The best gadgets to buy this festive season 2015

One of the leading techbloggers from Bangalore and my friend Giridhar presents to you the best gadgets to buy this festive season. Here it is...

Festive season is the best time of the year to buy new stuff. Be it sweets, clothes or gadgets, shopping is always fun. This is the season when people are looking to buy things which they have been wanting to own. When it comes to gadgets, there are many who ask me for suggestions and then I thought of putting my recommendations together so that it would be useful for many more, than a handful of my acquaintances. 

Best Mobile to buy under Rs 10,000:

This is the segment of mobiles that has seen some fierce competition this year. A large chunk of the devices launched this year belong in this segment. Also with the increasing adoption rate of 4G across the nation, mobile manufacturers have been introducing affordable mobiles with 4G capabilities. Frankly almost all the mobiles in this segment were failures but for a handful. Mobiles manufactures don't care, because mobiles are like bollywood movies. Movies make profit in the first 2 weeks in the box office, before people realize its worth. With the flash sales model, mobiles are sold in lakhs within few minutes of its launch before buyers realize its worth. But as I said, a handful of the lot came out truly victorious. The Lenovo K3 Note is the best mobile under Rs 10,000. I personally have got it for my sister and I can vouch for it with confidence. The K3 Note offers the best in all dimensions of a smartphone in this price range. Lumia 640 would be my suggestion if you are looking to buy a Windows mobiles. If you are really constrained in budget, the Redmi 2 prime is the mobile you should get and you will be spending just Rs 6999 for this little beauty. 

K3 Note Review Link http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/reviews/lenovo-k3-note-review/

Redmi 2 Review Link http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/redmi-2-it-just-got-better/

Lumia 640 Review Link http://www.gadgetdetail.com/microsoft-lumia-640-better-got-even-better/

Best Flagship device:

The term flagship has been grossly misunderstood by many. Lenovo even called the A7000 as the flagship of the masses. Let me give you my interpretation of a flagship device. A flagship device must have the best of both software and hardware that the manufacturer can offer with no compromise. OnePlus 2 is the best flagship device that I would recommend. The Oneplus 2 offers top notch hardware and amazing camera capability. It would cost you less than Rs 25000 and you can be rest assured that you will not look to buy another mobile for two years. But if you want the best camera mobile with no compromise on hardware spec, the LG G4 is the one you must own. The Sony Z5 is another fantastic device this year has given us, but its a bit expensive. Ofcourse, if you know me, I wouldn't recommend any Samsung mobile, so lets stay out of that conversation. 

LG G4 Review Link www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMX5n0fPsXc

OnePlus 2 Review Link http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/my-thoughts-on-the-oneplus-2/

Best Fitness band:

Fitness band is the growing fad and this festive season, you must definitely gift yourself one. Fitbit has made their grand entry into Indian market. I have used the FitBit Flex for over an year in 2014 and then I moved on to the Mi Band. The Fitbit flex was not a well built band and it gave away within 3 months of usage. Fitbit USA offered me a replacement free of cost, but am not sure if you wil ge the same level of service in India. Fitness bands are known for their erratic behaviour and people complain that it counts their steps even while on flight. Well, they are nothing but glorified pedometers and any movement of your hand would be counted as a step. Of all the bands available in India, the Mi Band is the best. It costs just Rs 799 and a single charge would last for 100 days. 

Mi band review link: http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/mi-fit-band-the-12-marvel/

Best Smartwatch:

Moto 360 was launched last year in India and it was a huge success. Though not sold in volumes, the Moto 360 was successfull in defining smartwatch to the Indian consumers. This year the Moto 360 2 is expected to be launched soon. I also got a chance to play with the Apple Watch and Sony Smartwatch 2. Finally I decided that smartwatches are not for me, yet! Smartwatches are unnecessary intrusion and a nagging mini mobile cuffed to your hands. If you really want a smartwatch, go for the Pebble time or the Moto 360 2.

Best compact camera:

Without any second thought, I would recommend the Sony Cybershot RX100 Mach II. Only the Mach 4 excels the Mach II, but its very expensive. The Mach II has got the best imaging capability for a compact camera. It may not offer you good zoom, but it is best suited for family, kids and vacation shoots. If you are thinking that only DSLRs give good quality images, you haven't tried the RX 100 M2 yet. If you are looking for a cheaper option, then the Nikon Coolpix s9700 should be good. 

