The return of Sony Ericsson?
Posted by Srinath
For quite a long time, Sony Ericsson has daunted the mobile giants Nokia, Samsung, et all, yet somehow always falling at the last hurdle. It was a story of the underdog putting up a brave fight, but always failing to upset the champion. Faced with rapidly falling sales, and a lineup that didn't offer anything different or exciting, SE had to comeup with something radical to stay afloat. Their recent refresh in Q4 2009 offers something for everyone, with a variety of devices aimed at different segments and price points. But will it be enough to save the company and turn it around? This article tries to explore.
Preparing for the iPhone
Posted by Srinath
Yes, I'm taking the giant leap of faith and getting myself a spanking new iPhone 3G 16GB. My furious attempts at Twitter to win one of those new 3G's that were on various giveaways went in vein, so decided to take the practical way out. Unfortunately, the newly launched 3GS is way out of my league so I had to settle with the older but still respectable 3G on which I'm getting a decent deal (Getting it for almost Rs. 8000 less than the Indian market price).
I did have the choice between the iPhone 3G and the HTC Touch Diamond2. It was a tough decision, but in the end I chose the iPhone due to various reasons:
- 3.5mm audio jack - How could HTC leave this one out in such a high end phone? Simply beats me.
- Inbuilt memory of 16GB which is more than enough for my needs (need microSD cards for the diamond2 as it doesn't have inbuilt memory)
- Virtually an application for every need (and a few that you don't need too)
- Better battery life - Although HTC made amends to the battery over the original diamond, its still bad. Reading from reviews/user comments, it seems to be the most significant downer. And I'm a battery freak, and need enough juice to pull out a couple hours of music, browsing, and an hour of voice calls without being bothered about when the battery will run out
- Build quality - Though the diamond2 looks great, I don't think it can compete with the build quality of the iPhone
- Jailbreaking/Unlocking - This is a lame reason, but I've been fascinated with jailbreaking, installing other apps for the iphone ever since I've read about it on the internet. Sure must be exciting!
I've already downloaded redsn0w, iTunes and read up on a few tutorials. Should be getting the phone by Wednesday, and zip zap zoom!
Web based bulk sms review – znisms
Posted by Srinath
Web based SMS services have become absolutely essential nowadays. And with hundreds if not thousands of services available, it is difficult to try out each to see if it suits you. I'm putting in my 2 cents on this issue. This is a short review of the web based sms service offered by http://znisms.com. Before I start, this service is ONLY for mobiles within India, and not for networks elsewhere. In other words, you can send a text message to mobile phones in India only.
Here are my observations:
- Easy registration and setup. Self explanatory
- Web based and HTTP/XML API access
- Haven't faced any down time yet. Both web based, and API based submits work well
- Plans starting from as low as Rs. 100 valid for 2 months
- Maximum time taken to reach a recipient is just less than an hour. Average time is 5-8 minutes
- Web control panel, though confusing is pretty neat. Has all the options you need, and even lets you check status of your messages
- Comprehensive logging system which may be useful for some
- XML API for bulk submission - add multiple numbers to the same message, and a single submit. This is really what I wanted as the place I'm deploying my application won't be permanently connected to the internet. So instead of making 1500 individual submits, just one XML bulk submit will do
- Incoming messages supported - users can type "hi <username> <message>" and send it to 5676775 and you will receive it directly in your web control panel free of cost
Cons:
- Plan validity period is too short (at least for my requirement)
- No API to access incoming messages
- SMS rates are cheaper only in higher volume plans
- Maximum validity of any plan is 6 months
In all, I'd give it a 8.5/10. Really satisfied with the service so far.