Mesmerizing Munnar

Just when simmering summer heat started peaking in Pune this April, I was counting down days to my Munnar trip, as I could not plan a getaway last year on the occasion of my 10th wedding anniversary this vacation was overdue from quite some time. I had made up my mind to have a good break with my family this year and I am happy I choose Munnar as my destination for this trip.

TripAdvisor community proved helpful in planning this tour for booking my hotel stay, I was trying to avoid a drive down to Mumbai airport for travelling to Kochi and luckily I got a good deal on SpiceJet direct flight from Pune so all arrangements went well.

We landed on time at Kochi airport and our ride had arrived to drive us to Chinnakanal at Siena Village Resort, approx 119 Kms away from the airport. We had quick lunch at airport cafeteria and our journey began through streets of Kochi and as we left the city behind it took us almost 3 hrs 30 mins to reach Munnar town.

Kochi city or Munnar town has close to non existent political hoardings on road which I am accustomed to witnessing almost in all Indian tourist places I have visited and to top this I was amazed by the condition of the road, I wish Maharashtra government takes up such state highway road upgrade project, it would surely boost tourism prospect which is lacking in spite of having abundant tourist spots.

I must admit that this was the most exhilarating hill station trip I have ever experienced in my life. This uphill ride goes through a long series of narrow single lane road bends, best part is that this entire stretch of NH8 I hardly spotted any pothole or bumps. I was spellbound by the beauty of this place. Understood and felt for real as to why Kerala is called as God's own country as we passed through dense forest areas, hilly terrain graced by tea plantations, huge silver oak and nilgiri trees, witnessing nature in it's true grandeur is like a fresh breathe of air for your soul.

If you are travelling with adult or kids having motion sickness issue I would advise taking frequent breaks on the journey and be ready to put your belly to puke test. My kid had thrown up many number of times & thankfully our driver Mr. Saji he has experience ferrying passengers for quite some years in Munnar so he keeps a small bucket handy in his vehicle for passengers with motion sickness problem. Road condition is rarely bumpy or uncomfortable but route after Thalakode area has multiple and frequent turns.

Once we reached Munnar town we decided not to stop as our hotel was another 22 Kms away and finally we reached the resort at around 6 PM and we were received at hotel reception with a welcome drink and after checking in we headed to our duplex cottage style room which was very spacious and well maintained. Day 1 journey was spent travelling and savoring the long and scenic drive, we relaxed for rest of the evening to call it a day.

Waking up to chirping of birds in the morning and witnessing a thin layer of mist floating above the valley in front of our room terrace was serene, I took some snaps from the verandah and my kid was delighted to explore resort play area as we proceeded to have our breakfast, after returning we got ready to venture out for sightseeing.

We decided to visit a nearby tea factory first which is owned by Goenka group and they have a small educational tour on tea processing where a guide explains all major steps of how tea transforms from a leaf to powder, it was quite an informative session and the aroma of tea all around gets fixated in your senses. This factory has a sales outlet too allowing you to taste demo samples of different grade and quality of tea available, they do not process flavored and CTC quality tea at this plant so you can buy authentic organic quality tea from this factory.

After completing Tea Factory tour our next destination was Rose garden which had a huge variety of flowers spread across a well curated terrace landscape, this place has no guides with just flowers and plants well labelled for tourists to enhance their floriculture knowledge.

We decided to visit Mattupetty dam next which has boat rides. This dam had enough water around this time of the year and we strolled around dam area taking some pics, our boating plan was put off as the speed boat drivers were riding it dhoom style and the larger slow boat required 20 people for which you have to stay near docking area and let a big group assemble to share charges. My kid was in no mood to allow us to go boating so we departed from there back to Munnar town to have lunch and retire back to hotel for enjoying a relaxed evening.

Day 2 sightseeing began with a drive to a spice farm ahead of Munnar town, a local guide at this place gave us extensive and detailed information on how spices are grown and how to identify different variety of spices available in the market. we also learned about ayurvedic benefits of different medicinal plants grown at this farm. It was time for some spice shopping from their store, our next halt was a elephant ride attraction, it was growing very dark and windy outside and my kid was initially excited to ride an elephant but he got fidgety after looking at the elephant size, after failed attempts at pursuing me and my wife decided to ride elephant for him as he wanted to see our snaps but not ride along with us!

Just as we started our elephant ride, it started raining very heavily and the mahout handed us a big umbrella tucked on the side of saddle, my kid sat out with our driver happily watching him take our pics as we took a small round on a narrow forest trail with huge trees around, we returned back early as the elephant was getting scared due to thunder and lightning and it is never wise to force any animal in such conditions as they can run berserk due to fear in such weather.

We returned back to our hotel on day 2 early as it continued to rain and our driver was worried that there could be road block problem on our way back due to mud sliding or tree falling across road during stormy rains. Thankfully we reached without any issues so it was an evening well spent enjoying light drizzle while sipping tea and feasting on pakora's on the terrace verandah as the clouds cleared up a little late in the evening.

