PROS & CONS OF MI3:

After using this beastly device for few days I am posting the Pros and cons of Xiaomi MI3 here to help you out if you have no idea about this device. These are completely my views which I have experienced while using this amazing piece of technology. This review is not a paid one and coming out from a Xiaomi MI3 real user. The only motive of this post is to educate you.

PROS:

• Excellent and top notch build quality, volume keys & power buttons are very well built. No cluttering sound.
• Touch is super responsive. Sometimes I feel that on mere pointing finger at it (just before touching the screen) it works.
• Display is of great quality. I am amazed by its clarity and crispiness. Brightness is perfect.
• Camera is superb. Both daylight as well as lowlight photography is of great quality (If you know how to take pictures). HDR pictures are very vivid. Motion blur images are breathtaking. The front camera is also very good though the front camera of my Moto X is better.
• Processing is super fast. Great for multitasking. Whatever you throw at this monster you will not experience any lag at all. Plays HD games flawlessly.
• Call quality is good. Never experienced any call drops even after using the reputed ReliencE mobile. 
• 3G works flawlessly as well as WiFi and NFC.
• Music on the headphone is of awesome quality and the output gets optimized depending on the headphones. (I am using Cowon EM1 which is also a master piece though most of you do not know about it)
• Battery backup is wonderful. Mixed usage is giving me 1.5 days of backup. I make and receive 10-20 calls, check 20-30 emails, periodic whatsapp, facebook and moneycontrol app usage daily. I also click 5-10 images. Watch HD videos. Charging is also quick.
• MIUI is worthy of praise. It can be considered as cream of Android. I personally hate any customizations and loved stock Android till Moto X. After that I bought MI3 and after using MIUI i am very happy. It contains all the usefull functions which we need from our phone and have to install extra softwares for that. updates are frequent and this shows how serious these guys are. On getting notified about bugs they push OTA updates to fix it.
  The best facility which i have experienced with this phone is its ability to use internet from PC via data cable. Good for huge sized updates.
• Rs 13999 for this amazing piece of hardware and technology.

Though there are no demerits of Xiaomi MI3 but still for arguments sake I am putting up these few minor drawbacks which does not matter much.

CONS:

• Its big for a 5 inch phone.
• After using HTC One having boom sound, I noticed that the sound of Xiaomi is not quite high but this can not be considered as a deal breaker.
• High definition gaming makes the device hot. But it is normal for a high end processor to heat up on full utilization. Snapdragon 800 devices are like that.
• Slippery. Carelessness can cost you a lot.
• No extra memory card slot.
• No 4G support.

Nokia N1 

Introducing the Nokia N1 – first nokia android tablet announced on 18 November 2014. Inside its unibody aluminium design which is available in Natural Aluminum or Lava Gray colours, it is powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 processor clocked at 2.3GHz and combined with 2GB RAM. The graphics is handled by the powerful PowerVR G6430 GPU. As of now there is no microSD card support for this Nokia android tablet but the internal storage is stuffed with decent 32GB. The Nokia N1 has a display of 7.9 inch having resolution of 2048 x 1536 px and runs on the latest Android L with their customized launcher which is known as Nokia Z launcher. The Nokia N1 is currently priced at $249 which is approximately Rs 15,000 and is supposed to be hitting Indian market next year.

Nokia N1 Specifications

• Operating System : Android 5.0 Lollipop with Nokia Z launcher
• Processor : 2.3 GHz Intel 64-bit Atom Processor Z3580
• Display : 7.9-inch, 2048 x 1536 resolution, Gorilla Glass 3, IPS panel with LED backlight, Fully Laminated zero air-gap display
• Memory : 2GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage
• Power Backup : 5300 mAh battery
• Main Camera : 8MP with autofocus, Full HD video recording
• Front Camera : 5Mp fixed focus
• Micro USB 2.0 with a Type C reversible connector
• Sensor : 6-axis Gyro + Accelerometer
  Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi

whatsapp oN computer

Today I have found out how to use whatsapp from computer. As I was going through the update log in my Xiaomi MI3 phone and was checking out the auto update list which starts updating once I turn on the wifi, I saw that on the whatsapp’s update page ongoogle apps store it is highlighted that there is a feature which will enable you to use whatsapp in computer. I was amazed by this as I hardly find time for replying my friends on real-time and on several occasions I forget to reply at all. This is very embarrassing. Now that I have seen this new feature I quickly set everything accordingly and it worked flawlessly. If you are looking for the same just follow some simple steps. Let me walk you through the process of how to use whatsapp from computer.

