Time for transparency for Ola and Uber?

A few years ago, who would have thought we will have the power to hail a cab from our mobile sitting at home - without even talking to a human? All it requires are a few clicks and a cab is ready to pick up and drop at our destination.

It is true that cab aggregators like Uber and Ola have changed the way we commute. We may like or hate them, but the fact is that they have come to stay. The ease of the cab ride also brings with it associated problems like rouge drivers and surge pricing.

Both the Central and State Governments don't seem to have a clue on how to regulate Ola and Uber. When the Governments came down on surge pricing, all Ola and Uber did was to remove the word surge. Now there is a talk of having a cap on surge pricing. Will an over-enthusiastic government destroy these companies with over-regulation? Even with all the faults, we have got used to the new form of commuting. And any hare-brained move may only put an end to the ease with which we commute.

Read more : https://goo.gl/vNR6N5

UTS: Useless Ticketing System

The Indian Railways is now actively promoting its UTS app. The app has been around for quite some time, but has not received any traction because of the problems associated with the app - in other words, it has 'made by Government' written all over it.

First, though it is supposed to make train ticketing easy, it is not exactly so. Sometimes, we feel the app has been designed to discourage booking of tickets from the app! It doesn't allow booking tickets if we are close to the platform. We have to be away at a considerable distance to be able to book a ticket. What if we are late and we have to book a ticket? Or if we decide to book a platform ticket after we reach the station?

The app drives us round the bend with repeated errors and messages that we are too close to the platform. We have to keep moving all around the place to 'discover' the spot where the app decides to have our way.

The worst part is that if you change your mobile, you just cannot use the app in the new mobile. You have to go to https://www.utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in/ and request the Indian Railway's approval for you to switch the app to the new mobile.

Now, what happens if you have to change the mobile again? No. The Indian Railways thinks it is too much work and informs you that you have to wait for three months to do it. What if you have a season ticket in the app? Forget it. You HAVE to have the other mobile. What if you have lost the mobile? You have to lodge a complaint at a police station, take the FIR copy to the Chief Commercial Manager (Don't know where he sits? Search). What if the mobile is faulty? Go to a service centre, give the mobile for servicing, and give the service centre receipt to the CCM. If the mobile breaks? Give proof of the broken mobile to the CCM and get his approval to change the handset.

Do these sound ridiculous? May be, but these were the answers given by the UTS helpline.

The worst part is the Indian Railways will tell you that you cannot change the app the second time only AFTER you try to change it. The usless UTS website (which is not also mobile friendly), won't tell you anything about it.

The site and the app are handled by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS). And even in Narendra Modi's Digital India, it has not bothered to create itself a Twitter handle. And emails go unanswered.

Tweets to the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and the Indian Railways went unanswered. As a friend said, may be @sureshpprabhu will respond only if we praise him.

There are things we never understand. Nor do the 'makers', in this case it is the Indian Railways.

Tweets about issues with OYORooms

I received a few responses to my post on OyoRooms. I also search Twitter for more info. Here is the compilation of some of them about Manoj Thelakkat's experience of booking an Oyo Rooms.

The Ordeal Called OYO Rooms

(This is NOT my experience of OYO Rooms, but of Manoj Thelakkat. I am just reproducing his post in Facebook)

The Ordeal Called OYO Rooms – You are not apologetic for the inconvenience caused to me !!

I used to quote Ritesh Agarwal of OYO and his vision as an entrepreneur, even in my international trainings. So when I was coaxed to book a room using the mobile app, by a very friendly call centre boy, I was appreciative of their proactive selling skills. But, I was in for a rude awakening !

It started with my planned trip to Mumbai on 20th Jan, 2016. I usually have my list of hotels in Mumbai, but wanted to try out OYO this time. So, on the night of 19th, I was checking for OYO rooms, and I get a call from the call centre. He gives me an additional offer for the room I was looking in Khar, Mumbai. I agree, and he sends me a mail confirming the booking, and another mail with the link to make the payment. I make the payment, and receive the SMS on booking confirmation with details of the hotel ( Hotel Unicontinental, Khar ) and location map. I was travelling through Pune, so I called the hotel on the number given in the sms sent by OYO and confirm my arrival, in the evening.

