My tryst with the Mobile Phones. A historic log of my mobile phone switching

 Cut to flashback...I need to first mention about the land line telephone which we all were used to earlier.

I went to the telephone department at Sheshadri Road to apply for the telephone connection by paying a deposit of Rs 3000/- when I was an engineerig student in 1999.
I was so happy that that I need not go to the PCOs or the coin phone booths to call my friends. Now I would have my own number where my friends could reach me when I was @home.
It took 3-4 months before we received this phone connection. We got ourselves a cordless Panasonic handset & I was all gung ho about this.

It was the year 1999 or 2000 I think, I got my hands on the mobile handsets such as Siemens & Ericsson. These were bought by my father. And then there was the mobile phone from Motorola which belonged to my uncle which used extensively for SMSs.

In 2003, I badly needed a mobile phone of my own since I had already started searching for jobs. And then Reliance's Karlo Duniya Muthi main campaign happened which revolutionized the mobile phone industry by making LG CDMA handsets available for a paltry Rs 500/-. This phone had a medium resolution blue backlight display which was capable of displaying images in grayscale mode. There was R-world CDMA data service through which we were able to connect to the internet for downloading ringtones & images from Reliance CDMA data sites.
The phone used to get heated up during long conversations on it. It had a stand type of charger. The phone was quite cute & small with a nice keypad layout.
The mobile cost me dirt cheap Rs 500/-

Due to this, mobile phone was no longer a gadget of luxury & even people from lower middle class could easily afford it. But of course there were expensive models even then which only the upper middle class used to go for.

Then came the era of mobile phones with color display in 2004. There were lot of players in the low end market of color display phones then such as LG, Samsung & Ericsson. Nokia was a somewhat late entrant into this category since its B/W phones were doing very well such as the 3310, 2100 Nokia models.

Finally I bought my first GSM phone from my own hard earned money which was a Samsung C100 which had a brilliant color display & a blinking LED on top which emitted multicolors during phone rings. It had nice ringtones of midi format such as the nature sounds, horse's squeaking & so on. It had a nice steel slim body finishing with a nice keypad layout.

This one cost me Rs 7000/-

This was the cover of my first GSM pre-paid phone connection from Airtel. I still use this same number even after 8 years but have converted the connection to post paid plan.

Then came the era of camera phones during late 2004 & that was when I went ahead with the first upgrade for a camera mobile phone from Motorola. I dont remember its model number but it had a much bigger screen than the Samsung C100 & it could display JPEG images with great clarity. The camera was a basic one with 0.3 megapixel but it generated decent images.

The pic of this phone is here for all to see :)

Little did I realize that this was just the start of a never ending saga of mobile phone upgrade due to its craze & frequent upgrade of mobile phone technology which is true even today.

Paid Rs 10,000/- for my first moto !

Mp3 ringtones & video camera in a phone became a rage a few months later. the lack of it in my moto mobile phone was pinching enough for me to go for a new phone very soon. In 2005 I went for Sony Erricson K500i camera phone which captured decent videos. It supported mp3 ringtones & very nice call recording capabilities.

I paid Rs 6,500/- for this one. It was a very sleek mobile with nice 3D games & a video camera for the first time in my case.

This was the phone which I used when I got engaged :). Needless to say that it had great battery backup which enabled me to talk endlessly with my spouse for hours together.

Just before marriage around November 2005, smartphones were round the corner. Nokia had introduced its first smartphone Nokia 3650 which was a rage among people. I soon switched over to a used handset of Nokia 3660 which was the second smartphone from Nokia which had a huge screen & keyboard layout. My friends used to call it the Brick phone :)

The best thing about the smartphone was that you could extent its capabilities by installing software available on the internet. Due to its large displays viewing photos, videos & SMS messages on it was a delight. Also installed an mp3 player, movie player on it. I listened to mp3 songs on this phone for the first time ever. I paid Rs 4000/- for this one for a used handset.

Then came the shortcomings of this phone which I realized slowly.. The smartphone OS symbian was highly unstable causing phone hangs & crashes often. Also it supported external memory only up to 256 MB. Due to its large display the battery used to get drained very early which was a major problem.

In late 2006, I was forced to switch to a new mobile phone again. This time it was the Nokia 5200 XpressMusic. It was an excellent phone with mp3 music playback capability with 2 GB external memory card support. Excellent design with external keys for controlling music.

To be continued.... stay tuned !

Coming up...

Nokia 5700

Nokia 5800

the almighty Nokia N8 :)

Enter the world of Android 

My first Android phone was the Samsung Galaxy S3

One of the best Android phones that I ever used.

LG G3

Nice phone but the display quality was crap.

