Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 - The Game Changes

I have been waiting for a long time to get my hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 750. I have only been reading about it and looking at the numerous images on various blogs and tech sites. It looked amazing from a distance. Android has been the talk of the town since the day Google released the first ever phone, The G1, running on Android. The rest is history. Android threatens iOS (Apple), and quite understandably, Apple has been suing almost every manufacturer who comes out with a device running Android. Ah!!! Apple, I don't want to own and iPhone/iPad.

This tab has a great first impression, and is sure to lure you to see more and more of it. It's very sleek (at 8.6 cm), and light as well (565 gms). It's a powerhouse of performance, with a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor and 1GB of RAM. Android Honeycomb compliments the superb hardware that it comes with, and promises to give you the best tablet experience you could wish for. Check out the technical specifications here.

Moreover, this is only the initial tablet version of Android OS. Wait a few upgrades more, and I am sure, there would be a bagful of new features coming your way, which would make your experience with this "Game Changer" tablet more fun and enjoyable with style.

The exciting things/features that really makes this tablet the best among the lot are:

1. Browser: With full flash support, and a huge 10.1" screen, browsing would never be the same again. You will never see those dreaded "?"s again in any of your webpages. Tablets have changed the way we browse the internet: with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 750, it's better.
2. Video Playback: Full HD video playback with support for almost all types of video formats, you will not be left with any unplayable videos from your personal collection. 1080p video playback @30fps and the surround sound speakers, the device would definitely change how you watch your movies.
3. Office Apps: The Galaxy Tab 750 isn't only a fun device. It means serious business as well. It also suits someone who is always on the move. Creating, editing or viewing your powerpoint presentations or checking your excels, or formatting your documents has just become easier. You can now leave your laptop at home and show off your tablet to everyone at office.
4. Google Mobile Apps: Need an app for anything at all? Well, fire up the Android Market and you will be able to find just any kind of app you want. The tablet comes preloaded with a host of Google apps like GMail, Gtalk (with video chat), Google Maps, Youtube etc. These apps have been optimized for your large screen to take advantage of the larger real estate. Be it reading your mails, navigating through a city or video chatting with your dear ones, you would be amazed at the ease at which the tablet handles everything. With multi-tasking and Split-View support, the Honeycomb OS delivers all that is required of a tablet.
5. Gaming: Tablets are relatively a new form-factor of portable devices. I believe that the games of today haven't really have adapted well for a tablet, except for a few(mostly racing games). I am not sure what kind of games would be a hit on such devices. Games like Angry Birds have been a tremendous hit on mobile devices. I am expecting a rush of similar games, which are engaging and more fun to play on a tablet. With all the sensors that the Galaxy Tab has: Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor and Compass, I would look forward for games which take advantage of this form-factor and the sensors, to perhaps invent a new category of games that make your experience more full-filling when it comes to raw entertainment. I am all excited about how this would change the future of entertainment.
6. Books, Movies and Songs: Well, this tablet seems to touch each and every part of your life. Read your rented/bought books, buy/rent videos and songs, and carry everything with you. The built-in 7000 mAh battery promises you a video playback upto 9 hours and Audio playback upto 72 hours. So, if you are on a long journey, your collection of books, videos and songs would always keep you busy. Say Bye Bye to those boring rides.

For a full list of features, visit the official Samsung Galaxy 750 page here.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 750, promises to be everything that you wished for. Never before you would have thought about having a video conference with your family members while you were on a bus. Never again you will be lost in a city. You will never miss your mails and news while you are away from your desktop/laptop. You can carry your entertainment wherever you go. This device does it all. Now you can be more productive, effective and all the more connected to your smart life with style.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 dares to enter your life and take control. Are you ready yet?

I am. It's time to TAB!

The possibilities are endless.

Chennai Super Kings

Well, finally, the big long IPL is over. I never saw any of the  league matches, not even the semi-finals, but I decided to watch the finals today. At the end of all, it was the Chennai Super Kings who were destined to take home the IPL – III trophy. Which team I was supporting? Mumbai Indians, but the men in yellow shone away under the Mumbai skies.

Sachin, it was tough luck, but it was such a pleasure to watch him with stitches in his hand. A few catches for Mumbai, which were missed might have turned around the result in Mumbai’s favour, but hey, it’s cricket, remember?

IPL III has been a huge success. Bigger and better than the previous editions, it has seen disruptions from different sections of media, government and the IT department. I hope everything gets sorted out very soon.

- Orange Cap – Sachin Tendulkar

- Purple Cap – Pragyan Ojha

- DLF Golden Player Award – Sachin Tendulkar

Had I been in Chennai at this time of the year, I have no idea where would have been partying now. Well done Chennai Super Kings, CONGRATS. ENJOY CHENNAI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Rules for RPL

First things first : What is RPL??

