HTC Thunderbolt Review !!

I have been using HTC Thunderbolt since April 2011 and it is definitely THE King of Smartphones. I had a choice between Thunderbolt and iPhone and finally decided to purchase the Thunderbolt running on the Verizon 4GLTE network. Just a quick note here, Verizon's 4GLTE network is definitely super fast and data transfer, videos, music streaming is smooth with absolutely no buffering. Here are some of the Pros and Cons of HTC Thunderbolt

 PROS:

1) Screen Size: 4.3 inch screen is neither too big nor too small and reading or making notes on the phone is quite easy without straining your eyes. Remember, you can zoom in and zoom out on any article and it auto fits itself to the screen. I find this feature very helpful (This is not possible on my Galaxy Tab, where if you zoom, you then have to scroll left, right, up and down to view the article). Screen size is also perfect for making video calls using Skype, Tango, Google Hangouts !!!

 2)4G LTE: This was supposed to be the first phone capable of connecting to Verizon's 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. There is no doubt that Thunderbolt and 4GLTE form a potent combination delivering high speed data transfer, fast streaming of movies and music without having to wait. I have actually watched some live sports events through websites and there is hardly a time when I would see "Buffering" during the video. This is, again, possible due to Verizon's network but Thunderbolt is the first phone to take advantage of LTE.

 3) Camera: 8MP back camera and 1.3 MP front camera makes this a great smartphone to have. The camera quality is amazing and I have already taken thousands of photos through my phone. Here is an example of a picture I took at sunset.

I have taken quite a few videos with the phone as well and here is an example of a live sporting event. It might not be the best when compared to a better CAMERA, but it is definitely one of the best among the current smartphones. iPhone didn't have a 8MP camera in April 2011. The front and back camera is a great feature to have especially during video calling. The picture clarity is amazing and I use Skype very often through HTC Thunderbolt.

 4) Android Market: This is an ever growing area for Android phones with loads and loads of apps for almost anything that you need. Android team does their bit by even providing some good training materials for people who want to write code for Android apps. I have been using the following apps regularly; Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Mashable, Engadget, TOI, Entrepreneur, Foursquare, Viber, SKYPE, LinkedIn, Google + and many more. Android application development will surely provide one of biggest opportunities for programmers to make money as Android phones already have the highest market share and it keeps growing everyday!!! I would recommend the SwiftKey X keyboard for anyone with Android smartphone. This is probably the best Android Keyboard App in the market with Artificial Intelligence capabilities!!

 Just to round off with some more great features, HTC Thunderbolt is now running 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS. This is again up-gradable to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). When I purchased this phone, it was running Android Froyo (2.2) version which was now upgraded to Gingerbread (2.3.4). The phone comes with 32GB, yes, 32GB SD card installed in addition to phone memory. That is a lot of storage space on a smartphone. Most of my apps are now stores on the SD card freeing up my phone memory.

 CONS:

1) Battery: There has been a vast improvement in the battery through the OS upgrades but still connecting through 4G LTE network does consume a lot of battery. If you are going to be connected to 4G all the time, I am sure you'd have to charge your phone at least twice a day. Ice Cream Sandwich OS upgrade might improve the power management capabilities, but currently it is surely a concern.

2)SD Card slot: Most of the Thunderbolt owners have a hard time opening the phone to remove the SD card. There is no real need to remove the card but if someone really wants to transfer information from the card without using the wires, it'll take you some time to get the card out.

3) Heavy: Thunderbolt is slightly heavier than iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S II but I don't think it's a big issue personally !!

 From my point of view, I will definitely recommend this phone. The price has reduced considerably and unless you want Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy S II, there is no other competing phone with so many features along with the ease of usability !!

Chris Martin Career Stats

Chris Martin scored another duck (4-12-11), his 30th career duck (0) in 90 innings. A world Record. This career graph shows................

Tornado trouble !!



June 1st,2011 !! As seen from my window !!  Tornado Clouds



Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

Tablets are flavor of the season and 2011 will see almost all of the major tech companies selling them from $200 (Zenithink 10.1” Android 2.1) to $1099 (ASUS Eee Slate). While Ipad was first to come out with the tablet in 2010, Samsung’s Galaxy tab had managed a good share of the market as well. After researching for almost 2 months I decided to purchase the Galaxy Tab. Having used it for over a month now, I am more than happy with my decision. Here’s a quick round up of why I personally like the tab from an end users functional perspective without talking about the technical specifications.

Ease of use: There is absolutely no reason to actually have a user manual. The Galaxy tab is easy to use even if one has not used an android device before. You have all the apps on the screen if you need, adding more apps to the main screen is as easy as dragging it from the main menu. Hold on to an app for a while and drag it to the bin to delete. Though I have seen an android device before, I think the layout and structure will be very easy for anyone using it even for the first time.

