Naushad . Product Designer

Category: Tech

WhatsApp WeChat Line and so on

WhatsApp, well known for its popularity and now a Verb used instead of SMSing.

Can you WhatsApp me ?

WhatsApp

Has replied to the competition offered by WeChat by introducing PTT or so called Push to Talk.

The early adopters and youth who were amazed by this feature by WeChat will have this same feature available on the most popular chat client.

Considering WhatsApp does not spend crores on ads like the way WeChat and Line are doing in India, WhatsApp can spend that money in building features features and features and just leverage on existing user-base to spread the word and get more users.

In short, the point is that, today or tomorrow users who are trying WeChat and Line Will Surely Come Back to WhatsApp.

Happy WhatsApping 😀

August 7, 2013
The Windows 8 Experience and Review
Ive recently got Windows 8 Pro on my Desktop and I am really excited to use it.

The most notable improvements that I have observed are as below:
1. Metro UI
2. Mail, People, Messaging, SkyDrive and Social
3. Apps, Sync and Login
4. Social
Metro UI

Everyone is aware of what exactly is Metro UI and the live tiles, so I wont talk much about it.

Mail, People, Messaging, SkyDrive and Social

I really do not feel the need to install Outlook Or even use webapp like Gmail.com Or Hotmail.com or any Microsoft account to access my emails. They are all synced in realtime in the default Mail App.

Users can add Multiple email accounts through the same app.

All the emails will sync related data like Contacts and Calendars in realtime. However, thanks to Google the recent changes in ActiveSync for Free Gmail and Google Apps account the sync will no more happen. The reason behind this in my perception is that this simple feature will make millions of free Gmail and Google Apps users not to come on web-app and they can loose on Ad revenue, moreover, Windows 8 is getting strategic advantage in the market by Windows 8 OS by tapping into all devices (most importantly Desktop), which Google has effectively failed to (Android and Chrome OS)

Apps, Sync and Login

Windows 8 is combining the experience of desktop, tablet, mobile and all other to be invented devices which will run Windows OS. 

The simplest example is one can use his/her Hotmail/Windows/Outlook/Live account to login to any Windows device, be It a Desktop, Laptop, Smartphone or Tablet.

And have the same experience all over.

Social

Its not the boring desktop anymore, we can add our Facebook account and Twitter account and all our contacts are automatically added to “People”. We can then seamlessly use the inbuilt Messaging app to communicate with our friends and contacts.

More to come here soon.
December 27, 2012
Asus M4N68 TM V2 Motherboard issue and their support are pain for customers
It all started 2 years 6 months ago and since then i have been to Asus support centers in 2 Cities, Mumbai and Dehradun back and forth 3 times between 2 cities, just to get my motherboard issue resolved.

UPDATE: The issue has now been resolved as Asus service center at Mumbai, Lamington Road managed by Rashi Peripherals have finally replaced the motherboard faulty motherboard with a new one.

All this was possible as i had to escalate the issue to the top level by sending email to Vinay Shetty the Country Head for Asus India, considering this an average Asus user who is not aware of this route will have to bear the pain. My motherboard was thoroughly checked only after intervention from service executive Abdul.

Its sad to know that their after sales service does not involve a thorough check, which led me to slog for 2 years throughout.

I have also written to Vinay asking for what steps he has taken to make the process better and to enhance the value to consumer and also to revive the Asus brand.

The Background
When i went ahead to buy my get my first assembled PC, i got an advice for an Asus evangelist against the advice of my friends. My friends had always told me that Asus motherboards had over-heating issue and they required air-conditioned environment. But i didn’t hear them and i had to suffer.

I have owned 2 ASUS motherboards, experience was worst for the first motherboard as i was experiencing over-heating issues, the motherboard was replaced after i went to them twice to regarding the same issue. However the issue was never fixed and i was forced to move on.

This time, i wanted to get a PC for my brother in Dehradun, unfortunately the configuration was again Asus. Again we had to face it. It started exhibiting the similar issue from the beginning from the time we took it to Dehradun.

The Issues
We were greeted with different Blue screen errors each time which were persistent. We initially thought it might be a software issue with the OS, so we tried installing other OS, WinXP and while trying to install Windows through Multiple DVD, CD, after the Copy file process the system shuts down and this continued and we were unable to install Windows.

The true issue lies itself with the ASUS M4N68 TM V2 motherboard

I had inisisted multiple times to ASUS support that they should replace the motherboard, however they did not even acknowledge this request.

Each time we went to the support center they used to superficially check the motherboard and say that it was okay.