Best DSLR:

If you are still convinced that you need to buy a DSLR, go for mirrorless cameras. I have made the shift from a regular DSLR to mirrorless DSLR and I thoroughly enjoy the experience. A mirrorless DSLR is much more compact than a regular DSLR. Though the lenses are expensive, if you know the range of lenses you need, look no beyond. I would strongly recommend the Sony A6000 with 3 lenses. The kit lens, 35 mm f1.8 prime and a 55-200 tele zoom lens. This package would cost you about Rs 1 lakh. On the other hand, if you are looking to learn photography grab the Nikon D3300 and slowly you can graduate to full frame DSLRs like the D810E. But before you make the decision, do think your motive and double think your commitment to photography. 

I have given you the cream of the suggestions and if you have any other questions on the above recommendations do reach out to me. If you need recommendations on buying any other gadgets, you can always ping me on twitter @cgiridhar and I would more than happy to help if its within my capacity. I thank my friend Tiger for letting me share this post in his blog. 

About Giridhar

Giridhar is a User Experience Designer by profession. He works for a software firm, based out of Bangalore. He is a film buff and recenlty he got addicted to TV episodes like Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother, Mentalist, Marvels series and more recently Heros Reborn. He has been blogging about gadgets for over 12 years now. He writes for his own blog www.phonelicious.in and also reviews gadgets onwww.gadgetdetail.com and www.mobigyaan.com. 

Moto G 3rd Gen Phone Review: It's a steal

For about a week I was searching for a good phone to gift but couldn't finalize on what to buy. That is when I came across Moto G 3rd Gen and ended up buying it. So here is the Moto G 3rd Gen Review with first impressions. 

Screen Size: The device is handy (a bit more than what usually is comfortable in your hand) but the extremely good display keeps it interesting. The display is one of the clearest I have seen in this price bracket and the design makes it more than convenient to watch a video, movie or play a decent game. With two variants - 8 GB + 1GB Ram and 16 GB + 2 GB Ram available, and with a powerful 1.4 GHz quad-core processor the phone can be really magnificent.

Camera: With a 13 MP rear camera and dual LED flash and a selfie friendly 5 MP front camera, the phone can whip up some amazing photos to stop you from carrying an additional camera when you decide to lave your DSLR home. 

The Moto G 3rd Gen is also Water-resistant and Worry-proof. You need your phone to be there for you, even in less-than-ideal conditions. IPX7-rated water protection keeps your phone safe from splashes and drops in water. After an accidental splash into a puddle or sink, just dry off your phone and keep going.Also the water proof/rain spill protection comes in handy to the Indian conditions. I am not sure about the other covers that are available from third party vendors but the original one has a beautiful texture to it and gives a good grip.

The battery is well packed and has 2470 mAh giving a mixed usage up to 24 hours. We used it for a full day, played some videos, clicked some 50 pictures and made some 2 hours worth calls and still the battery is decent. Being in built, there might be a difficulty if you need to replace it in a year or two. But who uses a smart phone for more than two years?

The device is pocket friendly too with the 8 GB variant coming up to 11999/- and the 16 GB version coming to 12999/-. I honestly think you should go for the 16 GB one as the additional 1000/- is worth it for the price.

Though wify and many of us want to cover it up with a screen guard, I am dead against it. The new Moto G 3rd Gen comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass display. If you need a phone that can stand up to your demanding lifestyle, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 spans Moto G from nearly edge to edge to help keep your phone protected from unsightly scrapes and scratches. So skip the cover and have fun.

Here is the list of all specifications of the Moto G 3rd Generation phone that makes it a great deal. 

• Advanced water resistanceIPX7-rated protection from splashes and accidental drops in water
• 13 MP rear camera, 5 MP front camera
  Includes a colour-balancing dual LED flash
• 12.7cm(5) HD display
  Brilliant display quality and the strength of Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass
• Expandable memory
  Slot for an optional microSD card with up to 32 GB capacity
• All-day battery
  A 2470 mAh battery lasts all day
• 4G LTE  speed
  Browse, stream music, watch video, and play games at blazing speed

What can be improved: The camera is a little fuzzy when you click pictures in continuation and pixelates indoors. If I have to wait between pictures, then it defeats the purpose. It would have been great to have a battery removable option for longer life. 

You can pick up the Moto G 3rd Gen phone here. Should I say I fell for the Motorola dimple or for the chop-chop action that turns the flash light on and off or for the twist action that turns on the camera in 3 secs? I would go for the dimple. Chop-chop!

