Spiderman in Indian Elections 2014!

Just wondering where would Spiderman stand in this largest human drama called "The Great Indian Elections 2014"..And it goes like this:
Our friendly neighborhood spiderman decides to contest this elections and nominates himself under a new red-blue color party called "Spiderman Party", with the abbreviation SMP.
What would be the reactions of some parties?

Congress: "His web is going to be a threat to the indian society and disturb India's secularism!"
CPM/CPI: "His roots lie in the capitalist USA and thus a bigger danger to India than Modi!"
BJP: "SMP is helping the minority appeasement by signing a secret deal with congress!"
AAP: "SMP is funded by Ambanis and Tatas in a joint venture and Spiderman will be used to market their products. This will increase the prices!"
TRS: "Endi raa bhai veedu. Godalekke vaadiki mana kashtaalem telusthaayi? jai telangana"

So our spiderman keeps campaigning under the spider symbol with the Red and Blue color flag and gets a huge applause and huge crowd for all his meetings.
And lets say he wins the elections. What will be his priorities then?
* Make spider the national animal of India!
* Spider Universities to improve their breed and a spider serum will be created that will improve people's health!
* A spider force that will impart spider sense to the investigators of crime and corruption.
* Encourage more skyscrapers so that people can swing through them using their webs!

As the spiderman mania peaks, lets hope we dont hear our netas pumping out spiderman slogans like "with greater power comes greater responsibility".
#amazingspiderman #spiderman

With love.. Anil

Laddu babu: An under rated movie

Watched Laddu Babu yesterday and it was an amazing movie which was well handled by the director Ravi Babu. The film brings to the fore a new Allari Naresh who seems to have got into the role with ease.
It may not be the comedy that we expect from Naresh, but it certainly has a different feel to it.
I disagree with some reviews which said the story is too predictable. Sure the story is not completely new, but the way the story was told is good. It has a good message to the society.
Music is a letdown, but I dont think it matters anyway since songs doesn't suit this type of genre.
Missamma(2003) was a movie in similar genre and Laddu Babu in comparison is better in terms of comedy.

The way Naresh transforms into the insanely obese character is worth appreciation and applause.
I dont think this is an experimental movie, but certainly a fresh movie.
It may not be the movie which can draw crowds to the theater, but maybe an official DVD release would do well.

With love.. Anil

Banyan Tree vs Coconut Tree

Last evening, I was reading an article on banyan tree from a blog at http://drgauravpradhan.blogspot.in/. I liked the way the author described the world. I would like to take it further:
I realized that people have different ways of growth. Some like to grow as banyan trees: Spread their roots all over and shelter many others in their shadow. They may not have much height but the roots are strong that not even a massive tornado can destroy them.
Others like to grow like coconut trees: They may not hate or destroy others but would like to grow up to larger heights alone without giving shelter to others by the way of love, support and respect. They may grow tall or taller, but fail to live up in times of adversity. And when I mean "alone", it doesnt mean alienating themselves from the society, but it means keeping their interests at the top and always suspecting others. They even hate being under the shelter of the banyan tree, since they feel they are being dominated and choose to grow away from it. But the fact is that the banyan tree is not a hinder to their growth at all and in fact it helps them in being rooted and remain strong during the times of adversity.
This is not to say that coconut tree is inferior to banyan tree. In fact coconut tree has more uses than banyan tree, especially its commercial value is higher, signifying a higher status in the society by reaching greater heights, even though people use banyan tree's shadow to relax.
Ultimately, it is a matter of personal choice as to how one wants to live their life.

With love.. Anil

EVMs: How rugged are they?

A thought came across my mind:
So more than half the nation has voted for the 2014 Parliamentary Elections by the time I have written this article.
Are the EVMs(Electronic Voting Machines) being used water proof, Dust proof, shatter proof, bullet proof and theft proof? Is there any testing done by banging it with a large hammer? This type of ruggedness is important in a nation like India where conditions can go to extremes like ink/water being thrown, EVMs being stolen, etc.
Lets take a situation where a person, angry with the elections goes in and tries to damage the EVM with H2SO4(sulphuric acid), failing which he/she bangs it hard with a hidden hammer, or steal the EVM as a final option. Who knows, there might even be a gang around the polling booth just waiting to destroy it by shooting it with a gun by expert snipers. This might not have happened yet, but may happen anytime and the EC needs to be prepared for the worst.

