This post is written on Day 6. I stopped using my iPhone 4S for the past 6 days, completely transferring over to Galaxy Nexus as my only mobile device. I used it in Seattle, and also during my recent travel to SFO.

## The Good
As I mentioned earlier, Jelly Bean has brought the Android platform to a fantastic place in terms of responsiveness and fluidity. Wrt Google apps like GMail, Maps etc. and the android stock apps of Email, Calendar etc, there is a sense of speed. Furthermore, with no skeumorphism to handle, it felt like a modern, super responsive, smartphone.

### The share menu
This is the secret power in Android 4.1! I cannot believe that more people are not amazed by this. This is an extremely well implemented concept of “services” in the OS X parlance.

You can send a picture to any of the applications registered to handle pictures using it. You can send any piece of text from anywhere to your note taking application. You can send URL from anywhere to Instapaper for future reading.

I hear Microsoft has implemented this concept in the form of “contracts” and I am eager to see how applications will make use of it.

To me, this is the most frustrating piece of interaction in iOS. I want to be able to share information from anywhere to anywhere and not have to context switch to a particular app and then figure out ways to import data into the context.

### Chrome
Enough said. Fast, clean and just awesome!

### Default apps
You can set default apps for actions. You can set Chrome as the default browser. You can set Google Voice as your default dialer. You can set Whatsapp as your default texting handler. This is very powerful. This, at least in theory, and mostly in practice, makes the phone extremely personalized to what you want to do and you are not worried about maintaining multiple apps.

### Google search integration
Blew me away. Siri is fantastic. However, Siri is mostly a demo thing for me. In fact, I demo it to my friends to talk about how Siri and I have still not understood each other well. Siri gets my query right about 50% of the time and let’s just say, I have really gotten to know the spinning purple wheel. It looks fantastic, but it’s not found much use in my real life.

Google’s search is
1. Fast: I was blown away at the speed at which queries were processed (both typed and voice) and the results were shown. In fact, I’d say for anyone who actually uses voice search a lot, don’t even bother with Siri. You’d save tons more time and get much more accurate results with Google’s voice implementation.
2. Pro choice: Don’t want to talk to your phone in public? – Type it in. Google’s search improvements work whether you type the query in or talk to it. As a result, you still get the device optimized query results.
3. Interesting: Google Now is fascinating. It was very useful as I moved around the city in SFO and had meetings all over the place. It picked up that I was taking taxis to move around and would notify me of the right time to start out to arrive on time, had the weather for the current place always, kept me notified of interesting places around my hotel that I should check out and some of them were good. I can see multiple places where this could totally enhance the experience. One word of advice – Google needs to play well here with other context and location relevant services and this would totally rock the world for Android users.

### The keyboard
For people who know me, this would come as a total surprise. Until Jelly Bean (including ICS), I always dinged Android on its software keyboard implementation. It was years behind the iOS counterpart wrt sensitivity. I constantly mistyped in Android vs. iOS. In fact, before Jelly Bean, I considered Microsoft to have implemented the ultimate software keyboard in Windows Phone 7.5.

In ICS, Swiftkey was a great replacement keyboard. Yet, it never felt organically smooth.

The Jelly Bean keyboard is by far the best implementation of any mobile software keyboard. It completely blows iOS away in its implementation. Provides meaningful settings for power users (who still wants keys popping up with typing?) and is phenomenally accurate. Typing on the Galaxy Nexus was a fun as typing on the original iPhone. Fantastic job Google! Kudos!

### App parity
Between Amazon Android App store and Google Play, I pretty much got all the apps that I needed, either free or at a really great deal and they worked decently well. There were a few apps that crashed in Jelly Bean. However, even through the week, they would be updated to supported 4.1 and the crashes stopped.

## The Ugly
Here are some of my personal reasons as to why I decided to return the Galaxy Nexus.

### Battery life
The biggest ding. I was constantly charging it wherever I can, whenever I can. Maybe, I just use the mobile phone a lot more than typical Android users or they are able to keep it charged more often, I was reaching out for my charging cable at least twice a day or risk running out of battery.

You maybe asking – did you disable location services within apps, and other such battery saving tips? I tried them all. In vain.

In fact, I would NOT be returning the phone, if it at least met my 4S battery life. I’d venture to say that even at the cost of thickness of the phone, I wish Samsung and Google had decided to put a better battery for the Galaxy Nexus. =|

### Location
I am not sure what the cause was, but most of the times, Galaxy Nexus was trying to get a fix on my current location and failed miserably to get a GPS signal. Because I had WiFi on, it helped to locate my surroundings and that was good enough for Yelp, foursquare et al. However, when it came to Navigation, it sucked.

