Tuesday, August 28, 2007

My dream mobile device - the perfect and complete handheld computer

These are the features I would expect in my dream handheld mobile device. Although my N95 already has most of them it still lacks a lot more.

here is a list

Core Features
  • Phone - a full featured quadband, 3.5G/wimax phone with all features, video conf, VOIP, PTT, conference, multiple sim, modem, handsfree speakerphone etc, the usual in most phones today. physical Phone dial keypad
  • Imaging- 5+ megapixel camera with true digcam quality(CCD not CMOS sensors) and atleast 3x optical zoom(both video and photo) and dvd quality video recording with DV/handycam like features, on device movie maker/picture editor etc. automatic lens cover. xenon true flash., redeye reduction etc.
  • MultiMedia - Digital media player like ipod video/n95 with full bass support internal speaker and inear boom bass headphones with external play control as in n95. media support for all codecs like in a PC, DRM and 3rd party add-on support.
  • DVB-H - live digital TV
  • stereo FM radio
  • home networking UPnP
  • 80GB highspeed internal storage - atleast 32 GB (which is now technically possible in flash/microSD)
  • Bluetooth 2 with a2dp
  • Internet - good internet integration like the N95 and an excellent browser like safari on n95/iphone, flash and other plugin support, native youtube/flash videos etc as in a PC,podcasting, blogging and other internet 2.0 application support like in n95
  • UserInterface - multitouch/stylus UI like iphone with themes, acceleratometer based guestures for all applications like screen orientation, menu movement, music control etc, rotating gallery, active standby like S60 and menus like windows mobile. 320x480 resolution on mobile screen, higher resolutions when connected to TV or monitor. inter application integration/OLE as in N95.
  • speech recognition + handwriting recognition for input, Text to speech to read out anything
  • GPS with voiceguidance as in n95 + detailed maps/traffic info/ location based services in india/around the world. A-GPS and quick lock to satellite. offline maps.
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n wimax?
  • Security - Strong emphasis on phone and data security like in a laptop or more. stealth modes, notify on sim change, password protection to access sensitive data etc.

Other technical details


  • Hardware - 500Mhz - 1Ghz multicore processor (TI OMAP ?) , enough RAM to multitask like a PC(128 mb for Series60v3/may be even 256 MB?) and 3d hardware accelerator
  • Form factor - Candy bar or slide up with dimensions/screen size of iPhone and intuitive design like N95. i.e., feel like phone when using phone, feel like mediaplayer when using media, feel like camera when using camera etc. Phone should be slim and not bulky. iphone form factor is ideal with quick access buttons like N95, joystick like SE phones, jogdial if possible.
  • Operating system - symbian 9.x or similar OS with wide application/developer support
  • java j2me cldc midp
  • OpenGL
  • Battery - excellent battery life enuff to play music for 24 hrs, multitask for 1 day, bt/wifi for a day at least. work on direct power when connected to a wall socket. vibra support, changeable battery.
  • Higher resolution lcd (160 ppi?) than qvga screen as in iphone.
  • Infrared(optional)
  • onscreen virtual querty keypad using stylus + Physical laser key pad .
  • motion sensor, ambient light sensor
  • TV out and high resolution/HDTV support, Dolby 7.1 audio out
  • USB storage device, USB charging, USB2+ speeds
  • industry standard accessory adapters like in N95/no proprietary accessories.
  • hotswap microSD support upto 32GB or more
  • A hotsync cradle like a laptop docking station for use of the device like a normal desktop/docked laptop for laser keyboard projection, TV/monitor/speaker connectivity etc. may be even attaching a real keyboard/mouse would be nice. so its like I carry my PC in my pocket and dock it to work on it like a PC.

Misc features

  • voice recorder with no time limit and record calls at press of a button as in nokia7710
  • advanced integrated PIM/PDA features
  • exchange and internet mail client separate from sms/mms app with push email support.
  • Office apps with editors
  • profiles, themes
  • other default software like adobe reader, ebook reader, flash player, calc, currency converter with online updates, world clock, weather applet, zip, wallet, safe, file encryption, expense tracker,3d games, multi protocol instant messenger client , blacklist, answering machine, filemanager with power user mode etc
  • User upgradable OS like nseries (but with a good backup/restore so applications need not be reinstalled after OS upgrade)
  • offline/flight mode
  • good call and activity logging journal controllable by user.
  • visual voice mail
  • copy/paste
  • no service provider locking
  • face camera (front camera) can act as webcam when using on device IM client or when connected to PC.
  • business card reader, document/image scanner using camera.
  • location based remainder, location support form camera
  • timed SMS


Last but not the least, such a device should be affordable. probably at the price range of $500 -$750 or Rs20,000-30,000.