After braving the Mumbai traffic, I reach the hotel Unicontinental at 2030 pm. I tell the guy in the reception that I have a booking and even before I could give him the details, he says we are sold out. I said, I have a paid booking from OYO. Unapologetically he says, we had not confirmed the booking with OYO, so we cant do anything. Its a first come first serve policy with OYO so we do not have any rooms for you. Both the guys in the reception take turns to say that, it always happens with OYO. I tell them that I called your hotel and confirmed on my arrival, and I have already paid. So you cannot deny me the booking now. He claims I had not called, and I show him my call record. He then says that number is not theirs. I call the same number from the phone, and their phone rings and he picks up the call himself. Now with nothing more to say, he adamantly says, there is no room, you can figure it out with OYO.

Its 2045 pm by now, and I call OYO. After 2 unsuccessful attempts, I reach them at 2049 pm. I tell the guy, my situation. He apologizes for the inconvenience caused to me .He says my booking is confirmed, and there is no hassle. I ask him to speak to the reception and hand the phone over. The receptionist tells him that there is no room and hands the phone back to me. The OYO guy tells me that he will sort the issue, and will escalate to another team. I'm kept on hold, and after a while someone comes on line and asks me how he can help me!! I'm surprised, and ask him, if he knows the case, he confirms in negative. He says, he was transferred the call and being the escalation desk he can check the case. I had to explain the whole story again to him. He also apologized for the inconvenience caused to me. I ask him for the solution, and tells him that I cannot search for another place, I need my stay arranged here itself. He says he will talk to the Cluster Manager of the area and the operations manager of the hotel (?) and will arrange a call back to me in 5 minutes. I was asked to wait for the call. I wait till 2120, no call came to neither me nor to the hotel. I call OYO back at 2120 and at 2122, and get the IVR that all their executives were busy. I get connected at 2123 and another guy picks the phone, and I’m told to narrate the whole story again. He also apologizes for the inconvenience caused to me. He tells me that I will get a call right away.

Realising nothing much is happening, I try my luck again with the hotel . I see another gentleman walking in for check in with an expedia booking, and he is also told that they are sold out. The man starts his argument with one of the receptionist. Seeing this, one of receptionist comes out tells me that there has been a check out and he will give me that room. In my one hour of waiting, I did not see anyone checking out. I would have slept in the sofa in my condition, so I take the offer anyways. They probably felt that two arguing customers are too much of a task.

I am shifted to the room, and am in store for the worst room I have ever seen. Forget the mini fridge mentioned in the booking, it didn’t even have a glass or a bottle of water. It seemed shady; the photos below will give the better picture. 

1) The stained dirty chair in room.
2)Depleted broken walls 
3)Wires dangerously hanging right outside the window
4)Breakfast is just tasteless Poha, and bread slices. Nothing else.

Now I get a call from OYO, and for a second I felt that they have sorted it out. But NO! It was a return call for my call they had missed. I tell him the situation I am in, and said, I have still not received the call that was promised to be made in 5 minutes at 2045 pm, and it was 2200 by now. He also apologizes for the inconvenience caused to me. He promises that his team will sort it out, and I would be shifted to a better room and that someone will give me a call with all details. He goes on to request me to adjust in the room for the night. 
Next day noon, after coming back from work, I meet the receptionists and demand to be moved to a better room. They agree, and tell me that they will arrange a room by the time I have lunch. Post lunch I come back and he says, the room is being cleaned and the shifting will happen soon. I get shifted after an hour. The next day morning I check out. 
On the 23rd noon, I get a call from OYO. NO, not the call promised to me on 20th, but a feedback call. I give him the details too. By now I had found a new respect to my patience levels. He also apologized for the inconvenience caused to me. Tells me he will ensure a call back immediately from his escalation team. I get a call after 2 hours which gets disconnected after a ring. I wait for a while, and call them back. Back to the call centre, and I tell them that I'm returning a missed call, and wants to be connected to escalation team. He keeps me on hold and then tells me that, he spoke to the escalation desk and they will call me in 10 minutes.

As I publish this, I have not received that call back, nor have I received that call promised in 5 minutes on 20th.

My suggestions, 
1) Avoid OYO, it’s not worth the start-up glamour, and the entrepreneurship fairy tale. They suck.
2) Avoid Hotel Unicontinental Khar. They are a disgrace in the name of hospitality.

