Stay connected with EasyCabs in Delhi and NCR through free wi-fi service during your ride home or to office

Well, travelling in the EasyCabs has become that much more fun in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).  The company in collaboration with Airtel and Huwai, will be providing free internet access through wi-fi for the period you travel home or to your office. 

The Wi-fi data card E355 device made by Huwai is placed in Easy Cab's cigarette lighter slot which is powered using an adapter. The 3G services can be accessible from a laptop, iPad, or phone using a password which will be provided by the driver of the EasyCabs. 

And thanks to the advertising space Airtel and Huwai get on the outer side of the EasyCabs, this service will be provided free to the clients.  So next time you take a ride in EasyCabs be sure to ask the driver for the password and start surfing as much as you want through all the traffic and mess and you will find that your ride is not so bumpy after all.

EasyCabs also has an service in Mumbai and in all probability the service shall soon be started in Mumbai also. 

Stay connected for 24 hours with free incoming for Rs.5.00 pre-paid roaming plans from Vodafone

While mobile service operators like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea are busy slashing 2G rates for internet connectivity across India, the Vodafone has announced a Special Tariff Voucher (STV) of Rs.5.00 for its pre-paid customers.  

This STV once activated will give you 24 hours of free incoming calls throughout India.  Mind you only receiving calls are free, if you make a call you will be charged at 1.5 paisa per second.  To activate this plan, you have to dial *444*500# and follow the instructions.

This is especially useful for pre-paid Vodafone subscribers who plan to visit some remote place for a few days.  If you are planning on a bigger stay or extending your stay, you should try out the Vodafone's Rs.71.00 STV which will give you unlimited incoming calls while roaming for entire month.  This plan is available for  Post-paid Vodafone users too but the charges are Rs.75.00.  Post Paid users can call the Vodafone customer care to activate this service.

With the 2G rates going down, the 4G coming to Mumbai and Delhi and the roaming rates going down we are going to witness connectivety 2.0 in India

Book your train tickets, check your PNR status and trains availability with Cleartrip Android App, download now

Indian Railways is used by over 25 million Indians every year and is the best possible method of conveyance because of its sheer size and reach.   I had already given a timetable App for all phones here for Mumbaikars which is very popular even now.  

The Indian Railways introduced a SMS based ticketing service last month wherein you have can avail the services even through most basic phones on 139 or 5676714.  Once you have received the tickets on your SMS you can use it along with your original photo id to embark the train.  

But getting the tickets itself is a big problem where every ticket gets sold out in 7 seconds or so.  I have given out a tutorial for easing the process of booking tickets from the IRCTC website here.  

Today or rather yesterday Cleartrip has updated its Android App to include the ticket booking of Railways in the App through IRCTC.  With the latest App, you can search for trains and book tickets on the go, anywhere anytime.  It also give PNR status of your tickets if they have been wait listed.  

The Cleartrip App can be used as you would use the IRCTC's website.  It can be used to  find trains between stations, availability of seats, train fares, PNR Status all in one.  

This is a must have App for every Indian, because every now an then we have to travel by the Indian Railways.  You can download the App here from Google Play.

Cleartrip also offers air tickets through the same App.  They have not updated the iOS App yet to add the Railways feature, if they do I will keep you updated.

How to embed Instagram Photos and Videos into your web page, a easy guide

With millions of photos and videos being uploaded on Instagram every day, many people feel the need to embed the photo or a video from their Instagram stream to their website.  Well this tutorial helps you with that.  

Please thank the makers of this free tool, Digital Inspiration who have provided with a website for conversion of the code to html5.  

Okay, on with the tutorial, its rather simple.  Go to the Instagram photo or video page of the photo or video you want to embed in your web page.  Copy the entire url from the address bar.  It should look like instagram.com/p/xxxxxx.  Now head over to the free conversion tool page by Digital Inspiration here.  Paste the url in the blank window and press generate.  You are done.

