Free Basics and Net Neutrality - What is it?

There is lot of confusion regarding Free basics and Net Neutrality. Since both are different things and does not co-relate. Here, I'm going to share my views on Free basics & Net Neutrality. What exactly they mean? Who you need to support? Read on..

Starting with Free basics first.
There are many notifications about the Free basics (internet.org) by Facebook coming these days to send Mail to TRAI for supporting it. So what is Free basics?
Free Basics gives people access to vital services, such as communication, healthcare, education, job listings and farming information – all without data charges. It helps those who can't afford to pay for data, or who need a little help with getting started online. And it's open to all people, developers and mobile networks.

Seems interesting eh? But hold on, this is not reality. It seems to be free but not 100% free. The catch is you can access all the websites for free listed here. For now, only Reliance is providing this service. Other telecom operators might soon start. (There is airtel zero too.)

Free basics has been started in some countries. This is what it is like

With free basics you can use websites like facebook for free but note that the media is not included in it, you have to purchase additional packs or use regular data pack to view these media.

Clearly, this is not 'Free' completely! Free basics is like some apps available in the app store claiming free but states 'in-app purchases'. This applies to free basics too. Indians go behind every "Free" things. This is the reason why facebook has changed the name 'internet.org' to 'Free Basics'.

Coming to Net Neutrality, what is it basically?

Net neutrality provides a free platform to anyone who is connected to the Internet. It doesn't discriminates with certain websites. What you pay for is for the internet connection and not for individual apps/websites. Net neutrality is vital for the start-ups who can't afford to tie up with telecom operators for accessing their websites.

Internet is open space and needs freedom. You & I together can make difference. Stop supporting Free basic and start supporting Net Neutrality. Many of you might have supported Net Neutrality but now supporting free basics. Free basics is against Net Neutrality.

I hope the confusion between Free basics & Net Neutrality is cleared. You can support Net Neutrality by going here and by sending mail to TRAI from https://www.savetheinternet.in/

Remember nothing is FREE in this world ;-)

Thank you!

Android based Museum guide (Final year Engineering project)

Hello everyone! It's a long time since I'm writing this blog. But I've come up with a new article which is my final year Engineering project. The project is Android Based Interactive Information System using RFID. I'll give you a brief idea of making this project.

7" TFT LCD Touch screen

I'd been to Mumbai's Museum, "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya" where I found that the museum was using a hand held device which used to give information regarding the artefact in the museum. There you would just place the device near the artefact and the device used to give the information in the form of audio. This concept felt interesting to me and then after returning home I thought why not make a similar thing for my Final year project? This gave me an inspiration for my project.

That hand held device was just a simple basic one. I thought of taking this to the next level. Thus making it on an Android platform as android is used widely among us and that it will be flexible to use. For this I needed a development board to install Android and a processor. I went ahead and bought an ARM11 board with Samsung processor (Detailed specs listed below). Next comes the screen. I wanted to go with the usual TFT screen but later on went with the TFT LCD touch screen. This is where the title gets its name "Interactive".

I'll give you the basic working of my project so that you will get to know better. Say, you are going to visit a museum and that the artifact which is place in museum attracts you and you want to know more about it. But the guide is busy telling other visitors about some other artifact. So in this situation comes in handy the hand held tablet like device which can give you more information about it by just placing the tablet near the object. Now the RFID tag will detect the unique ID given to each monument which will give the respective information about the monument by visual and audio information through external memory card. This information is stored in external memory card so we can add/delete the information in future. There are two language options currently (more language options to be added later) English and Hindi. User will choose either of the language and proceed. Thus creating interest in the visitor. After finishing the visual tour, he/she might exit the app or start with the next monument. Also the user might give feedback regarding the experience so that next user will be served better!

