Archive for category Gadgets
Windows Phone 7 Series
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets, Smartphone on February 21, 2010
Looks like Microsoft made a clean start with Windows Phone 7 Series except for the name. Love how they have integrated integrated Windows Live and Facebook. Check out the video above. I hope the ISV and Carriers don’t mess it up with their customization.
Thoughts on iPad
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets, Tablet PC, iPhone on January 28, 2010
There was too much hype. Lot of Apple patents was associated with it. It was to be the greatest thing to come from Steve Jobs’ mind. Finally when it is unveiled, it is just a big iPod Touch. Here are the disappointing things:
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No camera. Would have been cool if the iPad supported video chat with a front facing camera. I would not use it to take photos so a rear camera is not a deal breaker.
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Third party apps can not run in background. Well no Pandora running in the background while browsing.
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No tethering to iPhone. I would have the iPhone where ever I take the iPad. It should just use the iPhone for data not another data plan.
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No USB. To connect a camera I need a $30 accessory!
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No Flash. This is the deal breaker! No flash means no Hulu. Or hundreds other flash based video sites that are useless on the device which is supposed to be primarily for browsing and media consumption.
Hmmm… When does that HP Slate come out?
Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets, India, Tablet PC, Touch on November 27, 2009
One of the best demos I have seen. This guys in amazing!
BumpTop 3D MultiTouch
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets on October 2, 2009
BumpTop 3D MultiTouch gestures are great. Now I need a multitouch laptop…
E71 to iPhone
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in E71, Gadgets, Smartphone, Touch, iPhone on September 7, 2009
After holding out for so long I finally succumbed to the pressure and converted from Nokia E71 to an iPhone. My wife, Tina, got me an iPhone for my birthday! Thanks Tina. She had also got me my E71 last year. 
It is early days. I am still missing a few things from the E71 like timed profiles…
gdgt Opens
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets on July 1, 2009
Well, for starters it’s the gadget site we’ve always wanted. We both love devices and spend an insane amount of time playing with them, writing about them, talking about them, and thinking about them. We’ve waited for years for somebody to make a gadget site we could go hang out at all day — when no one did it, we just decided to do it ourselves and make sure that it went beyond everything else out there.
The site looks cool but still a little rough around the edges. Still some incomplete features… Check it out at gdgt.com.
HTC Hero
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets, Google, Smartphone, Touch on June 24, 2009
Check out the video demo of the new HTC’s new GUI built on top of Android. I always liked the HTC GUIs on Windows Mobile phones. I thought they would port this to Android. But they have totally created a new GUI called HTC Sense.
The GUI is great but the best part is that the phone supports multi-touch with two finger pinch and all. Cool!
Plus it has got Pre like Facebook and Twitter integration. It has got iPhone 3GS like smudge proof coating. The only odd thing is the “chin”.
It has a 3.2 inch 320×480 HVGA screen and measures 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches. It is powered by a 528 MHz processor with 288MB of RAM. It has a a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, a digital compass, a 3G talk time of 7 hours, support for 7.2 Mbps HSPA and a microSD card slot.
Looks like it combines the best features of iPhone and Pre and then some! Coming to North America later this year. Price unknown.
Radio waves to charge phones
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in Gadgets, Smartphone on June 16, 2009
Nokia’s research could put an end to charging phones every night. They are trying to harness ambient radio waves, which we are all surrounded by, to charge phones. Very interesting if they can make it happen.
In order to do that they need to generate around 50 milliwatts of power through the system. The current experiments being carried out at the Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, England are managing 5 milliwatts. To maintain standby they need 20 milliwatts so that is the next goal, but 50 milliwatts is the true level they are aiming for. [geek.com]
Java Orkut App for E71
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in E61, E71, Gadgets, Smartphone on June 16, 2009
Free QuickOffice update for E71
Posted by Vasanth Dharmaraj in E71, Gadgets, Smartphone on June 16, 2009
Quickoffice® Offers Free Updates for Select Nokia® Eseries Devices
Latest version of Quickoffice, office viewing and editing software suite, now available for download via on-device, e-commerce portal Quickmanager™
Dallas, TX – June 15, 2009 – Quickoffice, Inc., the leading global provider of mobile office productivity software, today announced it will be offering free upgrades to the latest version of Quickoffice for users on certain Nokia Eseries phones. Currently this program includes the Nokia E51, E52, E55, E63, E71, E72, E75 and E90 devices.
Starting today, users of the above devices can download Quickoffice 6 as a free upgrade via Quickmanager®, Quickoffice’s secure on-device, e-commerce portal. Quickoffice 6 includes more advanced document viewing and editing functionality of Microsoft Office 2007 documents, ZIP file support, password-protected file handling, Excel 2007 chart viewing and multiple usability enhancements. Subsequent software updates released by Quickoffice for these select devices will also be available on a continual basis, including PowerPoint 2007 format support. Quickoffice 6 will initially only be available in English and a fully localized update will follow in the near future.
Nice! Office 2007 Support… Though I have never used QuickOffice. Should try it out.