Review : Nokia E6

Nokia’s E-series range may be aimed the enterprise side of the smartphone market but the Finnish firm has proved not everything that sports a QWERTY keyboard is strictly business.

The Nokia E6 is the successor to the Nokia E5 and as you would expect from a smartphone sequel, things only get better with a new operating system and a touchscreen heading up the improved spec list. Sure, Symbian might not be everyone’s operating system of choice but does the E6 have enough plus points to lure corporate users away from the likes of BlackBerry?

Design

Nokia proves that it certainly hasn’t lost touch when it comes to hardware as the Nokia E6 is an extremely well built piece of kit. Its solid casing is made predominantly of metal and feels like it will easily last the test of time, however, whilst it might be sturdier than flimsier materials, the metal backing highlighted scratch marks, which for us,  ruined the overall look slightly. Yes, the choice of materials may make the E6 feel heavier than its 133 gram weight, but its slim 10.5mm thick and 115.5mm wide chassis means that the device can easily slip into a pocket.

The E6 comes with a nicely spaced out full QWERTY keyboard with responsive keys that make typing quick and hassle-free. Joining the QWERTY up front is a 2.46-inch TFT LCD Gorilla Glass capacitive touchscreen which has a 640 x 480 pixel resolution and an impressive 326ppi. The images produced were crisp and colourful and the screen was responsive to the touch, however, its small size does make navigation a little on the fiddly side. The E6 is also kitted out with four shortcut keys and a D-Pad which can be used to get around the various menus if you require a bit more accuracy.

Power and Operating System

The Nokia E6 runs Symbian Anna which is a modified version of the Symbian^3 operating system and has support for touch input, a real bonus on a handset with such a small display. Whilst icons are easy enough to select, the customisable homescreens look terribly cramped. That said, the homescreen widgets are really useful and offer everything from live emails and news feeds, to Facebook and Twitter updates. As for Symbian itself, it isn’t quite as straight forward as iOS and Android but even if you’re not familiar with the user interface, it doesn’t take too long to get to grips with it.

One of the biggest let downs on the E6 had to be the 680MHz processor; the performance was noticeably sluggish when compared to similarly positioned smartphones. It baffles as to why Nokia felt 680MHz would be sufficient, especially when you consider that most mid-range smartphones now come with a 1GHz CPU. Whilst using the handset wasn’t too painful a process, we were greeted with the spinning load icon more often than we’d have liked. The handset also struggled when loading web pages with lots of content and maps.

Being an E-series device, the E6 comes with business-orientated extras including Microsoft Office synchronisation, a document creator and editor plus Microsoft Communicator Mobile, so you can stay in contact with colleagues when you’re away from your desk, albeit in a stilted, torpid fashion.

Internet: The Nokia E6 comes with both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and although Symbian Anna promises a faster web browsing experience, it was hard to tell with the low spec processor in tow. Web browsing isn’t really the E6’s strongest point due to its small display which makes it hard to view pages in one go, so be prepared to do a lot of scrolling and zooming. As previously mentioned, the E6 sometimes struggled to load content-heavy pages quickly and scrolling was a bit jerky as a result. With Flash Lite support on board though, at least the pages looked decent enough when they eventually loaded.

Camera: The Nokia E6 comes with an 8 megapixel camera with a dual LED flash and HD video recording at 720p. It’s great to see a business phone offer a proficient snapper and the pictures produced came out looking sharp. Unfortunately though, the camera has a fixed focus lens which is a slightly odd choice for a snapper with a high megapixel count but again, the E6’s business users might not be all that fussed about having fancy imaging capabilities. There’s also a front-facing VGA camera on board too.

Other tech specs:

• Music player – Supports MP3, WMA, WAV, RA and eAAC+ files
• Media player – Supports MP4, H.263, H.264 and RV files
• 8GB internal memory
• 256MB RAM
• 1GB ROM
• MicroSD card slot that supports cards up to 32GB
• MicroUSB port
• A-GPS
• Access to the Ovi Store
• Free lifetime turn-by-turn voice navigation with Ovi Maps
• 7 hours 30 minutes talk time (3G)

 Liked

• Strong Build
• Live Homescreen Widgets
• Well-Specced Camera

  Didn't Like

• Slow Processor
• Small Touchscreen

Rating

Any downsides?

