Airtel 4G: Internet Flashback

So, I have been part of the Cochin and Trivandrum launching and preview of #Airtel4G and I have written long posts about it, four about my experience at the former and one about the same at the latter city. Being the fastest network as of now, Airtel being the only network having the 4G option, can continue to claim to be the fastest network around here, in those three Keralite cities, Cochin, Trivandrum and Calicut if we consider Kerala. There is surely going to be an expansion for the future, and I hope that it includes my current location too.

This speed brings me back to my past, to that moment when I got my first computer which was quite a slow one. It was called Zenith the One Up PC with an Intel Pentium Processor. I didn’t understand what they meant by the “up” because it was behind most of the computers of that time which looked the same. Nowadays, I don’t even know someone who has a PC from Zenith. I believe that it was in the year 1998 that the new computer arrived, I think I had access to slow internet very soon too. But we were satisfied with that at those times.

Well, we still have the slow internet which is slower than ever, as some of the dongles do give us that slow speed for the unlimited connections after acertain limit – the speed has been reduced to 64Kbps these days which is no better than the dial-up connections of that time considering what all we have to load. So, we haven’t really improved from that time as long as we decide to suffer with the slow speeds. From just randomly using social networking sites like Friendster and Hi5, the situation has gone on through Orkut and Myspace to Facebook which has become the big part of life. So, the internet needs more.

At those times, there were two games, Claw and Hocus Pocus, the first one needing the CD to play. Then there was the CD featuring 99 games which changed my life with games including Blood and Alone in the Dark. At that time there was only that dial-up modem, I depended on these disks from Computers@Home, PC World, Chip, It, Efy, Fast Forward, Living Digital and the rest attracting us with headings like “Real War Games”, “25 Must Haves”,”Colour Your World”, “Paranoid Parent Kit”, “Go Picture Crazy”, “Print Adventure”,”Ultimate Utility Cache” – the games and utilities came from the disks only. Now it has gone beyond that.

The movies had to be rented too, and I created my first mail address at Yahoo and waited while having more and more biscuits with tea. The thoughts about downloading a game or watching a movie from the internet was not going to be something in the dream. Even in the later stages, playing an online game was tough for me considering the high-speed internet which the people from other parts of the world possessed. Games like Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena asked for it, but the internet made sure that I never came first.

We were the people of the slow internet, and were limited to playing with local friends only. But everything is faster now, and still we will be behind in comparison. #Airtel4G can surely change that with its speed. The advantage of having the wired connection is that the speed remains the same all the time, and so I will keep the broadband, and would like to have the #Airtel4G for using during travel. As none of the USB dongles really do that well, this could prove interesting, especially as it can be used for the mobile too, with the portable Mi-Fi device.

The #Airtel 4G speed has been excellent throughout both cities of Cochin and Trivandrum except for some pockets, even though it is quick to shift to 2G when it is outside the city limits. The consistency has been better at Cochin though, but that would depend on a lot of factors, I guess. I am not sure if I will recharge it with 4G right now though, because it is not there at my hometown right now. But I hope to use it with all its speed, as the distance from the place of availability of 3G to my location is less than twenty kilometres. The rates are supposed to be the same as 3G, and so I will need to look at it too.

***The images used in this blog post were taken by me at home.

TeNy

Internet and Speed

I have never really had a good experience with mobile internet, which is why I am not that much of a fan of having internet on my phone. It applies to almost every mobile network as there has been some problem here and there. I usually use my Wi-Fi for my mobile and even when I am going somewhere else, I try to keep my dongle with me with hope to connect it somewhere. The problems with my mobile internet connections were the high costs, slow speed and the lack of interesting plans.

I remember reading about 3G at one point. It was so big at that time, and now the time has come for 4G. I have never really been a consistent follower of a network, and has had my history of changing through them. 4G becomes a good reason to choose Airtel in this world of so many mobile phone networks when nothing really works with the mobile internet. We hope for something and we never really get them as we keep waiting. May be, 4G with its speed, can change this situation.

We have wasted a lot of time with the lack of speed. With movie, music and video download, it has been quite natural. When something like that happens, we are provided with no option but to wait. There are times when we have trouble in loading some sites and it proves to be eternal – we wait and wait. At the end of the day, the only thing that we get is the opportunity to wait. Do we pay for that opportunity to wait, like paying for a dog which bites us? Is it the right thing to do when better options are available?

Well, vampires are supposed to be immortal and so are the angels. The Devil will also agree. But some network connections are those which test your mortality as a human being. Forget the downloads, because some cases cannot even come close to that – they make me afraid to download because we have to wait so much. Do we want to use that opportunity to wait as if it is what we get and it is what we deserve? Don’t we deserve better in this age of more modern technology?

In a world in which nobody has time to wait, Airtel 4G is going to be interesting. Patience is no longer considered a virtue as things happen so fast. There is a lot of value for time, unless you are jobless as I am; still I don’t have enough time in a day. The available 24 hours in a day never prove to be enough for me and I hope for me! So, I can guess how valuable it is for people who have jobs. So, this never-ending wait is never a good thing. Everything needs to be faster, and it should begin with the internet.

My hope about Airtel 4G is to change my idea about mobile internet in a positive way. It hasn’t been that great related to any mobile operator, as something terrible happens every time. The mobile internet has been my long time enemy with 2G and 3G, and it is something which should change with the new high speed 4G mobile internet from Airtel. I have seen the advertisement about the same already, and I believe that the most of the people have gone through that already.

