The launch of “Chrome” from Google, tempted me to look at this new browser. I took no time to download and start using. The Google, which was known for its revolutionary search engine and other products expected to come out with something really different. The chrome offered me few very good features, but still lacked attraction. The browser look is good, tabbed browsing experience is good, the suggestions during browsing are all really nice experience. Also it gives preview of sites you frequently visit. The boom mark and customised tab based home page experience are also better. The speed also almost comparable to Firefox. However something was missing. The disaster is off course the toolbars. The chrome is not offering any toolbars or add ons. You can’t even put Google’s its own tool bar, leave alone yahoo or any other toolbar. This is an utter disappointment. The browser looks very simple and lacks the customisation facility of Firefox.This is only Beta version and  I am sure the Google team will come up to make up for all the deficiencies. But it would have been more comfortable, had Google introduced this feature with all the facilities. To learn more about chrome click here

Chrome .. Preview

Till then , I am more comfortable with Firefox, which offers me hoards of features. Let’s watch , how chrome develops and compete with Internet explorer and Firefox. 

I sometime wonder how Internet explorer is able to sustain its 75 % market share. Probably its marketing works for it. Firefox is far more superior then Internet explorer and is not used by many. Probably since it is a open source browser, it marketing strategy is poor and hence it is unknown to many. But Google has strength to compete with Internet explorer and I am sure Google will address all the inherent issues and comes out with the excellent browser and may give run for money to Microsoft.

To download Google chrome click here. 

Critically yours

Critickiran

iPhone

iPhone is no doubt a great product, a revolutionary device and probably changed the way the mobile devices look and operate.  But  it is highly priced at Rs 31000 for 8 GB and Rs 36500 for 16GB. Is it right price ?.  I am not sure.

Normally when a new product is launched, it commands a premium. Probably the same is true with iPhone. But how much premium ?. I am just trying to understand the strategy of Apple and service providers Vodafone & Airtel. Probably they want to get only in to the cream layer first and build the image of iPhone as a ultra luxury product. If they had launched it at little lower price, then everybody would have gone for iphone, and every tom,dick& harry on the street showed off their phone. Once the brand image is built, then they can lengthen the product life. May be after six months, they would lower the price and open it for mass market. Because of its ultra luxury image. more and more people will buy the IPhone. In this way Apple will be able to sustain both volume and revenues. Initial few months it may be Moderate volume but high price and then high volume, moderate price (Right price ???)

But how successful will this strategy be. The initial response says it may not be successful. Very few people were present at the iPhone launch event and even very few people purchased it. The buzz and excitement iPhone created in rest of the world is missing in India. The initial volumes may be less than what Apple/Vodafone/Airtel anticipated. The apple may need to lower the price very fast to sustain growth. Otherwise the Apple craziness may well Vanish.

One more reason for Apple to worry is the competition. By launching iPhone at higher price, it has given time for its competitors. Nokia has already come up with N96 and then there is HTC diamond. But in my opinion none of these phones matches the looks and touchscreen experience of iphone. But who knows, In a short while, a new product equivalent to iphone may be launched soon.It is wise for apple to relook at its pricing strategy  and lower it to garner the Indian market very fast as they did elsewhere in the world.

Why everyone feels iPhone is overly priced in India. Lets understand the shortfalls of IPhone :

-No SMS forwarding facility

- No MMS

- No video recording

- Only 2 MP camera

- Has 3G. But can not use until Mid 2009.

- 3 Year lock in with the service provider even with such a high price.

Most of these features are available even in basic phones. Then why Iphone is creating a buzz. The reasons are simpler

- Its a great product to have and show off to your friends . ( Style statement)

- Great touch screen experience.

- Apple store

- Great design and looks

Why I should pay Rs 31000 for such a device. I am pondering. Every time I decide to go for it, its price tag stops me. Not because I can not dispense Rs 31000, But because somewhere in my mind I have a feeling that I am paying more than what it deserves.

But still IPhone keeps me excited. It tempts me to read every article on i Phone in newspapers/magazines, watch every news channel which discusses Iphone. My wife is getting sick about my interest in iPhone. In fact she told me that she will gift me one so that I stop getting mad about iPhone. But somewhere my inner sense stops me from going for it. It says” It is not worth Rs 31000/-. Even if they had priced it at Rs 25000, I would have gone ahead and purchased it. So for the time being its absolute ‘ NO’ to iPhone and I try to get convinced that my present 02 XDA suits me well.

Critically yours

Critickiran

Vijender Kumar, Bronze Medalist

In the semi final match today Emilio Correa defeated Vijender by 8-5. Vijender gave his best, but Emillio proved to be too much for him.