1. Does the EVM withstand acid attack of the highest intensity? If so for how long can it withstand immersion in water or acid?
2. How are the results stored? Are they stored locally inside their circuitry? If so is the storage medium a sensitive hard disk or the latest SSD(Solid State Drive)?
3. Is there any backup storage like saving in an encrypted form in the cloud?
4. How will the police track a stolen EVM? Does it have GPS that cannot be turned off and with an embedded battery that is always on and how long can the batteries survive before draining out?
5. How secure are the databases and the memory that store all the votes? Any AES-256 bit encryption?
6. What is the body made up of? Cheap plastic or unbreakable carbon fibre that can withstand even a bullet attack?


I just wonder how they are all built and how well are they tested and if tested, by whom.

As an after-thought, India is still awaiting internet voting and it remains a dream(Gujrat has implemented it in 2011 for the Municipal elections in Gandhinagar, but nothing was heard since then).

With love.. Anil

Amazing Photospheres!

Photospheres are a tricky form of photos. Even though I took only 1 photosphere, I still feel a lot can be done to enhance the app and improve the stitching logic used by Google. It is a good one nonetheless and once we get a good hold of the shooting procedure and follow them meticulously, we can be rest assured of a good photosphere.
Some of my favorite photospheres are shown below:

Views: Ceremonial South Pole by Google Maps

Views: Lake Lure, NC by Tamjit Kumar

With love.. Anil

Main tera hero..A good rehash of Kandireega!

A couple of days back, I was watching the Hindi movie "Main Tera Hero" and was surprised to see that it was a remake of Telugu hit film "Kandireega". the storyline of the film and the setting is obviously different, having a David Dhawan look to the film, but overall, the story closely resembles that of Kandireega. The comedy that goes alongwith the story is good to watch and makes you want more.
The interval twist was a good one and keeps the audience guessing. Production values are good as expected and the director has used the actors well.
Coming to the actors, when we see the hero's characterization, we get reminded of Govinda for whom these kinds of roles would have been a cake walk. Dhawan's obsession with Varun's body makes us feel if we are seeing the rise of another young Salman Khan, with so many shirtless scenes! Illeana feels short of energy as she looks to have lost too much of weight and it is visible even in her expressions. Nargis Fakri looks like a wooden piece with not much scope for performance, similar to the role in the Telugu original.

Overall, when we compare these two films, we feel this is a lot more better and well adapted to the north-Indian audience. The film has been narrated very well with no boring scenes at any point of time and kept the story crisp and entertaining with witty dialogues. Music is so-so and nothing much to write about.

With love.. Anil

Media's new habits.

There is this strange habit in the media that when Kejriwal criticizes Modi more than Rahul, they start talking of a secret deal between AAP and Congress. AAP is like an honest child. Its nice, good choice but not the right choice to vote(atleast not in the present circumstances) for if we want a strong, stable govt at the centre. After what happened at Delhi, AAP needs to mature. Once it matures in the right direction and grows in strength, no one can stop it since it's basics are solid: it's candidates are corrupt-free, and I admire it for that. It is more like a beta version of the latest android OS. Needs more testing and stability trials before making an impact at the national level.
As far as BJP is concerned, this has to be their best chance at the centre. Any mistake or loss in 2014 would be a big blow to not only Modi but the whole party. 2009 was the last chance for Advani and 2014 will probably be the same for Modi. It is not because of his age but due to the analysis that will most probably happen in case of a failure.
I just hope there is a change at the center and Modi seems to be the best option right now. As usual there will be the so called secularists who know nothing about civic sense. Appeasing minorities is not secularism and in fact any undue appeasement just negates the meaning of secularism, which in any way cannot be considered real. As long as all religions co exist peacefully, secularism really doesnt matter and the media needs to explain to the public the real meaning of secularism.


With love.. Anil

The fake concept of "Mr. Perfect"

Yesterday I was watching the movie "Mr. Perfect" in the evening and a few thoughts came to my mind:
The logic shown in Mr. Perfect is nonsense. Pure nonsense. No one can change for someone in this world and feel the same after years of relationship. A compromise can never be a basis of any strong relationship.
The movie is good for the glamour of Prabhas, Kajal and Taapsee but people who take examples of sequences from that movie should stop the stupidity of taking useless
examples from fictitious stuff. Emotional blackmail and emotional games just dont make the world. True, some compromises are necessary, but both need to
compromise without any internal disappointment or an empty feel. Else what we get is fake smiles, show-off parties and master-slave combos. If the relationship was born out of compromise, it will either disintegrate in a short time span or it will perpetually remain in the master-slave model, where one of them will continuously fire the shots and the other just obeys, and get used to it over a period of time. That is dangerous for the family and society at large.

