TechGazing

Hidden Reflex, an Indian startup company claims to have come out with a web browser specially designed for India. Called Epic, the browser is built on the Mozilla Firefox engine and comes with some interesting features, including an inbuilt word processor and a sidebar that can hold shortcuts to apps and websites. Pretty cool, you think? Well, what actually has us grinning in delight is the fact that the browser actually supports typing in Indian languages. Every time you type something in Epic, you will be given the option to transliterate your text into one of 12 supported Indian languages. Now, that is truly Indian, as it lets a user do just about everything on the browser from chatting to sending e-mails, searching and making posts on their social networking sites in their own language - something that can be a bit of a pain in other browsers. Thrown in a stack of Indian themes and the fact, that being on the Firefox engine, Epic pretty much supports all Firefox add-ons and we think that Hidden Reflex might have a winner here.

We are downloading it and really think you should take it for a spin (or rather, a surf too). You can get it from http://www.epicbrowser.com/.

Vaseline has decided to cash in on the Indian psyche’s fascination for  gori chamdi (”white skin”). The company has come out with an application for social networking site Facebook, which lets users change their skin tone and preview their pics.The idea is clear: to promote the concept of fairness. Now, is that fair? We would rather not say (hey, we are just a tech blog, fellas), but yes, the app is definitely worth a dekko, even if you in your skin-altered condition are not.

Almost a month after it was officially “revealed,” MS Office 2010, the latest version of Microsoft’s bestselling office suite is now available in retail stores in India. The prices of the suite have also become public - there are two versions of the suite, with the Office Home and Student version being priced at Rs. 4999, while the Office Home and Business retails for Rs. 10,999. Microsoft claims that the beta version of the suite attracted almost 1.3 million downloads in India, but then ah, that one was free.

While we are not doubting just how good MS Office 2010 is - we have used the beta and really think that it is the most powerful office suite we have ever seen in terms of features - those price tags might just stop some Indian consumers from buying it. Legally, that is.

We think that Windows 7 is one of the best operating systems seen in recent times, but that does not mean that it is beyond improvement. While Microsoft will doubtless be working away at a number of tweaks and enhancements that will make the OS better and easier to use, the folks at PCWorld (bless ‘em) have come out with an entire list of 17 software applications that will make Windows 7 even better to use. There is lots of good stuff here, ranging from applications that let you adjust Windows taskbar to those that improve the performance of the operating system and make applications easier to use. And the best thing of all is that all these applications are absolutely free to use.

We would definitely recommend your trying out some, if not all, of them. It definitely beats waiting for the next service pack from Windows. You can check them out here.

Yes, you read that right. There’s a new mobile e-mail app in town and it claims it can deliver get e-mail to your handset, without your even needing a mobile Internet or GPRS connection.  Called BlacMail, it is an offering from Bangalore-based Fifth C Solutions, and while we have not tried it out as yet, seems incredibly promising.

Evidently, all you need to get BlacMail working on your handset is to download the software from www.blacmail.in - you can download it directly to your phone (if you have a GPRS connection) or to your PC and then transfer it to your handset. That’s all there is to it. The app claims to support not only popular mail services like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, but also corporate mails. Round that off with the fact that it can also let you access social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, and you will see why we are so impressed.  It does not come free, though. Rates for the service begin at Rs 49, although details  are sketchy at the moment. However, it runs on most handsets and by all accounts, works a charm.

Very, very promising, we think. We intend giving it a once-over in the coming days, and would advise you to do the same if you are the type that likes to get their mail on the move.

The past couple of years have seen most of us get addicted to GoogleTalk and its simplicity and convenience (hey, it lets us chat while we mess around with our mails),so addicted that many of us have forgotten the existence of other instant messengers (IMs). Well, the folks at Microsoft seem to wish to shake us right out of our cumulative inertias. They gave us a sneak preview of the forthcoming edition of Windows Live Messenger, and while we are not sure it will drive us away from Google yet, we must admit to being very impressed.