My issues 
1) Why have you not called me with resolutions promised over multiple calls ?
2) Why did you charge me, if you had no confirmation from hotel ?
3) What kind of checks do you have on empanelling hotels ?
4) Does anyone check the rooms ? If yes, how can you sell such 3rd grade pathetic rooms ?
5) Is it not cheating to claim and show photos of facilities on your app and website, which are not available on the site ?
6) What action would you take on the hotel and what complaint redressal measures can I expect?
7) It is completely your responsibility, as I booked an OYO room, and didn’t even know the hotel name when I was booking.

Posted by @dinakaran

Flat for sale near Express Avenue, Chennai

NEAR EXPRESS AVENUE / MOUNT ROAD / TRIPLICANE / ROYAPETTAH

* Area: Border Thottam
* 867 Sq ft 2 BHK first floor flat for Sale; UDS 583 sq ft
* Partially furnished;
* Inverter point
* 2 bathrooms (1 attached) and 2 balconies
* 10 minute walk from Royapettah Hospital
* 15 minute walk from Govt Multi-Specialty Hospital and new Govt Medical College
* 10 minute walk from Express Avenue (towards Triplicane).
* 15 minute walk from Triplicane
* 2 km from Marina Beach
* 7 years old
* Covered car park
* Rs 72 lakhs, negotiable

If interested, comment below or email me at dinakaranchary@gmail.com

Facebook 'Like' farming. Have you fallen for it?

This is another version of an online post by me in The Hindu Business Line

Are you on Facebook? Okay. How many times have you come across a post that entices you to “type 1 and see what happens” or “click Like and see what happens”.

Or it may just ask you to comment and "see what happens"

If you have fallen for it and clicked, well, nothing would have happened. Now you would have clicked a couple of times more just because nothing happened - “May be I didn’t click properly?”

Nothing happens because nothing is supposed to happen. What you (and thousands like you) have done by clicking on the ‘Like’ button or typing ‘1’ in the comment box -- is to help the post go viral. It would have also got into your Facebook wall, irritating your friends.

There are also posts that play with sentiments. They usually come with a picture of a cute kid who “is suffering from cancer” and with a fervent request to ‘Like’ it or ‘Share’ it if you want to help fight cancer.

Most of the time, the pictures are fake - like the “my sister Mallory” post that had a picture of a child who had Down’s Syndrome. The parents of the kid - whose real name was ‘Katie’, were shocked when they realised their child’s photo was going viral on the Internet with a fake name. The only truth was that Katie had Down’s Syndrome, but her parents had not posted her picture online or sought help.

But why do people do this? Facebook’s algorithm for popular posts measures ‘Likes’ and comments. The more Likes or comments a post gets, Facebook thinks the post is getting popular and pushes it more.

There is no real monetary benefit as of now if a page or post gets Likes, but being up there with a few lakhs of Likes, however useless it may be, gives the person who has posted it, a high.

So, the next time you come across a picture of a scantily clad woman that urges you to “click and see what happens”, just ignore it. Or if you still believe in such miracles, you can try sharing this piece on your Facebook wall. If you don’t, your Facebook will get infected by a virus and crash.

How to get rid of Twitter notification error

If you have allowed notificaitons in Twitter for Android settings, but if you are not getting them, or if you are not able to save your settings after you select the notifications you want, there is a way out.

Sometimes, even reinstalling the app doesn't help.

The solution is simple.

Go to the Twitter website (not mobile app). 

Click on your profile picture

Go to settings

Select apps - you will find the list of apps that can access your Twitter account. Don't be shocked if you find hundreds of apps. These are the apps you have, at some point of time, allowed acces to your Twitter account.

Click the button that says REVOKE next to Twitter for Android.

Now, if you open Twitter in your Android mobile, it would have logged off. There is nothing to worry.

Now sign in again in the app.

Go to settings in the app and select notifications, and check whatever you want.

That's it :)

But why does the error happen in the first place? If you have (or had) multiple Android devices and have the Twitter app installed in them, may be Twitter gets confused. There is no other explanation.

Was this helpful? You can contact me at on Twitter: @dinakaran 

Mi4i review: More than what meets the ‘i’

Xiaomi follows up on the Mi4 with a handset that is more value and better build

When Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s Vice-President International launched the Mi4i, he described it as the ‘Mi for India’. The global launch of the device was in India, but we’re not exactly sure what he meant by ‘for India’. May be he was just playing with the model name ‘Mi4i’, which is the successor to the Mi4 launched a few months ago.

