KaranBajaj.in

It all started this morning when a close friend Nimish Dubey tagged me on Facebook with a link to The Next Web’s story on how Samsung took two Indian bloggers to IFA, Berlin and then threatened to leave them there without return tickets and hotel. Out of the two bloggers in IFA, one was a close friend – Clinton Jeff or CJ as he is called by most.

The story depicted how Samsung Global took Clinton and another blogger who wishes not to be named, to IFA under their Mob!lers program. Once there a lot of things were suddenly thrown on them including wearing a uniform and standing on the Samsung booth to promote the new gadgets. Now for the view from a reporter, this is absolutely insane and not expected. That is what Clinton also felt and hence came the story on The Next Web that can be read here – Say Hello To Samsung’s Fanboy Factory

I got in touch with Clinton over email and asked him to send me all the details that he has so that I can understand what is going on. In the meantime I also contacted Samsung India to get their side of the story. Clinton send me a long writeup in terms of what happened, how it happened and how Nokia swooped in at the end taking care of him and the other blogger’s stay and return tickets.

The crux of it was that Clinton and the other blogger were selected under the Mob!lers program to be taken to IFA and were asked that they would like to be reporters or promoters. Clinton chose to report the event. The Samsung India representative said he would take care of it and told Clinton to relax. However, a few days later the bloggers got a mail mentioning would be going as promoters. Clinton called up Samsung India representative who said that it would just include a few extra chores that would not take too much time. Clinton assumed he was telling the truth and agreed to go as a promoter.

Now this is where Clinton is at fault – Clinton agreed to go as a promoter without understanding what it meant. A fellow blogger Amit Bhawani clarified on his blog the difference between a reporter and promoter under the Mob!lers program.

The program has two options : Reporters & Promoters

Reporters : If you are invited to an event as a Reporter, you will always be invited to the Product Launch event / Unpacked Event and would be asked to wear their Mob!lers Tshirt for the Group Photos and for the Meetings which were happening at the same hotel where we were staying. This was informed prior to the events itself about which you can find below. At the Unpacked event you would get the Partner Pass to get the entry and you also get a 3G SIM Card during the trip to cover the event and stay connected with everyone.

Promoters : You are in short going to work with Samsung during the IFA for a short period and would be handling the booths by showcasing the devices to the visitors. You would be given all the perks along with a Uniform to wear which is compulsory and if you are not fine with this you can always report back to the agency and opt to not join at the event. You would also gett a subsidy/daily allowance for expenses which is not confirmed but is around high xxx Euros for spending during the event. You would get access to the devices a day in prior to the actual event and would be given detailed information / presentations around those products and you will also be taught on the packing of the devices and related stuff.

More details can be read here : Amit Bhawani’s blog

Samsung India took the matter and provided me various details regarding the program as well as an official statement which is posted below. The point was that people at Samsung Global were told that the Indian bloggers were promoters and that is how they treated them. Whereas the Indian bloggers were told that its just an additional promotional program that would take a few minutes everyday. This is where the miscommunication happened, which is a fault of the Samsung India representative who was coordinating the whole thing. In this situation, either the Samsung India person was not clear on the role of promoters in the program and assumed that it would just add a few more things to the reporters program that these two Indian bloggers can adjust with or he just chose to lie and felt that once reached, the bloggers would not be able to opt out of it.

However, Clinton should have tried to get the details out instead of just assuming it to be something like a reporter plus program.

Clarifying on the threat of stranding them in Berlin, Clinton’s writeup states that they were told on phone that if they are not taking part in the promoter’s program then their tickets would be moved up to the 1st, which is what the reporter’s program entitles them to. However, the threat on the phone that goes as “You can either be a part of this and wear the uniform, or you’ll have to get your own tickets back home and handle your hotel stay from the moment this call ends”. This is something that we do not expected out of the person representing Samsung India’s events and I hope Samsung takes some step towards this person.

At the time of writing this blog post, Samsung has sent an official statement -

Samsung Mob!lers is a voluntary community of active Samsung mobile device users, who are offered the opportunity to participate in our marketing events across the world. At these events, all activities they undertake are on a voluntary basis. No activities are forced upon them.

We regret there was a misunderstanding between the Samsung Mob!lers coordinators and the relevant blogger, as we understand he was not sufficiently briefed on the nature of Samsung Mob!lers’ activities at IFA 2012. We have been attempting to get in touch with him.

We respect the independence of bloggers to publish their own stories.

Clearly a case of miscommunication, the whole event was blown out of proportion all over the social media. The whole ordeal with Clinton would have been a major pain for him to deal with there, especially with no help from Samsung India representative.

However, the story has two sides – going through both of them shows that the bloggers as well as Samsung India representative are at fault.