Now you can head over to your blog code editor or blogger draft and paste the code in html.  The photo/video size given is 612 x 612 and the code is in HTML5 so it should be seen or played on any browser. 

Android based Ouya gets updated again, fixes many bugs

Ouya the bestseller Android based gaming console has gone for update again bumping up the version number to  1.0.346.  Remeber the Ouya was launched only weeks earlier and there are many bugs which are yet to be reported to the makers.  

The new update fixes many bugs and gives a whole new game details page.  The changelog for version 1.0.346 is as under :

1. Game Details page has been re-designed:

2. Images and buttons now easier to navigate

3. Selecting (Pressing the (O) button on) an image will show it full screen

4. Description text no longer flows off screen.

5. “More Info” button allows user to read full description text

6. Longer titles now accommodated better

7. Queued downloads now display as “In Queue…”

8. Ratings system has been updated to use a more intuitive system of age ranges

9. Founders Icon for games now appears on the Game Details page. 

10. Game downloads can now be cancelled!

11. Downloads have been limited to 1 to increase performance while navigating during a download

12. Downloads are paused when a game is running to maintain best performance while playing. They resume automatically when exiting the game

13. Downloads now start in the order they were queued

14. Downloads give a clear indication when there is not enough space left to accommodate them

15. Added the ability to set a PIN code for purchases. Parents rejoice! This can be found in under MANAGE -> ACCOUNT -> PARENTAL CONTROLS

16. Added support for redeeming pre-paid cards. They can be redeemed when creating a new user, or from the MANAGE -> ACCOUNT -> PAYMENTS screen

17. Re-flowed in-game purchases to accommodate pre-paid cards. 18. Allows the user to fix purchase errors without leaving the game.

19. Logging out now allows users to log in or create a new user

20. PLAY category now sorts by most recently played or downloaded

21. Changed background image. Style points +1

22. Changed layout of Network screen to match the new user experience.

23. Changed the look of more dialogs to have the OUYA theme

24. Fixed bug that could cause the account screen to appear to not respond to user input

25. Fixed a bug that could occur when getting a system update while out of space

26. New repository with 3rd party game engine

27. Fixed changing passwords through Gamers Portal blocking users 

28. Fixed purchases not working when changing to a Dev account 

29. Fixed simultaneous button presses not registering in some MP games.

A long list from the makers but is a necessity considering it is a newly launched hardware.  

MEGA storage comes to your Android devices with MEGA, save upto 50GB of encrypted data online

Remember Kim.com's Mega, the big big online storage or cloud storage provider.  Well MEGA has acquired a third party App for Android and made it a default App for MEGA.  With this you can save upto 50GB of encrypted data on clouds.  

What actually happens with this App is that you get to control your data saved on MEGA servers from within this App.  The App lets you download, sync, and do every bit thing you do on the PC. Here is the current feature list:

Browse your MEGA storage account

Fast upload and download files from your Android device

Camera Sync, upload your photos and videos to MEGA automatically

Search for files within your MEGA account

Create public link to files in your MEGA account

Download

Delete files

Rename files

Move files

Create folders

Interested, well head over to Google Play and download it.   A word of caution, MEGA has had run ins with the authorities in the past and the site may go down any time in future.  But 50GB space till that comes about is pretty fingerlicking good!

Buy a new SIM for your phone now, Government to make fingerprinting a mandatory requirement soon

If the Home Ministry and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have it their ways, you will soon need to go to your service providers premises and get your finger prints scanned to receive a new SIM for your mobile.  The issue of verification has again reared its head with the address verification system failing to keep the check on dud SIMs.

If you remember, last November, the Government had made it mandatory for verification of the address of new applicants for SIM.  The move has failed to stop the flow of fake SIMs being used by unscrupulous elements and in a bid to prevent further endemic rise in fake SIM, the Home Ministry has instructed DoT to evolve a fool proof finger printing process for new SIM applicants.  It has advised DoT to maintain a central database comprising biometric features of all subscribers and link t with the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) for further surveillance if necessary.

