My new N70 cellphone

Got myself a new cellphone. Nokia's N70 is the model. After a long standing dual between N73 and N70 in my mind, I finally settled for N70. N70 has more free RAM (32MB approx.) compared to N73 (20MB approx.) after boot. Having more free RAM helps in better multitasking. Also, N70 is cheaper (maybe within 1-1.5 years, I will upgrade to a new cellphone). RAM, cost and other factors made me go for N70. Plus'es and minus'es observed till now.



1) (+) Bigger and slightly better display (176x208 pixels). Applications have more screen space, looks nicer and fonts are more legible.

2) (+) I always wanted to own a Symbian phone as there are applications available (on the internet) in abundance for this OS platform compared to other mobile OS platforms. This phone runs on Symbian OS 8.1 S60 2nd edition.

3) (+) Opera Mobile Browser 8.65 is a great browser supporting multiple windows, java scripts, forms and most importantly uploading/downloading attachments.

4) (+) I was already using Opera Mini browsers on my old cellphone (Nokia 6230). Its just that it looks much better on the new phone (due to bigger and better screen).

5) (+) AD-41 pop-port to 3.5mm converter in package. Advantage is any standard 3.5mm headphones can be used with the cellphone.

6) (+) Clarity of video taken on N70 is pretty smooth (better when compared to N73), clear and non-jerky.

7) (-) Setting recurring alarm is not possible. This is a big drawback. Workaround is to set a recurring appointment in Calendar application and use it as an alarm. Heard there are some applications (clock/alarm) available on the net. Need to try.

8) (-) I found the loud speaker quality to be feeble compared to Nokia 6230.

9) (-) More noise found in indoor photographs.

For now thats it. Rest sooner or later :). Incidentally, my previous post was also about a cellphone :).

Cheers,
Soundar

Apple's iPhone!

Somehow, something or the other kept preventing me from updating my blog and that too for a long time. Today I read the news (at Engadget) of Apple showing off its iPhone phone at an expo. I was highly impressed by its design (minimalist), refreshing GUI (for a phone), screen size (touchscreen...wow), functionality and some innovative features, that it gave me the much needed enthusiasm to update my blog. The phone is a quad band phone running on Mac OS X 10.4.2 and has Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, Safari browser, Google Maps, 2 megapixel camera. Ofcourse it has the iPod functionality as well! Everything is controlled using the big multitouch screen. To some extent it has smartphone capabilities through Widgets. For more details check out the Engadget link. Also check out Apple's iPhone website for more some demos of the UI.

Cheers,
Soundar

Our powreful mnid!

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Stumbeld uopn the abvoe para on the net (here is the lnik).

Really interesting, isn't it? Hope you are still not wondering what is interesting!! Probably just a teaser of how powerful our mind is. I was able to read the para without much problems and I am sure many would be able to do so too. This is probably one of the reasons why we sometimes tend to overlook spelling mistakes, especially the minor ones.

Okay, how many noticed the spelling mistake in the title of this blog entry!

Cheers,
Soundar

iPod accessories

There are a couple of things I needed to blog, otherwise they will vanish from my memory. Here comes the first one. Its about Apple iPod accessories.

Since I have a mobile phone (Nokia 6230 with 512MB card) which I (also) use to listen to mp3 files, I never felt a necessity for a seperate mp3 player. Nevertheless the humongous number of accessories available for Apple's iPod player (looks & sounds good) never ceases to amaze me. On an average, one gets to see atleast one accessory conceptualised/released every week. Did a Google search and found one (or maybe one of the) exclusive iPod accessories website

http://www.theistore.com/

Below is one of the images of the rumoured new video iPod.



Cheers,
Soundar

Stress Test??

Play the above video to find out what kind of testing EverythingUSB did to differentiate between a plastic cased (?) USB drive and a Titanium cased USB drive.

Cheers,
Soundar

Firefox Browser! - Continued

Its best to complete certain activities at one go instead of splitting them. Take for example my previous blog entry about Firefox browser. I left it incomplete and as a result, the effort I needed to put (to regain the interest level & kill the laziness :) ) to complete it now is much more than what I would have put to complete it in my previous blog entry itself. Also, keeping it "incomplete" did not allow me to start something new. A lesson learnt here. Anyway, here I am giving a completion to my previous blog entry!

8) FoxClocks: When you hover your mouse on this small icon (globe icon in bottom left corner of the status bar), it tells you the time in various cities (that you have configured it to show). Pretty useful if you need to quickly view the time in your favourite city.

9) StockTicker: Constantly updates the stock values of your configured stocks. Quite handy if you needed to keep yourself updated on your favourite stocks.

10) Tab Catalog: Shows a thumbnail of all the tabs contents when you hover your mouse over the icon (situated at top right corner (in the same line as address bar)). Thumbnail of a tab makes it easy to switch to the desired tab.

11) DragDropUpload: Recently came across this extension. It saves you a lot of time by allowing you to click and drag a file (from Windows Explorer) directly into the file-attachment box instead of actually browsing to the location and attaching it. It basically pastes the location of the file into the file-attachment box (thats what clicking "Browse" button and selecting file does anyway..doesn't it?). I have not yet got a chance to use it, but I am sure it will be very useful to those who frequently attach files through the browser.

That completes my take on Firefox Browser! Will meet you all soon with my next blog entry.

Have Fun!
Soundar

Firefox Browser!

I have been using Firefox browser since its pre-beta stages and found it to be a very good browser. I primarily use Firefox and switch to other browsers only when absolutely needed. Apart from tidy (and trouble free) browsing experience, what makes it more interesting is the availability of extensive range of Extensions. Extensions are something like add-ons which can be used to enhance the functionality of the browser (in many ways than one can think of). Listing below some of the extensions that I found useful:

1) All-in-One Gestures: You can use the right button of your computer mouse (being in the main browsing window...I mean, you dont need to go to the top to click) to perform various browser functions (like Back,Forward,new tab,new window and many more). I found it pretty useful.

2) Download Statusbar: Uses a little space (bottom) in the main browser window itself to tell you the status of your downloads. Saves me the pain of monitoring a seperate (download) window for my downloads.

3) Restart Firefox: Will be useful if you have a necessity to often restart your browser (like when you are installing/upgrading new extensions).

4) CuteMenus: Menus looks better with these icons than being plain. I use MacZilla theme and it makes the appearance even better.

5) Dictionary Tooltip: I found this extension to be of immense help. One can just double click a word (or "Ctrl+Double click") and a small window comes up right next to the word telling you the meaning of the word (Internet connection needed). Saves the pain of opening another tab/window, going to a website and searching for that word.

6) FirefoxView & IE View: These two extensions adds "Open Link Target in Firefox" and "View This Page in IE" in the context menu of IE (Internet Explorer) & Firefox respectively. Again pretty useful when you need to quickly browse the current page in the alternate browser.

7) Paste and Go: Quite useful extension to perform "Paste" and "Go" operation in one go.

Okay, I have some more extensions to list, but I am already tired. So, will continue it in my next blog entry.

You can download Firefox from here. Extensions are available here.

Take Care,
Soundar