Pune Mall Mania

Pune's mall frenzy has reached a state where it could cost dear to retailers and real estate companies pumping money in setting up these swanky places which are turning into more of a recreational place to hang out, rather than actually promoting actual sales for shops leasing places at an expensive price.

Consider eastern belt of the city and you can note the actual distance at which these malls are located defies any commercial logic. These malls are located near Yerwada - Kalyani Nagar - Koregaon Park - Viman Nagar.

1) Ishanya Mall - Pulse Mall (2.5 km)

2) Pulse Mall - Phoenix Market City (1.9 km)

3) Phoenix Market City - Inorbit Mall (700 mts)

4) Jewel Square Mall - Koregaon Park Plaza (3.1 Kms)

5) Koregaon Park Plaza - Mariplex Mall (1.5 Kms)

Few years back Mariplex Mall was the only mall in this area and the rate at which malls have swelled goes to prove retailers and real estate companies would have sensed a potential for business which is not the case as per a recent Assocham report Pune's 42% mall space is still vacant.

Vendors like Croma electronics, Reliance book and digital store outlet, Spencer have closed shops and moved between these places maybe as a part of consolidation strategy, with so many options nearby it's eventually causing consumer fragmentation and malls purely survive on hypermarket, dining or pub outlets and multiplex presence with no significant value add for the consumers beyond these categories. In fact there are many well established restaurants in most areas of the city which do not require a mall presence.

Many of these malls have got on to social media platforms to attract visitors by organising weekend event's and contests etc. Apart from Phoenix Market City and Inorbit mall I doubt other malls are actually succeeding in retaining vendors or attracting shopper volumes, In fact Pulse mall is probably on the verge of closing shutters.

Some concentration of malls at M.G Road is still a better deal because as a location it offer's proximity to the  local shopping outlets which are already existing along with the malls. What Pune also lacks is a shopper's paradise like Manish market, Heera Panna in Mumbai, Nehru Palace, Palika Bazaar in Delhi etc. Maybe traditional spots in Peth area and Laxmi road bazaar could evolve in future to be such shopping destination for Pune.

For now I think mall mania should pause for some time to see how retail market develops in Pune.

Welcome to India documentary: Legacy of Jugaad

I can't remember if I have watched an inspiring documentary like this in recent times, opening up a view of Indian people's resilience to thrive in whatever situation they are, if you feel life has being unfair to you in any ways, there's a lot to learn from the characters shown in this documentary series, keeping aside of all they do and where they live and how they survive.

What you get to understand is that our dreams may never fall short of what we want to achieve and it presents us with opportunities to realise those dreams, only if we are ready to pick ourselves up from any obstacles that may trip us on the way, watch this 3 episode documentary that focuses on everyday lives of common people from cities like Mumbai and Kolkata mainly.

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3

HTC Sensation XL: Does it still pack a punch?

HTC Sensation XL became a sensation with 4.7 inch display and beats audio technology, it has a sleek design with a vivid and vibrant appeal in a 9.9 mm slim phone body that comes with 16 GB Storage. A single core 1.5 GHz may feel outdated however it may be worth considering as an option amongst a slew of mid range android handsets flooding the markets currently.

Music at its best

Audiophiles will go gung- ho about this HTC Sensation with it roping in Beats Audio and it’s in- box customized Beats Headset promising the best sound quality you would have heard. The custom – made headset comes as the icing on the cake wherein the voice seems clearer and the bass, deeper and richer. 

Overall multimedia experience is enriching as the handset is equipped with SRS surround sound as well.

Camera and Video performance

Snapping photos with the 8 mega pixel camera on Sensation XL is swift and produces excellent images, pictures captured look vivid and sharp. As compared to Sensation XE it is able to reduce some level of noise in the images however does not eliminate them completely which is a difficult ask on a mobile camera with small sensors.

The HD camera on phone shoots videos at a resolution of 720p@30fps which is a decent config.

Performance and Battery life

HTC Sensation XL has an added advantage with 768 MB ram combined with 1.5 GHz processor gives you a commendable performance in terms of multitasking on phone, watching HD videos etc.  which is not the case with most mid range android phones that come with 512 MB ram.

