Gadget Spotlight: JBL Flip, A little beauty

Let’s start 2014 on a musical note with one of the coolest bluetooth speakers – JBL Flip. It connects easily with your bluetooth enabled smartphone, tablet or system and also plays music through the 3.5mm AUX input.

Don’t go by its size, the portable Flip packs a big punch with its loud and crystal clear sound. In the price bracket of 5,000+ INR it is one of the best portable mini bluetooth speakers around!

It has a “Call” button which means that you can use the Flip as a hands-free speaker for your phone calls. The Flip has an external AC charger and doesn’t come with an external USB charger which is not really a problem unless you don’t like carrying too many wires with you. You can listen to the music on JBL Flip in a horizontal position or by placing it vertically upright with the sound output depending on type of music you play.

The JBL Flip rests on its rubber support and packs a punch despite its small size

As the name suggests you can Flip it to make it stand vertically upright.

The speaker easily works on battery for 4-5 hours and delivers sound through its two 5W drivers.

Google Spreadsheets Update: Blessing in Disguise for Marketers…

Web-based productivity tools have been around for quite a while, but their usage and focus has primarily been limited to a very niche audience. While scanning through the feeds in my ‘RSS Feed Reader’, I discovered an interesting update in Google Spreadsheets. On digging deeper, it appears that the update has solved a big problem for market-researchers and statisticians.

Let’s look at the 2 ‘W’s then. What is the problem and what is the solution being offered by Google Spreadsheets’ latest update.

The Problem

• There are various form builders and online-survey tools out there but the ‘marketers’ face tough time to convince the respondents in filling up those web-based survey-forms. I think it because of two key reasons…
• In a typical scenario, the surveyor sends an email to the ‘prospective participants’ and requests them to
• There’s a substantial proportion of ‘participants’ who ignore the e-mail since it involves opening an external link and navigating to another page for filling out the survey (a big pain)
• There’s a whole process of signing up with the third-party web-survey service and its actually quite tedious
• ‘Conducting Survey’ via web-based forms and then ‘Collecting Data’ via ‘excel’ or any other spreadsheet tools are two separate processes

The Solution

• As a first-step, the surveyor still communicates via e-mail but the entire survey appears in the e-mail itself. It works with web-based as well as desktop mail clients
• While the proportion of ‘participants’ won’t drop to 0, the actual percentage of participants would increase as a lot of people would fill the survey via the e-mail itself
• No signing-up involved, as all you’ve to do is click on the ‘Google Docs’ link on top of your gmail link.
• The process of ‘Conducting Survey’ and ‘Collecting Data’ are merged together. The surveyor simply sends the questionnaire, to his target audience and all the answers appear in an excel sheet.

Once you’re through with that you can use the traditional sorting and other functions to do deeper analysis. A fantastic utility and must add to any marketer’s kitty.

Technorati Tags: google spreadsheets,spreadsheets,google,market research,analysis,survey

Plug 2 Surf Whiz : Tata Indicom’s Internet Card

From today onwards, I’d be writing a special post every month under the blog-post category called “Product Feedback”. I’d be giving my feedback about a product or a service which I’ve used/I’m still using and I’d describe my experience about it.

Do I really need one ? Yeah, I think I need freedom from clutches of Sify’s monopoly? How about the speed man? Which one is going to be the best ? Well I’ve a Wi-Fi laptop but can I access internet anywhere and everywhere ? …

These were some of the questions that struck my mind, like any typical consumer. My sister who is back from States told me that she’s looking to surf internet on the go, as she has to constantly shuffle between Bangalore(bengaluru) and Delhi.

Someone told about Tata Indicom’s Plug 2 Surf Billboard which is up on DND flyway. As I understood, Tata’s new portable USB device is unique surfing utility as it enables you to access the internet just about anywhere! Aware of Nikhil’s concerns and nightmares another friend of mine had experienced with Reliance NetConnect card I thought of giving “Plug 2 Surf” wizard a try.

I logged on to Tata Indicom’s broadband website, filled their request form and in less than 48 hours Tata’s customer care executive reached my home. Since then I’ve been using it for more than a month and I am quite satisfied with its performance.

Why do I think it is cool ?

• The single most important factor is the cost of device. At 2800 bucks it fits the budget easily.
• It is a USB device, so naturally it is simple plug and play.
• The connectivity client is available with the CD or alternatively can be downloaded from the internet.
• Speed is not blazing fast but definitely not slow by any means. It is just about perfect accessing emails, a bit of IM and even downloading a bit of music.
• Price -Monthly access charges are around 700 bucks for unlimited internet access along with one gigs of download.
• I haven’t faced any connection problems so far.
• Not to forget, the USP of this device is “Internet access on the go”.

Mouthshut has some interesting reviews on Plug 2 Surf too. It is a feedback of different kind, so do check that out.