Any wild guesses? No? Ok, here it is, Roomies Premier League.

The name has not been in wide use, but I think the rules of the game remain the same, no matter where the game is being played. Let me give you a brief history of the game.

First year in hostel: Under ragging period, we were so terrified to even peep out of the windows in fear of our dreaded seniors. So,  after college, we had to put ourselves inside our rooms, locked up from outside. Checked and double checked!!

During this time, the foundations of our version of the game were laid down. Although, the game has it’s roots deeper than that, I will only talk about the rules that we officially had incorporated into the RPL.

1. Teams: As in any other game, here also we had two teams. But, the uniqueness was, the number of players in a team was never constant. Depending on the availability, or rather the willingness of our roomies. During exams, we had teams with as low as 1 player on each side, while on the other hand, during the start of our semesters, the number of players would sometimes even rise to 8 on each side.

2. Venue: Most of the time, it was inside our rooms. However, at times, when the teams got bigger than the rooms can accommodate, we moved out into the corridors.

3. Equipments: We are talking about cricket here. So we would certainly find similar equipments that are used in ODIs and Test Matches. BAT: Our definition, it just had to be hard enough to hit the ball without falling apart. Be it a real bat, a broken leg of a chair and when none of the above were available, we managed to get a wood piece from our mess which would have been burnt away to cook our food that night. BALL: A tennis ball preferably, a plastic ball was also used sometimes, in some versions of the game, some teams were often seen using a football. :) No definite rules here. OTHERS: None. Oh!! for wickets, we had chairs.

4. Format: Just like ICC now-a-days has at-least 3 versions of the game, we also had 3 versions of the game. ODIs: These were single matches, which were to be played till the end, and were supposed to be the shortest version of the game. Tests: A bit longer version, these matches took anywhere between a day to 5 days, to be completed. Series: A series of never ending matches, where the same teams meet and keep a record of matches won and lost. This was the most preferred version of the game since we could brag about our stats, records, make fun of others’ performances.

5. Rules: Now the finer details of the game. These rules were the most important. They were followed by each and every player honestly, though sometimes, the match had to be called off, not because of bad light or rain, but because of differences in opinions since we didn’t have an ICC like organization who could sort out the problems.

A. How to get a batsman out?

In addition to the normal rules prevailing in international cricket, we had amended the rules to suit RPL. Here they are:

• One tip one hand out
• 3 consecutive body touches (ball hitting your body, a replacement for LBW)
• hitting the ball directly to one of the walls
• 3 consecutive misses

B. Bowling rules ?

• Under-arm compulsory
• Speed limit – 60 km/hr
• Body line bowling allowed
• Negative tactics were encouraged

C. Runs?

• One run if you connect the ball with the bat
• No sixes allowed, you are out if you hit a six
• For fours, you should ground the ball at-least once before it hits the walls
• 0 runs if you don’t hit the ball
• No running between the wickets

D. Match abandoned due to ?

• Lunch, dinner, breakfast or class time
• Power failures during night matches
• Disagreement between players (no umpires!!)
• Ball hit out of the room through the windows/balcony
• A broken bat

I might have forgotten to add other rules of the game. So I kindly request anybody and everybody who are familiar with the rules to add to this list. RPL rocked. I miss them so much.

Olympic News

The Torch:

The torch is lighted using the rays of the Sun by a parabolic reflector at the site of the Ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. The torch is then taken out of Greece to the main stadium where the cauldron is lighted on the final day/opening ceremony. This torch is left to burn till the games have been officially closed.

There are interesting stories about so many Olympic Relays.
In 1976 Summer Olympics(Montreal), the flame was transmitted "electronically" via satelite from Athens to Ottawa, by means id an electronic pulse derived from the actual burning flame. After a rainstorm doused the Olympic flame, an official relit the flame using his cigarette lighter. Organizers quickly doused it again and relit it using a backup of the original flame.

A lot of money goes into designing of the Olympic Torch. They have to withstand wind speeds up-to 65 km/hr, rain upto 50mm an hour. Other requirements are that the design should be such that it can be identified and photographed in sunshine and areas of extreme brightness. The fuel is propane which is in accordance with environmental guidelines. The material of its form is recyclable. For Sydney 2000, there was a special requirement since it had to be kept submerged in water.
WOW: I never thought that Science and Technology would help us in such ways.The final carrier of the torch is often kept secret until the last moment, and is usually a sports celebrity of the host country.

Some more facts:
The torch has been carried by an airplane in 1952, when the fire traveled to Helsinki.
The Torch Relay symbolizes the passing of Olympic traditions from one generation to the next.

Facts from : Wikipedia