Compare this to an iPhone 4/4S where within seconds I get a pinpoint on my location. Apple’s doing something really right here. Good job!

### Maps
Was a bit wonky. Could be partly because of a poor location fix. However, upon using it for walking directions within the city, it was a case of frustration. Android needs to fix this for normal people. Unlike me, they wouldn’t care to check why it does not work. They would get frustrated and leave poor reviews.

### iMessage or lack of it.
This was my personal big realization. SMS works and it’s ok. Messages with iMessage integration is truly awesome. I had to switch to whatsapp and Facebook messenger to get the delivery notifications.

### My favorite apps
A few of my most used favorite apps were poorly done in Android. For example, Path – I love the fluidity of the UI of Path in iOS. I am guessing this is an update issue and hopefully should be fixed soon. But, boy, when that fly out animation sucked when I tapped the “+” button, a little part of me was sorely disappointed.

## Conclusion
More battery life, and a little more app love from developers and I can completely switch to a nexus device. However, for now, I will be returning the Galaxy Nexus back to Google. It’s not that I cannot get used to the phone. However, I don’t want to spend money on a device and then change my expectations for the device.

That said, I really felt like I owned a smartphone with the Galaxy Nexus. It took me back to the days where Gautam and I would spend hours talking about how to get the PC to ooze out the best performance by tweaking this and twiddling that. And I enjoyed that experience of it.

In a way, it is disheartening. I will be moving back to my iPhone 4S. It feels tiny compared to the Galaxy Nexus and I will miss the screen size. However, I’ve been on the phone the whole day, using it for multiple things and the battery has still not given out.

I will be on the lookout for a better nexus device from Google.

July 8 – Day 1: Thoughts on Galaxy Nexus and Jelly Bean

After some waiting, Google delivered the first Android phone that I have ever bought yesterday. The Galaxy Nexus came pre-installed with ICS 4.0.4. However, there was an OTA waiting to change the really garish experience of a janky Android to a buttery smooth snacky update.

A couple thoughts over Day 1 of usage –

Jelly Bean is smooth. I mean, really smooth. Like iOS smooth, smooth. I thought 3rd party apps would also benefit from Project Butter, and they do. However, major custom UI apps like Path etc. still have some laggy animations.

The Android keyboard has come a long way. In fact, I’d venture to say that the current keyboard is better than the iPhone keyboard and might just be slightly better than the Windows phone keyboard.

Just with these two improvements, Android is in a tight race with iOS devices, from a pure software perspective.

Build Quality: Galaxy Nexus feels cheap compared to the iPhone 4S.

The screen: (please insert appropriate #twss whenever I talk about inches and sizes).
I have a love/hate relationship with the bigger screen. The experience is certainly better. But, it makes the phone way bigger in size. This is despite a near tiny bezel around the edges. That said, I get why people like bigger screen sizes.

Battery: Holy crap! iPhone blows the Galaxy Nexus away wrt battery life. I thought OLED devices have a much less battery drain. It could also be because of the puny battery that Samsung provides. I don’t care to swap out batteries. I want longer battery life. This is going to be the bane of android users. =|

Final words (for this post): I am using the Galaxy Nexus as my only phone device over the next 13 days, when I will make a call to keep it / return it. The hope is to capture as much of the usage and pattern as possible to make a rational decision.

=)

This is why “disruption” seems to be a destructive process. Yet, it is a necessary process for the sake of evolution.

The recent eBooks case against the major publishers and Apple have folks on either side shouting support. There are well articulated arguments for either side. The “agency” side is pulling some major propaganda to convince the world that they are protecting the industry and the other side is not holding back either.

However, it is clear where we need to head.

It’s not to artificially increase “competition” or prevent monopolies or monopsonies. It is to ensure that we promote reading books and ensure that we create a strong eco-system that ensures that readers have a strong supply of good literature and authors are compensated well to strengthen that supply. Everything else is moot.

From all the arguments presented, there’s one that I shall comment on. DRM sucks! If anything the DoJ should recognize that and use this opportunity to truly provide a great experience for readers and an easy eco-system for authors.

I do believe that current corporate book publishers are the ones that insist DRM existence and requirements. All I ask at the end of this is – let’s get DRM out and get the focus back on ensuring that authors continue to write and readers continue to read and make that experience as fucking great as possible.