We’ve almost become accustomed to the fact that touch and type handsets will have small displays, however, you’d have expected a more powerful processor to be included to counter the concessions made in terms of screen space. Whilst it’s true that speed isn’t everything, when it came to slightly more complex tasks, the E6 crumbled under the pressure which may cause problems if you need to do something in a hurry.

Conclusion

The Nokia E6 has certainly been built to last a lengthy contract and alongside its study yet stylish design are some definite improvements on the E5. Symbian Anna does a fine job, even though the homescreens appeared cramped, and despite the sluggish processor, the E6 still manages to do everything that’s asked of it. You just might be waiting some time to do it.

For those who want a taste of the touchscreen without having to sacrifice a great keyboard, the Nokia E6 will do the trick.

Recipe : Chettinad Pepper Chicken

Generally my chicken dishes don’t turn out to taste very good but that has never kept me from trying new recipes. Yesterday I tried a different variation in chicken cooking and to my pleasant surprise came out very well. So I wanted to share the recipe. This time around, I was able to take a picture of my dish.



Ingredients:

Chicken: 1.5 lbs (get wings or drumsticks) Cleaned and cut into pieces
Whole garam masala (Cinnamon sticks: 5 inches, cloves: 4, Cardamom:2)
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Fennel seeds: 2 tsp
Onion (big): 1 finely chopped
Tomatoes: 2  finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste: 3 tbsp (freshly ground paste gives the best taste)
Green chillies: 3 finely chopped
Ginger: 2 tsp (finely diced)
Curry leaves: 1 bunch
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder: 2 tsp
Coriander Powder: 3 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1 tsp
Black Pepper corns: 3 tsp (coarsely crushed)
Salt to taste
Oil: 3 tbsp

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add fennel seeds and let them splutter. Add finely chopped onions and sauté till they become golden brown. Make sure they turn golden brown only then they will become into a silky gravy upon cooking.
2. Add turmeric powder and Ginger Garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes off. Then add 1 tsp of diced ginger, curry leaves and chopped green chillies.
3. Add tomatoes and sauté on medium flame until they are thoroughly mashed and oil oozes out of the gravy. Cook for another minute or two, then add the chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix well and cook till the raw smell disappears.
4. Add chicken pieces. DO NOT add water. Chicken will ooze out water and the chicken has to cook in that. Cover and cook on medium flame for 10 minutes stirring occasionally so that the bottom doesn’t burn.
5. Check if chicken is cooked well, else add 1/4 cup of boiling water and cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Add enough boiling water to make the gravy to desired consistency and allow to boil for about 3 minutes.
6. Add the rest of diced ginger and crushed pepper corns and cook for about 1 minute. Switch the flame off and cover and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
This dish goes well with all Indian Rotis and Rice.

Do try the recipe and tell me how it came out!

Deiva Thirumagal Review

A Tamil film deserving a standing ovation after a very long time in all its production departments. Let me start with acting.
Actor Vikram is slowly getting rid of the nick name “Next Kamal” and soon people will be searching for the next Vikram. It is an entirely different genre for him. Definitely this movie will do well at box-office for him after Anniyan.

Everyone will feel the impact of the character Krishna which Vikram has portrayed, several hours after leaving the theatre. Vikram has delivered a better performance than Sean Penn in “I am Sam” right from his costume to acting. Vikram’s role of Krishna remains pivotal.

And the role of Nila played by baby Sara deserves much applause and is important next to Krishna character in the movie. The scenes involving Vikram and baby Sara, the one in the first half and the other in the climax are heart throbbing. Especially the one in the climax moves me with tears.

Next to be discussed are the roles played by Anushka, Santhanam and Nasser. I feel that next to Simran, Anushkha Shetty has the ability to fit into glamorous roles as well as the roles played by her in DT. She can render performances to the required level without over acting (which some heroines in the past next to Simran used to deliver in the name of acting). Hereafter we can expect such responsible roles too from Anushkha.