With love.. Anil

An illusion called secularism

Whoever coined the concept of "secularism" would have committed suicide if he/she were to be alive today and witnesses how the term is being abused by one and all. First of all secularism is an unnatural concept. Nature has never been secular and never will. There has always been inequalities and will exist in the future too. It is only because of inequalities and differences that the world is moving and the economy growing. For instance, economical growth is nothing but flow of money from one point to another and this is only possible if there is a difference in the levels like the flow of a river. Life on this planet is in itself a constant struggle between the strong and the weak. We cannot curb the natural instinct of any living thing.
So when the congress keeps patting its back by calling itself a secular party and calling all secular parties to come forward to defeat its opposition, it is merely trying to paint a fake picture of the society.
It takes pride in meeting a minority community and calls the meeting secular meeting whereas others who refuse to support them are termed communal.
The society remains peaceful not because it chooses to be secular but because it chooses to be warm towards others. As long as there is no hate-speech, every nation is and will remain peaceful and we don't need an overly abused term called "secularism" here.


With love.. Anil

The logic of mobile co-processors

I have always had a fascination about how much a device can become a part of our lives and after so many years of wandering through the technology reviews, user reviews, spec-war and heavy apps, I have found a kind of holy grail of mobiles that will soon emerge as the top feature in every phone that will come up: The mobile co-processor.
A mobile co-processor, as the name itself suggests is a processor that handles sensory data or contexual data that is fed to it from multiple sensors of a mobile.
Why not have all done by the quad-core or octa-core processors coming up in the mobiles these days? The main advantage of this system over the normal setup is that it consumes very low power and keeps the main processor in hibernation mode as it takes care of the continuous monitoring of activities like voice, movement, proximity sensor, etc. The uses are innumerable and Moto X was just a beginning. Others that followed suit are:
iPhone 5s(With its M7 motion co-processor)
Sony Xperia Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact and the upcoming Z2(With Sony's sensor co-processor)

Of course all the above had different ways of integrating co-processors with their main processor, but the way Moto X integrated the hardware and software is amazing to say the least.
Soon we may see similar features from others like samsung, htc, lenovo, etc..

With love.. Anil

Exectations from the new Moto X(2014)

Its been around 6 months that the Moto X was released and a lot has happened in between. Some may say it is outdated, but some are still fans of its features. Whatever it may be, the excitement over Moto X's successor this summer is surely on the rise and expectations are running high.
For me, I have some things that I would love to see in the new Moto X:

1. Water proof, dust proof design
2. Expandable memory
3. Front facing stereo speakers(Need not look like HTC One, but hidden like the Xperia Z2).
4. Camera with OIS and take better low light pix.
5. FM Radio
6. Denim back covers.
7. E-reader mode that converts the display to e-ink display(if possible, just a wish).

With love.. Anil

A blueprint for future development of Samaikhyandhra: Part 2

This is a continuation of my series of articles that I believe can make capital cities to be the centres of development of Samaikhyandhra and not create another situation like hyderabad/telangana. Let me be clear that there should be multiple capital cities which are so well connected that they effectively function as a single mega city.
Lets assume that the administrative capital has been decided and they are planning to build the secretariat. What should be the main requirements of the same?
1. Uncongested large land ready to be developed to build the state secretariat/office complex, which should be like a township.
2. Transport facilities: Continuous and robust connectivity by all modes: Road, rail and air, in such a way that all areas of the state can be reached within a short span of time(and thus saving money too). A helipad on top of the secretariat and a runway nearest to the office area should be built.
An unused runway in a large open field should be a good option as that can be extended in the future.
3. Good water resources as well as 24-hour electricity with emphasis on using renewable energy.
4. Avoid concentration of financial activity and let that be spread across other cities like Vizag, Vijayawada,
5. Ability to plan from scratch with a blueprint similar to Chandigarh of Punjab/Haryana or Gandhinagar of Gujrat.
Tirupathi, Kurnool, and develop them with expansion of their respective satellite cities.
One of the areas that satisfy all the above criteria is the area near Nagarjuna sagar:
Easy accessibility to Kurnool, Hyderabad, Guntur, Vijayawada and Ongole(All reachable within 4 hours by road).

