Adhoora Kwab

Aasman ke andehron mein
Bichda hua sitara dekha
Chehre pe muskaan tho aaya
Magar aankhen dundhli huyi
Sitara andheron mein kho gaya
Phir se ek adhoora kwab dekha

Nokia X6 8gb User Experience

Just bought a Nokia X6 8gb a week before for ` 13,900 from Nokia Priority Dealer in Cochin. So thought about writing what I felt about it. Well this is not an expert review, so let me just guide you through the specs aspect. For detailed specs on this model visit Nokia or gsmarena.

UNBOXING

I was surprised to know that the package contents are slightly different from the 16gb version minus the car holder and car charger and when you know that the price difference is just ` 1700, that is a big loss. I should have gone with the 16gb version. Well the other contents are the same like a standard three pin charger, a USB cable that is literally no longer than your palm itself, a decent white earphone with extra pair of ear plugs, and a OVI suite CD (no that is a DVD), so people with a CD drive will have to download that from Nokia’s site. Make sure that you have more than 512 mb of RAM to install it, just mentioned it for those old desktops. And Oh! Just forgot about the user guide, its there too… Make sure you ask for the unlimited OVI voucher code. But even if you don’t get it, you can just log into the OVI music store on your handset, which can get you going.

THE HANDSET ITSELF

The handset itself features a 3.2 inch touch screen display having a resolution of 360x640 pixels that runs on S60v5. The display is a capacitive touch screen. The camera comes with a decent 5MP with Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus, and a dual LED flash.

The one thing that needs to be mentioned about the handset is that it is sleek, but the back cover is really cheap plastic with lots of squeaks.

Nokia X6 8gb has brilliant connectivity options as it supports GPRS, EDGE, 3G-HSDPA speeds up to 3.6 Mbps, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and microUSB services. The handset is sure to thrill you with its music capabilities including stereo speakers and 3.5 mm audio jack.

The battery at Li-Ion 1320 mAh claims to provide up to 12 hours of talk time in 2G network and 6 hours of talk time under 3G/UMTS network and a standby of 400 to 420 hours on both networks.

Well, I have been using it now for one week with high usage mainly for getting used to the functionality and checking out various applications and I have had to recharge it on a daily basis. So that gives me about one day between charges. Then with intermittent use later on, interestingly I got three days of standby. So, that's quite wonderful for a smartphone.

Now let me stop boring you with the usual stuff and come down to the actual user scenario.

USING THE DEVICE

The touch screen on this phone is quite responsive, I must say that. Just with a slightest amount of touch, the menus activate. The media key button is an exception though. Nokia needs to think about it seriously. Sometimes the media key fails to respond though I don’t know the reason why. There is also another key just besides the media key for connectivity options. Chances are high that you end up pushing both the buttons together. You have to be quite specific with your touch. The menus are quite nicely stacked. Finger scrolling works fine. Adding contacts on home screen is quite easy.

The QWERTY keyboard is fantastic, but one has to get used to it. I tried my hands on it, but failed to get that consistent accuracy. Anyway it’s a matter of time to get used to it. Viewing images and videos is quite an experience. But somehow it lacks some features like you can zoom in but not zoom out with finger tapping. Selection of multiple images or messages is quite a time consuming process whereas the earlier S60 version had a pencil button to mark items easily. This becomes a real headache if you want to upload quite a number of pics. Even the uploading section needs some help with third party applications, which you can find on the OVI store for free. I didn’t feel the double tap to load a song or image particularly to be a problem though.

The real problem lies in the video section. Even though mp4 videos are said to be supported, they don’t play when you transfer them on to your handset. It needed some research before I could rectify this problem. You need to convert the videos through third party applications and then transfer them onto your handset. One such application is the Any Video Converter. The videos work fine on the phone afterward.

So, the user experience with S60v5 edition has been a mixed bag of sorts. If you know your way around S60, you will be quite at home with the X6 interface.

The camera is the plus point of the device. Both the image quality and video quality is fantastic. Uploading videos directly from your phone can be a pain sometimes. Surprisingly, images can be uploaded from gallery, but videos cannot be uploaded. You have to do it manually from the youtube or any other site for that matter.

The phone comes preloaded with Quick Office, but you cant load them. When you try to load them, it says it doesn’t have a license and you need to purchase one. I really don’t know what is the point in providing such a service in the first place. It would be interesting to see how many of the users actually want to purchase a license in order to use Quick Office.

The GPS and OVI maps work fine. But I think they lack information as too little places are marked. Don’t even try to compare it with other map services.

USER EXPERIENCE

In all, the device itself is excellent, has an excellent capacitive screen, its fun using the camera, but Nokia should seriously consider to enhance on the usability of the S60v5 edition. The flaws mentioned above are more than enough to detract diehard Nokia customers.