I woke up to a rainy and gloomy morning on our last day of touring hoping for rains to go away as we had planned to visit a tea plantation spot nearby. Rain gods granted our wish and the sunshine was out again which allowed us to move out and take some good pics at a tea plantation photo point which is nestled in a low lying valley with a backdrop of rocky mountains engulfed with clouds that descend quite low to offer scenic view, after having lunch at Munnar town we indulged in some local shopping for a while and later visited the annual flower show at Hydel blossom park which has great collection of a large variety of flowers luckily it was not a repeat of rose garden collection and from here we concluded our sightseeing schedule, reached back at the hotel just in time for a hot cuppa of tea.

Our stay at The Siena Village resort was like an icing on the cake, I chose this property for our stay because it has good open area and I read TripAdvisor reviews notifying that it was a kid friendly place. Hotel management and housekeeping staff were extremely courteous and prompt in their service and complimentary Wi-Fi service at the hotel also offers good browsing speed. I was impressed by their overall maintenance of the property, along with clean and hygienic rooms that offer lovely view outside.

We returned back to Pune after a splendid 4 day excursion, you can also combine backwaters with Munnar if you plan to visit Kerala for more than 3 nights. More pics from my trip here

Turning over a new leaf

Home is where the heart is and for first 22 years of my life, Mumbai was my home filled with experience of childhood memories, school & college days. I believe that the soul of the place we spend most of our lives eventually blends with us or one can say we blend with it and it becomes a part of our personality as we grow up. The experience I have penned in my current post is kind of a tale of two cities and how satisfying it feels when you are not just chasing dreams but also start to create a future you always wanted.

I was pretty happy to be labelled a Mumbaikar for the rest of my life, growing up in in a suburban area like Mulund which has overwhelming Gujarati – Kutchi population. I was a part of a culturally cosmopolitan, prospering & vibrant community, however I gradually realized that there was an so called upmarket, posh and sophisticated western zone of Mumbai when I used to visit my Aunt at Kandivali, these localities were known to be better than the central areas of the city as it is home to the famous film city, international and domestic airport and to trump them both South Mumbai or so called (SoBo – South Bombay) area of the city that is always bustling with business activity which is home to big corporate offices, ritzy hotels, government offices and trading community.

Summer vacations in school and college gave me a chance to explore Mumbai in its different forms while I used to accompany my father at work in areas like Matunga, Sion, Dadar, Parel, Dharavi, Chembur, Sewri, Cotton Green and I also used to visit my uncle’s office at Masjid Bunder a lot and from there I used go on a foot trail in Fort and Churchgate area which became my favorite spots for electronics and book shopping.

I used to wonder how my father and uncle could remember exactly which train to catch from what platform and at what time to avoid crowded coaches. They taught me how to board and alight from a train slowing down at the platform before getting blocked by a swarm of passengers waiting to enter into the door just at the same time you plan to get down and when I began travelling by train I learnt this was a routine I would gradually have to fit in to and be ready to compete for whatever dreams I have for my future.

Once I completed my graduation I began my job hunt and started appearing for interviews and among one such interviews I happened to visit Navi Mumbai which took me by surprise from the moment I set my foot at Vashi station which was the swankiest of all railway stations back in year 2002. I was actually wondering if such place could exist in reality and this was not the end of it. The same new extension of Mumbai city where I got my first Job and this was the place where I met my life partner. I entered a phase where my dreams took flight and I realized I had started falling in love with her the more I came close to her. I grew up in a joint family and my grandfather and grandmother were like equal parents to me and coming from a conservative Brahmin family, love marriage was out of question for me. I knew my parents would not disapprove my wish to marry a girl from another caste however I was not prepared mentally to take that risk and ruin my friendship to go with what my heart wanted.

At times I felt my feeling for my then friend was just a crush and it would probably fade away after this feeling of love has run its course and I would eventually return to my senses, however this was not some false alarm I was pretending it would go away and she also sensed something was wrong with my behavior and one day I had taken a day off in office and she came online for a chat asking me if I had something on my mind that I could share with her and like an idiot I tried cooking up a story to have developed feeling for another colleague, suddenly she confronted me out of the blue during our conversation asking me if that colleague I was referring to was her.

I was stunned and I can still remember that cursor blinking on the chat window of my computer awaiting my response in a “Yes” or a “No”, I typed “Yes” and the chat session went blank and my heart sunk in fear that I may have probably lost a friend and she may never talk to me again for harboring one sided feelings for her when she treated me like a good friend. We did not speak to each other in office for few days and I had already started receding into an emotional shell trying to get over with what had happened and we were avoiding eye contact and each other literally.

