Google Play Store India - Free Movie - The Lord of The Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

I just noticed a free offer from Google Play Store in India. The offer is of the movie " The Lord of The Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring". The movie is available for download as a HD or a SD format download. Here is a screenshot of the same. You may google the same.

The link for the same is here:

https://play.google.com/store/movies/collection/promotion_4000cb1_holiday_movies?hl=en

Google Chromecast India Launch on 10th Dec 2014?

Image courtesy http://www.google.co.in/chrome/devices/chromecast/

As per some tech sites that are popular in India, Google Chromecast will be launched in India on 10th December 2014. This is also going to be the launch of GOSF 2014 in India.

Google Chromecast which was launched in US in 2013 is basically a digital media player developed by Google. Chromecast was announced on July 24, 2013, and made available for purchase on the same day in the United States.

Some popular Indian tech sites such as iGyaan, Androids, Intellect Digest are all saying they have exclusive information that the chromecast will be launched for Indian audience and officially by google and will be available for sale through Snapdeal. Intellect Digest goes on to say that the device sold by snapdeal will be the official device and will carry warranty in India. This is good news to lot of Indians who have been shipping products from US to India with no local support.

Let us see if the claims are indeed correct.

Review - LG 47LA6200 119 cm (47) LED TV (Full HD, 3D, Smart)

I bought this model from a store in Vashi (Navi Mumbai) in July 2014. After a good 4 months of usage, I decided to pen down the salient features and quick review of this model for the benefit of the larger audience.

For starters this is a 2013 model (LG LA 6200) and the 2014 model is called LB6200 which has a slightly higher refresh rate and costs about 10,000 INR more. I demoed both the LA6200 (2013 model) and LB6200 (2014 model). To my surprise i could not find any difference in quality. I tested both the non 3d and 3d features. The link to the official website is LG India.

Some of the salient feature of this model are following:

• 119 cm (47) LED Display
• Full HD, 1920 x 1080
• IPS Panel
• 3D TV
• Smart TV
• Smart Share (NFC Tag ON, Miracast™ , MHL, 2^nd Display)
• 3 x HDMI, 
• 3 x USB
• Built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet
• Refresh Rate - 60 Hz Motion Rate
• Magic Remote with Voice Recognition
• Comfortable, flicker free, battery free 3D glasses - 4 pieces
• Time Machine with recording feature
• Premium Content

The sales package contains "TV Unit, 4 Basic 3D Glasses, Magic Remote (MR13), Conventional Remote".

Acer Iconia W4-820 Tablet (64 GB, Wi-Fi) Review (updated with pics)

I bought this tablet in the month of May from Flipkart. At that time i got a great price offer and also got the cover free with it.

Now that I have used this tablet for over 6 months, i thought of writing a quick review.


The model that this review is talking about is Acer Iconia W4-820 Tablet (64 GB, Wi-Fi). Its official page at Acer India website is Acer Iconia India . Quick specifications for the same are following:

• Windows 8.1
• 4th Gen Intel Atom Z3740 Quad-core 1.33 GHz Processor
• 20.3 cm (8") WXGA (1280 x 800) LCD display
• Wi-Fi
• 2 GB RAM
• 64 GB Flash Memory (internal Solid state drive)
• 2 Megapixel Front Camera
• 5 Megapixel Back Camera
• microSD card slot - support upto 128GB
• Includes Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013
• One micro USB port
• One HDMI port
• Sensors: eCompass, Gyro Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer

Review - God is a Gamer by Ravi Subramanian

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Language: English

Length: 324 pages

Publisher: Penguin Books India 

Price: INR 299

Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Literature & Fiction
Teaser on Youtube:



Ravi Subramanian is considered to be one of new, young India's finest thriller writers. He has written six bestselling books till date and this book (God is a Gamer) is his seventh book. What a conincidence since Chetan Bhagat's latest book takes him to seven books in total and likewise for Ravi.

Anyways  to give a brief, he is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) and is currently the head of a leading financial institution.  A career banker and financial services professional, Ravi has worked with several multinational banks. As a result of his extensive background in banks, writing about banking comes quite naturally to Ravi. Each one of his books thus far have been set in the backdrop of a foreign bank and this book is again all about banking and money.