Help a buddy of mine out with his grade by viewing and liking the video. It’s funny.

With a logo that’s the picture of a half eaten version of the same fruit. 

Things are fruity. On a similar vein, imagine the point where this fruit company now has economies of scale against Samsung and Sony. Oh how things change. 

The iPad is better, bigger, has more apps and better apps, and is cheaper. The fact that these tablets are only price competitive with the iPad when they’re bought with a two-year contract is a killer. People aren’t stupid. People hate contracts.

★ - To Daring Fireball

Game of Thrones Valentine. via @harinisaladi

I don’t know if this was actually run by Apple? But, it’s definitely funny.

I watch a lot of television and cinema. What I watch ranges thew whole gamut of available and created genres. The following lines specifically concern TV shows and humour.

There is a well perceived difference between popular American humour and their cousins from across the pond. It is almost the same as 80′s and 90′s Tamil and Malayalam humour.

American humour is the Goundamani/Senthil humour while British humour is more akin to Mohanlal/Srinivasan. The difference between crass and subtle, incorporated and perceived, contrived and natural.

There is no judgement as I enjoy both styles, with a slight bent for the British humour.

Community, Arrested Development and a great many other comedy disasters (in the American TV context) are American shows touting British humour. Hence the short lived successes that gain a small ardent followers. Their very (limited) success has to be attributed to the intense globalization and increased viewership of global programs and agents of mass broadcasting – a la – Twitter/Youtube.

Their tragic demise is the reason that I continue to support my content providers – Netflix, Hulu +, Amazon Video. Their mission is to improve selection, so that they can cater to every type of subscriber. And program consumption will take another revolution with the advent of truly personal recommendation from around the globe.

And I for one, cannot wait.

The connection economy multiplies the value of what is contributed to it. It’s based on abundance, not scarcity, and those that opt out, fall behind.

via Seth’s Blog: The sad irony of selfishness.

Profound.

Strike 2.

India’s online retail industry is expected to surge to 70 billion rupees ($1.43 billion) by 2015 from 20 billion rupees as broadband availability becomes more common and the number of Internet users grow, the Associated Chambers of Commerce said in a July report.

via Amazon Starts India Shopping Service as Internet Market Grows – Bloomberg.

This is not a major news that Amazon would be interested in India. However, what is fascinating is that the Indian Government is protecting the Indian retail sector by preventing non-Indian retail powerhouses from getting into India, while the Indian retail business gain major ground. I am sure that within a year, Reliance is going to open an eCommerce website along with the rest. Now, this makes for a very interesting challenge to overcome. That said, eBay does have Indian presence.

Can someone enlighten me of the story there? I want to say it’s because they bought baazee.com. However, could not get the details out.

7. What is money good for? Distance. It buys you distance from everyone else. But normal human beings like to be near other human beings. We are a social species. So not only can’t money buy you happiness, it can buy you a lot of isolation and that’s not happy. You’ll likely be happier living in the middle of the noisy messy world than all alone at the end of a long driveway in the middle of nowhere.

Dave Winer’s advice to the new millionaires in Silicon Valley owing to the Facebook IPO.

Useful tips for designers on dealing with developers. I am guessing that there will be another article on the reverse relationship.

I use a Mac as my portable computer (Ok, please drop those scythes). I have owned almost every iOS device since release save for the iPhone 3GS and I really like using them.

This does not mean that I don’t appreciate other devices or even acknowledge some of their fortes.

Nobody is perfect. This specifically also goes for corporations, considering how they are almost the equivalent of citizens in the US.

But it is ok. Acknowledging and striving to improve is the best thing that should come out of this.

In this world of hyper competition, every one wants to be the winner. Winner of the tablet market. Winner of the mobile market. This also gives rise to weird market nomenclatures where MBA folks (yes, people like yours truly) conceive names like Ultrabooks market with the sole purpose to “win” in the market.

Companies and people need to set their objectives better. In fact, the purpose of a company is to solve something as a cohesive whole so that the sum of the parts truly make something earth shattering for the people of this world to live better. (Yes, I am still a romantic at heart.)

We can still change. People, companies, everyone to make life better. Nobody needs to win as long as people commit to their belief, be willing to learn from their mistakes and have a goal of making life better while making money.

Not getting into seconds.

Of being married.

Of being married to one of the most wonderful people I have met.

While life’s big questions have not been answered, the process of answering the little ones have been an absolute blast.

I have grown as a man. (Yes, the horizontal component is greater than the vertical component.)