We resumed our phone conversations somehow trying to reconcile and talk each other out with some practical gyaan, we knew we came from different backgrounds and we had different upbringings and then it was also our culture and caste and etc. etc. Strangely we could not see each other suffer this silent ordeal and awkwardness that prevailed whenever we were together in our friend group. We were trying to get back to our normal lives but fate had other plans for us it seems.

One evening she called me while I was in cafeteria for dinner working late in office, I still remember the song from Saathiya movie “Chupke Se” playing in the background on the radio, during our normal chatter she asked if we could give this relationship a chance and see where it goes. I felt like a jolt of lighting hit my senses and I was at loss of words wondering all these days we have been talking to each other to put things behind us and move on with our lives and here I felt like I was pulled from a near death situation back to life and it was her confidence in me that got me all worked up to decide that I had to let my feelings for her take control of my mind for a change and stop ignoring what my heart wanted.

From this stage we both persuaded our parents and relatives to get our so called love marriage approved to a love cum arranged marriage, this was the first bold step I remembered I took in my life and after we got married we continued working and we began home hunting. Mumbai is surely a city that never sleeps but finding a home sweet home which guarantees you that sound sleep was a task. We were looking at our options in fringe locations around Mumbai’s municipal limits and in due course I got a job offer from Pune and I decided to give it a try.

After I got selected during my interview at Pune, It was decision time again to choose which city I was going to create a future not just for me but also my wife, I was weighed down with memories and attachment which was not easy to shake off and I thought if I do not like Pune city, I would surely be back to Mumbai as soon as possible, We started searching for a rented accommodation closer to my office and when we moved  to Pune in December 2005, this city had just started warming up to IT and ITES industry and it is totally opposite to Mumbai city which made me homesick for few days. Nagar road at Yerwada was considered to be an outskirts area and only famous for the Yerwada Jail and Aga Khan Palace, you would lose feel of the city towards the exit of Bund garden back then.

It was not easy adapting to Pune city initially and I started missing urban convenience of Mumbai and most importantly street food, getting around in the city was another issue to get groceries, household supplies etc. our weekend outings were limited to M.G Road at camp. After a year or two we started liking Pune city which started with its climate, it was not overcrowded and humid like Mumbai and biggest relief was freedom from daily train commuting. We started pondering if it was time we stopped staying on rent, after a brief search for new projects I ended up getting a good deal for an upcoming under construction property within the same society we were staying on rent. I was still dicey and thinking if it was too early or risky going for our own home in a new city with just 2 years into our jobs.

Geographically Pune city has land to expand and spread it limits which was good in a way that there was no lack of good housing projects and if you could not buy a house in one locality there is always an upcoming area where you would be able to spot the home of your choice and budget.There were minor hiccups in taking possession of our flat however we eventually settled into our new home. I realized I was looking up to my goals just like this emerging city was fuelling dreams and desires of many new settlers like me. Our home gave us a sense of personal space and it was like a blank canvas for us to paint it with a new found hope.

I remember days I have spent at my home while at leisure photographing sky in different shades, enjoying monsoon and soaking up to the sunlight in the pleasant winter mornings of Pune. I set the occasional traveler inside me free to explore beaches and other tourist spots around the city. Our child was born here and watching him grow in this home and treasuring moments of celebration and happiness has added to memoirs of our transition from a couple to parents.

I do not regret my decision buying a home early in our marriage and my #StartANewLife moment began with this new leaf that turned over for good.

This new campaign from housing.com is my inspiration for this post, an interesting mix of moving frames with a blend of ideas and creativity carrying a zing of peppy and youthful spirit, Go ahead #LookUp to raise a toast to new beginnings.

Battle of Android Flagships Revived

 
Android mobile phones have evolved on features, specs and pricing over the last year and one must admit that this platform has enabled adoption of smartphones amongst masses due to availability of huge variety of phones at multiple price points. When it comes to Flagship phone category, this section has witnessed the biggest upsurge in India over the last 2 years, earlier we had Samsung leading this pack followed by HTC, Motorola, Sony and LG. Indian companies like Micromax, Lava and Karbonn had started getting a stronghold on budget Android smartphone market.

Android flagship phones had begun to get saturated in terms of features and pricing was going beyond Rs 50,000 in some cases which did not always justify the product offering, Samsung started milking Galaxy line up in worst possible way by churning out phone after phone using the same body mold and design across their Note Phablet, Galaxy ‘S’ flagship, Grand series and others to follow, even with criticism mounting on sluggish Touch Wiz UI and bloatware they showed no signs of bringing in change when it was needed the most.

After using Galaxy S4 I realized that Samsung was no longer a company that was listening to customers as if its sole target was to target Apple in sales and revenue numbers and in that madness they started overpricing their phones packaged like some premium plastic device, fact was that MRP of so called premium Samsung phones used to drop by 10-15% in retail market within 3-4 months of launch.