Though Mi4i is a successor to the Mi4, it has lesser RAM (2GB against 3GB in Mi4) and a lower megapixel front camera. But Hugo went on to emphasise the high quality components that go into the Mi4i. Even the processor is the second gen version of Snapdragon 615. Though Xiaomi disappointed its fans with the predecessor, it has come back with aplomb with the Mi4i - at a price that’s perfect to take on the competition.

Read the full review at http://goo.gl/sABwEV

Beware of Matrix

If you are travelling abroad and considering taking a Matrix Global SIM, avoid it.
I almost had a bad experience last time, but Matrix managed to solve it, as it was a billing related issue. I also gave a good review in sites like MouthShut.
This time, I took a card for Thailand, as I would be spending several hours there while in transit.
When I landed in Swarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, I switched on the mobile with the Matrix to inform my family that I had arrived safely. But all I got was a recorded message from the Thai mobile company saying my SIM card was not valid. The message asked me to contact ‘customer care’ but no number was given.
As I had taken the Matrix card, I had not bothered to activate roaming in any of my mobiles. I tried to use the airport WiFi, but the connectivity was extremely poor.
I spent the entire transit time of around four hours unable to contact my family.
It was the same during the return transit. What was worse, there was no way to contact Matrix as the SIM itself was not valid.
My family was also trying desperately to contact me. They had no way of knowing whether I had landed safely.
The shocker came when I returned to India and complained to Matrix. “We could have done something had you complained from Thailand. Sorry, we can’t waive your rental.”
I immediately went on Twitter tagging Matrix. Soon, I got a call and an email asking me to wait till the generation of bill. I replied to them that apart from the bill waiver, I was also expecting some compensation from Matrix for the mental trauma of losing all contact with my family.
When there was no response even after the generation of the bill, I sent Matrix an email. I got a reply that they would “look into it”.
But there was one more shocker the next day. Matrix had debited my credit card for the bill amount. I shot off another email to Matrix. I was assured that the rental would be waived. I again reminded about the compensation part. Matrix refused.
I once again went on Twitter and Facebook against Matrix. I filed a complaint with core.nic.in and alerted Akosha.
Soon, there was a call from Matrix asking me what compensation I expected. I said I was expecting a reasonable sum of Rs 5,000, considering the mental trauma faced by me and my family. After some time, I got an email offering me Rs 2,500 worth Matrix voucher.
Here was a customer getting fed up of Matrix, and Matrix was offering me a Matrix voucher. That too for half of what I had sought.
I replied to them rejecting the offer. Matrix replied back saying “As suggested, we have issued a compensation of Rs.2500 worth free talk time here, valid till 30th April, 2014, which is actually the best possible resolution we can offer. We do not issue cash rewards or cash discounts as a compensation and I am sure with you being well versed with Industry standards and norms, would be aware that product compensation is not rewarded in cash in such industry practices.”
I replied back: “I have not accepted the Rs 2,500 Matrix voucher for two reasons:
1. I am not a frequent traveller, and even if I travel on reporting assignments, I don't think I am going to spend that much. You must also understand that I will go for Matrix only if I am satisfied with the response to my complaint.
2. Rs 5,000 is not big for a corporate like Matrix. I am not dealing with an individual who can't pay. If it had been the case, I would have readily reduced the amount. I might have not even asked for Rs 2,500.
The amount is not much, as I had already said, considering that my family made numerous ISD calls trying to track me, and you would know how much ISD calls cost. So, the amount I have sought is not unreasonable.
I am not asking for rewards and discounts as you have mentioned. I am asking for compensation. If you don't have a policy of compensating by cash, you can offer it by talktime in other networks (which is your area of operation), or gift vouchers. 
And by offering a Matrix voucher, you are forcing a dissatisfied customer to go for a Matrix product again, which is not fair.”
That was the end of the conversation.
Matrix has come out as a totally insensitive company. I am waiting for the response to my complaint to core.nic.in and Akosha. The next step is to go to a consumer forum.

So, what do you do if you are travelling abroad? The best way is to buy a local SIM in that country. Most countries have SIMs for travellers with some ISD minutes free. At least, you can call their customer care and get your problem solved. But with Matrix, you are screwed.

