Aug
14
Samsung needs a brand strategy to take on Nokia’s smartphones
Filed Under Editorials, Marketing, Mobile, Nokia, samsung | 2 Comments
Recent smartphones from Samsung, HTC and LG indicate that Nokia’s finally got competition in the high-end space. However, it’s going to take more than engineering skills to succeed in India’s tough mobile market. Consistent phone branding, clear messaging and a solid distribution network are as important, and that’s where Nokia’s streets ahead. Can the competition catch up? Read more
Aug
9
The Mobile Internet Lifestyle
Filed Under Editorials, Email, Facebook, Gmail, IM, Internet, Mobile, Nokia, Opera, Social, Twitter | 4 Comments
(This post began as a reply to a comment question on my previous blog post about iPhone 3G. It’s also a complete re-write of an earlier post.)
My experience with the Internet on my Nokia N82 has been more than satisfying, but that might well be a result of my usage pattern. Your mileage may vary. And yes, my ideal internet-access device would be iPhone, but I’ve already written about why iPhone is a no-no for me.
Aug
8
Why I won’t be buying the iPhone 3G
Filed Under Apple, Editorials, Nokia, iPhone | 9 Comments
iPhone 3G, finally, will be available in India on August 22nd through Airtel. While I’m excited about the world’s most revolutionary phone meeting the world’s fastest growing market, I’m not buying one for myself. Instead, last month I purchased a Nokia N82 Black, having decided that iPhone 3G was not for me. Why would I pass up the chance to own perhaps the sexiest piece of electronic hardware in the country?
Jun
23
What makes Xobni so popular?
Filed Under Analytics, Editorials, Email, Insights, Marketing, Microsoft, Outlook, Social, Xobni | 1 Comment
Xobni is an Outlook plugin that has proven remarkably useful in managing managing bloated inboxes. It’s generated its fair share of buzz lately, and most users seem to love it. Apart from a clutch of very well-implemented features, what it is about Xobni that make it such a inherently popular tool?
Apr
15
The iPhone question - and why Arrington is wrong
Filed Under Editorials, Insights, Mobile, iPhone | 7 Comments
(This post is a follow-up to “Why did Mowser fail?“)
An iPhone in every hand will not ignite a mobile web revolution. That much is certain.
Both Michael Arrington and Russell Beattie make this mistake. Perhaps that comes from living in a echo chamber for too long - both likely have iPhones, are heavy web users on their devices, have friends who have iPhones, and therefore think all would be well if only everyone had one like them. Arrington is shockingly naïve when he says “…it will be much better to push prices down so that today’s iPhone is available for next to nothing in the third world.” Of course, I bet he hasn’t lived for too long in the “third world”.
Apr
15
Why did Mowser fail?
Filed Under Editorials, Insights, Mobile | 3 Comments
According to Mowser’s founder Russell Beattie, the “Mobile Web” is dead. As is his startup Mowser. I think he’s partially wrong. Russell hasn’t quite figured out how the Internet on mobile devices is likely to work.
Apr
14
Moving to an Online Life
Filed Under Blogs, Editorials, Email, Firefox, Gmail, Google, HowTos, IM, Internet, Mobile, Nokia, RSS, Social, Thunderbird | 6 Comments

So my Thinkpad’s hard disk (a standard Hitachi 2.5″ 4200 RPM 80GB HDD) died Saturday evening. It began making ghastly noises all of a sudden, signaling imminent mechanical failure. I shut down the computer immediately, and on restarting, a BSOD informed me my boot volume was un-mountable.
Mar
19
Why Safari won’t matter
Filed Under Editorials, Firefox, IE, IntellectualProperty, Internet, Opera, Predictions, Safari | Leave a Comment
Apple released Safari 3.1 today, and has claimed that it is “the world’s fastest browser”.
“Safari loads web pages 1.9 times faster than IE 7 and 1.7 times faster than Firefox 2. Safari also runs JavaScript up to six times faster than other browsers…”
Mar
2
Social Networks - The New Bulletin Boards?
Filed Under Editorials, Social, Trends | Leave a Comment
In my previous post, I looked at how a social network “picks up” an application and “spreads” it to reach the audience that would be interested in using it. And I said that was because social networks make it easy to propagate information, but primarily because people with similar interests have numerous ways of “hooking up” - either via communities or interacting on these in-network applications.
Jan
10
The Three Degrees of Personalization
Filed Under Editorials, Facebook, Google, Insights, Social, Yahoo | Leave a Comment
Facebook’s Beacon brought some spice to the tech community, which had been longing for some juicy stuff to blog/discuss/pontificate about since the iPhone’s launch several months ago.
Beacon is (was?) part of Facebook’s new online ad system which shared a user’s actions on other (partner) websites with all his/her Facebook friends. (If you rent a movie on Blockbuster, your friends will be notified via Facebook’s mini-feed). Scary, eh?