with other QWERTY smart phones now available at Rs. 4-5 k instead but i suppose its better than nothing

i just switched my wife's plan from rs. 400/month for rs. 1/min STD to one that is rs. 200/mth and 50p/min STD, 30p/min local her bill is almost rs. 1 k/month and the majority of the calls are 'on-net' to airtel numbers in delhi is there a better plan? the intl roaming rates are also killer: rs. 100/min incoming @ singapore rs. 200/min incoming @ indonesia i wish we had per second billing for roaming also...

i think the primary goal for any such service is to provide push email on mobiles to people who can't afford BB. as long as they keep fixing the bugs and closing the features gap, they will succeed in price sensitive markets like india. there will be legal issues on patents in north american markets but they can still succeed in asia if they market it properly. the only reason i got a BB is to get my office emails. the big problem seems to be that i can only see my inbox and not any other folders even after talking & emailing with BB care. if they can get lotus notes integration working, i would have no issue switching but i doubt my company will enable this since they spent a lot of time & money getting BB servers running.

I'm a little less optimistic: Schumi: at least 2-3 podium finishes this season Force India: 1-2 podium finishes Force India: at least 3-4 scoring finishes PS: there should be a way to 'lock' our predictions so the naughty ones don't edit them after the races!

I don't mind being charged for calls to CC since tariffs are the lowest in the world. Its fair that those who call more often should pay more - I hardly need to call once in 1-2 months. But these charges should never exceed local call rates based on the individual's tariff. For those who don't use up their quota of included / bucket of min, there should be no additional costs. For high ARPU customers, there should be a credit of free calling to CC / CSR. There could be a ratio of free CC talktime like: 1-2 sec / Rupee billed so if you have an ARPU of Rs. 600/mth, you get 10 free min accumulated that get carried over. This would come to 2 free hours / year which is a resonable amount for routine issues. This would not expire as long as the customer is 'active' for prepaid [postpaid is active as long as bills are paid in full]. Also serves as a 'loyalty' incentive to stay on after MNP starts and churn rises. SMS to contact centre should also be enabled as an alternate to emails or calls. These should also be charged at 'local' rates. My question is how will this billing work for 'off network' calls. i.e., those originating from landlines? then people will simply switch to an off network phone to call CC. One simple way to address this would be to just charge lower rates from on-network calls: if local calls are 25-30p/min then CC calls could be 15-20p/min [like airtel's 50p/3 min]

my predictions are based on gut feel, intuition, mumbai traffic, pollution levels, job security, 6th sense, & mood but anyone is free to use their crystall ball ...

while this will take many years to reach indian sites, won't it be a lot quicker, cheaper, and greener to simply allow users to upload an image for the login page like yahoo mail? this would save the costs of printing / distributing the plastic booklets