ARM 11 Samsung S3C6410

The specifications of the Arm board and processor is:

Samsung S3C6410 Key Features-
• ARM1176ZJF 533/667MHz VFP/SIMD
• 65nm low-power process
• DVFS power management
• Dedicated x32 mDDR/DDR, x32 mSDR/SDR
• WVGA or higher display resolution
• Hard-wired 3D GFX accelerator
-4M triangles/second
-OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0
• Hard-wired multimedia
-MPEG-4 SP codec: SD/D1 >30fps
-H.264/263 BP codec: SD/D1 >30fps
-VC-1 WMV9 decoder: SD/D1 >30fps
-JPEG/2D hardware
-Hardware rotator & post processor
-TV-out
• 32-channel DMA
• Security hardware: DES/3DES, AES, SHA-1
• High-speed connectivity
-UART interfacing BT EDR 2.0 up to 3Mbps
-High-speed SPI, 50Mbps for mobile TV
-USB 2.0 OTG
-High-speed MMC 8-bit 50MHz
• MMC+/eMMC
-SDHC 4-bit 50MHz for high-density
• SD cards/iNAND 2.0 and WiFi 802.11a/b/g
-I2S for 5.1-channel Dolby and stereo audio
• BOM cost savings by integrating:
-USB host 1.1/USB 2.0 OTG PHYs
-12-bit ADC with TS + built-in FETs
-Direct boot/NAND FS for NAND SLC/MLC,
• moviNAND, iNAND, OneNAND
-TV-out DAC integration
-Built-in keypad controller
• Pin compatible with S3C6400 & S3C6430
• Package: 424 pins, 13x13, 0.5mm pitch FBGA

You can watch the demonstration of the project in the video below.

Hope you liked my work. Thank you!

Ah! It's been a long time

 Yes! Indeed it's a long time since i haven't posted anything in this year. Sincere apologies. I wish i could have posted something.

Well I hope you guys are doing great! I'm going through a tough time since a year. Also i do not have time to write blogs these days. No proper internet connectivity as well.

My next post will be of my own project which was done in this year. You guys can wait till then. Well I'll finish off my exams at the end of May and I hope I'll be back for posting things as earlier and with a good pace.

I know you were missing the posts, and so am I. Thank you for your support people. Take good care!

The all new Nokia Lumia 925

Soon after the launch of Nokia Lumia 928, the Finnish company have now unveiled its new in Lumia line-up series the Nokia Lumia 925 which was long rumored as catwalk.

It comes with all new metal design which we have never seen before in Nokia Lumias. The catwalk which was rumored with Aluminum body comes in reality though!

The Nokia Lumia 925 comes with Nokia Smart Camera mode, Hipstamatic app which allows you to share pictures to Instagram. The Smart Camera shoots the best pictures of you and can remove unwanted people in the background. Nokia Smart Camera mode for burst photography to create action sequences and more.

Unlike the recently launched Nokia Lumia 928 it sports a dual LED flash. Most Xenon lovers like me won't appreciate that. Features with ISO range upto 3200 which we've never seen earlier in Nokia's Imaging flagships. Nokia Lumia 925 has the same 1/3" f 2.0 camera sensor as in Nokia Lumia 920 & with OIS too but comes with six physical lenses.

Nokia have made a lot of software changes in Nokia Lumia 925 & not much of internal hardware though.
It has become more slimmer than it predecessor. All tech specs below.

Nokia claims that "More than your eyes can see". Will have to wait to see if the new camera algorithms does this job pretty well at night time. Nokia also says the camera will get improved when the Amber update will start rolling in summers.

Nokia Lumia 925 doesn't come with on-board wireless charging. You'll have to buy extra cover to do that. Comes in the white, black, yellow & red.

It is likely to be announced in June with a price of 469 EUR before any taxes.

Technical specifications:

Display-
Display size: 4.5''
Display technology: AMOLED with Gorilla Glass 2
Touch screen technology: Super-sensitive touch

Photography-
Main camera sensor: 8.7 MP PureView

Power management-
Maximum 2G talk time: 18.3 h
Maximum 3G talk time: 12.8 h
Music playback time: 55 h
Wireless charging: Yes, with accessory cover

Comments welcomed!

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Nokia Lumia 928 announced!

