Karthik R

I have PORTED my existing Tata Indicom Prepaid number 92879xxxxx to Airtel Prepaid in the Kerala Circle. Reasons for Porting - TI's network coverage and reception is deteriorating / dismal in the places I frequent outside city limits. 4 years back, for someone looking for High Speed data access on phone CDMA was indispensable. It was a privilege exclusive for us CDMA customers in the form of EVDO but now with the advent of HSPA we are no longer obligated to stick with them. How much ever we laud CDMA here, it remains true that we are a neglected lot. Sure, the technology is great but the implementation in India is deplorable. And the situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Most of my friends / relatives are on Airtel, Idea or Vodafone so I never had much use for the famed unlimited on-net plans. Benefits that I see of the new service provider - Hassle free user experience even if that means I will have to shell out more Rs. Airtel provides 3G services in Kerala through roaming agreement with Idea. Porting Experience - Generated UPC on 7th March 2012 (Wednesday) Visited Airtel Relationship Center on 8th and filled up the requisite forms. On the same day, received a SMS from +1909 that my request for porting have been received and it is under process. On 12th (Monday) received a SMS stating that the donor operator have validated my application and that my number will be ported out by midnight 00.18.00. The number was inaccessible till 5 AM. After 5 AM the number got converted to Airtel. Calls, SMS, data are working flawlessly since. 3G services activated by 10 AM. The tech support guy who contacted me went out of his way to help configure the settings and Airtel followed up to ensure that everything is working smooth. Was able to access My Airtel page, recharge through paytm also successful Now the only association I am having with Tata Indicom is a postpaid connection I'm using with official BB9650 which I just can't ditch

The Android Market is dead Google has just announced that the Android Market is out, at least in name, replaced by the more wide-reaching Google Play. With the rebranding, Google hopes to showcase that the Android Market has grown beyond the application marketplace the current name entails. They’ve since added Google Books, Google Music, and Movies to the foray, and wanted a way to consolidate those efforts under a single brand name. Starting today, customers who visit the Android Market website will begin to be redirected to the Google Play store. Those feeling adventurous or simply wanting to check out what Google Play has in store for you can point your browsers to play.google.com to check out the new branding. Though the branding certainly closely mirrors what is currently found on Google’s Android Market web front, the new Google Play focuses on the other services Google features, since most people who visit Google’s web store are likely there to search for music, movies, or books. The Google Play change will occur on the web version of the market today, and will be pushed out to Android smartphones and tablets over the next week or so. Your experience with Google Play will also vary depending on where you’re located. quoting the Official Google Blog: Google now seeks to promote the change by offering a sale on 25 popular apps. The price of these apps, mostly games, have been cut to 49 cents and includes Endomondo Sports Tracker. Among the games that are now available at 49 cents are EA's Dead Space and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, N.O.V.A. 2 from Gameloft, Full Fat's NFL Flick Quarterback, and Asphalt 6 : Adrenaline from GameLoft. For those who like to dabble with third party virtual QWERTY keyboards, the SwiftKey X Keyboard is also 49 cents. For a complete list of apps on sale, visit this link. This rebranding will however be not limited to only the web version but will make its way onto Android based mobiles/tablets pretty soon as well. Android market, Google Music and Google eBook store had already replaced with Google Play store. For example, Android market redirects to Google Play Store, Google eBook store redirects to Google Play Book Store and Google Music redirects to Google Play Music Store. Since Google Music and Google ebook store are not available in India, Google Play will be redesigned and rebranded Android Market. The new app Google Play shall soon be rolling to all Android devices running on 2.2 Froyo and above through OTA (Over the air) in phased manner. Source : Google Play via Intomobile

My take, International Miss Call is a grim sign of the enduring nature of the economic slump

^ ^ If your handset's network is set on “3G only” mode and in regions where 3G coverage is lacking or reception is poor, the battery will drain faster.

Successfuly ported one of my Tata Indicom prepaid number to Airtel this week. Initially it got rejected twice because of wrong syntax being entered by Airtel's staff.

