The New Dewtas : The Rise of Rudra by Suraj Kothiyal - A Review

I recently got a copy of this book from the writer himself Suraj Kothiyal for a read and review.

On the web you can find him at https://surajkothiyal.com/.

Author - Suraj Kothiyal
Publisher - Leadstart Publishing Services Pvt Ltd (2018)
Pages - 222 pages
Price - 249/- INR

The author, Suraj Kothiyal, hails from Dehradun with his family roots belonging to the Himalya region. He has done his schooling from Dehradun. He has done his mechanical engineering and his MBA in marketing from Maharashtra. The blurb and sample chapters can be found here - https://amzn.to/2AuZmEb. You can also have a look at the book trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVzrBuJzt2I

This book is inspired by a popular folklore in Bali that talks of a Hindu saint namely, Maharishi Markandeya, who came to Bali from India and introduced Hinduism on the scenic island.

Moving on with the review: 

When i first heard of this book, the first thought that I had in my mind was "What!! Another book on Indian Mythology". I must say when I picked this up for a read I was of the opinion that this book may just bore me with things that I already know or donot want to know more about.

Parikrama By Radhika Vyas Sharma a Book Review

I recently got this book for review from Leadstart  Publishing. The link for the same on Leadstarts website is following:

http://www.leadstartcorp.com/short-stories/parikrama/

This book is also available on Amazon - http://amzn.to/2nBm8Ds

and Flipkart - https://www.flipkart.com/parikrama/


Pages: 181
Type: Paperback
Genre: Fiction
Author: Radhika Vyas Sharma
Price: INR 195

Radhika Vyas Sharma is the author of Parikrama. Radhika’s writing credits include The Santa Clara Review, The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Jose Mercury News, The SoMa Literary Review, The Times of India, The Economic Times, India Currents, Khabar, Rediff-India Abroad, Little India, In the Fray.com, KQED FM’s Forum, Perspectives and Pacific Time, Curled Up With a Good Book.com among others. Currently at work on a novel, Radhika has volunteered for several nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay area over the past decade. Radhika and her family reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. (source: http://www.radhikavsharma.com/index.php/about-us)

Samsung S8 Plus (128GB) Update in India

As of this moment my Samsung S8 plus is downloading a whooping 600MB update. I checked yesterday and didnot see this update on the phone (OTA). Could this be Android 7.1.1? Keeping fingers crossed for a Indian Independence Day surprise by Samsung India!!!

Samsung A9 Pro - Update India

I am glad to announce to all Samsung A9 Pro users in India that there is an approximately 147MB large update that is rolling out to all the qualified handsets. Yes, this update can be downloaded Over the Air (OTA).

I am as of writing this blog updating the handset. I will update this blog with further updates on how this will go and the change log. The Samsung pushed changed log said performance improvements.

Let us see what it is. Fingers crossed for Nougat.

Review - Acer Aspire E5-553-T4PT Notebook (NX.GESSI.003)( APU Quad Core A10/4 GB RAM/1 TB HDD/Windows 10)

I had taken a long pause from blogging and i have been feeling guilty all this while. So here I am back without much ado.

Today I am going to review the following laptop:

Acer Aspire E5-553-T4PT Notebook (NX.GESSI.003) (APU Quad Core A10/4 GB RAM/1 TB HDD/Windows 10)

I bought this from Amazon India at the following url: http://amzn.to/2i7ZSjc. It is also  available on Flipkart at this url: Acer E5-553-T4PT

By the way, I am not associated with either AMD or Acer India. This is my independent, unbiased review.

Why I started with a review of this laptop and the initial few things that prompted me to write this review are:
1) Incorrect Specifications on the product page at Amazon India
2) Lack of the details of this model on Acer website
3) Incredible performance of this laptop (especially at this pricepoint)

The sales package contains the following:
1) Aspire E5-553-T4PT Notebook with Lithium Ion Battery
2) AC Adapter
3) No OS CD (Why Acer could you not have provided a restore OS CD)
4) No Laptop Bag (I dont crave for it as it is anyways at a very economical pricepoint)

This laptop carries the model no - E5-553-T4PT & Part Number: NX.GESSI.003.

