Akshay Shah

Apple does it! It fixes all the overdue minor annoyances and delivers some new outstanding features in iPhone 3.0. I was following this live on Gizmodo and Engadget. Thanks guys, you were awesome. iPhone 3.0 releases this summer and it’s a free update for all iPhone users. Here are some of the features which stand out among the 100-odd announced by Apple: Cut, Copy & Paste: It got the loudest cheers and is number one on my list. Spotlight search: Search across applications. MMS A2DP Bluetooth: Feel free to use your Bluetooth Headsets. Push Notification: Apple can push badge, text or audio updates without running any processes in background. Peer-to-Peer: Connectivity among iPhones and iPod Touch for playing games, sharing contacts and so on. Turn by Turn: Enables you to get turn by turn direction on your phone. Landscape Keyboard: Bigger keyboard with more space between keys now available for use across applications. Voice Memos Third-Party Accessory Apps: Manufacturers can built an interface to link a any device to iPhone using the connector. For example, you can connect a sphygmomanometer to the iPhone connector which communicates with the app built to keep track of your blood pressure. In-App purchasing: Allows developer the freedom to charge for an additional level in a game or an additional city guide in a Travel application. More: Forward SMS Delete individual SMS Mail multiple photos Auto-fill WiFi autologin Anti-phising Enhanced Calendar Tethering: Consists of 2 parts - Client side has been implemented in 3.0. Talks on for Carrier side implementation.Update: iPhone 3.0 preview event video posted online by Apple - snipurl.com/e23r2

I started reading the book The Black Swan yesterday (thanks to a friend who got bored of the book and lent it to me) and I came across this beautiful, beautiful concept - about idea and labour jobs. The two can be classified by citing an example which involves J.K. Rowling and a baker. Surprised? So was I. As we all know, J.K. Rowling had come up with this magical fantasy adventure series of books - Harry Potter (personally, a fan). Coming back to the point, if the book sells one copy or a million copies, the effort required from the author is the same. She had to generate the idea. The idea can be replicated with the help of printing press for mass distribution of books. So, it requires a one-time effort from the author. This type of job is classified as an Idea-generating one.In contrast, the baker who prepares the cake has to work hard on each and every  cake that he is going to prepare. His effort is required on each and every cake sold by the bakery. This kind of job is a Labour job.Similarly, USA mostly exports IT labour jobs to India. The important point here is that the idea jobs are scalable - once you have an idea it can be mass distributed or replicated using technology but labour jobs are not scalable. A person would be physically required to do the job. So, this is what gives USA the creative edge as they work on the scalable and thinking parts of the project.My previous project resembled an IT labour job-project. I never felt that way for my other projects but I did not like my previous project. I always knew the reason for it but I could never explain it as impeccably to people. I could not put words to it. But now I CAN and so, here it is.  THANK YOU Taleb!

My old theme took a lot of time to come through as I had designed it from scratch but it was hampering the readability of the site. So, I was thinking of designing a new theme based on Apple’s site. Fortunately, I just bumped into this theme by Pagelines and there was no way I could resist using it. So, here it is- the new theme. Feel free to comment ;).

After about 6 months of iPhone usage, here is a list of my favourite free applications which I found very useful and productive. Feel free to share your favourite iPhone apps in comments. Fring: One IM to rule them all. Facebook: It does what it says- helps you stay easily connected with your Facebook friends. Shozu: Upload photos to over 50 sites. Twitterrific: Post tweets from the beautifully designed Twitter client. RDP Lite: Remotely connect to your Windows system (PC). Dictionaire: A Free dictionary- very useful for quick reference. Shazam: Tag songs playing in the background. It just works. Instapaper: Save web pages for offline reading. Stanza: Read e-books on the go. Snaptell: Snap a picture of cover of book, DVD, CD or video games and get info about the product. Evernote: An excellent alternative to in-built Notes with support for Text/Photo/Voice notes. Wordpress: Check out the full review here. Remote: Control iTunes and Apple TV from your iPhone. VLCRemFree: Control VLC from your iPhone. FilesLite: Store and view MS Office & other format files using this app. WhatTheFont: Snap and find the font. Doodler: MS Paint for iPhone. Flashlight: No description required. NYTimes: A native app for New York Times newspaper. Backgrounds: Get access to over 5,000 wallpapers.

Here is an easy way to link to iPhone apps: L2AppFrom the Developer (Normalkid, LLC) : “In messageboards, instant messaging, and twitter, this tool makes it easier to quickly link to an app without looking it up in iTunes.”