Another weak area for Samsung was keeping up with latest Android OS releases where they faltered regularly by delaying timely update to flagship phone owners and prioritizing new Android OS to be first offered on the next Galaxy ‘S’ upgrade. By the time you decide to sell off your 1 or 1.5 years old phone you would hardly get 60-50% of the original value on second hand sale.

Post 2013 vendors like Gionee, Oppo, Xiaomi, Asus, One Plus, Lenovo, Panasonic etc. started redefining the midrange Android segment as their mobile phones had impressive build and hardware specs, few came with good battery backup though most of these phones were average on screen quality yet their major USP was pricing strategy. As more Indian consumers embraced online shopping trends like flash sale and invite based sale started making headlines. This new generation of consumers were not worried about the after-sales network or the brand itself as e-commerce brands with deep pockets were in the process of overturning smartphone sales model in India.

Samsung is still leading in smartphone sales as per this report and its latest offering – Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge faces a tough competition in Motorola Turbo, Xiaomi MI4, One plus One and another phone in waiting Asus Zenfone 2. When you pitch these Samsung phones against other midrange phone offerings you would actually start valuing your money for what you get.

Bloatware
I read some articles indicating that Samsung has had a change of heart now and it would probably allow users to uninstall pre-loaded apps if they wish too, which is not the case (read here) and they are bragging on all metal body for S6 and S6 edge with a side screen for notifications, surprisingly there is low focus on software gimmicks this time.

Display
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have a 5.1 inch Super AMOLED QHD display which would definitely look stunning however a screen resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels with a pixel density of 577 pixels per inch how do you justify this with a battery backup lesser than 2800mAh as offered on Galaxy S5? Galaxy S6 has 2550mAh capacity battery and Galaxy S6 Edge has 2600mAh capacity battery.

Processor
Both phones come with an Exynos 7420 SoC processor built on 14-nanometer architecture featuring an octa-core 64-bit (4 x 2.1GHz cores and 4 x 1.5GHz cores) along with a Mali-T760 GPU coupled with 3GB of RAM, some part of improved processing capability may save battery life however Android Lollipop OS is not exactly battery friendly. I am not sure if Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge would have Android 5.1 out of the box and a lot depends on how TouchWiz UI interacts with the Lollipop OS during regular usage.

Initial benchmark scores predict a lag free and smooth Android experience which cannot be matched by any other Android phone today, however the actual performance would again depend on your day to day usage and how much multi-tasking power you need.

Battery and Storage Expansion Slot
In a bid to make their phones slimmer and adopt a ‘unibody’ design, Samsung has done away with removable battery feature and killed the storage expansion slot, this was something that worked for them as a major differentiators against competition and it remains to be seen how market would react to this change after sales numbers start trickling in.

Midrange Phone Competition

Motorola Turbo which was recently launched in India is a rugged beast for a flagship device and the only exception to the Midrange phone category as this phone is priced just above Rs 40,000. In spite of underwhelming looks and phone design it offers high durability and performance. Xiaomi MI4 and One Plus One are still going strong in terms of a steady consumer demand, Xiaomi has decided to move away from flash sale and marking an entry in offline retail market while One plus One would be available for open sale on Amazon shifting from its invite only strategy.

MI4 and One Plus One offer impressive specs with good display resolution and pixel density, 3G RAM, 2.5 GHz quad core Snapdragon 801 processor matched with equally good image processing capabilities. Xiaomi has a very good 8MP front facing camera too. One Plus One comes with CyanogenMod Android OS that offers advanced users enough flexibility to tweak handset operating system to their needs.

I am particularly looking forward to Asus Zenfone 2 and bid my Nexus 5 goodbye, I always wanted a high end Android smartphone with dual sim capability to do away with carrying two phones (personal & office), Asus Zenfone 2 has dual sim capability that supports 4G connectivity on both sim’s and 64-bit quad core Intel Atom processor bundled with 4GB RAM would be apt upgrade for my usage.

I have had hands on experience of ZEN UI on Zenfone 5 which provides a seamless integration with Android OS offering best of stock OS experience and enough customization features to organize stuff on your phone that do not require you to install an additional launcher. The most important factor is better price to specification ratio as even the Nexus range from Google has started going beyond Rs 40,000 price point to shed the tag of economically priced phone.

Smartphone manufacturers are struggling to keep their stock moving in a very competitive market and until the next big leap in mobile technology takes place (fold able, virtual screen based phones) supported by stable demand for wearables, Midrange segment would continue to pressurize margins of big players in mobile manufacturing business.

I have moved on from being a Smartphone consumer who used to get excited by a flagship phone announcement from a certain brand touted to be that sexy eye catcher phone or the next best device that would be stuffed with the latest CPU, high end RAM, bumped up on resolution and pixels etc. etc. It is more about practical use and innovation in UI that appeals to me and I surely want a phone which offers value for money with decent quality also offering a good resale value until my next upgrade.