The issue came to head when a retailer was arrested for issuing 400 SIMs using fake and forged documents.  The retailer in nexus with the service provider by passed the regulatory requirement of address verification.  The order in November proposed a penalty of Rs.50000.00 per subscriber in case of issue of pre-activated SIMs without address verification.

However the Home Ministry feels that the penalty has failed to deter potential forgers and criminals from using the pre-activated SIM for their malicious intent.

What is in it for us, well the red tape get tighter with the finger prints.  If you apply for a new SIM after the notification is issued, you may have to wait till the DoT gives a go ahead to your service provider.

One of the best newspapers in US, the USA Today comes to your screen through an Android App

This is one website I always keep the track of to know the news and happening is United States and now it has launched a Android App. The best known reporter cover for it and it brings the news as it happens with nice perspective.  

I had followed the entire Boston Marathon Bombing and subsequent coverage of the bombing arrests on USA Today's website.  

The App launched by the newspaper is for Android devices and gives the news from the US  24/7 on your smart phone or tablet.

The news included the following 

Headlines - Browse the latest headlines in our News, Sports, Life, Money, Tech, Travel and Opinion sections. Stories are updated 24/7 and can be shared via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook or any sharing app you download on your device.

Scores - Check out the latest sports scores for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, college football and college basketball.

Weather - Get current conditions, forecasts, and radar maps, and save them for up to ten locations.

Photos - Enjoy beautiful photo galleries, including the Day in Pictures, Day in Sports, and Day in Celebrities—you can flip through the day's best photos or play them back as a slideshow and share your favorites with friends. We’ve also added the Editorial Cartoon gallery to the Opinion section.

Snapshots - Check out our signature Snapshots in News, Money, Sports, and Life, and vote to see Quick Question results in each one.

Offline Reading — Save and read USA TODAY content offline, even when you don't have a connection.

Breaking News – Sign up for Breaking News alerts, and never miss another emerging story that sparks the nation’s conversation.

Download the App now from Google Play and start surfing for news.

QWOP the sprint games available for download for Android devices for $0.99 (Rs.56.00)

QWOP the original flash based sprint game has fallen to the lure of Android.  Noodlecake today launched the Android version of the game on Google Play for Rs.56.00    The game is a very good entertainment combined with skills and is a must have if you are into gaming especially on mobiles.

You play Qwop in the game and have to finish a race.  There are two touch pads given on the Android version as seen in the image above.  Your objective is to control Qwop's movements with these two controls and at the same time use the thumb in a clock work motion to keep Qwop running forward.  Beware if Qwop falls down you your finished.  

Those who have used the flash based version of the game will remember that the controls on PC were through the keys Q and W for Qwop's right leg and O and P for left.  The participation is very very entertaining as you will fall for umpteenth time till you get the hang of controlling Qwop.  In the meantime you may forget that Qwop has a race to finish.  

The Android version has five game modes

1.  100 meters sprint

2. Hurdles

3. Long Jump

4. 50 Km walk

Noodle has integrated the game with Google's Play Game service which makes it even more fascinating because you have a global leaderboard.

After the Temple Run and Angry Birds kinds of games this is welcome change because it is funny, requires skills with touch pad and addictive as well.

Remember it cost $0.99 (Rs.56.00)  and is worth every penny.  Download the game from Google Play now.

Happy Independence Day to my US visitors!!! Long Live Independence of humanity

Tomorrow is the fourth of July, the Independence Day of United States of America so first of all my wishes to all my US vistors.  I have posted the Star Spangled Banner below as a mark of respect for the great leaders who made United States of America what it is today.  

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Though I can't relate to United States history very much as I do to United Kingdom (after all they colonized us for more then 100 years!) but I can relate very well to the aspirations of American people.   I was brought up on a steady diet of  books like Uncle Tom's Cabin, Huckleburry Finn and the story of the Mayflower which gave a vision of a independent state where you can chase your dreams and then live peacefully to cherish them.

Every individual from the north pole to the south pole dreams of a very happy and blissful life for himself and his family but not many get to fulfil the dreams.  The Americas was described as the 'New World' by Columbus and his countrymen and rightly so!  Because it is there, where millions of people aspire to go if they want to live a life they cherish.  Years ago or rather generations ago, the US Civil War taught the world the true meaning of slavery and black and white and yet as of today we find the world mired in the cesspool of ethnic classification and cleansing as the latest issue of Time magazine shows us.     As the world civilisational order gets older and older we are becoming more and more intolerant as more and more nations fight it out to find/alter/add their own individuality among the league of nations.  The more you read into it, the more you feel that the United Nations has become a redundant body with no real powers and a new world order is the necessity of the day.  

Though the 4th of July celebrations may be slightly muted on account of the Boston Marathon Bombings, but I wish that all countries unite like the United States of America in the common aim of bringing safe and secure place to its citizens so that they can laugh, play and breathe the same air without fearing about anything.  No distinctions should be there between caste, creed, gender or sexual orientation.  People should be able to pursue the dream of their life with rightful earnest and live happily ever after to cherish for what they have worked so hard.  Can we change? Yes We Can!

Happy Independence Day

Morsi's War : Mohamed Morsi going down and taking Egypt with him?

Egypt has erupted again and brutally.  As I am typing this article, Morsi has been barred from leaving the country.  As the world prepares itself for the Independence Day of United States of America, we see one of the oldest civilisations slowing going down the pit.  

Egypt as we all know is one of the ancient civilisations.  Over the years from  1952 it was ruled with a iron hand first by Gamel  Abdel Nasser.  It was known as Nasser's Egypt during the time he ruled but it prospered under the iron grip of its Army and Nasser.   After Nasser, Anwar Sadat came to power and shifted his allegiance from US to the USSR of cold war era.  He had opted for USSR due to the continuous aid and  back channel help US gave to Israel in the United Nations General Assembly.   

He rule extended for over a decade and through out his rule he spend maximum time fighting with Israel.  In 1977, Israel and Egypt ended their differences and signed a peace pact.  But Anwar's days were numbered.  In 1981 he was assassinated by a military soldier.  

After Sadat, Hosni Mubarak came to power and rode it strong till 2011. And then it began, the Arab Spring.    The revolution bugle had been sounded in neighbouring Tunisia  and slowly and surely the revolution song had reached the ears of ordinary Egyptians who cared more about Egypt then Mubarak.    They gathered at Tahrir Square and began their demonstrations which were rather peaceful as the Egyptian military took a semi neutral stance.  Mubarak was toppled and people started celebrating the victory with marches and fireworks.  But is was too soon to assume that everything was peaceful.  

Elections happened and Morsi from Islamic Brotherhood was elected with huge majority riding on the wave of change.  But the first thing Morsi did was to expunge the military diktat of dissolving the law makers and making them ministers again.  When the courts overruled his decree, he came out with another decree overruling the courts powers and orders.  

This started the revolution ball rolling again.  El Baradei from secular Constitution Party tweeted that "Morsi today usurped all state powers & appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh"  People took to street again and protest were more fierce then the 2011 ones.

A new power centre emerged.  The Egyption Army which had maintained a slightly indifferent approach to Mubaraks regime took the Morsi decrees as a blot on its uniform.  And now they are a logger heads.  The Army has given Morsi until tonight to absolve himself of the Prime Ministership but Morsi is diffident.   Such is the glue of power.   The people who elected him want him out of office now but he seems to be worse then Mubarak.  Where is he taking Egypt, to hell?

As I have written above, a coup seems imminent in Egypt and hopefully the Army will hand over the reins of power to a democratically elected government like it did the last time.  My only hope is that the next leader doesn't try to become a 'Pharoah' of Egypt.  What is really needs is a good leadership at the helm for at least 15 years to make a smooth transition to true democracy.  As and when the divisive politics will enter the Egyptian leadership there will be another Tahrir Square waiting to happen.

PS Morsi has met his fate and Egypt stands liberated today, but is it really liberated?

An all in one exercising App : Argus for iOS

Exercising Apps have become a must have now a days with the kind of stressed life we lead.  What better way to monitor you health then to have App in you pocket which tells you how you have slept, ate and ran and how much you should eat, sleep and  run.  Many of the Apps on Apple Store cater to one part of the exercising but Argus for iOS has tried to blend all these metrics together.  

Argus has a great interface which lets you plan all your day to day exercising with ease.  If you click on the plus symbol the App will gives all popular forms of exercise like running, cycling and walking.  Argus also monitors the body weight and heart beat along with your daily water, coffee and diet intake.  

However you have to fill the details correctly and truthfully if you want this App to help you out.  And believe me, that can be pretty distressing, especially if you have a night out partying.  

Argus gives you three types of goals which you have to achieve, provided, as I said earlier, you input the data truthfully.  The App will tell you exactly how much you have slept and how much sleep you actually need.  The amount of water you drink and the optimum amount your body requires along with the distance you walk and are required to walk being other two goals which you should aim to achieve.

Argus has a ‘trends’ screen which shows all of the different data types as a colour coded chart for your information.   You can use this App rather nicely if you have serious exercising issues.  You can download the App here from Apple Store for free.

Opera 15 arrives with 'Stash' feature which lets you save web pages for reading leisurely

Opera has released the newest version of its browser for Windows and Mac called Opera 15.  The new version is a Chromium based one and uses the same engine as Google did, the Blink.

The new browser gives its a feel of Chromium and This shift makes Opera look and behave a lot like the Chromium browser will be puzzled for a moment as to whether you are Opera or Google's Chrome.  The address bar can be used as a search box similar to Chrome’s omnibox.  The Google search box in the older Opera have been removed as the address bar serves that purpose.

Opera has refreshed the Speed Dial page which now lets you organise shortcuts to web pages in folders and filter your shortcuts by folder.  This is particularly useful if you have lots of shortcuts.

Opera has imported the "Discover" tab from the companies Android browser version to the PC and Mac.  If you use Opera App for Android you will know the "Discover" tab which shows content from a variety of sources based on your location and some categories such as news, food and entertainment. You can add or remove  or customise the categories from a list as per your choice.

Opera also has a all new "Stash" feature that lets you stick complete websites to a tab by clicking a heart icon in the address bar.  Now this a real positive thing from the Opera guys.  Many a times we visit some pages which are not relevant to our search at that point of time but may be useful later.  With this feature you can “stash” previews of multiple web pages for later reference and then view all your stashed pages together at your own convenience. The Stash tab lets you zoom in and out of the previews, but you can’t rearrange them and clicking on a preview will lead you to the page.

Though the company has said this is a stable version, but expect many updates to follow this version.  You can check out Opera 15 by downloading it here.

Motorola Droid Ultra specs surface on Motorola website! but are they prank or promo?

Motorola which has been in hibernation sprung up a surprise today, the website of the firm today released the specs of Droid Ultra.  However if you look closely at the specs you will notice that they are almost, nay 100 % identical to the Motorola's Razr M smart phone.  

Is this a promotional strategy or just a poke.  This only Motorola can answer as of now.  The website, though has a small window on the right hand side which says  “think thin” and that the Droid Ultra will be available in “a bunch of glossy colors.”   It further adds that the phone will have a  DuPont Kevlar body and says that “you can be even thinner and still be tough as steel.”

From this we can make out that it will be a slim, DuPont Kevlar bodied Android smart phone which will be available in as many colours. 

You may take a peek at the Motorola's website here and decide what is what for your self.

First Firefox run phone comes to the market, 'ZTE Open' to sell for $90.00 (Rs.5400.00)

The worlds Firefox operating system run smart phone is here and cheap too. Announced in February during the MWC 2013, the Firefox run phone has arrived on board ZTE's latest offering the ZTE Open.  The phone looks rather nice and crisp from the above images but let us see what went into it.

The ZTE Open is powered by a Cortex A5 processor clocking at 1GHz and runs on 512MB of RAM with a internal memory of 2GB. It comes with a 3.5-inch display (320 x 480 pixels resolution). It has only a single camera on the rear which is 3.15MP.  

The hardcore specs are as under :

2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

SIM Mini-SIM

BODY Dimensions 114 x 62 x 12.5 mm (4.49 x 2.44 x 0.49 in)

DISPLAY Type TFT capacitive touchscreen

Size 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches (~165 ppi pixel density)

Multitouch Yes

3.5mm jack Yes

MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 32 GB, 2 GB included

Internal 512 MB ROM, 256 MB RAM

DATA GPRS Yes

EDGE Yes

Speed HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps

WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band

Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR

USB Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA Primary 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels

Chipset Qualcomm MSM7225A Snapdragon, CPU 1.0 GHz Cortex-A5, GPU Adreno 200

But what makes ZTE Open special other then the specs.  Well, it is the first smart phone in the world to run its Apps and Games entirely on HTML5.  Yes Firefox OS uses HTML5 based Apps and  Games, which will be available to users at Firefox Marketplace.  The ZTE Open comes with Facebook and Twitter, Nokia’s HERE maps service, Box cloud storage,and chartbuster games  from EA Mobile and Disney Mobile Games.

Now about the Firefox Marketplace.  The Apps featuring on the Firefox Marketplace will entirely run on HTML5.  Some of the games that will feature there are AccuWeather, Airbnb, Pulse News, SoundCloud, SporTV, Terra and Time Out.  That is not all, the beauty of Apps and Games running on HTML5 means that Web developers can also turn a website into an HTML5 app through Mozilla's development kit. 

The Firefox OS also supports video calling over Web RTC, a browser-based technology that's also available on the Android Firefox Aurora app. 

This is a very good, cheap and robust phone.  The ideal launchpad for Firefox OS.   I do think that FireFox OS will give Android and iOS some serious competition in future and by the looks of it, this may be the baby step in that direction.

FREE cross platform messenger with voice calls comes to India, 'Line' comes with stickers like like Disney, Hello Kitty and Iron Man

Fresh on the heels of the successful launch of Tencent's WeChat, Japan's Line Corporation has entered India with its cross platform messaging App called Line.   What is more important is that it supports PC and Mac in addition to Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone and Nokia Asha and the dream of us all, it is free.

The instant messaging App also has features like free calls, voice chat and stickers.  

To make it more appealing to Indians, the company has launched a Hindi website in addition to the English one.  The App is similar to  WeChat because Line also has the features features like voice messaging and stickers Indians which we got to know from WeChat.  However Line has a nice range of its own stickers like Disney, Hello Kitty  Iron Man. 

The features of Line .

 More about LINE’s Features:

★Free Voice Calls!

All LINE smartphone users can enjoy free high quality voice calls, whenever and wherever you are.

Talk for as much as you want and best of all, it’s free!

★Messages Delivered to you Quick!

Instead of taking time to email/sms your friends, use LINE’s message function to send messages easily with colorful icons, photos and even location information.

・Express yourself using stickers and emoji.

・Send photos and voice messages with ease

・Available for PCs and smart-tablets

★Make it YOUR Social Network

・Have fun with LINE’s ‘Home’ feature: Share your moments with all your friends using photos, videos, and location info.

・Use ‘Timeline’ to see what your friends have been up to and what they have posted! Leave comments, messages and enjoy your communication.

Other LINE Features:

★New Sticker Shop! Find all your favorite characters here!

Hilarious and fun stickers featuring famous characters from all over the world can be found here!