Slashdot Slashdot It!

Now, wait a minute!!!!! :O, is nokia already on it? oh no, I don't plan to spend another 35K on my 4th nokia smartphone in 4 years. hope they send it to me as a replacement to the N95. ;) :P





Thursday, August 23, 2007

The chakravyuh at KR puram - the traffic mayhem that I go thru every day.



The Chakravyuh

Note:- this video was not taken during the peak hour jams(8 am to 10:30 am and 5:00pm to 8:30 pm) but taken during non peak hour at 1:00 p.m. when the route was relatively free. Even at this time this one KM stretch took 10 minutes to cross. Two other bottlenecks which follow immediately after this railway underpass pass at the flyover crossing and another under the cable bridge were relatively free at this time (which other wise is choked during peak hours) and also Whitefield road which gets vehicles piled up for 2 kms from the bridge was free at this time. Otherwise it would take more than 1 hour to travel from Narayanpura bus stand in Whitefield road (one KM from KR puram bridge) to Big bazar on old madras road or the reverse way. A distance of 3 kms.

the following steps can make traffic flow freely and make this area into a region of world class infrastructure.
1. By just expanding the Beniganahalli railway underpass to 8 lanes width (Ironically the bridge just a few hundred meters away at NGEF-kasturi nagar road is 8 lanes wide while the road under it is just two lanes, whats the problem with railway engineers? did they reverse the contracts by mistake?)

2. add one more lane after the Eeniganahalli railway bridge between the left turn to flyover connecting ORR and end ramp of the flyover from rammurthy nagar ORR. it is just two lanes now. there is enough space to make way for 3 lanes by taking space from the unmaintained park under the ramp.

3. fix the medians and road islands. the fence from these are protruding making vehicles avoid the lane close to these.

4. reduce the length of the ramp to the cable stayed bridge by a few hundred meteres. you dont need a 700M ramp to this bridge which is just 6-8 M high. Remove the busstop at the beginning of the bridge. provide a pedestrian underpass as the road width becomes 12 lanes here. mark bus bays and make sure bus stops only in these. the bus bay present after the HP petrol bunk is not used now and busses park in the middle of the road which is a crossing area for vehicles from below and above the bridge.

5. remove the lorry repair garages, encroachments and indiscriminate parking of trucks on the left lanes of the stretch.

6. remove the encroachment by KR puram railway platform of 2 lanes of road under the cable stayed bridge on this stretch. this is really the peak of it. a railway station encroaching on a national highway and creating an acute bottle neck.

7. expand the road to atleast 8 lanes on the stretch between the underpass of the cable stayed bridge and whitefield road/ORR junction. This stretch is now just 4 lanes which cannot accomodate traffic from the 4 lane whitefield road and the 6 lane ORR and its 2 service lanes.

8. on the stretch from the cable stayed bridge underpass(KRpuram station enterance) to the HP petrol bunk near Pai layout the road suddenly becomes 2 lanes from 4 lanes due to an encroachment by a shop and the entrance to a mosque. I guess this can be corrected and made into proper 4 lanes even without disturbing the mosque building.
if possible provide a service road to Pai layout and make sure vehicles coming in and out of this layout do not criss/cross the traffic on the main road.

9. last but not least lay pothole free quality(atleast as good as toll national highway) roads and mark lanes clearly. mark main lanes, service lanes, bus lanes, cross over areas and lanes leading to the various flyovers etc. this is really important.

just these nine steps is enough to make this stretch a world class infrastructure with smooth flow of traffic. Of these steps expanding the railway underpass and clearing the 4 other bottlenecks (ala ramp length, railway platform encroachment, 8 lane between KR puram station and whitefieldroad/orr junction, and mosque encroachment) alone can make this stretch traffic jam free.