The presentation saw us being carpet bombed by stacks of features. While it would not be possible for us to mention all of them, six in particular did catch our attention Continue reading »

Want to find out what’s happening in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but do not have a television at hand? Well, just dial 08 123 123 123 on your cell and you will get access to live ball by ball coverage and even access video footage. Making all this happen is July Systems’s MIX platform, which serves up live ball-by-ball updates, action replays, video scorecards, cheerleader videos, and many more exciting features. Best of all, you do not need a smartphone to access this service - just about any cell with Internet connectivity at any location will do (there are more than 6,000 models supported) and you do not even need broadband or 3G, as it works fine over EDGE and GPRS. Best of all the service is totally free - even 08 123 123 123 is a toll-free number. You just end up paying data costs for using the Internet. Incidentally, if you do not feel upto dialing numbers on your handset, just open its browser and head to m.ipl20.com to get a slice of the IPl action.

Think we are sounding over-effusive about this? Well, ’tis because it really works pretty well. Just try the service and then join us in the applause!

Ever been stuck in a city with no idea of how to get to your destination? Well, Google Maps might be able to help you. Google’s popular mapping application, which already supported step-by-step directions for most Indian cities has thrown in information about public transport too. So one can not only see the route one has to follow but also which bus or local train/metro to take to get to where one wants. What’s more, the information is available on both computers and mobiles, making it perfect for those who want it in a hurry. Computer users will have to head to the Google Transit page, while cellphone users can download Google Maps for Mobile. Currently, transport options are limited to the Chennai MRTS, Delhi Metro, Kolkata Metro and Hyderabad’s Multi Modal Transport System, but we have been told that these will increase, as will the number of Indian cities covered by the software.

Now, that’s something, especially when you consider that Google Maps also has the Latitude feature which lets you see your friends online (provided they are logged in), chat with them and even map a route to them.

Users are getting spoilt for Internet browsers these days. Apart from Internet Explorer (IE) that comes preinstalled with Windows, there is Google’s Chrome, Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Opera, and a few others like Flock. With so many players vying to be the app with which you browse the Internet, the battle is well and truly on to earn user brownie points be it in features or speed. And it is on speed that the latest version of Opera, Opera 10.50, focuses. The release we have received says that it is the “fastest Web browser thus-far produced for Windows computers.” Now, that is quite a claim, considering that the likes of Chrome and Firefox operate at a decent clip, but from what we have seen of the browser, it sure flies. Continue reading »

We are always on the lookout for software that can deliver lots of bang for no bucks at all. So you can imagine how delighted we were to come across PCWorld’s collection of ten great digital photography downloads, which contain ten of the best free applications for photographers. Of course, it has the usual suspects like Gimp and Picasa, but it also has some surprises like 36-Image Converter, which lets you convert pictures into just about any format, and even into cursors and icons. Very cool, we think. Go right ahead and read the entire list here.

By Nimish Dubey

I know several people who own Macs. And all - barring two notable exceptions - have got pirated versions of MS Office for Mac running on them. All of them give the same reason - Apple Works is not powerful enough for them and buying MS Office legitimately would leave them with a hole the size of the Sahara in their pockets. Yes, they known about OpenOffice.org but ah, are wary of it because well they do not really know who is behind it (it is Sun Microsystems, incidentally). Well, there is a spot of good news for them - IBM has released a Mac OS version of its Symphony office suite, which comprises a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tool. And yes, it’s free! Continue reading »

If you are one of those who rarely hits the road without packing in your gadgets, chances are you have your share of sob stories to share. Right from batteries going on the blink just as Murphy would have ordained, to your shoulders and back caving in under the burden you could well have avoided carrying.

[Versions of this post were published in The Hindustan Times and Rediff.com recently. The content of the combined pieces are reprinted here]

Here’s a lowdown on ways to make travel not only exasperation-free, but also pleasurable in many ways. Read on for some interesting stuff

 By Varun Aggarwal

While Linux claims to be a much more stable and powerful platform, it largely remained a programmer’s Operating System for years. In a conversation with an open source evangelist, a couple of years ago, I complained how Linux still remains a complex OS for the Novice user. He pointed out to me that while Windows has been there in the end consumer space for over a decade, Linux should be given some time to connect to the end user. Continue reading »

By Nimish Dubey

Microsoft seems to have succeeded in ’sexing up’ the next version of Windows. At least, that’s what we deduce after reading a rather steamy write-up on the forthcoming OS in the tech supplement of India’s leading news weekly,  India Today. Continue reading »

This feature was published in India’s leading daily, The Hindustan Times, and can be accessed online here.