Santhanam plays the role of assistant to Anushkha. The role that Santhanam has to do is that he needs to pick subjects like this in between the flicks with his usual comedies in order to prolong his film career. Everything which he does in this movie is a part of his character. At some places he scolds Vikram which made me sympathize for the character Krishna. But that is also a part of his character

Nasser with his experience does the role with ease. But in some scenes, I felt that instead of Nasser, Prakash Raj could have played this role to provide performances to the required level. M.S.Bhaskar, Y Gee Mahendran, Amala Paul, Sachin Khedekar and Karthik Kumar who don’t have much scope in this movie have done their brief roles well.

Next person who is on cards to be lauded is G.V.Prakash  for his excellent BGM and songs. The theme “Life is Beautiful” used at apt places makes us feel more poetic. To be more specific, the climax court scene. Film by film, GVP is earning reputation not only for him but also for his uncle maestro A.R.Rahman.  

Cinematography by Nirav Shah provides us a visual treat. A sample for this is the song “Vizhigazhil”. Both GVP and Nirav Shah have equally supported by Na. Muthu Kumar’s lyrics.  

And finally it is about the captain, director Vijay who has to be lauded a lot for a clean, decent family entertainer. With this movie Vijay joins the club of decent film makers in which Radha Mohan is the only member so far. Vijay has proved once again that he is capable of delivering decent movies appealing to both family audiences and youngsters. Emotion starts right from the situation the baby calls the character Krishna “appa”. From then onwards, no negative comments in the theatre. In spite of Anushkha and Santhanam being part of this movie, there is no glamour or no double meaning dialogues. Director has helped them bring out their acting skills. It is a complete image change for them. Vijay has conquered the minds of people with a heart touching movie in the period of Madurai based films and mass films. A kind request to Vijay is to do movies in different genre without losing his identity as a decent film maker
  

Google+, Facebook, Friend Groups, Social Strata, Integral x power x dx!

Interestingly we live in a world where people share stuff over the open internet and then worry about the privacy implications of their actions. With the spurt in the number of social networking sites available on the web, people are getting increasingly nervous about who gets to view their “I am feeling sleepy” posts or the pictures of their Chihuahuas. We had MySpace (Remember? The first big player in the social space. What a sad story), Orkut, Facebook and now the new kid on the block Google+.

I am barely four days old on the Google+ network and here are my first “privacy” impressions. 

Google+ gets it mostly accurate when it comes to grouping your contact lists as per the social status they enjoy from your perspective. So it is now possible to post something on your Google+ profile that is visible to your first cousins and not to your workplace colleagues. In other words you can divide (with overlaps) your contacts into social circles. For instance, I have a social circle called “International Multi-cultural Acquaintances”. I understand this feature is available in Facebook as well by means of a well hidden option called “Lists”. However the big difference between Facebook Lists and Google+ Circles is that you have to click on the name of the list in Facebook and then start typing the message while in Google+ you type the message first and then select who gets to see it. I guess it is a matter of personal preference. I find Google’s way of managing this whole messy affair better than Facebook’s. 

Also managing the social circles in Google+ is relatively easy thanks to a very intuitive user interface. Managing Facebook lists on the other hand is akin to solving an Integro-differential equation!

Having said that, I completely agree with the notion that “Social Grouping” is still a difficult concept to comprehend. Neither service is easy to understand as far as grouping the contacts is concerned. I have been reading a lot of articles on this issue since times immemorial and have listened to various user interface experts opining that whoever gets to nail this challenge will rule the world.

Here’s where I differ. Maybe it is true that if you ever find an easy way to manage the various perspective strata that your contacts belong to, you will be a hero. But wait a second! Have you tried doing this in real life? Is it really that easy in real life to manage? 

Let us take a hypothetical scenario. You have a job. You have a family. You have your fair share of friends, acquaintances, enemies and stalkers. Now that you have bought a new apartment, you want to share this news with everyone. How do you plan to do it? 

Option 1: Call each one of your friends/family individually and tell him or her about it. It takes a while but you are sure of who gets to know it. (They can whisper it to their neighbour. You have absolutely no control over it.) 

Social Web Corollary: Post private messages to your friends and family individually. These posts are visible only to the recipient in question. (They can post it again on their space. You have no control.) 

Option 2: Call for a get together. Invite your friends and family. Or wait for an occasion where everyone is present. Now get onto the podium and shout at the top of your lungs. All your friends and family members get the update instantly. (They can now go back and over a couple of beers share it with total strangers as far as you are concerned. Again, no control!) 