Points

Vijender Vs. Emillio

Round 1 – 0-2

Round -2  3-2

Round -3  0-3

Round -4  2-1

Total         5-8

For more news click here

Vijender’s Journey :

In the Round of 32: Beat Jarrod Fletcher 17:4
In the Round of 16: Beat Sergiy Derevyanchenko 18:4
In the quarterfinals: Beat Elshod Rasulov 9:7

In the Semifinals : Lost to Emilio Correa by 5-8

Congratulate Vijender for winning bronze medal. All of us let’s celebrate this remarkable achievement and  wish Vijender.

Its also the time not to forget other Indian boxers Akhil Kumar & Jithender Kumar, who had put in splendid fight before loosing out in quarter final matches.It is interesting to know how these unknown Bhiwani boxers have come from nowhere and made India proud. Thanks to Bhiwani boxing club and LN Mittal for sponsoring the club. It is a learning lesson for most of other corporates to come forward and encourage Indian sportsmen to excel. If funding, encouragement is there then in a very short time we will see India as a sports power.

Today boxer Vijender Kumar won his quarter final match in 75 kg category against Carlos Gongora of Ecuador to enter semi finals. With this win he is certain to win one medal and take the Indian medal Tally to 3 in Beijing Olympics.

The loss of boxers Akhil Kumar and Jithender Kumar in quarter finals had left Indians in disappointment, but Sushil & Vijender provided India much needed medals. Unlike Akhil, who was very aggressive against his opponenet, Vijender was very defensive and played mind game against his opponent to win the match. He blocked all the attacks from Carlos and at every available opportunity, punched Carlos. The early lead helped him to win the match by 9-4 at the end. Click here for more news

Today it seems to be a good day for India. First Time probably we will be able to come back from Olympics with some respect & 3 medals. Congratulations to Abhinav, Vijender and Sushil.

Join me in Congratulating them

Sushil Kumar,Bronze Medailst

Earlier, Sushil Kumar lost to Ukranian Andriy Stadnik and left the hopes  hinging on the repechage. Then he won three consecutive matches to win bronze medal for India. He first defeated American Doug Schwab, then Belarussian Albert Batyrov and finally Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan to win bronze medal. click here for more news

This unknown wrestler made us proud by his great come back to win the bronze medal. This is the second time India is winning medal in wrestling.  In 1952 Helsinki Games, Indian Wrestler Kashabha Jadhav won bronze medal in wrestling. This is also the first time since 1952, India is winning more than one medal in an Olympics. Earlier Abhinav Bidnra won gold for India in Shooting.

Now we have to hope for 2 more medals in boxing today evening as two indian boxers Vijendra & Jithendra will be playing their quarter final match. For more news on Sushil Kumar click here

True to his style, the blog is very simple and reflects his down to earth, simple style. The blog reflects his thoughts and feelings before and after winning the gold medal. Everyone of us should read this blog and get inspired by his dedication and efforts.

Click here to read his blog

Critically yours

Kiran

When can we see many images like this ?

On last Sunday, I read an article on ” What we need to do if we want to win medals in Olympics”.  The article talks about two models which we can adopt. One is a Chinese model, where we have to concentrate on low profile,medal rich games like weightlifting,shooting,rowing etc and give rigorous training to the aspirants.It is said that Chinese rigorously train children right from the age of 4-5 years only on the sole intention of winning a Olympic Medal. Second model is an American model, where we need to go for  funding of sports at base level and then encourage people to take up sports.The article was well written. Probably India has to use mixture of both these models to win medals.The article allows me to think on what is necessary for Indian sports.

I remember as a child, I was always encouraged to study and discouraged to take up sports. I would not blame my parents for this. It is a  universal phenomenon in every household throughout the country. The reason is very clear. The sports never offered you a job or a career. If you take sports as a prime career and fail in that,you are always at a risk of ending as a jobless person.  In contrast we were told to study hard and go for engineering or medicine fields and excel there. Primary reason off course was to get a very good job and settle in life. Hence our parents had no other option but to push us to perform in studies and always discouraged(??) us from taking up sports. Not only parents, even schools also viewed sports in a similar  manner.

But today time has changed and so is life. The job opportunities are plenty and hence choosing sports as a career is relatively not tough, if not easy. However many other things need to be done. I started to list down few of the things we need to do if we want to win medals at Olympics.

1. Commercialization of sports

We have seen how a sports business model work and cricket is an example. The cash starved BCCI, started commercialization of Cricket in late 1980s and today it is one of richest sports body. Similar commercialization of other sports should be done. The prime challenge here is off course generating interest among public for a particular sport. Once a high profile professional league ( like IPL) is started, it tend to generate interest among public and then a automatic cycle starts with more and more funds coming in and generating interest among public to both participate and view these sports. Another example is  the success of reality TV Shows. The success of these shows and the fame it bring in allowed many parents to encourage their children to take up singing and dancing very seriously.The sports need to be in a same league as entrainment Industry and it need to be seen as a Business.