I say what better way to make money than to write fiction about others making money. :-)

Review Half GirlFriend - Chetan Bhagat

Author: Chetan Bhagat V
Language: English
Length: 268 pages
Publisher: Rupa Publication India
Link From Authors website: http://www.chetanbhagat.com/books/half-girlfriend/
Price: INR 176
Teaser Campaign on Youtube:


As far as my knowledge goes, this is the seventh book by Chetan Bhagat. A brief background about him as written on his website.

"Chetan Bhagat is the author of six blockbuster books. These include five novels—Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008), 2 States (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011)—and the non-fiction title What Young India Wants (2012).
Half-Girlfriend, his seventh book and sixth novel, releases in October 2014.

Private India - A Review

Author: James Patterson & Ashwin Sanghi

Language: English

Length: 480 pages

Publisher: Random House

This book is a continuation of the popular ‘Private’ novel series by James Patterson. He has chosen to make India his next destination of choice to appear in the ‘Private India’ (possibly the first of the series with many more to come). The one thing that surprised me and got me down to reading this book was James teaming up with Ashwin Sanghi. Most of the people who have read Ashwin, know him as someone who creates great scripts with good narration but gets inspired by mythology. However, this book is not mythology but, is all current times. So, it indeed is a bit surprising. But, what matters is the final product, if it is digestible, believable, comprehensible, follow able, cry able, laugh able all at some point then it will be a good product. I read through the book at rapid pace to put this book to the above test and see what comes out. Read on to know how the book fares.

Ajaya: Roll of the Dice (Epic of the Kaurava clan, #1) – Book Review

Author: Anand Neelakantan

Publisher: Leadstart Publications

Year: 2013

So, the next book that I could get both my eyes and hands on to was the “Ajaya: Roll of the Dice (Epic of the Kaurava clan, #1)”. As it so happened this time when I picked up the book, I said to myself that I will not be writing any book review. However, everything about this book, let me call it a piece of art impressed me so much and I just had to write and share about this wonderful work.

Before I begin with the review, let me start by saying that this is the first time I had a book written by Mr. Anand Neelakantan in my hands. He has authored other books like Asura: tale of the Vanquished. It seems like he relishes in exploring the en-explored, bringing the least thought of occurrences into light of his books, questioning the unquestioned and asking the unknown question, seeking answers to the unwelcome. Yes, this seems to be Anand’s forte and he seems to revel in the same with the same gaiety that a young child would do when he opens this first bottle of water.

India in Shambles - Only The Judiciary Can Save Us - Book Review

Book:  India in Shambles - Only The Judiciary Can Save Us
Publishing Year - 2013
Author: K.C. Agrawal
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: BecomeShakespeare.com
Price: INR 370

I recently laid my hands on the the book "India in Shambles - Only The Judiciary Can Save Us" by KC Agarwal. When i laid my hands on the book, i had my doubts, but believe me they were all dispelled by the depth of the research and the simple yet novellness of the ideas presented in this neat book.

The Book is written in two parts. Part one talk about diagnosing the maladies ailing our nation and to determine their tangible cures. Part two of the book talks about Building the nation. Here ther author provides the roadmaps and guidelines to place the nation amongst the most prosperous and powerful nations in the world by making optimum use of our resources.

Review of Casio Protek PRG - 270-1 (SL 71)

Here is a quick review of my latest watch Casio Protek PRG - 270-1 (SL 71). Since i live in India, here is the official link to Casio India page http://www.casio-intl.com/in/en/wat/watch_detail/PRG-270-1/.



Before i get on with the specifics let me quickly point to where i bought the watch from. I bought it from snapdeal.com (link for the watch http://www.snapdeal.com/product/casio-stylish-mens-watch/1525802208)  Everything from packing to delivery time was better than expected. I had the watch delivered to my doorstep within 48 hours of ordering the same. Kudos to snapdeal and its team.

My Lumia 920 is downloading updates...looks like it is Lumia black for 920 in India

Even though the status on Nokia's website (http://www.nokia.com/global/support/software-update/wp8-software-update/wp8-availability-in-asia-pacific/) says that Lumia Black is 'Coming Soon'. I am downloading a huge update on my Nokia Lumia 920. I will confirm once i have the installation completes.