The Economist explains How airborne Wi-Fi works

AN ALWAYS-connected lifestyle is a blessing for some and a nightmare for others. Aeroplanes used to be the one respite in a typical business traveller's itinerary—a place to escape from the e-mails and phone calls for a few hours, and perhaps even have some good ideas. (Travellers with long memories might remember seatback phones in some countries that allowed exceedingly expensive, poor-quality in-flight phone calls; fortunately, nobody ever used them.) Starting in the early 2000s, however, this blissful seclusion started to come under threat, as airlines started to provide internet service at 10,000 metres. In-air Wi-Fi is now increasingly common on domestic routes in America, and on long-haul routes elsewhere. Given that many routes fly largely over water or over uninhabited areas, how do you connect an aeroplane to the internet?

Delivering radio signals to a plane is nothing new, but the usual ways of doing it involve low-bandwidth links that would be painfully inadequate for internet traffic. Voice communication remains analogue, even in the digital age. The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) provides digital links via VHF signals from the ground, or via satellites, allowing planes to send brief bursts of telemetry information. But ACARS operates at data rates comparable to dial-up models, measured in thousands of bits per second (Kbps). These voice and telemetry systems are designed for international compatibility, reliability and resilience. In-flight internet requires something much more zippy, but with less of a requirement that everything must work perfectly at all times. Two approaches have emerged, one based on ground-to-air links and the other on satellites.

Boeing led the first efforts in the early 2000s, leasing dedicated transponder capacity on geostationary satellites that appear to hover at a fixed point in the sky, and designing an enclosure (or "radome") to be retrofitted on top of its aircraft, and those made by other firms. Its Connexion service provided suitably equipped aircraft with an internet link running at a few megabits per second (Mbps), divvied up among passengers. Boeing also had to retrofit Wi-Fi (and, in some cases, Ethernet cabling) inside planes. But the service never became financially viable, in part because of the high cost of installing and operating the equipment, and Boeing discontinued it in 2006. That same year another firm, now called Gogo, purchased a thin sliver of air-to-ground spectrum in the United States, and began service in 2008, deploying dozens of ground stations that point upwards at aircraft, rather than downwards at people on the ground, and use a variant of 3G mobile-data technology called EV-DO. Service was extended to Canada in 2014. This provides enough bandwidth for e-mail and basic web browsing; Gogo blocks both streaming video and internet telephony to ensure that one user cannot hog all the capacity.

But satellite never entirely went away. After Boeing's early, failed attempt, satellite equipment became lighter, cheaper and more capable, and newer planes are designed to accommodate Wi-Fi gear. Several firms now operate in-flight internet service via satellite; some own the satellites, like Panasonic Avionics (United's contractor for its newer internet service), while others, such as Row 44 and OnAir, license the necessary capacity. Gogo has added satellite-based internet to its options as both a standalone new service and as part of a hybrid service that combines, where available, ground and satellite transmission. Meanwhile, speeds are poised to skyrocket as satellite operators expand service from the lower-frequency Ku band to the higher-frequency Ka band. Data rates should jump from a maximum of roughly 10Mbps to 50-80Mbps per plane. And America's telecoms regulator will auction 500MHz of ground-to-air bandwidth in the near future, which could allow connection speeds of up to one gigabit per second for planes travelling over land. Travellers who worry about feeling out of touch while airborne will welcome these improvements. Those who prefer being disconnected can take solace in the fact that thousands of aircraft worldwide still remain unconnected—for the time being, at least.

Original article is from here.

What makes a house ‘green’?

Green is in vogue. Many buyers begin their search with a strong interest in green, even if what they understand by a “green home” is vague. While the growing interest in green homes is an exciting and positive development, some buyers are falling victim to green washing, the practice of marketing a product as eco-friendly when it really isn’t. So, if you want to buy a green home, you definitely have to do some extra homework.

The first thing you should do is ask yourself why you want to invest in a green home. It’s an important question because people tend to buy a green home for one of the three reasons, and while each of those reasons overlap to some extent, they determine what the buyer really means by green. Green can be as simple as saving on energy costs, which means buyers will want to focus on energy-efficient appliances, weather-proof windows and good insulation. A green home can save 30-40% energy from day one of occupancy, which, our research shows, can light up 35 village homes per year. Similarly, water savings are 20-30% above a conventional home. This can provide water to one village home for an entire year.