This phone provides a smooth experience while using menus, transferring files, switching between apps and browsing is fast enough on HTC Sensation XL. With mixed use of multimedia, browsing with 3G, playing games and calling the battery should last for a day and even with heavy usage battery should last around 6 hours approx. 

Lack of memory slot does hurt overall value offered on this phone, however if you can do with the 16 GB memory and prefer using a sleek and an Android phone with good design without a powerhouse phone to suit your daily smartphone usage requirement, HTC Sensation XL may well fit the bill.

Information Source: Reliance Digital Stores

Complete history of Justice League of America

Justice League of America came into existence as Justice Society of America during 1940, when Superman and Batman were not a part of this elite team roster. This team of super heroes has being rebooted quiet a few times and various writers have mirrored reflections of society across years through this series.

Check out the video feature below that traces the journey of the Justice League

Chevrolet Beat - New advertisements arrive

Post the launch campaign was announced last year, General Motor's have released 5 new advertisement clips on their YouTube channel for Chevrolet Spark (Beat). The first one is titled as "Wanted" which captures the new radials with a fresh chrome styling below the grill around fog lights, all the new TVC's capture the essence of global presence of this car while it now prepares for a US launch.

Check out the first clip below, links to other videos

Inspiration Clip | Our Little World Traveller Clip | Chevy Spark Souvenirs | Adventurers

Pitfall - A classic arcade game

If you can't get enough of Temple Run game play on your Android device, here's another addictive running free to play arcade game that arrives on Google Play store by the name Pitfall, from Activision Publishing. which is inspired by the original 1982 game by the same name.

I must say it is a welcome change from lot of other games that started copying what Temple Run had done and your experience tends to get saturated playing games with similar theme and setting, I hoped Agent Dash would be little different, however it also followed almost same style of game play. In game character in this title is Pitfall harry who is your Indian Jones on the run with a hat and whip, backed with good background score that suits an adventure movie.

I liked the camera angles used in the game play that also allow you to play with a 2D scrolling screen display, a little variety in character moves while swiping up or down avoiding obstacles, check out the video below by AndroidCentral

Android Christmas 2012 App Sale

It's that time of the year when both Apple and Google have lot of good deals on their online app stores, probably the best time to download some noteworthy games and  popular apps. Get going and grab some apps from publisher's like EA, Gameloft, Rovio Mobile etc.

Here's a list of some of them on sale which I happened to browse through on Google Play store.

1) Wild Blood from Gameloft (Game) - $0.99
2) Max Payne Mobile (Game) - $0.99
3) Dead Space (Game) - $0.99
4) Need for Speed Most Wanted (Game) - $0.99
5) Plants vs. Zombies (Game) - $0.99
6) Grand Theft Auto 3 (Game) - $0.99
7) The Game of Life (Game) - $0.99
8) Monopoly Millionaire - $0.99
9) Tetris (Game) - $0.99
10) Order & Chaos Online (Game) - $0.99
11) Avengers Initiative (Game) - $0.99
12) Facedroid - Android Facebook (Social Networking) - $0.99
13) Draw Race 2 (Game) - $0.99
14) Car Dashboard pro (Utility) - $0.99
15) IM+ Pro - (Chat) - $0.99
16) Zombie Driver THD (Tegra Device compatible game) - $1.75
17) Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies (Game) - $2.99
18) Mini Motor Racing (Game) - $0.99
19) Cut the Rope HD (Game) - $0.99
20) Turbo Fly HD (Game) - $0.99
21) Sketchbook Mobile (Productivity) - $0.99
22) Clouds & Sheep Premium (Game) - $0.99
23) Guns'n'Glory (Game) - $0.99
24) OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD - Productivity) - $0.99
25) DocumentsToGo Full version key (Productivity) - $8.95
26) Amazing Alex HD (Game) - $0.99
27) Jotter (for Galaxy Note) - $1.99
28) Angry Birds Space HD (Game) - $0.99
29) Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery (Game) - $1.99

Watch Dogs - Everything is connected

If you had being following a series aired on Star World by the name Person of Interest, you would be in a better position to relate to the plot of this upcoming game from Ubisoft - Watch Dogs, another Open World Stealth game which has got me interested, it's trailer caught my attention on YouTube recently.