Experiencing Incredible India

Traveling to India? It may make you think twice and for female travelers it can be a cause of greater concern with a recent documentary on India's daughter causing enough controversy and raising fresh apprehension for tourists visiting our country.

Traveling to any part of the globe is never risk free and Indian subcontinent is no exception to this, however when you travel across different states there is more to discover and most of the times it comes as a surprise to tourist's.

It is always safe to travel with a local guide who knows the cultural and lingual landscape of the place & here is an interesting travelogue of a tourist couple to ease your doubt's to enjoy this diverse destination and have a safe journey.

 

Do our Genes determine our entire life?

An interesting read on GNOME study that aims to defy few myths around the science of DNA - Some scientists claim that new discoveries have proved free will is an illusion. Nonsense, says Julian Baggini, read more here 

Social Media and Stress research

Our exposure to Social Media has gained deep traction not only in the way we consume media in different forms but also the way in which react and interact on various topics, share what's happening in our lives and much more.

So how far does this digital exposure impact our stress levels find out some interesting facts from this research report here

Fancy parking assistance by a Drone?

Late for a meeting and worried you won’t find parking? Don’t worry: That drone flying above your car has got your back.

It would be really intriguing to experience technology at work for such task, time and frustration saved.

Read more about this here 

Article Courtesy: Venture Beat

Android Gaming All Rounder - Nvidia Shield Tablet Review

My dilemma of Diwali gadget shopping was swinging between Xbox One, a little wait for Nexus 6 phone or the new Nexus tablet and Nvidia Shield Tablet which was my first choice however it went on a back burner as there was no news on when this product would be announced for India. It was time to evaluate these options to zero in on the final gadget.

Xbox One: - Promising product, high possibility of entry cost getting reduced slightly in coming months however Xbox One games are simply not worth spending extra bucks for high-end graphics and with Batman Arkham Knight getting pushed over to 2015, it became easier for me to stick with my Xbox 360 this year.

Nexus 6: - Looking at rumoured configuration and screen size it sounds like an interesting upgrade however my Nexus 5 is fit for my current usage with no complaints and it is ensured to receive Android 'L' (5.0) OS upgrade.

New Nexus Tablet: This one was a tough call as my Nexus 7 (2012) hardware seems to be struggling with graphic intensive games after the Android 4.4 KitKat OS upgrade, going by rumours again there were speculations about Asus or LG to be in fray for manufacturing this new tablet, recently it was confirmed that HTC would be manufacturing new Nexus tablet equipped with Nvidia Tegra K1 processor having 9 inch screen. Tegra K1 64-bit processor got my attention however I was not keen to have a tablet with a big screen.

Nvidia Shield Tablet: I was still in two minds pondering over the cost of importing this tablet from Amazon US against discount offer available for Xbox One on Amazon India portal. I usually spend few hours during weekend playing games on my Xbox 360 and it would be the same with Xbox One too however when I thought of a tablet upgrade with option like Shield it offered a better value proposition as a media consumption device, enough juice to handle high end games with ability to play in console mode on TV and equipped with stylus which is useful for occasional image edits when needed.

Since the deciding factor was gaming it all boiled down to portability and recurring cost of games where Nvidia Shield Tablet became a clear option to go with.I ordered Shield tablet and the game controller which is a must have accessory to justify gaming prowess available onboard, also added the Shield tablet cover as well. To avoid any shipping delay and customs hassle I went with Amazon Global Priority shipping option that delivered this tablet in 5 days via DHL.

Tablet Specs: Keeping details on specs to bare minimum, Shield tablet houses a Quad Core 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A15 CPU and Tegra K1 192 Core Kepler GPU (32 Bit), it is also equipped with 2GB RAM, 4938mAh non removable battery and loaded with Android KitKat OS version 4.4.2.

I was aware that Shield Tablet's 32 GB LTE version had got launched recently unfortunately it was not available for shipping outside US from Amazon, So I finalized 16GB Wi-Fi version knowing that It would not accommodate all premium android games and transferring game files to SD card is also not possible in case of many popular titles.

Form Factor: At 9.2mm body thickness, 8.8 inches in height and 390 gm on weight Shield Tablet is not exactly sleek and light compared to other popular tablets, however the 8 inch IPS HD display offers crisp viewing at 1920x1200 resolution with 283 PPI. Bezel area occupies less real estate around the screen which is good, clamshell body design feels sturdy however plastic rim around tablet body feels little pointed and edgy. Top section of this tablet has a mini HDMI and charging port with 3.5 mm slot for headphone connection.

Holding tablet in portrait or landscape mode feels comfortable however you would feel it heavy after some time if you are holding it with one hand. Matte touch to the rear section of the tablet offers stable grip, Right side of the tablet has power button and a volume rocker which are little awkward to operate as if they are pushed deep inside the tablet frame, you also have a MicroSD slot available to add memory card with a capacity of up to 128 GB.