Alternatively, some buyers define green in personal health terms, so they want a home that uses non-toxic materials. Lastly, some buyers define green as contributing to a sustainable future. For those buyers, it’s often important to look for building materials that are locally sourced and sustainable.

Unlike earlier, when energy-efficient or water-efficient homes could get away with being called ‘green’, new rating systems ensure that a green home needs to address all facets of environmental concerns. Everything from the site of the building, water, energy, materials and indoor air quality are considered in the rating system. A green home isn’t just a green structure; it’s a home that makes the best use of the land and the resources around it. Asking simple questions such as which direction the home is oriented toward can tell you a lot about the home’s green credentials.

Let’s look at the different parameters and how they matter:

Site selection: Here the focus is local building regulations, soil erosion control, basic household amenities, natural topography, heat island effects, parking facilities for visitors and design for differently abled people. Something as simple as the house’s orientation determines how much sun exposure it gets, which affects heating and air-conditioning use.

Likewise, it’s important to understand prevailing winds, because these have an effect on temperature inside the home.

Water efficiency: Evaluate the property on the basis of whether it has rain water harvesting systems, efficient plumbing fixtures, landscape design and waste water treatment systems. A good tip is to pay attention to the landscaping. If it’s dominated by non-native plants, that should raise alarms for green buyers. In some parts of the country, water is a serious issue, so non-native plants are going to raise your costs and make it harder to be green. Apart from sustainable landscaping, you can also use water conserving taps, which save you up to 35,000 litres every year.

Energy efficiency: This rating is based on use of chlorofluorocarbon-free equipment, enhanced energy performance, on-site renewable energy, solar water heating, energy saving measures in appliances and other equipment and energy metering. The simplest fixture you can have is a solar water heating system. You can also have more complex solar systems for providing energy for lighting as well. Also, as a house owner in a green project, you could spend as much as 40% less on energy bills every month. So, clearly green homes are not for any particular economic segment; it is a choice about making smarter energy-efficient buildings.

Materials and resources: Rating parameters for this are based on household waste segregation, organic waste management, handling of construction waste materials, reuse of salvaged materials, materials with recycled content and local materials. You should ask your builder if they plan on using green building materials such as autoclaved aerated concrete bricks, which are not only lighter but also more eco-friendly than regular red bricks. Solid waste collection and disposal that involves composting is essential in minimizing waste from your home.

Indoor environment quality: Parameters considered under this head are based on measures for tobacco smoke control, minimum artificial lighting during day time, fresh air ventilation, exhaust systems, low volatile organic compound materials, paints and adhesives, building flush-out, cross ventilation, and others. You can design the house to maximize ambient light during the day to reduce the use of artificial lights. One can also use special building materials that help to reduce indoor temperatures and thereby decrease air-conditioning costs.

Design innovation: This is all about following standard sustainable design practices. Your house or building can give you significant savings over the long run if designed cleverly. Nobody buys an eco-friendly home just because they are inclined to be green. They see the value of cheaper costs of energy and greater security on water. You can do without the water supply board, bore wells or tanker water suppliers. The energy bills can be minimized and can reduce your dependence on the external grid to just about 30% of all the electricity usage.

It’s a matter of choice.

Prem C. Jain is chairman, Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

Read more here.

Keep it sleeek and keep it amazing

One thing that has always kept me interested and looking up in the sleek and mean looking gadgets and this time when I was headed to the ITC Gardenia for the Indiblogger meet, I was in for a treat. Meeting friends and having fun is the major agenda than just the product experience in the meets and boy we look forward to that. This Indiblogger meet was no different either. The best thing was that we had a decent crowd of bloggers, decent is an understatement, fully charged and gearing to go.

The fun games and the teams were creative to say the least. The old Hindi movie theme and the gangnam style were the crowd favorites. The fun and food being the other interesting thing, what stole the show was the mean looking baby laptop new on the block. The experience was awesome and the chicklet keyboard is my favorite. The #GosleeekASUSExperience was a pleasant one.

The device is cool for both its pricing and the features and should be a steal considering the market out there. Check the products out on Amazon and may be you would be happy with the 11 hour battery life. And next time, do join us for an incredible experience at the IndiBlogger meets! See ya. Keep it sleeek and keep it amazing.

Here is the group picture that we all love. Keep blogging and live forever.

Pics are from here and by Raksha.