One of the RAM slots motherboard was not working since the starting, however, while troubleshooting we were shifting RAM to other slot. But that slot was dead.For the RAM slot they used to run a pointed device across the ram slot and then blow. This never worked.

Troubleshooting
- The RAM itself was Replaced 3 times
- When the system used to Shut down while running i got the Processor replaced.
- Still the same thing it might be power issue, so we got SMPS replaced
- Still same thing, possible its cause of data cables, we got all data cables changed
- Stillll the same thing > tried IDE cables and its still the same
- Even the HDD has been replaced as of now.
Till now, i have replaced the Processor twice and RAM 3 times, and the HDD once.

When we did not see any hope of getting a resolution from Asus support, we had to take the PC to other certified engineers to get it checked, they checked it with all permutations and combinations of SMPS, RAM, IDE/SATA Cables, HDD. The issue was rooted down to Motherboard as we had tried other hardware with other systems.

The Fate of Asus Service Center

The people at service center were always indifferent to the multiple requests of actually resolving the issue.

Every time, i took the system and motherboard to Asus service center at Mumbai, they used to ask,

“is it for Commercial user Or Domestic use”,

Now, i get the feeling that they treat commercial users differently than personal home users, they are biased in servicing too.

They never acknowledged the request to replace the motherboard.

Cost and the Pain

Its obvious that one gets a device or gadget to USE it, but thanks to Asus and its motherboard we were made to be busy Fixing it. Even if we rule out the use of the system, we had to face the trouble of transporting the PC from Dehradun to Mumbai. The cost of getting in touch with them, delivering the motherboard to their address through courier twice the loss of time and money to get this addressed but not resolved by them was tremendous.

Closing

Asus support does not intend to look into this issue and make a serious note to resolve it. I fail to understand why ASUS does not use the service centers to collect valuable, real feedback regarding products and improve.

The only thing that i have to do now is wait for a last time if they can act properly and replace the motherboard,

Or else i will happily move over to Gigabyte or Intel as ASUS does not take any effort to check the issue, forget about resolving it.
December 4, 2012
How to display AddThis sharing buttons on a custom wordpress template
AddThis sharing plugin is really cool considering the fact that it provides analytics too apart from the social sharing features. I wanted to embed the sharing options to a Custom Page Template.

So How, do we display AddThis sharing button on a custom wordpress template ?

The solution was simple that i found on this WordPress Changelog 1.6.3 for AddThis Plugin: Its as simple as adding below line of code in your custom template, where you wish to display the sharing buttons:
```
<?php do_action( 'addthis_widget' ); ?>
```
Thats, it, dead simple.
November 27, 2012
Facebook EdgeRank- The power of monopoly

Facebook Pages being affected adversely by change in EdgeRank and Focus on Promoted Posts and Facebook Offers.

Facebook has allways been an essential Marketing tool for small, medium and large scale businesses to reach out to their audience and converse with them.

FaceboFacebook Promoted Posts

However, post Facebook IPO things are changing directions, Facebooks priority is changing from loving brands and allowing creation of good rapport between fans and facebook pages, its now using its platform to promote… yes, Promoted Posts, with the single intention to monetize. They have already been monetizing from high paid customers who spend thousands of dollars for marketing and engagement.

Get Notifications

Now, with the recent changes in its algorithm, the posts on pages are not sent to users unless they are highly engaging (determined by , which they can change anytime) Or the Fans, explicitly click “Get Notifications” on each page.

Considering, that All the fans have “Liked” the pages already its simple that fans have already agreed and they “WISH” to have posts of such pages to be shown in their time-line.

However, Facebook went ahead changing the settings and explicitly let the fans to click “Get Notifications”.

Firstly, No Facebook page owner or Administrator, would want to have his posts hidden and not appear in fans time-lines. Hence, getting such requests from Page owners and administrators is not surprising.

Greenpeace asking its fans to click “Get Notifications” to keep them posted.

Currently Facebook Pages is still a strong place for businesses to engage with their audiences and thats why we see facebook changing terms at its own wit without considering the interest of business oweners and fans.

You may see voices on medias that Facebook is actually doing this to remove the clutter from the newsfeeds of its users and that the users are actually complaining that they cant get the posts that they want to see. As being discussed here by Robert Scoble: https://soundcloud.com/scobleizer/noise-for-mark-cuban-george

Well i would say that Facebook is using this as a trick to push the changes and get more dollars into its revenue stream. Post these changes Facebook is promoting the features and showing how far reaching are Promoted Posts, pay if you want to be posted.

This is how they justify that.

Go ahead and read what Jeff Doak (Head of Social Measurement at WPP ad agency Team Detroit) has to say about this.

November 20, 2012