The new capital city needs to set an example of how a city should be planned that is both environment-friendly as well as good for the people with good modern facilities like fiber network, secure wifi, well maintained footpaths, wide roads, option for cycling lanes, greenery, biodiversity, etc, so that it can help in a healthy lifestyle and environmental balance.
Since Nagarjuna sagar is a prestigious area with lots of scope for improvement, it can be a good candidate for taking up the important job of having the secretariat without getting bogged down by the congestion of Vijayawada or Vizag which are already saturated.

The main reason I opt for the above model of development is due to the fact that the telangana issue has been a big lesson which needs to be learnt by not just the remaining state but by all Indians. When a part of a state feels neglected, it can create problems in the future and this needs to be avoided.

With love.. Anil

James Cameron's Titanic Experience. Relived!

Last weekend, I experienced titanic again on romedy now. A perfect mix of narration,performance, screenplay. A rare movie that never bores even after 4 hrs! Is it a perfect depiction of realistic drama or a dramatic reality? I wonder! The background score never deviates from the theme that James Cameron chose. Every character had a beautiful role to play, even the supporting cast! No film beat it's numerous uno position even now after 18 years of watching it in the erstwhile sapna theatre in Bangalore! The sets and the SFX blend so seamlessly into the movie that they collectively become a character in themselves!

The same big screen amazement nearly 2 decades old remains when watched on a small screen today! James's obsession with the details is unbelievable.
It is strange to write a review or analysis of a movie that was released nearly 17 years ago but here it is:
The below scenes stand out, just picking a few from many!:
1. The entire sequence where Jack runs to board the Titanic in the last minute was beautifully shot, by capturing the excitement on everyone's faces. The footage looks so authentic that it transports you to the times of 1912!
2. Titanic racing with the dolphins is a scene I cannot forget.
3. Rose jumping off the life boat and onto a deck to meet Jack.
4. Rose singing lonely, surrounded by deathly silence all over and eventually her reaction to Jack's death and blowing the whistle for eternity.
5. The final scene where she throws away the Heart of the Ocean and meeting everyone related to Titanic and getting united to Jack in her dreams.

With love.. Anil

A blueprint for future development of Samaikhyandhra

Never make the mistake that was done with Hyderabad. To keep the new state united and prosperous, decentralisation is a must. Telangana was a failed experiment which showed how not to develop a state. 

Kurnool-tirupathi-vijayawada-kakinada-vizag should be joint capital cities. One of them should be the financial capital, one could be the administrative capital, one could be  agricultural, health/educational capital and another could be pharma cum IT capital. Kurnool: administrative capital, tirupathi: health/educational capital, Vijayawada: financial capital, kakinada: agricultural capital, vizag: pharma cum IT capital.

Let there be a quad-core capital with each of the core functioning in sync with others. All the cities should be first connected seamlessly by all means: rail, road and air so that all these 4 capital cities work as one ultra city. They should also have a strong industrial corridor running through 8 core cities with attractive incentives(kurnool, tirupathi, nellore, ongole,Vijayawada, eluru, rajahmundry,kakinada,vizag) which will bring development to all the cities nearby these 4 capital cities. It should be planned in such a way that if any of these cities fails, or goes down, the others can take up the load and compensate.

In a way, there should be a similar strategy to what a "quad-core phone" has: 4 Top Cities together should work as one so that even if one has any problem, others can carry the load(similar to the 4 metros we have for India). And all the main cities in each region like Kurnool, Kadapa, Tirupathi, Nellore, Vijayawada, Eluru, Kakinada, Vizag should be linked with the best future-proof infrastructure by road, rail and air. We know yearly cyclones cause a lot of damage to the coastal regions so we need to upgrade all the connectivity with smart-weather-proof and robust technology, similar to how Japan has adapted to earthquakes that are so common there.
We also need to prove that development doesnt just mean huge skyscrapers or glass facades. Even an agriculture-dependant economy can be developed. All that is needed is proper planning with good financial incentives to both farmers as well as industries.It is going to be tough to keep a balance between agriculture and industry, but it can be done with meticulous planning. And to plan meticulously, projects like ground-water harvesting and managing water resources would be taken up on a war footing, because water is the life line of not just agriculture but also industries. Since Seemandhra is virtually starting now with lots of unused land, this is the time to plan all the major things and the minute details.
We need to identify, improve and integrate: Identify the strengths of each area of the diverse Seemandhra, improve their individual strengths, and integrate them to form a strong state capable of becoming the best in India. Of course there are severely backward areas like Rayalaseema and North Coastal Andhra, and this is how we can bring them on par with other parts of the new state: Identify their strengths and improve them. Their strength may not be in agriculture due to lack of water, but they will have something special in them to capitalize on. We need to find out their hidden skills and promote them.
If the central govt fails to stand up on their promises, there should have been a provision to hit the ctrl+z combination and undo the complete division process.
There has been news that a state cannot be given special status without approval from planning commission. If this is true and if the commission blocks any of the promises, then the central leaders who were behind this division shouldnt be left out free and they should pay the price to the society, from their own pockets. Because they divided the state for their personal gains, so if the division becomes an act of failure, then they need to part with their gains and give away their assets to the people of the newly created state.