Facing a peculiar issue after porting one of my Tata Indicom prepaid number to Airtel prepaid. The MNP SIM being issued by Airtel is of the type 64K and not the usual 128K. I'm getting only 2-3 bars network coverage which frequently fluctuates at my home. Another Airtel postpaid number, in use for some time now, shows full strength, which I should be getting. Strangely, when I enquired with CC, they said it is because I recently ported in to Airtel and it will be automatically solved after a week's time. Is there any substance to this statement?

ICS? Highly doubtful when you are looking at a meager specs sheet.

^ ^ ^ grab a galaxy s2. It is a beast of a device.

A list from Motorola published on its Owner's Forum shows where certain of the manufacturer's Android models stand in the update process and includes a timeframe for the Ice Cream Sandwich updates. Thanks Phonearena

It seems that Apple stock is on steroids - after the phenomenal reception to iPad 3/ new iPad. Apple shares are currently trading at over $550 and it’s just another good time to buy for most but Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook sold $11 million worth of his own stock awards.

At long last, number finally ported to Airtel. The no service period was from midnight to six in the morning! Anyway, calls, sms, data working flawlessly now. Amazingly this time around, it took just three days to port (if you exclude MNP holidays - Sat, Sun).

@ Saurav The Radar's hardware includes two letdowns : Its non-removable battery and its limited storage capacity (there's no microSD slot). Also Windows phone lags far behind Android in number of apps. Htc Rhyme is a better choice.

^ ^ Third-Generation iPad will be a more apt name It is widely being referred to as the iPad 3 itself. It seems Apple have decided to drop the numbering system.

Since services like Google Books, Google Music and Movies have not been launched in India, you are right in saying it is just a name change. Google is slacking off a bit where deployment of services in India is concerned. Also note that the number of items in the App Categories have now increased.

Those of you looking to satisfy your craving for first person shooting game on your Android phone don't miss the Google Play promo offer on Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation @ Rs.25. Really good effects for a phone. You'll need to download more than a Gb of game data post .apk installation.

There should not be any pending request for change of ownership. What do you make of this statement?

LTE can be deployed in the 1800 Mhz band. In order to use any of the GSM band, in particular 1800 you need to refarm from the existing GSM 2G network. But this is not that simple. A significant number of users still have 2G handsets, as they are cheaper and don’t consume the battery as much as the more advanced smartphones. It will take years to shift subscribers and refarm spectrum. And 2.6 Ghz has poor indoor penetration and requires erection of more base stations to provide coverage. Thus deployment of LTE in 2.6. Ghz band involves huge investment in infrastructure as compared to other bands. That is why BSNL is up in arms

Devices built for one band of radio frequency won't work on a network that uses a different band, even though the underlying technology is the same. In other words a Verizon 4G LTE smartphone like Droid Razr that operates on 700MHz spectrum in the U.S. will not operate on another operator, say, TeliaSonera's 4G LTE network in Sweden, which uses spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.

Applied once again with the new UPC code (generated yesterday). This time mentioned in donor operator column of the MNP form 'Tata Indicom CDMA' as they have advised. Let's hope it is a case of third time lucky.

Photon got automatically updated today morning and Android Market has been replaced by Play store. The new icon occupies more space (it is not the regular 1x 1). Galaxy S 2 still shows App market.

The RAM has been bumped to 1 GB now. 5MP rear cam capable of capturing 1080p video. The new model is 9.4 mm thick (v/s 8.8mm of previous iPad)

image courtesy 5abisongs Happy Holi to all RIMwebians

How bad the pentile screen effect would be on a normal user? Some people barely notice the pixels! It all comes down to individual's preferences. The qHD display resolution which packs more pixels per inch does compensate a little Why don't you consider galaxy S 2? Is it because of budget constraints.