If you are willing to sacrifice some services like Wi-Fi or GPS with a few less pixels, you can go in for the low cost Nokia 5230 or 5235 and you can save yourself half the amount for the same software package and the OVI Music goodies.

With all the features and camera in its kitty, the Nokia X6 8gb is value for money, but the 16gb is better since it has a bit more accessories in the package.

The Golden Bird

The Golden Bird tirelessly sings
A mesmerizing melody on strings
Her grieving heart hidden to strangers
Burdened with problems and dangers.

Of population, she is worried, but in vain
Her children not heeding have gone insane
Multiplying not in thousands but in millions
Only a matter of time to reach the zillions.

From pollution, she is suffocating for breath
Her children responsible for their own death
Depleting the environment with green gases
Fearfully hiding in their brittle glass houses.

By degradation, she is losing her natural beauties
Her children creating concrete jungles and cities
Letting their mother suffer in agony alarming
Causing natural calamities and global warming

From corruption, she is losing trust in mankind
Her children earning for money have maligned
The glorious history and respect it once earned
Only engraved in books as lessons to be learned

Where once people lived with joy and content
Now they struggle hard to survive the moment
Competition to succeed has become harder
Rich getting richer and poor getting poorer

Politics all throughout, our lives are ruining
Nobody knows where the nation is heading
Gone are days when they died for one another
Now, greed makes them kill their own mother

A brave heart, singing songs of unity in diversity
Amidst all the grave problems and animosity
Her name etched in history will never be blurred
In generations to follow as the Golden Bird.

A Red Rose

I am a good old bachelor boy
And prefer to be a bachelor boy
But once for sake, I was in love
With a girl as sweet as can be

I asked for her beautiful hand
And she said fulfill my grant
Bring me a beautiful red rose
And I'll always be forever yours.

I was happy and began my search
A red rose, I looked for everywhere
But, not even a single bud, I could find
Because it was winter all around

Lonely as I was and in growing pain
Sitting besides the window pane
Alas! I saw a splendid white rose
In my garden that was so close.

With knees bent and eyes wet
I pleaded it to change colors
And she whispered in my ears
A solution that brought out my fears.

I was ready to show my love
How much I indeed loved her
Painful it was for me to do such act
Yet it only showed my true love.

Besides the plant, I lay my hands
Only to be pierced by its prickles
Slowly and steadily my lifeblood
Into the stem, it began to flow.

With the cold breeze at night
I slept, but with growing pain
When I woke up in the morn
Alas! I saw a beautiful red rose.

My lifeblood made the white rose
Turn into a beautiful red rose
I was happy but my heart in pain
As I plucked the rose for my love.

With the brightest red rose in my hand
I ran desperately to meet my love
But fate had to take its own course
When in fact I reached her house.

There she stood with her man
With diamonds dangling around
She threw away my dearest present
As diamonds cost more than a mere rose.

On the street, my red rose had to fell
Only to be crushed under the city hell
I felt so sad and foolish to part away
A rose for which my blood did pay

But now, I realize its true value
For what she said was true
Diamonds cost more than a mere rose
But my blood red rose was priceless.

A lesson I did learn from life
Never to trust a woman in life
And better be a bachelor boy
Until my dying day.

The Voice of Eternity

My heart was so heavy
With memories you left
And my soul wandered
Though longing for you
Alone in my sorrow
I looked towards the blue
A voice seemed to cry
A voice from eternity...

Keep faith in your love
The voice seemed to say
Just remember the vows
That she gave you
Trust her for once, and
She'll come back one day...

And then, it was dead silence
The voice was from a body
Though no body to see
A voice from eternity
A voice of true love
Brought comfort to me...

No misunderstandings
And no quarrels to settle
Yet you went to a distant place
Come back to me, my love
I wait for your touch
You know I love you
Just come back to me
I need you so much...

Believe me and you'll also hear
The voice from a body
Seeming to cry for you
It is very much your love
Crying in sorrow for you
Feeling lonely, you'll hear it again
The voice of eternity
The voice of true love...

Friendship Notes - 5

A special friend you are
And that you don't realize
We love you and for you we care
But that you don't realize

When lonely or in times of need
You will find us besides
To help you out indeed
So trust us and you will realize
The value of true friends
For it is truly said,
"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

Friendship Notes - 4

Something's gone wrong somewhere
For the way I have thought of you
Perhaps, it was for some other reason
Yet it is my mistake, I know now.

Forget the things I have said to you
And let's celebrate the New Year
Commencing with a chapter anew
Of Friendship lasting forever.