Micromax India is all set to launch their first tablet. However, it looks like instead of getting a tablet with entry level or mediocre hardware, Micromax is planning to come out with India’s first tablet running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.  Got my hands on this render of their upcoming tablet -

The few details that I have heard over the past couple of weeks are -

> 7 -inch capacitive touchscreen
> Dual-core processor
> HDMI-out
> Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) out of the box

From the render few more things become apparent

1. It will have a separate DC-5V charger and will not use the visible miniUSB port for charing
2. It has expandable memory via microSD card
3. It has a miniUSB port with on the go connectivity
4. It is capable of outputting 2160P resolution quad-HD output (though there is no monitor/TV that would support this at the moment)
5. It will have some sort of 3D capability (3Dvision logo on the back)
6. There is no rear camera
7. The tablet is “Made in India”

As per the rumor mill, the tablet will be launched before March 15th in India. Considering how Micromax likes to play on the price, the tablet could be priced between the Rs 10,000 – 20,000 bracket.

At times, there is a need to share multiple website links on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter or a SMS, but we tend to be  limited by the number of words. So far, the only way out was to either do multiple posts or use URL shortening services and share multiple links in the post.

Just found out a simpler solution. Go to www.krunch.us – a URL shortening service that allows you to embed multiple website links into one single URL. On the website all that is required is to to enter the relevant information on the box on the right – no signup required!

You need to choose a krunch URL name – this is used in the name for the URL link generated, so keep it as relevant as possible (eg www.krunch.us/z.php?id=testtoday). In the second box,  enter the links that you want to be included in the URL. Although there is no limit, the site suggests  to stick to a maximum of 20 links. There is an option to keep the URL access private by adding a password for security.

Once done,  enter a security captcha – most likely done by the website to keep spam at bay and click on krunch now button at the bottom.

The site takes a few seconds and loads a single URL in the browser address bar with the first website link that was added. On the page, it shows two buttons for “Previous” and “Next” on the left and right side- clicking on the “Next” button will open the next website link that was added in the krunch URL. The whole setup acts as a slideshow of the website links added – the only difference is that the websites shared are fully active with only the two buttons additioanly visible to switch between the shared links.

Note – In the website link box, enter the website with either “http://” or ‘www” for the links to work. Also, after every link, you are required to press “enter” on the keyboard to separate multiple links and not use a comma or hyphen.

Just saw this video over at Gsmarena that shows the interface of an upcoming to-do list app for iOS called Clear. It is by far the simplest and graphically pleasing to-do app I have seen.

Check it up -

Developed by Realmac software, the app is now on top of my app wish list.

To get on the follow up list for the app, sign up on the Clear page by Realmac

Each of us would definitely have one or the other old gadget lying around. I am sure if you look around you might see a home theater system or a CRT TV or atleast an old phone somewhere in the corner. If you are the “must have new stuff every year” type, then you would have a lot more.

Reasons for this could be many. You got something new/better. You have outgrown its use. One or the other function stopped working. It just died on you. It has been passes down from elders to you and you cant say no. So, what do you do with it? Keep it in a cabinet? Donate it to charity (if you are a kind soul that is) or just sell it online on various sites and forums at whatever price you can get for it. However, if you want to sell a new gadget, you would be in a shock at how irritating it becomes.
Its not because of the time it takes or the shipping charges to be borne or the so called security concerns that everyone speaks of. It’s about how people try to negotiate for pricing. I can understand negotiating on the price of an old used product as there would be evident wear and tear and warranty is expired, but on products that are like new or box packed new and are priced a bit lower than MRP anyways…. What about those? 
I recently tried to sell a box packed Nokia E5 phone (got it as a gift) online. Posted an ad with pictures on forums and on various trading sites. A new Nokia E5 comes for Rs 9,100 as per various online sites, so I posted the price to be Rs 7,500 as I don’t have a bill to give along with it. The replies I got were simply unbelievable! A number of people called up saying they were interested but not at this price even though it was a sealed new phone and was almost 1.5k cheaper than what you get in market.

Here are a few interesting replies I got over phone and on forum messages -

1.    I stay in old Delhi, here the phone’s MRP is 8.5k and I would get a free Bluetooth headset if I buy from Croma at 9k. I will take your phone if you price it below 7k.
(I checked at Croma their Bluetooth offer was there around Diwali only. Called a few old Delhi mobile phone shops – no one was ready to quote below 9k, the guy wont tell me where he found the 8.5k price)

2.    I am interested in your phone. Will take it for 5.5k shipped to Kerela
(Hello… 5.5k shipped to Kerala for a new phone – a used E5 would be hard to find at that price!)

3.    I am ready to take your phone for 7k.. But can you hand deliver it to me in Chandigarh?
(I have a job buddy… I don’t go around delivering phones to other states)

4.    Since your phone does not have a bill to claim warranty, will you give me a year’s personal warranty so that if anything happens to the phone you would get it repaired/replaced or refund my money?
(Even Nokia wouldn’t refund your money if you buy a brand new phone… I am selling a phone, not funding you to raise it)

The official terms of doing something like this in a sale is “Lowballing”. It basically means that you would be offered a ridiculous price against what you have quoted and when you disagree to that price, the interested party would raise the price by a small amount. This would make it look like a better deal as you are getting more than what was offered earlier and because of the previous offers you are already doubting if you would get what you asked for in the first place.