Dev - the administrator of the popular iPhone India Blog was courteous enough to post my story and credit me for the same on his blog. Link to the article : snipurl.com/bt7bv

First and foremost, I would like to truly appreciate the work of all the developers who have put in a lot of time, energy and effort in designing and developing the games- especially the one’s who have made it available for free applause.Here are some of the games which I truly loved and enjoyed playing on what is proving to be my (and lot of other people’s) preferred gaming platform.Free Games Trace - The best full free game on iPhone. 2079 - A shoot ‘em up space commander style game with online leaderboard to keep track of scores globally. Dactyl -  Simple and quick finger tap game. Touch Hockey: FS5 - Good replacement for Ice Hockey in the malls ;). PapiJump - Simple jump game.Paid Games Rolando - One of the best games on iPhone. I enjoyed this one as much as Mario on Sega. Hero of Sparta- 300 + God of War on iPhone. Fastlane Street Racing - Blows you away with the amazing graphics. Touch Physics - Addictive 50 levels (free update, earlier 30) for 99 cents. True value for money.Free Games (Lite Version) Adrenaline Pool Lite - A cool online multi-player pool game. Functional even with the Lite version. Ability to chat while playing is an additional bonus. Pac-Man Lite - A nice retro game but lite version is limited to only one stage. Also, the controls are not very responsive. Labyrinth Lite Edition - Looks realistic and excellent use of accelerometer.

Got a new T-shirt from Cafepress. It was shipped within the suggested time frame and I am happy with the quality of the T-shirt. The design looks cool. Check out the pic here.

Checking out the iPhone’s Wordpress App. Offers the option to locally save the draft if the Internet connection is not available. It also has a host of other customisable and useful options. Pretty nifty when you want to post something longer than 140 characters on the go. Just quit to check if it can save drafts when interrupted and it did not disappoint- wonderful. Hopefully this is the first of the many posts on my blog coming from the iPhone.

Amidst the ‘BIG’ change promised by Obama, I have made a small change myself. I have moved my old blog from Blogger to Wordpress and completely revamped the theme. There are some CSS issues with IE that need to be fixed. I recommend that you use Firefox. Please let me know your feedback/suggestions on the new ‘A’ Club theme.God Bless all the people below who have taken out time and shared their knowledge/work online for free: Alvaro Guzman’s tutorials Billy Argel’s fonts SXC’s free photo library Jenn B’s brushes Urbangiraffe’s Wordpress tutorials Official Wordpress Docs Jeffrey Way’s tutorials Psdfan’s tutorials Deke McClelland Tyler Durden

I had protected my Apple iPhone 3G with ScratchGard. After 2 weeks of usage, it had black marks imprinted on it. I was afraid that the screen was affected. So, I removed the scratch guard. To my relief, the black marks were on my scratch guard. I got a new one and the same problem persisted after two weeks of usage- so this was not a one off problem.I mailed the ScratchGard team (twice) with the screenshots of the problem in their product. I did not hope that I would get any response but I did get a reply from their Sales team to scan and send them the invoice.  After completing the formalities they send me 2 scratch guards (as I had bought two) and all this was done within a span of 2 days. Amazing! As per their request, I have sent the defective product back to them so that they can check if it is a counterfeit product or if there is some issue with it.Cheers to their entire team for their quick and effective response.

A year and a half ago, I had predicted that the iPhone would sell and it did not disappoint. Finally, I got my hands on this handheld computer. It’s been 45 days with the device and I am loving it. So, what is it? It’s a Mobile…It’s an iPod…It’s a Superdevice. It’s a multifunction device. Some of it’s salient features are: Mobile phone iPod Gaming device Internet connectivity (Wi-Fi, 3G, Edge) GPS Navigator Appstore with over 10,000 applications E-book readeriPhone is creating waves everywhere, here is what the press had to say:“iPhone wins top business smartphone satisfaction marks”“Lower income consumers drive iPhone growth”“Demand for iPhone developers up 500%”“iPhone tops business rankings, steals Nokia market share”“#1 iPhone take one step forward. Not so fast RAZR”“iPhone only half as good at breaking as Blakberry”“iPhone is now the top iPhone in Q3”“Apple’s iPhone makes inroads into corporate market”“Study: Apple iPhone twice as reliable as RIM Blackberries”“Dallas Morning News: RIM’s new Blackberry still can’t touch the iPhone”“Canalys: Apple now world’s #2 smartphone vendor; iPhone outsells all Windows Mobile units combined”