Front facing speakers combined with bass reflex ports on both sides of the tablet offer a unique audio listening experience, output is crisp and mild bass punch is definitely audible. Rear camera on Nexus 5 is 5MP Autofocus HDR, front facing camera is also 5MP HDR.

Software & Stylus: Best thing about Nvidia Shield tablet is that it comes with almost stock android OS with no unnecessary OS skin coating and bloatware apps form the manufacturer. In fact Shield Hub app is the best place to look for all relevant and popular games with latest news and updates about Nvidia, Tegra Processor and Shield platform. You can access all your installed android games from My Android Games section and browse through media content on tablet via My Media apps section on Shield Hub.

This tablet also supports PC Gamestream which I am not covering in my review as I do not have the required PC gaming set up required to use this service.When you remove stylus from the tablet it enables an on screen pop up Nvidia DirectStylus Launcher from where you can open apps like Nvidia Dabbler (painting app), Write, Evernote and JusWrite that come pre-installed on the tablet. Shield tablet's stylus is not an active digitizer like the one available with Galaxy Note series.

It is a passive stylus powered by Nvidia’s DirectStylus 2 technology which provides lag free experience for note-taking and sketching supported by palm rejection feature available in most of the apps enabled for stylus use, surprisingly I could use my fingers as well to paint within the Dabbler app while the stylus mode was on.

Gaming: After completing initial tablet set up, usable space left out of 16GB internal memory is 11.92GB. I noticed the sheer smoothness and speed while accessing apps, games and browsing however you would still manage to spot an occasional stutter while scrolling inside apps menu. There are options within settings menu to optimize processing and power consumption of the tablet which should help you tweak it to your requirement.

I connected tablet with mini HDMI cable to my LED and you get on screen option to select mirroring mode or console mode, after switching to console mode I noticed that the output from tablet display looked a little stretched out and to correct this I had to opt for "just scan" option from picture settings menu on my LG LED which helped.

I was left in awe by the flawless and lag free controller based gaming experience while testing games like FIFA 14, Dead Trigger 2, NFS Most Wanted and Modern Combat 5. You can create custom gamepad mapping profiles with Gamepad Mapper and share them with friends for many popular games available from Google Play store. It opens up a whole new possibility of making games compatible for controller and to be enjoyed on a big screen.

Using Shield controller feels little clunky in comparison to Xbox 360 controller however the controller layout is good and tactile feedback is very responsive, this controller has a separate charging port and a slot to connect headset too which is a great option for streaming wireless audio if you don't want to disturb anyone in the house and watch videos, songs etc as well. There's a mic also somewhere on the controller which I read on the manual, not tested it yet.

Once I was done playing games and testing other stuff on the tablet for almost 2 hours while connected to TV, I touched the rear section of the tablet after disconnecting expecting to feel some heat surprisingly it was not, which goes to show that heat dissipation is much better, making this tablet well suited for extended gaming sessions.

Other Gaming Features: Nvidia also has a GRID Beta app for cloud gaming with 18 titles free to play for now, Initially I thought this service may not work in India as the servers for this service are based out of San Jose in California and it requires 10MBps internet connection with 40ms ping response, I still tried testing it on my 8MBps connection while it ran some initial tests and threw up a message of non availability of service for your region, when I tried running Borderlands game it was too slow and laggy after the introductory cut scenes ended , then I tried Street Fighter game which ran smoothly with no trouble at all.

Cloud gaming service like this has a chance to thrive, however personally I feel market for this service is in India at least is like a farfetched dream currently. Shield Tablet also has Shadowplay feature that enables you to record your game play with Twitch service (haven't tried this one yet).

Battery Backup: With a gaming device of this processing capability do not expect more than 6-7 hours of battery backup which includes a decent mix of gaming, web browsing and watching videos. I am still testing average battery backup time with different usage scenarios to arrive at a practical figure.

Overall Impression: I was always on a watch out for gaming accessories for android devices all this while with options like MOGA controller, OUYA and many more most of them had flaws which were hard to overlook while weighing benefits and again these products also never entered Indian markets officially.

Two great devices launched by Google last week (Nexus 6 Phone and Nexus 9 Tablet) mark a significant shift in overall specs, build quality and pricing for Nexus line up, I am content with my decision to go for Shield tablet as it offers a good mix of powerful hardware with portable design factor and a big plus on gaming capability, I would have had to invest on the new nexus player separately any ways if I had decided to go with any one of the new nexus device.

Nvidia Shield tablet is undoubtedly a treat for gamers and if you are looking for a standalone android tablet you now have option to go for Nexus 9 as well. I have read reports of iPad Air 2 overtaking supremacy of Tegra K1 platform in recent benchmark tests conducted however Apple still cannot package an all rounder like Shield tablet to lure tablet buyers into a compelling upgrade.