Like a chocolate being dangled before a kid, the centre created a hype and then have telangana. The leaders and their supporters may be happy now but they need to realise that congress is a snake under whose hood the state got bifurcated. A goat should never trust the butcher. What happened to the United Andhra Pradesh will happen to Telangana too if the public still keep praising them and get carried away by their speeches. Its not the love for Telangana that Congress created it. It is for their own requirements and their desperation to first defeat and finally gobble up YSJ like how they swallowed PRP. any competitor in their eyes need to be defeated by hook or crook. As long as YSR was there they were safe because he was obedient to the high command and never uttered a word against them. But once he died and his son started making claims to the CM post, it was evident that they cannot win. They dont have anyone as strong as YSJ. YSJ has used the sympathy wave to great effect by using his Odarpu Yatra(Condolence Trip) and is most probably going to win in many more places in Seemandhra this time. Congress on the other hand has no one to counter him. So what they rightfully did was to concentrate on the other region: Telangana, so that they can guarantee themselves some seats by acquiring the other strong party in Telangana: TRS.

The anger over the division should be stored inside and used for constructive purposes. There should be a point-to-point rebuttal of all the statements made by the divisors, and people will never go back with the same feel-good-factor to Hyderabad or Telangana region. You cannot live in a land of the same leaders who called you robbers, looters and demons of the whole region. Now after everything is over, how can the leaders put up a new face and act as if they are gandhians after all the hate-speech that they have made? How can they act as if they can take care of all the immigrants from the land of looters as they have themselves said? The hurt, anger and frustration should be used to build a stronger region which will rival any other region in the country. Let there be a healthy competition between the general public of these two regions and let it finally result in a better India.

I titled this post "Samaikhyandhra" because Telangana and the new state are still a union of 2 Telugu states and none of them can be ignored by calling them only Telangana or only Seemandhra. The blueprint of development of Telangana is already clear, well-defined (with Hyderabad at the perfectly-central point of Telangana) so there is no point in rewinding/revisiting the plans.

With love.. Anil

2 weeks without Google!

The past 2 weeks have been hectic with lots of travel. One of my experiences of the past 2 weeks is regarding life without mobile network, without wifi/data connection, and of course ultimately life without Google!
Early in the morning, when I want to check out the Google Reader style Feedly(Reader was dead last year) for latest news in movies, google-related and technology, there is nothing! Its almost as if I were sent to some detention center with basic facilities but isolated from the outside world!
Later after breakfast, when I want to check my Google+ posts, there is no data connectivity, forget about wifi!
During lunch time, I feel like checking my gmail, but get disappointed to see that there is no way to even get sms in the area I lived in!
In the evening, near the banks of river Krishna, I feel like taking a snap of the beautiful scene and save to my Google+ photos, but alas, no network!
In the night, I feel like using hangouts to chat with friends and wish them good night, but the terrible network makes it nearly impossible!
I only got back online while on my way to Bangalore onboard a train from Vijayawada Railway station, which is one of the largest railway stations in Asia and the third busiest Indian Railway Station!
Below is the map of where I have been to:



With love.. Anil

Birth of a new Telugu State

Yesterday was an important day in the history of India and Telugu people. Not just because of the approval of Loks Sabha for the new state of Telangana, which is obvious, but also the manner in which it was achieved.
Some of the tweets went as below:
1. When the land is same, air is same and people are same, why the hell people are fighting over a line in the map. Live peacefully #Telangana
2. Somebody said..... Why black out Parliament? They are creating a new state... Not creating a baby!! #Telangana
3. #congbjpbros made love behind the closed doors of parliament and produced an illegitimate baby called #Telangana 