The much touted AI system rumoured to be the roving eye for the government to keep a watch on it's citizen is in the heart of this game, a concept in gaming never tried before. I can anticipate it would turn out to be a key element in driving the plot within the game and slow motion action stuff combined with stealth and skill also seems to be included in the game. 

I have being already awed by Far Cry 3 graphics this year, if you take a look at the game play trailer, there's a similar effort visible in capturing very detailed and natural ambient lights around the character, rain effect looks rich and pretty realistic, I already have few game titles on my wishlist for 2013 like Crysis 3, Army of Two 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist and now this one looks a promising contender too.

Check out the blackout trailer for this game

Visit the official site for this game to check out the demo showcased during E3 2012 event

Invisible Umbrella

The good old Umbrella has evolved over time from a plain black piece of cloth that has help us keep dry (at least some part of us) during rains, it could now witness a next step of evolution with a concept design by designers Je Sung Park and Woo Jung Kwon call the Air umbrella. 

This concept design aims to create a cover of air blown through a simple plastic stick keeping rain drops at bay, what remains to be seen is how it can work in real life as the intensity of rain needs to be gauged to match it with equal force of air blown through the stick.

You can read more about this here

Article courtesy: Gajitz

Smile Please - Optical Illusion with tattoo

Creative optical illusion created with a tattoo on the forearm by a tattoo artist Helma van der Weide from Netherlands with her her daughter Lotte van den Acker in this pic who is passionate about photography, a retro camera has being used to click this pic which was launched in 1957, the Asahi Pentax 35mm SLR

Internet - A Decade later

Check out an interesting video that takes a look at the interesting journey of internet since the last decade Video made by Matt Coady

The Internet: 2002 vs 2012 from Matt Coady on Vimeo.

Galaxy Note 2 packed with computing power

Galaxy Note 2 has sold impressive 5 million units in 2 months, this powerhouse phablet has being put to test in a video feature by a user coldfustion, showcasing how Note 2 can extend it's processor capability as a PC, Turns out this phone performs very well in complimenting basic computing requirements.

With JellyBean updates to roll across most recent Samsung flagship devices it would get interesting to see how would it improve the overall performance of this device, working around with floating browser on the LED monitor is great for multi tasking. Google is also planning to strengthen it's Chromebook positioning in a fiercely competitive portable computing market, however with mobile phones flexing processing power muscles do netbooks and low cost portable laptops stand a chance to compete?

Check out the video below

MobiBuzz Newsletter 1

News from mobile industry - What's buzzing?

What's The Best Strategy for monetizing mobile apps in India?

Check out this article from PCQuest which throws light on a discussion held at “Emerging era of mobility” panel at IT.Biz conference 2012, developer panel shared their views on how to take on the freemium model on a very strong Android platform in India.

Also take a look at some interesting statistics about mobile industry in India via the iShopper Mobile Trends Report here.

And check why 98% Indian traveller's are so into expressing their interests and opinions online about their travel experience.

Mobile phones have being known to cause relationship trouble not just between couples, but they are good enough to drive your friends away says a research report.

Did you Know! Texting is 20 years old now, The first SMS was sent on December 3, 1992, when a 22-year-old British engineer called Neil Papworth - an employee of the technology company Sema - used his computer to send the message "Merry Christmas" to an Orbitel 901 mobile phone.

Google Play inching in closer to iOS app store in 2012, however the trench of revenue earning potential is still a concern, check this article here.

There's a social networking app available for kids between age 5 - 13 years on iOS which goes by the name Everloop Goobit, read more about this here

Where's Social Media Heading in India: Facts and Figures

Explosive adoption of Social, Mobile and Digital continues to swell in India which presents some astonishing facts in numbers which show a huge potential for continuous growth.

Some stats to start of with from this article featured on wearesocial.net

• India has 137 million internet users – more people than the total population of Japan.
• More than 60 million people in India use social networks – equivalent to the total population of Italy
• India is home to a staggering 934 million mobile subscriptions – equivalent to more than 13% of the world’s entire population

Twitter and LinkedIn are also popular amongst Indian netizens, with each claiming more than 15 million users.