Quick Startup: It is much quicker to even switch it on (you don’t have to switch it off) and start using everything as compared to a laptop. My laptop usage has reduced considerably. Skype is still better on a Laptop along with remote desktop connection, but I can do everything else on the tab.

Huge Android Market: Access to the android market has definitely increased the sales of the tab. It gives the user thousands of apps to choose from and most of the free ones are great as well.  Some of which I access daily are GTalk, NDTV, Financial Times, Facebook, Twitter, NY Times, Weather Channel, Bus and Subway Map and some more. The ease with which one can get information even while travelling is surely a big plus. The bus map app is a personal favorite as I know exactly when I need to walk down and catch the bus on time. I can at least avoid waiting in -20 degree Celsius temperature for a bus.

Screen size and Tablet Size: This is a big advantage. Most of the above features are available on the DROID phones and I am assuming they will be there on the other smart phones. But this size (7 inch screen) makes it much better to use most of the applications. You’ll struggle to read news or other information on your phone and you’ll have to keep zooming for Facebook or Twitter or even for your email. The other advantage is that the tablet size is just apt enough to hold in one hand and light enough in terms of weight.

FLASH PLAYER: There is a reason to mention this in capital letters. I tested my galaxy tab by watching Cricket (India – SA ODI series) and Tennis (Australian Open 2011) Live and it worked very well. This was one factor that made me purchase the galaxy tab initially against the Ipad. You cannot watch or play any flash related media on Ipad. Most of the sports events that I watch will stream via a website with a flash player and it would make no sense for me to buy an Ipad on which I cannot view these events.

Camera: Another factor that differs from the Ipad. Ipad as we know does not have a camera as of now. Ipad 2 might have a camera or two but the first version definitely has none. Galaxy tab has a rear and a front facing camera and so far I have enjoyed the camera quality. The video recordings look quite clear and sharp for a tab.

These are some of the reasons why Galaxy tab works better for me as against the Ipad. I am sure Ipad has its share of users who can do a lot with it as well. I believe apple will lose some of its market share to these android powered devices at least until it comes out with the Apple Ipad 2.

A tale of two captains: Ricky Ponting and Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Ricky Ponting and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are now two of the greatest captains in terms of the success ratio, but wait, there is one big difference. While India continue to prove why they are the number 1 side in the world with more victories abroad, Australia’s graph continues to have a downward slide!! Ricky Ponting’s success ratio has come down considerably in the past two years which is also clear from the fact that Australia is now ranked 5^th in Test Cricket. Ponting’s own batting form has let him down and stress is taking its toll on one of Australia’s greatest batsman.

While the ashes may not be Ponting’s worst series in terms of the runs scored (India ‘01 was worse), Australia’s inability to win matches and series as frequently as they did before, is adding to his trouble. I personally don’t think he has changed as a player, he still plays his favorite pull shot with perfection, but his team has changed over the years. Some of the greatest cricketers that the world has ever seen have now retired and most of them are not easily replaceable. They were specialist for specific positions and responsibilities – Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Shane Warne, Michael Bevan, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist to name a few – who knew what was expected and played fearless cricket. While it has been a long time since the Waugh brothers played, the rest were all a part of a strong Aussie side under Ponting. Some of the current players including Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin have enough experience and skills but somehow are not able to pull of those famous wins.

The captain is only as good as his team when it comes to winning and Dhoni is now reaping the benefits of having a team that consists of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. These are big names having played for years together at almost all venues across the world. More importantly, they have had their share of losses and now know how to keep the winning habit going. To the world of cricket, India is now what Australia used to be 5 years ago. There has been a lot of talk in the media and from former players that in a few years time, India will face the same issues that the Aussies are facing now. It could be true but I am not convinced about that. Each of our players wont retire at the same time and the likes of Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina, Pujara, Kohli, and  Rohit Sharma will be core of the Indian team 5 years from now.

Dhoni is a good leader and his batting responsibilities are considerably lesser as compared to Ponting. From now onwards, every time Ponting fails, you’ll hear more people going against him, and every time Australia fail, calls for his head will only grow stronger. His team mates are showering him with full support in the media while some of the Aussie former greats feel Ponting’s time is up. It is a big achievement for a cricketer to be a part of a world cup winning squad; Ricky Ponting has been a part of it twice and as a captain. While this surely would be a highlight of his career, he will, unfortunately, also be remembered for having lost the ashes thrice as a captain. Injury has forced him out of the Sydney test and he’ll be hoping from the sidelines, for an Aussie win.

Australia are in danger of losing one of their big heroes !!