My reactions to all the above: Enough of the emotions because emotions are only temporary, whether it is the joy of getting Telangana or the despair of our beloved state getting split. Once the emotions settle down, the real issues of people come out and it affects both the regions, and indirectly affect the nation.
In my view, this is more like Seemandhra being carved out of AP, because Hyderabad remains in Telangana. When AP was carved out of TN, TN was not created out of the erstwhile Madras state. AP was created because Chennai remained with TN.
More than the division, it is the enmity that was created between the people by the politicians all these days that saddens one and all. Why are people so stupid to fall in the traps set by the netas?
The problem is not about the division alone. Its about the emotions that arise when brothers are divided. The combination of "Telangana, Rayalaseema and Costal Andhra" is actually a Super State of Telugus and I give this combination the name of "United States of Andhra". And when I mean Andhra, I mean Telugu.
The urgency of congress party and the timing of this bill is clearly evident of what they are upto and we just need to wait and watch till the elections when the people give their mandate.

India>>United States of Andhra>>Telangana, Rayalaseema, Andhra. This should be the way.
A look at the Telugu movie Leader is enough to show what happens within closed doors of political meetings.

In another issue, KTR says to avoid provocations by media the live telecast was blocked. So by blocking people from getting info, he thinks a bill can be passed? Today something may be born and tomorrow it may die but truth lives on. The truth of what happened in the Lok sabha during the debate on t-bill. What are the secret deals and acts made during those blackout hours due to which a state is about to be born? This strongly hints at an illicit act during those moments resulting in the birth of a whole new state!

The people of Telangana deserve a better treatment than a bill that was reportedly passed off in stark darkness of the house. What happened in that darkness? Did everyone do a lungi dance? A sunny Leone act perhaps? Did the members show their Vishwaroopam that was too ugly and vulgar to be shown on tv? Or a secret deal by the heads that matter?

During the Newshour on Time now, a TMC leader has disclosed few images that show a procession and the anarchy that happened during the blackout hours. And respected KTR says he should be punished for taking photos inside the house! This clearly shows the one-way method that congress took to save its numbers in Telangana.

When something is done in the dark on a public forum like the parliament, such questions will be asked. Is the stage set for similar demands like kodagu, gorkhaland,vidarbha,etc?

With love.. Anil

Quality of Mobile services in India

Recently there has been a talk about mobile operators planning to hike the rates and the reason seems to be the hefty prices they seem to have coughed out for the bandwidth auction.
There is only one question I would like to ask: What are the benefits of buying more spectrum when the quality of calls cannot be improved.
I dont mind paying a little more for a better quality of calls and overall network, but increasing the prices doesnt make sense when they cannot live up to the expectations.
My recent trip to Vijayawada was one such experience which showed the weakness of mobile networks.
My phone remained isolated for a complete 1 week with no mobile network, no data connectivity and no reception of SMS either. When I try to send out an SMS, it remains in my outbox forever, despite momentary appearance of network signals.
1. Let there be a larger coverage area so that no one can complain about lack of network, especially in rural areas.
2. Let there be a consistent call quality, especially in the remote areas.
3. The ability of the network to get the call get connected is the first big hurdle which needs to be passed. Many times when I try to call someone, it never gets connected, despite the other person's phone being under coverage area.
If due to the present spectrum allocation if the call quality gets improved, it would be of immense pleasure to the millions of subscribers of the nation.

With love.. Anil

Mobile market in India

There has been a tremendous growth of the market in India for portable devices like mobiles and tablets but the major manufacturers doesnt seem to care much about the same. Of course the nexus 5 came pretty early to India, the real game changer Nexus 4 never made it to India in the same price range as in the US. It still costs around 24K which is not cheap compared to others with similar specs in the market.
The most recent entrant in the segment was Moto G, but even that took some time to come from Motorola.

Moto G was expected to be the low price alternative to Moto X, but even then the launch was delayed. Why? Because India is still seen as something secondary in the eyes of smartphone biggies. Anyway its good to see that with Nexus5, Google has made a serious attempt at bringing their flagships to India soon.
As far as Sony is concerned, it looks like it is firing too many bullets at too many targets with the result that it gets very few points. Take for example the Xperia Z. It is still one of the best Sony smartphones, but it was followed by bigger flagships like Z1 within a few months. If sony can concentrate all its energy on 1 device per year, then I seriously feel that it will  become a major player in the smartphone race. One admirable maker is HTC which has shown that despite being in losses, one can be focused on few products and deliver on them perfectly. India is no different.

As far as design goes, LG seems to be aping samsung and both their phones look similar in terms of external design and with common features.Sony still has one of the best designs in the industry alongwith the HTC One. Even though most post-xperia z devices look similar, the new Xperia E1 looks fantastic, especially the white version.


With love.. Anil