YouTube has particular appeal for Indian audiences too, with 20 visitors every single second. Each month, almost 56 million visitors from India consume more than 4 billion videos – 25% of them via mobile devices.

Of all these statistics, what remains to be seen how companies can use this growth to their advantage in order to facilitate the e-commerce transition to compliment their brick and mortar retail business model, given that the urban/rural digital divide still exists in India on a large scale.

Luv Shuv tey SMS

There are lot of relationship based counselling sites and forums sharing tips on questions posted by love birds who are looking out for some advice on how to handle their dating/marriage etc.  Here's a site which is a Q&A service on dating questions.

A seasoned "Bro" would share his view on a text or SMS conversation screenshot posted by girls indicating if "he is into you" "he's not into you or "the verdict is still out", like this one below.

Love is lot complicated and even more while a couple is going through the dating phase, it may not be the exact way of assessing a guy's feelings for a girl, but any advice for a doubtful mind is helpful enough.

Check out the site here 

Best of Gangnam Style Parodies

Gangnam parody videos have being flooding YouTube ever since the original song released, this song has got flash mobs and different versions being made across various countries, the latest one "Punjabi" style has a very catchy and desi feel to it. Check out few other videos as well which make good alternate versions of this song and some funny kid videos as well

1) Punjabi Style

2) Oppa Indian Style

3) London based Indian artist's version of Gangnam

4) Another Bangla Parody

5) A kid who needs to hear Gangnam style song to eat

6) A bunch of kids going with freestyle dancing on the song

7) Toddler animation dancing to the song

8) The best of all versions I liked is this cute little kid, just watch him

Facebook data leak and a Durga pooja pandal

If social media gives you a privacy scare every now and then, here's another news that has surfaced about a Bulgarian blogger who purchased a data leak of 1.1 million facebook users for just $5, which consists of facebook user profile URL, their complete names and facebook emails.

On the surface it does not look like much of a sensitive data leak, however the price at which has got sold is what should be the worrying factor, possible impact of such data being leaked is listed below:

• Send more convincing phishing emails, using the Facebook user’s profile URL, first and last name, and login email, to obtain more information.
• Use a password cracker to discover the user’s Facebook password to accompany the login email, allowing them to hack the account and discover more information.
• Use the name and login email together to reconstruct the user’s actual identity.

The person who sold all the information was reportedly collecting information via Facebook and Twitter apps from the past 6 months, comprised of details of users from US, UK, Canada and Europe. Facebook has already begun investigating this incident and has mentioned that it stands committed in its efforts to safeguard user data and would continue to investigate this individual who tried scraping user data.

Read more about this here

Back home in India, during this years Durga pooja in a town of Suri from West Bengal a facebook user spotted a pandal made with a Facebook page design, if you take a close look at the image it looks to be a very detailed and creative representation (Original article source and image credit: http://lighthouseinsights.in)

Windows 8: Embracing a whole new experience

Microsoft India held a launch event for Windows 8 yesterday marking the arrival of it's new OS that promises to bring a significant change to the overall computing experience which would be fast, fun and fluid, also enabling consumers to use Windows 8 beyond the PC.

Reliance Digital, one of the largest electronics stores in India also unveils New Windows 8 on 26th October, 2012, after the last version being announced a year and a half ago.Along with multi touch capability infused, and support for up to five touches, It will strike a chord with the present trend and act as a trigger to its sales. Besides, this integration will pave way for network of touch sensitive LCD monitors. It will also surprise its users with the new features, an in- built system applications that will serve as a quick access bar for most sought after features and apps. Be it sharing, accessing hard drives or your settings, charm is at your service. It also supports device integration enabling you to stream video from your computer to your Xbox and enjoy a great viewing experience on your HDTV.

(Information Source – Reliance Digital Stores)

What went on while preparing for Windows 8 launch?