Here are some alternatives to Matrix:

worldsim.com

http://www.uniconnect.in/

http://www.rcom.co.in/Rcom/personal/globalcalling/travelerphone_SIM.html

http://www.ximcard.in/

http://tsim.in/

https://www.clay.co.in/

http://www.kitphone.in/

http://gosaffron.com/global_sim_cards.php

Blog post on Transformation of BSNL

 

For over a decade, I kept away from PSUs as much as I could. I had had bad experiences with both BSNL and a PSU bank, and I swore I would never ever have anything to do with PSU telecom companies and banks.

But I kept hearing about how the two PSU behemoths were changing...and adapting to the times.

My experience at Valparai, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, forced me to get a BSNL SIM card. I had to be without even basic mobile connectivity for two full days at Valparai, as only BSNL had services there.

Read more at the Business Line Blogs

A layman’s review of Maryan

Heroines in Indian movies have usually nothing to do except run around trees or provide the glamour element. When was it the last time when you saw a heroine provide a memorable performance? Parvathy Menon is a surprise package in Maryan. Bharat Bala has tried to extract the most from her and she has not disappointed him. Parvathy performs like a seasoned actress, providing a scintillating performance, leaving everyone else, except of course Dhanush, far behind.

Once you see Maryan, it is difficult to believe Dhanush debuted in what was almost a semi-porn film. Again, the credit goes to Bharat Bala. Dhanush manages to up his performance level in every film. We can rest assured that we have a brilliant actor to replace Kamal Hassan. It was not surprising that there were people in the audience who felt Dhanush could be the next Kamal Hassan after his performance in Maryan.

I had a feeling that A.R. Rahman, was losing his touch and was increasingly churning out garbage. Were the producers and directors responsible for the decline of the genius? Maryan proves it – the other way round. ARR is in full flow in the movie. ‘Innum Koncham Neram’ and ‘Nenje Ezhu’ are sure to be chartbusters.

The breathtaking cinematography by Marc Koninckx takes the film to a higher level. This is one reason why you must watch the movie in big screen.

If this is a movie review, why is there nothing much about the movie itself? It is just because Bharat Bala seems to lose his way after the interval. Dhanush’s ‘escape’ from the kidnappers is so long drawn that you desperately feel like having a fast-forward button. It doesn’t mean the movie is brilliant before the interval. You don’t know whether the guy who murmurs something to Maryan and longs for Panimalar (Parvathy) is really ‘The Villain’. He unceremoniously disappears after a blow from Panimalar’s at the end of an aborted rape attempt.

There is also the pointless death of Dhanush’s friend Appu that doesn’t help the narrative in any way. Bharat Bala also appears clueless about Dhanush’s mother, who is dead against the love affair. The director shocks everyone, including Parvathy, by a sudden inexplicable change of heart.

The director compensates Dhanush’s listless escape with the emotional reunion scene. There is nothing of the dramatic mad rush towards each other. Parvathy gradually realises Dhanush’s presence near her. There are hardly any words exchanged. This is the Bharat Bala Maryan misses through the most part of the movie.

When ‘personal’ becomes public

CCTV and Delhi Metro are trending on Twitter as I write this. There was shock and surprise that the videos had managed to find their way to porn sites. I wasn’t. There is a dispute whether the clips are from CCTVs or mobiles. Whatever may be the source, the clips are available online.

I wasn’t surprised because it is not difficult to find Indian porn clips on the net. It is not confirmed who uploaded the Delhi Metro clips. May be it was the security guys or Delhi Metro employees, but what it shows is how lax we are with our data, especially…(Read more)

Atul Chitnis: Losing a friend, virtually

 

The week began with a bad news. I lost one of my friends - Atul Chitnis - to cancer. He is my friend, but I have never talked to him; or even met him. But I have ‘conversed’ with him.

My ‘conversations’ were in Twitter. He was an Apple fanboy. Once we had a small conversation about how he was almost abused by other Android fanboys. I felt guilty, because I am an Android guy, but I was helpless. I apologised on behalf of those who abused him, but he did not respond to my tweet. Click here to read more in my blog post in The Hindu Business Line

Atul Chitnis: Losing a friend, virtually

 

The week began with a bad news. I lost one of my friends - Atul Chitnis - to cancer. He is my friend, but I have never talked to him; or even met him. But I have ‘conversed’ with him.