Social Web Corollary: You get the idea. If not, stop reading this post and go back to the rock you’ve been living under! 

Option 3: Go to the nearest election campaign meeting. Shove aside the speaker. Grab the mike and announce your update. Everyone knows instantly. Ensure CNN is covering the event live!

Social Web Corollary: Post a public note for the entire world to see. 

Now, let us take a look at the first option. Whom to tell? How do you get the list? You have to prepare it – Most likely you will do it mentally and know instantly who should be getting the update. But it is still mostly a one on one information exchange at a time. It gets viral and everyone in your family gets the update. In this process quite a few people that you couldn’t care less about will also get to know about your new house. You can’t do anything about it. No privacy “setting” can actually prevent information leakage.

In the second option you have to grapple with the challenge of deciding who should be invited to the party! In the corollary, who should be invited to your social circle!

The truth is, most of these “issues” that are getting highlighted these days thanks to the mushrooming social networking sites are nothing new. You and I have been “solving” these issues day in and day out since our fifth grade. We just need to lean back, relax and use the same judgment criteria to group our online contact list. It is not an easy exercise. It has never been easy to understand which perspective strata our friends and acquaintances group into. It is incredibly difficult. In real life as well as on the internet. 

So where’s the coffee? It is time to wake up and smell it.

The actual feature review of Google+ at a later point in time. 

Don' Sit - We don't need Android at Home!!

Contagious stuff !

Not just colds and swine flu, but...

1. Yawning
This is MOST contagious. Amazing how one yawns and immediately, the next person too does. I have asked some folks including doctors why this is so, but no real answers seem available. Even whilst talking on the phone, if I yawn, the person at the other end miles and miles away, also yawns!

2. Crying
Guess this is for the 'weepier' souls, but usually, if someone cries -- really heartfelt and reasonable tears, I automatically feel MY water tap opening up. Very embarrassing and really, not of any help or use. But, there it is.

3. Snapping
Snap at someone and see them snap back. Usually. Except for the highly calm folks (know very few myself and these are people who merely clam up as opposed to handling it maturely...which is WHAT I don't know!).

4. Smiles

Whether they are contagious or not, they ought to be returned and therefore termed contagious. Else...how rude!

5. Giggles

Giggles are not really contagious. In fact, I do know that they can really bug some people. You, know, the non-gigglers who in fact, can unknowingly cause more giggling. When I as a giggler come across an extremely straight face whilst in the middle of a big giggle session, things just get more giggle-worthy! Anyway, I can feel at least a smile coming on if I chance upon gigglers (unless of course, they are giggling at ME. Then, 'Hmph' to them).

Singham Review

I had watched the Tamil version of this movie while I was in the US and knew the plot pretty much. I thought I should take a look and see what Ajay Devgan has done. Whether the Hindi version was better or the Tamil one was more entertaining. Well after watching the movie I must say I enjoyed the Hindi version better for superior technical details. Performance wise the stars in both languages have delivered equally well.

The story is a typical Good cop versus corrupt police department and their political and rowdy henchmen. A honest inspector has a tangle with a politically well connected underworld don and that starts off an ego issue between them. The cop gets transferred to the big bad city where every one in the police department is corrupt and hand-in-glove with the thugs and politicians. The rest of the story is about how the cop combats his frustrations and eliminates the rowdy elements of the big city.

There was no need for a heroine in this movie and I don't know why good film makers see the need to include a pretty face even though the script doesn't demand one. If only Indian film makers were to see the potential of movies without song and dance routines, and heroines showing off their curves and skin I am pretty sure the industry would be able to attain new heights. But I guess right now the industry is still not mature enough... maybe the audience isn't also...

Procrastination

This is a vice. Procrastination is.

I am guilty without having the need to be charged, of procrastination.

Clean the room -- another day
Meet a deadline -- tomorrow (After all, tomorrow's another day)
Clean the cupboard -- tomorrow
Phone to catch up with (some) relative -- tomorrow (not in the mood right now)
Start on a diet -- tomorrow (IF tomorrow comes)
Stop losing temper -- soon (!Yeah right)
...and so on

Why do I do it? Hmmm... lousy habit I guess, garnished with laziness and served with a blob of LACK OF DISCIPLINE on top. That would be my dish of procrastination. No need for recipe cos nobody ought to try it.