• First and foremost you have to update your Whatsapp to the latest version. An update is there of around 19 MB for Android smartphones and 17 MB for the Windows phone. Your version must be latest in order to use this feature.
• After update is complete open a Google chrome tab in your PC.
• Visit web.whatsapp.com and you will see a web page with a QR Code. 
• Open the updated whatSapp on your phone and navigate to menu / whatsapp web. You will find a QR Code scanner ready.
• Scan the QR Code on the webpage and your desktop will be activated and connected to whatsapp. You will get all the whatsapp notifications and messages along with contact lists on desktop.

The only way to log in via PC is by scanning the QR Code as whatsap cant send you any verification SMS to the desktOp. The webpage will work nicely as long as the cellphone is powered on and is connected to internet. Failing which it will not work. The technology behind whatsapp is very simple. It has a queue per user, not a server which hosts your inbox contents permanently. The messages sent to a user are queued for delivery and once it is delivered it’s flushed out and is no more available on the server.  That limits the possibility of using whatsapp via multiple clients. That’s why it needs to sync with your phone, and if your phone dies, it will either result in a broken experience for the phone, or overhead on the whatsapp queues which will abuse the server and lower the efficiency and hence hamper the experience.  Too techy to comprehend ? Its simple. Keep the phone charged up and connected to internet to use whatsapp from computer.

Moto G to Android Lolipop

If you want to update Moto G to Android Lolipop in India, then follow the simple steps discussed below. The OTA (over the air) update for Moto G first generation as well as second generation rolled out today. The indian motorola devices had Android kitkat pre installed and this OTA update brought some significant changes in the form of Android Lolipop. The new cool mobile OS from google. In Android 5.0 Lollipop Google has made a lot of changes. Both with the user interface as well as the feel, animations, super cool effects, and the size of icons. They are naming the UI as MATERIAL DESIGN. Everything is more simple, bold, easier to understand, and extremely smooth. The contact list looks nicer. The icons look different and good. There is also a nice game given along with the logo animation which can be found at SYSTEM > ABOUT > ANDROID VERSION (press this option 5 times). This game is very simple but damn frustrating and addictive. Overall, the update looks nice and great. This is one of the biggest UI redesigns in recent Android history.

Steps to Update Moto G to Android Lolipop in India

• Connect your phone to internet. Preferably WiFi or 3G.
• Open settings and go to ABOUT PHONE
• You will see the SYSTEM UPDATE option in the list. Click it.
• Wait for sometime and then after the update is downloaded you will get an option INSTALL NOW. Click it and then the update will be applied.
• There will be a reboot and you will see an “optimizing apps” screen. It will take a moment and after it is done you will get the fresh OS in your phone.

Nerds may skip this post. This tutorial is for those who had never done anything like this and are afraid to proceed. Let me assure you that this step is 100% failsafe and unless you are extremely unlucky this will not create any problem. Only problem may arise is due to slow internet connection but like i said its better to use WiFi or 3G for the aforesaid purpose.

Xiaomi Mi Note price 

An amazing product is built from amazing components and once again Xiaomi is coming up with yet another excellent product – Xiaomi MI Note. In their Xiaomi Flagship Product Launch 2015 it was announced that there will be two devices coming up in the smartphone segment. Or to be precise in the phablet segment. This device is powered by a Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor having Adreno 330 GPU for its media intensive tasks. It has 3GB of RAM which is adequate to run applications without having to consider killing any apps from the memory in order to maintain smooth user experience. This device features a 3D curved Gorilla Glass 3 with metal frame. The device body is considered to be of top notch quality. Cheap plastic is always an embarrassment in case of flagship phones. May be because of this factor Xiaomi MI4 was not as much successful as Xiaomi MI3  but this note looks promising. The camera is not a big upgrade from their earlier flagship smartphones. A Sony 13MP camera with OIS is included which is capable of clicking decent images. A 4MP front snapper is there for some good quality selfies. The speakers are of good quality. The most important factor is battery backup. This device is packed with a powerful 3000mAh lithium-ion battery which takes advantage of the snapdragon’s Quick Charge 2.0 facility.

Xiaomi Mi Note price in India will be around Rs 25000 for 16GB variant and Rs 28000 for 64GB variant

Technical Specifications of Xiaomi Mi Note

• Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor, Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB RAM
• 5.7” Sharp/JDI Full HD display
• 3D curved Gorilla Glass 3 with metal frame
• Dual 4G SIM (micro/nano), Dual Standby
• Sony 13MP camera f/2.0, Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS)
• 4MP front camera with large 2-micron pixels
• Hi-Fi audio system, 24-bit/192KHz lossless playback support
• 3000mAh lithium-ion battery, Quick Charge 2.0

You can buy it by going to this link once it is available in flipkart.

tIPS to save more battery life with iOS8

You must be accustomed to the attractive features of iOS8 and also the repugnance of how these features drain out iPhone battery life. Here are some effective ways to guide you how to save more battery life with iOS8.