Even Droid 3 uses Pentile display. Individual pixels are much more discernable on a Pentile screen than they are on a regular mobile display like AMOLED*. Also reproduction of shades of certain colours like green and yellow is particularly poor. Among the two, Photon is better anyday. You should also consider that Motorola have confirmed ICS update for Photon while leaving Droid 3 completely in the dark. Edit : *clarification, AMOLED display which makes use of full RBG matrix

Of all the features introduced in the iPhone 4S, Siri is the one that has people really talking. Literally. The concept of using a smartphone as a personal assistant is certainly appealing, but it's not necessarily new. Take for instance Voice Actions, a Google feature introduced for 2.2 devices, that lets users call contacts, send messages, complete common tasks, and more. There are also many applications already in the market that let users ask questions or use commands, although none is quite as capable as Siri. The following article appeared in PCworld by Edward N Albro that I thought was worth reproducing - The Android Market has lots of Siri-like voice-activated assistant apps (most of them free) that use Google’s excellent voice recognition system. They’re not as slick as Apple’s virtual flunky, but some are worth trying. More Than Voice Recognition Many people think of Siri and apps like it as being primarily voice recognition programs. But while deciphering what you say is important, what differentiates virtual assistants is what they can do after interpreting your speech. That's especially true of Android virtual assistants because most of them rely on the OS's built-in voice recognition capability. Both Apple and Google send what you say to their servers, whose powerful processors decipher your speech and then send a text version back to your phone. Google's speech recognition is uncannily accurate. I found it superior to Siri's (though in fairness, I didn't spend nearly as much time with Siri as I did with my Android phone). So virtual assistant from another differ from one another primarily in their ability to execute your commands after receiving them from the server. I put all of the helper apps I tested through a series of 18 tasks, from checking the weather and stock prices to sending an email message, mapping a location, and tweeting. My favorite assistants: Speaktoit Assistant and Google's Voice Actions. Speaktoit Assistant I spent a lot of time last week talking to my phone and I found it oddly helpful that the free Speaktoit Assistant presented me with an actual (albeit animated) person that I could talk to. You can alter your assistant's appearance in myriad ways, including changing his/her sex, hair style, and nose size. Female assistants can wear anything from a formal gown more appropriate for a red-carpet event to a skimpy vest-and-tie combination that looks as though it belongs (temporarily) on a stripper. Speaktoit handled most of its assignments well, including checking the weather, making phone calls, and answering questions (for instance, "How tall is the Empire State Building?"). When I asked Speaktoit to search the Web or to find a location on a map, it brought the results up in a window of its own, rather than opening my default browser or mapping software. But you can touch an icon in the corner of the window to bring up the same information in the default apps. I liked the app's approach to sending texts and email. It would transcribe my message and then put it in the message field of my phone's default app. That arrangement left it to me to manually choose the recipient, add a subject (in the case of an email), and press Send. Though the approach isn't as hands-free as the way Siri handles the same tasks, it's superior to how many other Android assistants do it. Speaktoit also successfully tweeted and posted status updates to Facebook, which Siri can't do without a workaround. Speaktoit was one of the few Android assistants I tested that could figure out how to play music from my collection, with this limitation: Whether I asked it to play an album or an artist, it played just one song from the album or artist, a selection that it seemingly chose at random. Another idiosyncrasy: Speaktoit can tell you your agenda for today, but not for any other day. Google Voice Actions Most virtual assistants claim that they can figure out what you want regardless of how (within reason) you phrase your requests. Google's free Voice Actions assistant--part of its Voice Search utility--demands a more consistent approach. To use this app, you must employ Google's set phrases. To play music, for instance, you have to say "Listen to Benny Carter" rather than "Play Benny Carter." Google's app is somewhat more limited in what it can do, too: In addition to playing music, it can send texts and email, make calls, map a location, give directions, write a note, search the Web, and go to a specific site. If you play by Google's rules, though, you'll find that the app is smooth and helpful. Perhaps because Voice Actions is a Google-developed app interacting with a Google-developed operating system and (in many cases) with other Google-developed apps such as Maps, the whole system works fairly seamlessly. For a number of tasks, however, Voice Actions wasn't quite as hands-free as I might have wished from a virtual assistant. When I asked for the day's