Author: Sankaranand

  • Penta T-Pad WS802c Hands on Review – Video

    For those who have been keeping up with the news must be aware of Noida based Pantel Technologies which sells co-branded BSNL Tablets. Recently they launched a new higher end model called Penta T-Pad WS802C. I had a chance to try it and been using it for more than a week. So this was actually my second tablet after the ipad. One thing I could notice is that tablets are drastically changing the way we consume the content. Also we have vast array of choices for buying a tablet, which varies on aspects like features, hardware and cost. In India, cost is a potential factor for every product and that’s where T-pad WS802c impressed me.

    Overview:
    T-Pad WS802C is a budget tablet which comes around 14700 INR. With my hands-on experience, I am writing a personal review on it. To make things more clear and concise, I am going to split into topics. Ok here we go 🙂 You can also checkout the video above to feel the looks.

    Specifications:
    Powered by Cortex A8 1GHz, 512mb DDR2 Ram, 4GB internal memory and runs on Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It has dual camera (2mp rear + 0.3 front), GPS, 3G Sim Slot and other default stuffs. More detailed specs here.

    Tablet Body:
    Comes in white colour with 8” display, which is bigger than other budget variant. The back panel is a patterned white design with protective lamination that prevents scratches and gives good resistance. The Touch screen is very responsive like Samsung tab and Blackberry playbook. Overall body is made up of hard plastic and perfectly strong for a tablet.

    Performance and Usage:
    I performed several benchmark tests and certainly the tablet is up to the level on budget category. Boot speed is pretty quick but certainly at some point multi-tasking lags a little especially when 7+ applications are open same time. Sometimes it crashes and reboots completely. Tried playing couple of high end games and it is seamlessly fast but the negative factor is that it heats up very quickly. The Temperature is too high at some point where you cannot even hold it in your hand. Comparing other tablets in this segment this one emits more temperature. Seriously they need to consider redesigning their heat exhaust or sink.

    Battery:
    The total standby time is more than 6 hours but the battery drains very quickly within 4 hours on performing normal tasks. We also have to remember the fact that you can actually make calls; receive text messages in this tablet with a 2g/3g sim card. So turning of cellular network can increase your battery life.

    Support:
    The first question that sparks anyone when buying a brand which is unknown is the support and warranty. Unlike any Chinese products or Unfamiliar New Indian Brands, Pantel Technologies can be added to exception list because they have service centres all over India.

    Comparison:
    Here is my comparison with tablets in the same budget range.

    Features T-Pad WS802C Huawei MediaPad HCL ME Tablet AM7-A1
    Operating System 4.0.3 Ice Cream 3.2 Honey Comb 2.2 Froyo
    CPU Cortex A8  1GHz Dual-core 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Cortex A8, 800MHz
    Screen Size 8 Inches 7 Inches 7 Inches
    Memory 4GB Internal + Ext 1GB Internal + Ext 8 GB + Ext
    Camera 2 mp + 0.3 mp 5 MP + 1.3 MP 1.3 MP
    Standby Time 6 hours 6 Hours
    Cost 14699 INR 19990 INR 18000 INR

     

    Pros:

    1. 15,000 INR is a good price for this configuration
    2. Performance and Speed
    3. Touch sensitive is quite good
    4. Hard and Strong Tablet shell
    5. Warranty and Support Center all over India

    Cons:

    1. Over Heating
    2. Battery Charging Time
    3. Uncomfortable menu buttons

    You can know more about the tablet in their official product page.

  • Moving multiple files from current folder to parent folder in Linux

    People who use shell to install packages or application in their Linux servers usually need to keep this command handy. Every time they download and unzip a folder, they are in a position to move all those files to a parent directory they already created.

    For example you download wordpress application and extract it, but those files are extracted in another folder that comes up with the zip package. What you need to do at this point is to move all those files from that particular folder to your parent directory which you usually created and planned to host. In most cases it will be your Application root folder.

    Consider a scenario where you are in folderX, you download a package file and extract it but instead of extracting it directly in folderX, it creates another native folder that comes up with package like folderY. So all those extracted files are in path /folderX/folderY/ 🙁 thats bad !!!