I agree most of us have grown up seeing our mothers negotiating with the local sabjiwala and fathers trying strategically bringing the price down at a gadget or getting a freebie along with it. It’s in our blood to negotiate to certain extent. Come to think of it that actually could be one of the reasons that people in India are adverse in shopping online – you can’t negotiate on the price listed!

I finally sold the phone for 7k + shipping to a Good Samaritan who arranged for courier pickup as well.  Thanks to people like him, I would still continue to sell stuff online in the near future.

Image Courtesy: http://advantagesofonlineshopping.yolasite.com

Working as Tech journalist gives me access to a lot of shiny new gizmos. From the past years or so I have noticed that more and more manufacturers are just pushing out products with glossy exteriors. At first I though that maybe this is just so that large devices such as TV’s that need to be put on a wall or on a table and then just be controlled via remote would give the place a classy look. It would stand out thanks to the shiny surface and attract attention easily. Fine, I understand and that is the only point that I can think of that makes sense in practical life for glossy products.

But this is also true that Shiny glossy things makes one want to touch the shiny surface and just get a feel of the surface. This is where the problem starts, the glossy exterior attracts fingerprints, dust and scratches as much as it attracts attention. People tend to touch these shiny objects and once a couple of fingerprints get embedded, say bye bye to the device’s shiny look. In terms of TV’s and DVD players etc, I can understand, you just clean the surface off with a soft damp cloth and the exterior regains its smooth glossy texture – Afterall it wont be touched on a regular basis. But what these manufacturers are doing now a days is totally uncanny.

Pick up any new device… be it phones, notebooks, net books, gaming consoles, tablets or LCD monitors; everything now come with a glossy panel. Yes, they look very nice…. Yes, they look very shiny…. but only as far as the protective plastic cover is on them. Take it off and your shiny new device is subjected to clearly visible fingerprints. The general human perception is like I said… if its shiny, one would want to touch it. So why handheld devices such as phones and notebooks are being pushed out with glossy panels? They would be held in hands, and they would get tons of fingerprints on them…. Personally, I have started to get irritated with it… take the notebook out of the case, use it for a while, and then before keeping it back, wipe the fingerprints off so that the next time you take it out, it looks neat and shiny as ever. Why make the glossy panel in the first place if I would be spending half my time just cleaning it….

It gets worse in case of Cell phones and tablets, devices from various manufacturers are coming with glossy finish on the front and back. It was one thing that you can save the display screen from scratches and fingerprints using a Scratchguard, but now what ? I have used quite a few glossy phones and tablet myself and frankly speaking I kept cleaning them after every call I made, every SMS I sent and every app I played with… I have to be extra careful because these devices are review units and have to be sent back. But what about an average consumer, would someone spend so much time to clean a phone with the already hectic lifestyle?

What worse that any scratches on devices with glossy panel stand out like a nasty scar. Think of it, a nice shiny surface, but there is a small line in a different color and without the shine… How bad it would look..?

Unfortunately, there is now way out…  the demand for these devices far outweigh this issue that comes with it. So, get Scratchguards, screen guards or protective covers and put them on the device. Ironically, they hide the shiny exterior for a matte finish. I love the fact that I have a matte finish screen guard for my iPad, which is then put inside the Apple folio case to save the back and sides.

But no matter how hard you try, your beloved device would get a fingerprint or scratch sooner or later during usage… I just Hope that the manufacturers would reconsider going glossy on every damn thing that they can churn out..or atleast give an option to the consumer. I won’t deny the market for these shiny toys is not present – its present at a large scale, but once the shine fades away under scratches and fingerprints, it just feels plain sad seeing the once lively device so dull and scratched.

P.S > Karan has just cleaned his laptop, phone, tablet and monitor to get rid of the fingerprints and dust that accumulates in just taking the devices out of the bag. It took him over 10 minutes to get everything shining back up, and that is the inspiration behind this post.

Yes, the karanbajaj.in domain was mine since last year, and I was updating it on a regular basis, swear to god (crosses fingers). However, if you guys noticed, it went down at the beginning of April. The reason was very simple – I forgot to renew it! And even when I saw that I had a few grace days to renew my site to get it back, I got caught up with work and the grace days just slipped past.

Post that began the torture of getting the site back and that is what has inspired this post. I did not really care about the content of the blog, it was anyways mostly rants that can be re-written, but the domain name – my name, was what I wanted back and that to desperately. As I tried to get the domain back, I realized it’s not that simple a process. You search online and read various tips and tricks, but nothing works. Restoration costs become thrice the amount that you would have paid for a year’s renewal and even that process can be initiated only if your domain name and hosting space seller is smart enough. After running around to get the domain name back through one way or the other (no help from my previous domain seller), I finally gave up and decided to wait till the name becomes available again and re purchase it with the domain seller (www.domainwala.com) I found through a friend and have been using it from a while now.

After 3 months of waiting, the domain is finally back with me. It took me a few days to set it back up, and I am still in two minds about the theme on the blog, so playing around with that – your views are more than welcome. The end point is that the domain is back and I am more than happy to re-launch my personal blog online and I swear to god that I will update it regularly (crosses fingers again).