My ‘conversations’ were in Twitter. He was an Apple fanboy. Once we had a small conversation about how he was almost abused by other Android fanboys. I felt guilty, because I am an Android guy, but I was helpless. I apologised on behalf of those who abused him, but he did not respond to my tweet. Click here to read more in my blog post in The Hindu Business Line

Meet capella star Alaa Wardi

(This was published in The Hindu Business Line Blogs on Monday, April 22, 2013)

Alaa Wardi.

The singer from Iran, who resides in Saudi Arabia is a rage now, thanks to YouTube. He is a rage now in India too, because of the two Hindi (Bollywood) songs -- Pehla Nasha from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Jiya Re from Jab Tak Hai Jaan .

He was ecstatic when A.R. Rahman shared his video on Facebook and Twitter. "Woohoo!! A.R. Rahman shared my video on both his Facebook and Twitter :D," he tweeted. What's so special about him that made Rahman tweet the video?

What makes Alaa Wardi different? It is this: He does not use instruments much. He uses his mouth and body to generate sounds of instruments. In Pehla Nashaa, which is a classic example, Alaa Wardi uses ONLY his mouth and body to generate all the sounds. The effort he must have put in to record the song must be painstaking. Obviously, he has recorded the voice, other vocals, drums, strings, a pop sound he calls 'fish' (there are multiple fish) and more - separately and put them together. The effort is truely mind-boggling. As on Saturday, the video had generated 8,83,662 views and the Jab Tak Hai Jaan video has generated 4,17,761 views. Alaa Wardi's YouTube page can be accessed here.

In 'Risala Ela...' there are some 11 Wardis in a single frame.

Alaa Wardi became a YouTube star by chance. In an interview, he said he posted a video for his friends to see, but people started sharing it. So was born the idea of creating videos and uploading it to Youtube.

Alaa Wardi started with the A Capella version (A Capella is vocal music without instruments) of Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram's Fi Hagat in 2011, which became a rage in West Asia. The rest is history.

TouchDown - Exchange Server sync for Android, iOS

Do you want to connect to your office’s Exchange Server through your phone or tablet? Then TouchDown is for you.

The app can sync your office calendar, contacts and email in real time.

The app is available for Android (phones and tablets), iOS, Kindle Fire and Nook. And one for Windows is in the offing.

This is the description of TouchDown from their site:

TouchDown provides comprehensive support for all Exchange, Information Rights Management (IRM) and Data Loss Protection policies. The solution uses AES-256 encryption, which adds an extra layer of security, and offers more than 80% of Outlook functionality. A robust stand-alone solution, TouchDown also provides seamless integration to a wide array of leading Mobile Device Management solutions.

Here are just a few benefits of TouchDown:

Comprehensive support for BYOD programs
AES-256 Encryption for an added layer of security
Full support of Exchange ActiveSync Policies
Seamless integration with leading MDM solutions
Information Rights Management and DLP policy support
Email features users need and want
User friendly interface speeds adoption rates
Cost-effective, streamlined architecture provides almost immediate ROI

TouchDown lets you access your corporate Email, Contacts and Calendar right from your Android-powered phone. Works with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 and with most online Exchange hosting providers. With TouchDown, your office email, calendar and contacts are available right at your fingertips. You can choose how long to retain your email on your phone.

You can choose to download ALL your exchange contacts to TouchDown any time you want, but get all changes automatically every time you check your email. You get quick access to your day's agenda, optimized for viewing on your phone. You can choose to dismiss past events to simplify the view. You dont just get a read-only view of your information, you can also - Compose and send Email Reply to, Reply All and Forward your email Delete Email messages Add, Delete or Edit existing contacts when you are on the move.

The changes to your contacts will be automatically updated to your Exchange account. TouchDown uses the same level of security as your other email access tools , so there is no need to worry about your confidential information being compromised. You dont have to forward your email to another service just to get them on your Android powered phone. TouchDown does not require you to run a separate program on your computer to forward your data to the phone. Simply install the product, configure it on the phone and get going in a couple of minutes.

For Android, it is available both at the Google Play Store and Amazon App Market. For Android, it is also available in a HD version for tablets.