Microsoft has being seriously overhauling a gamut of services it has launched over the past few years like Xbox gaming service that was being morphed into an all around entertainment source for the entire family, scrapping erstwhile music service called Zune and paving way for Xbox Music which has close to 30 million tracks in it's library (not available in India yet). Windows 8 OS for mobile phones is also scheduled to launch on October 29, Microsoft also organised an AppFest earlier this year in Bangalore hosting a coding marathon which saw 2,567 developers coding non-stop for 18 hours creating a Guinness record. 

Efforts to attract developers for making apps on WP8 (Windows Phone 8) mobile platform is yielding results for Microsoft, surely it has a lot of catching up to do in comparison to Google and Apple when it comes to making inroads into building a credible app library, as per a company statement it has close to 1,00,000 apps and games as of now and it is surely to grow further with a committed support Microsoft has being getting from mobile manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and Nokia.

Surface tablet also aims to bridge the gap between a PC and Smartphone user already on the windows platform where a slew of android tablets already occupy the mid and lower segment of the tablet market and iPad still ruling the roost. 

It's not just about the OS any more

Windows 8 has being designed and developed to change the way we work on our computing devices like doing away with the system tray we have being so accustomed to view all these years on the previous windows platforms, bringing in apps, live tiles to work on and a similar experience I would get using my Xbox service which also has tiled layout, a browser included as well on the console now. 

An app called SmartGlass would be launched this month to enable this integration windows experience for consumers using Windows 8 installed on their PC, WP8 enabled smartphone (also extending support to iOS and Android phones) and the Xbox 360

Windows 8 is built to work on the ARM processing platform (read more about this here) that allows more vendors to manufacture hardware that supports adoption of Windows 8 OS, Microsoft has also strengthened the security on it's new OS with better anti-malware protection and improved windows defender performance.

Microsoft has also followed a very sensible approach in offering a discounted upgrade to genuine Windows OS users in India, who can move on to Windows 8 Pro for INR 1999 (Limited period offer), Looking forward to upgrading my laptop to the new Windows 8 experience today, just ran the windows 8 upgrade assistant, a little clean up to follow before the new install

Celebrating the spirit of triumph

Navrati just got over and there is no better way to start preparing for Diwali by starting off another round of festive season on this occasion of Vijaya Dashmi, here's wishing you all and your families a Very Happy Dusshera celebrating our spirit of never giving up to the problems that we deal in our daily life, let the fragrance of joy and victory spread like the flowers of Marigold that would be a part of all the decorations across millions of homes in our country today.

The journey of good waging battle against evil has passed on across ages, this fight was never limited to battlefield grounds, from the reflection of our society today in an arrogant government, faceless opposition, corruption, terrorism, rape, molestation, female fetal killings and much more that surrounds us with all the noise, hue and cry, it reminds us there is always a battle going on somewhere, with a hope that someday we would get over with this struggle.

Here's an interesting case study which is related to a campaign that Google ran based on Ramayana for the Asia launch of Google Chrome,partnering with Fantasy Interactive Inc. and OgilvyOne Singapore, project titled as "The Story of Ramayana" brought to life by Google Chrome.

It is a website with interactive content developed with HTML5 and CSS that promotes Google products with character illustration inspired out of Indian, Thailand and Indonesia culture where Ramayana folklore is very popular amongst the masses. Google also got an an impressive TVC campaign for promoting Chrome in India on Tanjore paintings theme. Guess mythology and cultural history still relates very strongly to us which is good for the wired and always connected generation.

Leaving you with a animation video feature on Dussehra by SK Media

 

Taking the wind out of bollywood romance

 

It seems the entire galaxy of Bollywood big wigs is imploding into an unknown abyss this year, Yash Chopra is that shining star that took away all that remaining force of brilliance as he passed away yesterday. He was not just the King of Romance as known to most movie goers.

Apart from making some movies ahead of his time, he also worked hard to keep the business of movies profitable for people associated with it, from a generation of single screen cinema which evolved to multiplex movie going experience, there is probably anything to do with cinema he may not be related to. Foundation of YRF studios and production banner paved way for promoting new talent and making movies that did not just stick to the theme of romance.

Here are few lines of tribute by me for this wonderful producer and director whose contribution to Indian cinema would not be forgotten in years to come, RIP Yash Chopra