Chevrolet Beat achieves 1 million in sales

GM's Chevrolet Beat achieved 1 million in sales worldwide this month, coincidentally my car also completed 50,000 Km run last month.

It has being a satisfactory and fulfilling ownership experience for me driving Chevrolet Beat for the past 4 years, as a hatchback it drives efficiently in the city and a decent highway performer. Back in 2010 when hatchbacks were not expected to look great, Beat won me over with it's radical design. My personal after sales experience is also very positive with Beat.

What i like most about Chevrolet Beat is it's highway drive which feels very well planted on the road and high quality interiors with good rear seat comfort that can seat 3 passengers easily and ample legroom and less body roll. I also get close to 14-15 kmpl city driving mileage under heavy traffic conditions.

It was a skeptical risk I took with a brand like Chevrolet while the market has always stayed tilted in favor of established names like Maruti, Hyundai and Honda.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra's India visit provided some help to reinstate dropping brand confidence as GM does not have a strong offering apart from Beat and Cruze in it's lineup in India, in fact Ford has managed to build consumer base and strong brand confidence with Figo and Ecosport.

I hope GM comes up with new offering's for Indian car market soon to provide consumers options in compact MUV and 4-meter sedan segment.

Check out this stunning Chevrolet Beat Mod from Tashkent

Monsoon arrives in Pune today

After a long spell of tease with cloudy mornings and breezy evenings, Monsoon marks it's proper arrival in Pune today.

First Monday of the holy Shravan month reminds me of childhood days spent in Mumbai regularly visiting a Shiva temple near our home in Mumbai with my granny. Rainy season in Pune is hardly intimidating like heavy showers that disrupt normal life in Mumbai, it's a constant drizzle that makes you feel like ditching the umbrella and take a walk in the rain.

Mumbaikar's love to stroll by the sea, hit the road towards Lonavala or Bushi Dam while Punekar's throng towards places like Mulshi, Tamhini Ghat, Sinhagadh as favorite spots to enjoy rains. Let us hope that the rain gods continue to shower their affection for another 2-3 days to overcome water supply scare generated due to delayed arrival of Monsoon. 

 

Only problem is once the dams are full, measures to curb water scarcity would be put in a cold bag again by politicians and civic authorities.

A Preview of Sony's Newest Gem – The T3

Sony’s back with a brand new handset – The T3. The Japanese manufacturer has enjoyed considerable success with the Xperia series of phones. The Z1 and Z2 have been received very favourably by the Indian market and Sony hopes to replicate that with its newest phone – the T3.

Design:
The T3 has been advertised as one of the world’s thinnest smartphone. At just 7 mm, it’s considerably thinner than most high-performance phones. The dimensions of the phone according to Sony are 150.7 x 77 x 7mm. Sony opted for matte polycarbonate back that aids the grip on this device in lieu of the glass back seen on the Xperia Z1 & Z2. Crucially, the phone weighs in at 148 grams; this substantial mass coupled with the matte back should ideally aid in ensuring the device is a great fit in one’s palm.

The screen is a 5.3 inch LCDHD TRILUMINOS display for mobile with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2. The device is powered by a Snapdragon 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. It runs on Android Kit Kat and has 8GB flash memory, which can be expanded up to 32 GB via a microSD card. It packs a 2500mAh battery and has an 8-megapixel rear camera.


What’s New?
While most manufacturers look to update and constantly add a bigger, faster processor or more memory, Sony has taken a holistic approach and changed up quite a few things on the T3. Starting with the design, there seems to have a conscious effort to streamline the body and the contours on the device and from what we’ve seen of the phone, a lot of work seems to have been put in exactly this. In this age of flash, the fact that Sony has gone for matte back over something fancy shows usability and handling have been given a high level of importance. That’s something we really like because you don’t want to drop a large chunk of money on a device that you have trouble holding on to.

The heart of the phone is its Quad-core processor; these are nothing new in the elite handset space but we’re curious why Sony hasn’t joined in the mobile spec wars and used a beefier processor. For all we know, this could be a calculated decision and for now, we trust Sony’s judgment. The display is something we’re very eager to check out. It’s an area Sony has made a mark on in the last few years by using a variant of the technology that’s won their televisions worldwide acclaim – the BRAVIA.

What we expect:

Truth be told, the T3 on paper looks as good a handset as you’d get in the market right now. It has some killer features that consumers would expect on high-end devices and some signature Sony features. We’re very excited about the launch of this phone and we’ll be back with a full review when it’s launched in the Indian market.

Summary:
Sony is back with a brand new device – the T3. The Japanese manufacturer is hoping to ride on a wave of optimism on the back of an incredible year that saw the Xperia series of phone win widespread acclaim. The T3 packs some killer features and it looks like Sony’s got it right again with another well-designed phone.