• Check and restrict the apps that drain the device’s battery life. With iOS8 you can see a detailed breakdown of which apps are exactly consuming maximum power of your device. All you got to do is go to Settings>General>Usage>Battery Usage.
• More apps these days can track your device location and these are among the biggest battery drainers.In order to ensure that you enable Location Services only when necessarily required,go to Settings>Privacy>Location Services. Some apps now have “While Using” option unlike earlier when you could only turn Location Services on or off for apps. For instance, when using Facebook, it will let you see nearby friends and post by location, but won’t let the social network send you push notifications of nearby frienda when the app is closed.
• The Share My Location option that enables you to share your current location with your contacts exhaustively drains battery as it constantly requires to be updated.To conserve battery,turn it off by going to Settings>Share My Location when not necessary.
• Enabling Handoff allows you to seamlessly move between your Apple devices. Incase you do not plan to switch back and forth much, you can turn it off. Go to Settings>General>Handoff & Suggeates Apps.
• Suggested Apps appears on the same screen as Handoff suggesting apps based on your location which can make for unnecessary push notifications that arw known battery drainers. When on the subject, one can limit what other apps use push app by going to Settings>Notification.
• The Spotlight search function that appears when you swipe down can now draw its search results from around the web in your phone.You can modify the Spotlight to save battery in case you do not require that diligence of a search engine by going to Settings>General>Spotlight Search and deleting the sources you do not want to append in your searches.

Some IMPORTANT tips WHILE  buying a lapPY

If you are planning to buy a new laptop then here are some tips for buying a laptop. Since you will invest a decent amount of money so make sure you make the best decision and get the satisfactory return on investment so that you do not have to repent in future. Read on to make it simpler.

Some tips for buying a laptop

. Convertible laptops give you the convenience of both for less than the purchase price of individual units.

Consider the type of laptop that fits your lifestyle best. These days there are multiple types of laptops, from net-books to desktop replacements and everything in between. Take note of how much you travel, how often you expect to carry your laptop with you, and how intensive the software that you expect to use really is. All these will affect the choice you make.

Some of the core features which must be considered before buying a laptop is briefly described as follows :-

CPU  Intel Atom processors are low in terms of performance, but offer longer battery life. If your use is limited and do not include resource intensive tasks utilizing more processing power then it is good to go. If performance matters, then go for Intel i5 processor at least.

RAM  When it comes to RAM, most of the laptops have 4GB these days so don’t settle for less. For power users 8GB can be considered a nice combination.

Hard Drive  1 TB of HDD at 7,200-rpm is a good one. If you require blazing speed then go for SSD. It will reduce the I/O time a lot. You’ll enjoy faster boot times, faster resume times and quicker software open. It is very good and is very costly. You have to compromise with storage limit as 120GB SSD cost approx = 1TB HDD.

Graphics Card For the most part, an integrated graphics chip (one that shares system memory) will be fine for basic tasks, including surfing the web, watching video, and even playing some mainstream games. But a discrete graphics processor from AMD or Nvidia (which has dedicated video memory) will provide better performance when it comes to the most-demanding games.

Know what kind of operating system you’re going to get before buying your laptop. This should be displayed in the technical specifications brochure, or you can do some googling using the model number of the computer. Most laptops come up with Windows OS preinstalled. If you tend to use your computer for home use only (internet, music, movies, document viewing and editing) then i must insist you to use Linux. Some versions of linux are very user friendly.

Make sure that your laptop comes with a quality sound system. The audio capabilities are often limited on laptop computers. A bad sound system can be a real turn off and will completely hamper the laptop using experience. Check the laptop’s sound specifications before purchase. A dolby digital sound is considered better. Vendors like JBL, Altec Lansing, Harman Kardon etc are considered the top in the line.

A large screen is enticing, but it is not always convenient. The larger the screen, the heavier the laptop and the harder it is to carry around. In addition, a large screen uses battery power quickly. Now-a-days 13 inch screen is considered a decent one for using a laptop like a laptop. This statement is not applicable for alienware users. 

So much new technology is emerging everyday. Buying a laptop is becoming complex for you as there are numerous options.

AV

Internet Security – What does your PC need ?