weather, for instance, instead of reading me the day's forecast--as Speaktoit Assistant did--Voice Actions searched the Web for a weather report that I had to read off my screen; this arrangement isn't a problem if you're walking along the street, but it's definitely inconvenient if you're driving. Vlingo Vlingo is one of the few Android assistants that doesn't rely exclusively on Google's voice recognition system. You can choose to use Google's system or Vlingo's home-grown processing. My advice is to stick with Google. I tried Vlingo's voice recognition and found it generally disappointing. In fact, I was disappointed by this free app overall. It couldn't perform a number of functions--such as reading me my calendar or setting an alarm--at all. Even odder were capabilities that it had one day and seemed to lose the next. The first time I tested Vlingo, for instance, it did a competent job of preparing an email message. But the next time I asked it to "send an email," it simply offered to Google the phrase "send an email." Vlingo does have some bright spots. It can send tweets and update your Facebook status. Also, when you give Vlingo a command, it continues listening to you until you press Done. Many other systems stop listening as soon as they detect a pause, forcingyoutospeakreallyfastsothattheydon'tcutoffbeforeyou'redone. Jeannie Up until about a week ago, this app was called Voice Actions, just like the Google app. To end the confusion, the third-party developer, Pannous, changed the name of its app to Jeannie (it still shows up on my phone as Voice Actions, however, even though I've updated the app). Jeannie is free. Alternatively you can purchase a $3 Voice Actions Plus app with the same capabilities. Pannous says that the Plus version of the app should process your speech more quickly. Unfortunately, signing up Jeannie as your personal assistant is a bit like hiring a slacker with a poor work ethic. When I asked Jeannie to send a text, for instance, it asked for the recipient's name, but then just switched me to my texting app, without starting the text or adding the name of the recipient. (Jeannie can be a bit passive-aggressive, too. It asked whether I wanted to leave it to go to my texting app. When I said "Okay," it responded "Okay by me, too." Ouch.) Other things Jeannie did were just mysterious. It set an alarm when I asked it to, and the alarm went off right on schedule, but I couldn't figure out how to turn it off because Jeannie hadn't set it using Android's built-in alarm system. When I asked Jeannie to take a note, it started recording me--but never showed me what it had transcribed. Instead, it simply said "Done," and then told me I could send the note by email "later." It wasn't clear to me how. One of my tasks involved asking each of the personal assistants to get me Apple's stock price. Many of them fell short in various ways--giving me a general market report, for instance. But Jeannie's response was the most surreal: It searched the Web for images of apples and presented those to me. Eva Intern Eva is like a job applicant who seems brilliant in the interview, but who you end up wanting to strangle after a couple days of frustrating collaboration. Eva is represented by a photo of a brunette who is attractive but (to my eyes anyway) has an underlying air of vapidity. A companion app called Evan gives you the option of ordering a guy around, if you prefer; he looks like a model from the cover of a romance novel. The list of things that Eva/Evan can theoretically do is impressively long: Bulletproof, which designed the app, says that it can create expense reports and journal entries, start applications, post to Facebook, make playlists, and manage contact groups. (Eva Intern is free only for the first 28 days, by the way; after that, you have to pay $9 for the full version.) Unfortunately, Eva came across as both so dense and so afraid of making a mistake that it couldn't get much done. When I asked the app for Microsoft's stock price, it listed three possible interpretations: "give me microsoft stock price," "give me a microsoft stock price," and "giv me microsoft stock price." You might imagine that any one of those would be close enough for an intelligent assistant to figure out. But Eva's reaction was "I'm sorry, I heard what you said but I don't know how to interpret it. Please try again." Eva also had the annoying habit of popping up unsummoned--even when my phone was asleep--to read calendar entries to me. "Hi Ed, I'm reminding you about conference call with Stacey in CR-500 at 5 p.m." Even more annoying was that the app insisted on reading each calendar entry three times. Eva's instructions said that the virtual assistant would be quiet if I asked it to, but the ensuing peace lasted only until my next appointment, when Eva would again implore me three times not to miss the impending meeting. There may be another way to get Eva to shut up, but I never found it. The app's instructions are the longest and wordiest of any mobile app I've seen; and after plowing through them for a while in hopes of solving an immediate problem, I usually lost patience with trying to use them. Finally, I wrote a calendar entry reminding me to uninstall Eva as soon as I'm done with this story. That may be the only time I'll be glad to hear this virtual assistant's voice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -