While we are sleeping, will the North Korea attack the South and American interests?

After days of bellicose comments from the North Koreans, today the great leader has issued "state of war" declaration with South Korea.  This is seen by many as just a empty talk by the strategists in US and South Korea.

North Korea today fired its latest bout of angry rhetoric directed at Seoul and Washington which was brushed off by both the nations at empty rhetoric.

In continuation with its war cry which has been going on for a while, the North Korea also threatened to shut down an industrial zone it operates jointly with the South near the heavily armed border.  As of today it is just threatening but imagine what happens if it really enters into a war with the South Korea and US interests in the region.

The two Koreas are technically in a state of war for six decades under a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its continuing threats of this and that and issuing photoshopped images of marine landings, few people especially form the defence are taking it seriously.  For if the North goes to war this time around, it is sure to have no over support from China as it had in 1950 conflict.   Russia too is busy with its own ends in Syria and other parts to take any interest in the beligerent nation.  Covert support from China will not be of any use to the North in view of heavily armed South and US might.

"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency said.  KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North's government, ruling party and other organizations.

The South Korean observers at the boundary between the two said that there was no sign of unusual activity in the North's military to suggest any aggression

The North has been threatening to attack the South and U.S. military bases almost on a daily basis since the beginning of March, when U.S. and South Korean militaries started routine drills that have been conducted for decades without incident.  Many in the South have regarded the North's willingness to keep open the Kaesong industrial zone, located just a few miles (km) north of the border, as a sign that Pyongyang will not risk losing a lucrative source of hard currency by mounting a real act of aggression.

"If the puppet traitor group continues to mention the Kaesong industrial zone is being kept operating and damages our dignity, it will be mercilessly shut off and shut down," KCNA quoted an agency that operates Kaesong as saying in a statement.  Though this sounds a hollow statement given the fact that it is the only facility which earns any kind of hard currency for the North.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday signed off on an order putting its missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in the South and the Pacific.

However the US doesn't seem to take the rhetoric lying down.  Yesterday it flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a tit for tat diplomacy.  Though the foreign officials have downplayed the incident saying that the B-2 bombers were on a diplomatic sortie to reassure its South Korean and Japanese allies.   As for the South Korean government, it brushed off the North's latest rhetoric as being nothing anew.  

If you like this article please press Facebook Like and Google Plus on the page, visit here for more world news.

Vijay Prabhu

Via Rueters

When will the General Elections happen in India, will the UPA last the full term?

UPA is in a peculiar situation.  Every other day some body from its grand alliance makes a pitch for quitting it and then the very next day the same person says that his party is not leaving the UPA Government.  The latest in the fray to do this kind of stunt was Mulayam Singh. 

Not only did he back away from Samajwadi Party pulling the plug on UPA, he asserted that he will support the full term of UPA.  Mulayam who is now the hot favourite of the Congress bashing committee today said that the UPA will last its full term while latching on to the now famous(or infamous) quote of keeping communal forces at bay.   But do remember this what TMC supremo Mamata to had done a similar thing as did the DMK supremo Karunanidhi.  But when the time was ripe for them they pulled the carpet from under the UPA or should I say when the tide went against them they pulled the plug on UPA.

So do the top brass of UPA including Sonia trust the so called alliance partners?  The question was answered by the PM Dr.Manmohan Singh while on a flight to South Africa, that they were ready to fight a election and he may be dark horse for the third term.  

So this statement makes one thing certain, the Congress part of UPA are not going to take to the whims and fancies of the alliance partners and are silently working in a poll mode. 

After the DMK pullout from the UPA Government alongwith its 18 MPs,  the Congress and allies are left with only 225 MPs.  The halfway mark for Lok Sabha is 271 MPs, so the UPA needs 47 MPs to continue with the Government.  Right now the two outside supporters are the most unpredictable ones in the Indian politics.  SP & BSP are the last of the Aaya Ram Gaya Ram clan that is still left in India.  So can Congress trust these two?  No it doesn't, that is why Mr.P.Chidambaram on Friday was touring UP to make peace with SP and give some dole outs to UP to keep quiet for time being.  

Both the parties from the UP are going all out to get their pound of flesh from the last remnants of UPA.  But even with SP & BSP support the UPA can't cross the half way mark!

This is a right time for elections but is the opposition party the BJP ready for elections.  Right now with the elections due in Karnataka, where BJP's good governance image took a good knock, BJP is still leaving its options open.  As of today it does not favour elections because it does not know the ground support it has or against it.  It should to the party a lot of good if it goes on and announces Mr.Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.  This is sure to turn the winds in its favour as it can be seen from various fora that the youth of the country are keen on a good Government which provides scam free, corruption free, development focused Government and have put their faith in NaMo.

In the most likely scenario this UPA Government will continue till some kind of explosive bill like the Women's Reservation, the Lok Pal etc. is introduced in the Parliament.  The day such a kind of bill is introduced will be the last day for the UPA.  So tighten your seat belts and start preparing for the Elections which as per simple arithmetic should be announced in November 2013.

My only hope is that whomsoever is elected is given a simple majority by the citizens of India.  My ardent belief is that a person like Narendra Modi should be given a chance to run the Government so he can come true with his words in providing a good Government to us.

Please write in your comments on the political situation in India!

Vijay Prabhu

Are you willing to pay for being on a social platform, Path thinks so

Makers of Path, a social network think that you are willing to pay for being on the social network.  Path is designed have a more personal touch than Facebook, ad free and clutter free, will be launching a subscription service in the second quarter of this year.

Path co-founder and Chief Executive Dave Morin believes that a market exists for a premium paid version of social networking.  Path itself was launched in 2010 was marketed as a network just for your close family and friends putting a limit of maximum 150 friends per user.  As of now it has been unsuccessful in breaking the monopoly of Facebook but will the paid version do the trick for it, this only time will tell.  

One thing which Facebook ought to learn from Path is monetizing the concept of social networking.  The like and commenting system have become very easy to build upon as it is free and the friendship created on Facebook can't be held a real friendship, the type of blood friendship we find in our school, college and neighbour mates.  Another point where Facebook users face problems is privacy, Path hopes to give you complete privacy in your communications with your friends.

So if you consider being connected with a true friend with utter privacy, Path is on right path but will it be able to break the shackles of a billion or so Facebook users.  Path as of now has 7 million registered users out of which only around 800000 are active daily.  

Most of Path users  are joining it for a private messaging feature which it added last month.  So will Path open new revenue avenues even for Facebook will remain to be seen.

If you are interested in Path please visit its website and register yourself.  Please post your comments on the App.

Vijay Prabhu

Google Translate updated to Version 2.6, now offline language packs are available to Android users

Google has yesterday updated its Google Translate App for Android to version 2.6.  The new version now supports 3 additional languages with camera support, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. But importantly the new update supports offline use.   This can be done through downloadable offline language packs.

If you are visiting a foreign country then you need a good translator and without and of the costly data plans.  Google has now come up with a offline downloadable language pack for your Android devices.  

Setting up the download of the language packs is easy.   To download one or more of the 50 available language packs, go to Menu > Offline languages, then tap on the pin icon next to the languages you want to download. You'll get a  prompt to choose whether to download the files over your mobile data network or over Wi-Fi.  Choose Wi-fi if possible as the download pack are data  heavy.

Though the offline feature is a very good addition by Google the online version is always better as it lets you say the translated text aloud.  iOS users will have to wait for offline packs as of now.Translate, keep in mind that it doesn't have all the features of the online version. 

Download the Google Translate here from Google Play.  And from within the App download the offline language packs.  Currently the App supports Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish languages.

Please post your comments on the App.  Do visit here for more about updated Google Translate which supports Hindi handwriting input.

Vijay Prabhu

Google dabbling in non core business, going to be a delivery boy now

Google the king of Search is now trying to be the new king of Delivery.  Yes! Google is starting a same day delivery service and started a pilot project in the San Francisco area.  Judging by the speed at which Google is expanding it wont be surprising if one day Google starts manufacturing condoms and exploring oil.

Today Google has confirmed that it is entering into a same day delivery venture on a 6 months test basis in the San Francisco Bay Area and the new service will be called Google Shopping Express.

Looking at the above picture you will get to see a well dressed delivery man sporting a Google logo in you neighbourhood soon.

Google has already included nine retailer logos on its Shopping Express site, including Target, Walgreens, Office Depot, and Toys R Us.  Google is also recruiting "testers" to get free delivery for the entire 6-month pilot.  So here is your golden chance, if you live in the Bay area, and you want free delivery from these and other stores, go sign up. Google has also included a form asking what other stores you would like to get stuff delivered from.  Which means that Google is thinking of expanding the retailers.

Brands which have signed up with Google

Judging by the past history, though this venture is a non-core business but given Google's efficient delivery mechanism, they could have a winner in their hands.

Bay area residents please visit this website to sign in as a TESTER.

Vijay Prabhu

Facebook Phone to be a reality on April 4, 2013, HTC and Facebook hope for a gamechanger

Ultimately what I said on March 3,2013 is going to be a reality.  The mega social networking company Facebook is sure to announce a Facebook heavy phone with HTC on 4th April, 2013.

Yes this news is true, Facebook is set to introduce a special version of Google’s Android software system on April, 4 2013.  It will be modified to put the Facebook icon, like and comment on the screen of the new phone.  As I had predicted the phone will be made by HTC Corporation.

Facebook has already started sending invitations to the event on April 4 at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. A Facebook employee who wished to remain anon said the company would introduce a version of Android that makes Facebook’s software more prominent.

Speaking of the Facebook being center of the phones real estate, for example when you boot the device, it will immediately display a Facebook user’s home screen as per reports.  It is also to be added that WSJ had given the same information earlier on Monday. Facebook’s camera and messaging apps will be the default apps for the core functions of the phone, the Facebook employee also said.

Derick Mains, a Facebook spokesman, declined to comment on the event but he added that it would be a “significant mobile-focused announcement.”

The Anon Facebook employee also added that the company’s portfolio of mobile apps had been the vanguard of the Android-based Facebook operating system. Over the past two and a half years, Facebook has been creating standalone mobile applications. For example, this year the company introduced Poke, a private messaging service as a standalone app. Last year, it released a camera app that specialized in tagging and uploading photos to Facebook. And in 2011, it introduced Messenger, an app for free text messaging, which was later expanded to include free voice calls.

Facebook has been exploring making its own smartphone for the last two years, but the project codenamed “Buffy,” kept stalling internally as the company could not determine whether to make its own hardware or partner with a phone maker.  Ultimately it decided to partner with HTC.

Facebook has recruited engineers who specialized in mobile phone development, including former Apple engineers who worked on the development of the iPhone.

So far so good for both the companies need some kind of good news to get out of the jam they are facing on revenue front.

Please keep reading my blog for updates on the Facebook Phone.

Vijay Prabhu

MLB.Com, the best baseball App for Major League Baseball lovers comes to Z10

Finally the Blackberry has some good news.  First it announced a profit on Wednesday and now in sync with its launch of BlackBerry Z 10 in United States, the MLB.Com has launched a App for Z10 users all over the world.

Baseball may not be a hot favourite in India and developing countries but it is a rage in the US.  To take advantage of the fact and supercharge its sales, the BlackBerry and MLB Advanced Media, LP. have come together to launch the MLB.Com App for Z10.

The opening day of the Major League Baseball season is March 31 and users who sign in with annual $19.99 fee will have access to free MLB.TV Game of the Day.  Dedicated baseball fans with MLB.TV premium subscription will aslo be able to log in and watch every out of market game live and or/on demand.

The app also includes home and away audio commentary.  In case you miss you will get the condensed highlights of the match alongwith the team reviews, views, match stats, ranking and future schedule.  Even old timers can have fun because MLB.Com At Bat also has a library of old matches for your on demand streaming.

So if you are a Baseball lover and a Major League afficionado, download the App here from BlackBerry World.  Be sure to shell out $19.00 (Rs.1050.00) for the same but if you are true lover of baseball the money shouldn't be a problem.

Please post your comments on the article and add me to your Google Plus circle by clicking here.

Vijay Prabhu

The Tamilian cause, why it hurts us Indians even today

All of you readers must be aware of the current Sri Lanka - Tamil Nadu - India conflict of words that is going on.  The matters have come to such a worse situation that Sri Lanka is out of the equation now and we are fighting among ourselves.

A brief look at the history of the Sinhala - Tamil fighting takes us back to the days of British Raj in India.  As is the root for all conflicts in the world this one is also driven by the Divide and Rule policy of the British.   The start of the Tamil and Sinhalese conflict dates back to 1919 when the first Sinhalese national moment took place.  The consequences were that the Tamilians who had lived for ages in the Sinhala majority Ceylon became second rate citizens.  Slowly the seeds of Tamil Eelam or a Tamilian state began to grow. This slowly led to formation of two distinct ideological groups in the 1960s, one was focused on Tamil Eelam through electoral route and one was focused through an armed guerrilla warfare with the Sinhalese rulers.

India had no part to play in the above chess game between the two ethnic groups after the great riot between the Tamils and Sinhala nationalists. India started discretly taking sides with the Tamilian population and covertly helped them.  1983 onwards the Indian government started funding the armed groups beginning in August 1983, till May 1987, Indian government, through its intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), provided arms, training and monetary support to 6 Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups namely the  LTTE, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Army (TELA).

Out of which the LTTE led by its charismatic leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran was the most vicious of them all.   He killed the leaders of other factions, merged them with LTTE and started to rule the north part of Sri Lanka as it was now known, from his head quarters in Jafna.

In between President Jayewardene and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed a peace accord in 1987.  As per the accord the Sri Lankan Government made a number of concessions to Tamil demands, including devolution of power to the provinces, a merger (subject to referendum) of the Northern and the Eastern provinces into the single province, and official status for the Tamil language.  However the peace accord ran foul with the LTTE and India had to send its soldiers to Sri Lanka to fight the LTTE.  It is now known that President Premdasa asked his Sri Lankan soldiers to hand over arms and ammunition clandestinely to LTTE to fight the Indian Army.

Indian Army faced heavy causalities and Rajiv Gandhi lost the Prime Ministerial race to V.P.Singh.  V.P.Singh promptly called the IPKF (Indian Army) back to India.  

In 1991 the LTTE dealt the most severe blow to India.  It managed to assasinate the Prime Ministerial candidate, who looked sure to win that election, Mr.Rajiv Gandhi.  The LTTE killed a man who tried to help them out of the quagmire into a new dawn of peace.  Maybe the LTTE didn't want peace because at one point of time it is said that 80 % of the male Tamil population of the norther Sri Lanka was part of the LTTE and Prabhakara was ruling the province like a virtual dictator.

Now lets move to the current situation, Prabhakaran was killed on 18th May 2009 and the Sinhala - Tamil issue looked like dying a natural end.  In 2013, the United States moved a resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) against the war crimes committed by Sri Lankan Army against the Tamils and India supported it.  But now the Tamil Nadu Government led by CM Jayalalitha wants India to move a resolution in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of which India is a rotating member.

Daily protests are taking place in Tamil Nadu for this cause and CM  Jayalalitha has asked the Sri Lankan players be banned from IPL (the annual cricket jamboree).

Here my questions to the supporters of CM Jayalalitha are 

1. Have you forgotten that the LTTE led by Prabhakaran killed one of our ex-PMs Rajiv Gandhi.

2. It is right for us to meddle into the internal affairs of a third country just because some of its parts are Tamilian majority.

If the 2nd point is true than why didn't India send troops to Fiji when thousands of people of Indian ancestory was imprisioned and a electorally elected Indian Prime Minister was diposed off by the ethnic leadership their.

Regarding the first point,  I did like to point out that not only did they kill Mr.Rajiv Gandhi they also hurt Indian sentiments for the Indian Government had made LTTE.  Now again CM Jayalalitha is making the same mistake of dabbling into affairs which are foreign to us.  Please remember we have already lost a very good human being due to our interference in unwanted matters, now by indulging in mudslinging and counter allegations against the Central Government, CM Jayalalitha is just making the people of Tamil Nadu look the other way.  In a state where development should be the key issue, such type of protests are not needed.  Indeed use these resources for betterment of its own people rather than carry out protests for people of a third country who will only bring pain to us.

We are already doing our bit by helping the refugees who have come from Jafna and are staying in Tamil Nadu.  If you like this article read more about India here.  Kindly post in your comments on this article

Vijay Prabhu

Photo of the Day 29.3.13

HOPE........LIFE.....LIGHT

The Photographs are property of Mr.Vijay Deepak Chhibber and are produced here with his permission. Anybody copying/ reproducing it may kindly seek permission of the author.

Vijay Prabhu

If you want to view the entire collection of the Photo of the Day, click on the hyperlink!

Writing a Blog, don't fall for rankings, backlinks, SEO or SERPs

Wondered what I meant or did I make a mistake in naming the article?  No, I named it correct.  Writing a blog is a passion and hobby to many people including me.   And when you surf the net you come across all sorts of people telling you how to create back links, improve your rankings on the Google Page Rank and many of the website offering SEO services for a fee.  If you are writing a good blog, the ranking and advertisement will follow you.

I have been writing this blog for 4 months now and I write it out of a sub conscious need of helping other human out in their various endeavors right from applying for Aadhaar Card, Indian National Passport to choosing a right phone or laptop.  In between I give a summary of the latest games, software available for your phones.  Sometimes I write about the latest gizmos available and last but not the least I sometimes warn you readers about the security aspects of the software.

In writing all these articles the simple idea is to help other people know something in plain vanilla language so they can easily understand the tech jargon and make their decisions suitably.  In course of writing this blog, I have become a member of Google +, Twitter, Facebook, Zinzz, Technorati, Bloggers, Topblogsites etc.  This, I had to do because a Blogger has to be as social as possible.  But when it comes to ranking and other SEO stuff, they just piss me off.

My belief in myself comes from the fact that if I give good content, I will get readers, no matter what SEO guys say.    But the page rank and SEO stuff is way over my head.  I think Google has started some sort of mini cottage industry with the SEO stuff with many sites giving out services at a charge and this mini cottage industry may run into billions of dollars.    Other than socializing on the social networking platform(which I like) I don't think blogger have to fall prey to all kind of gimmicks to get to the top of a google search page. 

As I have written elsewhere many a times, if your content is good, you are bound to get viewers.  I have seen and read many blogs which started with the right kind honest intentions but have fallen prey to what I call a crass commercialization and now their blogs just suck.    I honestly believe that as soon as money(or commerce) enters into any innocent venture, the innocence of the venture is lost.  And as more money enters the system the more the blogger becomes lazy and distant from his or her original intentions.  And it may seem pathetic but some blogs seem to write articles in support of the ads they display or write reviews of the products which give them commission.  

This may sound funny but that's the way it is. So write a blog from your where your heart is rather than from where your pocket is. Anyways these are my views and you may differ from it.  Do write in about what you feel about your blog and the SEO practices.

Vijay Prabhu.

Twitter and Facebook users have you wondered what the red 'equal to' sign means

It seems the Facebook and Twitter is flooded with red equal signs but no one has any answers to what they mean.  Well, the red equals symbol is being spread by the Human Rights Campaign group which supports the Gay marriages.  The issue has come up in light of the US Supreme Court hearing over the case for next two days.

The Supreme Court in the US is deciding on the Gay marriages case and Human Rights Campaign group is doing its bit to support the cause of Gay marriage.

On Facebook, the HRC asked gay marriage supporters to "paint the town red," wearing red in their wardrobe as well on their Facebook pages.  Supporters have also been asked to change profile photos over to the HRC "=" logo  so if you are a supporter of Gay marriages or freedom of expression you might as will add the red equal sign.  Press like on this page and express solidarity with HRC!

Vijay Prabhu

Are you one of the 8000 to win the Google Glass for $1500.00

The wait is over, Google has announced the winners of the Google Glass contest and 8000 people through United States were selected winners.  However winners in this case will have to shell out $1500.00 each to take the delivery of the test Google Glass or 'Explorer' version.

Google has handpicked  8,000 people who will now get a chance to don a pair of Internet-connected glasses and make a fashion statement which is likely to be the new haute couture in the tech world.Photo by Associated Press

If you have not won don't fret the winnings dont come cheap.  They come at a price of $1500.00 apiece after winning a contest conducted by Google.  The contest conducted by Google last month required the US citizens to submit a 50 worded essay through Twitter or Google Plus on how they plan to make use of the technology called the Google Glass.  People had to apply using the hashtag #ifihadglass.  Google has concluded sifting through the numerous applications and it began notifying the winners Tuesday.

The winners in addition to paying $1500.00 will have to travel to New York, Los Angles or San Fransico to pick up the device.  The very though of owning one Google Glass may be very exciting to winners with some comparing it to having a ticket for unlimited supply of candy and visit to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in a popular fantasy movie.  But believe me the excitement is indeed palpable from the fact that the Google Glass is a totally new kind of technology which was earlier shown only in films.  The technology is called 'wearable computing' and Google, Apple and a host of companies are working of a wrist watch based on a similar tech.  But taking pictures through your Glass is something even you would be proud of.  In addition to taking pictures you can make the Google Glass perform many tasks using voice commands.  If you remember the Google Glass is equipped with a hidden camera and a tiny display screen attached to the rim above the right eye.

The Google engineers who have build the glass say that the new technology is a way of keeping connected through email, social networking services and other crucial services without having to frequently gaze your laptop screen or taking the phone out of your pocket. They have designed a hidden camera so that users can easily take a hands-free photo or video of whatever they are doing or looking at.

The applicants had promised a whole lot of good things they wood do with the Google Glass.  One contest winner promised to take Google Glass to Veteran Administration hospitals so soldiers who fought in World War II can see their memorials before they die. Another plans to wear Google Glass during a trip to Japan so she can take video and pictures that she can share with her grandmother, who now lives in the U.S. but would like to see her native country again. A zookeeper plans to use Google Glass to show what it's like to feed penguins, and another contest winner wants to use the technology to provide maps that will help firefighters in emergencies.

The Google Glass has its own set of skeptics from the security and privacy groups who feel that this may infringe on the security and privacy of the person whose photo or video is taken without letting him know.

Any way if you have won, my personal congratulations to the winners of the competition.  And losers remember the finished product from Google may be available in next year in the price range of $700-1500 so you will have a second chance to own your very own Google Glass.

Vijay Prabhu

Google Nexus lovers in India get the 16GB Nexus 7 today

Long back I had written about a Tablet war and customers benefiting from it.  The proof is there for all to see!  Till yesterday the Google Play was listing India but when you pressed buy now button, you would be given a message that the product is not available in your country.  Not so now, press Nexus 7 buy now button and you will get to pre-order the Nexus 7 at Rs.15,999.00.

If you are a Nexus fan then the only way you could buy the Nexus was through the Chroma outlets run by Tata, that too at a price of Rs.20,000.00.  The Nexus 7 is available in two storage modes 8GB and 16GB while the 8GB is priced in US at $199.00 the 16GB one is at $249.00 which comes to roughly Rs.11300.00 and Rs.14300.00.

The Google Nexus 7 is a tablet which does not have voice capabilities.  The tablet has following specs :


BODY Dimensions 198.5 x 120 x 10.5 mm (7.81 x 4.72 x 0.41 in)
Weight 340 g (11.99 oz)
DISPLAY Type LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors  Size 800 x 1280 pixels, 7.0 inches (~216 ppi pixel density) Multitouch with Corning Glass DisplayYes
Protection Corning Glass
Internal 16/32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM, WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth., NFC,  microUSB v2.0 with 1.2 MP camera for video calling.
The connectivity of the tablet listed on Google Play is not known but the makes available in foreign market sport both 3G and Wi-fi.

One more thing worth noting is that the camera shoots at only 720p which please remember other than the fact that this is a tablet and you cant make any calls.

If you wish to pre-order a piece please visit Google Play.  Please post your comments on the tablet

Vijay Prabhu

Both HTC One and BlackBerry Z10 fail to make grades

Both the phones were launched with much fanfare and both the phones are the proverbial last straw for the respective mobile manufacturers yet both have failed to make a dent in the world mobile market.  HTC One and BlackBerry Z 10 are going to be remembered for long time for being failures.  

The HTC One marketing team has acknowledged the slip in sales by hiking the marketing budget by 250 % for the next fiscal and going to ditch its once marquee tagline "Quietly Brilliant".  May be they have realised that instead of being quietly brilliant the phone has to be loud and brilliant.  Anyhow it has to make right kind of noises with the teenagers who are primary HTC One buyers.  

During past year the Taiwanese company has seen slippages in sales targets and that has affected its share price also.  The share price of the HTC corporation which was TWD630 a year ago in March 2012 is now languishing at TWD240.00.  The HTC One is a last ditch attempt from the company to regain the market share it had in 2011.  But so far the news is far from happy for the Taiwanese maker.   Its delivery schedule has also been hit by the issue of supply of Ultrapixel camera for HTC One and that in turn has hit it sales with the new buyers who have turned to Xperia Z or are waiting for Samsung S IV.

The HTC marketing team may sure hope to turn the clock back to 2011.  Blackberry too had pinned hopes on the BB10 operating system and the Z10 and Q10 phones from its stables which it released in February 2013.  But it is also facing problems both on delivery side and the sales.  Q10 is not going to be marketed in US as of yet and Z10 has failed to make an impact in the mobile arena.

The retailers in US have already announced that Z10 is a failure while despite cutting the price of Z10 in UK markets and giving deep discounts prior to its launch in US the sales are not that awe inspiring in UK.  Similar to HTC, Research In Motion the makers of Blackberry are also staring at the barrel in the stock markets.  The share price of RIM is languishing at $13.00 at the moment.

Both the devices are make or break for both the companies but as of yet they seem to be breaking the companies. Read the article on Gartner here to find out who came tops for Q1 2013.

Please post your comments on this article.

Vijay Prabhu

Xperia Z now accessible from behind the lock screen after iPhone and S III

The lock screen flaw disease now spreads to Sony Xperia Z and this one is the most easiest of them all.  A Sony user Scott Reed has upload the above video giving a complete tutorial but you dont need one in this case. 

After the Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy SIII and Note which were made accessible through the flaw in the lock screen, now Xperia Z, the latest phone from Sony stable is diagnosed with the same disease.  All you have to do is to press the emergency phone dialer.  Once the Phone dialer window comes up, press the following USSD command  *#*#7378423#*#* (or Service in simple English) on the phone’s emergency dialer. This USSD command serves to open up a various services menu that lets you view the status of the various sensors in the phone. Just find the NFC settings  and press NFC diagnostic test.  When the phone completes the test, press the home button on the screen's navigation bar and voila! you are into the phone.

Unlike iPhone or Samsung bug this one lets you access pretty much anything from the internal as well as external storage.  The real matter of concern is that Sony released a update fix for bugs on Xperia Z only yesterday for the 'sudden death' issue in the original phone software and somehow this one managed to escape from right under Sony Engineers noses.  This may be a routine lab test button which was left unattended by the engineers but has serious effects like allowing anybody to access your apps, photos, images and posting on your behalf.  

Anyhow now a days it is better to keep all your phones in physical lock and key rather than risk some flaw in it which may allow anybody access to privy information.  I would further suggest you to kindly not save any bank and personal information in form of notes or messages without inbuilt security software.

Do write in you comments on this security flaw.

Vijay Prabhu

Evernnote goes hi-tech for Android, version 5 has a camera, shortcuts and a new User Interface

All Android users rue about their Evernote edition not being at par with iOS devices can now breathe easy.  Evernote has just released version 5 for Android today on Google Play which is equal to the iOS version.  The shortcuts added in the App are not yet available in iOS.

If you were jealous about the advance Evernote on your friends iPhone, you need not be.  Evernote has made the Android App at par with iOS devices by launching the version 5.  The version which just hit the Google Play has a tweaked user interface.  The new features include a completely revamped camera button with which you can take several images and add them to a note all at once in one swipe.  Then there is a dedicated page camera button which helps you to get the best result out the hand written memos and drafts by giving you heavy contrast and removing any shadows.

But the most important feature is the shortcuts.  You just have to swipe left and you will be offered quick access to your recently and frequently used notes and notebooks.  Long pressing on a note will give you options for selection as you deem necessary.  Evernote has also given 1 year free premium service to the customers of Deutsche Telekom,  a service provider in Germany

Download the Version 5 here from Google Play.  Please post your comments regarding the App.

Vijay Prabhu

'X' Phone, Motorola and Google teaming up to take on S IV and Xperia Z

The Samsung Galaxy S IV and Sony Xperia Z have been launched, the Z has already been shipped by the manufacturers so can Motorola be expected to stay far behind.  The 'X' Phone to be manufactured by Motorola under assistance from Google which was rumoured to be out in July 2013 has been shelved and now Motorola and Google will be launching the 'X' Phone in November, 2013 according to the top mobile site Phonearena. 

Phonearena today reported that a tipster has tipped them of the 'X' Phone being launched in November, 2013.  Taking the front glass technology to a new high, the 'X' phone will feature a 4.8 inch sapphire glass.  This glass is supposed to 3 times harder than the Gorilla glass now available on high end smart phone.

Further it has been reported that the ends or the corners will have rubber bumpers to make them more sturdier and drop proof.  The rear panel will be made out of carbon fibre.  The 'X' phone will be powered by a quad core 2 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor.  

Motorola which has always been known for producing sturdy and durable phones will give this one a 4000 mAh battery.  That could be one of the highest rated batteries in current scenario.

The display is rumoured to be a end to end full HD display with sapphire glass and long lasting battery, which will suffice your movie watching or game playing needs.  Google and Motorola also plan to sport a Sony Exmore RS sensor which is currently powering Xperia Z.  The best news of all, especially for American buyers and users is that 'X' Phone will be sold unlocked.  Which means you can pick the phone up in the store and choose the carrier of your choice.  This may add costs to the phone but they may give US citizens liberty of choosing their own carrier.   This may act as a game changer in US markets which is dominated by sale of carrier locked phones. The recent DCMA ruling about unlocked phones being illegal may have influenced the thinking of the Google and Motorola guys.  

The rumours further add that the back panel of the phone may also be used to navigate the phone.  The Motorola logo which is behind may act as a button like in the Motorola backflip phone.  However as said above this may just be rumours but there is a 80 % chance that the above phone will see the light of the day by end 2013.  

Motorola wont take the competition lying down as Sony and Samsung surge ahead in smart phone sales.  Please post your comments on the article.

Vijay Prabhu

Wi-Fi hotspots on Maps for your Android Devices try OpenSignal

One of the greatest worries for Android users is finding a suitable, powerful wi-fi hotspot with good signal strength.  There are many options available on Google Play but this one needs a mention.  The OpenSignal by Open Signal Inc is a Free App for Android devices which helps you find the best signal available with a map and further you actually help the cause of other users by pinpointing a good signal and serving it to the community.

As you can see fro the about screenshot, it is just perfect if you are always mobile.  The other features of OpenSignal are as follows :

1. Signal compass points you in the direction your signal is coming from, just walk towards it! 

2.  Wi-Fi map allows you to easily locate nearby public networks. 

3. Coverage maps allow you see the best places for signal. 

4.  Speedtest feature allows you to see the true speed of your connection.

5. NetworkRank allows you to see which carrier is best in your area. 

6. Keep track of your monthly data, text and voice usage so you don’t go over your limit. 

7. See a map of local cell towers. 

8. Help improve our coverage and Wi-Fi maps. 

9. Share your findings on twitter and Facebook and compare your connection with other users. 

10. View your history of signal readings.

11. Save your data to an SV card. 

Check out the video below and see if you like it.  If you like it download it from Google Play now.  Please post your comments regarding this App.

Vijay Prabhu

Google has killed its Reader; try out Feedly the RSS reader

Image courtesy sbx.speakerboxpr.com

First of all R.I.P. Google Reader.  Goolge has killed Reader and it will go offline from 1.7.2013.  There are many diehard Reader addicts who started their day with the feeds brought to them by the Reader.  All is not lost for them.  As the saying goes one's loss is others gain.  Feedly is another reader which has a similar API to Reader and can be a good substitute for Reader.

The downfall of Google Reader has meant that you, the readers are left in dark without any suitable options for feed aggregator.  But help is underway from Feedly.  Feedly has already announced that it will clone the Google Reader API under its project Normandy.  It has also upgraded its bandwidth and added additional servers to take care of the rush of readers who have left Reader or are in the process of leaving it.  The only visible difference in the Feedly is that instead of the 'star' in Google Reader you have to press or tap 'save' in Feedly.  Plus you can share your feeds on Twitter, Facebook and email them as well.  If you are a Google Reader fanatic, you will be surprised by Feedly.  The interface is quite the opposite of Google Reader.  Where the Google Reader was simple and stark with just list of feeds and text, Feedly gives a much more responsive visual.  It updates your RSS feeds on the go and as of now has a sync button with Google Reader.  The UI has bright and vibrant colours, feeds in sans serif, images and layout like a magazine.  If you want to change the theme, the font or the colour, Feedly lets you do it.

Staring with Feedly is very easy.  You just have to log in using your Google account.  If you are a existing Google Reader subscriber, all you Feeds, folders, subscriptions 'starred' posts will automatically be imported.  If you are not a Reader user, you will have to subscribe to the post using  Explore panel on the right side.  You can either enter the website directly into the search window or browse through the vast collection of sites based on categories.  Once you have found out what you want to subscribe to you just have to hit the  "+" button and enter the category for it.

All said and done, Feedly is a good and suitable heir to the Google Reader throne.  It is available for your desktops, Android devices and iOS devices.  

Get your desktop version for Chrome here.  Android users get your version from Google Play here and iOS users get your Apple Store version here.

Please add my site feed to your Feedly so you can receive updates on the go.  My feed address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/ALittleSomethingAboutAlmostEverything/

Vijay Prabhu

Sunday Punch : The making of a Friendship Band

The making of a Friendship Band captured realtime by Vijay Deepak Chhibber.  Every year we tie a band on our friends wrist, but do we know who makes this band possible?  A look into the making of the band.  Click http://indianfilmbar.blogspot.in/2013/03/sundaypunch24032013.html to watch the video

Vijay Prabhu

The ultimate attack : deciphering the South Korean cyber attack on 20.3.2013

All of you must have read the cyber attack on the South Korean computer network on Wednesday, 20th.  Those who don't know or have not read about the attack, here is a brief summary of the attack.  Three major banks and another three television stations in South Korea were made to go offline simultaneously at 2 pm Seoul Standard Time.  The South Korean Government later confirmed that malware was used to bring the networks down.  The sheer ferocity of the attack brings out many questions.  Is a malware inspite of its viciousness capable of bringing such huge networks down.  Lets understand its working so as to know how it took down the networks

Three major banks and TV stations had to shut down their systems in view of a cyber attack.  While some of the banks reopened there websites within matter of hours, one of the largest tv networks of South Korea, KBS is still down with following message :

KBS World Radio

We extend our sincere apology for the inconvenience caused by the sudden stoppage of the KBS website service. We are currently making our best efforts to normalize the service as soon as possible. We ask you for your patience and understanding. We will do our utmost to provide a more stable service in the near future. Thank you very much.

The sheer ferocity of the attack has bewildered many, hackers and security analysts alike.  Earlier the South Korean Government blamed North Korea of perpetrating the attack but later it was deemed as a malware attack.  Now the news has filtered in that the malware that has been identified is not capable for causing such a huge attack without a very active co-ordination between hackers and with several malwares instead of one.  The latest update from South Korean Government points out that the attack has been pinpointed to a Chinese IP address but efforts are still on to identify the attackers.

The primary malware has been identified as the “wiper”, a strain of Windows trojan which first surfaced a year ago.  This malware or a similar version of it called Shamoon attacked the energy companies of Middle East last year.  However Director of Operations for Symantec Security Response Liam O'Murchu said that the malware, which his company identifies as Trojan.Jokra, has nothing remarkable about it. "Nothing stands out about it," he said.  The execution part or "dropper" portion of the attack, effectively how wiper was used to install in the networks is still being investigated.  Nobody seems to know how or what carried the wiper aboard it.

The malware first kills the execution files of antivirus and security software then starts overwriting the Master Boot Record of the computer.  It replicates the same procedure on any other drives and mapped drives that are available.  When this is done it attempts to overwrite the MBR of unmapped drives forcing the a shutdown of the computer.  This is done through execution of the shut down command line.  Once the machine is re-booted it is unusable till the time it is formatted or restored back to its original pre malware time.

What surprising is that this malware used sophisticated time execution system.  That is ising a clock call API to check the time and execute the code at the wanted time in this case  2pm on March 20 to trigger.  This looks like a controlled detonation of code.

How did it infect the Linux and Unix machines.  The wiper installed a trojan called Trojan.Jokra on these machines and used a script called mRemote.  Once the mRemote is hacked it finds the SSH connections of Linux machines and executed the batch commands for drive wipe on on Linux, Solaris, AIS, or HP-UX. On Linux, the commands delete the /kernel, /usr, /etc, and /home directories.

The malware is not as complex as other malwares available in the wild yet it was able to take down many of the networks in South Korea.  This is more frightening especially that South Korea is in a war like situation with is neighbour.  

Please write in your comments on the article.

Vijay Prabhu

Pandora now ad free and with unlimited streaming through 2013 on Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone users may know Pandora, it is one of the best services for music lovers across the world.  Due to low penetration of Windows Phone, you may expect the big boy Microsoft to churn out some goodies for users all through 2013 and a Advertising free Pandora is one of them.  The Microsoft on 21st updated the new and handsome Pandora with unlimited streaming access all through 2013.

Pandora allows you to stream audio from your favourite radio station be it music or comedy.  Pandora is a one stop station for all. Now that it is ad free and gives you unlimited access, if you have a Windows Phone 8, this is a must have App.  Even for non music fans this may just be a good way to pass your time.  The updated Pandora has the following :

• Enjoy ad-free streaming music for free through 2013, with no monthly streaming limit
• Pin your favorite stations to the Start screen for one-touch access 
• See  what song is currently playing on your Live Tile 
• Launch Pandora in Kid’s Corner and explicit content is instantly filtered
• Access a recent stations page and easily see your current favorites
• Log in using your existing account or create a new one
• Create up to 100 stations 
• Manage stations: create, delete, and add variety to your stations
• Customize your shuffle settings
• Fine tune your stations by thumbing tracks up or down
• Go to the Store to buy songs and albums
• Filter explicit content
• Turn on higher-quality playback
Download the Pandora from Windows Phone store now.  Please post your comments on the App.

Vijay Prabhu

Tired of playing Angry Birds and Temple Run on your Android, try this one for size

If you remember in good old days we used play Pac Man on our TV.  Now a days arcade games are all but forgotten but Namco has brought to you Pac Man + Tournament.  The Tournament has been added in the latest update.  The game has got a virtual joystick at the bottom of the screen.  So if you are tired with playing the Angry birds Friends, the Angry Birds Seasons  and and Temple Run, give it a try. 

Get the game here from Google Play.

Vijay Prabhu

Dark Horse Comics are available for Android users

When I was a kid, I was hooked to the tales of Phatom and Mandrake the Magician which was published in India by Indrajaal comics.  As I grew up I become a fan of Archie.  Like me millions of kids and teenagers are hooked to comic books.  Through my earlier post I had already given details of Marvel Comics unlimited for iOS users.  Now you can enjoy you Jedi and Hellboy by Dark Horse Comics for your Android phones.

The Samsung Note and Galaxy alongwith the Nexus make pretty good readers for comics.  So like manna from heaven for lovers of the Star Wars, Hellboy, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics the Dark Horse Comics gives you vast array of comics.

Dark Horse is available in Australia, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, UK, Russia, US, Mexico and our own India at a promotional price.  The collection is good and if you are a comic book addict this one is a must have for you.

Please get the App from Google Play now.  The App is free and some of the comics are priced as low as $0.99 (Rs.55.00)

Please post your comments on the article.

Vijay Prabhu