IT Park in the Wild Wild West

Recent murder of a Infosys employee in Marunji area of Hinjewadi is addition to growing list of crimes causing concern amongst employees about their safety and security. I have being commuting for work at Hinjewadi for past 4 years now witnessing unprecedented property construction in progress changing landscape of this green belt once occupied by farmers.

Pune has two major SEZ locations where IT companies have thrived and most of these companies moved out of their STPI infrastructure from city to Magarpatta SEZ and at Hinjewadi. If you happen to visit Magarpatta you would notice presence of major utility and recreation facilities and as an SEZ location it has blended into the city easily, which is not the case with Hinjewadi.

IT park at Hinjewadi is nested between vasti's (small sections of a big village ward), all the shiny glass buildings that reflect heavy investment made by companies and real estate companies fighting out to occupy every piece of  farmland to sell dreams and luxury lifestyle to the workforce coming to work here. Concept of work life balance sprung rapid development for areas nearby like Aundh, Baner, Pimple Saudagar,Balewadi and Wakad.

When any location witnesses such rapid development it is bound to attract vultures in form of anti social elements, If you stay in any posh society at Hinjewadi today with your family there is nothing available within the IT park in form of a major grocery outlet, no malls, virtually non existent recreation centres. Only a barrage of business hotels and few restaurants. So you have to venture out quite a distance outside IT park to get a feel of the city.

Homes of working couples and bachelors staying in Hinjewadi and nearby areas have become easy target for robbers and passengers hitching rides at Wakad junction for traveling to Mumbai who fall prey to private vehicles which pose a major risk to their safety. When you enter Hinjewadi right at the exit of Wakad bridge you would notice different rules set into motion.Villagers come driving at you in opposite direction all times, road divider at end of Wakad bridge always stays dismantled used by locals to make their own U-Turn blocking traffic most of the time.

You enter in a zone filled with hoardings of property projects and boards with birthday messages for influential people of the local community, there are yearly festivals celebrated by local communities in Hinjewadi which force IT companies to give half day to employees sometimes, alter company transport timings. If you take a left turn from Dange chowk and go ahead of Persistent, taking another turn near TCS office this road would lead you to actual village vasti's behind and gram panchayat here is quiet modern with some political bigwigs who are staunch loyalists of NCP bastion.

This makes you realise that people here are not receptive to development that has happened at a fast pace over past few years and gram panchayat's are opposing move of PCMC to include Hinjewadi under their taxation umbrella since local bigwigs would lose control of power they have enjoyed all these years. I have heard stories of locals ganging up to corporates to employ their people for security, awarding catering contracts and allowing entry to their transport fleet when they had set up shop here, This was bound to happen and there are some strong groups within Hinjewadi who have monopoly in vehicle fleet they have deployed for many IT companies.

Employment prospects for locals got limited to certain section in these companies and farmers who have sold land here made good money probably settled elsewhere however staff working on these farms earlier have found it difficult to make it big out of the SEZ dream and when they see high rise apartments coming up on their own lands, car traffic moving like glittering display of wealth before their eyes.

Feeling of disparity and inequality fuels aggression and a feeling of hatred for the same IT workforce coming to work here. It is like two parallel universes are existing in close proximity of each other and when they collide there is collateral damage in the form of danger to civilian safety.I have seen guys leering at women in cars, or those who cover up their face while riding bikes overtaking them for fun and passing lewd comments. Pune does not have problem of poor migrant population influx that got concentrated in slums like Mumbai, it's reverse syndrome here with well to do families from different parts of the country settling in here and contributing to the mad property rush which has ruffled locals a lot and they see it as an invasion on their culture, lifestyle and a feeling of employment opportunities being snatched away from them.

Quoting example of a big township project coming up at Mahalunge area closer to Balewadi, a single lane kuccha road goes to this location with villages on the way, I passed through staring eyes of local boys spread across this road twice, if they want to block you only escape route is to drive your car through the farms on both sides of the road, this project is so far away from main road forget getting any help at night if someone mugs you up or kills you. I would never buy a house at such location even if it is dirt cheap as builders promise luxury living and high class amenities but these are of no use if your life is at stake while moving in and out of your dream house.

PMC or PCMC has no concrete plan in place to improve infrastructure for commuters working in IT companies, read about a future rail network in pipeline for connecting Hinjewadi to other parts of the city, however it is very likely to get caught in delays as the infamous BRTS project that has drained enough world bank money meant for urban transport improvement. In this situation Police force would be burdened to the maximum in controlling traffic and crime in this area. Car traffic is growing out of control with new phases coming up in Hinjewadi as exit and entry points are limited.

Pune city is considered to be safe in general in terms of crime rate and safety for woman however when majority population of city's workforce works at these SEZ locations, there is a lot at stake and only solution is to moderate growth at Hinjewadi for a while and concentrate efforts to improve infrastructure, public transport else this section of the city would stay as the Wild Wild West zone nurturing crime under the false notion of development.