    Run this simple move file command outside the folderY, you need to be in folderX when you run !

    mv folderY/* .

    The above command will move all the files and folders inside folderY to folderX 🙂 That works like a charm! Yeah try it. Always ensure to be careful while running commands like mv, rm. If you don’t give the correct part, things will mess up and you end up doing the operation at wrong place.

  • Configuring Amazon SES with Mantis Bug Tracker for Email Notifications

    So you deployed one of best bug tracker system in your ec2 instance and was wondering how to configure its email setting with SES ? After Amazon Introduced SMTP accounts, things that were so complicated become so easier.  Every application that supports SMTP connection method made it possible and compatible to be used with Amazon SES.

    But things are not simple with Mantis Bug Tracker Configuration because the basic configuration file does not contain the necessary attributes needed for configuring Amazon SES SMTP email or Google SMTP Accounts. They are just enough for an ordinary SMTP settings.  So after doing some research over a couple of forums and user tryouts, the following configuration listed below works

    # — Email Configuration —
    $g_phpMailer_method = PHPMAILER_METHOD_SMTP;  #For SMTP Method
    $g_smtp_host = ’email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com’; #Your SES SMTP Host
    $g_smtp_connection_mode = ‘tls’; #It is mandatory for SES and Gmail SMTP
    $g_smtp_port = 587; #For some Reason only this port was working in SES
    $g_smtp_username = ‘SMTP Username’; # Your SES SMTP Username
    $g_smtp_password = ‘SMTP Password’; # Your SES SMTP Password
    $g_administrator_email = ’[email protected]’; #Email displayed at footer (Must be an approved sender list in SES)
    $g_webmaster_email = ’[email protected]’; #Verified SES Sender Email
    $g_from_email = ’[email protected]’; # From Address (Verified SES Sender Email)
    $g_return_path_email = ’[email protected]’; # the return address for bounced mail
    $g_from_name = ‘From Name’;
    $g_enable_email_notification = ON;

    The above configuration will do the trick and you can start receiving emails from Mantis Bug Tracker 🙂 Fire up the comments section if you had any doubts in it !!!

  • Increase phpMyAdmin upload / import size

    By default you get a 2mb limit of upload / import size in phpmyadmin. That makes it odd and highly impossible to import larger files. You can increase the allowed upload size of phpmyadmin by editing your server’s php.ini configuration file. Usually in servers like CentOs it is located at /etc/php.ini.

    Step 1: Go to php.ini and find the following and change their values to something more higher than your database size. (In this example i have used 20mb).

    upload_max_filesize = 20M

    post_max_size = 20M

    Step2 : Restart your apache service for this new change to take effect. Usually the command to restart apache would be

    service httpd restart (CentOs) / service apache2 restart (ubuntu)

    You can also restart directly from their path like

    /etc/init.d/apache2 restart or /etc/init.d/httpd restart

    If you are in a shared hosting and do not have root access or access to your php.ini configuration file, then the other way is to create a .htaccess file in your application root and add the following line

    php_value upload_max_filesize 10M
    php_value post_max_size 10M

    If you were still not able to increase it, please send me an email for more detailed assistance.

     

     

  • 2 mbps will soon be the minimum broadband speed – TRAI

    Finally 2mbps will be the minimum service speed offered by isp’s in india. This means will there be no FUP by isp? or atleast it is restricted to a minimum speed of 2mbps ?

    You can expect a lower price plan but the service taxes are always higher.

    Now you can stream your youtube video smoothly without a hitch. 🙂

  • Blogging from Blackberry

    Blogging from blackberry. Thanks to wordpress mobile app. Now I can post even snippet story or short blog posts from my blackberry. Still I need to explore more of its features. I can’t figure out a way to upload pictures and so on 🙁

    Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.

  • Prebook your Ubislate 7+ tablet for 2999 rupees now

    Prebook your Ubislate 7+ tablet for 2999 rupees now

    A tablet with cortex A8 , 3200 mAh battery powered by Android 2.3 with GSM and Wifi connectivity and i am giving you it for a damn price of Rs.2999 INR. Why would i buy it ? Sorry was that a question ? Nope i mean where can i get it ? Who can give you a damn cheap tablet with all these features ? The Aakash tablet project powered Ubislate 7+ is upgraded version of ubislate7 tablet and it rocks more than the previous one. You can actually make and receive calls with it !