The new option can get rid of a lot of problems as Airtel is the first telecom operator to come up with the 4G services and it happens across 296 cities across India as this goes nation wide. There is the option of free home delivery of the 4G SIM card and it is to be available at the same rate of 3G SIM too. It is actually just one tweet away – #GetAirtel4G. You can check for the 4G option from Airtel for more details about the same as you get the same data benefits of the existing 3G pack along with enjoying high speed 4G at no extra cost: http://www.airtel.in/4g/

***The image used in this blog post belongs to Airtel.

TeNy

The New App Program

I have been an Airtel user for a few months now. I switched from BSNL to Airtel after buying a new Asus Zenfone 5, as I thought that a change was needed. Things have worked very well for me since then. Airtel has been an affordable choice for me, which is why I decided to try the Airtel App too. I don’t have the mobile internet, and so I used the wi-fi of my modem to give it a chance. After all, it is good to be aware of the options which are available, and this was new for me.

Things are just simple with the new Airtel App. You just need to give the mobile number to which they will send the One Time Password, and you are ready. We have five connections for the three people at home, thus making the option open for more than one app, and this one from Airtel did very good, with the password as well as the verification being quicker with this one. They will keep giving instructions as we progress through the app.

You can do a nice recharge for any number simple and fast. I haven’t tried recharging through the mobile phone before even though I had the apps, but this was the right time because things were so easy this time. May be I should have tried this much earlier. But as the wise people say, and so do some of the movie quotes, there is the right time for everything, and it is now for the Airtel App.

Your favourite actions will be saved, and the ease of use keeps saving the day as a reflection of time being saved. It can be used by almost anyone and even the people who are not familiar with this kind of thing. The balance is always visible and you can plan the next move according how much money remains – thus it works as a tracker too. You can add new mobile, landline, broadband or DTH numbers to the account whenever it is needed. The red and white looks of the app makes an impression too.

The Airtel Money option is another interesting side of the app which works separately and has to be downloaded from the Google Play Store itself. It can actually be accessed from the same application after download, and it is quite a useful thing which costs you very less MB to download. You can load money and do very quick transactions there, and it is an interesting option to have.

The best thing is that it is not limited to one operator as far as recharge is concerned. You can notice three logos of major telecom operators at the homepage itself. I could use it for my second sim connection or for parents’ connections. There is also the option to pay the bills, including those related to insurance, electricity, gas and water. The need to go to the office, or to try the same on the computer are eliminated. There are also free deals available on every recharge.

So, the new app which I tried this week was not a game, but My Airtel App for a change – it is not about those endless running games this time. If you install Wynk Music from Airtel, you can download and play the latest songs too, and even if it is also separate, you can access it from My Airtel App too. The possibilities are more, which is why you can add another app to your list of Android apps. It is a small app and worthy of spending some time and data.

For details about the app – http://www.airtel.in/myairtel

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Page of Airtel India.

TeNy

There is Always a First

Just like many other things in my life, there was a first for my mobile phone too; even as my first mobile phone was Nokia 1100, the first smartphone was a Nokia 6600. It actually had a short stay and was replaced by another phone which made way for a Nokia N95. But this Nokia 6600 had a special part in my life. It was the first one to let me store and play videos, and also the first to transform into my favourite music player.

I was among one of the first to get a smartphone in my class and remained the only person to have a Nokia smartphone for some time. I still remember that the volume of the phone used to reach such a high level that it could overtake all other mobiles at full volume, especially with some songs. It was big and had a special shape, good enough to catch the attention of almost everyone.

But then, one has to have the luck to start with Moto E. It wasn’t really the season of the smartphone when I got the first of them. It took me some time to get used to it, and there were not many people whom I could ask for help. When there is the option to start with Moto E these days, things have changed. Almost everyone knows so much about the phones, and there have been so many positive opinions on Moto E.

This is the season of more power, and Moto E provides just the same. My first smartphone was a drag, and I wished for more power. Symbian had its own problems here and there, and I wished for a better Operating System too. 6600 had made me wait a lot after clicking here and there, but I have been a patient owner, or it is rather like I had no other option. There was the need for regular restart too – it was a machine of that generation, and not a Moto E.

I also remember how bulky that phone used to be. It was like it could be used more to throw it to get mangoes from a tree. It weighed a lot and had too much of a size to fit into the shirt’s pocket. These could have been solved if my first smartphone was Moto E. I have gone through the photos of the phone in Flipkart, and it is very thin, and the right phone if you wish to keep it in the shirt pocket.

The battery is also going to last longer with a Moto E, making sure that I don’t have to keep recharging the phone. It was another problem of that age, but now, we are into advanced times with Moto E. Then there is the new Android, and such an Operating System was also the need of that age. With the 5MP primary camera and the presence of the secondary one, I could have done better than all who didn’t like my phone’s camera at that time.

The storage problems also get solved with Moto E. The speaker is so good and the same is with the design. Yes, the touch screen option can’t be forgotten, as the screen looks so clear, and it is smooth to operate. During those days of the past, I actually struggled to work with that big phone. The 6600 could make an impression with the high volume of sound, but I expect Moto E to make things better with more clarity of sound – achieving fine quality.

***The images used in this blog post are from Moto E’s contest page for which this one is written. I would #ChooseToStart with the new Moto E! That would require a time machine right now, but there can also be another beginning, because there is no limit to the possibilities: http://www.startwithmotoe.com/

TeNy