★Get the latest info with LINE Official Accounts

Add these accounts as friends and receive messages from popular celebs and singers, as well as money saving coupons from various businesses.   

Do remember this App uses internet to communicate, hence be sure to have a unlimited data plan while using it.

Visitors who want to read about it and download it in Hindi please head over here.  

Android users can download the App from Google Play here.

iOS users can download the App from Apple Store here.

Windows Phone users can download the App from Windows Store here.  Supports Windows Phone 7.5 and 8.

BlackBerry users can download the App from appworld here.

Nokia Asha users can download the App from OVI store here.

Windows users can download the App for their PC here.

Mac OS X users can download the App for their Macs here. 

Windows 8 users can download the App for Windows 8 here.

'Vine' now available on Kindle Fire download now from Amazon's Appstore for Android

Twitter has been caught in its worst nightmare with the launch of Instagram Video and the subsequent popularity of the it.  After rolling out updates and fixes today it launched a App for Kindle Fire.  Remember Kindle Fire runs on customised Android so is not able to run normal Android Apps without sideloading, which you can do by reading this article.

Vine has for now stolen the march on Instagram Video as there is no Instagram or Instagram video for the users having Kindle Fire tablets.   However it may hero on Kindle Fire only for a few weeks before Instagram decides to hit the market place with its own version.

For the uninitiated, Vine is a App which lets you upload, share and view a 6 second loopy video.  It can be used to share your cherished memory or promote your product or just share the tiny tit bits of your life.

You can read all about Vine here.  To download the Vine for Kindle Fire visit the Amazon's Appstore.  

Nokia 301 with 3G available in India for Rs.5099.00 and above on online portals

Just yesterday I had written a article about Nokia Asha 210 being available in India for pre-order for Rs.4499.00 and my only grouse with it was that it did not support 3G network.  It seems the Nokia guys read my post and today launched the 3G enabled Nokia 301.

Unlike Asha 210 which has QWERTY keypad, the Nokia 301 comes in a candybar standard design.  It has a 2.4 inch 240 x 320 pixels (~167 ppi pixel density) TFT display supporting 256K colours.  

It comes with single and dual SIM capabilities, the dual SIM one is listed on Yebhi.com at Rs.5099.00.  The Nokia 301 runs on the no frills S40 platform.  It has a 3.2MP "smart camera" which gives you all kinds of editing and sharing options.  The 301 also lets you take your own picture with the rear camera with voice command.  Its 5-in-1 camera app lets you choose and apply one one of five camera effects to their images. Alas it doesn't have a front camera so video calling will be pretty difficult.

The dual SIM model has a EasySwap feature which allows you to switch the SIM cards without turning the phone off.  The phone has a internal memory of 256MB which I think is pretty less in this day and age of GBs.  The phone will run on 64MB RAM which is pretty good.  The phone supports external memory via MicroSD card slot for upto 32GB.

The external dimensions of the phone are 4.49 x 1.97 x 0.49 inches and the weight  is 102 g (3.60 oz), quite neat for a budget phone. The phone is powered by a 1110 mAh battery (BL-4U) with stand by time of upto up to 888 hours on 2G and  upto 936 hours on 3G (surprise).  It gives a talktime of 20 hours on 2G network while talking on 3G network can last upto 6 hours.

Connectivity wise it has EDGE, 3G and bluetooth support with a strong impetus on social networking.  Nokia 301 allows you to stream YouTube videos and Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp quite easily.  It also has a lite version of Mail for Exchange will allow users to check mails and sync calendars too. 

My only surprise is the price for colours.  Yebhi.com as mentioned above list the Nokia 301 Blue at Rs.5099.00 with EMI facility and 4 to 7 days delivery.  While another portal Flipkart posts the price as Rs.5590.00 for Black and Cyan models.  You can visit the Flipkart page here, it gives cash on delivery and EMI options and delivery within 7 to 9 days.  