Then switched to Sony Xperia X1

Excellent camera & clean android experience. Killer looks

Lenovo Vibe K5 Note (Grey, 32 GB) 

One of the worst Android phones ever used with average camera & average display visibility.

Finally got the Flagship killer Phone the OnePlus 5T

One of the best Android phones that I used with a great thin frame, awesome display & camera

OnePlus 7 Pro

One of the best Android phones that I have ever used with a unique pop-up camera mechanism. Killer curved 90 Hz display with no notch no punchhole in the display. Amazing camera for the time. I recently got this repaired at the chip level & I am still using this as a secondary phone with Jio sim in it. 

Finally entered the iOS ecosystem. I did have an iPad mini 2 from a long time since 2015 but had not used an iPhone before. The first iPhone that I bought was the iPhone SE 2 that I gifted to my daughter

Then I bought my very first iPhone for myself. The iPhone 12. It felt like a downgrade since I was used to the brilliant screen of the OnePlus 7 Pro. The screen size also was a challenge since the Onplus screen size was larger before. But started liking the iPhone UI & since I had the iPad & the MacBook Pro started liking the inter-operability between these devices. I also bought the Apple Watch series 6 in the same year in 2020. 

I used the iPhone 12 for 3 years & upgraded to the iPhone 15 Pro in 2023, hoping to get a better display experience of the 120 Hz Pro-motion display. This is my current phone. I feel I had enough of the smaller display sizes. In 2024, I ended up buying 2 other iPhone 15s, one iPhone 15 Plus for my daughter and a regular iPhone 15 for my wife.

Decoding Upendra's UI - UI ಮಾತುಕಥೆ/ವಿಮರ್ಶೆ UI full movie review

ಯುಐ ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರ ವಿಮರ್ಶೆ 🎬

ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ ನಿರ್ದೇಶನ ಮತ್ತು ನಟನೆಯ 'ಯುಐ' ಚಿತ್ರವು ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊಸ ಸಂಚಲನವನ್ನು ಉಂಟುಮಾಡಿದೆ. ಈ ಚಿತ್ರವು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ, ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ, ಮತ್ತು ಮಾನವೀಯ ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳ ನಡುವಿನ ಸಂವಾದವನ್ನು ಹೊಸ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಕೋನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅನಾವರಣಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. 💫

ಚಿತ್ರದ ಕಥಾಹಂದರವು ಭವಿಷ್ಯವನ್ನು ಆಧರಿಸಿದ್ದು, ಒಂದು ಡಿಸ್ಟೋಪಿಯನ್ ವಿಶ್ವವನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ ಅವರ ಚಿಂತನೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಆಳತೆಯು ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾಗಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಚಿತ್ರವು ಬುದ್ಧಿಮಟ್ಟದ ದೃಷ್ಠಿಕೋನದಿಂದಾಗಿ ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಅಂತರಂಗವಾಗಿ ಆಕರ್ಷಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. 📡

ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ ಅವರ ಅಭಿನಯ ಎಂದಿನಂತೆ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ. 🎭 ಅವರು ಪಾತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಶ್ರದ್ಧೆ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ಮೂಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಅವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ನಟಿಸಿರುವ ರೀಷ್ಮಾ ನಾಣಯ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ನಿಧಿ ಸುಬ್ಬಯ್ಯ ತಮ್ಮ ಪಾತ್ರಗಳಿಗೆ ನ್ಯಾಯ ಒದಗಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಸಂಗೀತವು ಕಥೆಯ 흐ೆಯನ್ನು ಬೆಂಬಲಿಸುವಂತೆ ಇದೆ, ಮತ್ತು ಛಾಯಾಗ್ರಹಣವು ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ದೃಶ್ಯಮಾಧುರ್ಯವನ್ನು ತರುತ್ತದೆ. 🎵🎥

ಪ್ರಶಂಸನೀಯತೆ:

• ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ ಅವರ ಕಥೆಯ ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆ ಮತ್ತು ನಿರ್ದೇಶನವು ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ವಿಭಿನ್ನ ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಂಡೊಯುತ್ತದೆ.
• ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಮತ್ತು ಮಾನವೀಯ ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳ ನಡುವಿನ ಸಮತೋಲನವನ್ನು ಸಮರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ಚಿತ್ರಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ.

ಸುಧಾರಣೆ ಅಗತ್ಯ:

• ಕೆಲವೊಂದು ಭಾಗಗಳು ಪಾಸಿಡೋಫಿಲಾಸಫಿಕಲ್ ಆಗಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಬಹುದು, ಅದು ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಕಷ್ಟಕರವಾಗಿ ಭಾಸವಾಗಬಹುದು.

ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ, 'ಯುಐ' ಒಂದು ಆಲೋಚನೆಗೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿಸುವ ಚಿತ್ರ. ಇದು ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊಸ ಯುಗವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಬಹುದು. 😊✨

ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ಅಂತ್ಯಾಕ್ಶರಿ ಗೀತೆಗಳು #ಶೋಭ ಅರೇನ #Sobha Arena

ಶೋಭ ಅರೇನ ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಆಚರಿಸಿದ ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ. ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ಗೀತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹಾಡಿದೆವು. 

CTRL Review by Neha Madhukar

I recently watched this movie called Ctrl which is a take on AI and how it might take control, hence the name ctrl) in all the wrong ways.

the movie stars Ananya Pandey and Vihaan Samat, Nella, and Joe are a popular social media influencer couple. When he cheats on her, she turns to an AI app to erase his digital existence on her computer and social media. However, the maker of the AI secretly begins to take control of her data and life, illegally invading her privacy.

the format of the movie is somewhat similar to The Searching a 2018 American screen life mystery thriller film directed by Aneesh Chaganty

I read quite a few reviews about this movie and noticed that it didn't have a lot of great reviews which makes sense, because of the ending

it might seem quite slow at some intervals and did fail to keep me engaged at times, but the theme of the movie was quite fascinating, now everyone knows that meta specifically Instagram and also YouTube track your activity and algorithm, based on what type of content you engage with, the recommendations are tailored and personalized to the user, although the series of events that occur throughout the movie are exaggerated, it does remind us of the social media that we interact with on an everyday basis

SPOILER ALERT

at the end of the movie, despite the app ruining her life, she stays away from it for a certain period of time but she is slowly drawn back in when she sees an advertisement of the same, now everyone thought that this was extremely ridiculous and stupid and i kind of agree, i thought the same when i first watched it, but the more i thought about it, i realised that, we uninstall Instagram because it consumes too much of our time and we waste our time scrolling on reels, or we might deactivate our accounts during an exam but we still reinstall in a few days later. failing to stay away, it feels dangerously relatable which to me makes it interesting and worth watching once

this movie made me want to write a blog after almost a year.

10 Common Tricks Used by Scammers: Beware and Stay Safe

 All scams are summarised and shown below. Stay alert.

Scammers target people of all ages, but middle-aged and elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable. Be cautious and aware of these common tricks:

1. TRAI Phone Scam: Fraudsters claim to be from TRAI, stating your mobile number is linked to illegal activities, and services will be suspended.

    - Reality: TRAI doesn't suspend services; telecom companies do.

2. Parcel Stuck at Customs: Scammers claim a parcel with contraband has been intercepted and demand payment.

    - Action: Disconnect and report the number.

3. Digital Arrest: Fake police officers threaten digital arrest or online interrogation.

    - Reality: Police don't conduct digital arrests or online interrogations.

4. Family Member Arrested: Scammers claim a relative will be arrested and demand payment.

    - Action: Verify with family members before taking action.

5. Get Rich Quick Trading: Social media ads promise high returns on stock investments.

    - Reality: High-return schemes are likely scams.

6. Easy Tasks for Big Rewards: Scammers offer high sums for simple tasks, then ask for investment.

    - Reality: Easy money schemes are scams.

7. Credit Card Issued in Your Name: Fake executives confirm large transactions on bogus credit cards.

    - Action: Check with your bank.

8. Mistaken Money Transfer: Scammers claim incorrect transactions and ask for refunds.

    - Action: Verify transactions with your bank.

9. KYC Expired: Scammers ask for KYC updates via links.

    - Reality: Banks require in-person KYC updates.

10. Generous Tax Refund: Fraudsters pose as tax officials, asking for bank details.

    - Reality: Tax departments already have bank details and communicate directly.

Stay Safe:

1. Verify information before acting.

2. Don't click suspicious links.

3. Confirm transactions with banks.

4. Report suspicious calls/numbers.

5. Be cautious of high-return schemes.

6. Update KYC in-person.

7. Don't share personal/bank details.

Report Scams:

1: GOI Chakshu portal @ https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/

2a. National Consumer Helpline (1800-11-4000)

2b. Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in)

3. Local Police Station

Stay informed, stay vigilant!

The best feel good romcoms

it's been exactly a month since Valentine's Day, but tis romcom season! 

there is nothing like cozying up after exams and watching a romantic comedy. 

1. we're starting with Googly, one of the most popular iconic Kannada movies. starring Yash and Kriti Karbhanda, this is one of those movies that was a blockbuster and is still now one of the most iconic movies he has ever starred in. 

Sharath and Swathi meet in Bangalore and fall in love but due to misunderstandings, they drift apart. Two years later, destiny brings them face-to-face at a friend's wedding. 

googly is available on Sunxt.

sandalwood has impeccable romcoms! 