So let me address the first things first. I will start with the specifications and for reference the correct Data sheet for this laptop is http://www.acer.com/datasheets/2016/4876/E5-553/NX.GESSI.003.html.

Processor - AMD APU Quad Core A10 9600P (this is a 7th Gen AMD processor, just launched in mid 2016)
RAM - 4 GB DDR4 RAM (yes yes its a DDR4 RAM! Yaay)
OS - 64 bit Windows 10 Operating System (yes legit OS)
HDD - 1 TB HDD (its a 5400 rpm laptop drive)
Optical Drive - Optical drive 8x DVD R/W (provides extra bay to replace the same with an additional HDD)
Graphics - AMD integrated graphics - Radeon R5 Graphics
Display - 15.6 inch Display 1366x768 WXGA resolution (Yes it is nothing to write home about, but still looks good)
USB Type C port -  Yes it is there (i have not seen any laptop at this price point provide this port)
Price - Approximately INR 25000/- (cant think of all the features provided by any brand at this price in India)
Warranty - On registering on Acer India website got an offer to upgrade the existing carry in warranty to the following:
1) New warranty upgrade to Accidental Damage Protection (ADP)
2) Free upgrade to 2nd and 3rd year warranty
All the above at INR 900/- inclusive of all taxes, extra payment by me (this is mind blowing. Anything like this for HP/Dell/Lenovo would have easily costed me INR 5000/- to 10,000/-.

WD Elements 2TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Disk (Black) Review

The WD Elements Portable drive offers a large amount of storage space for a low cost. You have to pay extra to use its included backup software after the 30-day trial. The drive has no security features at all and carries a warranty of just one year. Also, on the inside, it houses a low-power standard laptop hard drive that spins at just 5,400rpm. 

Conclusion: This is a fast, easy-to-use and versatile portable drive that can effortlessly add a lot more storage, not just to computers but also game consoles and other types of USB-enabled hosts. If you don't plan on using it to store sensitive data, this is an excellent drive to choose. On the other hand, if keeping your data safe from prying eyes in case of loss or theft is a big concern, then this is not the drive for you.

If you are confused between the various models offered i.e. WD Elements Portable (this model) or the WD My Passport Ultra, then few basic differences are following:

This is a great piece of hardware!


1) My Passport Ultra incorporates a hardware encryption, and WD Elements does not
2) Ultra is thinner and comes with a longer warranty (3 years) vs compared to Elements which as 1 year warranty
3) Elements is entry level hard disk of western digital. My passport ultra is the advance and compact type of hard disk.
Elements  My passport Ultra
Hardware Encryption: No  Hardware Encryption: Yes
Cloud/Dropbox: No  Cloud/Dropbox: Yes
Software Back Up: No  Software Back Up: Yes
Auto Data Synchronization: No  Auto Data Synchronization: Yes

You may buy the WD Elements in India from the following websites:
Amazon-http://amzn.to/2hjZXyY
Flipkart: https://www.flipkart.com/wd-elements-2-5-inch-2-tb-external-hard-drive/p/itmdp6ppvaxaqhch
Snapdeal: https://www.snapdeal.com/product/wd-2tb-elements-usb-30/1457692
Paytm: https://paytm.com/shop/p/wd-elements-2-5-inch-2-tb-external-hard-disk-black-wd_elements_2tb_black_169

Samsung S5 Exynos Version Lollipop update now rolling out in India

I am writing to confirm the roll out of Lollipop update for Samsung S5 model in India which has Exynos processor. I got the update on 20th March 2015 at 9:00pm IST.

The update size is 874.21 MB and as expected is an OTA update. The entire process was very quick and the update after downloading took 20-25 minutes to get the phone running on Lollipop.

Thank you Samsung for such a delayed roll out! (Saturday is sarcasm day).

The phone feels faster even with the same amount of RAM utlization.

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.