Love at first sightCirca 2007 - Imagine, Bangalore Leopard launched. Immediate visits made to check out the demo. Although Leopard Macs were not available, I fell in love with the Macbook. With Apple, it’s possible.The Wait2008 - Macworld, San FranciscoAmidst all the rumours about the launch of a new slim notebook which made me wait, Macbook Air was launched. Lacking key features, Macbook cleared the Air. Angel & JusticeApril 2008, MumbaiAngel V to the rescue, yet again. Macbook arrived and the feeling of holding this white ethereal beauty in my arms could be second only to embracing Charlize Theron ;). It was well worth the wait as I got my hands on the recently upgraded Macbook configuration. Desktop Experience - RedefinedJune 2008, Somewhere in HyderabadTwo Months. Amazing visuals, user friendly interface, no crashes, no anti-virus, superb search engine and productive Mac-only software have justified my faith in Apple.

I came across this real story on one of my friends blog. Read it, feel it and let it hurt enough to do something about it:http://sriharshagrama.blogspot.com/2008/03/heart-touching-story.html

Watching a movie with friends is a last minute contingency plan to enjoy a weekend and it works most of the times. On a certain lazy weekend afternoon, we decided to go for a movie. Rushing through the bustling Hyderabad traffic, we made it to the theatre just in time. As soon as the availability of the ticket was confirmed, the person behind the counter asked my friend to stand right in front of the ticket counter. A tad confused, my friend followed the instructions given to him; only to realize later that the ticket was having his photo printed on it. The photo was taken via a webcam and thereby the instructions. The movie ticket was bar coded and the bar code is scanned upon entering the movie hall thereby registering your entry into the movie hall. It is an extremely efficient way of keeping track of people and also an interesting use of technology in a theatre.

Nobody launches their product the way Apple does. Speculation, curiosity, teasers, rumours and publicity are some of the characteristic traits that one would associate with the launch of an Apple product. Apple has done it again; iPod, iPhone, Leopard and now Air.Apple yet again manages to showcase its design supremacy and prowess with Air. Sexy, sleek and attractive – this beauty has got all the right curves.Targeted at the Ultra-portable notebook segment, it is bound to raise eyebrows and has got the looks to kill. It lacks an optical drive and expandability of the device is a concern but I have to agree with the advertisement, there’s definitely something in the Air.

It’s been about a week, away from Bangalore and I am feeling nostalgic about Bangalore. I have highlighted some of the important things below:Super hit bus~Colourful bus with two displays, playing regional movies with loud music blaring from multiple speakersBargaining for fare with auto-rickshaw drivers10 people sharing a single auto-rickshawEating in Andhra mess once in a while, as though it was a luxury Passing time during the weekends @ Forum mallCribbing about the exorbitant movie ticket rates, yet ending up watching movies @ PVRShopping @ MarathalliTravelling in CabsExperimenting with food on weekends

Once upon a time, in a house far far away…somewhere in the dark dungeons of Bangalore (Electronics city), an attempt was being made to successfully complete a task. The memories of the last encounter were still fresh in the mind and the consequences had turned out to be lethal then. The odds were not in favour but he had been the chosen one. There was no choice; often having no choice gets the best out of the people.Chanting the Spartan law ‘No retreat, no surrender’ under his breath, he undertook the task. Sweaty palms, heavy breathing and extreme concentration were conspicuous. Amid the tension, there was a minor goof-up in proceeding with the task as per the strategy.Finally, after a strenuous two minutes, Maggi was ready.

It’s been long time since I have posted. I am going to try and post at least once in a month.Agent Tyler was in search of good headphones and was looking for headphones which would help to get the best out of the Apple iPod.The best place to start looking for reviews is on the Internet. After a lot of Googling, I fixed my mind on buying the Sennheiser HD-201 as it had the perfect price/performance ratio. So, the first visit was to Apple showroom in Forum but unfortunately they did not have HD-201.The sales guy at Apple said that they did not take orders for Sennheiser. So, I had to find another dealer for the same. Back to the Internet, I found the list of dealers on www.sennheiser.com/india . I called each and every dealer and fortunately one of them had HD-201. Off we went (Bharath accompanied me) and after a few problems in finding the place, we finally reached the showroom and I got my hands-on HD-201. The pack was sealed and the dealer would not let me try it out. It was a calculative risk that I took (based on all the reviews on the Internet) and it paid off. Thanks to all those who had taken out the time to write the reviews for it. I have been listening to music ever since on this beauty and it ROCKS! Superb crystal clear sound and with a little bit of tweaking of the iPod EQ (thanks to Bharath for that tip) it sounds even better than the Bose entry level Headphones which were being sold at a premium. I am no audiophile but the sound quality is as good as it gets.All in all, a great buy if you want quality sound at an affordable price.