2. paramathma starring our beloved appu, Aindrita Ray and Deepa Sannidhi. these are all iconic movies that I've been watching since I was a little girl. param which is the character appu plays is again one of the most iconic characters, one of my favourite comfort movies, you could watch it for the 100th time and still never be bored. 

Sharath and Swathi meet in Bangalore and fall in love but due to misunderstandings, they drift apart. Two years later, destiny brings them face-to-face at a friend's wedding. 

paramathma is available on disney+ hotstar 

jackie was recently re-released by KRG Productions, even though its not exactlty a romcom. it is worth an honourable mention. 

3. Jab we met- now for a little mix of other languages, i had watched jab we met when i was a kid probably, but i had no memory of it whatsoever.. when my boards just ended, the last subjet was math and right after math i wanted to unwind and i absolutely loved it. it was a nice hopeful, witty romance. and shahid kapoor in that era was perfection.and i know that it is a comfort movie for many and i can certianly undestand why, one of those iconic evergreen movies, and now definitely one of my favourites too.  .While they miss their train, Geet and Aditya begin a journey together to her home and what follows is a love that changes them.  

4. Wake up Sid- i watched 2 movies in one day hehe.. but this movie was everything, wake up sid felt more relatable and seemed more realistic. and since i watched both jab we met and wake up sid in the same day, i ended up comparing the two. this seemed more motivational. these were the eras of bollywood where they produced movies that were actually good and had a lot of meaning to them.. i loved the story and the characters especially aisha's and of course the protagonist siddharth himself who experiened a lot of growth. i wish i could live in the aesthetics of this movie. and i think i resonate with this more. 

5. how to Lose a Guy in 10 Days- this movie is so wholesome. 

the plot line of this movie is so funny, Matthew Macchoaney is charming, and Kate Hudson's acting is so witty and fun. this movie is inspired by a guidebook of the same name. I had no idea about it. I found out about it myself while writing this blog. 

one of the most iconic movies that have defined pop culture. 

kate Hudson's character Andie is a writer for a women's magazine and she makes a bet that she can make a guy fall in love with her in 10 days and get him to break up with her. which is basically the do's and don't's in dating, but obviously, they end up falling in love. which results in the most wholesome and hilarious scenes. 

iphone 15 plus review by Neha Madhukar

I have been using the iPhone SE Gen 2 for the past 3 years, it was actually my first phone and honestly, it has been great, ever since I was little, I always wanted to have an iPhone with a home button and I almost bought the iPhone Xr over it and I'm glad I didn't.

my dad got the new iPhone 15 Pro and I got the iPhone 15 plus and I couldn't be more grateful. it has been so amazing, going from such a small screen with a 4.7-inch display to a 6.7-inch display was such a big difference. 

and I have really small hands so it is quite difficult for me to handle the 15 plus but nevertheless, the big screen is so worth it. 

some of the cons of the iPhone 15/15 plus are of course as we all know the 60hz refresh rate and the slow speed of the USB C. 2.0 speed capable of 480Mbps data transfer, now this isn't that much of a con as in an average iPhone base model user probably wouldn't care much. so it would not matter that much per se. my dad has the 15 pros and it has a 120hz display which Apple calls the "pro motion" display when you know how 120hz display is, the 60hz display seems choppier. otherwise, it actually does not really matter to me. this is the first time where the base model is actually pretty good, and some actual changes. 

the dynamic island. now everyone says this is kind of gimmicky, maybe it is,  nevertheless I still really like it and the fun little animations that play. it is pretty useful with apps like Uber and Ola, and it's pretty nice to have a timer for instance running in the background instead of always staying on the app. It works with both Spotify and Apple Music, and it is easier to switch between music instead of going into the app 

I'm not much of a tech enthu, although I may be getting into it. these are just some of the things I know and have noticed. 

coming to the colors, everyone has been saying that the colors are pretty dull and weak this time around, well yeah it is, but I actually kind of like it. the lightest color probably has to be blue, it seems white in certain lighting but I really liked it ever since I first saw the 15 line up, i knew it was the one I was going to get if I did buy it. but to me, it seemed like a beautiful ocean blue. the black is spectacular.  it looks premium. it looks like the colors from the pro phones. 

the battery life of the Plus phones are known to be pretty good and they certainly are. i dont really use my phone much every day so it does not drop below 70 percent for me 

I was thinking about getting the s23 fe or one of the z flip series, but again because of the Apple ecosystem and since I've gotten used to the ios, as my first phone was also an iPhone, the iPhone just seemed like a better option,  my dad got the pro and he traded his 12 to get that, I was supposed to get the 12 but well things turn out for the best. and that was my opinion and experience of the iPhone 15 plus after having it