Yes, the much 'awaited' Lumia is unveiled. Nokia secretly announced this device on 10th May '13.

It was put up on their website few days back but had no word on release date.

 This device will come exclusively with Verizon at a price of $100. But will be available from 16th May.

It is a variant of Lumia 920, which comes with similar tech specs. Added you have a PureView tech just like the Nokia 808 PureView & Nokia Lumia 920.

It comes with a Xenon flash (and an LED light for videos), combined advantage of Xenon and OIS makes this device perfect for a night out!

It comes with three HAAC(high amplitude audio capture)  microphones to record distortion-free audio at gig or concert. Also share the music with the extremely high-performance loudspeaker and powerful digital amplifier.

Main Technical specifications :

• Display:Display size: 4.5 inch
   Display technology: AMOLED
• Photography:
  Main camera sensor: 8.7 MP PureView
  Camera: Nokia PureView F 2.0
  Sensor size 1/3.2"
• Processor:
  Processor name: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4
  Processor type: Dual-core 1.5 GHz
• Battery life:
  Maximum talk time (2G): 11.8 h
  Maximum talk time (3G): 16.2 h

Comments welcomed!

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Lumia Comparisons: 620 vs 720 vs 820

I’m going to compare three smartphones all from the Lumia family of Nokia.

The 620 against the 720 against the 820.

The 620 is slightly a budget smartphone whereas the 720 and 820 are the mid-range smartphones.

There’s not much of the price difference between 620 & 720 and 720 & 820. Just 3-4k here and there.

All the phones run Windows Phone 8 OS with lag free experience to that compared with Android smartphones in similar price range.

All the three phones are much the same in terms of UI usability with more or less same processor but lack of RAM in newer Lumia.

So I’m going to discuss only the pros and cons of these devices.

So here goes the comparison.

	Nokia Lumia 620	Nokia Lumia 720	Nokia Lumia 820
Pros	Cheap	Camera with F1.9	1 GB RAM
	127 g	128 g	LTE
	Here Drive+	2000mAh	Here Drive+
	Front Camera	1.3MP wide angle Camera	Super Sensitive Touch Screen
		Super Sensitive Touch Screen	Full HD Recording
			AMOLED Display
			1.4 Ghz Dual Core processor
Cons	1300 mAh	Over Priced	1650 mAh
	5Mp Camera	Here Drive	Decent Camera
	HD Video recording	HD Video recording	0.3Mp Front Camera
	1 Ghz Dual Core	1 Ghz Dual Core	160 g
	TFT Touch Screen	IPS LCD Display
	512 MB RAM	512 MB RAM
	3.8" Screen
Price	`14,515 / $267	`18,999 / $350	`23,499 / $432

P.S Here Drive+ (still in beta) comes with word wide voice guided navigation for free lifetime whereas the Here Drive comes with country/region specific means that you can't take your phone with you for navigation in other countries.

Conclusion:
Compared  to 720, 620 is over weighted. Powered by lower battery rating with just 1300 mAh. Has the VGA front camera, 5 MP primary camera. TFT screen over IPS LCD. Screen size at only 3.8". The only advantage is it has is Here Drive+. Having said that, you get a very decent phone with more or less the same hardware/software in 620 with lower price tag.

Compare to 820, 720's main feature come with the Camera with unbelievable F1.9. You get more battery capacity with 2000mAh. A wide angle front camera for group portraits or group video chatting and having relatively less weight than 820.
The advantages of 820 over 720 are 1 GB RAM which means you get a totally lag free phone and can run latest apps/games without need to worry. LTE in this price point. Here Drive + of course.
Full HD Video recording. An AMOLED Display. A 1.4 Ghz Dual core processor (720 has only 1 Ghz Dual core processor).
I've given 820's camera in cons because in some reviews i found the 720's camera was better in almost lightening conditions but the only advantage of 720's camera is in night time. And 820's camera proves to be better in terms of details as it has slightly bigger sensor.

So folks this comes to end and let me know which you find better and which one will you opt in the comments below. Have i missed something? Let me know!
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