Black Tour for the Black Caps

So Daniel Vettori is planning a vacation and the destination is ….  definitely not the Indian subcontinent. In the last couple of months, NZ skipper along with his Black Caps have played 10 One Day Internationals, or ODIs, distributed evenly between India and Bangladesh. Never would they have imagined the outcome of all those 10 ODIs. NZ managed to lose each of them and while the 5-0 result in this series shouldn’t be surprising, India did offer them a chance by resting all their key players.

So what’s wrong with the Kiwis. They started out well in the test series against India after a 5-0 humiliation against Bangladesh, and convincingly drew the first two games. Surely the pitches weren’t helpful either and Harbahajan Singh’s comment that “ The pitch curator should get a contract to build national highways” sums it up appropriately. In the third test though, India were back and shut out NZ in an expected manner. A 1-0 series loss didn’t look to bad for the Black caps though.

The ODIs again showed the inability of the kiwi batsman to adapt in foreign conditions like the subcontinent. A 5-0 loss to Bangladesh was purely as a result of the lack of experience of playing against top spinners. Shakib Al-Hasas and Abdur Razzaq have been bowling well for Bangladesh and NZ hardly got runs against them. Similarly in the first three games against India, their batsman hardly challenged India with a total and when they finally did in the fourth ODI, Yusuf Pathan had other ideas. India were definitely playing a second string side but were still expected to win all after Bangladesh’s 5-0 win. The fifth game just summed up one of New Zealand’s most disappointing seasons in recent years. All out in 27 overs and India had won even before a regular innings break! Well, they’ll soon be playing another Asian side in Pakistan and while I don’t expect them to lose all again, Pakistan could prove to be dangerous opponents.

And just when they’d had enough of the Asian opponents, Vettori and his team will back in two months time for the biggest tournament of all; World Cup 2011. Again they’ll be playing on Asian pitches, and again they’ll be facing a strong, vociferous and partisan home crowd. The good thing for NZ is that nothing can get worse from now on. The other good thing is that they now have enough experience of these conditions and should be better players when they arrive back for World Cup. At least I hope to see them start winning some games and do a bit better in the World Cup.

 I am not sure of the statistics, but I think this could be the first time ever that INDIA was unbeaten at home!! It has been a great year for Indian cricket and its surely time for India to win a series in SA while continuing their great form in 2010 !!!

IPL Player Retention !!! 2011

Indian Premier League, more commonly known as IPL, will most likely be held for the fourth year in a row in 2011. This 4^th edition of IPL is scheduled to be held within a week from the day of the World Cup 2011 final in Mumbai. Some would call it wrong timing and cry over the tight schedule; others might call it an overdose of cricket, while some like me wouldn’t mind it at all!! There is definitely a big interest in the IPL and the fourth edition comes on the backdrop of a lot of controversial happenings right from the accusations against Lalit Modi to the expulsion of the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. Both these franchises might still play in IPL4 from what I gather based on the latest news articles. IPL has only grown ever since its inaugural tournament in 2008. Fans packed the stadiums across the nation and I can tell you from my first-hand experience that all of the home games for Mumbai Indians were sold out during the first edition (I can safely assume it was the same during IPL 2010, IPL 2009 was held in South Africa due to the security issues coming out of the Mumbai attack).

Come 2011, IPL will now have two new franchises in Sahara Pune Warriors and Kochi. Kochi has just about managed to meet the BCCI deadline after agreeing to resolve their internal conflicts related to the ownership pattern. The deadline for retaining players is now over and some of the franchises have surprised us by not including the big players while Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stuck to their most trusted players. Mumbai Indians have now retained Sachin Tendulkar (There was no question about it), Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh (Only 4 players are allowed to be retained). CSK have kept Dhoni, Raina, Murli Vijay and Albie Morkel.  This retention means Mumbai Indians and CSK have now half of their spending power to buy the rest of the players. Mumbai Indians always wanted to retain more players and I’ll be surprised to see if they don’t bid aggressively for Zaheer Khan and Saurabh Tiwary. While these two franchises will bid for players with less money in the bag, Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have not retained even one. These franchises definitely have the spending power but I am not sure if it is worth losing Adam Gilchrist, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Yuvraj Singh, Saurav Ganguly ( kolkata might lose a large chunk of their fan base if he doesn’t play for KKR), Andrew Symonds from the squad. Dravid and Kumble have been let into the auction as well by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The player auction, scheduled for January 2011, will be highly interesting with some big players available and two new teams in the battle as well. With Pune and Kochi being bought for $370 million and $333 million respectively, IPL is well on its way to being the biggest and richest sporting league in the world. (It has always been the richest cricket league anyways and was valued at $2 billion a year ago). I hope we don’t have any other controversies related to IPL and would like to see IPL get bigger and better!!