There can be no substitute to enjoying the Olympics in Beijing later this year than being inside the arenas as a live spectator, a possibility only for the lucky or the privileged. But the next best option for the billions of others may no longer be television broadcasts but rich, interactive access on the Internet.

Log on to NBCOlympics.com this August to view the games like never before. You can watch any of the events live on the site, of course, but this is only for starters. You will be able to open up to six windows on your desktop for simultaneous viewing, somewhat like the PIP (Picture-in-Picture) option that some television sets come with. You can listen to live commentary on any of these, and receive alerts for other live events even when these are not showing on your screen. You can replay any missed action. Video-on-demand will allow you access any of the archives of more than 2,200 hours of recordings of the games captured over 17 days. Continue reading »

They say men don’t stop to ask for directions. Or was it women who do that? Either way, neither may need to anymore in India. Yahoo! India has introduced driving directions and community search on its existing Yahoo! India Maps. What this means in theory is you could be driving in a country of poor road signs and no longer land up in Ranthambhore when you are headed to Bharatpur.

A feature available for many years in developed countries, you could call this somewhat revolutionary in India. The service enable users to search for directions between 179 cities, 4767 towns and 226114 villages – as well as search for about three million points of interest marked by Internet users from around the web. Continue reading »

Do you use Salesforce? And Google’s AdWords as an advertising medium? How would you like to connect to your AdWords account from Salesforce, correlate web clicks with inbound leads and be able to measure the effectiveness and ROI of your Google campaigns? It is possible through the ‘Salesforce for Google Adwords,’ a highly rated and one of the most downloaded application on Salesforce AppExchange On-Demand Marketplace.

While it is interesting enough to be able to do so, what is even more significant is the fact that this application could have been developed independently outside of Salesforce and offered on this platform. Because, with Facebook and Google showing the way, the big trend that could unfold in the coming years is that of independent developers plugging in their applications on existing platforms. And Salesforce, the world leader in on-demand CRM services, is ensuring it is not left behind. Continue reading »

If you are sitting on stacks of video content, it may be time to organize it better for some good reasons. One, there is always the risk of it getting lost or damaged. Two, you may lose out on an opportunity to strike gold: digital media is predicted to be the next big thing on the Internet, and content owners could well be the first to cash in.

And if you thought the whole process required high investments in hardware and software, you may have been right. Until now. A low-cost, user-friendly solution is soon going to be available: MediaBaron from Movico Technologies. Continue reading »

The world wide web is full of software that can make your life easier and more productive; the best part is there are many which are free without compromising on their features and quality. Here’s a selection covering WordWeb, Spyware, Anti-Virus, Joost, Google Earth and more.

[The article has been published on Rediff.com and has been reproduced here]. Click to read about some real useful stuff

Do you carry a projector when you go to watch a film? Or your own grill when out for a barbecue? So why carry a computer when you need to compute on the go? Especially when you can carry it in your pocket on any USB storage device – hard disk, pen drive, an iPod or even your mobile phone.

All you need is a Windows PC to plug this device into, and work as if it were your own PC. Without leaving a trace of what you did on the host PC after you log off. MojoPac, from RingCube Technologies, does this for you and lots more. “This will fundamentally change the way we use computers, just like Microsoft and Google did before this,” predicts Shan Appajodu, co-founder and CEO of Ringcube, in an exclusive chat with me when we met in Delhi yesterday. Bold words? Read on to decide for yourself

I personally believe this may just be the killer-app that could have been invented years back.

How often do you see someone’s contact info in an email or a webpage needing to be added to your Outlook or Palm contacts? Or an appointment, memo (like travel directions) or a To-Do to your calendar, memos and the task list respectively? All this is possible, at the click of a button. Read on to know more

With Google bundling Sun’s StarOffice office suite for free (it otherwise costs USD 70) with its Google Pack software set , perhaps it is time businesses started considering the benefits of using a free office suite instead of investing thousands of rupees on Microsoft Office. And StarOffice is not the option – one can also opt for OpenOffice.org, the open source office suite. Read on for 7 very obvious benefits of using a free office suite