    Features of Ubislate 7 Plus:

    • Android 2.3
    • Cortex A8, 700 Mhz Process with HD Video Co Processor
    • 256 MB RAM
    • Storage: (Internal) 2GB Flash / (External) 2GB to 32GB Supported
    • Peripherals: 2 Standard USB Ports (Ver. 2.0)
    • Audio Out: 3.5mm jack
    • Display and Resolution: 7″ Display with 800×480 pixels
    • Supported Document Formats: All Version Office Document formats and many more
    • High Quality Video Streaming & HD Quality Video Playback
    • Input Devices: Resistive Touch Screen
    • Connectivity with GPRS & WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g
    • Battery: Upto 180 minutes of battery, AC adaptor 200.240 volts

    Don’t even think about the quality just go and order it. All the slots closed for January and February but again the pre-booking has been opened for the month of March. Your wait is worth it and you can book it right away here at their official website. http://www.ubislate.com/prebook.html . i don’t know how long the pre-booking lasts !

    Optional accessory “keyboard case” can turn this tablet into a laptop which is yet to hit the stores.

     

  • Jailbreaking your iphone, ipad and ipod touch. Is it safe to do ?

    Jailbreaking your iphone, ipad and ipod touch. Is it safe to do ?

    There is a misconception going  about jailbreaking the latest iOS 5 devices. People say it will void your warranty and should do it only after the warranty period. Recently Apple is insisting application developers to create apps which detect modified handsets. Some apps keep popping up saying ” Jailbreak detected. App cannot run on this device.” . Jail breaking is legal but it does not cover the warranty and will void your warranty ! So should you jailbreak ? When you ask this question yourself, you need to understand what jailbreaking is and the necessity why you want to jailbreak ?

    Jailbreaking is just a process of removing the restrictions posed on a device.  Just consider entering a country without a visa. Each and every app developed for ios device should go for a process of approval by Apple before they are listed in itunes. So inorder to enable more functionality and to install custom applications, we involve in the process of jailbreaking our devices. Usually a custom community Cydia is available for ios which acts as a platform for apps market for jailbreak devices. I came across some of the custom apps and have to adhere their functions and how useful they are.  My favourite one was the bluetooth dialup  network for ipod touch which enables me to use my ipod touch with 3g facility by bridging it with my blackberry.

    The misconception with the users is that the current iOS 5 upgrade sends a signal to Apple saying that your iphone was jailbreaked and should ban this user from any support or warranty. This does not work that way, if you ask me i would tell it was just a rumor ! Atleast not now ! I have to agree that apple is trying to strengthen its device with a lot of security fixes. Jailbreak can be possible because of the security exploits and holes in the current software version but for every update Apple is trying to fix it up, we end up with a good jailbreaking tool 🙂

    So my advice is if you really want to use some extra apps and try more out of your device, jailbreak your device but don’t forget to take a backup before you do it. But don’t forget just in case if you want to send your device for a warranty you need to restore it with the original firmware !

  • How to Unsubscribe from FutureBazaar.com Daily Sms Alerts

    How to Unsubscribe from FutureBazaar.com Daily Sms Alerts

    Disclaimer

    Update (30th May 2018): Dear readers, please remember this post was posted 7 years before, so I won’t be responsible or liable for any SMS charges or if this option no longer works. Please try it at your own discretion and risk.

    If you are one of those frustrated customers of FutureBazaar.com like me who get Daily Deals SMS Alerts and wanted to turn it off ? Then you have come to the right place. For some reason the Account settings in FutureBazaar.com under the My Subscriptions tab won’t work. You can see two options, one to subscribe the Email Alerts and the other for Mobile Alerts. Unfortunately only the email alerts will be turned off and you still keep getting those annoyed sms from them.

    The only solution to turn of Daily Sms Alerts is to Send the following message from your registered cell number.

    “DEALS NO” to 575758

    You will be charged Rs.3 for sending the above SMS. To turn the Alerts Again in the future, you have to send “DEALS YES”.