2. Rural sports promotional programs.

If we analyse, most of our sportsmen come from rural background. Two prime reasons are

• Unlike urban men and women , who  have various options for career growth, the same is limited for rural men & women. Hence they tend to go look for alternatives to low profile agriculture. Hence inclination towards sports naturally comes to them.
• Second reason is the rough and tough life they live. The urban men and women live a very sophisticated life and hence their body does not easily adjust to rigorous training for a particular sport. In contrast, the rural men and women live a rough and tough life right from the beginning and their body easily adjust to rigorous training.

Hence there is a need to put in lot of focus on developing sports infrastructure at rural parts of the country. Best idea is to start rural sports academy with the basic facilities. This will help us to identify few potential candidates and then they can be trained further in a more structured manner.

3. Identify the body structure- sports relationship.

Why always Kenyans win long distance races and Jamaicans wins short distance races ?. This is because their body structure helps them. Similar is the case of Chinese in gymnastics and diving. We need to do an exercise  to identify which group of people can fit in to a particular sport. Traditionally Kerala and Punjab produced many athletes as their body structure helps them in athletics. More focus is required in these states to produce high quality athletes. Similarly Punjab, Maharastra and Karnataka produced many players in Hockey and hence focus is required in these states for hockey.

4. Corporate sponsoring

The sports can not survive unless until funding is enough and government alone can not fund. The big corporate houses have to come forward to sponsor budding athletes and provide them with both funds and job security. This has to be a part of their corporate social responsibility.

5. Government Initiatives

Do you remember when the last National games held and who won the medals ? Probably not !. This is because the government has not taken any initiatives to popularise the National Games. A lot of things need to be done from Government side also.

• Popularize National Games/National events. This will help many unknown athletes come to lime light and form there onwards, corporates can take up sponsorship. Commercialize these events, generate funds and use these funds for further. Probably some one like Mr. Amit Modi of BCCI is required here.
• Funding on sports infrastructure and development of stadiums.
• Revamp all sport academies and boards. The influence of politician in these boards to be minimized. Each sports body has to be given targets and need to be accountable for the performance.

Today , most of the sportsmen and women take up sports only to earn living rather than to win a medal in Olympics. Our focus should be mainly to win medals rater than just participating in olympics. When small countries with population of 1/100 th of Indian population can win 10 medals, India need to win atleast 20 medals by 2020.

Since 1991, the liberalisation of India, helped us to be a significant player in world economy, now the liberalisaton of sports is required for us to be significant player in sports also. It is daunting task , but a possible one. It is easy to write here…. But who will bell the cat ?

Critically yours

Critickiran

Cheers

Critickiran

The results of trust vote is going to change political equation within the country. The congress and SP may work together. Mulayum and Amar Singh will again come to lime light. Life will be difficult for BSP and Mayawati. National conference will be back in scenario. I am not sure to whom Deve Gowda voted for. If he had voted against the government, then problems are ahead for him. Similar case is with Ajit Singh. The MPs voted in favour of UPA will be definetly rewarded.

These political equations change at speed greater than light and hence we can not determine how long it will last. But as everyone says every dog has its day… today its the day for UPA, SP and all other parties who supported the government.

But more importantly , atleast the long awaited nuclear deal will be on now and UPA will be out of political blackmailing of left parties. Manmohan Singh has proved to be the tough prime minister. We will probably see more economic reforms since the SP, a major party after congress in UPA is very pro-reforms. But one need to see how the war between Ambani brothers will shape up with Amar singh having more say in the government.

Lets wait and watch as more and more political drama unfolds

Critically yours

Kiran

Our prime minister is attending G-8 meeting. Let us remember that he is attending this meeting as a prime minister of India and not as a prime minster of UPA. Now probably Prime minister is attending a meeting as a leader of minority government in India and may feel awkward. The timing of support withdrawal by left parties has put prime minister and India in embarrassment. This may not reflect bad on UPA or communist or any other party, but will definitely  have bad image about India. The UPA government may still survive and nuclear deal may still be signed, but this support withdrawal by Left parties will be a black spot on India’s image. The nuclear deal is a debatable issue and some people oppose and some people support. But at any cost the nations interest and image should not be compromised and all the parties should understand this.

The left parties are always looked as obstacle for India’s growth in recent years especially in the eyes of modern and young Indians. This is basically due to sticking to old ideology by Left parties.The leftist movement started for a noble cause to bridge to gap between rich and poor. However it was more appropriate 40-50 years back, when the rich always had an upper hand. But today world has changed. Until unless we go towards capitalism , we will not be able to bridge this gap.

Any ideology has some shelf life and need to change with time. What is more important for that particular era need to be adopted. The china understood this and even though it is a communist nation has changed with the time and adopted capitalism within communism. In India, our left parties need to understand this. Today they are labeled as growth retarders. Left may keep its ideology intact but need to be flexible in few of the issues. The left may have to pay a very heavy price for this decision. But again India is a country of uncertain politics and no one can predict what will happen in next election

Critically yours

Kiran