We have added more members to our family. Hello Prof. Moriarty!

Ups and downs. The whole gamut.

And it’s been a blast.

Here’s to many more of amazing years with you Hanu.

Love you.

For the better.

You walked from the airport and I was initially surprised at your height. You always looked taller in your pictures. Your first name belied your last name. And your height and gait belied your taste preferences. And your persona belied your courage to take action.

But here we are..

5 years of ups, downs, sideways. Dullness, Excitement, Boredom and Adventure. Sleeplessness, Snores, Mumbles and Tumbles.

We are a mixed bag of opposites.

I love music at all times. You like to play it in your head. I love my southern roots and you are a global citizen. I am a staunch vegetarian (aka paunch vegetarian) and you’re a “free spirit” when it comes to your food. I am an extrovert who loves his alone time and you’re the introvert who loves her couple time.

I don’t have many things to give you on our 5th anniversary, but only my word that I treasure every single laugh, and tear that I share with you. Every time you are clingy and every time you need your alone time. Every plan that works and those that don’t. Every time you wanted me to go to the mall with you to “look at clothes.” (Ok, that I am not a big fan of).

And I promise and am confident that I’ll continue to treasure the rest of our life together.

As cheesy as it sounds, you’re missed sorely when you are not near and yet I fail to appreciate all the time I do have with you.

I love you and thank you for loving me back.

And she looked at me... again.

One of my favorite sets shot at Bellevue Regional Library during the Seattle for Anna Hazare event. @ facebook

Interesting.

The mobile phone is made with the surplus wood of trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forests. The prototype was created in collaboration with Sharp Corporation, Olympus Corporation and “more trees,” a reforestation project founded by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and others.

NTT Docomo PR

via bhatnaturally

53/365
Place: Victrola coffee at 15th Ave, Seattle, WA
I love the 50mm f/1.8 lens. This is yet another shot that makes me so happy that I bought it with my camera.

52/365
Place: Arboretum, Seattle, WA
I like this photo for various reasons. Razor sharp focus, the green peeking through the yellow and expression on Harini’s face, which is equally ambiguous.

51/365
Place: Arboretum, Seattle, WA
It was a cold and dreary day. Harini and I trudged through the cold and captured some interesting shots. One of my faves.

On the other hand, Harini, my better half is more of the organized chaos person. She is not the first to determine when to throw the trash out or clean the stove, but is more interested in the creative process of providing food on the table. (The caveat being the bathroom – she’s super finicky on cleaning that very regularly)

With a recent trip to India, we left the tiny apartment that we live in much to Harini’s comfort zone. Upon returning, I was greeted with the clothes that she finally decided not to take and a display of shoes and other footwear, which is on track to compete with the ex CM of Tamil Nadu. The cleanliness streak in me has been fighting jet lag over the last week and could not concentrate on the task of re-organizing things. So, as I sit on this Saturday afternoon, with the Seattle sun streaking into the apartment, I decided to go ahead with the spring cleaning of the apartment.

As I started pulling things together, I reasoned that I am going to leave it as is. The next set of sentences are something that I never thought I would ever say. For people who can’t tolerate cheese, please stop reading… Now!

I decided that I am going to live in this clutter until Harini comes back to stay with me. I finally realized the meaning of a “better half.” There is a sense of longing in me for the companionship of my wife that I miss exactly two conscious days after she is not around. The first two days are a sense of “woohoo freedom” quickly replaced by a vacuum of “why does this feel so empty?”

The messiness is a stark reminder for me that I want to expedite her return back home. The clothes lying around stands as a static replacement for her absence. The unwashed dishes are a feeble replacement for the bustle of activity that surrounds the old ball and chain.

I miss you gunds. Come back soon.

On October 20th, 2010, I am getting married to Harini Sanjeev. We have also made a wedsite that we hope will be the central repository of all pics, videos, thoughts and future happenings. Check it out – http://harini-renganathan.com/

The website was fully designed and implemented by my geeky partner – yup! I’m lucky!

Anthem.

Harini made me download this book from Project Gutenberg and read it. And I must say – absolutely worth the 56 odd pages. Despite the hyperbole of the dystopian future, the author clearly communicates the need for identity.

Highly recommended.

50/365

Another angle from the rooftop… One of my favourite views in the world. 

49/365

When you look east from the rooftop. As I mentioned before, I love this place. 

48/365

From the rooftop of my apartment. I love this view. I wish I could be up there everyday all day. 

47/365

A bunch of photos against the backdrop of Snoqualmie falls.