After installing the WINDOWS operating system most of us plan to install an Internet security. It helps our computer stay safe from any types of viruses and online threats. Viruses are bad programs developed intentionally to hamper the good PC experience. In some cases it also corrupts our files and leaves them unusable. The effects are not limited to these only as there are more funny and irritating effects of virus on our computer. While buying a security software we come across 2 main category Anti Virus and Internet Security. There is a price difference and Internet security is generally priced higher than its counterpart. For a layman the question is :-

Which is the best Anti Virus or Internet Security ?

Antivirus is a class of software that detects and stops a virus program from executing in order to save the system from the aftermath of the effects which generally results in huge mess. Generally AntiVirus software prevents, detects and removes malicious Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), browser hijackers, ransomware, keyloggers, backdoors, rootkits, trojan horses, worms, malicious LSPs, dialers, fraudtools, adware and spyware. It also cleans out virus infected files which may create further problems. But its limitation is that it is not efficient in protecting your computer from online threats.

Internet Security is a suite of applications that aims to protect users against threats from the internet. The components which is present in an internet-security-suite are Anti-Virus, Firewall, browser protection, intrusion protection. The main purpose of this software suite is that it not only protects your computer from the viruses but also it protects your computer from online threats. Whenever you are connected via internet your computer gets connected to millions of other computers. Your computer can be accessed by the other online users via open ports. It will be nearly impossible on your part to monitor all the open ports of your computer for the incoming traffic. Hackers may use that to enter your computer and steal useful information or they may just corrupt all your files just for their fun or may be because they can. In such scenario only solution is to go for internet security-suite. This automatically checks all the incoming / outgoing traffic and prevents any types malicious activity. If you are browsing any website which may infect your computer, it will be stopped before doing that. So, the bottomline is that the suite provides peace of mind and take cares of all the problems.

I am using Norton Internet security for the last 5 years. From then till now i haven’t formatted my computer due to virus infection which i used to do a lot earlier. If you want have more than one computer then you may buy the 3 user pack or the 10 user pack.

If you have any queries or suggestions please use the comment section.

Beware of fake Facebook 'dislike' button

Beware of fake Facebook 'dislike' button

Lots of people think the Internet is a bit too chipper -- so much so that they've clamored for a "dislike" button on Facebook, which, to date, only officially allows people to "like" content on its site.

Now, some social-media spoilers are trying to turn the public's desire for that dislike button into a scam, according to a security researcher.

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at the British security firm Sophos, wrote in a blog post on Monday that fake dislike buttons are going viral on Facebook.

Watch out for posts that look like this, he says: "I just got the Dislike button, so now I can dislike all of your dumb posts lol!!"

That statement on Facebook is typically followed with a link, Cluley writes, that takes people to a fake Facebook application.

Instead of installing a dislike button, Cluley says, the application uses a person's social network to continue spreading the fake program.

"If you do give the app permission to run, it silently updates your Facebook status to promote the link that tricked you in the first place, thus spreading the message virally to your Facebook friends and online contacts," he writes.

The tech blog Mashable writes that the fake dislike button app indirectly points Facebook users to a real add-on for the browser Firefox, which can be used to install a dislike button.

The blog offers general security advice for Facebook users:

"As usual, we advise you not to click on suspicious links on Facebook, especially if they promise something that sounds impossible or unlikely. Do not give away your personal information, unless you're absolutely sure why and who you're giving it to," says Mashable, which is a CNN content partner.

Cluley says the fake dislike button is part of a recent trend of Facebook scams whose titillating links play on tech memes and themes from pop culture.

"It's the latest survey scam spreading virally across Facebook, using the tried-and-tested formula used in the past by other viral scams including 'Justin Bieber trying to flirt,' 'Student attacked his teacher and nearly killed him,' 'the biggest and scariest snake' and the 'world's worst McDonald's customer,' " he says.

Typically, such schemes are designed to steal information from Internet users. That information then can be sold to other parties. The scams also can be used to co-opt an Internet user's social network contacts.

If you accidentally installed the fake application, click on the "account" button at the top right of the Facebook home screen. Navigate to the option that says "application settings," and disable the fake "dislike" application.

If the app has posted to your Facebook wall, go to your profile page and delete those posts to stop the scam from spreading further. Mashable also recommends checking your "interests" and "likes" settings from the "edit my profile" menu, to be sure that the app hasn't lodged itself there as well.

Or Facebook may do all of that for you.

The company says it is trying to block the "dislike" app.

"We're working hard to block and remove malicious applications that claim to provide dislike functionality and inadvertently update people's statuses," a Facebook spokesman said in an e-mail to CNN.

"It's important to keep in mind that there is no official dislike button. Also, don't click on strange links, even if they are from friends, and notify the person and report the link if you see something suspicious.