TouchDown costs $20 (over Rs 1,000), but has a 30-day trial version. Be sure to try out the trial version before opening your wallet – because TouchDown offers NO REFUNDS.

 

Technorati Tags: Touchdown,Exchange Sync,Android,iOS,Kindle Fire,Nook,Windows,email,contacts,calendar,Android sync,Android Exchange Server Sync,Exchange Server Android sync,Google,Google Play,Amazon App Store,Apple Appstore

After Vishwaroopam, Maniratnam’s Kadal faces the heat

by R. Dinakaran

Emboldened by the Tamil Nadu Government’s caving in before Islamic fundamentalists, Christian fundamental organisations have now called for a ban on Maniratnam’s Kadal.

According to reports, several Christian organisations, including the Indian Christian Democratic Party (Christhuva Jananayaga Katchi), have said the film had objectionable scenes referring to Christianity and depicted Christians in bad light. They have reportedly met the Chennai City Police Commissioner.

They have warned that the protests would be intensified if “necessary action” (translated into deleting scenes) is not taken.

It remains to be seen if the Jayalalithaa Government uses the same “not enough police” argument to ban Kadal.

But Maniratnam is likely to be happy about the controversy. The movie has been ripped apart by critics and is doing badly. A round of controversy can only do good for the film.

Update: According to The Hindu, Mr Christumurthy, the founder of the party, the references to Jesus Christ implied that Satan had won.

He also said references to the blood of Jesus Christ were unacceptable and wanted the scene in which Christ’s photo is thrown down and smashed to be deleted.

According to The New Indian Express, the group met Police Commissioner S. George and pointed out six scenes that were “offensive to Christians”.

The group said if these scenes were not removed and the film allowed to continue in theatres, they would call on Christians across the State and create a mas stir — which could threaten the law and order situation.

Prominent Church and Christian leaders, however have remained silent and have not supported this claim.

Christudoss has asked that cases be registered against Maniratnam and the Censor Board.

Twitter: @dinakaran

Carbon for Android out, at last

by R. Dinakaran

After a huge delay after the announcement, Carbon, a Twitter client for Android, has finally been launched.

The description in the Google Play page for the app says:

Carbon experience for Android Smartphones. No Tablet support yet.

Simple, Dark, and a dash of elegance for your Twitter day-to-day pleasure.

Carbon is a Twitter client, but unlike other Twitter clients. All of your Twitter content on one screen. A screen that doesn’t get you drilling down to many other screens to reach to what you want. Timelines, Lists, Favourites, Searches, Trends, Profiles, all there.

- Tilt Timeline to Refresh
- Power Scroll: Scroll/Swipe up or down using Two fingers to jump to top or bottom of Timelines
- Tap+Hold on Tweets to make everything clickable right on the Timeline
- QuickTimeline, home screen quick Timeline for Lists, Searches, Trends, etc…
- Rich Timelines with full inline images and videos
- Rich and HD style for User Profiles
- Rich and fun Conversation View
- Threaded Direct Messages
- Background updates with quick actions for Jelly Bean, per account
- Username Autocomplete
- Filters for Hashtags, Users, and Keywords

Between the time Carbon was announced and it was finally launched, another Twitter client, Falcon, has taken Android users by storm. It remains to be seen whether Carbon will be able to outdo or at least match Falcon.

Twitter: @dinakaran

Did Tamil Nadu’s Advocate General go overboard to please Amma?

by R. Dinakaran

 

Mr Soli Sorabjee in The New Indian Express ‘There are limits to an advocate’s licence too’, says:

“(Another) disquieting feature is the Advocate General Navaneetha Krishnan’s statement in the course of his oral arguments before the court that the “certification process is a scam”. Advocate Sankarasubbu appearing for the groups supporting the ban stated that “the board members are purchasable commodities”. These statements, unless they are based on cogent material placed before the court, are grossly defamatory and reprehensible.

Navaneethakrishnan

"There are limits to an advocate’s licence pleading his case before the court even though the advocate may be the advocate general of the state, in which case there is a greater obligation to refrain from making unsubstantiated allegations against a statutory body headed by a distinguished chairperson. Mr Advocate General, please remember, noblesse oblige.”

Twitter: @dinakaran

Teaching trigonometry in a funny way in US by an Indian teacher