Google's Feedburner taken over by Martians, giving nice mumbo jumbo messages since yesterday

All bloggers and webmasters should check their feedburner page for once!  Google's Feedburner seems to have been taken over by Martians from outer space or Google is playing a neat little trick on the bloggers and webmasters.  The bizzare messages first started appearing yesterday afternoon and everytime you refresh the feedburner page lo and behold, the message changes into more bizzare message then the earlier one. 

Have a look at some of the screen shots I took of my feed page.

1. Martian language

2. My Feeds say, "Let's play two!"

3. My Feeds might come out of their shell

4. My Feeds think the rotation doesn't look like much after all

5. My Feeds need to socialize

6.  My Feeds go up, down, strange, and charm.

7. My Feeds dot dash dot dot dot dot dot dot dot

8. My Feeds are bracing fro winter/preparing for summer (this one looks like straight out of Game of Thrones)

9. My Feeds have no hand crank

10. My Feeds never appear in blister pack

11. My Feeds take it one game at a time

After the first one in the martian language appeared my feeds started showing 'zero' subscribers but as soon as the third one appeared the subscriber count is now back to normal.

Looks like Google is playing games with its feeds because today is the last day of Google Reader!

Facebook button equipped Nokia Asha 210 available for pre order now at Rs.4499.00

Asha 210, the budget smart phone from Nokia featuring a dedicated Facebook button is now available for pre-order on online  portal Flipkart.com for Rs.4499.00. 

The Asha 210 is a QWERTY keyboard phone and is available in both single and dual SIM models.  The one on sale at Flipkart is a dual SIM one with SIM swapping on-the-go. Though it is a budget phone it also has full smart phone features a normal user would yearn for.

Nokia Asha comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen and has 64MB of on-board memory. The storage can be expanded to 32GB by using a microSD card.  Asha 210 comes with only a rear 2MP camera with 1600x1200 pixels and can shoot videos in QCIF@10fps. You can edit and share pictures on Asha 210 using native Nokia Slam feature.  The Nokia Slam  feature uses bluetooth without pairing to let you transfer videos, files and other stuff in addition to the images.  Another feature of Asha 210 is that you can shoot pictures even if the keypad is locked with a dedicated hard key for the same.  

Connectivity wise the Nokia Asha 201 comes bluetooth and wi-fi.  It is also equipped with a feature called Nokia Nearby which gives you the details of  restaurants, shops and ATM machines in your vicinity.

Though a basic budget phone it pack mean rugged Nokia features and can be seen as a best buy for those who always want to remain in touch with their friends and colleagues.  IT comes in  yellow, cyan, black, magenta and white colours.  My only grouse is that Nokia did not pack 3G with this phone.  

The detailed specs are as under :

BODY Dimensions : 111.5 x 60 x 11.8 mm, 76.3 cc (4.39 x 2.36 x 0.46 in)

Weight : 97.3 g (3.42 oz)

Keyboard  : QWERTY

DISPLAY : TFT, 65K colors , 320 x 240 pixels, 2.4 inches (~167 ppi pixel density)

MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 32 GB

Internal 64 MB, 32 MB RAM

DATA GPRS Class 32

EDGE Class 32

WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with EDR

USB Yes, microUSB

CAMERA Primary 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels

Video Yes, QCIF@10fps

FEATURES

Messaging in threaded view , MMS, Email, IM

Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML

Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS; FM recording

Games Yes

Java Yes, MIDP 2.1

Colors Yellow, Black, White, Cyan, Magenta

  - SNS apps

- MP4/H.263/WMV player

- MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC player

- Organizer

- Voice memo

- Predictive text input

BATTERY Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery (BL-4U)

Stand-by Up to 1104 h

Talk time Up to 12 h

Music play Up to 40 h

Go to Flipkart now to pre-order the phone which will ship the phone by the 2nd week of July 2013 with a 30 day replacement guarantee and EMI option.  Another advantage of Flipkart is that you can get the phone Cash on Delivery.