I believe it runs in the family, on top of everything. But...does it run in many or most families? I hope so because misery does love company.

Am debating on how to handle it...oh well, I won't think about it right now. Will introspect ...TOMORROW!

Hinduism and Science

Thanks to Huffington Post.

Religion comes into conflict with science when it is defined by unprovable claims that can be dismissed as superstitions, and when it treats as historical facts stories that read like legends and myths to non-believers. Other aspects of religion -- what I would consider the deeper and more significant elements -- are not only compatible with science but enrich its findings. The best evidence of this is science's response to the religions of the East over the course of the last 200 years. As the French Nobel laureate Romain Rolland said early in the 20th century, "Religious faith in the case of the Hindus has never been allowed to run counter to scientific laws." The same can be said for Buddhism, which derives from the same Vedic roots.

Most of the Hindu gurus, Yoga masters, Buddhist monks and other Asian teachers who came to the West framed their traditions in a science-friendly way. Emphasizing the experiential dimension of spirituality, with its demonstrable influence on individual lives, they presented their teachings as a science of consciousness with a theoretical component and a set of practical applications for applying and testing those theories. Most of the teachers were educated in both their own traditions and the Western canon; they respected science, had actively studied it, and dialogued with Western scientists, many of whom were inspired to study Eastern concepts for both personal and professional reasons.

As early as the 1890s, Swami Vivekananda spent time with scientific luminaries such as Lord Kelvin, Hermann von Helmholtz, and Nikola Tesla. "Mr. Tesla thinks he can demonstrate mathematically that force and matter are reducible to potential energy," the swami wrote in a letter to a friend. "I am working a good deal now upon the cosmology and eschatology of Vedanta. I clearly see their perfect unison with modern science." Had Vivekananda lived three years longer, he would have rejoiced in Einstein's discovery of E = mc², which united matter and energy forever.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the great sage and Indian independence leader Sri Aurobindo, who had studied in England, blended East and West by extending Darwinian concepts to the evolution of consciousness and the cosmos. In 1920, Paramahansa Yogananda set a precedent by calling his first lecture in the West "The Science of Religion." He befriended a number of scientists, growing so close to the great botanist Luther Burbank that he dedicated hisAutobiography of a Yogi to him. Later, Swami Satchidananda, whose own teacher, Swami Sivananda, had been a successful physician before becoming a monk, encouraged the scientific study of Yoga; one of his early students was Dr. Dean Ornish, whose groundbreaking research sprang directly from Satchidananda's teachings. And Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, even before he became famous as the Beatles' guru, prodded scientists into studying the physiology of meditation, setting in motion an enterprise that has now produced over a thousand studies.

The interaction of Eastern spirituality and Western science has expanded methods of stress reduction, treatment of chronic disease, psychotherapy and other areas. But that is only part of the story. Hindu and Buddhist descriptions of higher stages of consciousness have expanded psychology's understanding of human development and inspired the formation of provocative new theories of consciousness itself. Their ancient philosophies have also influenced physicists, among them Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg and J. Robert Oppenheimer, who read from the Bhagavad Gita at a memorial service for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In his landmark TV seriesCosmos, Carl Sagan called Hinduism the only religion whose time-scale for the universe matches the billions of years documented by modern science. Sagan filmed that segment in a Hindu temple featuring a statue of the god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, an image that now stands in the plaza of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva.

The relationship between science and Eastern spiritual traditions -- which many prefer to think of as psychologies -- is still in its infancy. In recent years, the Dalai Lama has carried the ball forward, hosting conferences and encouraging research. Western religions would do well to emulate this history. Their historical and faith-based claims conflict with empirical science and probably always will; but to the extent that their practices directly impact human life, they can be treated as testable hypotheses.

BREAKFAST BUFFET @ Crowne Plaza Hotel

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

Varieties of Tea Bread

Assorted Jam, Chocolate Spread and Light Biscuits

Assorted sliced cakes

Ham, Salami and Cheese

Baguette

Scrambled Eggs

My hearty breakfast